Then Summer sauntered in

Summer sauntered into the area a while back and it already feels like August. There's so much to do here on the homestead. There's 2 acres of grass to mow, a pond to be cleaned and 14 chickens to be taken care of. Plus many many other little things that call to me when I go outside. My husband is currently outside mowing the backyard. I really do need to get out there and help him out. Wonder how long I can put it off by writing to you?

I've been out and about doing local craft shows. I had my fourth this past weekend and the next one is in less than 3 weeks. There's so much behind the scenes work when you are on the circuit that it's taken time away from my Etsy and Artfire shops. I'm beginning to feel torn about the whole affair. Trying to create an online presence vs. the immediate feeling of worth at shows. There needs to be a fine line of balance betweeen the two.

I'll go into more detail in my future posts. Right now, I better get the sunscreen on.

Girls vs. Boys

My six year old daughter. Her life is in such turmoil! lol! Not trying to belittle her woes but it's so refreshing to have problems you can see resolutions for. It's not I want to fix things for her but to enlighten her to the possibilities.

See, little M is a tomboy. Serious tomboy. She plays with nerf swords, loves power rangers, and enjoys being the heroine as opposed to the damsel in distress and digs playing basketball, softball and soccer. Shoot for Christmas, she's getting a go-kart to run around the track that her daddy recently made for her.

So, now she's in 1st grade and the kids are just now realizing the difference between boys and girls. She wants to hang with the boys but they are telling her no because she's a girl. She came home recently wishing she could be a boy. I asked why and she said because they play guitar better and they can make things like Daddy does.

Whoa, what?

As you can guess, it's now my personal mission to make my daughter understand the value she had being female. I'm trying to think of women of worth, mentors for her to see to understand what her capabilites are.

First off, Danica Patrick came to mind. Then Orianthi, she's awesome to watch. And so is Jennifer Batten. But the female mechanic/technician. Hmmm, that's a hard one. Paige Hemmis? She's on Extreme Makeover but does she weld? No, but Jessi Combs does!

Tulip Fashion Graffiti

I just got in my prize from http://ilovetocreateblog.blogspot.com/. And I'm soooo excited! 

My daughter and I are just thinking of all kinds of things we can do with this. Maybe we'll throw a dress up your t-shirt party, or Christmas gifts. Who knows really, but it'll be fun!!

Hi-O Va-ca-ti-on!

Does anyone remember that skit from the (original) Electric Company? The word detective walks in a store with a sign saying "I'm on Vacation". After studying the word a bit it starts acting he's riding a horse and does a lone range inmpression.

Simple minds = simple pleasures. 

Well, that's where I've been recently and it was great! My husband was finally able to destress by the 2nd afternoon and started wisecracking jokes.

Now, I feel refreshed and it's time to start on some new ideas.  Think I'm going to get out the ol' Husqvarna sewing machine (a great brand BTW) and start making more batik strips to crochet with. As always, though, I have about 5 different ideas swirling around. We'll just see what I lay my hands on next. (insert manic laugh here)

What will I do with my free time?

My daughter has been bundled off to the grandparents and I actually have free time! Yeah!

What will I do?   lol

I have been busy reading blogs and Etsy forums. I've taken photos of new jewelry and posted a bundle on Etsy. I even stopped to checkout vampires, in general, and talked a bit about books. I was so busy so much of the day that a pack of saltines have been my sustenance. I just don't want to take the time to make a mess in the kitchen and then have to clean up.

Thank goodness my husband took time before he went to work 3rd shift to cook some fish sticks and mash potatoes.  I'll have to remember to tell him thanks tomorrow evening.

As usual, it's so hard for me to break from the creating to do anything else I still have lots of jewelry to enter into spreadsheets and onto Etsy. I've got a necklace I started last night that is calling to me as I sit here and type.

Somehow, I'll get by.

Trying to catch up

Between my daughter and the cats and chickens, I have ground down to almost a complete stop. My daughter has been out of school for 2 weeks and 2 days and she wears me out!  Also, we've had an issue with one of my favorite chickens. She's lethargic. No injury I can see but I keep an eye on her more regularly now. Bought some powdered electrolytes and vitamins to place in their water. Guess chickens need their gatorade too.  And the cats have been bringing all sorts of trophies in the house. Thanks, girls!

But progress has been made today! Yeah!  I have a huge chunk of brooches photographed and more items posted on Etsy. I will get through this! 

Please check out my jewelry photos. The link is to the right of this page. If there are any questions, drop me a line. I'll be more than happy to help in any way. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

Chickens and Sunflowers

When I'm not creating, I'm taking care of our chickens. We have 3 Americaunas, 1 Red Sex-Link, and 5 Buff Orpingtons. They are so funny during daylight but getting a picture of them is almost impossible. So, here they are roosting on top of their coop.

Also, my daughter has sunflowers growing in our garden. Right now, they are about the only things surviving the deer.

Aren't they a sight? Some are well over 8 feet tall.

Well, it's 9:30 and the beading bug is biting.

Made some more jewelry

I went a little crazy making 21" necklace/bracelets. Found out recently that 21" was the "magic length". The piece can be wrapped 3 times around a standard wrist for a bracelet. I've made them in every color and style I could think of. There's a total of 26, I think. I count and make more then count and make more again.
It's been rainy the last few days very dreary. The chickens haven't like it at all. But today the sun might pop out. And if it gets bright enough, I can start taking pics of the new stuff and show em to ya. I really need to get a light box. I really need to get an addition to this house -or a new house to be able to have the space for a light box.
I've been thinking about the whole jewelry business. I had no idea just how many people do this on Etsy and it's tough. I love making the jewelry, no doubt. But the marketing part is just not me. I can do the meet and greet. I can set displays and talk. But to do that in the impersonal world of the net when there's thousands of others doing the same is a totally different world. I need a bullhorn. lol
To that end, I'm going to embark on going local. Wish me luck!

Michael's Creative Mom Contest

Received an email from Michael's this week on the contest they are running for Creative Mom. I am biting at the bit on this one. Considering all I've done, it'd be silly for me not to try. Over the next couple of days I'm going to collect photos of what I've accomplished. Please, please check out the photos and if you like, vote for me! Thank you!


Sewing Costumes

One of the many great things about having a child is Halloween. Over the years, I have sewn costumes for her to wear.

I wish that this wasn't so blurry. She's going "Grrrr!"

The costume has a stuffed tail with magenta accents on the spikes.

Oh no!  It's the Poison Dart Frog Girl!

The eyes are painted plastic easter egg pieces (round end) and glued in place with Aileen's OK to Wash-It glue.

I cheated on this one a bit. The wings are store bought but they matched the skirt so well I couldn't pass it up.

Crochet

 

 

This was a Christmas gift I did for my In-Laws. It was lots of fun. I've also made a slew of hats and scarves over the years that my family wears.

Handkercheif Curtains

Of course, no sewing compilation would be complete without curtains. I've made several curtains over the years. Here are the ones in the living room.

I had a collection of odd buttons that I used to create the details on the points of the curtain topper.

Hypertufa Creations

II've worked with hypertufa for a while and really enjoyed it. But found it too time consuming as actions had to be taken at certain times of hardness of the cement mixture. I had to plan a period of three days around the projects which is hard when you have a small child needing attention as well.

Several pieces were sold at Raleigh's Flea Market. I wish I had pictures of them as well. I'll have to see if I can dig up an old photo CD.

My Pond

I created this pond with the help of my husband and his stronger back. But you'd be impressed what can be done with a pick ax as a lever. Also in this picture you can see additional hypertufa pieces. One had a lantern perched on it and the other is a column.  My husband found he really likes these columns.  They are great for target practice. Kinda like stationary skeet. I hope he doesn't take this one for practice.  It's also the base of the bird bath that's pictured above.

I wanted a hidden way for the waterfall to start so I used hypertufa to create the two stones sandwiched between two real stones to raise the smaller one and create a hole.

This is a hypertufa pot which is set slightly into the water so I don't have to remember to water this plant. The plant tag said it liked staying wet and so far, so good.

Wall Effects and Murals

How can you take a picture of a hole in the wall bath? Dunno. I saw this effect on the Better Homes and Gardens website and recreated it here. The squares were creating using application tape that you use on vinyl lettered signs.  I found the blue painting tape was unforgiving on the previous layer but the ap tape worked well to give straight lines.

Paintings

This is a view outside my front door.

I've always liked elephants. Originally tried to do this in watercolors but I royally screwed up the background.

Additional Things

This list is still incomplete. I have more murals to show that are in my home. And I'll need to see if I can find pictures of the ones I did elsewhere in homes and for businesses.

Also, more sewing items, more jewelry, and more thoughts about what it means to be creative. Are you creative based on store bought crafts or does it include creating things with what you have. Does interior design count? Does landscaping? Canning vegetables and making jams? Vegetable gardening? Raising chickens? If so, I am by no means done because I do all of these things and so much more. But most of all, my proudest creation is my daughter. She is my reason for being above all else. Teaching her and creating a citizen that will be able to stand on her own with her own free will and free thoughts gives me strength every day.

Maddie's first fish

Maddie and Daddy went fishing one day.
Maddie asked Daddy do I cast this way?
Daddy told Maddie 'Yes, you may'
Maddie called to Daddy, 'Look a fish! Hip horay!'

The pond next to our property is overflowing with catfish and is so under-fished that it make catching easy. This is her first fish ever she caught completely on her own. She is so proud. I wish tho, that they thought of measuring him before throwing him back in.

Doctor Who Birthday Party Theme

I've been super busy working on the party theme my daughter picked out. She couldn't be easy with a ready made theme. No, she had to pick out something that you can't readily get on this side of the pond. Doctor Who!  Not that I'm daunted but what an exercise it has been. I'm really please with the items my husband and I created. He cut the wood pieces out and I got to paint. I spent about 8 hours on the Dalek bean bag game and about 5 hours on the Toclafane pinata.

Day 1. Here is the Dalek form primed.

By day 4, we had a Dalek storming the front yard. I told my husband to cut the circle shape in that area because the painted circles were really lame. He came up with the other two spots.  The eye and left "arm" are made from plungers and somehow Brad made the right "arm" out of PVC and metal he bent in a custom jig. Basic brown felt was stapled to the back to complete the look.

Here's a side view. You can see the stand in the back and the right "arm" better in this pic.

There's a Toclafane in my kitchen! Yikes! How'd it get there? Oh, yeah, it's the pinata for the party. Saw one on a blog from Wales using a balloon. It wasn't really a circle so I used a 20" beach ball I picked up from the Dollar Tree. Three layers of ~4" square paper was used. I'm hoping that this will enable easy breaking by 6 year olds. The background is simple gray craft paint with lines done in silver paint. The lines were easily done by using a bit of yarn wrapped around the middle. I used the yarn as a guideline for the painted stripes. Wrapped once and painted. Quartered with another yarn piece and painted. Wrapped and painted again and again cutting each piece in half and ensuring consistancy. The horizontal piece was done basically the same way using yarn as a guideline. I painted one line with the guide and then used the width of the paintbrush to measure the other stripes. The yellow lights were freehanded. The spikes were standard paper rolled into cones and then covered with heavy duty foil.  I used scrap chip board to make inserts that gave me contact points for the hot glue. I had to use utility cord to hold it up once the candy was placed inside. The yarn was too fragile and snapped.

In addidtion to these, we have made a limbo pole set, a wiffle ball toss and ring toss.

Now, all I have to do is wait for Saturday morning to set everything up in the backyard. I've got a cake at the local grocery store to pick up that morning too. The cake decorator seems confident she can do it. But I'm such a hard ass on myself having this in someone else's control is hard for me. It's going to be in the shape of the Tardis. And then there's the hot dogs and the balloons and table settings and on and on and on.

Spring break is here!

Today is a snow make-up day, but starting tomorrow my days will be overwhelmed with my little girl. She's hard for this old woman to keep up with. Thank goodness the weather will be perfect for outdoor running.

We live on a bit over 2 acres and have three ponds that are stone-throws away from the house.  I'm sure she'll spend time checking out the newly hatched tadpoles and looking for toads and turtles. I've got plenty to do myself. Spring fever has hit. There's preening, cleaning and planting to do. And I better get to it before the NC summer heat hits. Afterwards, I'll be able to get back in my comfortable chair and start beading again.

So in keeping with sprung spring, here's a great idea spot on outdoor decorating. Enjoy!

This Old House Add Character to Your Landscape

Turn Salvaged Junk Into Garden Ornaments