Crafting

So I have been busy working. Even with IEPs and evals to write for school I've managed to fit in a few crafty projects. Granted I haven't done as many as I'd like given that Christmas is just around the corner, but I have gotten a few things made. Sadly there are many more projects on my list that I probably won't get to before Christmas. Oh well, I won't dwell on that now. Instead I'll concentrate on what has been finished.
I made this patchwork stocking for my partner in the St. Nickolaus Swap. I love how it turned out and hope to eventually make some for us of course that probably won't happen anytime soon.

I also worked a little bit with wool felt and felted wool sweaters to create these brooches. I sent the blue bird brooch to my partner for the St. Nickolaus Swap. The rest are destined to become gifts for co-workers. I keep forgetting how much I like working with wool felt and old sweaters. I've got to come up with some more projects to use my sweater stash.


I also made and sent this apron to my St. Nickolas Day Swap partner. I love the color combination and the polka dots. I was tempted to keep it for myself but that wouldn't have been in the spirit of St. Nickolaus so I sent it on the way to it's new owner instead.


As you know I'm a bit zentangle obsessed so I've done a some of that over the last month or two. I zentangled this red umbrella for a swap. It took a lot more time than I thought it would to draw on the whole thing. As I was getting ready to mail it out I noticed some black on my hands so now I'm not sure it's even waterproof. I almost didn't send it but decided to send it anyway since I spent so much time on it. It may have to be used as a parasol or a decoration instead of a functional umbrella. I was afraid to test it out!


Lastly I altered this dress for my sister. My sister was looking for a dress to wear to a formal holiday party and asked me to alter her green dress. She originally wore it in her best friend's wedding last year. It was about 5 inches longer and strapless. The dress kept falling down and had to pulled up frequently so it definitely needed some alterations. I have to say I was scared to death to cut it and attempt the alterations. I am not a seamstress and get nervous about cutting and altering items for other people. Especially expensive clothing! My sister was very calm and trusting and didn't seem worried at all. That's okay because I worried enough for the both of us!!! But in the end I worried for nothing as it turned out really cute. It's a little wrinkled in this picture but think it looks even prettier now that it has been altered. My sister wore it to the party last weekend and got many compliments on it.
So what have you been up to? Are you done your Christmas crafting?

Introducing Ruby

This is Ruby. We adopted her 2 weeks ago. Ruby is a 2 year old english bulldog. I have been in love with bulldogs for at least 12 years. I have wanted one for many years. They have a face that only a mother can love! Ruby is no exception, I think that she is beautiful!!!! I tell you that face just kills me!

Ruby is a sweetheart and loves lots of attention. She's thrilled to see me when I get home and wants to spend all of her time with us. She can fetch but most of the time she just watches us throw the ball. Which brings me to a few of the reasons I think she was meant to be my dog.
1. She doesn't really like to exercise. Me neither!
2. She's afraid of all cleaning tools and supplies. I hate cleaning!
3. She needs lots of love and patience. I have lots to give.

She's very smart and quickly figured out that the dog food was in the basement. She kept sticking her head through the large cat door we have in our basement door looking for it. I couldn't resist taking pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so many things to be thankful for today and everyday! So today we celebrate the countless blessings we have as we spend time with our friends and family. We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving too! Happy turkey day!

Fall Portraits

I love zentangling. When I started to zentangle Nature Girl wanted to join in the fun. I gave her a marker and some paper and let her go. Now she zentangles often and really enjoys it too. She has her own ideas about zentangles and likes to use colors not just black. It's fun to see what she will create. This sweet apple zentangle is one that she recently drew for me. I love it and have it hanging in my classroom.

Apples make me think of fall and school portraits. The last two years she's had a forced fake smile for her portraits so I wasn't expecting them to turn out this year. In fact I had already scheduled a portrait session for our family portraits and had decided to get her pictures done when low and behold this portrait from school showed up. I think it turned out great!

These last two are from our family portrait session. She wanted her picture taken with the fake rock because she loves rocks so much.
In fact she loves rocks so much that she wants a meteorite. I think we'll have to add it to the Christmas wishlist. Last year she wanted Santa to bring an ostrich egg and this year so far the list includes a stuffed husky, a lava lamp and new twinkle toe sneakers that light up. I think a fossil would be cool too but she hasn't mentioned that.

A Whole New Bag

Nature Girl visits the library at school each Tuesday. At the beginning of the year each child was given this green bag to put their library books in. They have to bring their library book back each week in the bag. Last week, just two months into the school year, the string broke and Nature Girl began to fret about returning her library book this week. I probably could have threaded a new string through the old bag but it was all crinkly looking, like it's seen better days. Instead of messing with a new string I just made a whole new bag.

I bought this corduroy owl fabric awhile back to make something for Nature Girl. It seemed like the perfect print for a new library bag. So I sat down at my sewing machine tonight and made this library tote bag.

She was excited and exclaimed "Oh mommy, I love it!" I think it passes the kid test. Let's hope it passes the school librarian tomorrow.

Happy Fall!

Time really files these days! It's hard to believe it's already November! Before we know it we'll be leaving fall and heading into winter. I'm not ready for winter yet and haven't even begun to think about the holidays or holiday shopping. Thinking of it now makes me a little queasy. In an effort to enjoy fall and slow the impending winter I thought I'd share some of Nature Girl's recent fall art. I just love to see what she will create when she sits down to draw. It's fun to watch her!


She traced her hand print then colored, cut out and glued the leaves and the pumpkin. I love that the turkey has been nibbling on the pumpkin.


I also love this squirrel gathering nuts for the winter. He is so cute! He reminds me of Scaredy Squirrel. We love all of those books!
Like me Nature Girl really enjoys drawing and creating. I have been creating too. I'm working on a couple of swaps but I can't share yet. I'll post more when my items have been finished. In the meantime we're wishing you a happy fall and a delay in cold winter weather!

Spookify Me Challenge

A few weeks ago during a meeting a co-worker challenged me to zentangle something for Halloween. Of course I took the challenge and created this eyeball. It's hanging in our classroom now. My students love it and have been asking me to make eyeballs for them. This week the students will be doing a few Halloween activities so I decided to create an eyeball that they can complete. I created one for the kids that don't like to draw so they can color it instead and one for my budding zentanglers so they can zentangle their own eyeball. I thought I'd share the pdf and open up the challenge to you. What kind of eyeball can you create?