Inuit Divination Card

The above is the picture of the Inuit Divination Card that I made for the Ancient Wisdom and Magic Swap that I am in from the Yahoo Group The Sum of All ATCs, owned by the talented Valerie. This swap is hosted by another talented lady, Ali, from the United Kingdom. It took a long time to come up with the idea that I used due to the amount of information we were to include. There are 16 fortune telling objects that we were to use, including what each stood for. This is the front of my card which shows a drum that I used. I made two drums and cut one down and then glued to the first one to make a pocket, which holds a set of 16 cards that I made. One for each object. The fortune teller deals the cards out face down and then the person wanting his fortune told, picks a card and reads his fortune from the card. Below is the back of the card, which gives some information about the Inuit people .

Below are the 16 cards that I made, well actually 17, as one card has the instructions on it. The back of each card is the picture of the Inuit village. I was pleased with the way the project turned out.

A very Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog. I thank you for that and know that I like reading your blogs also.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! We had a very quiet Christmas, as we are going to wait until OR daughter and Juliet arrive to celebrate. They will be arriving on the 27th, so the morning of the 28th we will open gifts from Santa. Christmas Eve we had a family dinner at MI daughter's home. We have a small family so there were only six of us plus Sarah. I remember the days when we had my parents, Fred's parents, a "black sheep" uncle and my only sibling Steve. Now all six of them are dead, so we remember them especially at this time. Have a very Merry Christmas and Holiday season.

I'm back to blogging

This is an ATC Christmas Ornament that I made for a swap on The Sum of ATCs yahoo group.

My computer was giving me so much trouble that I had stopped blogging and reading my favorite blogs. One day two weeks ago I finally had had enough and I called Comcast to see if there was a problem with my modem. The technician then referred me to McAfee, who in turn said that I was out of memory, and told me to contact Dell. Dell check my computer out and told me that I had only one memory card with 256 MHz and that my computer would speed up dramatically if I bought and inserted 2 cards of 512 MB memory. So I ordered them and they came this week. Then I called Dell again and they told me how to insert the cards. Thank goodness the man that helped had a lot of patience! I couldn't figure out how to open the tower even with his instructions. Luckily my husband was home (too cold here in MI to golf) and he was able to help me. My problem was that the technician's top and bottom were not what I thought was top and bottom. But the great news is that my computer is running like new again

Fred and I went to visit OR daughter in October for a long weekend. Juliet was so excited to see her "Papa" since he didn't go in September when MI daughter, Sarah and I went. The top picture is of her making crepes on Sunday morning with her Daddy. It was so sweet watching him letting her make the batter. (I know the picture is out of order, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to move it. Can anyone Help?

Sarah is 11 months tomorrow

I can't believe that Sarah is going to be eleven months old tomorrow. She has grown so much and is a happy little girl. She is walking now, about 15 steps at a time. Her favorite toys are books, cat in the hat stuffed toy, stuffed dog, and paper. She especially likes to play with newspaper, and Grandpa is to blame for that. She doesn't seem to enjoy baby food anymore except for her bottle. Her bottom two incisors popped through just yesterday. Last night she had her first sleep over at our house as her momma had her 20th class reunion-gosh that makes me feel old. She was good as gold and we had lots of fun with her.

A few weeks back MI daughter, Sarah, and I went to Portland to visit the OR family. I will write about that soon, but now I must get to work on my Cheshire cat tag for a swap. The tags were due to be sent out last Monday, so I am behind.

4x4 Alphabet Swap

The yahoo group I belong to is having a 4x4 card swap which I have joined. It is never to late to join if you are interested. The group in The Sum of all ATC's.

I just love this one, but it is because I like cats so much. Can you guess what Sarah's first word is? Nine months old and no mama, grandma, but kitty cat. Yes those are her first words. She just loves her stuffed Cat in the Hat that her Mama got her. Her second word is dog; she has a new stuffed dog. MI daughter just loves cats as much as I do, and now Sarah does too. However Murphy their real life cat is rather wary of Sarah. She does gentle touches, but Murphy is just not too sure how gentle they will be, so he runs away. I think that Juliet's first words were probably expensive jeans.

We are on the letter G for this month, so I have others to show later. I have also made some extras for people who joined late.

Below is my finger that I broke. This was taken after the split came off and before the physical therapy. I now have been released from the Doctor, so I will have to take a new picture of my finger. Believe it doesn't look much better, but it is functional.

Vintage Wallet Swap

I belong to a swap group on Yahoo that is called The Sum of All ATCs that has great swaps. Not all of them are ATCs which adds a lot of variety to the swapping. I have only been a member a short while, but it has been enjoyable and everyone is so nice. I am in a Vintage Wallet swap hosted by a Alison who thinks of the greatest ideas. This one involved making a Vintage Wallet, (which she gave directions for), two ATCs, two luggage tags, a calling card, and a letter written in a vintage style. I really wanted to be in the swap, but worried that perhaps I wouldn't be able to write a vintage letter. Then I thought I would just do it the best that I could and I signed up. Above is the front and back of the wallet. I found a Christmas ornament in my "stuff" that I thought would look nice on the wallet, so that's the beaded tassel.

This is the inside of the wallet.

My two ATCs. I use a lot of Coffee Bean brown ink on my work. I just love the way it finishes off a project.

The calling card

The front of the luggage tags.

The backs.

The letter.


When I receive my swap wallet I will post pictures of it. Enjoy the Fall weather and do some creating.

Alice in Wonderland Swap

Le Vintage is having a wonderful tag swap honoring Alice in Wonderland and the new movie that is coming out next year. Don't we all just love this book and its many characters. My favorite of course in the Cheshire Cat. He is soooo cute! Murphy, MI daughter's cat reminds me of him. The funny thing is that Mr. Murphy pictures himself with a top hat, cigar, a newspaper, and his body reclining with his legs crossed. How do I know this? Well, MI daughter took a regular picture of Murph to a cat psychic and that is how he pictured himself. Frankly I think it is just wishful thinking on his part. LOL. See, cats always get me off the track. If you are interested in this tag swap or just want to check out a great blog go to http://www.vintage-le.blogspot.com to get all the information. It promises to be fun.

Catching Up on my Projects

This is a trivet/hot pad that I made using the tutorials on the Homespun Living blog. I loved the way the finished pad turned out. The back is a knitted seed stitch square, well almost square. LOL I used the Sugar n' Cream cotton ecru yarn from Lily . The front is various pieces of cloth from projects MI daughter and I have done for her house, plus a few ribbons and trim. (OR daughter-if you want one, what color?)


This is a close-up so that you can see the trims.

Not to long ago I posted about a vintage flower holder that I bought to give to MI daughter, but decided to keep for myself. I have been on a hunt to find something similar for her. Well, I found this cute one in white, although I don't think it is vintage, it still is sweet.

A few weeks ago my sister-in-law came over for another craft day. We have a lot of fun making things together. Our biggest project was a quilt that I helped Lee Ann make as a memory of her husband and my brother Steven, who died of brain cancer in 2006. I don't have a picture, but she cut up his shirts to make blocks for the quilt. She also used some angel blocks that she made from a kit. This was her first quilt and it turned out very nice. It is a very special quilt.

This day, we made small bags from a pattern called Snap Happy. You need only two fat quarters to make all three. The pattern is from Stitchin' Sisters, email at stitichinsis@aol.com. I made the Scottie dog bags for my best friend Chris, and Lee made the blue ones. This week we got together and made book covers, but I forgot to take a picture.

Keep crafting folks, it keeps us sane and happy. Find something you like and as NIKE would say "JUST DO IT."

Red Lead Ancestors Swap

Red Lead a scrapbook store in MO sponsored an ancestor ATC swap in which I participated in last month. You had to use two of their collage sheets. Below are the ATCs that I made. I tried to made them all similar yet different. I find this is easier for me if I am short of time, which I was as I was getting ready for OR daughter and Juliet to visit. I am looking forward to receiving my five ATCs in the mail.

I am busy right now working on a knitted purse for summer. I am making it out of a blue, tan and ecru variegated cotton yarn, and a strand of ecru yarn. I saw the purses that Nancy of Her ArtNest made and wanted to make one for myself. Since my finger is still in a splint it is slow going, but I am making progress.

Princess Juliet

Princess Juliet and her mother have now gone back to her kingdom, and our house no longer rings with her laughter and presence. We miss them both already and they have only been gone a few hours. What a joyous week we have had with them and MI daughter and our other princess, Sarah. It was so fun watching the two girls interact with each other. Juliet was so gentle with Sarah and Sarah could not keep her eyes off of Juliet. It was more important to Sarah to watch Juliet and her actions than eat. Sarah would crawl after Juliet wherever she went, especially when she had Sarah's toys. Juliet, of course, felt the toys were hers, since a lot of them were indeed hers when she was a baby. That didn't bother Sarah as she would go on to a different toy.

We had a birthday party for Juliet's third birthday and her great aunt Lee gave her the beautiful princess dress, which Juliet LOVED and had to wear everyday. It felt like Christmas, since Juliet had so many gifts to unwrap. Now we just have to get them in the mail and send out to her kingdom.


Now I have time to get back to my quilting, crafts and etc. Of course, I wish that I could see the OR family more often, but I feel blessed that I have seen them twice this year, and we are now looking forward to Fall and perhaps seeing them again.

OR daughter and Juliet are coming

This Saturday evening OR daughter and Miss Juliet are coming for a visit. So yesterday while I was cleaning up the upstairs and getting everything ready for them, I gathered up some of my blue things to make me a new header. I used a couple of family pictures, a quilt I made, some dishes my mom gave me, a sampler, a book of Toby, a clock that I bought and redecorated, and other blue items. I didn't put the grand daughter's pictures on because OR mom would prefer no to have her face on the web, which I understand. But trust me they are the light of my life! Family matters the most for me.


I would say that blue is my favorite color, because I wear that color the most. However, I only have one room, a bedroom, in our condo that is decorated with blues. My kitchen is pink and green with a touch of blue, and I have a pink and green bedroom, but everything else is fairly neutral. I have a lot of quilts hanging on the walls so they add a lot of color to our home.

And the winner is

(with an English accent) " Noooo you can't make me wear it!

Terri of Blooming Ideas is the winner of my caption contest. I'll be sending her out a surprise gift next week, which I will picture after she receives it.

Tomorrow is the last day for contest

Leave me a caption to this picture of Toby and the hat I took to quilt retreat to win a surprise gift. The contest ends on June 10, 2009. I will let my husband pick the best one. Good Luck!

Guess what I won/Sarah's hat

This is the hat that I knitted for Sarah. It turned out okay, but I don't have a picture of her in it. The little baby carriage planter is one that I found at the Salvation Army when MI daughter was pregnant. I was going to plant baby tears in it and give it to her with a note that said, "Let this be the first of many baby tears." But I never got around to finding baby tears, and the longer I had it the more I liked it for myself. So I put some dried baby breath in it and put it on my kitchen counter. Someday Sarah can have it.
Beedeebabee, http://beedeebabee.blogspot.com/, was having a fantastic giveaway to celebrate the start of her new blog, and I WON.
Can you imagine the excitement when I found out I had won two of the beautiful pins that Paulette makes out of felt and beads? They are so beautiful and the handiwork is incredible! Being a person who likes to make things, although Paulette is surely an artist, I know how much time and love go into handmade items. I just love them. Thank you Paulette! Check out her blog and her Etsy shop. Okay I have teased you enough. Here is a picture from Paulette's blog.

I can't wait to get the package.

Sarah and my broken finger

This is our newest pic of Miss Sarah Jennifer at six months. Emily at Tutus and Tinkertoys, (She is located in the greater Detroit, MI area), took this and many, many other pictures of her. It was sooo hard to choose which ones to buy, as Emily does such a wonderful job! Check out her website at http://www.tutusandtinkertoys.com/ to see her work.

Last Thursday night I broke my middle finger on my right hand in two places. What a nightmare! It is so difficult to do anything, although I am learning to get along. Here are the details of what I did. I was looking for something, per usual, and I was looking in my great-grandmother's trunk. Of course the album wasn't there, so I closed the lid on my finger, and to make matters worse I lost my balance and sat on the trunk with my finger inside. OUCH!!! I managed to stand up and get my finger out and yelled ICE as I ran upstairs to the kitchen. MI daughter who was visiting quickly got out the ice and Fred got the zip lock bag. I think the fact that I got the finger in ice so fast really helped a lot. I didn't get much blood under my finger nail or too much swelling. We were off to the ER in a few minutes. Tomorrow I go to the DR to see how everything is doing.

I am signed up to make some ATCs for a swap. I am thankful that I only have to make eight and they are due at the end of June. I did start one last night and I was abe to manage, but it was slow work. Red Lead is sponsoring the swap.

My caption contest is still open until June 10th. Scroll down to the picture of Toby and the hat in the quilt retreat posting. Have a great day.

Vintage Swimsuit Tag Swap

Yesterday I mailed off my vintage swimsuit tags to A Swap For All Seasons. They are due on Saturday, so I think they will get there on time. I had to make 16 tags for the swap. I started out making them all different, but due to the time crunch because I am a procrastinator, I ended up making quite a few like the one below. That image was really my favorite of all the ones that I used. I did use some images from my collection of trading cards from grade school, and an old photo of my father's cousin. I don't have examples to show because they are on their way to mid-America.

I did make all the backs the same, since they were "just the backs." Here is the photo of the back.
I am really looking forward to getting my tag book in mid June. I just love the swaps where you get art work from other people. It is so interesting to see how they interpreted the theme. There really are a lot of true artists out there. Of course, everyone is an artist in their own way, some are just better than others on different levels. That's one reason I like the swaps-everyone is different and unique and they are all enjoyable to look at again and again. I found out about this swap on swapdex if you are interested in swaps. See my sidebar for the link badge.

comment section fixed (I hope)

I think that I have my comment section fixed so that I can receive comments on my blog. I have a little contest going and no one could enter! See posting from May 20, 2009 to enter. Thanks

Quilt Retreat

I've been trying to upload my quilt retreat pictures, but it was taking sooo long. I don't know if there is something wrong with my computer or if it just too old. OR and MI daughters gave me the computer for my birthday in 2002. I have tried cleaning out all the programs that I don't use and checking my available space. I found out I only am using 1/3 of the space. I also did a disc cleanup, but it is still slow and I have comcast fast speed. It takes my computer forever to just upload the Internet. If you have suggestions feel free to comment.


The Quilt Retreat sponsored by Quilt'n Friends, which is in Sterling Heights, MI was the greatest fun. The 4 H camp in Tustin, MI is such a great locale. Good rooms, plenty of space, and the food is great. There were about 65 of us and it was so great to meet up with old friends and new. I also had a great roommate, as she and I got along like old friends. Above is the hat that I wore on meet and greet night. Since it was held the weekend of the Kentucky Derby we all wore hats that we had created. The hats were terrific. When I was taking the pictures for this post, Toby had to get into one and express his opinion. How should we caption this picture?I'll send a surprise gift to the best caption sent to me before June 1, 2009. Be sure to include your email address if you don't have a blog.
This is one of the projects I worked on during the retreat. This is a pillow case for Miss Juliet who is a July baby. Cheryl, who works at Quilt'n Friends, showed me how to make it, which was so much easier than following the pattern. The disappointing thing is that the print is going in the wrong direction. Now I bought this as a kit in Oregon last year at a quilt shop, and you would think that they would know enough to give you more fabric with a directional print. Oh well, I am sure that Juliet will like it.I also made two of these pillows for MI daughter's kitchen which has a hearth area. She has two reading chairs and I said I would redo the original pillows that I had made for her. She has changed the room color, and added some art work--framed pieces of the above fabric. So the old pink and green paisley had to go. Murphy, her cat, likes to rest his head on the pillows.

This is a quilt block from the quilt that I worked on. Unfortunately I forgot to take all the necessary fabric so I couldn't finish the top. It is from a mystery quilt class that I took in February. (I told you I am a procrastinator.) Isn't it striking? Gretchen the owner of Quilt'n Friends always picks such great quilts for the mystery classes.The above seven blocks are from a Moda kit that I bought oh, about three years or so ago. I am making it for MI daughter who loves shabby chic colors and has a shabby chic decoration scheme in her home. It is a good thing that she had Sarah and not a boy! I also have a quilt top finished for OR daughter that I will post when it is finished. I think I bought that last year, and hurray the top is pieced. I machine quilt all my quilts so I need to get busy on that and a few dozen other quilts. LOL See I really am bad about finishing things.

Have a safe and happy holiday.

It seems that my comment area was somehow not working. I think that I have fixed it, so therefore I am extending my little contest until June 10, 2009.

Sock monkey and knitted bear

This is my knitted bear that I made for the young lady in Rochester, MI who was collecting bears for the Mother Bear Project. I seemed to have gotten a different pattern than the other people, as he came out bigger. I think that I should now make one for my granddaughters. I loved using the chunky yarn because then the stuffing doesn't show through the yarn. I am now trying to knit Sarah a hat for her six month pictures, and it is not going well. We picked a yarn that is fuzzy and thick and thin. Well, the pattern is way too hard with this yarn, as it has bobbles in it, which I have never done. So I decided to try and knit my own hat without a real pattern. I am using the original pattern for size and shape, but am actually leaving out the fancy stitches. If it doesn't turn out I'll just undo the yarn and make a pink bear. LOL


My sister-in-law Lee Ann came over one day about a month ago and we make sock monkeys together. I had intended to make Juliet one last year for her birthday, but never got around to making two. The one that I did make I gave to her daycare class, because the children were in love with a book about a monkey. Since I really wanted one for Juliet I started early so I would have it for her birthday this year. Juliet and OR daughter have plans to fly to MI a week before her birthday, so they can be home on her birthday to celebrate with her Mom and Dad and Oregon friends. I am just so happy that they will be coming here and we can have a party also.

I talked to Juliet the other night and she told me that they had been rolling skating with Diane and Monique who are friends with OR daughter, and like a Grandma and Aunt to Juliet. I guess they had a lot of fun. Of course Juliet didn't want any help, so OR daughter said, "Mommy needs help." So Juliet got behind her Mom and pushed her along. I don't think that is what OR daughter had in mind. And now a Sarah story: MI daughter took Sarah to Targets for about an hour and a half picking up diapers and etc. for her. Sarah "talked" the entire time they were there and not quietly. People were looking at her, but only one person decided to talk with her.
I guess only one person could understand an almost six month old baby girl.


I had a wonderful time at the quilt retreat. Next post I will show you what I worked on.

Header and Background 2

Yes, I am back to my original background. After spending too many hours looking for something new and "better", I found that the toile reflects the way I feel. Therefore I am keeping it. Now about the header, it really doesn't fit the space although I do like it. So I will keep it until I can find or make one I like better. The weather here in Mi is grand, so I am going to the kitchen to make some potato salad, per Fred's request.

New Header and Background

I finally decided to use one of the free headers and backgrounds that are on Cute and Cool Blog Stuff. Check out her blog as everything is really so cute. I was going to try and make my own header of a picture of things that matter to me, but I just never seemed to get around to doing it. I have SO many projects in various stages of completion that I just need to focus on getting some of those done. Next Thursday I leave for a quilt retreat in Northern MI. Every year I usually take a class, but this year I am going to take some UFO's (unfinished projects) and hopefully get a couple of quilt tops finished and ready to quilt. Wish me luck.

What a beautiful day here in MI. The temperature got above 80 degrees. I took Sarah for a walk today and just enjoyed the beautiful sun and warm air. MI daughter doesn't work on Fridays, so she used the day to get her hair done. Just had to cover up the grey hair. LOL. She and her older sister both come by the grey hair naturally, although they really don't have that much. I started getting grey hair when I was 16, so when I was their age I really had mostly grey hair. Now I am mostly white.

Sarah at 5 months/ Easter

We had Easter dinner at MI daughter's house this year, and she and I cooked the dinner together. It sure is easier to cook holiday meals than when the girls were little. It always seemed that I was running like a chicken with its head cut off. Most was my own fault as I have never been a good housekeeper, so there I would be trying to clean house, cook dinner, and take care of the girls. Now I can go to MI daughter's house, cook with her and get everything made and ready to go so easily. It is a blessing to have my daughters to help. In June, if all goes as planned, OR daughter and Juliet will be here, and we will celebrate Juliet's third birthday a little early.

I bought the following "dust collector", as my husband would say, as a gift for MI daughter. OR daughter does not like "dust collectors", so I don't buy her things like this. MI daughter has a very shabby chic style home, so I thought this would fit in, and of course I bought myself one too. They were $7.99 at Michael's, plus on sale for 40% off. Although I like it , I took it apart and redid it.

The above is the after picture. I was please with the way that it turned out, so now I am going to redo one for myself in blue to go with the blue bedroom.

Here is Sarah in her Easter dress and bonnet sitting on her pink chair in her pink and brown bedroom. Her Mom has decorated it so cute, that I wish it was my room! Sarah has been rolling over for a while now, but Easter she figured how just how much fun it is. So Sarah was a rolling Stone. That night she didn't sleep well, because she kept rolling and waking herself up. Then her Mom would have to get up and re-swaddled her and put her back to sleep on her back. Her Mom said that went on all night. I hope it went better last night.

Yesterday was my birthday and I got this lovely card from Juliet.

When they called from Oregon to wish me a Happy Birthday Juliet did not want to talk to me. But she said to her Mom, "I want my cat back." OR daughter lets Juliet select the cards for people. My husband got a Winnie the Pooh card for a one year old for his birhday this year! Since Juliet is big into princesses and cats I'm sure that's why I got the cat with the tiara. When OR daughter put it into the envelope Juliet wanted to know what she was doing with her card. She told her she was sending it to Grandma. So now I am going to send the front of the card back to Juliet mounted on some paper for her. I want to save the inside of the card because I want Juliet's "signature."

More on Santa Barbara

Oops forgot how to load pictures, so I had to start another posting. The flowers are very pretty in Santa Barbara and everything is so green. Just a beautiful part of our country.

I don't know what the name of this is, or even if it a tree or a shrub. but it sure is beautiful. When you walk under the branches you smell the heavenly scent of lilies.

Close up of the blossom.

Here is Miss Juliet doing her push-ups on the beach. They do a lot of exercising and stretching at her daycare.

Here she picked up a stick and did her twists. Who needs expensive gym equipment?

This is OR daughter and son-in-law and of course, Juliet. I was always trying to get her to smile for my camera. When we were at the Zoo, I was visiting with her, while OR daughter got our lunch. I kept asking her to smile so that I could get a cute picture for Aunt Beth and cousin Sarah. She shook her head no, and said, "My mouth is closed." I told her that was the funniest thing I ever heard and she starting giggling. I got my picture. (Her Mom would prefer that I not post pictures of Juliet, so that's why I posted the the ones where you really can't see her beautiful face and smile.

This is a picture of OR daughter and me. Now that I am starting to feel better it is time to get back to my quilting and crafts. I am working on a knitted bear to donate for the Mother Bear Project. A young lady is trying to collect as many as she can for a National Honor Society Project, so I thought I would make one and donate it. The knitting is done and I just have to sew it together. I'll post a picture when I finished her.

My next trip is a quilting retreat in Northern MI. This will be my fourth year and I always have so much fun.