Oh the agony!!!!!!  

Posted by: Maria in , , , , , , , , ,

So the enablers at Ravelry have me signing up for emails from the various yarn stores and I really should not read them.  Today from Elann...
Louisa Harding Mulberry at 59% Savings!
New Stock!
Fibre Content: 100% Silk
Made In: Italy
Care: Hand Wash/ Dry Flat
Knit: 22 st/4 inches 4 mm (US 6)
Yardage: 124 m (136 yards)
Size: 50g (1.75 oz) ball

Featured Design: A delicate ruffle and picot edging trim the Osprey Scarf, from Louisa Harding Belle, which also features a series of textural lace panels. With approximate finished measurements of 35" in length by 8" in width, it uses just 4 balls of Louisa Harding Mulberry! See more designs using Louisa Harding Mulberry when you view the contents of Louisa Harding Belle and Louisa Harding Queen of Hearts.
Standard price for this yarn is US$17.95 - elann discounted price saves you as much as 59%!

$7.25 USD / 7.54 CAD*

And then they have the nerve to put the most lucious pictures of this beautiful silk yarn in with the email!  I cannot believe it.  I am on a stash REDUCING spree.  I have banned myself from purchasing anything and then I see this...*sigh* there should be a law against it.  LOL

 I put a box in the mail today to my mother with two more shawls for the prayer shawl ministry at her church.

Doris Chan's All Shawl Done is Caron's Simply Soft Paints Oceana


Diagonal Stitch Shawl done is Red Heart Soft Icy Pond

I have finished some other things too 

A Hat for Emily

a cowl for Rachel


Vickie Mikulak's Flying Diamonds in Paton's Lace Sachet





And then there is my Christmas Helper!

She is getting so BIG!!!!!!!!!!

That's it for now.  I am off to snoop around Elann and see what else I want!

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Why I do what I do...  

Posted by: Maria

Papa and I had a wonderful day yesterday. We got to take our favorite lady bug to the zoo for HallZooween.  She has not been trick or treating before but it didn't take long for her to figure it out!  BUT...



The carousel with Papa was much more exciting to her.  She very patiently stood in line while it took two full rides before she could get on the carousel.  Every turn around, she waved to M-Ma!  I don't know who had more fun, Izzy-bug or Papa!


Then it was on to the children's zoo where she got to feed sheep and goats and then go in and pet them!  (See that finger? Tommy used to do that to only with him, where the finger went trouble usually followed! )


We went to see the giraffes, and then to see the elephants smash the pumpkins but someone was all smiled out!  She wasn't letting go of that bucket though!


So we drove home while she snoozed and when we got home M-Ma finished something just for her Izzy-bug,  McKinleys Springtime Hat.  M-Ma had been making hats for Izzy-bug's mom and she wanted one too.  M-Ma thinks she makes a wonderful model as well!




This is crochets in Caron's Simply soft and I made several small changes to the pattern so it fit her a little better.  ( just added a couple of rows and changed a hook size on the edging.  We love it.

So that was my Saturday.  Today Papa is working grandmom is watching TV, Izzy-bug is at her granny's house while mom and dad work so M-ma is going to finish reading Split Second by Catherine Coulter (one of her favorite authors).

Enjoy your Sunday where ever you may be!



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I just can't crochet quickly enough!  

Posted by: Maria in , , , , ,

I recently joined Ravelry which is an online group of knitters and crocheters.  I am staggered by the amount of information and support there.  I have been playing around for the last couple of days trying to figure out exactly what my next project will be.  I was working on a shawl made with Vanna's Choice in purple Mist that I just could not get to work like I wanted it to.  After ripping it out probably close to a dozen times, I put that yarn away and went into my stash bag and pulled out this little gem Tweed Stripes in a color called Caribbean.  Trust me, the web site does NOT do this color justice.  It is a lovely blend of blues, teals, purples and greens.  It is soft and just delicious to work with. I chose a pattern called Gentle Waves by Karen Klemp.  The pattern as listed is made to do a scarf but I just took the repeat of 12 and made it shawl width of about 24".     This is the start...and my picture doesn't do the color justice either. 

The colors just pop and it is working up so quickly.  The pattern is easy enough that I can work on it while watching TV. 

I only was able to get 4 skeins of this and it will make it about 56".  I think (since it is buy one, get one half off) I will get 2 more skeins and add a couple more inches to and it use the left over to make a hat for one of  the girls that hang around here.

Ok, that's it for now.  I will get back to crocheting and dreaming about what the next project will be!

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Flying hooks...  

Posted by: Maria in , , ,

I haven't been on here but I have been busy... Lots of Blankets for Project Linus and now prayer shawls for my home church.

First the shawls...  I have re learned to do tunisian crochet. 

This one is based on a pattern from the Crochet Geek called Andrew's Keepsake.  I just enlarged on the scarf that she had made.  hard telling from this picture but the shawl is actually a light thyme green.  You can find the pattern here Andrew's Keepsake It was crocheted with TLC Essentials.



This one is a little on the the large side for a shawl but it sure is warm.  Crocheted with Red Heart Collage in Rust and I Love This Yarn  in burnt pumpkin is it done in entrelac tunisian stitch.  I had the idea of doing the pumpkin stitches in the honeycomb stitch but after I got started I wished I hadn't.  Plain tunisian would have been just fine.  Entrelac crochet video made by Beth in Texas.  SUPER easy and fast to work off.  I actually have extra of the Rust yarn enough that I bought Vanna's Choice yarn in tangerine mist and I am going to make another of these (a little smaller and sans honeycomb stitch.)





This shawl is going to my husband's place of work as a donation to the fundraiser they are doing for the Susan G Komen foundation.   It was crocheted with Sensations Little Treat in turquoise/white.  It is so soft and pretty I almost hated to donate it!  I also sent in 2 baby blankets for them to sell as well. Fan Shawl Pattern.  Just a word to the wise with this pattern should you try and print it, there are ads all over this site and I could not get a readable print so I ended up copying it and pasting it into a Word document to get a working copy I could read.  (Sensations yarn is sold at Joann's Fabrics)




Four more blankets for Project Linus! As a said above, I donated 2 blankets for the Susan G Komen fundraiser.  I also donated a large blanket and a baby blanket for a fundraiser to help with the medical expenses of a young woman recently diagnosed with cancer so I guess they are getting around now.  I should probably invest in some labels to put in them.


 I already have another shawl underway.  They are very addicting.  After this one though I need to get back to the blankets.  I think a have another dozen of them already trimmed and punched, ready to stitch!

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Still Stitching  

Posted by: Maria in , , ,

but apparently not blog posting! LOL Things are busy and days fly by without much down time. So I have finished three more of the Nordic Needle Book Marks They are wonderful to work on, fun to stitch and sometimes a bit challenging! Here is February:


March:


And then April came... It may be my favorite pattern of all so far.  It was the color that got me though.  The entire time I was stitching this one it made me think of a high school friend that I have reconnected with.   Since the pattern was smaller than the others there was space at the top and bottom so I found a small alphabet and put her name on it and it is now winging it's way to Virginia Beach!  I hope she likes it!!



I also ordered some lovely threads from Carrie's Creations to make at least one more of these.  While I like the stars, I think you could put in Rhode's Hearts or Butterflies so I want to give that a try.  I love the flower motif and the simple yet elegant corners so there are more coming I am sure.  It was also quick to work off.

Other than that, the count down until I hit the half century mark is under 30 days now.  Mark's graduation is 6 weeks away.  Izzy is growing so fast I can't keep up.


I love this face!!
 I have times when I wish time would just stand still for one moment...let me catch my breath and absorb everything that it going on but if it did, THEN what would we miss?
OK, off to the dentist for me to replace my temporary crown for the permanent one!  One less issue!!

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Now where was I?  

Posted by: Maria in , ,

I have been busy playing!  LOL  Most of my fun has been at ATC's for all  which I am finding very rewarding.  I am learning some new techniques!  Check these out...





This is what is called encaustic art which is basically taking colored wax, melting it on a smal travel size iron and making beautiful designs.  Then I printed out some silhouettes on transparency film and put it over the encaustic.  I love how they came out.

Almost every one I made, I have already traded.  Then I got a little more bold (and watched a LOT of videos on it) and tried some landscapes.



These are 4"x6" and I bought some frames to paint and frame them in.  There is a very neat art co-op near me that I would love to try and sell them in.  I also plan on making some cards too. 

If you'd like to see more, you can check out my Flickr Photostream to see the rest. 

BTW there are actually 3 more of the Flamingo cards.




They will go in the mail tomorrow for the Flamingo card swap on ATC's for all! 

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Kusudama  

Posted by: Maria

I was browsing...or trolling the net the other day in my boredom and ran across this site Folding Trees and I spent several moments (cough, cough) exploring the site.  Then I saw this


Hmmm...I was hooked within minutes.  The first one I did I used paper printed on 2 sides and 3" squares... Really, BIG, really colorful since I chose 3 different papers and did have with each side!  Then I knew the fold wasn't too complicated and I did a second one with 1 1/2" squares.  WOW. 


Let me just say, the picture does not do it justice.  I fringed and rolled tiny pieces of bright yellow paper and made a center in each flower and then when each half was together I coated the insides of each flower petal with clear glitter nail polish.  It provided just a touch of sparkle.  A little ribbon down the center and a fairy charm and It will make a great pick me up gift for my mom. 

Let's see...what's next?  LOL  Check out Folding Trees!!!

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The Butterfly Effect  

Posted by: Maria

While making my way around the web today in search of others creativity that might spark mine, I stumbled onto a post on Two Dresses Studio's blog and it stuck a chord with me.

One and a half million children perished in the holocaust 1.5 MILLION lives that never had a chance. The Holocaust Museum of Houston has started something called the Butterfly Project (the museum link will take you to the page).  They are collecting 1.5 million butterflies for an exhibit that will open in the Spring of 2013 and they are looking for then to be handcrafted by people from all over the world.  It can be done by individuals or by groups.  Here is the information they provide:

  • Butterflies should be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches. 
  • Butterflies may be of any medium the artist chooses, but two-dimensional submissions are preferred.
  • Glitter and all glitter-related products should not be used.
  • Food products (cereal, macaroni, candy, marshmallows or other perishables) also should not be used.
  • If possible, e-mail a photograph of your butterflies, to butterflyproject@hmh.org.

Please send or bring your butterflies to the Museum by June 30, 2012, with the following information included:

•Your name,
•Your organization or school,
•Your address,
•Your e-mail address, and
•The total number of butterflies sent.

Mail or bring your butterflies to:
Holocaust Museum Houston
Butterfly Project
Education Department
5401 Caroline St.
Houston, TX 77004
USA


For questions or additional information, please e-mail butterflyproject@hmh.org.
Now Two Dresses Studio is adding a little twist to the project that you can see if you visit her blog.  She is actually collecting the butterflies and posting pictures before sending a box of the butterflies to the museum.

Why Butterflies?

The last, the very last,

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.
Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
against a white stone....


Such, such a yellow
Is carried lightly ’way up high.
It went away I’m sure
because it wished
to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,
Penned up inside this ghetto.
But I have found what I love here.
The dandelions call to me
And the white chestnut branches in the court.
Only I never saw another butterfly.

That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.


Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942
Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.
Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942.
Died in Aushchwitz on Sept. 29, 1944.

My own son turned 23 this year.  I can't imagine never seeing 24 but hundreds of children a year never do because of the hate in the world.

Need Inspiration?

Butterfly Utopia 
Butterfly Pictures
Primary Games
The Butterfly Site
Color Mountain

Those should get you started but remember they are just for inspiration.  Use your heART!

If you decide to participate and would like to send me a picture of your donation, I will be more than glad to post it!


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Some more paper work  

Posted by: Maria in , , ,

I have been playing with some techniques that are new to me and I really like some of the results.  I finished my ATC's for the World of Crafters exchange last night.  this months theme is Time for Coffee or Tea so here is what I came up with:


This ATC is a tri-fold.  I took the restrictor off a corner punch to make the slots to hold the front closed.  The tea cup is printed on glossy paper and gold embossed.  I used a gold ink pad to brush along the outer edges of both the tab on the front and the front panels.  The inside is stamped with a swirly gold background pattern and a added a tag with a quote from Chaim Potok inside. I found a simple silhouette of a tea pot and fussy cut iit so the flower would end up in the center of the tea pot.  Then I enamelled the heck out of it with UTEE.  I cut a snall section out of a doily and brushed it with gold ink to set the tea pot on.  All in all I am pretty please but I would do a few things differently if I did it again.  That's ok though i is all about learning.

I also finished my fatbook page for February.

This month's theme was tricolor and I picked red/white/black.  The white background actually has a textured stripe in it and I stamped that swirly heart all over the backgroung after I glued down the heart so the edges of the stamp run into the background.  The stamp is embossed with kalidescope embossing powder so it changes color as it moves.  I used a clip art silhouette of two dancers and traced them onto black cardstock and again UTEE'd the heck out of them.  I coated a aluminum tag frame with black glitter and let it dry overnight before adding the Dance tag.  This picture really does not do it justice.

I love the look of UTEE (Ultra-thick embossing enamel)  but there is definately a learning curve with it.  Thankfully a large jar is only around $13 and a 40% off coupon lowers that considerably. 

Now I am off to trim and punch some more blankets for Project Linus as all the ones I had prepared are finished!  We may or may not be getting some sort or winter snow/sleet/ice/rain event in the next day or so so I will just be staying home and taking care of business (making soup, baking cookies and sipping hot chocolate).  Watching movies and crocheting are the perfect accompaniment to that! (so Martha-ish aren't I?)

Oh!  The quote on the ATC says:
Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things. - Chaim Potok

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GOOOOOOOD Morning!  

Posted by: Maria in , ,

Yes there is still an hour left of the morning so I can say that. In addition to my regular morning chores and blog hopping I have been lost in cyberspace exploring a site that is rocking my creativity! But first things first...


Two more blankets finished for Project Linus.  I finished the second one last night. 

 The Princess needed help finding her bone and is now content...

HRH Abigail Jennifer Marie (and no I don't know where that name all came from we just kept adding to Abby!
And now my favorite task of the morning was looking for Spirelli templates for my ATC exchange for this month which led me to Go Make Something wqhich consumed the rest of my morning as I browsed from page to page to page!  Lisa Vollrath is the creative mind behind this site and is so very generous with her ideas and instructions and wonderful photography that you just keep going! And I am going right to my basement once this is finished. 



these are just a few of them

When we moved to this house my boys laughed at me for picking up paint chips every where we went.  The house definately needed color!  They laughed even harder when I saved not only the paint chips for the colors we finally chose (we may have needed them again for another match at some point!) but also all the rest that I had collected.  And now...now this wonderful lady makes things like this:

And these:

I cannot wait to get started.  There is a link to her site on the right at the top of the column so check it out for yourself.  I will see you later!

Oh she has another site as well that pays the bills so I definately have to get with that! Ten Two Sudios

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Something a little different...ATC's  

Posted by: Maria in , ,

I spent my day today working on these darling little ATC's.  I was thinking that this month's exchange on WOC was for tri-color cards well it isn't.  This Month's theme is Coffee or Tea for the exchange and the lottery theme if 3-D. *sigh* Itis the fatbook exchange that is tri-color and well these don't qualify so...Now I have 3 darling little ATC's.  The dresses are made of a pink marbled paper and I chalked the tops just a little for some contrast.Then I took apart feathers and glued them on for the tutu's. I added a tiny rhinestone in her hair and on the front of the bodice.

The new challenges are up on CDAC today so I downloaded some images and pulled some papers for the color challenge to see what I can come up with.  I need to think a little bit on these as I need to step up my game considerably to compete with those ladies!  They are amazing!

Other than that, we were glad to escape the snow that hit the coast.  We are supposed to get some at least flurries tonight. My cousin let us know that he put down a deposit for a house in Myrtle Beach.  He didn't invite us though!  Guess I will have to cyber stalk him.

OK, off to get dinner out of the crock pot.  Corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes.  It has been cooking all day and driving me mad! LOL

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Two more cards  

Posted by: Maria in , ,


It is taking me longer and longer to get a card put together and I am paying much more attention to the details and frankly sometimes I have absolutely no idea what I have in my stash to work with! LOL Here are the two newest ones.  The first is for the Freebie challenge at CDAC it is a swirled pyramid from Nicecrane Designs.  It really took some thought to get that pyramid together!



The second one is for the Priscilla Styles Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.  I am definately not happy with the balance on this but I love the colors.  Funny, those are the sheets of paper I picked up at Michaels this week for a penny a sheet!  The card is going to my cousin who had surgery earlier this week.  I hope it is at least bright and sunny in the midst of this dreary weather!  The sunflower digi came from Tiffany doodles. n The smaller flowers and the bee are from K&Companies collection.


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Another Pocket Heart Card  

Posted by: Maria in ,

I thought I might enter the weekly challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow which is mostly black and white with a splash of another color but as you can see...



It really ended up black and red with a slash of white!  The embossing powder that I though was iridescent white actually is prismatic for the color it is on hence...the beautiful iridescent black textured background.  It's ok, I like it but it wasn't what I was envisioning!  All those little hearts on the stems in the pocket are free so it has some dimension.  All those hearts and squiggles are from the border  stamping I did that didn't work out!  OK, time to try something new I guess.

I hit the jackpot at Ollie's today with their book blowout and got 3 new paper crafting books.  One on stamping, one on scrapbook design and a card making one.  Guess I should go read that huh?  LOL  Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

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