Sneaking out...you gotta go.

Since moving to the Utah, I have wanted to go to this fun boutique.  Even tried once but with all the traffic and construction, gave up.  But now it is found it will be forever on my list of  WONDERMENT, LOVELINESS, GIRLY, PINK, oh and just FABULOUS!  I signed up for a class to make a wreath...and my sweet husband even went to parents meeting for US.  After getting a bit lost...I found it!  Imagine-pink walls, pink chandeliers, dress forms and just delight at every glance.  And then getting to sit down and make something?  All "stuff" included.  BE STILL MY HEART!
The lady that taught the class is Margie Romney-Aslett and was so fun and funny and talented.  She works for Bazill and does these classes 2 or three a month.Margie Romney-Aslett.  She even had cute
copper-pink shoes on....loved that.

We opened up our bag of goodies and when to town.

They even had a goodie plate and ice water for us....SO COOL!!
I squished and pinched and glued and then went exploring in the amazing shop.

here is my wreath, in place at home...

It was soon time to go....but I will be back.  Oh yes.

Gnomes, oh and Polka Dot Trees

To say that I go to Tai Pan a bit is a plain lie.  I go there plenty.  Doesn't help that it is only about 2 miles from my house.  Actually it does help.  I like it there.  My pocketbook, not so much.  (I digressssss.) They have amazing Christmas tree displays and I fell in love with a red bristle tree...but not the price.  So I decided that I would change my main tree colors to red and white this year.  I bought a couple of elves and had a great time picking up red ornaments along the way as I have shopped different places.  At Tai Pan they had these red/white cone trees and I ( as predicted) decided that I would make mine.
I began by buying green mercury glass bases for the dowel to sit in.  I poured plaster of paris over a bunch of packing peanuts and stablized the wooden dowel.
I picked up some very nice large sheets of medium weight cardboard from HObby Lobby and twisted them into cones and hot glued them shut.  On the base of the tree, I put a round of heavy cardboard for the cone to be glued to.

I glued it with gorilla glue so it would stay...Then I wrapped the red 

felt around it and hot glued it on.  The most fun part?  Attaching the pom poms.  Well and of course setting them near the fire place...

So then I saw that Gnomes are very in this Christmas and I wanted to make a few for my mantle.

I got out my remnants of red felt and then dug into my Thrift store box of sweaters and 

starting snipping away.  I made this little pair for one of Alicia's friends in KS and their bodies are made of toilet paper rolls. Ha, reuse -recycle!

I was way too cheap to buy styrofoam balls at 3 or 4 bucks a piece when they are TOTALLY underneath the hat...so I came upon my own devices.

 how about tin foil rolled up into a ball and smashed against the table?  Works like a charm.  Then I glued a bit of fleece to smooth it out.  Then I hot glued a piece of flesh colored felt on the outside, smoothing it out to make a face spot.

 I cut out the body of sweater to fit the body, which I made in various sizes from rolling cardboard in  lengths and widths to form a tube.  Then I glued on the sweater.  I rolled little tubes of sweater for the sleeves and glued them to the middle of each side with the raw edges folding over inside the tube. I then selected the beard from my plethora of furs and woolies.

I made the hat in a similar fashion to the cone trees.  Rolled up a piece of card stock to make a cone and fit it on the head -then covered it in sweater or felt.

I glued it all together and then added a wooden bead for the nose and black beads for the eyes.

A little rouge for the cheeks and they are done.....Gnomeville!  And here is a shot of them on the mantle and my Christmas reading bench....Gnomey.

Lost, missing and double drat

When we moved into our new home, I couldn't have been happier about the lot next door.
It was a horse pasture.  Complete with old run down sheds and a couple of barn cats and yes, HORSES.  I could go out anytime and smell the air and feed the steeds a few carrots.  It was heaven.

But of course, pastures go away and big machines come in and pound and dig and  men pound nails all day long.....and the barn gets torn down and the horses hauled away.  It was bound to happen.  But I don't have to like it...
And to top it off, the houses built there were supposedly not supposed to be more than half of them ramblers.  That means that we wouldn't lose our mountain views. RIGHT.  Next door to me, instead of the green horse pasture with horses?  A 3 story house that has windows that look right down into my walk in closet.
I fumed, I complained.  I shopped for curtains or something.  Film?  Curtains, black out blinds?  Or just learn to dress on my hands and knees...bah.  The above is just half of the window.
 So I came upon my solution one day while browsing in Target.
A HA!  I bought these pieces of sea glass in a warm blue color.  I came home and found a cracked piece of thin plexiglass. I cut it the same size as the 2 windows.  Out came my hot glue gun and I worked away piecing little uneven pieces.  I finished it and set it into the space and yes... it works!

And I think it will suffice in this space and hopefully when the new house is finished, I won't scar the new owners when I am dressing.  And the cost?  4 dollars and 98 cents.  Perfect!
Well, then again, I still miss the horses....

Brewing....

I love making dolls.  I have since I sat on the wood floor of my childhood bedroom and cut up little scraps of fabric and made simple clothes for my "little Kiddles" and  Barbies.  And now I get a real kick out of making fairies and such.

But these heads are NOT fairies.  They are "Ghouly Girls" or "Kitchy Witchees".  On a recent car trip, I   started experimenting

with different head shapes and eyeballs and was having way too much fun.  (anyone that knows 

me know what a poor traveler I am if I don't have something to do 

with my hands.  (I tried snacking and that wasn't good, no not one bit!)

So here are two that have dressed and mounted to their wooden stump piece.  I call this first one 

"Bride with Bone Bouquet"....

 I shall call her "Hamlet's Widow in Purple"...(Emma helped name these....)

More to come.

Time out

I am in denial.  Summer can't really be over can it?   I am not embracing fall yet.  Good thing there are a few days of beloved September left.  And I have a monster pile of "things" that need to be done.  A couple of commissions, pumpkin stems that need gluing, little ghoulish dolls that need dressing, skirts that need hemming, lesson for Sunday that needs SERIOUS studying....so what.

I needed a "time out" for myself.  Been eyeing an ugly painting that I did many moons ago....and decided to paint over it with GESSO and start another.  Love that recycling!

here is stage one...covering up the white and beginning the concept.

laying down the colors and darks...

So here is the result...and I am happy.  Back to my to do list above.
Let fall come.....

Becoming and letting go.

This post will have absolutely nothing to do with creative endeavors, even though there are many in the making.
Instead it will be my place to record some random thoughts that have flitted through my heart and mind in the past few days.
         My mother-in-law passed away quietly yesterday.  She was 87 years old and up until the last week in the hospital, she lived at home.  She did not have great health in the last few years and we are all rejoicing because she is now freed from her body that got old and sick.
She was a stalwart matriarch of her family.  A no nonsense, black and white, straight as a rod, righteous woman.
            When I came into the family, I was a young bride and had lots to learn about making a home and family.   I know she was shocked when asking me about what my education pursuits were and I answered..."fine arts".  In those days, that would have been considered a bit frivilous.  But as time went on and she could see that I was serious about raising my children first and being an artist second, I think she understood me better.
              In those early years, we were starving students and we had taken on many years of college that she never got to do.  When we came home for the weekend she would go down to her cellar and load a box of things that sustained us.  And there were always those extra things like chocolate chips and condensed milk tucked in with the hamburger packages from the freezer.  We were so grateful for those groceries.
I remember one birthday when I had not had anything new for such a long while.  She sent me 50 dollars for some wardrobe help and I will never forget that kindness.  It was a lot of money in my pocket.  She made little overalls for baby Steven and quilts for all my babies to love.  She made a quilts for my beds and quilts for all the grown children. When I had back surgery in Florida, she came to help with my little children.  When Steven got his eagle scout award, she came alone on the airplane to celebrate with us. She loved to "surprise" us at wedding receptions and graduations.
I was impressed with how much my husband loved his mother.  When we went home, his favorite time was sitting with she and his dad around the kitchen table telling stories and catching up oh, and laughing.  This bunch were great laughers....that hearty, laugh with your gut laugh. During these past few years of ill health, he called her every Sunday and went to see her as often as he could.  He is a good example of a faithful son.
           Lest you be mistaken, I did not always get along with Mary.  I know that my ways were not always what she would do herself, but she always made me feel welcome in her home. One thing that she did on every occasion that we might be somewhere that people might not know me, she would take me by the arm and introduce me.  Every time.  Cooking for her family was very important to her.  Many times she stood over us and made sure everyone ate well at her table!  She made cookies for every trip we ever made there.  The boys loved to raid her freezer for cookies there.  I have gotten many great recipes from her.  She took rolls to the widows at Christmas and bread to grieving neighbors.
          I know that she loved my children, and she was so good to tend them for a week when we had to go to company meetings out of town.  I knew they would be safe and taken good care of.  She worked hard at making them photo albums and recipe books.  I was especially touched by the way that she learned to love my autistic son Neil.  It was tough in the early years to understand his needs but once she figured out that he loved Lucky Charms cereal, there was a big box for him when we came. She also made him french toast because she knew he loved it for breakfast.

       So now that she has passed, I feel sad.  It was so odd to be in her home yesterday hunting for papers and instructions for the funeral.  That home holds a good 60 years of memories that belong to a good family. Not perfect but normal in all the ways that holds a family together. She was the last string that bound them to this valley home. When we return a few weeks from now to sort out her earthly things, it will be strange-this unraveling of her days.  I am not ready.  Not ready yet to give up those clear, cool summer mornings in that old house with bacon wafting upstairs to stir us.  Or the gentle breezes flitting through the massive trees in the front yard where we sat lazy in the lawn chairs.  Nor the anticipation of little children as we pulled up to see Grandma peeking out the kitchen window.  But time marches away and she will now be settled with her spouse up on that green hill that overlooks this quiet town.  And the memories of her will just have to do.

Random things of summer

Here is a shout out to all my faithful followers...(which might only  be my golden ret. Belle...she is a REAL follower!) AHEM, I have been oh so busy with all kinds of summer stuff.  I did lots of fun things for my family reunion that was fabulous fun for a crafter/artsy type like me.  I certainly did go over the top with a few things, but I do not apologize for that.  IT IS THE WAY I LIVE...and I like it.

I did a painting that I have had in my head for years of my family farm that I grew up on until I was 16.  It was so much fun that I hated to be finished with it...there were so many fun memories. I made prints for all of my siblings and parents.

For the  party decorations I made cowboy boots out of scrapbook paper and they were a hoot to make  I was thrilled to find so many papers that I already had to use and only had to go to Michaels once for a couple of different ones.  Each pair got more outrageous and wacky!  I found a shoe pattern online and just added the tops.  There were a pair or two that I woulda liked to wear myself.
















But then I had in my head that I needed to do some drawer cleaning.  And that "cookie" added on the idea that I wanted a ring holder.  Probably could have bought one a lot cheaper than the time it took.  BUT THAT IS NOT MY WAY!!

Anyway, I found an old card box that I decided to use.  Got some velvet velour from the WALL and got busy.
I took little strips of cardboard and glued a pencil on top.  YES, a perfectly good pencil.  With 6 kids that have been through school, I have a few used ones around!!  I cut them to fit the section and then hot glued them in....it only took a few days. I then covered that box with a polka dot tafetta and put trim on the edges.  AHHHH.  It seemed to take forever, but I put in "My Fair Lady" and my girls came downstairs and we all crafted together.
I wonder if they know how much fun that is for their mom.  Poor dad sits upstairs with his sports TV when he could be gluing stuff and singing along with "Just you Wait!".

So here is my completed project.  I can see at a glance that I have lots of rings and when I am dressing, I can select without rifling through that drawer...ah yes.  And I think there is still plenty of room for more!

One more pillow....

I started this silly flag pillow a year ago and I was determined to finish it this year.  So on the 10th of July I got it done....yeah, I am glad that Ut celebrates all of the month...

It is made from 2 new mens XXL t-shirts of each color cut into 3x 2 in strips and sewn onto canvas.

The star field is rolled roses, glued on...

Now I am all ready for NEXT YEARS 4th!!

New Fourth Stuff

I wanted to make a pallet flag like the ones I had seen on Pinterest...but I couldn't find a pallet so I opted and bought these plain pine planks at Home Depot for about 11 bucks.  And with the number of planks in the bunch, I was able to make two... one for me and one for  my daughters eventual apartment.

You have to pick through them and find the less crooked ones...

I painted them with red and white stripes

 I glued them down on 3 vertical planks that I had spaced an inch apart

I painted the star field a sky blue

I stenciled on the stars and then painted a brown antique over all and quickly wiped it off.

I fit in real nice with the whole scene....