Can You Believe These Prices???

I go MIA in Spring... but you can always find me in the garden. I get plant fever every year and if it's time to grow something outside then that's where you'll find me. Ever since I can remember, I've planted striped petunias, even if it's only one basket. I love red and white striped petunias and I always plant geraniums!

But it is turning out to be the year of the hydrangeas for me. I've had a few of the 'year of the roses', the 'year of the irises', the 'year of the hostas' and some years certain plants just take off and demand more attention. I planted two of the smallish hydrangeas about ten years ago when the prices were affordable, back when I occasionally paid full price for plants. One on each side of the porch steps but one of them died. 

So I moved the other one over to the side of the mini-barn and that's where it's been, uneventfully surviving but not blooming all this time. One year I thought I saw a few sparse little pink blossoms on one stem... that was all it did that year.

But this year - boom! It is really blooming lots of flowers. Well, lots means about a dozen or so to me. So I figured "success" even though all I did different this year was water everything in my yard about every other day (or every day in high heat). That's all, just more water. Who knew? So I also mulched the plants really well to help keep the roots cool and keep them blooming. My water bill is going to be crazy, right? We need some rain!

So I figured this year "I'm on a roll" with hydrangeas since I discovered their secret. It only took me ten years... So I bought three more distressed plants on the half dead plant rack at Walmart (just in case my hydrangeas skills are a fluke) so I didn't spend a lot of money on them - in case they don't make it. But they are already putting out new leaf buds!

They were $8 apiece. Also, my neighbor gave me cuttings of her huge white hydrangeas to root. So root them I did. I also took cuttings off these four that I have now. Who can afford these prices, right?

I also decided to fill my annual garden boxes with geraniums in the sun and coleus in the shade next year. I've always bought flats of wax begonias and impatiens - not next year. I can winter geraniums over in bags in the attic or on the cement floor down stairs where it's cool and bring them back in the spring. I can easily propagate geraniums and make hundreds more if I want. So I bought the clearance rack of non blooming geraniums for mostly a dollar apiece because I know they will bloom again. I can keep them going year to year forever if I want. I won't be buying annuals next year. I plan to start my petunia, moss rose, tomato and herb seeds next February for next year's garden. I've got it all planned out. 

These prices are making me feel like maybe I need to homestead because the economy feels like "the sky is falling" especially in the garden. I feel the pinch but I'm not quite ready to go off the grid just yet... but it's moved me to be a little more self-sufficient you might say. I also got the urge to make another batch of homemade laundry soap but I've been making laundry and bar soap for years anyway. I like to do that occasionally. It has nothing to do with the garden though except for helping to cut the high prices and I really love homemade goats milk soap. 

I also dragged out my bread making machine from the utility pantry. The machine does it all. You put the ingredients in, push a few buttons and an hour or so later you have homemade bread. Have you seen the prices of bread lately? The seed bread can go over $5 a loaf! I love iced raisin bread... and Italian herb and cheese bread... but who can afford that? You can with a bread machine.

So I've been very busy in the garden propagating my own plants and taking cuttings of my flowers. I will not be buying flowers next year at these prices, unless it's off a distressed plant rack. I have put down cuttings from all the roses and the weigela in my yard. I also cut everything back hard early this Spring to encourage growth and bushiness. 

I even have volunteer babies from my flowering pink almond bush now! All I can think of is that maybe some of the cutting tips were not raked up and just took root where they fell on the ground. Never had that happen before though. It's also a possibility that when I cut it back it thought it was going to die and sent out several shoots... it doesn't matter why. What matters is that I have a lot of flowering pink almond babies. YAY me!!

I've also started a compost bin out of an old Christmas storage bin from the attic. I'm going to use the compost in my garden. I didn't realize how many kitchen scraps we actually have been throwing away! Banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, carrot tops, junk mail, cardboard, leaves, straw... and all my vegetable scraps and peels and more is in my bin. Might as well put all that to good use making mulch for the garden. We just cleaned the gutters out and dumped all that leaf mold into the bin and gave it a churn for more composty goodness. YUM!

And I built a rain water capture and storage system for my garden out of a 32 gal trash can. You can learn how to do anything on YouTube. But... it hasn't rained in over two weeks now. The grass is getting crunchy... just waiting for the rain... still waiting... it's suppose to rain this week... it was suppose to rain last night but it didn't...  still waiting... I can add more barrels to the system later if I need to. I'm ready for the rain now... still waiting... Come on! I have a rain barrel to fill! 

I also found hanging baskets of petunias for five bucks at Meijers recently. And they were in really great shape, fully in bloom. The basket prices of flowers this year is just crazy - $16 to $29??? . So I got two baskets of pink petunias. What I like about these $5 baskets is that I can reuse them again next year. Aren't they pretty?

I've also dug up, divided and gifted my neighbor with two huge clumps of some monster three and a half foot hostas that I should have divided a few years ago. And I still have eight monster hostas just like this one scattered around the shady parts of the yard. They are all way too overgrown. They are huge. I've decided to move the hostas out to make more room for new hydrangeas. I'm so glad these biggies have shallow roots. They were pretty heavy though.

 

I kept plenty of them for my shaded areas. I have them in three sizes and varieties that I'll grow out for a year or so and then move out into other parts of the yard. There is no shortage of hostas around here. 

And I found out that you can use creeping jennys in the pond. So I planted a few pots of those up and just stuck them in the margins, pots, dirt and all. They are doing great and the plants help keep the algae away. I have not had an algae problem all summer once the first algae bloom in the Spring was done. I hit it with hydrogen peroxide and waited for the water lilies to cover the surface. 

So I've been busy pruning, propagating, planting and moving stuff in the garden. I fell in love with little moss roses this year. I never knew how easy it was to propagate them. You just pinch off a stem, remove the lower leaves and stick them in the dirt. Keep them watered and you've got more plants in no time. 

They even bloom in the bucket while they are propagating. You just can't stop them!

I'm starting to think I really have a magical green thumb this year. I feel like I can make unlimited plants from just a few. That's what I've been up to all this time. Just working in and enjoying my garden. Propagation is the best way to get more plants, not by paying these high store prices. It helps if you have neighbors that garden too so you can exchange plants and cuttings. But if not, just multiply your own plants whatever you have and plan on planting seeds early next year. 

I don't think the prices are going to get any better any ways soon. I'm not a doomsday prepper but it doesn't hurt to cut your costs anywhere you can. You gotta pay for that gallon of gas, right?

Bead Making Weather

This crazy weather! A few days ago it was 60 degrees, my neighbors were mowing their grass - and this morning I woke up to snow on the ground... what the??? Ugghhhh... oh well, might as well make some beads and heat up the oven. I saw these beautiful bracelets online made with beads and knew I just had to make some for myself.

So I started gathering my supplies. I already had the right jewelry making tools, wire, some beads, etc. but I did not have connector beads for the middle focal point of the bracelets and I did not have the stones I wanted in 6mm size. I did have the leather cord but only in a few colors and I want a white bracelet. So I had to order some supplies AND as if that was not enough delay, I decided to make a display holder and organize my beads... all of my beads. My mind felt cluttered until I got them all organized and it was a long and tedious task.

I had a big container filled with trays that some had spilled into the bottom over the years so I had to sort through thousands... I mean thousands of beads in every size from seed beads to  12mm or more and put them back into their containers. I also threw away a treasure trove of cheap plastic beads that I know I would never use and nobody would want. It took me several hours, almost half a day.

I had some stone beads but wanted to get more. Have you seen the prices on these beads? I decided to make my own faux stones out of polymer clay. I did not have any beading string or know enough about it to get the right kind so I had to do some research. I used what I had, Egyptian cotton size 10 crochet string on the first bracelet because I couldn't wait for my bead string to arrive. I should have run it through some bees wax and then brown paper to wipe off the excess, but I didn't know that until after I got it done. I'm sure it will be fine.

A few days later and finally I got my supplies so I doubled some C-Lon beading string, size D to use on my bracelets. I also got a few little sample sizes of the lightly waxed Nymo brand, size D which is shinier and a little thinner than the C-Lon.. I could also have gotten the C-Lon .5mm string or a 1mm size and only used a single strand too. It only has to fit through your needle and through all your bead holes. You have to try everything to find what works best for you.

Apparently 1.5mm or 2mm is the kind of leather cord to get. I guess you can use any size beads you want but if you do a wrap with 3 to 5 times around your wrist, you will not want a bracelet that weighs a ton. So I decided to use 6mm beads and 1.5mm cord. 8mm beads are good too but I don't think they  look right unless you go up a size to 2mm leather cord with them. That's JMO.

When I make beads, I like to mix the colors to look like stone. I also use gold leaf sheets to accent them sometimes. If you use gold leaf or mica powders then you have to seal them to keep it from wearing off over time. 

I spent my money on the right cord and strings because I knew I could always make the beads and faux stones with what I already had. I had all the metal wire and fittings already but I did get a few accent buttons for closures although I can make them, I wanted them to be really strong.

I did not have a display for my stone bracelets so I made one out of paper towel tubes, foam core board and faux leather fabric. It's taken me about a week to make the things I needed, get organized and gather all my supplies to get started. It really doesn't take that long to make a bracelet. I could easily get two or three done in a day if I had to. So far I've made two tri-wrap/ boho/ yoga bracelets. Whatever you want to call them, they are gorgeous. But I wouldn't make a five wrap style. It is just too long and heavy for my taste. I will be making some single and double wrap ones though when I get a few more stones and beads made so I'll have more options to choose from in future designs. 

I am making beads now so I can make more bracelets. All I really have to buy are a few strong buttons and some glass beads for variety and sparkle. I like to make the beads but I really like the natural stones too. And I'm always all about the sparkle! 

Finally Spring!

I see tulips and daffodils starting to spring up and I'm finally convinced that Spring is just about here. I've been painting some florals too. I got a free months worth of classes at Skillshare because I saw some beautiful abstract flowers painted by Suzanne Allard on there. I liked her style.

And I love to paint abstract flowers. Her style is very loose and flowing and she uses mostly gouache. I had never painted with gouache before so I wanted to experiment a little. I paint on mostly watercolor paper because it's easier to store flat than canvases are. I will probably go to some of my canvas later because I have a ton of them stored up in the attic just waiting to be used. Watercolor paper is cheaper to practice on.

These are really mixed media. I base coat and block color in with acrylics and then use them and gouache for the flowers and leaves. I also use gelatos, markers and gold ink. 

These are from the first class I took but I have a few more started, sketched out and blocked in, just not detail painted yet. I also have some neocolor wax pastels that I'm trying to get used to using but I don't like them as much as the gelatos. All are water soluable so they blend into each other.

I signed up for a month of free classes so that's what I'm going to be immersed in and then decide if I want to continue. I can cram a lot of learning into a month. There are a few other artists that I'm interested in taking classes from also.

I took an abstract course a few years ago with Lynn Whipple painting with house paint samples and acrylics - and this is very similar in style and content. It's right up my alley. These 3 are my paintings from Lynn Whipple's course.

Swimming Right Along

I just hopped right over Spring and went into Summer when I saw these little fish and shells. I took a crochet course on Domestika with an artist named Marianne Seiman and made some pretty shells. You can get a free trial of most classes online and cancel any time you want to.

So I made some shells and then I found some wonderful tutorials on youtube done by Linda Di Martino and she has filled up her aquarium with crocheted fish and sea life. I fell in love with the fish and all the plants in her aquarium! 

So I tried my best to follow along in Italian with broken English subtitles and wrote down the basic instructions the best I could figure out. 

I love the Angelfish and the butterfly fish!

But the puffer fish just blew me away. Look at that little pout! It takes me a long time to watch, write down the instructions and then make the item, refining my instructions as I go. So that's what has taken me so long on all these sea life projects.

And I found a little blue lobster by Kara Lyon which is also a free pattern... yes, I am really into sea life mode at this point... I found out that embroidery cord/thread is size 5 and that is what I really needed for these. I did experiment with all kinds of threads and yarns. You can get it at Hobby Lobby in limited colors or you can get it the cheapest in packs of embroidery cords. 

Double twisted works up fine but you can use the six strand embroidery floss in a pinch. You get more yardage and color variety in the 36 pack than you do on the spool. So that's what I prefer for these and they turned out beautiful with a sheen to the final product. Yarn makes them look fuzzy. Now I'm not sure what to do with all this size 8 thread but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Those colors are gorgeous.

Then, I found Spike the scuba diver. He's a free pattern by Nancy Anderson. He pulled me away from my fish for a little while. But he was worth it. I love Spike! So I'll keep working on these but I'm getting the itch to paint... I'll go see if there are any free courses or trial offers online but it's a pretty good bet some flower paintings are about to be made. Skillshare has a 1 month trial going on now with an artist I really like named Suzanne Allard so maybe I'll go check that out...

So I've been pretty busy all through the month of March with Summer stuff. I think I'm finally going to get into Spring for April though.

The Winter Witch

WHEW!!! This is the most involved, detailed doll I think I've ever made. And it took me the longest time to make her but in all fairness, I did work on another doll at the same time. I had to take a break from all this detail. I also tried to stick pretty close to the pattern. I made all the pockets and stuff to go inside them. I also made a few extra rat heads to decorate her hat.

The pattern is tedious. It's knit in small stitches on a number 2 needle to get the right gauge. I got tired of working on that dress. I thought it would never end. So I did not duplicate the skirt to make her a slip. I thought it would make the doll too heavy and I wasn't going to torture myself with it.

I absolutely loved working on those rats heads. It was the highlight of the whole project for me. I also loved working on the hat. That hat was just amazing. I did crochet a circle to cover the inside stuffing which was not included in the pattern but I felt necessary. Although later I did decide to sew it on her head.

The hair was fun also. I used a fiber that resembled the angora called for in the pattern. I could not find angora anywhere locally. What I used was Joann's Buttercream Luxe Craft Angelhair in white. Then I added a navy eyelash fiber to it to make color streaks in the hair.

I did not like the scarf shown in the picture so I cut a knitted scarf out of some sequined sweater material that would not unravel.  And I sewed on a little cape to it. I love the sparkly stuff. I also used a strip of it as her hat band.

I opted to make her a tulle slip with a ribbon tie but after I got all the stuff sewn onto the bottom edge of the skirt I realized that it really doesn't need a slip at all. The edge has the volume to expand the dress skirt without one. The shoes are a little big so I might have to sew them on. I had to stuff the toe with cotton. I just smile every time I see those little rats heads!   

I loved making this but I probably won't make another one at least for a while, if ever. Too much detail for me and those flowers are a killer work up on needles! I don't know how you would make them without getting the stitches too tight, It's a lot of increases in such a short number of rows, even though they do look pretty when done.

Matthew the Bunny

I decided to take a break from my little amigurumi dogs and cats when I saw this bunny. I just love his feet and knew I had to make him. 

He is mostly done on straight needles but his ears and arms are done on DPNs (double pointed needles). I used Premier yarn in 'greige tweed' I got at the Dollar Tree months ago. I really like this yarn for animal dolls.

He's also a little bigger than I like to work but he is worth it. He's 12 - 1/2" tall. I like him at this size because you can see the detail in his vest better. I shortened his shorts so you could see his legs and next time I will make a different waist on the pants, probably a rib knit for a few rows. I don't like the fold down waistband.

I am in love with his little vest. I had to make my own buttons from polymer clay. I couldn't find any that I liked in the stores. In fact, I love all the sweater patterns. You can get them from Alexprettytoys on etsy. I hadn't done much with cable pattern stitches on a purl background before so it was a learning curve for me. The sweater patterns are not simple looking but once you make one they get easier to knit. It's wonderful to see the pattern coming together while you knit.

I just happened to have some mustard colored 50% merino wool yarn that I wanted to use for his vest. I love it! I will probably make more of these bunnies because I love the stocking feet! He has a cute pom pom tail too. There is a bunny photo shoot on my blog  DustBunnyGazette.

And of course he needs a blanket, a scarf, a girlfriend and a picnic basket. More to come...