She's done

Violet is done...





Despite some messups with the scissors, the machine and my thumbs.. she's done and not horrible. I fixed the problems with the sewing machine and know a couple of other things that could have been done differently to make it better so if I do decide to make another one of these and I think I will... the next one will be better. Don't think this one is good enough to give away although I did make the shoes smaller and I opened her feet and added some more stuffing there. Shoes fit better now. I had put too much blush on and she looked like a clown. Couldn't get it off until I hit on the bright idea of Spray and Wash.. that removes anything. So.. she's done and sort of cute too.... J

Window coverings

I made these toppers when we bought this house a few years back. The whole wall was covered with sheers and heavy floor to ceiling drapes. The walls were dark paneled. It was dark and dreary. I got rid of those old curtains and lightened up the walls. I made the toppers and just inset mini blinds inside the window frames so as not to detract from their shape. I could close the blinds and the dog wouldn't see out but that makes the room dark again. I hate dark rooms. So I want to get the same lace material as I've used on the toppers to make inset cafe type curtains. I will line them with a tan color so he won't be able to see people walking by.. but with the blinds open the top half of the window will let in some light. J

Getting there

Here's a couple of pictures.....

I still have to do her shoes but Violet is almost done... at least she's covered and not laying around in the nude. It's a bit harder to do these things now because my thumbs are shot but I think all in all, despite the problems I had with the scissors and sewing machine, she's kinda cute. J.

Violets hair is done !!!

Yea her hair is done... I do want to find a different head band for her though....Hopefully tomorrow I can start on her clothes. Then just a little blush and some nail polish... lookin' good. J

A Little Progress

A few pics of Violet... taking shape

I finished the face sculpting, embroidered the eyelashes and started attaching the lovely pink hair... Would have done more but having dog trouble again today....

J

No pics but that doesn't mean....

I've been idle. I actually got the year 2008 events of our family recorded in pictures and all put in albums. I've labeled the albums so I know which is which and I don't have to drag each one out when I'm looking for something. Oh and I finished Violets other foot and knee...... and now she has a lovely little nose.

I plan on sculpting her face tomorrow..... then I'll take some more pictures.

J

No Doll work today.

I didn't work on my doll because my thumb hurt. Maybe tomorrow. But what I want to show you is some low carb crackers I made early last summer. I worked and worked to get the recipe just right. They are so good my son thought I should market them. Here's a couple of pictures.

I think cooking is a craft, don't you?

J

Sculpting has begun

Part of the face has to be embroidered before sculpting... so that part is done. I did get both hands sculpted and one leg and foot. You have to admit Violet is starting to take shape. Even though I found my sculpting needles... I still find them to be too big.. not too long but too big around and difficult to push through the stuffing. Wish I could find a skinnier needle.. I will before I make another one of these dolls. J

Miscellaneous stuff

I didn't make all these things, but I did make the bunny and the swan.. that bunny was so fun. I had a pattern for it. Wish I still had that pattern.. would like to make another one. The swan I didn't have a pattern for. They are both made from material and stuffed. The bunny was lightly sculpted... Kiko made that floral arrangement.. wish I still had it but dried flowers don't last forever..

One good thing... I found my sculpting needles so tomorrow I'll work on Violet..

J

Wow... Violet must have eaten all night...

Just last night Violet was so thin... now look at her. She's looking mighty stuffed. Yes I got her stuffed. Didn't really do much on her today though. Tomorrow I will try and start the sculpting. Hopefully I can still do it... J

unstuffed doll body

After a really hard start, with the scissors not cutting this thin material well... my arthritic thumb having a heck of a time and the sewing machine acting up, I've finally at least gotten the body pieces fitted together and sewn. This is a picture of "Violet" unstuffed... stay tuned.

J

Pac Man Cakes

So, it's my opinion cakes can fall under the heading of crafts... ya think? Well if it were "Arts and Crafts" it would fit. Remember the old pac man game? Then there was Mama pac man and baby pacman.. Kiko loved them all. One year for his birthday I made his cakes in the images of the pacman family.. And if you know what they looked like, you'll know I did a good job. J

Wishing Well..

A funny little nothing thing we did at work



This is actually made with craft sticks glued onto a can.
Painted and then varnished. I wish I had a picture of the
side of the roof. It actually looks like a real shingled roof.

Once again...

Doggie wear remodeled..... Cut the point off the back and sewed the neck hole together so it slips over his head.

Added elastic to the bottom so I can just slip this on without

using velcro which he just chews off anyway.. Remember

this is still my first try. Next one will be better.

J

Aren't these cute? And so easy. We made these one year at our family reunion. It's just two wooden balls glued together and painted. I've added the face with a fine point permanent marker. Shoes are painted on. A bit of craft felt makes the scarf and the earmuffs are just little store bought pom poms. They just look cheery to me.

J

Reunion hat

We had 'hat' night at one of our family reunions. Everyone who came to the potluck had to wear a hat. Here are two views of the one I fixed for myself. What fun.

J

First try

This is my first try at making my dog a coverlet.

Maybe that's not what it's called, don't know. I didn't have

a pattern so I made one out of a brown paper grocery bag.

I'm not completely happy with the way this fits, but in the picture I can see what needs to be done to make it fit better.

I've used stick on velcro which I do not like and will either find

the velcro to sew on or think up a different way to fasten it.

I've made this with double fabric sewn together and it would be reversible if the velcro wasn't on it.. I also think if this were a stretchy type of material I would make it so it just slips on with no fasteners needed. Now I'm thinking this would be terrific made out of a nice sleek black shiny vinyl... Would make a neat raincoat. Yep this is only the start of a whole new wardrobe.. by the way. Dog was not enthused.

J

Rocky the Frog

I actually bought this rock to paint. I had the idea for the frog but couldn't find a rock that would work... so I bought one. He's a cutey don'tcha think?

J

Stepping Stones?

Here's one I made last year... This was my first attempt. I used colored glass do dads from the dollar store. Filled it all in first with the grout and then just stuck the glass into it. We sealed it afterwards but this isn't really very durable and the cheap glass has lost some of its color... I think I can do better than this. But it does look cute in the flower beds.

J

I found it...

This is the first quilt block I made for the family quilt that Christina made. At that time I was single. I had a large family even though most of the seven children were grown and gone. I'd always felt like the old woman who lived in a shoe.... so that was the inspiration for my quilt block.. This is just a free hand drawing with brown fabric paints... Turned out cute I think.

J

Quilt Block

This was my contribution to the family quilt that Mary made for our family reunion... We had another quilt before this one.. Will have to look for the block I made for that one too... I used pictures of us for the heads and drew the bodies on the computer.... Then I scanned it onto the material. Was a fun thing to do.
J

More rock painting

Aren't these just the most scrumptious looking strawberries? Got cream? Well they are three little rocks I found and painted them up to look like strawberries. These are the types of things I do when we go camping.. Haven't been in a long time.

J

Pillow project

Last year for Christmas I made pillows for some of the grandkids and a nephew.. I made transfers on the computer and had them ironed onto material. Then I sewed the picture onto the pillow.. I think I made a total 6 pillows... it was a fun project and the kids liked them..

A Doll or not?

I have these little doll kits. I've made them before but it's been almost twenty years ago, I think. I had decided to make them again and was all fired up about them when all of a sudden the ooomph went out of me and now I just can't seem to get into them. I did cut the pattern out for one of the dolls but so far haven't done anything else with it... maybe tomorrow. They are really cuter than the picture. Yes, maybe tomorrow.

J.

Christmas Tree Ornament

Here's another of the little doll ornaments.. made the same way the other one is... sewn and stuffed. The head is a wooden ball with paint pens used to draw the features. A bit of embroidery thread for the hair and there you have it.

J

This Little Piggy Went to Market...

Isn't he cute... he's a very small rock that just looked like a pig... and so he is. A bit of paint. Some mod podge to seal it and there you have a cute little pig.

J

Mosaic House Numbers

This is a slumpstone like one uses in the yard. I've used broken glass and rocks for the design and numbers... filled it with grout and then sealed it. The one below is a rock and I've used all broken glass on it.

T-shirt transfers

Here's the transfer I made for the T-shirts for our family reunion one year... I'm making another transfer now but it's for a different reason. I liked this and it showed really well on white T-shirts...

J

Flower Pounding

This was a fun project that we did at one of the family reunions. I bought cheap frames at the $ store and the thrift shops. Used flower petals and pounded them on the material with rocks. The only problem I've found is that these fade easily... they are not near as bright now as they were when we made them.

J

Photo/scrapbook albums

Here are two pages of the albums I did for the kids for Christmas... there are 40 total pages and I made seven albums.. They did turn out good.