Given it is April and my last post says “Is it March already? – I guess you can tell it’s been a busy few months! Murphys Irish Days is always happening here and this year was no different. Often the audience is more dressed up than some of those in the parade. The Girl Scouts were out with their cookies, two roller derby teams (which I’d not seen before) skated by, Ken dragged out his kilt as he does each year, my faves the Bernese Mountain dogs were all dressed up (but hard to shoot as kids love walking alongside and around that group), the army jeeps were dousing the crowd with water from their mounted “guns” and the grocery store showed up with a gigantic (and noisy) hot rod cart. Thank you as always to our diligent “pooper scooper” group that does their best given the proliferation of well fed horses in the parade!

It was a beautiful day and we were packed to the edges of town.

Love the taps on the sneakers for one of the dancing groups!

This post is participating in UnknownMami’s Sunday’s in my City.

So, to catch you all up with my lack of posting, a photo journey – warm sunsets, bone-chilling damp fog, baking more of the garden’s bounty, big huge fluffy snowflakes, the new kitten being entertained by the printer (actually deciding whether to rip it to shreds ..) and a fun sewing project (to go to slideshow or larger view, just click on any photo):

We’ll see if I can squeeze in a moment to add more on my winter planting and some other nifty craft projects.  Until then, be sure to pop by the other blogs participating in Unknownmami’s Sundays in My City .

This post is participating in Unknownmami’s Sundays in My City.

When it comes to crafting, I’m like a kid in a candy store; a very young kid with the blissful ignorance of limitations in the candy store. I see things; I’m sure my eyes light up; I think ‘ooooohhhhh’ and I stockpile the stuff necessary to complete the treasured project. But, like that kid who can’t taste everything without hitting the wall, I can’t seem to finish everything that in the moment I think I’ll just whip out. In reality, I work amidst piles (and piles) of unfinished projects. However, I’ve managed to finish a few things (woohoo!) to share.

The two T-shirts are for someone who signed up for the 2013 Creative Pay it Forward. The recipient does cancer walks and has mentioned she’d like a shirt with a checkbox that says “other” (the non-pink cancer survivors are “other” when they register). Teal is for ovarian cancer.   Purple ribbons are for Alzheimers.

Other items are a little pouch that holds coffee filters on the wall right by the coffee machine; a reader case front (tree), back (it was a dark and stormy night) and pocket (tudor wildlife design); wine charm earrings for a neighbor who pours at the winery; an owl and a dream catcher on denim shirts and an “in progress” Poe phrase raven that I’m planning to incorporate in a laptop case. You can click on any of the photos for a larger view in slideshow.

The details for crafters (non-crafters skip this paragraph): Thin fabrics don’t support dense embroidery designs well. There are many ways around this, for wearables I like to use something like Light and Soft Fuse-On.  

• Determine your design size and placement
• Cut a piece of the fuse on a few inches larger all around then your design
• Follow their directions and iron it on to the inside of your garment

The Light and Soft Fuse-On drapes well with your fabric. A heavier stabilizer doesn’t drape and can look odd. With the T-shirts and blue shirts, I then hoop them with a light/medium tear away and stitch my design (these were Pellon Stitch n Tear). The embroidery designs are from Embroidery Library (Celebrate Life – my glitch on the “C”, Awareness Rose, Dark and Stormy Night, Quill and Paper, Tudor Wildlife, Retro Coffee, Dream Catcher and Owl) and Urban Threads (Poe Raven and Tree).

The glitch on the “C” happened because for that small ribbon design near the neck, I used Sulky Sticky+ – an adhesive tear-off stabilizer in the hoop. Hooping with part of the neck in the hoop, part out, part of the seams in the hoop, part out would have been a mess. You just press the design area of your shirt to the sticky part in the hoop. But, with sticky stabilizers, or even if you use a lot of adhesive spray, you need to use a larger needle. The needle pokes a hole and the thread goes down and up. If the poked hole is tiny, the thread rubs against the stickiness, get gummy, bunches up, and if you’re lucky it breaks, if you’re not lucky things might get more stuck. I forgot to put in a bigger needle until after the thread on the “C” bunched up and broke. The T-shirts took multiple hoopings, three for the Alzheimer’s rose, with a 6 x 10 hoop. You can still see the hoop marks, but those come right off these fabrics. The shirts are deliberately big, loose and comfy. In the photos the designs might not look centered, because if you wear a shirt too big part of the design would end up scrunched by the armpits. I placed the designs a bit more towards center. If I were to do it over, I would have more space between the celebrate life ribbon and the checkbox and the text on that shirt would be white.

 All phrases on these pieces were done with the fonts available on my machine (SanFran for the reader case Go Paperless, Art Deco for the “other”, Bremen for the “I wear purple..”. The reader pouch was hooped with cutaway stabilizer, Warm and Natural batting and linen, and then stitched. Its inner pocket is linen with cutaway stabilizer.  All embroidery was stitched with Sulky 40 weight rayon embroidery thread. I should add that I get zip, nada, zilch for mentioning specific brands, but they are something machine embroiderer’s get excited about.

The next big order of the day is deciding what to tackle first amid the piles of “things I could do”.

This post is participating in Unknownmami’s Sundays in My City and the Gallery of Favorites put on by a Alea of Pre-Meditated Leftovers and April  at 21^st Century Housewife.

I believe I’ve mentioned that many trips – the dentist, doctor, shopping, or meetings – require a beautiful jaunt “over the mountains and through the woods” to get to the town of Sonora. It’s becoming the area superstore mecca boasting a Lowes, Walmart, Kohls, JoAnn, Orchard, Ross, TJMaxx, Staples and more.  Murphys’ family owned stores (shop local!) provide the majority of what we need, but for things like specific HP Printer ink or one inch binder clips – a trek to Staples is called for. About 20 miles and 40 or so minutes of curvy roads and stunning scenery comprise the trip. I finally remembered to drag my camera along when bounding out to make my dentist appointment.

The Parrot’s Ferry Bridge takes me across the upper reaches of New Melones Resevoir (a~ 20 square mile manmade lake built by the U.S. Bureau of Water Reclamation with the installation of the New Melones Dam; extensive hiking paths, camping and recreational activities available).

Growing up on an ocean, I’d call these watermarks tide lines.

This shot and the opening shot were both taken from the same spot, same time – amazing how looking into clouds and the sun given a whole different feel to the day. (All shots were the same return trip, didn’t touch up the opening shot at all, added some saturation to the one above as it was a bit washed out from the sun).

As impressive as the trip is, I’m always so happy to relax back at home with a view of sunset from the back deck. (Above shot is also “straight from the camera” – completely nature’s colors).

This post is participating in Unknown Mami’s Sundays in My City.

Fun way to start the New Year – it’s moving around in Murphys, Mendocino, Missouri, Ireland, Pleasant Hill and New York just from the folks I know. I’m keeping it to Facebook commenters only (someone might find the blog post two years from now and be “please let me in”, ok to friend now and join the fun if you’re so inclined, spots still open).

Toying with what to make the folks (I’m already committed to this on two Facebook accounts = 10 gifts). I have a locked family / high school/college friends who know family FB account (nieces say things like “it’s 2am and I’m bored and alone in the computer lab” in a big city, sigh) and a more open one that I share with others who craft or are from my lovely little new town.  On the family  one, they didn’t get the concept – it’s become a swap with everyone jumping right on each other’s posts – that “pay it forward” may not get beyond a handful of folks.  On this account, I still have a few slots open . See the comments – there’s a Facebook page for the event, think of it as spreading a bit of joy throughout the year.

Dreary, rainy Sunday in California – perfect for the sad goodbyes to my December friends. They always make me smile, sometimes I hate packing them away. Although, once finished the place does always look so fresh.

Dare I admit that you can’t even see all the boxes and bins in this photo? C’mon, I know I’m not the only one. And, can someone explain why everything never fits back in the bins but seems to expand on unpacking?

Be sure to check out my friends’ posts at Sundays in My City at Unknown Mami. (and if this post “looks” different it’s because WordPress thought it would be fun to completely change how we write and upload posts and pictures – I’m so not a fan of the changes ….).

Wishing you joy, love, peace, prosperity and a magical year celebrating the miracle that is life.

 A few photos of holiday crafting to hold you over while I enjoy my holiday semi-hiatus.   Monsters and bunnies were to donate (nice thing about a rural area is that many nonprofits take handcrafted items to distribute, whereas in the city it’s only “new in package”).  Stockings (with a nice bottle of wine from the lovely town of Murphys in each) met the ‘gold and white’ theme requirement of one recipient and fun little poinsettia pins (courtesy of Embroidery Garden) that were made “en masse”.

 Bunnies are a “freebie” embroidery design from Urban Threads (I could fit two of her large size in a hooping). Green Cyclops is from Urban Threads Monster Factory set.

For both the bunnies and lil’ Cyclops guy, I like to attach batting to the front before stuffing, as I don’t have a clue how to get a smooth front otherwise (batting stuffed pieces always look lumpy to me or they’re stuffed so hard as to be a rock). I  put thin batting in with the bunny hooping, but had to hand stitch (gasp, oh no!) my heavier batting to the inside front of Greenie. You’ll notice his arms, horns and legs are already stitched down and visible during the in progress monster part sandwich.

No shots of the fully stuffed and sewn guys before they headed out the door (and do forgive my inattention to lighting). The bunnies without pompom tails are perfect for infants and tiny ones.

Linking up to Sundays in My City and Gallery of Favorites this week.

 

For Sundays in My City, a short post. Storming here, with winds on the hillside as strong as I’ve ever seen it.  I’m not the industrious sort to set up an alcove or suffer getting drenched for a photograph – just snapped a few quick shots then hustled back in to my warm dry home. The news crews are having a field day running about shooting fallen trees and street flooding with full river flooding in areas of Northern California possible this afternoon. For me, the main concern is power (it has flickered a few times, not a good sign).

 Hoping Sunday sees my friends warm and dry.

I’ve been absent from blogging due to hours spent helping our little library. Will try to get a few quick posts up, here’s an easy bit of craft for those of you enamored of handmade Christmas gifting.

Mod Podge, glass cabochons and glass squares, images (Graphics 45 – Thanks to my best bud Chris –  and Canon Origami, some folks shrink their own photos or artwork), paint, glue-on bail or other Jewelry findings (pin backs for a clean looking pin or the style I show here, jump rings, earring backs, or use on a chain with just the glue-on bail).

Select images and trim to size of glass. You might find punch cutters close to your cabochon choice if you’re so inclined.

Put a THIN layer of Mod Podge on the back of the glass piece (too thick a layer will dry a tad cloudy) and apply your image. Allow to dry.

I usually smear a thin layer of Mod Podge over the back, let that dry then paint the back of the piece with acrylic paint to act as a waterproofing layer. Let dry. Glue the glue on bail to the back (I used E6000, sometimes I use GOOP).

Attach to your pin with matching jump rings. Add beads or other embellishments as you like. Wrap and gift. This was for my sister who loves fairies.

U.S. readers I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I need to log out and get back to cleaning and baking as I’m this year’s hostess .