Monday Finish!

I actually finished something, and I am pleased with how it came out. I wanted to make something as a gift, as a thank you, instead of the usual card and this is what I made as a thank you. It really touched me, how many reached out and still do to be there for me and I want to do something that brings them joy, as well. I plan on making more things and things that have meaning to each person, so a bit at a time.

The design is by Jenny of ELEFANTZ and she has more designs for free and sale on her Craftsy Store. I have made her original design in a small quilt and when she offered the design in a stitchery, I thought it would make a wonderful pillow. I liked the appliqué bird on the first design but that was too large, so I modified the designs and made it into a pillow size. I would like to make it smaller, so maybe I will move the words so I can enlarge them and do it in a smaller version with the appliqué.

The finished pillow is about 8" x 7". I stuffed it with stuffing and added lavender inside, as well.

I have been shopping and looking for things to decorate the  beach room. I still need to paint it, but it has been so hot, I just can't get into painting walls, so hopefully I will have more energy when we get back from our trip, next week. I found some stones and sea glass and jar candle holders. I plan on putting the heart stones and things I have collected on a candle box and then the candles, but I am still looking for the perfect sized box. I did find a beach style table with a lipped top, so maybe I can get a table in a white shade like that. I have a small white side table, the white crates and a tan chaise, so I want to keep with the main colors and a mix of blue/greens.

Here are the jars, I was trying them with the stones and glass. The stones in the glass heart are the ones I have collected this summer, so I want something I can put them in and see the different hearts and colors. If you like the jars, I got them at Pier Imports, along with the stones and glass.

Giveaway Winners!

Well, I had a piece to finish today and I was getting ready to make it into a pillow and the phone rang and then it got late and Bean wanted to go out, then the neighbors dog came over to visit and wore Bean out for me, so by the time I got done with things, I gave up on the idea of finishing the pillow tonight.

So, we will get to the give away winners. USAGypsy is the winner of the funny caption, very clever thinking the tarp was the tent and no one knew how to put it up. Picturing that made me laugh:) The random generator winner is Wendy of Ravenwood Whimsies. Ladies, please email me with your choice of epattern or Ebooklet from my Ecrater site.

Since I have no finished photos tonight, I thought I would go with an oldie. This is a photo we had taken at the local state fair, one year. Bill was away on a trip, so I took the kids to the fair and we had a photo taken. Of course Billy wanted to be the man and have a gun. It is fun to look at the old photos and remember the happy times with the kids.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Bill has to work again, so hopefully I can catch up with all the things I never got done today and get some projects cut out, to work on.

Not Much Monday Giveaway!

I didn't get much done this week, though I am working on a pillow piece for a gift. I had to redo the lettering since it was small and two strands was too much for the closer letters.

I was going through some old photos and found one from a trip to New Hampshire. We took our nephews, Phillip and Dave to Lost River Campground and my parents stayed at another campground. This would have been in the late 70's and we slept in tents.

I have no idea what we had done that day or why everyone looks like they lost their best friend, but it is fun to remember the early camping days.

For this giveaway, I will give away an Epattern or booklet from my Ecrater site. For fun, try and write a caption for this photo. The funniest caption will win a free pattern and I will draw a name from all the entries for a free pattern, so there will be two winners! I will draw a name on friday night and announce it, that night.

Friday Finishes!

I actually finished something this week, I do miss creating and I am trying to make time for myself, even if it means the house is a mess. I can clean it tomorrow, but for a couple of days I took time to sew and relax.

I have been doing the BOM's from Buttermilk Basin, they are fun to do and I am using woolly flannels for the background and wool for the appliqué. There are 11 in all, so 3 more to go. I am not sure how they will be finished, but I think a sashing will be nice, around each block.

I still need to add some detail to some things, but the main things are done. I had a solid blue, but messed up on some cuts and only have enough for one more, so I used a plaid woolly from my stash.

Here is what I have finished so far. As is, it just looks blah, but I think with a plaid or print woolly around them, it should look nice. I also forgot what order they were in, but this way, I have my backgrounds arranged nicely, but I may change my mind.

Another thing I am doing is, looking for items and ideas for my beach room. I tend to go to stores and see something I like and say, I can make that myself;) I hit the thrift store and found a prim green basket. I will get some nice dried or faux plants to put in them, I was thinking of wild roses like the ones we have on our beaches. For now, I stuck some dried plants in it and I am going to make a punch needle piece with a beach design, on the front.

It seems more critters are visiting my yard, and today it was a family of turkeys. I rarely see them and they let me get closer, but not too close.

While I was sewing, I watched Quilting Arts. I tape them so I can watch them when I want and save shows that I might want to watch again. Today they were talking about using photos in art and taking macro shots. I have a zoom that does macro from a distance, so not quite the same, but it was fun walking around the yard and seeing things through my lens. It is a great way to see shapes and textures and get creative. Maybe this weekend you can try it when you go out for a walk or visiting a town, take photos from a different perspective and lots of close ups of items that interest you.

This was one of my shots today, I like the simple look and the textured wheat against the blurred background. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend. Bill has to work, so I am going to try and get more time in my sewing room.

Short Camping trip!

We went camping this weekend, but it did not turn out as expected, that seems to happen a lot;)
It was hot and bad air quality so anything I did, tired me out, twice as fast. When ever it got too much, I dunked back into the water but the air quality wasn't helping and it didn't let up until 11 at night.

Then the Carbon alarm went off, for no reason, so Bill snipped the wires, not sure if that was smart, but it shut it up. Then Bean was acting up, he is out of the cage now and fine at home, but first time in the trailer so he wanted back out. Then the battery died and Bill who has no sense, tries to figure it out at 3 in the morning and bangs inside and out for an hour, so I got no sleep and we went home that morning.

I have learned, not to camp at state parks on hot days. I can live with mishaps and make do when I have to, but I cannot be outside on bad air days, because of my bad heart valve. But I did get to have some fun with Bean and enjoy some time in the water. Bean and I walked along the shoreline, it is shadier under the trees and I wear my kayak boots so I can walk through the mucky areas.

Bill played with Bean while I paddled around the coves. The little kayak is great for skirting around the rocky areas and I don't have to worry about bumping into rocks. The seagulls love this area, there are lots of small fish in the coves.

Since it was so  hot, we went for a ride after dinner to watch the sunset from the ocean. I looked up the closest Dunkin Donuts for coffee and told Bill where it was and he drove right by, errr. Then we had to go to the next one and that took longer and we had to go to a different beach area. We found out, there was no beach area to park and it was crowded with people staying in the nearby hotels and cottages, so I took shots from the car window.

I decided to cancel the next trip to the park, it was on weekdays and since I am a glutton for punishment, I made a reservation at a campground in NH for after labor day. It is on the water, has a deck with table and grill, full hookups and a large dog play area and swimming beach, as well as dog sitting. Sounds perfect, but we all know how my perfect vacations go, lol.

This is the photo they show, where I reserved a deluxe site, I am sure they vary in size and type, but ours will have a deck with grill and tables, like this one. Who knows what adventures we will have up there, hopefully none that involve bears;) The reason we picked this place was, it has a large dog play area, a dog swimming beach and dog sitting, the perfect place for Bean and for us if we want to do something that doesn't allow dogs. It will depend on the weather, if it is warm, we may go kayaking, if it is cooler, we will do short hikes where there area waterfalls.

Friday Fun!

Another week and I didn't get half of the things, I had planned, done. We are going camping for the weekend on the same spot, so hopefully so big wind storms will come our way again.

I started arranging things in the room, still need to paint the walls and then start on the mural, but I wanted to see how things look. I just threw some flowers in the baskets, later I will do some that match the room, but they are baskets from the flowers that were sent to us and I want to keep them as a memory of Danielle and the wonderful friendships from those who gave us support when we needed it. The long crate on the shelf was also filled with beautiful flowers, and now it will be filled with beach flowers.

I was going to put my chaise on the far wall, but that is where the painting will go and I want to be able to look at it when I am drawing or relaxing, so I think I will move my chaise and table to the other side. I may put her shelf and things on the wall to the right, which you cannot see, but it has a lot of space to hang the framed photo collages, that her friends did for me. Or I may just hang one at a time and change them out, something I can decide on after I paint. The fan light is new, I love how it has a nautical look.

Each Friday I put up a photo and saying, on Danielle's Facebook page. Facebook will leave a page up, if you ask, in memorian. It is something I do for her and for me. This week, I made a heart shape on the beach with red brick stones. While I was building it into a heart, I messed up the sand and when I saw the photo, I noticed a shape, so I enhanced the outline a bit;)

On a lighter note, Bean is still Bean, he wants to play all the time. His new thing is water, before he avoided it, now he wants to play in it and with it. I can only imagine how he will act when he gets out of the car tomorrow and see he is at camp.

And a blast from the past. This is me with my nephews, on top of Mt. Monadnock in NH. Before we had our own kids, we took our nephews camping and hiking with us. I was hoping my son and Nicholas would be coming camping with us, but he is busy with school and work, so hopefully he will slow down before summer is over.

Do It Yourself?

I want something to put in my beach  room to hold some of Dani's things and for a bowl to hold the heart stones and things I collect on the beach. I like the idea of a ladder shelf, but I haven't seen any around here and Bill saying he will make it, doesn't mean I will get it, anytime in the near future;)

So, I decided to make a crate shelf and do it myself to save money. I used coupons for the crates and paints, but it still adds up and then there is the paint brushes and sandpaper. Never mind the painting and the hot sun and then sanding and the hot sun and trying to antique it, in the hot sun, lol.

Well, with what we spent on items and the work involved, I think it would have made more sense to buy finished crates at the home store. It did not come out the way I wanted, it is too thick, I wanted a white washed look. I had to give up for the day and I will see if I can talk Bill into sanding them more and then I can do a better edge stain on them. I just wanted a hint of stain and the wood to show through. It still looks nice though and maybe I will just use, as is and keep my eyes open for a nicer beach style shelf. Not sure if this is practical for the items I will put on it.

Here is a close up of the wood and painting. I put some of my stones and the heart ones in a heart shaped bowl, that she had. Today Bill was going to put in the new fan light, but he didn't have time to finish. Adding a few things to the room makes it easier for me to go in and work on it.

Before the storm fun!

Even with the storm, we had a nice time at camp. Our spot was huge, and we had a nice view of the lake.

Bill is setting up camp, so much easier with a trailer.

Bean loved it too, lots of room for him to have his own space.

Of course the water was Bean's favorite, he could swim all day if you let him. We spent half the time in the water and the other half, taking pee breaks. I think he swallowed half the pond.

I got a little sit on kayak, to play around in. I actually got Bean in it and he was pretty good, but he wanted to stand on the edge and there is not enough room for that, so we had to give up.

While Bill and Bean played in the water, I paddled around the coves. The water is shallow and with the little boat, I could get close up to the shorelines and as you can see, the water is shallow, even further out. That is Bill and Bean playing on the shoreline, to the left of my bow.

After dinner we went for long walks around the campground, lots of side roads to explore and then we would come back to the beach to watch the sunset.

And to end the night, we had a campfire. Bean liked that too, he loved that he could stay outside all day and night. Now he wants to stay on our porch, and I don't blame him, it is a lot cooler outside.

I didn't get time to do any stitching or relax, so hopefully I can on the next trip. I did finish my stitchery when I got home. I think I might try tea staining this one. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Definitely Not What You Expect On Vacation!

We come home this morning, to say it was an adventure, would be an understatement. We had a nice two days and I will write more and show photos on Friday, but for now, you can see what kind of morning we had.

It started when we were awoken by lightening at 6:30 in the morning. Bill bought the awning down and went back to sleep but I noticed how close the lightening seemed and realized our windows were open, so I got up and closed them. It was impossible to get back to sleep, I could see huge bolts of lightening coming down by the lake and the trailer seemed to be moving.

Then I noticed people driving off and then a few people walking around outside in the storm, not a smart thing to do, then it stopped and I found out why. Walking out of the trailer was like being Dorothy in the land of Oz. The campground was a disaster, trees down all over the place and as we looked around we saw trees on top of campers, and tents flattened on the ground.

It seems we had hurricane force winds and the worst of it was right in our area. One family had two tents, the parent's tent was flipped over in the air and their kids had a tree land on theirs. Thank God no one was hurt bad. I watched the news when I got home and the entire campground got hit, the tents got hit the hardest so a lot of people left, since they had no place to sleep.

We packed up and left once we knew the main roads were cleared, but they had a lot of work to get the trees off of the trailers and clear the rest out before new campers can come in. I have to admit, they were quick to respond and had the whole town to help in clearing out.

As for us, we were fine, our trailer had no damage and there were just twigs laying around.

This is Doug's Trailer, he was not so lucky. Doug had this huge tree land on his trailer. The day before he was parked in the open area, but decided to move under the trees. I bet he regrets that decision.

And talk about bad luck, this is the other side of Doug's trailer. Not only one tree, but two, fell on his trailer. I heard back that he was able to repair his roof and is still camping.