Friday Finishes!

 I hope everyone had a nice week and found time to craft. I was able to finally finish my newest piece, from the stitch of the month club. Just in time for Valentines. I added a few of my own touches and think I might do a little quilting around the border.

I also wanted to make a new coat rack. My old one has been knocked down, too many times and isn't strong enough for coats. This way when guests come in, they can hang their coats at the top of the stairs. I found rustic railroad spike, hooks, on Amazon, so Bill made a basic prim board to put them on. And, I got to put my church cat up, finally.

Last week we did our usual ride around and explored a few waterfalls. We met up with the kids and spent some time at their house, always nice to spend times with the boys.

At home, the red squirrel who lives next door, has been coming over for his fill at the feeders. He is so fun to watch and starting to get used to me.

I also enjoy watching the White-breasted Nuthatch, but they never stay still, always busy.

Luckily, all the birds and squirrels seem to be able to outsmart the hawks. This Red-Breasted Hawk, came into the yard to hunt, but once he saw me watching, he took off and went to a high tree in the back field.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend. We had a beautiful day today, but were stuck waiting for an estimate on a new sewage ejector pump and they didn't get here till after dinner. It seems everything is starting to go lately, luckily we have some savings to pay for it. Last week it was radon, Bill got a detector and ours is above the level, so we go that system put in. Hopefully nothing more major comes along.

Friday Finishes!

 

This has been a busy week, but keeping busy, keeps me from letting all the crazy in this world, stress me out. I made a few new things and finished an old item. I made this rug, years ago but never bound it. I actually enjoy binding, I find it relaxing and it was so nice to see it done. The pattern is by Mad Hen Primitives and the kit was gifted to me, by a friend. I am still unsure about the bold blue on the wing, I may just change that.

I also saw a free pattern for cloth carrots, but of course I just made them myself. I just made some triangles, sewed them together and added strips of cloth for the top, fast and easy.

And I made another set of rocks, to hide. I love doing fun ones, an hopefully they will bring smiles to the recipients.

Last weekend we did a drive around the beach areas, it was cooler so we just enjoyed the views. Along the way we spotted a group of Red Breasted Mergansers. They are so funny, trying to impress the females.

On the way home, we decided to go to the old base, to see if the owl was around.  I was thrilled to find her in an area that I could get some nice shots. She is so beautiful, but it won't be long before she leaves.

We also spent a few days at the beach. Beautiful weather and great way to get some exercise, as we find treasures.

Today Bill had the day off, so we took a ride to Newport and spent our time at the bird sanctuary. As usual they all flew off when we got close, but I was able to get a few shots of a Northern Mockingbird and a Song Sparrow.

The walk around the point is beautiful, surrounded by the ocean. You can see a lighthouse in the distance, even though it was foggy around the little islands. On the way home we stopped at my favorite beach and found more glass. The Newport Beach has mostly white pottery, so it was fun to spend a little more time on my favorite beach.

I hope everyone had a nice week and fun plans for the weekend.

Friday Finishes!

This week I worked on finishing the new stitchery by Kathy Schmitz. This one was fun to do and I did more fancy stitches, as well as add a border to mine. It is fun having something new and quick to do, each month. I am seriously thing about doing sales again, I have way too many finished pieces, starting to pile up.

For fun, I decided to try some new rocks to hide. With the nicer weather, it is fun to place a few, at a time, in places we visit. With everything that is going on, I felt like sunflower pieces were nice to show our support. With my bad arm, it is harder to do a lot of detail, so I kept them simple.

Our weather is up and down lately, rain, warm and then cold again, so one day we went to the kids and spent some time with the boys and a little party for my son's 40'th birthday. Afterwards we drove around their area to look for an eagle they spotted. No eagle but we found an old mill site.

Remnants from the old mill.

The next day we spent some time at the beach. It was a bit cool but I finally got a pair of Bogs, so I was able to walk along the water without having to worry about getting my feet wet or cold. Bean was happy to go along, and the low tide meant, he had more places to explore.

I found some nice treasures and thrilled to find another marble and a large piece of lavender.

On the way out of the beach, I noticed a bird sitting at the Osprey nest and stopped to take a photo. It seems a Red Tailed Hawk and his mate have made a home in the nest. I am sure the Osprey is not going to be happy when it returns and sadly, it will kick them out, so I hope they havn't laid eggs yet.

I also got a surprise in the mail, a gift from Kathy Schmitz. She has a contest each year and this year was to make 6 of the same items and post a photo. I posted a photo of my pillows and instead of picking a winner, she sent all of the girls who posted, a gift package.

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying time creating and time exploring your area. Warm weather is heading our way, so Bill has two days to take off so we are planning some day trips this coming week.

Friday Finishes!

This week I got the flu, first real flu in years. I get a lot of them, but usually I can keep going, this one has me worn out, so I am resting more than usual. Though for me, that means, laundry, cooking dinner, dishes, and I still have to vacuum, lol. With a nice weekend coming up, I really want to get out and get some eagle shots and spend a day with the boys, so hopefully the meds will kick in by tomorrow.

I cannot stand sitting and doing nothing, so I made up a few easy projects for the week. I did work on my punch needle, but I still have more to go and not sure if I am happy with the background color, so thinking on that.

Michelle Palmer offered a free design on her Facebook page. The punched piece I am working on, is also one of her designs. This one can be done in any medium, but I decided to do a stitchery. I had fun coloring it in and doing a little shading, to make it a bit more artsy, which her originals are like.

The next piece I had gotten on one of our trips to Connecticut. They have a wonderful quilt store, but not a lot of patterns, but they do carry a few from my favorite designers. This one is by Bonnie Sullivan of All Through the Night. It is part of a set, for a full sized dog quilt. This one was perfect by itself, to make into a pillow.

The pillow measures 13" x 9". A nice size to sit on my chest, with my bunny pillows.

Last weekend we lucked out and found an eagle, at a pond in RI. This guy was across the lake, but still fun to see him. I also found out where the photographers are getting shots of a pair, that are closer to shore, so I am hoping to get up there, tomorrow.

We also stopped at a few places and found a new bike path. Hopefully I can find a doctor who actually treats patients and get back my strength, I really want to do more biking this year. A lot of the bike paths in Connecticut are old railroad lines, so they cross over trestle bridges.

   

And we ordered a new trailer. I was disappointed with the small class C. It had everything we needed, a real bedroom with storage, a decent kitchen, but the only seats were the table and it was hard and stiff, so not great for comfort. It would be great for day trips and weekends, but way too tight for longer stays, I need my space, lol.

So, we went with a larger trailer. It was cheaper and we got a lot more for the price. It doesn't have much more sleeping space, but enough to take the boys with us and the back chairs move, so we can always set up a blow up bed for my son and DIL. The boys are small enough to sleep on the table bed. It will be more for us, something I can relax in, something I can cook in and I don't have to put my clothes in the bathtub, lol.

Here is a little peak of the one we looked at. This is the one we wanted, but of course, someone came in and bought it, the day before. so we have to wait a few months, since ours is from the factory, but will be an even newer model.

Have a wonderful weekend and hopefully your weather will be as nice as ours.

Friday Finishes!

This week I have been busy with new projects and trying new things. I enjoy experimenting and seeing where it takes me.

I wanted to try two photo transfers with two different mediums. I am still not pleased with the results, but they didn't come out too badly, considering I am using an ink jet and it is recommended to use a laser printer. I also used my laid paper, which has ridges on one side, so I printed on the smooth side.

The first is a sailboat photo, that I took from Jamestown, looking towards Newport. I used heavy gel medium, and I think the heavy is what made it harder to work with. I had to smooth it out a few times to get out the bubbles. I also had to be more careful when I removed the paper, or part of the design would come off too. There was also some slight bleeding, so a little antique medium was applied.

The second piece is another one of my photos, an old one from a kayak trip. I used the glaze medium and it seemed to work better, but it does bleed out some color, always seems to be a red. The design adhered to the board, so that it looked like it had melded into the canvas, so it was easier to get rid of the paper without taking any of the design. I also think my prints come out a bit dark, so maybe lightening them up would help and make it look more aged.

I do think I like them better on the framed canvas, but the smaller hard boards are easier to work on and great for practice, since they are cheaper. Next I will have to try some on wood.

Another project was the Stitch of the Month Club pattern from Kathy Schmitz. I really enjoyed doing this one and used DMC 115 to get a variation. The color tends to run longer with one shade, so I cut off a long piece, then recut and mix the dark and light in two strands to get this look.

And yesterday I was in the mood to paint, but my brain wasn't up to finishing the angel. So, I found a fun design from Artist's Club. This is a free design by Sharon Bond. The club is an online store for painting patterns, lots of free ones and PDF patterns for sale.

A Valentine for Nick. I added glitter to the word love and the heart eyes have glass gel in them, so it shines when you turn it to the light. I also used the glaze finish, which leaves a wonderful glassy shine, but hard to get a good photo with it.

He loves things that I make so it was fun to do. Last week he asked me if I could help him paint some rocks he found. I used to teach kids how to paint, so it will be a fun project to do together.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Finish and Freebie!

This week I was able to get a few projects done. I got some new colored pencils and wanted to try them out. I wanted to get the inktense, but they are expensive. I ended up getting Faber Castell's Goldfaber pencils. They are 1.49 a pencil, which is nice since you can choose the colors you want and not waste on colors like white or black. For black I prefer to use their ink markers.

The first piece I made was a design by Cheryl Seslar. I traced the design with a washable embroidery pen, then colored it in with the pencil. The material is a stiff white, that I got for punch needle, but it is too stiff and loosely woven. It was ok, but a bit scratchy for coloring on.

Once I finished that, I used fabric medium and a bristle brush to move the colors around. When wet, they do blend in, so nice for more detailed projects when you want to add shading and mix colors. This was a practice piece, so I kept it simple.

It was too white for my tastes, so I used antique medium afterwards and there was no bleeding of the colors.

The second piece is a free design by Lori Brechlin. I really loved this one, the fabric was darker and softer, so the pencils colored more smoothly. I will have to try different fabrics and techniques, in future projects.

Here are two pieces that I used to try their colorfastness on. The flower was done with a fabric medium, the heart was just colored, so medium used. Once dry, I washed them in dish soap and scrubbed a little, then let dry. As you can see, no color bled out, so either way will work.

This was done with the bad weavers cloth, so you don't get the nicer look that you do on cotton.

Since I love making things from freebies, I decided to make one of my own. I found this saying and it was perfect for Valentines day. I did use the cheap fabric on this too, a good way to use it up. For the stitching I used black #12 pearl cotton. It is a fun and simple project you can do over the weekend.

I hand wrote the saying, so you could do one of your own. It is not exactly like mine, I tend to change things as I go. With primitive stitchery, you want your letters to be a little wonky. I did forget when I was recopying the e's on the third line, so just remember to pull the end down more. You can stitch t he hearts, do appliqué or use buttons, as well. 

And as an added bonus, I found a template online and added the saying inside. You can change it around if you want or add something to the empty spaces, but I wanted to give you one with the shape, that you can use to print out and have fun one.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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 Finish!

A new month, means a new stitchery from Kathy's, One Stitch at a Time Club. I always enjoy getting a new pattern and they always work up quickly. She gives the option of using just floss or coloring in your piece with instructions on her method.

I thought I would try it this time, I used cheap pencils, which was not the best idea. They work, but you don't get the nice colors that art pencils, will give. I added some lavender and put it in my sewing room, with the fabric on a shelf. It really helps to keep things fresh smelling. Instead of stitching the buttons, I decided to use real ones.

I also tried a simple project for glass. I used a 4" canvas and tried to paint it to look like beach wood, but it just doesn't have the same look as real wood. I want to put a wave of glass in the heart, but my tiny pieces are not fitting that well. What seemed small to me, is not when you do it in this scale. I guess I will have to hit the beach and do a sand search for tiny pieces. There is tons of it on the beaches, so I will gather some for this piece.

I also used crackle, not the best looking piece and I think on wood this would look nice. I just set the glass down to give you an idea of what I am doing. You can see by the drawing, the wave needs more sweep, than I could get with the glass.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. We have one good day, so I plan on enjoying being outside.

Friday Finishes!

I always love a new month, it means a new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz's, One Stitch at a Time Club. This was a fun one to do for Valentines, I may even make a few more to give away, maybe try one in red work.

Kathy framed her piece, I made a pillow. It is much easier to find spaces for pillows. I also added a few of my own touches and the word love.

I also finished the last three stockings. I love how they look, just wish they looked as nice in a photo. I say finished, but I have to fix something, I wasn't paying attention on one piece, can you guess what it is?

Next is the row that goes in the middle, it will have stars going across. I hate points, so I may use a fusible to make it easier for turning the points, ahead of time. I will also use the patterned black for that and the outer borders.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, we have rain and snow and cold and not fun weather for being outside.

Stitcheries and Stones!

We have another nice weekend coming up, maybe some rain on Sunday but I know we will be exploring on Saturday. So.. I had to make some more rocks. I was only able to get six done, it does take me time with my bad arm and messed up brain, but I think that they should bring some smiles to the people who find them.

One of the things that takes me the longest is putting on the base coats, I like to add at least three so they don't wear down and I also put three coats of finish to seal them. Then I make lots of mistakes so I try and fix those before I seal them, but even if I am not the best artist, and get lazy, they are fun to do and fun to hide, at the different places we go.

The angels are a free pattern from Artist's Club. They offer some nice designs for free and I think I may do some on wood so I can do a better job on the designs. The rocks were chunky so I had to free hand it, on wood I can trace it on.

I also made a new stitchery from Kathy's One Stitch Club. I made this one as a gift, it will be a little pillow and I will put some lavender in it. My DIL has a friend who lost her husband this year and she and the kids will be spending the holidays with all of us, so I thought it would be nice to make a little something for her. I will finish later, since I need to get a nice cording to finish the edge and I don't want to add the lavender too early, so it smells fresh when I give it to her. I think adding her initials would be a nice touch, too.

Friday Finishes?

It looks like another week of not enough time. With Nick here during the day, I have little time for myself and by the time they leave, I am catching up around the house and only have a few hours to stitch, but that is ok, I love having Nick and hopefully we can get on a better schedule.

I finished one more angel, from my old set and started a new one, which will be a pillow for me. I like making larger pillows to set on my chest and Moki loves them too, it is one of  his favorite spots to sleep.

I received two packages this week, I guess it was my lucky week, last week. I won Kathy Schmitz's giveaway on the One Stitch at a Time Club. I enjoyed spending my money and got a lot of wonderful patterns and a pack of threads and material to use for the club. She also sent me some additional prizes, bookmarks, gift cards, a banner pattern and an acorn pin. I felt like it was Christmas, she is so generous with his giveaways and special surprises for me.

I also won a bag from the Green Bag Lady. Not only did I get the beautiful floral print bag, I also got a bonus Christmas bag. I want to make my own, so this way I can use her pattern and see the finished bag, to help me out. I think it is a wonderful idea to use as a gift bag, then I can put gifts or a pillow inside the bag, instead of wrapping paper. I also think it is a nice idea for the cancer heart pillows, then they can carry their pillows and items in the bag, lots of possibilities.

He loves to help, we got a couple of daisy plants to get a start on the garden area. He also loved spraying Bean and Grandma, lol.

And or course Nick, he loves to play outside and that is fun if it is nice out. It is also more relaxing for me if he is playing in one place, instead of running around the house. We took him shopping and he wanted the wheel barrow set, he loved pushing it around the yard. Earlier this morning he and Grandpa where pushing their wheelbarrows around the yard, wish I had seen that, but Grandma slept in so she could have more energy;)