You Can Call Me Gwen

I'm kind of excited.

 

I always feel a little bit excited at the beginning of a new year.

I like to spend the week between Christmas and New Years Day thinking and praying about the coming year...kind of holding it before God and asking Him to talk to me about what kind of changes would be good for me to make, where my creative energy should be spent, what home projects I should schedule in, where I need to be more thoughtful in my relationships, and many other such things.

I feel my sense of anticipation and hope growing this time of year, which may be why New Year's Day has long been one of my favorite holidays.

But, this year...

This year I have a really intense sense of anticipation and hope.

I mean, it's palpable.

Know why?

 

 

That's why.

I. Can. Hardly. Wait.

Christmas is over, so I can tell you now...

 

I gave myself the best Christmas gift ever this year.

I made "Advent Calendars" (for two different people) and loaded them with little gifts.

And every day for 25 days I recieved two text messages and photos first thing in the morning from two happy people, showing me what they'd unwrapped and telling me how they felt about it.

Seriously; best gift I ever gave myself.

One of the calendars was given to my three-year-old grandshoot.

They are so easy to delight at that age; he was as thrilled with a candy cane as he was with a play helicopter.

Alas, all the photos are on my iPhone, and I have misplaced the cord which would let me upload them to this here computer.

The other recipient was my Beeg Seester.

I dropped hers off while she was out, and Bro helped me hang it on her studio wall.

 

 

I got this lovely idea from KatieBrownBlog.com. (Sorry I'm having issues with inserting links!)

I painted some of my clothespins white and covered their fronts with various red and white decorative papers, and the others I just painted with red spray paint.

I told my Seester that hers is a "pass-along"  Advent calendar, and next year she has to fill it for someone else.

As for her gifts, they were simple little things, but I did stick with a color theme she loves: turquoise and red.

That made it more challenging, but it was still a lot of fun filling it up.

I made many of the things I included.

The little felt Scotty dog, whose pattern I found on the wonderful Allsorts blog (allsorts.typepad.com). 

 

  

The hand-cut cardinal gift tags.

 

 

The stuffed bird pincushion.

  

 

The little felt stars (also from a pattern found on the lovely Allsorts blog).

 

 

The glittered ornaments made from seashells I collected while we were vacationing together in North Carolina.

 

 

The little mini-pincushion.

 

 

The pinecone elf.

 

 

The tiny notecards in coin envelopes.

 

 

The container full of paper beads in all the right colors.

  

 

The little photo holders made from spools of thread and French paper clips (complete with old school pictures of various family members).

  

 

The tiny paper birds, whose photos I forgot to take, hiding in this paper tube.

 

 

I included a few little art supplies, because Seester is making some pretty kewl collages these days.

 

 

 

  

(Oh, how I love me some Sharpies! Sharpies are our friends.)

 

 
 

 

 

 

Her first roll of Washi tape; I think she was excited.

  

 

Turquoise duct tape; I know she was excited about this!

 

 

The red binder clips, some of which I covered in fabric, were included just because we love office supplies of any kind, and if they're in our favorite colors, so much the better!







Cozy socks seemed necessary.







Fabric marking pencils and...







...tiny red embroidery scissors were included because Seester also sews beautifully.





 

So, you see, nothing too extravagant, but it sure was wonderful thing to know that my Seester started her day with a happy moment.

I'm hoping to do another one (or two) of these next year for other peeps.

And those peeps will definitely have to be of the female kind.

Who can think of 25 little, inexpensive items that would make a man happy?

Well?

Not I.

Simple Gifts Artist Sale

Hello, Dear Readers.

If you're in the area, drop in tomorrow (November 12).

I'm hosting a gift market with a few friends.

Here's the e-vite:

And here are some of the things we'll have for sale:

Some of Gwen's Dollies

They have 'real' names and personalities.

Some hand-painted fabric coaster sets.

Some reversible fabric coasters.

Some of the kewlest pincushions you'll ever see.

I seeee you.

Some 'aperns'.

 

 

Lots of book thongs.

Made with hand-rolled paper beads.

Some with a little tongue-in-cheek humor.

The elves will be here.

Fabric keychain wallets.

Hooded towels for the kids.

Very kewl zipper bracelets.

And more!

 

I'm sorry I don't have pictures of the beautiful note cards and gift tags that were made by Miss B.

And I don't have photos of the scrumptious homemade cinnamon rolls, macaroons, oven-baked caramel corn, and cookies which were baked up at Blue-Bar-of-Happiness by my two Seesters.

They'll have them here to sell, with some free samples, too!

So...

If you want to buy some handmade, lovely gifts for those you love (including yourself), drop on in tomorrow between nine and three.

We'll be taking names for a door-prize drawing, too.

And last, but not least, Phoebe will be here!

She's the cutest thing you'll ever see...

...so don't miss visiting with her in person.

 

 

We're going to have a baby!

 

Well, actually, Creative Genius and his bride are going to have a baby.

In January.

And today we went to a baby shower for Baby Pemberton Boss Haikin and his parents.

Not sure yet what Baby's first name will be, but Pemberton and Boss are his two middle names. 

I hope he'll be big enough to carry the weight of all those family names (Pemberton from her's and Boss from his).

But I hope he's just a sweet little bundle at first.

Then he will be able to wear the christening gown I made for his daddy (can it really be?) 27 years ago.

 

 

And he'll be able to cuddle up in the cocoon I crocheted for him just a few weeks ago.

 

 

Both of which were given to him at his shower today.

We'll give him time to grow into those names.

For now we just want to get him into our arms.

Quilt Camp is Happening

 

I am hosting the First Annual House-of-Haikin Quilt Camp this weekend.

Two six-foot craft tables, 5 sewing machines, 2 ironing boards and irons, 4 cutting mats, 1 improvised design wall, 5 quilters, miles of thread, piles of fabric, and lots of creative energy.

There has been much fabric cut...

 

 

 

...and stitched.

 

 
 

There has been some amazing show-and-tell:

 

 

 
 

There have been many quilts plotted on the design wall and started on their way to life.

 

 
 

There have been projects moved another step toward completion.

 

 

 

 

There have been morning glories picked for our breakfast table on the way in from the herb garden.

 

 

There have been women wandering the house in comfy jammies early in the morning and late at night.

 

 

There have been drop-in visitors.

  

 

There have been learning sessions, trips to the quilt store, times of felllowship, and some real belly laughs.

And there is more to come.

I hope you are having a good weekend, too, Dear Readers.

I'm not fast, but I'm slow.

 

Way back in September of 2010, I purchased a big piece of furniture at our local Goodwill store.

September 11th, to be exact.

 

I blogged about it here (scroll down through the post).

That big piece of furniture sat in our garage in it's original condition until April of this year.

Here is what it looked like:

 

In April, I finally had enough free time and good weather converge to go out there and start working on the piece.

On April 16th, to be exact.

 

 

The first thing I discovered was that the knobs were not removable; they were glued on, not screwed in.

The next thing I discovered was a pair of men's socks; they were stuck behind one of the drawers.

I laughed.

I guess this was used as someones dresser in it's former life.

After I sanded and washed the piece down, I put two coats of my favorite black paint on it.

After it dried for a few days, we brought it in and put it up against the 'new' wainscotted wall in the dining room.

It was supposed to be temporary, but it's still there.

And it's full to the brim with the china and dishes I took out of my other hutch when we started re-doing that room.

I think it's beautiful.

I wish I could get a good picture, but this is the best I've been able to do.

 

 

I'm pleased with my $37.50 buffet.

I'm glad I got it done before we had to celebrate a one-year anniversary of ownership.

I'm especially glad to have it done now, because Saturday we brought home 5 more pieces that need to be redone.

Soon.

Real soon.

Penguins

 

I am having some very frustrating (puts me right out of fellowship!) technical difficulties when I sit down to compose a new post for this here bloggeroonie.

So, having just lost a good portion of a long post which included multiple photos, I have decided to keep this one simple.

"Be careful, little eyes, what you see..."

When I stumbled upon some adorable penguin finger puppets on-line late Friday night, I was unable to go to sleep until I'd drafted a pattern to make some of my very own.

And that is just what I did yesterday while my allergy-related asthma was keeping me down:

 

 
 

I wanted to show you mine before I sent you over to take a look at the adorable originals which caught my eye.

I admire her beautiful handwork, and the lovely wool felt (I don't have any of that wonderful commodity) stayawake uses for her puppets.

I would love to use the photo of her five pastel penguins as my wallpaper; it's just so pleasing to my eye.

Alas.

I'm out of fellowship with the technical world at the moment.

Good thing there are now little felt penguins in my real world.

Sigh.

E-stuff. i-stuff. Woohoo!-stuff.

How awesome is this going to be? I purchased an iPad for myself today! I wanted to amaze the Prince by walking into an electronic store and spending a whole bunch of money without him. I don't buy much, I don't shop much, and I certainly am not the technomaniac of this twosome. I wanted him to be so proud of me and surprised by me. I picked out what I wanted very quickly (until I had to choose a color, which was, um, time consuming). And then I tried to finish the transaction. I didn't know the PIN for our joint checking account debit card. I didn't know the PIN for my personal checking account. I didn't have a credit card with me. And then I discovered I'd lost my checkbook somewhere between store number 1 and store number 2. I had no means of paying for my big, amazing, all-grown-up-now purchase. I had to have Beeg Seester write a check for me (she was buying one, too!). I didn't feel very grown up and proud of myself so much after that. But, I came away with my new helper, even if I didn't come away with my pride. And maybe this will mean that I get to talk with you often again. Perhaps having this handy when I have glued myself to my worktable with the latest superior-bond glue will mean that I can still show you what I'm working on. I miss writing. And I miss you guys. Oh, yes. I have missed you, Dear Readers. I really have.

I can say no...

 

...to the cupcakes I bake, and the brownies Miss Helping Hands bakes.

I can say no to the donuts and bagels which often appear on the break-room table at work.

I can say no to homemade cookies, and I can even say no to the chocolate birthday cakes I (often!) have to bake.

But, I'm having a real hard time with biscotti.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try the recipe posted by Angry Chicken (I enjoy her blog very much)..

Aye yi yi.

I've now tried seven different flavor combinations using this basic biscotti recipe.

Today I decided to make a couple of varieties as a gift to a friend who has a pile of out-of-town company this week.

I made chocolate chip with orange rind.

 

 

This is delicious.

 

I made almond with cranberries (Craisins).

 

 

This is delicious, too.

Then Miss Helping Hands made a batch with crushed peppermints and coated one side with chocolate.

I didn't get a good photograph, but Prince Charming (who is our died-in-the-wool chocolate lover) says it was really good.

Yikes.

Maybe it's because it's not overly sweet that I find it difficult to stop once I start eating this stuff.

I don't know.

But I served it to a Dear Reader recently, and now she is having biscotti-baking binges, too.

I think you're just going to have to go visit Angry Chicken and try this recipe for yourself.

I use half wheat and half white flour, as she suggests.

And if you want to know my very most favoritest flavor combination so far, it's lime zest and vanilla.

Yum.

Go forth and bake.

You guys rock.

 

Seriously.

Your recycling suggestions on the last post were great.

I've tried most of them out, too!

I don't think I have photos of them all (I was giving them away as fast as I was making them at first), but I do have some to share.

Dear Reader sarahrosevancamp suggested using maps or trail guides as book covers, and letting the young campers use their books as journals.

I made some covers from both.

I really liked the maps.

I was trying to get the national forests and parks in the ones I made for the lovely VanCampers.

 

 

And, of course, I had to get our fair city on the cover of one of them.

 

 

When you have to cut from a large paper like a map, overlay an 8 1/2" x 11' sheet of transparent paper and move it around (until you can see that the images you want will be on the front cover) before cutting.  

 

 

I love using the paper beads on these - picking through that growing pile of color to find just the right bead - but it does mean they can't be mailed as easily (read: inexpensively).

The trail guides were published on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, with landscape orientation, so I just reversed the folds and made these books wider than they are long.

The photos were perfectly placed for the covers that way.

 

 

I'll probably go back and add beads, even though I am mailing these, because, well, I just have to.

Dear Reader mAuRa suggested recycling a catalog or magazine cover.

I used the cover of a September 1952 Better Homes and Gardens magazine to make her little giftlet.

 

 

 

 

That lead, of course, to leafing through the magazine, and I decided to make a few book covers from some of the ads featured therein.

 

 
Since Dear Reader Kristen suggested using food magazines or cookbooks to make the cover (and filling it with recipes for a wedding shower), I thought one of these might do the trick.

 

 

I didn't get a photo, but it just happened to work out that the back sides of these have recipes from the magazine on them.

Dear Reader Auntie Chickie suggested using a Farmers Almanac or a beloved PeeChee folder (any of you remember those?), but I didn't have either of those on hand.

Since my supply of vintage magazines came from her, I think I will have to send her one of these, instead.

Dear Reader Fran suggested old photos, greeting cards, or paperback book covers, but I didn't have anything along those lines that was large enough.

Instead, I used a page from my old handwriting workbook to make her cover.

 

 

 

Dear Reader Annski suggested using old calendar covers, but then she came to play in Gwen's studio, and she brought me one she'd made for me before I could get around to doing it myself.

Isn't this a most cheerful little book?

 

 

Dear Reader Jenny suggested grocery sacks or coffee bags.

I think if I had coffee bags big enough to make myself a book cover, I would be sniffing it all the time, instead of writing in it.

Grocery sacks I do have, and I love things made from the humble brown 'poke'.

I'm sorry I don't have any photos of that, but Dear Reader Jenny will have her own soon.

Thanks again, for all your suggestions.

And a big thank you, too, to each of you who have asked me to please hurry up and post again.

I have been unbelievably busy these past few months and, since I have missed writing, it's nice to know that I've been missed as well.

Now, in the 'totally unrelated' column of today's post, I want to show you this photo:

 

 

I call it "Little Man's Trail".

He was visiting last Sunday, and having a little afternoon snack of iced coffee and popcorn.

He knows he can't take food out of the kitchen, but something was pulling his attention elsewhere.

He abandoned the coffee first.

Then the popcorn.

And the shoes must've been slowing him down.

I love it.

And I love this:

 

That Big Man on the right used to play with these same Legos when he was the size of the Little Man on the left.

But I think I gave him too much to eat, because he got, like, really big and tall and stopped playing with Legos.

And now...

...I will sign off with this little teaser photo of what's coming next:

 

 

I'm making something(s) from my growing collection of paper beads and Scrabble tiles.

And this is the clean part of my kitchen table.

Rubberband Books

 

 

I have a little book-making tutorial for you, courtesy of the lovely Miss B (of Zentangle fame).

When our D'Art group got together to play on the 8th of July, we got to make paper beads with Able Baker Dana and rubberband books with Miss B.

Definitely an inchie moment (hour? day?).

 

 

 

It was so easy-peasy to make these books, and they make such lovely little gifts, that I thought I'd just share the how-to with all of you Dear Readers.

Here are the supplies you will need:

 - One sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper for the cover (you can use cardstock, scrapbook paper, even something from your recycling bin...the possibilities are endless)

 - One or two sheets of 8 1/2" x 11" copy-weight paper

 - One #19 rubberband

 - A bone folder (you can use  a tongue depressor)

 - A scissors or a paper cutter

 - A bit of glue (or some glue dots or double stick tape)

Ready?

It's nice if you can start with a piece of paper for the cover that you think is...

  

 

 

Since my paper was 12" x 12", I had to do a little trimming to make it the correct size.

Of course, I didn't just make a straight cut to trim that extra inch off one edge...

 

 
 

...because I'm still in a manic paper-bead-making phase, with no end in sight.

Once the paper was the correct size, I just followed these instructions:

Step 1. Fold your cover paper in a 'hot dog' fold (long edges together) with the front side facing out and make a nice crease with your bone folder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, you might notice that my paper is upside down here, and that's important.

I made these next important creases all wrong (several times) when I was using paper which had text (or a design needing a particular orientation).

If you stick with me, you'll see that you need to be careful at this point if you are using paper like this for your cover.

Step 2.  Open your paper and fold the bottom two corners in to meet the middle crease (I don't know why I had to confuse you by turning my paper upside down so that I had to fold the top two corners)....

 

 

 

...and press with your bone folder.

Step 3. Now fold the paper in a 'hamburger' fold, bringing the point to the center of the top edge like this...

 

 

 

...and press that bottom crease with your bone folder. 

Step 4.  Place glue dots or a small piece of double-stick tape (or a bit of glue) to hold the inner pockets closed...

 

 

 

 

...and fold your book closed along the original hot dog fold.

Your cover is almost finished!

Step 5.  To make inner pages, hamburger fold a piece of copy weight paper, and crease along the fold.

 

 

 

Step 6. Now cut 1/4" off the folded edge like this...

 



 

...and a generous 1/4" off one short edge like this:







Step 6. Fold your pages (short edge to short edge) and crease.



 



You can make pages from any copy weight paper, and the beauty of this little notebook is that the pages can be replaced any time.

If you happen to have a friend who loves graph paper every bit as much as you do, and you happen to be planning to give her a little notebook next time you see her, you might want to add some pages made from graph paper.







Step 7.  You're going to snip a little bit off the cover at the folded corners, so the rubberband can meet and hold the inside pages in place.

I center my inner pages along the outside of the cover and hold them in place while I snip off the corners...

 







...like this:



 

 

 




Step 8.  Now just line the center creases of your inner pages up with the center crease of your inside book cover and slip a #19 rubberband into place like this:







Et voila!







You have a nice little refillable notebook!

You can tuck a few index cards inside the pockets, too.







Do you love it?







Now, when we made these in 'class', we also made one which was not refillable.

We used a needle and thread to sew the 'signature' of inner pages into the notebook.

I loved the fact that we could dress up the book by adding paper beads to the tails of the thread on the outside of the book.

In fact, I loved it so much that I decided I couldn't do without it, even though I wanted this book to be refillable. 

So, I just removed the pages, sewed the book cover together so I could add the beads, and then put the pages and rubberband back in place.

Now I really love it!

 







( If you notice that I clipped the outer edges of my book cover, even though it wasn't necessary from a functional standpoint, well...it's just because I've got this problem with symmetry.)

Another wonderful thing about these little notebooks is that they fit perfectly into a standard A2 envelope so you can mail them (minus the beads, of course).

I made several for Me Darlin' Mither to mail to her friends (in a lot less time than it took me to write this post).

Think of the potential uses for a nifty little book design like this (Thank you, Miss B!).

What a kewl thing to make with kids the first day of a vacation or a week at camp so they could use it as a journal or an autograph book.

I'm really wanting to make some of these using old phone book or atlas covers for cover paper.

I think there is a lot of paper floating in and out of our lives which could be recycled with this project.

I'm going to send one of these to you if you give me a suggestion for a recycled book cover for which I actually have the material on hand.   offer expired 8/1/2011

Okay?

Okay.

A Book Themed Wedding Shower

 

And now...

Back by popular demand...

The Inchies, ladies and gentlemen!

Actually, there hasn't been any demand, popular or otherwise, but I do have two and a half month's worth of unposted inchies...along with all their back stories.

Seems like I should know how this happened, but I really can't remember much, except that I had my gears in overdrive for a lot of May and June.

So, anywho...

Because this little blog really does serve as a log for me, I'm going to round up some of those inchies and kind of bounce back and forth from past to present for awhile in my posts.

Today I'm looking back on part of May...

Someone I love is getting married, and I had the privilege of being one of the hosts of a wedding shower for he and his bride in May.

On and off during the month, I worked on decorative details for the shower.

I already showed you the invitations...

 

 

 

...though I don't know if they were complete at the time.

Once the invitations were in the mail, I got serious about making decorations for the shower.

Because we were trying for a casual and comfortable atmosphere, but wanted to have something pretty for the tradition-embracing bride, we decided on sack lunches for dinner, but something beyond the brown bag.

Imagine how thrilled I was to discover the perfect napkins to do the job for us!

 

 

 

This little business of having sack lunches (croissant sandwiches, fruit, chips) prepared - along with help-yourself drinks on ice and tiered trays of pretty cupcakes - really left all the hostesses free to enjoy the evening, and the guests free to eat whenever they wished.

It was perfect.

And finding the napkins and being inspired with the design was my perfect inchie moment for the day.

 

  

 

After that was figured out, I turned my attention to Phase II of the paper dogwood blossoms.

For the shower, I wanted to use book pages for some of the blossoms, along with the 'natural white' paper, so I scouted the thrift stores and made a couple of great finds.

One book was titled, "Flowers for You", and was a collection of scriptures and stories for the various seasons of life.

 

 

I considered it a bonus that this book was printed with brown ink; highly unusual, and so much 'gentler' for the blossoms.

The other book was titled, "I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah" ; a scriptural look at love and marriage by one of my favorite speaker/authors, Ravi Zacharias (it was difficult to cut that one up, but I knew my "adopted" son would appreciate the details; which he did).

I left the leaves off one of the branches and used it as a guest book at the shower; letting each of the guests sign a leaf as they came in, and then attaching them to the branch with glue dots (I love me some glue dots).

 

 

 

 

 

  

Also at the entry table were the name tags which were made using the leftover paper from the invitations (the bride was meeting many of the guests for the first time).

Because we were using books (one of the bride and groom's great common interests) and flowers to decorate for this shower, I was really happy to find I had the perfect rubber stamp on my shelf for the name tags.

 



 

Completing this pretty little detail was the inchie moment for May 13.





 

The night before the shower (gasp!) I remembered I was planning to make a wreath for the front door using an idea from this great book. 

I am so glad I remembered and had the time to make it - with Miss Helping Hands' help - because I loved it.

We used every page from this book...

  

 

...along with a few sheets of green patterned paper (which previously served as placemats on the tea table) to make the wreath. 

I started by running my ink pad (and I'm totally loving this color and it's name - Pear Tart, dig it) along all the edges of the book.







 

Then we took all the pages out of the book and starting rolling them into cones.

Since I was behind the eight ball on this project, I completely forgot to stop and take pictures (but the step-by-step instructions are in the book).

Some of the pages were rolled from the long edge, and some from the short.

They were stapled at the narrow end and some more color was added by just lightly running the ink pad along some of the points and sides.

Then they were glued in circular rows to a large round piece of cardboard.

I remembered to take one other picture while we were working (probably when I realized we were going to get it done and I started breathing again).





 

Somewhere around the point when I started breathing again, I also realized I was growing faint from hunger.

Miss Helping Hands kept telling me to "Stop and eat. You need some protein, Mom."

I finally said yes to her offer to reheat a barbecued hamburger patty.

I guess she thought it was a pathetic sight all by it's lonesome on the plate, because this is what she brought to me:







I'll bet you've never had mustard served to you in such an artistic fashion.

Don't be jealous; you can copy this if you want to.

All I ask is that you give Miss Helping Hands the creative credit when you post your pictures.

Bwahahaha.

Once we had all the cones on the board, I had to do a little digging around on-line (I was grateful for Facebook at this point) to locate a photograph to personalize the center.

The addition of a few small blossoms finished the job.




 

I had Miss Helping Hands hold it so you could get an idea of the size; I had no idea it would be so large.

 

 


...but it was perfect for the door.





 

The shower, on May 20, was wonderful.







Just like the bride and groom for whom it was given.

It's only 93 degrees today? Let's bake!

 

 

Since I returned from that wonderful vacation (about which I have not yet posted), I have been making a real effort to leave one or two 'unscheduled' days a month on my calendar.

By that, I mean I'm trying not to make plans ahead of time for every single day I have off work.

It's been a real exercise for me, but I'm convinced that I'll die early (or just seize up some day) if I don't learn how to relax.

Today was an unscheduled day.

And it happened to be Miss Helping Hands' day off, too.

I asked, "Whatcha doin' today?"

She answered, "No plans until tonight."

I said, "We should make something."

She said, "You mean, like, bake something?"

"Yeah."

"Muffins! I want muffins!"

We looked at our supplies and realized we didn't have the ingredients for any of her favorite muffins.

So we made three other kinds, instead.

We started with a recipe for blueberry yogurt muffins, which we adapted, because we had no blueberries and we wanted to use the vanilla yogurt we had on hand.

 We added some peach jam (the last little jar from last summer's canning) to the yogurt to make the full cup the recipe called for.

And we added some orange juice concentrate to substitiute for orange zest.

While Miss Helping Hands got the muffins into the oven, I whipped some of the peach jam into some softened butter and let it re-form in the freezer.

 

 

 

When the muffins came out, hot from the oven, the skinny girl's plate looked like this:

 

 

 

You really need a close-up so your mouth can water.

 

 

 

The not-skinny girl's portion looked like this:

 

 

 

But, man was it yummmmmmy.

While the peach muffins were baking, Miss Helping Hands whipped up a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

 

 

 

I confess to eating a mini...they are scrumptious.

I will not tell you what the skinny girl ate.

I don't really know.

While the pumpkin muffins were baking, I made a batch of granola from Alton Brown's recipe.

I've probably told you about his recipe before, but it bears repeating that it is delicious.

I didn't have any cashews on hand, so I subbed pecans, and I used molasses instead of maple syrup.

This stuff has to bake at 200 degrees for an hour and fifteen minutes.

My step aerobic workout routine takes an hour and ten minutes.

I was plenty hot by the time the granola and I were done...

 

 

 

...and I was plenty hungry, too.

But, first things first.

I made a batch of apple pie muffins with the apples we'd taken from the deep freeze when we first decided to bake today.

 

 

So.

Much.

Sugar.

I won't be eating these, but they look and smell wonderful, and I can imagine Me Darlin' Mither and the girls enjoying them like dessert.

I did have a cup of cantaloupe, with 4 ounces of Greek yogurt and a third of a cup of the freshly baked granola poured over it for lunch.

Oh.

My.

Yummy.

Goodness.

You need to try that for summer breakfast or lunch some day very soon.

Really, you do.

While we were finishing the clean-up from our 4 1/2 hour baking stint, I began to search for the most important item in the kitchen.

I couldn't find it anywhere.

Not on the counters.

Not in the dishwasher.

Not in the cupboard where I keep it.

I began to be "audibly concerned" about its whereabouts.

"Mom, take it easy, I'm trying to remember where I put it."

More frantic searching.

Aha!

"Hannah! It's way back here in the cabinet. I must have this kept right here with the drinking glasses."

Do you know what she said (under her breath)?

"Okaaaaaayy...I guess it's the summer of the big jar."

Well, yeah.

When the weather dishes up blistering 100+ degree days for weeks on end...

 

 

 

...I must have my afternoon coffee on ice.

Lots of ice.

Sun and Surf Cupcakes

 

 

I know these look like white cupcakes...

 

 

 

...but they are actually small pieces of planet Earth.

And these may look like peppermint candies...

 

 

 

...but they are actually beach balls.

This appears to be my container of brown sugar...

 

 

 

...but it's really sand.

This looks like blue-tinted icing, doesn't it?

 

 

 

You just have to use a little bit of imagination to see that it's ocean water.

When you add these little beauties that look like cocktail picks,...

 

 

 

... but which are actually beach umbrellas...

...and you put them all together in just the right way...

 

 

 

...you get a little dessert that looks an awful lot like a day at the beach.

And, golly, don't I love a day at the beach?

Roll Your Own

Let's not discuss how long it's been since I posted here.

Let's not discuss how many inchies have not made it to this blog.

And, whatever we do, let's not discuss the weather.

The 'too-many-days-over-100-degrees' weather.

Let's talk about paper beads, instead.

Because (though I've been busy with a variety of things), last Friday when my D'Art group got together to play (it's summah!), the lovely Able Baker Dana joined us and headed up a little paper bead workshop.

I haven't been able to stop making them since then.

Perhaps it's because I can never tell just how a bead will turn out before I start making it.

Perhaps it's because they don't require any supplies that I don't already have (plenty of).

 

 

 

Got this stuff on hand?

 - white glue

 - clear nail polish (the glittery kind is nice, too)

 - a 'winding wire' (this one is the kind used by utility companies to plant flags)

 - decorative papers or colorful magazine pages

 - a nice wet cloth

Here is one way to make paper beads.

 First, cut a bunch of paper strips...

 

 

 

...in triangles at least 10" long...

 

 

 

...(you can even use the 'selvedge' from your decorative papers).

 

 

 

Then, start at the wide end of one strip and wind it (nice and tightly) around the rod.

When you get about 3" from the skinny end, ...

 

 

 

...run a little glue along the remaining paper before you finish winding it up.

Then grab your bottle of white glue,...

 

 

 

...glop some on the bead...

 

 

 

...and just smooth it all over the bead with your fingers (now you know why you need the wet cloth).

(Don't worry about getting glue on the wire; the beads will still move along the wire easily.)

Now, just move the bead down to one end of your wire to dry while you wrap the next one.

When you have your wire almost full, use your clear nail polish to give all the beads a nice protective coating.

 

 

 

Able Baker Dana recommends three coats of polish, but I'm here to tell ya I stopped at two and am hoping there won't be any severe repercussions.

It doesn't take long to make a nice little pile of beads.

 

 

 

And it really is interesting to see how the different papers look once they are rolled.

This bead was made from a leopard print paper:

 

 

 

And you can see that if you vary the width of your triangles, you get some nice variance in bead size.

 

 

 

Sometimes I worry about my obsessive/compulsive tendancies with these sorts of things.

I worry about why I am compelled to make so many of some things before I can feel settled.

But, you know what I've noticed?

There always seems to be a blessing in them for someone eventually.

In this case, it didn't take long to see who would that someone would be.

Little Man was here last night, and he sat for a long while, with real concentration...

 

 

 

...and made a nice long string of paper beads.

 

 

 

So.

I got the blessing on this one.

Roll Your Own

Let's not discuss how long it's been since I posted here.

Let's not discuss how many inchies have not made it to this blog.

And, whatever we do, let's not discuss the weather.

The 'too-many-days-over-100-degrees' weather.

Let's talk about paper beads, instead.

Because (though I've been busy with a variety of things), last Friday when my D'Art group got together to play (it's summah!), the lovely Able Baker Dana joined us and headed up a little paper bead workshop.

I haven't been able to stop making them since then.

Perhaps it's because I can never tell just how a bead will turn out before I start making it.

Perhaps it's because they don't require any supplies that I don't already have (plenty of).

 

 

 

Got this stuff on hand?

 - white glue

 - clear nail polish (the glittery kind is nice, too)

 - a 'winding wire' (this one is the kind used by utility companies to plant flags)

 - decorative papers or colorful magazine pages

 - a nice wet cloth

Here is one way to make paper beads.

 First, cut a bunch of paper strips...

 

 

 

...in triangles at least 10" long...

 

 

 

...(you can even use the 'selvedge' from your decorative papers).

 

 

 

Then, start at the wide end of one strip and wind it (nice and tightly) around the rod.

When you get about 3" from the skinny end, ...

 

 

 

...run a little glue along the remaining paper before you finish winding it up.

Then grab your bottle of white glue,...

 

 

 

...glop some on the bead...

 

 

 

...and just smooth it all over the bead with your fingers (now you know why you need the wet cloth).

(Don't worry about getting glue on the wire; the beads will still move along the wire easily.)

Now, just move the bead down to one end of your wire to dry while you wrap the next one.

When you have your wire almost full, use your clear nail polish to give all the beads a nice protective coating.

 

 

 

Able Baker Dana recommends three coats of polish, but I'm here to tell ya I stopped at two and am hoping there won't be any severe repercussions.

It doesn't take long to make a nice little pile of beads.

 

 

 

And it really is interesting to see how the different papers look once they are rolled.

This bead was made from a leopard print paper:

 

 

 

And you can see that if you vary the width of your triangles, you get some nice variance in bead size.

 

 

 

Sometimes I worry about my obsessive/compulsive tendancies with these sorts of things.

I worry about why I am compelled to make so many of some things before I can feel settled.

But, you know what I've noticed?

There always seems to be a blessing in them for someone eventually.

In this case, it didn't take long to see who would that someone would be.

Little Man was here last night, and he sat for a long while, with real concentration...

 

 

 

...and made a nice long string of paper beads.

 

 

 

So.

I got the blessing on this one.

Pedal to the Metal - Part Two

 

I'm still sewing gifts for relatives I'll be seeing on our upcoming road trip.

Able Baker Dana was here on Wednesday and we cranked out a few 'aperns' together.

It was fun to see Able Baker sewing, instead of mixing flour and sugar.

 

 

 

I may have to change her name to Able Seamstress Dana...

 

 

 

...because she did such a great job on her aperns.

Someone was making her laugh while she modeled her apern for me.

 I had Miss Helping Hands model mine for you.

 

 

 

Isn't she just as cute as a bug?

And isn't this fabric (from the Hancock's 40% off sale) nice and cheerful?

 

 

 

I think I could cook dinner and stay in a good mood wearing this, but, alas, away it goes to California.

I bought this fabric to make something for my happy young niece.

 

 

 

 

She lets her children get right in there with her when she's in the kitchen, so her daughter needed to have an apern to match mom's.

 

 

 

I wanted to make some aperns from my stash of perfect weight denim, so I was delighted to find that this yellow and navy toile looked perfect with it.

 

 
 

 

This one is for my Beeg Seester's birthday (which just happens to be today).

 

 

 

I hope she likes it.

I'm thinking about making a PDF of this apern pattern so each of you Dear Readers who like to sew could make one or two for your precious selves.

I hope that happens some day.

Pedal to the Metal

 

 

Sewing machine pedal, that is.

I'm planning a trip to the west coast soon, and I'll be seeing a pile of relatives along the way. 

Some of them are little people I've never met, and some of them are little people I haven't seen for awhile.

I want them to know I love them.

And, of course, I want them to love me.

So I'll go bearing gifts.

This morning, I robbed this hunk of green polka-dotted fabric from my stash (I can't remember when or why it was purchased)...

 

 

 

...to make a sundress for a sweet little girl.

I wanted to use the size two from this pattern I used in my last sewing project...

 

 

 

...but I didn't have enough of any contrasting fabric to make it interesting the way I did the last one.

So, I dipped into the quilt scrap and "white remnants" stash in the sewing room closet and found some things to help me make this jumper interesting in a different way.

 

 

 

Can you see what I saw?

Cherries!

 

 

 

I don't know when it became the norm, but I really appreciate the switch away from doing machine applique with a tight zig-zag stitch, to doing it with the blanket stitch; it makes a much smoother completed project.

 

 

 

I let the leaf remain free; I just placed the end under the stem as I was stitching it.

 

 

 

 

(I don't know why...I just wanted it to be free.)

 

I lined the front bodice with white fabric, because I didn't want the green to show through on that side, but I lined the back bodice with the green fabric so the tie closure would be fun.

 

 

 

I top stitched the bodice in the green thread, hoping it would serve to diminish the stark contrast between the white bodice and green skirt.

I don't know if it helped, but I like it anyway.

When I finished sewing, the light was no longer perfect for photography, but here is the little dress front...

 

 

 

...and back.

 

 

 

Or should I say...

"Here is the first little bribe, front and back."

This one's for you, Lindsay.

 

 

Maybe it's because you left such a lovely thank you note on my studio guest book after you spent the weekend playing in there.

Or maybe it's because you were so excited to make a paper dogwood branch the evening you were here with Miss Mary Mack.

 

 

 

But, whatever the reason, when I discovered these paper roses, I immediately thought of you.

So read on and tell me if this makes you run for the scissors and glue.

You can cut these from any paper you like; other people use decorative paper, but I like to recycle my old magazines (as you Dear Readers know).

(I'm also thinking this would be a good way to make something beautiful from the summer electric bill.)

I pulled a few colorful pages from some of the magazines that are stacked up around this place.

 

 

 

I chose a variety of things because this was my first run with this project and I wanted to see how different colors and patterns would work.

I folded my pages in half...

 

 

 

...so I would get two-fers when I cut my circles.

At first, I carefully traced a circle onto the top magazine page...

 

 

 

...but, since it doesn't matter how perfect the circles are for this project, I quickly traded that in for just cutting the circles freehand.

 

  

 

Then I drew a spiral on the top circle only; magazine pages are light and I knew I could cut them all at once, as long as I held them firmly.

 

 

 

Once they were cut, I carefully separated them.

 

 

 

The spirals tend to tangle at the center.

Then I simply started rolling the spiral in on itself, starting at the outside edge and keeping the colored side of the paper to the inside.

 

 
 

 

After the whole spiral had been rolled in on itself, I simply set it down on the table and let it uncurl itself a bit.

It was so amazing to see how these came out!

The center of the spiral acts like a little base for the rest of the rose to stand on.

Here is the first one I finished:

 

 

 

So totally kewl!

I haven't glued any of mine to the 'base' yet, but the tutorial here suggests using a glue dot (though I will probably just spread a little white glue on mine - cheap cheap).

Each of the papers had it's own appeal.

 

 

 

It's going to be fun to experiment, because there weren't any that I did not like.

 

 

 

So, Lindsay, and you other creative Dear Readers (unless you've already done this and I'm just behind in school) go cut and roll.

I've got to cut and run.

There is a baby hedgehog out there waiting to be chosen, and Miss Helping Hands wants me to go through the adoption process with her.

Life is always interesting.

The Circle of Life

 

(I'm going to give all of you creative Dear Readers some more time to come up with captions for my last post. I know you're all working on it. Meanwhile...)

Twenty-two years ago I was making many little sundresses from this pattern...

 

 

 

...for my own baby girl.

Tuesday, during the very long, tense tornado watch, I got out this pattern and made a little sundress for another Baby Girl.

This fabric, which I purchased to add a spot of color to the bridal shower food table,...

 

 

 

...was bought with this companion fabric so I could use it for Baby Girl's sundress.

 

 

 

It's a lot wilder, and in a different color scheme, than I'd normally choose, but Miss Helping Hands reassures me that "it's summery and it's really cute".

I do so love this pattern.

 

 

 

I love the pocket details.

 

 

 

And I love the back; especially when it's lined with a contrasting fabric.

 

 

 

Baby Girl generally wears a headband with a ribbon or some other fanciness on it, so I used some of the leftover fabric to make a matching flower.

 

 

 

 I'm going to sew a clip to the back of it so it can be attached to a headband.

Although the dress is a size 1/2, it still looks big in comparison to Baby Girl.

I'm anxious to see how it fits.

And if it does fit...

 

 
 

 

...look out.

I'll be putting the pedal to the metal on that Bernina. 

Your mission, should you decide to accept it...

 

...is to help me write the captions for these cards I told you about in my last post.

I managed to get nine of them made before the sewing bug bit and I went on to other things.

I know you are a creative bunch, so let me hear from you.

I'd like to send a couple of these out to one of you Dear Readers, as a little token of thanks just for being there; I talk to myself a lot, but it's much nicer to talk to you.

Just mention the picture number for which you are writing a caption, and we include your name in the drawing.

 

#1

 

 

 

#2

 

 

 

#3

 

 

 

#4

 

 

 

#5

 

 

 

#6

 

 

 

#7

 

 

 

#8

 

 

 

#9

 

 

 

Here's the little inchie to represent all the fun I had cutting and pasting.

It's one of my favorite images from the book because, yes, it was upside down there, just like it is here.

 

 

 

And, you know, a new perspective can be quite refreshing.

The Meanest Greeting Card in the Whole World

 

What's that you say?

Twenty days of May are gone and you haven't seen a single one of it's inchies?

You've quit reading this blog because there's nothing new to read?

You wonder if I got lost out on the mean streets?

Well, I'm right here.

And so are the twenty inchies.

I promise that they all had their pictures taken and I spent a long time writing many of their back stories.

Then I pushed the wrong button.

That really pushed my wrong button, and the mother board self-destructed.

I still don't feel like re-writing all those words.

 So let me just tell you about today.

Today I passed a lot of yard sales when I took my early morning walk on the mean streets.

So when I got home, I grabbed the Prince and a pocketfull of change and we went to visit some of them.

I was looking for books to cut up.

I picked up this book and thumbed through it looking for illustrations.

 

 

 

What I saw kind of scared me.

So I bought it.

I came home and cut out a lot of the pictures.

The Prince was rather alarmed at some of them.

 

 

 

I told him I thought they were perfect fodder for awesome greeting cards.

He said, "I hope you still think so about two a.m. tomorrow morning when you wake up screaming 'Please don't hurt me!'".

I said, "Don't I usually wake up screaming anyway?"

(And what's with that?)

I might as well have a reason.

Don't you think we could have some fun making cards from this stuff?

 

 

 

Maybe we could even use some of the words from the book.

 

 

  

Taken out of context, they are as bizarre as the illustrations.

 

 

 

 

We could make some apology cards.

 

 

 

Maybe we can make up our own words.

Perhaps something about a search for the perfect pair of shoes.

 

 

 

 

And when I say "we", Dear Reader, I mean you and me.

I think I'll use some of my watercolor paper to make some cards.

Then I'll glue these illustrations on the cards and let you write the text.

So, put on your thinking caps, because I'll be back in a blink.

You believe that, don't you?

 

The Inchie Project 2011 - April

 

 

April went by.

And I think - though I could be wrong - that it went by faster than any month ever has.

Speed and content, however, are two entirely different things.

The month was jam-packed with blessings.

 

 

 

Just as they all are.

Inchie Roll Call

 

I'm finishing the roll call on April inchies; at last!

 

For some reason, the past three or four weeks of my life have been extremely full.

So when the Prince and I had a little time to curl up together and watch a Masterpiece Theatre presentation on the 17th...

 

 

 

...we really enjoyed it.

-------

The Monday following Easter I was a little late for work.

I was fretting about it, because I had simply mismanaged my morning and I felt I should have been more careful.

Until I pulled into the parking lot at work.

I pulled in alongside two geese and their seven goslings, who were taking a little stroll on the premises.

I stopped my car, rolled down the window, and got out my little camera.

They stopped as soon as I did, and I worried that I was frightening them.

Then I realized the adults were simply letting the kids refresh themselves in the little puddle of water left by recent rains...

 

 

 

...and I knew I'd arrived at work at precisely the right time.

By the time I had parked my car and walked across the parking lot, the little family was exploring the courtyard near the entrance.

 

 

 

The goose on the left appeared to be standing guard for mama and babies.

I knew for sure that he was when I had to pass nearby and he honked out his warning.

 

 

  

"I'm sorry, feathered friend, I've just got to get to the door."

I think I prefer to remember them...

 

 

 

...at the swimming pool.

------

I had a "first" with Baby Girl on the 26th.

It was our first time to keep just her little sweet self.

Little Man was being treated to his first theatre movie, and we were being treated to some one-on-one time with our favorite little girl.

I like to bathe the grandshoots when I have them; I love the smell of all those baby soaps and shampoos.

 

 

 

And who can resist a freshly bathed baby in a sweet little nightgown, playing with her chubby little toes?

 

 

 

"Not I", said the Little Red Hen.

-------

We ended up our April with a short visit from my Leetle Brudder, and the beginning of a week-long visit from my Beeg Brudder and his Bride. 

The first night they were in town, we met  for dinner at our standard Friday night spot with Beeg Seester and Bro.

Beeg Brudder slipped me a quilting magazine and said, "I think you'll be really interested in the contents of this magazine."

He had tucked this incredible woodcut inside:

 

 

 

 

Does the design look familiar?

He is a Dear Reader, and he took the design from the post about this papercut I had done (the pattern for which came from this wonderful blog):

 

 

 

Oh, I love to be loved!

My brudder has some mad skills; this is the same brudder who made our family bench.

 

 

 

...with our wedding date and the birthdates and birthstone colors of each family member.

 

 

 

(He sells these, by the way, should you be interested in having a treasure like this for your own family.)

(Hmmm. I don't know how he got my birth year wrong. I'm only 30...)

He brought the bench when he visited last Mother's Day, and the Hedgehog Love woodcut when he visited this Mother's Day.

 

 

 

I am trained now.

And I can't wait for next Mother's Day.

------

It was small thing, in the way of return, but I had them over for homemade pizza on the 30th.

The Prince (and most of the male shoots in the family) like to have their pizza made with meats, cheeses, and marinara sauce.

I like to make my own pizza with homemade pesto sauce and piles of fresh vegetables.

A little bit of cheese just to hold things in place and...oh-my-yummy-goodness!

 

 

 

What a way to end the month; delicious food shared with beloved people.

I like that.

An Interview With Annski - Tote Bag Tutorial

Hello, Dear Readers, and welcome to Gwen's first-ever interview with a guest blogger.

After Dear Reader Annski gave every member of our book club one of these awesome totes...

 

 

 

...made from recycled pet food bags in March, I've been thinking it might be nice to get the back-story on these little beauties and their maker.

Annski generously agreed to visit Gwen's studio for a Q and A session in mid-April (um...nearly a month ago!) and I finally get to share our conversation with you.

So, without further ado, here we go!

Gwen: I've been really impressed by both the artistry and skill of your sewing, Annski. (I'm not sure whether I really said that, but I meant to). Just how long have you been sewing? (I did really say that.)

Annski: Hmmmm. For about 50 years. My mom started teaching me when I was about four or five years old. We made Barbie clothes on her Singer featherweight.

Gwen: Zowie! That is amazing! Barbie clothes at age five?! Did you continue to sew all through your life?

Annski: No, not continually. I got my first machine when I was thirteen or fourteen; mostly just to show my teachers I could sew better than they were teaching. I started sewing some of my own clothes then.  Remember the skirts with multiple tiers we used to wear? I made some of those.

Gwen: I remember! And the peasant blouses...they've all made a comeback or two since then (though I don't know how this is possible since we're still so young). So, you made your own clothes?

Annski: I made some of my clothes at that time, but I didn't sew during my college years. I began doing a little sewing again when my son was young. I did some hand-smocking back in...83? Then my mother-in-law, who was a crafter, started giving me things to make and sell in gift shops. That put me in touch with Homespun Memories(etc)and I sewed collars and jumpers for them.

GwenGwen: I did that too! All those jumpers were sold at craft fairs...I wonder how many I made. My "jumper money" paid for my Bernina sewing machine. I've always been glad I did that.

Annski: Remember the watermelon collars?

Gwen: Yikes! I do remember! Although I can happily report that I never wore one, lol.

Annski: After the jumper/collar phase, I began making a line of coordinated accessories for a gift shop in Nichols Hills. There were all kinds of zipper bags and covers for things; including fabric phonebook covers! Guess there wouldn't be much call for those anymore.

Gwen: Aha! That's why the little zippered wallets you make look so professional. I was pretty well amazed at the one you gave to me. I'm still waiting for my matching phonebook cover..

Annski: Well, I pretty much gave up sewing when I discovered the computer.

Gwen: What do you mean?

Annski: I started making lists.

Gwen: Lists?

Annski: I'm an inventory freak. The first electronic list I made was an inventory of all our VHS tapes.

Gwen: Oh, I know a little bit about your inventory compulsion. Tell my Dear Readers about the fabric inventory you started keeping when you began sewing again recently.

Annski: I use a program for my iPad for that. I take a picture of each piece of fabric I buy and I make notes about the color, manufacturer, and where they were purchased, etc. That actually does keep me from repeating a purchase when I am collecting pieces for a quilt.

 Gwen: Let me interrupt. You don't just take a picture. You set up a "jig" so that all the photos are taken from the same distance and include the same amount of fabric! You texted me a picture of it and said, "I set up this jig to take photos of my fabric. I imagine it's along the same lines as the way you photograph your inchies." I laughed for a long time on that one! I don't even know what a jig is! My poor inchies each get set on the same piece of paper for photographing, but that's where any consistency ends! Annski, do the letters OCD mean anything to you?

Annski: Well, yes. But in a fun way. My inventory lists are important because my general thinking is: "If I don't have it in a catalog, it doesn't exist."

 Gwen: Lol! Okay, finish telling the Dear Readers about your fabric inventory.

Annski: Hmmm. When I first starting buying fat quarters (when I got hooked on quilting), I would enter the color by name...say, "light green" or "brown". But I quickly realized that there are so many shades and values to every color, that these words weren't going to be sufficient for my purposes. So I got out a color fan-deck, like the kind used in paint stores - and I began to assign each piece of fabric a color number, instead of a name. This way I know about the color value of the piece, rather than just that it's "brown" or "orange".

Gwen: Omigersh! You're kidding! Annski, do you have as much fun sewing as you do buying and keeping inventory of your supplies? It's hard to imagine...

Annski: Yes, I do now. Because I like completion now. I used to have all kinds of stuff, but not many truly finished projects. I had all 329 colors of floss when I did cross stitch; even baby-barf yellow, lol. Then I bought a lot of the colors Fimo clay came in, and a lot of beads for jewelry-making. The first time around with quilting (in 1995), I bought all the fabric to make these big quilts and wound up only doing enough to make throw pillows. I did the same thing with yarn and afghans. I just wasn't much of a finisher.

Gwen: So, now you're back into sewing and guilting and you are quite the finisher! What changed?

Annski: Well, I started reading your blog. Then we became friends. And the first time we went to the quilt store together you said, "Now hurry up and get that project done, because we can't go to the quilt store again until it's finished". Your blog just inspired me to complete things.

Gwen: I sure talk big! But, apparently, you missed the blog post about my eight or ten unfinished quilts...

Annski: Lol!

Gwen: From quilts to totes made with pet food bags, is quite a stretch. Can you tell my Dear Readers what inspired these bags?

Annski: At Ikea they have bags in the store to use while shopping, and they're made from the same "fabric" as the pet food bags. So I started looking at all my pet food bags...

Gwen: And?

Annski: I saved thirty empty bags before I actually made any totes. I do love an inventory. After I had about thirty empty bags stockpiled though, I caught my husband sneaking the bags off to the trash. I figured I'd better get busy.

Gwen: You made thirty tote bags? Do you have any left?

Annski: I gave them all away. I had to save another bag to make one for myself!

Gwen: I'm sure glad you gave one to me, but I know exactly how that goes! Are you saving pet food bags again, or is it "been there, done that" for you?

Annski: I got used to mass production. I'll probably be compelled to save them while I'm waiting for a new idea.

Gwen: What's up next for you?

Annski: Quilting is gonna get big. I want to make an OKC Thunder spread for my son. I keep thinking about concentrating on one medium. I have an intense paper inventory. I plan to thin the herd, pick the best of the rest, and then learn to sew paper. I'd also like to get back to Zentangle. And I did knit and crochet a bit...

Gwen: It's nice to know I'm not the only one who wants to do everything, lol.  Back to the bags... You've been kind enough to post on your blog a step-by-step tutorial for making totes from recycled pet food bags. What level of sewing expertise is necessary to complete this project, and is there anything special we should know before starting?

 Annski: I would say beginner to intermediate. I used nylon filament thread to sew mine, for durablity and because I didn't have to be concerned about color that way. I had to adjust the tension settings on my machine for the thread, so that's something to be aware of. Otherwise, I think the tutorial will see you through.

Gwen: Well, I think this wraps up our interview. Thank you so very much for sharing a bit of your life and this great tutorial with us. And if you ever run out of things to inventory, I've got this closet in my studio...

 

 
  

...and I no longer know what's in there.

Emptiness and Fullness

 

 

I guess we usually think of emptiness as a negative thing.

But after years of calling the ironing pile Mount Neverest, I still feel celebratory every time I empty the basket.

 

 

 And I can't overcome the feeling that it should echo when I speak into it.

-------

On Easter, we celebrated another emptiness. 

 

 

 

And a beautiful emptiness it is!

We had a lovely Easter.

The goilies kept to tradition by hunting for hidden jelly beans inside the house on Easter morning.

 

 

 

It got fairly brutal near the end of the hunt, when both goils went for the same jelly bean and Miss Helping Hands knocked Miss Mary Mack's entire bowl of jelly beans to the floor.

Perhaps we will start leaving the jelly bean hunt to the next generation.

They were here for Sunday dinner on Easter, along with our married shoots and Me Darlin' Mither.

While we were at the dinner table, Miss Mary Mack entertained us all by telling us about her Easter morning in fluent Spanish.

It's exciting to have someone in the family who is bilingual.

And she's determined to teach her little niece and nephew to speak Spanish, too.

Here is Tia Maria y Mija celebrating Mija's very first Easter.

 

 
 

 

Muy linda!

The grandshoots posed for pictures with their bunnies.

 

 

 

 

But my favorite photos are the ones we tried to take of the two of them. 

After a few minutes, Little Man, who'd lost a shoe in the ordeal, had had enough.

I captured a shot of his escape; with Baby Girl falling off her perch on his lap and all eyes focused on Dada.

 

 
 

 

 I love the real stuff.

And kids always let you know...

 

 

 

 

...when they've had enough.

Produce Sticker Collection

 

 

It's been awhile since I updated you on my growing produce sticker collection.

And since I've been thoroughly enjoying the sweet, sweet oranges we've had lately...

 

 

 

... and I've been eating so many salads that I actually got to add a new bell pepper sticker to the collection...

 

 

 

...I thought it might be time to post this.

There are little bits of art where you least expect them.

Good Times

 

Have some fun along the way.

Because sometimes the way is long.

I took Me Darlin' Mither to an appointment on April 7th, for which she needed  $50.

Because I was a little late coming from work to pick her up, I told her she could just borrow the two twenties I had with me, add the ten she had with her, and we would stop at the bank after the appointment to get her money.

We were well on our way home after the appointment when she realized she'd forgotten to stop and make her payment.

I told her I was just sure they would understand if she called and explained, and I offered to write a check and send it off to them (Mither is legally blind and can no longer write checks).

I also told her I was just too tired to stop at the bank, and I would catch up with her later about paying me back.

She said, "I don't want to be completely without cash, but why don't I at least give you these two twenties. Then I'll just owe you the ten."

Pause.

"Um. Slick, Mom. You're going to pay me back for the check I'm writing for you with the cash I just loaned to you? And they talk about people taking advantage of the elderly!"

Me Darlin' Mither was horrified at her mistake.

 

 

 

 

But we laughed for a long time.

From Screech to Exquisite

 

Bittersweet.

Some things in life are just that.

When we went to see Miss Helping Hands play in the last concert of her school career, the experience definitely qualified as bittersweet.

For twelve years, from the screechy notes when she first picked it up in the fourth grade, to the powerful performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture in the final concert of her senior year at university, Miss Helping Hands has been playing her violin in school orchestras; and we've been in the audience marveling.

 

 

 

 

Now it's over.

 

 

 

 

And twelve roses, for twelve years of beautiful music, only begins to represent our gratitude.

We Play Games

 

We play games.

We play lots of games.

We play games nearly every time two or more members of the family are together.

Miss Helping Hands and I play Big Boggle.

The game is not available in stores anymore and somehow, over the years, our two sets of Big Boggle letter cubes have gotten all mixed up and we've had to play with a compromised set.

Compromise is not a good thing in this case, so I scouted around on Ebay and found a used-but-complete game for sale (at a GREAT price!).

It arrived in April 4th's mail.

 

 

 

I just know this means I will win more games against Miss Helping Hand.

I just know it.

-------

The Prince was out of town for several days at the end of the month, and the male shoots were ever-so-kind and conscious of the fact that it was probably the first time ever for me to be all alone in The Big House.

Smirkins came over for the evening on the 28th, and we set up the card table on the porch, played several games of Sequence, and enjoyed the fine weather and each other's company.

 

 

 

 

Because I'd nearly cancelled our plans earlier in the day - when I was briefly overcome  by all the things I had on my to-do list - we got to discussing some of the things that were on my list.

Actually, he asked me to tell him what it was I had to get done.

And then he said, "Let me help you. I'm here, Mom, and what do I have to do? Let's get something crossed off the list."

He helped me wrap some gifts.

He cut down a cardboard box, so we could use it to mail those gifts.

And after we'd wrapped, taped and addressed the package, he said " I'm going to go put this in your car so it will be there when you're ready to go to the post office".

Here is some advice, Dear Readers:

If you're still young, have kids.

And if you have kids, have nice kids.

It's pretty wonderful.

Making and Re-making

 

Besides being full of giving and receiving (heavy on the receiving), April has also had a big dose of making and re-making.

I found a white wicker shelf at the thrift store one day and it was such a throw back to my childhood years that I felt compelled to buy it.

We never owned one; my mother (rightfully) thought they were terrible dust collectors.

This one had collected a lot of dust over it's many years, but was otherwise in good condition.

 

 

 

Since I'm always needing shelving/storage in my little studio (and I prefer to rescue, rather than buy new things)...

...and since the price was right...

 

 

 

I brought this little baby home and got out my trusty black spray paint.

There wasn't quite enough in the can to finish the job, so I had to run the hardware store for more.

Now, some people get light headed and dizzy when they use spray paint.

I get light headed and dizzy when I stand in front of the spray paint display.

 

 

 

Oh, my!

I can't tell you how long it took to tear myself, and my overworked imagination, away from this!

The little shelf was painted on April 12.

 

 

 

 

It's still sitting in the studio waiting for the Prince and I to have time to hang it.

 

 

 

 

There is another spray-painted item sitting in the studio waiting to be hung.

 

 

 

It's my new guest book holder.

It was rescued from the thrift store by Miss Mary Mack, who intended to repurpose it, but never got around to it.

 

 

 

When I inherited it, I realized it would be the perfect holder for the studio guest book.

I've had lots of guests in the studio over the years, and I like to have them write a little note while they're here.

The old 'guest book' was  a bunch of shipping tags, which each guest duly decorated with beads, rubber stamps, drawings, etc.

Last May I had a roll of adding machine tape appear in my studio (I know not whence it came) and after I'd moved it around for awhile, I decided it would make a great new guest book.

This is how it was kept:

 

 

 

(Does anyone else remember those pink sponge rollers? I hung on to a few I used for the goilies when they were little; the clip came in handy here.)

The thing about this guest book is, I didn't read any of the entries as they were written; I told my guests to just 'write and roll'.

I had it for nearly a year before I unrolled it and spent a glorious half-hour enjoying all the comments and reliving all the moments recorded there.

 

 

 

 

It was awesome.

Get yourself a guest book.

Or, better yet, let someone else get you a guest book.

When I turned my new holder over to paint the back side, this is what I found:

 

 

 

I didn't paint over it; these are real people and I have them all 'imagined up' now.

Another item in the April re-make category is the big credenza I bought last year at the thrift store (half price, mind you).

 

 

 

This ginormous hunk of furniture is going to be sitting in my foyer (hopefully before May is over).

I was sorry to discover that the drawer knobs are not removable, but I've started sanding and painting this piece black and it's looking good.

 

 
 

 

I sure do hope it looks finished before too long.

Sigh.

In the April things-that-were-made category are the little duckie cupcakes Able Baker Dana and I made on the 20th.

 

 

 

I still say they looked a bit deranged.

 

 

 

Also made, on the 21st,  were the little almost-chocolate bunnies.

 

 

The family has since split up; Baby Girl likes to chew on the ears of Tall Bunny, so she took her home on Easter Sunday.

And, of course, PeeWee was claimed by Miss Mary Mack.

Pudgie lives on at the Big House.

 

 

 

Of course, they breed like rabbits, so there will probably be more next spring.

The last thing-that-was-made which shows up on the April inchie line-up, was the first of 50 invitations to an upcoming (very special) wedding shower.

 

 

 

I am working this weekend on finishing these.

I spent a few hours yesterday afternoon slicing paper.

 

 

 

 

I made an interesting discovery, too: If you buy a new blade for your rotary cutter, it does not matter how long you keep it in your studio, it won't do you a bit of good until you actually unwrap it and install it in the paper cutter.

Amazing, but true.

The scoring blade always works...

 

 

 

After all the paper was cut and scored, I lined the inside of the card, folded some of that wonderful Japanese paper tape over one edge, and glued down the sides to make the pocket.

 

 

 

I cut some blooms and leaves off a stem of silk flowers...

 

 

 

... and used glue dots to secure them to some small twigs I cut from a tree in our back yard.

 

 

 

 

The project is at this point right now...

 

 

 

...and, though I'd love to finish them today, I'm expecting my visiting-from-out-of-town brudders, seester-in-love, and Me Darlin' Mither for a pizza dinner and game night shortly.

And guess who's making the pizza?

Guess how much I love you.

 

 

Walk, walk.

Run, run, run.

"Guess how much I love you, Naomi."

Bend.

"This much, God?"

 

 

 

"Guess again."

Run, run, run.

Bend.

"This much?"

 

 

 

"That only begins to describe it."

Give and Receive

 

It's been such a full (full!) month that I haven't had much time to post.

The inchies are all lined up in their little places, but most of them haven't made it out into public yet.

I've managed to tell a few of their stories without including their pictures, but I think it's time to just gather them in groups and do the best we can about the rest of their histories.

We'll just call this first group "Give and Receive"; I see a pattern in my life when I look at the inchies.

And I like what I see.

On the 11th of April, I came home from work to find this hanging from my front door knob:

 

 

 

Here are the very kewl birds up close and personal:

 

 

 

These were made by Dear Reader Annski, whom I now consider a first-class ring-and-runner (as well as a first-class seamstress).

I don't think she'd mind me telling you that the pattern for these lovely birds is available on the Spool website.

If you make a bird mobile of your very own, don't forget to share a photo with them (and us, of course).

I'm so grateful Annski shared her mad skills with me.

 

 

 

 

But I'm more grateful just to be her friend.

I had lunch with another friend on the 13th of April, and she surprised me with a gift, too.

She found a set of six little birdie candles when she was doing some power-shopping in Dallas.

 

 

 

 

She said they reminded her of my little paper birdies and she wanted me to have them.

Look how perfectly they fit in the egg cups I bought in Eureka Springs after our failed camping trip.

 

 

 

 

See those other lovely things on either side of the sweet little candle?

I recieved those in the mail on April 14.

They were made by Dear Reader Fran.

The Easter card on the right came in a clear plastic box-envelope...

 

 

 

...which I thought was very kewl.

And the Easter egg came in a decorative take-out box, which was also very kewl, but which I neglected to photograph.

I did, however, draw the egg on the inchie, so I hope that counts for something in the way of keeping things even.

 

 

 

 

Whether or not I can keep things even in the give-and-take is another matter.

But my friends don't seem to hold it against me.

I am blessed.

Speaking of blessings, how wonderful it was to hear that my daughter-in-love not only wanted an apron, she loved the apron I made for her on the 19th.

 

 

 

It's cute on the inchie, but it's even cuter on her.

 

 

 

I love my family.

I love some other families, too.

The wonderful family we met on our camping trip last August sent me an envelope full of homemade goodness, including a card made with inchies, a little, teensy hanger with paper doll clothes on it, a beautiful Easter drawing, and a paper hero doll with an 'N' for Naomi on the front (which I am told includes many super powers).

 

 

 

I feel super loved.

And when I opened the mail on April 23rd, I felt super-excited, too.

Because inside were these perfect little sewing labels:

 

 

 

I sometimes think Dear Reader Annski has radar.

I hadn't even had the chance to tell her that the sewing bug had just bitten me again, and I am searching for time to make some summer clothes for Baby Girl.

 

 

 

 

I'm sure she'll be reading by then, since she'll be nine months old, and she'll look at that label when she's dressing herself and say...

"Who the heck is Gwen?"

Walk, Run, Pray, Squat, Kick

 

Naomi's Beeg Seester asked her if she wanted to go walk around the lake on April 2.

Naomi said, "Um. The whole lake?"

Her Seester said, "It's 9.5 miles. If I can do it, I'm sure you can. You're always taking those long walks."

"Um. Not that long."

"Well, how far do you think you can go? You can always have the Prince come get you when you've had enough."

"I might be able to do three miles. You going to carry a phone?"

"Yep."

"Well, okay then, I guess."

Things went a lot better than Naomi expected.

After they'd walked three or four miles, they actually started doing some running (at least they called it that).

At the six mile marker, the Prince was called to please bring water.

"Honey, are you going to keep going?" he said.

"I feel pretty good. I think I will" Naomi said.

At the seven mile marker Naomi began to come to her senses, but it was too late.

Who wants to get that close to the finish line and then quit?

She pressed on.

She lived to see this...

 

 

 

...and finished the course.

Well.

I'd love to tell you that was the end of that nonsense, but Beeg Seester liked that whole running thing and she's been getting Naomi out there pretty regularly.

And this week, when Beeg Seester has much weightier things to attend to, Naomi is being all grown up and she's forcing me to be her jogging partner.

Yesterday, about a mile into the run, I heard Naomi saying, "God, it's harder to find coins when I'm running, and I'd sure like to find a coin."

And the conversation continued.

"Let me rephrase that. I am lonely to hear your voice, God, and I'd like to find the coin you placed for me as a reminder that I am still yours, still loved, and You are not far off. I want to love You more."

Run, run.

Run, run, run.

Squat.

 

 

 

"Thank you, thank you!"

I'm glad Naomi found her precious coin.

Guess what she let me do?

Since she was being all grown up and everything, she let me be a kid for the last few blocks.

We like to play this game; we find something in the street to take turns kicking until we've kicked it all the way home.

On good days we find a golf ball, or a nice round stone.

Yesterday we kicked this home:

 

 

 

It was a lot more challenging to kick this all the way home.

I mean, there are rules and everything, and this shape made the game rather difficult.

If the object crosses the center line of the street, that's a foul.

And if it rolls under a parked car, that's a foul, too.

But, if the object jumps the curb and stays there, well, the game is over.

And that is very sad.

I saw Naomi cheat once and put the pinecone back into play after it came to rest on someone's lawn, but I didn't say anything, because I wanted my turn to kick it.

(We work together well that way.)

Naomi also found this on the street yesterday:

 

 

 

She's been collecting pencils from the mean street for quite awhile now.

She finds them just about as often as she finds the pennies from heaven.

When her Chicken Raising Seester sent her the link to this amazing art work done with old pencils (scroll down when you get there)...well.

You can imagine the explosion when Naomi's collection of rescued pencils collided with her plan to have a wall full of alphabet art!

I'm trying to keep her sanity intact.

We went out running again this morning.

And I heard her talking to God again.

"I hate to be piggish, and I am having a hard time asking, but it was so wonderful to recieve that penny from You yesterday and I'd love to be loved again today."

Run, run, run.

Squat.

 

 

 

"Oh! You are so kind to me! Thank you!"

Run, run, run.

"There's a nice round stone."

 

 

 

Squat.

Kick, walk, kick.

"There's today's pencil!"

 

 

 

Squat.

Walk, kick, walk.

It's good to be alive.

Chickens, Ducks, Harkerware and Quail

 

It's been a long time since I gave you an update on my chickens, Alistair and Ambrose.

Alas, I must tell you that Alistair has moved on to some other chicken-raising place.

My Chicken Raising Seester said "Too many roosters do not a happy farm yard make".

 I did finally get out to visit Ambrose a few weeks ago, though.

I took the Little Man and Me Darlin' Mither, too.

Ambrose was on the run and, no matter how the Little Man chased him, we couldn't seem to get him into a good picture-taking pose.

Little Man did finally get him cornered between two buildings...

 

 

 

...and I hope you can see what a beautiful fowl he's turned out to be.

Some of the other fowl were much more obliging for the camera.

These three paused together in this spot for quite a few minutes (I don't remember any of their names except Elvis; the black duck with the pompadour) .

 

 

 

I think they are lovely.

When we went inside the chicken coop, Little Man spent a long time trying to catch and pen up the four little black chickies.

I had to help him catch them, but he did a fine job of holding them this time.

 

 

 

What a difference a year makes.

Remember when he put the stranglehold on one of the chicks last year?

 

 

(Oh my! I still can't help laughing at this.)

But let me show you the funniest thing we saw in the coop this year.

My Seester caught up this duck for us so we could see the crazy place he'd decided to get his first feathers.

 

 

 

What a hoot!

Doesn't he look absolutely wild-eyed?

Maybe he wasn't happy about having his picture taken on such a bad hair day.

It was pretty darn hot day, too, so when Seester offered to get the hose and let Little Man and I give Sherman a bath, we were both right on it.

 

 

 

Neither of us had ever 'wershed' a horse before, but we're pro's now and I, personally, like the way it looks on my resume.

 One of the things I was planning to do when I went to Seester's place, was to ask her if she had any spring-y looking dishes I could borrow for the tea party I told you about earlier.

But I forgot.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, I asked Seester if she would show me the inside of her new office building.

She does a lot of buying and selling of vintage and antique household items,and she had some of them in the office at that time.

I was looking through a box which held a collection of postage stamps she'd recently acquired when she held up some dishes and said, "Do you know anyone who might be interested in these?"

 

 

 

How lovely!

The Grand Weaver placed the perfect dishes in my hands with perfect timing!

Seester told me they were Harkerware...

 

 

 

...which meant nothing to me at the time, but which I've since come to appreciate.

I have only seen one piece of this particular pattern available on-line, though I have seen other pieces of Harkerware for sale.

I am so glad I bought this set from Seester.

 

 

 

It was perfect for the tea, and it was lovely on our Easter table, too.

Guess what else I brought home from Seester's?

Two button quail.

Meet Fred...

 

 

 

...and Wilma.

 

 

 

I brought them home on Sunday, April 3rd.

And on Wednesday, April 6, Wilma layed her first-ever egg.

 

 

 

I got pretty darn excited when I saw this little beauty!

 

 

 

Though, admittedly, Wilma was probably even more excited when she layed it.

Joy to the World

 

He is risen!

Hallelujah

 

Stuffed Bunnies and Chocolate Pie

 

Hey there, kids!

 

 

 

I'm supposed to be in the kitchen doing this:

 

 

 

But Miss Helping Hands came home just before the Prince got back from the grocery store (my knight in shining armor!), and we went into the kitchen and did this instead:

 

 

 

While we played a couple of games of Sequence, we also talked about the fact that this is the first year in ever-so-long that we won't have any chocolate bunnies in the house on Easter morning.

Maybe that's what gave me the wild hair (hare?) to make the almost-chocolate bunnies when I got home from work Thursday.

They won't make good eating, but Miss Mary Mack has already developed a crush on the littlest one.

Here they are, standing guard over an empty bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

It should have Easter eggs in it.

The Easter eggs we should have dyed earlier this week.

But this is also the first year in ever-so-long that we didn't dye eggs.

Good thing my Chicken Raising Seester gave me some beautiful brown (and brown speckled!) eggs when I saw her.

It was so thoughtful of her chickens to color the eggs for me this year.

Almost Almost-Chocolate Bunnies

 

I am very, very tired this evening, so I am spending my time with the Prince listening to some teaching from Ravi Zacharias.

This is what the sofa cushion next to me looks like tonight:

 

 

 

Maybe tomorrow there will be some almost-chocolate bunnies in the house.

For now, there are only almost almost-chocolate bunnies.

And it is almost almost-bedtime.

Paper Dogwood Blossoms - Phase One

 

I wish I could write one, long, meandering blog post to show you how the Grand Weaver puts together all the different things that make up any given day, and then weaves all those days together into a cohesive whole life.

I wish I could.

But I don't know if I could pay attention long enough to write it, much less expect you to pay attention long enough to read it.

So, I'll weave a shorter (though probably not short) tale which involves the paper dogwoods and the first phase of my occupation with them.

Remember this picture I showed you of "what the sofa cushion next to me looks like tonight"?

 

 

 

This whole thing started when I saw the paper dogwood blossoms on Martha's blog.

I loved the thought of having some of them around for spring.

I thought they'd look perfect in the foyer, sitting atop the black credenza-which-is-still-in-the-garage-being-sanded-and-painted.

When our D'Art group meeting for April 1st (first Fridays we do art together) needed to morph so one of our members could welcome a new grandbaby, Miss B said she was game to motor on down to Gwen's to make paper dogwood blossoms with me.

 

 

 

Since we made our blossoms from copy paper (rather than the cardstock Martha specifies), and I just happened to have (I see the Grand Weaver everywhere) the perfect rubber stamp for the flower centers in my studio already, I had only to add a few sheets of green cardstock to get the project rolling.

We cut our squares about 4 1/4" (half a sheet of copy paper) when Miss B and I did this, but I later cut the size down to 3", which I like even better.

Here is Miss B creating the very first branch:

 

 

 

And here are some of our 4" blossoms up close and personal:

 

 

 

Because I knew I would be making many (many!) of these branches, one of the things we did (actually, Miss B was kind enough to do it) to make mass production easier was to cut two different size leaves and then trace them until we'd filled an entire sheet of copy paper.

I used that sheet for a master and ran my green cardstock through the copier (those are the sheets you see in the background of that first photo).

This way, all the tracing is done only once.

Yipee!

Now, the reason I knew I would be making many of these is that I had a table to decorate for a tea at the church, and I have a wedding shower (outdoor/picnic theme) I am co-hosting in May.

For the tea, I used the plain white blossoms...

 

 

 

...and added some aqua-colored paper birds (tanagers) I made to match the sweet dishes which the Grand Weaver placed in my hands just in time (and that's a story for the next post!).

  

 

 

 It got a little crowded at the table once we put all that lovely food on it.

  

 

 

 

I made favors for each of the ladies at my table, because I had planned to give the larger branches to the guest of honor and Me Darlin' Mither.

  

 

  

My hands felt like mitts when I was trying to fold those little teeny weeny pieces of paper for the small flowers!

It was someone else's suggestion to perch the favors atop the water glasses...

 

 

 

 

Lovely idea...thank you, whoever you are!

My sweet friend, Diane (an artist who works with real flowers), was hosting a table also, and it was decorated with her collection of Scandinavian wooden horses...

 

 

 

...and real flowers, of course.

When she exclaimed so enthusiastically over the favors I'd made (ever meet people who are just out-and-out cheerleaders for others?), I told her I was planning to give her mine after the tea.

She said, "I'll trade you real flowers for the paper ones."

I had no idea she meant an entire plant!

 

  

 

I don't think it was a fair trade, but I'm sure enjoying my beautiful hydrangea.

 

 
 

 It reminds me of my beautiful friends.

I am blessed. 

Duckie Little Cupcakes or Little Duckie Cupcakes

 

I went running with Beeg Seester this morning.

That has absolutely no relevance to this post, but it felt so good to be running again that I wanted to say that.

Before I went running this morning (just after rolling out of bed, actually), I made some cupcakes.

And after I went running this morning (and cleaned myself up, did chores, and ate lunch), Able Baker Dana came over to turn the cupcakes into little yellow duckies.

I know (I think?) I've told you about the Hello, Cupcake! book before.

Able Baker and I are having fun doing some of the projects in the book.

We started building duckies by gluing a donut hole, and half a (diagonally cut) marshmallow to each cupcake with icing.

 

 

 

Then we filled in just a bit with some additional icing.

 

 

 

The cupcakes sat in the freezer in this condition for a bit while we made some beaks and feet with orange fruit chew candies (and some from-scratch lemon curd for another project...which was a lot of work but, zowie, is it goooood).

After the cupcakes were partially frozen, we dipped them in some tinted, canned ( it works best!) icing that had been warmed in the microwave until it was creamy.

 

 

 

The little duckies started to take shape at this point...

 

 

 

...but we felt rather badly for the poor, blind things.

A dot of icing and some mini M&M's and, voila!

 

 

 

 

 

Now, Able Baker Dana always seems to have more fun than I do when we do this sort of thing.

She laughed about the fatso duck she created...I call him 'Pond Daddy'.

 

 

 

But I gotta tell ya...the one she made with the eyes really close together and a bit of a 'beak issue'...

 

 

 

...well, I understand this guy.

I feel just like this sometimes.

Know what I mean?

Blue Gingham Apron - Where's Dorothy?

 

Last weekend, Able Baker Dana went to Dallas to do some power shopping (I am so grateful God gave her other friends who like to shop) and one of the things she brought home was a Waverly brand apron - or 'apern', as I like to say.

I liked the pattern so well, and Dana is so kind to me, that I brought her apron home before she had the chance to tie it on even once.

Now, I didn't tie it on either, but today I did draft a pattern from it so I could make one just like it.

I've had this fabric for, hmmm, awhile now, but I've been waiting to find an apern pattern  that I really liked before I sewed it up (or at least that's what I tell myself).

 

 

I liked this pattern because you get a bit of ruffly detail without having to actually make ruffles; which makes it fun, but still easy to sew.

The fabric is cheerful...

 

 

 

...and has that vintage look which just makes me feel like everything is okay and "Here, have a fresh-baked chocolate chip cookie and some milk, honey".

 The fabric is also lighter weight than I thought was appropriate for an apron, so I used some of the rescued fabric (cotton curtain lining?) I had in the stash and just serged the two pieces together.

I think this apern looks perty hanging in my red kitchen...

 

 

 

...but I actually made it for someone I love.

Someone to whom I gave a bread-baking lesson and some recipes; who then went home and made more bread and publicly posted this statement on a certain social network: "I think I need an apron."

 You know who you are.

And it won't hurt my feelings if you'd like a different style or fabric.

You know it would just kill me to have to add another apern to my stash.

But for you I would do it.

Zentangle Class

My dear friend, Miss B, is teaching another Zentangle class here in Oklahoma City this month.

You can read (and see) more about Zentangle, Miss B, and her qualifications on this previous post.

For information on the current class, click on this: Download ZT Workshop Flyer[1]

If you missed the last opportunity to tangle with Miss B, here's your second chance.

Don't miss it!

The Inchie Project - March 2011

 

March, apparently, was for the birds.

Four different birds are pictured in the line-up (along with that extra inchie I couldn't bare to part with).

 

 

 

But they were just the winged parts of a month full of blessings.

Thank you, God.

A Man Named Pearl

Dear Reader Annski, who keeps track of these things (bless her pea-pickin' heart), informed me on Friday that I hadn't posted inchies for two of the days in March.

Ironically, one of the inchies was the one for March 17...

 

 

 

... which represents the awesome tote Annski made from a bird seed bag and gave to moi.

Even more ironically, Annski was here in Gwen's studio on Friday, being interviewed for Gwen's first-ever guest blogger post; which will include a link to the tutorial for making these bags.

Welp.

There's a little teaser for you.

You'll have to stay tuned; Gwen has her fingers in too many pies these days (and this week, some of them will be actual pies!), so I don't know when she'll get around to turning the interview into a post.

The other neglected March inchie represents a video titled "A Man Named Pearl", which I watched with the Prince on the 22nd.

It's a documentary, slow moving and easy to watch, about - you guessed it - a man named Pearl.

He took his 3-acre yard in Bishopville, South Carolina, some plants rescued from the compost heap of a local nursery, and (with no formal training or education) spent 20 years creating what is now an internationally reknowned topiary garden.

He is the son of a sharecropper and, training or not, he is an artist. 

We were delighted to find that his garden - which is open to the public on a donation basis - is only a two hour drive from the North Carolina shore where we'll be spending our vacation this fall.

We plan to tour the gardens and, if we can arrange our schedule just right, worship in the church Pearl attends (it's featured in the documentary).

 

 

 

And that, my friends, really does bring an end to the March inchies.

Though there are sixteen (!) April inchies waiting impatiently for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Miss Mary Mack is here. She's trying to teach the old dog new (blogging) tricks.

The Last Three Inchies of March

 

I don't have any funny stories or long-winded explanations about the inchies for the last three days in March, but they still represent blessings in my life.

The blessing of creation:

 

 

 

The blessing of friends:

 

 

 

The blessing of sharing life with Me Darlin' Mither:

 

 

 

"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me." Ps. 16.6

My stars! All bottled up.

 

Want to see something very kewl?

Look at this awesome old milk bottle which was just made to house my growing collection of paper prayer stars.

 

 

 

Just think how many more prayers can be written and folded into stars before I run out of room again!

Know where this bottle came from?

It was purchased at the little antique store where we browsed after our camping trip got washed away in the rain.

It was purchased because I'd been looking for quite some time for a new shelter for the stars; I was waiting for a jar that would say to me, "I'm the one. Your stars will be happy living with me."

Thing is, when I saw this jar, I was already holding the big ball of saved string and I couldn't bring myself to spend money for both items.

I pointed out the utter kewlness of this jar to my fellow soggy, would-be campers (as we'd been doing with various items throughout the shop) and then we walked on.

Monday afternoon I recieved a text message from Bro saying he had something we "really wanted" and to let him know when we'd be home from work.

We thought he'd found the (beloved old) hammer we'd lost during our breaking-camp-in-the-pouring-rain party.

No.

He brought me a gift bag.

Inside was this bottle.

And he said, "Sometimes ya just gotta do these things."

That makes this bottle...

 

 

 

...the kewlest bottle ever.

Blue Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

To finish off the posts about our rained out camping trip the last weekend in March...

After we packed up our soggy stuff and our soggy selves, we headed down to Eureka Springs, AR  to do a bit of browsing in the tourist trap.

During the drive, we turned the car heater on full blast, closed all the vents except the ones near the floorboard, and I made the trip barefoot while my poor drenched All-Stars and socks were rotated under the heat until they were all dry and toasty (I didn't really want to wear my hiking boots...which were the only other shoes I'd packed).

Of course, this made the car stifling hot, so we had to roll down the windows - whenever the rain let up for a minute - so we wouldn't suffocate.

It was an interesting trip.

We didn't browse long in Eureka Springs; the shop with the beautiful handmade papers was closed for the day, and it was still drizzly and pretty darn cold.

I did, however, stumble upon a set of flatware that came with scissors.

You know I couldn't pass that up.

And the price was incredible.

$6.oo!

 

 

 

Of course, the scissors don't actually cut, and the flatware is only good for dieters.

 

 

 

Still.

Had to have.

We spent that night in a hotel somewhere...I can't even recall where.

The Prince and Beeg Seester and Bro (who had actually slept all warm and cosy the night before)went out to eat that evening at some fantabulous chicken place, but I holed up at the hotel and messed around with some Zentangle patterns.

When we got home the next day, Miss Mary Mack was waiting for us with some blue chocolate chip cookies she'd made.

Blue.

On St. Patricks day they were green.

I think she's making her way around the color wheel.

I don't understand where my shoots picked up this habit of playing with their food.

 

 

 

But once you make it through the sensory confusion, it's good eating.

And, "Nothin' says lovin' like something from the oven."

Redeeming the Day

 

When you plan a weekend of tent camping and the temperature drops into the thirties and the rain starts falling the first night in...

And you wake up the next morning and realize the weather is going to be cold and rainy all weekend...

Well.

You break camp in the pouring rain and wind, throw your dripping tent and tarp in your rubber lined trunk, throw everything else in the back seat of your car, and you move on down the road.

You stop at a little antique store on your way out of the nearest city...

 

 

 

... and your Beeg Seester sees a big ball of saved string that she says needs to be in your house.

You look at the big ball of saved string and you say, "How very kewl."

You show the big ball of saved string to your Prince and say, "Isn't this kewl?".

And your Prince studies your face very carefully because he doesn't think the big ball of saved string is that kewl, and he wants to see if you are trying to fool him into thinking you do.

He sees that you are serious and he says something very tactful about the big ball of saved string and your love for it.

You buy the big ball of saved string and bring it home and love it.

You draw the big ball of saved string on the inchie for the day.

 

 

 

You take a picture for your Dear Readers, and you wonder if they ever knew anyone who saved string, or even knew that people used to save string this way.

 

 

 

And then you take another picture of the big ball of saved string sitting next to one of the new vintage coffee cups you got from your Chicken Raising Seester, because you think it will help the Dear Readers appreciate the size of the big ball of saved string (and you really love your new vintage dishes).

 

 

 

Then you write a blog post about the big ball of saved string and ask your Dear Readers if you are a bit freakish, or do they find the big ball of saved string attractive, too?

But you don't really want them to tell you that you are a bit freakish.

Camping at Roaring River, MO

 

I wish you could have shared my camping experience at Roaring River the last weekend in March.

If you'll use your imagination, perhaps you can at least get a feel for it.

Do this:

Close your eyes and envision yourself in a nice warm cocoon in the darkness .

You are very tired and the warmth is so comforting.

Now imagine that your head is stuck in the deep freeze, and your stomach is swelling because a single hot dog rarely agrees with you, and you ate two at the campfire in the great outdoors earlier.

Are you getting there?

Okay, good.

Now imagine that someone is rustling a potato chip bag right next to your right ear and someone else is sawing wood right next to your left ear.

The sounds just a little further off include a constant clang, clang, clang and some significant roaring and howling.

Are you with me?

Stay in this imaginary state until you really, really, really have to go to the bathroom.

Now, picture yourself crawling out of your warm cocoon and immersing your entire body into the deep freeze.

But it's a big, walk-in freezer...and you walk in it.

When you've gotten some relief, you get back into your warm cocoon, pull the hood of your sweatshirt up around most of your face and move yourself about four feet away from the crinkling potato chip bag.

Now you have some relief from the cold air of the deep freeze and the noise of the chip bag.

You doze off.

Moments later, you see flashes of light, the roaring increases, and the potato chip bag lands on top of your face.

Then it flies up in the air and comes back down on your head.

Several times.

And someone starts spitting very cold water at you.

Can you feel it?

Can you see my side of the air mattress shoved up against the nylon tent which is being blown by winds so fierce that it is constantly crinkling in my right ear?

Can you hear the thunder and see the lightning and feel the temperature drop into the 30's?

Can you see (and hear) the Prince, busily sawing logs on my left?

Can you feel the intensity of the storm increase and the tent cave in on my face?

It's time to get out of there.

It's time to walk to the car in the driving rain and turn on the motor, and then the heater, and thaw yourself out.

It's time to watch the day break, rainy and gray, and to say to yourself...

 

 

 

...at least we had some good laughs around the campfire last night.