Shy Blossom

Dorothy thats the name of this green Glidden paint. This is a better shot of it, more true.

weather or knot

the weather service is predicting some unusual weather for this area.....hot hot hot.......UNSEASONABLY HOT WEATHER WILL AFFECT WESTERN WASHINGTON TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY...bring your umbrella anyway.I tried to include this is yesterdays post, but ya know...This is our ladder-towel-rack in it's raw form, beta testing, work out the kinks, etc. Oh look...a cat

That weird blot on the wall is yet another color test for the second green for the walls, I have been mixing paint to get a lighter color, more yellow....I am going with this one.

got a call from Ben before 5 pm yesterday, at that hour it can't be a bad thing, right?
"mom, I'm at the hospital.....think I broke my ankle" "oh dear, how?" [my kids aren't accident prone] "jumped off...mumble......mumble.....and landed wrong." Turns out he sprained it, badly, but it's not broken. Interesting....I did the same sort of thing to my ankle in the long ago. Like mother like son, I guess.

3 Rugs and Driftwood

Rug 1 is torn fabric-->crochet a chain-->sew into an oval. I got the middle pink to flatten, not so with the outer pink-->frog that.
Rug 2 is fugly-->try to make better. canvas and paint.

Rug 3 is done and installed in the house-->dollhouse that is, arrangement by Megan,3, then Ashley, 20. crocheted circle of white yarn with embroidery thread stitched throughout.I can't get good pix of my bathroom. Try not to let the stickers on the windows talk to you....garland by Steph-->wire-->driftwood and rocks.
More of our driftwood, the bigger pieces, and an almost good shot of the wall color. Yes that's a lacy doily on the corner 'shelf' [bare board stuck there] and one of my grandmothers table covers [don't think it's large enough to be considered a tablecloth.]

Dilemma

today, Ashley [20] came by with Megan [3] to take me [51] shopping with my mom [87]. Ashley was driving her car. As we were at the cross street near my house, a van with an older couple was making a left turn from the cross street, going away from us. For some reason I glanced to the under area of the van and was shocked to see...well...something. I am pretty sure it was a dog....stuck under the car and being dragged along. I told Ashley we needed to follow that van and stop them. [In the meantime she had made the left turn onto the cross street, away from where the van was going.] She didn't want to. Many reasons later, we were quite a ways from that corner. I understand all her reasons, but I still feel bad for not following that van.....

Ashleys reasons== it might not have been a dog. True. The driver was older, she didn't want to scare them by chasing them and honking at them. Point taken.

Added mom reason== Ashley's age, teens don't usually like to do that kind of thing, and she still has some teen moments in her....may she always!

I still feel really bad about this though.

Happy Mothers Day

Pottery

Stephanie came home from school one day this week and told me her ceramics teacher said "I believe that if you continue with ceramics classes thru college, you will end up having a show" [as in an art show] What a wonderful thing for a teacher to say! Even if she doesn't, it's still a confidence booster. Tho now that I think about it, Steph doesn't need much of a boost in that class. She started out very right brain in her younger years, then along about 4th grade she got smacked upside the head with math, and her left brain started taking over. The ceramics class lets her right brain peek out now and then. And her bedroom....
She measured out the lines for the blue and black parts on the walls, which are now covered with shiny silvery tape. The quilt....I did the middle part from colors she picked and she finished the outside squares. You might not see the mathematical elements in all that color, but its there.

and I quote Stephanie, "I think geometry plays a huge role in my art."

Stephanie has made other things in class, but has not been able to bring them home, the teacher is holding on to them for now, darn. Ben made a DNA helix out of something many years ago for a class, never got that back either. [we can't remember if it was wire and styrofoam balls or what, I even called him just now] Every now and then we hear about how the teacher still uses it in class. {Ben is my oldest child, and Ashley is my middle girlie girl, both not mentioned often, but no less loved by moi}

Still working on that list

That list I posted on the 4th...still working on those things.

This and That

this is a leopard that Stephanie drew/pastel colored way back in 6th grade [in 11th now] and I am finally getting to it as far as a frame is concerned.
This is a piece of fabric a friend picked out to go with the leopard, sight unseen. Amazing, huh? The dino applique patches will go to said friend if she wants them.

I need to put this list where I can see it....All WIPS....

1. Paint Ashley's room for my mom [she moves in in June]
1.1. have primer
1.2. have room almost empty
1.3. Get the paint to go over the primer, not sure what colors, maybe creamy yellow and a blue.
2. Find a place for Meg's toys. DONE
3. Find a place for....more things than I care to write down.
4. Finish painting our bathroom.
4.1. Need more yellow to add to the green, the original paint is too dark for me. Ben has yellow I can use, and a can of white, so I think I am covered there. STILL working on this 5-10-08
5. Vac the floors. Snort.

On the creative side of the coin....
1. Start wallie for my grand-nephew, C. Decided to use story ideas that S & L would read to him. [brother and SIL] This is going to be like the Storybook wallie.
2. Start embroidery trout.
2.1. Have thread.
2.2. Have design.
2.3. Have fabric picked out.
3. Am trying to make a bg for a pastel drawing that Steph did in 6th grade. I want to frame it, a leopard, but it needs something behind it and am avoiding a paper mat. May have this covered by above said friend.
3.1. Work on the painted canvas I am trying for this.
4. Finish crochet 'rug' for dollhouse, small easy handwork, no brainer project. Done
5. Finish up other rug idea. Still a WIP Needs more fabric to make larger
5.1. I cut an old pair of pink SMALL wale cord jammies into strips, by going around and around and around the legs up to the crotch.
5.2. Crocheted the strips into a 'braid' looking length of fuzziness.
5.3. Am stitching the braid into an oval, by hand, more no brainer work.
6. Work on coffee wallie, that is currently a WIP.

Off to a great start....

and not a darn thing finished! Empty can of yellow=>lighten green for bathroom. Need more yellow. White rail thing=>shelf for girls bathroom, orange wasn't the right color. Etc.
Closet doors=>painted. Re-hang AFTER room is painted.
Something to go behind a pastel Stephanie did in 6th grade=>this may not be it.
One use for grocery receipts=>Megan did this for the bear=>I have to remind myself that Meg is ONLY 3...
not 9.....or 13.....or

More Done

The binding is on the Christimas Wallie I made for my mother in law. Cat is extra.
Stephanie made banana muffs.
My mop. Why am I showing this? Because I can. I use my broom as a 'base' for a towel for the mop. Works better than the string mops I have used over the years. [yes that is green paint slopped onto the lino, I figure it will wear off by about the time we get flooring in...]
Abby jumped right up into the photo session.......

Storybook Wallie is Done!

Done. The binding is the backing brought around to the front. Easy Peasy. I also realized that this one is almost all hand done. I did one line of machine stitching, where I attached the 'road' for the Ducklings, as in Make Way For Ducklings.
I took Harold's Purple Crayon all over, even making words to fit the stories. This one is for Polar Express. And that amoeba looking blob in front of the train??? That is supposed to be a bell, a sleigh bell.
The Giving Tree....
The Kissing Hand, tho I cut off "kiss" with the camera....
Megan's curl got a bit of color. I crocheted it from ecru cotton, then dabbed on some yellow and brown All-Purpose Ink.

Bookmarks, Light bulbs and Paint...oh my!

Book marks. Seriously. I found that using a giant paper clip and ribbon makes a great bookmark that NEVER gets lost....while attached to the book at least. I didn't have much ribbon for all these, so I made strips of fabric 'ribbon' for them instead.
See, you attach the paper clip to the back cover of your book, and it stays there. Period.
WTF???? Its me. As a Flat Stanley It is going to go with my journal, that will go meet my online friends in person.
Light bulbs, not energy efficient, but out of 10 that go over the bathroom sinks, only 4 get actually screwed all the way in. The others are just for looks. Once they are all blown, then we will get CFL's. The gold things are part of the fixtures, we will be spray painting them all silver. Easy way to update the whole shebang for small expense....well....almost no expense since we already have the can of spray paint.Paint. Again. This is in my bathroom. Finally got the green on....but it's not exactly the green I wanted, so I only did 3 of the walls. {ok, Steph did 98% of the painting, sheesh} I want to try to make a yellow-green like this smear on the wall that Steph and I mixed up from the green and some yellow craft paint.
The ladder is covered with tape and if you look closely, you will see 2 different colors on it. That's because we found that the tape was re-usable after the first round around the windows with the white. The tape is still usable for the 3rd round. Frugal, eh?The yellow-green will go into the shower alcove, which is dark, and 2 other walls. We have 8 wall surfaces in the bathroom.

Tagged....ME???

I have been tagged....me.....this should be interesting....

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Not sure I can find 7 willing people to tag, but at least I can give this a try.

1. I never change the calendar until the first of the month has arrived.

2. I don't want anyone to use my box of crayons, they are to stay virgins.

3. When we go sofa shopping, I look for bright, zingy colors. Can't find them, end up with dark tan. yawn.

4. I would love to live in a warehouse.

5. Better still, I would love to live in an airplane, a 747 or so, parked in the desert.

6. I can just look at a plant and it darn near dies.

7. I would like to redo my 32nd year. Only do it right this time.

Calendars....Half off....which half do you want?

hehehe

But seriously....how about this one?Now this has got to be a conversation calendar.....I am going to have to remember this for 2009.

HB big brother

Today was my brothers birthday. I can say "was" because they live an hour ahead of us on the time zone map, so it's already the 17th for them....I called him instead of just blogging a greeting. Not sure if he reads my blog, they dont' leave comments if they do...

do dads

This is Abby. On "her" bed. In "her" room. She has taken over the bed Ashley left here, but not the whole room, I have added a few things to the room....ok, so it's just junque, but it got out of our way in the rest of the house.

I tried to crochet with this yarn yesterday....not a hope in heck will I try that again. I could do the chain stitch...then couldn't see where the darn things went....rats.
The "purple crayon", that Harold was busy drawing all over this wallie, is now done. He can write words you know, like "duck" and "kiss" and "giving" and "all aboard" and if he misspelled anything...wellllll...that's ok, he's a kid, he's forgiven.
I need to fix that raccoon face. Needs more black between the eyes. And the pic below is just a shot of some of my sewing area. I am trying to show off the colors I have...in the paints, the threads, the other things you don't see here that I plan to 'display' someday too, etc.
Inspector Claw - sew.
Steph said, "don't put that wooden thing out, it's ugly" Gee, thanks kid, that was mine when I was a kid. Ok if I put it with things you made???? {the lid in my painty fingers is to the sq. you see in the bg, Steph lined the inside of the box with beads too.}
The Doll and scooter Megan got for her birthday, who lives here at Grandmas house. Yes I made a quick new outfit for her, doesn't fit well, but is easy to put on and yank off. The doll is 18", the Our Generation from Target version of American Girl dolls. Megan thinks she is supposed to ride the scooter.
More carving my brother did. Long long ago, in a state far far away. Well, California isn't that far from Washington [state], I guess. Anyway, I had taken the paper towel extension parts off so I could display the wooden part on a shelf, and now I want the extension back on, so Dan made new parts and I am painting them.
Dan came home with this recently. A guy he works with knows a chain saw artist dude who made this up in about 10 minutes. Even has glasses!!!

This is a doll house I was given when I was a teen....pre-teen? Anyway, I have not been able to display it for...well....since I moved away from home. I can't remember if it came with a matching chair. A neighbor was clearing out a few things and gave it to me. I am pretty sure it's older than I am.
I was going to crochet a 'rag' rug for it, but the purple yarn was a bust. The needlepoint under the table is just for kicks.....it's a sweet little chick Steph did up from a calendar of projects we got a couple of years ago. I am not big on the 'sweet little stuff'.

It's all in the wording...

Here is the "screen capture" of the palette of colors that I got from my picture of the bird...no pink-peachy colors in the palette at all. hummmmmm. Anyway, I finally re-read what Diane said on her site about her palette.....and the words "screen capture" leaped out at me and smacked me in the haid. Just click the little "printscr" button on your keyboard, if you have one, and the picture on the screen is saved and you can fiddle with it in Paint, or where ever. Easy Peasy!!