Kindness Quilt Square #4 -- aka my favorite one.

It only takes ONE person, and ONE act of kindness, to inspire others and create change.

@jennifer_hogan

That quote illustrates a great way to live and one thing I have discovered in the 

creative blogging community, is that they are some of the most

generous and kind people around. 

My friend Vicki, over at the 2 Bags Full blog is one of those wonderful

people.  

So when I was invited to be a part of her KINDNESS QUILT PROJECT, I was thrilled and honored to participate. An immediate "YES' was my answer. 

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

These will be gathered by Vicki, assembled, and gifted to a special person. 

What a wonderful way to share our love of creating with others. 

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #4

This looks NOTHING like my original idea for the 4th square. 

It's all Cindy Kirk's fault. She gifted me this gorgeous novelty yarn.

And it screamed Sea Water to me. 

So I made the foundation for this one to resemble the sea. 

And then I wanted a tidal pool with all kinds of treasures.

A base of some sand colored linen.

 I edged it with some rough thread bordering. 

I did the border in single crochet and left the loops and bobbles free to simulate the splash of waves on the sand. 

Sew on some clear bead "bubbles".

Then I ran across these seashell patterns 

Designed by Susan Whitlock. 

I made mine from bedspread cotton. 

I LOVE IT. 

I also crocheted a little spiral of seaweed. 

Gathered fun little bits and bobbles to embellish this.

Look there's a lace "sand dollar" 

And a crocheted bit of a "sea fan coral"

This project was so much fun. 

Having an idea.

Seeing the idea come to life as I worked on it. 

There's the full view of my "Mermaid's treasure, tidal pool"

Thank you Vicki for inviting me to be a part of this. 

I cannot wait to see the finished quilt. 

Kindness Quilt Square #3

It only takes ONE person, and ONE act of kindness, to inspire others and create change.

@jennifer_hogan

That quote illustrates a great way to live and one thing I have discovered in the 

creative blogging community, is that they are some of the most

generous and kind people around. 

My friend Vicki, over at the 2 Bags Full blog is one of those wonderful

people.  

So when I was invited to be a part of her KINDNESS QUILT PROJECT, I was thrilled and honored to participate. An immediate "YES' was my answer. 

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

These will be gathered by Vicki, assembled, and gifted to a special person. 

What a wonderful way to share our love of creating with others. 

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #3

I made the base for this one from some wool blend, sock weight yarn using a C2C pattern. 

Then I went into the stash. 

I knew I wanted to make the roses from my friend Doni's, Tutorial . I've made a lot of these in different sizes since I first got the tutorial from her, so I consider this one tried and true. 

So I gathered some cobweb weight thread in assorted colors from the stash.

I wanted this to feel like dried rose bouquets that we save from those special events. 

I crocheted six roses and added vintage buttons for the centers. 

For the "leaves" I crocheted a lacy doiley center from some nice, silky thread. The sheen and color perfectly fit the idea I was trying for. 

Then a fussy cut from some vintage lace that my friend MaryAnn sent me. 

The final bit of detail is a FAVORITE button that I have been hanging on to for YEARS. 

Look again at those colors.

Does it give you the keepsake faded roses feel I was seeking?

I promise this is square - but it sure looks wonky in this picture.

I am really happy with how this turned out. 

It is so exciting when the idea in your head really works out. 

Kindness Quilt Square #2

It only takes ONE person, and ONE act of kindness, to inspire others and create change.

@jennifer_hogan

That quote illustrates a great way to live and one thing I have discovered in the 

creative blogging community, is that they are some of the most

generous and kind people around. 

My friend Vicki, over at the 2 Bags Full blog is one of those wonderful

people.  

So when I was invited to be a part of her KINDNESS QUILT PROJECT, I was thrilled and honored to participate. An immediate "YES' was my answer. 

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

These will be gathered by Vicki, assembled, and gifted to a special person. 

What a wonderful way to share our love of creating with others. 

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #2

The base is crocheted from a soft, baby sweater yarn that I had leftover from a baby blanket.

(I've also used it in a Moogly Sweater that I made) 

It matched some sweet rose fabric scrap that I had. I actually think that this is the very last bit of this fabric. 

I took some beautiful coordinating Perle Cotton and crocheted an edging around the oval rose cutout from that fabric. Giving it a "frame" effect.

A tiny PEACE advertising token from an insurance company was attached along with a vintage button and a blossom from a silk hydrangea. 

I then beaded a tiny little butterfly (or moth) and attached that as well.

I mounted the framed rose a bit off center to allow the colorful striping to be seen . 

A fairly quick and simple square. 

My Kindness Quilt Square #1

It only takes ONE person, and ONE act of kindness, to inspire others and create change.

@jennifer_hogan

That quote illustrates a great way to live and one thing I have discovered in the 

creative blogging community, is that they are some of the most

generous and kind people around. 

My friend Vicki, over at the 2 Bags Full blog is one of those wonderful

people.  

So when I was invited to be a part of her KINDNESS QUILT PROJECT, I was thrilled and honored to participate. An immediate "YES' was my answer. 

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

These will be gathered by Vicki, assembled, and gifted to a special person. 

What a wonderful way to share our love of creating with others. 

I immediately went to work. 

Here are the details of the very first square from me. 

A luscious, soft, pink cotton yarn. I crocheted in a single stitch basket weave pattern. 

(Looks like an Easter basket to me.) 

Once I had the base completed, I then set about embellishing.

I have made hundreds of these melty fabric flowers over the years, (here's a HOW TO link if you like) and I had these warm pink fabrics left over from making some for a wedding, so I made one for this block. 

( Trying to be stashsourceful, so I made all four blocks from assorted stash materials.) 

The flower kind of disappeared against my base, so I crocheted a circle for the "leaves"

I went to the scrap box for a bit of linen and added a bit of cross stitch to this. 

That little glass button was gleaned from my "favorites" jar. 

I then called this one complete. 

Although, Vicki may add more embellishment to it as she assembles the entire quilt. 

Again, I am so honored to have been asked about being a contributor to this project. 

I'll be back in a few days with the next block. 

Have a fabulous weekend. 

Life is crazy beautiful

Grateful Hope Planning and Praying

This counting of blessings - it's contagious - my friend Patti has/is reading the book --- I am re-reading it. Looking for things to focus on for the retreat. Trying to plan the details. 

Details - all the details - and this is to be a low stress event -----

For my friends. 

Me - well this s a GIFT for them. Some of the details may go unnoticed, but the prayers that are in those details --- they will be felt from now until the event and hopefully well past it. 

Which brings me to today ------

This is me. 

Let's just recap the week. I forgot to write a transaction down in the check book - the warehouse for shipping material to us at my grown up girl job left a CRITICAL item off the truck (4 hours in the car to make that right - windshield time) - Mr Dorsey has had another stroke - one of the youth from my church had a GI artery bleed and is still in the hospital after emergency surgery - a friend of mine spent Wednesday night and all day yesterday trying to find her elderly father (who left going to church, became disoriented, and was finally located miles and miles from home), another friend lost a job, and  add to this ---- I feel puny. (hope I am not getting sick).

I am quite empty ---

And yet I am blessed.

Patti posted her NOTICING on facebook last night. Simply beautiful.
I tossed a grungy sock with the bucket boy --- both of us enjoyed that play time.
Andrew's surgery was successful - he will be ok - again
AND - they found Beth's Dad safe - he wandered into a Historical Museum in a small town and the lovely people there searched until they found Beth's number (please please people - program an ICE number into your phones.)

Blessings through the HARD, EMPTY, TRYING moments.

I want this seeing of blessings to be shared with the ladies in attendance at GRATEFUL HOPE.

So yesterday - while praying over so much difficult stuff - I tried to pray over an easy craft for the Retreat. I put up a picture collage of these and asked for votes. I'm still asking. See some of these ladies are not "craft" oriented ---- but I really want them to feel like they can make something pretty as a memento of the day together. Something that when they see it, they are reminded of the JOY, GRATITUDE, and FELLOWSHIP of the day.

Note - I will put together kits for whichever one I/we decide on. The actual craft will be INSPIRED by these - not an exact duplicate.

So please vote in the comments on this ---- list your top three in order of what you might like to make if you were a part of the gathering.


1. A BEADED HEART ORNAMENT - inspired by the one pictured. I found the original link at Mayahelena on ETSY

A note prompted by Patti: This can be completed in brights or neutrals. I already have everything I need for this craft. I would form the hearts ahead of time ----and the completion would be stringing the beads and wrapping the heart to your liking.

2. FABRIC BUNTING - I found this image at The Natural Wedding Company - it linked to BHLDN - but the bunting is no longer available there. The one shown is sewn to the hanging string, but we would glue ours. Again we can do this in brights - or neutrals. I'm thinking at least 10 different fabrics for each one. 

I have everything needed for this one too - I would precut the fabric shapes  - and the completion would be the gluing together - I most likely would cut all the pieces from assorted fabrics - then randomly package the kits - but you ladies could swap at the tables ---- 

3. BEADED MOBILE YARD ART. I found this on Pinterest, but in searching Google images - I located the source - on ETSY.  The most difficult part of this will be stringing beads (I'll add buttons to the ones we would make because - well - I have them - and I like them)

I have everything for this one too - I would predrill the branches and completion would be stringing and tying these on. Again - these can be brights - pastels - neutrals.

4. HANDSTITCHED TINY CHARMS - be still my heart -- I love these. These were made by Becky Shander - actually I love ALL her stuff.  Now these are tiny - and this would definitely be a handstitching project.

But once again (imagine) I have all the stuff. to make assorted versions of these.

Matter of fact - I'll be making some of these anyway. Just because.

5. WORD BLOCK ORNAMENT - this one came with a FULL TUTORIAL and I like it. it can be expanded to say HOPE - PEACE - GRACE - LOVE - really anything.

I have "most" of this readily available. Although there may have to be a bit of adaptation to use from the stash. it might not be multi-sided and we may wind up using scrabble tiles for the letters.

6. MELTY FLOWERS -- I made over a 100 of this type of flower for Molly's wedding.  I found this picture here.   Circles of petals - fun button and bead centers. These are a little more "laborious" - but NOT difficult to make.

I would bring the precut circles - and candles - you would melt the edges (who doesn't like to play with fire) and hand stitch together to make a pin on flower. again these could be done in any color scheme and I have all the stuffs for them.

Crafts for 15 people - from the stash - well yes - I can EASILY be accomplished.

This event is in October - it is a LABOR OF LOVE for me. I have felt called to do this from the first chapter of the book. Please help me get all these details right ----

I am investing my heart into this --- God is investing His love through me ---

Please comment with your 'PINIONS even if this is not an event you can attend. I need your help.

I am working through all my details - most will not be seen here until after the event --- surprises are fun.

Life is beautiful - busy, but beautiful - stop and NOTICE the beauty.

tell me the stories ....

We make nativities. 

The current ones get lots of road miles.

He cuts and sands.

I trace.

He wood burns.

I paint.

He stains. 

We sell. But honestly, the ones we give to our littles are the ones that mean the most to me. 

The story of the first one I made is at the link. 

We gifted this little one with a set this year. 

She spread it out and Dad sent us this picture.

Cute. 

My hope is that she will play and really learn the story. 

Then teach it to her little brother. 

And so forth and so on. 

Much like my girls did. 

(at the end of this post is a fabulous active way to use this for advent devotions)

Then I get this picture via text. 

"Rebecca said this is "Jofus" I said you mean 

Joseph...."nope, Jofus" "

How cute - and if she is playing with it, there will be learning occuring.

Merry Christmas.

************************************

I cannot take credit for this idea, but it is a wonderful one. 

A friend of mine uses their wood block nativity along with some other props for their Advent readings. 

The various figures are placed around the house with the numbered envelopes.

Each night the search out the correct envelope and have the devotional. 

For instance 

Night one - the angel comes to Mary.

Night two - The angel comes to "Jofus" 

Night three - Joseph and Mary together read the scroll. 

All the while the empty manger sits on the table by the tree. 

For the twenty five days leading up to Christmas. The story unfolds and the characters in the story slowly make the trip through the house to Bethlehem. 

On Christmas Eve, Baby Jesus appears in the manger. 

On Christmas Day - before the gift frenzy begins - the Wise Men bring their gifts to the new Baby. 

A beautiful tradition for the kids. 

If you choose to adapt this idea for your Christmas, please leave a comment here, I would love to hear your stories. 

Much love and a Very Merry Christmas to all of you. 

#STASHTAGS 31/31

We are here --- I am excited. This project turned out to be so much more than just a fun way to use up stash materials. I learned about me and I learned some new techniques. Let's look at today's tag then I'll be posting about the November version of #stashtags.

Materials -
-cream cardstock tag base.
- simple rose watercolor print from a card top.
- pink letters
- this is the only one with a message on the back - it reads  "deep emotional words often go too long unspoken" ----  its from a mothers day card I sent my mom years ago when things were still quite stormy between us. I am so thrilled this is not the case any longer.
- the hanger is some ribbon Mom gave me from her stash (fitting I thought)

Its a reminder that healing relationships are never too far gone to keep trying - even if the only part you can manage to actually do is secretly Hope and pray.

Now for November ---

It will still be a #stashtags project over at instagram.

I am calling it Heartfelt Thankgivings - since we celebrate Thanksgiving this month.

I will still be making the tags each day. Still decorating them - simply as I like or with a theme if it fits the day. I have based my chosen themes using Ann Voskamp's Joy Dare prompts (you can find a printout for the year here.)

Some I have decided on --- for instance one of the days the prompt is three things government - I'll be looking for a US, state, or local government employee and hand them a decorated tag - thanking them for being someone I am grateful for. Maybe even a little note on the back. I'll blog the reactions here - with the rundown on the tags.

So here is the plan for me - I have my calendar marked. Tonight I will make the November 1 Tag and give it tomorrow sometime - the tags will be heartshaped and embellished. I'll decide who to "target" and in the morning I will instagram and facebook the tag and the theme - after I have given it - I will blog the tag and theme and reaction(s). and yes - in my mind some days there will me more than one tag.


You never know - maybe being nice and recognizing people as blessings can start a NICE revolution.

Please let me know if you are playing along.

Here is my list. and some ideas.

1. food - grocery store or fast food
2. clothing - store or someone who's outfit is inspiring
3.  starts with N -
4. gathered - a farmer or gardener or group of people we gather with
5. small as an acorn -
6. government - I'm thinking a post office worker or local government or local state college employee
7. from my window - maybe a different fast food person - or even my neighbor across the street
8. salty, sweet, or sipped - I do hope there is a waiter bringing me a margarita for this one.
9. harvest - farmers market person maybe
10 Bible or church - pastor - pianist - ss teacher - the lady who types the bulletin
11. Remembering - a veteran or a teacher from you childhood
12 Noon - lunch involved
13 behind a door - somewhere I am going into
14 Silent
15 golden
16. Grace
17 Laughter - not posting here, but I KNOW who gets this one
18 shared
19 Autumn
20 tradition - honor someone who has a recognized tradition with you - aka we always have donuts at the lake for Christmas - let them know how special that has been.
21 family - multiples here
22 grateful - this is a random category - just pick someone to encourage
23 Christ - some one you KNOW Christ put in you life
24 Humble
25 Ugly but beautiful - I will recognize some of my cancer caregivers or other survivors here
26 preparing - this would be an awesome day to recognize special teachers for preparing each lesson
27 held
28 community - maybe a police officer or fire fighter
29 red
30 astonishing - that person who has the "you wont believe this but ......." effect in your life.

Just ideas --- come on let's start a NICE movement. Even if you don't play along - please let me know your thoughts about this little project.



Have a great day.

#STASHTAGS 10/31

Today's word - INSPIRE

Here's the rundown
- green cardstock tag base
- red leather scraps from my mama (she used to work in a van conversion company and gathered up the leather scraps from the seat covers)
- plastic alphabet beads
- toothpicks (I wrapped the bits around them)
- paper, ribbons, and fabric strips from the scrap pile
- fine gauge wire
-assorted beads
-the hang tag is made from leather "thread"

Nina Bagley inspires me. She blogs at Ornamental and her instagram is one of my favorites everyday. She lives in the mountains and works in stunning layers of goodness, incorporating wire and metal and leather and fabric and lace and and and. She is also very kind and sharing. (I would LOVE to go to one of her workshops someday and i would love to own one of her wrap necklace or bracelet originals) Please go over to her place and take a look at the beauty over there.

Thank you Nina for the inspirations you share.

I decided to put a collage together of the first 10 tags. I have picked a couple of favorites. (ENCOURAGE and CONTENT)  Have you?

1. PEACE
2. BLISS
3. CALM
4. LAUGH
5. TRUTH
6.INSPIRE
7. CONTENT
8. STILL
9. BOLD
10. ENCOURAGE

Please share your favorites.

Have a great day.

#STASHTAGS 3/31

October 3. Tag number 3 of 31 days.

Word 3 - CONTENT

Here's the list -
- tan card stock tag base
- $100 Monopoly bill
- ticket stub
- embroidery floss label
- old postage stamp
- definition blurb from an old dictionary
- dark amber bead drop
- a paper spool end with a tiny bit of thread on it.
- hanger is plain old cotton string.

Content --- to be "in a state of peaceful happiness"
  ----- to be "satisfied with where you are and what you have"

Saw the word - had no idea how to illustrate it. NO IDEA AT ALL.

So, I took the easy way out. I cut the definition from the dictionary.

Read it carefully and sat with it, waiting for the muse.

She showed up and brought guests - teaching guests - Karma and the Universe. UH-OH. When those two are along, things get complicated. (And I thought this project would be fairly easy.)

I know that this is art and there are emotions tied to art. It's only craft if you're just putting stuff together.

If you want to just look at the pretty picture - that's fine. But if you want to read some of the lesson from this tag you can see it over here

Have a great evening
.

#STASHTAGS 2/31

October 2. Tag number 2 of 31 days.

Word 2 -- STILL

Here's the list.
- blue card stock tag base
- winter forest scenery from a Christmas card. (apparently I hoard save lots of quite useful useless things)
- textured paper from the "little paper scraps" box. (doesn't everyone have one of those?)
- silver trim  and a bit of organza ribbon from the scrap container
- silver letter stickers
- the little "snowflakes" are from some white iridescent Christmas garland
- a snowflake charm from Fire Mountain
-  the hanger is made from punch needle thread - this time white with a bit of silver.
- glue
- glittery nail polish (I'm also an opportunistic crafter)


As soon as I saw the word STILL, I thought of the quiet that snow brings. All sound seems to be muffled by that blanket. Snow is not common in the south, but it happens enough for days spent inside with hot chocolate and maybe a snow angel or two. And snow ice cream!!! That was the memory I wanted to capture with this one.

So far so good ---- where are you on the project?

Have a great day.

#STASHTAGS 1/31

October 1. Tag number 1 of the 31 days of tags. 

I love words - I love fonts - I love paper - I love embellishing - I am learning to love stash busting.

And the stash  - well it needs busting some more.

I chose my words from the list posted here. Then I randomized the list and made a calendar. 

Last night I die cut my basic tag shapes from solid card stock - tan, white, blue, and green. 

Word one -   PEACE.

Here's the list:

Blue card stock tag base.

A "fussy cut" from a parchment vintage greeting card. 

Pale pink scrapbook stickers.

pale pink lace bit. (2inches of lace from approximately 2000 yards - i won't even miss this) 

A bit of white tulle from the scrap container

A pale pink little bead drop. (I honestly think this was the very last one of these) 

and the hanger is literally the last of a spool of punch needle thread. 

Glue. 

I'm quite happy with this one - and I really can't wait to mount them all for display and see what they look like when I finish them. I rarely keep any of my art, but I think I will keep these and display them in some assorted thrifted frames. Guess what - they are already in the stash too. 

Have a great day and if you are playing along - please let me know.

www.instagram.com/maggiegracecreates 

              use tag #stashtags

www.facebook.com/teresa.atkinson.963

or leave a comment here. 

***********************************************************************

I do know that my instagram friend Patricia is playing along in a photography format. find her at

 http://instagram.com/red_rowan

Have a wonderful PEACE filled day. 

Gifts from the stash.

I've been steady working in the studio. 

Crocheting and working on all kinds of things. 

Some just could not be shared yet. 

(Trying not to spoil the surprises.)

This was one of them. 

Plus posting everyday for Simply Simple September has been easy and fun. 

And has allowed me to take a bit of a break on working up posts.

Way back here I talked about the babies joining our life. 

I also mentioned nothing would have to be purchased. 

Well - so far so good on that. 

I am one blanket behind. Little Eloise Ruth's blanket is NOT finished and she is here. But it is still warm weather, so I'm not panicked. 

I decided to do some words art for a few of our little ones. 

(the decision was made after "stalking" mommies to be pin boards) 

I have 100's of word art images pinned as well. 

And - I happen to have all the stuff to make these

IMAGINE THAT

So for Miss Kris' next new grand baby. 

I grabbed square canvas and painted it pale blue. 

Then cut my letters for an easily recognizable children's prayer

And because this is me - I used my CRICUT and the basic cartridge to cut these - I trimmed the "tails" off some of the letters. 

Mod Podge it all on the canvas and look at it and decide it needs "SOMETHING"

Go dig in the stash

(yes it is a seriously deep stash) 

And find a star shaped ornament.

Add lots of extra fine glitter to the star.

I also added a layer of metallic ModPodge in silver to the canvas. 

Because I like texture and depth. 

Here it is all glued. 

At this point I let it dry

Then Spray it with clear sealer.

An important part of the process in the humid south. 

The ModPodge can get tacky (sticky) in the heat and humidity and the sealer stops that. 

I just use a clear spray paint  top coat for the sealer.

Then pondered how to attach the star. 

A hole drilled in the edge of the canvas with a skewer glued in turned out to work best.

Then I glued the star to the skewer. 

Voila

Cute little boy artwork. 

(I'm kinda fond of texture of my studio siding too)

I also agreed to swap an ATC with Kim over at ArtJoyStuff.

I have not done one of these swaps in ages. 

I dug into a deck of vintage playing cards

and put this little art together. 

Go here to see what I got in return.

Totally different styles. But I think that is what the swapping of art is all about. 

I hope this finds you enjoying a beautiful life. 

a creative break and a really sweet friend

I love junkin'

I mean I REALLY love junkin'.

So, a couple of weekends back, I blew off work on Friday. 

Took the Softball Princess for a followup visit to the oral surgeon. 

Wisdom teeth - all four - gone at one time. 

All good - well almost all good - she has a little numbness around her lip from some nerve damage. 

Anyway - after her appointment - piled into the big white truck and took off to the mountains. 

There were several junkin' stops and there was silverware bought. Along with some odds and ends. Just stuff. 

The ultimate destination - my friend Tipper's girls were playing a concert. Those twins, Chitter and Chatter, and their parents are such a blessing. 

Made it an overnight trip and took off on Saturday morning just looking for some more junk. 

Ended up at the flea market in Murphy, NC. Now this is a real flea market. We wound up spending some four hours there before taking off toward home. 

Blogger uploaded these strangely and I refuse to fight with the internet today. 

But here are some favorites from the trip.

I spied this box and knew it was most likely way too expensive for me to take home. It is all wood and has pencil markings on the edges of the little compartments. Made from bits of cigar boxes. And OMG they left the labeling on them. FELL IN LOVE  LUST. 

Then the guy said 5.00 ------ and I grabbed 5 bucks from my wallet and yes sir eee - this baby is MINE.

After the concert, Tipper said she had something for me. She brought me a gift. She is an artist as well as a gifted writer. It was a beautiful mixed media angel. I love her ---- and she will hang with some other angels and gifts from angels soon. 

This stunning pink and green cabinet stopped me in my tracks ---- just look at it. Now - I have ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE to put this. But it took a lot of self control to not buy it anyway. 

There were several gasps and giggles that escaped on this little trek. There was a tiny bit of tequila consumed. There was rest and relaxing. I really recommend taking a time out for yourself and just do something FUN. 

And an FYI the spending was well controlled - I think the flea market total was 38.00. 

Have a great weekend.  I'm heading out to a festival Saturday - more on that next week. 

not wedding work

I have not kept it a secret. While I do not push my faith onto others,  I am very much a Christian and very active in my church. Jones Chapel UMC in Danielsville, Georgia. (If you would like to visit with us, please comment. I will happily give you directions and welcome you into our congregation) 

Jones Chapel has a ton of mission opportunities and supporting UMCOR is one of them. 

Right in the midst of all this wedding stuff, I had agreed to make a little jacket for the LAYETTE RELIEF SUPPLY KIT.

We finished up the 400 hearts on Saturday. I painted the chalkboard signs on Saturday. And I started this little jacket. Using scrap yarns and the five rectangle sweater pattern information from the UMCOR site. 

The little jacket is just five pattern pieces ---- two 5 x 10 rectangles for the front -- with little crochet on ties. The pattern instructions said you could do two granny squares for each side of the front or a panel and I simply made up a panel pattern that kinda looked like it went with the granny square feel. 

Two 6x6 granny squares for the sleeves. 

And a 10x10 granny panel for the back. 

I finished it last night and delivered it at around 10pm to the church. simply putting the UMW coordinator's name on the plastic bag it was in. 

So we are adding this one to the DONE list. One more NON-wedding thing to accomplish (a button swap) then back to wedding stuff full speed ahead. 

I do have one more item to share with you from the weekend. I'll finish it up tonight and share it tomorrow. 

Have a great afternoon.

Merry Christmas

Been a busy little crafting bee at my house.

This one is my latest canvas ---- it's an 8x10 sized one.

I finished it last night and also completed these ---

They are pendant drops - made from Miss Deborah's Grandmother's silverware. She did not have the complete set and wanted to gift the daughters and granddaughters with a remembrance item. I chopped them off and mounted them with really secure double jump rings. I am really happy with how these turned out.

Hope your Christmas preparations are proceeding nicely.

Much Love -- Teresa





stuff......

 warning - lots of poor quality cell phone shots because i was simply too lazy to go get the camera.

I'm working - on a lot of things - getting ready for the art market -- coming up fast (NOVEMBER 12)

There are notebooks ---

 The one above is my favorite for right now.

 But this one is fun too.....

There have been nature walks - and this little heart is being sent to my buddy MaryAnn who is facing some medical challenges right now. OBF - I freaking love you.

The above photo (spookified at picnik.com) is the scuttle door that leads under my house ----

On Sunday, I discovered a leaky water heater under the house. Yay, that's some fun money to spend.

Thank goodness this guy, also known as the Crusty Old Plumber, is my friend.  He scurried under - well not exactly - he took the door off, and chiseled out the stone from the bottom of the hole (my house foundation is solid granite), then scurried under and hooked up a new water heater under there.

Public Service Announcement and Sarcastic Statement Warning - I sell plumbing. The correct terminology here is WATER HEATER, not HOT WATER HEATER. When I answer the phone at work to the question "do you sell hot water heaters?" I answer it " no, we sell cold water heaters." No reason to have a heater for hot water. (smarta$$ remark moment over.)

The Crusty Old Plumber took the time to visit with me last night too. He polished all the silverware for bracelets and collage spoon pendants while I was working on composition books. He is so good to me and I am blessed to have people in my life that make me do this.......

I'm talking the kind of laughter that often leads to a phenomenon that we even laugh about. I have two kids - other mama's or ladies of my age can probably relate to this statement.....

Sometimes I laugh so hard the tears run down my legs.

Yesterday that laughter was hard to come by, because this precious boy left us.

His name was Licorice (Ikish) and he was old old old. He came to us an abused, adult dog about ten years ago. He never lost his fear of men, but me and my girls were always loved by him. For the last several days, he had quit eating and drinking and just lay around. Crusty Old Plumber used his backhoe yesterday to bury him when he found him dead in his pen. I'm gonna miss him.

I hope your life is full of very special people. Mine is.