Wool Purse

Several months ago my friend, DeLoris, gave me a big piece of wool fabric (3 1/2 yards of 60" wide). She apologized that there were moth holes in it which she had conscientiously marked with safety pins. I gladly accepted this lovely gift even though there is no way I could ever wear a wool garment (it makes me itch... always has). I immediately had visions of hand-dyed wool dancing in my head! I pre-washed the wool so it was ready for dying. And then it sat, patiently waiting.

Since then thoughts of what I would do with it cooked in my little-girl-head until last week when I finally got out my dye and the pre-washed wool to make some beautiful colors.

(But first sneak-peak at the purse)



I'd hoped for darker jewel-toned colors but I think that either there is a polyester content to the wool or that the dry cleaning chemicals didn't completely wash out. You can see the original color of the wool underneath the dyed fabric. It is a light beige with a darker thread herringbone pattern. I dyed 1/2 yard WOF *dark brown* then 18" squares of (starting at the top left)- golden yellow, turquoise/golden yellow mix, emerald green, turquoise, rose red, purple, and fuchsia. What I ended up with was a lovely variety of soft heather colors...



Years ago I started a wool applique block-of-the-month quilt (which is still not-so-happily-waiting) and I used some of the flowers from that as inspiration for my purse. I quickly re-discovered that my poor-arthritic thumb can only do so much hand sewing (hence the not-so-happily-waiting BOM quilt) so the hand embellishment has been done in small chunks.



It appears that I am going to have to name 2012 *THE YEAR OF THE PURSE* It is a terrible sickness but I love it.

Trucks at 16 and 60!

For years (almost 8 to be exact) I've taken photos of the beautiful sunsets that always delight and amaze me and especially in the winter there is usually this teal truck in the foreground. Most of you probably don't even notice it... but I do!



Well I finally got sick and tired of it always being there so I moved that *dang-thing*! Where did I move it too?

In front of MY house!!! Bwahahaha!!



We've mentioned to several of our neighbors who have older trucks, "If you ever want to sell your truck, let us know!" Well, Brad did! He made us a wonderful deal AND we know that it has been lovingly cared for. How could we go wrong?

I've wanted a truck since we moved to Utah. We've kicked around the idea. Gordon's looked at trucks online but it just didn't come together until now. We've had to borrow a truck or trailer several times a season to haul green-waste, pick up something big at Home Depot, take a snowblower or mower into to be fixed or move something. But now! Now we have our very own truck!!

Lasterday as Gordon and I were high-fiving each other exalting that we were finally truck owners (for the very first time) I remember that *my first car* was also a truck. It didn't belong to me; my mom bought it after I wrecked her little Dart wagon (stupid kid!!) She bought it for the same reason we did- she just needed a hauler AND a second back-up car to drive her US Mail route, and make little-Joanie mobile. She was very kind to me in that way. (Let's be honest! My mom was kind to me in EVERY WAY!



For some reason I find it a little ironic that the only trucks I've *owned* are teal... the first one at age 16 and now, this one, at age 60.

OK- Here's another conundrum. What to name my new friend. Got any suggestions?

Hardwood Floor Magic

Several months ago I saw this product (Miniwax hardwood floor reviver) on Pinterest. I pinned it and even bought the product but it sat under my sink until Thursday... that was the day of reckoning! Why the delay? I have a tri-level house and the wood floor AND the exit doors are on the middle level... that does create a large road block! So why now? Because we finally delivered Ashton's organ to her and I was itching to pull up the sisal rug and reclaim my dining room.

When I rolled back the rug I found that Harley's *dash path* from the front window to the dog door was badly worn. The sisal rug and grit underneath had acted just like sandpaper and totally dulled the surface... I had to do SOMETHING if I wanted to take out the rug. (And did I get a before photo? No! Not me! I always think about that when I've halfway through the project!)

I got the floor prepped (super easy, just washed it with the Miniwax hardwood floor cleaner; since I didn't have any wax on my floor).   Then I scatted Pap and Pup out the door for a couple of hours. I did the kitchen and dining room over to the upstairs banister (can you see the line?), took a shower and left for a couple of hours myself.

This is what my floor looked like this morning.



This is inside the pantry where we keep the big bucket of Harley's food. Minus the big scratches, this is what the dining room floor looked like before the reviver. (You can see the line here, too, between finished and not finished area.)



I finished the remainder of the floor this afternoon. I found that the easiest way to apply it was to put a piece of a microfiber cloth around my Swiffer duster mop instead of the dusting pad. I just pushed it into the grippers on the top of the Swiffer. Then I carefully squirted out some of the finish onto the floor (if I did it from up high it splattered onto the adjacent floor and made spots) and spread it on. It applies and smells a lot like wax. Easy enough! I gave the floor two coats since this is the first time I've done anything except clean my floor since we had it installed almost 8 years ago.  It cleans up with soap and water and dries quickly, a couple of hours.

So here is the magic in a bottle! I needed one and a half bottles to do 2 coats on my 450 square feet of hardwood floor. At $20 (at Home Depot) a bottle I think this is quite a DIY deal!  I'm so pleased with my beautiful shiny floors!



** This is not a paid advertizement... Miniwax doesn't even know who I am! But I sure love their product!

Celtic Knot Snowflakes

Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water office... someone suggests you try Celtic Knot snowflakes (thank you, Rebekah Bales-Dunford). And then you [read- I] are off on a new creative adventure!

I saw that suggestion on Facebook last night and stayed up entirely too late! I couldn't come up with any designs that I was happy with so I finally made myself go to bed about 1 AM... yes, it is a sickness.

When I got up this morning my mind was still thinking Celtic snowflakes so I declared this a *Grammie-Jammie-Day* so here I sit at 3 PM still in my jammies, but I've finished dozen Celtic snowflakes. But not all of them are blog worth. This is the first one I was happy with. I used Snapseed (on my iPhone) to edit and post it on Instagram/Facebook.



Then I took that design and got a little more elaborate.



I learned that to turn any design into a snowflake I dissect a 1/6 pie-piece from the original design and sketch that on the folded paper. I also learned that for intricate patterns like this I cut it out thinking *weaving* as I cut. You can see that I've cut through the design at certain points to reach the middle.



When I carefully unfold the snowflake there are all of these disconnected pieces.  But as soon as I iron it flat, and, in my case, laminate it, the snowflake is stable again.



Here are some of the other 6-sided *keepers*.





The problem with Celtic knot snowflakes (I just made a typo- snotflakes! bwahahahahaha) is that Celtic knots are not usually symmetrical nor are they 6-sided. Most of the designs I Googled-up were 4-sided. So I had fun exploring all of the possibilities.

I reverted back to folding the paper in 1/8th to get a truer Celtic knot design.



Here is the folded view of this snowflake.



And what genuine-Celtic girl would neglect making 4-leaf clovers?





I have the feeling that there are lots more snowflakes in my future... guess I'd better go buy another ream of paper!

Snowflake Summary

Last month I was bitten, and bitten hard, by the creative bug! I started cutting paper snowflakes and almost couldn't stop!

This is the little man [men] that started it all.  Shan says they look like geckos with hats on. (See their little pointed legs?)  Actually it is snowmen... cut in an 8-sided snowflake.



From there it just mushroomed out of control... but I LOVE IT!! I've had so much fun creating. I've given some away, others got destroyed when I tried to open the window to remove the screen. They've been up and down on the windows so many times they are dizzy. With all of this effort and creating I knew I needed to save them so I bought an inexpensive laminater (thank you Amazon) and they are all safely incased!

So, in alphabetical order (who me? OCD?) are my creations. I just gave them names when as I went along.

Bottle brush tree



Crown of thorns



Crown of thorn 2



I thought these looked like diaper pins, but the original idea was a snowflake. (So, where should this be alphabetized? D or S?)



Fireworks



This one got the name of *Oh My! It's and addiction!* but started life as a flower.



Tiny hearts



This one has a funny story. When I posted this on Instagram I said, "I feel like a little girl again! White paper, scissors and patience are making me so happy."

Julie Biggs told me she thought they looked like the Springville Mighty Red Devils. (But they are just wannabes!)



So... I HAD to make a "for real" Might Red Devils snowflake.



This one has a story too. It was one of my firsts and I misjudged my cutting and ended up with two pieces- a doily...



And the inside which look like hooks to me... or just the inside of a failed paisley =-(



This is my first successful attempt at the paisley, unfortunately, it is one of those that got destroyed trying to remove the screens.



So I made this one...



But I knew I could do better so I made this one! I love this shot taken with it in silhouette against the blue sky outside!



Here it is on the boring wall!



Then I had a flash! Owl snowflakes... the next three all live at Margee's house. She's an owl lover. I call them...

Owl 1



Owl 2



And, owl 3 (very original!).



As I ferreted on the internet for ideas I saw pineapples... this was my first attempt- tiny pineapples.



I remembered that my friend, Tom, had cut snowflakes for years and found his tutorial online, so I copied his design. He says it is pineapples, turtles and waves.



But I wanted BIG pineapples! This is my favorite pineapple snowflake.



A snowflake...



And another snowflake.



The little 8-sided snowmen that started it all...



His round-dozen-cousins...



And, just six snowmen.



This pretty one lives with my friend, DeLoris. I think I need to make another one of these for me. I do have one pane open in my office window.



This lovely is one of the first ones I made. I loved the whole star concept. But, sadly, it was another casualty of removing the screens, before I got my laminater.



When I posted this on Instagram Debra said it was a "Star Valley" snowflake... so I made one for them.



Then, like I said, I kind of went crazy with the whole star concept. And I won't bore you by listing the unoriginal names of: star 1, star 2, etc.



















This was another design that spoke to me... I love all of the pokes that look like a thorn bush.



And another thorn bush.



This is my Christmas tree with some falling stars.



And a very Grinchy-tree.



This is my *Top of the List* favorite one- The Tree of Life, which represents the love of God.



A woven basket.



And a wreath or a stained-glass window.



I've run out of panes on my living room and office windows... but I will probably be making more. What a delightful journey this has been.