April Challenge

I ran across an "April Photo Challenge" at The Idea Room and thought I would modify that idea. Rather than participating in the group challenge, I'll challenge myself to take a photo a day and share it here on my blog using her photo suggestions as the starting point for my own photo quest.

My only concern about maintaining the stream of photos and related thoughts is that SISTER'S WEEKEND (woohoo, cheers, anticipation and shouting!!!!) occurs during the middle of the month and that will require a major interruption filled with margaritas and lots of laughter. Look out Galveston, the GIRLS are on their way! Anyhow, I'll try real hard to keep the pictures coming. This will be the most ya'll have heard from me in .... well, ever!

What have I been working on since I wrote last? Where have I been? Well, I've been sick, sick, sick since about mid-January and just started feeling better a few days ago after my recent doctor's visit. (BLAH, BLAH, BLAH.)

Nevertheless, being the truly twisted person I am, I've still been busy working on tons of projects. We have a wedding coming in late September (in Albany, NY) and the bride has asked me to make a fascinator for her to wear to the rehearsal. She wants one like this:

I have all the materials except the feathers, but I'm sort of circling around this project, trying to get it firmly deconstructed and reconstructed in my mind, so nothing to show you yet on this pending project.

I've been making some shabby, cottage chic pillows for my shop, which is a departure from the machine embroidered pillows I normally carry. Sounds easier than it is. The tiny ruffles are a pain in the patoot! And I had to fake the fabric covered buttons. On the other hand, pretty much everything in the mini world is "faked". HA!

I recovered a mini chair with a print on top and some teensy chenille on the seat. Actually the chenille is cut from an old dishtowel that I hand-colored, but I think it looks pretty realistic.

I've been working on designs for mini birdhouses,  wastebaskets, and gerber daisies. I'm liking this particular birdhouse with the handwritten letter and roses. I think it's lovely.

I made a headboard from multiple pieces of cardboard (including a couple of granola bar boxes) last week, I'm still working on the rest of the bed. I made some more wastebaskets in different designs and I've tried a few shabby chic bushel baskets. Still working on finessing these items. BTW - TexNan ... the waxed paper transfer idea worked great, as you can see. Thanks for the tip. It's another great tool in my toolbox.

These things are definitely not ready to go into the shop, but I think I'm moving in the right direction. More experimenting to come.

Speaking of experimenting, this is a design I set aside because I couldn't figure out the perfect way to create the lid for the enamel breadbox, but I think I'm onto a new technique which will help me with this one. I really love this breadbox design -- I've seen it in so many British films -- but my lid doesn't fit perfectly. I was stumped, so I set it aside temporarily, but I think I'll pick it up again ... in my spare time!?! HA!

  Most of my mini projects were perfect when I was sick because they could be worked on when I wanted to be busy and put away when I needed to rest. Now I'm feeling so much better, it's like WonderWoman has taken residence inside my body and I'm rarin' to go. WOOHOO!

We'll see how long that lasts, huh?

Christmas Candy

When we were kids, we hung our stockings on Christmas Eve and waited ... oh, so impatiently ... for Santa to fill them overnight.  Truly, totally just like the Christmas Story movie.

What wonder when we woke up early ... very early ... on Christmas morning. We would hurry in to check the treasures left for us. Oh, the candies in bright colors and interesting shapes. Christmas candy!

And fruit! Oranges and apples would bulge out here and there. And nuts filling out the extra spaces.

Candy and fruit and nuts, OH, MY!

These days, when I fill the stockings of our adult children (we still do that at our house), they're more likely to get Ghirardelli chocolates, nail polish, leopard patterned tissues, hand cream, tiny flashlights and other small goodies that I can fit into the stockings.

No nuts. No hard candy in pretty colors and interesting shapes. No apples or oranges.

So this year, to share that memory with the kids and start a new/old tradition, we had nuts and fruit ... and Ghirardelli chocolates ... and leopard patterned tissues. I like to think its a blend of old and new.

Maybe next year we can include some ribbon candy. Just for old times sake.

Gotta love Christmas candy.

DIY Shoe Freshener

I've been making "boot stuffers" for years for the many, many, many boots of my boot-collecting husband. Essentially, they're a denim tube filled with cedar shavings (hamster cage stuff). They're pretty basic in spite of the embroidery or painted enhancements I've used at one time or another. But DH loves them and they keep his boots erect which saves wear and tear on the leather. And, they keep them dry and fresh. Win, win, win.

I had the (ahem) BRILLIANT idea of making something similar for myself to keep my sneakers, etc dry and fresh. And, of course, at this time of year, that translates into gifts for the girls in our family. If I want it, they probably do, too.

So I thought about it ... a LOT. Should I make them footshaped with embroidered "painted" toenails or tube shaped? ... should I make them of denim or of something more feminine? So many options!

And here's a pretty example with a tutorial here. Nice. Feminine. Easy-peasy simple.

But DH made the suggestion of using socks. Okay. Socks are a really good idea. On the other hand, I was worried about cedar thingies trying to poke through the knit of the socks. Sooooo .... I made a muslin tube, filled it with cedar shavings, sewed it closed and put it inside the sock. I tied a ribbon around the top of the sock and I think these will make nice stocking stuffers ... ha ha. Pardon the pun.

I chose the Hello Kitty socks for my girls (see the unstuffed plain yellow socks next to the new and improved Shoe Freshener Kitty pink and green socks).

I'm liking it.

.

Goodwill finds

Interesting day today.
Dentist appointment at 8:00 am.
Stop for a late breakfast.
Second dentist appointment at noon.
Back on the road at 4 pm. Wow! One day down the drain .... BUT ....wow! Isn't that our favorite Goodwill on the way home?!

Soooo, here are my fabulous Thursday-grueling-day-at-the-dentist-bright-spot-of-the-day fabulous finds:

A sampler cross-stitch of the twenty-third Psalm.

A vintage (heavy, heavy) brass lamp and interesting shade.

Total investment $15.00 which is more than I usually pay, but boyz-howdie do I love both of them. I'm intending to paint the frame on the cross-stitch and the lampshade needs a little glue, but all in all, I'm very pleased.

And I know just where they'll look best in my house.

Happy Thursday, ya'll!

Cupcake pincushion

Just a quick note about the cupcake pincushion I made last Friday. No tutorial on this one ... I was in a rush to finish this for a birthday gift, so I didn't have time to take pictures of the various steps. And the picture I took of the finished pincushion is sort of - icky. Sorry about that.

But, anyway, here's the "recipe"
(1) fulled wool aka shrunken sweaters (I used the wrist area to imitate a cupcake liner)

(2) poly fiberfill to round out the top portion
(3) emery grit (for keeping pins and needles sharp - it also adds weight to the pincushion) ... I got my emery grit from etsy.com
(4) muslin in a pillow shape (to enclose the emery grit) - I put this pillow of emery grit on bottom for balance and for ease of use
(5) embroidery thread ... french knots that look like candy sprinkles plus a few straight pins with colored balls on top
(6) lace around the top of the cupcake liner ... just to neaten things up a little

Voila! Cupcake pincushion. As Mom would say, there's love in every stitch!

Seafoam Cashmere Acorns

What do you do with an outdated cashmere jacket? One thing you can do is make acorns! As my sister said this morning, "From this acorn, mighty cashmere trees will grow." Ya think?

It's been a long, long, l-o-n-g time since I've written, but I'm going to try to keep you updated about what my busy, busy hands are currently doing.

Today it's cashmere acorns. Although Tex-Nan bought her acorn caps at Walmart (didn't realize they carried them!), I also picked mine up at Walmart ... underneath the not-so-mighty oaks dotted around the parking lot.

I'm hoping this photo will tell you everything you need to know about making acorns the quick and cheap way. Oh, yeah!  I used a baby food jar to pencil the circle on the wrong side of the fabric. Otherwise, I think it's self-explanatory.

Welcome, Autumn!

Chocolate Festival Quilt

The Chocolate Festival quilt is 99% complete. I have just a little hand quilting to add here and there to highlight the different parts of it. It will be a doorprize at the Chocolate Festival for the Soul which takes place at Krum First United Methodist Church this Saturday.

Many thanks to Debbie who has a long-arm quilting machine and for all the help with the appliques, etc.

I think it turned out well.