1/23/2012

January TUSAL and a few finishes.

Here is my ORTS glass for January!  It is pretty full already, I am going to have to upgrade to a bigger glass jar I think! I had a few finishes this month, I really like getting things done, you think I would do more of it, lol,  but I always find myself starting new projects.

Here is the secret sister gift I sent to my crazy friend in Portugal in a swap on the worldwidecrazyquilting group on yahoo.




It is a project bag or sometimes called a hussif.  I designed it myself after seeing one similar my friend had made for her grand daughter.  Hers used plastic zipper bags from the office supply store.  I was unable to find any around here so I made my own.



The bag also contains a needle book, a pouch for small scissors, a pen holder and a pocket big enough for a small notebook.  I hope she liked it!



Also a coffee cozy for another swap on worldwidecrazyquilting, my victim wanted coffee tones, so here it is :-) My satin stitch needs major practice!!!




And also my recent work on a Round Robin on CQI.  
                                   
Things I still need to get done this month, my CQJP, two BOM projects I started and January projects for Vintage Notions! I need to get busy!

12/12/2011

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Hand Dyed Floss Give-Away for Christmas!

Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe: Hand Dyed Floss Give-Away for Christmas!: Yes Ladies...it's time to give away some floss! A beautiful assortment with lots of reds and greens, after all....it is almost Christmas!

12/06/2011

Crazy Quilt Journal Project

Another thing I have joined this week is the Crazy Quilt Journal Project or CQJP 2012.  I have always wanted to do this, to use my stitching to express and strengthen myself, so when I saw the sign ups posted I didn't hesitate to join up.

I have been in round robins, I have created CQ items for friends, but I have never really made anything all by me, just for me.



For years I have been pondering a wall hanging sharing the love for my Grandmother, and I have gotten as far as actually piecing it together, then putting it away because I was just not happy with the colors I had chosen. So I had thought this might be a time to work on this. But still, my heart feels not ready to start. 


I was cleaning up my computer desk top yesterday and I found a poem a friend on WWQC yahoo group shared a month or so ago, which really spoke to me, I had saved it on my desktop, thinking that one day I might incorporate it somehow into a crazy block, and all of a sudden I realized that this is what my CQJP is supposed to be about.

Advice from a Tree
By Ilan Shamir
 
Dear Friend,
 
Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter
Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night.
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light
Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!
 
I will be making 8 x 10 inch journal pages using this poem as my inspiration.
 


12/05/2011

TUSAL~or Totally Useless Stitch-a-long

I've joined the TUSAL over at Daffycat That's a Total Useless Stitch along, where each new moon we post pictures of our ORTS.....sounds pretty provocative doesn't it......hmmmm.  Well.  Actually ORTS are Old-Ratty-Threads, yep the kind that are left on the eye of the needle that can't make another stitch.

I am lousy at getting my thread ends into the trash.  I end up putting them anywhere convenient at the time, then when I get up they usually end up on the floor, or stuck to my pant leg. Or I sit down again and they get stuck.....well.......there. 

So finding a place to put my ORTS is a great idea.  And taking pictures of them every month is a great way of documenting what I have been stitching. I didn't go out and but a glass to put them in, I am not sure how many there will be, I mean I have never really kept track of them before.  So I am starting out with a small empty votive.  Soon it will be full of threads, that is if I can remember where to put them!

Joining things......or best intentions.

I am a joiner.  I like being part of things, planning, guidelines, goals, timelines.  Unfortunately most times I fall flat when it comes to follow through. It was a hard, soul searching conversation I had with myself when I realized that I do talk and talk of ideas and plans and never get around to action.



I overheard someone make fun of me, you know I am one of those, a pipe-dreamer.  That hurt a little.  But it's true, I am always dreaming. 


So once again I have found crafty things going on the internet.  Things with challenges, guidelines and goals, but no pressures, and once again I joined in.  Now I am going to work on my follow through. 
All the pictures found here.

Tassel Re-do

A few years ago I was given these tassels.  They have been moved from place to place, jammed into a box, then into an overfilled drawer, and finally I just knew what they wanted to become.


                                                                Angels of course!


And they were really easy to re-do!

10/27/2011

Getting ready for the show........er.....shows!

For that last few years I have had a table at a craft show at a local church.  Some years I haven't sold a lot and some years I almost sell out, you just never know. And it is hard to decide what to make, what sold last year might or might not sell this year, and some items that I haven't been able to get rid of for three years, sold last year like hot cakes. 

I always tend to have a variety of things to sell.  I guess it is because I have so many things I like to try but have no idea what to do with all of them when they are done! The last couple of days I have been going coaster crazy.

Tumbled stone tiles from Lowes, stamped with staz-on black and colored in with pastels and sharpies, cork added to the back.
Same tiles, stamped with staz-on and sealed with matte finish.

Glossy white tiles .16 cents each, decoupaged with images from my computer, sealed with cork backing.
Tumbled stone tiles, alcohol ink background, staz-on inked through a stencil made with my cricut. Sealed with matte finish and cork on the back.

All the coasted were so easy to make, you know I will have a few more sets before the show!

10/03/2011

Stockings for Christmas in Dixie

I only lost my job, I worry about losing my house, buying groceries, clothing the kids, but lets face it, I still have everything.

I can't imagine what it would be like to lose the things we use to live. Things that don't matter, and things that do, like Great Grandma's china or the photo's of the kids when they were babies. I still have these things, some people don't.


I have always wanted to help people in some way, but I really don't have any marketable skills or know how to go about it.  This is where Craft Hope came in.  When I read that they were partnering with Christmas in Dixie, gathering handmade Christmas stockings for families that have lost everything in the recent tornadoes, I knew I had to contribute. 

A small way to make someones Christmas better.

12/16/2010

Sometimes life hands you lemons

Boy am I glad that 2010 is almost over. A year of struggling in every aspect, career, financial, emotional, physical.  Sometimes things just don't go right however positive you think, act, believe.  It's been a year of struggles for me. Six months of stress at my job where the economy put things out of my control, doing the best I could and being told that it wasn't enough, frustrated, company politics being played around me, singled out when others were worse, but still I tried, believing I could overcome it.  Terminated after five years of gains, one year of loss, but the one of loss counted the most. Bitterness.

After three months of not working, I have gone through a wide range of emotions, my family has been great, supportive and understanding, but I think they are getting tired of the blue me.


After weeks of thinking about nothing and everything, I am feeling that now is the time to put this behind me, it just may be a blessing in disguise. Time now to de-stress, de-stash.....who knows what tomorrow will bring.  It's time to get back to the things that are important.

Every day is a gift.