Magic beans and flowers

As shown in Ready for Easter

Here are the flowers.

The story is that before Easter I will give the 3 year old granddaughter

some 'magic' beans (jelly beans) and plastic Easter cups

and we will plant them.

Then on Easter morning the girls will find these flowers

which are just crocheted with a dum dum center.

The idea was not mine though I chose a double flower for the fuller look.

Not sure they will grasp the meaning but the seed is there to come back to at a later date.

A Valentine for Mother

I got a little something for my mother for Valentine's Day.

And put it in a bag,

which seemed a little plain.

So instead of making a card to go with it,

I decided to just decorate the bag.

Think she will like it?

Better question might be will she remember

 what Valentine's Day is?

Doesn't really matter

as she loves the attention most of all.

Last one for the season

I ran across this velvet before Christmas in my stash

and decided to make a scarf.

So I found some fringe and beaded edging

but then got busy with the holidays.

I finally had some time to play and embossed the velvet.

That was the easy part.

I have made scarves and pin cushions before with velvet I emboss.

It is challenging sewing but this just would not cooperate.

I finally ended up having to sew it by hand.

The colors in this velvet are different and the camera just wasn't picking them all up.

I selected it because it was brown with pumpkin undertones.

But the embossing brought out a pale blue!

Under certain angles or lighting,

 which I could not capture with the camera,

it looks blue on blue!

In these photos the fringe braid stands out lighter but in fact it matches very well.

Well on to the next project.  

Arm Knitting

Worn out from crocheting doll dresses for Christmas,

I decided to do some Arm Knitting.

I had tried it some months ago and found it to be a fast and fun diversion

and so bought some yarns to play with

but then other needs took up my time.

After Christmas though is a time I try to relax

and just enjoy things that require little to no thought,

like my annual jigsaw puzzle.

There is however, still a quilt in a frame taking up my dining room,

so I decided that was the perfect excuse to just play with some new craft.

I have a few setting around but the two baskets of yarn were taking up the most room

so they were the first choice.

Anyway, here are the results.

The blue and purple cowl

and bronze and brown long scarf

so I could try out both styles. 

Normally I prefer scarves

but with this texture and colors 

the cowl is my favorite.

Now I am back to sewing pants.

I cannot believe I lost weight over the holidays,

but it is certainly motivation for sewing new clothes!

Play Day

When I went to Michael's to pick up some etching creme yesterday

I decided to check out their Halloween beads.

I could not find a single one!

I did however spot these blue teardrop ones

and the lovely tan ones and bronze smaller ones.

So today I got out my supplies and made bracelets and earrings.

The color here is not true on the browns 

but they look amazing with a couple of outfits in my closet.

YAY!

I guess next year if I want Halloween jewelry

I will either shop earlier 

or make my own beads!

Fun for Halloween

I took a class last weekend

to learn how to use my new toy.

The pumpkin face on the glass block

was one of the projects.

Very easy and fun to scan in what you want

then have the machine cut it out for you.

I see many applications for this and have already used it

to scan and cut out some quilting patterns 

which I then ran through the sticker machine.

It will also cut out actual templates

so I see lots of uses for this tool!

Watch the M O N K E Y....

This silly little monkey with the wiggle eyes,

is for my daughter.

The 'body' is crocheted around a hair elastic

that fits over a camera lens.

Next month she is to take photos that include children

and I thought this might help keep their attention on the camera.

If it works at all I may have to adapt the pattern

with some brighter colors etc.

Chickens and the Walker

A friend shared this fun chicken pattern so...

a-roosting we will go.

An Unexpected Gift

I have a number of 'critters'

who I share my back yard with.

Many of them eat mosquitoes.

Gotta love those critters!

Some of them I feed.

And they share with the others.

The other day I discovered two empty sea shells setting on the fence rail,

exactly where I set special treats (nuts)!

So I cleaned them and made them into earrings.

Aren't these just a special gift?

And they only cost me nuts!

I do love the critters in my yard.

Light Show

Lots and lots of lightening in the sky this evening.

So very cool to watch (from a distance).

Wish I had a great camera and was a great photographer

because this was the only one that came out

and does not do it justice at all.

But maybe you can get the idea that it was very black in the sky

except when nature lit 'er up!

And yes, that is my 'window' to the universe

framed by a rooftop and trees.