Jill Ruth & Co.

Kids' Valentine Project

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:44:00 +0000

We had a 4-H meeting last night and since we've been working on learning some simple stitches, I made up kits for them to practice at home. **With the help of my husband...since he's still non weight bearing on his foot...I told him cutting out cardboard hearts for his wife shows what a true man he is. :)

Supplies:
food boxes
craft punches
yarn in red and white (or color of choice)
large eyed needle
paper to label the hearts

I thought I'd share the idea if anyone has kids or step it up to fabric and a frame and make it your self.
**Cut out three hearts from paper board (food boxes with predominantly red and white colors)
**Pre punch the holes with a craft punch. We used a big one and a little one
**Use a blanket stitch, an overcast stitch, and a running stitch to stitch around the hearts. If you make big holes, you could just tape around the end of your red yarn and not use a needle.
**Type out labels in the font of your choice or hand letter them.
**Glue to the back side of a big panel cut from a food box.
**Punch holes around the "frame" and do a running stitch with yarn to complete the frame.
**Tie a string around the yarn in the back to hang it.

Links:
Blanket Stitch Tutorial:

http://stitchschool.blogspot.com/2009/12/blanket-stitch.html

Overcast Stitch:

http://diyfashion.about.com/od/easysewing/f/Overcast_Stitch.htm

Running Stitch:

http://www.holiday-crafts-and-creations.com/running-stitch.html

You can certainly step this up with more effort depending on the age of the kids.

I hope you have a nice weekend! I have a new gadget...a gift from my two of my kids for my birthday, so I'll be fiddling with it this weekend. More on it later when I have more to tell. :) I did capture my signature with it though.

Very Simple Hearts.

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:32:00 +0000

Inspired by a friend, who was inspired by Dottie Angel...I sewed some simple hearts on a string with my sewing machine.

The hearts are made from book pages. Sometimes simple is quite nice.

For previous heart/valentine posts:

Click here for the book heart garland tutorial and

here for wordle valentine cards

and for another Valentine's Day inspired garland, here.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Hello Blue Snow.

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:13:00 +0000

I caught my reflection this morning in our kitchen window. Warm and toasty inside superimposed on crisp and cold outside. The light from the door is our pantry light reflecting in the window and the horizontal spread of light is from our white countertop. We had about a foot of snow Friday night and although I'm not thrilled with scooping, it is beautiful.

I ran out late this afternoon and with just the last rays of sun, snapped a couple of pictures in the tank garden.

The white balance on my camera is not off. Everything was so blue. When my son and I were scooping yesterday, we noticed how you could see the most beautiful blue light in each crevice of snow. I should have taken the time to get my camera, it really was amazing.

One of the tea cup bird feeders with a little cap of snow.

The late afternoon sun is fleeting and deceptively warm looking, but so inviting.

And, I Found This Too.

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:07:00 +0000

I picked up this door knob also this past weekend. It is seriously very cool. I believe a little air compressor action in the edges, some glue under some of the wood veneer that is pulling away, a hook on the back and this beauty will be ready to find a home.

I decided to fill the jar with some really neat silverware I picked up at the auction on Sunday.

. Now, I know me and if I come up with a project for the silverware, I'll be hesitant to take it from it's new home! (Good thing I have another stash of silverware, huh?!)

But, these are some of the prettiest pieces I have. This may be the best use for them, to just sit and be enjoyed. :)

Weekend Finds

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:57:00 +0000

This past Friday I went to a couple of antique stores and to a "new to me" flea market. I didn't find a lot but came home with the above odds and ends. I'm oddly excited about the big gallon jar with the metal lid that has "sugar" hand written on it.

Appropriate for now...a green handled heart cookie cutter.

Then Sunday, I went to an auction and came home with a few fun items. Some will be going in to my booth, some to Etsy, and some waiting for a project....

These are hands down my favorite find of the weekend! They may even keep that title for quite a few months! Wrought iron folding chairs. One is pretty decent condition and the other, well, not so decent.

See, they fold down! Unfortunately the arm rest is broken the left one but I think it just needs a bolt.

So, the question is, "What do I do with them?" My thought is to clean up and keep the good one in the house and then take the seat and backing off the other one and put it in the tank garden. Or, should I try some fun way of replacing the seat and backing on the other one and keep it in the house too?? Do I have room for two more chairs? Ha, you probably can't help me with that question, can you?

It has a sweet profile doesn't it? Does anyone have suggestions for cleaning and restoring wrought iron?

I'm linking up with Thrift Share Monday at Apron Thrift Girl and Knick of Time Tuesday.

Thanks for stopping by. It's fun to share the finds with all of you and hear your thoughts!

"Jill Makes" a Tea Cozy!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

I've bought a couple more issues of Mollie Makes since the first issue came out that I blogged about here. Once again, just like with the little apple cozies, I was smitten with the idea of a tea cup cozy in the November issue!
Look at the cute cozied cups in the magazine! Some are crocheted and some are knitted.

I decided that I should keep a window seat project handy for when I'm tired of "kitchen work" and my little gals need second breakfast, a snack, or are just slow at eating. We have a window seat in our kitchen that looks out into the back yard. I love this space. (A big thanks to my brother who built our house!)

This tea cup cozy was a perfect project. Really easy. It didn't matter if I sat it down, I knew where I was when I picked it up. It was all treble crochet.

I only know basic crochet and I'm sure it could have been "better" but, it's "good enough for who it's for!"

Even though the pattern is in the magazine, I don't think I'll step on their toes too much if I tell you that all you need to do is chain stitch the heighth of your mug, then treble crochet back and forth until it is wide enough to wrap around.

Fold wrong sides together and stitch it closed with yarn and darning needle on the top and bottom. The directions said to use the yarn tail from the beginning and the end of the crochet to do this, which I did.

Turn it right side out, add the tag, and slip it on your mug.

I made my tag a little different from theirs. I cut a piece of square felt, embroidered "tea" on it and then tightly whip stitched it down. I used a back stitch to embroider the tea bag "string" on to the cozy.

Now, how will it be to drink tea with something fuzzy below my lip?

Not sure. :) I may just use it to sit and hold tea bags.

Wouln't this be neat to give as a gift with tea in the mug?

You need to use a mug that is straight and not tapered at the bottom. This is the only mug I had that could work, but I'll be on the lookout for more!

It is seriously cozy!

Linking up with Tidy Mom "I'm Lovin' It" Friday.

Blog Breaks Happen

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Jan. 25 8:15 am

Kind of messes with your eyes doesn't it? All that blue nothingness.

I'm hoping to get back in the swing of posting after the past month or so of such things that keep one away from posting. The biggest of which was my husband's foot surgery and his current non weight bearing status for his foot. He's doing great though and we have great expectations of this taking care of his foot for good.

Through a friend I found this, Project::Sky 365 at knitsofacto blog. At first glance I thought "Just the sky? With no horizons, skylines, or earthbound things?" "I don't know...."

And, then I thought of one of my favorite Bible verses:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims its builder's craft.

One day to the next conveys that message;

one night to the next imparts that knowledge.

There is no word or sound;

no voice is heard;

Yet their report goes forth through all the earth,

their message, to the ends of the world.

Psalm 19: 2-5

and, I was in! Although, I have no intention of stressing about a picture a day or bemoan the fact that it's already the 25th of January. I'm also not sure yet how or how often I'll post them.

A frequent saying here when we see a beautiful sky, "That's a God sky, if I ever saw one!"

So, why would I post just plain blue sky when proclaiming my start to this project and my favorite Bible verse?!?!

Because it was the sky this morning.

Because I had time to take a picture and post this morning.

Because, it will be enough.

And, Kim inspired me with her word for 2012, justdoit.

My Conundrum Through My Window

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:52:00 +0000

I'm contemplating my dilemma through my window this morning.

On a very brief stop at an antique store on Sunday, I found what I thought was THE perfect storage for my scraps of vintage fabric. (Picture it standing upright)

Cubby hole storage in a perfectly rough and chippy piece.

Bins of vintage blue, red, yellow, white,.....fabric for me to rifle through when I need a piece. You can see it, right?

I stuck my head in it three times. All the way in the cubby holes. Nope, didn't smell bad. Just kind of old but not bad. It would smell better with a spray coat of finish and baking soda.

The price was good. I was excited. My son helped me carry it downstairs. (My husband's foot is still out of whack, surgery imminent)

My son helped me carry it back upstairs yesterday.

I hadn't stuck my head in the bottom cubby holes. The bottom board and backing at the bottom were bad. Smelly, almost oily, moldy. How did I miss this?!?! (Perhaps the ER visit with my husbands foot until 2 am on Sat. and lack of sleep when I stopped at the antique store on Sunday)

I pulled off the bottom board and knocked off the backing. Now what? The center boards need to come out at the bottom too. My husband is bringing me a saws-all to cut it down.

It's fate is in the air. I want to make it work as I envisioned, but sometimes you need to know when to cut your losses and walk away.

Many people in the blog world choose a word for the year to guide and inspire them.

My word for today is:

Reconsider.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated. :)

I'm joining up here:

Knick of Time
Thrift Share Monday

Epiphany

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:29:00 +0000

They kept their eyes on the star.

More Sweetness...With a Crib Halo

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 16:22:00 +0000

photo from this site

With this photo as her inspiration, my daughter created this...

from the flowers we used on the centerpieces at the wedding. :)

The wreath will hang horizontally, like this, above the crib. We decided we are officially calling this element a "Crib Halo". She used a grape vine wreath and hot glue to attach the flowers.

While she was making the crib halo, I was making this...

For this wreath, I wrapped an embroidery hoop (again) with a strip of neutral fabric and then created the fabric roses with all neutral fabrics. To make the roses, you fold a strip of fabric in half lengthwise and begin to roll and twist. All along securing with a low temp glue gun.

When I got done, my daughter said, "Glitter. It needs glitter." She was right! A little spray adhesive followed by a generous sprinkling of silver glitter, and it was really pretty!

Just fun. :)

You may be thinking that these sure aren't colors for a baby girl's room. Well, she's going for pretty and feminine not necessarily "baby". I think it's going to be wonderful. I hope to get to their house to take pictures of it when it's all done to show you.

Her last project for this post:

Her inspiration for these came from some shop online and they were selling the framed silhouettes for $160 each. She bought these frames at Target for $10 each then found free images online. She printed them out on just plain white paper, stapled it to black paper along the outside, then carefully cut out the silhouettes. It really only took her about 5- 10 minutes to cut each one out.

These will hang 2x2 on one of the walls in the nursery.

I love silhouettes and remember trying to draw my kids' silhouettes with a big lamp and white paper on the wall years ago. This was before all the digital abilities. I wasn't too successful. Ha!

(She was ready to leave and take the projects with her so that's why the quickly shot photos and the jammy clad 6 year old helping out.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Feed Sack Elephant

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:35:00 +0000

So sweet!

This was one of the projects for the expected baby girl that my daughter and I made last week.

We used four different vintage fabrics. Three of them were old feed sacks.

It's hard for me to ever actually use any of my feed sacks. Because then they aren't there to just gaze at. :)

But, for this sweet elephant...(and for my daughter and grand daughter)...I could cut into some of them!

This is the pattern we used that was purchased from this Etsy shop.

The directions were clear and good, but I would have a few suggestions to make it a bit easier. If you were to buy the pattern, email me for them. I will say that it's not a beginners pattern. Precision is needed when sewing the pieces together. I'm glad I had to run to the recycling center when we were sewing it, so my daughter did some of the toughest seams. :)

But, just like having a baby, the memory of the hard parts begins to fade and you think, "I could do this again!!!" I may need to make another one just so I can have it sit nestled in some vintage fabric.

I'm just loving the mild weather we've been having...hope it's nice where you are!

Sparkly Corrugated Cardboard...Pretty!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:52:00 +0000

Earlier this week,my second daughter at home on break from college went 'acrafting down in the sewing room. I thought maybe I could hide the wreath she made so I could keep it.

A great tutorial for book page roses can be found here and I've made quite a few into wreaths and just put some in a bowl. But, I really like that Bonnie used corrugated cardboard for the flowers. Really like the corrugated cardboard.

She wrapped an embroidery hoop with textured off white yarn for the base and with a generous sprinkling of glitter, the wreath is beautiful! The wreath found it's home in her apartment and does not hang on the door in my laundry room. :( But, now I realize that I need a wreath on the door in my laundry room. :)

There was more I realized about the door in my laundry room too when I took the pictures, but what fun would that be to blog about?

Bonnie and I will both tell you that you really don't have to be too exact in cutting the spiral. Once you start gluing it's very forgiving. Neither of us even drew out the spiral, we just cut.

I have a couple of baby projects to post about next week. Did I tell you all that our expected grand baby is a girl?! Isn't it funny, that there would be an exclamation point included whether it was a boy or a girl? :)

My New Year's Post from last year is still relevant today, so I'll just say Happy New Year!!

A Sweet New Bag to Bring in the New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 17:17:00 +0000

I will be "toten' in style" in 2012.

I used one of my fat quarters that I blogged about here to sew this tote. For some reason, having things dated is really appealing to me right now.

I used some vintage yellow fabric I had to line it and part of a canvas shower curtain for the back of the bag. :) I'm sorry I didn't take photos along the way to give you a tutorial, but it's just a basic sew right sides together kind of tote. I used the extra fabric I cut off to make the handles.

This wall hanging is going back with one of my daughters to her apartment. You can purchase the same fat quarter tea towel calendar here. The design is by Patty Sloniger. Her blog can be found here. The linen cotton canvas is recommended and I agree.

I hope your Christmas Season and the end of 2011 is a peaceful time for you.

Advent Ends :: Christmas Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:10:00 +0000

I bought (or traded for) this green wire tree from Leah last year sometime. I may have actually paid her cash for it :) We've been known to trade though which I love to do. She loves it too. You could say, "Hey, Leah I'd trade you for one of those awesome trunks with which you built your awesome tree!" "To which she may say, "Sure, do you have an extra fruitcake?" funny, I am.

Anyway....back to the tree project. Keeping predominantly red and green in mind, I dug out a couple of old magazines,

some vintage flash cards,

vintage fabric scraps, stamps,

a few vintage greeting cards from an old scrapbook I bought at an auction,

a few pieces of red and green vintage jewelry pieces,

a bunch of well aged clothes pins,

wrapping paper,

And clipped them all on with the help of my daughter.

I am praying for a blessed Christmas season for all of you.

May you find joy where it's unexpected.

Merry Christmas!

::~::

A Little More Sparkly

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

I started glittering old light bulbs here at the end of November. The glitter I used was just craft store glitter, but after much coercing, I convinced myself to use some of my authentic vintage glitter.

I'm not kidding, I'd much rather collect vintage supplies sometimes than use them, because then you see, you don't have them. Sometimes potential is so much more...(does that make sense to anyone else?)

I bought these bottles of glitter at an auction awhile back and the colors are so perfect. They were from Editha's craft supplies. I think I would have liked Editha, I certainly liked all of her supplies I came home with!

So glad I used the vintage glitter!!!

Kids have been sick here and it's been stressful...

We are still trying to "get ready" but the real meaning of the season is not lost, but found even in the midst of the stress. Keeping my eyes on the star.

Tinsel and vintage Christmas balls in a canning jar :)

Peace to all of you.

The magic of Christmas, Florabella overlays, and glitter light bulb garland set a festive mood!

Christmas-y Bundt Cake Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:11:00 +0000

I imagine Bundt cake recipes are abundant out there but that won't stop me from sharing this one with you. :) My sister in law gave me the recipe quite a few years ago.

Easy and delicious.

This is this week's cake. It made it to the cake plate. I made it yesterday and there is only a sliver left.

This is last week's cake when I planned to blog about it. But there has been too much "merry making" around here to get it posted until now.

It didn't make it to the cake plate before I had to cut into it.

Recipe:

1 cake mix

1 small pkg. instant pudding mix

1 C. water

1/3 C. oil

4 eggs

Mix for 30 sec. on low speed then for 2 min. on med. speed with an electric mixer. Put in a greased bundt cake pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55-60 min.

Let cool 10-15 min. and remove from pan.

When completely cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can use any flavor combination of cake mix and pudding that you like. This is the combination we all just loved this past week. Spice cake.

And gingerbread pudding.

I'm a big fan of frosting, but honestly this cake is just so good without any frosting. Not filling. Just the right amount of sweet.

Now, I know you all don't have time for silliness, but just in case you need some.... we can't have a bundt here without this scene being "played" out. I know. Lame. But, it makes me smile :)

I do hope your Advent time is going smoothly. May these days be blessed for you!

Make It Merry

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:33:00 +0000

I'm blog hopping for 14 days with Diane and the Make it Merry Gang...14 days of DIY Christmas decor!

My assignment: Christmas Trees.

I've been wanting to make a tree out of scrap wood for a few years now, so this just gave me the nudge I needed.

Should you like to make one...I'll show you how I made mine. First you need to create a center post stand. I used a 2x4 and four 1x6 pieces for the base. The measurements are whatever you want or have on hand. :)

This is what the base looks like. I suppose there is a name for such a configuration. A stand like this could be used for so many things besides a tree. A coat rack and sign post come to mind now.

After screwing in the first two boards, you just rotate the stand and add the third, then fourth. I pre drilled all the holes.

Next, I laid out the scrap pieces of wood I picked out for the tree. A couple of them I did cut just a little, but mostly I just played around with what I had. Some are drawer front pieces, one is part of a coat rack, one a cupboard piece, some from tables and so on. Just keep rearranging until you like what you have. I then scrubbed them all clean with hot soapy water.

When dry, I screwed each of the pieces in place from the back on the post. (pre drill) After a few of them, it got awkward and I had to have my husband help me hold them and drill them in. If my work table would have been cleared off I think I could have managed on my own but it wasn't. :) It was fun to have him help me anyway.

All done! I experimented with adding some vintage ornaments and my sparkle light bulbs, but decided I like it just as is with a couple of birds. It won't be staying in this spot, but I needed to take pictures where I had some natural light.

That teal wainscoting is my favorite scrap wood. I've used some of it here before.

I left the hardware just "as is" on the pieces. I enjoy the randomness.

Of course, every tree needs a topper.

Mine is baling wire around an old metal embroidery hoop. Those embroidery hoops come in handy!
I nailed it into a block of wood on the post.

If you would like to see another scrappy DIY tree, click here to see my posts for last year's Junkle Bells tree.

Here's the big list again for the Make it Merry blog hop. You can click on each one and follow along.

Spoonflower Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:28:00 +0000

Last year at this time, Spoonflower had a buy one, get one free of their fat quarters and I jumped on it. This year they are doing the same thing this week and I wanted to let you in on it!

I bought some tea towel calendars for gifts and my favorites from last year have been updated for 2012!

This birdie one is so cute!

After I took the picture I cut off the excess dowel rod and fixed the ribbon. :) I was in a hurry for some reason to take the picture.

The 2012 calender can be purchased here.

The design comes on a fat quarter and then you have to hem it yourself. It wasn't hard. On one of them, I did have to cut off the extra from the bottom and add it to the top to have enough fabric to make a pocket to place the dowel rod. I added upholstery tacks to the end of the dowel and tied the ribbon to them. You could just hem it all the way around and use pins to hang it on your wall or frame one if you're really ambitious. Hmm, I guess you could use one as a towel too. :)

I didn't take a picture of the one I gave my oldest daughter, but you can view it here on flickr. After hemming it and adding the rod pocket I embroidered a circle around her and her husband's wedding date. Get it?! It's a bicycle built for two!!

Do you know anyone getting married this year? It's a great gift!

The designer (beck&lundy) has updated the calendar and you can purchase it here (choice of two different colors).

For you tea drinkers: this one!

Spoonflower recommends the linen cotton canvas for the tea towels and that is what I bought. At BOGO, that's only $7 a piece.

With a fat quarter of this fabric, you can make 3 doll rattles. Cute! (I bought it last year and now this year I'm going to have a grand baby.....)

Another favorite of mine...what about a tote bag out of it?

I've blogged about Spoonflower before...wouldn't it be great to design your own fabric?!...on my to do list!

Link for all tea towels.

Remember the sale is for all fat quarters, not just tea towels.

I'd love to know if you decide to order any and how you used it!

A Little Sparkly

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:09:00 +0000

Another great idea from craftzine blog via pinterest. Have you sparkled any of your old light bulbs yet? We haven't made the transition to LED Christmas lights yet so I have quite a few old bulbs. My daughter and I glitzed these up in short order. I'll show you our garlands after they dry. So pretty aren't they?

Make it Merry began yesterday!

I'm still working on my project ;)
Each of the blogs listed above is a live link so you can easily check out the Merry Projects and blogs!

Homemade Kettle Corn

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:21:00 +0000

You may love me or hate me after this post. :)

I was looking for snack recipes and saw one here for kettle corn. What?! Why have I not ever thought to look for these directions before?!

Here are the ingredients. When I make popcorn on the stove I never measure. But, for this I did and really think it was a good idea.

1/4 C. oil (highly recommend the buttery flavor popcorn oil)

1/4 C sugar

1/2 C popcorn

Scant 1/4 tsp. popcorn salt

So, my popcorn pan has seen some use. :) I think it's a 2 quart size, but a bigger one would be a good idea.

Add the oil to the pan and when hot (when three test kernels have popped) add the sugar and popcorn. Stir it quickly and replace the lid.

The original recipe said let the pan sit 3 seconds, shake 3 seconds. I did this and it didn't burn. However, if you make a second batch, wash out or at least wipe out the pan in between so you don't have any stray pieces or sugar burn while the new oil is heating.

I added the salt after I put the popcorn in the bowl and tossed it to break up the sticky pieces, but I think you could add the salt to the oil too.

yum....mmmmm....yummmmmmmyyyyyyyy.....mmmm....

Just in case you don't get enough to eat tomorrow you can whip up a batch of this!

May you have blessed Thanksgiving!

Texture Tuesday :: Tea on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Kim's challenge today at the Cafe for Texture Tuesday, was...nothing! Free and easy edition she calls it. I chose her "fall in" texture on overlay blend mode for my Tea photo.

I'm also linking up with Kimmy for Tea on Tuesday...and there is actually tea in my mug! I tried Tazo's Awake black tea. It was pretty good (with a little sugar!)

Ah. My mug. Barnes and Noble is probably my favorite place to shop for Christmas. Sadly, my mug has a little chip. You can see it on the bottom left. So it goes.

My daughter is currently working as a barista there. :) Tonight she comes home for Thanksgiving break and is bringing some new tea for us to try. I'm looking forward to her company and the tea.

Happy Tuesday to you all!

Basic Building Blocks for the Imagination

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:33:00 +0000

This bushel basket of blocks sits in my sewing room most of the time for the girls to play with while I'm down there. The other day, it was dragged upstairs.

By far, one the best toys we have. The pile of blocks started as a box of 2x4 blocks I bought at a garage sale to use in projects. I've used a bunch (see here), cut a lot more blocks, bought more at sales so the basket content changes, but always just plain old blocks.

Last Christmas Santa put a little family of wood people in each of the younger girls' stockings. Santa bought them from goosegreaseundone on Etsy. You can see their selection of wood people here. They even have their own little bag to be carried around in. Of course the bags and the little pets that came with the families are MIA. But, I'm cleaning this week! Maybe they'll turn up! I always planned to give them scraps of fabric to tie or glue on for clothes. Maybe it will still happen, but they love them plain.

Little wood beds are perfect for wood people. Just peering into the little world they create gets my imagination going too!

Happy Wednesday!

Texture Tuesday::Tea on Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:56:00 +0000

Good morning! Today I get to link up with Kim at Art in Red Wagons for Tea on Tuesday...once again I'm opting for coffee instead of tea and I took this picture a couple of weeks ago while we were out on the porch. I shot some fun shadow pictures the same day because the sun was getting low in the west and it was warm and happy.

I discovered through a friend that my phone has voice command texting. I do love technology even if I'm a little on the behind side. I went searching then on my phone and also found voice command internet search and voice command dialing! I wonder what else it can do?! Make dinner?!?! Unfortunately it took a chocolate milk bath a few weeks ago and I'm afraid it will need to be replaced soon.

I went to the summer archives for this last photo. When my little girl brought me the little posie and said, "Here Mamma, these are for you" it included a request, "Put them in your pocket." I happened to have my camera with me. :) I'm still wondering why she wanted me to put them in my pocket. Maybe because that's where I keep the rocks we pick up when we're out.

I'm also linking up with Kim at the Cafe for Texture Tuesday. The challenge this week was to use her texture titled "phoebe". All three photos were edited with "phoebe" on soft light or overlay blending modes.

I'm gearing up this week for the Holidays as I'm sure all of you are too. I pray your planning and "doing" is joyful!

Saturday Digest

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:49:00 +0000

Even though Sew Mama Sew is well into their November Handmade Holidays, it's not too late to check it out. There are lots of projects and giveaways too! Each day through November they are posting! Want to catch up on the past four years? Click here.

I will be participating in this "Sounds Like A Lot of Fun" Blog Collaboration. My post is scheduled for Nov. 29th. Sheesh, it's already Nov. 12th!

I found this pretty little gem on Pinterest. And, I'm just nuts over it! It's really not my style at all. Curvy legs and more glitz than me but...I want to make one too! Where would I put it? Courtney from the blog My Little Glass Box shows in this post how she transformed this Craig's List buy of hers. I guess what really strikes me is the little chandelier she added and the background papers. The piece and all of her displays just pop. If I had my own brick and mortar shop, boy, would I be on this!

Inkodye Tissue Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Jill) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:34:00 +0000

Well, I showed you the first batch of tissue covers here. And, I've made some more, but just haven't taken pictures except of this one I made back when I was experimenting with Inkodye.

Please see this post to see what inkodye is all about.

I used my set of alphabet and number rubber stamps to apply the inkodye before I set it out in the sun. I was a little heavy with too much dye on some of the letters as you can see. But, this was an experiment, so now I know.

Apropos, I used a vintage men's handkerchief for this tissue cover.

I could see a tote bag made with random letters and number stamped all over it or maybe use the dye I have left to stamp the word "tissues" across the back or front of a tissue cover.
What about curtains for a child's room with their name or nursery rhymes stamped with dye on them?
I think any simple shaped stamp could work to apply the dye..lots of possibilities...

This deer came visiting our back yard this morning! We haven't seen any for weeks.

And, she brought a friend. :)

Happy Friday to you!