Happy Birthday Sandi

Today is my good friend Sandi's birthday. Sandi is a wonderful artist and a very giving person. Over the years, she has shared many of her beautiful creations with me. The three greeting cards are from a set and are all three-dimensional. The flower pot is filled with dried flowers, and the card on the far right is decorated with crocheted motifs and ribbons. The piece in the center is a red hat lady sculpted from polymer clay and applied to a small terra cotta pot to hold a votive candle.

Not only has Sandi been an inspiration to me artistically, she has been a wonderful source of wisdom. She had her children early in life and I had mine late, and she lovingly held my hand through colic, the terrible twos, and the roller-coaster ride that was the teenage years. She has always had just the right thing to say to make my journey a little bit easier.

Today Sandi will celebrate her birthday doing something she loves, and it will involve a trip here. I've never been a big fan, but then I've never tried it! Maybe one of these days I'll go along and see what all of that hoopla is about!

"Here" and "There"

So now I'm in southern California, where I plan to be for six weeks. And where I'm staying is not far from my hometown--a small beach community that has gone through some amazing changes since I moved away.

I remember when there were dirt roads and no one locked their front door. And kids didn't have to walk too far to find a vacant lot to play in. Now there's lots of traffic, million-dollar homes, a mall, and a few celebrities from what I hear.

It's fun to notices differences between here (So. Calif.) and there (Connecticut)......on a trip to the supermarket, for instance.

The "here" version: "Good Morning! Can I help you find something?" asked the bakery clerk. "Hello! How are you today?" asked the boy stocking the dairy case. "Thank you, Mrs. Macaroni. You have a pleasant day!" says the cashier. "Can I help you out to your car?" asked the bag boy. I thank him and say I can manage just fine, and I make my way out the front door and find drivers who actually stop for me in the crosswalk.

The "there" version: "Hey man, I'm really hung over from that party last night," says the deli clerk to his workmate. "I can't help you," says the guy stocking the sodas when I ask him where I can find something. "I don't work for the store." And when I get to the check out, "Only two more hours and I can go home," says the cashier to the bag girl. "I'm late for my break," says the girl. "Thank you," I say, as I pay them big bucks and hope that my bread isn't squished somewhere. "Yep," says the cashier. I make my way to the car, trying my darndest to avoid potholes and make it before a car races by and sprays me with dirty, wet, slushy snow.

I have to admit, though, that there are real advantages to living on the east coast. The two things that come to mind are Spring and Fall. There's really nothing to compare.

Bugs

Here's another one of my small pillows. Yesterday was a windshield day, but today I'm feeling much more bug-like.

And speaking of bugs, I used to live in Texas. In Texas, you put the number for the exterminator on speed dial, right there under 911. You never knew what kinds of critters you were going to see, but you did know they were going to be big.

My husband still gets a good laugh when he remembers the night we were watching TV and I shot up off of the couch in a big hurry and started wildly jumping from one foot to the other. It seems a cricket had crawled up the leg of my jeans. We affectionately refer to it as my "cricket-in-the-pants" dance.

Our exterminator of choice was known as the "Bugmobile." The guy showed up in a van with a friendly-looking little bug on top. He'd spray and the house would smell bad for a few days. Then we'd sweep up the dead bugs. It would have been so much more fun to have seen this pull up to the curb instead.

I'll be away from the blog for a couple of days. I'm going out to California. I know there won't be many bugs out there.....well, maybe a few very laid-back ones.....

Let's Eat!

At first glance, this looks like a quilt, but it's really "almost a quilt." It evolved out of my scrap bag, as many of my projects do. I did buy a few new fabric pieces to round out the food groups though. And since I do like a whimsical approach, I've added a block that's "not like the others."

Quilt-making is not my favorite craft. I really enjoy working on smaller things. Cutting out blocks and sewing them in to strips is ok, but after that it gets cumbersome. I think I like quilting more as a spectator sport.

When this quilt is finished, I'd like to pass it around at a gathering of family or friends to see what kind of conversation it might prompt. You can probably learn a lot about people from their food stories.

My favorite fruit is apricots. As a child, I used to eat them right off my grandfather's tree til I had a stomach ache. I like coffee, but not Starbucks. It's too strong. Besides, I like mine black and I don't think you can actually just order a black coffee there, can you? I made a big gingerbread house once. I took it to my kids' school for display, and was very disappointed to learn that it fell apart the next day. The building heat disintegrated the frosting--or maybe the custodians were hungry....

I'm a fan of jelly beans, but just the black ones, although I have been known to eat a yellow one now and then. I won't eat peas plain, but I will eat them in stew or pot pies. And my mother-in-law used to make the best eggplant parmesan and stuffed artichokes.

Would anyone else like to join me at the table?

Got Mice?

This is one of a series of small pillows I've made. The messages are embroidered and are meant to be humorous. Some are funnier than others. Primary school teachers always got a good laugh out of the one that said "Teaching is like being pecked to death by a duck." And cat lovers liked "We got rid of the kids, the cat was allergic."

The orange cat is one I picked up at the local dollar store. It kinda grabbed me. I love the little tray he's holding and I was struck by the unlimited possibilities of things that could be displayed there. He's been busy around our house.

When one of the kids had medicine to take, he sat on the table and held the pills. And when someone had been extra special good, he offered a couple of Hershey's kisses. It's always fun to think up stuff for him to hold. I found the wooden mouse on the windowsill--where I keep lots of small things that are too special to put in the junk drawer.

I have another ceramic cat that's about the same size. It didn't come from the dollar store though. It was my mother's when she was a little girl, and I remember hearing a story about how she buried it in the backyard long ago. I don't remember why, but I do know it stayed buried for quite a few years. My mom has been gone for many years now, and there are lots of things I wish I had written down from our conversations. Like her holiday recipe for pickled peaches for one thing.

I guess I should start writing things down for my daughter. She's living in the big city now and will be graduating from college soon. At some point, she might want to know more about the baby blanket I crocheted for her, or the little Christmas stocking I cross-stitched for her doll. Or she might wish she had her mom's recipe for split pea soup.

Scraps

I call this my Wreath for all Seasons. I made it a few years ago for Christmas and put it up in the family room. I never got around to taking it down. I do stuff like that, mainly because I'm lazy--especially when it comes to interior decorating.....or housework.

This wreath is about 22" in diameter. Sometimes I'll sit one of my dolls inside. If it's a bunny, an Uncle Sam or a witch, I figure I'm all set for Easter, Fourth of July or Halloween.

This is a great project for someone who is a pack rat like me. When I make dolls, or anything out of fabric for that matter, I throw the scraps in a bag in the closet.

For the wreath, I picked up a wire base (one with 4 rings around) in the floral department of the craft store. Next, I cut the scraps into strips measuring approxmately 1-1/4" by 6", using my rotary cutter (you'll need lots!) Then you rent a good movie, sit on the floor, and tie the strips on all 4 rings of the wire frame, scrunching them together tightly as you go. If someone calls me while I'm doing this, I just tell them I'm "tying one on!"

The wreath could be done in different colors for different seasons. I've also done the same sort of thing on a length of jute twine to make a garland. This past holiday season I tied scraps to a string of lights to make a lighted garland. Quite festive! Just make sure it's not one of those 100 light strings or you'll be "tying one on" til your arms fall off---or they cart you off to the loony bin, whichever comes first......

Winter Knitting

Here's what I've been knitting this winter, and from the looks of things I've got one cold foot! Luckily I have a stash of knitted socks, because as every sock knitter knows, sock knitting is ADDICTIVE!

I made the mittens first as a gift for my daughter, but she left home for the big city and forgot them....so I guess they're mine, for now. Then I made the sock. For my non-knitting friends: Don't be too impressed. The yarn is smart and the stripes appear as if by magic! After that, Second Sock Syndrome set in (where you just can't muster up the courage to knit another one just like it right away.)

The scarf seemed like just the right project to fill the gap. Mindless knitting....garter stitch....big needles....watch women's basketball on TV...stop to put wash in dryer....knit til the yarn runs out...done! After that, you're ready to think about knitting that second sock. You're ready to tackle heel turns, gussets and kitchner stitch again (knitter mumbo jumbo). Big city daughter likes hand-knit socks by the way, and the more the merrier. The laundromat is five flights down.

So now I've decided I should learn how to spin my own yarn and find out what all the hoopla is about among my yarn-loving friends. My friend Marcia has offered to teach me. Keep this quiet though. If I like it, I may be asking hubby to build a pen for my sheep!

More Sun Signs

I know it doesn't look like a crafty post today, but I promise there'll be something!

The first picture is a sunrise. I took it in Feb. 2001 on a trip to Antarctica. The second one is a Connecticut sunset, taken last week in my backyard. Both great photo ops!

The Antarctica adventure was not planned and came about probably only because I was near the phone. My dad, who was well-traveled and approaching 80, received a brochure in the mail offering the trip. He'd already been to six continents, but still had one to go. He invited his lady friend, but she had no interest in going to the land of the cold, across the Drake Passage--some of the roughest seas in the world. The beach was more appealing. I was his second choice. I already lived in the land of the pretty cold, and I knew there was Dramamine. Besides, I'd been to 5 continents. This would make 6 for me.

Here's kind of an interesting story that relates to the above--well, maybe it's a stretch. My friend Holly, the one who had the miraculous recovery from cancer and has the angel doll Wendy, lives near the ocean in So. Calif. where she enjoy daily sunsets. She photographs them, and a couple of years ago she assembled 12 of her favorites and made a calendar to share with her friends. She put my Antarctic sunrise on the cover which I thought was pretty cool!

Holly is a native of Prince Edward Island, Canada, which is also the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of "Anne of Green Gables." In fact, Holly named her cat Lucy Maud. And I think it's interesting that the mountains in the Antarctic sunrise picture are part of the Queen Maud Mountain Range (not named after Lucy though, but rather an early queen of Norway.)

So, as I was saying, there will be mention of something crafty in this post. I'm about to make a penguin, which I will share when finished, and then I'll ramble on a little more about our great Antarctic adventure.

Sun signs

It was sometime back in the 70's that I got hooked on embroidery. My interest bordered on addiction, but one that was at least healthy and more socially acceptable than some of the other stuff that was going around at the time. I was a big John Denver fan back then, and was especially impressed by an embroidered shirt he wore on one of his albums ("Spirit".) I really thought it would be cool to be an embroiderer to the stars! Not to mention, profitable! But maybe Mars was transiting my second house, or whichever planet it is that influences finances, because it wasn't meant to be.

I was especially fond of embroidering on denim. It was a nice sturdy fabric and just about any color scheme looked good on it. I loved bright colors and creating my own designs, but I was always more into the process than the product. I rarely wore what I stitched.

An exception to this, however, was a pair of my favorite jeans. I decided to do a few flowers around the bottom of the legs. But I got carried away and stitched an entire garden with all kinds of flowers--some that I'm sure weren't in any botanical books. I got very good at stitching vines too. They swirled around the flowers and up the side seams.

I worked for a large company and spent my time in the lunchroom stitching. My workmates watched my progress and looked forward to the day I would be finished. I wasn't sure when that day would come, but I figured the jeans would tell me when I'd done enough. They did.

My friends started egging me on to wear them to work. We wore pants to the office back then, but not jeans. I finally agreed to wear them, even though I was always one to follow the rules and I knew it was a bit risky. And......wouldn't you know, that was the day I had to hand-deliver some important papers to the president's office. He was forgiving though. I guess he knew I was a little bit wacky anyway, since he'd been over to my office once before and commented on the nice pumpkin--real, I might add--that was sitting on my filing cabinet in February.

Favorite Things

Something else on my "Favorite Things My Kids Made" list is this ceramic piece my daughter made in her high school art class. It was hidden away in a cupboard until about a week ago when I realized I couldn't get the utensil drawer closed. It was the perfect solution to the overcrowding problem. And it matches the kitchen decor. It's a peach color--the same as my tiled counter. The blue beads are from a necklace that belonged to her grandmother.

Monkey is just showing off. He's not handmade. He was part of a care package I sent to my daughter at college. I used to send them regularly during her first two years, when she lived in the dorm. I would put crazy labels on the packages, usually holiday-related. She got a big kick out of those, and so did the dorm staff. Then she moved off-campus to a big old house with multiple roommates. I was never sure how long a brightly-colored, funny-looking package would have stayed on the porch awaiting her return, so I stopped sending them and started sending Starbucks gift cards instead. Maybe she liked those better anyway.

I've been thinking for a while of doing some small crazy quilting projects. I made a crazy quilt for my son a few years ago--using lots of scraps from his baby clothes-- so I'm familiar with the process. But with small projects, I can use embroidery embellishment, and decorate them with meaningful things.....sort of like the way my daughter used her grandmother's beads on the vase. It's a way to bring family treasures out of the closet and make them a part of your life again.

Take a look here at some wonderful examples of this kind of crazy quilting. Especially look at the hearts. This would be such a nice way to showcase my grandfather's old stick pins, some of my mother's jewelry, my grandmother's tatting, or my daughter's Brownie pin. They would make special Christmas tree ornaments, or decorations for a "heart" tree that could be displayed all year. I'm so glad I haven't thrown out my scraps. There are benefits to being a pack rat!

Alligator Bag

Here is my version of an alligator bag--something every woman should have, don't you think? Or, if not a bag, at least shoes!

Quite a few years ago, I got into machine applique. Husband, always eager to please me with the latest technological gadgets, bought me a swell new sewing machine that was known for doing a great satin stitch. I appliqued lots of things--bags, sweatshirts, placemats, napkins and everything else that looked stitchable. Soon I started thinking it might be fun to sign up for a craft fair and sell shirts.

A friend of mine, who was a successful dollmaker and a veteran of the craft fair circuit, invited me to share a table at a local fair. It was fun, but not very profitable. While she sold about $600 worth of dolls, I sold one shirt. But I did learn something that day, and that was I would do well to put the shirts away for gift-giving and start making dolls. That's what I did. She was fine with it because she was about to move to Atlanta, where I understand she continued to do well with her dolls.

On a completely different subject, here's one of my pet peeves. I'll call it Pet Peeve No. 1. I have many pet peeves, but I can never think of them all at once. Maybe if I make a list, I'll find it easier to remember them--like for dinner party conversations. You never know. My son requested that I make a cheesecake for Christmas dinner. I assembled the ingredients, and when I opened the box of graham crackers for the crust I noticed the crackers had grown noticeably smaller. Honey Maid graham crackers--a favorite treat of my childhood-- are now skinny! Fortunately I had enough for the cheesecake, but it left a bad taste in my mouth....so to speak. I felt like I'd been tricked. Price increases would be easier to stomach than the sneaky ways food companies are trying to put one over on us.

It makes me sad to think that S'Mores just won't be the same anymore.....

Frogs

My friend Marcia has a great post today about her chef collection. Go take a look, and then hop on back and we'll talk about frogs.

My son has a small collection of frogs. It wasn't necessarily his idea to gather them. It might have been mine. He's always been fond of frogs.... and snakes (multiple snakes sometimes). And snails too. He was fascinated by the little silvery trails they left on the sidewalk at his grandfather's house in Calif. where they're plentiful and considered pests. He brought some back to Connecticut once and they were a real hit at Show and Tell. Unfortunately for him, but not for me, they didn't like the cold weather.

During his college years, he bought himself an exotic Argentinian frog of some kind. It was just a small frog that got big. He named it Ray. I think the croaking attracted attention in the dorm because the frog was evicted. Ray had to come home. Son promised to stop by with fresh crickets on a regular basis, but soon got busy with power point presentations and studying and other stuff kids do at college, and mom, feeling sorry for poor Ray, started making cricket runs to the pet shop. Sometimes two trips were required when they'd had a big run on crickets. I must say, it came as a big relief when I heard that an adoptive parent had been found.

The top frog is clay and was made by the same son when he was much younger. It's a favorite of mine. I'm sure all of us mothers have special collections called "Wonderful things my kids made!" The other frog was made by me--part of my character development project. Unlike the clay frog, mine has his own bug-catching net, so he can get his own darn crickets!

Christmas Embroidery

Back in the late 80's, when my son and daughter were very young, I thought it would be nice to make a Christmas tree skirt that would be special and unique to our family. In typical fashion, I came up with an idea that was indeed unique, but that also added one more project to my already big list of projects that I wanted to get done before Christmas. The idea was that I would cut out a large white tree skirt, bind it in red, embroider our family name on it, and then add an embroidered patch each year for each child. I did this for a few years, and then ran out of gas. I think it was about the time I got into dollmaking. I'm way far behind.

But not to worry. As with most of my crafty endeavors, the mood has come back around. I'm about to start two new patches. I had a flash of inspiration to do a patch with the names and mascots of their respective colleges (Google to the rescue again!) Son graduated in 2004, and daughter will be graduating this spring. And how can she not graduate if the official Christmas tree skirt patch has been finished? Maybe it will be just that little bit of extra motivation to help her through senioritis.

At this point, I'm not even thinking about the years of no patches. Or of a future time, when they're starting their own homes and Christmas traditions and there might be some bickering over who gets the skirt. I may have to put in a few late nights taking it all apart and making two new ones. And then, the grandkids might want one. Maybe I'll just leave it to the cats.....

Gardening Angel

This is a gardening angel I made some time ago. What's fun about making angels is that they can be done with different themes. The wings provide a nice area for embellishment. I've also made sewing angels and have decorated the wings with running stitches, buttons, snaps and little scissor charms. This one has a bee stitched on one wing and long running stitches to show his flight path. On her hand I embroidered a ladybug and on her legs, vines and flowers. I crocheted the collar--a craft I learned long ago from my grandmother.

Quite a few years ago, I made an angel doll for a dear friend of mine. She had been diagnosed with cancer and the prognosis was not good. She has always been a very positive person, and she was delighted with my gift. She named her angel Wendy. Two weeks ago I called her to wish her happy birthday. She's doing famously, with a few aches and pains (don't we all!) and she reported that Wendy is still up on her bureau keeping her company.

I would do well to have my own gardening angel. I've never had much of a green thumb. I've always preferred digging through my fabric stash rather than digging in the dirt. Although I have managed to nuture along two house plants in recent years. It's amazing what a sunny window and a little water will do! One is a huge spider plant, and the other is a Boston fern. I named the fern "Ferna" after my grandmother--the one who taught me how to crochet. I've never ever heard of anyone else with that name, but then, she was one of a kind!

Valentine Angel

I finished the Valentine angel today and tomorrow I'll send her off to ebay for a while. I've been thinking about naming her Veronica--"Veronica the Valentine Angel." It has a nice ring to it! I haven't decided whether or not potential buyers are drawn to a doll that already has a name. I do know that two earlier dolls I named were quickly adopted. There was Wanda the witch, who liked to "wanda" around in her garden, and Henry the cat...who you've already met.

A favorite part of dollmaking for me is doing embroidery embellishment. Veronica has wings made from tea-dyed muslin that have been hand-embroidered with a feather stitch and beads. I also stitched some of the same beads to her shoes. Several months ago I made a gardening angel in this same style, but with even more embroidery. I'll introduce you to her in another post.

Now I'm going to take a little break from sewing and embroidery. Where did I leave those socks I'm knitting.......

Gecko

I made this gecko for a friend. It was to be a gift for a young lady who was heading off to college for the first time. Sadly, she would have to leave her real pet gecko at home because the dorm had rules about such things.

The first part of my "Making a Gecko" project involved Googling a gecko. Once I found a good picture, I drew one of my own. Then it was off to the fabric store to find something gecko-colored. This is actually my second gecko. On my first attempt I tried to make individual toes, but that ended up being much too difficult. I think the fan look to the feet gives a good enough rendition, and it was much easier to do. Before stuffing the legs, I added a few plastic pellets to provide a little weight. I'm happy with this gecko and almost hated to give him up. He looks pretty content on my watering can.

The gecko-making project brought back memories of a great trick my husband and I played on our son long ago. When he was about ten, he had a pet garter snake that he kept in a glass aquarium in his room. One Saturday, while he was out playing in the neighborhood, my husband found another garter snake while mowing the lawn. He quickly grabbed it and ran in to put it in the aquarium with the other one. Later, when son came home, we told him we couldn't figure out what had happened, but it seemed that his snake had somehow multiplied. Needless to say, when he saw the two snakes, he was totally baffled. This son is now almost 24, and I'm pretty sure that was the last time we ever put one over on him.

More Veggies!

The Christmas calories have not been kind to me. Actually, it started back in October when the calories on my two-week cruise weren't kind either. I think I went into denial when I walked off the ship, and just continued to cruise right through the rest of the year. There was the "easy fudge recipe" that I made to give as gifts. Yeah, right. And the "brownies-chocolate chip-Snicker's bar" treat that someone so thoughtfully shared on their blog. Let's just say, if it was sweet, I tasted it and then tasted some more.

Now that it's the new year, I'm resolved to eat more veggies. I plan to go back to Weight Watchers where I lost 45 lbs. a little over a year ago. I've been in and out of WW for years, but the last time it "took" and I felt wonderful. The reason it took, I am convinced, was because of the Tues. morning meeting. Our leader was a young man (imagine that!) who was funny and full of life, and motivating! Empty seats were few and far between--something I hadn't seen in all the meetings I'd been to before. One week, in an effort to get us pumped up for exercise, he asked everyone to come to the meeting early for a game of dodge ball in the parking lot. Every now and then he'd bring in something unusual from the grocery produce section and ask us to guess what it was.....then he'd dare us to go home and cook it and report back.

So I'll be going back to the Tues. morning meeting next week for some more fun and games, and maybe some dodge ball...or whatever he has up his sleeve. It seems to work for me. I'll get rid of the nasty 20 lbs. that's crept back on (through no fault of my own..heehee....) and I'll eat more veggies.....although it won't be these. I'm afraid I'd have a lot of explaining to do to my gastroenterologist....

The Grandkitties

My son (a/k/a "my tech guy") has two kitties who wreak havoc, I mean keep him company in his apartment. They're a bit spoiled I think. They sleep on the fridge. I'll admit, I've had a hand in the spoiling. I knitted them a cat bed and sewed a cute little cat carrier. The carrier serves me, though, since once in a while they come to visit grandma.

Since I'm a cat person, I enjoy their visits. I put out a water dish and a throw a little litter in a box. I play with them and feed them small bits of meat from the dinner table. Then I send them home more spoiled than ever. It's kind of like what grandparents do to their grandchildren....or so I've heard. I've even been known to brag about them. Sadie, the black and white one, loves to fetch. I've never heard of a cat doing this. She doesn't fetch balls or newspapers. She goes after twist ties. So now, don't you know, Grandma has started saving twist ties!

The only cats that live at my house now are the cloth variety. This one is Henry, named after our neighbor's cat who thinks our yard is his. Henry hung out on ebay for a week and was adopted by a very nice lady who has 18 cats of her own. I hope he's holding his own.......

Ooops!

Red Hats Rule!

There's just something about wearing red shoes that make a gal wanna have fun!

This doll was inspired by my own Red Hat friends, and was lots of fun to make. The most exciting part was finding the fabric with the fishnet print. With just a tad of tea-dying, it makes perfect stockings!

Several years ago I made a Santa doll that was quite popular with family and friends. One day I got the bright idea to tweek the pattern a bit and make a snowman. That was just the beginning of what I like to call my character development. I've made cats, cows, witches, chefs, gingerbread men and bunnies---just to name a few. At the moment, I have a Valentine angel under construction. She'll be making her debut soon!

Cheers!

"Where are my little brandy glasses?" my husband asked as the midnight hour approached.
"They're serving a higher purpose," I said, solemnly.
"Oh ok." he replied. "Maybe I'll just have a beer."
Over the years, he's learned that it's best not to interfere with my dollmaking pursuits. He never complains about the threads in his soup, the stuffing stuck to his socks, or the body parts in every room of the house. I'm a lucky woman....
Happy New Year, and welcome to my blog!