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

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

@jennifer_hogan

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

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

generous and kind people around. 

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

people.  

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

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

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

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

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #4

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

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

And it screamed Sea Water to me. 

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

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

A base of some sand colored linen.

 I edged it with some rough thread bordering. 

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

Sew on some clear bead "bubbles".

Then I ran across these seashell patterns 

Designed by Susan Whitlock. 

I made mine from bedspread cotton. 

I LOVE IT. 

I also crocheted a little spiral of seaweed. 

Gathered fun little bits and bobbles to embellish this.

Look there's a lace "sand dollar" 

And a crocheted bit of a "sea fan coral"

This project was so much fun. 

Having an idea.

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

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

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

I cannot wait to see the finished quilt. 

Kindness Quilt Square #3

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

@jennifer_hogan

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

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

generous and kind people around. 

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

people.  

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

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

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

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

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #3

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

Then I went into the stash. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look again at those colors.

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

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

I am really happy with how this turned out. 

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

Kindness Quilt Square #2

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

@jennifer_hogan

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

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

generous and kind people around. 

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

people.  

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

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

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

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

I immediately went to work. 

Details from Square #2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A fairly quick and simple square. 

My Kindness Quilt Square #1

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

@jennifer_hogan

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

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

generous and kind people around. 

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

people.  

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

4 squares - crochet and embellished.

Roughly 6 inches square. 

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

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

I immediately went to work. 

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

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

(Looks like an Easter basket to me.) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

I then called this one complete. 

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

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

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

Have a fabulous weekend. 

Life is crazy beautiful

It's Nuts but it works.

Wow - I haven't been here in quite some time.

Lot's of reasons that need not be aired publicly here.

I had someone make a comment about how much I accomplish creatively. She wondered how the heck I get so much accomplished. When she said it, I kind of downplayed it a whole lot. But on thinking about it, I thought I would explain how I do get things done.

I spend years "half-ass" doing stuff. I have LOTS of UFO's. I am simplifying my entire life right now and rediscovering those unfinished things had cause a tremendous amount of guilt and stress. 

(I uncovered Molly's unframed cross-stitch birth record. It is finished. Not framed. She is 24) 

Many years ago, I started blogging and that was the beginning of focusing on my creative side. I needed to make progress on things so I would have something to share. I am not, nor will I ever be one of the BIG bloggers, but I have my group of friends and we love and encourage one another here. 

Anyway --- back to how my "system" works.

I almost ALWAYS have multiple projects going. Which sound like craziness, but it really has worked for me. 

I have discovered that crochet and cross-stitch travel well - other stuff does not. 

The other stuff, is not addressed here - I do a few bits on those projects and leave them to dry on the work table. 

Now for the pick up put down explanations.

I have a crochet bag by my sofa - right now it contains a sunset colors inspired infinity scarf project. Yarn from my stash (yay me). I pick it up and put it down. The pattern is a no count required repeat, so I don't even have to make a stitch. This one will soon move to the car (reasons will become evident in a minute)

I leave early on Sunday Morning and spend time alone in the silence with myself and this project. It is a big blanket - stash buster project. Two worsted weight yarns held together. There is a kind of pattern repeat to keep this from getting too busy looking. This will ebb and flow with weather conditions, and will be a long time finishing. As the hot weather creeps in I'll put this in a Huge Zipper Project bag and hang it in the craft closet to pull it out when cold weather gets back. Also a stash project (yay me)

This sweet and soft bit of pastel goodness is a granny square baby blanket. Another stash buster project (the stash is wide and deep - please don't judge) It is my car project. I have it in a plastic tote and I can work on this while riding. Plastic tote allows me to sit this on the ground by the campfire or at ball games, keeping everything dry and clean of debris. (I tried a 31 tote for this and as much as I love that tote for other things, the soft sides just did not work out well.) 

I am close to finishing this one. Abby's final college softball season starts next week, so the long hours in the car and at the ball field begin. I'll finish this one and then move the scarf from the bag at home by the sofa into this project. Because.......

This has started as the detailed - must concentrate - project for by the sofa.

AND 

requiring reading glasses and the best light I can find. 

It is a cross stitch piece for one of our most special babies on the way. 

I'll be posting tips and bits about this as it progresses. If there are overnight stays for ball trips, this is organized in a plastic tote box as well, but it certainly is not a mindless, riding in the car, kind of project. 

A note on those car projects, after the blanket and the scarf are finished, I will go back to the stash (yes, there is still plenty of stash available) and start another something.

The cross stitch project will consume a large portion of my home time creating. But I combine that with prayer time, so this is a good thing. 

Now for some tidbit notes about this.

- I do not sit still well.

- I can be a terrible passenger in the car.

- I cannot read in the car or the sun without getting a headache, but I can crochet. 

- I have multiple crochet hooks in each size. 

- I think I have 50 pair of small scissors too. 

- Keeping things in a convenient to use and move container is key. 

-  When I pack up the big blanket for the summer, I will put an index card in the bag noting the hook size.

- MAKING at the ball field - or by the pool - or in the lobby of a hotel - has always caused people to ask what I am making. I always take the time to answer and I have met so many wonderful people this way. 

- Make sure the travel projects can be construed as mindless and either easy to keep count or effortless to recount after you have put them down and picked them back up.  (like granny square blankets or repeat patterns for cross stitch) 

My craziest softball crocheting story - Softball Princess played travel ball for many years as she grew up. One season I made 88 beanie hats. That means we played at least 88 games that year, because I could make a beanie every full length game. 

her college freshman season, I made 150 quarter sized crochet roses.

If you would like regular project updates and some mundane randomness, you can follow my instagram

I do hope you are all doing well. 

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

monograms

The bride-to-be will soon be adopting a new last name.

The wedding inspiration color is a vintage aqua Christmas ornament.

She will be tying her ring pillow to the groom's grandfather's scriptures.

Mom was tasked to create a ring pillow.

Saturday morning - these old eye's travelled out to my porch swing. We spread out and started to bead. I used a cross-stitch monogram snagged from a sampler pattern that I love.

Using delica seed beads from fire mountain in a color called silver lined turquoise, I stitched and beaded away.

I worked for about an hour and got to the point above.

Then cleaned the living room -- I am trying to get the living/ dining room to a point where I can use it as a work room for the next several months.

After I cleaned, I made a quick trip to Royston and ended up sitting on the sofa and beading some more.

These tiny seed beads are a pain to stitch on. One at a time --- and many times the needle was too big to go through the eye of the bead. This caused cussing and other mutterings under my breath. But I finished the monogram on Saturday evening ---

Kinda looks like the one Laverne had on her sweater in the Laverne and Shirley show (late 70's thru early 80's).

There is a pin on my pinterest board for the completed ring pillow design. Lets just see if Mom can make this happen.

At least this one comes with out mention of "fail" so far.

Wedding bells on my mind.

Day two - October -

Welcome to all of you who have come over from Dawn's place. Thank you Dawn for providing the linky love too.

Using the above image from here (Dawn's place again) and a few other items taken from the stash. I created a very useful item last night. I also polished some spoons. I'm posting this project because the act of spoon polishing is so photo worthy LOL.

This was an easy project. I took a massive flour sack towel that I ran across at a Fred's Discount Store in a pack of 5 and added to the stash.

My Dritz transfer pencil. I love these pencils. I get mine at JoAnns, but I need to watch the Hobby Lobby sales ads to see when they are on sale.

I printed the image off my word processor onto basic plain old paper using the import grahics function and sizing the image like I wanted it. Using my high tech light box - aka my glass studio door and masking tape - I traced the outlines using the transfer pencil.

Flip the image over on the corner of the towel and iron the lines on.

Stash floss and an hour of Grey's Anatomy.

Here is the result.

Two cute little acorns on a flour sack towel. These go with the dragonfly towels for the inventory. More of these to come.

As you repeatedly use the transfer made with the pencil, the image will get lighter. Just go over the lines again with the pencil. Did I mention that I love that pencil????

Also you really should spend some time going back through Dawn's Archives. She has a beautiful blog, full of inspirations, full of linky love, and full of downloadable images.

Have a great weekend.

PS - the ankle injury is improving quickly - I'll be back at Boot camp on Monday and will try to squeeze a couple of walks in this weekend.

Monday Monday - weekend bits too

This is for Tiffany. We have goats and donkeys at work. Earl is our miniature donkey - grey, small, with attitude. This is Sugar - she is a rescue and she has been tremendously skittish, even aggressive at times. We have patiently fed her and talked to her and just generally worked on getting her accustomed to being around nice people.

The little boy in the picture is Sam, the son of a customer. He always wants to feed the "doats and the donkeys". This is from this morning, She ate NutterButters right out of Sam's hand. Everyone was excited - she has responded well to all the positive attention. I even got to scratch her nose and ears this morning. She is so sweet (or getting that way).


I was "puny" most of the weekend. Not really sick, I just was not at the top of my game. I did get a few stitches in on this little sampler. I have a plan for this one that involves it staying at my house. So much of my stuff goes to others, so it will be nice to have something of mine at home. It is a kit that came from my MIL and includes the frame. I work a few stitches at night, sitting in my chair and am liking it a lot. It is also relaxing to just sit and stitch.

Now - I have a question. What is your most hated laundry chore? Which one do you put off the most? Apparently mine is mating socks. We just mate them as we need them out of a basket in the laundry room. I also have a big bag of socks with no buddies.

On Saturday, I dumped the basket(s) - yes plural - on my bed and proceeded to mate socks. Despite the looks of these, they are clean, ballfield dirt basically ruins them colorwise, they all look dingy. And ya'll know that we live at the ballfield. I now have a big basket of mated socks, a dated bag of socks with no buddies, and a plan to toss those without buddies if they are still lonely after a month.

I also have a family who understands the blogging thing, because both the Softball Princess and the Man at Our Address took pictures and asked if MaggieGrace would be confessing to this many unmated socks. LOL. They each thought I would be too embarrassed to tell this. NOT.

A sore throat and generally not feeling well, yesterday found me lounging around - watching The Next Food Network Star reruns - and the finale last night. I like Melissa, but I really thought she would lose that last round. Softball Princess thought Jeffrey was creepy - so she was happy with the results.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday.

Safe in the arms of love.

I feel a few of these coming. In various colorways. Based on an inspiration blogged about here.

Yesterday a friend blogged about a struggle. I felt the pull to focus my thoughts and prayers in her direction. So last night I did just that. I gathered supplies, which did not take very long because the list was short and having things better organized in my studio expedites that process.

The supply list - dusty blue linen 32 count - some hand dyed floss in a soft and sensual muted colorway - needle - hoop - and a stone. Oh and those reading glasses that have become a recent feature acdessory in my wardrobe.

I settled into my favorite chair, surrounded by my crew and focused on Jen. I haven't said too much here about my Lenten journey this year, but the events leading up to Ash Wednesday have made my focus much more meaningful. I gave up about 3 hours of tv per day by giving up those reruns - I haven't missed them at all and I have been a ton more productive along with some spiritual growth that is amazing.


My thoughts last night as I stitched. Healing for old wounds. Acceptance of heart promptings. Forgiveness of self and others. Giving and taking room to grow in all areas. Taking care of myself (and sending Jen the energy to take care of herself) Looking deep into the inner parts and realizing that happiness really is in each of us all the time if we just recognize it. I found some things that I need to do in my life and as we all continue on our life's journeythere will be more of those discoveries. I sent thought of that inspiration mentally to my friend.

Molly was home last night. She was on the sofa when I finished the stitching and gathering. After "wrapping" the stone and attaching it to the stitched piece, I proclaimed that it had turned out exactly like I pictured it. She responded "cool when that happens isn't it." At that point another realization came to me - we can't plan our life or the life of others very effectively - there will be no moment in life when we can say "that turned out exactly like I planned."

Nope - we gotta take it as it happens. Find the drops of happiness as they are sprinkled around us. Learn from our challenges. Grow from our experiences. Then wrap our arms around all of it. One day maybe we can say "we LOVED with all that we had and the world kept us safe in the arms of each others love."

How will I finish this - no clue yet? But I do know that I had to make it and I had to share its message.

Love you JenB.

There will be more of these ----

Have a wonderful day????

So my mother-in-love called.

I love this lady. She knows it. She also knows that I am the one to send unwanteds to. When she called me, I arranged a visit to her house. They live about 40 minutes from us. When we were dating, the man at my address put about 900 miles per week on his car between his work and seeing me. Looking back on that - I find it ridiculous - we talked about that last night.

Seems the softball girls have decided to include "boys" in their lives, thus making their brain cells misfire on occasion. The coaches (and some of the daddy's) are not really excited about that news flash. I reminded the Man of the stupid (he said romantic) things we did to see or talk to each other before the words "i do". (Yes - you need to read that "romantic" word with sarcasm, my engagement ring was handed to me rolled up in a dirty tshirt from the back floorboard of his car.) These girls are wading through all of that and it is a kind of rocky terrain for everyone right now.

Back to that phone call. We visited and I so enjoyed that time with them. Just before we started home, Ann emerged with this pile of stuff. Just look.


Boxes (plural) in a big way.

Never fear - there were a few duplicates in here that will be included in a giveaway really soon.


Floss - I am in heaven - this is already detangled, wrapped on cards, and labeled. A shoe box full.

An unopened cross stitch kit. There were a few of these.

More floss.

A box of pressed and neatly folded cross stitch fabric.

Storage jars (need those), magazines and gift boxes.

GrandDaddy wanted to go through it before we left. (SHH - I think he is afraid she is giving his stuff away)

My favorite thing is in the next picture. She doesn't know if this was Grandma Simpsons or Mama Norvan's - it is ours now. It fits my dining room table and I like how the dar wood shows off the beatiful lacework pattern.

Look....

Today is a good day. The Raider Softball team is on the way to be recognized at the State Capitol. While I was typing this the Doctors Office called. My biopsy results are in.

The skin lesion was a Lichen Planus. This is news and it really is good news. Apparently it is an autoimmune disorder and is not serious at all. Leave it to me to be diagnosed with something I had never heard of.

I hope this finds all of you having a wonderful day. Mine just got better.

WIP, homecoming, and something to look forward to.

First let me say - I had a good weekend. I got a space heater for the studio. Hope its enough to keep me somewhat warm. On Saturday, I rested, we had a fire in the heater and I got warm and I slept almost everytime I got still. True healing rest. The College Freshman was home bringing news of the possibility of an additional scholarship next year.

I crocheted two more of the thin neckwarmer style scarves - I am 99% sure one of them went back to school with her. Since she loved it and I can't find it anywhere. I'll be making lots of these for Christmas gifties. These will also be on the list for the Art Show table next year.

I also finished the cross stitch part of a wall hanging.


Loving this color scheme. The floss is a hand dye named wildfire and I love it. This will be a patchwork wall hanging for a bloggy friend. There will be brights and buttons included.


There will be sewing machine work on several items this week.

The mix CD that the Freshman brought me. All new music to me. One of the great things about joining a new group of people is that you are exposed to things that are totally new to you. She has expanded her musical interests so much. She and I are very very close, so she made me a studio/wine drinking/ mellow music mix. I love this. She nailed the mix perfectly. I like how she labeled the cd too.

She will be home for most of this week. Coming home Tuesday night and home til Sunday night. Everyone is so excited. We will be at Grandmother's on Thursday.

Now for the something to look forward to. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I am not normally a huge Johnny Depp fan, but there are roles he is perfect for.

Mad Hatter is one of those perfection roles. Just look.

More about the film here -- Okay ya'll chime in - don't you think this steampunk bohemian victorian look is absolutely fabulous for him? Come on - you know you like it.

Now for one of the most beautiful youtube videos ever - go over ad visit Boho and boho Boy and Cedar (the new boho baby) Look at the video from Nov 23 post. Touched my heart. Sure it will touch yours too.

I hope this finds all of you having a fabulous day.

Inspiration - and the inspired WIP

I saw this ( I think on the decor8 blog) etched glass artwork and fell head over heels in love (lust). I adore words and fonts and this is just plain fun. If anyone out there can identify the artist, I would love to provide a link here. I am on a spending moratorium so I came up wth my own pattern fully inspired by this work.

Since I am much more comfortable and fully equipped for stitch work (you really have no idea how well equipped), I chose that as my medium. There are some birthdays that are way past due to be gifted and this will soon be finished and on it's way to a new home. This is one of the top secret projects I have referred to in the last few weeks.

I took a LOVE chart and regraphed it into an assemblage of the words. Then using floss left over from cross stitch kits, I blocked off a rectangle on a piece of linen with blue, dark red and green floss. I then chose a random location to start the stitching of the words.

After I finished stitching the words, the piece still looked incomplete. Enter a software package that I found online - random stripe generator - and I chose a few colors off their chart knowing that I could sub in my own floss colors later. Since coming up with a layout plan, I have been happily stitching away - completely filling in the background of the thing. I like just a few stitches finishing it.

I am having trouble deciding how to finish this. Part of me wants it to be a pillow. Part of me wants it to be a quilted wall hanging. Part of me wants to mix media mount it with papers and such onto a canvas. Any feedback on how you might display this in your home or office?

MaggieGrace goodies have been few and far between of late here. I have been working on things, just holding back on some of them.

Why was this so top secret? ------- FEAR ------- Because I still do not fully trust my design and art instincts, I kept this to myself until I was okay with it. What if it turned out wonky? What if it was too weird and I just wanted to toss it (been there done that)? What if.... What if..... What if......

I do like how how it has finished, but part of me still wonders if anyone else will like it. I am trying to slay those WHAT IF demons by participating in the be brave challenges and by following the WHAT IF commentary over at spirit cloth and the commentary on it by calamity kim. Any of you guys still fight the "what if monster"? Any battle secrets for victory that you want to share?

I have a new top secret project to start very soon involving a certain bloggers soon to be new little one in her arms. This one will remain top secret until delivery, but for a different reson - she reads and this one needs to be secret until it goes to her house to live.

Have a wonderful day everyone........

Sneak peek -- and thank you......

Not revealing who this is for. Definitely a reader. And this is definitely a project that requires full attention. Counted cross stitch on 28 count white linen over two threads. An adaptation of a needlepoint project and using things I already had. Unlike crochet - this one stays beside my chair and is better for those evenings when I can sit still. (that happens a lot - you know)

This has become a way of life - the using what I have thing. Is my stash any smaller - technically yes - but visibly - not in the least? As I move things into the studio and put them away - I really am enjoying rediscovery of some things I purchased. I do have some CIP work to accomplish and several other gifties to get together. But I am still ahead for Christmas.

The graduate picked out her bedding last night so now I can plan the remainder of this dorm room decor. We will be meeting with Emily and her family next week - maybe over home made ice cream - to decide who will bring what.

The softball princess had her first followup today - we still have the pins in her thumb and no cast, but she has been allowed to throw the ball some. Not catch the ball or swing a bat - and definitely no running, but it is enough to allow her to be a little involved and that makes her feel better. The pins come out on July 15th - then two more weeks in a removable cast.

I came home last night to find this package on the kitchen counter. Fun - and yes - I added it to the stash. I am quite sure this patterned tyvek will resurface in the future.

What was in it???

A pay it forward goodie from Suzanne. Look a the beauty in that box. A bracelet and earrings in green - my favorite color.

The clasp on the bracelet is fabulous. There are even tiny grapes on the toggle. The earrings are made from those same green crystals - beautiful - I am so pleased with this. Love- love- love. You can see more of Suzannes work at her etsy shop.

We have softball concession duty tonight. The heat and humidity are horrible and I'll be flippin burgers - fun fun fun. See ya'll tomorrow.

Have a wonderful evening.

Fun stuff ...

Good Monday morning. Yet another activity filled week and weekend to come. The Home and Garden Show for my local area is this weekend and we will have a booth. I'll be setting everything up on Friday and then be there all weekend working. At least I do not have to be Mom at all for the weekend - the monsters and the man at my address will be gone snow skiing with the church. Looks like a Chinese takeout kind of weekend.


Look at this picture. Some things are just not fair. After I posted this last week, I received an email from the man's relative - Dennis - with this picture as an attachment. Seems this is the view from his bedroom window at sunset - I would have a terrible time leaving this view at anytime. This is just beautiful. My dream home has a view of water from a sitting area. Dennis, thanks for sending me this - it really is pretty - we need to see it in person really soon.

More fun - the WIP for the Quilting Arts challenge. A scrap of Aida cloth. Rug canvas that came in a box from this generous soul. Black floss left over from a stocking kit. So far every item qualifies for the challenge. I have finished the center beading with seed beads rescued from the dress trims - I did clear/slightly tinted beads for the center. OMG I love the way it turned out. The canvas gave the "leading" of the stained glass just enough extra loft to make it pop. The clear beads have just enough variety in color to make you think that you are seeing shadows and sunlight from the outside. Sometimes (not too often) the outcome is even better than the idea.

Last night at the church we finally accomplished the Winter Wonderland event. If anyone out there is looking for a cold weather event for your young ones - this was quick and easy. We had "snowball catch" games - snowball races (think egg on the spoon but with cotton balls) - made icicles from plastic wrap and glitter - made a card for the pictures - and did ice fishing (for candy prizes). Served hot dogs and roasted marshmallows. A family in the church had this fantastic snow machine.

My Molly - posing with Frosty the snowman. Biased mommy opinion here - but this is one of my favorite pictures ever of her. We took all the kids picture with this snow machine. Printed them out on the Kodak easy dock and they each took home a card with the picture in it. We had such a great time. (oh and Molly's volleyball team won their bracket - never mind it was the aluminum bracket - really the bronze - she personally had a wonderful day.) I am going to miss her so much this fall.

If you are a regular reader you will remember the weekend it snowed at the beach. Here are the pictures of how I used those paper snowflakes. All around the ice fishing lake (the lake was made from white sheets and that blue styrofoam insulation over the serving tables.) This was really very pretty - I kept everything with the idea of using the branches and snowflakes for a Christmas in July event at the studio.

I also would like to say that not touching my computer all weekend was not as difficult as I had imagined. There won't be many more of those - because now we are in the real decision process on college and the emails are flying as we try to get more information together.

Have a wonderful evening - the man at my address is sick(you know the cold that only slows mom down and stops dad dead in his tracks) and the girls have school stuff tonight. You'll find me in the barn painting floors and touching up walls. Right after I scrub a shelf that is going there. Volunteers for help welcome.

See ya tomorrow --