June 2014 . . . what I have been up to for the past couple months . . .

Hello! This POSTED before I was finished! Please come back to see the edits and the descriptions of my photos!






I know I really should take the time and make it a habit to sit down at the computer and write my blog, but it so often feels like I don't have much to show or tell. However, when I wait two months, it is way too much to show and tell! So, I hope this is the last time I have such a big gap between posts!
I tend to have mostly pictures here. . . and maybe if I blogged more often, I could add a story here and there about happenings here in my little world!








Spring has come back to Alexander and the bushes are so full this year. My weigela bush (also called a beauty bush) is gorgeous . .



 

I am a member of The Craft Hole, a crafting group on Facebook.

We held our first Friday Night Mini Challenge this past week.

The theme was to make a tag that referenced My Favorite Things.

Some of mine are hand-dyed seam binding, stamps and sentiments/words, my watercolor pencils, flat-back pearls, glitter, ribbons, trim, lace, vellum, and yarn.

I dyed these corsage pin heads with my new Spectrum Noir alcohol ink pens.

I love how they turned out. 

 

 I have been making stick pins! They were popular in the 1980's when I made them to wear on my winter hats and coats. They are seeing a resurgence in crafting. I use them in my mini albums, on cards and tags . . . and I think I will be wearing some of them, too! I can make these at night while watching TV with my hubby.  :-)

We showed property last Saturday morning and afterward, we drove to East Aurora, New York.

On the way, we saw a lot of windmills on the hills in Sheldon. 

We had lunch at The Roycroft Inn under the covered porch. It was a memorable meal and a wonderful time together. Afterward, I did a little shopping at The Copper Shop on The Roycroft Campus.

We had lunch at The Roycroft Inn under the covered porch. It was a memorable meal and we had a wonderful time together. This is one of our favorite places. Afterward, I did a little shopping at The Copper Shop on The Roycroft Campus.

 

Coming home one evening recently, there was a spectacular sunset.

I loved the image of the farm equipment parked on this  hill at the end of the day.

 

I have been making greeting cards and matching tags.

 

Here is another card and tag.

I am going to be selling them at a local shop nearby.

 

As a swap in The Craft Hole, we altered Altoid Tins.

I made this one for my partner and love how it came out!

 

I put these little cards inside the tin and tied them up with a silk ribbon.

 

Here is a photo of the interior.

Here is a photo of the interior with the cards inside.

 

And here is a photo of the little altered tin and the bundle of cards.

 

I love my new shelves!

I never seem to have enough shelf space for all of my craft stuff in my studio!

 

I made these as part of a swap in The Craft Hole.

These are some of the things I made to use on an altered clip board.

 

I altered a micro mini clipboard (on the left) and a mini clipboard (on the right).

 

In April, I was part of a tag swap in The Craft Hole.

I made this tag for my swap partner, Anessa.

I love how it turned out!

 

I made this for my swap partner Tiffany.

She is a girly girl and loves hats.

 

I made this tag for my swap partner Kathy.

She loves purple.

I had a lot of fun making the shaker card with little rain drops and mini umbrellas inside.

 

I made this tag as a thank you for a friend who helped me with a presentation at the quilt guild.

This is the back of the tag.

 

This is the front of the tag.

She is a gardener, so I had to use this paper!

 

Another friend who helped me with the presentation received this tag.

This paper made me think of her because she is a musician.

 

This is the back of the tag.

 

I altered this box as part of a challenge in The Craft Hole.

It is the shape of a pizza box, but about 7 inches square.

I deconstructed it, decorated it and put it back together.

  

This is the interior of the box.

 

This tag was made for one of the women who helped me with my quilt guild presentation.

This is the back of the tag.

 

This is the front of the tag. Her first name is Beth and I altered this metal tag to make it look a little steampunky to go with the paper.

What I have learned . . . 

I can upload my photos for my blog directly from my phone! This is a real time saver and it means I can blog more often . . . because I ALWAYS need to put photos in my blog!

I can get lots more done in my studio if I get in there and stay in there WITHOUT my phone, Kindle, or laptop! I am soooo drawn to my techie gadgets! My hubby (also my real estate partner) takes over and covers the phones and emails for me, so I have NO EXCUSE for not getting into the studio and making some things! My quilt guild is having a show this fall and I intend to have some of my quilts hanging in the show. That means I better get back to my sewing machine!

I love my life and have no big wants or needs . . . and that is a wonderful feeling. I have the love and acceptance of my husband and family.

What I need . . . .

I need to keep on cleaning out closets, cleaning off shelves and cleaning out my stash and moving things out of here . . . donating, selling, or tossing things out. It is hard for me to do this because I seem to have a relationship with everything I own. . . even if it was not mine to begin with.  I somehow became the owner or steward of many things . . . and it is time to only have in my house things that are useful or things I believe to be beautiful (paraphrased from William Morris).

Until we meet again . . . may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

  

April 7th . . . finally a blog post! It has been a bit of a challenge . . . !!!!

Hello!





I fully intended to post waaaaay before this, but I had some computer glitches and challenges in February. BOTH of my laptops had to go to the shop! I have had  home computers for more than15 years, and have NEVER had a computer with any problems. I realize I have been VERY lucky! So, I guess my time had come . . . and double!





Winter has been so long . . cold . . snowy. We have stayed close to home and monitored our old 1846 abode so we would not end up with frozen pipes. There were many nights when it was close to zero with wind chills to minus 10 or 20. We had a blizzard just two days ago . . . and we are sooooo ready for Spring! The calendar tells us it will be here on March 20th, but since we live in upstate New York, near Buffalo, we already know that is just a number on the page . . . We are not out of the cold weather just yet!





So . . . while I have been spending a lot of time at home, I have been able to work on my real estate career from our home office and get into my studio to work on various projects. I joined an on-line craft group in the fall and have enjoyed meeting the other women in the group. I have participated in swaps and in challenges. The group is on Facebook and is called The Craft Hole. If you are interested in learning more about it, check it out. Since I craft alone, and often in the evening, being a member of the group has been good for me.

Here are some photos of things I have made over the past few months . .  .

a little out of chronological order . . . I had some computer challenges, and just uploaded them from time to time when my computer would cooperate!

I can't remember if I posted this in January . . . or not. I made this card for my husband. . . to celebrate spending the January blizzard together. I actually love to be "snowed in" . . . as long as I am warm and safe.

I made these tags for a swap I joined in an online group called The Craft Hole on Facebook.

 

Close up of tag made for my swap Partner Jodi

Close up of tag made for my swap partner Margaret

This pretty image was downloaded for free from The Graphics Fairy.

Close up of tag made for my swap partner Rhonda

Tag made in February as a challenge to try a new technique . . . .

Tags I made with the Once Upon A Time theme . . . They are sold locally in a little shop.

Tag made in January as a challenge to try a new technique.

My work table . . . when it is picked up! I love the cubbys that we bought for my table.

They are supposed to be for shoes, but work even better for my supplies.

Tag made for Valentines Day using Graphic 45 Sweet Sentiments.

Valentine made for my swap partner Traci

Valentine made as a challenge to learn a new technique.

White fish baked the way my  mother used to make it . . . .

Half n half, margarine, dill, pepper, paprika. Easy and delicious!

Card made for a friend

Three tags made for a swap.

Close up of the tag I made for my swap partner Traci

Close up of a tag made for my swap partner Yolanda

Close up of a tag made for my swap partner Anita

Two button fairies. These were really fun to make!

Button fairy made for my swap partner Traci

The pretty lady is a free downloaded image from The Graphics Fairy

Made this cute little button fairy for my swap partner Traci.

The bunny image was a free graphic from The Graphics Fairy.

Tag  made as part of a challenge to try a method by Tim Holtz.

I improvised with most of it since I did not have all the Tim Holtz materials. :-)

We spent our wedding anniversary at Niagara Falls.

This is the view of the American Falls from the Canadian side.

We drove north to Niagara On The Lake in Canada, a beautiful resort town,

where the Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario.

I fell in love with the ensembles in this store window.

I think I may need to start sewing clothes again!

A quick trip to Tuesday Morning on the way home, via Buffalo,

where I snagged some cool things for my studio! Bottles of flowers, Tim Holtz Grunge Board Letters, and a Tim Holtz Alterations die of the Eiffel Tower and a Fleur des Lis.

We had a swap in the Craft Hole . . called Oh La La Corset Swap.

I had sooooo much fun making the corsets for my swap partners.

We plan to have more corset swaps and we can each hang the corsets on a little clothes line.

I plan to hang mine in my studio and I am thinking I may make more.

The ones below were sent to my swap partners . . .

We included little clothes pins, too. I made smaller corsets to hold the pins.

Red striped corset for my swap partner Margaret.

Coral and yellow corset for my swap partner Jodi.

Ivory and beige corset for my swap partner Alicia.

THE END!!!!

Now that I have my computer back and in working order, I will post more regularly.

 As it is . . . this post was started in mid-March and today is April 7th!!!!!

Oh well . . . as you know, sometimes that is just how it goes!

I wish you all the best and thank you for stopping by!

 As always you comments are welcome and appreciated.

What I have learned:

I have a hard time living without all of my technological toys! I am more attached than I thought!

What I want to learn:

How to accomplish more of the things every day that are on my To Do List!

What I am grateful for:

The end of winter!

What I want:

World Peace.