It's Been a Long While . . .

Wow, it has been a VERY LONG while since my last post!! Where have I been and what have I been up to? Well I am no different than the rest of the population in saying "sometimes life gets in the way of fun and occasionally keeps us from doing what we love, and in turn from posting about our little projects". That is partly the truth of my absence and more, which I will try to catch you up a bit now.

Let's see, I retired and now have more time to do what I really love (spending time with family, crafting, sewing, quilting, cooking, baking and so much more). I have 2 more grandchildren for a total of 8 now!! I am a very happy gramma and love spending time with my grandkids! They are all talented, funny, healthy and energetic which is always nice and keeps me young! I love that they are very artistically inclined and love to draw and sketch, even write great stories! Their talents never cease to amaze me and yes, I know I sound a little prejudiced of their talents but isn't that what a gramma is supposed to feel. 

I have been quite busy with my quilting stage the last several years and have taken a break from my scrapbooking stage. `~' This has REALLY put me behind as far as keeping up with the grandkids scrap books. But, in my defense, I vow to "catch up" this year and bring my scrapbooking to the forefront of my craft time and make it a priority. I certainly have all the product on hand to catch me up. Have you stayed up-to-date with your scrapbooks this past year? We certainly have had lots of time to o so being in a stay-at-home pandemic status for 10 months now! TEN MONTHS!!! I apologize, there is enough written about the Covid-19 pandemic and you don't need to hear or read about any of that here. I will say this and then I will move on . . . Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Positive . . . those are my wishes for all of you.

I promise I will make it a point to get back in the groove of posting. Take care of yourselves . . . 

I Have Earned It!!

Today I suddenly realized something about myself. I am sure I am not alone in my actions or my thoughts about treating myself to something fun or pretty, something I will enjoy, simply because it makes me smile. I am sure there are alot of you out there who do the same as I do. I decide I will purchase an item "just because" and then talk myself out of it, placing it back on the shelf and walk out empty handed. Why do we do this to ourselves?
Ok, so today I realize I deserve that little special something that makes me smile each and every time I see it. I deserve that small ray of sunshine however it may come my way throughout my day. Whether it is a thought or a song that makes me happy for that brief moment, I deserve it. I vow from this day forward to give myself the ok, to actually bring that ray of sunshine into my life.
I hope you will one day come to this same place in life and find you deserve a special treat "just because" as well.

Another Painting Adventure . . . Clay Pot Snowman

So my previous post started out telling you about Saturday night painting adventures with my friend Kim, and this post will continue on that same subject. Actually, I think I started to tell you about THIS adventure and the last post took a turn to the beginning of our painting adventures starting with https://www.wineandpalette.com . Ok, so now I am back on track to tell you about our latest painting/craft adventure that started back in August 2014. Why August? Because that is when I received an email reminder for the Hillsdale Craft Fair 2014.
Kim had never been involved in craft fair sales but we make a great team in everything we do so we put our heads together and came up with a craft I had never seen at any other craft fair. Something that would be a sure bet hot item for sales. This is what we came up with

 . . . and I must say, we have enjoyed every minute of making these!! :)
We have been crafting them since August, getting prepared for our craft show in November, actually we ended up selling at 3 different shows in ONE WEEK!!!
We made them so no two are alike! Each one took on their own personality as we painted their face and then decorated them. We spent every Saturday night making these clay pot snowmen. Storage was a bit of a problem since we could only fit 2 per box but we made room . . . lol  lots of room, just waiting for November 1st, 6th and 9th when we could show and sell our adorable little snowman pots! Kim even created the pattern for the floppy snowman hats and sewed them! Some of the hats I crocheted.

Needless to say, they are a big hit! Who can resist an adorable snowman face? They just make you smile . . .

For any of you who want to know more about this project just ask me!

Painting Adventures began with Paint and Palette

Hello to all bloggers out there! It has been far too long since my last post so I am excited to share this one with you. My dear friend, Kim, of 35+ yrs and I have been on quite an adventure since August of this year. Well, to be honest, our adventure of painting on canvas started a few months earlier. I am thinking it was possibly April. Kim and I have dabbled in all sorts of crafts over the years but she had never painted on canvas before. Long story short, I had purchased a Groupon for Wine and palette San Diego ( https://wineandpalette.com ) so invited her to experience painting on canvas with me. To be fair and honest, I had only had the pleasure of painting on canvas maybe 4 times prior to this. Let me explain the experience for those of you who may not have heard of wine and palette before. It is a group setting (anywhere between 25 - 75 people) where you pay a small fee and each person paints a 16" x 20" canvas that you get to take home at the end of the session. There is an instructor who takes you step by step and teaches you to paint the particular painting subject of that session. All paints, canvas, brushes are provided for your use and NO EXPERIENCE is necessary for the class, which is generally 2 - 3 hrs long. If you have not tried this in your area yet, trust me, you are missing out! It has all the components for a fun night out and a great date night for sure. Ok, so that one night of painting proved to be a turning point in Kim's and my crafting experiences, because since then we now get together every Saturday night for painting!!
We have since purchased our own supplies and turn her kitchen into into our paint studio for the night! We make it a girls night and have dinner first, (we alternate - one provides dinner, the other dessert each week) then we get started painting! :) We have, if I do say so myself, painted some beautiful art pieces that now decorate our homes as well as family and friends homes. :)
Our painting adventure continues . . .  

L I F E . . .

Good afternoon to you! Each day as I start my work shift, my coworkers and I meet with our boss in the office to go over the plan for the night. I am sure this is not an unusual fete for employees across America, so with that being said, it does not make our small group of  6 seem outrageously different than most. However, there are days when you just feel compelled to skip the meeting and get on with the same old drudgery and carry out your shift as quietly as possible. Go unnoticed, fade into the woodwork. Become that inconspicuous fairy that comes in each night and brightens up, cleans up, makes it all appear presentable by waving that invisible wand that seems to be the extension at the end of our wrist. Most nights one could have these feelings. Maybe that is one of the reasons we enjoy working  in singles rather than in a group. But there is something to be said for those meetings at the beginning of our shift. You see, it doesn't matter what our mood is when we first arrive to the workplace. Most of us greet each other with some sort of salutation when entering the room (i.e. what's up?, how's it goin'?, what did you do today?, etc. etc) and sometimes, with a smile on our face - not always. One person, no matter what his day was prior to entering our office area, is key man for all the crew. Does he know this? Probably not. Does he realize the impact he makes on each person he encounters daily? I don't think he does.

This man is the whole reason for today's blog, and funny as it may be, he will never see this, never read it for himself. But that's ok in my book, because he is a man that walks through life doing good in everything he touches. He is one of the good men all women talk about meeting one day and sharing a lifetime with. Oh, don't get me wrong, several of our crew members have expressed our feelings to him over the years and he just smiles and gets all embarrassed and then utters a quiet "thank you" as he cocks his head in his funny little customary dance that only he can do. Yes, he is one of the good guys, has been and always will be. It's how he lives his life in and out of the workplace. Every day when he opens that office door he enters with "Helloooo" as only he can say it and each and every one of us reply back with a "Hello!" It is what we love to hear and miss on the rare occasion he takes a day off from work.

We thank him for being a part of our crew. We love him and he knows it. How many of you in the workplace share feelings like this for a co worker? How many of you are not afraid to tell them you appreciate them and their work service? How many of you still feel compelled to share kind words and compliments without fear of the words sexual harassment being mentioned for such a act of kindness, appreciation and caring? I do not worry about such things. I live by the rule that each and every one of us still enjoy hearing a word of kindness and appreciation throughout our day. It is the unexpected words of kindness and appreciation, however small it may be, that mean the utmost to our psyche.

I will end with these words. How many people do you know who walk through life with a song in their heart and a smile on their face? I know a few, he is one of them. It is an honor to work with such a man. It is an honor to know him.

Live not in fear! Spread words of kindness! Give simple compliments! Make someone smile!

HANDBAG DESIGNS

As you well know, I like to crochet and have done so many years now. I actually started out knitting as a young girl at the age of 13. My first project was an afghan (believe it or not) ! Sure it took me a long while to complete, but I chose it for exactly that, well, that and the fact that it had a variety of stitches I could learn to do in the process. ;-) I STILL have my first completed afghan & I am so proud of it, but I am actually ashamed to say I have never, ever used it! E V E R!! I was too proud of it & could not bear the thought it might get ruined. So there it sits, all folded up nice and neat in a plastic bag in my closet, where it has lived for 46 years! :-(  I will gift it to my grand daughter, most likely, so she can appreciate the soft feel of the stitches. 
Anyway, after crocheting for so many years and enjoying the works of one needle as opposed to two used for knitting, I decided to dust off my knitting needles and create something running around in my head. My thought was to create a tote with knitted front & back panels and knitted side pockets. So I started knitting the first panel in a simple knit/purl stitch (Stockinette Stitch) and then decided to add a color change to define a "Quilted Diamonds" pattern change to give my tote a real designer handbag look. I found  the pattern for the "Quilted Diamonds" stitch in my Reader's Digest COMPLETE GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK book. I must admit, after all these years of being away from my knitting needles, the ever so familiar click - click - click sound of the needles as they work their magic, was such a comforting sound and truly brought joy to my heart. Like seeing a very good friend after, well, you get my meaning here. While I worked up my panels, I thought of several ways to sew them together to create my bag, none of which seemed I truly wanted. Until the idea came to combine my knitted pieces with fabric side panels, creating an element all its own for my tote! I loved the idea! So now to find just the right fabric to compliment  my knitted panels! This meant a trip to my local JoAnn's Craft Store ;-)  so with my hubby Terry along & coupons in hand, off we went in search for the perfect fabric. Sometimes this can be a task in itself, but not with my handy dandy man with me! He LOVES to help pick out colors whether I am working in yarns, beading, or fabrics and I must say, he really is quite good at it! Does he have an eye for clothes? Nah! lol  The only detail I gave him was look for something to compliment grey & pink . . . the fabric you see on the outside of the tote is the fabric HE suggested and I LOVED it! Good Job Babe!!! I then found a light pink polka dotted fabric for the inside lining and went with it, to create this finished product. 
The tote is completely lined, has a magnetic closure, 2 outside pockets, with button adornment on one pocket & also the front flap closure, and an adjustable shoulder strap. It is a very large tote and would also be perfect as a diaper bag, that's how big this is! I love the feel of the knitted panels, they are so soft. 
Another project completed! Another pattern written. Another project to be proud of! I love, Love, LOVE the finished product and hope you do as well!

Hello, hello! I have not posted any of the many projects I have completed in the past few months so I thought I would take the time to do so now. Why no posts you say, well that would be because I have worn my hand muscles to a frazzle due to crocheting like a mad woman. lol Seriously, I needed to rest them so I have been reading on my Kindle for the past month .... & my hands seriously THANK ME! lol
Ok, on to my projects. I have made several cute handbags, slippers, hats, fingerless gloves (which I absolutely love), hair baubles, and even a dishcloth! I found a very cute pattern for a zebra hat (my grand daughter Madison loves zebras) so of course had to make it. It was easy to follow and worked up so well that I had to create a zebra purse to go along with it! A word for the wise here; when designing a pattern, always write it down as you are working it, it just makes life a little easier when trying to re-create that pattern! Ugh, I did not do this and regret it. I created the zebra purse pattern, fully lined it with inside pockets and all in a complimenting fabric. This purse has a magnet closure, and the lengthy handle that has a removable clasp so it can be shoulder length or shortened for hand held. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the look & feel of the purse. I have since written the pattern and instructions for future use.