A Little Tuesday Tip for Cross-Stitchers

If you have long used the Stitchbow system of keeping your DMC floss, then no doubt you have lost labels! So many times my DMC labels just pop right off when I don't notice, and then I really have to track down what color I've got on there!

But see the one in the middle? Yep, that's pink washi tape. It wraps around there easily and I just write the DMC number and wallah...it doesn't fall off! I think I'll eventually have all the ones I'm using right now relabled this way. And the washi tape is cute, you could color code it for different projects you have going on, and as long as it's a light color you can easily write on it.

Just a little Tuesday tip!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Saturday at Home

Good morning! Don't ya love a Saturday at home?  

Especially if you've had a busy week of work, errands and chores. When I've been this busy, I have not even had time for my morning egg. Saturday at home means I do that extra mile on the treadmill, and have a nice brunch! I love having coffee on my greenhouse sunporch or the deck if there's a nice breeze. The temps have been much better this week, so who knows, I might actually get to take a walk around the beautiful lake at the park!

My favorite: smoked ham, egg and cheddar on a whole wheat muffin.

A nice walk and some good food, (don't forget my coffee) and I'm ready to tackle the day! Things are going pretty well in the garden. I've heard from a lot of friends whose gardens actually dried up! It has been a chore to have to water so much, but I couldn't give up on it! The tomatoes are doing great, the squash could be better, and the peppers and herbs are fine.

Daily harvest

I keep planting herb and flower seeds!

I have herbs and flowers all over the garden--diversity is very healthy in a kitchen garden. I also have a huge variety of pots with all kinds of flowers and herbs. These are handy when you just need a snippet of this or that--and the flowers just make me happy!

I just fresh-preserved another little batch of tomatoes--both red and yellow. When we have our first big family chili dinner this fall,  these will go into the chili, making it extra yummy with that garden-fresh taste. Visit my tomato-canning blog here for instructions on how to fresh-preserve your own garden tomatoes.

As I walk back up on the deck, Joseph follows me and flops down with his snake. I keep a green fake snake on the deck all the time. I don't know--it's the mischievous child in me. But at some point, Joseph decided that this was HIS snake, and he plays with it every day.

Stepping from the deck onto the greenhouse, this photo shows the long narrow end of my greenhouse sunporch. You can see my aloe vera plant way at the end, and a cat of course. I still have a shelf full of happy meal toys that my nephews like to play with. Some of them are vintage too. In the winter, my greenhouse will fill up with plants.

I'm still so proud of my picture frame project--and thank you for your kind comments about it! I took a plain brown paper frame, bought for 25 cents at a thrift store and made it into this with scrapbooking papers, stamps and glitter. Pretty basic! You can visit my paper frame blog here.

I love to wear my embroidered shorts! They are wild. That's why I'm working on embroidering two more pairs of cutoffs. It really doesn't take very long, and I feel so creative when I wear them! Crazy!

Joseph followed me into the house, and when I got down my new tote bag, he was, of course, all over it. Why does he like my new things so much? I had been wanting this India-style tote bag all summer from Target, and they just now marked them down to half price. Yay! I love a bargain. More money for crafts!

And now back to my angel project. I am designing five angel cross-stitch patterns and hand-crafted kits. So excited. It involves some beading which also makes me happy. And I found an ingenious way to keep track of my bead needle! (My bead needles were always getting mixed up with the fatter needles)

Here is a peek at my first stitched angel, done in the prettiest muted colors of DMC linen floss--I'll have better pics coming soon.

Well, it's time for tea. Thanks for hanging out with me today! I really love all my crafty blogger pals, and your comments always mean the world to me. Have a beautiful, crafty, creative day!

Eat, Write, Dream, and Stitch the day away.

Books, Tea, Plans, Life Class

Well I took my first Zumba Gold dance workout class last week, and just got out of my second class. All I can say is...wow! I felt like a teenager at a dance party. I love it that our teacher is a grandmother, and she gave us the high and low versions of the moves, and the music was absolutely exciting and motivational with a Latin vibe and some nostalgic tunes too! I never sweat that much, even on my treadmill, walking three fast miles! So...that's the high of it. The low is...I was hurting a little the next day! But I kept stretching about every half hour--I think I was a little too in touch with my inner teenager at the class! I forgot that I'm in my fifties and I already have a pinched nerve back problem--totally forgot! I tried to pace myself today, at first, but again I got so lost in the music, I danced full out. Maybe I won't be as stiff tomorrow as I was last week. I recover fast!

In the meantime, the other day while recovering from Zumba, I was resting and watched The King's Speech--so loved it! Of course, while watching it, I had to pull out my big book on the kings and queens and look things up--I'm endlessly fascinated with the stories of all the earth's kings and queens and princesses and so on. I can't ever get enough! Then, after fixing myself a tall refreshing glass of tea, I pulled out my cross-stitch books to make a few plans. I have some pieces that are going into a new cross-stitch quilt, and I am thinking of creating a couple of more little items that will patch into the quilt--this will be a summer project, and I love it already. And let's face it, I just get inspired with ideas when I pull my books out.

My favorite book of cross-stitch patterns has really become my go-to book. It has so many motifs and patterns in it that you can stitch up just about anything that your heart desires in any combination that you wish. I have a lot of post-it notes marking pages in this book!

I also found my kitty pattern to make some new stuffed kitties. I'm going to try some with patches of materials, some embroidery, and some little cross-stitches patched onto their bellies--this could be cute.

I really think of my big corner desk as my "cross-stitch corner" because I keep a lot of those supplies there, along with pieces of fabric, discarded jewelry, beads and ribbon for my mixed-media fabric projects. This also works into my scrapbooking nicely too. My daughter went to her senior prom last weekend, and I am definitely inspired to do a few scrapbook pages with her prom photos!

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

It was so fun to have a photoshoot in the park with her and her group of friends all dressed for prom. They looked like they were in the pages of a storybook! All the parents took a ton of pictures in the Japanese garden area of the park--we all had a great time before we sent them off to their dinner and their prom.

Back at home, I made myself cozy with more tea, starting work on some stitching, and watching one of the Oprah lifeclasses--I love that show. I try to watch at least one a week, and I am happy that when I first signed up for Oprah Lifeclass, they sent me a leather journal! Pretty cool. So now that I can DVR the shows I want to see, I take lifeclass notes in my little journal. Of course, I can't just take notes, I have to doodle while I'm pondering these deep thoughts. But it makes it more fun to go back and read my notes later!

After I have watched a lifeclass, taken notes, and received some inspiration and enlightenment, I always come up with some new ideas of my own. I think that's my favorite part! I try to mark those pages so that I know those were my ideas--possibly for future use. I think I'll need to do some stretching out and lifeclassing tonight. That sounds like a good plan. That, and some ice tea!

More lifeclass notes and doodles.

My daughter and her charming prom date!

Eat happy, write and doodle, dream daily, stitch some love.

Happy May Day!

I want those big fat bees back in my garden this summer!

 Let's hope the April showers have brought May flowers, because May is such a happy month! I brought home a whole tray of flowers last weekend--my own seedlings have not been doing well this spring, so I did not let that stop me from the hopes of having a fabulous garden--I found my garden at a greenhouse down the street and I am set to plant it! My handy hubby has the tiller out, and we will be putting in three new raised beds--so I am excited about the month of May!

 I have a lot on my list beyond creating my secret garden:

1- Spring cleaning and making the house look fabulous and smell sweet

2- Having a bunch of teenage girls join my daughter to get ready for prom night--I have some tasty snacks planned for their "getting ready" party

3- Stitching, sewing, and more stitching! I want to make a cute summer dress from a Simplicity pattern I have, and put together my next cross-stitch quilt--my sewing machine is going to be busy!

4- Writing, writing, writing. I am revising my play, and then back to the novel!

5- I have two birthday parties to throw, one birthday party to attend, and a 23rd wedding anniversary to celebrate--I have the day all planned too!

6- Planning vacation.

7- I am starting a Zumba Gold class this week--that is Zumba for middle-agers, in case you've never heard of that version of this aerobic dance party--I am excited and I hope I survive it! I'll let you know.

8- I plan to go on more picnics and walks by the lake!

9- Also, I need more girl lunches with my gal pals, and especially some wonderful girls I went to high school with--we are celebrating life with our memories of the 1970's and we have fun together!

Blessings to all as you enjoy your own eating, writing, dreaming and stitching. Happy May days!

Needle and Thread Book

I always have a stitching buddy with me.

Stitching up a handy dandy needlebook this weekend is one of the fastest, easiest little craft projects around. And the best part is, I'm more organized than I was yesterday! 

I'm one of those who tends to buy tapestry and sewing needles about every other time I go to Hobby Lobby, because I can never find them! Also, I have a soft spot for those 14k gold tapestry needles--I love them and they slide through fabric so nicely and last forever...that is if you can keep track of where you put them!

All you need is felt, floss, a button, and a needle.

It's fun to start this project because you can use all your leftover felt squares from Christmas and Valentines projects. You can also make your needlebook any size you wish--you might want a little tiny one for your bag, or a nice medium size needlebook to keep on your sewing table. Then, simply cut four or five squares, all the same size of course, and then a rectangular piece to button your book closed.

Now, prepare yourself for how fast this is going to stitch up! You'll definitely want to consider this as a gift for your favorite sewists.

In putting this together, I realized it would be nice to have each little page dedicated to certain kinds of pins and needles to keep myself even more organized, so I embroidered on each page to keep them all straight. My first little needlebook features a tapestry page, sewing needles, and safety pins. But I'm definitely thinking I need a book that keeps my gold needles together all in one place, straight pins, and a variety of threaded needles too.

If you wish, embroider your book title on the cover, then sew on your button which will keep your book fastened. Then sew the strap with embroidery floss onto the back cover with a nice "x."  Embroider your page titles and then you're ready to blanket stitch the spine. I also gave the book cover a blanket stitch trim, and sewed around the button hole I cut into the strap.

My little Needle and Thread Book

Page 1 filled with embroidery needles

Page 2: regular sewing needles

Page 3: a few safety pins

As I was going through my needle stash and planning a few more needlebooks, I took some time to go through my mother-in-law's lovely stash of sewing delights that came to me recently in the cabinet of her 1950's black Singer Sewing Machine. I want to get it all organized and keep it together so my daughter can enjoy it too someday. I was really amazed at what the price of needle and thread used to be!

I don't know what year she purchased these, but I like the prices!

Good thread is so expensive now compared to what she paid here.

Ahhh...my daughter's opening night flowers for her winter play. Eat, write, dream, and stitch a little book just for stitchers!

Blooming

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."

--Marcel Proust

It doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I could look out the window and see snow everywhere! I'm so thankful that it is June, and the first official day of summer is upon us. I love walking out into the garden in the mornings, wearing flip flops, feeling the sun and the breeze, and enjoying more time at home with my family. 

Today is Father's Day, and I think my husband is the best dad in the world. He's a hard-working, loving, talented, fun, devoted father to our daughter. It doesn't get any better! It is a blessing I am grateful for and never take for granted.

A cross-stitch from when I played Truvy in "Steel Magnolias"

I stitched a flower word once--now I'm in the mood to stitch some flowers! I have several patterns to choose from, and all my favorite floss colors lined up.

French breakfast radishes from my garden--yum

Happy father's day to you all and happy eating, writing, dreaming and stitching!

Tuning In to the Simple Life LOL Style

I bought my first clock radio when I was a young teen. I had saved up the whole thirty dollars, went downtown to the department store, fourth floor electronics, and got my fabulous treasure. It was the late 1970's, and that's what my radio played, non-stop. Seventies music! Woo hoo!

Later on, in the 1980's, I purchased a rather expensive pink boom box--but I have to say the sound quality was amazing. She was a young, very hip, boom box at the time. And that hot box went to the beach, the pool, the park, and filled my single girl apartment with eighties music, disco music, soul, talk radio, and even classical--whatever I was in the mood for. Afterall, listening to the radio is free. My priorities at the time were laying in the sun, and having fun.

Now, all these years later, in an iPod-digital-music-world, that old pink musical girl still has a rich stereo sound. I had her on today while I was reading, stitching, cleaning house, doing laundry, and clipping coupons. Her cassette tape player does not work anymore, and I don't even have cassette tapes. So she is strictly, a radio. But the radio is still free, and on Saturdays, they play one of my favorites: seventies music. And yes, I dance when nobody's looking. I love to dance, and the music makes me feel happy. It made me think about one of my favorite subjects: living a simple life. I ponder on this all the time. There's an LOL (Little Old Lady) who lives inside of me, and reminds me about the pure beauty and happiness of simple things. I guess I can't help it, growing up in cross-era's of simplicity coupled with technology. (I need to write a whole blog about that.)

My old pink boom box, strangely, makes me feel tuned in to simplicity. Just like Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, that kind of happiness really is in your own backyard. I took pictures in my backyard the other day, just to prove this to myself. Try it!
I started with my love of growing seeds. It's so satisfying, seeing my squash seeds grow into fruitful plants, and all my flower seeds becoming gorgeous blooming plants. Everything is growing!

 
In the morning, whenever it's possible, I love to get fresh air and a little sun and have my morning coffee. It feels like I'm on vacation, every time. Simple. Happy. Magical! (and yes, I listen to the radio)

I get a lot of happiness in needle and thread. Especially when the thread is beautiful colors of floss, and I'm painting with it.

I think living simply is being in tune with knowing the things that make you happy, the things that don't, and the things that are just, well, things. They are shallow, short-lived, of no value, highly trendy, and simply not worth your hard-earned money or time. Lately, there are so many fabulous "toys" out there that would be really nice to have. And I certainly have my share of technology in the house. But, always ask the questions, "do I need this...how long will I have this...are there hidden costs."


This is why I listen to the LOL (Little Old Lady) inside...and she listens to the pink radio.