arms and legs

Bear making continues.  She has some arms and legs now.... all still attached with pins... but.... moving along, albeit slowly......

The rest of the guys are hanging out with her on the table....just for company.....

And maybe to keep warm.  Today was a rotten -36 C with the wind chill and plenty of blowing snow.  All I wanted to do was stay in the house and try to stay warm too.   A perfect day to turn on the oven and bake something.

But..no...I had to go out and shovel at some point.  This is how I stay warm outside at these temperatures...

I also cut out some bunny bits and looked at my little man...but, didn't add any more clay to him yet.  I'm sure he would love some ears.   I know he thinks the bears are talking about him...but, he can't hear them.  I'm keeping them apart for now... he is lying on the coffee table facing north...they are south of him ... on the dining table.

another new guy...

New challenge underway over at the Cloth and Clay Dolls site.  This one will be fun.  Not that they all aren't...just that I happen to be more interested in this one.  I can hardly wait to see the creations.

Most of you know that I seem to be doing not much of anything crafty lately...haven't had any inspiration or motivation or much of anything in that department it seems.  In the past few months... well, ever since my wrist surgery I guess....I haven't made anything or "anybody".  Not that I felt down and out or anything...just didn't put my hand to anything ...or my mind.  But...all of a sudden...I feel like doing something again.  Kicked myself in the butt and started a little bear...and now... also began playing with some clay.  I don't really know what I'm doing with clay even if I have taken a course...it was so long ago...and I do so little of it... I forget everything I learned... ...but, I do persevere.  That's about it.  I played with it for hours....and hours... my neck has been killing me for two days now... too much bending in one direction.  I don't even come up for air or tea or food when I get going on something.  Maybe I needed a few months off.... lol.....  and, I think I better set a timer for half an hour or an hour at a time... so I don't wreck myself.

The challenge is storybook characters....... and here is his head.... fresh out of the oven...no paint yet....so looks a lot paler than he will eventually .... and no ears either.... hahahhaha....  ......guess who it is.....

...the "new guy"...

Finally ... I'm getting motivated to do some little things.  Part of the reason is...I have a couple of deadlines. Aackk!!  That's me.  The world's best procrastinator.

I pulled out my bag of variegated New Zealand Romney and tore off some pinkish/purple.... trying to get the most purple strands.  If you ever try some felting..don't cut it... it leaves too many blunt ends to stick out all over the place ...it makes it easier to needle if you just tear it off...

Got to try out my new pen shaped needle holder suggested by Paint Granny....  it's a totally different feeling than how I used to do it..but, it worked fine.  I used to put a blog (hahahha.... a blog..hahaha...I meant a blob...got blogs on the brain !) of polymer clay on each of the needles for a handle... and I think there was a bit more fine control because my fingers were closer to the end of the needle...but...this will be better for my hand over the long haul.  I'm also trying to remember not to have a death grip on the pen or the piece of fluff I am holding onto with the other hand.

Here's how the little guys begin.... nothing but a bit of fluff...

Here is the head and a little body about the right size... I say right size...but there is no right size... it is whatever we feel like doing.  No wonder I love bear and doll making... there are no rules.  I make 'em up as I go.

Here... head is stuck on with a needle...and test eyes inserted ...

Do I want little eyes? ...

Or...do I want big eyes?

Posie looks perplexed... she can't make up her mind either....hahahhaha....

The finished little girl is Posie... you have seen her before if you've been coming here awhile. I call her a felted bear...but, she was felted up from strands of fluffy rayon plucked out of a chunk of rayon fabric instead of wool.  A bit difficult to stab ... almost felt sticky when the needle would go into it... and it got more and more difficult to stab it into it.... but, she turned out really cute.

OKay then....arms and legs.....

... humiliation and big bucks $$$....

Well, I wasn't taking any chances.  It is darn cold today.  Minus 24C with a bone chilling wind...makes it feel more like -34C....

I was feeling cold even in the house and checked the thermostat a few times... wondering why the furnace wan't keeping up... not getting up to the set temperature of +21C.... it seemed to be running steadily.....

Finally I went down there and looked in the furnace room...and at this...

the diabolical red eye....reminds me of The Terminator...

If it is just like this....still and red...it's a good thing.  But... if it is flashing on and off in a series of well choreographed blips... it's trouble.  Today.... it was 3 short and one long..... aha! Definitely not right.

There is a troubleshooting list right beside it...

Lying on my belly, with my glasses on... I could clearly see that 31 indicates heat pressure switch not functioning correctly or a relay problem... great.   I could have turned everything off I suppose,... and let it restart..but, usually it takes a while...and I was not about to let the better part of the day go by without getting a service call organized.  They tried to put me off til tomorrow...but..eh..... it's a long cold night without any heat ...even inside a house, so I insisted they come today.

I had already taken out the big electrostatic filters as instructed on the phone...they didn't look dirty, but, I left them out...no improvement.  The service guy (who speaks very little English) shows up.... opens the furnace door and says...."Wow...hot"... takes out the other small screen filters (they were filthy) ....... hands them to me and says..."You vacuum...I put back...it work".  Oh....

His next sentence was...."How you pay"? .... and the bill for that....$115.00 with tax.  How humiliating.  I thought I was a pretty good housekeeper...but, my slothfulness with the furnace filters just cost a bundle. Lesson learned.

Do your furnace filters need a bit of a vacuuming? .... if I save one person a whopping "regular-service-call" bill as well as being totally humiliated.... this will be a great day yet...

crafters are crazy....

I thought it might be interesting for some of you to see how I get a fluffy look to my little needle felted bears.

This little guy I made before Christmas.  See the eye of a needle sticking out of his head?  Just to hold on his head... til I get a read on him...  I attached it later.  The eyes are still just "test eyes" (I have different sized eyes on the ends of a sharp little pins to test for size) .. his nose is a bigger test eye...to check for size.  I finished him off with an embroidered nose and little black onyx beads for eyes.
But, then...sometimes I look at them...and think they look bald or naked or something....and just have to give them some "fur".  I can't help myself....

Maybe it's because when I first made bears... they were stitched...and done in fluffy mohair...  who knows why I do it...but, I just do.

Anyway... here's how I do it.

Find a perfect colour of mohair in my stash...

Pluck out some individual strands...

Pull and shred and mix them up a bit...

'Til they look a bit more fluffy, but still with some sprigs sticking out here and there..

Carefully needle in fluff and specific "hairs" all over the bear...paying particular attention to his head "hair" and around his face for the cuteness factor. (and try  not to stab myself in the process with a very sharp needle... because each part of these little guys is ..well... very little ...  anyone who has tried felting will know what I'm talking about)

His back side needs some too of course... don't want him half bald....

There..... that's better.  For me anyway.  I love a fluffy little tyke.

Fun Friday

Look what the parcel post guy brought yesterday.  A lovely "bauble" in the truest form of Christmas baubles.. from Marie!  Thanks so much Marie!  
I certainly wasn't expecting anything from anywhere ..so I was definitely surprised.  First of all when she wondered the other day if I had received a package in the mail .. which got me to wondering too...   We hadn't talked about doing a swap or anything, so I was totally stumped.  What could she be sending?... and why..? .. but, oooh, I love a good surprise. 

At  Christmas I saw some of these that she had been making.. and definitely admired them.... now..I own one.  Love the deep, rich, jewel tones. Makes me want to put up my tree again.  However, Mr. BV might think I'm losing it...you know...the last of the  little "grey cells'... so ..I guess I'll just have to admire it on the dining room table for now.  And...then... before it gets dusty...it can move into the curio with the bears.


These two are already getting an eyeful; doing their close-up inspection.  .. what busybodies ...they're everywhere!

Christmas in February.... love it!  I like surprises any time of year.... all year 'round is fun.  Thank you again Marie.... it's lovely.

Wordless Wednesday..

the day after Valentine's Day...

Somebody went to work on Sunday after being sick and off work for a few days..... so of course, I thought it was Monday all day while he was gone.  Then... Monday... all day I thought it was Tuesday... and today I haven't a clue what day it is. Oh, just a second....there goes the garbage truck..it must be Tuesday now!! Acckkk!

All I know is... Valentine's Day got all screwed up somehow....seeing as I didn't really know what day it was. My sister reminded me in an email the night before.  And in reality, Mr. BV and I don't do much for "special" days anyway... I always say every day around here is special.  But, sometimes, if I know in advance, and feel the desire to do something... well, I do.  And, this time I did sort of think about doing some cupcakes or a cake at least.... 'specially after watching Cupcake Wars on tv a few times ....cupcakes are calling meeeeee.......

Somehow (along with the women's shopping gene), I am missing the gene that causes big celebrations to happen on specific dates chosen for us by "somebody" ... ...the genes that get people so busy doing and planning special events.  I'm usually just happy with all my days because, well, because in my other life I had plenty of not so wonderful days...and I am truly thankful for this great life I now have.  Sometimes we do mark special little occasions...but, it isn't really a big thing with either of us.   Kind of like my Mom used to do.  For no reason..out of the blue...a little "just because" giftie would arrive in the mailbox...and it was such fun.  How I miss the silly little fun things we used to do when she was still alive.  Just for that...I'm going to send somebody something.... for the fun of it.

I stood in front of Bernard Callebaut Chocolaterie yesterday and wondered if perhaps somebody would stop in on his way home from work and buy some....and thought.... maybe I shouldn't ...just in case.  So..I didn't.   Darn it.  But...I did go next door and got this little cutie....

Catherine will have a good laugh.... we obviously have the same ideas on a few things....  but, my photo is certainly not anywhere near as amazing as hers of her orchids is.... along with her beautiful hands....

I had planned on a nice supper once I knew what day it was though.. and had kicked myself in the butt to make me get going. I picked up some cheese for my version of Chicken Parmigiana stuffed with asparagus.  (and, no there are no photos...I forgot ... and all of a sudden...it was too late... eaten!)   but...it was delicious if I do say so myself...and I do.  Decided to do cupcakes too... and found a recipe with no egg if you can believe it.... how weird is that?  I couldn't figure out how they would be light and airy with no egg. But...... no cholesterol, so thought I would give them a try. Who needs more cholesterol when there would be cheese on the chicken?  Not much...but, there has to be some when it is called Parmigiana.... hahahhaha..

I did not get around to icing the cupcakes.  My treat for the day after Valentine's Day will be ... pink icing on chocolate cakes!  Maybe with some raspberry jelly in it...mmm.... we'll see how the day goes today....... first there is vacuuming...dusting...some laundry and oh, yeh...exercise.  I'm into it now with a will and a way and noticing good results.  Feeling stronger and fitter...woohooo... guess I'll have to add a few extra jumping jacks to offset the cupcakes I definitely intend to eat.... ... what am I saying?  I don't like jumping jacks....my knees don't like jumping jacks... maybe just extra time on the treadmill, some kicks, some shadow boxing and, oh, 40 or more crunches for a week should do it.... that sounds more fun. ..

... and where is my little toy piping kit I bought years ago?  I want to learn how to decorate cakes and muffins.... er...cupcakes... some day.  Gotta do it.  I'm really a muffin kind of gal myself.  More rustic... less fiddly... and perfect for snacks... not as many crumbs and no icing ... although, I have to say...these little cupcakes are very, very moist.  Not dry or crumby at all!  They are great just plain...of course, I tested.  Have to make sure they're edible.  It's the little lady's job after all... . keeping her family safe...

my lovely socks!

And I say I never win anything!  Wrongo!  I sure did this time. Look at my lovely sockies... from Anne.  It was her second blogiversary and 600th post all at the same time... a busy lady.  But...somewhere in there she still finds time to knit ...and knit some more...and 3 of us lucked out and got socks.  From a lovely yarn with circus themed names.... we chose our own colours and voila....socks!

As a total non-knitter I just don't understand knitting at all. How do they fit so perfectly?  when all she had to go by was the length of my foot?  Amazing.  Nor do I understand how, from a single variegated strand of yarn, a pattern is formed...but, somehow it happens!  Somebody, somewhere... must have gone to an awful lot of work figuring how to make it do that.

They fit perfectly Anne!  heel and toe bang on... tops perfect....

I love my socks!

... and...that wasn't all.  In the packet there was also a lovely piece of fabric that is designed and made right there in her area.  She wonders if perhaps one of the dolls might like to wear it someday.

Now, I'll have to get my thinking cap on ... and I'll definitely have to be organized before I cut into it.  I think I better make the original design in muslin and transfer the design to the good stuff.

Hmmmmm....

... can't even turn my back for a minute to change batteries in the camera and somebody gets curious.... just had to feel the material and check it out didn't they?.....

Thanks again Anne.... oooooh.... who's a lucky girl?

Wordless Wednesday..

-16C .....

... and another 8 inches of snow.  Sigh.....my blog has turned into a weather report.
It's hard to get motivated to do much else it seems when I'm having to spend hours shovelling and more hours trying to get readjusted to doing my exercise routine. I even opted out of doing my weights and most of my exercise routine today.  I figured I did enough weight lifting just scooping and shoving and tossing the white stuff.  The main piles are now over 4 feet deep at the corners of the property.

There is a skating rink under the snow where the alleyway meets the sidewalk....I sure hope the mailman or a dog walker or any other unsuspecting passerby doesn't have a nasty accident.... it's tough to know where to walk for safety's sake.   We had some lovely warm days...and then... pow!... pummeled by Mother Nature.  Temperatures plummeted and the snow flakes swirled.  Again.  This is a pretty big snow year compared to the past few.  Last year I hardly had to shovel at all.  And... snow shovels?  (they are really wide scoops .. but, we call them shovels.. I had Judi worried for a bit there..she thought I was only using a little shovel..hahhaha nope...) Somebody is getting rich on what I call planned obsolescence  ..worn one out already and it's only February.   We're not nearly out of the woods yet as far as snow is concerned around here.  Ridiculous.  Don't dare buy the kind that has a metal strip on the sharp edge either... if ya hit a bump in the sidewalk you could do yourself an injury midsection.... or wreck a wrist... forget that.  Too much uneven pavement or pavers to shovel.

The youngish male neighbour across the street has anger management issues.... there was a lot of swearing coming from his quarter.... even with his ancient mother out there.  What a wimp and lazy ass that guy is.  The 83 year old fella 3 houses over was out there shovelling.  Whistling.  Suck it up baby boy....

Another day or two of this... and the weatherman is talking about plus numbers once again.  Yo yo weather.  We are sort of used to it...but, still...each time it begins to melt and you can sort of see bare pavement in spots... it seems hopeful.  But, again...waaaay to early for any springtime stuff.

Good thing I did some shopping on the weekend....
tomorrow... baking...hahahha...that's the other thing about this blog.  It has become my second food blog.  Somewhere I must find an hour and do something cfrafty...hahahha...look at that will ya?  I even forget how to spell it!!

Just for that....I'm gonna show and tell my latest wonderful focaccia bread.
with spices, olives.... sun dried tomatoes... and ... hmmm... forget already what else...oh, yeh...a bit of cheese.  More on Mr. BV's side of the loaf than on mine....

Just some pretty photos....

I was going to do Wordless Wednesday a day late, but changed my mind.... and am giving you some pretty snowy photos instead..

I love how the snow piles up into little cone hats on the dried flowers that I left standing.  I always think perhaps the birds who are seed eaters might be able to get something from them if the weather is really bad and there is not much else around..
















Somewhere under this...is my birdie bath.... honest...

And.... under here..... my little 5 foot spruce...which was supposed to be a globe spruce..but appears to be a full size guy that I am trying to keep pruned to a manageable height.   I think I will have to excavate it soon and give it to somebody with a bigger yard.

Time to start some of this in here...

it piles up so high and then leans precariously...and then...just falls off....

The piles are getting deeper where I have to toss it off the sidewalks....

I love the deep purples and blues as the light fades in the evening....

This was a few days ago.... at the moment...it has jumped up from -24C to a lovely balmy +7C...and the roads are clearing and melty... more cooler weather forecast for next week...but, not nearly as bad as last week.  Wheeeee.......