Grounded

Dale likes his fresh-ground coffee.

This morning, it appeared to like him back.

Golden Butterfly

Here's another of the Little Charmer puzzles that we've had for over 20 years. It, too, is a gorgeous flower fairy image from Mary Baxter St. Clair.

These close-up images amplify the gorgeous colors and use of light.

The golden butterfly nearly shimmers.

And the wonder exhibited in their eyes as they gaze upon each other is unparalleled!

Blues n' Grays

Over the school



and playground

Rose Baby

This puzzle is made from another photograph by Anne Geddes. Much like the Small is Beautiful puzzle, this was very difficult to put together. This time, however, I had a strategy for completing the background. It involved a lot of sorting and a whole lot of trying piece after piece, putting the background together systematically going around the flower clockwise. 

It took three days.

But at least I had these beautiful blue eyes to keep me company.

This is the second of three Anne Geddes puzzles that came packaged together. I bought them at a thrift store. Inside the box was a note that there were two missing pieces in this puzzle. My quest was to figure out where they belonged!

In the first photo above, you can see where the piece is missing in the top right corner. The other missing piece is hiding under the box.

Now, just to keep the theme going, and to freak out my friend Susan, I present Peek-a-Boo Demon Rose Baby!

You're welcome.

Throwback Thursday - 2006 Part 6

The Wayback Machine took me back to May 2006 again today.




Summer Sun

In June 2006 I attended a finishing class at a cross-stitch specialty shop near Denver, Colorado. In preparation for the class, I needed to stitch several small pieces. In class we learned how to do the finishing work so they'd be ready for display.

Summer Sun was the stitchery we used to learn to make an easel / flat fold. This is a nice way to finish seasonal pieces that can sit on a horizontal surface for a while, then be stored easily because they can lie flat when not in use.

The watermelon button is sweet. I like the metallic thread used in the sunglasses. It shimmers in the light, just like reflections in real sunglasses. Nice touch!


Liberty

This is the second pre-stitched piece I made for the finishing class. It's designed by Forever In My Heart. It has some nice subtle shading because it was stitched with overdyed floss on linen.

With it, we learned to make a padded box or cube stand-up. Here, foam core rectangles are covered in padding and fabric/stitchery, then sewn together with a curved upholstery needle into this cube shape. The sides of the cube are wrapped in fabric, and cording is added at the front seams.

Santa Corn

This third pre-stitched piece for the finishing class is by Crossed-Eyed Cricket. It's Santa's head in the shape of an acorn. If I remember correctly, this company had a whole line of characters stitched in this acorn shape.

Santa's red and green checked hat, finished off with a tiny jingle bell is a nice touch.

This small piece was used to cover a "finishing form." Finishing forms are much like the metal pieces used for covered buttons. Two of the forms are covered with batting, then with fabric (plain or stitched). Then the two forms are glued together, and the seam is covered in cording to make an ornament.

I stitched even more pieces in May 2006, but they'll have to wait in the vault until the next #throwbackthursday

Under the Rainbow

I decided to put together a few old favorite puzzles. These have been a part of our family since Jodie was a little girl ... so for about 20 years! They are so sweet when complete, and just the right amount of easy parts and challenging parts.

The series is called Little Charmers and they are based on the flower fairy paintings of Mary Baxter St. Clair.



The little babies are so sweet. ... until I added the demon googly eyes!

Colorful Musical Instuments

Rainbows upon rainbows! Such fun.



This little 500 piece puzzle has a name nearly longer than its box. If you look closely, there sure are a lot of fun surprises hiding among the xylophones, shakers, whistles and bells.



Including this froggy!

Colorful Yarn

The puzzle Dale gifted me last week for National Puzzle day was fun to put together.

The quality of Springbok puzzles is superb. Nice thick pieces with a size easy to pick up and that hold together well. The colors are so bright and happy.

Check this out. Yarn puppet!

Pizza Party!

Well, the actual name of the puzzle is "Sliced Fresh Baked Supreme Pizza," but that's not a very snappy title.



This is an awful puzzle. The photo is fine and it wasn't overly difficult, but the puzzle went through the cutter badly, or the blades were off or something, because these pieces were cut far too kooky. The "arms" of all the vertical pieces are so narrow that some of them simply fell off. It's hard to explain, so just take a peek!

Besides the messed up pieces, two were missing. And this is a brand new puzzle. Something goofy happened at the factory with this one. But since it was only a dollar, and I had a dollar's worth of fun, I just tossed the puzzle once I finished with it.



However, the pizza cutter is a standout with googly eye ... and a real slice of pepperoni!

January Goal Update

January is over and I made a great start in my 20 Goals in 2020. I tweaked my original list a little and think the 20 goals I have now set can be accomplished. This year, I have a whole lot of enjoyable goals, and not too many serious or "gotta do" goals. Here's my current state of play.

I've made progress on over half of my goals! Eleven of them have been started. Three of them are half-way done. (Details below).

My Word-of-the-Year is SETTLE. In January I was able to get some shelves in my bathroom and gave everything a place. The new towels arrived two days ago. Having one room finished feels so good!

Once the couch and loveseat arrive, and I pick a glider, most of the living room should be settled. In February, we'll also make some progress on the bedroom. Our new bed arrives in two weeks.

---

Goal Details

1. Transcribe session from last year's Skamania Celebrate Your Life retreat
   not yet
   
   
2. Create a watermark for my photos
   not yet
   
   
3. Memorize the names of all the U.S. presidents in order
   not yet
   
   
4. Make one baked treat or a batch of cookies each month
   Apple-cinnamon muffins and toll house cookies
   
   
5. Find a new doctor and a new dentist
   Found a doctor. Have my first appointment later this week.
   
   
6. Put together 20 jigsaw puzzles
   I did 13 in January! (This is a go-to activity when I'm not feeling well).
   
   
7. File all new digital photos once per quarter
   Not yet
   
   
8. Zero out email box once per quarter
   I got down to 10 emails in mid January, but it's back up to 35 this morning
   
   
9. Learn to cook six vegetarian dishes
   Not yet
   
   
10. Listen to 20 podcast short series
    I've listened to three so far. Dolly Parton's America is particularly good. I didn't know much about Dolly, but now I'm a fan.
    
    
11. Find 20 geocaches
    Not yet
    
    
12. Watch 20 movies from my Netflix / Netflix DVD / Amazon Prime / Hallmark queues
    I watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
    
    
13. Celebrate 20 minor holidays
    I've celebrated four so far. This is turning out to be a fun exercise!
    
    
14. Read / listen to 20 books / audiobooks
    I finished four. My favorite was The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
    
    
15. Write 20 #throwbackthursday blog posts about my 2006 and 2007 projects
    I wrote my first
    
    
16. Create a preliminary design for permanent furniture and fixtures in my Studio
    Not yet
    
    
17. Master bedroom closet organization
    We have a plan
    
    
18. Convert cassette tapes to mp3 or get rid of them
    Not yet. I'm still not sure I want to do this, and may substitute another goal.
    
    
19. Paint some rocks
    Not yet
    
    
20. Buy furniture: couch, loveseat, glider, dining room table
    The couch and loveseat are purchased and on their way. I think I've found the glider I want.

National Popcorn Day!

Here's to celebrating another minor holiday!

and having p0pc0rn for breakfast 



😋

Throwback Thursday - 2006 Part 5

I'm back to sharing some of my older stitching and crafting projects. Those I'm sharing today were completed in May 2006. As part of my 20 Goals in 2020, I hope to post all the projects from 2006 through 2008.

2006 was my Year of the Ornament, and I made quite a number of them. But this first piece is larger.




George the Giraffe

This is a kit by The Bold Sheep out of Great Britain. I was able to purchase the kit via eBay. The finished size of the stitching is about 4" x 6".

This happy dancer just makes me laugh. The colors feel like Spring to me, so I stitched him up as soon as he arrived in my mailbox.

The stitching is done, but I've still not done the finishing -- all these years later. I bought some coordinating fabric years ago to finish George as an easel or flat fold. Now I'm not so sure I want to finish him that way. He may become another journal cover because I use journals all the time, and I no longer have a designated place to display my many stitched giraffes.

French Horn Angel

This ornament was stitched for the mother of one of my online friends. Mum's health was failing at the time. Mum loved angels and had images of them all over the house. My stitching group decided to stitch up some angel ornaments for her to hang on her 25 foot tall Christmas tree. They'd need a lot of angel ornaments and we wanted to fill it up! Because Mum loved the color purple and music, I put those two ideas together to stitch up an angel playing an instrument, stitched on a light purple fabric.

The design was found in a Celebrations to Cross Stitch and Craft magazine from Christmas 1992. The designer is Lorraine Birmingham.

I finished the ornament in a mini tuck fabric frame. Then I decided to sew the stitching in place for security.

  

Fish Birthday Card

This was a quick stitch for my employer's birthday. My boss appeared reluctant to say much about her birthday, so I didn't want to overdo a gift. Her family room was decorated in a fish theme, so I decided to stitch a quick little fish and turn it into a birthday card.

Inside the card says, "Hoping you have a Swimmingly Good Birthday!" Clever, eh?

The design is called Baby's First Book — Motif 7 by designer Ellen Mauer-Stroh.

Pray for Snow and Holiday Decorator

In the Spring of 2006, I joined a group of stitchers that makes ornaments, bookmarks and quilt squares for charity. One of the stitched quilt block themes was of "angel snowmen." I was sent the two patterns and the blue aida cross-stitch fabric. This way all the blocks for the quilt would be uniform and fit together as intended.

The quilt squares stitched up quickly and were fun to do. The completed quilt was donated to a child facing a serious illness or to a senior in a care facility. 

These designs were found in Angelic Snowmen a publication by American School of Needlework. They're designed by Marilyn Frable.

It's quite enjoyable for me to look back on these old projects. There are so many that I'd forgotten about. It sure does make me itch to get my needles, floss, and patterns out again. Maybe I'll do that -- once my jigsaw puzzle itch has been thoroughly scratched.

Fireworks

What's all the excitement?

We're having a celebration, complete with a light show! Why?



It's National Puzzle Day!!!



My sweetheart had this waiting for me at the breakfast table.
💖  💖  💖

Out and About

Due to dealing with a respiratory virus for three weeks, then very low energy from seasonal depressive disorder (SAD usually hits me in Jan/Feb), I've holed myself up in the house for much of the new year. Thus, all the jigsaw puzzle building. When I did go out, it was usually with Dale or with Jodie, rather than on my own. That's beginning to change.

Last weekend, Dale and I explored the Science Center here in Eugene. We saw two shows in the observatory, and played with most of the hand-on displays in the museum.

Projected on the dome of the observatory

Today I did some exploring on my own.

First I went to Barnes & Noble to meet up with a gal who sold me some vintage post cards. I bought them for Jodie, who has a collection. The messages and the card backs have us believe they cover a number of decades and were all written to the same couple. I look forward to hearing more about the couple as Jodie pours over the cards.

Next, I went to my new doctor's office w-a-y on the east side of our 'metropolis.' I signed a form to get my medical records transferred. Now I'm set up to have my first appointment next week.

Since I was out in that part of town, and it was close to lunchtime, I checked to see if Jodie could join me for lunch. She could! We went to a small local diner, the Busy Bee Cafe. All the locals know about it. In 2019, the cafe won the Spirit of Springfield Small Business Award. It's a great little old mom & pop shop with good food and, you could tell by the conversations, regular customers. I had a BLT and some sweet potato fries. Yummy! Jodie tried a ham and cheese melt sandwich which she enjoyed. Even the iced tea was tasty.

After I dropped Jodie at work, I found my way back to the west side of town and visited one of the larger Dollar Tree locations in the area. I got a good "fix." I have an idea for Valentine's Day for our grandkids, and got some supplies while I was there.

This afternoon, I headed out to Junction City. It's a few miles north of here. I found a lamp on Facebook Marketplace that Jodie likes for her craft room. It's a beauty.

I'm hoping to have more of these go-it-alone jaunts in the near future. I want to get to know the area better - as the driver, not only the passenger. It's one way I plan to "settle" in 2020.

Art Deco

Gosh I love this image. The colors of these buildings in Miami, Florida are so pretty both with the setting sun behind them, and the neon signs on them. This is a Puzzlebug 500 piece puzzle that we bought at Dollar Tree the other day.



Unfortunately, we've got one missing piece. I swept the floor and checked under the furniture, but didn't find it. Ah, well. I'll make a note to stick in the box about the missing purple piece with the green edge.



Did you know that palm tree fronds make for an excellent beard?

There you go. You've learned your new thing for the day.

Market in Peru

This is a quickie puzzle from Dollar Tree. That's a whole lot of fun for a dollar!

I like the distinct colors, the flow, and the uniform pieces in this puzzle. It's a true grid.



The one thing about these puzzles is that the pieces are small and light. Not the best quality, so the pieces don't snap together securely. They can easily slide apart as you're working on the puzzle. But like I said, the images are great and give me just the right amount of challenge for a easy puzzle day.

A bonus is the ideal image for some googly-eyed fun!