Jingle Belles - We Wish You a Plaid Christmas

Got plaid?  That's what the Jingle Belles want to know this week.  I've got plaid stencils which I used a couple of weeks ago, but I also have a small package of plaid paper from Stampin' Up that gave me a lot of ready made choices.  Ah, but what to add to plaid?

Well, all I had to do was take a look at my craft table and through my scrap bags to find some stuff that was in the ready for use.  Like these houses and the stamped and colored berry background.  I also picked some loose leftover greenery and combined that with a die cut poinsettia and snowflake to make a swag.  I added some faux stitching around the berry panel so it stood out from the background a little more.

You know that I save pretty packaging and this card has evidence of that in the chipmunk on the pine branch which came from the wrapper of a specialty Christmas candy bar (that was very tasty by the way.... it was chocolate peanut butter).  I thought he was so cute in his winter hat.  I fussy cut him off the label and found the birch tree and sentiment in the scrap bag.  

Our chipmunk has come out from hiding and has been seen scurrying around the backyard.

There's a woman in Atlanta who goes by @englishanj on IG who has been posting videos and stills of her little chipmunk friend she's named Thelonius since almost the beginning of the pandemic.  As the story goes, her father or uncle sent her this little picnic table and she decided to set it up for the chipmunk.  Each time she posts there are miniature plates, cups, bowls, and whatnot to accompany the treats that she leaves for him to enjoy such as nuts, seeds, and some fruit.  Surprisingly to me, apparently in Atlanta chipmunks don't disappear during the winter like they do here because she has posted year-round.  He will even eat out of her hand now, and there was a time not too long ago when it appeared that he had been in some kind of animal altercation and had some wounds on his face.  But he has healed well.  Recently I read that the lifespan of a chipmunk is about 3 years so I wonder how much longer Thelonius will be around.  It's fun to see his daily antics.

Okay, enough about chipmunks.  Time to head over to the Jingle Belles blog to leave some love for all the other plaid entries.  You can check it all out by clicking here.

Art and Found Day Follow-Up

Back around the middle of the month I posted about Art and Found Day and shared the pictures of the artwork that I left and where I left them.  The day after I did the drop I was kind of down in the dumps because HWNSNBP found the package that we left down the street at the train station opened and on the ground and brought it home.  Either the person didn't think it had any value or they dropped it.  I mused when I posted on FB and IG that I should have made sure to place them near a garbage can as littering was not my intention.  From that FB post I learned that the package I had taped to the side door at the school was found by one of the teachers but she hadn't gotten around to letting me know.  Turns out, as I thought might be the case with any or all of them, that she didn't know how to tag me on IG and was going to try to figure it out but she's a single mom and was busy with her kids.  I told her not to worry because I now I knew it had been found.  (Several of the other teachers that saw my FB post were disappointed that they hadn't gotten to school earlier.) 

About a day later I received a message on IG with this picture.  A young woman was at the park with her friend and her friend's little girl and they found it.  The little girl loved it so much the young woman gave it to her.  Then two days ago I got another notification on IG that another one of the packages had been found at another park in our area.  I had told them both that it made me happy to know that they were found and they were appreciated.  

So as of now 4 of the 5 packages I dropped are accounted for.  I still haven't gone to look if the last one is still tied to the bench.  I'm fine with what I do know.  

Would I do this again?  Not sure.  Although my name is signed on the back of these paintings, I did not want to provide too much information on the envelope.  An e-mail address would probably be a better, more commonly used way to contact someone as most people have e-mail.  Not so with Instagram.  I do have two instagram accounts - one that is only visible to friends/family who have requested to follow that I share family photos on, and the other one that is public for sharing of my art.  I specifically used the public account for this activity.  I guess I could set up a specific e-mail account and I might give that some more thought.  I really don't want to leave my personal e-mail info out there to be in the wind.

A Different Kind of Button

I should subtitle this "Using What You Have Accumulated" because I did get to use something that I have accumulated over the years with no specific intention planned.  This stems from going on a tangent whilst perusing Pinterest for....... I can't remember what lead me down the rabbit hole, but this is where I landed.  On Yorkshire buttons.  

That's not the only type of woven button that has piqued my interest, but so far the only one that I have actually tried. This is a finished Yorkshire button made with rainbow variegated crochet cotton.  The crochet cotton is what I have accumlated.  We went to a church bazaar several years back and I bought a whole bag of barely used and some new balls of Knit-Cro-Sheen cotton thread in a plethora of colors for $3 which was less that one single ball would have cost at the time.  (I see that the price of these has almost doubled since then.) 

They are made using a weaving technique that is pretty simple.  

You need to start with a circle cut from a heavy piece of paper and mark it evenly in 12 spaces (I've since seen that you can do even more spaces but this was what I started with).  I started by tracing my 1 3/4" punched circle onto a scrap piece of paper and used an angle and circle maker to mark off the segments, put tick marks onto the circle, numbered them, and then cut little divits into each tick mark.

You also need to put a hole in the center and that is where the thread comes up through.  There is a certain way that this has to be wrapped in order for the paper circle to be removed.  Here is a link to better and more precise instructions - click here.

You can see that the thread doesn't go across the back, just from tick to tick.  And I've loosely coiled my 8" tail and secured it to the back with some washi tape for easy removal.

It was recommended to use about 8 feet (2.5 meters) of thread to begin with.  I used that measurement with the first one that I tried and it was not long enough - you have to weave to the very edge of the circle.  You can add additional length of thread, however, if it is variegated you have to be careful to add the thread in the same gradation if you want to continue the pattern in that way.  I will say right now that the most clumsy and trying part of this is the length of thread, whether it was 8 ft. or 12 ft.  it tends to twist as you are weaving and keeping it unknotted is a challenge. You find little tricks to unwind the thread the more you do them.  

This was as close to the edge as I could get without popping the loops off unintentionally.

With the paper removed this is the back. (You can use either side of the weaving.  You would just pull that tail through to the other side if you wanted this to be the finished button.)

And the front.  At this point, you use the thread still on the needle and weave that in and out of the loops all around the circle.  When you pull it taught it will form a little pouch to which you add some filling.  You then pull it tighter until the ball/button is formed and give it a quick knot with the beginning tail.  

I didn't cut the thread just yet.  There is some gapping on the back where you can see the filling which I wanted to hide so I used the extra thread to weave around the spoked to cover that up a bit more.  (Sorry, no picture.)  Then I trimmed the threads to the same size.

This was the first one that I had tried and the weave is a little looser than I liked, and you can't see where I added the extra length of thread as it is mostly towards the back.  

I finished this one today.

So, depending on how much you stuff it you see the approximate finished size.  

They remind me of sea urchins.  

I will be trying out some more of the colors soon and maybe see what I can do with them.  I imagine these would have been very ornamental on the clothing that they were used on in addition to being functional.  

Let me mention that this weaving is a bit time consuming - it took me about an hour from start to finish.  But I did find that I can use my Cubii when I'm doing it.  I asked for the Cubii for Christmas and Santa found a good deal and came through.  It sits under the table and I can pedal away while I'm working on the computer, or in this case, weaving.  It's not the greatest for drawing or painting because of the movement, but it's perfect for browsing or watching videos.  And now weaving.

I wish I had had one of these under my desk at work.  I bet I would have pedalled around the world several times over the years.  

Jingle Belles - Holiday Melody

Our goal this fortnight was to convey music somehow on our Jingle Belle cards.  I found a piece of sheet music in a packet of Christmas ephemera I had won last year and trimmed it down to use as a background for the nativity scene that I had clipped from a Christmas card we received.  It was so pretty with the stained glass effect and reminded me of the Christmas carol "Away in a Manger".   I added a slice of a vintage Christmas doily from my stash and felt it still needed something.  So I pulled out some Martha Stewart gem flowers that were just waiting to be used.  I wish I had a third one, but this will do.

I should note that this looks a lot better IRL when you can see the effect of the red jewels and silver frame.  HWNSNBP is waiting on me to take a picture of him and his buddies who are just finishing up working on a woodworking project so I must go.  But I will be back to check out the other Christmas Melody entries (I took a peak and I think I saw a shark there......that sure has piqued my interest!).  You can check them out too at the Jingle Belles blog by clicking here.

Blessings on St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This little mouse comes from Colorado Crafts..... I thought he was so sweet and perfect for a St. Patrick's Day greeting.

Finding a rainbow in an unusual place is lucky - like on this sign as the sun was reflected on it.  It never fails though - I usually notice something photo worthy just as the light is going to change.  But this day I was lucky that we were turning towards the sign.  One second later and the reflection was gone and it was just your normal sign visible.

And here is my little rainbow banner I recently added to the plant shelf.  It's made of felt  strips strung on some thick baker's twine.  I actually found it (unassembled) in the party section at the dollar store.  I thought I could use those felt strips for something...... which turned out to be what it was intended for. 

There may not be a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow but it sure makes me smile.

Hope you find a rainbow today! (Or maybe have a Shamrock Shake which I hope to do later!)

Congratulatory Get Well

A male friend of ours recently underwent knee replacement surgery.  We wanted to send a card but I didn't really have anything masculinely appropriate for this particular guy.  So I went a different direction than a typical "get well/get better" card.  This is a card congratulating him on his new knee.  I used my long forgotten Just Right stamper that allows me to make my own messages.  

Inside was a little note telling him to take it kneesy and to let us know if he kneeds anything.

I took some of the scraps that were by my papercutter and put this card together.  There's no sentiment on it yet - we'll see what it can be used for in the future.  But I figured why just put the scraps in the scrap box?

We finally have some signs of spring in the yard.  These crocuses decided to pop up yesterday.

And last night's sunset was pretty intense through the trees.

Quilled Beauty

One of my "Pig Ladies" (and I use that term lovingly) sent me this beautiful quilled bluebird card for Flying Pig Day.  Though not a flying pig, it does go along with that beautiful quote from Emily Dickinson's poem  HOPE

Hope is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

That sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

Quilling is a beautiful art form that I've long admired.  I've only ever tried it once (click here) though I must admit that I have several kits in my stash that I've accumulated over the years.   Something I planned on doing in my retirement (the list is long).

I've always loved quilling as can be evidenced by the placecards that my sister helped create for our wedding back in the late 70's.  She quilled all the flowers and I did the calligraphy.  This is the actual placecard for the new Mr. & Mrs. T. Mastalski - as you can see it's a little stained and time-worn but it's one of my cherished pieces of art. I don't know if anyone else kept theirs but I couldn't part with this.  I have a set of quilled owls somewhere that my sister made for us also which I will have to keep an eye out for.  

It's been a little bit of a nostalgic start to this month.  Both of my sisters are gone now - this month being the second anniversary of the youngest.  Though we didn't have a best friends type of relationship we did share a common upbringing and a lot of common likes and dislikes.  I find myself wanting to confirm memories at times with them when I'm doing things that go back to our childhood, then I remember that I can't and have to rely on my memories alone.  My brothers were a little younger than us and of course, their interests were a bit different.  

I have a box of sewing supplies from my other sister that's been here since her passing 20 years ago now.  I've recently gone through it to pull out some things that I think that I can use - something I should have done a long time ago.  She was a gatherer - my definition of that is someone who is like a hoarder but gathers things with an intention to use them. I guess I would fit into that category myself.  Anyway, I think that with my supply of collected fabric and her supply of zippers, I should be able to get some pouches going when I pull out the sewing machine.  

Well, that was a long tangent, but let me say thanks to Dorrie for the beautiful bluebird and the pin.  I will treasure them also.

Art and Found Day

I saw this event - Art and Found Day - posted somewhere about a month ago and decided to use some of the small canvasses that I had prepped to make some art to be found.  The canvasses had already been gessoed and the next step was the "chaos" layer.  Basically swiping paint on them to cover the white.  Originally I had used mostly pinks, reds, and orange for a potential Valentines project, but in light of the recent events of the world, I decided to have some of them with the Ukraine colors so I could paint some sunflowers.  Here's the results.

I had shown the sunflowers before but I added some white splatter and gold dotting to them (which you can see if you enbiggan the picture).  I signed and dated the back and sprayed them with a fixative.  Friday night I packaged them in padded envelopes with a note on the front and then put them in zip lock bags because of the impending bad weather.  Well, my intentions were to disperse them yesterday (3/12) but the weather conditions were not only wet but considerably windy and I didn't want to take the chance of them becoming litter by being blown about.

Today HWNSNBP drove me around our town to distribute them for finding.  Five of the originals shown were left to be found.  I saved 3 of them for RAK's I will be using in the future.

I consider our town to be semi-rural so finding public places took a little thought.  We thought that tieing them to benches with jute would be a little more secure if the wind picked up - and the jute is biodegradable if it's left at the scene.  Hopefully, if and when they're found, the finder(s) will contact me through my IG account address that I provided.  If not, oh well, it made me feel good to do it.

By the way, reading the info about Art and Found Day any type of artwork can be left, not just paintings.  I know I would be elated to find some free art of any kind.

March Birthday

Today was HWNSNBP's birthday and I got to use this Elvis stamp that I had in my stash.  The stamp itself is just one positive and one negative image with about 1/4 inch between them, but I chose to stamp them twice, use black embossing powder, and then cut the squares out individually to put them back together this way.  

We took a ride late this morning to a lumber yard that had some specialty wood (cedar) that he was looking for to complete a raised bed planter for our daughter and SIL.  He drove the truck right into the storage building where all the wood was stacked and labeled and I have to admit it smelled wonderful.  The stacked boards reminded me of the paper I used on his card so I had to take a picture.

And here's the puzzle that I finished the other day.  There is no background to this puzzle, it's just the hummingbird and the lillies.  When I was Christmas shopping I was getting this for my DIL and thought I would like to try it too.  Now that it's done I think that I will have HWNSNBP put the puzzle table away for now so I can have the other half of the dining room table cleared for my sewing machine.  I have a few spring sewing projects I want to get busy with.

Jingle Belles - Oh Christmas Stencil

I'd been thinking about this for the last almost two weeks wondering what I would do for this stencil challenge the Jingle Belles threw out there this time.  Nothing was coming to me.  I knew that I could probably make my own with punches as our lovely hostess Lauren did with her first card.   But before I got around to it I remembered the Tartan Plaid stencils that I have from The Greetery.  And then, while I was pulling those out, I also came across the Winterberry Bouquet stamp and stencil set that I had treated myself to for Christmas but hadn't used yet.  So the plan was hatched.

The first two cards were made using the Winterberry stencils and stamps.  The sentiment dies are also from The Greetery.

I did do one with the Tartan Plaid builder and some of the other stamps from the Winterberry set.  I wasn't too thrilled with how the colors of the plaid came out.  I used distress oxides in the same colors that I used on the flowers, leaves, and stems, and I found I don't care for the way the Speckled Egg on the red gives it a lavender hue but I didn't want to waste it.  That's also the reason why I didn't do two of them.  I will have to experiment with some other colors in the future.  The floral pieces on this card were fussy cut because I neglected to treat myself to the dies that go with them.  I don't mind fussy cutting most of the time which is probably why I opted not to get the dies.  The bow is also a die from The Greetery.

Oh jeez, I just checked the card to see why the doily was lifted up and apparently there were two stuck together and I didn't realize it when I glued it on, so I will have to make sure to glue that top one down also.  Yikes!  That would have been a bit of a disaster if it fell off after sending.  

Okay, time to check out the rest of the stenciled beauties over at the Jingle Belles blog.  You can check them out too by clicking here.  Thankfully I won't be missing the deadline by 30 seconds like I did last time.

Tangles of Hope

Yesterday I came across a tangling session on IG facilitated by three Zentangle instructors from around the world that spoke English as well as another language which enabled me to follow along with the recorded class.  There were several hashtags given for this to use when posting on IG including #tangleforsolidarity #dovefor solidarity #tanglesfor hope #tangletogetherdove and others.   I used a 4 x 4 square cut from a cracker box as my base tile as I didn't have any official tan tiles and that was the recommended base.  But they did encourage you to use what you had on hand including the tools used to color the tangle.  Luckily there were featuring Prismacolor pencils which I do happen to have along with a white charcoal/pastel pencil.  

I forgot to write down the names of the tangles used but I did manage to get the quote that was used to begin the session:

Great things

are brought about

and burdens

are lightened

through the efforts

of many hands

anxiously engaged

in a good cause.

(Elder M. Russel Ballard)