It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

...December thank God. We had the first new snow last week already. #TGID is all I have to say. We had a rough November here. People in my family were between jobs, the car broke down and needed a new alternator and battery and Jerry woke up last Sunday and couldn't walk. So... more vet bills on top of that.

Jerry

I can handle it all except the thought of losing Jerry is unbearable. Luckily the vet put him on steroids and he will get a little better in the short term. His spinal cord is being pinched because of a bad disc. He was not in a lot of pain except when he twisted the wrong way once or twice. He could not walk or move his hind quarters and his left front leg at all for about 5 days then on Thursday I put a towel under him and used it as a sling to try to help him get up and try to walk because he was scooting and dragging himself with one leg to get to the door. He wanted to go outside. He's such a good boy. I also got him up during the day and he could stand in one spot with support for a few minutes at a time. 

baby Jerry

Thursday evening he stood up on his own and started taking wobbly steps. He's getting his balance back gradually now. Good news but bad news comes with it. The long term prognosis is not good as his back and discs will get worse with time even with surgery. CT scan or MRI is just too expensive and the cost of this type of surgery is out of the question. Besides the expense, pain and recovery time, it will not solve his problem in the long term since he already has back problems and is 9 years old.

So, to prolong his life and give him a good quality of life, he has to lose weight, take supplements with chondroitin, glucosamine and fish oil. He might have to take meds also and it will get worse over time. But he's doing alright today. He doesn't like having to eat less because he's a foodie but he's gained so much weight from eating the dry cat food that he can no longer get to. I give him three little dog food meals a day now with low fat treats. 

I'm certain that whatever time we have left will be good times and we will enjoy them one day at a time and try not to worry too much about the future. One day at a time will be enough. Jerry is thoroughly loved and he knows it.

Christmas Nutcrackers 2024

Everywhere I go this year I'm seeing nutcrackers. I don't think I have even one of them in my Christmas decorations. I'm not a collector of these things but this year I'm going to make a few. So that's this year's theme. I like to DIY my decorations whenever I can.

So I guess these things have been popular this year because they keep popping up on my pages. People actually have a group for collecting these seven foot tall plastic ones that they paint and post online. I don't have anywhere to store anything that huge so I'm not interested in those.

But I do see a lot of DIY ones on YouTube. Bargain Bethany has a huge nutcracker she makes out of Dollar Tree laundry baskets for about twenty dollars in materials. Go watch that here, it's amazing.

I'd like to make one but I don't want to tear them down or store them anywhere so I ran across a tutorial to make smaller ones. And they are so cute. They are made of all Dollar Tree finds! Araceli Chan has a great small nutcracker DIY that you can use to make your own little decorations. 

And that's the one that I used. I think I added a little more bling to mine though. I also drew and painted a face for mine while adding a few personal touches. I didn't want mine to look scary.

I love the way they turned out and they are the perfect size. I can easily store these without breaking them. Overall it cost me about five dollars to make one. I already had all the bling and glue in my stash. I recycled the base of the doll from a screw on plastic lid and I already had the white and gold spray paint for them.

All I had to buy was the plastic pieces from the plasticware section of DT. I used six different packages to make two nutcrackers. I used the shot glasses, mini round glasses, clear plastic tumblers, cordial glasses, wine glasses and medium round clear ornaments or any smooth plastic ornament 3-1/2" in diameter would also work.

You need a glue gun, tacky glue and a soldering iron for melting the pointy crown out of a tumbler if you're going to make that one. You also need some zip ties and some fuzzy yarn, acrylic paint, a feather duster or refill pack, ribbon and a lot of bling. And you might need two packages of the cordial glasses if you are going to make two nutcrackers. One package is only enough for one set of arms and legs.

Basically I just threw the decorating kitchen sink at these and made them with whatever I already had like metal ribbon and various assorted metallic bling strings. You can make the hands out of wooden balls or glue stick lids or just paint the bottom fourth of the shot glasses with flesh colored paint. Just use whatever you have and do whatever you think looks best.

I loved the way mine turned out. Even after spraying all the pieces with white, I had to give them two and three coats of acrylic paint. These would make pretty table centerpieces with greenery around the bottom or a nice decoration to include in a gift basket with some fruit and nuts! 

Create 10 Projects (Spoiler Alert)

IT'S ALL ABOUT RIBBON THIS YEAR!

It's almost here! You don't get any 12" x 12" paper, you don't get any bows and you don't get very many extras but you do get a lot of ribbon. You do get some heavy plain card stock. And I think Anna is going to show us how to make bows again this year. 

So I usually get my materials for the classes 2 to 3 weeks ahead to cut out the stuff we will need to make projects for each class. And I usually get all that done and I put a lot of stuff together. Basically I'm in craft heaven for a month or more, then I just make a few more things here and there afterward.

Class 1: The first class was for me the show stopper. I didn't think I would like those eyelet frame looking cards but after I made a few, I fell in love with them. I just didn't like the examples that were shown. But I found other uses for them too. I like cards and card dies and I really like the way the ribbon looks on the eyelet frames..

So I also come up with my own designs occasionally and those little ornament shoes in class 9 reminded me of a pattern I already had. I had made a larger shoe pretty much like them from a free pattern I got online. I decorated it with the eyelet frame dies. You can use these eyelet frame dies and cut them into pieces for other designs. I really like them.

Class 2: I love decorative tags but I don't much care for them when they are too big. These are too big. I would not use them on gifts because they will just get thrown away. They are cute but they are just too big to use like that. I would however use them as decorations on a large tree or as a garland to decorate a window or door.

Class 3: The Creative Calendar. First let me say that I don't care to stamp and emboss anymore. I would have to be really, really bored to drag out all my stamping materials and work with it. I also don't journal and use printed calendars any more. I have a digital calendar I like and I have a little perpetual block calendar I like. But I love easels. And this one has a beautiful butterfly easel. I made five of them already!

Class 4: The Stylish Hat: Don't know what I'll do with these but they are pretty. Can't see me mailing them or who to gift them to??? But they remind me of the cloth pincushions we made a dozen years ago. You can get pretty creative with these if you want. They bring out the designer in you. So I made two of them but what I really liked was the hat box. Not so much the one that came with (I made two of those) but I wanted to make a round hat box that would hold a hat with a LOT of decorations on them. So I did.

Class 5: French Fan Dies. This was just a beautiful die set. I enjoyed decorating with the pieces and threading the ribbon through the panels. I will probably display one in a butterfly easel in my craft cabinet. They are a little flimsy to be useful but they are so pretty for display. I would not decorate the backs since they won't be seen anyway. Very pretty and easy to make.

Class 6: Treat Box Dies. Another favorite class! These are so fun to put together and decorate. I loved making them. I had the recessed frame inset figured out way beforehand. I have seen these before from other designers and I actually have a pattern for a similar box. There's nothing new under the crafty sun, just another way to decorate it! Love them!! And since we're cutting things that aren't seen in the preview shots, it seems that Anna will demonstrate how to make a ribbon and bow decoration from the large die out of ice blue foil paper. 

Class 7: Theatrical Greetings Dies. Gimmicky, overdecorated, uses too much paper. That's just my opinion. The only use I can think for these is that they would be great for a wedding card... maybe. I will try to think of another use for them later. They do remind me of the stereoscope cards and holder on Pixie Hill by Nicola Battilana. And they remind me also of the old ViewMaster toys. It's the 3D effect.

Class 8: Corset Album Dies. Oh Wow... that's all I can say about a corset photo album. Maybe as a bridal gift with getting ready with the girls pictures but anything else? I wouldn't use it as a photo album. So because it's a garment all I could think of for a good use was a sewing box. So that's what I made with my dies this class. I don't know what I'll do with the album dies if anything. It's very feminine and I like it as a sewing notions box even though I wouldn't use it as a photo album..

Class 9: Origami Ornament Dies. This was one of my favorite die sets. I loved the shoe so I had fun with that. I also have patterns of them in different sizes that I've worked with before. And I already have an angel die so another one was O.K. I did make the frames and I think they are a good idea for people who like to put their kids and grandkid's pictures on the tree. I don't do that any more but I did make two of the frames. I don't like them glued back to back because you can only see one at a time.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the projects. It's hard for me not to like anything creative or making something frilly with paper. I plan to go to every Create event that I can for as long as Anna has them. I look forward to it every year!

And now I can just enjoy watching and participating in the classes without any pressure of stress. I learned from my first Create that you will not be able to keep up and you'll miss out on some stuff if you try. And I can cut out a few more things and make them as slow as I want. Looking forward to it!!!

It's Almost Create 10 Time!!!

Are you excited? I know I am! I've dragged out my leftover papers from previous years and have organized all my stuff, cleaned off my desk, made a privacy screen for the nightly video chats with other crafters in the craft chat rooms and ~~~

I've watched all the pre cut videos at least once, some of them twice! I've paid special attention to the projects we will be making and I'm confident that I can get at least one of everything done before it all starts. This year my least favorite class has got to be that calendar in spite of it being drop dead gorgeous. I don't like to stamp and the pre-printed is just mostly all done. Add stickers, glue the box together, make a butterfly easel and you're good to go. 

You know me - I look at that big box of goodness like it's a puzzle and I can figure out how to make the projects beforehand. I follow the basic instructions that come with each set of dies and then I look at the preview pictures of all the class projects and figure out how to do it. Last year's least favorite class was the Christmas Crackers. But I really like them, it's just that it seems such of waste of expensive paper to tear them up. 

That goodie box with the diorama inset might be a little tricky but I'm pretty sure I know how to do it. I love Create and I love most everything about it but like every event, you are just not going to like every single class. I have other templates for these type boxes so... these are not new to me. To make an insert or recessed window all you do is cut a hole in the side of your box to fit the background insert and then make a rectangle background for the insert adding an inch around the background paper and make a fold 1/2" in twice. Cut your corners and bend it into a box shape with the outer lip folded back so you can glue the edges to the inside of the box.

Already I think there is a material shortage this year. I have leftover papers from the past two years but this year it looks a little light and NO 12" x 12" paper, plenty of ribbon but no bows but I think Anna is going to show how to make bows from all that ribbon. I also noticed there are not very many printed sheets but plenty of foils. Definitely not as much paper. I wish there were more stickers too. I don't like that shrinkflation has hit my beloved Create boxes but it is O.K. I won't let it ruin my day. Last year's box was packed and overflowing.

I also won't be making a few of the class projects as shown because I just don't think they are pretty. The woven ribbon class to me is a huge waste of good ribbon. I don't think the examples are very pretty so I might do a card or two a little different than shown. The last two years were over the top. It's gonna be hard to beat last year.

I make tags to put on my Christmas tree or use as bunting but I don't give my good paper away to be thrown away as a gift tag. No can do. Gift tags for real? Dollar Tree stickies for cheap and I save my good stuff for the tree. Last year's tags were more substance, more stickers and more layers. I like them more than this year's tags which I felt were a little plain by comparison.

last year's tags

this year's tags

I do not like the corset album as an album BUT, I probably will put the front and back on a little box for sewing notions or add felt pages accordion style as a needle holder for my sewing but I cannot think of any photos I would want to put in a corset album. It's underwear. An underwear album for family pictures? Naaaahhh... I will use it for sewing notions.

My favorites are the hats, fans and ornaments this year. I also like the theater card but, it uses a lot of paper and is pretty thick for a card. I might make mine with a Christmas scene instead of the examples given. I really like the shoe ornaments and wouldn't those hats look good in a miniature version for a fashion Christmas tree?

As with everything, either the price goes up or the materials are less. That's to be expected but I would rather pay more for the quality and more materials than pay less and get less but that's just me. I have a lot of leftovers from the previous two years so I'm good for a while. The Create pouches are a great way to store all that stuff!

After all is said and done, I would still do Create every year that I can and enjoy it immensely regardless of the price and quantity of materials. It's the whole experience of crafting with others and sharing your makes. I think it would be pretty hard to beat last years album. Everything after that would be a let down but... I love this craft. I'm definitely a hardcore Anna Griffin fan. 

last year's album

Raggedy Quilts for Cooler Weather

So last year I made my first raggedy quilt on the sewing machine. It was flannel and I loved it! So when I saw the French Flower quilt made in with the same method, I knew I just had to make one.

This quilt is gorgeous! I didn't make it full size or big enough to cover a bed but as a throw it still works. I like the laptop size when I quilt on the machine. I don't have a longarm machine so it's really tough for a whole quilt to go through my machine, even when it's rolled up. But with this method you can make a quilt as big as you want working row by row as you go.

You just cut out four different sizes of squares and then round them out for flower petals. I cut them 3, 4, 5 and 6 inches for the flowers. Then I cut the edges to look like five big loose petals.

I cut out a rough leaf shape and made two for each flower. I started in the center and just kept turning and sewing round each layer of petals. 

I didn't pick up my thread or backstitch until I was done with the whole block. All layers together.

I used a flat sheet to make 11" x 11" squares, enough for the front and back. You can make it as big as you want just by making more squares. Mine is offset and I used half squares of 5.5" x 11" for those four. I made three rows of five blocks and two rows of four blocks with a half block on each end of the row. I used half inch seams. My finished quilt is about 50" x 50" and I cut all my batting to 10" x 10". I didn't catch the batting in the block seams when I put the blocks together but it's O.K. if it does catch some batting in the seam as it helps to hold it down in the corners.

Than I just sewed the edges into rows back sides together so the raveled edges would be on the front of the quilt. Then I sewed a normal binding on around the quilt and just cut the edge with scissors so it would be raggedy too.

When I was done I washed it on gentle cycle and picked the strings off before throwing it in the dryer on the lightest heat setting.

It came out looking beautiful and yes you will be picking off strings from everything for a while. It took me one day to cut the pieces out including the batting. And two days to run it up on the sewing machine for a total of three days from start to finish! It's quick, it's pretty and it's warm so I'll probably make another one later. Wouldn't these make nice Christmas gifts?

Fairy Doll Frenzy

I haven't been posting but I have been busy... real busy. Too busy to post until now. I got into these dolls because I was fascinated with their eyes and making them.

But it took much longer to make the dolls themselves, their clothing and to put them together. 

I guess it took me three to five days to get one done from start to finish. There are a lot of details on these dolls.

The prairie point skirts were very detailed and time consuming but the look was worth it. They have so much texture and add a layer of depth to the dolls that any other skirt just wouldn't be able to achieve.

I loved making the shoes and each one was a little different than the last so they held my attention from start to finish.

I also got to use my special fibers for their hair. I have a whole container full of zany fibers but projects where I get to use them don't come along very often.

These quirky dolls took up most of a whole month but if that wasn't busy enough, I decided to paint my entry and living/dining room walls. I do love to paint. My house needed a deep cleaning anyways so I cleaned, organized and painted at the same time. It took me over a week to get it all done.

I'm not much for Spring cleaning but I often do my cleaning before the Holidays in the Fall.

So now I'm on to the next project. I suffered through a creative block for several weeks after these dolls were done, but now I'm back into it. I've decided to sew a little more with a new project and then the Anna Griffin Create 10 will be here in the middle of November and that will keep me busy up until the end of the year and beyond.

I wanted to at least get something posted for this month since I've been so busy. I'm pretty much all caught up now!