Maxi Fortend

A Little Mouse Story

We have a sad little visitor.

He wonders if a little kid could take him home for Christmas.

He stares out the window waiting.  Maybe Blue Bird could take me to my new little friend?

Oh no!  Blue Bird has flown south!

 

The mailman has already been here, so he can't deliver me... :(  Brrrr..it's cold even with my super warm red scarf.  Better head back inside...

 
Snowman says he knows a secret...lean in a little closer...he says my new little friend will be at the Christmas party!  Ooooooh I can't wait to meet them!  I better go pack my blankie and my pillow.

 

 

 
 
 

Gosh, not blogged in a month! New Quilt Done!

Shame on me!  I see that I have not blogged in over 3 weeks!  Things have been busy around here!  I got a new sewing machine and kitchenaid mixer...gadget girl strikes again!  Both are things I have been wanting for a very long time! 

Kitchenaid Mixer - Made my first pecan pie with homemade pie crust...YUM.  I made homemade pasta and turned that into cheese ravs.  Again, YUM.  I am pretty stinkin' proud of myself! 

Sewing - Here is my first official quilt since I started back quilting...

It was from my class with Annie Smith - Pickle Road Garden.  It's about 60" by 60". 

Here's a little project that I finished up tonight.  It's a little notebook holder.  Found the free pattern from Three Creatives. 

I also got done building our Willow RIver Piecemakers Quilt Guild website - go check it out at www.willowriverpiecemakers.com.

I also have a new friend that has similiar vision issues like I do.  Very cool getting to know her!  A fellow guild member got us together.   You just never know what a small world it is!

 

Welcome Fall! Halloween Quilt Done!

I love these little candle holders I got at Target - aren't they cute!  Can't believe it's October 1st already! 

Happy Birthday to Grammie, Papa Butch and our own little Oscar - we won't say how old the adults are, but Oscar is the big 1 today!

My halloween quilt has been done for awhile, but finally got it up today with all the other fall chotchkie's.  No really pattern, just started playing with felt, glittery iron on's from Micheal's and embroidery floss.  First machine quilting I have ever done - let's just say it's a good thing you can't look at the back!  I like it up on my fireplace!

 
 

FOB's and Rasberries!

Grandma's salt and pepper shakers look onto my hard work!  I don't ever remember her putting up raspberry preserves, but I do remember her pillowcases with embroidery.  What I wouldn't give to have a few of those now!  This is my first attempt and lots more practice is needed, but I like it! 

Now let's all cross our fingers that at about 3:00 tomorrow when my 24 hours of set time has completed, that I have honest to goodness for the first time ever made my own JAM! 

Other notes - We celebrated Grammie's birthday a bit early - I made her a library book bag and a cute little needle point clutch (no pic..duh!)  It was so cute cause I used some swarovski hot fix crystals for the first time on it!  Those can be addicting!  This is the birthday girl, Max and Oscar-boy. 

On the bag, it's from Alica Paulson's Jane Market Bagpattern - I did my first needle turn applique and then hid all of my mistakes with some embroidery!  Smile - that embroidery is comin' in handy!  When I did the panel, I did not take into account how the flower stem would mostly be on the bottom of the bag....Oh well - another lesson!

And the back...

Depth of Field & First Biscornu!

I want depth of field darn it!  I have been reading my camera manual and playing...playing...playing - such a slow process!  I have a Panasonic DZ7 - while it was expensive at the time..it's just not doin' it for me - I think I need some new lenses - of course they are on back order...Nice thing about B&H Photo is that they will send you an email when they are back in stock...

There are so many things to balance, focus, apeture, lighting...jiminy crickets!  Well, I am gonna get better at this and I'll use my journal to track my progress!  I do like the BW feature of the camera - the cool color feature is "cool" too!   

In crafty news - I finished my first biscornu over the weekend.  Thanks to Flossbox for the pattern.  They are very fun to do!  Off to Craftster to post it.  Am I getting better with my stitches, Lor? 

Young Author, Cold Day, My Own Joy Journal

Good news!  Max does not have retinitis pigmentosa - yeah! All checked out yesterday and the Dr. did not see any signs.  Also - he has been invited to a Young Authors conference - 1 of 5 kids in the second grade to be picked to go!  It's Saturday, 3/29.  Very excited little boy! Excited parents as well - As Scott says...We must be doing something right! 

Today - School is cancelled!  We have windchills of 35-45 below!  Temp is 14 below!  My turn to stay home with the boy - Scott got the strep throat day off a couple of weeks ago.  I feel a little guilty, but boy am I gonna get a TON done!  We are having folks over on Saturday and I need to clean, clean, clean! 

I downloaded a great Romantic Fingerless gloves pattern from whiletheyplay on etsy. 

Here's a FOB!  My promised very own Joy Journal - doing pretty well with getting entries made.  It was from Aimee Ray's book Doodle Stitching - pattern was for a scrapbook cover - I modified for a notebook cover.  Very fun book - highly recommend!! 

Valentines Tree, Projects and I love legos.

I think I get hung up on needing a photo for each post and then don't post.  So, I am figuring out ways to get photos out of my camera much faster and streamline my process. (I am also getting out my cameras user guide to figure out why I am not getting sharp photos - I think the image stabilization thingy is turned off.)   I am awesome at streamlining at  work..lose it with home/personal stuff.  But ya know...those crafty blogs out there have a tendency to get me a little off track..like these...Ric Rac...how cute is her post about the little softie boys!! Future Girl...well, she's just been a favorite since this fall.  So seriously, my favorites...I have to now have folders...CraftyGoodness...CrochetGoodness...KnitingGoodness....EmbroideryGoodness...SewingGoodness...How the heck is a girl gonna get off the internet and make something?  I will have to give myself a timer like I do for Max...1/2 hour of playing Playstation and then you are done. 

Crafts Update:  Started crocheting a hooded baby blanket.  I am 1/2 done with my first real cross-stitch project - a biscornu - inspired by The Flossbox - aren't these darling?  They just look doable.  I am also working on a another project - Any Small Acts of Kindness are Never Wasted. 

I promised Max we would work on Super Lion today too. 

Oh yeah - I love glitter and I made a valentines tree cause I just love the glow of white lights...it will turn into St. Pats Tree, Easter Tree, Spring Tree, you get the picture...

Here's a quick Max update - he made this most recent Lego Booster creation last weekend when he was recovering from strep throat.  Literally 6 hours of concentrated work where there was no tv, no computer and no nintendo ds.  Worth every dime!!! He was pretty stinkin' proud of himself too.

Good Music and Joy Book News

Wow - I have been hankerin' for some new music for the ipod!  I have hit the mother-lode!  I went to iTunes a couple of times with no luck.  Tonight - I happen to see the cast album for Xanadu - no offense, but ya just can't improve the original version!  So, that got downloaded along with a few others:

Boogie Shoes - KC & Sunshine Band, Le Freak- Chic, Do that to me one more time - Captain & Tennille, Is She Really Going Out with Him? - Joe Jackson...I think you get the idea!  Now, to go find my Greatest Hits - Hall and Oats and I am completely transported to being 12!  It really was not that long ago...:) 

Other news - Max told me tonight that his teacher said that she is going to bring in the Joy Book for the kids to put in entries on when they are having really good days and bad days.  I think that is so sweet!  I hope I get to peak at it when we go to spring conferences. 

Cross-stitch - I did my first mini-project and it was ok - Lor gave me lots of good advice and I can already see a difference.  Gotta start somewhere!

Crafty To Do List

1)  FINISH the homemade xmas ornaments for the swap.  1/2 my swap folks are gettin' hand-painted father xmas and the other half are getting hand-embroidered ornaments.  Since I wanna be a good swap buddie - these puppies are gettin' in the mail MONDAY - 1 week before the due date.  Edit 12/14 - Yeah right!  They did get in the main FRIDAY.  I am happy to be on time!!

2)  Start on surprise apron for my friend K.  She loves sushi and I found the greatest sushi fabric online along with an embroidery pattern from Sublime Stitching. 

3)  Get our holiday cards figured out.  I got yummy glitter from Michaels and I can't wait to play!

4)  Well, it's not my project, but the little guy needs to make a space shuttle for his space unit at school.  Lots of decoupage and paint!  Edit 12/14 - We are all done!  Just need to take final pics and post!

I am NOW GOING OFFLINE and making something!  LOL

Craftster

Ok - so I know I am the last person to get registered on Craftster.  Geez - I am there for 30 minutes and I now have 4 different projects I want to make.  I have to GET OFF the internet to do this however!!