Busy, Busy

I'm still around trying to get anything and everything done. Right now everyone has been sick and hopefully on the mend. I also started a College Algebra class so I have a couple less nights than usual. Okay, I know everyone is asking "Why". It's because I want to get a Master's and I will probably need to take the GRE and it's been a long, long time since I've done that kind of math. It's only been 2 weeks but it hasn't been horrible. Really, it hasn't but I'm not going to say too much because I don't want to jinx it. I will wait to tell you either the jubilation I feel at the end or give you a good old-fashioned math horror story when I'm through.

Oh, the other reason I wanted to make sure I posted was I almost forgot to tell you all about the book review I did over at Craft Critique. It is about the Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girl's Guide to Handmade Jewelry. It is one of the most fun craft books I've seen come out in a long time. I even made some things from it (gasp) and finished them and worn them. See the photo to the left. Next time your at the bookstore just take a look. I'm sure you will be reading some of the anecdotes included.

Talking About Punch Needle Tools

I know there are a few punch needle or needlepunch enthusiasts out there so I wanted to let you know about my latest trials. I recently used one of those cheaper needle tools when I misplaced (notice I did not admit to the word lost) my really nice one. Based on my use, I wrote an article comparing the 2 different needles over at Craft Critique. I finally used different sized loops to make a nice little flower. Check it out!

Summer is Over and I Actually Did Some Reading

Outside of being crazing for crafting my next favorite thing is reading. This past summer has been one of my best summers for reading in a very long time. It was due partly to my new job at a college where I can sit quietly in the library during my lunch break as well as discuss books and other intelligent topics with those I work with. I started several books (like I always do) but was able to finish 4 of them (my usual total is about 1).

My first book really started in the spring but since I finished it in the summer I will count it as such. It was The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason, and Byron's Daughter by Benjamin Woolley. It was a biography of Ada Lovelace the mother of computer programming and the daughter of Lord Byron the poet. She was shaped by her mother’s mathematical personality. She was taken away from her romantic artist father when she was a baby by her mother so his immoral traits would not influence her. Although she was mathematically gifted and created punchcards for calculating Bernouli numbers (basis of what would be become computer programming), she would also become interested in the artistic traits inherited by her father. Her life can be seen as an allegory of the end of the Age of Romance and the start of the Machine Age. There were many things that I related to in her battle of her logical side versus thirst for beauty and art.

My second book was also a non-fiction book and coincidentally involved the history of women. I had read about Cokie Robert’s book Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation and fortunately found it in the library. Although there were parts that made me long for a nap, there were also amazing collections of stories from the early days of our country during the time of the end of George Washington’s presidency up to the election of John Quincy Adams. Our lives today are just too easy but many of the political issues faced today are the same as then especially regarding presidential elections and the amount of mud thrown around. Many of the women in the early days of our government were very active with politics although not always the same as their male counterparts. They were concerned with their husbands and sons careers as well as founding many institutions to help with widows and orphans of which some are still in operation today. They endured many hardships with the loss of children and husbands to diseases wiped out long ago by modern medicines and many died in childbirth.

I finally got into fiction which becomes more of an escape and time passes by so quickly when reading a great book. The book I next read is written by an English professor where I work. The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart by Glen Taylor is an adventurous tale about a colorful West Virginian who changes identities to escape the law several times during his life related to one youthful event. Mr. Taylor has a talent for using historical events and the native language of the past (and probably current) inhabitants of the coal mining region. It has been very well received and is currently one of the “Discover Great New Writes” picks at Barnes and Noble. I loved this book because I grew up in a small Appalachian coal mining town in Ohio not all that far from where this took place. I could imagine the characters portrayed by many of the characters in my own hometown including members of my family.

My final summer read I finished is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. He is one of my favorite authors and I had never read this book although it was sitting on my bookshelf for at least 2 years. I believe this is the ultimate look at good versus evil traits that exist in the human animal. In this story he examines how is it possible that a woman could leave her children and why a brother would turn against his brother and how a person is always good no matter what happens to him. It relies heavily on the book of Genesis for the basis of the story and has a bittersweet ending but I loved it just like all of Steinbeck’s other works.

And that concludes my summer reading program. I rarely get so much read but then again it was only a small portion of what I really wanted to get read such as when I was a young reader and my goal was to read every book in our small town library. I never imagined how many books there would be today just as I never imagined so many craft projects I would want to do. Now am going to get back to those projects although I will still be reading during my lunch.

Grandmother's Flower Garden Update

I haven't had much time to sit down and write a whole lot and have only been doing the minimum in the craft department. I thought I would share a picture of my progress on the grandmother's flower garden pattern. It's becoming very colorful and seeing it laid out makes me wish to work on it more. Too bad I have to work for health insurance and as well as more craft supplies.


Also, here is a photo of the nearly completed Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. We were down there last weekend. My photo doesn't nearly show how awesome the weather was. It has been a really cool summer over all this year which makes it great to go just walk around.


And, of course we had to go shopping although it was mostly window shopping and my daughter enjoyed the Lego store. She's not into Legos but since she got to be one of the first kids to go to the first indoor Legoland with her summer camp she does like to to look at the very large creations people come up with. Here she is sitting with a Lego-man outside the store.

Summer Kids Crafts

Summer is almost over but my daughter and I did get to do a couple of projects lately. Luckily, I needed to get an article done over at Craft Critique. So for once we actually completed some projects instead of just buying the kit to collect dust.

Here are a couple of photos from our projects (rings and cutie clippies). You can check out what I had to say about Creativity for Kids Kits in my most recent article. Make sure to leave a comment over there if you like them.

Now back to the pool and summer before it disappears.

More on CHA Plus Challenges

There's ton more stuff to check out from CHA on Craft Critique. Here is a link directly to my second peek from the show. Also Craft Critique is having challenges you can check out. Click here for the one posted today.

More Brushes with Crafting Celebrities

Yesterday I told you I got to meet one of the most prolific people in the craft world at CHA. Well here I am with Nancy Zieman. She was at the Clover booth and demonstrated her new product that Clover is producing. The cool part was it was just me and her. I felt like a guest student on her show. The product is a template for making handbags. As soon as I get through all my stuff from CHA I will find the video demonstration to post to show you all how it works.

Also, I stopped by the 10-minute challenge with TLC's While You Were Out Mark Montano. He is promoting his book Big-Ass Book of Crafts. I've only skimmed the book but it seems like there are some updated Good Houskeeping crafts from the 60's. I'm just glad crafts have become so popular but I'm sure us crazy crafty people would find a way to do it ourselves.

Don't forget to stop by Craft Critique for the latest updates on CHA. I have an article up on the new jewelry pendants I found around the show floor.

I Met the Crafty Chica

Okay, I've always liked a little bit of glitter (more so as a kid) but never thought I would find myself enjoying it so much as an adult. Meeting and crafting with the Crafty Chica changed my mind. During my visit at the Duncan booth today at CHA I got to sit down with her and make a pair of fun earrings. I really liked the glitter. It was very fine and she was able to make her own colors for her glitter line. I'm glad she was able to. The design of the margaritas was part of a selection I got to cut out. Her husband designed the artwork. I will have to wear these to my next Jimmy Buffet concert.

Her favor for the show which is shown with the earrings is a Mexican fortune cookie. Click on the photo to get a more detailed look.

Also, don't forget about checking Craft Critique for more detailed updates and also I will have another craft celebrity I met today here on my blog tomorrow. Hint: She has a sewing PBS show.

CHA Summer Show 2008

CHA stands for the Craft and Hobby Association and they organize 2 big trade shows a year so vendors can display the newest and best products for shop owners to order from. Today was the first day of the summer show here in Chicago.

Although, I couldn't make it the first day I will be there bright and early tomorrow with comfortable shoes on as a member of the press. I will be ambling down the aisles grabbing sneak peaks for Craft Critique. Over the next few days the lucky group of us will be your eyes to what will be coming to your craft stores for the fall. Please make sure to click your way over to Craft Critique to see what we are up to. Also, while you're waiting for updates of the show be sure to also check out the previews that are up from different vendors in the 3 part CHA Sneak Peak Carnival.

Wish me luck. I'm sure my feet will need it!

Crazy Month of June

Wow, I really thought June was going to be a relaxing month now that I have Friday's off from work but I was so wrong. Fridays have become the day to get all those errands done and take care of personal business like doctor's and dentist's appointments.

I also was busy getting a couple of articles done for Craft Critique. On June 2 my article about the Sulky Universal Storage Box that stores sewing thread was published. Today the article was my experiments with Jacquard's Dye-Na-Flow. This last article took me a while to accomplish as I tried to cover a lot of what this paint can do. Please check them out as well as the many other articles. Craft Critique is producing a lot more articles on oodles of goodies out in the craft world.

Unique Knitted Animals

These cute, cute, cute creatures are the one-of-a-kind creations from Ana Castellanos. She made these for me and my daughter. These are just a small sampling of what she can create with just a couple of knitting needles. She is currently teaching Spanish classes at Harper College and prior to that she taught at Northern Illinois University.

If you think these are cute, you can catch her display of all her special animals and dolls at the Schaumburg Township Library in Schaumburg, IL. There are 2 display cases in the main lobby but that's not all. She had so many they also filled 2 display cases in the fiction book room. She has a love of specialty yarns that help to create the unique look and also help create their furry appearance. Size of the animals and dolls range from the tiny to larger cuddly creatures. Many are the same pattern but the size changes just by changing the size of the needles. You can catch the display at the library now through the end of June 2008.

Here are close ups of the bear and the little elephant.

Clover Mini Iron

New Craft Critique article on the Mini Iron from Clover is out today. I hope all you quilters and crafters who use it or another portable crafting iron go over there and tell us what you think about this or if you have another one you like better. We always like to know what else is out there.

Ribbon Roses on the Jane Austen Centre Magazine

I'm so excited. Last summer I did an article for Craft Critique on wire-edge ribbon and how to make a rose. The Jane Austen Centre in England asked to post the directions to the ribbon rose with my photos on their online magazine. It is in the Hands on Regency section where you can find a variety of crafts from soap to clothing. The rose instructions are part of an article to help adorn a simple pair of shoes into a 19th century inspired fashion. You can find the magazine article here. You can check out the critique on wire-edge ribbon in the original one at Craft Critique.

Now, I feel inspired to go read Emma. I have it on my bookshelf. I received it as a gift from my mother-in-law soon after my daughter, Emma, was born. It has been so long since I've sat down and read Jane Austen's books and I've never read this one.

Book Review: Bead & Button, Ribbon & Felt Jewelry

I started working on a new article for Craft Critique tonight when I realized I didn't mention my last article I did. It is for the book Bead & Button, Ribbon & Felt Jewelry by Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell. I love it for its easy to create ideas. Check it out when you get a chance. I'm working on a review of the Clover Mini-Iron so hopefully I will remember to put a link to it when its published.

International Quilt Festival/Chicago 2008

Well, almost a month ago I went to the International Quilt Festival/Chicago that was held at the convention center in Rosemont, IL. This was my second year except I didn't take any classes this year. Instead, I went one day with my friend Susie and one day with my daughter (who loved the shopping part the best - see picture) and I still didn't get around to seeing everything. There were many, many quilts that were just beyond superb. Quilting just keeps getting better and better. I can't even imagine getting close to the level of many of the artists out there today.


There were just too many pieces at the show to even begin to give details of even just some of the works I admired. I love collecting pictures of techniques I would like to try. Here are some of those details:

This first picture is a close up from one of the Journal Quilts 2007 - Journal Quilt Project. These were small quilts that meant to be pages of a journal. This one is titled Forgotten Flowers by Francis Holliday Alford. I love all the dimension in this and the wonderful use of beads.

This detail is from a large quilt by Carol Taylor called Tiptoe Through the Tulips. The base is squares and rectangles and then it's embellished with multiple threads and stitching. I love the swirls.

Here is just a small portion of a very large quilt with a technique of string piecing. It is called Prairie Dawn by Ann Brauer. This gives me an idea of how to use up the loads of fabric I inherited from my mom.


Now, unfortunately, I cannot find my notes on this next quilt but this detail photo is a very small area of the piece. I was amazed at the wave of buttons - all stars - that spread out through the middle of this quilt. Can you imagine sewing on each of the hundreds of buttons?



Here is an example of another technique that I would love to try - bleach discharging. This quilt named Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire! by Cynthia St. Charles shows the technique, I think, at its best. I also like the beads that have been added to enhance the starburst design.


This is a huge dahlia design and I've lost my notes on this one as well. It was just an amazing piece of an even more amazing quilt. If anyone knows who did this I would love to know. If I'm lucky I will be able to come across this one again and fully credit it. This also is one piece I cannot really tell what the technique was but it seems so geometrically perfect I just love its power.



I'm showing this detail of Open Up! Your Dream Flower by Harumi Asada from Japan. I love paisley patterns as well as the colors of this piece. I couldn't find a site for Harumi but I did find this picture of a quilt using a similar paisley.



The next two pictures are more traditional patterns but are a couple of my favorites. This is a feathered star which was the center part of the quilt Autumn Sky by Gretchen Neal Jackson. This shows 3 feathered stars inside of each other. I have done a feathered star but have not completed it in a quilt yet.



Mariner's compass is another one of my favorites. You might have noticed that a lot of the pieces I have shown has curves in it somewhere . I also like angles which explains the feathered star but the compass pattern has both elements. I really like the triangles (reminds me of distorted flying geese) that circle this compass. The full quilt is called Follow Me by Margaret Curley.

I hope you enjoy these little details from just a few of the pieces I admired and I hope they inspire you to try a new technique.

I Finally Made Some Birthday Cards

Nothing like a couple of birthdays and a new Scrapbooking Club to get me to sit down and use my stuff. I made these cards this past Friday when I finally made it to the Our Redeemer's Scrapbook Club. I started attending this church last fall and met the founder of the group while dropping my daughter off to Sunday School. Laura is her teacher and also the organizer for the Crop for a Cause event I attended last month.

Although I have what looks like a lot of stuff (hardcore scrappers can see I'm just a novice when it comes to what I have) and it looks like I have it organized, I yet to have projects organized especially when it comes to scrapbook pages. So instead of looking like I had no idea of what I was going to do I decided to make cards for my mother-in-law and father-in-law's birthdays. We met them today for lunch to celebrate. Their birthdays are only a couple of days apart and my husband's is on the same day as his mom's. I hope you enjoy the cards.

The first card is for my mother-in-law. I really enjoyed making this card. The message is with stickers and I helped to attach it to the background with spiral paper clips made by The Paper Studio. I also used my Sizzix Big Kick to cut out the flower details and paper buttons. I am quite pleased with this card and my 3-D flower that you can see in the close-up.


The second card was more of a challenge. I didn't have much masculine paper in my small stash but I did have that cute little robot tag that my fellow crafter Martha made for us one night at our Chicago Craft Collective meeting. He was my "guy" inspiration. He actually is holding a heart above his head but I put a speech bubble sticker over it to shout out my birthday wishes. I used stickers also for "Grandpa". I really have a thing for stickers but I never seem to have enough of some. I need to practice stamping more.

Magazine Review Over at Craft Critique

Just an FYI for you that I have a new article up over at Craft Critique. I have to confess this is one of my favorite ones I've done so far and they have all been fun with some of the new stuff I've tried out and just keeping me motivated to keep doing what I love to do.

I reviewed a new magazine - Craft Stylish: Quick Stuff to Sew. It really is a sweet, new publication with great photos and super projects that are easy to do. Of course, some may look easier than what they are since I didn't try out all the projects. There are a couple of leather objects that would probably be a challenge since I've never worked with leather or even faux leather but the instructions sure make me want to take a stab at it.

The coolest thing about the article was an editor at Taunton Publishing left a comment. I was definitely doing a little happy dance about that one. Surely made my day. I've got some sticky notes marking the projects I want to get going on, but first I have to find some extra time. Too bad one has to sleep.

Blast from the Past

My daughter found a box labeled "Donna's Dolls" and requested to go through it. I wasn't quite sure what was in the box and finally gave in. This is part of what was inside. The large Barbie was called Super Barbie and the other one I believe was named Tuesday. She's kind of cool (at least pre-80's) because you could move her hair around and make her either blond or brunette. The other doll I put in the photo for size reference - he is the size of a 11" Ken doll. If you don't know (and if you are under 35 I would be shocked if you do) it is, yes, it is Donny Osmond in his original purple outfit that was worn on the Donny and Marie show. I remember it even had purple socks to go with it but those have been lost. I had Marie too but she must have went with the socks.

The more amazing part of this is the clothes I made for the larger dolls. I crocheted them somewhere around the 8th - 9th grade. I remember doing the Flamenco dress to take to a High School Foreign Language fair at Ohio University. I don't think I made the skirt for any reason in particular. I really liked to make doll clothes when I was young and loved when I could actually crochet them. I've included a few close-ups of the clothes. If you click on the photo you should get a larger view of them. I've kind of gotten motivated to make some clothes for my daughters dolls but I haven't told her. I need to find the time first.

Doing Easter Crafts With My Daughter

One of the coolest things with my new job is some of the perks of certain days off that my daughter has off. Although it is not officially called Good Friday by the schools, we still got the day off together. This time off allowed us to have a crafty day and create a few decorations that she can take to Grandma's house for Easter this year.

I picked up this cute little book at the library, Easter Crafts by Colleen Van Blaricom. It had no photos but the artwork created by Anita Louise made the instructions easy to follow. Of course, we made plans to make more than we actually did but I let Emma choose the ones she wanted to do the most. Overall this book has great little projects that we didn't get to like making mini-baskets out of an egg carton, a bunny basket made from a milk jug, and a paper bag bunny.

This first project was simply titled A Dozen Easter Chicks. The instructions called for plain white cotton balls that were to be colored with a yellow marker. We decided buying yellow pom-poms was a much easier route to go. My daughter cut out each of the beaks but wasn't interested in getting them all the same size. I think they turned out pretty cute this way and gave each puffy chick their own personality.


The second project we collaborated on was Percival Peacock. Here the book used a real egg that you poke holes in and blow out the insides then wait for it to dry. Luckily, we just went to the local craft store and bought a wooden egg that my daughter painted. Another shortcut we used was to use craft foam for the tail feathers instead of coloring poster board. The downside of the foam is that it is thicker and was tricky to get it feathered out and keep in place while the glue dried.

Happy Easter Everyone!!

My Warm Project for A Very Cold Winter

I haven't been writing much this winter. I've even noticed some of my favorite blogs might be having similar problems as well. This doesn't mean I haven't been working on anything. I've been putting on several rows of this afghan pictured here with my daughter's kitty, Halle (short for Halloween). I started this afghan many, many moons ago while visiting my mom. My mom always had an abundance of yarn especially scraps from various projects and I didn't have a project with me. I rummaged through several patterns she had and took one of her many hooks so we could crochet together while I visited.

I took it home with me and worked on it very rarely for many years afterward. When she died I didn't get it out again until I was in the hospital laying in bed after my water broke 5 weeks before my daughter was due. Since I didn't go into labor I got to lay in my hospital bed for 6 days hooked up to an IV waiting. I managed to get a couple of rows completed before they had to move the IV to my right hand making me incapable of continuing.

Since then I've lost my pattern and I think I've used 3 different hook sizes but it is about 1/2 done. I'm making it big just like my mom would have liked. My mom always complained that afghan patterns were not big enough to keep real people covered up. Someday I will get it done, someday...week...month...year...

My First Group Cropping Event

You may have heard me say before how I have avoided scrapping and paper crafts just because I really didn't want to do another craft. I can't even get done, nor will I ever, what I have supplies for. This past weekend I went to one of those big crop events where 226 people signed up to be part of "Crop for a Cause - Making MS a Memory". I did not know what to take with me and really thought with my one rolling suitcase and 2 huge tote bags that I must be bringing way too much. Was I wrong! I saw women bring in cartloads of stuff. I actually looked like I had under-packed. The only person I saw with less supplies was a beader who came to work on her beading projects while she sat with a group of her scrapping friends.

This was the second year for the event which is held at my church, Our Redeemers United Methodist Church in Schaumburg, IL. It was founded by Laura Machonis, a member of the church who has MS and turned her hobby into a major fundraising event. They have raised over $26,000. That is absolutely amazing but if you attended you know why. The outpouring of donations from companies, restaurants and individuals all over the Chicago area helped to create an environment of support to the participants. There were 147 silent auction items that ranged from awesome packs of scrapbooking supplies, Chicago Bulls and Storm tickets, toys for the kids and even a Hawaiian vacation (some of the baskets in the photo to the left).

There was plenty of food to eat and free Starbucks coffee. There were 2 tables set up with Stampin Up stamps and ink to use. There was also a tool table with Sizzex die-cuts, cutters and scissors to use.

This is the bargain table of donated supplies. There was paper, stamps, stickers and books.

The sanctuary (shown below) as well as the large program room (first photo above) was used to seat the participants. I helped to set up the night before. There wasn't much more room to utilize after all the volunteers were done. What was more amazing was how it all disappeared for the next morning's service. The crop didn't end until 11 pm so there were even more amazing volunteers for take down.

I did actually get some work done even though I left early at 9:oo. I'm still a pretty slow scrapper compared to some of these ladies but I'm too much of a perfectionist and I'm really not even finished with the 2 pages below. I still need to get the year on each page. I feel really good about getting my daughter's dance page done because it's done before this year's pictures have even been scheduled. But because of this being my first crop I was always walking around checking out other projects, the silent auction and stopped for dinner which was also part of the package. Hope I can go next year, too.

A Warm Shout Out From the Cold Tundra

In case you been wondering, I am still around even though negative wind chills seem to be the norm in Chicagoland the past few days. I've been busy with a brand new job!! Yippee! I had been doing a long term temporary stint and finally got a position at a local community college. I love it but it has tuckered me out a little learning new policies and starting new projects. It makes the days go by fast, though.

Unfortunately, I haven't done any crafting in the last two weeks unless you count trying to get the craft area organized and hemming warm sweatpants for my daughter to wear in this freakin' cold weather. It was -5 this morning. We're supposed to get about 6" of snow tomorrow night. Yikes! I just hope it warms up a little.

This photo is from the last big snow right before it melted which helped making the snowman (or bear) a little easier to construct.

Olfa Rotary Circle Cutter

Check out my first article of 2008 over at Craft Critique. I just got this gadget a little while ago and it's very cool for cutting out circles from fabric.

Happy New Year and Belated Holiday Wishes

Geesh! Did the year fly by or what? I didn't get as much done as I would have liked so I guess I will start (or restart) all over again this year. I've already been adding rows to an afghan that I started several years ago. I'll probably let you have a peek in the near future. I also pulled out an old cross-stitch project from my high school days. I think I remember messing up on it somewhere but can't find that mistake right now. At least now I can not be so perfect and just adjust the design somehow.

Here is a close up of the kitchen towel that I embroidered for my gingerbread pal. I am happy to report that she was very pleased with it - that and a huge Rice Krispie tree treat I sent along with it. The design is from a Tenderberry Stitches pattern pace call Home for Christmas Stitcheries T179.


The tree I made using my Wilton tree shaped pan. I had placed mini candy coated kisses in the pan before pouring in the mixture but I had to press more in by hand when I removed the tree from the pan.