Category Archives: craftiness

Heirlooms of one kind or another

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Brian saw this tomato last night and didn’t think it was ripe! I doubled checked the tag and it’s a heirloom Yellow Brandywine. We had it with our roast beef, smashed red potatoes, peach applesauce and zucchini for dinner. Very meaty!
Today, I decided to sort out more of my craft books (and other books), but first I tidied the books next to Brian’s chair. That man must have every Ford Mustang book ever written as the ones next to the chair were overflows from the bookcase. (Speaking of cars, Bri is really enjoying the PT Cruiser. He checks the tire and put Fit a Flat in it as it has a very slow leak). He’s so happy he found it on the internet for me.
So during my sorting, I found this:
Print of girls with lanterns
Framed Girls with lanterns print
I had ripped it out of an art book, found a pale pink mat mom had bought me and dug in the closet for a frame (with a Jamesway sticker on it, now Big Lots and must be 10 years old). I added the border to two sides of the print as white would show. I think it’s sweet.
Then these floral prints were leaning against my ‘paperbacks/novels basket’ (another job to sort). They use to be over the computer:
Flower prints over the sofa
So we hung them over the sofa!
I found some art items to play around with-Do you remember the ‘Country Diary of the Edwardian Lady’ nature book from the late 70s? I have a little book that teaches you how to draw nature art with colored pencils.

I try and share things of my own on ‘Pinterest’ and here is a bamboo salt box I bought last year at QVC that I love. I fill it with salt and pepper and it’s right next to the stove.
Two tone salt and pepper box
So….I am praying for some rain as many of use are. All the back breaking flower planting seems to be going to pot. So many things are drying up despite our efforts of keeping them watered every single day. The watering that seems to be paying off is with the veggie patch-it looks peppy. Yay.
Hope you all are getting relief from the heat.

Summer spruce up

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Repainted garden gnomes, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

As you know I have a garden that has both fairies and gnomes at the side of our house. I’ve have this garden a number of years and some of the older inhabitants were starting to look faded and sad. I picked 4 of the worst and cleaned them up and gessoed them all in white as I didn’t want to sand off paint I knew nothing about. I’m not that great with faces, but I think these aren’t too bad. After this shot, I sprayed them with acrylic sealer.
Here is Mr.and Mrs. Gnome back out near the Strawberry house (that needs a dab of green paint on the front there).
Mr. and Mrs. Gnome
Here’s a new flower that I saw at Longwood Garden and wanted to see if it spreads. It’s called Throatwort:
New flower-Throatwort
The tomatoes almost 5 feet tall now! It helps that they are planted in a circle as they have the fence for support.
Circle garden showing tomatoes
Brian cutting the long part of the yard
There’s Brian cutting the grass tonight. See that huge maple there-he planted it! Like all the other trees, this is way too big!
Daisies at corner of house near little pond
The daisies are blooming nicely at the corner of the house and near the pond.
Front garden
This is around the front. The hanging baskets look good (Fuchsia and Geranium). I need to weed out a lot of things like spent Bleeding Heart.
Pots near sitting area
These pots near a sitting area look good.
Prolific Burgundy Lilies
The Lilies are giving us a nice show.
Hydrangea and Hosta Blooms
Hydrangea and Hosta blooms
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Tomorrow I go drop more things off at the thrift shop. The first bunch of things isn’t selling well. I left a message for someone to call back and she did tonight. I had my old art table and she said to bring it over Sunday or another week. I can bring 15 items at a time and only 2 have sold in 2 weeks. I guess people are using money for vacations. I plan to keep consigning.

Doing stuff

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I just realized I haven’t blogged since Sunday! Running here and there-to get my hair done in my hometown and visiting mom for a couple of things. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling that great on Monday between my allergies and eating something for Easter that didn’t agree with me. But I got to see my niece and gave her the little owl box I assembled the day before. She liked it.

Owl Easter boxes and bookmarks
Owl Easter boxes
Mom and I went out to a late lunch (she is never ready when I get there) and the place she wanted to go to was closing. I ended up eating a grilled chicken sandwich on a toasted hotdog roll at a hamburger joint. How cheap can you get and it was falling apart too!
Yesterday I took some gold jewelry that was given to me to a shop in Delaware that I dealt with before. I only sell stuff that I don’t need or know I won’t wear. I had a lot of bits and pieces. I had a ring sized too. I got enough for a car payment plus some extra. : ) I told the man I wanted the blue topaz out of this big ring as he said he only wanted the gold part. I go back today to get the ring I was having resized and there was no stone in the envelope. I had to ask for it! He was hoping I’d forget and only offered me $20 for about a 4 carat blue topaz. He doesn’t do the greatest resizing job-the ring is rough and not polished that much on the inside.
I asked Sean to get my white car washed last night as it was dirty and he was nice enough to do so. I see that the same dirty spots are still running down the sides-what a rip off. I told Sean that was a waste of money and not to go there again. Also my ”change oil’ reminder is coming on and the dealership was suppose to do that last week.
I did go to Tuesday Morning and got a pretty box for the wedding gift we are giving our cousin along with a few extras. I stopped in the store and bought some charcoal and made really good burgers. I grated onion and pressed it into them and it made all of the difference!
Sean is off tomorrow and wants to take a daytrip, but the weather may be dicey. That figures.
I have been cleaning inside and outside-it’s sure an endless job. I have no clothesline now as a big branch took off a side of a ‘t’ bar on one end. I have hanging pots on them now.
Vacation in DC Collage Card
One of my newer collages based on being a visitor at the nation’s capital.

Saturday’s shares

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Mantel with Sarah’s fan, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I wanted to share the fan that I received from a Flickr pal as part of a group trade. I sent the one I made to another British lady. I didn’t realize that it wasn’t fully opened up, but what is showing looks pretty on my mantel.
Not far from this pretty sight is this sight:
Still sorting craft stuff
Some of those things are the decor in the living room, like the teddies in the chair and wicker carriage. That’s my old desk which I was going to paint. I have no place to put it right now, so hoping someone may want it. Opps-I still see some silk poinsettias! I plan on getting all this finally taken care of and soon. I am having trouble with how to sub-categorize the stickers and if I should sort ‘the scraps’ more. But to me the fun part is going through all the bits and pieces!
I filled up the rest of the cupcake holder with some carrots-the plastic sleeves that you can fill with candy-I used jelly beans!
Easter themed cupcake holder
I just got the pink salad bowl ‘back’ from Bri’s dad-we had given to them years ago and I could have been using it in the last 14 years.
I love the topiary bunnies!
Close up of faux topiary bunny
And the Full Worm moon is bigger (14%) and brighter (30%) than it’s been in 18 yrs! My photo doesnt’ show the detail. It’s in a position where it’s closer to the earth:
Full Worm Moon
And last but not least, I hope to do something neat with this framed mirror I bought at Ikea in January:
A project I'm thinking about
Have a nice Sunday!

Sock Monkey holding Nick’s ornament

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I mailed off a few packages yesterday, and my pals (in Penna.) received their gifts today already. I had put the wrong zip code on the package too.
I turned the little cross stitch piece into this ornament for their son who is 16 months old.
Here is the back:
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I also made them a 4″x 4″ collage with a lighthouse theme that I adhered to a canvas, painted around the edge and added a ribbon. Those are tiny beads in the corner.
Gift for friends who like lighthouses
I’ve made a few collage cards too. My mom bought two huge (and pricey books of scrapbook paper from one of my favorite companies) and said I could have the duplicate of each page. I was happy she shared. The one had this gorgeous Easter basket:
Scatter Joy 4" x 4" Card
I’m trying to get my paper stuff in order in case Brian gets the mojo to install my new desk piece.
Having some allergy issues, I swear I could predict the weather! I also seem to be bothered more by allergies in our family room-wall to wall carpet, hottest room, lots of plants, where the cat lounges on me, sit near the heat….etc. Bummer.
We are expecting lots of rain tomorrow, so I’ll continue with my paper sorting.

Life is a Voyage

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With so many people traveling this week for Thanksgiving, I found this saved calendar page from Mary Englebreit a good choice for a collage. I added the pink sunglasses-aren’t they cute? I was thinking about an old friend that travels a lot and wonder where she has been or is going.
Had a nice pork roast and sauteed mushroom salad for dinner.
Here’s Kate’s Quilt table piece I bought. Her contact info is under the photo on Flickr. I don’t have a link to her other pieces. This was only $10.
Handmade quilted table decor
Here is my knitted pom-pom scarf! Please note the newly ‘stuffed’ seat cushion it is on. : )
My first knitted pom-pom scarf
Very easy to do!
Here is my e-reader from Brian…
My new e-reader-Libre
I tried to download an Oz book and the pictures didn’t show, but the words were there.
The house is still in an uproar!
I’m waiting on the bloodwork results and am a bit nervous. Crossing fingers!

Orange you glad I used oranges?

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Orangey 4" x 4" Collage card, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I was playing with tape transfer which is quite fun and easy-see the orange juicer in the middle which took up a lot of space in the collage. I had to cut up the vintage labels a bit. The label on the bottom is from a new drink lid cover. I wove some two tone papers together for the background. So that’s about #57!

Collage by the Month

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October 4" x 4" Collage card, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This is the little lady card I made yesterday. I only added the pink ‘grass’ today. I saw a fellow collage maker do 12 ATCs with the month and birthstone and I thank her for the idea. Here the birthstone is an opal, under the butterfly. I added a bit of sparkle to it. Sean sure doesn’t care for an opal or a tourmaline which is a pink stone and used for October also.
Then I did September today. I had the Sleeping Beauty art cut out for a while and it seemed to fit on the deep blue color theme I was used. The gem sticker isn’t as blue as a true sapphire, but I will replace it if I find one I like better. I love that clock embellishment and also rubber stamped one and lightly embossed it in sapphire blue.
September 4"x4" Collage card

All fixed- I hope

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Going to the dentist ruined my day in a way. Sean was off and he is always kind enough to take me somewhere. We had planned to go to my mom’s house, but the appointment was at 3 and I didn’t get home until 4. My tummy was a bit bothersome, I think something is going around in the family. A piece of my tooth had broken off-the natural part, not a patch, so he patched it, but hurt my gums alot! He knew of the brewery we went to a few weeks back and was telling me a long story about that (he’s only about 30).
I did go with Sean to a place that not only changes oil, it changes tires. And they always tell you one or two tires need replacing. Sean didn’t get tires, he’ll go to a Wally World with a tire center and get his 10% off. Geez. We went to Macaroni*Grill which was good, but not as good as the other chain places. And beware of the Italian soda-no free refills, so it cost Sean $12 for 4 drinks-terrible.
I did do a collage, she is almost finished and I’ll put her up tomorrow. I was too tired to add the final touches and take a photo of it.
I can share the adorable gremlin I won from Honey Girl Studio

This is Melissa’s photo. I will have to find the perfect spot for him.
I need to cut back some ornamental grass that spread all over my lily garden and I remember digging most of it out last year. I also want to add a few mums I just purchased. Hope I get to the garden work!