The Never Ending Birthday!

Believe it or not I got more birthday presents over the weekend. You see, I had not seen my sisters since my birthday and Friday night we all got together for dinner.

A storybook for grandmothers and a bunny candle that I was advised was not edible! My youngest sister is sure I am such a chocolate fiend that she must warn me and she's right! It sure smells like chocolate.

A hummingbird feeder and food from my ever so thoughtful nephews. They claimed they shopped for hours;).

A beautiful glass latern and yummy smelling candle from my line dancing buddy. The book, I am told was not part of the present, just something my sister thought I would enjoy. What's wrong with my neck?

These bunnies are what I made my sisters for their Easter gifts. They seemed to really like them and I had a blast making them. The bunnies were totally unadorned. I found them at Vidlers-i love Vidlers-! They definitely needed some dressing up!

I apologize if the pictures are blurry~ I am a bit under the weather and everything seems to be fuzzy to me. Just a bit of a cold. I'm going to go nap now and by tomorrow I'll be right as rain.

Love~Patti

..the rest

Baby Harry's gift is done and will be mailed in the next day or two. The hat pattern is called umbilical cord and was very easy and so much fun to do. I used TLC Cotton Plus yarn from Jo ann's. I really liked working with this yarn. It is 51% cotton and 49% acrylic and just feels nice as you knit.

The Bitty Bootie pattern was from a blog I like. I used wool felt and although not hard, I did struggle a bit due to the diminutive size but they are very cute. Hope everything will fit and that I left a little room for growing. Maybe if we asked nice, Amy would post a picture???

Patti

Banner

This was my weekend project. I had so fun much doing it. What you can't see in the picture is that all the papers and ribbons are sewn on (remind me to get a new needle for my machine). The letters were traced from a stencil and then glittered. I am working on a couple more little surprises to add to the gift and then off it goes to Amy's brand new nephew.

Anyone want to come and vacuum up all the spilled glitter?~~~~~Patti

7 Degrees!

What does one do when it is March and the high for the day is 7 degrees?

I grumbled and moaned and decided there would never be a better excuse to bake. Oatmeal cookies came to mind because oatmeal is good for you right?

Next I decided to do a little crafting. I fooled around with my computer and some old book pages and managed to print some images right on the pages. I am sure there must be an easier way but it's a start. Once the images were printed I made them into tags. I used stamps and markers and made a lovely mess. Oh so satisfying.

The mailman brought me a special treat. ( I should have given him a cookie.) Last week I bid on this item and I WON! Yes, it is a paper peanut. Take a peek inside. I couldn't resist it since our expected babe is nicknamed Peanut. It required a bit of glue to get it back into shape but is tip top now.

It was getting close to 5:00-somewhere- and I really felt a tropical drink might lift my spirits. Not having to much available in the house and deciding that I was not going to venture out, I scrounged around. Champaigne and strawberries worked quite nicely. Put on my favorite Jimmy Buffet CD and for a few moments-until I had to go put on a 2nd pair of socks- I could almost believe.

Somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd glass of bubbly I remebered the stew I had put in the crockpot earlier and was so happy I had the foresight to make sure we would eat on such a cold, cold day.

Today it is still cold but I am going OUT. Anywhere, somewhere but out! Much as I loved my day in hibernation I am stir crazy. Think I'll make an appointment for a facial or go and augment my stash. Who knows, if I have enough clothes on maybe I could do both.

Patti

Stash To Go

This is the knitting bag I worked on yesterday. I ran into a few problems and had to change the way I did the handles since I wanted to use the plastic handles. All in all, I think it will serve the purpose for which it was intended and-this is major- I used fabric and trims that I already HAD! I will admit to fighting the urge to run out and buy interfacing when I discovered I didn't have a piece big enough. I fought the urge and with a little counseling from K, I was able to carry on.

Here are a couple of web sites, just for fun. I do love the craft apron and it seems right up Erica's alley since there is no pattern, it's random squares and I can picture words on it.

http://www.pickupsticksonline.com/index.php

http://www.pamgarrison.typepad.com/

Happy weekend to all! I will try not to think about K & E being together in D.C. Remember you promised-NO shopping!:]

Patti

More Wonderful Surprises!

Look at what I got yesterday! Beautiful flowers from Kristen and I do mean beautiful. I have never seen such huge blossoms on roses. They smell divine .

Guess what's in this box?

Raspberry peach tea and raspberry peach champaigne jam from Amy & Adam. Yummy!

I'm going to make some toast and tea as soon as I finish this post.

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you, thank you! I miss you all terribly.

What A Wonderful Surprise!

Look what I got in the mail for my birthday. A silk neckroll for my always sore neck. It's filled with the best smelling lavender and has tiny fairies stamped on it. The words say "her fairies followed her wherever she went". Last but not least it is green, and you know how much I love green. Thank You, Erica! I love it.

Just for fun look at this website. Some of the fabric is cool and different.
www.superbuzzy.com

Also go to one of my favorite knitting sites and look at the book reviews.
www.masondixonknitting.com
I thought the books sounded like fun but I think I'd have to see them to browse thru before purchasing.

Have a great day all! Chuck has already spoiled me with a pork roast dinner he cooked last night and today we are going to see "Dream Girls". Patti

Knitted Baby Set

Here is the adorable set.

A Totally Made Up Baby Hat

Just had to post this little hat. I really did mostly make it up and so I have no way of knowing if it will fit a newborn's head. Guess we will have to wait until May to find out. (I will put it in the mail before we leave, Amy.)

Finished!

The throw is finished! Although not a hard project, it was alot of sewing and thinking.

The back is black polar fleece.

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful to have such creative, funny & caring friends and daughters in my life!

With love to all~Patti

As Requested

These are the decoupaged plates. I am pretty happy with them but I would do a few things a bit different if I do more. The inspiration plates were $58 mine are about $4 each, if that! I am going to put the plate in a square basket, standing upright with a loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread for my sister-in law for Thanksgiving. I would like to make some Christmas plates for hostess gift giving .

As we speak, I am putting the binding on the throw. Tomorrrow I will add a stamped patch or two and it will be done! I will post then.~Patti

Yarn & Fabric

Here are some projects I am going to tackle.

The first is a throw to help tie the colors of the living room together. The fabric on the far left covers the seats on the dining room chairs. It is very busy so picking fabrics is not very easy. I went to the sewing center in EA and was mildly surprised at the cost per yard of these beauties-$9. Is that alot or am I out of touch? I really need some more prints I think. Three just isn't going to cut it. The striped fabric is green, even though it appears dark in the picture. I'm thinking, black of some sort for certain. Tell me what you think..all suggestions welcome.



The second project is a for a baby blanket. Amy picked out the pattern last weekend and I went to Wooly Lamb and picked out this yarn. It is so soft. It is knit in strips so it should be pretty quick. I can't wait to start it!


That's it from here!~Patti

CowBOO Hat

Working outside your normal is some times scary......





Let me explain. Usually my sister has a Halloween party so this year I decided to be prepared. My mother, father, sisters and nephews expect me to be weird and I did not wish to disappoint them. All of this stuff, except the netting came from the dollar store, even the hat. So yesterday with my trusty glue gun in hand I got to work. Bats, snakes, roaches, spiders, rats, etc., adorn the brim. The netting is black with orange sparkles. I think it will look stunning with a black skirt, black jacket and black cowboy boots. I also have a string of BIG orange beads to wear which were also from the $store. I wanted to be subtle, yet edgy. Did I succeed?

I hope the crafters challenge didn't spell the end of our blog..it's been pretty quiet! I know what Amy and Kristen have been up to, but where are your priorities? Remember our motto? "Blog first and take care of other things after".

My Oh My! What a week it was!!!

Driftwood Challenge

You know how much I love the beach and you know how muc I love driftwood so I crafted this life sized model of my favorite animal ----Not!!














This is a shrine which I titled "Bird's Eye View".
The small people on park benches were found at an antique mall out West and I never knew what to do with them, until now. The legs are brass bolts from the hardware store and the bird is from a garage sale. The back and sides are plastered with "birdy" sayings.
The most fun was trying to get everything to stay glued.
I gave this piece of driftwood several coats of clear spray and then split a chunk off-oh darn!#%&*!!-when I tried to put a hole in it thus the 2 gold beads at the bottom in an attempt to cover up the mistake. The chain is an extra long old watch chain, the amber pendant both flea market finds.

2 Days and Counting!!

A centerpiece for your next dinner party?

3......

More Inspiration!!

Four Days Left!

We are fast approaching October 14th. Are you ready? Here's some inspiration!


Patti 10/10/06 12:00pm

I Swear...

I swear I made this before I looked at the pictures of the other ribbon necklaces. I will admit that I was inspired by another necklace I saw on the web which was intriquingly referred to as 'the whip'. The problem is, it's very hard to find beads that the ribbon will fit thru so I ended up hand sewing most of the beads to the ribbon. Tedious, at best! Is it very dorky looking?

So, are we all good with the 14th as a final finish date for our 1st Crafters Challenge?

Posted by Patti

An Exciting New Contest!

In an effort to keep us all busy-or crazy-I am offering a crafters challenge. Shortly you will receive in the mail a small piece of drift wood that I found while walking along the shore of Lake Erie on a beautiful day!

Let your imaginations soar and see what you can make with this. There are no rules for the contest so you can do anything you want to the wood. We can set a date for showing of our completed projects. Let me know how long you need. 2 weeks? 3 weeks? and then we can post pictures. If you think this is just to crazy and that I've gone over the edge, you're right!

Here are pictures of the necklace I finished. They are both made from old stuff I found at flea makets. The gold one is a shoe buckle and the pewter one is from Renningers (the last time we went together). It was a necklace. I am really liking putting together odd combinations. Are they to odd?

Posted by Patti