It's Never To Early For Starting Handmade Gifts

With the good weather here you'd have to be crazy to be thinking of Christmas and Christmas presents.

Well, crazy - yes!

A planner - definitely!

Organized - sometimes a bit too obsessively!

For the last two months I've spent a LOT of time sitting on the sofa next to my cairn terrier, Bud, who was recovering from his spleen removal surgery and his recent stroke. He wasn't allowed to jump on or off the sofa's - which is his favorite place to be - so I sat there with him until he wanted to get down. Then I'd barricade the sofas with pillows so I could leave and he wouldn't jump up on them.

Since I hate idle hands ( i.e. I'm a multi-tasker) and don't like watching TV during the day I decided to kill two birds with one stone and get some of my crafting done. You might also say that I'm an obsessive crafter - I always have some craft kit or sewing project in my hands. You know how it is!

Earlier this year I decided that from now on the bulk of my Christmas presents were going to be handmade by me. And, since I have a lot of Christmas presents to give that means I need to start creating them way ahead of time.

So, I decided to start on some of the punchneedle, cross stitch, needlepoint, wool felt, and beaded kits that I'd bought last year or even years upon years ago. I searched throughout my house to find all my "works in progress" and "unfinished projects" - and there were a LOT of them. You know how it is!

I gathered them all together, sorted them into different categories, put all the kits for a particular category into its own tote bag (I just LOVE tote bags for this!) and sat down to decide which to do first. Since I just LOVE punchneedle I decided to start on those first. Maybe I'd even sprinkle a few cross-stitch in there as well. The needlepoint's would definitely be last.

Weeks later and I'm thrilled to say that I got 18 punchneedle kits finished and two cross-stitch kits finished. I'd forgotten how tedious and time consuming cross-stitch can be. Punchneedle is just so much faster to complete than the cross-stitch. That's probably why I love it so much.

I've already mounted and framed two of the large 8 x 10" punchneedle creations. They came out really nice - if I don't say so myself. And, I managed to mount all the rest of the punchneedle and cross-stitch kits I'd finished on self-stick mounting boards. Some were mounted on the harder self-stick mounting boards and some were mounted on the self-stick foam mounting boards.

Since they're all mounted this means that I need to ask my dear, loving brother to help me, once again, create shadow boxes and frames for all my punchneedle and cross-stitch creations. Hopefully, he won't mind! This time I have a few ideas that might challenge his skills - which he loves to do.

Last year he helped me create shadow box frames for some of the punchneedle gifts I gave last Christmas . We had a lot of fun doing that and I just LOVE working in his workshop. Maybe I'll take a picture of his workshop so you can all see why it's a GREAT place to create.

In any event, I've made really good progress on some of my handmade Christmas gifts. Of course, I have a LOT more to complete - just don't tell my brother! I'll have to work on him to help me with these later on in the year.

My house is a mess and I have tote bags all over the house. Each has some project in it that is in some stage of completion. All can easily be picked up and started whenever I sit in that chair or on that sofa - you know how it is! All can easily be moved from the house, to the car, or wherever I might be at the moment.

Of course, once everything is done I'll be sure to take pictures so you all can see what I've been working on. That may have to wait until after the holidays - unless, of course, I decide to keep some of my creations for myself - which I may just do. You know how it is!

In any event, it's never to early to start making your Christmas gifts. At least not in my house! Now where did I put that tote bag with the beaded kits? I know I put it...... You know how it is!


Graphic Copyright © 2008 Denise Bailey of  KKL Primitives

A Tribute To Dad And World War II

Several weeks ago my husband and I watched the HBO series "The Pacific" and I have to tell you that I was almost moved to tears by it. Not just because of how horrible it must have been for the soldiers who fought in the Pacific, but because my Dad actually survived it.

You see, my Dad fought in the Pacific area and was at the battle of Iwo Jima. He joined the Navy in April of 1943 and served until December 1946. He was a Pharmacist's Mate assigned to the Marines. He was assigned to the 3rdBn, 28th Marines, 5th Marine Division; 3rdBn, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division; and 1stBn, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division.

My Dad would never talk about the war with us - all he would say is that the Hollywood movies could never depict how horrendous it really was. I wonder if he'd say the same thing about the mini-series we just watched. It looked pretty horrible to me.

The only people he ever talked about the war with was my grandfather who served in WWI and those rare times when his brother, who served in the Army during WWII, and his brother-in-law, who served in the Air Force during WWII would visit.

My Dad loved Japan and always wanted to go back to visit. He brought a lot of stuff home with him from Japan. When I was in the 4th grade I wanted to do a show and tell with some of the stuff he had brought home and he agreed that I could take some of it. The teacher wanted to keep it on display so I left it in the classroom. To our dismay it was all stolen. My Dad, was really upset by this, but didn't blame me as I had no reason to think that anything would happen to it in the classroom.

I can't remember exactly what the items were that were stolen. But, I still have all of my Dad's papers from WWII, some of his war correspondence, and most of his pictures from boot camp forward. The wonderful thing about his pictures is that he wrote the names of his fellow servicemen on the back of the pictures. He was a "pack-rat" and saved everything. I guess I must take after him in that regard. I, too, save EVERYTHING!

Unfortunately my Dad never got a chance to re-visit Japan. So, three years ago I thought that as a tribute to my DAD I would create a WWII blog for him. That way his grandchildren and their grandchildren can see who their Grandfather was and what he did for his country. Kind of a glimpse into his life while he was in the armed services.

Also, by including the names of his fellow servicemen and women maybe someone else will be able to see a picture of their father or grandfather in WWII. Plus, with the ability to crop and enlarge the old photo's we'll all finally be able to see what everyone really looked like back then.

Since there are a ton of pictures and other information that my Dad collected it's going to take me a long time to scan it all in. In the meantime I wanted to create a collage of sorts as a remembrance of his service to his country. So, I created the following shadowbox as a tribute to him and World War II.

I think my Dad would like my shadowbox. I know he'd like the blog idea.

Based on some of the genealogy research I've done many of my families ancestors have served in just about every war since the country began. Some in the Revolutionary War, some in the War of 1812, some in the Civil War, etc. My grandfather served in WWI and, I believe, my other Grandfather served as a merchant marine.

Now you might be wondering why I'm telling you this. Well, tomorrow is Memorial Day and, given that I love history, I thought I'd give you a little history of Memorial Day.

It was first observed on May 30, 1868 when flowers were placed on the graves of the Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize it was New York in 1873.

After World War I the holiday changed from a Civil War holiday to one honoring Americans who died fighting in any war. Back in 1967 Congress created Memorial Day as a time to remember those who have given their life in military service to the nation. It was originally called Decoration Day. Then in 1971, Congress decided Memorial Day would always be observed on the last Monday in May and created a 3-day weekend for all federal employees.

It has also become traditional in many cities and towns to place American flags on the graves of those killed during combat and on the tombs of the veterans of all wars and to fly the flag at half-staff from dawn until noon local time.

While Memorial Day has some how morphed into a 3-day weekend of family picnics and barbecues for the start of the summer we should NEVER forget what it's really about. Brave men and women who died in service to their country.

Luckily for our family my Dad and my two Uncles came home safe from WWII. Many families were not as fortunate. To those who have sacrificed their lives for us "thank you" just doesn't seem like enough to say. How do you thank someone for sacrificing their life for your freedom?

To those who have sacrificed so much:

It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived. — General George S. Patton

We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them. — Francis A. Walker

The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem. — Aaron Kilbourn

It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. - Norman Schwarzkopf

The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the secret of Freedom, Courage. - Thucydides

And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me. -Lee Greenwood

“War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” ~Anonymous

Needle-craft Picture From A Decade Ago - Or So!

I know that I've told you a million times that not only do I LOVE doll making, but I also LOVE floral crafts. Well, you can add needle crafts to my obsessions as well.

Now you might think that the needle crafts is a new interest as I've posted about my cross-stitch and punch needle crafts and shadowbox gifts during the last two years until, I'm sure, I've bored you to tears. Well, you'd be wrong about that.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for some needlework frames to use for some of the Christmas gifts I'm currently working on for this year and ran across some really, really old needlepoint kits that are still WIP after 35 years in storage.

Thirty five years and they're still not done! YIKES!

And, to be honest, I know they're are many, many more around the house. Hiding in the corners - lurking there until I finally get a chance to finish them. That is, if they're lucky enough to get finished and not thrown away. Nah - thrown away - that would never happen! Part of my problem is that I just can't seem to throw anything away. But, that would fill up a whole blog or two and really, really bore you to tears.

In any event looking at the kits I decided that at the time I had to have been into historic scenes and buildings and must have thought it would be fun to do some needlepoint kits of Boston landscape scenes - like Trinity Church in Copley Square and Boston Gardens. The kits looked nice, but I must have gotten bored really quickly with them as one is 1/4 of the way done and the other I never started. You can tell how old these kits are as yarn was used as the thread back then versus embroidery threads.

Thinking about these kits reminded me of another needlepoint kit I had done almost a decade ago and which currently resides in my dining room.

My mother and I had been craft shopping and I had seen this kit and she had spotted a Thomas Kinkade stamped cross-stitch scene she liked. The reason that I remember this shopping trip was I had found the Thomas Kinkade cross-stitch kit unfinished and unopened when I was packing away my Mother's things this past winter.

The kit I bought was a "Ribbons & Roses Wreath" Dimensions Gold Collection kit. I can recall that at the time I was doing the "Ribbons & Roses Wreath" kit that I thought I'd never finish it. It just seemed to get bigger and bigger with more to do each time I worked on it. I'd finish one section and think I'd made progress until I looked at what was still left to do. Then I'd groan!  If you've ever done needlepoint you know what I mean! LOL LOL Well, I finally did finish it and it is shown in the picture above.

Instead of framing it in a picture frame with a mat my husband and I decided to finish it with a wood shadowbox frame that he made and which I painted. What I really liked about the kit was it combined needlepoint with ribbon crafts. Once I had finished the needlepoint part of it I had to outline some of the flowers for affect and create ribbon flowers that were to be added for a three dimensional affect.  Once it was finished it really was stunning.  In fact, the picture really doesn't do it justice.

Sometimes I think my husband and I are so in sync that at times it's spooky.  Just as I was thinking of this needlepoint out of the blue he happened to mention to me that he really liked the wreath needlepoint we had hanging in the dining room and that maybe we should move it to a spot that had more visibility as it really was quite beautiful.  Unfortunately, there really isn't any other place to more it to so it will have to stay in the dining room.

In any event (I know, I say that A LOT) it was nice of him to mention it and thinking about it brought back wonderful memories of one of my many craft shopping trips with my Mom.  I'm thankful for that and thankful that I finally finished it - albeit almost a decade ago.

They say that time flies when you're having fun.  Well, that may be true but I'm not sure it does when you're working on a needlepoint project.  At least not for me.

Quilted Pictures - A Wonderful Concept!

Many, many years ago I came across an interesting quilting concept and was so intrigued that I decided I had to try it. It involved no sewing, gluing or special tools. It also involved fabric, a foam board and a kitchen knife.

Have I piqued your curiosity yet? I hope so!

This small company called "Picture It With Fabric" in Minnesota had a concept for creating quilted no sew pictures and was selling kits that contained a pattern and a specially treated foam board. I don't know what they treated one of the large flat sides of the board with, but it stiffened the foam. The foam used wasn't Styrofoam or soft foam like for cushions. It was somewhere in between.

In any event, the pattern was for a quilt block and contained the instructions and a pattern sheets that you would trace onto the large flat treated side of the foam board with carbon paper.

Then using the kitchen knife you would slice all the lines of the design on the board about 1/2" deep.

The next thing you would do is center your foam board on a large piece of fabric that was to comprise the back and sides of the quilted picture and bring it around the sides to the front and to the frame border line and then add about 1/2".

Then using the kitchen knife you would proceed to tuck the edges of the fabric in the 1/2" slice of the frame border line until everything was taut and secured in place. Once you had done this you had nicely framed the front border, sides, and back of the quilted picture with fabric.

All that remained was to cut out the remaining quilted picture pieces with 1/2" allowance overall for each of the pieces and then proceed, using the kitchen knife, to tuck the pieces in place until they were secure.

Once you got the hang of it creating the quilted pictures was easy to do. So, of course, given that I always do everything in excess I proceeded to create the 3 other kits I had bought. Of course I didn't buy just one kit to test it. Oh, no! I bought 4! LOL LOL

My husband and I decided that a wood frame would not only finish the quilted pictures nicely, but would allow for easier hanging on the wall.  So we decided to finish the quilted pictures by inserting them into painted wooden shadow boxes that we had made.   Well, my husband made them - I painted them.

The welcome quilted picture shown below hangs above one of the doors in our side entrance.  The other quilted pictures shown above are hung near the front door and changed out with the seasons.


A few years ago I decided I wanted to make some more of these quilted pictures as gifts.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the company on line. Every once in a while I try searching again to see what happens.  The last time I did I got a Google map that showed the address was in the middle of a field.

So, I guess the company went out of business.  It's too bad.  It was a great concept with a lot of possibilities.

If I knew what they treated the flat part of the foam board with to stiffen it I'd try creating one from scratch.  But, for now there are so many other projects sitting on the back burner I'll have to put that on hold.

I hope you enjoy the quilted pictures.

The Results Of My BIG, BOLD & PROGRESSIVE STEP!

Back in November 2006 I wrote a post for my Linda's Blog and Tips For Crafters On The Web blog entitled: I've Taken A BIG, BOLD & PROGRESSIVE Step!

My post concerned my decision to eliminate my monthly newsletters in favor of my blogs. It was A BIG, BOLD & PROGRESSIVE Step at the time that I got positive and negative reactions from.

In 2006 blogs weren't anywhere near as mainstream and popular as they are now. Today many artists and crafters on the web are using blogs to sell their products. They've become "selling blogs" and are created instead of the more traditional websites - which is fine by me.

I was a big proponent of blogs back then and I'm still a big proponent of blogs - which is why I have so many!  It was also why I was dubbed "The Blogging Queen" crown and all!

In any event, back then on several of the forums I belonged to many members openly stated they would "NEVER BUY ANYTHING SOLD ON A BLOG!" My reaction was; "Why not?" I didn't see any difference between the person selling on their blog and selling the same merchandise in a traditional website. In fact, blogs can be set-up to look like the more traditional websites. So much so nowadays that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I wonder if those same individuals would make the same statement today?

My logic in using the blogs versus newsletters was simply based on exposure. Given all the ways that blog feeds were being generated at the time I figured I would gain so much more exposure from my blogs then I ever would from a newsletters. Since then the use of RSS feeds, feed services, feed reader websites, etc. has exploded. So much so that the exposure possibilities are truly endless.

In fact, nowadays I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how many people are accessing my blogs RSS feeds as so many can do so without my ever knowing they are.

For example, I use Google Reader for tracking all the blogs I am interested in - which is over 500 now. Every time someone posts something new on the blogs I am subscribed to I get notified via a line item on my Google Reader widget which I keep on my desktop. I can peruse the list, read a brief summary of the blog post from the reader and then click over to read the actual blog post, if I want to. None of the blog owners have any idea that I've subscribed to their blogs this way.

Nowadays I can even link my blog RSS feeds to my Facebook profile and Facebook pages whereby my blog posts are automatically posted to my Walls and/or Notes and whereby my friends can then subscribe or read my feeds from my respective Facebook page.  And, I wouldn't have a clue that they had.

I've had a combined total of 1,028,186 visitors to my blogs since I've been tracking them. That's just visitors to my blog and doesn't count subscribers to my blogs that I'm aware of or readers using RSS feed services that I'm not aware of.  If I were to try and estimate the latter I'd have to guess that number would double if not triple the number of visitors to my blogs.

Also, when I look at the statistics for my websites as to referrals my blogs far exceed any other websites I have listed or advertised with. My blogs send more visitors to my websites than any other website.

Plus, most of my blogs enjoy a Google PageRank of 3 - which is very good. Some even have a Google PageRank of 4. Some websites never attain that.

So, in my opinion, was My BIG, BOLD & PROGRESSIVE STEP successful? Just based on numbers of visitors to my blog since my first blog was created in October 2005 I'd have to say "DEFINITELY!"

A Gift and A Tribute To Mom

I tend to be a pretty emotional and sentimental type of individual. All of the handmade items, pictures, letters, etc. that anyone has given me over the years I have kept. I've even kept all the cards that have ever been given to me, and my school papers, reports, etc.

I've also mentioned that besides crafting and making dolls I love floral design. Natural flowers, dried floral, and silk floral - it doesn't matter. I love creating with all of them.

Well, years ago my Mother wanted something bright and beautiful for Spring. Something that would remind her of sunshine. So I decided to create a floral wreath in her favorite color - which was blue. Something she could hang in her apartment in the Spring.

So, I bought a 14" round grapevine wreath, several blue silk and berry floral garlands, several small white and blue silk floral stems that I could place where needed, light blue and lilac wired ribbon for a bow, and thin and medium gauge wire.

I wrapped the garland around the grapevine wreath until I was happy with the placement and then hot glued it in place in different sections. I then cut the small white and blue silk floral stems down so I could insert them into the grapevine where needed and when happy with the placement hot glued them in place. I created a multiple loop bow from the wired ribbon and tied it to the wreath with the thin gauge wire. Then I created a loop out of the medium gauge wire and fastened it to the back of the top of the wreath for hanging purposes.

My Mother loved the wreath I made her (which is shown in the picture above) so much so that she hung it in her apartment year round. Well, when my Mother passed away I decided I wanted to hang the wreath that she loved so much where I could see it all the time and where it would remind me of my Mom. So, I decided to hang it on the wall in my family room.

My husband thought it would be nice to hang the bridal picture of my Mother that I had created years ago from my Mothers painted wedding portrait in the center of the wreath. I loved this idea and decided that was the perfect spot for the picture I had taken of her beautiful wedding portrait.

Years ago, after my Father had passed away, my Mother had kept a small picture of him in his military uniform on her bureau. I wanted to give her a small picture of her wedding portrait to place next to my Dad's picture and decided I would surprise her with this.

The problem was that her painted wedding portrait was large. I had framed it many years before and it was hanging up in my house and is shown in the picture below. So, I to decided to create a small 4x6 picture for her to put on her bureau. In order to do this I took a digital picture of her portrait, transferred it to my computer and enhanced it with picture software, then printed it out on matte paper.



I had always LOVED the painted portrait of my Mom in her wedding dress. When my folks were married in 1953 portraits of this nature were somewhat customary. Her dress had been made by my Aunt Mary, who was a seamstress and her colored picture had been painted over by a portrait studio in acrylics. It is an absolutely stunning picture to see - as you can see from the picture below.



Getting back to the story - I, of course, being the sentimental person that I am, decided to frame one picture for my Mother and frame one for myself. I put her picture in a frame that was made up of tiny pearls and tiny sea shells. Perfect for a wedding portrait - I thought. I put my picture of her in a simple white wooden frame. I didn't want my frame to overshadow her beauty. Simple. elegant, and beautiful - as was my Mother.

My Mother loved her wedding picture and it remained on her bureau next to the picture of my Dad until she passed away. My sister so loved the wedding picture in the pearl and sea shell frame that she asked me if I minded if she took it. I, of course, said she could as I had the original wedding portrait and the small picture was a beautiful reminder of my Mom on her wedding day. A sentimental reminder of a beautiful day in the lives of my parents.

So, now the digital picture of my Mother's wedding portrait hangs in the middle of the wreath that I made for my Mother - that she loved. It doesn't get more sentimental than that! A loving tribute to my beautiful Mother.

My Answer To The Favecrafts Blog Question - What Is Your Favorite Craft Tool?

On February 24, 2010 I received an email from Caley Walsh, Editorial Director, of Favecrafts.com asking if I would be interested in answering the Monthly Craft Question over at FaveCraftsBlog. The question was: What is your favorite craft tool?

Here's what I said: The answer to this is kind of a quandary for me. You would think that the craft tool that I use the most, my glue gun, would be my all time favorite. Well, it wasn’t – now it is. Whenever I’m crafting it’s always in my right hand. In fact, sometimes I think it’s glued itself there! It is vitally important to just about everything I do – so much so that I have to admit I’ve burned a few of them out over the years. But, from time to time it’s also been my least favorite tool as it has caused me a great deal of pain. Getting scalding hot glue on ones hands and fingers from time to time was not a pleasant experience – especially when it was so hot your skin would blister and peel. However, over time they developed low temp glue guns – which no longer cause me pain. So, now my favorite tool would be my glue gun – but, it wasn’t always that way.

A Sunflower Picture From 36 Years Ago

I know that I've mentioned many times how envious I am of artists with a natural talent for drawing. I wish I could draw - truly draw like a really good artist so I could paint wonderful faces on my dolls. Now, don't get me wrong. My favorite doll is still the faceless kind - especially if they're Victorian. And, I can draw somewhat, but I have to struggle with it. I don't have natural talent.

Fortunately, for me, I have been lucky enough, in my lifetime, to know a few people that have had natural drawing ability - probably since they were in diapers.

One such talent was my former sister-in-law who was so gifted and talented at any medium she chose.  She was one of those rare individuals (beautiful inside and out) who just knew what to do without any formal instruction.  How she knew - I don't know, but it was beautiful to watch her create.

One year she wanted to draw something for me so I told her that I'd love a flower. So, she drew the "Flos Solis maior" sunflower poster that was very popular at the time and which is pictured above.  This was the early 70's and the "hippie" generation was in vogue.

What was astonishing about it was it was larger than the poster and drawn all out of colored pencils.  I was speechless and amazed at the detail - especially in the center section of the flower.  You can't tell from the picture above, but there are intricate little details to the center area of seeds, the petals, and the leaves.

I fell in love with it and carried it with me rolled up to protect it from house to house over the years until one year I finally had it framed as shown in the picture above. 

However, the sunflower picture wasn't the only thing she created for me. She also created a beautiful watercolor abstract that, unfortunately, got destroyed when it got wet.

And, given this was back in the 70's when the musical "Hair" was all the rage she created a painting for me of the famous "Hair" poster (like the one shown in the picture below).  The colors in her rendition were so bright and vibrant - simply amazing.

This picture also traveled with me from house to house. However, I didn't get it framed, but would love to now so I could show you her amazing skill. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it right now. But, I will. It's here somewhere.

Like everything else with me images can be nostalgic and can bring you back to a time long gone.  Now, every time I look at my sunflower picture I think of her and am once again in awe of her natural talent.  The sunflower picture that she created  for me is every bit as astonishing now as it was 36 years ago.  Now, that's truly amazing!

A Teenagers Attempt At A Yarn Picture

I know that I've mentioned many times that when I was a young girl around the holidays my Mom and Dad would encourage us to create something new. Sometimes they helped us with the holiday projects and sometimes they didn't.

Well, when I was 16, which is 40 years ago now - YIKES!!! Am I That OLD??? - I decided that I wanted to try something I had never done before. Back then exchanging Christmas cards was all the rage and we would receive hundreds of them every year which we would tape to the sides of the door frame so everyone could see them.

One of the cards we received that year was a very colorful one that had a picture of the Madonna on it. I just LOVED all the colors and the simplicity of her face so I decided to create a picture of her out of yarn. I had seen something in one of the magazines that my parents received about creating pictures out of yarn and decided that this might be a wonderful picture to create.

The first thing I did was to draw an outline of the Madonna's picture on a small sheet of paper that I could use as a guide for my larger picture. I drew my outline several times until I was happy with the picture and then indicated on it what colors would go where. Then I decided what size I wanted my picture to be and then cut this size out of a large piece of cardboard. I proceeded to draw the Madonna's face and halo rings on the cardboard per my draft and in pencil so I could erase it if I wasn't happy with it.

After I had the cardboard picture drawn and knew the size of the picture I decided how many skeins of the different colors of yarn I needed and bought all the yarn I figured I would need in an array of very vivid colors. I also bought a TON of Elmer's glue as that was how I was going to glue the yarn to the cardboard.


The yarn was going to be glued to the cardboard several ways. For the large expanse of the face I was going to glue the yarn in a circular motion and for the large areas of the halo I was going to glue the yarn in vertical rows. If you look at the large picture above I think you can see what I mean.

In any event I proceeded to glue the yarn according to my outline. I wasn't exactly sure how this was going to come out, but in the end I was pleased with my result. The colors were stunning and the yarn picture looked like the Madonna. Best of all my Mom and Dad absolutely loved it.

In fact, my Dad loved it so much he decided he was going to frame it. So, he bought a wood frame, some Plexiglas for the front and proceeded to frame my masterpiece. I intended for my Madonna to be hung during the holidays, but my Dad was so happy with it he decided to hang it in his study year round. My Dad loved that picture and it remained with him until he passed away. Then I decided I would honor him by hanging it in my house year round.

My Madonna is still hanging in one of my bedrooms and it is still as vivid as the day I made it. None of the yarn has become unglued which I guess is a testament to how strong Elmer's glue is. Now every time I look at the picture I think of my Dad, our holiday craft projects and a teenager's attempt at a yarn picture.

Wonder What The Birthday Flowers Will Be Next Year?

I just LOVE flowers and have since I was a little girl. Our next door neighbor also loved flowers and she had the most beautiful English Garden. I can remember just standing there admiring all the beautiful flowers and thinking of creating a beautiful bouquet with them.

So, I decided that at the age of 8 or so that I should have my OWN garden - just like my neighbors.  I hounded my parents for months on end one year to let me build a garden of my own. I wanted to plant dahlia's as they were my most favorite flower. My Dad always encouraged us to try new things so he agreed, but the catch was that if I wanted my own garden I would have to create it by myself and would have to be responsible for maintaining it. He'd be there to help me, but the work would all be on me. I, being a cocky little thing, said "okay" I can do that.

So, the spent the better part of the weekend one spring digging up the soil, putting rocks around it for a garden edging, and planting my dahlia bulbs. Well, the 1st year that my garden was in full bloom I had the MOST BEAUTIFUL display of color you'd ever want to see. I had red, yellow, pink, white, and maroon dahlia's - all different sizes from colossal to the little patio dahlia's. I was sooooo pleased with myself. That wasn't too hard.

Well, as the summer went along like any 8 year old I soon lost interest in the weeding and maintenance of my little garden. My Dad knew that I would which is why my garden was in the side yard and not on display in the front yard - like my Mom's garden. Like a good gardener she weeded her garden every night.

So, my garden fell to the weeds. That didn't bother me as I was at the end of the season and next spring I could start anew. My Dad mentioned to me that dahlia's were tender bulbs and would not survive the harsh New England winters. I would need to dig the bulbs up and store them in peat moss for the long cold winter and then plant them again. I, of course, thought that was too much work so I opted to leave them in the ground and put lots of pine needles over them for a blanket. My Dad just smiled - knowing full well that this wasn't going to work, but he let me have my way.

Well, of course when the spring came my dahlia bulbs were nothing but mush. More like dahlia soup. And, of course, they did not sprout. So, that spring I had no garden and no dahlia's. I did however, learn my lesson and the following year after my dahlia's had bloomed I dug them up in the fall and stored them in peat moss to replant them the following spring.

To make a long story short - I never outgrew my love of beautiful natural flowers. The bigger and brighter they were the better. So, to get to the gist of my story my darling husband knows that I love flower bouquets - especially the English Garden type.  Two years ago her surprised me with the fullest bouquet of English Garden flowers I'd ever seen.  It's the bouquet at the top of this post and shown below.  The pictures don't really do it justice as it was really, really, big and beautifully full. 




My husband was so pleased with the bouquet from the previous year that he once again surprised with with a gorgeous bouquet for my birthday last year and it is shown in the picture below.  However, truth be told, while we both thought the bouquet was stunning it wasn't quite as lovely as the previous year.  We both thought it had too much of an orange, red, and yellow combination.  But, it was pretty.




This year my husband wanted to try and replicate the stunning bouquet from two years ago so he had the bouquet shown below delivered on my birthday.  I think he achieved his goal.  It was an absolutely beautiful bouquet of flowers and I loved it. 




My only regret is that I  wish I could find a way to keep flowers fresh forever as I would love to have floral bouquets all year long.  In fact, if I could find a way to bring my garden inside all year - I would.    Just think, if I could do that, I'd be able to plant dahlia's and never have to worry about digging them up in the fall.

Alas, even though the natural beauty of cut flowers can only be enjoyed for a few short days I still think they are well worth it.  At least once a year anyways.  Hmmm..... I wonder what next year's bouquet will look like.

What's New - We're Reviewing Craft Patterns and Kits On My "The Book Review Corner" Blog

We've been making lots of changes over at our "The Book Review Corner" blog. Some of those changes were to the format of the blog. Some of those changes were additions to what we're going to review.

We've been reviewing crafts and doll making books that we've purchased over the years.  Now we're also going to review and tell you about some of the various crafts patterns and kits we've bought over the years and made.  They might be a craft pattern or kit we've bought and made, or a punchneedle pattern or kit we've bought and made.  Maybe a cross-stitch pattern or kit we've bought and made.  Maybe even wool felt and needle felting patterns and kits we may have bought and made.  They could be just about anything in patterns and kits that fall under the umbrella of crafts.  So, given that umbrella - the sky's the limit.

We've bought hundreds upon hundreds of crafts and doll patterns over the years - if not thousands.  So, we have a LOT of patterns and lots of items made from those patterns that we can review for you and tell you about.

We're going to have a LOT of fun with "The Book Review Corner" blog in 2010 and hope you will too.

My Answer To The Favecrafts Blog Question - What Was Your Worst Crafting Disaster?

On January 20, 2010 I received an email from Caley Walsh, Editorial Director, of Favecrafts.com asking if I would be interested in answering the Monthly Craft Question over at FaveCraftsBlog. The question was: What was your worst crafting disaster?

I thanked Caley for asking me to participate and responded: I am happy to participate, but have to tell you that I'm answering with both tears of joy and tears of sorrow at a sweet remembrance of a mother teaching her daughter to sew. You see, my answer has to do with sewing which is something my beloved Mother taught me to do and she passed away this past Sunday, January 17, 2010. So, my response is both a happy and heartfelt response and a sad and melancholy response at the same time. I'm sure you understand. Here's the story of my worst crafting disaster: ..........

On January 28th, 2010 I received an email from Caley telling me that the answers to the question were posted today at http://www.favecraftsblog.com/monthly-craft-question-what-was-your-worst-crafting-disaster/ and that my answer was included in its own blog post at http://www.favecraftsblog.com/guest-feature-worst-crafting-disaster/ .

I hope you get a chance to read my response and to read all of the contributors responses.