Nana's Needle Nook

I Spy. . .

2011-06-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

Finished one project, now onto a new one.
The Steampunk Spy Glasses. . .one is done. Here is the finished Owl with the Snakes on the reverse side. I learned a lot about Polymer clay on this project.

Fresh is better. Blending is fun. And it is darn heavy so watch how much you build up with.

The second Spy Glass is in the oven as I write this, so there may be an addendum to this blog before tomorrow.

Just in case you are confused as to what these are. . . .Think Sherlock Holmes meets Tinkerbell, sorta. When you go hunting for fairies you can't look like a human.

Here's looking at you Kid

2011-05-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Latest project.
Steampunk Magnifying glass
Made from, vintage Ping Pong paddle with suede surface, two chipped and dull magnifying lenses, 2 gold bracelets from Claires, Gold & Brown Fimo polymer clay.

Still need to drill holes for the lenses so you can "Look Through" the eyes of the owl. Glue on the eyes & brows. Wood Burn feathers into the suede. AND the other side needs to be completed.

I have another paddle and grouping of lenses with a totally different design worked out.
Super cool.
What would I use them for???
Not only am I designing a new Steam Punk costume and character. But I will be going to the Fairy Festival in June and will be HUNTING FAIRIES. . .using my new magnifying glass.
More to come.

Xavier is all strung up

2011-05-11T15:18:00.000-07:00

IT”S ALIVE!!!

Xavier has been hit with a bolt of electricity and has come alive!

Or. . .
Gepetto dreamed of a blue fairy and the block of wood became a little boy.

In My case that block of wood became a dirty ol’ man. LOL.

Remember where he started?

Well now he looks like this. And I must say, for my first attempt to carve ANYTHING let alone human figure, I think I did ok.

Yes I know his eyes are weird as well as his mouth. Can I say he is a stroke victim and explain away his lop-sided-ness? Nay. . .he is just as lopsided as his creator.

And the biggest thing I can say is that my teacher was the best. Patient, guiding and creative beyond belief. So talented and an awesome person to-boot. Thank you Geahk!

Xavier came out very close to what I drew and envisioned.
I’m happy.

For the Love of Books

2011-05-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

4th grade was a turning point in my reading abilities.
You know I love to read. And it gets in the way of work and housework and many other things. At least in school you have a good excuse to read.
4th grade started in Santa Maria California and mid way through it we moved to Mission Hills, a subdivision of Lompoc, California. The civil town outside Vandenburg AFB.
I digress
Having to switch schools in mid year was soon to become the norm in my education timeline.
In 4th grade you begin to read hefty chapter books. Between the requirements of the 4th grade teacher and the leisure reading of my mother’s I went through these books in a very short period of time.

Charlotte’s Web
Stuart Little
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Mr Popper’s Penguins
The Enormous Egg
Black Beauty
Paddle to the Sea
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiller
Mary Poppins
As well as a scattered few Nancy Drew mysteries

Do any of these titles look familiar?
They should. All but two have been made into movies/TV series since I read them. And the two (Mary Poppins & Black Beauty) were made into movies BEFORE I read them.

In some cases they have been made TWICE!
The latest is Mr Popper’s Penguins which will be released in June, staring Jim Carey.

Does this make me feel old? No. . . .It is revisiting old friends. . .or it should be. My disappointment is that the children today will miss the richness of the characters that are built up in the book, and only rely on the actor/director’s interpretation which is not always the best.
But I should have faith that, like Harry Potter, the movie will spark the interest and the child will look for the book and have a better experience.

One can only hope.

I’m sure those grown kids that loved their comic books were eager to see their hero/villain explode on the screen. And yet they return to the printed page to continue their love affair with their heros.

Thus I will do shortly. . . . as soon as I finished the damn work report due by COB today.
Sigh!

On a similar note: yesterday Kentucky was helping Grandpa build a large picnic table for the summer. He then was handed the leaf blower to clean off the sawdust and dirt off the deck. When done he asked Grandpa "So how much do I get for this?" This made Grandpa laugh and say "I feed you". What he didn't know is that there is a book fair at school this week and Kentucky wanted $ to buy more books.
AWESOME!

Xavier in part. . .s

2011-04-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Xavier has developmental issues. I am one week away from the final class and there are many things that still need to be done before he can walk, talk and do the basics. And that doesn’t include having clothes.

You can see wood putty (yellow tinge) on his face and kneecaps. I had to do knee surgery on him, His kneecap got shredded. . . .might had had something to do with the Mafia and his not paying his bill at the Hofbrauhaus.

By looking at his feet we can see a definate problem with Bunions. . .. and I am sure he suffers from Gout. This will lead to some interesting dance steps as he tries to impress the ladies with the "turn of his leg",pun intended. Monkey Arms. . .at this time Xavier has one arm whitled but not sanded and no hand attached. The other arm does have a hand attached but is only in rough cut stage. Plenty to do here for my homework. The joint for the wrist is interesting. In theory I know how to do it. I watched Teacher Geack (pronounced Jack) do the completed one. Now. . . .can I do the same good job on the other hand. . .. a true test. The legs are attached in an interesting fashion. Since these will be under pants they don't have to have a formal joint. So they are attached with eyelets. Yes I did them myself. No teacher help here. The head is now attached to the upper torso. Again, I did do this myself. I liked the results. I want so badly to put the hair on him, but I have to wait till after he is sealed and painted. sigh. There is still plenty to do before next Saturday, last class. And at the last class we will string Xavier and make him walk. . . . ."It's Alive!!!!!!!" Dr. Frankenstein I am not. but I can try.

Jaci, Geack is going to hold another class in the fall, I hope you can do it. It is well worth the money and time. And his studio is a DREAM for people like you and me. This video is just a quick view of part of the studio. You get to see the puppets he already has done. A real bear that has been remade to work in a commercial and so much more. And of course tools and materials. Makes me laugh to see Jerry stand in awe during our visit to this studio. This is the CastIron Carousel Puppet studio.

Wood chips and gouges

2011-04-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Xavier still finding his way out of the block!

Body image problems, just like a girl.

Right Hand preparing to be the Snuff hand.

Gouging out the knee, glad the doctor doesn't do it this way.

The N Word

2011-03-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Navigate

Just for fun I am using a picture that our German friends took last week when we took them on a hike to Silver Creek Falls. More on that adventure on the other blog.

Though our first thought is nautical Navigate has a wide range of uses.

Read the map. . .use the GPS. . . can also be
Read the face. . . listen to the implied words.

We navigate life and some of us don’t stop to ask for directions.
I’m guilty. . . . .are you?

The M Word

2011-03-19T13:32:00.000-07:00

Meditate
I feel strongly about Meditation.
I think we should all take time to do it.

Unfortunately Men as a group don’t know how and don’t want to learn how to do it. They would just rather fall asleep. That is their definition of Meditate.

I have favorite place I go for my meditation. In my head that is.

At the age of 13 my family lived on a remote piece of property. It was in the midst of a forest on an obscure river here in Oregon.

Trees were everywhere, in fact it was a piece of logging property.

Dad made a tree house in the middle of 5 sugar Maples. It was just a platform, not a covered house. But at the age of 13 it gave me a place to escape an 11 year old brother and an 8 year old sister. I did a lot on dreaming on that platform as I looked to the sky covered with a quilt made of large green maple leaves.

To this day I use that place to meditate in.

Find your place, go there and often.
Teach your children how to do this especially your sons.
Let them learn the advantages of meditation, they will appreciate it and you 10 years from now.

Playing with Knives

2011-03-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

It has been many MANY months since I have put my art work on this blog. A dry spell had me in it’s chains.

In February I watched an Etsy video that introduced a puppet maker. Not your ordinary one by any means. The best part is that he was located in Portland. After exploring his website I saw he was conducting wood carving classes to learn to make a Marionette Puppet. WOW, and they were dark and eclectic puppets, just my style. So I signed up.

Now you will see my, hopefully, weekly progress.
Tools
An F clamp
A beginners wood carving knife
A Kevlar glove.
Pencil
A BIG eraser (in my case)

The Teacher is Geack, pronounced Jack sorta.
Here is his website.

WE began the first two lessons with creating and drawing a character.

I stared with Nelly. This is who I eventually would like to make. But soon decided that I wanted to learn to do old men first with their wrinkles and such. So I switched to Xavier.
He has a bit of a beer belly and lots of loose skin on his face. Bald with long grey hair to put in a pony tail. The character’s personality comes from someone I met in Germany over 10 years ago. But the physical look is going for my cousin Warren. No he doesn’t have a nose like Xavier. I am sure he will appreciate my attempts, if not I’ll just hit him with Xavier’s wooden leg.

Actually shaving off wood from a block is fun. Cutting out chunks is hard. I will have to strengthen my hands more. This takes a lot more Umpf than a needle and thread.
Here are my first cuts. Not so pretty. You have to get a 45degree angle to take out wedges. I seem to go shallow.

Then I practiced a bit more and got a better bite out of the wood. The eye is much better here.

Then on my own I tried a small face. Can you see him? He is very rough.

Today is lesson 3 and we should come home with the head to carve. This is getting exciting.

Xavier likes Snuff so he will have a nose that can appreciate snuff. Weird I know. But this guy really does exist in Germany. He likes Beer, Women and Snuff. And he is a lot older than me.

Ich Liebe Dich

2011-03-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Liebe
Did I put the criteria for the ABC’s to be in English?
Nope!
I have just spent 5 days with a bunch of German’s in my house. (thus the pause in my blog) Wonderful, funny Germans.
So the word Liebe comes to mind for my L word.
Translation – Love, sex, devotion, adoration.

Like English it can mean many things. When the British use it, it is an endearment of sorts. Hello Love, or Must be off, Love.

Add ling to Liebe and you have Liebling or Favorite, Darling.

Add the S and you have the adjective Liebes - Kind, Sweet, Cute, Welcomed

Adding a letter is like adding frosting to the cake. The cake is good by itself and the frosting just enhances it.

Love is good by itself and just as good in other forms.

It's a family affair

2011-03-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

The Letter K

Kith & Kin

Due to my love of historical trivia this phrase, for it is not just one word, I find to be a fun and quirky saying I like to use.

Kin is an old word for family. Though old (1377) it is still used today.
Kith comes from the same period in time but has been lost along the way. It means to know the area or land.

This begs a moment of reflection.
The phrase “I know his Kith & Kin” really is a strong and personal statement. “I know his family and the area of which he comes from”, shows a personal connection. Not just “I know him”, but people that are connected to him and the area he grew up in or lives in. You understand his way of life and the influences that molded his personality.

This simple and old phrase says so much. It is eloquent and powerful.

Juxta Moment

2011-03-10T11:41:00.001-08:00

The Letter J
Juxtapose

For the longest time I didn’t know what this word meant. I loved the sound of it. But then again I like the sound of Jabberwocky.
Once I found out what Juxtapose was and how it fit into my vocabulary I liked it even more.

Did you know it is a fairly new word. It was first used in 1855ish.

And now to use it in my daily life. . . .
Today I received my new work laptop. I had to send in my old Dell and have all the information migrated (transferred) to the new HP laptop.
Now I find myself juxtaposing the two and developing some harsh opinions.

Don't look behind the Curtain

2011-03-09T09:52:00.001-08:00

The Letter I

Illusion

There are those who feel illusion is a falsehood, deceptive. Perhaps those who have this attitude are actually paranoid that they are somehow missing something or being deceived.

Does the Pea hen feel deceived when the Peacock with all his plumage is actually just a little grey bird like her?
Or does she laugh at the pretence and work the Peacock must go through to obtain and maintain his illusion.

I applaud illusion. It takes so little to be plain/normal, it takes a lot to create an illusion.

It’s the motivation that is the culprit of dissention.

Snarky Cashiers

2011-03-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

Not everyone's husband likes to shop. For that matter, not every guy will shop with Coupons and brag about the DEAL they just landed.

Jerry is not like other hubby's when it comes to shopping. With one HUGE exception.
He will not go into the Dollar Store or a Goodwill (thrift store). I had to escort him for his first visit to the Dollar store here in town last December. He really feels it is beneath him to purchase anything there.

So it is an unspoken agreement that if there is shopping to be done that is over $50 he does it, and under $50 I do it.

He visits Costco weekly. Yes Weekly, me? well it is about every 3 months for my visits.

Yesterday was one of those weekly trips for him. with a $150 rebate in hand he went the the register with the BIG Kitchen Aid mixer. . . a $70 piece of beef (New York steak loin) and 2 dozen red roses.
The cashier said "Wow you must have been really bad. That's some major kissin' up."

No, he wasn't in trouble. He just had $ burnin' a whole in his pocket. If he was tryin' to make up for an offense I had better NOT get a kitchen appliance!

"In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen”

2011-03-08T07:30:00.000-08:00

The Letter H

Habit

How long does it take to build a habit? Some Doctors say 3 times.
I don’t think so.

Tell a 7 year old . . .3 times to Pick Up Your Backpack and put it in your room.
It didn’t work with my now grown kids and it isn’t working with the 7 year old grandson.

But does it take less effort to stop a habit?

Hmmm, Smoking? Yes it takes a lot more.

Eating. . .A whole lot more.

Doing the exercise that the Doc wants me to do. Sigh yes it takes a lot to start that habit and very little to stop it.

So today I will start a habit. (If you announce it will it make it happen any easier?)

I will Hug my hubby at some point each day when he least expects it.

Start a habit that doesn’t create Fat, Lung disease, or $ problems.

Start it today.

P.S. the picture is a slight nod to my Catholic upbringing. Now that is a Habit I broke!

The G Spot

2011-03-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

Gravity
A necessary evil.

It holds us here. . . .Good thing. . . So we don’t float out to an atmosphere we can’t breath in.
It holds us here. . .Bad thing. . .We can’t fly without apparatus.

It brings things down. . .Good Thing. . .the apples drop the snow falls, things come down to our level.
It brings things down. . . .Bad thing. . .Saggy boobs, flat feet, double chins. . . .bird poop.

The F Bomb

2011-03-06T08:10:00.000-08:00

Focus

What helps you focus? Silence? Turn the TV off, the radio off, phone off, quiet the kids/dog/cat/Spouse.

A new pair of glasses? Did my eyesight really change that much in 3 years?
A companion/coworker? That needed encouragement to stay on track, don’t fall off the wagon.

Making a list?
If it isn’t on the list I won’t buy it.

Threats? If I don’t get the bills paid I will get that damn collection call
Rewards? If I get this done I will be satisfied with myself

I know this is the hardest part of my day, staying focused. It is detrimental at work. And it shows up in my review each year. Only they don't call it Focus they call it Prioritizing. Ha, If I really prioritized they (work) would be at the bottom of my list.

Damn that paycheck.

SNOW DAY!

2011-03-05T23:13:00.000-08:00

THE LETTER E

Enthusiasm

Bubbly, giggly enthusiasm is contagious. Spread it with abandon. No sanitizer hand gel needed. Show it all day, Show it to everyone. Choose the smallest thing or the grandest thing. BUT show it and share it.
Kentucky got excited because I had a box big enough to make an airplane out of. I really didn’t want the box cut up. But his enthusiasm made me join him as we cut holes and taped wings and spun a propeller. I am glad I joined him in his project. It made a better end to this day.

I took these pictures a few days ago when we had the SNOW DAY. No school so I had to pinch hit for mommy. The desire to make snow angels was so great. Here is Entusiasm at it's best.
Notice anything similar in each picture?

No it's isn't the angel shape in the snow. . . .

No not the hats and gloves. . . . .

Why did they all have thier eyes closed???

Because they were drinking in the delight of a snow day that only a child can relish.

The D word

2011-03-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

Dignity

At first it may present itself as conceit or pompous, but DIGNITY is more internal. To carry yourself or conduct yourself with Dignity is the goal. Your every action should be worthy of the life you have been given. Show your parents Dignity by being the child they are proud they raised. Show your spouse Dignity by being worthy of their love. Show your children Dignity by setting an example of the adult they will aspire to be.
Only you can bruise your Dignity, by letting yourself down. No one else has the power to do that.

A touch

2011-03-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

Caress
Touch is a most powerful tool. Caress a child and they trust. Caress a spouse and they acknowledge.

The caress can be to sooth a pain, adjust a fallen lock of hair, a playful nudge.

But most importantly a Caress starts with CARE. The movement, touch, connection that starts with Care. You care, they care, we care. Caress and Care.

ABC's

2011-03-02T07:20:00.001-08:00

This is a confession, I do not have the patience for some of the Blog world games. The 365 days of picture taking (Jaci I commend you on doing it), the giveaways, The tag it Tuesdays, etc.
I also confess I read mommy blogs. Not just my own daughter's blogs, but other ladies who I don't even know. I pipe in with Grandmotherly advice every once in a while, but over all I just enjoy the laugh.

I ran into one that was having a really hard time and she decided to write a word a day that would help her make it through just that day. Starting with the alphabet so she would only have to do it short term, 26 days.

I liked that idea. 26 days I can commit to. She encouraged her readers to think up words for her as well. So besides posting my words in her commit section I am going to put them here on my blog.

I encourage you to come up with a word a day to help you through the tough and fun times. Since this started yesterday (March 1) I will have two words for today. Let's see if I can make it 26 days.

In the voice of Elmo. . .Today's letter is A and the word of the day is AIR.

AIR
Appreciate the AIR around you. Remember that simple things can bring joy. Not just that you are alive to breath the air. But what the air does for you. It blows in the trees and cools you on a summer day. It carries fragrance to you to enjoy or not. But that means the your nose can appreciate the scents or warn you of danger. Air fills your lungs to oxygenate your blood.
Today show you appreciate Air and those around you will notice. bake cookies/bread so the house smells great when they come home. Or burn a candle so the fragrance will gently relax everyone in the house.
Embellish Air and appreciate it.

P.S. yes that is our hot air balloon in the pic, Dear Mirays.

And for March 2 . . Today's letter is B and the word of the day is Bounty.

Is there Bounty in your life? No not the paper towel or the candy bar, but in your cupboard? Do you have enough food that you can choose what you eat for each meal? Do you have Bounty in your Closet so much so that you can choose what you will wear each day. Do you have Bounty in friends who will catch you when you stumble. Is there Bounty in your family who will care for you in sickness and health. When we look at our Bounty we can then know that we are better off than the majority of the world and our problems seem smaller in comparison. Appreciate your Bounty but don't flaunt it.

What would you take?

2011-02-10T12:07:00.001-08:00

This is going to be bizzare. I had a dream last night, might have been the Nyquil I took for this damn cold of mine, anyway the dream had to do with the world as we know it today with all the technology going away. And we all had to pack quickly (in 20 minutes) all the things we thought we would need to make it in this new world.

Can you guess what I took? I was really methodical. I saw Jerry run for Gun and Ammo. I saw other family members grab gold and jewels, family photos, food.

I got two big backpacks full of needles. . .Scissors. . . thread!! Why? Cause I knew I could make a living, trade the skills I possessed in my head and hands for the things I needed.

Ya think I read too much Science Fiction?

American Slang

2011-02-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Grandpa has an affinity for leading the conversation with little kids making them fess up to things most parents would be embarrassed to have them say. I saw this happen years ago when (then 4 year old) niece Keely had a lengthy conversation about toilets and toilet paper with “Uncle Jerry”.

It is almost like Art Linkletter, for those of us in the older generation, or Bill Cosby for those younger, relatively speaking of course.

Given the opportunity to take one 3 year old granddaughter to the birthday party of another granddaughter we said yes. While on the drive Grandpa asked Joy if she would like to see a Weiner get plugged into the wall and cooked. We had been talking about dinner food and this was a logical conversation.

Actually he used the word Weinie.

Joy did not respond immediately. She has learned that Grandpa is silly. He likes to call her Sarah, Susan, Korban, all sorts of names just to get her to say “Grandpa, I’m JOY”.
I could see her little brain trying to figure out this new name game he was playing.

The joke was on Grandpa this time. Over and Over he kept asking about cooking a Weinie. I told him to stop using that word, then he used the word HOT DOG. She understood then.

I asked her. . . .”Joy, what is a Weinie?” Knowing what was going to happen.

“That’s what a boy uses to go pee pee.”

It is rare to see Jerry crackup.

You can just imagine the pictures in Joy’s mind when he asked if she wanted to see a Weinie get plugged into the wall and cooked!!!

Dedicated to my daughters and other Mommies.

2011-02-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

This Blog is dedicated to my daughters, be they step daughters or blood daughters or adopted daughters. You are all Mommies now, or will be soon, you know what this means.

ATTENTION CHILDREN: THE BATHROOM DOOR IS CLOSED.

Please do not stand here and talk, whine or ask questions. Wait untill I get out.

Yes it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, I am not trapped. I know I have left it unlocked, and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in here, but it's been 7 years and I want some PRIVACY.

Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done.

Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door.

Do not go running back to the phone yelling, "She's in the BATHROOM!"

Do not begin to fight as soon as I go in.

Do not stick your little fingers under the door and wiggle them. This was funny when you were two, but not now.

Do not slide pennies, Legos, or notes under the door. Even when you were two this got a little tiresome.

If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.

And yes, I still Love you.

(signed)
Mom

So the above Note I stumbled onto over 20 years ago. It was oh, so true that I had to cut it out and saved it. No, I don't know where it came from, nor what magazine or author to credit.

Yes, I am a grandmother now and should feel lucky I am past this phase with my children.
BUT!!!!!!
I have a worse problem now. . .

My Cats can't read the sign.
They just stand outside the door and Meow till I open it. And Jerry laughs hysterically when I take a shower and they stand outside the door talking to me.
They never do it to him. . . .Only me.
Mommies are special.

My favorite toy

2011-01-31T12:00:00.000-08:00

Each age of childhood has it's favorite toy. I'm not talking about the most popular, but rather to each child there is a favorite toy.

7 year old Mary loved Sixfinger. The secret agent craze (cold war) was in full swing in 1965 and microfilm was just beginning to find it's way into the everyday conversations. Miniature cameras, codes, hidden phones in SHOES of all places.
I had to share my Sixfinger with my 5 year old brother, who promptly lost parts of it. Sigh

10 year old Mary didn't have a specific favorite toy and not even a manufactured toy, but rather the dress ups were the favorite. Go figure. . huh? Who would want to dress up a doll when you could dress yourself up. And ohhhhh, when we moved into the house that had a playhouse in the backyard!!! I was in 7th heaven. . .till the now 8 year old little brother decided to make the playhouse into a gulag and fight off the enemy (me).

14. . .awww 14. . .No toys. . .a transistor radio! and listening to KYES Roseburg Oregon. And Saturday afternoon at 2pm was the All request show! You had to fill out your request slip and put it into the box at the Red Wing shoe store in town by Friday morning to get your request in.

At 16 you would think toys were done with, but nooooo. Much like today when teenagers like to revert back to childhood and carry around Hello Kitty stuff. . .I carried around Holly Hobbie. . .yes. . .Holly hobbie when she first came out, 1974. And I bought a 8 inch doll. I still have her somewhere. . .what does that say about me?

As an adult I think my favorite toy would be my Ipod and has been for 6-7 years now. But of course Jerry wouldn't call it a toy, he calls it a nuisance. Yet recently a new toy has entered my life, thanks to my German friends, Birgit & Reimer.

We saw this in Tolz Germany on our trip last year and became entranced by it. Looks simple doesn't it. Take a marble and drop it on the top "branch" of this rainbow tree and it tumbles down making a wonderful Marimba (wood zylophone) sound.

What was your favorite toy?

Ground Hog Day. . .sorta

2011-01-31T06:33:00.000-08:00

Last Year, in preperation for our trip to Germany, spcifically visiting Karlsruhe, I wanted to get a better idea of what the landscape looked like in that region. It is the SW corner of Germany. Thanks to current Technology I can do that. With a quick SEARCH on webcams in the area I can start seeing weather, traffic, even local pubs/shops and residences. I can also see local attractions and the animal kingdom.

One of these cameras became a favorite of mine very quickly.
A stork Cam.
When I first clicked on it there were two teen age storks in it and a set of parents.
I watched them through the summer. And by September they disappeared.

In December I started to check every morning as I sign on my computer for work. I can't wait for the mated pair to come back and start making a new family for this year. I want to see the babies hatch from eggs this time.

This is a very small picture, the only one I could find. I can't capture off the webcam anything. It is best to go visit the link and see for yourself.
The cool thing is you can see the town and the Gasthaus (resturant on the right side) has installed solar panels on the roof. During their bad snow storm in december everything was covered with about 10 inches of snow, but not the solar panels.

It is sorta like waiting for the ground hog, when I see the storks I know that spring has arrived.

Wind it up

2011-01-24T09:04:00.001-08:00

There are two buckets full of wind up toys in the Nana room. The grandkids actually ask me to bring them out and they play with all of them. Yes there are favorites among the hopping, spinning, flapping & walking creatures. Some of them are new creations and some are vintage like the Woodstock of Peanuts fame.
There is one windup vintage toy character that none of the kids knew. They had asked me previously who it was and it took me a while to decide how to explain him. Last night he was brought out again and the renewed interest began. This time with Mommy around we tried to explain E.T.

I happen to have the movie on DVD and suggested we all watch it together. Mommy was not so sure they were ready for it. These grandchildren are 3-5-7 years old and can be sensitive to sad stories. After dinner we put the movie in. Unfortunately Mommy said when she was a little girl she was afraid at the beginning so that put it in their minds that it was a spooky story. They all wanted to sit next to Mommy with the blanket.

I know I should have taken pictures. But let’s just say it was soooooooo darn cute watching everyone experience E.T. for the first time. Joy thinks he is scary but loves Gertie (Drew Barrymore). Korban was really immersed in how Elliot was trying to take care of E.T., And Kentucky was able to predict the “Feelings” E.T. was having about wanting to go home. He also loved (jumped all over the living room) the bike race at the end and helping E.T. escape.

Over all it was wonderful. As Mommy and I watched we also noticed all the bloopers, clothing/costume choices, toys in the closet and Product Placement (Reeses Pieces, Coors Beer, etc.). This made it even interesting to us. Even Grandpa said it was the first time he had seen all three kids engrossed in the same movie. They never left the room.

Now my little wind up toy has a special meaning to 3 more kids.
Phone Home. . . . . . . .

Long Winter's Nap

2010-12-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

December was so full of events it is hard to decide which ones to write about and share with the rest of my far away families. But Here are some.

What really counts?
Family. . .all 19 of us in one room. Talking all at once, unwrapping at once and generally smiling all at once.

Tim & Jerry

David S. & Jerry & Luelle

Monday is garbage day in our neighborhood. I know the sanitation guys are going to be happy they have mechanical arms to pic up our bins on Monday. That was a lot of paper and plastic to remove.

And trying to get the grandkids in one spot smiling. IMPOSSIBLE!! AT least most of them wore some part of the matching PJ’s I got them.

Holiday events. . . Walked Peacock Lane and time with Herbie. (a 3 block area where every house has lights on it, this is located just 5 blocks from my stepfather's house so we park there and walk it)

Dressing friend's tree with oodles of Balloon Ornaments.

Zoolights, walking through the Oregon zoo on a Very cold and windy night. How many kids can you cram into a stroller?

Breakfast with Santa is never complete without crafts and a picture with Santa AND the RODEO QUEEN!!

Kentucky getting his Yellow Belt in TaeKwando. His goal was to complete it before he was 7 and he did it with 2 weeks to spare. GREAT JOB!!

And Kentucky got published in the Town newspaper for his picture & quote.

Birthdays count, sometimes more of them than others. Like Sarah’s 30th!
The surprised look on her face as she reached into the back seat and Jerry grabbed her arm was priceless. Especially as I saw it through the rear view mirror.
Hope she doesn’t for get this birthday.

The quiet moment AFTER everyone leaves the house counts high too! I know the cats think so.
Monster & Shadow got beds from Great Grandma & Great Grandpa this year. And they are already using them.

Now I look forward to putting away Christmas and settling in for a LONG WINTER’S NAP. Hmmmmmm’nitey ‘nite. . z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.

No more Monkeys jumping on the bed

2010-11-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

A three year old can teach us important lessons. Here are 3 in three days.

#1. Flash Gordon and Batman fight and then share pizza and cookies.
Don't you think every fight with a friend should end in Pizza and cookies, (ok beer too!)
This came from Josiah on Saturday while we babysat him.

#2. Everyone likes Trains, even Jesus.
This is a quote from Emery in daughter Jenny's blog.

#3. Jumping off beds are dangerous.
This comes from Joy, only she didn't say it. It is actually implied.

This morning while on the phone with Cameron, she said "Gotta go, I just heard a thump and a scream". Every mother's dread.

I am now infront of the computer after spending the better part of today juggling grandchildren, cell phones, cars and hospitals.

Final results. Joy jumped from the top of the ladder of her Loft Bed, hitting the metal pole leg on the way down with her left lebow.
Broke the Humurous bone just above the elbow joint. Broke off an actual chunk that floated away from the elbow area.

She now has 3 pins in her elbow.

The trip transfer from one hospital to the children's hospital in the Ambulance was entertaining. Joy kept telling the Paramedics about the movie Cinderella. Scene by Scene. This of course was under the influence of Morphine.
Surgery went fine and now she sleeps at the hospital overnight. In a split cast for 4 weeks then the pins will be removed.

Lesson. . . . .
NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON OR OFF THE BED!!

1964

2010-11-18T13:37:00.000-08:00

School entrance regulations are getting tougher these days. Just to get into Kindergarten you need not only your inoculations but a urine test. YES you read that right.
Today was the appointment for Mary to get her “all clear” from the doctor so she could start Kindergarten at El Camino elementary. The instruction packet from the school said we were to bring a “specimen” with us to the appointment.

Really? REALLY!? You ever try to get a urine specimen from a shy 5 year old?

I tried several times this morning to get her to sit on the toilet while I held the baby food jar to catch the stream. No luck. It didn’t help that Lee (3 years old) and Cam (5 months old) kept vying for my attention during this delicate operation.

We had to get out the door to the appointment so I thought I would just bring the jar along with us, as we made our way to the Clinic, just in case her bladder would finally give out.

It was going to be a walking day, a nice August day. Good excercise and sunshine for everyone. I purposely scheduled a quick stop at Belinda’s house to provided another opportunity to try and catch the stream. making sure Mary drank lots of water on the way.
It really breaks my heart at the same time makes me chuckle. Mary was so mortified to have to pee in a jar. She was proud to be a Big Girl and have the bathroom as a private place for herself and now to find out that for the rest of her life she will be subjected to these indecencies for the sake of health. My chuckle came when she insisted that I wrap up the jar before anyone outside the bathroom could see the golden liquid.

It was another mile of walking beyond Belinda's place before we got to the Clinic. Pushing Cam’s stroller and having Lee and Mary complaining about the distance only made the waiting in the lobby that much worse. While Lee complained about the walking he sure had the energy to bounce off the chairs in the waiting room. Where does a 3 year old store that energy? No nap, nosugar cookies, no TV cartoons, how does he do it? And there was Mary quiet and afraid of the shots she knew she was going to get. Actually I don't blame her, not being a fan of needles myself.

Since I had to bring all 3 kids in the exam room with me it was nice to have a patient doctor and nurse. The doctor handled the shy Mary very well, Two shots in the arm and a quick lung & heart check up and we were back out the door walking the mile and a half home. It almost didn’t feel worth the trip. But now she is ready to start her academic life.
Will it be easier when it's Lee's turn or Cam's?

This is a Blog written as if my mother would have done it in 1964. The story is true. One thing is missing that puts it all in perspective. Mom is blind and could not drive me to the appointments. (think about trying to capture a specimen). Nor could she have someone watch my brother and sister. She was very proud of being a handicapped parent and wanted to show everyone that she could do the same things a sighted parent could do with only small adjustments.
I write this as a personal reflection to show my own daughters that parenthood is tough no matter the era or the disabilities. But it is also just as rewarding.

Leaf me alone

2010-11-15T08:37:00.000-08:00

The household had a bit of a slowdown last week. Both Jerry and I had some medical issues that caused us not be able to complete normal household tasks. Thanks to the kids. . (Tammi & Jenny)I was driven to my appointment andwe got dinner handled on Friday.On Sunday Cameron & kids came over to handle the leaf accumilation issue in the front yard.
I couldn't do the lifting part but I could take pictures. And what fun it was. so many here, but you will enjoy them and there is a need to share with mommy so just sit back and enjoy.

Conflict resolution. . . ."Can I use the leaf Blower Mom?, No you aren't big enough yet."

Don't blow your sister over!

Of course mommy is left to do the trash can duty, the rest of the crew ran inside where Grandpa paid them for picking up leaves.

If Blogging were around

2010-11-09T12:53:00.000-08:00

What if Blogging were around in 1966. I would have been 8 years old, my brother would be 6 and my little sister 3.
There would be blogs full of Jello, Miracle Whip and carrot recipies, the latest in crafty ideas to use up toilet paper and paper towel tubes. There would be political rants of what President Johnson was going to do about all those Civil Rights protests, let alone that hot spot in Asia that was brewing.
Doesn't seem to have changed much except now it is on a screen and not on paper in a magazine/newspaper.

My mother was a journalism major in college. She took her writing in a totally different direction after she got married and started raising 3 kids. I truly wish Blogging had been around for her to expereince and contribute to. Without a doubt she would have been popular.

Today I stumbled upon a Mommy blog (not that I was looking for it, it just popped up when I clicked Next Blog). The Meanest Mom has elements in it that remind me not only of how my mother wrote. But also what us kids used to do to her. This lady has one advantage over my mom, though, she can see. My mom was blind and still raised 3 sighted kids. Never the less, this blog is worth mentioning to all mom's and grandma's. She is short, concise and terribly humorist. I hope she continues.
And as I said before, not much has changed, the kids still get bored, they still kick each other's chairs and pull the old joke of "Want some seafood? . .HERE SEE FOOD!" with the mushed up remains of an egg salad sandwich dangling from the 6 year old's tongue.

And in honor of my mom. . .I think I will post a blog as if I were her in 1966.

Creativty drained

2010-11-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

It is often the baine of an artist to lose the Creativty trail we may be following.
Such has been the last 3 months since coming back from Germany. My ideas are fleetings and my time is nil. I sew when I have to and veg most of the time.
It feels like a wasteland stretched out in front of me. I am forcing myself to complete small projects that have been hanging on for 2-4 years now.
like these pumpkins. Silly printed blocks that were on clearance some years back. I snagged them and started to embellised them to my style. Now I can stuff them and get stems on them.

One point of fun and pride are the grandsons. The fun of licking the beaters after cookie making. A Chocolate Emery and a Chocolate Josiah, cute memories made with little mess.

And then Kentucky and his goal of making it to his yellow belt in TaeKwando before he is 7 years old. He is almost there. Here he is taking the test for the yellow stripe. Serious and concentrating. He did very well. His natural ability to do sports is evident.

Now back to the needle.

aMAZING

2010-07-13T20:00:00.000-07:00

This blog post is being delayed. You will see it after July 13th. I am writing it on June 6th. That is because the items shown here are going with me to Germany as gifts and I don’t want the recipients to see them till I gift them. These pillows are for two young ladies that have graduated from high school and both are very much into theater and drama.

I have a tendency to make Sybil (from the movie with Sally Fields) pillows. That would be a pillow that has two opposite sides and yet have a theme or a message to portray.

Both pillows have the Drama masks on them, these are appliquéd wool onto cotton.
With the first phrase from the Shakespeare quote created through an printable iron on transfer.
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts.”

The opposite side has a hand embroidered celtic knot that is actually a maze. The material the mazes were worked on are actually linen napkins from the Captain’s mess from the US Navy decommissioned carrier USS Chicago. I have had these napkins since 1979. I knew I would find a use for them.

The mazes are then appliquéd onto wonderful printed cotton with puzzle or maze print. The trim around the edge was built up with two trims, the black is gimp and the red is very small red rick-rack woven into the gimp.

Both sides of the pillows should give the young ladies a thought provoking moment. Of how life is a maze. . .and it is a play. . .and they will play many parts in their lives.

So profound. . . don’t you think.

It happens in every family

2010-06-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Take 1 six year old (who should know better) add 1 four year old (who should also know better) then add 1 two year old (who doesn't know better but comes up with the idea) and leave alone in a room. Place 1 pair of safety scissors within reach aaannnndddd. . . .what do you get? A group of kids that look like they either suffer from Mange, or have had a bout of Chemo recently. Yes, it happened under the watch of the soon to be EX daycare provider. And get this. . . She even cut Joy's hair more to "trim it up" after the incident. I am so mad at her. You should leave the hair alone till the mommy can see first hand the damage and have a one on one with the child to discuss what has happened. Now when you ask Joy who cut her hair she says Kentucky, Korban and Miss Heather.

Last year she had a scar on her forehead for her 2nd birthday pictures. This year on her 3rd birthday she will have a reverse Mohawk.She has gone from this. . . .

To this.. . . .
So now we have Kentucky who won't let me take pictures of him because he knows he looks stupid (his word) with a chunk of his hair missing from the front. Korban is embarrassed also and even though he had a buzz cut just weeks ago, he now has polkadot places missing all over his head. And Joy. . .Poor Joy. . . gone are the soft blonde curls. Sigh. This will go down in the Family lore.

Music for the heart

2010-06-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

No not sappy love songs.

Great Big Sea is releasing an album this summer and I have pre Ordered it. Of course this happens while I am in Germany. They will also be performing at the Oregon Zoo while I am gone.
Darn it all.
And I really wanted a good Celitc Music fix!

Enjoy these three songs. The last one is so funny.

Kids

2010-06-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Had a few interesting pictures in the past 2 weeks.

Son-In-Law David. . .in crawl space helping Jerry figure out where the new vent is going to go under the house. He sure got dirty and I appreciate his bravery to be "one" with the spiders down there. The funniest part was when he found a pair of Jerry's glasses. . . .Jerry hasn't been down there in about 4 years. You can bet the prescription level has changed since then.

And here we have Emery & Luelle enjoying the local park. He is going to be able to run with the big boys soon. Much to his mother's dismay.

Kentucky had his Kindergarten graduation and concert. Here is a part of the song "I'm a Little Teapot".

Gotta love the brother love shown here. I wonder how long this is going to last.

Imaginarium

2010-05-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Inspiration from a movie can be dangerous. Here I thought I knew what I was going to create for the Gypsy Carnival contest and then along comes a movie that blows that idea out of the water.
Check out these photos. This is lifesize. If you have seen the movie Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus you will know how cool this wagon is.

No I have no intentions of making it lifesize, but I am inspired to make a gypsy wagon that has a drop down stage. The room up on the top is a bedroom of sorts.
Here are the first pictures of that room in MY Wagon. Made with Wool and leather with a cardboard interior core. I scouted for scale prints for the upholstry.

Yes there is a cut out in the floor, that is for the spiral staircase to the main wagon. I don't have the roof complete yet. And even the pillows and blanket are not finshed.

This is a window made with the rings from a curtain and scrap leather. I still have miniature nailheads to put on it and trim away some of the leather. I wanted a weird portal look to it. The coolest thing will be what I use for the shutter door for this window. A gold Dubloon that pivots in the middle.

And here is the outside. I stitched less than a 1/4 inch lines to make the wood clapboard appearance. Then using leather I did the boards that overlay. I also used a gold pen to do the designs on it. If you look at the original you will see there are all kinds of mystic writings on the boards.

I have found a few items that are scale for the accessories on the wagon (lamps/mirror ect.) I still have not found a name for it nor the stage act that will be performing. Baby steps.

A Visitor

2010-05-09T19:31:00.000-07:00

A mother's day visitor to the Herb garden.
Magical Chive blossoms made this lovely imp stay around for quit a while.

The Face of Joy

2010-04-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

After a weekend of Joy and Kentucky. . . I now have a study in the faces of Joy.

ENJOY!

lets not forget Kentucky was around too.

Spring in MyddleSee

2010-04-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Tucked under the grape arbor
Behind the garden bench
The gateway to MyddleSee you are able to glimpse.

Sometimes you only see plants
Sometimes you see our hovels
So beware of the human rake the mowers and the shovels.

For those who believe
In wee folk and the like
They shall find the path and know where to hike.

So come join the revelry
The pageantry so grand
In our mystical magical wee fairy land.

Leave cares at the gate
Look for fortunes not
Your life as a Fae is now your lot.

Return to your realm
Is never allowed
Say farewell to Disney and hello to Froud.

3 more hovels are in the construction phase.
A cat was almost harmed in the photography session, as he decided he needed to fit through the gateway. He didn't duck low enough. He earned the name Monster this evening.

Shades of Grey

2010-03-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

Experimenting in BW and I get very angry that it looks so grainy. WHY!
The color fotos turn out fine, but BW looks pixelated

Daffodilly's

2010-03-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

Time for the grandkid pictures. This was yesterday afternoon.
PEEK A BOO

The Devil on Scooter Wheels

One for Ewe and One for Me

2010-03-03T18:23:00.000-08:00

I can hear Brenda now. HA And you thought you were getting a good deal!!!

House sitting for friends while they are off in New Zealand of all places. I have one cat to feed and 6 sheep. And my pay. . .the wool from the latest slaughteredd Baa Baa.
Now this is not pretty wool. These sheep don’t get primped or shampooed.
BUT it’s wool that I can use for many inside jobs.

Step one, bring the sheep home.This is ONE sheep.
Here is the bag with 3 batches out of it already. I used the broom to give a reference of how big the bag is.

Here is one batch in it’s second wash cycle. Yes that is brown water, and it is the SECOND washing.

And here is the drying wool out on the deck. It is not CLEAN CLEAN yet. But it is on it’s way.

Next steps, washing again, then carding.

Such potential. . . .it makes me squirm with delight!

I have often said I would live in a log cabin in a split second as long as I have running water I am ok. I can do without electricity. Cleaning this wool makes me reflect on those thoughts. I still want to live in the country. And just this past week Hubby said he would have like to live on a small land patch with goats or sheep a few chickens and such. NOW HE TELLS ME! He says his job has trapped him and would not have allowed for that life. I disagree strongly. His job did not trap him. He trapped himself. He just didn’t act on his dreams.

I am glad mom mother allowed me to dream. And pursue them.

MyddleSee

2010-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

Margery Muckleston did marry Peri Muckleston, though it be a hasty match and of small portion. Yet she was a very handsome gentlewoman and of masculine spirit.
She would not suffer him to intermeddle with her concerns within doores, and she endeavored to keep a good house. But this did cause them to keep an unquiet house, and many contests did happen between them which ended without blows but much pride broken.

Now Peri Muckleston did leave this world and left behind Margery to tend her business and the only child they did bring forth. Eavan Muckleston is but 9 years of age now and will be apprenticed to Orlan Shooze the Tool master in MyddleSee once he reaches the age of 12. Until that time he does as he should in his mother’s shop. Yet it has been known that Eavan can at times be knotty and of ill temper. It be best to avoid his irksome tyrades by feeding him chocolate.

Margery plys the needle quite well and none could say otherwise. Her fingers being nimble and her gift fyne indeed shee would stitch into a fae garment all protections or easements necessary. It be knownst to all in MyddleSee that the Queen did come to Margery to stitch the first gown the Fae princess Marissa did wear and every gown there after. Thus speaks of the skills Margery Muckleston of MyddleSee.

Many pictures follow of Margery's home. I made this fairy house into a sewing basket/purse. Seeing it in person will allow you into a secret world of the fairies. There are things that are not what they seem in this home.

Under a bush at the corner of the house be a wonderful hiding place for many of Eavan's friends. Be cautious when you past by the home. These bothersome youths have been known to snatch innocent fairies and jail them for thier dust and other such pranks.

This house is made of natural items, leather, wool,hemp, cotton, jute, glass, metal. There are only 3 items not natural and thost is 3 flower beads that are plastic, the moss yarn is polyester and one of the threads I embroidered with was Rayon. Even the structure inside is recycled heavy duty cardboard.

Of course the language I told the story in is old English lifted from a book written in 1709. the story is mine but the language is not, this is to explain what may seem like a lot of Typos!

Growth patterns

2010-02-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

With tape measure in hand I tackled 3 of the grandkids last night. Interesting findings.
Kentucky - 6 years old
45" tall
23" waist
27" pant length
Korban - 4 years old
40" tall
22" waist
23" pant length
Joy - 2 years old
35" tall
20" waist
19" pant length

Now study these numbers. What do we see? Poor Korban. His pant length is only one inch different than his waist. Where as Kentucky has 4 inch difference. And Joy is one inch short on her pant length. But we should expect that not only from a girl but from a 2 year old.
Korban can wear Kentucky's pants but they have to be cuffed up REAL BIG.

It is also interesting that there is 5 inch differences in the 22 months between each kid.
I need to remember to do this again next year same time and see if the ratios stay the same. Does this sound like I am doing a case study?

Korban sporting a bubble bath beard he had to jump out of the tub and run to me to show off. obviously some of the bubbles had popped by the time he got to me but he still was proud of his beard.

Kentucky being Kentucky in front of the camera.

Messy faced but still cute Joy.

Tooth, Teeth, Dentures

2010-01-24T00:23:00.000-08:00

Tooth Fairy Pillows. silly, right? We all just stuck our tooth under our pillow and magically the next morning there was a quarter under our pillow. Sometimes we wrapped the tooth in a hankie/kleenex but the results were the same. MONEY!

Seems in the crafty world there is a trend to make toothfairy pillows. That way the toothfairy doesn't have to slip under the pillow and possibly disturb the the sleeping toothless giant.
Some of the pillows are cute and very feminine. But there is also a trend to make more masculine ones. Monsters are the most popular. Here are a few of them.

Now I have nothing against these artists. I found them all on Etsy. And you know I really like Etsy.
I just know my grandsons and their friends (4-7 year old boys). And those pillows don't really speak to a boy's idea of a tooth fairy.
then I found this artist and I was inspired. SkellytonArt
Take this face and hide something in it.

Are you with me? This artist does many cute things with skeletons. and they are all cute not gruesome.
So here is the prototype. It is between Baseball and Softball in size.

I like the face but the fabric was not working. and the hat was way out of scale.
I wanted a kind of coin purse feeling to it. Where you could turn the face around and put the tooth/money in the back. I tried using velcro for the opening and I really didn't like the puckering.

The purpose of the "tooth fairy pillow" should be two fold. To use for the tooth and to hide things in. I always wanted a place to hide stuff from my brother. I ended up using the sleeves of the kimono to my Geisha doll. He never found stuff there.
Anyway. This character who I have dubbed Smilin' Jack. Can be used for hiding things beyond tooth time.

Here we have Smilin' Jack in his almost complete front face. His Rastafarian hat is custom for one particular grandson (Kentucky). I will be making other colors.

Now pop Jack out and turn him around and you see Grim Jack. Grim Jack has a "hidden zipper" for a mouth. Closed he looks grim. Unzip it and you see his tongue and he is not so grim. This is the pocket for the tooth/money.
I used Duck cloth and painted it with sealant then did the face with a sharpie pen. The cap was crocheted with cotton. I am going to try a different zipper on the next one.

With a hanger to loop onto a bedpost Jack will be ready for the Toothfairy delivery.
My camera tends to make the white more yellow. sorry. gotta work on that more.

I would love some feedback on what you think.

Bowling in the dark

2010-01-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

A 6 year old's birthday party is one they will remember. And in this case it is the first one that Kentucky got to invite schoolmates as well as cousins and family friends.

Glow in the dark Bowling at the Tigard bowl. Watching Emery & Josiah & Joy handle the bowling balls was a treat. they did a fair job of hefting those 6lb balls and "rolling" them down the alley, and in some cases following after the ball and slipping. . . .too bad I did not have my camera ready for that scene as cute as it was.
2 year old bowling -

Josiah & Korban

The boys were active and silly. And just as a warning DO NOT stand in Korban's way when he is ready to throw the ball. . .THROW is the key word here. That kid can run with an 8lb ball and throw it. I fear when he gets to be 13 and hormones kick in with his strength. (Football?)
THE GANG - Owen, James, Damien, Kentucky & Korban.

Pizza!

Candids
Joy & Aunt Sarah

Birthday Boy Kentucky

Korban

Mason, Joy & Colin

Tammi & Josiah

Mason & his girlfriend (Joy)

It never ends

2010-01-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Even though the holidays are over I am still madly stitching. Here is the Room sign for Joy's room. All in Wool. the initial design (fairy in the window) comes from a wonderful German craft book I picked up the last time I was in Hamburg. I have never regreted the German books I get on each trip. The Germanic countries have GORGEOUS craftsmanship on everything they do. I learn so much.
The actual name comes from a font on my home computer. I just loved it and knew it had to be a part of this project. Took a bit to get the detail work since this is all done by hand not on a machine!

Now for 3 more stockings.
New Years resolve. . . . to enrich my mind.

My monday morning

2009-12-21T09:41:00.001-08:00

Here is a hint as to my Monday Morning after staying up to sew pajamas for kidlets.
I like this guy's creativity.

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Deck the Halls Zweintel (Part 2)

2009-12-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

My apologies to my German friends. I looked up the spelling of Part two and didn't find what I wanted so I had to guess.

Previously you may have seen my efforts to create a Halloween Village. The material was a plaster type paste that I sculpted while wet and let it dry then I sanded and painted, then added rock/sand/trees to create the landscape.

My efforts now have been put towards the Christmas village. Luckily I only have to deal with White as my main color. But there are textures and dimensions I must consider. This time I used Styrofoam. Not the crunchy kind that has holes, rather the kind you find in your boxes that is made up of small balls pressed together. The cool thing about Styrofoam is that it can be cut with a hot knife. And it is very lightweight. AND I don't have to wait for it to dry.

This time I made sure to make the pieces smaller so I can store them in a box in the attic.The shelf is the same one used for the halloween village. Also I added water. Another techique that I had to learn to do. This has been a great challenge. The expense of the Water (Epoxy) was more than ALL of the styrofoam for the whole village. I am going to have to find a better source for the Epoxy.

Below are the pictures for the village. Unlike the Halloween pictures, the night time lighting did not do well so I used a flash.

There are closeups to follow but here is what you see in this overall picture
#1 The village Duo, Cello & Violin
#2 Little girl greeting her father
#3 Paul's Pub
#4 The Dairy Shop
#5 The Winery
#6 The Milnery shop
#7 Joy's cottage
#8 The Inn

Here is #1 the Village Duo

#2 Little Girl greeting father.

#3 Paul's Pub and the arrow is pointing at the stairs I carved into the hillside. Also the Cheese Head guy that is selling cheese from the Dairy shop.

#5 the Winery

#7 Joy's Cottage

This is the play area from a distance. The town furniture store on the hill and all the children playing in the snow. The #1 scene is in closeup below.

I found the Snowball fight at a thrift store for $4.99 and it is a Dept. 56 scene. I got a good deal on it. The grandkids love watching it. Don't know if they think that snowball will fly off or what. The ball is animated and swings on the stick from one boy to the other.

This is the site of the Mill on the right side of the village.

Here is the largest of the two water techniques. There is irredescent tinsel embedded in the epoxy that shines at different angles and lighting. I also put "Buffalo Snow" around the edges which soaked into the Epoxy by accident, but it made the edges of the water look like it was turning into ice so it worked out great. After it all dried I added more "Buffalo Snow" to create a bank of snow on the edge. These are glued in. Buffalo Snow is a fake snow that is celluose based and will wash away with water so if next year I want to change it I just need to wet it down.

Those of us who live in the Canby/Oregon City area are familiar with the wood carver that lives along 99E highway. This scene is in honor of him. The log cabin and his stump out in front where he carves.

Here is the Alps section of the village.

#1 Placing the star
#2 Ski Lodge/Chalet
#3 Stairs I carved into the mountain side.

#1 Placing the star again such humor with these figures. Can you really believe the horse will stay still while you stand on his back to place the star???

#2 The Ski lodge/chalet plays music and the skiers go around. BUT when I bought this there was no lights. I opened it up and installed battery operated rice lights I bought at Ikea. The arrow on the left shows the RED tape I used. Only if you are down at kid level do you see this. The arrow on the right shows a skier that has an amputated arm. . .it broke off when I was installing the lights. So I call this event the Special Olympics Winter version.

We are still in the Alps section and this is a second mill. There are more deer here and a carriage goin to the mountain.
#1 Second water technique
#2 Deer eating snowman nose

Here is #2. . I just love the humor of this scene, the Deer eating the Snowman's nose (carrot). The grandkids love it too.

If you have reached the end of this blog then I am honored. Most people just look at the pics and that is good too. I put in the details for those of my friends that are interested in learning of hearing about the techniques, errors and successes I achieve during my creative process. If you can look at the pictures and see the village and scenes and never really notice the landscape unless I point it out. . .then I was successful. Every bit of that styrofoam was scupted and textured. I did not leave any of it in it's store bought condition.
The figurines have been collected over the past 10 years. The majority of them are the less expensive version. And many many of them I have picked up at thrift stores. I want all my villages to be kid friendly for 2year olds and up. So if something gets chipped or broke it now has a story behind it. . .and it makes it fun for me to shop for replacements.
Thank you for viewing and enjoying my efforts.

Decking the Halls

2009-12-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

As the days grow shorter in daylight I seem to feel an urgency that I must get things done. Part is my own clock ticking away. But I think the majority of this feeling is triggered by the overwhelming commercial push to buy BUY BUY!! before the deadline of December 25.
Sigh. . .wait. . . Slow down. . . Breath!
Even though I feel rushed to have the house decorated for our Open house this weekend, I wanted to feel good about the winter season and the solstice coming up.

Here are some pictures for my German friends to enjoy. Our tree Tannenbaum is decorated with apples, gilded walnuts, Strohn Sterne (star stars),Morovian stars, and natural animals, fox/owl/hedgehogs and Candles. . .yes Candles, real ones.

When American's see these candles thier first reaction is Fear. They must think that we light them and walk away. No no no no. Even in Germany they don't do that.
We light them for about 15-30 minutes at a time and stay in the living room to enjoy it. Now there are regular tree lights on the tree as most American trees. But there is not an over abundance of them.

We have a small collection of items we have brought back from Germany that are very typical. All wood.

Over the years I have become enamoured with clear or glass looking items. Here are two displays of a Santa/reindeer then a picture of the ice castle.

The Globe Theater in London. (Shakespeare's theater).

Then there is the corner with my bit of humor in it. I just love these pigs/hippos/elephants.

Next set of photos will be the village. And the outside of house.

Painshill Grotto

2009-10-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Open for business this year. . .Painshill Grotto. Enjoy your Halloween festivities with us. Skel & Sons Grotto UnderKeepers.

Warning there are many pictures.
So Painshill Grotto is completed for this year. I say that so you will know that I plan on adding to it as the years go on.
Also. . .these pictures have been an excercise in my photography skills so please bare with me. I have just learned how to decrease the shutter speed to the point that I can take in the dark or low lighting pics. AND I used the tripod so I wouldn't wiggle while the shutter was open.

Here we go.

The Autumn side of the scene has been done for a while now. I have added the pile of leaves and the gate to the fence.

On the other side of the fence is the Halloween Carnival, we'll get to that next.

Note the Gate and the Tree.arrows pointing at them The tree is the favorite figure of Grandson Emery. He is only 2 and still he knows that the "man fell into the tree".

Now for the Carnival, this is taken in the actual lighting. So you see the Gypsy looking into her crystal ball. Someone selling pumpkins, Children bobbing for apples and of course all the ghosts are out in force. Note I have created a path and the plants along the front edge. You will also see the hillside to the Grotto in the background on the right side. and the beginning of the skull fence.

Now for the Grotto. This is actually in 7 pieces. So I can set it up with the sides open like a book. . .. or closed in this case. You view the Grotto from the front where there are two semi circle fences made with skulls. And a Scull Gate. Here are two pictures one is with Grotto lights OFF (I'll explain later)

And with Grotto Lights ON

The Grotto is painted with Glow in the Dark paint. So it has a slight yellowy/green cast to it in daylight and then at night looks like the pic above.
When I built the Grotto I used a box knowing I would be hiding small Rice Lights inside. I drilled holes in the "ceiling" of the Grotto and pushed the Rice lights through. They are Blue in color. Let me tell you this was a tedious task but I LOVE THE EFFECT.

OK. . .onto the Skull Fence. Our grape arbor was trimmed down for the winter (or should I say Jerry HACKED it down). After I got over my mad. . .I went out there and salvaged what few vines I could and let them dry. Some are old enough to have what appears to be BARK on them. Great texture.
I found at Rite-Aid a Skull Bracelet with plastic beads. They were 70% off. So I bought all 6 at 43 each. My only problem was the HOLE for the bead was in the top of the skull and I need them to be ear to ear. So out come the handy Dremel tool and I drilled them myself. I then used the florist wire I had handy and "Wove" the fence and glued it on to the semi circle mounds I created. Voila! Skull Fences.

Now for what is ontop of the Grotto.
Another Thrift store find that made me giggle all the way home was a replica of Haggrad's house in Harry Potter. It has changing lights and sound effects.
I also found at Rite-Aid at 70% off a garland of skeleton's. They are made of plastic and were "stiff". So I performed surgery and "un-stuck" them. I created some animated figures.
There is the Trumpet player ( I found an old brooch that was a trumpet and the scale was perfect.
The "Hear No Evil" "See No Evil" and "Speak No Evil" trio are all sitting on the cliff edge to the Grotto. As well as a hanging Skeleton.

Now for the inside of the Grotto. At this time there is only one major figure in there. It is of a man climbing a spire while rats (arrows pointing at some of them) and a skeleton are around his feet. There is an open grave with a decaying body in it.
There are also some bones and gravestones around.
I hope to increase the inside of the Grotto next year with more scenes. But this is all I could do this year.
None of my pictures came out of the Hill that is to the right of the Grotto. But it looks good too. I just have to get those lights inside the houses to make it look great.

Here are pics of the whole thing in true light. There was a lot of effort and learnings in this project. Having never tried to Sculpt before I am surprised at my results. As well as the Landscaping.

It took me about 45 hours and $60 in supplies. But alot of the supplies are left over so I can make more. I am not including drying time. This had to be made in stages as I mentioned in previous blogs. I think doing it in Summer is a better idea. You can leave the segments outside to dry in the sun. I had to bake the smaller sections to get them dry enough to pain. The humidity was TERRIBLE.
Now. . . . pondering. . .do I have time to do the same thing for my Christmas village. . .

I'm Falling

2009-10-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

So I took the mail out to the mail box this am. There was fog everywhere and under the mail box was a beautiful spiderweb with dew drops on it. WOW. . .I need a picture of that. Ran back to the house got the camera and knelt in the street to take the pic. . .. along come my younger cat Shadow.
"Mommy. . .whatcha doooin'"
"Go away"
"but whatcha dooin'?"
"GO AWAY in are in the shot"

"NO NO NO . . . . "
She wrapped around the post and her tail went up in the air. . . and tore the beautiful web. Damn

Well, since I am out here I might as well take advantage of the dewdrops. So I went on a foto safari.

My favorite

Now for something different

2009-10-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

At least once a week I visit a thrift store. Could be Goodwill, or Value Village, or some one of a kind store owned locally. Especially during the halloween season I pay visits to my haunts.
Yesterday it paid off.
Yes I look for costumes or parts of costumes. But yesterday I yanked from a hanger an item that was 90+ years old. Ok. . .I get to brag for a moment. I know my fashion, I could tell immediately that the wool dress with the Pinned on collar was very old compared to the nylon monstrosities it was hanging next to.
Yes the wool had some small moth holes in it. But the structure was VERY sound. The pins in the collar and the belt are original. All the snap closures are in very good condition.
With $4.99 I took this lovely home. And after my easy research. . thanks to my full bookcase of fashion books, I can prove the era of it.
Below are the photos and documentation to date the dress. Obviously it is a teen's dress or a maids dress. 1919 made with wool and a cotton collar. This era used buttons as a cost effective embellishment. The collar as white work on it. Simple, servicable, and sturdy.

This dress will now be part of my collection. I have only one other item of that era (world war 1).
I love treasure hunting especially when I am surprised at the gems I find and where I find them.

Phase 3 adding foilage

2009-10-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

Phase one is building the platforms. In my previous blog I showed the hill I created with Sculptamold. Unfortunately I did not make the level areas VERY level so my houses will be on the slant. That works find for the halloween village. but when I build the Winter scene I will have to make a concerted effort to make everything level.

So 4 platforms are finished with the Phase 1. As well as the hill and the Grotto. I have made more mistakes trying to build the grotto. Note to self: watch out how heavy these pieces get. I had to build the grotto with a box core so I could drill holes in the "ceiling" and be able to add the rice lights (battery powered) and store all the wiring and battery inside. Now the Grotto is very heavy compared to the hill.

Phase 2 is the painting. I have already shown platform one in it's painted phase. Platform two and Hill are also painted now.

Phase 3 is adding foilage & Paths. This has been a much more rewarding stage. The foilage comes in packages of colors or green. All of it is made out of sponges. Yes the creatures that grow in the ocean. Some of them are really weird to handle. I rip them apart to create smaller bushes. As I rip them I keep thinking about pulling apart an animal. ewwww. Gotta keep that vision out of my mind.

Here I have put a line of shrubs along the fense line. As well as made some of the GREEN trees that comes with the kit. They are OK for this side of the scene but they are very green. I am going to keep them for the Easter village next year.

I chopped up some of the vines from my grapes in the backyard. The vines are drying out now and have some very unique shapes. I combined them to make a gate for the fence. I am rather proud of how it turned out. Wait till you see the graveyard fence I made with them. I REALLY like it. . .I will have it completed for the next blog entry.

Here we have a view of the path. This gravel is reddish here but slowly turns to black as it gets closer to the graveyard. The gravel is sprinkled onto glue, let dry. Then go back and with an eyedropper put watered down glue on top. It flows into the cracks and creates a sealant that keeps the gravel from coming loose as you move the platform or structures.

My hill and the tilting houses.

Yup, I think I am really enjoying this miniature work. I know that some people will not understand the grotto and the graveyard part. Yet it is very much a part of my whole creative side. I often wonder if I had grown up in the 1990's instead of the 1960's I think I would have totally been a Goth girl.

Preparing for Halloween

2009-10-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

Now that the warning is out of the way I can start on my new project.
Painshill Grotto. This place actually exists in Surrey England. But I am taking artistic license with the appearance of it.
Start with some Sculptamold. Mix water and start slathering it onto newspaper or styrofoam shapes.

Let it dry for 3+ days. Rip out the insides and you have a hollow hill.
This stuff is used by model train enthusiasts. So they can make those huge hills and tunnels for the trains. You can sand this, drill it, paint it, glue it and it doesn't chip or split.

Then you start painting it.

Here we have a piece almost done. This is the calm country scene for the fall.

The rock fence is part of the ground. The sculptamold is the ground and fence. the figures are store bought. I still have to put in the shrubs and other trees as well as the gravel on the pathway. The whole thing will have felt under it so it won't scratch the wood. I have a pile of miniature leaves to still create for under the trees.

Here is where Painshill Grotto is located. Note the left side is painted but not completed. The right side is still missing the grotto and the water feature. It is just a white field and a white hill right now. The whole scene should show a normal fall farm on the far left and gradually change to a grotto graveyard and cliffside to the right.
Tonight I will work on the middle section.

Restoration on Many Levels

2009-09-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

Purchase a 3 story Queen Anne style house. Fixer upper, comes with appliances, no yard and has great potential.
Asking price $10. . . . .And a lot of sweat equity.
this blog is actually a spoof or joke on my friends Melanie & Phil as they work on making their house market ready. If only their sweat equity was as easy as mine!

So last month I bought this house. Had it in my bathtub for the past two weeks. Today I moved it to the back deck. Gave it a good hosing. I have been working on this $10 investment for 3 weeks now.

The previous owner loved stickers (view the 3rd floor right side room and the first floor refridgerator)

Got that mess cleaned up.

She also liked permanent markers and fingernail polish.
Oh and what you can’t see is the film of elmer’s white glue that only appears when I hosed the whole thing off. Then it became a white goopy mess. So I had to wait till it dried again then took a sculping tool to peel it off.

Windows frames are missing because I am washing them in the sink.But these are much better pictures of the interior and exterior.

I have made some significant headway on it. Should have it done by this weekend.
Yipee. . . .but in all this work time and staring at the structure I have an alternative plan.

And yes that is our smoker you see through the window. Weird, Huh?

This was suppose to be a present for Joy for Christmas. This Fisher Price Loving Family Manor house is an original, first edition from 1993. Doorbell still works. Only missing one window frame, which is replaceable. But, why should a 2 year old enjoy this. Hmmmm

I keep seeing the whole thing painted black and made into a haunted doll house. Don’t you? With all the rooms/space I could have a Frankenstein lab, a phatom of the Opera living room. And wow, how about a Sweeney Todd kitchen!!! Such potential!!

Sigh, I will have to comb the goodwill stores for another one of these houses and make my Halloween masterpiece another day.

I wasn’t the only one doing home improvements. Here is Jerry and his latest project. The side gate. The neighbor wants to replace the fence on that side. Jerry wanted a gate that could open for human traffic and open wider for trailer parking. So what you see is only the wood side. The other side is welded metal frame which he designed and did himself. The curved top gate is hinged on the left side. If you pull a pin in the ground the human gate and the left side of the fence all hinges open to the house side. Pretty good design for an old dude!

2 Down, 2 To Go

2009-08-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

Birthdays are starting to be an every month occasion. With all the kids, their spouses and now grandkids it seems we are eating cake every few weeks. Now some of these Birthday's are for adults so there is beer involved and or a nice dinner spot. But on the other hand, we are also having parties that are made for the 2 year olds. . .like this year, we had Emery's last month. This month is Joy's and in October will be Josiah's and then Christian in May 2010. 2 year old parties are. . .um. . .active. Don't ya just Love Tucky's face? He never gave me a "Normal" face no matter how many times I tried to catch him on camera. That kid!! Then we have the Model picture series. Joy got a raincoat & hat which she wore while opening her other presents. I was just smittin. The actual party was held at Shady Dell, a private property that miniature Train collectors have made into a train park. Here we have Grandpa riding with Kentucky, Korban and Joy. We had Aunt Tammi & Uncle David riding trains too!

But here is a better picture of Uncle David.

Played tag with Uncle Nate.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOY JOY!!

ARTISTRY

2009-08-13T12:31:00.001-07:00

Artistry comes in so many forms. The filming of this is wonderful. A true film artist.

More Inspiration

2009-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

I think I am getting better with the camera. I was working on close ups.
What do you think?
I wanted to get close enough without touching or disturbing the web.

The Garden is so full now and each day something new has popped up, or grown larger.
The snapdragons are lovely. As are the Petunias

Frog castle is for the one caught at Grandma Gobet's house.

The peppers are ready to pick but Jerry won't pick them yet. The cuke is close and the Tomatoes need about 3 more weeks. And the grapes. . .well, they look more plentiful then last year. I just hope they taste as good.

Can't wait till these are ready, Fresh artichokes should be interesting.

Might use this one as a background on some photoshop work.

So I think this camera is working out much better than my Point & Shoot. Both are Canon but this one has so much more to offer. So far it is worth the $350 price tag.

Berry Cute & Berry Delicious

2009-07-15T07:52:00.001-07:00

The Oregon Berry season is to DIE FOR!! That is one of the highlights of the year for me. If I had to move away from Oregon I would have to vacation each year back here in July just so I could have the Berries.

The Berries are in full ripeness right now at Great Grandpa’s garden. (Leo is my father in law and is a wonderful gardener) For 3 years now I have taken K,K&J to pick berries in his garden. It is old hat to Kentucky now, but it is the first time for Joy. She learned that the RED Berries were what to look for. Even though they were picking Blueberries, Marionberries & Raspberries. Too many colors to remember for Joy.

Stuffing handfuls of raspberries into her mouth was the modus operadi for Joy. Once in a while she got the Marionberries mixed up with the raspberries. Marions should be picked BLACK not RED. She quickly spit those out. She found a green tomato which I quickly told her to put down.

Kentucky found the Cherry tree to be loaded and he could reach the lower branches so he was handing Joy cherries, which she quickly spit out. They were ripe, but they are Pie Cherries so not so sweet.

Korban was all into the hunt and eating every one of the berries in his container. He took none home to mommy.

Then they found the swings. Those swings have been there since my kids were playing in Grandpa’s backyard. Kentucky asked if they were tied on with strong knots. Yes Kentucky, they won’t break.

Joy enjoyed conversations with St. Francis. They could see eye to eye. St. Francis had conversations with the cat as well.

>

And the best part is that we found a FROG!!! A little green one. I put it inside a clear cup and we watched it. We took it home to show mommy then I took it to my house and let it out in my shade garden. We will see if he sticks around.
(Additional news: Korban and I found the frog on the side of Grandpa's garden shed. Today Grandpa informed us that he found a mother Skunk and 5 kittens on that side of the shed. It is total luck that Korban and I didn't find those skunks while chasing the frog)

My best giggle was watching Joy go down the line of raspberries saying
“lookin. . .lookin. . .lookin. . Dares anodder one!” And of course “Raspberry” is “wapberrwy” in her 2 year old language.

Now. . . .onto my bowl of Berries and Cream. . . .
AWWWW. . . . . SUMMER!!

Garden Inspiration

2009-07-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

What more could you ask for. . . .natural inspiration. And right outside my front door.
This new camera is amazing, now if the operator would just keep her hands/fingers out of the picture!

Back to the Needle

2009-06-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

The Needle calls. . .The Muse sings. . .I must follow.
Actually I have an assignment. Ring pillow for Sarah's wedding.
Her flower of choice is the Bird of Paradise. I believe that ring pillows should be something you use after the wedding. Thus not making it entirely in white.
Here is one side of the pillow in progress. All of it is in Silk. The white is a sheer silk, the flower is made of a hand dyed silk, done by Gail Flotre in Alaska. I must thank Gail for creating two silk scarves for me with a wash of many colors so I may have a palette to choose from. She does such lovely work in silk. Makes me afraid to put a needle to it in case I mess it up. Yet I know I have my own expertise and should feel confident that this pillow will turn out as I envision it.

I am embroidering with silk thread on top, you can see some of it already. This is a couching technique to give the stems some dimension. And yes, there is a loose thread. It will be "couched" down, but first it must lay on top. I will be putting in the petal details with this same technique, also with silk thread.

The opposite side will have Poppies on it. So the whole pillow will be reversible. I hope to finish it with Amber chrystal beaded fringe along the side. We will see if the silk can hold up with all this embellishment.

Let me be short

2009-05-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

What happened to short stories?
A novel is wonderful to get “sucked into”. We even love those that have sequels. I subscribe to Audible.com a talking book website. I love to get books that are 16 hours long. I know that I can escape into "That" world for a good long time.
But I also love short stories. A short story can be read during your lunch hour. Or enjoyed just before bed and not have to stay up 3 more hours to see how the villain gets thwarted.
You probably remember them as those annoying/dreaded English assignments in school. 1000 words about your summer holiday or some other "1st person" or "3rd person" retelling of your life.

And yet there are very famous authors that have achieved their fame all through short stories.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) began as short stories published in a monthly magazine.
Charles Dickens was the same. And least we forget our own Mark Twain The ultimate American short story writer.
Magazines were the vehicle for all these beautiful gems of escapism. The public craved them. Demanded them and once an Author had proved themselves they were launched into fame through their readers.

It must be the radio and later the TV that took the place of what was first the "storyteller" of the clan/village. When the printing press came about the storyteller wasn't immediately threatened because the common man couldn't read yet. But after a few centuries even the once esteemed storyteller lost to the printed short stories. and now. . .with our attention spans evolving and becoming shorter the TV creates 30 min short stories for us that we no longer have to turn pages to absorb. We only have to press the FF button to speed through the commercials.

For those of you that didn't know, or had forgotten, let me introduce you to the short story world that that has no FF button, no commercials, and is not scheduled for only Monday night at 9pm on ABC network. These pocket/purse size worlds are easily carried, consumed and recycled through Genre specific magazines.

I subscribe to Asimov and Analog, both are Sci Fi magazines that are FULL of short stories and novellas. These magazines are also a wonderful medium for artists that do Cover Art for these kinds of books/stories. There are also articles on REAL science.
What you don’t find in these kinds of magazines are pages and pages of advertising or ½ page articles on fashion or some Hollywood Diva’s divorce.

The Mystery genre has similar magazines as do the Spy/Espionage stories. Short stories are delicious appetizers, try them. Don’t let this wonderful literary art form die out. (these are links, they just don't show up in the normal blue color)
Eye Spy
Mystery (Alfred Hitchcock)
Strand
Asimov
Analog
I challenge you, this summer, instead of picking up a paperback book novel for your vacation read, pick up a Short Story magazine in your favorite genre. Devour it. . and tell me how you liked or disliked it. Tell me where you escaped too.
And if you happen to really like Sci Fi, I will share my back issues. And I have lots.

Hammock Mayhem

2009-05-10T18:51:00.001-07:00

Cousins are fun to have. . .aren't they? The older ones teach you things that get you into trouble.
The Younger ones are funny and easy to pick on.
Kentucky & Korban teach cousin Josiah the ins and outs and OVERS of a Hammock.

Hmmmmm, what are the big boys doing?

Now add two Girls. . .sister/cousin Joy. . . .

and Friend Jaden

Dragon + Rabbit = Drabbit

2009-05-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

I am a sucker for the unique and odd creatures found in some artists imagination. Mine included.
For the past few years in my travels to Renaissance & Pirate & Fairy festivals or faires I have seen a creature that intrigues me. The creator calls them Drabbits.
I fought my buying trend this past weekend at the Southern Ren Faire. I thought I would be getting another piece of clothing or accessory for my costumes. After weighing the overall use of these items I chose to buy a Drabbit.
I can share the Drabbit with more people than I can a purse/shoes/hat. On Saturday I had Petal Pusher with me when I first looked at the Drabbits. She was very afraid of them for she was easily bite size to them.

On Sunday I had Beatrice with me,

no Bea was not at all afraid in fact she made very rude comments about some of the more colorful Drabbits.The booth was crowded, it was obvious that these creatures were popular. With the crowd and the heat I was still amazed at how kind the Boothies (people that help out the vendor) were to everyone.
Even when I made a comment while making my purchase that I should have mentioned I am an Oregonian. That California has a Good Neighbor law and the Oregonians don’t have to pay sales tax. The vendor was kind enough to offer me a Drabbit egg. I did not take him up on it for I didn’t know what a Drabbit egg was. Silly me. It was like a raffle for a free Drabbit. DUH! *hits forehead.

Knowing I wanted to share this creature with my grandchildren and other kids, I knew I needed to pick one that was not Mean or Ugly looking. I didn’t want to scare the little ones. Even though I liked the "dragon" looking ones.
I shared my new creature with Kentucky & Korban & Joy. I asked them to help name him.

Please meet Snerkle. The name is a blend of Sniffer (what he does to your cheek or ear) and Snuggle/Cuddle (which is what it feels like when you hold him up to your ear and neck)

Snerkle loves to sit on your shoulder so he has the best view of where you are going. He has a fluffy tail that goes down your back. He also has a cable (bike brake cable) that is slipped down your shirt neckline and then your sleeve so the controller is in the palm of your hand. You can twist the controller and Snerkle says NO, and if you push on the controller Snerkle says YES. Using both motions you can have Snerkle make very nice smooth movements with his head. The larger cousins of Snerkle come with two cables that also control thier body and wings.

Notice Snerkle looks more like a cat than a dragon. At first he flew to the top of my TV cabinet to get away from my cats (Monster & Shadow). then when I left the front door open he escaped out into the garden. But with some very nice words and promises to keep the cats away he traveled with me in the car to see the grandkids.

Kentucky immediately wanted to know how I was making him move.

Korban at first kept asking me “Is he moving by himself?”

Joy just wanted to pet it and kiss it. She kept saying “Be nice.”

After just 5 minutes Korban and Kentucky started fighting over controlling Snerkle. Unfortunately their shoulders are not wide enough nor are their arms long enough for Snerkle to sit properly or the cable to extend properly. So you might see my hand helping.
Even the Daycare provider for these 3 became entranced. She wanted to play with Snerkle immediately.
The opprotunity to use puppets to convey ideas and entertain will always be a pastime of mine. This unusual kind of puppet fits perfectly into my play plans with all the grand kids (6) and many others.

The artist that makes these creatures also makes Ventriloquist figures. He is very talented. Go check out his website.

Without a doubt I will be finding another companion for Snerkle in the near future. I hope they come back to the NW so I don’t have to travel so far to find one. Oh, did I mention that Snerkle did not ride back from California in my luggage. Nooooo
he was treated just like Paris Hilton's little pet. Snerkle was peeping out of my handbag and watching the airport people. Even the seat companion I had got to talk to Snerkle. I know Snerkle and I will have wonderful adventures in the future, where ever we may go.

Playing Dressup

2009-05-05T12:43:00.000-07:00

Festive Wear

The Renaissance Pleasure Faire is located in Irwindale California. A city in the LA area. (See my other blog for faire fun).
I took My Pleasure this past weekend there. My costume choices were made weeks in advance. I worked on them down to the last days. The most fun wasn’t necessarily My dressing up, but seeing the myriad of costumes other people choose to wear to this fantasy laden historical re-enactment event.

Like the Fairy Festivals and the Comic Cons, SciFi Cons and SCA events that I have been to, the creativity or LACK there of is what intrigues me. I also take perverse pleasure in bringing along a friend or two who have are “faire virgins” or close to and watch their reactions.

I did not play “Bad Garb Bingo” this trip. In all actuality there were more good, damn good, costumes at this event than bad ones. So I don’t think I could have filled a Bingo card. That is not to say there weren’t some doozies.
Remember that on the slide shows you can click a pic and it will zoom in and show it better.

Sunday was Military appreciation day. . . .looked what showed up.

It was Bachanal weekend, which means Wine Tasting. I never did see wine, but I did see some strange “green men” outfits.

Enjoy these "Good Costumes". Be inspired, like I was.

On the Friday I spent the whole day in design heaven. I went to my favorite Corset supply shop. then went down the street to a fabric store that reminds me of Powell's book store here in Portland. F & S Fabrics, they had 3 stores in a 2 blocks radius. upholstry, fancy stuff and cottons. None were quilting stuff. And they had one of those walls we love. . .boxes and boxes of BUTTONS!!
Then my costume companion for the day (Tim aka Roddie) took me to his tailor. Yes tailor. Seems Tim not only does Ren Faire but also Dicken's Faire in San Francisco. And he has a full Victorian outfit. Renaissance Dancewear is his tailor and I got to drool on and pet all kinds of costumes and sewing machines while Tim was fitted with a wonderful wool suit circa 1870's.

Now we would have gone on to Mood which is the famous fabric store in Bravo's Project Runway. And we also wanted to go to the Garment district in LA, but there just was not enough time. The traffic in LA was horrendous.
But here is a pic of my treasures I did get.
2 - Busks (one for me one for daughter Cameron)
1 - lacing bars for my corset
1- lacing strip for Cameron's corset.
10 yards - bone casing
10 yards - German plastic boning (Best I have ever worked with)
1 yard - Coutil (very dense weave fabric for the corset itself)
3 cards of buttons
1 special button with a lilypad and a spider on it. (Guess where that is going to show up. . .
I already have my steel and spiral boning here so I am ready to tackle the next project.

While at the faire I did get one more item. I will post it on a different blog. He is a bit camera shy right now.

Synonyms at 5 years old

2009-04-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

There is a totally natural reason our bodies are ready to have children at 14/15. That is so you have the strength to keep up with them. I really wonder about people that wait till later in life to have children. Yes they will be able to handle them somewhat. But when it comes time to be grandparents they will not be as active and enjoy the reward of those wonderful grandchildren. This past weekend was absolutely packed with activities. At 8pm on Sunday night I knew I had done too much. One week away from being 51 and I can tell I am not going to keep this up much longer.

High on a hill was a lonely Goat Herd. . .lady-odel-lady-odel-lay-he-who. Explain Herd and Hurt to a 3 & 5 year old. Make sure you PRO-NOW-NS them carefully. Otherwise you tell them to “Go Herd the Goats” and they start hitting them.

Try being a 20 month old, some of the goats are much shorter than you (Pygmy goats) and some are a lot larger than you. Best defense. Giggle.

Finding eggs was hilarious. They found brown ones and pink ones and even green ones. That was the most fun from my point of view. The cow milking did not go as planned. I am holding out judging that activity till we find a different farm to go to. But I did buy 3 gallons of whole milk to make cheese with. AFTER all the kids went to bed I actually made a batch of cottage cheese. It worked like it was suppose too, but I soon discovered the store bought kind has a lot of additives to give it that Creamy moist look. Homemade kind does not have the creamy liquid, it has the yellowy whey in it. Lesson Learned.

Another lesson: How to hammer nails into a board. *video*

Grandpa introduced them to the wonders of a giant magnet. This was to induce them to pick up all the nails they let scatter as they were hammering into the wood. The magnet was so large that Kentucky had a hard time carrying it. Then Grandpa had his own Synonym lesson. Grandpa was showing the boys that the magnet would only stick to STEEL and pointing at all the STEEL in the shop saying “That’s steel, that’s steel, and that is steel.”

Pretty soon Kentucky says. . . . . . . . . “Grandpa did you STEAL all this stuff?”

enjoy this book on more kid sized Synonyms, "The Day the King Rained".

Garb or Garbage?

2009-04-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Wool. There are times Wool has such wonderful flexible properties that I can mold it with ease just like clay or butter. And then there are times that Wool decides to defy my instructions and takes a course of action that I find to be insolent and rude.
Could it be that the sheep the Wool has come from had this type of attitude and it lives in the very cells of the hair itself? I am beginning to believe this hypothesis.

The latest project is a costume for the Southern Pleasure Faire. For those not versed in Renaissance talk, that is the Grandaddy of Renaissance Faires. It is located this year in Irwindale California. Which is in the middle of Orange County. I found a plane ticket for $135 round trip. Have a Very good friend that will let me crash on her couch for the 4 day duration. I must say I am looking forward to evenings with her and the dogs (got to get in my dog fix while I am there) and just chatting… . . .Love ya KO!!!

Not only do I have a Ren Faire to go to. . BUT. . .I will be within 27 miles of my favorite Corset supply shop and fabric stores. You can bet I am going to spend a bit of time there. . . .and probably money too!!

Back to the costume. . . I will be attending the Faire on my birthday weekend, which of course is May Day. So with that in mind I designed a “Greenman” bodice. Now. . . I have had the back of this bodice in an incomplete stage for about 2 years now. And as inspiration does. . .I tend to take these half done projects and look at them with new eyes.
Here is the back it is a "Tree of Life" pattern. . .note it is done in the Fall tones with a sleeping maid in the center. This has embroidery on it as well as Wool felting and quilting lines with the sewing machine.

Here is the front, in the green tones and the maid is awake, you can’t see her face too well and I am considering making the thread a bit darker so it will show up better. Her face is smaller on the front than the back.
This bodice laces on the sides so as to not disturb the focal point. This also makes the bodice not very shape friendly. In other words. . .I won't be showing off any cleavage.
Now here is where my love/hate is at work in my design. I can felt down the “leaves” but as wool will do. . .it will lift off if you rub too much against it or even in some cases pill up, like your sweaters do. I have hand felted it and machine felted it. I have not done the Wet felting since the garment has stays in it that makes the wet felting impossible. I wish there was a way I can make the wool REALLY stay down even when you rub. I mean rub like where your arm swings by your side, that is where the lifting happens. I defiantly won’t wear this in the car while driving, the back will get totally screwed up.

I made a green and Brown skirt to go with it, out of linen. and I intend to put along the hem a row of felt leaves. The bodice will also have "tabs" with leaves on them around the waist. Remember this is a work in progress.

I intend to wear this with my Greenman mask and headband and for a while there I considered crocheting a snood. . . . then I gave up. I can crochet but I was getting frustrated with building the right diameter to fit all my hair. Sigh. Maybe this is a sign that I will find one at the faire to purchase!!! Yeah, I like that idea.

Music Maestro

2009-03-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was the Juno Awards, the Canadian music awards equal to US Grammy's. Amoung the many well deserving winners was one that you may find VERY surprising. Barenaked Ladies. . . .BNL? "WHAT?" you say. . .not surprising? Well when you learn they won for a CHILDREN's album then you may actually be surprised.
Yes. . children's. Like Pixar, BNL has found a way to be in the Children's genre and yet be just as entertaining to adults. Listen closely to the words (and in the video watch the graphics) and you too will be laughing and giggle. . .for all the "right/wrong" reasons. My family Easter baskets for all the grandchildren are going to include this CD. I am sure their parents are going to enjoy it as much as the kids will.
Here is one of the videos. . .enjoy.

St Patty &the Great Carnac

2009-03-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

There are times you hate your siblings. They get you in trouble, they break, take, aquire. . . toys, friends, money that are yours. The parents never see the whole picture and sometimes a good scream and hair pulling brawl is the only thing that can make it right between you and them.

Then sometimes. . .if we are lucky we grow up. And the pesky little sister becomes alright to hang around. I spent the last two days hanging with my pesky little sister for her 45th birthday. No one can say I don't plan a diverse adventure.
Treasure Hunting (Thrift store shopping)
Music CD shopping at the Wherehouse (used & knew CD's)
Babysitting MY grandchildren (lessons in Monster truck action)
Pub food for lunch (Stillhouse Pub)
OMSI DaVinci exhibit.
McMenamins Kennedy School St. Patricks Day celebration
And end the day with dinner at a very nice Ethopian resturant.
And the only picture I got of her was her The Great Carnac imitation with her St. Patrick's Birthday crown on.
Silly Sister. It was fun, different and we sure felt our age by the end of the night.

And now for the other sibling shots.

MyddleSee

2009-03-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

MyddleSee Towne Council Meeting Minutes
Mab Calendar - Haily 14, 6741
Human Calendar - March 10, 2009

Old Business
The neighborhood is growing. The developer has submitted the plans for the whole towne square complex. We know that six of the structures were completed but at this time only 4 buildings have images we can draw from.
The other two have been removed at the owners expense and are residing on new ground. One in Southern Oregon and one in Hamburg Germany.

Of those four that remain, two are still owned by the developer (Posy Palace & Orlan Shooze tool Shed). One is in Oregon City (a residential home) and another one (The Gremlin Cage) was first removed to Virginia but now has come back to Oregon and is currently in Springfield.

With the new plans in place the developer (Fae Enchantments) has proposed additional shops and residences. So far there have been three residences built, one Gremlin cage, a Flower shoppe (Posy's Palace) and the Tool Shed (Orlan Shooze). Slated for future construction is:
Fancy Flight Emporium(Wing repair shoppe)
Libation Creations (public house)
Purging/Purification Pots (Laundress shoppe)
Fairy Fodder (Grocery store)
Melodic Whispers (Music shoppe)
Embers Tyne (Blacksmythe)

A vote was taken and approved to allow Fae Enchanments to continue with the proposal till further notice.
It should be noted that the Towne council is open to any conversations and proposals that may help make our towne of MyddleSee flourish.

New Business
Orlan Shooze of the Tool Shed would like to announce a sale on gardening tools with Springtime arriving everyone should ready their homes.

Petal Pusher of the Posy Palace also reminds us that the bulbs will be blooming soon so encourage their bright colors by whispering to the bulbs that the sun has come to stay. This should bring out the shyest tulip.

Next Towne Council meeting will be held on Showers 10, 6741 (April 4, 2009) at Petal Pusher's Posy Palace.

My Hat it has 3 corners

2009-03-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

My Recipe for a Wednesday Night Dessert.
1 huge hat box full of hats
1 Camera
1 Nana
3 Grandkids under the age of 5
Sometimes the 5 year old doesn't want his picture taken. Sometimes the 18m old won't hold that "cute" pose long enough for the digital camera delay. Sometimes the 3 year old gets frustrated when he can't stack as many hats on his head as the 5 year old.
But if gently stirred and folded this should turn out a beautifully raised souffle.

New stitches

2009-03-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

So, It is about time I put up some pics of the project I am trying to finish. I am giving myself the goal of this weekend to have all the surface design done. I want to sell this thing.

It started as one pillow and now I have split it up to a twin set. Should I call it
A) Sweets for the Sweet
B) Sweet Tooth Dream
C) Sins of the Tongue
Hmmm

So the base is Double Flannel. A very hard to come by fabric. It is thick like a blanket and has flannel on both sides. Super soft. the Cake & Ice Cream side is made with wool felt and cotton, pink fleece and some organza ribbon for the candle all appliqued on not fused. I didn't want the stiffness that wonder under gives especially on flannel and wool.

The candy side of the pillow still needs the bon bons to be finished then there will be a section with lollipops and I have not decided if the last quadrant will be gumballs or wrapped candy. I think Gumballs so I can use bright colors.

Both pillows will have standard pink flannel backing with a button opening so the inside pillow can be removed and the top washed. I want to find a really cute set of buttons for the closure. I will use the left over rickrack to make a flower and use the button as the center of it.

Oh. . . all the materials except for the rickrack were all in my stash. Free stuff!!! I love it. Now what should I charge for this? It has taken about 25 hours so far.

MeMe Monday?

2009-02-24T21:27:00.000-08:00

I am having fun following BottlesBarbies&Boys blog. She has asked us to fess up. . . .if we are strangely attached to something for no reasonable reason.

No stuffed animals for me. . .or pillows. . .BUT I know exactly what my husband would say if you asked him if I was attached to something. It is my Ipod. . . .not for what you are thinking.

See. . . My mom is/was blind. She raised me on talking books. I love to have stories read to me. During the 1980's and 1990's she bought me a specialized tape player that could play the special tapes for the blind that talking books were recorded on. She shared her library with me and I could never get enough.
I like to listen to the books with headphones on while I go to sleep. It helps drown out "what's his name's" snoring. But the tape player would always Whirrrrrr and click loudly and bother "what's his name".
Then along came Audible.com and Ipod. The answer to a dream. Now there are no clicks/whirrrrs and the little guy is so small it barely makes a bump under my pillow.
I can program it to go off in 30 minutes. I can hold 15 books at once.

Needless to say, since Ipods came out I have burned through 4 of them. Yes music and video are also on my ipod. . . . but I love my books. And I can read them with out leaving the light on.
If I don't turn my ipod on when I hit the pillow. . . then I know I am truly sick and drugged.

Leprechaun Gold

2009-02-10T11:28:00.001-08:00

Last week I was in a local Albertson’s store. The Mega Bucks (lottery) guys were near the machine handing out dollar bills to encourage people to play the quick pick lottery.
Now I am NOT a gambler but. .. it was their money. . .so why not?
As I stood in line one of the Lottery guys was handing out gold coins. They were larger than a 50 cent piece and HEAVY, bright colored gold. There was a Leprechaun on one side and the word Raffle on the other, this was to advertise the Oregon Raffle being held on St. Patty’s day.
The guy gave me 3 coins and I squealed that they would be perfect for the grandchildren, he asked how many do I have and I told him 6 right now so he gave me 3 more coins.
Cool. . . . .dumped them in the purse went on my merry way.

Time passes

Last Saturday Daughter Cam and I decide to take Kentucky, Korban & Joy on a hike at Champoeg Park. Nice day, picnic and fresh air. I told her about the coins and asked her to play along with me.
I started telling the kids while eating our picnic, how we were going on a foto safari to take pictures of where The Wee People (Goblins & Brownies & Fairies) live, out in the forest. And even though Leprechauns don’t live in the forest, it’s been said they hide their gold there at the base of fallen down trees.
They had just watched the movie Spiderwick so the whole Goblin/Brownies scene was fresh in their minds.

The stage was set.
Off we went. . .Cam had Joy on a backpack, while the boys were walking. We saw lots of things on the way, broken tree limbs covered with moss that looked like dragon heads,

doorways into trees where goblins live. . . .

.miniature trails (rabbit/raccoon paths) through the briar patches where the Brownies live.

I walked ahead and found a tree that had fallen and the rangers had chainsaw’d it in half to clear the trail. I tried to throw the coin into the hollow of the tree but it fell into the pile of sawdust at the base.
THEN
The boys saw where I was standing and ran up. . . . I told them, “this is the kind of tree Leprechauns use to hide their gold in. (I pointed at the opposite side of the trail) “Is there some in there?”
No, they said, nothing in there. . .
“Maybe it is on this side” I stepped away from the stump I had thrown the coin into. They looked inside and of course saw nothing. . .then Korban looked down and said
“I see it. . .I see the gold!” Kentucky looked down too and both of them had eyes that were as large as the coin.

“Why don’t you pick it up?” I said. . . .
They both responded with “NOOOOOO!” too scared. I mentioned they might want to ask please of the Leprechaun to take his gold. And they both did a quick. . “Please can we have the gold?” and Kentucky picked it up. He handed it to Korban but he said “NOOOOO” and backed away. He didn’t want to touch it. So we gave it to Joy who held onto her coin the whole hike.

Further down the trail I found another broken tree and while Cam again distracted the boys I laid the next coin in the grooves of the bark. While doing this a blackberry vine grabbed my coat sleeve, at the same moment the boys saw where I was and ran up to me.
In character I started calling out “He got me, He got, he doesn’t want me to touch his gold” as I pulled and pulled at my sleeve where the vine was hooked.
The boys ran right up to the log and immediately Kentucky grabbed the coin, BUT somehow. . . .the coin had wedged itself down into the bark and would not come out. (I swear I did not push it into the bark).
Kentucky “He won’t let me have it either!”
Cam “Maybe you have to ask nicely again to have the gold”
Kentucky & Korban together “Please can we have your gold?”
At this same moment I had unhooked the vine from my sleeve and dropped it down on Kentucky (his head was turned away from me). . .it dropped on his head, slid down by his ear and hooked onto his shoulder. Needless to say he JUMPED and screamed.
That is when Korban reached up and grabbed the coin and it came easily free for him.

It goes without saying that Cam and I were hurting. . .trying not to crack up at the scene.

We had one more coin to find so that each of them would have their own Leprechaun gold. And without much more drama we found the last one. But as we continued on the trail we would run into other hikers/walkers. With no prompting by Cam nor I. . .Kentucky would run up to people and tell them. . .
“We found Leprechaun gold!” and show them his coin. If the people were young (20somethings) they would just respond with “Wow, that’s cool”
But if the hikers were older and obviously parents or grandparents they totally got into talking with Kentucky and asking where did he find the gold and was there more?

We told the boys to put their coin in their pockets, they had cargo pants on with Velcro closed knee pockets. We didn’t want to drop the coin and have the Leprechaun take back what we had asked nicely for.

As we got back to the car the fun did not end. . . .We were all buckled up and driving out of the park when Kentucky reached into his pocket and took out his coin. . “I still have my gold, Korban, do you still have yours?” When Korban reached into his pocket he pulled out a dollar bill…???? Kentucky was shocked and then angry that his coin hadn’t turned into Real Money. Korban dug into his pocket again and pulled out a quarter. This really got Kentucky upset and we had to tell him that maybe the Leprechaun would change the gold coin into real money at a different time for him. But having the Gold coin was special all by itself. Korban found his gold coin in his OTHER pocket. Both Cam and I have no idea how he had real money in the pocket. Magic?

This day trip was so special. The imagination of a child is one to nuture, grow and watch, for it brings out the best in a person no matter what their age. To experience the wonder and joys of the world around us, and believe in the simple touch of Magic, I for one have become richer because of it.

I hope the Leprechaun leaves a gold coin somewhere for you to discover.

Tangle of Threads

2009-01-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

The needles have been flying, the scissors snipping. Fabric is laying all over my sewing room floor like gauze & rubber gloves on an operating room floor.
Whew. . . what a whirlwind of stiching I have been doing in December.

Starting with a commissioned piece of work. "Can you make a Pink bunny suit like the Christmas Story one. . in the movie?" Yup, sure can. "for an 18 year old boy?". . .um. . .Ooookkkkkk. Are you sure, "Oh, Yes" are you sure he would wear it?
"Oh, Yes, definately!"
And here he is wearing it. I call this the "Pink Nightmare"

This was not a nightmare to make, I just stole the line from the movie when Ralphie comes downstairs and his dad says "He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny, he looks like a pink nightmare"

So with that in the hands of the customer I promptly made 5 pairs of flannel PJ bottoms for Cameron & Sarah. A set of PJ's for Kentucky/Korban & Joy. Three aprons as a joke for Sarah. Hemmed 4 pairs of pants for Aunt Carmon that brought them in her suitcase for her visit from Kansas city with us. Oh. . . and One apron for Aunt Carmon, One apron for her friend Mary and one apron for my cousin (her daughter) Monna.
So the total is
6 Aprons
5 Pants
4 Hems
3 Pajama sets
2 Christmas Hangings
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Now to plan my next project. . .like cleaning my studio up. UGH. . .but I look at it as a treasure hunt. I never know what I might stumble upon when I clean house!

Who's House is this?

2008-11-18T15:08:00.000-08:00

Currently under construction is Petal Pusher's new abode. Petal Pusher (PP) has often been seen, or rather her work has been seen, in the late fall and late winter when the leaves of the bulbs push up through the ground though it is not the season for them to appear as of yet.
Here we have the garden path. The grass is wool with a purple velvet binding. I chose a paisley shape so there would be a dimension of wandering off into a horizon.

The "Yellow Brick Road" is of butter raw silk which has been trimmed with a white cotton lace (picket fence feel) that I hand dyed to mimic the color theme. Lining the path are pale green pearls with earrings that have been "planted" in the drilled hole. Beginning with smaller single blossoms and ending next to the house doorway are the full upright flowers.

A visitor is tapping on PP's roof. Thrum is her name. A beautiful hummingbird (button) with her beak in the center of a purple flower (napkin ring) atop a roof of mossy softness (hairy yarn couched on wool felt) with crystal leaves peaking out.

The last of the construction is the house itself. Made of pale yellow wool felt it has quilted stitching of stems. Felted windows and door frame with a lucious purple roving.

Hand embrodiered vines growing over the doorway and blossoming jeweled (earrings) flowers scattered around.

Toward the back you can see the rose bramble growing up the wall, here butterflies and toads casually enjoy the peace of PP's garden.

It is the contractors hope to finish Petal Pushers abode by this Saturday so she may move into it and be protected from the winter winds. Surrounded by her dazzeling and sparkling jeweled blooms she invites you to visit and smell the roses of her Posy Palace.

This structure is the 6th of hopefully many. My goal is to create four by next summer AND NOT GIVE THEM AWAY, but use them to see if I can sell them at the Fairy Festival.

Soupy Season

2008-11-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

Mother Earth has been calling me. . .alot. . .lately. I want to bake. . .cook. . .sew.
I cut up my pumpkins this year and actually roasted them and puree’d them to make pumpkin bread. Yes I know they aren’t the same but that doesn’t mean the vegetable is not eatable. It just means it tastes different.
I got a strange “squash/pumpkin” from the food bank when I picked up Cameron’s bundle. I knew she would never have the time to mess with it. So instead of roasting it I boiled it and made a squash soup. It actually isn’t bad. It is a different sweet taste but not like sugar. I made it with sage and thyme from the garden. Saute’d carrots & onions & Celery first. Put in the boiled squash, a bit of cinnamon & nutmeg. I wished I had some cumin but I couldn’t find it this time. End results was good.

Got a commissioned work. The pink bunny suit from A Christmas Story. And this is for an 18 year old boy. Interesting. The customer bought the material. Not fleece but a neat knit for Baby Sleepers. I just need my serger to be freed from the shop. The ransom note was for $130. Ouch. But that makes the Christmas presents easier when I get to them. Ha ha ha.
I'll post the project as it goes along. I have a desire to sneak in my trademark remarks. I like to embroider into the fabric in unseen areas, quotes from the movies or something that inspires the costume. so for this one I definately want to do "I double dog dare you!", and "You will shoot someone's eye out with that". I'm thinking of putting them around the wrist area where the mittens are.

Back to the soup. . . next I am going to try a cream of mushroom soup. Using Shitake and other dried shrooms. Heard it tastes wonderful with dried ones. Very musky flavor. Yum.

Behind the patch

2008-10-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Costumes are the rage. . .now that it is October.
I had high ambitions to create costumes for the horde as we planned to attend the Portland Pirate Festival (see my travel blog). And I think I was successful.
The Civil War corset was the hardest to construct. But the skirts with all those ruffles was the most time consuming.
Here is Mine and Cameron's skirts. Hers has umpteen ruffles down the back only. I was inspired to create this from a foto I found on the net. the fabric was originally pink heavy cotton gauze. After dying it Green which came out mint green, I then tried brown dye. And finally Grey. This created a wonderful "dirty" effect. Perfect for the pirate skirt. Cameron's coat was a thrift store find. She adores the ruffle on the peplum in the back. I took out the shoulder pads and the sleeves and now it fits her like a glove.

My skirt has a built in story for my character. Every place I land, I find a new material to add to my skirt. Thus the different ruffles. Lace, silk, velvet. I hate ruffles. . .did I mention that? I like to wear ruffles, but making them is a pain.

I now have on my plate a paid costume. . . the pink bunny pajama suit from "A Christmas Story" for an 18 year old boy. Can you believe that?
I also have the Corpse Bride gown to make for a 9 year old. That one will be easy.

Tinkerbell & Friends

2008-09-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

my my my, it has been a while since I wrote here. 35 days and a lot has happened.
On the family side we had Joy's first birthday. What a great time that was. She is soooo cute.

On the sewing side. . .I completed the boy's pirate costumes. Even was lucky enough to find a Disney store Captain hook coat Kentucky's size at goodwill for only $4. SCORE!!
Chrystal and I have started our corsets.

I started Cameron's skirt without any measurements. . . .completed it to the point of needing waist closure and hem. Did the fitting yesterday on her. ..and. . .it fit. the waist was only 1/2 inch off and the hem was spot on. SCORE!!! wow, I love it when I can do that. not only did it fit, but she loves it. For being such a hippy she is still a girly girl. She loves the ruffles. In fact her comment was. . .you don't get these (ruffles) in the SCA. How true that is.
So tonight I will work on the corset and the Halloween invitations.
My plan is to have my corset done by this weekend as well as Cameron's skirt and my skirt I need to start.

Hmm. . .. . . how much midnight oil do I have in the lamp. . . ???

Tuesday Summer tip #4

2008-07-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Being a Word Nerd
I love my Ipod. I don’t work on a Macintosh, I am not an Apple Geek. But I think Steve Jobs was a genius to create the Ipod, and re-create it and re-create it. Nothing wrong with improving the design and functionality of an invention.
As I have mentioned before I grew up listening to my mother’s talking books. As an adult she would loan them to me and the specialized listening devise so I could read unabridged books. These recordings could not be listened to on normal cassette machines. Talking books are recorded at very slow speeds, the speaking voice does not need the Hi-fidelity that music does. The talking book takes a normal cassette and records 4 tracks so you flip the tape 3 times to listen to all 4 tracks. A normal unabridged book could take up to 15 tapes. Thus a special devise had to be used to listen to the hordes of books for the blind that the National Library of Congress had in their halls.
In the 1990’s a new wave of book readers were evolving. People were stuck in traffic and wanted to use the time wisely. So the everyday person started looking into talking books or as they are called now Audible books. Don Katz founded Audible.Com in 1997 and thus brought digital audio books to the masses. Easily played on your computer. In 2002 Audible.com created the digital format to be played on the new Ipod. Shortly afterwards I became a member of Audible and an owner of my first Ipod. Now I no longer had to raid my mother’s bookshelf for my talking book fix.
Slowly, during this same period of time, podcasts were being developed. First, as if often the case, it was a secret world for geeks and radio snobs. But now we find podcasts in ever form including video casts (Vidcasts). These also play on my Ipod. In fact I am a podcast junkie. The percentage of Podcasts and audible books on my Ipod are disproportionate to the music on it.
Where is this leading. . .to the Word Nerds. Three teachers in the Virginia area have a podcasts which takes a family of words and discusses them. They teach middle school kids so they are very aware of possible crude content and place warnings on their podcasts. This program would have been a favorite of my mother’s if she were still with us. She loved the word. . . .any word. She was also a prolific writer. I have published poetry she wrote in the 1st grade up till her death. Words were her way of seeing the world since her eyes could not.
During the hot summers Mom let us kids learn about her Word World. My brother didn’t appreciate it as much as my sister and I. I think my brother was dyslexic, but we didn’t know it back then.
Each week she would have us take out the big Webster dictionary, shelved alongside the Collier encyclopedia set. And had us open and point. We were to pick out 5 words and during that week learn the meaning and use them.
To this day I can vividly remember learning what Filigree and binnacle were and can use them.
So. . . this summer, help your kids become word nerds. Listen to talking books with them. Listen to Podcasts. Find new words in the dictionary. You will make a teacher happy this fall, and you could help your child open the world of words that can carry them well into adulthood.

Lunatic

2008-07-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I created a mask. I must say it was and is one of my favorites. It has gone to Scotland and back. Many people in europe say it looks like it belongs in Venice at a Carnivale.

The plain plastic mask was not a good surface to glue non-porous items (sequins/beads) so I covered it in muslin first with modge podge glue. then started the arduous task of gluing every sequin on individually.
The design lead me to Luna..So everything was based on Moon and Moonbeams and tidal action.
I hand beaded the fringe on a loom then took it to the mask.

The Crown or headpiece was made of a foam base. I wanted it to work seperately so you could wear the mask or the crown and both could convey the Luna idea. Thus the moon phases appear on the crown.

Since creating it I have made 3 gowns to go with it. The first one was totally a dash job. I hated it the moment it was finished.
the second was good and it was what went with me to Scotland.
But this past weekend I made a 3rd gown. It is a "duster" of sorts that goes over a simple white cotton gauze princess line dress. So far I like it. Just have to figure out how to do sleeves that will not get in the way.
Angel sleeves will be too long. I want to make something dramtic in the chest area like a necklace cascade, but that is still locked in my brain somewhere. The clasp for the top dress? is already in place, it is a large round mirror with all kinds of simple chains dangling from it, like moonbeams

I want to wear this at the Fairy Festival in Eugene on 8/2. I know I can get it done by then. . .just don't know if I will wear it. yet.

Tuesday Summer Tip #3

2008-07-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

You can educate without them knowing.
It is a sad thought that printed materials are slowly being replaced with electronic equivalents. With mom being blind there were always braille books & Magazines around the house. And in the 1960's started the onslot of Audio books put on records and then tapes. Reading both print and Audio books were second nature to us kids. To this day I am a veracious reader. I have a book in the bedroom, dining room table and several on my Ipod. (I love my Ipod for books rather than music).
I'm drifting from my topic sorry.

During the summer the Sears Winter & Toy Wishbook would arrive in the mail. My brother & sister and I would practically tear it apart to get at it first. Mom's solution was great.
She would "pretend" give us each $200. Of that $200 30% could be spent on ourselves and the other 70% had to be spent on family member gifts. We would take our piece of paper and start "shopping", writing down page #'s and costs and descriptions. doing the math long hand on another piece of paper. No calculators back then.
then when our hour of shopping was done we would go to mom and read her our list.
This activity provided several benefits.
First - We had to consider our family members and their likes & dislikes to choose the right gift for them.
Second - The math skills of course. Learning percentages and money handling.
Third - Referencing skills, being able to write down the information needed to go back and find the item easily.
Fourth - By our reading our list and the catalog descriptions outloud to our mom, she got the "High points" of the catalog and a good idea of what we wanted for Christmas.
Sears still produces catalogs. And I am sure all of you will soon be receiving the multitudes of Christimas Catalogs in the mail. Everything from Garden catalogs (could be used to decide how to decorate the yard) to Lillian Vernon catalogs. Don't toss them.
Make up your own variation of this game. Take the money part out and give a limited number of items to the young ones who don't know how to do money yet.
For those with older kids. . .consider contacting the Commission for the Blind and volunteering to be a reader. There is always a need for someone to read printed material to a student or an adult. I know some people that made extra $ in college reading to fellow blind students.
Take advantage of printed material while it is still prevalent in our world. By your grandchildren's time. . .Books could be obsolete.