Monthly Archives: April 2011

Whoo, Hooo! Hurray! and a Giveaway Today!

Whoo, Hooo! Hurray! and a Giveaway Today!
Whoo, Hooo! Hurray! and a Giveaway Today!

Now, I’m pretty sure reading is a craft, and internet shopping is definitely an art form, so I’ll share with you what came in the mail today!

I have loved this book as long as I can remember. When I left my elementary school as an eighth grader in 1970, this book, copyright 1957, was getting old. I asked the librarian if she would call me when it was discarded. By the time I returned to that same school as a teacher 7 years later, that librarian was gone and so was the book.
I could remember the book’s name, but only that the author’s last name started with “L.” You can see why I didn’t have it memorized!

I was doing some online craftbook browsing last week and decided to type, “The Young Mustangers” in a search box. Up it came, at a used book seller’s for $4.99, used, first edition, very good condition! Mine!!

I took a chance on it being the right book, and was thrilled to open it this morning! The horse illustrations looked right, and there was the map of the ranch surrounds!

Chapter One started with that beautiful use of imagry I’m a sucker for:

And, flipping through, there he was, just like I remembered, the sorrel stallion with the flaxen mane and tail!

I can’t wait to read it again! Then I’ll put it up to share with Peter James someday.


Now, about that giveaway; no, I’m not giving away my new book after 40 years of searching for it! But to celebrate my find, and my 200th blog post to boot, I’m giving away a copy of my new favorite craft book, Craft Hope. Just post a comment here, and next Monday, after Mother’s Day (May 9, 2011,) I’ll use a random number selector to pick a winner. Make your post before 12:00am, May 9, and make sure it links back to a way I can find you. Thank you and good luck!
Karla

Nana’s T-shirts for PJ!

Nana’s T-shirts for PJ!
Nana’s T-shirts for PJ!

Speaking of my favorite subject, PJ loves school buses, which he calls, “school cars!” He also loves Elmo and Sesame Street (He calls it “La, La,” as in “La, La, le, La, Elmo’s World.”) When this image showed up in my Weekly Dover Sampler, I knew what I had to do! I bought a plain white 2T t-shirt, grabbed a sheet of printable cotton, and hunted out my Wonder Under. Here’s the result: I didn’t want to waste the unused portion of the fabric sheet, so I found an image of Elmo and proceeded with my printing. The fabric sheet got stuck in the printer and I wound up with one school car and half an Elmo. My husband encouraged me not to throw the half an Elmo away, I’d think of something, he assured me. A few hours later, I did remember seeing some little boys’ pocket tee’s at Walmart. I think you can see half of Elmo peeking out of PJ’s pocket, below!

Evolution of the Pocketbook!

Evolution of the Pocketbook!
Evolution of the Pocketbook!

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted this bag for sale in a major department store. It was love at first sight! Sadly, the price tag said $59.95. “I can crochet,” I thought, just like I do everytime I spot one of these bags that I love. “Yeah, but when? And what year would I finish it? It’s worth the money not to have to fool with it.” I can put up a good argument with myself when I want to. Then, upon closer inspection, I saw that the flowers were just pins. “I could make these,” I thought. “Better yet, I think I saw gerbera daisies at Michaels with clip-on-backs!” I took a look at the plain bags. ‘Not a bad price, but still more than I wanted to spend. The budget is tight these days. I headed home and pulled up eBay… where I found this:$15.00 with shipping. I placed my bid and won! When it arrived I saw that it was nice and plain on one side, with this zipper pouch on the back:I was also extremely pleased to see that the lining of this bag was much, much sturdier than the thin nylon lining of the new bags!

Night before last, I found this beauty at Michael’s for $1.99:

The clip on the back was perfect to slip between the threads on the bag:

I attached it to the upper left corner so when I put it on my right shoulder, my arm doesn’t obscure the flower:

Am I pleased with the result? You bet!

The total price: $17.16!

The best part: I bought some other embellishments that I’ll show later. I can quickly change my pocketbook to match my outfit!

An attempt to focus on and finish things

An attempt to focus on and finish things
An attempt to focus on and finish things

I created this database to help me keep track of all my UFO’s (unfinished objects!):

I saved the database as a template and tried to change it to a pdf with no luck at all. It was not among my list of supportable files. If anyone knows how, please let me know. I tried to post it here to share, but that didn’t work either.

It’s easy to copy the fields, though. Most are self-explanatory, but ECD stands for Expected Completion Date. (I wish I could remember whose blog I got that idea from so I could give them credit.) Anyway, that helps me set a goal for finishing. It’s alright if I don’t make it. The craft police don’t come after me, and I don’t beat myself up. It’s my database, and I just go in and move the date up.

Somethings I may never finish. My grandson, PJ, is walking now, so felt baby shoes are ridiculous for him and maybe a little dangerous. I had an idea to stitch the brown ones I started for him so they’d look like little footballs. I might do that as an experiment, and if they turn out okay, give them away. I started to say I planned on deleting that record, but I think I just changed my mind!

I made myself a couple of rules: No more than 12 active projects at a time. I can start a new one when I finish one. (There’s my motivation!) When I have 24 records, then I delete the 12 I’ve finished and start again. I need to be sure and congratulate myself for completing 12 things, maybe with a trip to Michael’s, or even better, Beadlush! I’ll have to blog about that little shop later.

So, I’m off to see if I can email my database template (since I can’t post or pdf it!) Later.

Hot Diggity!

Hot Diggity!
Hot Diggity!

Michaels had these “TicTac-like ” bead storage boxes and I was able to use my 40% off coupon! Half of them have a divider in them; a great place to store one or two larger beads leftover from a previous project.