SECRET GIVEWAY AND OTHER STUFF ~ ~ ~

Over the holiday weekend, my followers list hit 100!!!  So, using the 'random number generator' website, Susan Pilotto of Crows Nest Primitive Folk Art was picked to win a quarter yard of my marbleized wool!  Upon checking her blog, it worked out really well that Susan uses wool in her creations ~ email me your address, Susan,  and I will send this off in a hurry!  You have no idea how much we bloggers appreciate our followers and our readers ~ it's wonderful to know that you're out there and interested in what we have to say!  Keep coming back and we love it when you leave comments!  That's how we know you're there!!

Remember my Christmas day post, where I mentioned that an online order for the little girls did not arrive and I said I was headed to the studio to make a couple of scarves so the girls would have a present?  Well, here they are!! I made two of them and the girls seemed to like them a lot!  One of their moms said she would like one, too ~ I haven't made her one yet, but I will!!  I have this stash of felted sweaters that I use for purses and future projects, so I opened the cupboard and spread them all out on the floor and went to work!!  They did turn out cute and I wonder why I don't make more!!  Sometimes, this stuff is only fun to me when I have to crank it out and meet a deadline ~ think there's something a little quirky about that? Yeah ~ me, too!!!  At any rate, you all know I love sparkly things and the hearts are made from some sparkly sweaters that are part of my stash! 

A quick photo of our holiday baking ~ black forest cake for me (I've misplaced  my treasured recipe and had to wing it) and Sonny baked an apple pie that got great raves!  We had a wonderful dinner of turkey and a tenderloin ~ and the kids all brought the rest of the dinner ~ we ate nonstop, it seemed ~ we all were like stuffed turkeys!  The kids had a rousing game of Sequence that Brian brought ~ very fun and Tad even played with them!  Only 20 of us this year, so it seemed a little quiet for this group!



Tad's  46th birthday is today and we all went out for supper last night to celebrate!  I bought him a Levi's jacket since he liked mine so much but all the way over to the gathering, he kept saying it was "too tight on his back"!!  He ditched that jacket the minute we hit the door and wore his sister-in-law's down filled/fur collared jacket home!!!!!!!  Guess that present is going back!!!  Anyone who knows Tad understands exactly what I'm saying!  He's a character ~ he enjoyed Christmas immensely this year ~ spent the whole day downstairs with us and had a great time!  Today, his birthday,  will actually be quieter ~ maybe a little shopping with his gift cards!

Sonny took off last week and this week, too ~ it's been fun ~ today, we're both getting projects done ~ he's building hooking frames and I hope a stand or two.  We sold the last hooking stand yesterday!  I'm trying to catch up in the office so I can close out the year by Friday!  It's nice to not be in a rush like last week ~ whew!  It's a wonder we made it but I always say "we've never missed a Christmas yet".  This year, we really pushed the envelope! 

Have a great restful week ~ today is a beautiful sunshiny day here in Ohio!

HANDMADE SCARVES ~ ~ ~

Several weeks ago, Sheri of the Shabby Sheep blog, asked her blog friends to help her out! Sheri is bravely undergoing treatment for breast cancer and wanted to do something for comrades at their local support group! I love that about Sheri ~ even though I only know her thru her blog ~ but she is approaching this diagnosis with a positive attitude and taking the path of being a giver. So many of the gals lose their hair and need warm hats and scarves and Sheri asked her blog friends to use their creativity and make things that she could share with her group! So, of course, I said yes and of course, I waited till the last minute! Their Christmas party was this past Monday and I started making mine last Tuesday!! And, of course, I was in a sweat as to whether they would reach her on time ~ as luck would have it ~ they did!!

The first scarf ~ which is located up in that first long rattling paragraph ~ is made out of wool sweaters that I have felted (initially to make into purses ~ which I have done). I had a cabinet full of these waiting to be made into something useful so I drug them all out on the floor ~ put together some colors that I thought would work ~ cut them into 1/8 yard wide pieces and zig-zagged them together end to end. I used a multicolored thread which was just what it needed to give it some pizzaz! Then I backed it with a white confetti wool and zig-zagged the two pieces together and then cut some wool hearts and appliqued those on the end. At first, I thought the whole thing was going to be wasted effort but as I got rolling along, it turned out kind of cute and funky!! And the edges get kind of ruffly as the sewing stretches the sweater material ~ Perfect!! And I pinked the edges after the stitching was done!

So, that one was for Sheri to donate but I thought she really needed one for herself, since this was her idea! I got out my black wool ~ tore a strip about 8" wide across the yardage and proceeded to go thru my roving stash and wool yarns. I had seen a knit scarf with these colors in a yarn shop and it stuck in my mind - imagine that! I first needle felted that green stem into a squiggle with my needle-felting machine, then added the leaves and embellished that with some sparkly angel hair fibers. The pink roving was perfect for some flowers with pink angel hair centers. I love sparkly things ~ kind of like a crow!! Then the raw edges of the wool posed a problem but there was the perfect rose colored yarn just waiting to be needlefelted all around the edge. I was so hoping that Sheri would like this one for herself ~ she emailed that when she took it out of the package, she told her friend that she wished she could keep it! After she read my note, she realized it was for her ~ that made us both happy!!
So say a prayer for Sheri as she travels this journey ~ not one she asked for ~ but one that she is facing with courage and a sense of helping others!

Less that 24 hours from now, the Seattle family of five will be pulling in ~ and Grandma is barely ready!! I have had the worst cold since last Thursday ~ finally called the doctor for an antibiotic on Monday ~ and it saved my life!! I was so sick and so unproductive all weekend and ~ I couldn't go out and have any fun ~ that really made me sicker!! But thru all that, I managed to get my office in tip top shape, do a little bit of decorating today( I will finish in the morning) and started a little hooked rug from a drawing that Hannah brought me two years ago! I wanted to have it finished before they arrive ~ but it's not looking good!

I hope you're more ready than me ~ and looking forward to enjoying family and friends. There will be 25 - 30 people here Friday ~ I still have grocery shopping to do, presents to wrap, laundry to finish ~ oh, you don't even want to know!!! Today, I took my son, Tad, out to do his shopping ~ Tad buys for everyone in our family and some who aren't in our family ~ and we did it all today ~ at Kohl's with my 30% off coupon!!!!! Now, that's a happy thing! And ~ I have to do his wrapping, too! I need to go to my bed now ~ see you in a day or two!
Alice