My Latest Project!

A couple of weeks ago I told you about some fantastic fabric dolls I had seen on TV made by Patti Culea. The website where you can see her dolls is here.

http://www.hgtv.com/crafting/modern-cloth-dolls/index.html

Well, I decided to attempt to make my own version, so last week I started out cutting the pattern out of muslin, sewing it together, and painting the body

with watered down acrylic paint.

Then I painted on the face and a body suit.

Next I just started freelancing with material, hand sewing on long strips of fabric, ribbon and putting beads around the neckline and strings of beads on the dress and around her long lovely neck. Then came her hair tied up with cloth covered pipe cleaners and ribbons and the final touch, long "diamond" earrings. She took me many odd hours and I learned 2 major lessons, 1 don't use a gel pen to trace the pattern...it bleeds thru the paint. And second, fingers and hands are HORRIBLE to sew and turn. Mine look like they are full of arthritis! :)

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Gary and I gave each other "street names" the other day. Mine is Booker and I think that is what I will name my doll. She is the younger free spirited wild and crazy me.

What do you think? Does she look like me??

Lazy Afternoon at the Lake

We had a lovely trip to Horseshoe Lake yesterday afternoon and had a really restful and relaxing time.

Gage and Luke loved throwing rocks in the lake and hiking around.Kyle wanted to swim but the water was too cold, so he played and ate (or tried to eat) everthing in sight.

Here is Luke posing for me.

And Gage looking handsome as always
Carl and Luke contempating the lake and watching for fish to jump.

We stayed until the skeeters started biting and then drove home, all 3 little boys falling instantly to sleep for the ride.

Thanks Carl and Jinger for the lovey day.

Thank you Shawna!

Recently my son and daughter-in-law did some remodeling and ended up with several wonderful old windows. When they came to visit this summer they brought me one of the windows and I was told to decorate and use it however I liked.

So I cleaned it and it sat in my bedroom for awhile as I thought about what I would like to do with it.

Finally I collected some flowers from around my yard. Lavender, daisies, pansies, petunias, and other flowers the names of which I don't know.

I arranged them on a big cardboard panel that was covered with a piece of pellon, put another piece of pellon on top and then another cardboard panel and then stacked a bunch of heavy books on top evenly to weight it all down and left it for about 3 weeks.

Then I carefully took it all apart and used "Modge Podge" to glue all the flowers in place on the center pane of glass in the window. Of course I made a mess and ended up deciding to splatter the modge podge on and hope when it dried that it would look like raindrops....which surprisingly it is!!

Sweet hubby hung it up for me today with special hooks and screws (it is VERY heavy) and I couldn't wait to show you the pictures.

I may go get some "Galaxy Glass" which is a paint that you use on glass and it drys to look like stained glass and fill in the small panes around the outside of the window, but I will decide on that later.

Right now, thank you Damon and Shawna, each morning when I wake up, no matter what the season or weather outside, I will see spring right in my bedroom!

I Love Our Country!

With everything that has been going on in our great United States of America I feel like I should restate how I feel about being an American.

I have never traveled outside of the US of A, but one son, and 2 grandchildren and my sweet hubby have. One grandson is currently serving in the army and will soon be sent to one of those far away places full of the Taliban or Al Queda. Knowing the circumstances he will be in and knowing how proud I am of him serving his country gives me a greater sense of pride in our country also.

Another grandson is serving a church mission in poverty stricken Mexico and I am super proud of him too. He walks the dusty drug ridden streets everyday in almost unbearable heat to teach the gospel in hopes of improving peoples lives through faith in Jesus Christ.

I know that if the government under President Obama succeeds in his mission, we will be a totally socialist, secular country.

We will no longer have the freedoms and rights given to us in the founding fathers constitution.

Maybe everyone will have health care, but will it be the quality that we have now or will it be dependent on our age, extent of our illness, or whether the government thinks we are worthwhile persons in society?

Will our power bills be so high that we live either freezing or roasting to death because we can no longer afford to warm or cool our homes? Will we soon need to go everywhere by horse & buggy or bicycle? Will mail be a once a month or once a year delivery?

Will our news be dictated by the government and all our private information be listed on the new plastic card with a 666 on the front that we have to use for everything??

I love our country and the freedoms that we have now. The freedom I have to write this and let anyone read it.

If they label me an astroturf conservative so be it! I will gladly go spend the rest of my years labeled a proud American protester!

The lowly fly swatter

This week with no one here to help me I have found several uses for the lowly fly swatter besides using it to swat a variety of insects!

It is a terrific tool for reaching things that are just out of reach! The loop at the end on the handle is great for "grabbing small objects and pulling them towards you, or can be used to "push" switches up or down.

The handle is also a pretty good "back scratcher", not quite as good as finger nails, but less abrasive, and the handle is nice and long to reach those hard to get to spots!

They come in all shapes and sizes and colors!

AND they can be used as a fan in delicate situations!!

Don't ask me why I wrote this blog..........I've been alone too long!!!!!!!!

Good thing hubby is coming home tonight!

Alone at last....not forever thank goodness!

My sweet hubby left just this morning and will be gone a few days. So it's just Odie and me here in this big ol' house.

Quiet and solitude at last, no cooking, no cleaning, no noise unless I want it.

So far I've watched 2 movies, gone to Wally world and ate a Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream.....

Not handling the solitude so well I guess.

I will be ok and I will enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation.

I also know that I will definitely NOT want to live here alone for to long. I am not afraid, don't get me wrong, I feel perfectly safe.

It's just that this house is bigger than I need and I like, love my hubby and enjoy his company. We have grown into a companionable easy way of being together and still not getting in each others way. We each do our own things and go our separate ways during the day and end up together alot. We don't need to talk alot or even sit together but there is a sweet connection between us that will last forever no matter what.

Meanwhile, I will enjoy Odies company and any of the kids that drop by, and I might do some more window shopping, family history projects and stay in my jammies all day.

I will enjoy my solitude, and eagerly await hubbies return at the same time!