Friday finishes, finds and food!

I decided this week that I will be posting on Fridays only, unless we do something special on the weekends. Then I will bore you with photos of our adventures and the kids, on Mondays. I have so many projects that are in the works and ones the I want to start, that I want to concentrate my time, working on those and having more time to visit blogs.

This week I decided to paint some more rocks. I haven't done it in a while and it usually takes me a week to finish them. So, I kept these simple and did them free hand, so they may not be perfect or art works, but I think people will enjoy finding them and hopefully put a smile on their face.

If you don't know about my facebook group, it is for people who like to make things and hide them for others to find. It doesn't have to be rocks, it can be any item and the purpose is to make others happy, nothing else. We need to spread a little joy in the world. If you would like to join my facebook group, DSmiles4miles, you can read more on what it is about and join in on the fun.

I was also able to get to the dog beach, for a few days. Bean loves it and Bill gets in some exercise by swimming in the bay. I get to do lots of walking, while I look for glass. I found a few nice pieces and a lot of craft glass. The junk glass I am putting aside to give to a friend who does art pieces and stained glass. I did have a couple of nice, large chunks, but I met a girl who was looking for any glass and I took most of it, lol. I gave her a couple of the nice large ones.

After eating pancakes for a few days, I got hungry for meat and potatoes. I make healthy pancakes with whole wheat, bananas and blueberries, then I top it with apple, pineapple jelly, that I make, no sugar added. Tonight I couldn't decide whether I wanted apple burgers or pepper burgers, so I made both. I think I found a winner. I cut up one red and one green pepper, small onion and a grated apple. I add a little butter to cook it in. Then I mix that into the hamburger with a cup of bread crumbs and an egg. You bake these in the oven, I did mine at 380 degrees, till they brown on one side, then turn and cook. They come out moist and taste delicious. They don't hold together too well, so I am still working on the recipe, but well worth trying it. It tastes good and healthy way to have a hamburger. I had scalloped potatoes with it and for Bill's, I made his with healthy butter and his fake salt.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Bill is rebuilding his sister's porch. I have no problem helping her, but I think it is way too much work for him and my son to do, and Bill is on blood thinners, so working with power tools is not my idea of a smart thing to be doing. So, I will be home, stressing and keeping busy so I don't sit around, thinking of all the things that can go wrong;)

Friday Finishes!

I actually got quite a few things done this week, some finished, some still in the works. One thing I did finish was a new batch of rocks. This will be the last for now, I really need to get back to my sewing and Christmas will be here before I know it.

I made these fun, I just love how goofy they are and I hope they put a smiles on the people who find them. On the rocks that I have enough room, I add, Smile at the next person you see. I also add the Facebook name, if they want to find out more about the group and if you are interested, you can find us at; DSmiles4miles.

I also made a few pillows to try them out. I used an old piece of quilt, that a friend gave me, so this was just for practice since the material is special to me. I think I will do some fun fall pillows, so I need to see what I have in my stash. These are easier and quicker for me to make and can be left inside, which is nice since the weather is getting cooler.

I aged these with walnut spray, I like the idea of doing hearts, but maybe I can do some pumpkin ones or candy corn, like the rocks but in fabric.

I also finished the stitching on my fall, wall hanging. The design is by Kathy Schmitz. I still have to make the quilt, hanging on the line and a border, but I may add my own touch, we shall see;)

Another thing I tried was some paint products. I thought they might make it easier for me to do small lines and spaces, but I was wrong. The pen comes out thicker than it shows on the package and the plastic liner, fits on the top of the paint, but comes out fast and wide. They may be nice for kids as an alternative to using a brush, but I think I will stick to my black artist pen.

And to show you how my day went..... This is what happened when I went to make a batch of cookies. I put them in and went downstairs to do something quick, then I noticed the stairs needed cleaning and did them and then I heard a loud beeping. I came up to see what it was and the cookie pan was on fire. I am not sure if I was gone longer than I thought or the pan caught on fire, it looked like the flames were coming from the pan only, which of course burnt the cookies to a crisp. So, I spent the day with fans on and it still smells like toxic plastic. I was able to make another batch tonight and no problems, so maybe it was the copper pans? They came from a discount store, so not really sure, but they went in the garbage.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend. We have rain tomorrow and I have an order of weathered white wood coming, so we can put that up in the beach room. Then I can finally finish decorating and  using the room.

Halloween Fun!

This week I worked on finishing my candy corn rocks. I love the simple rocks with fun faces and this is a fun way to make something that fits with the season. I have decided on a group name so I could add it to the rocks. It will be called Smiles4miles! This way, anyone can join in, and no limitations on where you live.

I still have to work on the Facebook pages and I plan on doing up some tags that you can print out. They will have the group name and a saying, so all you have to do is print them and add them to your pieces. This is for any crafter or artist and you can also join in to learn and explore new ways to help others.

On the back of these rocks I put smiles4miles and since some were larger, I added, smile at the next person you see. I thought that would be fun and on the tags I usually add a similar saying for those who find the items, so they can pass along an act of kindness.

I still have to put on a few coats of finish, but I had to get the name and writing on tonight, then I let it dry a day, to be safe. It is windy and rainy today, so I will have to wait for better weather, to spray outside. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon, then I can drop a few on Sunday.

I will also be doing heart pillows, another way to join in, sewing offers lots of possibilities, especially with the holidays. If you want to join early, you can go to Smiles4miles on Facebook. I would also like to hear your thoughts and ideas. I want to keep it simple, fun and a compassionate group of artists and crafters. Hopefully I can get all the information and files done this weekend.

I also needed to make something new, every so often I like to try something that I can do in a day or two. I actually made this in an afternoon, and it does look it, lol. I was trying to follow directions on YouTube and they tend to talk a lot and I get impatient and start scrolling through fast and working on mine and the next thing I knew, I was off on my own in the wrong direction.

I wanted to do sculpting, but with their method of using yarn for the sections, my area was too small, so I just did a bit and made it goofy. I had fun making it and it does look better in person, I couldn't get an outdoor photo and flash really brings out the fuzziness, that isn't there. I learned what I did and didn't like, while making it, so I may just try another, or maybe a pumpkin head doll, we shall see where my mood takes me.

I definitely went whacky on the top, reminds me of Miss Piggy, lol.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Of course I will be outside as much as possible, some nice warm fall days and the antique barn is having their annual sale and raffle. We won last year, so maybe we will get lucky again.

Friday Finish!

I finally finished my new punch needle piece, but I finished it with sore joints and fuzzy brain, so I messed up a bit on my piece. I had an idea for a border and added the braided look, after I punched the piece, so it is a bit off. The actual pattern will have it drawn on paper so it will be done right for the pattern;)

On top of that, I tried to unscrew a top that did not want to open and bruised my old injured fingers, so no drawing for me right now, the pattern will be done next week. I tried to write today and it was basically scribble, so not enough control to redraw patterns.

Of course the flash, brightened up the colors, even though I antiqued it with walnut stain. I was trying the fake lilacs to get the camera to see the colors better and it did help. The finished pillow is 7 1/2" x 6 1/2".

Hopefully I can get back to normal after this weekend, time to cut off the meds, they mess me up more than the lyme, it seems.

Today I posted a photo of Danielle and thought I would share it with you and the poem that I found. This is her great grandmother at Easter. Kids tend to shy away from the elderly and Billy would keep busy elsewhere, but Danielle always sat and gave her grandmother lots of love. She had a good heart and truly cared about other's feelings.

Turn Again To Life

If I should die and leave you here a while, 

be not like others sore undone, 

who keep long vigil by the silent dust. 

For my sake turn again to life and smile, 

nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do 

something to comfort other hearts than thine.

Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine 

and I perchance may therein comfort you.

Mary Lee Hall

With her birthday coming up, I wanted to give a gift in honor of her kind spirit. A friend of mine is doing a walk and a raffle to help raise money for MS, in support of her daughter in law. She is offering a beautiful log cabin quilt for the raffle and each 20.00 gets you one entry into the drawing. I think it is a wonderful thing that she is doing and if you are interested in contributing to her team and getting a chance to win the quilt you can visit Team Triple Threat. The walk is on the 16th, Dani's birthday, so it makes it even more special for me. The quilt is no listed on the website, but she is taking all the names from the donations and entering them into the raffle.

An Angel for my Angel and Giveaway Winner!

Today we went out to look for a basket. Our church is having a fair with a raffle, so I decided to share some of the winnings I have had over the years and make a quilter's gift basket. I also have books and an extra copy of a magazine, so putting together things like that and fabrics to go with the patterns. Now if I can only find a basket I like, most were the wrong shape and over priced junk.

I did find an angel though. She was sitting on the shelf with another that was not as nice and mine was on sale, it was meant to be. We are still waiting for the insurance and things to go through so we are waiting on a stone and I hate that there was nothing on her grave. I was looking at fake flowers and realized I could get fresh flowers and I love how she looks with the flowers, it just made me feel so much better, knowing she had something beautiful and an angel, watching over her.

The wonderful thing that happened today was, just as we got in the car, to go to the cematary, I looked up and there were two symmetrical angel wings over our house. 

I was looking at some old photos and found one of Danielle when she was little. Her great grandmother was celebrating her 100th birthday and when most kids avoid the elderly, Danielle was giving her hugs and helping her with the cards. In celebration of her compassion of others, I am sending out some cards and happy presents to a few friends who are going through a tough time themselves. I am not sure what I will do in the future, I am hoping to set up a work room for charity projects in her room and invite others to help, as well. For now, I am just being and following my heart when I can and getting the house cleaned out, so we can redo the room and basement.

And now for the winner of my giveaway. The winner is Jacqueline! Jacqueline, please email me with your choice of epattern from my ecrater site. Thank you all for playing along. I was trying to get a photo of the moon as it was rising through the trees, it was a beautiful orange red shade, but with the slow shutter speed, I got blurry photos. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, we will be spending Mother's day with my son and grandson.

JOY!

With the recent tragedy is seems odd to title a posting with joy, but I feel that we all need to feel joy and bring joy to others. Joy is what fills our hearts with peace in a cruel world. One way to bring joy is to share it with others. I have been making small ornaments from a free pattern by Gail Pan. The original design has stars, but I decided to add the word Joy, to mine. I love how they came out and it is something I can hand out to patients in the nursing home who have no decorations or family to visit. A little something to hang on their door or bed, to remind them that someone does care. Another way to bring joy would be to donate to a giving tree or toys for tots.

Another way to bring joy is to send a friend an unexpected gift, like a sweet little snow bird. Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations sent me this snowbird, I just love it and it brings a smile to my face. I think I want a whole flock of them.

And another friend, Carole of Quilting Adventures sent me this beautiful quilt. I was totally surprised by this gift, one that is beautifully made and that she spent so much time making something so special for me. It brings joy to be able to have something on my wall to remind me of such a wonderful friendship. I just hope that my small gifts to others can bring them as much joy as they have given me with their friendships even if we have never met.

I wish I had thought to get a better photo outside, before I hung it up, it is so beautiful and beautifully made with homespuns and printed fabrics. I had to crawl up a ladder since it is hanging above my entry door. I found these clip on rings at home depot, perfect for hanging a quilt on a rod.