Christmas candles

Playing with my candles, many many combos...
You try the same, use copper or bronze with silver, with zinc, or pewter, have candles burn with a glass urn, a candle from the Dollar Store,  candles are elegant, almost anything goes, mix colors of candles.  I am using only white for Christmas 2014 in my dining room because I want plain.

Don't think we designers get it right the first time.

Imitating Christmas Inspiration

Are you interested in pinterest and other people's exquisite blogs, and you just wish you could do something creative for your house?  Christmas is here and you want to be a bit different this year.  Pick on idea from the Christmas inspirations you see, pick just one, and try to copy it.

Today, I found my old bible and some vintage lace.  You may not have vintage, that is ok.  Take a thick book, rip off the cover, make a good cup of strong coffee or tea, and rub the book with the coffee or tea.  Do it on the edges of the book, the binding and the first few pages and the last couple.  Let it dry.  In a hurry, take your blow dryer and dry it.  Dip your ribbon or lace in the coffee or tea too.  When dyed to the darkness in color that you like, and dried, wrap it around the book or tie it.  If you have twine, or a thin rope, wrap that too.  Add a Christmas post card on top of the book, then tie it.

This makes a beautiful gift too to a friend that may have everything, but needs a bit of something different for their house.

Starting to say goodbye summer. Hello Indian Summer- Drying Hydrangeas

I am starting to say goodbye to summer, Hello Indian summerand drying my hydrangeas.  When I was a kid, I don't think I ever gave it thought to why we call this part of the season Indian Summer, you know what I don't think  I know why today, only that it means summer is gone, fall is here, almost winter, and it is hot out.

I enjoy it so much, I just need to go out and pick dried left over seed pods and dried flower heads, walk through the leaves and smell that dampened grass, and browned leaf smell, looking for acorns and broken walnuts, gathering my left over hydrangeas to stick into nooks and crannies in my kitchen, my fireplace mantel, my glass vase in my bedroom.  I love the pinkish, purplish, creamish, brownish little colored petals.

Hydrangeas

 Thinking of making a couple of wreaths out of these snowballs to some of you and hydrangeas to others...I got creative and made a huge natural bouquet of flowers to create a heart.  I think I will try to make a smaller version of this idea and maybe even try to sell a couple wreaths.

Some people call them snowballs, so many types of these flowers.
At Cape Cod, people have purple and blue ones next to their entrances.

How to dry

2-3 Methods

1.  Put a bunchanged in a vase filled with water and let the water evaporate.

2. Tie a bunch of the flowers with longer stems together and hang in a dry area of your house for at least amonth.

3.  Put the flowers with short stems and fill a basket and dry naturally.

4.  Put the flowers with , on stems in a vase and dry.

The problem with hydrangeas is that sometimes they may dry too brown or the flower petals whither, anand that may be from cutting them too early when they are not fully bloomed.  Experimen a couple of the ways I suggested, and see what your favorite look is.  These that you see in the above pictures are a different type.  There are hundreds.  They take years to mature.  You wI'll see some in people's yards that look like bushes, and some that look like weeping trees.

This is my favorite. I like having plants I can use to decorate.

ALSO,  you can keep them for 2-3 years, I have.

AUTUMN (fall) in New England

 A little bit of oranges, reds, yellows, lime green turning brown.  I always wondered why some trees turn more brilliant in color than others.

 I just had to pick up a fist full of leaves from my yard and smell them to see if they smelled like they did when I was a kid...they almost did...

 The weather will change from one moment to the next, sprinkling with the sun out, cloudy, foggy, chilly, humid..

 BERRIES...

 Dried grasses and seed pods...

Pastel colored mums

crochet dish cloths

I have only known the simplicity of crocheting;  not fancy stitches, in fact I had to buy a chart to keep in my bag and look to remember "now how many times do I yarn over for a double crochet, or a triple crochet.  I started a dish cloth or what I always call a dish rag swap. So includingmyself, I have 9 ladies.  This is the simple dish "rag" that I made, white, with a red scalloped edge and a little apple applique.
This pattern was 25 chains and single crochet.
Last week I was visiting a family member, and she had received a dish cloth as a gift but she didn't like it and I asked her why.  We came to the conclusion that it was made too large.  So do take NOTE, when you are making a dish cloth, think about how large you would like it.  After I made this cloth, and added the edging, I think it may just a bit too large, so next time I will do 20 chains instead of 25.

Knitted Heart dish rag

Cute little knitted heart dish rag.  It is made out of 100 percent cotton yarn.
It took two nights to make.  It shouldn't have though, but for some reason even though I count and cross off rows on the pattern, I still sometimes make mistakes or just don't get the pattern.  I spent four hours knitting a round dish rag the other night, and gave up.  When I read the pattern, it looks easy to me, but it just does not come out, so I wonder if it is written wrong, or what on earth I am misunderstanding.
I know that these knitted pieces take a long time, and I could buy one for cheaper at the Dollar Tree, but it is the satisfaction of making something, having my hands not be idle, and they work really well washing dishes.  I made one for a friend years ago, and she said she loved it so much, she even hand sewed it when it was wearing out.
So if you see them at yard sales, or at the Salvation Army, and they have not been used and just donated, buy them and use them.  Wrap a bar of soap I  one with a ribbon and give as a gift.

Fall/Autumn Arrangement

http://www.pinterest.com/cryscreations/fallautumn-arrangement/

Go crazy this fall and , make a fall or autumn arrangement out of  something different and unusual like my primitive, shabby chic antique, vintage bag.

I always seem to overdo my arrangements, packing them to the brim, and then taking stuff out and then thinking it is not enough.  After making the arrangement, I wonder, mmmm, should I  put it on the table and leave it alone?  Should I add another decoration next to it?  Do I want that decoration where I was originally planning on  putting it or somewhere different.  Question, is this a sign of discontentment?:)

Believe it or not, this bag could be considered primitive, and If I paint it or shabby it up with cream, or white, it will be shabby chic.  I can never decide.  I love folk and primitive and I love shabby chic.

So, find a container of some sort, a basket, a child's toy like a truck, a rusty bucket or I have a better idea, run down to the yard sale down the street, or an antique shop even if you have never gone in one, and pick up something that intrigues you.

All you have to do is put it on a table, and plop some inexpensive fall silks around it.
It really is that easy and your fall arrangement will be unlike anyones.

I am actually going to shabby chic this bag, stay tuned.
The flowers are Dollar Tree sprigs I have been collecting for
a few years now, "recycled" a felt pumpkin, a wooden crow
A wooden primitive Harvest sign, and a vintage fish net and doctor's bag which by the way, I remember the doctor coming to my house when I was about 6 and had the flu.   MMMMM, I have the flu now too, mmmm symbolic isn't it?

Writing In The Margins giveaway at shannanoel.blogspot.com

This seems to be a book that all of us artists would love for journaling, writing, drawing, painting and getting deep into our bibles.
This is a giveaway so go to this blog and comment.  Maybe you will be the winner.

Green Onion Fairy Contest

http://www.themagiconions.com/2014/07/fairy-garden-contest-enter-now.html

FAIRY GARDEN 2014 Contest

This fairy stuff has been so much fun for me.  Working in a different scale in fairyngardens is a littlemtrickier than yoummay think.  Just like train sets, they come in different sizes, so when you are selecting people, trees, cars and fun things for the scenery with the trains, you have to take scale into account.

Three is a Crowd or is IT?

 Mixture of doodling, painting, scripture and just loads of fun on Monday nights.  Missed Tracy this Monday and I can see that it is starting to become my date-nite working on flowers; the type of art I would not normally do, but because it is out of my zone, I am enjoying it.  I need to simplify though.  Most of my work is always jam packed; kind of like how I decorate my house too!

loads of stuff, especially cream stuff, lace stuff, antique stuff, junk stuff, stuff, stuff, stuff:)

Watercolor pencils, Acrylic and Buttons at Tracy's Monday Night Special

I AM collage from Tracy's Monday night class

It is so awesome to be able to have a regular routine of painting, drawing and collage at Tracy's Monday Night class.  Life is so busy, so tough at times, that I look forward to sitting down and doing what I love so much, and I also get to do a different technique that Tracy teaches, and think on scriptures that go along with my work.  I loved this one because God calls HIMSELF the Great I AM.