My Creative Space...

There is a very interesting blog that has a thing called a Link Party.  This is where, if you have a blog of a certain subject, that you can place a link of your own particular blog and people who are interested can come visit and perhaps become a regular reader of your blog.

Kooyotoo features a "link party" every Thursday.  So after many weeks, of checking out dozens and dozens of other crafty type blogs, I thought I would add Susan Being Snippy to the list...

Go to http://www.kootoyoo.com/ where you can see this list.

Now, I have been thinking about what can I put to fit into the subject and put my own link onto this link party?  Well now, since I have not before added my blog, I thought that I would show a bit of my own creative space...

Now, remember, I have been sewing and quiltmaking for a rather intimidating number of years - more years than I have been married -- and that is getting to be alot of years -- in only 9 more years I will be married longer than my parents were married.  Okay enough about big numbers.  Other than saying that it is alot of experience, the negative side of big numbers is that it is OLD... Well, maybe call it Vintage, eh?

So.  The inside of some of the drawers that I keep stuff in...

How many different kinds of needles can one sewist use?

Buttons, Beads, bells...

Glue Gun and stuff (and a photo from 1979 of my hubby!)

and a small wooden ruler that my father had in his toolbox when I was a child...

one of a half dozen drawers full of thread -- why so much thread?  I shop at garage sales and 2nd hand stores and any opportunity to stock up has become a bit of an over abundance!

Rick Rack, Ribbons, cording, seam binding, you just never know when you might need it -- again an over abundence simply because of garage sales and second hand stores!

Hey, just a thought, wouldn't a couple of these photos make interesting Jig Saw Puzzles?

Nothing in Particular

I can hardly believe it has been a whole week since I wrote anything!  In my defense, I have lately become a tad more busier with a variety of things in my life.

Weekends I usually insist on an adventure.  Most adventures are merely a drive to somewhere to take a walk or maybe even to a specialty store to do a bit of shopping.  This past Sunday, we did both.

I saw a magazine online that I had not noticed before and when I did a search, it said that it was available at a store in Langley, BC.  Langley is about 35 kms west of where I live so about a half hour drive.  Unfortunately, the internet is not always a complete reference.  The store in Langley, had not even heard of this magazine, which I did find strange because the magazine is geared to the paper arts and the store in Langley was heavily stocked with items for the scrapbooking, paper arts, cardmaking hobbies.

I am not really "into" those things, but many of those ideas and items can lend themselves to quiltmaking.

So, I was very surprised that the store sales people did not know the magazine and in fact did not even know the publisher (Stampington)!

The drive to Langley, though, was not a total waste as we decided to take Pearl for a walk at a small park on the way back, Aldergrove Lake Regional Park.  It has a nice little "swimming hole" that is in fact way too crowded for me on summer weekdays, but sunday mornings are quiet and deserted...

And Pearl, loves those walks in new half wild trails -- the smells! Oh, the smells, must be so enticing to a dog's nose!

After the walk in the park, we headed to Pearl's newest thing...  She started obedience lessons!  She is past being ready for lessons, but she does aim to please.  As you can see, she looks so very handsome sitting at attention.  You can almost see her asking, WHAT?

PLAN 52

Ha!  You thought I forgot about that didn't you?!   I am not nearly as successful with my weightloss program as I would like to be, so I have instigated a new plan.  A Personal Trainer!  Well, no, but not far from it.  A Boss.  Now I prefer not to have a BOSS, but one thing about me, is when I make a promise I do follow through.  I am very good at keeping promises, even when it sometimes becomes very difficult -- so now I have learned to not make big promises...

Except this is a pretty big promise, considering my illness of the past two years...  I am back to the point where I can keep this promise, so I am putting time in as an underling for a few hours, three days a week.  It is A Lot of walking and for this first 6 days, I am feeling it in my arms and my abs and my hips -- seems the feets are okay, so it is not so much that the feets are wore out, but enough that the body obviously is exerting itself... WHEW!  So a renewal of the Plan 52 effort and hopefully a show of results in the next few months...

Today

It looks like I have a day to myself, so any moment now, I am headed up to the sewing room, in hopes of creating a few items for the SHOP and maybe even do some experimentation in the KITCHEN...

Overly Enthusiastic?

I found a beautifully smooth sorta egg shaped rock. I suspect this rock has been buried in the back corner of my yard for well, since the ice age broke it off some mountain and rolled it along with other rocks until it took on the shape with no sharp edges, just nice round corners... It is a BIG rock. Too heavy for me to dig out and carry to the deck. My hubby did that work.

But it just seemed to be begging for very pretty and special lacy crochet. Mainly it is sort of an oval doily, with just a bit of adjustment on the last rounds to make it fit the rock tightly so it doesn't just come off. It meant turning the rock over and back quite a few times to make sure it was all smooth and tight with no loose or rippled sections...

I would say, I have got quite carried away with crochet on rocks! I must head over to the thrift store today to see if I can find some of that old style verigated cotton crotchet thread -- there seems to be none in the regular places where one buys crochet cotton...

All the rocks around here are this sort of medium speckled grey. I am wondering where I might find, a darker grey or perhaps some really light coloured rocks. I wonder if a trip to the Okanogan area might uncover some different coloured rocks?? Or are the rocks there sharp edged and not worn down? The Ocean edge? A ride to Ladner or West Vancouver, or along the Stanley Park Seawall?? Well, must keep looking...

A Couple of New Things

My Backyard Garden

Cherry Tomatoes, for one thing, are new.  Yesterday I posted about the doomed common gardens in my complex.  I forgot to mention though, that my back garden -- all my own -- is doing very, very well.  All my plantings are in large pots.  I have tomatoes, lavender, geraniums, chives, catnip, sage and a variety of other flowers.  My Cherry Tomatoes are producing just enough to give me a few each day for my lunch time salad.

COMMENTS

Recently, I have had a couple of people mention to me, that they would leave me comments but they don't have a google account, so I have changed the comments section so that ANYONE can leave a comment.  I am hoping that no one is mean, but I am happy to hear your point of view even if it is different than mine.  Anonymous comments can be made if for some reason you don't want anyone to know who you are.  So please, go ahead and let me know what you think or if you want to suggest something that might make my writing more interesting to you.

My ETSY Shop

I have added a few new items to my shop.  Small zippered Pouches, perhaps as a change purse or a camera case?

And FoldOver Top SNACK BAGS

the earth friendly alternative to zip lock plastic lunch bags -- reuseable, washable and pretty. 

Stop over at my shop for a look -- oh and if you like what you see but maybe want a different colour, let me know...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/susanbeingsnippy

Thanks, and as my Ma used to say "stay outta trouble"

August Garden

I was just over visiting another blog, Thimble  and she was showing how lovely her garden has become after a number of years of care and attention.  I was feeling somewhat envious.

I live in a small townhouse complex - only 32 units - We, as a strata are planning to do some reno work to our central courtyard area which means that the common gardens will be removed and only partially restored, to make room for other things.

The actual demolition has not begun but has been talked about for almost a year now.  People, being people don't like to do things that will soon be undun.  No upkeep has been done on the gardens.  Not even keeping the weeds down!   I have been looking after a small corner that sort of has been my responsibility now for about 5 years -- it is pretty bad too, cause the garden is raised - I cannot reach very far into it.

This part of the garden has been raided for the most desirable plants, remains - only weeds...

Another raided section, the only bit of green, a very large dandilion type weed, thriving...

My section, that I look after, still somewhat green with the day lilies finished and over grown, still lots of weeds, with wild  poppies providing splashes of yellow.  A few calendula, self seeded but most were choked out by dandilion, poppies, some sort of creeping vine and weed names that I don't know.  It looks neglected, but not completely...

Another part of the common garden, so overgrown the vines are climbing down the sides of the raised garden and creeping along the sidewalk.  A large Rhododendrom was cut back late last fall, but it has taken so long for this process to progress, that the tree is putting out some new foliage!  I wish I could save this tree, but I have no place to put it.  Does anyone have a spot for it in their garden?

Thank you, Thimble for showing your lovely well cared garden -- you gave me the inspiration to show what a doomed garden looks like.

Things still do grow, regardless what humans call pretty!  Life strives to fill the empty voids left by the holes and unwatered plants that need humans to provide care...

I am motivated to go out this morning and make some space around the half-dozen calendulas so that the buds on them can open up in the next few days and show their bit of glory.

New Baby Bunny and The Alternative

New babies.  What a WONDERMENT...

There happens to be a new baby boy introduced to this world we live in and I am sure that special little man will brighten and bring joy to the lives around him...

The world has changed hugely since I had babies in my life on a daily basis.  The Rules about and for and with babies have changed and though I have read about these changes, I don't have to think about them on a daily basis.

So. I thought I would make a little gift for this Wonderment.  I had in my stash of goodies in  my  sewing room, some lovely creamy white polar fleece so I thought I would use it to make a soft and squishy little teddy, which after searching some books for a pattern, I decided would be a soft and squishy bunny with blue eyes...

I drew the pattern and transfered it to the fabric.  I sewed the fabric pieces together.  I hand embroidered the little eyes and nose.  It  was very soft and squishy.  Then I went to my kitchen and stopped to read a bit of the newspaper....

A little feature in the paper was about  children's  toys,  especially about certain fabrics being illegal to use for toys for children.  It got me to thinking...  It would not be right to give this New and Wonderful little man something that could potentially harm him...  So I did some more  thinking.  Especially about how the world and the Rules have changed-- and that those changes are for the good of our children. 

So. I decided  that the New Baby Bunny is not a good gift to give to a Wonderment of a real Baby Boy, even if it is soft and squishy and cute.  So. 

I gave the New Baby Bunny to Pearl! Now, I don't think the same rules apply to Doggie Toys as they do to Children's  Toys.

Pearl happily tugged the  New Baby Bunny out of my hands and ran down to the end of the Patio Deck and laid down  working her new teethes into the New Baby Bunny's arms and ears --she didn't care one bit that it was white because she even took the  New Baby Bunny to the corner garden and attempted to bury it in  the MUD!  But she liked the New Baby Bunny too much to just leave it there so she dug it up and went back to hugging and nawing on its soft and squishy arms.

Now, this left a bit of a void, where there once was a pretty soft and squishy New Baby Bunny, now there was a quickly turning grubby and dirty and chewed on soft and squishy dog toy...

So, back to the drawing room...

How about something that this wonderful new baby boy could use in his travels with his Mommy?  Yep, maybe that would work.

So Oscar James, here is something that falls within the new rules and I sure do hope that you will like it...

personalized, just for you, Oscar James!  I know your Mommy likes the old Dick and Jane stories, so the back pocket on this zippered pouch is of the children from our Canadian Grade 1 and 2 Readers from the 1950's...

with an easy to grab ribbon to pull the zipper open and closed, to keep all those little necessities that just have to be carried with you where ever you may go...

Announcement - Etsy

I have taken the PLUNGE!

I now have an Etsy shop.  If you don't know what that is, it is a place where I can list and sell, the products that I make by quilting, sewing, crochet and any number of other handcraft projects that I create.

My shop as of today, is open, but I have so far only one product for sale.  As the days progress I will be adding more items.  Since I am just learning all the procedures, it takes time to organize, photograph and write descriptions of the things I make.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would take a moment or two to visit my shop today and see my current item for sale.  I will announce items here from time to time as I put them in my store.

Go See what I have today, at http://www.etsy.com/listing/53498006/game-day-bag-cfl-saskatchewan and if you know someone who might be interested point them in my direction!

Right now while I am learning how to manage and organize my products all the items I list will have free shipping within Canada and the USA, this is only for a limited time, though.

Thanks for stopping by!

Odd Bits

In my family, I seem to have gained the reputation for being a bit odd -- perhaps not all the time, but often enough that over the years, I am sure many of my relatives step back abit from me.   Oh, I know they try often to ignore my actions, even when they sometimes almost go over the edge...  I am just not the kind of person who conforms to what other people want.  I used to be quite adventurous, but since my illness (two bouts of the same thing in two years) I have somehow lost some of that adventurer in me.  Slowly, slowly I am gaining back at least the desire for adventure.  For me this is a good thing -- but for others, well, they have got used to the more sedate me and should I go back to what I was, I am sure they will not be well prepared...

A step into oddness -- but not so odd that it hasn't been done before.  One does wonder though, "What is the purpose to some things?".  Some things just don't really need a purpose, they are just there as a wonderment or just to say out loud "I'm Here, and I am what I am!"

A couple of days ago I found an odd bit, a thing that alot would say, "Why would you bother?"  but then I also suspect there are just as many who would also exclaim "NEAT!" and ask no question of it's purpose.

A rock from the garden with thread crochet around it...

I have seen it before.  I first saw this idea at Myrtle & Eunice (just click on the underline and you will go to a blog where it shows more crocheted rocks).   Then if you want to see quite a large and varied collection of rocks with crochet and even some patchwork, go to Resurection Fern  You will need to scroll down and check out a few of the posts on this Australian blog so see the many crochet rock variations.

So far, I have only done this one rock -- mainly because my rock hunting expedition yesterday turned up only this one suitable rock, but I know there are more rocks out there hoping to be found and covered in crochet thread.  What rock really wants to just be a grey/brown/speckled piece, not distinquishable from the many many other rocks!  How special to be just a little bit odd!

Oh, but rocks can have other interesting and odd purposes -- I bought a book, about 15 years ago about Painting Animals on Rocks and have painted a few, the book still sits in my little craft library.

The little frog above has been in my garden for at least 6 years and for another half dozen years in other gardens or balconies that I have been the occupier of...

100

Thats ONE HUNDRED posts on Susan Being Snippy!

You'd think that was enough to put in a book...

Some of the things about this blog:

I try to write about everyday things.

I try to have a few 'ongoing' subjects

I try to give my readers a bit of instruction on the subjects of quilting and crochet and other bits of things I run into.

I am learning how to do stuff everyday, quilting, crochet, photography, food things, and whatever else I run into -- did you know, that when airplanes were invented and war came along -- for awhile the airplanes were faster than the bullets they used?  Saw that on a talk show on CBC...

I'm not going to post 100 things, but it would be nice if you come by and say hello! 

This is not any particularly important day, except that I am writing my 100th post on this blog...  I'm sure there are alot of other very special things going on today...

Keeping with the theme of backyards in summer....

My Worker Guy/Husband/Light of My Life/ spent some time playing in the yard -- he decorated our fence...

I do have a thing for dinosaurs...

Thanks for coming by today, leave a comment and let me know you were here!