Going to School...

Grandma Coco sent me off on a tangent that resulted in the process of learning about the History of the World.  

There is a website where you can take a university course FOR FREE!  Is that not the ultimate in learning!  Fits my own philosophy so well.  Free! Free! Free!   I know it takes work and resources to create for others ways to learn and that is why there are copyright laws, somebody needs to get paid for their work so they can feed their families...

 

But at Coursera there are University level courses on many subjects that you can sign up for FREE!

I decided after reviewing all those classes -- currently over 100 -- to sign up for the History of the World after 1300.  

 

The first class lecture began yesterday and I was shocked to find that my first foray resulted in the first set of questions being completely WRONG!   Well, in my defense, I haven't been to school for about 25 years and definately had to adjust my hearing skills!  But this morning, I did another video lecture in the series and I got all the questions RIGHT...

 

So, now until Dec 10, I will be working on this new project in learning, trying to keep my mind sharp as it gets older and trying to enhance my basic thought processes -- thats what I think learning is all about, Learning to Learn is a big part of Learning a particular subject.

 

Of course, Learning about the world doesn't necessarily mean I have stopped doing the other things I do...

 

 

I have been seeing on Pinterest and other blogs, a variety of crocheted embellishments and decorations added to clothing and I decided to try out a "edging" made from crochet and found in a very old Coats & Clark pamphlet that I have.

 

This, not yet sewn to a t-shirt that I picked out for the purpose is  what I spent my afternoon playing with yesterday....

This test piece is made from a bit of baby yarn so I may remake it for the t-shirt or perhaps attach it as it is...

 

Come back tomorrow for the final part of the project and the 'written' instructions of how to do this lacy trim...

A Note about Anonymous Comments

Lately I have been getting quite a few comments that want the reader to go to the anonymous posters own site--where they are usually selling something.

Now since I put information on my blog that is almost always free and I do not promote items for sale using flashy or hard sell techniques, except that I will gladly have you visit my own etsy store which you will find a link to on the side bar -> over thataway...   I don't earn money by posting ads all over my blog - I trust that if you want to buy something you will find where you want to shop on your own.

I will be leaving the option open for Anonymous comments but any ANON comment that contains any sort of link to another site will be deleted.  Any ANON comment that does not give a with a proper name within the comment (such as "from your friend, Louisa" or similar) will be deleted.

Thanks for your patience.  I know most everyone who comes here and reads my blog is not out to get free advertising for weird products so, this does not apply to you my regular and wonderful readers...

Mockery

Serious thoughts, today...

Well, they actually began a week or so ago.  I think the beginning was a Front Page/Breaking News item.  Canada withdraws its ambassador and closes the consulate in Iran and at the same time expells Iranian diplomats from Canada.   It preyed upon my thoughts.   I am a history buff, you might say, and this recent event just seems to me to be repetition...

Next was the You Tube film mocking the beliefs of Islam.  No, I have not seen it, and I don't want to. (I do not follow any religious faith)

"Mockery is a rust that corrodes all it touches." - Milan Kundera

 

People, everyday, use Mockery to get something that they want.  People use Mockery to belittle other people.
People use Mockery to make themselves feel powerful.
People who love each other use Mockery when they want to 'get back' at the one they love??  but, WHY?
People use Mockery to alleviate the fear they have of the unknown.

I don't like Mockery. 

I was particularly upset this morning because of Mockery.  I wondered why it was aimed at me -- a trivial thing when it comes to denigrating a peoples' spiritual beliefs, but still, it hurt my Heart to have a person tell me there is something Wrong with ME because of a trivial difference in thought process and taste.

I decided to make a Quilt.  In my mind it represents the foolishness and futile waste of energy that Mockery is...

We are all humans? Yes?  We all share a basic form and function.  We all have basic genetic things in common but we also have the ability to think differently from each other.

I wanted this quilt to show that we all have the same shape, with differences such as colour or pattern, but the fabric that is US, is all the same.

We all exist together on this one little planet.   We have big ideas, and we have little ideas, some of those ideas are clear and easy for anyone to understand, others are cloudy and complicated and open to individual interpretation.

Sometimes we get crumpled and confused and clash and sometimes all is harmonius and we are stitched together in solidarity.

So.  Whats the point of Mockery?  Does it really make you feel superior to the next guy?  There is more similarity than there is difference.  Next time you want to make someone feel small, is it worth it?  Do you need to do it?  What makes your patch of plaid better than the other guys purple wavy lines??

And I know this has all been said before, but today it affected me and I needed to use my time and talent to create a response to my thoughts.  My own way of Artful Expression results in a Quilt I call - Mockery.

Work in Progress Wednesday - Treasure Trove

My dear Auntie is in town visiting her children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

I came to live in Abbotsford because of the influence of my cousins and because of that I see my Aunt everytime she comes here!  I always feel so lucky to be her niece! She is the kind of person who makes you feel good about yourself and is always interested in the things you have to say.  She is a very special person in my life.

Because she knows that I have started an online store, she has been on the lookout for things that might go well in the etsy store.  And Oh Boy!! She brought me a huge selection of buttons that she picked up from friends and neighbours in Winnipeg.  I just know she has as much fun looking for these things as I do, going through them and imagining where they came from and what they were for...

Along with the bags of buttons, there were some pieces that are interesting even though they have nothing to do with buttons.  People tend to mix a few other odds and ends in with their button boxes - I know my mother would keep odd bits in hers...

 

Years ago, I cannot say, and my Auntie says she would not be able to guess, is that companies that may not have anything to do with "household arts"  like sewing would give away, to their customers, small useful items.  In this case, Portage creamery gave it's customers a foldover needle packet.  Inside, a dozen or so hand sewing needles!

 

How about this pretty red flower broach?  I can remember having 2 or 3 of these - probably purchased at Woolworth's or Kresge's in downtown Winnipeg.

 

Now, isn't this a special little broach! A leopard nestled upon your breast pinned to your favourite cashmere sweater.  Before, my time I think!

 

 

Can you guess what these are? I'll give you a hint.  They are expandable and you almost always have them in pairs.   I remember seeing these in my very early years, but didn't remember what they were.   Another hint.   Did you know that up to the mid 1950's and into the 1960's men only wore long sleeved shirts? never t-shirts, in fact there were no t-shirts, but there were undershirts.   Now.  Perhaps you have seen an older movie, where men have long sleeve shirts, with the sleeves rolled up, and sometimes the rolled up sleeve is held in place with these expandable arm bands!  Would you have imagined that if I didn't tell you!!   I think Paul Newman, and the beautiful young men of the movies brought the t-shirt into popularity, thus eliminating the need of expandable arm bands to hold the rolled up shirt sleeve in place...

 

And this tiny tin, Puretest soluable SACCHARIN tablets.  You can tell by looking at the printed lid, the label does not adhere to the accepted flashy labels you see on products today.  And I suspect that at one time it was commonly understood what a 1/4 gr (grain) was.   How long do you think that artificial sweeteners have been available?  Did it every cross your mind to wonder when we humans found a need for a sweetener, other than sugar? Or for that matter, when did we discover and NEED sugar?

 

Facinating stuff, eh?

Not much to do with my usual subjects but I do so enjoy looking back in time - not just at the big historical events, but at the things that made up everyday life.

 

 

I am trying to figure out the uses for these kinds of things, so that makes them works in progress.  I can see some of these jewellery findings becoming enhancements on future postcards to swap.  I am even thinking of putting together some of these into a shadow box frame to display on my wall!  So, everything gets used and reused and turned over and thought about.  

If you have your mother's button box or jewellery collection, pull it out of the drawer and refresh your memory of the days when she wore those things or try to remember what they were used for.

Have a marvelous day, thinking about The Way things Were!

Crochet Motifs

A few weeks back I got some new crochet books and I have been experimenting and testing out the stitches and motifs in the books.

I  got hooked on a particular ROUND motif.  I really liked the looks of it and it was such a simple one to do over and over, without having to refer to the pattern all the time.  It is Number 28 in the book (Beyond the Square, Crochet Motifs)

I made 10 motifs and then hit on an idea for a scarf and made another 10 motifs except leaving off the last two rounds.   I didn't even change yarn colour, because the yarn was a very colourful RedHeart varigated.

My Husband doesn't like it at all, but then he said it looks okay laid out as a decoration, but he doesn't think anyone would wear such a thing... Hmmmf!

I would have liked to make it longer, but I ran out of that yarn -- which I got in the USA and have not seen it locally, so I think the scarf will have to stay as it is.

I do think that it will take a special person with a certain style to wear this, someone a little flamboyant (not me, I think) so I am going to list it in my MainlandPearls etsy shop HERE

Work in Progress - Take it Easy

Lately I have been wondering why everything seems to have a "RUSH ORDER" on it...

Some stores start Christmas in August, and the start of the school year seems like it is imminent the day after the kids are let go for the summer.  Advertisements and calender photographs show red and yellow leaves for September, even though things are mostly green and just being harvested.  I wonder why they want us to be so far ahead when in actual fact practically everyone I know, scramble on the day before to 'be ready'!  The stores were crowded this past Monday with Moms and Kids getting school supplies, and Halloween candy is bought the day before the Trick or Treat night in many cases.  And Christmas Eve! Well if its a Saturday, it is almost impossible to find a parking spot at the mall!  So why do We supposedly have to plan months ahead, when most of us do it on the last day or two before whatever event it is?

My Dad was a very meticulous and patient man.  One of his greatest assets was that he really did plan ahead and I cannot ever remember seeing him rush to complete any task.   He was a thinker and a planner and was always ready for any event -- even the unplanned ones, he always seemed to be ready just in case.   I am so lucky in that I did learn some of the things he tried to teach me over the years.   His favourite 'cartoon' was Pepe` le Peu -- if that is too far back to remember it was a series of cartoons (Hanna-Barbera, I think) about a Debonaire French Skunk who falls in love with a black cat who had white paint accidently spilled on HER.  He pursues her through the streets of Paris, She in a mad panic to get and way and he casually bounding along and easily keeping close to her...  Yep, that suits my Dad perfectly...

I am quite willing to take my time to figure out something a bit new and different, although sometimes I do go ahead and try out an idea before it is fully formed...

Quite a few months ago I decided that I needed to find a way to use the stacks of brown paper that my husband brings home from his delivery job.  He puts it into a recycle bin, but it still seems to me that rather than just the recycle bin, there must be a better way.  Every now and then I square up and cut the paper into useable note book size and we use these for LISTS, to do, grocery, etc.  I use the sewing machine to sew the pages together.   Then I came across a You Tube Video of how to make coptic bound books - so...  I am working on making one TODAY...

Then, my other work in progress, this week and has been for a few weeks now, is a project to demonstrate, applique. Completely by machine, no freezer paper, no raw edges, no hand stitching.   It is definately faster than needle-turn applique, but still takes much patience to do correctly and beautifully...   I have got the dresdens appliqued and now in the next few days, a border with applique leaves, and quilting and binding....  Definately should be finished by next week...

And now, a return to the appreciation of taking things easy and appreciating the world around oneself.  Yesterday was one of those PERFECT days, the sun was warm, but there was a light cool breeze.  How else to enjoy it -- a walk along the Trans Canada Trail (Matsqui Trail Park, in Abbotsford) that works its way along the south side of the Fraser River....

Looking northwest toward Vancouver.

A section of the trail with split rail fence between the trail and private property.  The forest is dry, thus, the layer of leaves --not because it is autumn...

And of course, the dog, Pearl, checking out crawly things in the grass and behind trees -- I think there was a little snake wending its way, which of course, Pearl would have loved to pick up and wrap her tongue around.  Good thing she has in her repertoire of commands, "Leave it" and she does...

Take a deep breath, and slow down, even just for a few moments...

August Break - End and Beginning of new Quilt Plan

Last day of August, I bet you already knew that, though!

Time to ramp up the activity and I have a few new plans in the works...

I am trying to figure out the measurements, etc for a quilt I saw on the internet, They called it the Baby Roller Rink Quilt, but now I can't remember what web page it was on, or what book it comes from, and since i am poor (maybe you should call that cheap) I am not likely to buy the book or the pattern if I can get it figured out on my own, which of course is not so good for the person who is trying to sell, the pattern... Hmmmm, how can I justify this?   I'm looking at a photo that I am figuring out myself? is that like interpreting a Picasso into a chalk drawing on the sidewalk?   Oh well, I'm doing it and we shall see how it comes out!

Other things in the works, crocheting a afghan, all in dark grey, that could be rather depressing!  But I am using one of those cool lacy stitch designs from my Complete Book of Crochet Stitches

And after a lazy summer and a summer of very slow sales in my etsy shop, I am planning on adding alot of buttons into my ETSY shop.

Oh, and I am going to try and talk my dear hubby into taking me to the seaside for a picnic today...

Work In Progress -- Door Quilt

Winter's coming!  Well it is always coming, but it is best to think of how to keep warm before you have to scramble to find ways while you shiver...

My work-in-progress project today is a Door Quilt.  Did you ever hear of such a thing?  I started making them quite a few years ago when we first rented a house with hollow-core doors.  Can hardly believe that someone would put together a house using indoor doors as the outside doors, but there you go, someone did. And as renters we had to make-do with a cheap landlord for a couple of those winters and one of those winters was the year where we had a record snowfall!

 So, how to keep in the precious heat and not spend alot of dollars on a rented house.  Well, A door quilt, seemed logical.   I made one for that house, then the next time I made one it was for the exact opposite reason, how to keep the heat out in summer!  We had a condo, west facing with the door to the patio deck being very well built, except it was glass, double pane glass but glass intensifys the hot sun on a summer afternoon.  So the cure: A Door Quilt.

Now this Door Quilt will serve double duty.  It will be a Door Quilt -- but for an inside door and meant only for decoration, and it will be a class sample.  I will be teaching a class, in a couple or three months so to entice people to take the class, it needs a project to demonstrate what the class is about...

And, to keep Walter occupied while I was sewing, I spread a bit of catnip on his favourite chair -- he spends an hour or so rolling and digging down the sides, then when he gets tired out from being stoned, he lays down and naps for the rest of the afternoon...  I never knew a cat who loved his catnip so much!

Linking up with The Needle and Thread Network today, so go see what other Canadian needle artists are doing this week!

August Break - Long ago and Far Away

One of those photos that a family keeps but was taken so long ago that no one really remembers who each person in this photo was.

It says on the back of the photo George and Elizabeth 1901.

 

I do know that they were my great - grandparents, but which of the people in the photo that it might be??

 

George and Elizabeth were headed for Canada, from London England.  George though died before they got there.  Elizabeth, pregnant at the time with my grandmother went to Canada anyway, along with here two sons.  Soon after arrival in Montreal, she met and married, and raised her children with Adam on a farm in south west Manitoba.

Exploring - Crochet Stitches

I got this HUGE book on Friday last week ( The Complete Book of Crochet Stitches by Linda P. Schapper and published by Lark Crafts).  500 different crochet stitch patterns! Facinating, useful and very well organized.

I don't necessarily start at the beginning, but in this case, almost at the beginning.  #2 in the book is a simple single crochet variation that really UPGRADES the simple single crochet stitch.  I have an old stitch book from the 1960s that names this stitch as Bushy stitch.

 

My photo of the page is a bit blurry but you might see that it is slightly different but yet only uses single crochet stitches.

 

Here is my version of this stitch done with a 100% unknown fibre that was purchased at the 2nd hand store quite a while ago, close up I think it looks quite nice.  I am making a small clutch type bag with this so the close stitches with a bit of a pattern makes it just right for the bag I think.

 

 

You might notice that I started at the bottom with a regular single crochet stitch and changed to the #2 or bushy stitch just above the lower pink section.  I may never go back to the regular single crochet!  I think this looks somewhat like the 'seed' stitch which is an alternating sc/dc stitch but is much easier and quicker too!

What do you think of it?

Now the second stitch I played around with was #18 in the book and is a double crochet and chain stitch combination.  Very Lacy and not at all complicated even though it takes 7 rows to create the pattern.  This would make a really nice pattern for a summer shawl or wrap and I think that's just what I may use this for, if I can find a yarn to use.   The yarn, here, is again a scrappy bit, I would say a sport weight, and again, probably an acrylic, cause it has no label but is nicely held together and not fluffy...

 

This little sample is not blocked, but for a larger project, whatever yarn is used I would think it needs to be blocked to show the lacey effect to best advantage.

 

 

This little sample is only 36 stitches wide and would show much nicer when used in a wider format.   And being a fairly simple combination of stitches, once you have worked up a repeat of the design, it is easy to keep track of which row to do at what point.  Easy and Quick!  I know I will be using this pattern soon...

 

Whether Quilting or Crochet it is always interesting to do up sample pieces, just for the excercise and to explore how something works.  I know I will be exploring more of these stitches in the weeks to come.  This is such a useful book!

 

I'm the Feature! on Feature Friday!

Sometimes I scare myself!  I am supposed to tell you a bit more about myself and my accomplishments so that those who follow up on the Feature Friday post over at The Needle and Thread Network can get to know me a bit better.  Do you really want to do that?  Oh Well, you are here now, so you may as well continue reading, hey?

 

Like anybody in this world, I certainly have alot of things in common with the rest of humanity but I suspect this blog post is supposed to tell you about the things that I think are a bit different about me.

 

I am not a Rose in the garden, tho I certainly do love Gardens and Roses are wonderful in their place, but I am a Dandylion.  There are alot of Dandylions in the world but you usually find them just where they upset the balance and cause problems.  As a Dandylion I am somewhat contrary to many of the people's thoughts and opinions around me, but I know I have a special bit of brightness and that's what people like about me and what they find most frustrating, too.

 

I am mainly a quiltmaker, it is my hobby but I think it has become a major part of my life, so it is my work too.  On the Feature Friday blog post it mentions that I have created a quilt (which is just a top so far) made from Moda's French General fabrics.  I won a jelly roll and a couple of charm packs of this fabric and below is the completed top -- I am planning to hand quilt this one.   Just one of those really special ones and I want to give it a special finish.

 

 

I am a long time quiltmaker and I am very lucky to have my own sewing space.  A few years back I was able to buy my dream sewing machine and even though I loved my old Kenmore -- with its stitch 'cams' it was not long before my Janome took centre stage and became my Workhorse.   Like others who don't have to put away the sewing machine, my workspace tends to get a bit messy and crowded with at least one project if not two or three stacked up beside or behind the machine or even tacked up in plastic bags on the wall around the machine.

You might be able to tell that I am working on some dresden plate blocks.  This pile of pieced dresdens are going to serve two purposes, beyond the obvious -- to make a quilt of some sort.  First, I was asked to teach a machine applique class for my guild later this year, so I am working on creating the SAMPLE, which I am planning as a fairly large table runner.  I can hardly wait to see how it turns out!  That is the funnest part of creating, isn't it?  Even though we might have an idea of a project, it is not till it is done that we really know how successful the project was!

The second purpose of these Dresden blocks is going to be as blocks for sale in my Etsy Store.   I am not getting rich selling things on line but I really am enjoying, making and selecting and even de- stashing my own stuff and going through the process of photographing, describing and posting things to sell in my store.  I try to keep things to sewing related, but I do venture off into other areas.  I have a lot of Vintage sewing things, clothing patterns from the 1960's and 70's, wooden thread spools and Buttons, mostly vintage and unusual finds.  Take a look if you are so inclined at http://www.etsy.com/shop/susanbeingsnippy

Did you ever wonder what an online shop looked like, while it was not online?

 

I try to keep it all reasonably organized so that I can find what someone has ordered.  There it is, though.  The white plastic drawers are filled with toques and scarves that I have been making in anticipation for the fall and winter and soon will be posted in the shop.  Also not on those shelves right now is some Christmas Goodies -- Vintage things that I can hardly wait to show, but not just yet.  I don't want to be a Costco and have Christmas stuff out on the shelves in Summer!

 

So that is just a bit more about me, and if you should want to come by to visit or even if you need a few sewing or quilting or even crochet tips, here is a picture of my front door!  If I don't get to the door right away,( cause I live in a townhouse that is what is called a 3 level split which means we actually have 6 levels), you can sit on the very old church pew for the minute or two while I get down to the door...

 

 

My tagline:   "She was always dreaming and thinking odd things."  from the book The Little Princess by Frances H. Burnett

PS... And just now arrived in my mailbox is the fall issue of Canadian Quilter Magazine.  AND.  I am in there too!  Totally forgot!  On page 52 is an article I wrote, Just a Click away, so check it out if you have a subscription to the magazine!

Work in Progress Wednesday - Crochet, New Books

I got a parcel yesterday from AMAZON.ca!  After much indecision, I ordered two books that I have been seeing "reviewed" by other bloggers and because I had a gift card, I went ahead and ordered two crochet books.   They are excellent purchases!  I am going to go so far as to say they will be an essential part of my craft library!

 

First I spent about an hour just turning pages and looking at pictures...

 

 

From the "Crochet Motifs" book I had such a hard time picking out a favourite motif to try, I kept going back and forth between designs.

Then I thought I would start at the beginning.  I made motif #2 this morning.  It took only about 10 minutes to do up this sample.  I used the first scraps of yarn I could find -- a worsted weight.   As soon as I got this one done, I was thinking if I made 10 or so just like it and strung them together, it would make a pretty Christmas Scarf .  At that rate I could have a scarf done in a couple of hours...

The thing that I really like about both these books is that you might call them Modern Crochet.  Each instruction is not only written out but also has the symbol/diagram system.  If you have not figured out the symbol system, both these books explain it and how to use it -- It is way easier to keep track of where you are in a project if you follow the symbols.

Many years ago, my grandmother gave me a crochet and knitting book called Mon Tricot, and I have used it over and over and over these many years -- one of its drawbacks is that it was written using the ENGLISH/EUROPEAN method, so I had to convert the shorthand, dc to sc, htdc to dc and so on.  These two books are both using the AMERICAN system of names for the stitches.

"The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs"  is really well organized in that it starts with the simplest designs based on single crochet and chain stitches and progresses through the various basic stitches to make very complicated crochet patterns.

I recently found a sweater pattern that I want to make up but am so dismayed that it uses only single crochet throughout.  Now going through the "The Complete Book of Crochet Stitch Designs" I am liking the above pattern and am going to see if I can convert the stitches of the sweater from boring old single crochet to this pattern, Simple Shells.

I know these two books will keep me occupied for the next little while and much beyond as references.  
I can hardly wait to dig deeper into the pages and play with stitch designs and motifs!  It will be hard to settle on just one crochet project with so many new choices in front of me!

Super Summer Snippy Challenge - Part 11

It is getting close to the end of my self imposed challenge and I have reached my main goal, which was to make 10 quilt tops for donation to local needs.  YIPPEE!

First up is one of the earliest quilt tops that I did.  It is finished up and has been delivered through Quilts of Valour to CFB Chilliwack where it will be passed along to one of our current or former military personnel.

Carolyn send me this photo of the finished quilt.

I really liked this one, and almost kept it for myself -- but this was done a while back and as things progressed I liked each quilt top that I put together better than the last, so it wasn't too hard to send it along to Quilts of Valour.

Today.

I finished the 10th quilt.

I have been procrastinating with this last one, mainly because I didn't know "where it was going".  Now if you have been following my progress this summer one thing about all these quilts is that they are based on 3.5 inch squares, or strips that are 3.5 inches wide and whatever length...   I still had quite a few already cut 3.5 inch squares and wanted to really make a dent in the pile with this NUMBER 10 quilt.

It started out in CHUNKS...

Then almost like magic it fit together like a puzzle and I added a couple of borders to complete this interesting beauty!

Would you call it INTERESTING? or just Plain ole` NUMBER 10?

The statistics of this quilt are:

280 - 3.5 inch squares make up this quilt (the second highest number of squares in one of these challenge quilts)

It is 14 squares wide by 20 squares long.

The quilt has a narrow 1.25 inch inside border and then a 4.5 inch wide outside border.

The total quilt measures 53 inches by 71 inches.

I also made 260 inches of binding for the finished edge of this quilt.

So, now the question is, even tho I have a couple weeks before my deadline, do I see if I can fit another quilt in, or do I rest on my "laurels" and call it finished?  HMMMM....

and just cause he is so pretty sitting up on the 2nd story balcony of our townhouse, here is a pic of WALTER looking down on me, as any good cat is want to do!

 

** updated to add ***

I have made a "Page" where you can see all the quilts that are included in this Super Summer Snippy Challenge together.  Just go to the top of my page and click on the tab that says Supper Summer Snippy Challenge!

 

NOW, onto a bit of something new...

 

I think, Applique...  Dresden Plates?!

August Break - Saskatchewan

In August 2009 my love and I went on a drive that spanned three weeks.  We drove from Abbotsford, British Columbia to Winnipeg, Manitoba and back again.  We avoided the major highways and wandered up and down secondary roads and bumpy gravel roads.   This abandoned farmstead is in the south central area of Saskatchewan along a most enjoyable stretch of road that was wandering up and down rolling hills.  It was my favourite stretch of road in all the three weeks.

I am linked up with the BEAUTY themed photo party at Small Things.

Artist Trading Card Swap

I almost forgot that I had an ARTY muscle that I liked to stretch out every now and then!  Lately I have been doing Classics, Traditional, and Simple...(and other people's patterns)

Then I saw an invitation to be part of a ATC swap at the Artists in Blogland Blog and that ARTY muscle started to twitch!  So I signed on and am taking part in the swap.   The cards for the swap are to be at their destinations by the end of August but it has taken me almost three weeks for my ARTY muscle to work up a few cards that made me happy (I probably made at least 20 that were not pleasing so they went into the G file)

A few years back (2007) I actually had a card that I created included into a book that was put out by the people at Quilting Arts Magazine...

On a Whim I had sent in my versions of what I thought were Artist Trading Cards and the editor chose to include my little "Charmed Butterfly" which became 0975 in the book...

Sandwiched inbetween two other very lovely cards was my card which was made with a scrap of polka dot fabric glued to cardstock, then a real pressed flower blossom (or was it a weed from the empty lot next door?) and a metal butterfly charm.  

The idea behind these little cards, at least in my opinion is not just to create something to trade - usually via MAIL so that the postal services don't go out of business - is to give our brains a little creative stretch (as are fabric post cards).   Sometimes these little creations can make those of us who feel the need to use a bit of creative genius that comes out now and then, but not enough to make us famous or even locally known, just a little stretch, not too much and not too often, though...

So for this Swap, those taking part were asked to create two cards each for three people.   I wanted the cards I sent out to be thoughtful but not complicated.  I wanted them to be different and yet show something of ME.   I like Vintage.  It was a forgone conclusion that I use or create something that showed some true vintage and yet teach something too.  So I cut out some backpage Advertisements from a 1968 Good Housekeeping magazine that I have been using for years for various paper arts...  To the ads, I put on a bit of fuzzy selvedge, just cause it was on the worktable at the time I was making this set of cards.  A coat or two or three of varnish, to slightly yellow the paper and the cards were done.  

The second set of three cards are fabric based -- I love to sew!  Now, being a long time sewist, quilter and other fabric related enthusiast, these cards had to show Fabric.

Into the fabric scrap basket and I pulled out a few little bits, one that was hearts and flowers and one with cheetahs.  The cheetah fabric scrap was barely 3 1/2 inches square so it was only enough for one card and the scrap with hearts and stars and bars was enough for the other two cards.   The fabric was glued onto cardstock and since my sewing machine was right beside me and ready to "roll"  I sewed on some lace and rickrack to trim each card.

For me, both sets make me feel like I used my ARTY muscle and did not whimp out and do these too easy or too lazy.  Of course everyone has their own opinion of art and of course THE ARTIST generally thinks their own stuff is pretty good, but the true test is when someone else acknowledges that it is "pretty good" not necessarily great, but good enough that they can spend a moment enjoying what they are seeing...

So those are the cards I am sending out in this swap. 

Waddaya Think?

Interesting Things Round-up

It has been quite awhile since I did a post about some of the interesting things that I have discovered while exploring on the internet.

I know there is a bit of SNOBBERY when it comes to yarn.  Wool, real sheeps wool, alpaca, silk, bamboo and even cotton is on the SPECIAL list for many needle folk...  Ah, but seems to me you can find ACRYLIC and the ACRYLIC blends everywhere, so these yarns must also sell!   I came across a blog that explains how to make those acrylic scratchy yarns much softer.   I haven't tried it yet but will do so in the next couple of days.

Go read How to Soften Scratchy Yarn (just click on the highlighted text)

Are you needing a small clutch style bag to carry while on short hops to the store or a small bag to hold onto when you are visiting the dentist?  A crochet hook and some pretty fabric along with a nice yarn (yes, even that softened acrylic yarn) will make up a very nice bag, complete crochet instructions along with how to line the bag can be found at BY NUMBER 19

Now this site has nothing to do with sewing or crochet or craft, unless you consider looking at Nature to be a craft!  This is one of my very favourite websites when I just want to see pretty and interesting things in this world.

Check out National Geographics Photo of the Day  one very outstanding photo each day and you can look back and back and back, keep going -- I have no idea when it started but the number of days that you want to look at it practically endless...

Last one...

I have started to notice a old craft coming back - in the 1970's I learned some of the knots used in macrame and made planters for both my Mother and myself.  I even knotted a piece that I made into a tote bag and lined with a pair of used jeans -- very 70's!

The macrame now though has a somewhat refined image and here is a tutorial for making some charm bracelets using beginner knots.  Go to this DIY Macrame Bracelet for full instruction

Those should keep you busy for a bit! Enjoy!