On Hiatus

It seems my anticipated couple of days hiatus has turned into something much bigger, and for that I am very sorry, yet very thankful. I feel so neglectful - of my readers, of my sewing machine and of the poor craft room in general, which has been turned upside down to become an impromptu home office.

My trips back into corporate America have evolved beyond what I could have imagined and opened up more than just the cupboard door, so I have opportunities at my feet that I didn't expect and, therefore, quite a bit to contemplate over the next week.

Never fear, though, because no matter what my decision or the outcome of said decision, I will still retreat to my reliable craft room and continue to express my creativity and ooze it out into the world. Just maybe not in quite the same capacity I intended a few short months ago. There's a reason for everything that happens in our lives, we just need to trust in the Lord and the path on which He places us.

Making Progress

It was such a beautiful spring-like day outside today, so I set the hubby up on the patio with my window frame project to make a little progress for me. Once I pulled it down from it's perch on the wall and threatened to use his power tools myself, that is. :)

I got everything situated first by measuring, cutting and stapling the screen onto the back of the window frame before hubs stepped foot outdoors, so the hard work was already done for him. I even pre-drilled the holes for the knobs. Ok, so I didn't truly enlist his help until I realized the screws weren't long enough - OOPS!

Being the reliable and handy carpenter type guy that he is, though, he was happy to countersink the screws for all four knobs. Not only that, but he also installed 10 of the 15 hooks for me across the top of the frame.

That was enough for one day (I mean c'mon, there was a NASCAR race I had to watch and a basketball game of which he needed to know the outcome) so we brought it back inside to remount on the wall until I get the next few components ready to install. Perhaps you've already figured out what it will be. Maybe you haven't. Only time will reveal it's final purpose. :)

XOXO until next time, peeps!!!!

Back by Popular Demand!

I awoke MUCH brighter and earlier than I really needed to this morning. In fact, I'm not even sure there was a hint of brightness outside the window when I woke up. But that's ok. Darling daughter had a band competition to be sent off to and I enjoyed a little time with her before she headed out of town. I chatted up a few folks at the school and, just as I put old Tonto the Jeep in park at the homestead, I received a text message that put a big grin on this old lady's face.

Names have been changed to protect the identity of the innocent (and the not-so-innocent)...."Would u make my hubs a JD pillow please so he stops stealing my son's?" Of course, when I made my friend's son a John Deere fabric pillow, it was a very special one-of-a-kind model, so her husband gets a slightly less-than-super-special model. But it's made especially for him just the same. Apparently these little babies are super comfy to cuddle up with, because mommy requested a pink camo John Deere model for herself. I whipped up daddy's in no time so the little man can snatch his back up and keep it to himself. :)

Since I've been in corporate world quite a bit recently (and not complaining about that at all - I'm enjoying my time there), I haven't been living in my creative mind quite as much. I have some projects floating around in my head that I hope to get out into reality before next week's sale. Plan to see a few new things before March 17 rolls around!!!

The Rundown

I had a grumpy body day and had to skip out on riding, but from what I hear, Dear Daughter and her cohort had an equally wonderful time with both the long-eared and short-eared equines. I hate that I had to miss out, but sometimes that just happens.

Now before I go any further, didn't that awesome kid of mine do a great job writing her very first blog post for all of you last night?! I, for one, was incredibly proud!!!  She went from being a nervous wreck to being so humble. It was cute as cute could be.

In other news, I have a rapidly growing stack of mending work to do and some new projects to get finished before March 17 and share with you. However, my bill-paying workload also took an upward turn and must take priority. I'm in the midst of finding a positive work/craft/life balance so I can get it all accomplished and still maintain my childlike youth. Or my sanity. Oh, who am I kidding?! I get to work the majority of the time in my comfy clothes, jammin' to my favorite tunes, chatting with my gal pal with my feet kicked up on a pair of canine foot rests!

What I'm trying to say is I don't know when I'll get a project out for you to drool all over, but it will be sometime this week. So...

Ba-Donkey-Donk

Guest blog post written by Darling Daughter!

I recently was assigned a project in my FFA/Ag class about endangered animals and was able to select any animal from the endangered species list I wanted. So, with my love of equines, I quickly found the Somali Wild Donkey. Besides the PowerPoint presentation that I put together, I was also responsible for  creating a quiz to administer to the class and build some sort of display.Naturally, I decided to needle craft a cute little donkey!

I started making the model by felting wool yarn to form one oval ball for the body and another smaller one for the head. After that I cut pipe cleaners for the front and hind legs. Then I grabbed my stash of wool roving, special felting needles and work sponge. The colors I used were gray, black, camel and white.

I covered the body, head and pipe cleaners in gray roving, the nose in white and the tips of the legs in black to form the hooves. Next came the two long ears and a tail for the critter, with a little black at the end. When all of these individual pieces were done, it was time to connect them and make me a donkey!

The final touches included a short, roached mane down the neck and a dorsal stripe from the base of the neck to the top of the tail. Because the Somali Wild Donkey has zebra stripes on its legs... yes, zebra-striped donkey craziness... I had to needle in very long, thin strands of black roving around the lower portion of all four legs. The face was the last part to finish, with two tiny white eyeballs with black dots in the middle. Next, I stretched a small piece of camel roving over the white nose so it was just barely visible. I added two small black nostrils and a thin black mouth before I bent the legs so the donkey could lay down and rest.

Finally the donkey was ready to hot glue to his piece of wood, which the dad-man had graciously burned "Somali Wild Donkey" into for me. The donkey was quite adorable and the overall project was a success!

PS - Boss lady said there may not be a post tomorrow, since we're hoping to load up horses and mules and go riding after church and chores, so everybody enjoy your weekend!!!

Showing Off My Assets

Oh, now don't get too worked up when you see this project because the reversible green vest came ready-made. The embellishments, however, were mostly my handiwork.

For this particular task, I needed to design a specific applique and thought, hey, why not use my very favorite male model...

I did my thing to Z's photo and turned it into a black and white mirror image so I could trace it onto some Heat n' Bond.

Once I had my applique ready to go, the fun began with ironing and cutting and sewing, until I had this final product:

I can't take credit for the Z - it was an iron-on I purchased over a year ago and had tucked away in a drawer just waiting to find a purpose.

But I can absolutely take credit for that signature "A" on Z's butt there! All in all, I think it turned out pretty cute and I love that it's my actually my little boy being shown off on the back of my new-to-me vest.

Today Went Swimmingly...

On this fine, fine Monday, I confirmed my deepest, darkest fear. Dear daughter is truly a gal cut from the same cloth as her mother. We went to our mecca, AKA the local Goodwill store, in search of that much despised ready-made jewelry display I told you about the other day for a little something special I've got going on in the near future, right? Right.

So I say to her that I need this certain kind of fabric to make this certain kind of thing and it's her job to go find it hanging on a rack somewhere. Of course, she continues to follow about 3 steps behind me and I have to remind her that whatever it is she's supposed to locate is most certainly not on my backside anywhere. Once convinced, she wandered off alone in search of the holy grail of mystery fabrics and I in the other direction to find that dreaded jewelry display.

I rounded the corner to find her just as proud as can be, prepared to present her findings. Not only had she found the right fabric, she'd hit the motherload and had put a great deal of thought into it. Then she took off and started feeling everything - pants, shirts, jackets, skirts - EVERYTHING IN SIGHT - shouting out what it could be transformed into. At last she's experienced what it's like to live inside my head when the creative juices start a'flowin'!!! I loved it.

Needless to say, our little shopping excursion gave us a few goodies to bring home to the craft room. I should have some new creations to start sharing with all of you tomorrow!