Category Archives: Crafts & Hobbies

Crochet – diamond painting – garden – pc issues

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I wasn’t happy with my crochet shawl project. I unraveled it and started again with a c2c v-stitch pattern. It’s taken me some time to work it out, but so far, it’s going well.

I finished my diamond painting. I’ve decided not to frame/hang it up. I’ve added it to our portfolio folder-notebook. I used to just roll up the finished diamond paintings (dps) and keep them on a shelf. Whenever we’d want to look at them, I’d have to unroll them all, then roll them back up. It was okay, but not really enjoyable.
Fortunately, my blogging buddy Claire mentioned on her blog how she keeps her dps in a portfolio. It’s such a great idea. I leapt on that idea and ordered us one. The portfolio can hold 60 or more depending on size. That works our great for us.
“Thank you so much, Claire. You’ve helped make our diamond painting more enjoyable. ❤ ”

My husband is really in the gardening mood this year. He tilled up a small garden spot. I might add that since he tilled the garden spot, we’ve had several rainstorms and the temperatures have been running as low as in the mid 20°F. So, for now, we wait… Come on warm weather and some dry days to plant!

I wish all of you oodles of nice Spring weather.
Have a super rest of the week!

P.S. I’ve ran into some pc issues the past few weeks. I’ve pretty much got them worked out. A new battery and a factory reset did the trick. Hopefully, it’ll be smoother sailing for a while. Now it’s time to play catch-up on my visiting and blogging. 🙂

Diamond painting – Daffodils – old thoughts

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I’ve gotten a smidge past the middle point of my diamond painting. In real-life it looks pretty. It’s a real adventure trying to get a fairly clear photo of diamond paintings. The diamonds reflect light and can make it a mess of spotty bright spots. I’ll be happy to get it finished, framed and displayed on the wall. However, to me, it’s a bit monetish in that I need to step back from it to see its real beauty, which works out well for where I plan to hang it.
*(Monetish (moe-nay-ish) is not a real word. I made it up using the last name of Oscar-Claude Monet a French impressionist painter. I use to describe ‘something’ that one needs to step back to see ‘the something’ more clearly. A metaphor of sorts, I suppose.)
The weather has been absolutely lovely. It’s been mostly sunny and near 70°F. The daffodils in our area are blooming lovely. When we’re out for a drive, they’re like splashes of sunshine fallen to Earth, lined or splattered about the landscape.
I particularly love the fact that when the daffodils are in blooms you can look through the trees or across a field and see where the old homeplaces were. It’s quite a bittersweet view sometimes; to think once-upon-a-time a home stood amongst the trees or in the midst of a field. Perhaps it was a small place or a big place with a few children or oodles of children. Perhaps they danced around, picking daffodils and laughing as they discovered the yellow glow or pollen on their noses. I wonder how their lives progressed. I suspect it was much as it is today. I figure some of them grew out of their daffodil collecting days and scattered about the country making more dancing children and more homesteads. I wonder if any of them told their generations of offspring about the daffodils left behind. I wonder if their following generations ever appreciated that the daffodils are like a beautiful reminder of what once was.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week.
May your dancing with flowers days never end in your heart.

 

 

Diamond Painting and Daffodils

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I’ve a new diamond painting to work on. I’m hoping it’ll turn out well. I really enjoy getting in to the ‘zone’ of placing the dots 1 or more at a time. It’s mindless work, to be sure, but quite relaxing on the brain.

It’s that special time of year. The daffodils have broken the soil and are on their way to growing and blooming into the first colors of the new year.
However, it also means that the old wives-tale is on our minds… and we’re hoping that if the ‘snow lays once on the daffodils’, it’ll be a light one.

I hope this first month of the year is being kind to you all.
Happy Crafting!

 

Diamond painting – plastic canvas tissue box cover – Classic Impressions Needlepoint

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I’m happy with my diamond painting.
I framed it and have it hanging in my kitchen.
It wasn’t easy to get a very good picture of it, but this one turned out fairly well.

I finished my plastic canvas tissue box cover.
I think the colors look pretty good together.

I got a bit more done on my ‘Classic Impressions Needlepoint’.
I hope I’ll keep working on it steady.
I still have oodles of work to go on it.

Wishing you all a week of happy crafting!

 

Works in Progress – Internet issues

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Here’s my two long term projects, one will take the rest of the year to finish and the other, well maybe a decade or two at the rate I’m going. 😀
My 2022 temperature blanket is slowly coming along.
I work a few times a week on my needlepoint. I wish I was faster at it. But as long as I keep working on it (and don’t store it away again), I figure, I’ll eventually get it finished. It’s supposed to be a pillow topper, however I’m not fond of the idea of all my hard work being put on a throw pillow. I’m going to frame it and hang it on the wall so I can admire it safely behind glass. 😉
I’m working on another tissue box cover. I’ve never used any colors with this pattern except for light beige and a pink or rose color, so this topper is quite fun for me. It’s looking okay in the combo of Camel and blue.
I think this diamond painting is going to turn out quite well. I plan to frame it. I wish my camera could show how pretty the finished diamond dot area is.

It helps me to have a few different projects going right now since my internet is not what it used to be. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get this to upload today for WIP Wednesday. I’m going to try though. Our internet is slow as dial up. Hopefully, our internet provider will get the system updated and upgraded soon.

Wishing you all nice weather and happy thoughts.

 

Throw Pillows & Tissue Toppers – internet issues

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I recycled our old throw pillows by making some new cases and transferring the old freshly washed & dried stuffing into them. I wanted a different print other than plaid or floral patterns. These critter prints are 100% cotton and are definitely different. I like the way they turned out. My husband really likes them too.

I made a couple of plastic canvas tissue box covers. The blue one is a simple pattern I designed and made.
The pink/cream one is basically made by an old pattern book I’ve had for several decades. The original pattern fits boxes a bit too tight. I made the canvas a bit wider and had to rework the design a bit. I redesigned the top to more my liking. I shortened the bottom by one row (by accident).

I’m still working on my needlepoint and my crochet temperature blanket. I’m also working on a diamond dot painting. I’ll post more on these later.

I enjoy having several projects going at once. I especially enjoy when I get some of them finished. 😀

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Happy Crafting!

The reason that I haven’t been blogging much, is we’re experiencing a lot of internet issues. Our provider is in the process of upgrading their system. It will be a long while before it runs smoothly. :/
So bare with me, I’ll be visiting and blogging when I’m able too.

Doves and Classic Impressions Needlepoint Update

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I had planned to do only a wild-bird Wednesday, but I decided to add a work-in-progress Wednesday along with it.
This needlework has been super-duper slow project because I get sidetracked so easily. It’s the same ‘Classic Impressions Needlepoint‘ That I posted about 1-22-2020. Hard to believe it’s been over 2 years and I’ve still not finished it. I hope to finish it this year, but I might not. We’ll see.

Wishing you all a cool and comfortable rest of the week.

 

 

Christmas Giftie 2021

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I hope your holiday preparations are full of good cheer!
Our holidays start early with a tree trimming in mid-November.
Mid-december, cards are sent and the gifts
for our special loved ones are delivered.
We reminisce about the past and
contemplate the future with hope.


Here’s a small giftie of a coloring picture to print off & color & decorate.

Merry Christmas!
Sending warm wishes for you all to have
a holiday filled with love and hope.

 

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fireplace animation ©joysofcreating
fireplace coloring picture ©joysofcreating

 

 

February 2021 Weather Gifts and Crafts

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I hope everyone had a pleasant Valentine’s weekend and was able to spend some time with loved ones. I also hope that you all are staying warm and aren’t too iced and/or snowed in.
We had a beautiful snowfall a week ago on February 7th. It was like a winter wonderland, It melted away rather quickly.
We were fortunate over this past weekend, we got just a bit of ice. Right now we’re having a cold rain. According to the forecast, things are about to change for the worse. I’m thankful we did our grocery shopping Sunday morning.. We may be iced/snowed in for a while… hope not… we’ll see. :/

This year we wasn’t much in the mood for Valentine’s celebrating with flowers, chocolates or jewelry activities: flowers die and I rarely wear ornaments other than my wedding ring. So, no gifts is no big deal.
However when my husband hit on the perfect gifts this year, I accepted them with joy and appreciation.
Instead of a dozen roses, I got a fine gauge kb knitting loom.
Instead of gaudy pieces of jewelry, My husband and I gave each other an electric start generator. This is something we’ve wanted since we got hit by a tornado last spring 2020 and we were without electric for a week.
Right now, with threats of bad weather and possibilities of power outages in our area, it’s the perfect time for us to invest in a generator.
In crafting news… My husband and I have started a couple more diamond dot paintings. His is a fish setting and mine is mason jars with flowers. We figure, as long as we’re grounded at home still, we might as well continue to be creative. We really do enjoy this form of crafting. It’s amazing how relaxing it is.

Wishing you all a good week.
Keep warm and stay safe.

 

 

 

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December 2020 Crafty News

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Well, it’s near the end of the year. I’m still not in a very active crafting mood. However, I thought I should make a bit of a crafty post since the last crafty one I made was way back in April.

During this month of December, My husband and I made a couple diamond dot paintings. It’s become a Christmas time tradition for us. We sit at our kitchen table, each with our own diamond dot kit. Over the course of the weekends, hours at a time, we work and enjoy sharing a pleasant relaxing craft together.
Yesterday, I transformed leftover baked ham and deviled eggs into ham salad. It’s a very easy thing to do.
I chopped up some ham,
mashed up 3 deviled eggs,
mixed them together,
and spooned the ham salad onto snack crackers.
It made a nice tasty snack and used up the rest of the leftover deviled eggs.
In November, I tried to do a bit of crocheting. Unfortunately, I had to stop because I got a very uncomfortable ache in my hands. I’m surprised that I haven’t experienced it, to this extent, before this stage in my life. When in the mood, I love crocheting, so I know I don’t want to give it up. I looked online and ordered a set of cushioned crochet hooks that are made to hopefully help ease the ache. They’re real nice.
To try my new crochet hooks out, I attempted to crochet some popcorn. I thought I’d make oodles of it and string them for garland for our tree. After crocheting only 3 popcorns, I lost interest. It’s a lot more work and requires more holiday spirit than I can muster up this year. Maybe, some day in the future, I’ll give the popcorns another try.
On a more happy note, We got a nice extra bit of cheer this Christmas when we awoke to a light snowfall. I know it’s silly, but it feels so much more jolly with snow on Christmas day.

I’m sorry I haven’t been around but very little.
I’m going to try to do better in the new year.
I pray you and your families are well and
looking forward to hopefully more positive
times to come in the new year.