So Much Stitchy Goodness... and More

THEATRE

Who's old enough to know the original "cougar" Mrs. Robinson?  For those not familiar.... Benjamin   Braddock has just finished college and, back at his parents' house he's trying to avoid answering the question everyone asks: "What does he want to do with his life?"  An unexpected diversion comes about when he is seduced by Mrs. Robinson who is a friend of his parents.  What begins as a fun tryst turns complicated when Ben falls for Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine.

My local community theatre put on The Graduate.  As always, the actors and actresses put on a good show. Before the play started, I overheard the young woman next to me (in her early 20's) say, "I have no idea what this play is about."  Even though the movie came out a year before I was born, it still made me feel old, lol.  In between the acts, music from the 60's played.  I had my very own chorus line behind me... The older women sang every single song!  I guess they're old enough to know what the play is about!

SURPRISE
I couldn't even tell you when the last time was that I saw one of these things.  Probably at least 15 years.  Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to a gas station in my area and saw it.  How about you... when was the last time you saw a PAY PHONE?

STITCHY STUFF
One of my favorite exchanges is called Stitchers Day Exchange coordinated on the Friendly Stitchers Yahoo group.  My partner, Viv in Canada, likes fall colors.  I dug through my stash and found a rogue piece of linen and limited edition skein of GAST.

Super Mom Stitchery Link Party #100
Stitching Lotus Smalls SAL


Stitchers Sampler*

Designer:  Neustras Miniaturas

Fabric: 28ct linen

Fibers: GAST Burlap Nap Sack

Embellishments: Lace weaved with DMC

To finish this little pillow, I joined a piece of coordinating floral fabric.  When I saw the fabric fat quarter in JoAnn Fabrics, I thought, "This is it!"  I had a piece of cream flat lace in my stash and thought I needed to add a little something extra so I weaved a piece of DMC 618 through it.  It turned out exactly as I pictured it in my head.  Love when that happens!

I've stitched this freebie two other times as scissor fobs.  If you're interested, you can see them HERE and HERE.

I posted this on Facebook as a finish, and my post was the subject of misinformation as to where the design came from.  You see, when I posted I said I couldn't remember which blog the design came from since I had saved the freebie back in 2012 and didn't notate it.  At first, a viewer on my facebook post commented it was a Homespun Elegance chart, which I quickly looked up and confirmed it WAS NOT.  Then the same viewer posted my blog telling everyone it was a certain post which again WAS NOT.  To circumvent further misinformation, I spent over two hours finding the blog and exact post where this freebie came from.  All I can say is WOW -- it's true what they say... Do not believe everything you read on Facebook!.

*Note:  The design doesn't have a name on the originator's blog so I named it "Stitchers Sampler".

I received my exchange package from Viv and just love, love, LOVE it.  Did I say I love it?!  She used such pretty colors and even personalized it with my initial.

Hmmm... What could it be?

Isn't the handmade card adorable?  Everything from the card to the tissue paper to the stitched exchange piece was coordinated.  Wish I would've thought of that!

Oh my goodness!  Look at that little "M"...

Scissor Case, Fob, and Matching Scissors!

I've always wanted to make a scissor case like this.  Viv did such a wonderful job of finishing.  Thank you, Viv!

 

Now, I'm on to my next exchange: A spring mailart.  Here's my floss toss...

 

 

FREEBIE

Since I received a scissor fob, I thought it was appropriate to share a scissor fob freebie!  This cute scissor fob is by Merry Cox.  The chart can be found HERE.



Until next time...

Christmas is in the Air

This will be the third Christmas without my parents. For some reason, this year is bothering me more than the previous ones.  My Mom loved holidays... especially Christmas. She was like an excited little kid opening her presents.  My Dad was the grumpy sort on holidays... even though he didn't show it, he liked opening gifts and having family there.

I managed to get my Christmas decorations up early this year.  It's nice to come home and turn on the lights to the tree and mantle.

 

STITCHY STUFF
In my last post, I mentioned I participated in two ornament exchanges this year.  I received the second one shortly after my post.  Here's the one I received from Sharon S in NJ.

FREEBIE

Reindeer Card
by Lesley Teare
HERE





GIVEAWAY
I was hoping that my giveaway question would elicit creative responses, but alas ::sigh:: no one took the bait.  As my readers may recall, I asked what does an Ott light, screwdriver, needle nose pliers, wire, and a lighter have in common.

They all assisted me with this problem:

The starter cord on the snowblower broke on my first pull during the first snowfall.  Luckily, "Little Blow" caught and stayed running until I got the driveway and sidewalk clean.

According to Google, the starter assembly above isn't made to be repaired. The manufacturer would rather you buy a new assembly for $45.  What's a girl to do?  YouTube it, of course!  The video wasn't quite as easy as the guy made it look.  An hour later and a bit of frustration, I finally got it fixed.  Saved $45 and I was so proud of myself!  I'm my Dad's girl, for sure.

There was one winning guess to my giveaway question.  Drum roll please.....

Pam in IL

"As for the screwdriver, pliers, lighter, wire and Ott light -- I think they were used for a snowblower repair project."

 

Pam -- I'll be getting something out in the mail to you soon!

 

Until next time...

 

 

 

Marvelous Monday Update 12/5/2016

WEATHER
On December 4, my area was greeted with the first snowfall of the year.  Mother Nature decided to bless us with 5.3" of very wet, heavy snow.  I went out twice to clear the driveway.  The second time, it took me two hours.  Welcome to winter!

 

STITCHY STUFF
I've participated in two ornament exchanges this year. Both of the ornaments I created for my partners turned out so good I wanted to keep them for myself.  Anyone else have this problem?

 

Design: Woolly & Cosy

Designer:  Valentina Sardu

Fabric: 32ct White Opalescent Linen

Fibers: DMC threads

 

I finished it into an ornament using a green fabric with tiny Christmas trees and swirling silver dots.  Red felt was cut with a pinking rotary cutter and sandwiched between the stitched design and the green backing.  A green satin ribbon topped off the ornament.  It was such a quick stitch, I'd like to do a couple more.

 

Design: One More Stitch

Designer: The Victoria Sampler

Fabric: 28ct Natural Linen

Fibers: DMC

Embellishments: Beads, Buttons, String Pearls

 

This design was featured in the 2014 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  I took some creative liberties with finishing it.  Both the front and back are stitched on the Natural Linen.  The back is personalized with the recipient's name as well as mine.  I sent it to Deb H in TX as a Christmas Ornament Exchange.  Doh!  I just realized I didn't stitch the date.  Buttons and beads are on the front and back.  The edge is trimmed with string pearls and topped with a satin ribbon hanger.

 

Next up is what I received from Deb. It's called Snowy Owl Snowman by Jim Shore.  It's absolutely beautiful... both the stitching and the finishing!  She has a blog that shows lots of her other gorgeous finishes. If you're interested in eye candy, click on over HERE.



Thank You, Deb!

WATERCOLOR
I've been practicing my watercolor skills (or lack thereof) using YouTube videos. I recently did this barn painting using Shinhan Professional Watercolors. One of my classmates bought a set when she was in Korea. The paints work really nice and are very vibrant.

I wasn't real happy with how it turned out so I gave it to a friend who thought it "is awesome".  I am going to do another one and adjust the color values a bit.

I've made a bit of progress on the "masterpiece" as my instructor called our projects.  Once I get farther along, I'm going to set up an appointment to get some critique from him.

Even though my photo shows the dark bank on the left side, I'm not really liking how it looks. I'm going to try to scrub some of it out of there to make it lighter or a different shade.

GIVEAWAY
I'm going to put together a package of things from my stash for the person who can answer this question:  What does an Ott light, needle nose pliers, lighter, and wire have in common?  (Hint: a project)  Leave a comment with your guess.  Giveaway open to U.S. residents, only.  Sorry!

FREEBIE

 

First Snow by The Drawn Thread
Click HERE.

Have Paint, Will Travel

In my last post, I shared my photographic checks. Thank you all for the compliments. They are really cool, aren't they?  I've had several inquiries as to where I got them.  I ordered mine from Artistic Checks www.artisticchecks.com.  One caveat... Look for a coupon code to get them really inexpensively.  Normally, they are $20.95 + shipping!

ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS
A while ago, I picked up a set of Loew Cornell watercolor pencils and a new adult coloring book called Magical Garden by Cra-Z-Art.  I really like the pencils. They cover and blend really well and are not too expensive.

Two weeks ago, I started a 6-week watercolor workshop taught by a local artist.  This week, we had to come up with ideas what we'd like to paint for our "masterpiece".  These were my choices.

The instructor critiqued our choices.  He really liked all of them except for the hot air balloon. He said the sky didn't have interesting detail in it.  I chose the autumn river scene.  It will be very difficult, but I will give it my best!

 

One of the supplies recommended for class was an 18x24" thin board for drawing and painting on.  Ahh... a DIY project!  I bought an inexpensive piece of Masonite and cut it to size.  A bit of primer and quite a few coats of polycrylic makes for a nice waterproof painting surface.

 

 

On my own, I've been doing some fun things with my watercolor paints.  I've created color cards so I know what the paints look like on paper.

 

 

I also did a mixing exercise with the Reeves watercolors using primary colors: red, blue, yellow to make secondary and tertiary colors.

 

CRUISE NIGHT 2016
When I was a teenager, entertainment on a Friday night was cruising around the square downtown.  From that, Cruise Night was born.  At first, it was a bunch of people with cool cars, trucks, and motorcycles that drove around the square.  There was a beer tent with music.  Decades later, it has turned into a huge event featuring car shows, music/entertainment, and competitions.  This year, my brothers and nephew decided to take their cars and enter the burnout contest.  My oldest brother placed 3rd out of about 20-25 cars in the competition.  Pretty cool bragging rights, if you're into cars!

My brother in his 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible.  He restored and painted it himself.

 

Photo from 2008

 

My nephew entered his 1973 Chevy Nova - He created a lot of smoke, which is one of the factors they're judged on.  He didn't place, though.  Not bad for his first time!

My youngest brother entered his 1968 Pontiac GTO.  Both my brothers vamped up the motor the day before.  He had a hard time keeping it on the pad, and the facilitators shut him down early.



Photo from 2014 - My nephew in his Nova next to my brother's GTO.

FREEBIE

Road Trip by Ursula Michael
Get the freebie HERE.
 

FREEBIE
What screams warm weather and summer more than flip flops?  NevaSirenda at DeviantArt created this cute bookmark.  This design is simple enough that you could swap out colors you prefer. Perfect for summer reading!

Click HERE to download the chart.

FINISH
I have a finish!  This was a stitch-along hosted by Palko in Hungary.

Design: Words 2016 SAL*

Designer: Palko

Fabric:  32ct Dusty Rose Evenweave

Fibers:  DMC

Started: January 22 ~ Finished: July 5, 2016

Other SAL projects can be seen HERE.

*I created the border using a portion the chart,

Fleurs et Papillons, by Angie SB Designer in

Argentina.

Summer... Lots of Activities

NATURE
One of the birds built a nest on the backside of the birdfeeder I have hanging near the window of my four-season room.  I've been documenting the babies over the past week.

June 20th

June 24th

June 27th

This week both of them flew the coop.

THEATRE
I've recently attended two plays at local community theatres. Both were a bit controversial, but the actors/actresses did a great job.

“Over the Tavern” is a comedy set in Buffalo, NY during the Eisenhower years of the 1950’s and introduces the audience to the Pazinskis: Mom, Dad and their four children (Eddie, Annie, Georgie, and the hero of the play, 12-year old Rudy).  Rudy is a precocious kid who starts to question his family values and the Roman Catholic Church.  He believes God put us on Earth to “have fun” and tries to figure out why his family isn’t having any.  There is a lot of interaction with Mother Superior at school and dealings with living over a tavern owned by Dad and Grandfather. 

Some people left at intermission due to the Catholic portrayals.

“I Never Sang For My Father” is a drama that probes the epitome of a dysfunctional family… disquieting alienation that can exist between a father and son, a separation that time and old age can sometimes only deepen, despite the best intentions of both.  Gene, a college professor, has tried all of his life to find love and acceptance from his father, a successful, highly respected man, who is sometimes callous, unloving and selfish. Upon the untimely death of his mother, Gene is forced to help his father through his dark days. His sister urges Gene to break the ties for good, or else he’ll wind up as bitter and cold as their father.

The play hit some areas close to home for me that I actually cried.

 CARS AND BALLOONS
The weather was sunny and hot, but I still ventured out to enjoy the activities offered in my area.  Two car shows and a hot air balloon festival with blues music.

Car Show sponsored by local classic car club
 

Car Show at Blues & Balloon Festival
 

STITCHY STUFF
Part 7 of the Words 2016 SAL seemed to go much faster than the previous two sections despite having to frog part of it. Who sent out the frogs?

I've finished the final section - Part 8 and am working on finishing up the border.  The frogs came to visit twice!

FREEBIES
Combine a dream and flowers, what do you get? A pretty freebie offered by DMC.

Click HERE to download the PDF.



Until next time....