Cross-Stitch Kits I Bought This Spring

Sometimes I think I've become obsessed with cross-stitch.  I don't know why I should be as whenever I start a cross-stitch project I do nothing but curse counting stitches.  I almost always get lost in the diagrams and end up finishing a row  or column ahead of where I should be.  Then I have to rip it all out and re-do my stitching.

But, when I come to the end of the cross-stitch I'm always pleased at the results.  On the other hand, my brother usually isn't happy when he knows how many cross-stitch or craft projects I'm working on for gift giving.  The reason is because it inevitably ends up being work for him. You see I love to finish my cross-stitch in wood shadowboxes and I need him to help me make them.

Actually, I think he complains just to put on a show - he really does love working on the projects with me.  And, I love working in his shop.  It's really amazing.

In any event, I bought a few (well, make that many) cross-stitch kits this Spring.  In fact, based upon the list below you might say I went a little overboard! Ya think!

Here's what I bought:

Timeless Elegance Ornaments Cross-Stitch Kit
Icy Snowflake 2003 (beaded kit)

Dimensions Gold Collection Playful Snowman Ornaments Counted Cross Stitch

New Flowers & Lace Counted Cross Stitch Kit-14""X14"" 14 Count New

Dimensions Learn-A-Craft Home & Heart Stamped Cross Stitch Kit: 6" Round

Dimensions Needlecrafts Crewel, Summer Welcome

Dimensions Santa & Snowman Ornaments Counted Cross-Stitch Kit

Dimensions Moonlit Cabin Counted X-Stitch Kit

Dimensions Gold Collection Petite Morning Lake Counted Cross Stitch Kit: 7x5

Cotton 14 Ct Needlecrafts Counted Cross Stitch Kits Animal, Cardinal Joy Mini Banner Diy Embroidery Needlework Set

Home Sweet Home - Cross-Stitch Pattern

Dimensions(R) 14 Inch Counted Cross Stitch - Jolly Santa Banner

Dahlia Basket - Cross-Stitch Pattern

Very Victorian Bookmark

Dimensions Live Life Mini Crewel Embroidery Kit: 5x7

Dimensions Gold Collection Counted Cross Stitch Kit (9" Long) 2 Per Package - Bookmarks

Some of the projects will take awhile - others should be fairly quick.  Needless to say - I have a lot to work on.  I'll let you know what I think about each of the kits below after I've finished them.

I'm not sure whether I'll finish them all with wood shadowboxes.  I'd like to vary it a bit.  Maybe some with be finished with wood, some with cloth, and some, well, that will be a surprise.  I'll be sure to include pictures in my post.  Wish me luck in getting it all done.

Well, They Had Their Way - Yet Again!

As a reader of my Linda's Blog and The Dollie Storage Room Blog you are probably well aware that my dollies have minds of their own. Maybe that's even an understatement. They have strong wills and strong points of view.

Plus, they have a distinct advantage over me in sheer numbers. There are literally thousands of them in the "Dollie Storage Room."

Yes, I know - my creative juices have gotten the better of me in the last few years. I, simply, have made way too many dolls. That's neither here nor there now. The fact is there are a lot of them. And, when they want something - well, THEY WANT IT! They're just so demanding.

The other day I heard rumbling and knew right away that it was coming from "The Dollie Storage Room." The "dollies" were up to something and making a lot of noise. I could only wonder what that was all about. So, what do they want now?

For sure, I knew it would just be a matter of time before they told me - or demanded something.

Well, it seems the "dollies" had gotten together and decided that 4 years was long enough to wait. They wanted to put on another "Dollie Fashion Show."  The last one was in 2006 and this was 2010!

This time they decided they wouldn't even ask me if that was "okay." My opinion, I guess, no longer matters. They wanted to do this, and so they will. Since ours is a democratic household, they out number me 1,000 to 1, there wasn't much I was going to be able to do. Even if my vote were to count double or triple or more, they'd still far out number me.

A little while later I got a message that "Doris Marie" wanted to see me. Whenever the dollies want to smooth things over with me they always sent "Doris Marie."

After all, she is named after my Grandmother and, well, you pay attention to your Grandmother - don't you?. So, Doris Marie came to see me. And, it seems she'd brought a picture, flowers, and a list with her. Hmmmm...... This was interesting..... Hmmmm????

Well, the dollies decided that they really didn't want me to be mad at them or feel excluded. So, since they were going to put on a fashion show (for a good cause - their own!) they decided to smooth things over with me.

They wanted some advice - at least that's what Doris Marie told me. Of course, what they really wanted was me to write about a few of them in a "The Dollie Fashion Show" series on my Linda's Blog  and The Dollie Storage Room Blog .

It seems Doris Marie had brought a framed picture of me in my one and only fashion show, flowers, and a list of the dolls participating in the fashion show. They figured I'd love the flowers - which I did. And, they figured I'd love the picture of myself - which I did. That, of course was over 35 years ago - in my youth when I looked really good. Okay, I still look good - just older and a lot heavier!! Ah, the aging process is wonderful - isn't it?

In any event, the list was so I knew who to write about. After all, each of the "dollies" wanted their own post. With 1, 796 dolls (most of whom were participating) this was going to take a very long time. I only hoped that several would be walking down the runway together so I could write about some of them as a group. One can hope!

Well, Doris Marie is just so darn cute it's hard to refuse her. She knows that I can't win when it comes down to a battle of the brains debate. She always wins. She's just too darn smart. Either that, or I'm too darn old and tired.

In any event, since the "dollies" had already decided they were going to do this whether I liked it or not all I could do was refuse to write about them. But, what good would that do. They'd pout and shout and stamp their feet 24 hours a day 7 days a week and hubby and I would get no sleep - let alone peace in the house. So, I agreed to write about them in another "Dollie Fashion Show" series.

They decided that they wanted the theme of the fashion show to be "Everything and Anything!" With that kind of theme you never know what you're going to see. So, I walked over to "The Dollie Storage Room" and stood on the podium.

"Okay, ladies...Um...I mean "dollies" settle down. Please settle down."

"Ladies, Um..Gentlemen, Um..Girls, Um....Boys, Um..Snowmen, Um...Raggedies. Um... I'd like your attention. I'd like to say a few words to you."

"You're trying my patience!" I said. "If this room does not quiet down in the next minute you are all going to the bottom of the "dollie" scrap material pile - never to be seen or heard from again. Maybe even taken apart to be remade into something else! Like a pillow or a crazy quilt!"

"YIKES!" And, with that statement you could hear a pin drop in "The Dollie Storage Room."

After all, the "dollies" all prided themselves on their own beauty, their own uniqueness, their own wonderfulness, their own individuality. They could never allow themselves to be taken apart for scraps of material to make a pillow or a crazy quilt. No way! Why that was just inhuman!

But, alas, they were only "dollies" and I could do what I wanted with them. Talk about the ultimate power.  I could make them into crazy quilts if I wanted to. But, I wouldn't ever do such a thing - would I?

None of the "dollies" wanted to take that chance and find out. No sireee!!!! None of them. So, they all settled down.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen -- I mean "dollies, animals, snowmen, raggedies, primitives, witches, pumpkins, dolls...." When I say "dollies" I mean all of you, okay? Not male, not female. Not boy, not girl. Not animal, not snowmen. I'm using the term "dollies" to encompass all of you. Okay?"

"If you're in agreement, please raise your hands," I said.

And, with that all of the "dollies" raised their hands (that is, if they had hands). Some of the animals raised their paws and some of the other crafts tipped their heads, bowed, honked or did something to indicate they were in agreement

I said, "I just wanted to let you all know that I think another "Dollie Fashion Show Series" is a fabulous idea. And, if you had come to me to ask if you could do this - I would have said okay and we wouldn't have had all this noise - all this fuss - all this too do."

"I would have said yes right away. See, you don't know me as well as you think you do! "

With that all the "dollies" felt bad and started to rush the podium. I was overrun with "dollies" trying to make amends. Trying to hug and kiss me.

I raised my hand and said, "Stop! I know you all feel bad about this. I really do and I thank you for wanting to hug and kiss me but, you can't all do it at once. So, just blow me a kiss and that will be enough."

Well, with the number of "dollies" all blowing a kiss at the same time I knew there would be a wind gust. So, I held on to the podium and smiled and thanked them and then went to comb my hair.

I guess it's time for more fashion shows. I'd better get to writing.........

Fall Is Just Around The Corner And I Can Hardly Wait!

It's hard to believe that Fall is just around the corner. One of my all time FAVORITE times of the year.

Every time I think that I couldn't possibly make any more dolls or design any more patterns - Fall happens. And, then my creative juices just take off.

Of course, I don't let on to hubby that this is happening as he already thinks we don't have enough room in the house to fit any more dolls. I, of course, know that I can always make room. But, that little secret is between you and me.

For now I'm just excited that Fall is just around the corner. I'm hoping you are, too.

Our Hearts Are Broken

Our hearts are broken. We had to make the hardest decision of our lives - to lay our "baby", our "Bud" to rest.

If you're a reader of our Linda's Blog you know that our "Bud" has been the center of our life and king of our household. You also know that he had a really tough Spring last year from spleen surgery to seizures, which I wrote about in a blog post entitled "He's Our Baby and Our Bud!".

What you don't know is that last July the hits just kept on coming for him. He was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and a thickening of the walls of his intestine. He wasn't eating, was throwing up and had bouts of diarrhea.

At first we weren't alarmed about his not eating as he had always been a picky eater and had a day here or a day there where he didn't want to eat, but it was never for multiple days in a row. More like once a month or every other month he'd have a day where he didn't want to eat or drink.

Before he was diagnosed with diabetes his not eating or drinking water every once in awhile for a few hours or a day wasn't as much of an issue. After the diabetes the drinking of the water became more of an issue as we didn't want him to get dehydrated. So, on those occasional days when he wouldn't eat or drink the vet gave us mini plastic syringes and showed us how to get water into the sides of his mouth.

This time, after a second day of not eating and drinking water we became alarmed and took our baby to the vets. The vet did some blood work and recommended an ultra sound. She thought it could be inflammatory bowel disease which, while incurable, could be treated with a special diet and/or medication or it could be cancer of the intestines.

After several ultra sounds they determined that he had a thickening of his intestinal wall, but our vet and the specialized vet could not determine whether the thickening was caused by cancer or something else. They would need to take a biopsy of the tissue which required major surgery as it would be difficult to get at this particular layer of the lining.

We refused to put Pepper through another major surgery after he had recovered from his spleen surgery and seizure episodes in the Spring. Our vet told us that the treatment for both was basically the same so first we started him on a specialized diet.

Well, our little guy who was a picky eater from the start ate the specialized "yuck" food for about a day and then refused to eat it. Nope "our king" wanted good food - not vegetarian "yuck!" So, that was a no go.

We also put him on several medicines that had shown promise with inflammatory bowel disease and intestinal cancer in pets. The cancer medicines made him very sick so we discontinued those.  Some of the other medicines seemed to give him some relief, but very quickly he reverted back to not eating, throwing up and diarrhea. So, we increased his medicines. The increase seemed to work for awhile and then stopped working. So, we tried a different medicine. It, too,  seemed to work for awhile and then stopped working.

The medicine that had shown the most promise for inflammatory bowel disease in pets was Prednisone, but was not an option for our little guy as he was diabetic and Prednisone reeked havoc with diabetics and their insulin levels. Well, when we got to the point where he was losing weight, not eating for days at a time and we were going to lose him the vet recommended we put him on Prednisone.

The Prednisone worked wonderfully for several months, but it too, eventually wasn't working as well. We were at a point where we needed to increase the Prednisone which we didn't want to do as the medicine to help him caused some of the very symptoms he was suffering from along with incontinence. Our little guy was mortified every time there was an accident and we just didn't want to put him through that again.

During the last few months our baby would have periods where he was okay for a few days and then he'd have a day when he was sick. Then he was okay and he would be our old "Bud" again, then he'd be sick.

One of the major side effects of the Prednisone was bloating and his little belly just kept getting more and more bloated. His stamina was slowly failing. But, every once in awhile he'd have enough stamina to walk down the street to see one of his pals which always filled us with hope that maybe he was getting better.

Our hopes were short lived - it was not meant to be and when he started having trouble breathing we made the hardest decision of our lives. We laid our baby, our "Bud" to rest. He was finally free from all his health issues and free to "run like the wind" and, as we imagined, jumping from cloud to cloud.

We had our little guy for thirteen wonderful years. He was our constant companion 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He was always with us and involved in everything we did.

We miss seeing him under the sewing table, in his favorite room - our sunroom, laying between us on the sofa, hogging the bed, following us from room to room always involved in everything we did, running outside like the wind, laying under our feet at the dinner table, gently staring up at us when he wanted to go for a walk or when it was time for him to eat something, barking at his favorite electronic toy, and jumping in our laps.  We miss seeing him come running in the house after one of his walks and jumping from rug to rug.  He'd stop short where ever I was sitting and look at me as if he was saying: "Did you miss me, Mom! Did you miss me!"

He was the joy in our lives and helped us through the health crises and subsequent death of several family members during his short lifetime. He was our rock and the steadfast love of our lives. Our hearts are broken and the house is so very empty. We can only hope that he is waiting at the gates of heaven - waiting for us.

Rest in peace "Bud" until we can be with you again.

A Bridge Called Love

It takes us back to brighter years,

to happier sunlit days

and to precious moments

that will be with us always.

And these fond recollections

are treasured in the heart

to bring us always close to those

from whom we had to part.

There is a bridge of memories

from earth to Heaven above...

It keeps our dear ones near us

It's the bridge that we call love.

Author Unknown

Tribute To A Best Friend

Sunlight streams through window pane

unto a spot on the floor....

then I remember,

it's where you used to lie,

but now you are no more.

Our feet walk down a hall of carpet,

and muted echoes sound....

then I remember,

It's where your paws would joyously abound.

A voice is heard along the road,

and up beyond the hill,

then I remember it can't be yours....

your golden voice is still.

But I'll take that vacant spot of floor

and empty muted hall

and lay them with the absent voice

and unused dish along the wall.

I'll wrap these treasured memorials

in a blanket of my love

and keep them for my best friend

until we meet above.

Author Unknown

---

My sunshine doesn't come from the skies,

It comes from the love in my dog's eyes.

Unknown Poet 

"Your paw prints will be forever in our hearts."

When You've Become The Oldest Generation!

This past weekend was the Memorial Day weekend and, as such, that got me to thinking about Memorial Days in the past and about the fact that with the passing of my Mom in January that my brothers and sister and I are now "the oldest generation" alive for our family.

Boy, when I was younger I never thought I'd see that day. We always talked about reaching the year 2000 and how OLD we'd all be. I would be 46! YIKES and to me back then that was ancient. Now at the age of 56 I'd like to have those 10 years back.

Memorial Day was established as a way of remembering and paying tribute to the military heroes who lost their lives in service. However, when I was a child Memorial Day was also a day to pay respect to our ancestors and always preceded by going to the florist and getting all the flowers that we would be putting on the graves of our deceased relatives the next day.

At the time this was a BIG tradition for my family and lots and lots of flowers were bought and displayed. My grandmother, grandfather, older brother, and I would travel around to the various grave sites and display the flowers, say a prayer, spend a few minutes and then be off to the next grave site.

In total we may have visited 3 or 4 cemeteries - I can't really remember. What I do remember was I had to wear my Sunday best for the visits and that it was very, very important to my Grandparents. So, I always tried to be on my best behavior- which for a young child was not always possible. Especially, when you had an older brother who was constantly - or should I say incessantly - teasing you.

In any event, that was a long time ago and I can't remember when the last time was that I actually visited all the grave sites. It's been awhile I know. Somehow with the passing of time, the many moves of families nowadays, and my own life getting in the way my family has lost the tradition of honoring our deceased relatives on Memorial Day by visiting their graves.

While I didn't visit the graves of my deceased relatives this weekend I can still honor them by showing you a picture of some of them.



My Parents

My Mom's Side Of The Family


My Mother, Grandparents, and Great Aunt


My Grandparents


My Mother and Her Brother


My great-grandparents


My great-grandparents

My Dad's Side Of The Family


My Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, and Aunts & Uncle


My Grandmother


My Great Grandmother   
Also,  I have thought that as the "oldest generation now" there is a way I can truly honor them for all eternity. And, believe it or not - it would be by setting up another blog. That is, when I had time (now that's a laugh!!!)

It would be a family history blog to house all of the wonderful old pictures I have (including some of those on metal plates - they scan beautifully) and to let all of my relatives see what their ancestors looked like.

And, what better way to do this then through a blog. That way it is online and always accessible to them no matter where they are located in the world. An heirloom type of blog. I think it would be a great way to honor all of those who have gone before us.

Until my blog is done - to those who have gone before us:

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal. - Meaningful Quotation by From a headstone in Ireland

For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity. - by William Penn

What we remember from childhood we remember forever - permanent ghosts, stamped, inked, imprinted, eternally seen. ~Cynthia Ozick

"To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." ~ Thomas Campbell

"Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy." ~ Eskimo Legend

Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. ~ Rossiter W. Raymond

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.