Busy Days

Isn't thata cool saying? And oh so true.

I managed to finish up my Halloween shoe. Had a malfunction along the way but salvaged it. It actually looks great in person, but glitter makes everything look good. Don't you agree? LOL

I'm just happy I got it done in time for Halloween. I also wanted to make a "Winter Frost" doll out of a gourd. One reason was to show my girls in the group that dolls can be made from anything with little or no sewing. Also the people who supply me with pumpkins for my deer, and squash for my table also sell the gourds I use for decoration and then dry them. I wanted to make "Mr. Jingles" for them to display with their gourds. Some people just use them for display and then throw them out...what a waste.

He's one happy little gourd. I'm sure he thought life was over last year once Fall turned to winter.
We also have a Blade exchange going on as you know. I wanted to do something of a Steam punk style so this is what I made for Oct.

I wonder if I should have used black lace? The lace is ecru, but I'm thinking I should have done it more "Vintage" <sigh>
So that's what I've been doing. Now I'm working on my What Do You See Project and my pin keep for Carolyn. So thanks for stopping by...Tomorrow I hope to have a little fun tutorial so stay tuned and have a Happy Halloween.

Rain, Rain Go away

And I try A LOT!!!! I prefer to see my mistakes as happy accidents. I usually learn something from them. (my quote for the day)
So while I am still working on several different things. I remembered that we are having an ornament exchange in my group (there's a Mixed media Button you can hit if you'd like to join us)
The cost of mailing can be a real burden, especially if you belong to more then one group like most of us do. For that reason  I told the girls to think of Flat, light weight , easy to mail ornaments, that are still "pretty" and well made. Here's a few idea's

There isn't one of these that I wouldn't love to hang on my tree. Of course  I'd have to add some twinkle along the way (beads or sequins or glitter) because that's who I am and what I do. But there are so many flat kind of ornaments. I should hope EVERYONE would join in this swap.
I really look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.
I will have to see about posting pictures of the Mystery Challenge (which a few actually finished) as well as the  Shoe Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and if you don't already belong to the MixMedia Studio on Yahoo...hit that button and join us,

Daily Thought

It's funny how things just pop into my head. I was checking mail and a friend mentioned a problem. Immediately I thought "calm seas never made a  skilled sailor". She wrote back that sometimes the simplest statement can speak volumes.
The truth is I am a collector of words. I love words. I love quotes. Over the years I have collected thousands and that's no exaggeration .
Someone once told me I should make up a book of quotes. Oh there's an original idea...NOT!!!
But the truth is, what good are they if they are not shared? What one person may find meaningless, another may find some solace. I find them a way of expressing my moods...
I decided to share  my collection of thoughts, quotes and saying...some are my own while others are the words of famous people, but all have a special , deep meaning. Okay, maybe not all, some may just be funny or down right sarcastic  but for sure someone will get walk away with something.
So regardless of what I may include in my daily BLOG, I will always share a thought for you to ponder. I decided that sharing my quotes is a good way to be sure I show up here each day.
I need some consistency in my life LOL
I still have some things I'm working on and really nothing to show you today. So why don't I just leave you with this until tomorrow.

How Fast time goes by

Seems like yesterday I was here. Life just has a way of flying by and not telling me.
Like all people, I get wrapped up in the drama that seems to be my life lately, but I still manage to get a few things done.
One of the challenges in my group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mixedmediastudio/info is a doll. I set this challenge up each month so that my doll makers would participate. However, the none "doll makers" seem to pass up this challenge, claiming they are NOT doll makers. IN an effort to change their minds I made a doll that anyone could make. I have a friend who loves coffee creamer and collects snowmen so it's perfect.

Not trying to hide what it's made from. Just trying to show people that you can make a doll from something other than fabric.
It can also fit into the Gift of the week category although I had another idea. A birch branch or any branch is free and readily available, so why not drill a hole, maybe decorate the bottom with holiday twigs and berries, add a candle and there ya go.

We also have a ATC swap. You take a magazine, cut strips and the glue them either in a pattern or up and down...whatever...This is what I did.

Something different huh?
I usually never have my camera ready when swaps come in and I should. I like sharing what I get.
You remember we had a spooky tin swap and also spooky movie ATC swap (I show pic's of what I did) This is what I received. The tin is from Beth (I love it) and the fabulous ATC's are from Norma...she also sent me that sweet Post card.

So that's all for now folks. I'm working on a What do You See challenge...An I Dare You Challenge and a pin keep swap and also another fan blade...Life just keeps happening...Thanks for stopping by.

Busy, Busy

But who isn't these days. I managed to finish the last of the banners. The theme for this last one was Vintage Christmas..I wanted to get back to the "white" theme and LOTS of glitter was mentioned, unfortunately the glitter doesn't show AT ALL so use your imagination.

Everything glitters and the scene is Father Christmas with all white animals, polar bear, wolf, raccoon , owl, fox..love the picture.
My mystery challenge is finished. Well it will never truly be finished because I have many things in my brain to add to it but, it's mostly done.

considering the tree started out as wire and clay and the castle started out as a pringles can and breadcrumbs can...It's come a long way. Look at what that nasty little spider did to my tree.
The I Dare You this month was a Button..one or several , the gals had to make having buttons.
If I could steal the pic's I'd post here...what adorable stuff .
I also challenged the girls to make a "Gift of the Week" figuring it would help with Holiday gift making. So I combined the two to give the gals an example of this weeks "thinking of You " gift.

A pin made of vintage buttons and findings, to wear on a coat , hat or blouse.
Then I made a simple Christmas card. Things don't have to be complicated to let someone know you think of them during the holidays.

So the person gets a card and a small token gift. Hopefully some of them will take me up on the challenge and make a gift card by next Saturday...maybe more then one.
We also had a Spooky tin swap..Oh I had fun with this one...
Long ago , before time, many different kinds of Fairies could be found in forest and caves. The Witch fairies were very scary indeed. They were like the doctors of the Fairy world mixing up their potions to cure the sick and injured, but.....If you crossed them they would mix up a different kind of potion and they were known for their Spells.They kept there most dangerous potions well hidden. They kept them in metal boxes protected by little demon fairies and spiders. To really make others take a step back they used the bones of dead fairies to guard the box. Each skeleton contained a magic jewel , no one would dare to remove the jewel for fear of what would happen to them. So if you are lucky enough to find one of these rare potion boxes, the jewel is usually still there. I found such a box, here on the Misty Magic Mountain....

If you look close you can see the jewel within the rib cage of this poor unfortunate fairy.

Inside one will find Devils fog, bone powder,fairy dust, mermaid scales, moonbeams and magic. The spell book also opens. When the Spell book is removed, you can see the demon fairy that guards the contents...Dabble if you dare mwahahahahaha

Finally The Spider

But first, I have to tell Mary I didn't see a Ghost until you said it LOL  It's funny how a shape can be so many things to so many people. Deb, I don't have a problem sharing idea's because mine is already started and it is what I'm doing. So there!!! LOL I just hope you didn't see the same things.

As you all know one of the groups I belong to had a year long Banner swap. The theme was Vintage Winter, but every month also had a sub theme (usually one I liked better) so it was hard sometimes to keep that Vintage White originally called for. Nov. Banner was no exception. The sub theme was Fairy and it just didn't work for me in Vintage White.

So there she is. The background is a pale blue snowflake design and I managed to find trim the exact same color. I overlaid  the trim with rhinestones, the silver flakes were cut with Sizzix, Austrian crystals add sparkle and the Fairy herself is very decorated and embellished , although it doesn't show. Her body was glued to the banner but her wings are bent forward. I like Fairies and I'd like to receive this one, so I'm happy.

AS you know we have had a spooky Mystery Challenge going on. I have a few things for the gals to make to add to their scene . I'm sure there are many spiders out there and probably all made a bit different. This one is small to hang from the tree in the Mystery.

The girls were told they would need wire,seed beads, bugle beads and two random beads one smaller than the other.

You will need 4 - 2 inch (5 cm), 24 seed beads and 16 bugle beads and one eye pin (you can make one using 3 in (7.62 cm) wire and twisting a loop at the end so it won't go through the bead hole.

Feed the bead that will be your spiders head onto the eye pin.

bend each of the four  2 in. wires in the middle and twist to form a small loop. At this time straighten the wires in your fingers

Feed them, via that loop, onto the eye pin.

Then add the body bead. Note I changed beads? That's because I had already made a spider for this project and decided I wanted one to wear with a particular outfit.

Make a tight loop behind the body bead to bring it all together. Then on each wire you will put one seed bead, one bugle bead, another seed bead (as the knee) then another bugle bead, ending with a seed bead, then twist left over wire into a small, tight loop. Do all eight legs like this.

Bend the legs in a spidery way and hang that little sucker from the tree you made...or....wear him on a necklace, add a pin. The fun thing about these little guys is.....

They can become BIG guys too. There are a million ways to put these together and depending on what color beads you use, they can be elegant (done in crystal or pearl) or down right creepy  (done in black and orange, red and black). What ever you decide to do with this tutorial, if you make one, please share it with the group.

I have to add, I am extremely Arachnophobic. I mean to a point I almost ran off the road because a tiny spider was on my windshield...INSIDE!!! making these little guys has helped me develop a whole new relationship with them. I still find them creepy, but now I just pick them up and throw them outside rather then scream and look for a gun.

Enjoy making them!!! They make fun gifts and look cool sitting on a desk.

Every HUnters Dream

Two beautiful Bucks and a spike.Some of you may remember Jesse and Jordan The spike is safe because they need two points at least, but my poor boys are in peril. I remember when they were tiny little fawns, playing in that same backyard. I saw them the following year but not last year and thought for sure Hunting season took them. Imagine my surprise when they returned together. The spike is their brother from last years birth and the Mom of all 3 still returns with them. That spike was a twin, but I suspect coyotes got the other. This land has been a sanctuary for all critters since we moved up here. We've seen our bucks grow into these majestic animals and then they are gone. We watched the dad of all 3 of these deer survive with 10 then 12 points for 4 years, but eventually our neighbor got him. His head graces  our neighbors fireplace. Kind of sad when you think about it. I wish these boys luck in the coming weeks and hope I see them comes Dec.

The theme for this months ATC's was Horror movies. I really suck at ATC's but I keep trying. Karen is my partner so I made her a little surprise one. Another swap we have going on is What Do You See run by my friend Norma. This is the pattern...

Oh please tell me you see something in this...I got two things but they are far out and my imagination is stretched to the limit. There are 6 of us in this swap and I can't wait to see what everyone sees.
I'm going to go with the first thing that popped out at me as weird as it may be. So stay tuned so we can laugh at me together. Thanks for stopping by...

Ya just can't beat Mother Nature when it comes to beauty.

I LOve October

It is truly Fall, the look, the smells, the feels and too my friend Norma LOL Having lived in Florida, there is NO place in Florida that can compare to this view, or I'd still be there ROTFL But your not building a fire like am right now, so I'll give you that.
It was one of those Winnie the Pooh kind of days, blustery. But it was a good day to get things done.
I found this new product called Solarez. It is a one part resin that hardens in 3 min. in the sun (now is when I could use Florida) or UV lamp or you can purchase these drops to add to it and it cures in 30 min. but then it would be like that "other stuff". I tried it out on some charms I made. The theme is DOGS.

I cut a copper pipe about 1/4 inch then pinched some white Fimo inside (indented a little so I could fill with Solarez) I had drilled a small hole on top because the findings had to be silver. Used a little silver bead and a silver hoop, probably should have hit the copper with liver sulfur <sigh>
I'm going to add a little card that says "Dogs leave Paw prints on your heart".
My next project due is another Banner for October. Winter  Shadows

I find it difficult to stick to the "white Vintage" theme when the sub theme is Shadows. But it is what it is. Lots of sparkle, that's for sure.
Now I have a little mystery to share, a W.I.P. if you will. Take a guess...

So what do you think? Does it look spooky? It's going to get even more spooky so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by.

SHE DID IT AGAIN!!!

The first signs of winter up here in the mountains is when all the quilts are brought out and freshened up after a season packed away. No matter how beautiful I think mine are, nothing and I mean NOTHING matches the beauty of the quilts mother nature spreads over these mountains.

My front yard!!!

my side yard

my back yard....

I wish you could see

these true colors. The pictures just can't capture how they just light up...People come from all over the world to see this show and I have the honor to live in it.

Mean while, as I bask in the glory of our Fall season,  I also have to stay busy..getting lots of squash and corn in the freezer and keeping up with swaps and challenges. One challenge on our Mixed media group was I Dare you to use a zipper. The girls came up with some beautiful idea's. I'm afraid I took the easy way out.

made a cool looking bracelet.

Right now I am working on DOG themed charms. I should take a picture of the mystery challenge. It's almost completed. Two tutorials coming up. One using a shoe and one using seed beads so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by.