Inspiring Artist

Look at these two cards I purchased yesterday at a craft show.  The first one has 3 bunnies sitting in front of an ice cream shop enjoying some treats.  The other  is of a cat sipping a cup of catnip tea and reading a magazine.  I love these drawings.  I think the detail and expressions are great.  The most impressive part is the artist is only 8 years old (by my best guess).   I had to buy these!  I had to support this inspiring young artist and give her the experience of actually selling something she had created.  Those of us who craft and have hauled our wares here and there hoping to sell a few pieces know that thrill.  You know that excitement you feel when you realize someone actually likes what you do and they like it enough to give you money for it.  I love that feeling!  This little girl was so excited.  She had a lot of different drawings and her mom had helped her make copies so she could sell them as cards.  She had several different bunny drawings.  When I commented about that she said she really wanted a bunny as a pet and was hoping if she kept drawing bunnies her mom would get the message and take the hint.  She made me smile.  I asked her if she would sign the two cards I bought from her and with a giggle she agreed.  I told her I wanted to have them autographed so when she became a famous artist and could tell people I had some of her earlier work and I knew her when she was just starting out.  That made her laugh.  I see a bright future for this young artist and I hope she did well yesterday at the show. 

Happy Jalapenos

(Sorry it's not the best picture.)

Our garden did not do well this year.  We are disappointed because I usually pickle and freeze a lot of stuff to have over the winter.  Hubby loves jalapenos and we usually harvest a ton from our garden and pickle enough to be able to share with friends and neighbors.  But not this year.  Our pepper plants did not produce.  Thank goodness a friend gave us a bunch of jalapenos from his garden. So at least we have these 4 little pints to enjoy.   

It takes a little time to slice them just right.  And gloves are a must!

The house smells like vinegar now but I do enjoy doing this even if it does take a little effort.  

Hope your week has been a good one. 

Tomorrow is FRIDAY.

  TGIF!!!!!!

More Finished

Okay,  so here are a few more things I have finished for the church bazaar coming up in about 3 weeks.  These hair bows were inspired by all of the yo yo making for the towels.  I also crocheted a few flowers for hair clips too.

I finally finished the felted coasters.  I made 5 sets of 4 each.  They were fun to make.  I had to run them through the washer twice to get the felting where I wanted it to be.  I love the thickness and the texture.

There are a few more items in the works that I will share as they get finished up.  But so far we have finished the tie dye shirts, petal bags, beaded bookmarks, knitted coffee cozies, felted coasters, and hair bows. There are a few odds and ends of projects that need a home - knitted mohair scarves, and fingerless gloves that will be donated also.  Those of you who know me well are puzzled by my completion of craft projects weeks before they are actually needed.  I must confess, I am too.  I do like to wait til the last minute to get things like this done.   I'm not sure what the difference is this time.  I thought about this the other day and figured maybe I'm working hard getting things done because I have so much other stuff going on at the same time that I know waiting until the night before may not pan out too well this time.   But you know,  I do have a craft buddy who has been putting some pressure on me to produce. She has been busy and has some really nice things done.  Or you know what - maybe I 've matured and know that waiting until the night before isn't always best.
I think its one of those two things -  pressure or a sign of maturity. ;-)

Tie Dye Results

Of course like a little kid I rushed home

so I could see how my tie dye turned out. 

Here are the results.

T Shirt #1 started like this.

I added the dye

and this is how it turned out.

TA DA!

Ready for T Shirt #2?

It started like this.

 I added the dye

and got this.

So what do you think?

Not to bad for a first try

 if I must say so myself.

I'm happy with the results.  

It was interesting trying to figure out

 how the end design and

color combination would turn out.

  Heather you were right, 

 it does have addictive powers.

    Just what I need,

another crafty thing I'm addicted to. 

Something Different

 

When I got home tonight I decided to do something different - Tie Dye. Yep, that's right, I tie dyed two t-shirts tonight and can't wait to see how they turn out.  I can't remember tie dying before.  I don't think I have.  My girls have, lots of times.  In fact they dyed some shirts over the weekend for the church craft sale I've been talking about.  Their shirts look great!   I really had fun doing this.  I can hardly wait to see how the colors finish and what the designs look like. 

I will show you just as soon as I can.  Until then we'll just have to wait patiently.  (I'm not very good at that.)

2 Things Finished

Things have been busy this weekend.  We got to spend time with the kids and Grand Baby and there was lots to do around the house.  I did get a couple of things finished that I wanted to tell you about.  The kitchen towels are finished and ready for the church craft show.   I think I ended up with 10.  I forgot to show you the back side the other day.  When I stitched on the yo yos I added a button to the back to make the towel look finished and to keep from having a stringy knotty mess on the back.  As I stitched the yo yo on I added the button at the same time.  I knotted the string in the center of the yo yo on the front. 

See - I kind of like that finished look.

The other thing that was finished this weekend was the Easy Breezy Peanut Butter Pie that Little Girl made earlier this week.  The recipe came from Jessica at Happy Together.  If you like peanut butter you gotta give this try. 

The chocolate pudding on top made it even better.  It is cool and creamy.  We will definitely make this one again. 

I have lots of projects in the works that I will be sharing with you as time goes by and the craft show draws closer.  I hope you have a super week and will stay groovy.

Yo Yo Making

I've been busy making yo yos!

These yo yos...

...not the toy on a string.

I've been asked by a few folks what are yo yos.  It is what I call an "old lady craft" just because its been around forever.  It is a simple way to embellish items with very little material.  You don't see them much, but I love 'em.  They are easy to make especially if you have the help of a yo yo maker.

Here a few of the kitchen towels I've been telling you about.  I think they turned out kind of cute.  These will be going into the church craft sale. I bought the towels on clearance for $2 and the other materials I had in my stash. Wonder how we should price these -  what do you think?  

I've got a few more to finish up along with several other things I've got in the works.   The craft sale is in less than a month.  I usually wait til the last minute to work on stuff like this.  So I'm kind of proud of myself for getting a little bit of a head start. 

Once again we were blessed with another great weekend at the island.  The best part is we did nothing.  I actually spent the whole weekend crocheting hair bows and making yo yos to embellish kitchen towels.  I really enjoyed myself.  I'm trying to get some things finished up so I can share pictures soon. 

I used a yo yo maker for the first time and LOVED it!  I've had it for a while now and just haven't taken the time to use it.  If you like yo yos or have ever thought you might like to make some you have to get one of these things. It makes it so easy to make lots and lots of yo yos.  In fact I need to go now and make 10 more to finish up my kitchen towels. 

Hope your week started out good and is only getting better.  Talk to you soon!

Inspiration x 2

Hope you had a great week and are ready for a wonderful weekend. This week one of my buddies turned me on to a blog that I had not run across yet.  I am so happy to have found Happy Together.  This young women has it going on.  She is amazing.  I love everything she does.  This is just the inspiration I have been searching for to get me kick started again.  I've been stumbling around in the land of the crafting lost for a while now looking for something different to do.  I don't know about you but I have to be doing something crafty constantly or I feel empty.  My Auntie J is always a great source of inspiration.  I think we would agree we have been searching for some inspiration together for while now.  Just looking through Jessica's blog gets the crafting juices flowing.  The very first day I went through her blog I had to run home and make petal bags.  I stayed up late and finished 2 - here are my versions. 

Today I had to make sure I had supplies to make crocheted hair bows over the weekend.  I think I'm set. 

Thank you Jessica for inspiring me!  I think you're great!!

Someone else who inspires me is the Urban Muser.  She is a wonderful photographer and knitter. Check out GibKnitty from New York City and see for yourself.  She recently posted her Hydrangea Hoodie that I fell in love with.  I had to run out and get yarn and start working on my own for Grand Baby (who by the way is still AMAZING). Here is my work in progress -

  

 

Sorry it's inside out and pinned up right now.  But I hope to get it finished this weekend.  I have enjoyed knitting this and hope it turns out as cute as the GibKnitty's did.  I'll post a finished picture soon (I hope).

All of this inspiration is keeping me busy and that is a good thing.  I am enjoying seeing new ideas and want to thank all of you who share you creativity.  Keep up the good work!

Have a groovy weekend!

Happy August

This is a small sample of some of the things that have collected in the flower bed in front of the house.

Zinnias and Lantana

Butterflies on Oregano

Dried springs of Mint and Pussy Foots are scattered about.

A transplanted Sage bush that has found itself happy.

Purple Hearts and weeds throughout.

Lavender that is coming back around.

And a small hidden statue of St. Francis.

This little space is full and cramped.  I've not given it the attention it deserves because it has been sooo hot.  The weeds are just as happy as the plants.  This little spot is usually humming with activity from all sorts of insects, bees, and butterflies.  It has been rainy and cool this weekend (I'm not complaining) so they critters aren't as abundant today.  This is one of my favorite spots.  I can sit on the front porch and just look and watch and enjoy. 

Hope you are having a good weekend.  Enjoy your Sunday.