Happy Fourth Anniversary WOYWW!

Happy Fourth Anniversary to Julia and all the WOYWW creative people!

Visit What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday #208 right here. Peek in on some highly creative worktables and share your own!

As usual, this is my Tuesday desk in reality--I'm hoping to stay up late tonight to link in early across the pond! (I may fall asleep though) I looked it up, and my first post to WOYWW was in the fall of 2010. Who knew what fun I would have and the wonderfully amazing and talented artists I would get to know and love all over the world! Not to mention the treasures I've gotten in the mail that absolutely made my week. I'm so glad the devine Mrs. Dunnit continues with this madness, because it is my favorite highlight of the week. There is something special about taking a pause from your own madness and mess to snap a picture of your life's energy, and share it with other talented crafters right in the middle of the week.

So on to this week...while having my coffee in my "Many Moods of Minnie" mug, I was stacking up knitted squares. I've been knitting squares off and on for a while. I laid them all out on my bed (blurry pic here) and realized they are ready to go together. And then, I decided, they need this fun bright green and white border--so I've commissioned myself to knit 32 more squares to complete the border--THEN I'll sew them all together. I've given myself roughly two weeks to get this done!

In other state-of-my-worktable news...I found these cool old file things--they're ancient--and somebody should have thrown them away. But I rescued them, and I'm going to upcycle them into an art journal! I think Julie Fei-Fan Balzer would be proud of me! They are very thick, and have these grommet rings on them as if they had once hooked into some file drawer--and they have a metal divider with an alphabet letter on the top. I put them all through the guillotine paper cutter and got some nice sizes from this huge stack.

Also, I've finished the first big planting in my garden with vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and my gorgeous raised bed of thyme came in all on its own! I've already made lemon thyme bars and roast chicken with thyme. Not a bad week of accomplishments for a cool old lady! And it's only Wednesday!

My raised bed of English Thyme and Lemon Thyme--snapped this pic a couple of days ago

WOYWW'ers rock! Hugs to you all! Wish I could hop the pond and come to the crop!!!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Celebrate

Sunday Threads

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Not Just a Graduation Card--Stitch Together a Graduation Tag

If you can't find the perfect graduation card, but you want something special and creative to house your cash gift--stitch up a tag!

This one came together with some pretty paper scraps and a white cardstock base. I like the white base because we were able to write our message on the back. I used glue dots to adhere a little homemade envelope for the cash above the message.

There are four layers glued together here to make the sandwich. The third layer, a faint peach print was punched to look like lace on the bottom. The fourth layer has a mixed-media style design, and I punched the corners with a star punch. Then, with lime green embroidery thread I machine stitched down the two long edges of the top pretty scrapbook paper here, using a fun little floral stitch. But, you could use a zigzag, or even just a straight stitch.

 







I stamped my niece's name at the top, and smeared dark pink gelato under the stamping. I added a self-stick chipboard flower and glued on a piece of ric rac for the stem, and then added a sticker word "happy day" and the definition of "graduation" torn right out of an old dictionary, with more gelato smeared underneath, and finished the bottom with a wavy stamp.

If you can find a library booksale--buy old dictionaries--they are great for mixed-media art, art journaling, and all kinds of cards. I got a huge dictionary recently with the gold-edged pages for 25 cents!

Before finishing the top of the tag, I inked all the edges with a dark purple ink pad.

The top is finished with a floral grommet, ribbons, more of the ric rac, and a key. It's like a little piece of artwork for a special artist!

Making tags are so fun--you'll want to make a collection for yourself! They are also perfect to add texture and interest to your art journal.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch a Tag

WOYWW 207--Graduation Tag Making

Wednesdays are happy because we get to visit each other's workdesks! Link up your own mess...or...neatness...and join the fun of creative snooping!

WHAT'S-ON-YOUR-WORKDESK-WEDNESDAY...hosted by Mrs. Dunnit at Stamping Ground

 I did my photo shoot this week in the middle of making some cards and tags. One tag was for my niece, who graduated from high school, and herself is a beautiful amazing artist! So a store-bought boring graduation card simply would not do. I used the old giant dictionary I got at a book sale for 25-cents, some scraps of pretty papers and cardstock, and a fun little tag came together. It even has some machine stitching, and on the back a little envelope where we tucked the moolah for the graduate!

I just love that particular stitch on my machine with the flowers. I added a grommet, ribbons, and a key at the top. There's also a chipboard flower, ric rac for the stem, stamps, and gelato color smeared around.

Why don't I make more tags? They are so fun! I was also watching the season finale of Call the Midwife. I was in tears when (spoiler alert) we could now call Sister Bernadette, "Sheila" and then she got the engagement ring with the note from the doctor's son! I was a puddle. LOVE  that show.

Love you all too! Have a happy rest of the week! I am spending the next few days in my garden solid!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, GROW

What's Really On My Workdesk Wednesday

Good morning from the USA's beautiful Ozarks! It is sunny and gorgeous on this Wednesday morning (but possibly stormy later--that's life, isn't it) and I am happy to be celebrating what's on my creative worktable on a Wednesday morning! It kind of looks like a dumping ground today as I'm on my way out the door!

I have been busy, and I'm feeling sooo much better than I did last week. Thank you for your kind thoughts and sweet words by the way when I was under the weather.

I am so late to the party today--but better late than never! (Right Julia?) It's not too late for anyone to take a snap of their desk and join us at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. It is almost the fourth anniversary of this very cool blog party.

I actually snapped my desk an hour ago--usually I do all this on Tuesday night, so this is fun. I may be at the bottom of the blog party, but no worries...some of you crafty lovelies tend to visit around all week which makes me happy.

Can you tell I've been playing with my photos in picmonkey? I love that site! I am not a photographer, so I really needed something fun to do with my photos and picmonkey is free. That's a snap of my daughter and I at the restaurant on Mother's Day.

I'm also sharing my plant shopping from last Friday. My office job is at a big beautiful university, and the school of agriculture has a plant sale in the greenhouse every year. You would not believe the amazing varieties our agriculture students grow--love it! Have a happy week everyone! Hugs!

One of my Mother's Day presents!

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch Happy.

Sunday Threads

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1

WOYWW 205--Sick Day

Happy What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday! Visit that desk-revealing blog hop right here. Well, I had such a fun and busy card-making weekend, and for a while, this place was a crazy mess! But I made the most fun card for my nephew turning ten. (No pictures--it wasn't that artistic, just lots of fun.) Then the whole family went to an amazing Brazilian Grill restaurant, where the food keeps coming to your table all night long!

Then my daughter sang in a beautiful choir and orchestra concert Sunday. But come Monday, I woke up sick! Dizzy, ill, what-in-the-world I thought! I stayed in bed most of the day. Today (Tuesday) I started feeling like the old me, and by this evening I had Violet (my new sewing/embroidery machine) humming away on some shorts, and was even working on a hand-embroidery project. My sweet daughter had checked out a book from the library for me, all about Downton Abbey! I'm loving it--especially when I'm sick in bed.

My art journal box, and my bits and bobs tray

I'm still a little wobbly, but I think I'm going to make it. So my desk is in the mid-week project transition mode, and my big boy, Joseph, is laying around looking at me...happy that the sun is out and Mommy is up and about to play!

It was so much fun sharing my new toy with you all last week--I couldn't think of anyone that would understand and be more excited with me than my sweet crafty blogger pals!!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, and Get Well Soon!

Sunday Threads

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7

WOYWW 204--My New Baby

 Happy WOYWW lovelies! And boy am I excited and obsessed!

Isn't she a  beauty? She (my new Brother SE400 computerized sewing and embroidery machine) arrived on my doorstep this past weekend. I've never been so thrilled to go out and buy embroidery thread and stabilizer in my life! Sew...this is what I've been doing. I'm learning everything I can about my new baby--I've named her Violet.

I created my own little starter kit with some pretty, shiny machine embroidery threads, a roll of Sulky stabilizer, a dedicated organizer for all the extra tools and parts that come with this machine, and the instruction tools ready to teach myself! Where's everything else I've been working on? Waiting. Waiting until I know everything I possibly can about my new sewing machine. And it's everything I wanted and more! I've embroidered a few things now, and it's funny, because that's the first function of the machine I taught myself. So now I'll go backwards and learn all the basic sewing functions, and applique. It has more stitches alone than I've ever had on a sewing machine. Yay! I think I have quilting foot too!

My first embroidery--a kitchen towel!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch Happy