Holy Craft…

It’s been so BUSY!

Here’s some little gnome-guys I’m working on for the bazaar. Remember the wood I dyed and showed you last time? Those little wooden apples are the gnome’s bodies.

I drilled out their center and glued in a dowel…

then glued on a wooden bead and clipped the excess. Now I’m needle felting little caps. When I have time I poke at a cap a few times. Precious little time has been spent on these. There is so much going on that I feel a little out-of-control. And I don’t know how to settle down. I try to make lists and they get all marked up (Abby!). I try to keep the calendar organized and things get crossed off (Abby!). I try to have a “master notebook” on the counter where I can jot down notes and pages get ripped out (Abby!). The best way I’ve found so far is to keep my calendar updated on my phone. The only problem is that I’m a visual person… I need that list/calendar/notebook to glance at. And…Abby always manages to get a hold of my phone…and edit things. Or an alert will sound on my phone and if I’m not near she will confirm it and I never hear it. Speaking of Abby – keep the date June 3rd open on your calendars! That is when we will have her GRADUATION PARTY!!! (I know, I can’t believe it either!!!!)

Happy Crafting!!!!

More passive crafting…

Did you know you can dye wood? These little wooden apples have been dyed three times. They are for another craft that I have in the works…baby steps! Oh – and the photo has been taken IRL (in real life). This is how I usually roll…crafting gets all mixed up with real life. Around here batteries, tools, embroidery floss and the project all have to live and play together nicely. lol!

When I showed a fellow bazaar crafter these ornaments she suggested making the hearts larger so the ornaments can be personalized. So I did…Hmmmm… (between giving one son a haircut and getting the rest of the kids to bed)

Which led me to believe maybe someone would want more than one thing written on their ornament…perhaps a date? Other names? (I made this one while waiting for my bread to rise one last time – and before I had to start cooking the rest of the supper)

And here is an attempt to try something a little more challenging. It’s in-the-works. Maybe I shouldn’t try detail when the kids are around…I don’t think even one of them can walk by the table without bumping it or leaning on it and causing it to tip! (I made this one while still getting the kids to bed – there was a bit of excitement around here as Grant’s pager went off…not on a fire-call but on an assist…Abby gets soooooooo worked up!!! And it can take hours for her to settle down properly!)

Happy Crafting!!!

I don’t have time to craft…

Is what I hear over and over again from friends and acquaintances.

In extreme circumstances I might agree with them. But really I think everyone has time to craft. Even if it’s just little bits here and there. That is what I had to do this week to make these…

One day I cut up the branch and it took about ten minutes. Then I put the slices in the dehydrator for a couple days…no effort on my part.

Then I sanded them on a nice sunny afternoon/evening with my palm sander. Took about ten/15 minutes.

And while I was cooking supper last night I got out my wood burner and started! I’d get up to stir what was on the stove and flip the homemade tortilla’s I was making…and in between times burn.

I think one of the main differences between a die-hard-crafter and a crafter-sometimes is that even when I’m not crafting…I’m often thinking about it. So when I do get to a project I’m ready to go! I brought my wood burner up from the basement when I put in a load of laundry. I got my snowflake stamp and tree stamp up from the basement when I put the laundry in the dryer… I will drill the holes so I can use these as ornaments the next time my drill is charged and I have a few minutes. Crafting doesn’t have to take up very much time. Yes, there are times when it will take up a huge chunk of time but it’s a choice you make how you’ll use that free time. Craft or watch TV? Craft or read a book? Craft or go out on the town? Crafting isn’t always my choice…just my choice most of the time.

Happy Crafting!

ps: The other most annoying comment I get is “I could make that if I had the time!” Really

So I stopped at a garage sale on Friday…

and came home with this!

It looks like an old medicine cabinet and the glass was cracked. I only paid $2.00 so I figured I could put a little sweat-equity into it. lol. I recently got some spray paint and I went to town…

Then I took out the broken mirror and replaced it with chicken wire. I still intend to paint the inside a nice bright color but that can wait for another day. Here it is hanging in my office. I love it! By the way…I’m the worst spray-painter imaginable. Again…some day…I’ll take it down and ask my son to redo it after I caulk the cracks…someday…

Happy Crafting!!!

We have been so busy…

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. We’ve been crazy-busy. I actually couldn’t tell you everything that has gone on because I don’t remember. lol. Here is one crafting highlight -

I used a recipe I saw on Pinterest to make this wood butter. It conditions your cutting boards and wooden spoons and really it does a nice job on your hands too! You can find the pin under my “wood” pinboard. Otherwise it’s easy…one part beeswax to four parts mineral oil. Melt the wax, warm the oil, combine and stir. That is it. The cutting board you see in the back was in bad shape. This stuff is amazing!

An even bigger crafting highlight is that two of my sisters came to craft with me for the day on Wednesday! We had a great time and they each made an owl picture. They each have a baby about 3 months old and they are so darn cute and kissable too! (the babies )

I have lots of other irons in the fire and no time to complete anything big. Tomorrow I will be going with my husband to a trade fair in Brainerd to work a booth for his company. We have to usher on Sunday at church… there is just always something going on. I have gotten better at saying “no” though…even when it’s hard. When I was younger I’d say “yes” all the time and make it work. Not any more. I just too tired…

Happy Crafting!!!!

Felted Easter Egg

I needlefelted this Easter egg quite some time ago but it was missing something. Lucky for me when Julie came over she told me it needed a Lady Bug. She was right! I’ve always loved the yellow/red combo.

Here’s a little better view of the lady bug. I have a purple egg felted and ready to decorate…and I’m going to follow Julie’s advice for that one too…you’ll see later! smile.

In other news: The kids don’t have school on Friday or Monday. Yippee!!! We can sleep in!!! I hope our weather holds a little longer, I love the sunshine. I think I’m going to run the wringer washer today. Why today you ask? Well look at this guy!

The middle child has been 4-wheeling in mud and I refuse to allow those clothes in my washer. (This is actually a during picture…he ends up much muddier than this) So he’s going to get a lesson on wringer-washing this afternoon so he can clean up after himself. lol. He’s also going to help me switch out the dryer in the house as ours has clunked out. We have a spare so it’s no big deal…just a lot of lifting and shuffling. Have I ever said how happy I am to have another set of muscles in the house? Hubbie is always at work…so it’s nice to have the middle child around! (Abby isn’t too strong and my youngest is just too young to be of much help with this sort of thing.)

Well, have a great weekend and a lovely Easter! (My youngest has his first communion this evening.) And, Happy Crafting!!!

Another deer…

Did I ever tell you my hubbie and I are volunteers for the Cuyuna Whitetails? We go to meetings a couple times a month and help to plan the fundraising banquet. One of our jobs is to get donations to be raffled off at the banquet. I asked our library for a donation and they said “sure!”. At the library we are making up a gift basket and I made this picture to go in as part of the prize. I was happy to find a book that talked about hunting and preserving meat and I used a page of it for the background. I really hope that whomever wins it…likes it! I’m working on another project for the library now…my kitchen table is covered with little scraps of paper…I think once that picture is done it’s time to move onto something else. I should have it done by the end of this week. I haven’t needlefelted for awhile and I miss it! lol.

In other news we attended a ham bingo on Saturday night hosted by my hubbie’s fire department and I won a ham! So did my little guy! He was so funny…strutting his stuff cause he won meat for the fam…lol! Abby did really well playing bingo too – while she didn’t win she did pay attention to the numbers being called better than she ever has before. All in all it is a nice night out as a family!

Happy Crafting!!