Sew....

I've been brainstorming some more ideas to use up the things I already have on hand and make some Christmas gifts in the process. 

I had a small stash of flannels from a ragtime quilt I made when my oldest was a baby. He's almost 13 now. I should show that quilt sometime. It was my very first one.

Anywho... with the weather turning colder, flannel just seems right. Something to warm the hands or toes in boots.

Maybe a something cozy for your cuppa joe.  We'll see.

 

Gracie kaleidoscope

Just playing around in the digital word a bit. 

Using some of my custom brushes along with filters and a kaleidoscope plugin I made this....

from this....

 

And the winner is....

Congrats Jean!! I'll email you privately for your mailing address and your choice of journals. 

Cork tree

A few weeks ago at a craft show, I saw a woman selling wine cork Christmas trees. 

I thought..."hey, I have corks...I could make that!"

I changed things up a bit to make it more "mine" and love the result.

I'm thinking I have the start of a tree collection when paired with my Dr. Suess tree. 

 

900th post giveaway

I can scarcely believe that I've written that many posts!
And even more shocking is the fact that you all are still here reading after all this time.
Especially considering that I've been in quite a dry spell lately.

With that said, I'd like to reward one of you for sticking with me by sending you one of my newly created scrap journals.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, making sure I have some way to contact you if you are the winner.
I'll draw the winning name on November 27th.
The winner will have their choice  of cover designs.
Easy peasy, right!?!?

 

O Christmas tree

Once again I've been browsing Pinterest

...likely too much...

in an effort to find fun ways to use the book pages that have piled up from previous projects.

I saw the cutest little Christmas tree 

by Jana at Scrapbook Abundance.

(below)

Source: preprostobogastvo.blogspot.com via Halle on Pinterest

I wasn't exactly sure how she put it together so I "winged it" and ended up with this silly little tree.

The funniest thing is that the wire I ran up the middle is very flexible. So the tree wiggles and wobbles at the slightest touch. 

I'm calling it my Dr. Suess tree since it makes me think of something you'd find in Whoville.

 

Good clean fun

I successfully made soap!! 

I've been nervous to try it on my own but figured with the month of cure time for this cold process soap that I better get over it and do it.

This is a coconut oil and olive oil soap with no added fragrance or color. Figured I better start with the basics and work my way up. 

I have to tell you that I was super worried yesterday.

I never got a good "trace" before pouring it into the mold. 

So maybe I shouldn't say that it's a success yet....

I'll let you know in a month.

 

Scrappy, scrappy

I've been working on loom knitting again. I have an order for 10 dishcloths and am expecting I'll be getting a few more orders real soon. I decided to use some of my scraps of yarn to give some visual interest to these cloths.

Waste not, want not.

As long as I was thinking scrappy...

I put together the first in a series of journals. 

The cover is a print of one of my kaleidoscopes. I believe this one started as a rose.

I love the look of all the different papers. It's up to the recipient to decide how to use them.

 

Still here...

Just trying to claw my way back to the functional world again. 

Isn't it amazing how strong yet fragile we are as humans. Something microscopic can take us out of commission for days.

I've had a "flu-like" virus. 

The kind that makes you feel like a wet noodle. The kind that makes the 10 step walk to the bathroom and back to bed seem like a 10 mile hike.  

Mr. G  stayed home from work to look after me when my fever was 103°F.  He also made me Jell-O when I mentioned that it sounded good. That may not sound like a big deal to you but it certainly was to me. As the kids would say, "Dad is not a cooker".  Makes me smile.

 

Upcycled t-shirt scarf

While cleaning out my closet this week, I discovered this chartreuse t-shirt. I was destined to be donated  since I just couldn't get used to the color on me.

I had seen a tutorial on Pinterest for a fringed t-shirt scarf so I figure...why not try it.

Here's the original pin:

Source: myblessedlife.net via Halle on Pinterest

So back to my project. I cut the shirt below the arms then cut fringe about half way up the shirt.

I then tugged on each fringe until it stretched nicely giving it nice texture and movement.

And the completed scarf...

I think I can handle a splash of chartreuse much better than a whole shirt of it.

Sorry that each of my photos are a different hue. The actual color is somewhere in between this photo and the previous one.  Bad photo day for me and Photoshop can only do so much.