Great Halloween Idea

Found this great idea for Halloween on Priscilla's blog last night.  Easy peasy idea even the kids can do, made from toilet paper rolls.  You can find the instructions here Thrifty Girls' Blog. 
Have fun Haunting!  

MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011

31 Days of Halloween - Eyes in the Bushes

Halloween is here!

I love Halloween.  I had so much fun when my kids were young, making costumes for them and me.  I made a witchy dress from black satin, and a hat to go with it.  I had a scraggly gray wig and used green stage makeup to color my face.  Eyebrow pencil blacked out a few teeth and using the stage makeup again, made hairy warts on my nose.  Every year I dressed as the Wicked Witch and appeared at the local school, scratching on the classroom windows to get the kids attention, and handing out candy when they let me in.  I loved it, although it embarrassed my son who didn't want anyone to know it was his Mother, LOL.  I wore the same dress to welcome trick or treaters and made elaborate decorations for the house and the front porch including spooky music playing as the kids walked up to the door.  Even after my kids and even grandkids were too old to join in, I continued to decorate and welcome the neighborhood kids.  Some years we have several hundred kids come to the door, other years not so many.  But now the young kids in our neighborhood have grown up.  No more ohhing and ahhing over their costumes and trying to guess who was who.  The last few years as more parents find an alternative to trick or treating, we've seen a lot of older kids who don't live around here.  It's not that I mind them, I think I'm just tired, LOL.  So for the first time ever, I won't be doing much for halloween.  No dressing up,  just a couple of token items on the front porch and only one item on the hall server that even suggests halloween.  

Fall is coming fast!

Everywhere I look the glorious fall colors are becoming stronger every day.  These are a few in my front yard.

The Burning bush (Japonica) is in full color.

The Nandina berries are getting ripe;
I'll pick some for decorations and leave the rest for the birds.

The tree is holding onto some green leaves even as the top portions continues to turn color.

The holly berries are turning deep red, perfect for Christmas arrangements.

Monday Morning

........and I'm still working on the computer  :)  My old computer crashed August 28th and in the last few weeks I've done nothing but worry with computers.  It might be easier to go through the files I had pulled from the hard drive but I didn't want to clutter my little macbook with years and years of old files.  I had lots of backup but not sure the files for the old website are on there.  I thought it would be easy to start over fresh and have a new look along with the other changes in my life.   I am definitely going to get into the studio this week and finish some new items so more interesting things coming soon!  The days are so perfect right now, just cool enough to be outside and enjoy the changing of the leaves.  I'm always amazed at how fast that happens.  I'm dog-sitting this weekend and she loves to go for walks.
                                                                                                                                        

Fall Cleanup

Early fall is a lot like early spring, there is a lot to do inside and out.  I like to remove the summer decorations and do a "fall" cleaning before decorating for the holidays.   In the garden there are plants to be cut back, some to be dug up, all the dead debris removed and everything mulched good.  In general, put the gardens to sleep for the winter.  As much as I love summer and all the flowers, there is a satisfaction in getting everything ready for a winter rest, start planning for the spring and have a little more time to relax.

Hydrangeas Galore!

My hydrangeas produced loads of big, beautiful blooms this year - all pink - but aged to that light green tinted with rust.  I've picked them all summer and now am faced with what to do with them.  I've painted some, left some natural and added stems to some.  I've made a wreath for the front door but now I'm stumped on how to use the rest of them.

Book, Books and more Books!

I love books, everything about them.  Curling up with your Nook or Ipad just isn't the same as curling up with a good book.  They are wonderful to have - and I'm always lusting for the latest electronic gadget on the market myself - but when I have time to sit and relax, I reach for a book.

Over many years of accumulating books there comes a point where you have to make a decision on which ones to keep and which ones to move on to a new home.  I'm making those hard decisions today.  When we had new carpet installed we had to remove everything from the house, and what better time to reorganize the bookshelves.  I've always had my books organized by subject - more or less - so I could find one quickly. But  I know there are some I haven't looked at in ages - nothing wrong with them - just not ones I use much anymore.  As new techniques come out, there are new books written and more and more several new books on a popular subject will come out at the same time.  Those of you who know me, know I prefer to do many things in the time-honored traditions (read old fashioned).  I still like to do handwork instead of using the sewing machine or knitting machine.  Just because there is a machine to do it faster and easier, I don't believe it's always the best way.  So, some of these old books are back on the bottom shelf just because they are like old friends.  Some will be stored in the attic and others donated to the local library.  I like having room on the shelves to add a picture or plant but most of all, I like having all my books back in the house and out of the boxes.

Decorated Bottles

Ever see old bottles at the flea market and wonder what you'd do with them?  One way to use them is to add clear decals along with some ribbons, lace and what-have-you.  Use them to decorate your bathroom, kitchen, be a quick gift for someone or sell them.  They are easy to do using water-slide decals.  You're not familiar with water-slide decals?  Gather around children.....

You've all seen decals, on plates, furniture etc and some of you have used iron-on transfers that are a type of decal.  Now you can make your own decals, using your own images with your ink jet printer.  Using a special decal paper, it takes a little time and a lot of patience but you end up with a beautiful item that looks like you spent a lot of money on it.  Put the decal paper in your printer, choose images to print, and you're on your way.  Once you've run them through the printer, they need to be sealed with either a Decal Fixative or Krylon spray and let it dry overnight.  This makes them waterproof.  Cut them out as close to the image as possible, put them in a dish of warm water for a few seconds and slide the decal off the paper onto your bottle - like magic you have your own design!

Here are a few I've just finished applying the decal, now they need to dry thoroughly before I begin decorating them.  You can see the clear glass through the decals.  The more colorful decals will show up more and putting them on frosted glass will allow the color of the decal to show more.  You can see the colors better against the white background.

Call it embellishments, bling or fro-fro there is never too much :)

  
             Inexpensive votive holders can be decorated to coordinate with your seasonal decorations.

Water-slide decal paper can be purchased in some craft stores, office supply stores and on-line.  You can find several difference brands, the one I've used today is Papilio and can be purchased here.

Have fun making one of a kind decorations with water-slide decals!

The Geese are Heading South!

As sure as the days shorten, the leaves begin to turn color and the nights get cooler - the geese begin their journey south to warmer places.  It's always exciting to hear their honking early in the morning, sometimes later in the day.   I love these big Canada Geese and always try to get outside in time to see them fly over.  It's like their private signal to me to prepare for winter.

On the farm they would land on our big ponds to rest.  From the house and deck we could watch them relax and settle down for the night, then again in the morning gather everyone one up, circle and majestically rise in the sky for another days flight.    

                                                                                             

Spoke too soon!

 I was awakened a little after 1am with the loudest thunder I've ever heard, bouncing around in between bolts of lightening.  It seemed to be stalled over our house and the cats were all huddled on the bed staring out the windows.  I got up about 3am and brought the cats into the living room and turned the lights on for them :) It continued for several hours, longer than I remember thunder storms lasting.

Heard on the evening news some areas had so much hail it piled up like snow.  Much of the town was without power although we only lost power for a short time.  I decided I'd better make some coffee in case the power went out, and had just pushed the start button when everything went black.  Fortunately it came back on in a few minutes and I was able to finish brewing the coffee.  I love that first cup of coffee in the morning!

Sunshine is back!

The rain last week felt a little dreary, a reminder that winter is close, but the flowers are showing their thankfulness by rewarding us with more blooms.      

                                                                                    

The roses may not be as big as they were earlier in the summer but smell just as good!  I save the petals all summer , along with the lavender, for gallons of potpourri.

The hydrangeas are still blooming and turning the rusty pink that signals their fall colors.  Every bush rewarded us with big, gorgeous blooms this summer, they were all pink but dried beautifully.

I dried these hydrangeas earlier in the summer and have given them a little moret color for fall arrangements.





And, these were done in a deep purple.  I'll do a few more in some rusty pink for arrangements.  Have a big fall wreath that will be perfect for these big blooms.

                                                                                                         

Christmas is only 97 days away!

I was surprised when I heard this on the news.  When it's hot and muggy Christmas seems a long way off.

My continuing computer woes!

When last we talked my desktop workhorse had kicked up it's heels and died.  So off to Best Buy to get a new one.  Oooh, those new Macbooks are nice but come with a high price tag.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  Finally settled on a Toshiba laptop, larger than my Macbook but smaller than the desktop.   Two weeks later it gave me a fatal error and quit working.

Best Buy graciously replaced it with a new one - but - I did not like Windows 7 and definitely didn't  like the short battery life!  The 10hr battery in my little Macbook has spoiled me!  Used it for another two weeks to be sure it wasn't just a matter of getting accustomed to the change, but I had so many problems I returned it to the store.  Since I don't work on the computer as much these days I decided to just work with my little macbook for the time being.  I did buy an adapter so I could use my large monitor so was good to go.  Now I had to deal with the fact that all my older programs are windows.  That required some juggling but I'm adapting to that too.

Computers!!

My new computer had to go back and be replaced.  Just one of those things I guess.  Glad I have the little Macbook and the ipad.  I love the new Macbook but they are just too expensive.  There are pros and cons to both, I do love the mac for some things and I know there isn't near as many problems as you have with windows, but it comes at a high cost.  Plus my programs are all windows and to switch over to Macs all together would cost even more.  I'll soon be back on track!

Rainy Saturday

I don't know if we're reached normal on rainfall, but it's trying!
Been raining for a couple of days straight, and looks almost wintery.  Need the rain and love how green everything gets but it's hard for me to get moving on this kind of day :)

Spent most of the day wrestling with adding a Comments Box to the blog.  Found what I want and thought it would be fairly simple but I guess it's been too long since I worked with HTML code.  I may have to look for one that's easier to install.

Can't keep up

Would be nice to have an in-house tech support for the computer :)  They keep changing things faster than I can keep up.

Kinsleigh is here!

We have a new baby in the family, her name is Kinsleigh Paige and she arrived late yesterday afternoon.  I'm excited about having a baby close enough to sew for.  There are so many cute items that weren't around when I was having babies. You saw the quilt I made earlier, which has a double lining of Warm & Natural since she is a fall & winter baby and will need the extra warmth to be out and around in our cold winter.  The other items I finished and sent to the hospital for her Mother to enjoy were reversible receiving blankets, and matching burp pads :) The receiving blankets use square pieces of fabric so I had a strip left over from each length of flannel.  We always used a clean diaper over the shoulder, but I see on-line that burp pads and changing pads are popular now.  The extra strips were just the right size to make matching reversible pads to use after feeding the baby.

I came across the pattern for the reversible, self-binding baby blankets on-line.  The instructions are from the Missouri Quilt CO and you can watch the video Here.  It's called the 10 minute baby blanket and once you master it, it is, but the first ones take a little longer.  The trick is learning to make the 45 degree angle at the corners.  You fold the corner back on itself, not on the blanket.  If you have any trouble just send send me an e-mail and I'll send some detailed instructions.

Have you ever.....

Spent a day getting organized so you could start bright and early the next morning?

Had your day planned down to the minute to get the most accomplished in the time you have?

Then have it all fall apart?

If so, you can appreciate my week so far.  Monday I did housework, got my work organized and laid out in stations so I could start with porcelain first, since it has to dry - then could move from project to project and was excited about all the creative time I had.  Tuesday morning I woke ready to go -- and boink!, the sky fell.  When I turned my work computer on at 9am nothing happened.  Tried again, and again, and again.  Checked everything you're supposed to check, opened it up and did some work there, but no luck.  Finally at 3pm and stressed out I called the repair shop and took it in, and that's where it went from bad to worse.  A fried mother-board right in the middle of a big work week.  While I love the latest and greatest computers, I hadn't planned to buy one right then.  With my blood pressure rising, I did some quick shopping, comparisons, a lot of talking with salespersons and I decided on one.  Left it there so they could do a data transfer for me, planning on picking it up this morning - no such luck.  It's still there, still transferring data.  So I spent another day doing errands and picking up some items I needed, which wasn't time wasted but also didn't get any projects completed.

Going to go to bed early and hopefully everything will go smoothly tomorrow and I can get back to work.  And how has your week been so far?

Monday

The beginning of a new week, and back to our normal routine.  We have been fortunate this summer to have so many family members visit us here in Missouri.  I've gotten to do a lot of antiquing, which has been fun since I don't normally have time to do that.  But all good things must come to an end, summer is winding down; everyone is getting back to school and back to work and I too, am getting busy with new projects for fall.

I'll be posting in the weeks to come about what I'm working on and some tutorials to go along with it.

A quilt for a new baby

I just realized it has been a week since I posted.  So here's a look at one item that has keep me busy.  A quilt for my niece's first baby.  Fell in love with this fabric in a quilt shop in Fort Bragg the last time we were there and found the backing fabric in a quilt shop here at home  A little pricey but it was so soft and luxurious I couldn't pass it up, plus it was a perfect color match.   It sat in my "someday" pile till the mail brought an invitation to a baby shower - a perfect time to use it :)  I used two layers of Warm & Natural since she will be a September baby, and will need a warm blanket when winter gets here :)  I had planned to embroider a label onto the back of the quilt, but couldn't get my sewing machine to co-operate so just added her name by hand :)  Kinsleigh Paige.  Wish now I had at least added the year but I can always do that another time.

Here is a close-up of one of the blocks.  I did some some easy Trapunto to give it dimension. I alternated the blocks, stuffing the bodies on one and the faces on the others.  Lady bugs too :)

When I finished the top I decided a few of the lambs were stuffed too full.  It looked cute but thought it might feel lumpy when the baby laid on it, so opened the backs and took out about half the fill leaving them just a little puffy.  I initially machine quilted around each block but that didn't look good on the back, so picked out all the quilting lines and ended up tying the quilt.  Instead of yarn I used silk embroidery ribbon, tying a little bow at each point.  To keep the bows from coming loose I went back and hand stitched each one down.  I've never done this before and don't know how the bows will look after a few washings, but if they get ragged I can easily replace them.  I've washed it a couple of times to be sure there was no sizing left in the fabrics so all that's left is to wrap it this morning, with a little lavender from my garden.  I think I'll look for some flannel to match the colors in the quilt and make a few receiving blankets for her when the baby comes.  It's going to be so fun to have a new baby to sew for!
                              

Ink Jet Printer "Transfer" Using Freezer Paper

As I said earlier, this isn't a true transfer but a method of printing directly onto fabric.  This is the one way I can get consistent results, in color.  You can use an image, a line drawing or a botanical as I have here.  I cut this fern frond and petunias from my garden minutes before printing them.  Arrange them on your printer screen and close the cover.

There are a few things to keep in mind:

• This only works with ink jet printers (Lasers use a powder toner)
• You must use Freezer Paper, not wax paper
• The smoother the fabric, the crisper the image

Prepare your fabric by ironing it as flat as possible, you don't want any wrinkles.  Cut the fabric and a piece of freezer paper slightly larger than 8.5 x 11".  Lay the freezer paper shiny side down, against the fabric and press till it adheres.

Use a flat edge with a roller cutter to get straight edges.
You don't want any threads dangling or crooked cuts.
You can use an 8 x 11" sheet of paper as a guide, I usually draw around it with a pencil on the freezer paper. Lay the straight edge on the paper - the fabric edge to your right.  Use pressure on the roller to keep it from slipping and cut through both pieces at once - just a hairs width inside the 8.5x11" line.  This gives it a little space as it runs through the printer.
You now have a piece of "paper fabric" which can be fed through the printer.  If you find the freezer paper comes loose, press it again and lay a book on top of it till it cools.  This helps it adhere and keeps it from curling.

Printing


This is what works best for me, you may have to experiment with your own printer to get the best results.Set printer for standard print

• If you have a setting for heavier paper, use it
• Fill the paper tray about half full.  Too much paper and it will jam - with no paper it tends to load crooked.
• Insert your sheet of paper fabric side down (if your printer prints this way)
• Arrange your image on the glass keeping within the guidelines and about 1/4" in from each sides to allow for a stitching line.

A couple of times my paper would come loose at the edge and twist in the rollers, leaving a permanent ink splotch on the fabric - upper left corner in this image.

I finally figured it was because the rollers were slipping on the freezer paper instead of grabbing it.  To solve this, I used some spray adhesive on the back side - just the top half - and pressed another sheet of plain paper against it.  There are probably several different ways you could do this, but this was easy and worked for me.  The paper fed through like a charm as you can see in the image below.  The image on the right is printed on white cotton, the one below on a tan cotton.  You can even print on colored or printed fabric, experiment to get different looks.

After this came through the printer I set it aside for the ink to dry then pulled the freezer paper away from the fabric.  It's now ready to be framed, use in collages, quilting - any number of things.

NOTE:  You can also use the full sheet labels, Avery is one brand.  They come 8.5x11" and have the adhesive already on them.  The down side is it's fairly expensive to experiment with.    Freezer paper comes on large rolls, isn't expensive and the cut sheets can be reused several times.

A break in the Heat Wave!

We finally had a good storm last night which has brought our temperature down a bit, which is very welcome.  Yesterday was 107, very hot for MO,  When we moved here 15 years ago it only got to 100 two or three times a year.  Last month we had 15 days of over 100 degrees.  Shades of California.  I remember the hot wind blowing and literally sucking the life out of the leaves on the plants.  We had power all through the storm only to lose it this morning for several hours.  Was a nice, quiet time to sit by the window and read the paper :) As always seems to happen the battery was low on my laptop as well as my phone.

I was skimming a book I've had for several years and came across a technique for enlarging an image that I had forgotten about.  Along the lines of enlarging with a grid, you cut an image into several pieces, put each piece on the printer and enlarge it.  Then line up the pieces, tape them together and you have your image enlarged, ready to transfer to your project.  The acetone method would work well here since it's easy to transfer a larger image.  I've not tried it yet, but I think it would also be a good way to use a larger image with an ink jet transfer.  I just happen to have a project that needed a little something extra and I liked an image I had on the clear transfer paper but at 8.5x11" it was too small for the canvas.  I hope to try this later today, either enlarging the line drawing I have - or - making several transfers and work them around on the canvas.  I'll post the results once I have it finished.

Roses, Roses, Roses

I can't not show you a few of my roses that are valiantly continuing to bloom even in this record breaking heat wave.  Even the Knock Out roses are showing the effects of the heat.  We don't have the big, gorgeous blooms like we did earlier in the year but they are still pretty and the fragrance is heavenly.  Enough to keep me going till it cools down enough for them to have another round of blooms before fall.  Behind the roses is a painting I did earlier this year of Pansies.

Forgot one

Forgot to mention the Gel transfers.  Apply a gel medium to the receiving fabric or paper, press the image over the gel and press down, I use a brayer to gently, but firmly, press so the transfer makes good contact with the gel.  The gel absorbs the toner ink.  Let it dry, preferably overnight, then moisten the paper side with water, beginning to gently rub the paper off the medium that remains.  Several ways to do this, I'll go into more detail in the tutorial.

Note, I used ModPodge for one, and it did transfer, but the resulting fabric was very stiff :)  I used it on a linen dish towel and I've washed and dried it a few times thinking the modpodge would eventually wash out but no luck.  The transfer is almost gone but the towel is as stiff as ever :)

Image Transfers

Friday again, how time flies when you're having fun, and that's what I've been doing this week.  For years I've transferred images to fabric, paper, wood - just about anything I could hold in place long enough.  However, I almost always used the original iron-on transfers we associate with T-shirts.  I've dabbled with this technique and that one but this week I got serious about finding which method works the best for me.  I've listed the methods I tested and will try and get more instructions up with the pictures next week.

I started with the Iron-ons, since I had some on hand, and they work fine - IF - you have an image you can trim and fussy cut.  Otherwise every bit of transfer adhesive will show on your finished piece.  So for transferring photographs or a mostly solid graphic, this is still a good choice.  The one thing to remember is you must need to have a very hot iron and apply pressure for 2-3 minutes for a good transfer, so your receiving fabric must be able to withstand the heat.

Next I tried several versions of the Acetone method.  This worked good for me.  The image is fainter, more of a faded, vintage look but it's fast and fairly easy.  The benefit is you can use it on larger pieces of fabric, larger graphics and/or items where a printer isn't feasible.

Freezer Paper, which is not exactly a transfer, rather a method of printing directly to fabric with your ink-jet printer.  If you have an image that is 8.5x11" or less, this makes the darkest and clearest transfer.

The Heat Transfer method was next in line.  A woodworkers transfer tool is used for this, it's similar to a wood burning tool and gets very hot!  Use with caution or you'll end up with burnt fingers and fabric.   I happened to have a Creative Mark set from Happy Hollow on the shelf, bought it a few years ago but never found a need for it.  Yes!  It had the tool along with 14 interchangeable tips and can be used on a variety of items including wood and leather.  The tip you use to transfer the toner is about the size of a nickel so if you're doing a large transfer it takes awhile.  You need time and pressure to make a good transfer with this.  The good news is, you can begin today, set it aside and finish the next day.

Ink-Jet Transparencies.  A couple of ways to use these, print on the right side (which is the rough side) then use a bone folder to rub the back and transfer the ink.  The other method is to print on the wrong side, then quickly press the ink against your fabric, lift the transparency and there it is!  Plus, you  can wipe off the remaining ink and use it again.  Very economical.

Note:  Some of these methods require a toner copy which you get with a laser printer.  Home laser printers have come down in price significantly, especially the black and white.  Or, you can take your original to a copy shop and have it printed there.  Instructions and images coming soon, if you have any questions sooner, just send me an e-mail.

Broach Bouquets

Just saw some of these bouquets on-line and thought it would be a great way to use some of the old/broken broaches I have in my jewelry stash.

Wire Wrapping

As promised, here are some pictures of my recent pendants using the wire wrap techniques.

Beautifully colored Cabachon with sterling silver and copper wire, center is twisted wire.  This cabachon is a one-of-a-kind from my husbands lapidary days.













Detail of the unique feature in the center of this cabachon. You can see the variety of colors a little better.






                                         








Mother's Birthstone Pendant, gold-filled wraps. This pendant can be made with any stones that have significance to you, or simply select the colors that appeal to you, any number of stones will work.
                                   





A child's birthstone pendant I made for my granddaughter, identical except it has her birthstone, a ruby.





Imitation Abalone shell pendant with a small piece of abalone shell from Fort Bragg CA embedded in the center.  The imitation abalone shell is made from ultra thick embossing powder.  Gold filled wraps with copper.
















An unusual shaped stone with free-form wraps in sterling silver (left).  Stone is held in place with wire prongs.  Details of the prong setting shown below.















TIP:  When wearing these free-form pendants, check where your seat belt crosses your body to avoid having it distort the free-form wires.  It's almost impossible to correct once they are bent.  Either adjust the length of your chain or adjust the pendant to lay in front of the seat belt when you're in the car.

     
Unusual shaped stone with sterling silver wraps.