Introducing Jane/June

I would like to take a moment to introduce you to Jane and June.



This is June. We find her, on a fine fall day (November 1st to be exact) reviewing her holiday list. June has finished all she has planned -cookies are baked & in the freezer,all presents are purchased & wrapped, Thanksgiving menu planned, Christmas cards addressed, stamped & signed!!! Yes, June is a marvel. She even had time to whip up a festive apron. Now what shall we do for New Year's???



I would like to introduce you to Jane. Poor, poor Jane, she thought it would be festive to home dye her hair red & green. As you can see it did not turn out so well. On the 23rd of December, around midnight, she realized her scheme of making matching pj's for the kiddos was not going to happen. In despair, she tossed the scissors and is retreating to her room with a cup of joe and chocolate until mid-January.



This Topsy-turvy doll is my entry for the 2007 Holiday Softie Awards. (Please, stop by and browse through all the amazing entries) I am not a big holiday gal. There are multiple reasons for this,of which none I am going to go into. Too much navel-gazing for me, thank you very much! This little gal was great therapy. Everyone in my house has decided I need to place her on the table and use her as a way to give everyone a heads up as to my state of being! I am thinking maybe it is not such a bad idea!



The thing is though, now I am getting a little weirded out about having her up there for the "world" to see. Does anyone else get this knots in their stomach feeling when showing your work to other folks?

Argh!!!

Just what was I thinking? Sigh . . .

Scrappy Kitties (and little pouches,too!)

I have been very blessed this past year to teach the Jr.High girl's Sunday School class at my church. It is an amazing bunch of young ladies and I am enjoying their fresh perspective on things. We have been memorizing scripture together. This month we are working on Psalm 121. I wanted to provide them with an incentive and I knew candy bars were not going to cut it for this group of chic gals.(King-size candy bars are a standard youth group prize.) Both of these projects came from Denyse Schmidt's book. They were infinitely easier than that other project.






The zippered purses were easy to whip up,just like Denyse said. The pink is a vinyl, the other colors leather, that I picked up thrifting. I went a little wacky with the designs. Denyse just sticks to the zigzag in her project but it is very open to creating your own look.








The kitties were inspired by her Steve cat. Little blue Chloe is a reinvented wool blanket.



Boris and Chloe are both sporting bits & bobs from my vintage notion stash. I am having difficulty parting with theses two cuties!

If you have not checked out Denyse's book, please do.The book is divided into three sections. The first section is a comprehensive tool,techniques and basic sewing skills section. The second section contains twenty projects (like the cats & purses) and the third section contains ten quilts. I want to try my hand at all of them!

Delightful Weekend

My husband and I were able to get away overnight this past Friday. It is so important in this intense time of parenting (six kids between the ages of 11yrs down to 20 months, need I say more?) to get away and reconnect. We very rarely, get away longer than overnight, so we have created a series of questions to help us jump right into the heart of issues. We never want to waste a moment of our interrupt-free conversation. The cozy bed and breakfast we stay at really helps.

Usually when my hubbie and I slip away, we find ourselves at Chamblin BookMine.We are attracted by a magnetic force that eminates from the building . . . I guess from the books?!?!? We walked away with a tidy little stack. Fo those who are curious: Draw Real People! by Lee Hammond, Learn to Read Music in 10 Lessons by Terence Ashley, Journey to Jericho by Kaye England, Live Sound Reinforcement :Comprehensive Guide to P.A. & Music Reinforcement Systems & Technology by Scott Hunter Stark and The World of Fashion by Jay and Ellen Diamond. Any guesses on who got what???

We had to drag ourselves away from the treasure trove and race home to make presentable six kiddos for a long-awaited wedding. The Boy was ready to go five minutes after our arrival. He reclined on the couch and read while we dealt with the girls.Sometimes . . . he is just easier. ( Some people give dishes, I give softies:) Trio ready for their new home.

ALMOST DONE

This little guy is almost done. I have been taking breaks checking out Softies Central for inspiration.

Non-Present

She requested no presents but I did not plan to be done with this third attempt just in time for the party!The first two had their innards removed and were recycled as my son thought the first was a dinosaur and the second resembled the Loch Ness Monster. I am working on a fourth as a planned present. I constructed it a bit differently but the shape is the same. I have started adding my trademark to my projects. It tickles me to stich those three little letters on.