Stash Reduction!

Look at this...a new knitting bag! Made entirely from stash. What's even better? I have enough 'stuff' to make dozens more. They are easy and very quick to make.

The original pattern idea came from a book called 'Jazzy Jeans' by Mickey Baskett, with some additions of my own (of course). The outside pockets are all useable and it's lined with some pretty butterfly patterned flannelette. I'm pretty pleased with the end result, but I'm even happier that it has reduced my stash a little!!

Another finished project

This picture (clickable to enlarge) is of a crazy quilted round robin piece which I just finished doing my part on. The work on this piece is just incredible so be sure you look at it in a larger size so you can see some of the details.

Five Year Plan

No pictures today, so you're getting a mumbling instead. Aren't you blessed?

Anyway. We've been working on a five year plan (well actually it's more like a four year, but five sounds more ambitious). Waking up to the fact that in three months our income will drop VERY dramatically makes one tend to come to a screeching halt and make some tough decisions in life. DH and I had a very good heart-to-heart talk this afternoon and have come to the joint realization (after we both had been thinking about it on our own) that apartment living isn't something we are going to dismiss. Am I shocking anybody? Right now the only reason we can honestly say that we are staying here is my dad (who lives with us...for those of you who don't know). He is 86 and his health is failing. Realistically he won't be here in five years (or at least living in our house) and the house is simply too big for us. The yard alone is huge and, although DH likes gardening right now, he too is getting older and really doesn't want to face the challenge for too many more years.

We have far too much 'stuff' - most of which we never use. Why are we using so much of our valuable years left to us maintaining all of it? Why do we feel we have to leave it all to our kids (who we are quite sure don't want a sixteenth of it). My craft supplies alone are enough to overwhelm anybody. We have what, in effect, is a four car garage. Two cars in it and you can just imagine what else is crammed in there...most of which hasn't seen the light of day since we moved in here eight years ago and isn't likely to.

So, all this is leading to our 'plan' which is a huge relief to both of us. Looking around our possessions has shown us that there isn't a whole lot here that we are totally attached to. It's really surprising how a financial crunch will shed a whole new light on life!

OK, I'm done mumbling for now and all I can say is...bring it on!!

Poll/Survey

OK folks...come out of lurkdom and tell me what I should do with these. What are they, you say? Well - they are two pieces of a felted woolen sweater (!) measuring approximately 6 x 8". Lovely, soft and wonderful, but what shall I do with them? Please leave a comment with your ideas and be creative!

Easter Wishes

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Button, button, who's got the button?

This is just part of my button collection. My 86 year old dad has just finished sorting them into colour families for me. This doesn't include my metallics or my fancy ones which probably would at least equal the ones shown here. Do you think maybe I like buttons?

short mumble

Today's post is minus pictures. Sorry. I had planned to take a pic of our pretty little flowers blooming in the garden, but it's been raining...all day. Yuck.

Mail call and How To's

Got some exciting mail today. The picture isn't too clear because I need to recharge the camera. The main one I wanted was the clog pattern and I see it's an updated version I got, which is pretty nice. I haven't compared the new to the older version yet, but it says that it's a narrower foot, which I think I will like better. The sweater is an easy knit Garter Eyelet Pullover from Vermont Fiber Designs. It calls for a bulky weight cotton blend yarn. The final pattern is a Beaded Cable Hat from Friends of Cabin Fever. The detail doesn't show up to much in this picture, but it has cables and beads knitted in.



Now for the how to I promised (for Arlee, whose work I admire a lot and she wants instructions from lowly ME...wow!). Anyway....here goes. It's the smoke technique from 'Creative Paper Art' by Nancy Welch. The first recommendation I have is to be sure you work very close to a source of water (I worked in the laundry tub)...you don't want to set your house on fire. Firemen take a dim view of that. I digress.


I coated a sheet of card stock fairly heavily with white glue using a cheap wider brush. Don't allow the glue to dry. Light a candle and move the glued side of the paper slowly back & forth over the flame. You will have to experiment to get the distance between the flame and the paper right...I snuffed out the candle a lot. I then set the sheet aside to finish drying (took overnight). I tried using a heat gun to speed things up...NOT a good idea because it made the glue bubble. Once it's dry, buff it with a paper towel to remove the excess soot. Finally, I sprayed it with a light coat of Varathane clear finish in a matte and allowed to dry. (The book suggested using hair spray or an art fixative too). Then I just cut the sheets into atc size and I was done! A very simple, but effective technique...unless, of course, you burn the house down! Enjoy.

TAST - Week 13

I don't feel as though I've been very creative with this stitch. It's not one I normally use so it was more difficult to come up with ideas.

I am thoroughly enjoying this challenge for the year and am learning lots of new stitches and the uses for them. Sharon is really making us think and stretch which I know is something I really need to do! Thank you again Sharon... www.inaminuteago.com

Library windfall

I requested a bunch of books from our local inter-branch library loans and most of them came today. The picture shows just the ones I got pertaining to knitting and crocheting. I also have three or four about collage which I didn't take a picture of. I'm gonna have fun!! A couple of the books I had considered buying for my own library but hesitated to do so until I could look at them. At least doing it this way means I don't have to make a rushed trip to the bookstore to look at them and endure the silent complaining of my DH...who loves to read, but hates bookstores and libraries (go figure).

If you haven't figured it out by now....I like books!!!!!

Work in Progress, atc's and inchies

Two pictures to share today. One is of the smoke technique I am doing for one of the swaps I'm in. It's a technique only swap, so it should be really fun to see what I receive back. All sorts of new things to learn!

The other picture is of the goodies I received at the CQTeers meeting on Wednesday. We did an inchie swap and also some atcs. The atc that's pretty much in the middle of the picture shows what Sue is doing to display the inchies she receives. I think this is a super idea. I saw another idea on one of the groups where somebody is decoupaging them to the top of a storage box, which would be a thought too. Otherwise they're so small they are bound to get lost!

This is absolutely great!

No pictures today folks, but I have stumbled across something I think is just great and can't wait to take part in. Some of you may already know about this, but it's the first time I've run across it. There is a web site ( www.bookcrossing.com ) which is fascinating and well worth a visit if you in any way like books. The premise is that you register at the site and then you leave a book (or books) somewhere 'in the wild' (such as a coffee shop). Inside the book you place information about the web site and request that the finder of the book go there and report having found it, and hopefully where they have re-released it. You receive updates from the site as to where the book has travelled to. It's all free too. I think it's a great way to encourage reading and how much fun it will be to see where your books go.


I was quite surprised to see that there are several members from here and that there are some books out there travelling around. I'm hoping I can find a couple of them and also intend to do some releasing of my own. My friend Kym likes to go geo-caching which is somewhat similar, but this is more up my alley. I encourage you to check out the site and let me know what you think!

MAD CAT, MAD CAT!!!!!!!

I really wish I could have a video of this so you could see. This is Cosmo after he had gone through a session of madly spinning around and around on the top of his scratching post. You know how little kids wobble around after they've spun in circles for awhile? Well, you haven't lived til you've seen a cat staggering and trying to keep his balance on the top of this post! Wish you could see it!

Had a great day today with the CQTeer group trading inchies and just generally having a grand 'ol show n share of things we've been working on. And...hic....eating chocolate...ohhhhhh....hic. How four grown women can pig out on so much chocolate is totally gross. We had: chocolate easter eggs, chocolate in a chocolate bar format, chocolate cake (with chocolate icing), Lindor chocolates AND to top it all off THE most decadent, positively orgasmic chocolate dessert you have ever seen or been privileged enough to taste (TWO pieces each). Groan....hic......BUT WE LOVED EVERY BITE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playing with dolls

Just for a change of pace, I thought I'd make a doll. I hadn't realized how long it's been since I made one, so this has been a fun project. I hope you can see more detail if you click on the picture.

The pattern is by Judi Wellnitz from Alaska, who has a wonderful blog at www.artdolls.info and also is one of the 'guiding lights' from http://askthecrafter.blogspot.com . Thanks Judi for a fun pattern!

Felting (again)

At the risk of boring my readership, I just had to do one more post about felting the clogs. This time I wanted to show just how much they change when they're felted. The one in front of the picture is just off the knitting needles and the one behind shows just how much it changes in size after being through the washing machine. Magic, isn't it!

Now I'm off to try to burn the house down....

Felting...part 4

Success! I put them through another cycle in the washing machine and I'm much more pleased with the end result.

Specs: Fibre Trends Felted Clogs pattern, Paton's Classic Wool Merino (3 balls...had 106" leftover when done..whew). Felted twice in a front loading washing machine with hot water, soap, and on the heavy cycle.

I'm making more!

Felting 1, 2, 3

Well, folks, here is part two of the felting saga. The smaller picture is a re-post of the first clog in its original knitted form, before felting. The larger picture shows the current result. Clog on the left has been run through the washer once and looks not too bad, considering. Clog on the right however, looks sick. Tired. Frumpish. Hmm. You don't suppose frogging something three times might have something to do with it? Do you suppose the wool might just be worn out (which would explain it looking tired I should think). Hmm.

The next question is...do I throw them through the washer again? I'm happy with the length of them, but they are both too wide and would be very sloppy on the feet I think. Should I or shouldn't I? Decisions, decisions. Stay tuned for part 4 in this ongoing saga....

TASK Homework Weeks 11 and 12

Sorry to be posting two weeks together, but I just didn't get my homework done for week 11 in time.

Week 11 is the Up and Down Buttonhole, which is a stitch I hadn't run into until now. I can see it has a lot of great possibilities, particularly for interesting seam treatments.

Week 12 is couching, which I love anyway. It's hard to sketch ideas for it though! Hopefully you can get the general idea from what I have here. Can't wait to play catch up and see what everyone else did with last week!

Thank you as always to Sharon for her wonderful guidance! 

My apologies....

I must apologize to my regular readership for being absent for almost a week. I must admit I have absolutely nothing to show for it, other than a rotten cold. We had #2 son and his fiance home for the weekend, which was lovely and then I managed to come down with a head cold on Monday. First cold I've had in over two years and do you know what? - I could quite cheerfully wait another two years! I have done nothing other than read and wish I had stock in facial tissue companies. I hope to go back to your regularly scheduled mumbling in the next couple of days. In the meantime, mumble amongst yourselves.

ATCs

These are atcs I have nearly completed for a swap I'm in with one of my groups. The theme is 'Stitches In Time' .

I used the scrunchie technique only with mulberry paper this time, which I then dry-brushed with gold metallics. Then I tore around the images and 'antiqued' them around the edges with Distress Ink from Ranger. A cheap tape measure fell to the cutting wheel and ended up glued to the top. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with them. What do you think?

Frustration and experimentation

I had great plans to be able to show you the felted clogs today, but.... the powers that be aren't with me today. Somehow I managed to put the second sole on inside out (don't ask, because I have no clue how I did it) and so have had to frog it and start over. It had to have been a pure accident that the first clog ended up right because I'm quite sure it wasn't my knitterly prowess that did it!

So. A slight change of plans and a rather crappy scan later, you can see my first efforts to use one of my scrunchie backgrounds for an atc. I don't know why the scanner doesn't seem to like taking pictures of anything with dimension or sparkly. Weird. I drybrushed gold and copper acrylic paint over the scrunched paper and then added a torn image of the girl. Then I thought I'd experiment with rubber stamping on sea glass, which unfortunately doesn't show well on the scan. To finish it off I added three heart-shaped brads. I'm pleased with it, but really wish the picture showed better for you.

Another technique I experimented with last night was talked about on one of my groups. It's another form of packing tape transfer. To begin, you ink a rubber stamp and then place clear packing tape sticky side down onto the ink. Press carefully and then lift the tape and place on a piece of cardstock. You can use wide masking tape too, which gives a very muted effect. All rather fun to play with. You can use this technique to create transperancies over top of other techniques too.

A finished UFO!

Finally finished another of my UFO's. I showed you the beginning of it a couple of weeks ago and now here is the end result. I kept it fairly simple because I wanted the wedding invitation and the fabrics from the bridal party dresses to be the focal point. The seams were just done in cretan stitch and then I added pearl seed beads for highlights. It still needed something, so I added the buttons and tassels on the bottom corners. Now it's headed off in the mail as a surprise for the young couple. Hope they like it!

One UFO down, two hundred and ninety three left to go....

More scrunchies!

Ok, I think I'm in like with this technique. Finally, a use for those wonderful pictures in old National Geographic magazines (you know the ones you hang onto because they are too good to throw out, but absolutely nobody wants them and you can't think of a use either??). Well. I found a use.

These are now cut up into atc size and now I will experiment with maybe some metallic paints - perhaps drybrushed on top. The trouble now is that I don't want to ruin them - they're nice as they are!

Scrunchy paper technique

I have been following with interest the development of a new technique on one of my groups, called Scrunchies. I thought I should give it a try. Of course I don't have the correct supplies, but I used what I have and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Sherre (www.sherresartmusings.blogspot.com) originated the idea. She ran a piece of cardstock through a Zyron machine first and then scrunched up colourful magazine pictures, which she then brayered onto her sticky cardstock. She then highlighted the results with various inks.

Being that I have neither a Zyron machine or a brayer, I thought I'd try the same process only using good old-fashioned mactac as the base. As you can see, it seems to have worked. The only problem that I can see is a possible difficulty in adhering the now-plasticized back to cardstock for use in atc's or whatever I choose. That I will have to experiment with! I also haven't added any highlights to these because I'm pretty pleased with them the way they are.

Tell me what you think!

A fool and their money...

...are soon parted. Yep, I parted with some money after I made the mistake of going to Michaels today. I went in for two things...the watercolor paper and the three balls of Patons yarn (for some more clogs). Well. Ummmm. It seems several other things managed to leap into my basket as I walked by! Two balls of Lion Suede (which squeeks when you work with it...rather disconcerting) which will turn into a really cute pair of 'Ughh Boot's in baby size. Card stock was on sale and one can never have too much, right?

Rubber stamps were on sale and I don't have one that has watch faces in my collection and I simply can't get by another day without one. Sea glass you say? What on earth would that leap into my basket for?? Good question, which I can't answer right now - only because I can't remember why I wanted it!! I only know I spent a lot of time the LAST time I was at Michaels looking for it and I know it was for something I wanted to do quite badly. Too bad my memory is faulty. I guess I should be grateful (??!!) that I remembered I even wanted it in the first place...

As for the pad of papers...well....ummmm.....would you believe it got into my cart without any help from me? You don't? Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

TAST - Week 10

This week Sharon has really challenged me! I have never used a 'Barred Chain' or 'Alternating Barred Chain' stitch. I had to look up on her stitch dictionary to find out even how to do it! I also looked through all my (extensive) library of books for instructions and found...nada!!

Once I found out how to execute the stitch I had to then come up with ideas for its use. My creative juices just didn't seem to want to come up with much. I'm pretty pleased with my tree though and will certainly use it on a CQ block very soon. I rather like the circle too, but can't take credit for the basic form since it was one Sharon used as an example for us. I tinkered with it though, and added a few extra details onto the ends of the 'bars'.

Hugeness in knitting

Well, I've jumped on the bandwagon and have started knitting felted clogs. This is my first one and, as you can see from the 12" ruler, it is huge!! I am dying to felt it, but have to wait until I get the mate done because I think they might not come out the same if I don't do them together. It's the Fibre Trends Felted Clogs pattern, using Patons Classic Wool.

I am learning with this exercise that I should never say I'll never do something, because it's inevitable that within a matter of a couple of months I'll be doing the very thing I swore I wouldn't. Formerly I scoffed loudly at felting perfectly good wool yarn. Why would one want to 'waste' their time knitting something grossly oversize, only to shrink it - on purpose! Why would I ever waste wool that way? Yep...famous last words coming up to bite me in the butt (again).

Book Review!

Today I'm doing another book review, simply because all I've been doing today is knit on another pair of socks in the exact colourway as the ones I just finished. Boring reading for you! So...I have a new book and decided to tell you a bit about it.

Some of my regular readers may know that I am a crazy quilt book junkie - well, actually, pretty much any craft book junkie. I have an entire bookshelf devoted to crazy quilting alone. Did I need another book on the subject? Of course 'need' doesn't enter into it - 'want' is the key word!

I am rather glad I got this book, mostly because of the general overview of using beads in embroidery. There are a number of interesting projects including a covered cannister, a really eye-catching woven ribbon sachet (which would be a great use for leftover 'bits' of ribbons in your stash), a cell phone pouch, and a great idea for a journal cover. One of the techniques is to use your rubber stamps to place and image on fabric and then bead it. The book touches on silk ribbon embroidery too.

If you're interested the specs are: "Beaded Crazy Quilting" by Cindy Gorder. Published by: Krause Publications, c2005, ISBN-13:978-0-87349-892-0

A smallish rant, and a good thing

Obviously I have no pictures today. I'm still working on my 'wedding' CQ and it is just more of the same, so it's not all that exciting to look at over and over again.

I promised a rant, and here it is...a friend forwarded a very upsetting email to me today. It showed a number of fashion models who are absolutely nothing but bones with a little skin stretched over top. What, I ask you, can be attractive about that? Why must the fashion industry be so hell bent on convincing the normal world that this is desirable? Do they have no sense of responsibility - both to the models themselves and the general population who are brainwashed into thinking this is a desirable way to be? How many models must suffer massive health problems and, most likely, ultimate death before this stops?

I know there is a certain faction out there who will say that the models do it to themselves. Maybe so, but if that is the only way the fashion industry will hire them, what else can they do?

Now for the good thing. Firstly, I am in no way advocating that you should buy these products...I have no affiliation with the company in any way. Have you seen the new advertising campaign for the Dove Pro-Age products? If you haven't, they show beautiful (many nude...but VERY tasteful!) women of 'certain age', with grey hair, lumps, and bumps, and wrinkles. Their slogan is 'beauty has no age limit'. It's too bad the fashion industry as a whole wouldn't take a page from THAT book!

I return you to your regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

TAST Week 9

This week the challenge stitch for TAST is the cross stitch, which is a very versatile stitch. I could have come up with a lot more ideas, but thought I'd better stop with these! Last week I had someone ask me if they might use my ideas. Of course, and I'm very flattered that anyone would want to! I would imagine a number of these have already been done by someone, so I certainly don't have exclusive rights or anything!

Anyone who is interesting in learning more about the weekly challenge for 2007 may visit SharonB's blog at: http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php/take-a-stitch-tuesday-challenge/

A bedtime story....

Ok, kiddies. Are you all tucked in and sleepy yet? I have to tell you a story.

In the beginning, there was my mother...a gardener who loved plants, both inside and out. However, woe betide any plant who had the audacity to bloom white. She was heartless and ruthless and tore them out by the roots. Evil, she was.

Along came a knight (he who married me) who, being of the chivalrous sort, thought perhaps the way to a mother-in-laws heart was to buy her a plant, each and every Christmas, and so it was that this became a tradition. Now this knight had a rather wicked sense of humour and decided one Christmas that a white plant would be perfect. A thing of beauty. Pristine. Who could resist a white Christmas cactus, after all?

So, the knight bought this lovely plant and wrapped it up tenderly. The mother, upon opening this wonderous gift, thanked him, through gritted teeth, and displayed his gift in the living room window for all to see. You see, she loved her son-in-law very much and wouldn't hurt his feelings.

Time passed. The plant grew, and blossomed. The daughter would receive phone call after phone call always prefaced with "You know that damn plant? Well, it's blooming again". Finally came the call saying she refused to water the thing ever again and she was determined that would be it's demise. Several months passed.

Then came the call..."You know that damn plant? Well, it's blooming again".

When my mother died, the only plant out of the dozens she had I kept was what will ever be known as "That Damn Plant". To this very day, it blooms. Proof is in the photo.

I love you Mom.
The end.

My bear came home!

Sorry about the no-post yesterday! I've been playing nursemaid to my dad who had minor surgery yesterday.

Last week my teddy bear round robin came home. I am so happy with her! My friends have done a wonderful job with so many fine details. Can't wait to finish her and get her put together. I'm hoping I can do that by the time our local quilt guild has their show in May. I've promised to do a demo on crazy quilting and would like to be able to take my bear as a mascot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

A complete TAH DAH!

Remember me showing you one completed sock last week? Well, guess what, I have another one to match! And, wonder of wonders, I have cast on for another pair in the same colourway. Be still my beating heart! Actually I had high hopes of starting a pair in my wonderful new sock yarn, but I feel sorry for Jack. Initially I gave this pair to him, which he was happy about, but then decided they were just a bit too short for his foot (which made ME happy, because I'd made them for me in the first place!). Now, to be a good wife, I suppose I should take pity on him and actually make him a pair that fits.

I'm also struggling with making a pair of those Fibre Trend clogs that everyone is talking about. Struggle being a key word in the equation, believe me. First problem is that I have to use circular needles which, being new, are quite stubbornly resisting my efforts to get them to straighten. I finally got my first row cast on and the first row knit. THEN I started to read the instructions for row 2!!! Talk about techno-babble. However, I am refusing to admit defeat and am determined to win out on this one. It is, quite simply put, the last (I repeat, last) time I will ever believe an accomplished knitter when they say a pattern is easy!! If this is easy, I'd sure hate to see what they class as being hard.

Hush Hush Project...Revealed

Remember my telling you a couple of weeks ago about projects I was working on that were being kept secret? Well, here they are! I made my boys each a memory album filled with pictures and memorabilia from their lives while they were at home and gave them to them for their birthdays this month. I just used common 3-ring binders, which I covered with some of the denim from my 'stash'. I used a couple of my 'stash' pockets and embroidered their names on the fronts. The back of the books have the logos for their favourite hockey teams (courtesy of Dollar Store paper napkins which I printed onto fabric using my computer). They seemed pleased with their gifts, so I guess it was worth three weeks of my time!

TAST - Week 8

This week Sharon's challenge is the Fly Stitch, which is one that is pretty adaptable for a lot of purposes. I enjoyed playing with this!

http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php/take-a-stitch-tuesday-challenge/

Hmm...

I have nothing to show you today, other than more of what I was doing yesterday, which I'm sure has gotten stale already. So...I found this: http://arleebarr.squarespace.com/designjournal/ Look for her entry titled "In the Spirit of Sharing"

I have to admit I love this challenge! How often do we do our best art work for others and never do anything for ourselves? Read Arlee's challenge and see what you think!

Progress on latest UFO

I think this is a pretty horrible picture, but won't be sure until it publishes on the blog. Hopefully you can see it! I've done all the seams in my favourite stitch - the cretan, using some lovely silk thread I had in my stash. Now I'm in the process of beading each seam, using some off-white pearl beads (from the dollar store). I don't think I'm going to do too much more to it after I've finished the beading, because my stash doesn't yield up too much in the limited colour palette I'm working with. I'm pretty happy about that actually, because in this case I think less is more. If you click on the picture, hopefully it will enlarge and you can see the detail better.

Another UFO in the works

The pile of 'stuff' in one of these pictures shows the beginnings of another UFO I had lurking in my to-do box. This time it's material from a friends wedding and bridesmaid dresses waiting to be made into something. Picture two shows what I've done so far. As you can see it will be a crazy quilt (again!), approx. 16" square. If you're wondering, the largish white section at the upper right will be ultimately holding a copy of their wedding invitation, which you can see a segment of in the other picture. I'm not sure yet how I will put it on. Options include running it off onto fabric through the computer printer (or) making a sleeve for the paper copy of the invite and attaching it that way. Jury is out, but I'm leaning towards the sleeve at the present moment. Subject to change, of course! I will keep posting my progress.

Tah Dah!

Well actually it's only half a tah dah, because it's only one sock, but hey I need to celebrate when I get something completed even if it IS only one sock! What's even more astounding is that it actually fits!! Now, before I get too egotistical, I guess I'd better cast on the second one....

TAST - Feather Stitch

I have discovered something about feather stitch - that it's much harder to draw than it is to actually do with needle and thread! Graph paper helps, but I have to apologize if some of
the 'stitches' I've drawn look a little bit wobbly.

Happy Valentines Day and sock yarn

Another picture I discovered that I had forgotten to post...sock yarn! Fell in like with this in a yarn shop a couple of weeks ago. It's sooo pretty! There's a constant thread of black with the colours wrapped around it. Can't wait to see what it looks like in socks.

Really do wish I could show you what I'm working on at the moment, but until it goes to the person(s), I can't. I will take pictures to post later though.

In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day!!

Crochet hook case....

The pictures today are of a felted crochet hook case Kym made me for Christmas. Of course I have far too many hooks in it already! I've been using a very old ( probably 35 years old!) plastic case which has seen better days, so I was delighted to get this. I meant to post a picture sooner. Thanks Kym!

It's not my fault!

I'm blaming Sue for this. She had to tell me that there was a new shipment of rubber stamps in at the dollar store. I went, I saw, and I parted with an obscene amount of money on these (but not as obscene as it would have been had I bought them at Michaels or one of the stamp companies). Do I need more rubber stamps? Particularly after I just was at a Stampin' Up party at Sue's (yes, the same Sue) a week or so ago and parted with a VERY obscene amount of money there too!! I can't help it...I'm weak....

TAST - week 6

This week our challenge stitch is the Algerian Eye Stitch and Sharon said she "bet(s) people take a one look at this and run a mile". I must admit I thought about doing just that at first, but once I sat down to play with possibilities, I had fun with it. Have to admit it's a stitch I have never done, but now I certainly plan to!

Sharon posts links to many of the participants on the weekends, so if you check her blog then you can find all sorts of information and great blogs to check out. (www.inaminuteago.com/blog)

Another Book Review

Yes, you're getting another book review today because right now I'm working on something I can't show because the person it's for reads this blog (sometimes). This book is another of my favourites for crazy quilting. There are all sorts of motifs to use for embellishing in this book, along with good information on things like shadow work, samplers, tambour work, trapunto, whitework and embroidering with wool.


Specs: 'Motifs For Crazy Quilting', by J. Marsha Michler, published by Krause Publications; c2002, ISBN: 0-87349-427-X

Jann-tastique!

I know, the picture is dark, but so were the surroundings. Rest assured, this IS Jann Arden and she was absolutely wonderful. She is every bit as personable as I had been led to believe (she has a wicked sense of humour!). She sang several of her hits and did several of the new songs on her latest album which is being released today. She answered questions from the audience, she sang, she talked about her life, she was totally charming. Her band is excellent. What else can I say?

Her new album is great and I encourage anyone who likes Jann to hurry and buy it. It's a 'cover' album primarily where she covers songs by other artists (ie 'Peace Train' , which was a hit by Cat Stevens originally). It appears that the first radio release from the album will be 'At Seventeen', originally done by Janis Ian.

If you're interested in Jann, she has a web site www.jannarden.com and she'll be appearing at Massey Hall April 24, 25, 26. I'd love to go!

Happy Dance!

I won, I won, I won! Now please keep your fingers, toes, and everything you own crossed that Monday we have good weather.


What did I win, you say? I quote: "Contratulations! You have won a double guest pass to the exclusive CHFI "Up Close & Personal with Jann Arden"...this coming Monday February 5th at 7 pm!!! It's going to be a fabulous night with Jann performing songs from her upcoming album "Uncover Me" which will be released the following day. For being a lucky winnter, you will receive a copy of the CD on the night of the concert....before they're even available in stores!"


Do I like Jann Arden?...YES! Am I excited about getting to see her in a really small venue?....YES! If you want to hear what we'll be seeing listen to CHFI on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. where the concert will be re-broadcast. In the meantime, hope for good weather!

TAST - Week 5 - Chevron Stitch

Here's my 'homework' for week 5 of the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge. Hopefully I can figure out the RSS feed 'thing' and have this go to Sharon!

At first I wasn't too sure about the chevron stitch. It is one I like normally, but to come up with many variations was a challenge for some reason. Once I got started, it wasn't as difficult as I had expected!

Anyone interested in knowing more about the challenge can go to http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php/take-a-stitch-tuesday-challenge/ or follow the link in my sidebar. Also, if you ever need to know how to do a stitch or are looking for inspiration Sharon has the most comprehensive stitch dictionary anywhere, which you can access simply by going to http://inaminuteago.com and looking for her stitch dictionary.