Category Archives: craftiness

Oct15

Watch this space

Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 by Dianne

…for my latest cross stitch finish. For some reason, I diligently stitched on it since late July, to early August until now. I have a few stitches left. The designer didn’t use quality paper (yet charged $10 for the chart) and many of the symbols were terrible to read or rubbed off. I had to improvise a few stitches, but you can’t tell. And I did use the tape that Lee sent me-thanks again. I want to do a quick Halloween design next.

I went down to my hometown Tuesday afternoon and got my hair done and so did mom! Colleen gave mom a reverse bob-very cute. We went to Olive Garden for dinner (mom’s had the same tummy bug or whatever I had and I wanted to give her a treat) and then hit Micheal’s Craft store. I didn’t pick up anything to buy for a long time, then I saw a ‘now you can knit socks’ book, but didn’t see the correct weight of yarn in the vast collection in the store, so I scraped that(but it’s something I want to try). I purchased some stickers and papers-some with a Christmas flair!

I’m still thinking about having a table at the church Christmas bazaar, but then it may be better to have a yard sale which wouldn’t cost me $35. Our basement really needs to be tidied up. I had a sale years ago, but not sure that people want craft books and baskets. It’s a lot of work too.

So watch this space! : )

Update!! It took me 2 hours to finish this. Then I washed and pressed it. Introducing Sleeping Kitty by Ellen Maurer Stroth:

I can’t believe a strand of my own hair showed up so well too!

My inspiration to do this piece, my own brown tabby Cosmo!

Oct3

Show & Tell #12

Posted on Friday, October 3, 2008 by Dianne

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Lily slate I designed, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This is hanging in our family room.

Several years ago, I use to stencil ‘Welcome’ signs on slates for a local businesswoman. I think I did at least 300 of them using store bought stencils of her choosing. Linda would let us buy a few from her for our own stenciling. This lily one was made over 12 years ago. It’s a layered stencil, meaning the leaves are a stencil that are put down first and other layers are added. I should say, all the slates got a coat of the ecru acrylic paint first. We were told to follow the natural edges of the slate, which I did here. This is an okay design for someone who never made a stencil before, let alone a layered one. My inspiration was an old botany book (gee, wonder where that is?) I only made a few more as gifts and then turned my attention to cross stitch. I won’t tell you how the lady closed down her business-well I should-so you never do it-hold a meeting to insult people’s stenciling and then close down! She did it to mine-I had added a spray of foam to waves in the ocean and made seashells a bit pinker. That’s me and they looked fine. Plus I had done 100s of them already! She made another stencil lady cry (the poor thing couldn’t even copy or blend well, but she really tried). One stencil lady, who followed the stencils to a ‘t’ got kudos. She also spent way too much time on them for what she got paid-IMHO.Let’s say she was a good copier.

It’s really not too hard to do and if you ever try it, make the design your own with your own special touches! : )

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If anyone would like to read ‘The Secret Lives of Bees’, which is coming out in movie form soon, I have a copy I just finished. Let me know.

Sep19

Show & Tell #10

Posted on Friday, September 19, 2008 by Dianne

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Here’s the little cabinet I mentioned previously. Bri did not like that I put ‘my stuff’ on top of it. He wanted his stuff there. He can get out his handy dandy tools and 2 x 4s and make a shelf unit for the top. I like the rough texture and the white washing on it. We have a lot of that honey maple color in the house. I bought it for CDs and it hardly fits any-only a pile of about 10 on their sides with space around. Time to downsize the CDs anyway. They will mysteriously be downsized someday soon. : ) Oh, and please excuse the stuff stuck around it-I need to tidy this area more.

What’s on top- I made the cross stitched box cover. I had started it many years ago and finished it last year and added it to the box this year. I just bought the sunflowers yesterday which are in a red glass martini pitcher (I think). On the other wall (out of view) is Van Gogh’s sunflowers painting. I want to do that in cross stitch someday. That may be my next big project!

And for my stitching pals….my little ‘Sleeping Kitty’ is coming along! My friend Nancy just sent me the Q-snap cover! I’ll have to figure out how to make them as they are awesome!

Sep12

Show & Tell #9

Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 by Dianne

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I thought I’d share the talent of my mom’s only sibling, my Uncle Don. He is 85 yrs young, a prostate cancer survivor and former music teacher (and coordinator), for an entire school district near Philadelphia. As you can see, he loves birds and painted the Bluejay and carved the Cardinal and Purple Finch for me. The one piece is as old as my son (almost 22) and I should give it to him someday.

Uncle Don has had a rough few years and lives by himself, though his wife is still with us, but in a nursing home. He has a hard time getting around now and can’t drive or do much of anything except worry about his sister. I think she keeps him going sometime. : )

Aug31

Lazy Day

Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2008 by Dianne

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I truly had one of those days on Saturday that I didn’t feel guilty about. I took my time watching some shows on Bravo that I had missed because of the Democratic Convention. I stitched and frogged some stitching on the sleeping kitty. I wish when designers did the black symbols, that they would make them nice and dark when they print them out. I have been penciling out as I go, still lost my place. When I went to erase, took a lot of the symbol away. Grrrrgh.

I also made a really neat item for a Wizard of Oz swap with a fellow crafty blogger. I had all I wanted to use, plus some and just didn’t sit down to assemble it right away. When I finally did, it took about 15 minutes to get the main area done. As a hint, I am using a collage I made for my desktop and adding to that.

Found a really cute idea on Flickr. I love that site-so many talented photographers and craftspeople. A young lady, Ruby, turned ‘Mini pops’ into a cross stitched project. They are famous little people, say Indiana Jones, that are really tiny. She said she opened a gif file in her paint program to print out the figures and then graphed them.

I tried my hand at it today. Can you guess who these guys are?

They may be a little larger than Ruby’s, but these are the Fab Four from the movie ‘Sergeant Pepper’.

Bri’s dad isn’t doing well on a mega dose of antibiotics. I suggested that if he goes over to his house and doesn’t like what he sees, that he should take him to the ER pronto. Pops says he is weak on his legs and isn’t eating a lot. I think he should be in assisted living until he feels better, but Bri swears that comes out of pocket. Not if the doctor wants him in there, I think the insurance would help. Anyone know? He could maybe get a visiting nurse to help him with his wounds.

If Bri’s dad is ok, we may take a daytrip tomorrow. And if my shoulder is better too. Seems it acts up once in a while. Bri suggested I sit sideways on the massager and it hit an area on my shoulder blade that made it tingle and hurt.

Two answers from my movie meme from a little while ago:
#1 Life and death. Space and time. Fate and chance. Theses are the forces of the universe. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you a man who has unlocked these mysteries. From the furthest corners of the world where the dark arts still hold sway he returns to us to demonstrate how nature’s laws may be bent. I give you ……. The Illusionist!

#6 A scout has a certain look… Kit Carson, for example. You look like… a muleskinner!
Uh, General I don’t know anything about mules…
Lieutenant, it’s amazing how I can guess the profession of a man just by looking at him! Notice the bandy legs, the powerful arms. This man has spent years with mules. Isn’t that right?
Uh, yes sir!
Hire the muleskinner! –Little Man, Big Man-you must see this movie. : )

I made a desktop collage of this movie a few years ago:

Also did Joy Luck Club and Memoirs of a Geisha:

And of course I couldn’t forget Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:

Aug24

It’s all about Joe

Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008 by Dianne

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Since Senator Biden is fairly a ‘local boy’ (born in Scranton, PA), close to both Philly and Wilmington, the news is all about him and the people camping out at his home in Greenville, New Castle County, DE (there is also a Greenville in Kent Co., DE). I like to hear that people sit next to him in church, and see him out and about. He’s been teaching at Widener U law school p.t. since 1991. (My mom worked at the Widener campus in Chester, PA and I attended there a few months-hard school).

Here’s a map of how close the ‘maybe’ next VP lives from me. How cool (his birthday is the day after mine-Nov. 20th)!

Makes me want to take a drive down there to see where he lives! It’s not a very big town and you definitely would not miss it (you know the expression of if you sneeze, you’d miss it) as it has some lovely homes and scenery.

I think a lot of us locals feel we know Biden personally as he’s been a senator so long. He’s had some really down moments in his life-

His 1st wife and infant daughter died in a car accident shortly after he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. His two young sons, Beau and Hunter, were seriously injured in the accident, but both eventually made full recoveries. Biden was sworn into office from their bedside. Persuaded not to resign in order to care for them, Biden began the practice of commuting an hour and a half each day on the train from his home in the Wilmington suburbs to Washington, DC, which he continues to do.

In February 1988, after suffering from neck pains, Biden was hospitalized and underwent lifesaving surgery to correct two brain aneurysms, one of which began leaking.^[6] The hospitalization and recovery kept him from the Senate for seven months.

From Wikipedia

Biden is a politician through and through!

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Sean is doing well, getting use to living in an apartment and buying his own groceries. Seems the only thing he forgot was a trash can and bags. He can walk a 20 minute walk to the campus or take a bus. Today he took his car to go to church. He’s been visiting with some old pals. Tomorrow classes start.

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I was a cleaning fool yesterday. I think it helped me not to think about Sean driving 160 miles. I even got Bri in the act! He got out the Murphy’s Oil soap and did some of the floors in the living room. Men have such great upper arm strength, that the floor shone! He failed to lift a few area rugs to get the dirt from under them. I worked so hard in the living room, I neglected the family room. Mom and friend dropped by to bring back my tote bag with my latest read and cross stitch project in it and they sat in the messy family room. You want to see my latest XS?

It sure doesn’t look clear here-rats! I think the camera focused on the chart. It’s called ‘Sleeping Kitty’ by Ellen Maurer Stroh. I’m doing it on fabric I think I bought from Carol S. I usually don’t start in the middle (at the top) and I’m finding it harder to keep my place, thus the pencil marks. I don’t think it will take long to finish.

Need to do some art one of these days. I’m stalling working on a Wizard of Oz swap. I have 3 weeks, but I really want to think of something neat for my partner. I have the main piece I will collage and most of the materials gathered. It’s just to sit down and get cracking!

Oh! I’ve been using the back massage chair cushion (Shiatsu by Homedics-my mom has one we bought her too) we have and I think it’s helping! Yeah! When the chiropractor made me lay on a table with the same principle of ‘faux’ massage, the lightbulb went off to start using mine again. Even Bri’s been using it.

Monday will be the first day I’ve been alone since the 15th!

Aug23

Emotions

Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2008 by Dianne

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Sad-Sean left at 9 am. I prayed I wouldn’t blubber, but I still do. He’s such a nice guy with us-takes me places, is patient, watches sporting events with Bri and they both have snickering attacks (it must be a guy thing). Stuff like that I’ll miss. Man, is his car jam packed with stuff! We were suppose to follow him up and see the apartment and town, but that will have to be in a few weeks. Bri’s dad needs his attention. I can’t wait to see how Sean does in his ‘bachelor pad’. He left me with a hamper of laundry and his room is a little messy. My entire living room was that way for a week or so. Now I can finish getting my craft stuff organized.

Happy-That Obama picked seasoned politician and all around nice guy Joe Biden as his running mate. I wasn’t sure where Biden resided, but here it’s down my road and make a right, about 10 miles away in Greenville. If you aren’t familiar with Greenville, it’s in Delaware and one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Greenville is Bri’s territory for the newspaper, but he doesn’t go down there that often.

Excited-to work on some projects again now that things are somewhat settled down. I squished some flower blossoms last night and was pleased with the results. I am using the paper as background for a few cards.

Joyful-That a hummingbird or two found the little feeder I just bought from the store in NJ. We have the zoom lens on the camera, but we think we have to move the hanging basket the feeder is stuck in closer to the house. Here are a few photos taken with the zoom lens:

Bri’s photo-cropped

Also entered a contest to be in the pit crew for Patrick Dempsey at a race in Millville, NJ next weekend. Heck, I’d like to be the one who fluffs his hair when he takes off his helmet! It would be so funny to win!

Aug22

Show & Tell #6

Posted on Friday, August 22, 2008 by Dianne

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Holly Hobbie Embroidery, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Here’s one of my first ever completed needlework pieces that I did way back in 1976 when I was about 16 going on 17. As you can see, I used a film camera to photograph Miss Holly Hobbie. I think she’s pretty nicely done for a 16 yr old, though I believe I used 6 strands of floss where I should have used 3 to 4. Now she is hanging in my guest room, a yellow room. She wasn’t framed until 25 yrs or so after she was embroidered.

These are little Holly Hobbie plaques I found at a yard sale and thought they looked nice with my framed piece.

Aug13

Snap, crackle and pop!

Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 by Dianne

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I did hear some of the above noises today at the chiropractor! My neck cracked really well. He pressed on my spine and that was uncomfortable. Then I laid on a table that vibrated mostly my butt area for a few minutes. I told he I had a chair massager pad that I should use more. Our insurance won’t cover these visits, so I have to figure out what to do (they take the same credit plan as the dentist, but I’m kinda saving that for extreme bills from them). I guess I can go a few times a month. I’m going tomorrow too. I think my neck feels a bit looser.
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I won a big box of ephemera from eBay to scan and use in my art projects. What fun it is to look through old photos and cards! It can be sad too as the photos are unmarked. I am not saving all of them. I bought the lot mostly for the really old photos. I have seen just one on sale for $4 and I got 11 pounds of goods for around $10. I love this hobby! There is so much history involved-the clothing, the cars, the scenery and towns.

Here’s ‘sort of’ any oldie I found in my craft desk. It’s me at my Communion/Confirmation back in about 1983 with my grandmom Ruth and my mom Jeanne.

I know who I am getting a bod like. This has a few spots on it. And my mom is the height of my grandmom now-I am taller than her! I think my grandmom was about 80 here and mom is almost 78 now.
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Thanks to Jennifer for mentioning the Absecon Lighthouse. Think we’ll go there. Sounds great. I love gift shops too. ; )