Wednesday (Creative Title,huh?)

I crocheted a couple more dishcloths for my shop. Well, one and a half. I made these a touch bigger so I ran out of yarn. I'll get more today and finish. I'm going to make some for myself. I just love them.



Yesterday I painted this drawer thingey I got at goodwill. I got it several months ago and it's been a few different colors. I think I'm finally happy with it.

Today is date day. After a couple of errands, we can relax and enjoy some time "out" together.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

I crocheted two dishcloths today. I love these colors. I think my favorite yarn to use is Sugar 'n Cream. It's just simple and soft and practical.

Yesterday I crocheted a square of some fussy pink synthetic stuff. Impossible to frog (unravel) so you can fix a problem. I'm using it under a white hobnail vase. It looks festive for Valentine's Day.

This is the first year I've decorated with hearts and stuff. Just a couple of touches here and there. I like it. Today Tim asked if some pretty candies were for looking or eating. lol I said that they were for both and thanked him for asking. He said it was just self-preservation. Muahahaha.

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Mine is quiet and that's the way I like it.

I decided to try switching again tonight and this time Blogger let me do it, so now I have the new Blogger. I upgraded my template so my angels disappeared and everything is kind of plain. That's ok. Change is good sometimes, isn't it?

I do like the new feature of having the new post link right on your blog page. I'm sure I'll discover lots of other features as I go along.

I stitched this angel last week. She is framed by homespun. I have the whole thing in a frame but am planning to either paint this one or get another frame altogether. I'll take a better pic later. I was playing with my camera here trying to see if there's any hope for it. After four years, I discovered today (thanks to the Etsy forums) that I have macro. I've read the book looking for it but all it took was someone in the forums saying "it's the tulip." Ahhh cool. It does help. Next I'm getting a tripod. Apparently that makes a bigger difference than I'd imagined. After the tripod I'll decide whether or not to break down and buy a new camera.

I haven't done much today. I've crocheted a bit. Nick and I went to ACMoore so he could buy more canvas. That was fun. I picked up some yarn and something else which totally escapes me at the moment.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Ours has been nice.

Emily

Emily
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I started working on Emily (named after my dear stepdaughter) last night. I explained it all on Flickr, so click on the pic and you can read all about her there. I'm taking the lazy way out, I know. :)

I think I've figured out a new diet plan. Beading! Who wants to stop and eat? I had so much fun beading her.

I think I may list her on Etsy. Do you think she'd sell?

Well, I'd best go get something done. I've been a beading lady of leisure all morning.

Babyshoe Makedo

Babyshoe Makedo
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I decided to make the baby shoes useful. People comment that they like them, but I think they have a hard time figuring out what to do with them. I turned this one into a pincushion. The base of the pincushion is a bottle cap covered in felt and the heart is sewn right in. Then I hot glued the whole thing to the inside of the shoe. I stamped "Love" on some muslin and stitched that on and there's a little flower vintage button sewn on with green thread.

The box behind it is just there for a more interesting picture. I organized my area the other day and put all these little odds and ends in this box. When I opened the lid to find something yesterday, I thought it looked so pretty inside...all that lace and trim.

Today is date day. I may look at cameras today. Not sure.

Thanks for all your kind comments. I really do appreciate them.

Heather asked for a tutorial and I promise, Heather, I will do one eventually. I don't do anything complicated. Trust me!

Have a great day everyone!

You Learn

You Learn
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I made this art doll today. It was inspired by an affirmation from the book Life Prayers that was a gift from Christine at the Sacred Art of Living:

After a while you learn
The subtle difference
Between holding a hand
And chaining a soul.
And you learn
That love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn
That kisses aren't compromises
And presents aren't promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes ahead
With the grace of a woman or man
Not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your loads on today
Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
And futures have a way of falling down in midflight.
After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you ask too much.
So you plant your own garden
And decorate your own soul
Instead of waiting for someone to buy you flowers.
And you learn
That you really can endure
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth.
And you learn.
And you learn.
With every failure you learn. ~~~Anonymous

The shape of the doll was inspired by one I saw in my jumping around the internet. I made a bunch of faces last week. I painted this one this morning with gold paint, then black. I then sanded it and added some bronze/copper powder. I glued the head to the body and beaded around it with some beads that Tim recently gave me. I attached the word beads "You" and "Learn" along with the small piece of yarn. I gessoed the body, then sanded it. I aged it with the coffee/vanilla (and this time cinnamon) mixture. After that dried, I painted it, making it a bit more distressed. It just seemed it should have a litte wear to it, considering the affirmation that inspired it.

This felt good. I felt the need to express something today. I have so many things stirring that the feelings fought amongst themselves to get out. This is the one which won.

Light

Light
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I worked on this one this evening. I bought some 5"x7" canvas at ACMoore today so I wanted to play.

Nick already sold a canvas on etsy. Can you believe that? I think that's so cool!!!

I'm sleepy so I'll keep this short. Nite everyone.

Collage Fun

I did two fabric collages today and listed them on Etsy. I'm trying to list something every day. Since I got such a late start today and I'll be going out to lunch tomorrow and then choir practice tomorrow night, I decided to do two and list them. They're so much fun to do.

I absolutely love that moment when inspiration comes. I found a totally new flickr person (Artkissed) who was offering free images. I really liked them so I printed them on tranfer paper. I didn't realize I had grabbed the dark transfers...ack. They're handled differently. The first one was a real ironing casualty. The second one I messed up but was able to salvage and the third one...well, I tried to use tracing paper to iron over the transfer since I had no more of their "special" paper. The transfer paper stuck to the transfer. I tried wiping it with a wet towel..nothing. Then I decided I would "stain" the whole thing. Getting it that wet made the tracing paper rub off. Yay! I love it stained and I never would have done it if I hadn't messed up. I really like it when that happens. :)

Nick opened an Etsy shop tonight with his artwork. I'm so happy for him. I hope he does well. His stuff costs more than mine. hmmmm....I might need a cut as his agent. Whatdya think? I'll give you a link when I have it.

Mike is so excited about his new room. He spent the whole evening fixing it up. He kept hugging me and thanking me. I let him have my vcr so he can watch movies in his room since Caleb left him his tv (but it doesn't get any channels. lol) I'd rather he could only watch movies anyway...he watched Waterworld tonight. One of my favorites. I don't know why that movie bombed. I love it.

I have to share something very exciting and important with you. My clothes hamper is empty (except for two things that have to be drycleaned).

No, that was it. hehe I can't tell you how happy it makes me. The boys' hamper is empty too and I have the towels in the dryer now. That means any laundry I do from here on out is just extra. I know you know what I mean. It feels good. The more stuff like that is done, the more I can enjoy making stuff.

I cut out 22 4"x4" squares today for the Crow/Raven Chunky Book Swap! I'm really excited about it. I also have my raven image. I'm trying to decide whether to print it in color or black and white. I have one of each and I'm going to think on it a bit. If you want to know what a Chunky Book is, go look at Judi's site. This is the Christmas chunky book, Santa and Me, that I participated in. Judi coordinated it and made the cover, bound it and mailed it out to all of us. Now she has taken it all apart so everyone can see each page. She doesn't have all the pages up yet, but you can get the idea. It's a lot of fun to do and to see everyone else's pages. I love my book. It makes me smile every time I look at it or pick it up and hear all the little things clacking together.

I guess it's time to call it a night. I'm pretty tired and I have to get up early in the morning. I'm already looking forward to that yummy hot coffee. mmmmmm. Nite. :)

Homespun Angels

This is how I spent most of my day. Pretty fun. :) It's in the shop. I'm trying to put something in every day or so.

I don't guess I told you guys that Caleb (my stepson) moved out. He got his own apartment. He's working, has a nice girlfriend and seems to be doing ok. He came to visit the other night and he looks really good. Give him a good thought now and then, ok? :)

I spent part of last evening helping Michael move into Caleb's old room. Mike's very excited about it. He took his bed apart and we carried it down and then he reassembled it.

For the first time in years, the boys have their own rooms here. They've always had their own rooms at their dad's.

Tim's been clearing stuff out of the basement. Now that we have the shed, it's possible! Yay. Things are starting to shape up around here and I'm having fun decorating more now that I've settled on prim. It really is what makes me feel at home and comfy and cozy. I think Tim likes it pretty well, too. Lots of plaids. That works for a man. :)

Hope everyone is having a good week so far. I've not been commenting much but I'm trying to visit. I kind of hop on for a few and then back off to do more stitching or laundry or whatever needs done. I always think I'll either craft or blog at night and by nine I'm just falling over. It's a little aggravating. lol What happened to the me who used to stay up until 2? Oh well. I will never complain about being able to sleep! I do sleep well almost all of the time.

Ok....see you guys later. :) Thanks for the copying advice, too, by the way and all the nice comments. Much love to you.

I've been dumped.

dining2
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

By blogger. I can post from flickr but the blogger dashboard is gone and my profile seems to be gone. I tried to switch several times but it would never let me. I hope it doesn't lose all my stuff. I have some of it saved on Xanga because it has things I want to remember about the kids. I wish there was a way to copy your whole blog on cd or something.

I basically sent this picture as a vehicle to blog from flickr, but as long as it's here I will point out that this is my dining room at the moment. The plaid cloth is one that Tim gave me for Christmas. It is different from my norm and it makes me feel so cozy everytime I look at it. He loves it a lot so we're both happy to see it here. I bought that little plate in the center for a buck this week. It's a cheap plasticy charger but it looks like pewter. I really like it.

I also wanted to mention (but there was no way to edit my post) that if you are going to use that coffee/vanilla thing to age your pieces, it helps if it's hot. I keep mine in a jelly jar and when I want to use it, I remove the lid and microwave it right in the jar for 30 seconds. It doesn't work well cold.

hmmm I guess that's all I wanted to say. I feel so much pressure now that I can't edit. What you see is what you get.

Happy weekend.


Editing (yes editing!!) to add: After a little reading through Blogger's update info, I figured out my problem. I had to sign out of my Google Account to sign in to my old blogger account. Whew. I'm relieved.

hearts

hearts
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I put this one in the shop today.

So, how's everybody? :) I'm good. I think I'm heading to bed. Have a great weekend.

primcat

primcat
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I just listed this in my shop.

I got the free pattern from Cheryl Seslar at Primsical Patterns. Even the ones she sells are really inexpensive. I bought one last night for $2.00 (American dollars) and she emailed it to me right away with a nice note. I really enjoyed stitching. Seems like it's been a while since I've stitched anything. I love it! I also love Prim and I haven't been doing any Prim (primitive country) stuff lately. I plan to do a lot more of it.

I tried an aging technique that I read at a great blog called American Prim. It's so easy. Just mix instant coffee and vanilla, add some water and paint it onto the stitching and it smells good, too! Yum.

I had an old oak frame but I really wanted to frame the stitchery in black, so I painted it with craft acrylics and then sanded it on the edges to give it that "prim" look.

It was a fun day...well, couple of days. Now I'm going to get stitching on something else.

Hope everyone's doing ok. Don't worry if I'm not around. I'm just blissfully busy playing around with fabric, paint and mod podge and stuff. : D

Love you guys.

Grrr. Arrgh.

I knew I would leave out a Christmas card. Joyce Ann, I am so sorry. I really did love getting this from you!
Isn't it festive and, most importantly, glittery. hehe


We recently bought some cheapo coffee (that was yummy) at Big Lots. I loved the vintage look of the can and for a while was putting whatever brand we bought into the can. Since then I've changed to a nice glass jar but I still like the can. Nick, my older son, is amazing at making stencils and spray painting designs. Today he surprised me by taking the can into his room and tracing the design, making a stencil and making this great canvas board of my coffee can. It looks just like it. I should have taken a pic of the can. Nick took this pic with his camera. It's actually more of an olive green with orange lettering than shows in this photograph, but you can get the idea. I have it on my coffee shelf with my french presses and tea pot and tea tins. Maybe I'll take a pic after my birthday in March. lol

Ok..enough for today. Goodnight guys.

Danglie Thing

Danglie Thing
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I made this little hanging thing today. I used bubble wrap to paint the hot pink dotty part. This time I had Nick take the pic with his phone but I still can't get a good picture. I think I'm going to have to get a new camera. I have a birthday coming up in March.

Tim made this knife. He used a deer antler (don't look PETA folks). If it's any consolation, the antlers were in the basement when we got here. I bought the blade for Tim as part of his birthday present. He made the handle from the antler and put them together. Pretty cool, huh?

Puppy Love

I just listed this in my shop.

It's a laminate sample from Home Depot with collage.

Mermaid-ish Doll

Mermaid-ish Doll
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

This is how I spent almost my entire day after church. I started working on her last night, inspired by Art Dolls magazine. What an amazing magazine. I had so much fun working on her. The hours flew by. Maybe on the next sunny day, I'll take her out and get a better pic so you can see her little seed bead eyes and the other beading. I am hooked on making dolls now. Fun and relaxing and totally satisfying.

Saturday fun

Romance
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

This is not at all the direction I meant to go in, but 'tis the season almost. I might sell this one in my shop.



I've had this box around for a while. It's a wooden box that I got at ACMoore. I decided to paint and decoupage it. I'll put odds and ends in it . I couldn't help but think of Hulda while I was working on it and still now every time I look at it. :)

I went to WalMart and picked up a few things and also to Barnes&Noble. Oh yea, and Joannes. I got three magazines so I'm having a nice sit-in with them. So much inspiration.

I picked up the sweethearts on the collage, too. Tim's idea. Last night I was saying that I wasn't too sure about the collage. Tim said he liked it but he thought it needed something in that corner and then he suggested the candies. Isn't that cool?

The butterflies are from The Grove-N-Mountain website. The medicine page behind might be too. They have some really pretty things that are free to print for your personal use. The couple is from Flickr ephemera group and the rest from stuff I had in my stash...local papers, magazines, paint sample sheets, trims, lace, beads, a pearl necklace to cut up, buttons, a pin...hmmmm oooh red lace paper I got from Chrysti's Covet-me store on ebay. Fun stuff.

Have a good one everybody.

Weird, but Fun

Decisions, Decisions
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I did this one yesterday.

Lady in Red

Is this not an amazing art doll? I was so excited when I got this from my mailbox. I absolutely adore her. I love the color, the shape, the beads, the fabric, the brooch, the "stuffy-ness" (she's very solidly filled) of her and I especially love her sender..Judiemacawhead!

Judie, she's beautiful and wonderful and I look at her a million times a day. Thank you for such an amazing surprise!

One more Christmassy thing...

Our group of Glitter Power Sisters had a handmade ornament exchange. I was Kai's secret sister and I got an awesome ornament from her, which I showed a couple of weeks ago. Well, with the ornament came a whole box full of goodies, which I was not supposed to open until Christmas. I was very good, although I did open them Christmas Eve. ;)

Kai really outdid herself. First, the box was completely decoupaged in my favorite catalog pages and I had seen a lot of art done by Kai using this catalog, so that was special to me. I still have it. She gave me a beautiful pair of candles with angels on them. I took a pic but it was really difficult capturing how pretty the colors are. I have them in my sun and moon candlesticks.

She also gave me an address book for keeping up with all my glitter sisters! And it even has a froggy on it. :) It's Quermit. I love Quermit. It's really handy, too. Now I don't have to go looking through every single drawer trying to find the piece I tore of the packaging or looking for a sheet of paper with a list on it. lol

On top of all of this, she sent me an incredible gardening journal. It has sample pages done by the authors and then tons of room for keeping your own journal and pasting on seed packets, etc. I am so excited. This will be the year that I have a successful garden. I think Kai and Tim were in cohoots. hehe A tiller and a journal..I'm on my way.

I am constantly amazed by the kindness of you women and the way you always go over and beyond what is expected. Thank you Kai. I felt so much love as I opened each gift that had been carefully chosen for me. I also loved the little notes you put on the tissue paper. They made me smile. Loved that oceany blue paper, too...a real Kai touch.

I am blessed. Life is awesome.

Playing Catchup

Santa you have seen before I think. He was sent by Elisabeth.
The colorful Joy Merry Christmas card is from the equally colorful and wonderful Ms. Kai.

The lovely angel on music background is from Me.
The purplish night with doves and stars is from Sarah.
The groovy frog is from Gemma.




The bear and snowman are from my Aunt Berma.
The yoyo (sorry for the bad picture) is from Debbie at Homespunliving.
The daughter one is from my mom. The peace one is from Pammie. The dog and kitty are from Kate.

The group of children was an important reminder during Christmas time and came from PlainandSimple.






I am a very blessed person. If I have not shown your card, please forgive me and let me know so that I can. I assure you it doesn't mean that it doesn't mean as much to me..it just means I put it somewhere "safe" as I am apt to do and have forgotten where. I have a couple more things to show (one I received today and it is out of this world wonderful) but I think this is enough for this post.

Caught

Caught
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

I knew I wanted a blue/green background so I started with that. I randomly tore a page from some children's music and the line said "Please, oh please won't you help me? For I am caught as you can see."
Then I went to Flickr for images and from there it made itself.

A Little Art

Love
Originally uploaded by GroggyFroggy.

Here's a little art to start off the new year.

Robyn

Happy Birthday Robyn!