Frequently Wrong but Never In Doubt

Crafties and Freebies!

2009-11-08T17:35:00.005-07:00

Whew! It was a crazy busy week, and just when I was preparing this post, I opened my Etsy store and a busy weekend just became busier!! ha ha!

On Thursday night I was totally flattered to be included in a Glade Bloggers event at the Warwick Denver! The food was lovely and the company even more lovely!

I was thrilled to win this fabulous centerpiece!:

The great news is that in the next week I'll have a wonderful giveaway that I put together for all of you there! (just for you!). So, watch for that - coming soon!

Then on Saturday I was SO excited to take a card making class with Missy C. It was a fundraiser for my old Alma Mater - Cottey College - and so the PEO's were doing a little card making class to raise money! I love it! A good cause and fun too!

These are my cards:

And these are Missy C's (aren't they LOVELY!). The only one missing is the one with the coffee pot and that's because she insisted we drop it off to a sick friend of ours! (isn't she sweet!).

Anyway, we had a WONDERFUL time and are ready to go out and buy supplies - I'm only 1/2 kidding! It really was fun!

my Etsy shop gets off to a rolling start

2009-11-08T14:43:00.004-07:00

Well, I really was going to take some time to write this post, but the first two items I put up sold in like - well 10 seconds. So, I figure I better go ahead and post it's existence.

I'm putting up extra supplies, UFO's and more finished projects and kits as I go along! :)

A quick drool!

2009-11-07T19:35:00.003-07:00

Wow! Every time I think I know what I'm doing, I run across someone like Salley Mavor - who I found through Mimi Kirchner (who is massively talented and drool worthy also) - who does such fabulous and amazing work that I'm never quite sure where to start.

If you're a Mom (ok, or not even a Mom, they're fabulous), she does the most amazing children's books EVER. I've put them all on my wish list and my kids are really beyond this, but I need them around for inspiration.

Mimi posted more pictures of her work in a previous post. Really go drool...

I had a fabulous morning with my daughter making cards - so there are more pictures to come, but I'm off to take Nyquil and get one more good night's sleep (I better whip this cold - I tell ya!).

Guilty blog surfing

2009-11-04T11:45:00.002-07:00

I was honestly waiting for something to load and ran across this massively tempting online needlework event:
http://needleshowretail.com/index.html

Far better than me retelling the tale, you can read the backstory to this “show” (which starts tomorrow).

I think it sounds VERY tempting!

I just dumped a bunch of money (not even going to say how much) on some YUMMY silk thread for my next project. Here's a little teeny preview (there's MUCH more to the project coming):

Thank heavens - it's over - WAIT! the holidays are just beginning!

2009-11-01T07:16:00.002-07:00

So, this is pretty much the scene here this morning - it was a BUSY holiday weekend, with me helping out at our Neighborhood Organizations first Costume contest, and then trick or treating and a party last night (whew!):

Here are the kids (good picture for the grandparents)
Here's Rex as Duke (Doonesbury)
And me - in a cobbled up cat costume!
Lots of crafty stuff, but it will have to wait until the house is clean today! :) More later

Happy Day after Halloween everyone!

A very crafty weekend!

2009-10-26T18:57:00.003-06:00

So, we had a fabulous weekend! Saturday we had some wonderful friends over for dinner and recieved a fabulous gift (which is over on the mid-century blog if you want to drool and be jealous we have such cool friends).

Yesterday I had many issues with transfering a new embroidery design I'm going to be working on onto satin (pictures to come) - but in the end, I used a Sharpie and it turned out great - yay! I did a bit more sorting in my studio (Etsy store coming VERY soon!) - and in my "spare" (ha ha) time, I made this:

A costume for Missy C's baby doll Krissy (she's an American Girl baby doll and SO cute and lifelike - R and I almost get baby urges occassionally when holding her!).

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the costume - whipped up in about an hour, I think it's really cute! And R took the lovely photo - isn't it great?

Craft highlights crazy quilting!

2009-10-25T09:01:00.003-06:00

Yay for "Craft" for highlighting Crazy Quiliting and showing lovely pictures of this quilt:

There are some lovely stitch combo ideas there my CQ friends!

I'm busy in the studio today - having some challenges transferring a needlework pattern, making a lady bug costume for Missy C's baby doll and doing some quilting - my first time machine quilting, so cross your fingers for me!

I think I'm even going to skip laundry to do all this - that's ok, isn't it?

Halloween articles, full of ideas from across the internet!

2009-10-21T16:40:00.005-06:00

And the picture below is from My Paper Crane - and I thought would be a FUN and simple way to decorate your windows before the big night! Go and enjoy!

If you're getting the Halloween bug or feel like you've almost missed it this year, I have written more than a few articles about Halloween, and here are just a few of them:

If you're in the last week before Halloween ( oh, wait, we are! Yikes) - you might like Eeeeek! I don't have a costume!
With some great (if not eye rollingly silly) costume ideas for the last
minute costume party.

Costume Ideas for the Crafty and Not so Crafty
If you have a bit of time on your hands over the next couple days or
completely messed up this year and want to plan for next year.

Getting Your pumpkin On!
This should give you some fabulous decorating and maybe last minute craft
ideas to try with your kids!

If you liked my articles, be sure to go to Divine Caroline and vote for me under "play" - really, that's the only reason I write all this stuff, because hopefully you enjoy finding these resources on the internet as much as I do!

Hot days and snowy days

2009-10-21T10:21:00.003-06:00

Life has been busy and unpredictable here, just like the Colorado weather (weekend before last it was snowing, then last weekend 80 degrees, and today snowing again).

But I thought I'd quickly share what we've been up to. Rex likes to make candles and this past weekend he got out his candle making stuff:

Not bad for a day's work, eh? It's a great way to recycle too - he melted down all of our old junky candles and made those.

My brazilian embroidery project is closing in on the end and so I'm auditioning threads and fabrics for my next project. I'm going to work on an advent calendar - a combo of embroidery and crazy quilting. I'll have pictures soon.

This is the silk thread on the satin. I think it's going to work out great. (no, it's not pink fabric - it's tough to take a good picture of white)

And just to finish - our lovely daughter in my husband's sunglasses - isn't she a hoot? Our washer is on the fritz and she and I were headed to do a little laundry at the laundromat. Right now we're enjoying doing it there - I'm sure that won't last! :) By that time, we'll get the washer fixed!

OH! And before I forget, last weekend, I cleaned up this site. I changed my "about me" page - hopefully it's a bit easier to read. I also cleaned up my gallery and put the pictures back up of the amazing Crazy Quilts we got to see at the Denver Art Museum.

Oh, and I've updated my articles section too - be sure to check out my tutorials and "how-to" articles!

New Project - yes! I'm enjoying the craft room!

2009-10-09T08:07:00.002-06:00

Yes, I'm actually beginning to enjoy the new craft room. Just in time too because as I work my way into the 2010 Bead Journal project (nope, not the Bread Journal project Calico - although I laughed at that, hungry?), I wanted to try out a few "practice" pieces to see if like the shape.

If you aren't familiar with the Bead Journal project, it's a monthly project where you do the same shape each month and finish one piece a month for a year - yes, I'm NOT a finisher (take a look at my projects list on the right column - eeek!) but I am bound and determined to do this.

A month or so ago I got the idea to do a spirit doll - but didn't love any of the shapes out there, so here's what I came up with.

Yep, some are pretty abstract - and I'm not sure that easy to stitch, but I loved the last one, and so:

Here she is - trial #1.

More after I've stitched!

New craft room reveal - and the new table!

2009-10-07T16:17:00.002-06:00

Here's the reveal for my "new and improved" craft room. Below you will see the amazing table that our friend Bruce made for us. (waving! And a HUGE thank you! It rocks)

Here's my little "inspiration corner" where I can work and look at some long hidden pieces of projects. Funny how these things were tucked away in bags. Now that they're out, I'm hoping I can create something out of them or finish them or whatever! :) I will say some of my old projects (and new) are going to end up in an Etsy shop - I've had for a long time and never bothered to fill up!

And here's the fabric. The big pieces are nice, but as a crazy quilter (which I will always be at heart) - my favorite is the boxes of color - nicely labeled (which you'd have to zoom in to see). I LOVE that I have the inspiration of all my favorite fabrics around all the time. It's HUGE - to be able to look at what I have on a daily basis. Unfortunately my son has a cold and I'm feeling decidedly flu-ish today - yuck! So, not much crafting. However, I did draw a rough draft for a pattern that will soon become my regular monthly projects for the Bead Journal Project - YEP! I'm a 2010 member! I can't wait!

Flying Spaghetti monster ATC

2009-10-04T09:51:00.001-06:00

Doesn't this rock? I found it over on Fat-Quarter!

If you aren't an internet geek and need more on the monster, go here!

Update on the "big clean"

2009-10-03T18:58:00.003-06:00

SO! Here's what I've been doing today. On one hand I'm embarrased it's taken this long. On the other hand...well, it had to take this long! :)

Here's the fabric. Yes, there's a bit that didn't fit, but I'm going to purge until it fits! :) I also think I need to do something with the shelves - hmmm, maybe cover them in fabric? Should I worry about bugs?

This is the craft storage - paints galore - sculpture stuff - and the bottom two shelves are kids crafty items (more to come there). This isn't really organized yet, I've just gathered "like" things together. Anyone have any great ideas for paint? (I have oil, acrylic, fabric).

And here's the beginning of Rex's organization! He's building shelved below this for his candlemaking and other hobbies!
You might notice I'm not showing you the REST of the room! Ha ha! Maybe on purpose.

More tomorrow!

With all good - comes bad!

2009-10-02T16:19:00.005-06:00

Ha ha! I had to crack up at this site: Regretsy - filled with creative projects gone bad - it's a riot!

Now for a quick knitting update

2009-09-30T12:54:00.002-06:00

So, this is hubby's first completed project:

Studio constructive mess

2009-09-30T11:33:00.002-06:00

Really! I had NO idea I had this much fabric. So, the studio is a mess - but it has to get worse before it gets better. So, that's what has kept me away - that and a fun Rockies Game with the family! :)

A little grovelling

2009-09-23T12:39:00.003-06:00

Ok everyone, last year I lost - so I wasn't going to make a bit deal, but it's crushing my little blogging ego to have zero votes hanging out there, so here I am grovelling - will you all pop over to Divine Caroline and vote for me?

Yes, you have to register, but I promise you it's really a great site with some fantastic articles! :)

We're a very crafty family!

2009-09-22T20:24:00.004-06:00

So, the big news is Rex has taken up knitting. Missy C and I were playing a "Kids learn to knit" video and he - right then and there - decided he needed to knit. So, he went to Wal-Mart and got some needles. He's taken to it like a duck to water:

We even made a trip to Showers of Flowers today - he was a bit awed! hee hee

So, here's my progress on my brazilian project:

Side pocket:
Side pocket:

Pin cusion:

I was a bit slow in posting this weekend post because last night I had a wonderful home organizer (she's also a stager) come and look at my craft space. Know what's awesome? She had WONDERFUL suggestions, so I'm SO excited to get started! (totally excited). I have a one page list and I need to get going - this weekend will be sorting weekend - maybe you folks will benefit from a bit of my purging?

Don't worry, I'll blog as I purge, so you can see how horrible my fabric addictions are as well as help me with suggestions etc!

And this just in, take a look at this nifty photo my Mother in Law took from her balcony on the Gold Coast of Australia - nifty eh? I'm sure it's not great to breathe, but it looks cool!

Ok, well I'm off to watch a "Star Trek Biography" marathon and stitch (geeky, eh?) - Happy Tuesday everyone! It's the beginning of fall and supposed to snow here tonight! As I told my Mother in Law (waving HI!) it's red there and going to be white here! ha ha!

Baby Blues just really isn't funny.

2009-09-19T18:07:00.001-06:00

Yeah, see, this is funny if it doesn't happen to you.
Funny - no, reality.

Arrrr! It's talk like a pirate day me hardies!

2009-09-19T09:54:00.001-06:00

Classics in Lego

2009-09-15T09:02:00.002-06:00

Check out this great photoset I found on Flickr via Drawn - Balakov has recreated famous photos in Legos - you can even see how he stages them here.

I was drawn to this one because I posted the original photo here.

PROGRESS! yay!

2009-09-13T14:44:00.002-06:00

Yay! It's together and lines up! (this is NOT a small acheivement for me!). However, the quilt store wasn't open today (when will small quilt shops ever learn we QUILT on the weekend! Ugh!).
Anyway, closer and closer! YAY!
Thanks a ton to Rhonda who helped me figure out how to clean up the mess I'd made!

Spooky, pretty and very cool!

2009-09-12T08:49:00.002-06:00

What a crazy crazy week! Ever had one of those where the week is gone before you even think it started? Aaack!

Anyway, Fun stuff! Missy C and I found this beauty in the back yard amidst our plumbing issues and poor Rex having strep throat! (oh, and the garage door broke - it was NOT a good Labor day weekend!)

But nifty eh? Then! I got to join the notorius Mile Hi Mamas for their Mamas night out and won this cool Poken (and a tshirt) - it's very nifty if you're into social media (which I am - geeky geeky). Go check out their website, because as Rex says the sad thing about it is I have to run into people with them or they really aren't any use! (oh except they totally look cute!).

I so enjoyed meeting all of the gals there, if you want a FULL geeky list of attendees - it's here (oh and a few photos).

Today I'm off to crazy quilting and to have my friend come over and give me some lessons with my machine. I'm hopeless...I really love to hand stitch, NOT so fabulous on the machine stuff. (really why DO they call them feet? hee hee)!

Anyway, so we have a great beading class at the meeting today (looking forward to that) and of course I need to continue work on my brazilian embroidery project - here's last night's work:

Way behind and in a funny writing mood.

2009-09-05T08:24:00.000-06:00

Last week was odd - some bad, some good, but mostly just odd. We replaced a computer, which provided a weird cascading force throughout the house and business.

Then we started a new - very part time - employee, which was a definate change. We spent the day trying to reunite a lost dog with his owner - finally found the mailman who knew the dog right away!

Then I went out to dinner/drinks (probably with the emphasis on drinks) with college friends I haven't seen in 23 years. Next day hangover followed by a great client appointment.

Weird. And over. Whew.

I've been working on my embroidery, but mostly the sideline has been mid-century stuff...last weekend we attended the Denver Modernism show. I have about 10 articles to write about that, and haven't had the time.

I did a bunch of mending last weekend, but there's no reason that can't be a bit crafty and creative too! I found this article a few weeks ago and thought it might work for my daughter's pants.

Here's the hole with the patching material back behind:
And here are the finished pants. The one on the left is an oval and the one on the right is "sort-of" a heart. I think I need a different "foot" for my machine so not sure it went as smoothly as it could have, but it's still a cute way to repair pants. I'll let you know how they wash out.

And like I need something else, I'm seriously pondering doing this: http://symbeadoticgallery.com/oz.htm .

I'm off to completely uproot our basement and redecorate with our own stuff. Fun way to spend a weekend! :)

A little cat break

2009-09-02T10:40:00.000-06:00