working on something else.

....learning to do things with paper and fabric and FME and ...well, just about everything in Karen's latest class.  She's got us moving in all directions...  making sure the newbies taking a class for the first time know all the stitches and tricks  ..  ..and keeping us prior students interested as well... must be a tricky thing actually...but, she seems to manage it.

Making a page for my info/inspiration ledger...  I"m still trying to decide if I will give it a name or just put 'stuff' in it...hahhaha.... it's only for me really...and I know what it is and what's in there ...so it isn't that important...

Remember my fashion sketch? ... here is a rough one simulating the gown's bottom edge...  made to use for a page in my book  ...FME over bits of silk, organza and lace ..and the bits on the side? ..just some initial practice pieces and also... it adds balance to my page...

This little piece is silk with lace FME'd onto it... it ruched up like that.. probably because it was just a small piece and difficult to keep flat really.....but, wouldn't it look pretty as part of something to wear? ....

and, look at the back of my paper  ... wow... ....

stylized snowy trees.....aren't they lovely?

Christmas cards spring to mind........ sorry... somebody had to say it....

Blog fodder/embarrassing moment..

It's hard to know the difference.

Sometimes I used to think it would be almost too embarrassing to show you some of my erroneous or downright stupid stitching moments...but, hey, it's definitely nothing like all of Rob Ford's regular life ..so what's the big deal?  I'll just blurt it out and carry on like nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

Here's the morning's effort...

Merrily stitching away on the machine...which is not my fortè anyway...but...onward... it must be used for FME.  Well, I suppose you could spend all day doing backstitch by hand over a rather large area....but, no... not that necessary to waste time doing that.  I need a new 'master sheet' of fabric from which to cut some new pin pillows/cushions.... and I do need to get on with it...I want at least one finished before Christmas.

This sheet is off white compared to the pristine whites I used for my first sheet  ....   and I've found some lovely bits of fabric including a piece of satiny one side stuff...it might be crepe of some kind...I'm not all that knowledgable about fabrics.

Anyway..back to my story...which by now is reaching novella length and I'm not even into it yet...hahhaha.... I'm going to say it.....I sound like Karen.... whittering on at length... ooooh, there; I've done it...I'll be on the "naughty step" in our class for sure now.....

oh, sorry....another detour...it's like driving around our city..you can't find your way on any of the streets just now due to construction, road repairs and so called flood mitigation antics ...

Pay attention to where the edges and corners of your fabric sheet are once you get whizzing along, doing great circles and chortling to yourself about how wonderful it is looking..... with the stitching creating lovely artistic swirls and satiny bumps that look like little pearls......sigh.............because sure as the dickens, something like this will happen while you are congratulating yourself.

Can you see it?

Yes, I did.  Stitched the front to the back with FME .... and it's even stitched it into the darn hoop.  What the ?? .... aarrgghhhhhh!!!@%&*

Great.  This could take a while..... where is my trusty little picker thing-a-ma-jig?...

Found it.  Picked it and ..yes, I did say some blue words......but, mostly under my breath, while trying not to ruin my pretty satiny fabric... cuz it will leave marks if I poke around willy nilly.

HAH!! Salvaged it.  And, it looks fine if I say so myself.  Okay then.... now, I can brush my teeth and get on with the rest of my day.....

Tip of the Day:::  pay attention to what I am doing.    Think before pressing the pedal.

Fashion sketches..

I've always loved the way fashion designers draw the stylized, long and lovely bodies  ....and then design gowns for them.  As a kid I used to love cut outs and would often try to make them some additional dresses ... nothing like this, of course, but I loved giving it a go.

Maybe I should have had a class or two on how to draw the bodies ... what fun that would have been, but, even for my doll making I never did do what I was supposed to do most of the time.  And, my bodies were never as short and stumpy as the pattern indicated.
I did watch a tutorial or two on the net, but, then, I always get impatient and think ... too slow ... I hate to have to actually learn some things... just want to "do"..so I try it on my own a lot of the time.  I'm definitely a "fly by the seat of my pants" type person some days.... okay, most days I guess...

The originals are by Monique Lhuillier... she does some beautiful things.... have seen her drawings around ... and I love them.  So..I figured I could print some off... sit down with a pencil and eraser and try to get something similar for the first page of my new class ledger.

Some inspiration!  ... ... here is my effort....very happy with her, although, any of you artists will probably notice all sorts of things I don't see ... just don't burst my little happy balloon okay?    hahahha...

The new "class" ...

... that isn't really a class...but, more a following along of Karen as she shows us how she works through her creations ...  Simply Stitch 3 if you want to check it out.  Side bar on her blog.

During it all, of course, there are many questions, and the answers come in the form of demonstrations ...not really lessons..hahahha... so as you can see it becomes a bit more of a class than it's supposed to be, but, it's all in good fun and lots of entertainment and learning goes on... and so many great photos are being posted to the Flickr site for inspiration for us all.  Sadly, I can't give you that address..it's private for the group.. can't give it all away ..

There is paper involved this time...as you can see by all the info and photos on Karen's blog...so there is still plenty to see... and we are encouraged to do some ourselves...

I may not still quite grasp the ins and outs of all of it yet...but, I'm checking out my stock of papers.  No need to buy any, that's for certain.  I have plenty.  Years ago I thought I might do some cards and other paper things...even took a short class ... but, that didn't happen.  However, us crafters never throw anything out.  Just a minute... I think that's our motto.  "It might come in handy"...hahhaha...and look ...it did.

I got me a big spiral bound mixed media book of paper ... nice weight.. for use as a place to save bits of fabric and also as a drawing paper...and as luck would have it ..plenty of pages to tear out and use separately to stitch on (they are even perforated at the spiral edge) or to just take out and dispose of if I don't like what I scribbled.  It is thick enough that when I get 'stuff' in there on several pages ...even if I take out a lot....I'm thinking it will still be stuffed.
The cover was mostly just advertising...so I 'prettified' it.  with a great piece of paper from my stash.  Hey, this is fun already!

Not only will I use it for demos to myself and for show and tell in the class  .. I will be writing down new information and keeping any 'notes to self' from previous classes ...now....it will all be in one place.  Hah!  Good for something already.  Like Karen always says...if we walk away with only one thing.... she feels good about that....

She has several books she uses for saving her bits and pieces...but, they are pages with drawings or patterns on.  I looked at a few books that might have worked...but... decided on plain, pristine paper to work with.  I like plain.  I can add little bits and bobs of my own design or pics of fun things.  You know my dolls and bears will show up somewhere in there...ya just know it!  Well, they won't want to miss out on all the fun will they?  Not those guys.

Some of the women are worried about not being able to draw or paint... not me... I will use some splashes of colour if I want them..using other people's art, or I will sit right down and copy things I see that I like.  Copying is always good.   Or, how about pieces of somebody else's art?  Like these soft, watercolour napkins  ..how pretty and I've had them for years... sitting in a drawer in my hobby room...doing nothing...waiting ..... opportunity knocks....

Playing with paper ... oh, and of course, still working on pin pillows and ...a little something for my Christmas tree.... sorry Karen, I know you don't want to hear it yet....but, it's not too early for me ...I need to begin now..or it won't get accomplished.  No waiting til the last minute this time.  It'll be on us before we know it and there is a lot to do yet........ must keep on top of things.

So, I drove over to deliver some books....

.... and, erm.... wasn't quite sure if I should get out of the car when I saw this on the lawn.  I know elk can be dangerous...but, a deer ...well, I suppose if they get spooked or ticked...they could lash out.  But, the thought of seeing that particular elk almost kick an idiot that was photographing it lingered in my brain ... I sat there for a few seconds more.

It doesn't look that big in the photo...but, man...that head was huge when I was standing closer... the ears alone had to be about 9 inches tall ... no lie!

Finally, I decided she didn't seem to be too bothered by me... and I also noticed there was another one on the neighbour's lawn....and  .. . a third, much smaller, one on the lawn across the street....what the? ...??  The place was positively littered with deer!  What's going on here?

I was even a bit more concerned now... what if they were guarding the smaller one? ..or worse yet... the little one was wounded or something... I sure didn't want to scare them up and cause more damage if they felt they had to move in a hurry...

Still I sat there and waited ... then, decided I would get out quietly, walk up the lawn about 20 feet over to the left of her and just talk softly, to nobody in particular, while doing it.  I had to go behind a big shrub too...so I quietly warned her I was about to saunter out from behind it as I was doing it... managed to sidle along the lower part of the porch and got to the steps that way...whew...she didn't even budge... and I found out they had all been there for some time already.

I was there for several minutes.... quietly went back the way I came;  got in the car and drove away.  Then, thought...darn it, I wish I had my camera.  Went to the bank to do some business... drove home, got my camera and immediately drove back.  They were still here.  I got a shot of each through the window so I didn't scare them off and drove away.  It made my day.

They may still be there .....

I broke it!!

Waaaahhhhhhhh!!!
my cute little spoon rest from Portugal.  I dropped the pepper grinder on it and it cracked the end of the handle right off!

I got it a couple years ago when we visited my friend Maria there..... it took me soooo long to choose from hundreds, if not thousands, at a special pottery shop that we stopped at on one of our little day trips.

It is a clean break...and I did toy with the idea of mending it ..but, at some point, I'd probably put it in the sink ...the piece would fall off and I'd stab myself with the razor sharp edges...so no...I have to let it go I guess.

Good bye little hand painted pottery piece....

Best laid plans....

"I don't think we are supposed to be playing with it"...
                                                                                 











"Don't worry....  I won't get my wet nose on it or nuthin' "......

"Okay, ..well, maybe I could touch the lacy bit just once too"...

"Oooooh... yeh...feels nice".....

"Uh, oh..............busted" .........

Hi, my name is Vee, and I have an addiction...

But, ... it's a simple, harmless, pleasurable little addiction... that's what it is!!  This is my fourth little pincushion.  And .... I put the blame squarely where it belongs.  On Karen!

I love them all and I love making them.  There.  I've admitted it.  That was lovely and cathartic.  Whew.

Take some pretty bits of fabric. Stitch them together.  FME seams.  Embroider and add tiny bits of favourite trim or snippets of vintage hankies or whatever you like.. et voilà !!  A "pretty".

Little hearts of cross stitch with some pink knots inside the top part of it... makes them look like cute little strawberries to me ..

Some cross stitch on a snippet of a vintage hanky that Mom gave to me eons ago.... when I was just a kid....

I love making these little Forget-Me-Not type flours... just 5 French Knots around and one for a centre...

Buttonhole lace edging on the bit of lace covering one corner.. and still need to do that all around the outside of the whole pincushion.


Uh, ohhh......
already looking at another area of the 'master sheet'..... deciding on bits and bobs....hahahhahahahha
like I said in the beginning..... ...addictive....

Want a cookie?

..... Sorry.... that's teasing.  I wish it were that easy.

It's almost that easy though.... I'm giving you the recipe for these.  I love them.  Kind of like a breakfast cookie if you know what I mean.

A great thing to do with those leftover Rice Krispies that have been sitting there too long...and then, guess what?  You will be forced to go buy some more to make another batch of these.  Well, that's what happened around here anyway.

I thought I was doing a good thing; using up some past due Krispies .. and lo and behold, the recipe was so good and so versatile... I make them often now.

And, ...   I've discovered they don't make small boxes of Krispies anymore.....man... I had to buy a HUGE box.... so, I baked several batches...with different nuts, raisins, some with cranberries...and froze 'em.  Still working on the box ...but, hey...it's good til 2014 ... I'll definitely be buying a new one before then...even if it is a whopping 500 grams of snap, crackle, pop!

They are called Crunchy Jumbles... but, I call them Rice Krispie Cookies... and it's from a magazine I bought a few years ago.  Says it makes 36, but they'd have to be tinier than I make.  I usually get about 32.

115 g or  1/2 cup butter
225 g or  1    cup sugar
1    egg
5 ml   or   1 tsp. vanilla
175 g or   1 1/4 cups plain flour
2.5 ml  or  1/2  tsp. bicarbonate of soda
        pinch of salt
115g   or   2   cups crisped rice cereal
1    cup chocolate chips  (needless to say this is waaay too much for me!)


Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Sift together flour, soda.  Add cereal.   Fold into the creamed butter mixture.
Add chocolate chips, nuts etc and mix thoroughly.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto lightly greased cookie sheets.
Bake in 180C /350 F or Gas 4 oven..... for about 10 - 12 minutes.


(for crunchier cookies add 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped, with cereal and only 1/2 cup of choco chips and use a couple teaspoons less butter.)  (I've also taken to adding sunflower seeds or raisins, or dried cranberries, ..whatever I have on hand.)  I don't grease sheets ...but, it will depend upon what type of cookie sheet you use... test bake one.  Sometimes, I also add a tiny 'sprink' of nutmeg, cinnamon or maybe even ginger... these are so versatile...just add or subtract whatever you like after you try your first batch and get a feel for them.

okay, I"m off to make a cuppa and have one ....or two ...  or three....  sigh..... they are a bit like popcorn...can't just pop in one kernel can you?

Beginnings...

... of my next pincushion... my fourth now... wow!.... not that I'm speeding along or anything.
A few little French knot flowers.  Look like Forget-Me-Nots..

It's so much easier and pretty quick too when I already have the 'master sheet' of fabric ready to go whenever the spirit moves me.  Remember the master sheet of pretty fabrics?  So much easier than putting each one together separately.                                                                     















Pick a nice area, figure out exactly the size and shape the cushion will be and begin embroidering..

Decide on some trims... embroider a bit more and soon, it begins to take shape... I love putting them together.  They are so tiny and dainty and I love working with tiny things.

What a difference a day makes!

....  or a few days .... although, the past few have been as beautiful as the last posting.

But, this morning, as forecast..... this is what we see outside our windows...

There isn't any frost on my pumpkins...I don't have any...but, I do have snow on the Hawthorne berries and leaves....

It's accumulating in the slats of the patio privacy screen....

The small crabapples on the flowering crabapple look like frozen maraschino cherries...

The snow is being driven sideways at almost a 45 degree angle by a stiff breeze from the north...and, I'm thinking .....baking ....baking....baking....hmmmm....what shall I bake? .........

A beautiful day!

Can you believe it got up to +20C today?  A perfect summery day.... on the 24th of October!  Wow.
                                 
Look at the colour of the sky...and it was exactly like this, believe me!
Pretty darn amazing.
                                            

This is my young hawthorn tree... I've never seen this many berries on it before.  Have no idea what that might mean.... regarding winter and all the superstitions, or myths, etc... all I know is it is great to see.

 And, several snapdragons and the wild flax are still blooming away.... this one grew really long and leggy...  it towers over the oat grass  ... I think because it was in the shade of the tree and was reaching for more sunlight... who knows for sure....

Today, ... Eggnog is already in the Safeway....good grief!!  And, I saw my first Christmas ad...... shhheeeesh!  It ain't even Hallowe'en yet for cryin' out loud!

What a sloth I am..

I was thinking that with the change of seasons I would get back to blogging because I would be busy with crafting and such and, well, figured I may have things to talk about.  But... nope...didn't happen ...  yet....

I still have some digging to do in the garden area...things to clip etc..and dirt to move ...although, having said that I'm waaay ahead of last year.  The weather has been great.  And, I don't know if it is anything to do with weather or what ..but, look at my traffic light Aspens.

Red, green and yellow...  nobody in the neighbourhood has a red one...they are all asking if we sprayed it red or something.... how silly would that be?

All I know is ..how pretty they look when I peek out at the yard.... I'm loving the new landscaping.

  I have begun some crafty things, but ...sorry ...can't show them yet... 

Off to stir some soup now.... that's another thing that has been keeping me busy...more cooking and baking ...with cooler weather I love to play in the kitchen......

WOYWW..or .... freakin' out!!

It's been like this for several days and the ex dental assistant in me is freaking right out.  I can't stand seeing all my scissors, haemostats and dental instruments tossed in such disarray!  Even after all these years of being out of that scene.  Oh, alright ...no actual dental instruments but, close .... with haemostats hanging around.  They are surgical...

I use them to pull through stubborn needles... or stuff things..or turn tight corners right side out .. so, I use them a lot.  I have several different sizes and curvatures... but, come on ...    they could at least be neat and tidy ..couldn't they?  Of course.

And, look at the poor family...trying to peek over the mess to keep me company... brother.... time to tidy up for sure ...

When Maggi came last week we couldn't even sit in here ... we sat at our usual...the kitchen table.  Oh, well....it was closer to food and tea....

Hahahahha...notice I was so embarrassed I left the photo 'til dead last?

... and....I only showed one corner of the room......

What do you suppose it is?

I looked for a pic of anything that looked similar ... couldn't find much...

....if they were elongated they also seemed to have longer stalks ..this guy had a very short stalk.

I read that if it grows in your lawn, it is called a "lawn mushroom".  Doesn't seem too informative ... oh, and, apparently most lawn mushrooms are poisonous... great.... guard your kids people!

I think fall is settling in... the miniature crabapples are showing up on my so called 'flowering crab'..which is not supposed to have too many...but, it seems they still haven't quite figured out a way to keep most of the decorative crabs from getting fruit.  Maybe the birds will eat a few over the course of the winter.  I'm leaving them on just in case, seeing as this tree is new to our yard.   Do birds like them?  Don't know.  I'll find out I guess.  Maybe some birds like them...maybe not... I've seen the squirrels stealing the neighbour's big crabapples...maybe they'll take some too....

About the size of cherries.

And, now....a third...

... almost completed.  Having the "master sheet" already made up and just being able to cut each piece out and embroider and trim makes it go a lot faster than beginning a new one each time.  Not that it's a race.

There is now just the last row of buttonhole lace stitching around the outside to do.

Wow... that is one of the things that takes me quite a long time and is very tricky.  The thickness of the edges makes it hard to get a needle through it ....and I end up using my haemostats to pull the needle through on many stitches.... it took me an hour's stitching last night just to do about 3/4 of the edge... not that I'm complaining...just sayin' ... and, so ... that means about another hour and a half to finish.  The second row will be simpler, of course, and not difficult to pull through.  It is more just stringing the thread through each stitch now... to finish off the outside neatly and prettily... it makes all the difference in the world to the overall appearance.

See the little soft cotton piece of my vintage hanky with the tatted edge?  Right there along the lower corner?  I still have more left...and I love how it works so well with the embroidery on the pillows... I will continue to use it all ... I may even have enough to do all 6 pillows that will come from the master sheet.

My idea to use a couple small bits of my lacy fabric that I won in Karen's giveway didn't go as easily as I was thinking it would.  I cut some some, placed them and promptly went blank... they didn't look like much and I had no clue what to do ... but, as the days passed...I had a few thoughts...and did a few stitches in other areas while I tried to puzzle it out.

Here's how it looked the first day....

Then, I wondered about just using one and some other stitching.... but, no.....

So, I continued to puzzle and stitch.... and here's how they look now...

They've come a long way baby!  French knots to hold them in place as well as bulk out the edges; bullion knots to surround them and make them stand out; more French knots as tiny daisy flowers ...

Another little bit of folded lace ( my new stuff I got in the village of Armstrong, B.C. for $1.50 for 5  metres) ... . ... and hey... a second little not so dangly thing-me-bob. I attached it a bit too close to a corner....live and learn.  It then sort of flipped up and looked more like a tab or handle.. so I had to stitch it down after the fact... not an easy feat..  nor is doing a few French knots when you can't get to the back of the fabric...but, I did it...hiding the beginning and end of the threads beneath the lace... tricky that.

The next one?  I make darn sure I remember a few lessons I already learned on my first three pillows.... the fourth should be a little less hassle..... but, ...maybe not.  You know how it goes... try something a bit different yet again and hey...more tricks to learn...  good thing old dogs can so learn new things.