Peace Crochet Wreath

I made this quick wreath from a wire coat hanger, floral wire and left over yarn.

I currently live in a home with huge front bay window. The door is on the side of the house so I wanted a re-useable wreath I could hang in the front window. This is what created. I think the peace part is a bit thin. I intend on adding another color of green, but this is all I got done to it for this holiday season.

Wrapping up All the Elf Duties

I made these hearts from a T-Shirt of my husband's grandfather. He passed over a year ago, and I felt like I could finally bring myself to cut it up and it would be appreciated.

Here are the super cute snowmen  I made. I love the faces, I am so glad I found the carrot noses.

Everyone on my gift list will be getting some form of these super cute fabric baskets. I am not entirely sure what folks will use them for, I guess I envision bread or crackers or wrapped candy.

Here are my awesome cards, I love how they turned out. I enjoy writing cards, especially to the family I don't talk to normally. I also take so much pride in the process of coming up with an idea and then the creativity that comes after that. In this case I was able to carve stamps and get my hands dirty mixing inks which is always a blast for me!

I also whipped up a few more of these super duper cute and re-usable gift bags. I know you can re-use the paper ones but, I intend on using these for many years!

So for this year my elf duties are all wrapped up. Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Passing the Time

We are finally feeling settled in to our new new home in Eugene. We disliked the first house's neighborhood and location. We are in a cute spot now that is close to everything. It has been a challenge though. This is a very tiny duplex.
I was fortunately still unemployed when we moved again, so I had time to put my organizing skills to work, but now I am bored. I don't currently have a sewing table so I decided to a bit of crocheting. It was lovely today as it has been since we arrived in September. So, I set myself up outside in the sun today under a pretty maple tree and crocheted away.

I wanted to make containers to store items around the house. I found the stash of balls of yarn scraps. I love the earthy colors. Then I went digging for the containers, a glass jar and left over plastic butter container. We had saved the glass salsa jar last week, because I found the shape to be useful. I had scraped the label off but it left a funny mark that needed covering.
I simply crochet a disc/ circle the size of the bottom. Usually starting with a loop and then adding stitches in every other slc stitch. Then when reached desired size I will stop adding stitches and it start creating a tube. For the bowl size I just stopped at desired height and then rolled under the last few easily.
For the jar the curve in the top created a problem. I stitched the tube a far as I could and then I had to deduce stitches. Then the hole became small and I feared I wouldn't be able to get the jar in. So, I ended up having to crochet the rest of the way with the jar in the crochet tube. This was a bit challenging and slowed down the entire process. I think the end result was super worth this annoyance.

Here is the end result, they were virtually free with yarn scraps from old gifted projects and recycled containers.  I just had to put in a bit of time. I enjoyed sitting outside today under the tree and watching all the cyclist and kids play. I think this could be a great gift idea with flowers or candy.  I think that older kids could definitely do this project if you teach them the stitch and teach deducing and increasing of stitches. I like projects that dont require a pattern but need a little creativity.

Helping Pockets

My grandmother fell in her home a few months ago. She is in a rehab facility and will be going home soon. She will need to use her walker at home, so I made her pockets for the walker and gave them to her for Easter. She seemed very pleased. I wasnt able to measure it myself, I think I'll make it a bit smaller if I ever do this again. I used heavy cotton and canvas and clear plastic for the pockets so she could see what was in the pockets. It took me abt 3 hours to make and it didn't cost me a thing, all from my stash. I loved making this.

Strip Basket Making 101

 Fold ironed yard of fabric on long edge. Use rotary cutter and straight edge to make 1 inch strips

                                                Chain stitch ends of fabric together.

                                          Un-snip chain threads and roll in to ball.

                       

                                          Keep going.... this is going to be one huge basket.

NC State Fair

I have mentioned that I love October and Fall many times. Since moving to Raleigh, October is even more exciting because its the NC State Fair. We only live 15 min from this temptation. I truly enjoy going to the state fair. My favorite thing about the state fair is the Yesteryear's building (of course, Chocolate Dipped Frozen Nanners too).  I love the rag rugs and sweet grass baskets, so much inspiration in a tiny building.

 

The report was there was 150,000 people were at the fair on Saturday! Dang it felt like it, I haven't seen that many people together in a long time. Honestly, it makes me a bit nervous to be in huge crowds like that. It was hard to get around. I enjoyed working that evening and talking to people and let it all pass around me.

                                          McBride's Turkey Legs are totally worth the wait!

                                                               Giant Sweet Taters!

                                I love the hair on the top of the calf's head. He looks like a old man!

I can hear the fireworks at my house miles away. It is an impressive end to a whirlwind of a day.

Free Fabric

 I recently received a large box of upholstery fabric from my aunt. I couldnt say no to the beautiful fabrics, I have very little upholstery in my huge collection.  I made a deal with myself that if I took the fabric that I would start immediately trying to make stuff and use it up, or donate it. I am running out of room to hoard all this stuff.

From the box this beautiful floral brocade yelled jewelry roll at me. I found a coordinating yellow in the box as well for the inside. I did very minimal cutting, instead of using a pattern. I decided to make the jewelry roll the size of the brocade scrap that I had. I also used ribbon from a bag of ribbons that I picked up at the flea market for 50 cents. The only thing that I purchased was the thin zipper. I paid 1.50 for that. I am very pleased. For such a small price, was able to recycle and create beautiful gift.

This one is for my aunt! Thanks aunt Dee! I hope she like what I made for her. There is much more coming out of the box!

Large Crochet Bowl

I finally decided to cut up the three yards I had of this fabric when I discovered that something had cut through it while on the bolt, there was a small hole every 2 feet or so. I inherited this fabric in a move as well and was never attached to it. I loved the small pattern and neutral colors. It matches my decor, but I am willing to part with it. I used the rotary cutter to cut 1 inch strips. At the machine they were chained stitched the ends together. It took me about 1 hour to cut and sew the strips and then about 30 minutes in front of the TV trimming the chain apart and rolling two larges balls. It is fairly large bowl, from this point I am moving up. It is much larger than a plate size. I hope to go up at least 1 foot with the other ball. I love it already! The small print looks great all knotted up.
This crochet project does hurt my arms so I can only do so much at a time. I does progress rather quickly.

Shell Necklaces and Earrings

 This project comes from two friends who stayed at our house after a family trip to the beach and before their trip to Chile to visit an orphanage. The were returning and wanted to bring small items for gifts. They picked up shells with tiny holes at the top. I taught them how to tie slip knots so the necklaces could be adjusted short and long (Yeah Girl Scouts!). We made quite a few. I loved how this turned out and thought it would be a great project with a few knot tying skills with kids.

 The rocks were for the boys and our friends tried writing on them. I think we needed a better ink pen than a sharpie, but it wasnt bad.

 We also made earrings. The ladies had sets of shells, I always loved picking these up. They were thankful for my love of craftiness. I had a few materials to help them with. E6000 being one and earring backs being the other. They loved how these sets of earrings turned out.

 These gifts were almost free and super awesome. They are items from NC coast. My friends said they had a hard time thinking up gift ideas that weren't too showy or unusable. They were going to workers and children in the orphanage. I hope they really enjoyed giving these out.

Journal Cover

Here is the journal cover I made for my self recently. I am a list maker, doodler and all around space cadet. This requires me to always need paper and pen. I make many lists through out the day, most are work and shopping related. My favorite list are pros/ cons and bucket style lists. I have gotten to many goals in life from a silly list. Silly as it may sound this is a huge tool that has gotten me here today.
I needed something pretty to mask how busy those lists make my life.
I love the mix of these fabric scraps. The teal to the right gets folded over to make the lining, don't forget a ribbon and a pocket.

Here it is  with the teal lining folded and pressed under.

Yellow quilting really made this item more modern. I found a perfect purple velvet button for the ribbon to wrap around the back. Next time I'll  make it a tad roomier and pocket much longer. I still love it and did you catch that it matches my sun glass case?

Yard Art

I found all of this glass in the new part of my backyard over the last few months. They sat in an old strawberry basket muddy and neglected for too long. I have had grand intentions on making some ode to Raleigh type project! I sat in the glorious sun and carefully rinsed these shards of glass. My favorite piece of treasure is the white and blue stoneware dish in the middle of the top picture. I have also unearthed two new bottles from the bottom of the pecan tree (not in photos)

There are parts of old and new glass, some have writing and designs. The white dish, in the front of the bottom photo has awesome lace pattern on the edge. After washing these pieces, I went right back out into the yard and found more. I sat under the pecan tree for awhile digging the two other bottles out. It was a little nutty acting, but everyone needs to be nutty acting sometimes!

The Duke Gardens

I promised to post some of the picture that I took on our day trip to Duke University. We went to The Duke gardens last weekend with my mom. I was in a early spring bloom. It was a overcast day, I was not expecting to see every part of the gardens being used. I was not really prepared that people would use it like a park; to play soccer, hold child's birthday parties, allow children to play in the water and fountains. I was expecting it to be more like an arboretum, where people tour around and look at the plants. I didn't take many pictures because there were people everywhere. It was also not  that impressed with the cleanliness of the gardens either, grass was brown, dead lawn debris was all over the paths and trash was around. I know that we had a hard winter but, all of the grass was brown, I have a bright green yard 20 minutes away. Also, I am a huge fan of bulbs, especially daffodils. There were only tiny sparse patches of them. The front part of the gardens was under construction which also lead to my feeling of lack luster. The visitor's center was small and under used. The man inside never said "hello" or looked up the entire 20 min it took me to find a map on the wall and decide where to go.
I am not sure that I will take a trip to Duke anytime soon again. Maybe we'll have more fun at Chapel Hill!

Camellias and Stamps

The Camellias are still going strong. I have picked many bouquets for the house. I wish I had a florist frog. Camellia stems are very twiggy and the heavy blossoms tend to want to turn the vase over. My Nana uses low flat vases with the frog to display hers. Out of all the vases that I have this is  the lowest, not flat at all. The frog is heavy and spiky and holds the stems just in the right spot.

We have had even more beautiful days for me to take pictures. My mom came this past weekend and I showed off my Camellias. She referred to them as a "double camellia", obviously not their technical name. She said she had not seen many like them either. I am thinking about making a stamp of a Camellia based off of one the photos. That is a daunting task.

After my birthday, I was in a strip mall that has a Trader Joe's and an awesome art store. I still had birthday money burning a hole in my pocket. I was all laden with bags prepared for the zoo at Trader Joe's but, found myself walking across the parking lot into Jerry's Art-a-rama. I started off humbly picking out new colors of Prisma's out of the bin. Then it hit me! I have always wanted to make stamps. I read Geninne's Art Blog and she makes amazing stamps out of Mastercarve, check her out. I am a hoarder of many things, including stamps. I never use them because I want original patterns and designs. Not sooo perfect. I have been looking for a block of Mastercarve for awhile. Ta-Da there it was. It was pricey, but I figure I'll use both sides.

After rushing through Trader Joe's, I came home and sat down and immediately made these two stamps. The "M" on one side and the Enso on the other. I love them! I cant wait to start on the Camellia.

First Project from B-day fabric

This was the first project that I have created from the fabric that I bought. The flowers match every single hand bag that I own. Obviously, I love the colors in this fabric. The brick looking fabric is part of the new Amy Butler, Central Park group.  I was starting to ruin my glasses by dropping my keys down on them. Hopefully this will protect them. I made it slightly too small, but it still works. Next time I'll know better.

Reusable Gift Wrap

Ive been thinking beyond the normal reuse of gift bag, bow or shirt box. I purchased quite a bit of Christmas fabric back in January when it went on sale. I wanted to put to use so, I have decided on making draw string bags for gift giving. I hope that the receiver will be inclined to reuse. I used awesome ribbon as the drawstring and added bells to a few. I admit that I like glossy wrapping paper, however it takes up awkward space in my closet and year round which is a serious nuisance to me. I would like to use up what I have, and work toward future nullification of the wrapping paper. I think these bags will be good to give to immediate family, so I can explain my idea in hopes of getting them back. I don't think this will work for every gift I give. I would like to cut down on bags of paper after Christmas unwrapping.

I am slightly proud of myself

Today, I accomplished something that I have been trying to do for 7 months now. I figured out how to use my scanner in the printer all-in-one. I just haven't had the true need or want to do it. I think that I will enjoy sharing more of my quilting processes and general art, I doodle alot. I prefer black ink pens or markers. I use cheap generally scrap paper. I am unable to keep up with a journal, I literally have 20 of them around the house. I always rip the pages out. The pages end up on my desk and next to my bed side table. Hopefully, this will be a good way of keeping up with them.

These two collections have been hanging out on the desk for months. I am excited to be able to share more of my creative processes. Maybe one day my sister will bring photoshop and I will be able to do more with coloring them. HINT HINT!