Nascar Book

Ed and I attended a Saturday Nascar race courtesy of Fastenal (a supplier that Ed's employer uses). We had a lot of fun. I finally took the time to create a mini scrapbook of our day.

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had. All three of our children were home to share in a delicious dinner. It's amazing to think that just a short time ago they were all so young. They would all be anxious to go pick out a Christmas tree and decorate the house. I'm hoping that I'll at least be able to enlist a couple of them to help decorate the artificial tree.

First Altered Puzzle Pieces

So one of the ladies, Puff, from the MIABA Group invited everyone to join in on an altered puzzle piece swap. The theme was to be "Things with Wings". I've never altered a puzzle piece before and thought hey why not. I was given three preschool size (roughly 3"x4") puzzle pieces to work with. Okay so I was a little intimated by this task and have to admit that I let them set for a good 2 months. But finally this morning I took them out and before I knew it 3 hours had passed. Now it's evening and I'm happy to say that other then missing a set of googly eyes for the owl they are all finished. I'm thrilled with how they turned out. Below are pictures of the puzzle pieces. Because I had so many ideas, once I got started, I decided to do two different "Things with Wings" on each piece. My favorite is the penguin piece.

First Fabric Book

This was my first attempt at a fabric book. It turned out more like a fabric scrapbook (couldn't help myself) rather then an altered book, but I like it. I had a lot of fun choosing the pictures to use and building the book as I went along.

Knitted Hunting Bear

Look I finished my knitted hunter bear! He's 14 1/2" tall and has a removable sweater, bibs, and boots. Maybe someday I'll knit him another outfit or two.

Halloween Dishcloths

If you knit or crochet then you have to check out the website ravelry.com. You'll have to create a free account (which may take a couple of weeks for a response because yes they receive that many requests) but it will be oh so worth it. Besides being able to search for free or inexpensive patterns, you can check out other stitchers' work, go through their personal yarn stash for that hard to find skein you were looking for, shop for completed items, and chat with fellow stitchers. My most recent project was to make each of my three children a set of Halloween dishcloths. The patterns were created by Kristen Patay (just search for Creepy Cloths). They are so cute and the pattern (which contained all 6) was only $3.50, which was a down loadable file.

Halloween crafts

What is it about fall that I love so much? I guess it's a combination of everything from the leaves changing colors to the kids being back in school. Oh who am I kidding I love Halloween the most. Why as an adult with three grown children (and no grandchildren) I feel the need to decorate the house is beyond me. But every year I do... well except this year. It wasn't like I didn't want to I just couldn't seem to get to it. So while I was at a baby shower my husband dragged out the many orange totes from the basement and proceeded to hang, sit, and stand every single decoration we have. You can imagine my surprise when I pulled into the driveway and saw the 6 foot witch I'd made a few years ago sitting on the front porch with her black kettle before her. Little did I know that when I walked inside there would be a 9 foot skeleton pirate hanging in the hallway along with everything else. lol It was wonderful! Here are some pictures of the Halloween crafts I've made the last couple of years.

Grandpuppies cards

Here are the two cards that I've made for my three Grandpuppies. May and Red received the card with the drawing of the yellow lab. Chloe will get the card with the husky drawn on it. The kids weren't sure when Chloe was born so they chose Halloween as her birthday.

Grandpuppies gifts

Okay call me silly (my husband does) but since I don't have any Grandchildren I joke that I have Grandpuppies instead. So when one of them has a birthday I buy them a toy, package of treats, and this year a little something handmade. The handmade item was a dishcloth which could be used for either dishes or for the puppies bath. The first for Red was a yellow dishcloth that has a lab design stitched in. The second was for Chloe which is the blue one with the husky design. Yep I'm silly.

Mel's wedding exploding box

Last Friday I took an exploding box class at Scrapbook 101. I chose as my first project my daughter Melanie's wedding. The box turned out lovely. I had a hard time finding a small stargazer lily so I purchased a bouquet of small pink daylilies. I proceeded to paint the white edges and splatter the throat with dark pink. I think they turned out pretty good. I've also found out that I like using border punches something that I'd never really tried before.

Yes! More roses

I made a little trip to the nursery today and picked up five more rose bushes. Honest I couldn't help myself I swear I could smell them a mile away. If I could have I would have left them in the backseat of my truck for a few days because boy they sure smelled so sweet.

Rose

I love stepping out my front door because the fragrant smell from my roses is oh so very nice. They were both planted in June of this year and while the one has grown more round it has only had several blooms. The second pictured here has grown taller and bloomed all summer. Right now I counted 27 unopened buds in addition to the ones already open. Absolutely beautiful.

Puzzle

This has been a great weekend and it's not even over yet. Ed and I had fun yesterday in GR. It was a beautiful day, lots of people, and plenty of food to be ate. Last night we watched the movie Wolverine and then I finished my puzzle that I started last weekend at the MI Altered Arts Association meeting. The colors are the same gold, olive green, and rose that are in our living room.

Exploding Box Class

I had a great time at the Exploding Box Class held at Scrapbook 101 tonight. Now I just have to find time to add the photos and embellishments. Won't be during the day tomorrow as Ed and I are heading to Grand Rapids for the Chili Cook-off. Oh please oh please oh please let someone have made a chili without beans so I don't have to eat around them. lol

Mini books

I seem to be on a mini book kick that's lasted about a year now. Hey I was thinking if I made them small then I could keep them on top of my dresser (full of material but don't get me started on that) in my craft room. Yeah the unfortunate part is that I've managed to fill the allotted space I gave them. So now where am I going to put any new ones??? lol Here's pictures of a few of them.

MIABA Sept. 09

I had a fantastic time at the MIABA Saturday. Met so many wonderfully talented people, spent some money (thanks for the discount Robert), and ate some great food (yummy lemon meringue pie). There were four projects for us to make including the two I've shown here. My personal favorite is the bag book that Robert from the store Scrapbook 101 taught.

I can't wait for the November meeting to see what we get to do next!

Wedding invitations and altered art

Wow what a busy week! My daughter Kimberly and I spent several hours working on her wedding invitations. Hopefully we are down to the final two choices. Thank goodness the wedding is 11 months away. Saturday is the MI Altered Art Association meeting in Muskegon. I've also been busy printing pictures and gathering items from my stash to take with me. I'm so excited to learn more about this beautiful art form. Since I've really a newbie when it comes to Altered Art you can be sure I'll be peeking over every ones shoulders to see what they are up to and learning all that I can.

A Day with Kimberly

My daughter Kimberly and I spent a Saturday together recently. We had a blast! Of course I had to make a mini book to show our great smiles and silliness.

The first post

Where to start... hmmmmm
Years ago I had a family website where I shared themed ideas that mom's could to do with their children. These usually included a story, craft, and snack but since my children are now grown I'm not sure that is what I want to do. Perhaps I'll just share my many crafts that include knitting, scrapbooking, card making, polymer clay, and so many more that I've dabbled in over the years. Something for me to think on. In any case I truly hope everyone has a wonderful day.