Sugar House Creations

Cardinal rug progress

2012-02-19T23:05:00.001-05:00

I hooked a little at a friend's house today and then while waching the season finale of Downton Abbey. I can't wait for season 3 to start! I am fascinated by it. My friend has finished a large rug and completed a medium sized one while I am still dawdling with my cardinal. I don't think I've hooked at all since my last progress post. I feel guilty taking time to hook while there are other things around the house that should be priority.

A little carving...

2012-02-17T16:05:00.001-05:00

My fickle craftiness has me obsessed with carving stamps again. I did a few about two years ago for use with polymer clay...another obsession. This time I carved out a stamp to use on paper. The technique, for me at least, is opposite for work with polymer clay. I love buttons.

Noah's Ark - Thrift Store Gem!

2012-02-06T13:28:00.000-05:00

My son had a high school band competition on Saturday. After that was done, and before I had to deliver a Thirty-One Gifts party order to my hostess, I stopped at one of our local thrift stores. I hadn't been to this particular store in a while and they had done some re-arranging of their home goods area. All of the wooden items were now together in one spot. It was wonderful! There was this huge box on the floor and I figured it was just a box, like an old sewing box or something. It was heavy as sin!

I opened the little latch and couldn't believe my eyes.

Noah and all of his animals came tumbling out! Each pair appear to have their own cubby. I don't know if they are handmade or not, but it's still a wonderful treasure. It's a pretty good sized box, painted dark red with goldish stars. The paint is chipping and the label they used for the price tag pulled off some paint too, but I think with a little love and dark stain it will be okay.

The back of the box is painted with the ocean and a rainbow of course. The Ark has what appears to be metal flashing around it so it's not a great toy to give to a child, but I'm keeping this for myself anyway. : )

These little kitties........

....and these little sheep are my favorites of course.

And there are two drawers where I keep the fish.

The little orange blur in the background is Cinnamon coming to see what I was up to.

There were also these letter blocks inside, but I don't think they are part of the set as they are painted a bit differently.

I don't know if this is handmade, but I love it! I paid $5 for it and I probably would have paid twice that. I apologize for the less then stellar photos. I lost part of the charger for my camera and the battery is dead. These cell phone pics aren't too bad though.

~Michelle

Kitty Question

2012-01-29T13:54:00.001-05:00

Up until a year or so ago I had no qualms about declawing...until I learned what is really involved. Its not just removing the nail! Now that we have Cinnamon we have a decision to make. He is awfully cute, but he is causing us pain. I could care less about our furniture, but he attacks our feet during the night. Some nights I have succeeded by tiring him out with play time and he doesn't bother us until bout 5 am, lol. I trimmed his nails thinking that would lessen the pain. Nope.

I really don't want to declaw him. I'm going to order these little nail covers to see if that helps. That should be fun to get on him, lol! Anyone try them? I can't remember what they are called. Soft Paws maybe? I will have to Google it.

Please let me know how you feel and if you have any ideas. Oh, keeping him out of the bedroom at night isn't an option as his litter box is in the master bath and we don't have another place for it.

Michelle

Oops

2012-01-25T15:32:00.001-05:00

Haven't quite figured out the Blogger app yet. This is the desk that should have shown up in the last post.

Thrift Store Day

2012-01-25T15:20:00.001-05:00

First I have to say that you guys are awesome. Within minutes I knew what my little wooden gadget was...though my husband is sticking with a candle holder, lol. Stubborn man. Thanks so much!

I hit the thrift stores today as it was 50% off Wednesday at my favorite Salvation Army. I went with the intention of finding storage for my friend Kimberlee. She is re-doing her craft room and wants old instead of the newer bookshelf that she hs now. I emailed her a few pics and I did well too.

Milk tank thingy for $15 at a local shop called Pieces. Its already painted red. Perfect for my porch! And I couldn't resist this desk for $15 either. We have a roll top desk from the 70s that I hate. It will be given back to my husband's aunt and this will go in its place. Just a spot to drop the mail. Please ignore the dusty floor grate and pile of paint. :-) I bought a bunch of little things too.

I shouldn't have bought anything as my husband was laid off last Friday, but I think he has everything straightened out and will basically be working for a sister company of the one he was working for. Fingers crossed.

Interesting thrift store find , but what is it?

2012-01-22T10:56:00.001-05:00

I couldn't pass up this little wooden item for 25 cents. I have no idea what it is though. My husband thought maybe a candle holder that can hold any size candle; just turn the handle to adjust tension on the candle. Sounds good, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

Cardinal Mat Progress

2012-01-09T20:06:00.001-05:00

Well here goes nothing. I'm attempting to post from my phone, but this thing
is a pain to type on so this will be short and sweet...and probably full of spelling errors. : )
Here is the progress I've made on my cardinal mat. I bought a skirt at Goodwill which is the perfect color for the background. I didn't follow the rules about cutting, because I couldn't remember them, so I have some fraying going on. First hooked rug, not worried about it.

I'm a hooker and a dyer!

2011-12-29T13:22:00.000-05:00

I love rug hooking, but the only hooking I've done was with wool yarn and one small square in a Yahoo Groups rug with wool strips, and those both were about 2004! I've had a Bliss Model B since 2004 as well, bought used on ebay by my hubs for me. He bought me a beautiful frame as well that year for my birthday. And it all just sat there. I know I've blogged about this before, about how I wanted to use my goodies.

So I went to the local rug hooking group last week. It was on the day after I worked the weekend and my hours are crazy. I work until 3 a.m. so I didn't get to the group until 2 p.m., lol. The hooking group is from 10:30 to 3p.m. Ha ha! I'm just not a morning person and I don't get up until at least noon the day after I work until 3 a.m. I'm sure you understand. : )

I'm so glad I went! The ladies were so nice and helped me draw a simple star on my monks cloth to get started. There were a few primitive gals and a few who were doing fine cut floral work. I became fast friends with Kimberlee who loves primitive in a 9 or 10 cut. I've never seen anything that wide and it was beautiful! We got to talking and then this week we have had a blast getting together. Monday we drove to Berlin, Ohio, on a last minute trip to Country Craft Cupboard. It's a rug hooker's dream! I bought a yard of primitive linen, a primitive 8mm Hartman hook, a pattern, and two Cushing's dyes (mulberry and spice brown). Tuesday I took my Bliss to Kimberlee's and she helped me clean it and oil it, and it works sooo nice now! I could barely get the handle turned before. It has been sitting for more than six years and still had some wool fuzz from the last owner. Wednesday, yesterday, we got together again (lol) and dyed some wool and she got me started on a pattern I have been looking at in Create and Decorate Magazine for four years! Yes, I am the Queen of Unfinished Projects and the Queen of Procrastination, lol!

Cardinal rug from Create and Decorate Magazine

We had so much fun dyeing. We tried to follow a formula in a book for a light tan color for me to use as the background on my cardinal rug. Well, we got a very dark brown. It's a beautiful color, just not what we were expecting. So then I tried my spice brown on a new piece of white wool. Love it! I think it's a tad darker than I wanted for the background, but it will work just fine.

Spice Brown on new white wool. It's darker in person.

Next we through some mulberry dye and some bright red wool in the pot just to see what we would get. Beautiful! I am a prim girl and this bright red wool was never going to get used by me. Again, beautiful mottled reds!

Mulberry on bright red wool. Again, darker in person.

Poor Kimberlee was trying so hard to find the perfect color for her snowman rug and wasn't getting it. Too dark, too yellow....I told her I had beginner's luck.

We had a delicious lunch of chicken salad and pita bread, and got to hooking. I just love her house. It's a new house, about five years, but it's so prim. Hooked rugs, penny rugs, wool applique.....so many things to look at! Here is what I have done so far. I started with the cardinal wing and probably hooked too closely. Then I started outlining the body of the bird. I soon switched to my primitive Hartman hook because I was having trouble pulling the strips with the regular hook I was using. So much better! Even though I'm only using a #8 cut, the Hartman hook was so much easier. I was really struggling with the other hook and my finger was getting sore. I thought rug hooking was supposed to be relaxing, lol! The right side is where I was struggling and the left is when I switched to the Hartman hook. You can definitely see the difference. I might even re-hook the right side.

My progress so far on the cardinal rug

Okay, off to get some cleaning done before work because I've been ignoring it the last few days. : )

Hi.

2011-12-15T16:24:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to say hello to the world. I have the winter/holiday blahs. I can't really say winter now can I?!?! It's about 50 degrees and raining....in Ohio....on December 15th.

I got to chat with Alice and she reminded me of a local hook-in, so I'm going. I'm actually looking forward to it! I've heard about it before and just dragged my feet and never made it. I'm determined to use some of my craft supplies (which include a wonderful frame, Bliss cutter, and some wool) and do something useful with them. Four years ago I bought some monks cloth (I think that's what it is) intending to make a rug for my sister's wedding. I will give you one guess where the monks cloth is. Yep, in the bag from the store.

My son had hand surgery on Monday and is still in some pain and bored out of his mind, but is hanging in there. He broke a finger badly during basketball practice a few weeks ago. We didn't realize it was broken and didn't get to the doc as soon as we should have. That's the downfall of working in a hospital. Kind of like that story of the shoemaker's children. So one pin and one screw later, he is all wrapped up and on Vicodin. Unfortunately he is missing an entire week of school (bad planning on my part) and next week starts winter break, so I guess in his mind he is lucky....though he is not happy about having to make up a week's worth of work over break.

I better go check on the patient. Have a good weekend all and hopefully I will have a picture of something hooked next time I stop in. : )

~Michelle

November: A good month to be thankful

2011-11-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

Two posts in the same week?!?! I must be turning over a new leaf. : )

Since November is the month of giving thanks, I thought I would start a few new habits this month and try and shake this looming depression. I have so much to be thankful for that it's silly to be so depressed.

I already gave up my morning coffee months ago and was only getting a cappuccino and fruit snacks (they have like 300% of my daily vitamin C so they are vitamins, right?) on the days I work at the hospital at night, but I just gave that up too. I can get a free coffee in the cafeteria at work (much less fat and sugar than the cappuccino) and will be buying the fruit snacks in the small packets and just have *one* as a treat. This will save me about $10 a week and I think that's significant. Just think of all the neat things I can get at the thrift store with $10! lol!

I'm also going to stop wasting so much time. This is a hard one for me. I find myself looking online at everyone's crafting projects and home decor projects, and then never getting around to my own. Enough is enough!

My family deserves more from me and I deserve to feel better. I hope I can stick to it. They are small changes, but I think they will make a huge difference in my life and the lives of those around me.

I started stitching again and this is the first piece I've finished. I'm very proud of myself for getting it done so quickly. I'm the queen of unfinished projects (ADD + a little OCD = nothing getting done). Thank you to Christine at Preferably Prim for the cross stitch chart. It was just right for me.

Back to the thrift store!

2011-10-31T14:26:00.000-04:00

Oh I have missed the thrift store, my local Salvation Army to be exact. I haven't been blogging or doing much of anything for a long time. I got sucked into something else and ignored my crafting. I have to admit the depression bug hit me and I was having a hard time dealing with some family illnesses. Fall is my favorite time of year and I seem to have gotten a little second wind when normally this is when the fall/winter blues start for most. Of course I'm not like everyone else, lol. Last Thursday I got the itch to go to the TS. One day late of the Wednesday 50% off sale that they always have. I figured I would take my chances as I know I don't have the same tastes as most people as I'm looking for items I can prim up. Here is what I found. So excited!

Isn't this adorable? I never find anything already my taste. This is a small plate, probably about 4 inches or so. I don't have to do a thing to it! It's perfect.

Wood slat basket, a little drawer with dividers that I will probably use in my craft room for buttons and such. The long wooden box says 'recipes' on it, but it's going to get a paint job and will be used as a table centerpiece I think. I found these three daisy doilies and couldn't pass them up for 99 cents. The only problem: they are starched. I washed one and it didn't really get much better. Is there a secret to removing starch or is it impossible?

3 recipe boxes. I just love the metal! I love the look of the box on the left, but not the words. I don't know what I'm going to do because I love the color of the box. Hmmm. The other two will probably get painted and a punch needle design on the top or front.

A tiny shelf. Really tiny! Probably 5 inches wide. It's a nice burgundy color so it just needs a little sanding and staining to age it a bit.

This isn't handmade, but I couldn't pass it up. The cork is in good shape and there is a picture frame spot at the top. The glass will get removed and I will add either a punch needle piece or a wool applique of some sort.

So I got all of this for about $8! I'm so excited. It was blue sticker day so everything with a blue sticker was 50% off, so I got the little 'plant love' plate for 25 cents! Steal!

Happy Halloween!

Cat owner lesson of the day:

2011-10-26T14:58:00.000-04:00

Don't leave your ice cream bowl on the fireplace mantle because the cat will find a way up there and it will come crashing down at 3 a.m. and scare the you-know-what outta you. : )

TIme Flies!

2011-09-05T16:02:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. I've been busy with Thirty-One and having fun, but then last week got the urge to craft again. I don't even know where to begin, lol. I spent some time in my craft room last trying to get things in order, but I just got more overwhelmed. Cross-stitch....penny rugs....polymer clay....salt dough??? So many crafts, so little time.

I have missed checking in with my favorite blogs and can't even begin to imagine what I have missed! There is no way for me to catch up on the last six weeks, so I will just jump in. : ) I'm sure my booth at River City Gift Shoppe is a disaster as well. I have not been a good vendor I'm afraid.

Patches and Cali have been spayed and are back outside after a week inside recuperating. We have also taken in one of our porch kittens. You will remember him from this post. Yes, we adopted Cinnamon into our family! He came down with a nasty eye infection and the doc said to keep him in for a week while he was treated. We loved him so much we didn't want to send him back outside.

Cinnamon while still being treated for his eye infection

Our dog loves him too much and Cinnamon isn't ready for a friend yet, so he has been living in our bedroom. He is just a kitten so he has plenty of room to roam with lots of toys, and we play with him often so he is never alone. He is ready to explore the rest of the house so the dog and cat will just have to get used to each other.

The cooler weather we have had here in Ohio over the past two days is making me think about the Fall holidays that will be here before we know it. How can summer be over so soon?!?! My son started high school and is loving it, but I was not ready to have a kid in high-schooler. I can't possibly be old enough for that, lol.

My mind is swimming with ideas. I'm going to start with something simple, more coiled baskets for the cats, and go from there.

I hope all of you are enjoying the long weekend with your families.

It's been a while...

2011-07-26T14:08:00.000-04:00

We have had a couple of really busy weeks here. It started out with a sick momma kitty that needed emergency surgery. She is doing fine now and is now spayed.

We had momma kitty #2 spayed last week. Today I took one of her kittens to the vet due to an eye infection. They are both living in our bedroom until they have healed. That kitten, Cinnamon, will be on the neuter list as soon as his eye is better.

I've been working at home part-time and haven't really had any time to stitch. So sad!

I also started up with Thirty-One Gifts as an independent consultant. I have been busy learning the ropes and am excited to get started! The quality is great. The catalog does not do these products justice. The hostess specials are unbelievable, so if any of you are interested in a party you can do a catalog party with me even if you aren't here in Akron, Ohio! If you are interested please check out my page at www.mythirtyone.com/mmauk and view the new Fall 2011 catalog. I wouldn't promote them on my blog if I didn't believe in the products and the company.

I will post more later. It's been busy around here and just writing about it has made me tired, lol.

I hope everyone is staying cool!

~Michelle

Thirty-One Gifts

2011-06-23T12:38:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited and I just have to share it with you! Very soon I will be an independent consultant for Thirty-One Gifts. I fell in love with their purses and bags, and just had to sign up to be a consultant! This is so out of my 'norm', but I can't wait to get started.

If you haven't heard of this company, check out their website at Thirty-One Gifts and learn more about the CEO & Founder, their mission, and their great products. I will have a website for ordering very soon as well, but until then you can visit my Facebook Page.

Even if you are not near to me here in Ohio, you can still host a catalog party and earn all of the great hostess rewards! I will have more info to share soon, but was itching to share the news with you.

~Michelle

I Need Help Finding A Website

2011-06-13T14:10:00.000-04:00

I found a website last week selling stitchery patterns. I cannot for the life of me find it again. I got there from a blog on my list talking about this company, so I'm hoping someone out there sees this and knows who I am talking about.

She had square muslin candle mat patterns for sale for about $2.50. I remember one having pineapples.

I have googled and looked in my history. No luck!

Thanks for your help.

~Michelle

New Items at the Shop

2011-06-12T20:37:00.000-04:00

I stopped by River City Gift Shoppe on Saturday with some new items.

A few muslin candle mats.......

Wool star

Prim Flowers by Chestnut Junction

Stars and Cats by Chestnut Junction

A rose wool key fob, a few raggedy sunflowers, and a few other stitcheries. Here is what my booth likes like now. It's getting there!

Hope your weekend was relaxing. It's chilly here today in Ohio so I'm going to put some socks my cold piggies and get some laundry in before the day is done.

A Bowl of Cinnamon

2011-06-09T20:40:00.001-04:00

Cinnamon the kitten that is! Remember the bowls that I blogged about here? Well the kittens love them. Oh, you don't know about those kittens do you. Well, I'll save that for another day. A family friend has cats and she has cute little baskets for them to sleep in. Well I don't have any cute baskets, but I wondered if they would like the bowls. Soft, conform to their shape, cozy....they love them! The green one is a bit too small for any of them to sleep in, but they like to just stand in it and watch their siblings play.

What do your cats like to sleep in?

Oh by the way, Sugar and Nilla are back. I'm happy and sad. My friend Tammy took them in and unfortunately her allergies were too severe. She almost wound up in the hospital! She brought them back last Friday and you would have thought they were never gone. Pumpkin Pie was thrilled when she realized who they were. Those three have been playing nonstop since then! I don't have any pictures of the three of them playing because they are all blurry, lol!

Eek! Look What I Did!

2011-06-06T17:18:00.000-04:00

This was the exciting thing I was telling you about! My oldest sister Denise is kicking cancer's butt. My sister Cathy went and got a pink ribbon tattoo, so I had to also! It was my first tattoo and boy did it hurt, lol! I wasn't sure what to expect really. Everyone told me childbirth was painful and I did that without any pain killers, so I figured I could handle a tattoo. Yikes! I probably picked a more sensitive area too, the inside of my right wrist, but I wanted to be able to see it every single day so that I didn't forget about my loved ones.

The three hearts have a special meaning. I have two aunts and sister who have all fought breast cancer, and are not going to let it take them down! I do not plan on adding any more hearts either. You got that cancer? No more!

This was a birthday present. I used the money that my aunt, my in-laws, and my husband gave me. I'm sure they thought I would go and buy craft stuff with it, lol! Surprise!

I'm still in shock that I actually went through with it, but I don't regret it one bit. Actually, I already know what I want for my second tattoo, but I need to wait a while until I don't remember the pain from this one. Just like childbirth! : )

My booth is set up!

2011-06-02T00:08:00.000-04:00

I was so nervous/excited/scared/excited to set up my booth at River City Gift Shoppe today. I had to do a last minute packaging change from how I packaged my bowl fillers at the Spring Fling because amazingly this house doesn't have a stapler. So out came the ball of twine and a quick stop to Office Max for tags.

I'm not 100% happy with hanging them, but I can't think of another idea other than setting them on more shelves. I do think I have a few thrift store make-overs that I can take (they were kind enough to loan me the one in the photos). And heck, maybe the shelves will sell too! I'm going to look into boxes (candy or small bakery boxes) because the bags are driving me absolutely nuts.

I know it looks sparse, but I didn't know what to take and also did want to take too much, lol.

I'm excited to start stitching again as well. A little birdy suggested penny rugs which really gets me excited! I also have some muslin candle mat patterns that I've never stitched and have been itchin to get started on.

It was also my 34th birthday today so it made it extra fun to go and set up the booth. I know it's not really a booth, but I don't know what else to call it. I ran some errands afterward and then picked the kiddo up from an after school track and field party. Only two more days of school for him! I can't believe my baby will be going to the high school next year. Eek! The boys took me to Wendy's (my request) and we also made an appointment for me to do something really exciting on Saturday. I can't wait to share that with you, but you will have to wait to find out. I think most of you will be shocked. I'm a little shocked myself. Hee hee.

So that's that. I'm one year older and since I started exercising again last week, I really feel it! : )

Spring Fling

2011-05-24T13:16:00.001-04:00

What a beautiful weekend we had here in Ohio! It's back to raining every day, but at least it's warm.

So I spent last Friday and Saturday at a Craft Fair/Flea Market at the shop I'm going to be consigning at. It was a looong two days, but I met some great people and it was a chance to see what the world outside my home thinks of my work. : )

I didn't have many sales, but the two ladies that stopped by and loved my designs because they decorate prim made my day! This was my table on Friday. I switched it up a bit and had more sample bowls and less options on the table on Saturday.

I try and think positive, so the positive side is that I have lots of product to set up in the shop when my consignment booth starts June 1st.

I met some great consultants from Scentsy, Pampered Chef, and Thirty-One. Have you heard of Thirty-One? I just found their adorable purses and I think I might become a consultant when the hiring freeze is up in the Fall! Yep, like I need one more thing to do, lol.

Allison from Yellowbird Yarn, who I blogged about here, stopped by to say hello too! At least I had fun ladies to talk with.

Stay cool and enjoy the sun!

Sugar and Nilla have a new home!

2011-05-15T16:03:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited! Sugar and Nilla, now Lilly and Gigi, have gone to a wonderful home of a friend who lives nearby (read: visitation rights!). : ) I took lots of pictures yesterday because I knew they might take two kittens and that would be the last time I saw them for a while.

This picture just cracks me up!

Pretty Pumpkin Pie

These kitties love romping in the hay!

Catching Sugar and Nilla was easy because they aren't afraid and love being held, but Pumpkin Pie, being the runt, is very shy and timid and ran when I was out on the deck. I need to work with her a bit more and hopefully I can find a home for her too.

Here are the kittens' new buddies, anxiously waiting to get a peek at the kittens!

And here they are fast asleep in their new home. Yes, Sugar/Lilly is sleeping in the litter box. Hopefully that won't be a habit. : )

Sugar/Lilly was a birthday present for an 8-year-old boy who didn't know his present was going to have four legs! He picked out the sweetest one for himself. His mom, dad, brother, and sister got Nilla/Gigi as their own. They will be well-loved little kitties!

I came home (after spending almost three hours at their new home because I just couldn't leave!) and had a big bowl of ice cream, lol. I know this is the best thing that could happen to these two, but I will miss them. Momma has Pumpkin Pie to love on for a little while longer, and hopefully she will grow big and strong now that she has Momma all to herself.

Hello Ohioans!

2011-05-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to tell you that I will be participating in a craft festival May 20th and 21st at River City Gift Shoppe in Copley. I will have raggedy flowers, grubby candles, maybe some stitcheries and thrift store make-overs, and of course lots of salt dough bowl fillers! I'm also excited to say that I will most probably be setting up a booth at the shoppe as well starting June 1st, which just so happens to be my birthday. : ) There is a great spot in the shop opening up and I can't pass up the opportunity.

The shoppe is so cute. It's actually two shoppes across the parking lot from each other. One of the shops also has ice cream! Can't beat that on a warm day like we are having today! Here is a peek into the Carriage Barn Shoppe. (taken with my cell phone-sorry!)

Adorable mug cozy knitted by local artist Allison. She has lovely yarn and knitting needles in her booth as well. Check out her blog Yellowbird Yarn and her Facebook page. You can also see much better pictures of her mug cozy there. : )

I didn't catch the seller's name of this cute kitty, but I will have to resist not grabbing him on my next stop in. Love his pennies!

Another vendor whose name I missed. She has great stitcheries for all seasons. I did see a sign that they are proudly stitched in the USA.

Laurel Creek Candle Company, made locally in Copley. Gotta love that! They smell sooo good.

And these cards are so prim perfect! I grabbed the pineapple with the pennies that you can see in the upper left hand corner of the pic.

So if you are going to stop by for the craft festival, just look for this sign on Cleveland-Massillon Road!

Swap Goodies!

2011-04-26T17:08:00.000-04:00

I participated in a swap with Lecia and Brenda. I do believe I got the better end of the deal.

Here is what I received from Lecia, a beautiful bonnet! It looks great against the mustard yellow color of my dining room, but as soon as I get a peg rack up in my bedroom it's going in there because this shelf is not doing it justice. The walls are tan and it will truly stand out in the bedroom I think.

And look at this adorable sheep from Brenda! The tag and rusty bells are a few of my favorite things about this sheep, not to mention I just love sheep. He has found a home on my dining room table.

Thanks girls! I absolutely love my gifts!

Sickness, sadness, and lessons learned

2011-04-18T16:00:00.000-04:00

What a week! Last week my kiddo was home sick from school all week. I picked up his homework, which he wasn't thrilled about, and he did it like a trooper and finally started feeling better Friday evening. That's convenient. : )

Since kiddo was feeling better, we headed out to visit a family friend who was admitted into a hospice center Friday. She was my husband's grandfather's "girlfriend." They met at their town's senior center. After my hubby's grandfather passed away, his family kind of adopted Lucy as she had no family of her own left. She came to all family events and holidays. She had MS and long-standing back pain from a surgery many, many years ago, but I never heard her complain. We visited her on Saturday and she was not the Lucy I remembered. Cancer had struck hard and quick. She could barely talk, probably due to the morphine she was on, but did her best to communicate. She knew we were there and that's all that mattered. I got a call from hubs this morning that she passed on with my in-laws with her. While the hospice center was beautiful and everyone was so nice, I'm glad she had family with her. Now she is back with her "boyfriend." : ) We will miss her. One less guest at Easter dinner this year.

Shipping. A hard lesson to figure out. I don't like it. I'd rather just create, but unfortunately the goods have to get to the customer some how! I'm going to stick to what I've seen on other blogs....contact me with your zip code and I'll get you a quote. It seems like a hassle, for the customer especially, but I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions?

And just to end this post on a happy note, here are some new kitty pictures. These are actually about two weeks old I think. It's amazing how fast they grow! Momma moved them from the kitty condo (the white wooden house in the pictures) to the guest house (a converted Rubbermaid container with hay and blankets where the other cats were sleeping since Momma and babies took over the condo), and now they are under the deck. It's been cold and wet, but I'm sure she has her reasons for doing it. I just wish I could see them. I can hear them, but I like to see them playing on the deck and knowing they are okay. Maybe she will bring them back out again. No one is sleeping in any of the houses, lol. Silly cats.

These pictures were taken while they were still living in the kitty condo and hadn't discovered their house has a door. Well, until this day.

Hi. I'm Sugar. Aren't I cute?

Momma, can we come out and play?

Move it Nilla, I want to see too!

Poor Momma. She tried to keep them from coming out. She is going to be busy from now on!

So that's that. Oh, I did a few swaps recently too and I will be posting about them soon.

A quick makeover

2011-04-03T21:39:00.000-04:00

This was my first attempt at making over a thrift store item. I used too many coats of paint and didn't watch my sanding, but she is cute anyway. She was an orangish-brown color underneath with polka dots, and even with a few coats of paint you can still see the polka dots and I kinda like that. I like that you can see that color along the edges where I sanded. She had a grungy blue bow that I changed to a raggedy piece of cotton. Here is the original:

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Every time I walk past the fireplace I get a nice whiff of those grubby candles from Tonya. My son even commented on how great they smell. Yum!

~candles, doily, berries, and paddle~

So thankful!

2011-04-01T11:33:00.000-04:00

I received a wonderful box from Tonya as part of Pay it Forward. Grubby candles that smell so good, a wooden canning jar that is being displayed on my kitchen windowsill next to my mossy jar terrarium, faux berries, a prim painted paddle, the cutest little doily, a candle holder with a nubby grubby candle, and one of her famous rice eye bags which I am going to pass on to mom as she has a few eye problems and I have no microwave to warm it up. : ( The boys think it's time to get a new one. Maybe I will ask for one for Mother's Day. I am practical like that. : )

Tonya's prim painted items are perfect and I just can't get over the scent on the grubby candles!!

I can't wait to get my box out for the Pay it Forward. All I will say is that I'm busy stitching and painting.

I also posted a few sets of salt dough bowl fillers to my selling blog. Please stop by and take a look! I will be adding more throughout the weekend as well.

A few trips of thrift store finds

2011-03-26T15:26:00.001-04:00

So I found a few things at our local thrift store when they were having 50% off day, but I really scored some finds when I discovered our Salvation Army. I went twice and cleaned them out of anything wood that I thought I could prim up. Here are some pics of items from one thrift store trip and two Salvation Army trips, one on their 50% off Wednesdays (love that!). The SA prices are already so low that I just couldn't resist some things on Wednesday.

Not so sure on the wicker tissue box, but we'll see after a spray of black paint. The pineapple thingy was cracked along the leaves so I got it for 20 cents cheaper. Nothing a little glue won't fix. Love the rooster and chicken! The sifter will be used during my first attempt at a shoofly cover. Little kitty will get a coat of paint for sure. I love expandable coat racks, so I grabbed two. One will go in my craft room for embroidery hoops and what not.

I couldn't resist these guys as they were already so warn. Unfortunately when I got home I saw the
handles stamped 'Taiwan' but that's okay. I will find a place for them near the fireplace in the living room.

Lots of painting to do here. I will be on the lookout for some prim honey labels for the little set. Love the mail slot
box in the back right. It even has hooks on the side for keys. Maybe hubs can keep track of them!

The mug was interesting. I figured for a few pennies I will give it a coat of paint and see what happens.
Yes, that's a cheesy ice bucket, but with some love it will be the closest thing I will ever have to a firkin.

I have no clue what the original intent of this little guy was, maybe keys,
but I'm going to hang salt dough ornaments from it.

So that's about it. Oh, I did get a well-loved wooden trash bin that needs cleaned and some love, but he is out in the garage. My husband's aunt paid a bundle for her's, so I couldn't resist the $2.99 price tag at SA! Hub's was even happy with that purchase and wants to makeover that. : )

Enough collecting for a while, now it just needs to warm up so I can get to sanding, painting, and staining!

Have a good weekend.

~Michelle

We have kittens!

2011-03-17T14:12:00.000-04:00

Born late Sunday or early Monday. Boy was I shocked! Sadly there was a fourth who didn't make it.

This was what I discovered when I opened the cat house on Monday morning! Had I know they were coming, I would've cleaned and put down a new towel. Poor kitties, born in filth.

Meet Pumpkin Pie (orange and white, on top), Nilla (middle), and Sugar (being used as a pillow, bottom). They were in this little box with a t-shirt while I cleaned their house. Cleaned, new hay, new towel. Happy sleepy kitties.

Pay it Forward

2011-03-14T14:42:00.000-04:00

Wow! It's spreading like wildfire, this pay it forward idea! My blog list was full of people participating and I finally clicked on Tonya's site to figure out what was going on, why so many blogs had the same picture up.

I'm close to 100 followers and wanted to do a giveaway. I'm a procrastinator. I would've gotten to 200 before I got around to it! This just pushed me in the right direction. Here is how it works:

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Pay it Forward

The first 5 people who comment on this blog post will receive a handmade gift from me. In return, you must FIRST write a blog post explaining Pay It Forward 2011. Then.... send out a handmade gift to the first 5 visitors who leave a comment on your post. Take your time...you don't need to send them all today or tomorrow.
This is such a sweet way to connect with friends or meet new ones, by sharing things we create with our hearts.

"It's not the size of the gift that matters, but the spirit of paying it forward."
Don't forget to include your email address in your post so that I can email you to request your mailing address.

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That's it, easy as pi (Happy Pi Day by the way). Now I just have to decide what to make and send on to my 5 followers. That just might be the only hard part!

The sun is shining and this is the first day of a new work schedule for me, minus one part-time job. It will mean less money in the bank, but more time with the family and I think that is more important, though happiness doesn't pay the bills, lol. It also means my sleep schedule is turned on its head, but I will get through. What I need to do is start exercising on the days that I sleep late but need to get to bed at a decent time (read: normal time like the rest of the world) so that I'm tired. Scrubbing floors, painting walls, and doing general spring cleaning will do the trick too. More dinners with the family! Yay! I will squeeze in crafting time and everyone will be happy. : )

~Michelle

Consignment Store Finds

2011-03-10T14:20:00.001-05:00

I've been working a different schedule this week, helping out at one of my part-time jobs. I couldn't say no even if gas for the car is an arm and a leg! Today I'm home with a sick kid instead of working, so I thought I would blog. : )

I have had some time to kill between getting home from work and picking the kiddo up from track practice after school, so I've been roaming around town. I went to a shop I've driven by tons of times, but only stopped in once when they first opened a year or so ago. It's called Pieces. My tastes have changed since then and I thought I would see what they have that fits my new design tastes. Wow. I was tempted, but only walked out with a small $8 item this time. Here are some of the things I was drooling over, taken on my cell phone......

Old crock with a 5 on the side. 5 gallons?

These lamps reminded me of Pfaltzgraff. They look nicer in the shop and need shades. They are Ethan Allen.

I couldn't move back enough to get a full shot. Just an old box.

Wooden tray

Wow! This would be great to have as a decorative piece, but I have no place for it.

Little stool with a drawer.

One of my problems is that I don't know what's a good price for some items. They also have a tag system at the shop where as time goes on the price goes down, but you risk losing the item if someone else stops in before you get back and falls in love with it too!

The crock was around $50 and will go down to $33 at the end of April if it's still there. I have no idea if it's worth $50 or even $30, but either way I couldn't get it. I don't think I could have lifted it to get it in the car anyway, lol.

I almost bought that little stool with the drawer. It was $12. I would probably paint it and change the knob out, but I wasn't sure if I should spend $12 on it. So silly. So instead I spent $8 on a piece of "punched tin" that isn't handmade or probably even made in the USA. Oh well. I will stop in another day and see if the stool is still there.

Isn't that stove great? Oh how I wish I had a place to display it. I can picture a small crock of old utensils and other kitchen goodies displayed on it. I think it was only in the $200s which I thought was a good price. Again, not really a clue though, lol.

I'm glad I stopped in the shop. Lots of things to look at. There were even some matching pieces to the little Pfaltzgraff creamer that I found at the thrift store for 50 cents. She had the sugar and creamer for $6 and a bunch of other cups to match. I'm not sure yet if I want to collect more of this design, so I kept my wallet firmly snug in my pocket.

I do want to grab the lamps. I can't remember their price and I can't zoom in enough to see the tag. I do remember seeing that they are Ethan Allen and I wasn't shocked at the price. Maybe I will have to make a stop of there in the next few days. Our living room will be painted blue this summer, hopefully, and they would look great. The one table lamp we currently have is green metal and just doesn't fit. It's a hand-me-down from my in-laws and is actually kind of dangerous as it has these leaves wrapped around it that can be painful if you bump against one. I could use a lamp in my craft room so it will move up there when we paint.

I stopped into the thrift store yesterday and it was 50% off the entire store! I will post about that another day. Now it's time to check on the kiddo and fill my coffee mug. We have had nothing but rain for the past few days and I've managed to keep the headaches from attacking. Hope you all are staying warm and dry. : )

This week's thrift store finds

2011-03-02T14:46:00.001-05:00

I have to pass the thrift store when I go grocery shopping (that's another reason why hubs is the grocery shopper in this family!) and of course couldn't help myself!

Not too many finds this time. A Pfaltzgraff milk bottle that is a soft yellow color and a Yorktowne creamer for $.50 each! No chips on either one. The creamer will probably be saved for after we paint our living room blue. Strange place for a creamer, but it will probably hold something else or just decorate a shelf. I can't find anything about the milk bottle online, but it is marked 'Pfaltzgraff Mexico' on the bottom so maybe it's not a popular thing here in the US. Looking up the pattern name on the creamer, I fell in love with Village. I will be keeping an eye out for this pattern in the store from now on!

I also grabbed four small dessert-size wooden bowls (3 the same, 1 different) for $.90 that I can't wait to paint.

Since it was 50 cent day (on Mondays, a particular colored tag is only 50 cents), I checked out the wool sweaters as well. Two really nice men's sweater vests for - you guessed it - $.50 each. They felted/fulled up beautifully and will be the base of a few penny rugs in the near future.

I wanted to pass on this tip to anyone who felts/fulls sweaters. I ran them through the washer and dryer, and one of them didn't seem to budge. Hmph. 100% Merino Wool on the tag. I remembered something I read somewhere to cut the seams, so that's what I did. I cut up the sides on the seam and threw that sweater back in for round two. Ta-Da! It shrunk up nice!

A memorial

2011-03-01T14:55:00.001-05:00

I've been saddened over hearing news of a woman, Lisa Roswell, who was washed away in her car a river here in NE Ohio due to the flooding we have been having. I was surprised to learn today that she was a cross-stitch designer. Of course I had to search out her designs. I did not know Lisa, but in memoriam I feel pulled to purchase a pattern and stitch. Boy did she have a thing for Halloween! "Gather" looks to be my favorite pattern out of all though. I think I will spend a little time reading her blog and getting to know this creative lady who is gone well before her time. Rest in peace...........

It's been a good day.

2011-02-26T16:30:00.000-05:00

We decided after 48 hours of tummy troubles to take the doggy to the vet. We went to a new place as our last vet used to charge an arm and a leg, but we thought we were doing the best thing for our pup by going to the "expensive" vet. Silliness. Exam, shot, 3 pills....$50! Our old vet would charge us that just to walk in the door! Hopefully we will all get some sleep tonight as we are all tired and getting a bit cranky from taking him out every few hours around the clock. I'm sure the doggy doesn't enjoy it much either.

I ordered a small amount of wool from Ram in the Thicket to make another penny rug and more green for shamrocks. That's the beauty of Ram in the Thicket, you can just buy a small amount (3x18 inches) or as much as you need. I got my package today! I love getting mail!

You can see from this next picture how well the 'burnt sugar' and 'barnboard' go together. I have sunflowers planned for those two. The 'barnboard' is a new addition all the way from across the pond! It has a tweedy look to it with shades of golds, greys, and brown. Burnt sugar is the gold and vergennes is the green. Love that green!

Maybe I will do a little stitching tonight if all goes well with the pup. I think he is ready for a nice long nap after his trip to the vet! Me too, and I didn't even have to take him. Thank you hubby!

I hope you are all having a nice Saturday as well. Stay warm!

Oh boy!

2011-02-25T14:03:00.000-05:00

I'm still nursing a sick doggy and I'm pooped - no pun intended! He was up every few hours last night to go potty and again this morning, so even though hubs helped a few times last night I still didn't get much sleep. It's like having a newborn baby!

Here he is last Fall enjoying all of the smells that come across on the breeze. Some days his nose is always up in the air!

Look out for that leaf!

Enjoying the Fall leaves

We had a ton of snow fall very early this morning so it turned into a snow day. Kiddo was happy and I was happy I had one less thing to do this morning since I was so tired.

It's going to be a bottomless coffee cup kind of day!

No stitching for me today, just work.

Stay warm!

I had the strangest dream.......

2011-02-24T12:15:00.001-05:00

I think we were at home (though it wasn't our current home) and there was this sort of shed in the backyard where my MIL kept her 'extras' for decorating or whatever, not real sure. I never really looked in it because it was all 'country' and not my style, but then I really took a look around one evening when it was raining (and for some reason this shed didn't really have windows) and I noticed lots of prim goodies! I said to hubs that it's raining and it will get ruined, might as well take it inside. lol. So I grabbed tons of stuff (it seemed to be set up like a store, everything set up nice on display) and took it to my house and decorated with it.

It was so bizarre! I wish it were true. *sigh* I could hold all of my prim goodies in my hands if I had to. I think with future thrift store excursions and garage sales this summer, and after we get the walls painted in our kitchen and living room, I might just start prim cozying up our house to make a home! It's only been three years. lol.

I think I might be a little sleep deprived and hence the strange dream. I do get plenty of sleep, it's just not in 8 hour segments. I'm a night owl, but the rest of the world revolves around day shift. Silly. : ) I put the kiddo on the bus only to come home to hubs telling me the doggy has "The Big D." You know what I'm talkin about. It's just noon and we have been out three times and hubs took him out twice. Poor guy. I'm making him rice and chicken. I read that we are supposed to hold food for 24 hours, but have you ever tried to keep food from a pug (he is pug/beagle mix)??? It ain't gonna happen. So we will just give him little helpings of rice and chicken. It's going to be a long day, but thankfully he is very good at telling me he has to go, go, go!!! : ) He is snuggled up on an old comforter on the floor next to the computer desk so I can keep an eye on him. Such a good boy when he isn't feeling well.

Hopefully you are all having a nicer Thursday. : ) Stay warm!

A little stitching.....

2011-02-22T16:57:00.001-05:00

I had some extra time today and decided to finally get started on a candle mat. I'm a huge procrastinator. Part of it is that I'm afraid to actually cut into a new piece of wool or material and use it. I'm the same way with scrapbooking. My son is almost 14 and I have three pages completed, and one isn't even of him! lol! I'm afraid that my end product won't look like it did in my mind's eye. On top of the procrastination I'm a perfectionist. It makes getting anything done almost impossible.

I took the plunge today and cut into a new piece of wool. Well, it's new, but I've had it for months, afraid to cut into it. Geez Louise, you can buy more lady. That's what I kept telling myself. Here is a sneak peek of a candle mat that will probably be finished in the next day or two....if I keep on track. It should be easy peasy now that I got past the wool problem. : )

Brrr!

2011-02-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

Mother Nature tricked us last week. After many days of near zero overnight temperatures and not much warmer during the day, we had temperatures close to 60F! I knew it was too good to be true as here in Ohio we usually get slammed until March. Yesterday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave for work, the skies opened up and snow, snow, and more snow began falling. It fell so quick that rush hour was a disaster. Luckily I work close to home, but I ran into a few snags as cars were blocking both sides of the road I was trying to go down as they were sliding up a hill. I love my Jeep! I had no problems, even going down our long drive that hadn't been plowed.

I snapped this picture out my kitchen window about 5p.m. It's not a great view (I get to look at the garage out my kitchen window, but I'm happy to have that window and the beautiful light it gives), but the snow looked beautiful hanging on the overgrown lilac bush.

You can see my little terrarium hanging out there. It was loving the sun, but now that it's cold again I think I need to move it to a warmer area in the house.

You can't see in the pic, but our kitchen walls are bright yellow. I always thought I would like a yellow kitchen, but not this yellow. It's too bright and it makes the cabinets look cold and cheap. They are a busy wood grain that I don't like. We debated painting the cabinets (we've seen some awesome black cabinets on another blog), but decided painting the walls is probably something we should tackle first. Painting the cabinets seemed so final, but the wall color can always be changed if it doesn't work out.

I went to Home Depot on Saturday and grabbed three sample pots of Behr paint. Love those! I grabbed a medium brown to paint the walls behind the cabinets (trying to make the cabinets disappear was my idea) and a dark brown to paint the trim as the white trim just wasn't doing it for me. The other walls in the kitchen will be painted a soft light brown to warm up the space...hopefully. Keep your fingers crossed for me! lol!

Stay warm!

Dining room decorating suggestions please

2011-02-15T14:50:00.000-05:00

We have a 1930s bungalow. If you look at its original footprint, it is absolutely tiny. The old living room is the room the front door opens into (the house has been added onto and has a big family room in the back, so this room is basically a thruway). I don't know how anyone made that a living room as due to the location of the windows, stairs to the upstairs, front door, and doorway (which originally had french doors) to the dining room, there isn't a single wall large enough for a sofa! lol. I guess the house wasn't built for a large family and maybe they just wanted a few arm chairs to sit in.

The dining room is the next room you will find and it's seldom used. It's not that it's a fancy room, it's just that it tends to be more of a walkway into the rest of the house and the poor table gets ignored for meals more often than it should. I painted those two front rooms the same mustard yellow color we painted at our rental house, loved it that much, but added a dark red wall (after six coats of paint, I don't think I will do that again!). I would not have painted that red wall had I known three years later we would be given the room divider from my parents. Funny that it's called that as in my parents house I don't remember it ever being anywhere but up against a wall. It is the same on both sides except the doors only open on one side. It was the first piece of furniture my parents purchased with their wedding money (I believe that was in 1967). There is lots of sun shining in the windows today, but on a cloudy day the room divider just gets lost against the red wall. The red is a huge improvement over the white walls with gold cherub angels holding pink ribbons that were painted there previously.

It's definitely a 60s piece of furniture. So in order to tone down those details, I used a quilted wall hanging made and given to me by my husband's Aunt Patti. It fit perfectly to cover the the front of the doors and the shelf. Did I make a good choice? Please ignore the items to the left and underneath the room divider that I thought were 'hiding.' : )

This piece of furniture is also where I put everything breakable. lol. It's a mix of lots of things that I love, but they don't exactly fit into the prim style I've fallen in love with in the past few months. The crab cookie jar (I'm a self-proclaimed crab! : ) ), the dragonfly vases my mother-in-law gave to me a year ago for Christmas (I have loved dragonflies for years now), my favorite green leaf pottery from a local potter, our wedding album, the red and yellow glass vase that we saw being made on our honeymoon in St. Augustine, Florida, and a few wedding photos on top of one of the placemats (dragonflies again!) my sister Cathy made for me a few years ago along with a book my sister Denise gave to me this Christmas.

It's funny how I didn't notice the dust until I take photos and upload them to my blog. Eeek!

There are four of these wall sconces in the dining room. Ick. Shiny brass is not my thing. These can't be the original shades either as you can see they don't even fit. I can't wait to get my hands on some black spray paint. I think I can live with the white shades if I can get rid of the shiny brass. Has anyone ever sprayed sconces like this? Any suggestions? I'm thinking that I can get away with just masking off the wall with painter's tape and newspaper, shutting the power off, taking out the bulb and protecting that area, and just spraying them that way without having to take them down.

And here is the chair that I mentioned in my previous post. It definitely needs a chair pad! The little stool was made by my son last year in school (age 12). I used it as a prop while taking some pictures for my etsy shop. I'm thinking of making a little hooked rug for the top, but can't see adding tacks to it, so it might just be a hooked rug mat that I end up sitting on top. lol.

And lastly, the grace I grew up saying before dinner. My mom found it at a craft fair a few years ago and it matched my dining room wall colors perfectly. Believe me, they are mustard. Can't seem to capture the color on the camera.

We don't have a lot of furniture and most of it is secondhand from family and friends, but a lot of our house is empty. I mean we have what we need, but looking at some of your blogs and your decor that are definitely not empty, our house is empty in comparison! My husband loves seeing empty spots. I find comfort in being surrounded by 'things.' I moved around a few bookshelves in my craft room a few weeks ago, ended up putting them all next to each other in a corner, and I absolutely love it. My stitching chair faces these shelves along with the TV, and I find it extremely cozy that I can't see the wall. lol. Hubs and I are definitely on opposite ends of the decor spectrum, but I hope we can meet somewhere in the middle.

Okay, off to do some dusting! : )

Digging out old stuff

2011-02-13T14:01:00.001-05:00

I've rediscovered rug punching with yarn. I tried this years ago before I tried hooking with wool strips as I could easily get my hands on yarn to try it. I didn't have a rug punch, so I used a hook that my friend Jeanette gave me. Yes that's right, I hooked yarn with a traditional rug hook. lol. It wasn't easy, the yarn would break every so often, but I did it. I also used burlap since it is a cheap foundation fabric.

Then I got the itch to really get into it. My husband bought me a lovely Morton frame and won me a Bliss strip cutter on ebay. This was probably back in 2003. I made a few Christmas gifts that year using my wool yarn. A star door hanger for my father-in-law (I added a moose button to the center), a hot pad for my sister.....I honestly can't remember what else I made and I don't think I took pictures. What was I thinking?!?!

Fast forward a few years to 2007. I got the bright idea to hook a rug for real. My middle sister was getting married and I thought I would make a rug with their last name. Then there was a hiccup. There was a situation with the last name (long story, but in short her husband was going to change his last name as he had his mother's last name and thought he would take his father's last name finally, so my sister wasn't sure what name she was going to have. lol!) and I never got started. I did, however, purchase a yard of monk's cloth from my local quilt shop. That is also where I had been buying my wool yarn. It was beautiful yarn too. I believe it was called Lopi. The gray was my favorite.

So here I am, pulling out my goodies to see what I can do with them. I did find an old rug punch from probably the 70s while digging through my mom's craft stuff in her basement. It works okay, but I would love to get my hands on an Oxford rug punch. Either way, this old rug punch is much easier to use than a traditional rug hook!

I think I will attempt a chair pad for one of our dining room chairs (secondhand set that I used to sit at as a child at a friend's house) that has been worn more than the others. This chair sits off in a corner of the dining room and I think it's a good starting project. I only have a three or four colors of wool yarn left and with only change in my pocket it will have to do for now. I don't mind using what I have. I'm a thrifty gal.

I know what you (and my husband!) are thinking...."Can't this girl just pick a craft and stick with it?" Nope. : ) So while at the main branch of the "big city" downtown library yesterday, I pulled five or so books off the shelf; Amy Oxford's book, a punch needle book, and a few rug hooking books. I do have to share that we were at the library because my son was participating in the county spelling bee. He placed in the top 7 so he will go on to the next round in a few weeks. Yay!

That's it for now, until I get brave enough to actually start punching on that monk's cloth. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started!

I'm not one for celebrating Valentine's Day, but I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend how ever you wish. : )

*** My Bliss cutter has a size 5 blade on it that came with the cutter when we won it on ebay. If anyone would like to trade, I'd be up for that. I think I would prefer an 8 (that's wider, right?). I'm a primitive hookin' gal. ***

Coil wrapped fabric bowls

2011-02-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

I had a happy little surprise when I went to make my coil bowl yesterday. I grabbed my clothesline to start wrapping, and realized it was already wrapped! The fabric was similar to the color of the clothesline and I didn't notice. lol. So, I got to sew right away. It's a very simple technique, not prim at all due to the sewing machine, but the bowls turn out ot be pretty sturdy and functional.

I decided to try adding handles to make it a little more interesting.

As you can see from this not-so-great photo, I ended up with a shape similar to a straw hat. Not by choice, however. I realized later, after I went to the library and took out the book again that describes this technique, that I was sewing it on the machine the wrong way, hence I couldn't get the height on the sides that I did when I made them the first time a few years ago.

The blue bowl and the green bowl are the ones I made a few years ago. They sit on my nightstand holding miscellaneous objects from my pockets, mostly loose change. I swear it multiplies in my pocket!

In this next picture you can see the wrapping on the blue bowl. Wrap, wrap, wrap, glue, wrap, wrap wrap.......for about 20-50 feet of clothesline.....then sew, sew, sew!

Very fun to make! The technique is described in the book "It's a Wrap!" by Susan Breier.

I've got nothing on those of you who make real wood baskets, but I did enjoy making these. It's also a good way to use up scraps.

Would these look great mixed in with your prims, or would the zig-zag stitch put you off? Let me know what you think. : )

I saw it, I swear I did!

2011-02-09T09:49:00.000-05:00

The sun that is! It was here for a few days, but has decided to leave us again. I have proof though. See, it was shining on my little mossy terrarium! It's holding it's own that little terrarium, but I might have to swap out some moss sooner than I was hoping. It looks much cuter sitting on my windowsill than this picture shows.

I made a little woven heart using a tutorial from Wooly Red Rug/LJ Fibers. This one is made from wool blend felt and is headed to my sweet little niece for Valentine's Day. I think I will add a loop of ribbon and a button so she can hang it up somewhere in her room.

I made these salt dough Valentine's Day guys around Christmas time with extra salt dough. As you can see, I had plans to add a ribbon to hang these, but forgot after I dipped them in wax. Oops. I made some "stitched" hearts, but they never got painted. So many crafts, so little time!

I'm going to try and stitch up a fabric bowl today. I loved making these a few years ago and haven't made one since, but thought they would make a nice Easter basket and it's almost that time. I hope to have pictures to share in a few days.

Stay warm!

Blog help

2011-02-02T13:53:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to figure this one out. I used to have my email set to "feltandbuttons" but figured out I can change it to my business email, the @sugarhousecreations one. The problem is, some of my comment emails come to the felt email and some come to the sugar one. I don't get it! And the kicker is, I deleted the felt email with Google and Friend Connect, so it shouldn't even have that one in it's "system." lol. Anyone have any ideas how I can fix this? I've checked all my settings and they all say the sugar email is the one active. lol. Grrrrr.

Update: I knew I would figure it out as soon as I posted. lol. There was one more place that I needed to change in my settings. Now I can reply to you all when you comment! : ) I was afraid to respond from the other email address thinking you won't know who the heck this feltandbuttons person was. lol.

Hurry for the January giveaway!

2011-01-31T14:54:00.000-05:00

Hurry on over and 'like' American Pie Designs by Melanie Pinney on Facebook to sign up for her January pattern giveaway.

Sunday marathon!!!

2011-01-28T16:17:00.000-05:00

The Hallmark Channel is having a Little House on the Prairie marathon on Sunday starting at 6 a.m. You know what I will be doing. I wanted to clean and move the bedroom furniture around, so I will be hanging out in there along with the Ingalls family. I guess I will do some laundry during the commercials. At least I don't have to scrub it on a rock down by the creek. : )

Have a good weekend everyone. Stay warm!

My first thrift store finds!

2011-01-27T14:17:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!! I'm hooked! Check out what I got:

First trip: $19

The three tier shelf on the left is poorly made in China, but thought it would look great on a table with lots of fun things on each shelf, maybe decorated for the seasons/holidays. The washboard is just a decor item as it has geese and a heart on the other side, left over from 80s country I'm sure. The large shelf in the back is well made. I can imagine everything painted black, brick red, and mustard and hung on the walls. We have absolutely nothing hanging right now. The hubs even wants to help sand and get things ready for me to paint! Yay!! We need something we can do together and this will be great. We are even going to try and make some small furniture pieces this summer as well. I'm so happy! I was afraid of what he was going to say, but he was pleased with my finds. He just wants me to be careful in my future purchases, make sure that I'm not just buying to buy something. Whew! Thought I was in the dog house.

Can you believe that spool was only $1.50?!?! I almost died when I saw it. This thrift store is very popular for clothing, but I never imagined finding an old spool there. It's 11" tall! I bought two smaller ones in Amish country for $7 and $6 and they are about 6" tall, so this one would have been at least $20 in Amish country. They did not know what a treasure they had on their hands at the thrift store! I thought I was on Candid Camera or something. I grabbed it up so fast...right after I put my eyeballs back in my head.

My find is on the right with the small spool I found in
Amish country on the left for size comparison.

I wasn't sure if the scale was an antique, but grabbed it anyway as I've seen some of you with scale collections. I figured if nothing else, it would look good on display in the kitchen or dining room. I can practically hold all of my prim decor items in both hands, so I was happy just to add to the collection and start decorating our home.

I could have strangled the person who labeled the scale. It's dusty and a bit rusty so a price sticker wouldn't stick, so they just grabbed a Sharpie and labeled the tray! Wha???

So that was my first trip into the world of thrift store makeovers. A big thanks to all of you who have shared your makeovers and addiction. : )

My Christmas Kits

2011-01-22T11:11:00.000-05:00

Before Christmas I was so excited to share with you all what I was giving for Christmas. It was different and it fit in the budget, and I thought everyone would enjoy making it. I realized I never shared with you what that was. lol.

I had been oohing and aahing over the terrarium kits on etsy for a while, but they were out of my price range since I wanted to put together multiple kits for gifts. I did find a few sellers who were selling just moss and thought that was a good start. Yes, I bought moss online. lol. I used to spend my summers with my Gram in Pennsylvania. She helped me do little fun things like dying Queen Anne's Lace with food coloring and a terrarium using dirt and plant clippings from her garden with just a piece of plastic wrap on the top in a planter I found on the back porch. Those were fun times and good memories I will hold onto forever. When I saw that terrariums were big again (I also saw articles in two different magazines in the past few months), I just had to make them.

So here is what I put together for Christmas.

I purchased directions from Miss Mossy. I know I could have gone to the library or just googled it, but time was running out and I was afraid if I didn't just order the tutorial that I would never get this project done, so I let Miss Mossy take care of that for me.

I also purchased a pack of 12 Ball jars and sprayed the lids a nice blue color (for sky). Fish tank gravel, charcoal (also in the fish tank section of the store), and soil all went into their own baggies.

Little polymer clay mushrooms were purchased from Serenity Mosaics. Aren't they adorable? They are on wire stems for easy insertion into the terrarium. I'm still on the look out for a little sheep to add.

Polymer clay mushrooms with baggies of charcoal and gravel

Moss was purchased from Teresa's Plants and More and Miss Mossy, and then I divided it up into baggies for each kit (I put 12 kits together).

Terrarium kits

With all the craziness of Christmas, I shoved the box of "ingredients" under the room divider in the dining room, including the leftover moss, intending to make a terrarium for our home with the extras. I didn't remember about it until yesterday! The moss is okay, not great, but I'm hoping that it will love being in its new dirt home since it has been living in a baggy all this time. Oops. I used a Mott's apple sauce jar for our terrarium and still have to paint the lid. Maybe I will just cover it with some fabric and call it a day.

My finished terrarium

Sorry for the picture. Taking photos of a glass jar is not that easy. I guess I could have at least moved the disc sitting near it so that it wouldn't have shown up in the reflection. : ) Hopefully you can't see me in my bathrobe.

Born at the wrong time?

2011-01-19T13:59:00.000-05:00

I always thought of myself as a modern girl. My favorite store for a long time has been IKEA. Loved those "clean lines." Then we rented a house that was built in the 1930s and it had character, something you don't get in new homes without a lot of work. I started to really like the look. I painted the living room a kind of mustard yellow color to warm it up. Then, my husband's aunt redecorated her home with lots of crows and I started looking into this primitive style. My first purchase was one of those weeping willow trees. The town we were living in at the time has yearly peddler days, basically a town-wide yard sale. I picked up a wooden shelf with a star cutout (that still hasn't made it into the house) and a tin sheep cookie cutter. I still wasn't aware that I was slowly changing. lol. I discovered the joys of ebay and purchased a framed sheep poster/sign by David Harden. After all I was just decorating to match the house. : )

There was a big hole in the kitchen wall near the ceiling that had been covered up and I often wondered if there was a wood burning stove in that location, how hard it must have been to cook that way, and how easy we have it now with just a flip of the switch or press of a button to warm up our meals. This house also had heating oil and well water, two things this city girl was not happy about. The guy delivering the oil for the first time must have had a chuckle after he left since I met him in the drive and wanted to know all about this oil stuff and watch him fill up. Was it safe, did I need to be home for him to deliver, what if it leaked in the basement while he was filling up???? lol.

Fast forward a few years and we have been in our own home three years. It's a 1930s bungalow that has been added on to a few times in the 80s. It still has a little character in the two front rooms, but the additions are more "modern." That leads me to the purpose of this post. I was at a friend's home yesterday and she has a new wood burning stove to heat her home. Since I live in the suburbs, this is new to me, but it really got me thinking. We have a fireplace that we never use because I know it needs to be checked and cleaned before we do and for some reason a regular ol' fireplace scares me. I did a bit of googling and discovered you can get wood burning stove inserts for your fireplace! Woohoo!! We are currently on heating oil and due to the fact that the house has been added on to (and I don't think insulated well), those additions are cold. The fireplace is in the addition and so I was thinking that would be perfect for a wood burning stove. I don't want to heat the whole house (I don't think it's possible with it being added on to in such strange ways and two stories) though it would be nice.

So my questions to you all: Do you have a wood burning stove (insert or free standing)? Do you prefer one brand over the other? Do I just have stars in my eyes and it's really more work than it's worth? And lastly, does anyone use it to just supplement a few rooms and not heat the whole house? I need all the help I can get convincing the hubs that this is what we need to save for.

I love watching re-runs of Little House on the Prairie on Hallmark Channel. I never read the books, but I think I might want to look into that as I love to read and haven't done so in a very long time (besides craft and decorating magazines!). I know life was hard in those days, but they spent their days on things that mattered: taking care of their fields, feeding and tending to livestock, working hard, feeding their families, and a little stitching by the fireplace at night. lol. I used to think it would be great to live in the 50s, but I do think the late 1800s was my time. I would be so content to sit by the fire in the evening with my stitchery. I know it wasn't all fun and games, but to live without the distractions of "modern life" is very attractive. Don't get me wrong, I love my cell phone, computer, and modern appliances, but sometimes things that are supposed to make our life easier tend to just junk it up.

I've fallen in love with wool and stitching, and feel very "at home" while browsing prim blogs and websites. There is just something so warm and inviting to it all. Thankfully the hubs is open to this style of decorating as long as I don't take it too far "country."

Did you make a 180 in your decorating style or have you always liked the "country" look?

First go at coffee staining

2011-01-16T12:39:00.000-05:00

Well, live and learn.........

I stitched a cute little pattern from Chestnut Junction and decided to coffee stain the fabric since I couldn't find my natural muslin fabric when I got the itch to stitch. Not having the patience, I stitched first. I guess this would normally be okay, but I used dark red wool and, well, you can see where this is going. I had good success with a scrap piece of fabric to test this method (though it is a simple technique, I had never done it before) and went ahead with the stitched piece. A few minutes in the oven and the red wool bled a bit. You can see on the second picture where the fabric is a bit pink. I had intentions on putting this on my website for sale, but it looks like this one belongs to me! : ) Lesson learned: Stain first, then stitch, especially when using red wool.

I know this piece doesn't look coffee-stained, but it indeed is. I used white cotton so it just stained it a more "natural" color. The really good staining was on the edges, so that got cut off. I had much better luck with the sample piece when doing the staining, so that's another reason to do the coffee staining first.

The back is a red and off-white leaf pattern on cotton. I do plan on making a new one for sale in the next few days, using the piece of fabric I first coffee-stained. : )

Valentine's Day

2011-01-14T14:00:00.000-05:00

Blog land is full of hearts and love, and I am working on finishing a little bowl filler stitchery of my own. I experimented with coffee staining for the first time and can't wait to see what you think. I'm horrible at taking photos and that's probably why I don't have anything to show all the time, but I'm going to work on that. I have so much inspiration from blog land.

Photos of the stitchery to follow soon!

Updated website: items for sale

2011-01-12T14:14:00.001-05:00

I finally got around to changing my website a bit to offer items for sale directly instead of through etsy. I love etsy, but I'd like to have a little bit more control of things.

So far there is just one item for sale, but I still have that itch to stitch and have a few more items in different stages of completion. Having a sick kiddo at home for the past few days and headaches on my end have slowed me down a bit. And that darn job keeps getting in the way. : )

Using Diana Klaassen's snowflake candle mat pattern from Create and Decorate February 2006 as a guide, I added hearts for a bit of Valentine's Day fun. I just love 100% wool. The way the stitches blend into the thickness of it, the feel, the ease of stitching......

Good news/Bad news

2011-01-07T09:31:00.001-05:00

The good news is I've got the itch to stitch. The bad news is I've got the itch to stitch. : )

I guess it depends on how you look at things. There are dishes and clothes to wash, toilets to be scrubbed, and meals to plan, but this morning I'm spending a little time stitching. I go through moods where I will really feel like creating a mess in my craft room (I like to call that productivity) and then other days where I feel guilty about the other things in life that need taken care of and will put off stitching for weeks. One day I will figure out how to get it all done without feeling guilty about neglecting one or the other. Until then it's a roller coaster.

Valentine's Day is just around the corner so I'm creating a few 100% wool candle mats with hearts. This is the only time of the year I really get into hearts. Hopefully I will have something to show you in the next few days.

What are you working on today?

Happy stitching!

Lots of new giveaways!

2010-12-31T11:40:00.000-05:00

I have been scanning blogland and found a wonderful collection of giveaways over the past few days. Check the giveaway page and visit your blog friends!

After Christmas Sale on Etsy

2010-12-26T13:41:00.004-05:00

I just marked down a few items in my etsy shop. Hop on over and take a peek.

Michelle

My niece's present....

2010-12-24T16:04:00.000-05:00

I just have to share this with you because I was happy with how it came out and I know at 5-years old she isn't on Blogger....yet. Oh to be 5 again! I think I might even make a set for myself.

I bought the pattern from LuckyNielson on etsy and used what felt I had. I had purchased the little wooden peg dolls/game pieces from Michael's to use with a pattern I saw on Wee Folk Art, but decided on the Forest Friends instead. I guess I purchased the boy wood turnings as they do make them with a flared body/dress for a girl.

A painter I am not, but I tried. Hopefully my niece won't look too closely.

I also decided to hand stitch everything together because I am not that great on the sewing machine and it would take me longer to figure it out than to just go ahead and hand stitch. This gave a little extra detail to the flower teepee, but made the hats flare out a bit in the back. We'll just call that dimension. : ) I used pinking shears on the leaf as well for added detail.

Michelle

Only two days to go....

2010-12-23T15:54:00.000-05:00

Boy did December fly by! Christmas is always on the 25th of December, but it seems to sneak up on my every year.

This year I was a little more organized than most. I decided to put together kits (can't say what just yet!) and purchased almost everything from etsy. I only had a little bit to do on my end (painting jar lids, bagging "ingredients"). It didn't involve any crafting on my part really, and that was a nice change. The hubs was even surprised at what I came up with and wants one for our home! Now that's a first! I can't wait to share a picture with you of what I gave this year as I think you will enjoy creating one for your own home. Just a few more days!

Until then, I better get back to cleaning the house before I have to go to work this evening.

Merry Christmas!

My holiday photos...

2010-12-21T14:02:00.001-05:00

I have enjoyed looking at everyone's holiday home decor photos on their blogs and getting so much inspiration for our home. We have lived here for about three years, this is our first home, and have yet to make it ours. Hubs and I have both decided to make that a priority in 2011. So since I don't have any home photos to share, I thought I would share some photos of cookies that I've decorated over the last few years when I had a cookie business, Sugar House Cookies. Happy holidays everyone!

Latest crafty creations

2010-12-14T13:25:00.001-05:00

Wow, two days in a row of no school for the kiddo. Needless to say he is in heaven, though his basketball game and the school band concert were cancelled as a result which he is disappointed about (the game more than the concert of course).

I finally found some wax at the craft store and dipped a batch of salt dough bowl fillers. I need to work on my technique a bit, but I love the way it ages them even more!

I also stitched up a little pincushion for my middle sister's birthday. My stitcheries always start out bigger and then end up smaller than expected just by stitching. One of these days I will remember that when I'm cutting out my material and not after I'm done. : ) This is 100% wool and then I used scraps of 100% wool to stuff it. An upcycled button topped it off. I think next time I will add leaves to make it look like a flower.

Unfortunately I took a bunch of pictures and then shipped it off to Colorado before looking at the final pictures. It's a little blurry, but you get the idea.

Now I'm going to bake sugar cookies for a memorial service on Thursday. A a dear member of our community passed way too early in his life. Take care everyone.

UPDATE: I've added a set of these salt dough bowl fillers to my etsy shop. As Christmas is too close to ship for, if you would like a set of snowflakes please let me know. I will also be making them for future holidays/seasons as they are just too much fun!

Question for you prim painters....

2010-12-09T22:52:00.000-05:00

When you are painting furniture or home decor items (dressers, tables, wall shelves, etc.), what type of paint do you use? I can't see using those little bottles of craft paint. Do you use wall paint? I'm totally clueless here, obviously. : )

Giveaway page added!

2010-12-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

Check it out for links to beautiful prim giveaways!

I think I need a support group

2010-12-03T17:25:00.000-05:00

Bloggers Anonymous. No really. I visit one blog and add one or two from their list to mine, and on and on. I've read on a few blogs that I am not alone. It's a problem. Now there are worse things I could be doing with my time, but there are better things I could be doing as well. I do love looking at everyone's holiday decorations and crafty goodness. We have lived in our first home for about three years and other than painting one room, we have yet to make it our own. We do have plans, but we all know what that takes. I'm going to start setting a timer and when it goes off that's it, no more blog time!

I added a few items to my etsy shop. I have plans for more, and plans for adding 100% wool items in the new year as well.

To keep the holiday spirit going (I tend to be a Scrooge around the holidays), I made up a small batch of salt dough bowl fillers. I will bake them tonight when I get home from work and paint them tomorrow. That's the plan anyway. : )

Stay warm everyone. It's definitely winter in Ohio!

My first rug hooking project

2010-12-01T17:43:00.000-05:00

I honestly can't remember how many years ago this was. I didn't have a real rug stand yet, so I had hubby help screw some 2x4 boards together and then used those decorative upholstery tacks to hold the rug in place while I hooked. The rug was for the Yahoo Rug Hookers group. The mother of a member lost her home to a California wildfire I believe, and there were actually two groups that put together rugs, an east coast and a west coast, so she ended up with two beautiful rugs for her new home.

The finished East Coast Friendship Rug

My square was a dragonfly.

My local rug hooking friend Jeanette helped me with finding some wool and loaned me some of hers. She was next on the list after I was done so she also saved me the shipping cost. Jeanette has since passed and her husband blessed me with some of her wool. I've been working on an applique project for him for way too long. I'm very embarrassed about that and have made it my mission to not let it go beyond Christmas before getting it to him.

I've since only made a few small Christmas ornaments/door hangers, but I would like to get into it again. I have a nice frame and strip cutter (Bliss I think) that hubs bought for me. I guess I should put them to good use. : )

Well that's it, I just wanted to share.

Thanksgiving goodies

2010-11-26T11:29:00.000-05:00

No crazy Black Friday shopping trips for me today. I've only done that once and I was in middle school. I guess if there was something we really wanted to get and there was a super fantastic deal, I would bundle up and wait in line, but that has yet to happen. I'm excited to have another night off and maybe I will clean up my craft room since it looks like a tornado hit. Wool bits, embroidery floss, paper scraps.... it's a mess.

I wanted to share the candle mat I made for my mom and the salt dough bowl fillers I made for a centerpiece for the table. This is only my second time making salt dough creations, so please forgive the rustic look. I didn't seal them either, and I think a dipping in wax would make them look a bit nicer. I'm still playing around with the "antiquing" part of it, not sure how much I really like.

Here is the candle mat. Nothing fancy, just light tan pennies on an off-white backing. I couldn't decide on a color and I figured she could just swap out the candle for the season/holiday. This is my first 100% wool project and I loved working with the wool!

And here are the salt dough bowl fillers:

I tried to make this one look like a penny:

Well that's it. I'd really appreciate your comments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T22:58:00.000-05:00

I'm stitching a candle mat for my mom's birthday and baking some chocolate whoopie pies. Yep I know, not a very traditional holiday dessert, but that's me. : ) I will dip the sides in some leaf sprinkles to make them more festive. I'm also putting the final touches on some salt dough bowl fillers (pumpkins, leaves, and sunflowers) to put somewhere tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day with their families. Travel safe and stay warm!

Thoughts on a rainy Monday...

2010-11-22T14:45:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner! We are having very strange weather here in Ohio. It is in the 60s! I'm trying not to complain, but it just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving when the sun is shining and it's warm outside. Knowing Ohio weather, we could have a white Thanksgiving yet! : )

My mom's birthday is this week as well. She was born on Thanksgiving and the story goes that someone snuck my grandmother a turkey dinner while she was in the hospital. She was not going to miss out on having her turkey! I'm working on a little candle wrap for her and possibly a mat to go with it.

I'm anxiously waiting for three new patterns that I purchased from Wooden Spool Designs. Have you been to the website? The cutest penny rugs I have ever seen! I can't wait. There is even one in the shape of a button that I will be purchasing soon. Just too cute.

What are you working on today? Anything crafty or just trying to get ready for the holiday?

Words To Live By

2010-11-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

While visiting Brenda Gervais' blog, With Thy Needle and Thread, I saw these words and thought I would pass them on. It's a new quote to me and I love it.

"Use the talents you possess - the woods would be silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best." Henry Van Dyke

Wool

2010-11-16T15:44:00.000-05:00

I think about wool a lot. Probably too much. It's even stretched over to sheep. They are so cute. I even have a few sheep home decor items that I've picked up at various places. I don't like the cutesy sheep with the faces painted or stitched on, more prim looking without a face. I like my dolls the same way, like Amish style or the Willow Tree Angels. Anyway, back to wool.

Purists will say only 100% wool will do. I do like it, though of course it is more expensive. I've found wool blend felt to be a nice compromise. Definitely a huge improvement from the craft store felt. It's not an acrylic blend either; I believe it's rayon. Of course you don't get the wonderful mottling and textures with wool blend felt though that you get with 100% wool. How I do love a beautifully mottled piece of wool!

I'm playing around today. It's rainy and gray out, so what else is a girl to do. I took some of my wool blend felt and, well, felted it some more. It made it much thicker and gave it a slightly nubby texture. I'm going to stitch up a small candle mat and see what happens. I already like the texture. It's thicker and almost gives the appearance of 100% wool. Of course it shrinks quite a bit, but still a more economical alternative to 100% wool.

I do think that one day I will switch over to 100% wool, but I'm curious to see what my crafting friends think.

I know for rug hooking only 100% wool will do, but what is your preference? Does it matter to you what the material is made out of when purchasing an item?

Just another Sunday....

2010-11-14T14:06:00.000-05:00

I work strange hours. Between two hospitals and seven days a week, I am up at all hours of the day and night. It works for us for now, though I do wish I could give one hospital up. My point is that the crafting bug hits and it's not always convenient. Like last night. Oh, say around 9:30 p.m. at work. So I pull out a piece of paper and scribble my thoughts. I carry a book bag instead of a purse and it's a disaster. I throw my lunch bag in there on top of scraps of paper filled with ideas and sketches. It's not pretty. I have grand dreams of having a beautiful sketch book. For right now it's a pile in the bottom of my bag. No wonder I can't get anything done. I think that will be my goal for Monday - clean up that mess and see what comes of it.

This is a mini journal that I covered with 100% wool bits and a button, which the hubs then claimed as his own.

My Mondays are usually lazy days. Due to my weekend work schedule I don't get up until around 11a.m. I usually check out the DVR list and the ever-growing blog list, cup of coffee in hand of course, and see what I might have missed. My M-F schedule is more "normal" so I use Monday to be lazy and get myself back on track for the rest of the week. Sometimes it works. : )

Cardinals, snowflakes, a poinsettia garland for the mantle (thanks to Wee Folk Art), and tiny felt people (again, Wee Folk Art) for a little girl's birthday were all running through my mind last night.

Where do you keep your ideas? To you have a special journal or sketchbook?

Saturday ramblings

2010-11-13T11:06:00.000-05:00

It's going to be a quiet but productive day today...I hope. The morning is already gone and I haven't been very productive yet, but I'm stubborn so something will happen!

I was very happy to send out a package to a customer yesterday (I forgot about the holiday on Thursday, so embarrassed). I read a lot on the etsy forums how packaging is very important, and I do admit that I have received some gifts that I haven't wanted to open because the wrapping was done so nicely. I chose pink and white Cotton Candy Divine Twine and a flower and button tag from another etsy seller, Endless Inkabilities, to add to my packages after wrapping in white tissue paper. Here is a picture.

I am new to selling my stitcheries and I get nervous when sending out a package. Will they like it? Were my stitches okay? Did it arrive safely? Oh boy!

How important is packaging to you? How do you like to wrap your gift packages, either personal or business?

I guess I better do something productive now. : )

Salt Dough

2010-11-10T12:31:00.000-05:00

My parents made name ornaments for us girls when we were little and they hung on the Christmas tree every year. I never thought much about it until a week or so ago when I ran across beautiful bowl fillers thanks to Kindra at At Home With K. She directed me to the creator of the beauties, Colleen at And Baby Makes Five! She has great tutorials on her blog and beautiful pictures to follow. Hop on over and take a look.

So the next day I mixed up my dough and had at it. I loaned some of my fall and winter cookie cutters to a friend so I had a limited supply, but I made a large mitten, a few snowflakes, a few mini pumpkins, and some leaves. I also got rid of a lot of my craft paint when I was cleaning and organizing this summer so I was limited on colors as well, but I had so much fun! As you may know, I had a sugar cookie business for a few years and I do miss it (but not the mess and the stress!), so it was thrilling to be able to dust off those cookie cutters and decorate, even if I couldn't eat the broken ones. : ) I will post pictures when I make more this weekend after I expand my palette by a few colors.

Amazingly I couldn't find anyone selling salt dough bowl fillers. Hmmm, I might have to add some to my etsy shop. Anyone interested? I just get a kick out of anything reminding me of decorated cookies!

Do you have memories of making salt dough ornaments as a child? I don't remember making them with my parents, but I do hope to continue the tradition of making J an ornament for the tree, even if he is already a teenager. Better late than never!

Oh Google.....

2010-11-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

You confuse me so.

I couldn't figure out why my favorite blogs weren't showing up in my list. Turns out I have two Google accounts. Hmmm, not sure how I did that. It seems that I "followed" a ridiculous amount of blogs under the other account. Oh boy. So I just spent an amount of time I will keep to myself following all of the blogs with the correct account. Now I can't figure out why the picture in my Google Friend Connect is different than I have it set as. lol. Too much computer magic for me today. I think I better take a step away from the computer and give it a rest.

Oh, and by the way, I have a ton of new blogs in my list now (ha ha!) and I encourage you to visit them all. So many blogs, so little time!

Goodies

2010-10-27T13:29:00.000-04:00

I just love getting mail, especially when there is a box of felt included! I ordered a few shades of pink (getting ready for Valentine's Day), a teal and purple that I think will look great together, and more green and red for Christmas.

In the last few days I've made some Christmas ornaments and a candle/jar wrap that I will soon add to my etsy shop. I'm also considering adding a shopping cart to my website for those that don't want to join etsy. That involves more html stuff that I don't understand, but I'm hoping the program I chose to use plays nice.

We had a crazy storm run through yesterday with 70+ mph winds and I discovered a design flaw to the cat house I built with my dad for the kittens that showed up on my deck in May. That's a long story that I will save for another day. So since the sun is shining and it's a beautiful day, the cat house got a cleaning. New hay and clean blankets, and left the lid/roof open to dry out. Good thing we decided to put down that sheet of vinyl flooring as it made clean-up a breeze. Yes that's right, the cat house has vinyl flooring...left over from a bathroom remodel at my parents' house. Thank goodness my dad saves his scraps! It also has insulation and a shingled roof. Only the best for my feral cats!

I'm hoping the beautiful weather made the kiddo's school field trip to the national park that is practically in our backyard a lot of fun. I'm not even sure what they were doing there, but that seems to be par for the course with a 13-year old.

I hope you are having beautiful weather where you are!

~Michelle

Blog changes

2010-10-25T14:02:00.001-04:00

Thanks to ShabbyBlogs.com, I've added a fun new background to the blog, then threw in some buttons from some of my favorite blogs/sites and even made my own button to share. Whew! That's nothing for some of you html wiz kids, but now I need a nap! I'm going to continue playing around with it, but if you happen to see something that doesn't look just right or a link that is broken, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

Another great blog

2010-10-23T15:12:00.000-04:00

I found this blog a few months ago and just started "following" it. I'm a sucker for a good flea market find and have been known to bring a few things home off the curb. A dresser, a piece of wooden fence, a small table. You just never know what you might find driving home.

Check out At Home With K. She has a great eye for what something can become with a little bit of elbow grease and paint. Her style crosses many different decorating styles, so you are sure to find an idea to fit into your home.

Etsy Shop!

2010-09-25T13:10:00.001-04:00

I decided that I would set up a shop on etsy. It's a safe and secure way for purchases to be made and it gets a lot of traffic. Have you ever been to etsy? Well, why not?! There is a wide range of handmade items to be found, anything you could possibly think of. Some wacky, some you won't be able to do without. Stop on over to my shop, www.etsy.com/shop/sugarhousecreations , and let me know what you think. It's a new shop, but I am adding items as fast as I can create them.

So what is Sugar House Creations?

2010-07-19T14:03:00.000-04:00

I am fascinated by wool felt, buttons, trims, rick rack, embroidery thread....and love to put it all together in a creative way. I'm not a huge blogger, but will share with you my little creations and links to other creative people I find along my journey.