Still a LOT to do!

With the exception of a jar of Diamond Dust (bought with a 40% off coupon) and six wooden plaques from Dollar Tree, I continue to use materials I already have in my home. Stuff that I've had in my home for (at least) months! That's why there's such an eclectic assortment of inventory accumulating.

Bears, baby shoes, laces & linens ~

that's what I played with last night.
It's what I'll get right back to when I get home from work tonight. Sure would be nice if I could talk the boss into setting up a little studio in the office! : )

I'm having fun creating ~

I'm also having fun cleaning out the house!

I'm busy, busy, busy......

...creating goodies!

I hope everyone has a terrific Thursday!

All Dressed Up!

Meet our cute puppy. Looks like he's thinking the same thing he was thinking at the end of this earlier post.

Being a puppy is tough work ~ no wonder they learn to "sit"!


Rockstars ~ checking out their looks!

"I look good." "Yes you do!"

Singin' a tune! Rock on!

"oh - oh!"
"Looks like she's off to her day job".

I've Been Busy & Thank You!

I finished one dozen "instant ancestors" today! These were such fun to make ~ I can't wait to package them in a little cellophane bag with a prim tag.

A big thanks to Bill & Mandy for making dinner last night and tonight. I got to spend a lot of uninterrupted time in my workroom!

Thanks for all the great comments on this post ~ your suggestions for sprucing up my little framed photos were wonderful. I'm so happy with how these all turned out!

Random Monday Memories ~ 1984

Bill worked for a company called Minnesota Fabrics (later called Hancock Fabrics) for over 28 years. One of the benefits of that was my opportunity to participate in the model garment program. In order to promote a particular fabric or pattern the company would offer employees the chance to make things, at no cost to them, for display in the stores. After being on display, whatever you made belonged to you. In 1984 I was able to make costumes for all four of our children ~ and for one of our dolls too! They all (some more happily than others) got to model their costumes in the store fashion show.

Here we have 7 1/2 year old Kevin (and the Cabbage Patch doll) modeling a black & white clown suit. Doesn't he looked thrilled! Nothing like the "happy little clown" in this post!

This is astronaut Joe (5 1/2) in his awesome white spacesuit. He was very happy about doing the fashion show ~ until he saw that Kevin wasn't! He was always eager to follow Kevin's lead! (see above linked "happy little clown" post! : )

Katie graduated from "nursing school" at the ripe old age of three! Don't you love the crisply starched white uniform & hat! I think she's working on her "stern" expression in this picture! Or someone in the audience wants the lollipop she has in her right hand and she doesn't want to share!

Last, but certainly not least, we have the cute little white bunny named Mandy. She's all of 14 months, very happy, and quite anxious to walk right off the runway!! "No Daddy ~ there's no holding me back!"

All these fun costumes and they didn't cost me a cent! Just a bit of my time ~ I loved this model garment program! This was the last year the company did the Halloween fashion show, but I did get to take advantage of the program in other ways. To include the fabric chain on my Christmas tree in this post,
a teddy bear with Ultra Suede paws ~ dressed in Pendleton wool and Mandy's first day of kindergarten dress.
Looking at old photos is such fun. I love thinking back to those special moments in our lives. Speaking of thinking ~ what was I thinking?? Everyone of these cute costumes was WHITE!

Trick or Treat!

Opinions please!

I got a few more things made Thursday night and I'd like to give you a peek and ask your opinion. By the way ~ I found the wonderful images that I used on a blog called

art-e-ology.

Jamie offers free images each Tuesday.

Well I'm calling this little creations "Instant Ancestors"....and I have nine more to make. They'll be packaged in a cellophane bag with a label. I put the quarter in the picture to give an idea of the size. They're complete ~ I think! But maybe they need a little something? Maybe a bit of lace or a couple buttons or a some pretty ribbon ~ maybe even a little sparkly glitter.

What do you think?

(I must say ~ these look way better in person!)

This one is my favorite ~ I love the paper!

It's So Nice to Make a Few Things

I got a few more things done for my upcoming craft shows. Slowly but surely I'm creating an inventory of goodies. A small inventory to be sure ~ but at least there will be something! Here's a peek at a few things I've recently made.

Lavender sachets ~ I almost fell asleep making these. The smell is so very soothing!

A baker's dozen of sparkly little mitten ornaments! I love how these turned out. I got this very cute idea from a tutorial on Dawn's blog ~ The Feathered Nest.

Here's some fabric covered boxes. I love making these ~ and there's still a bunch of paper mache boxes waiting in line to be dressed. I'm going to tie these up with some jute and hang a prim little tag on them.....or maybe I'll attach a little wooden knob to the lid of a few of them.

One of the best things about these recent creations is (with the exception of two (fat quarters) of the fabrics in the photo above) I didn't have to buy a single thing. My goal is to make a huge dent in my current stash!

The Best Seat in the House

Kids love their own little chair and with three grandbabies arriving in rapid fire succession I was afraid I'd be without a seat for each one of them.

But never fear ~ friends and a thrift store came to the rescue.

This little wooden chair was given to me by my friend Tisha ~ she picked it up at an auction. It'll be getting a paint job soon....I'm thinking black.

My friend Patricia painted this little rocker for me ~ that was before we knew grandbaby #3 was coming! I'll have to ask her to paint another bear on it!! : )

I found this platform rocker at the thrift store ~ all the babies love this one! Elijah & Charlotte can make it glide back and forth and Penelope reclines in it like the princess she is ~ loving that someone else does all the work of making it move.

Yep ~ they love these sweet little chairs. But sometimes I wonder why I have them, because these babies are happy sitting just about anywhere!

Post Script! As Joyce (Scrap for Joy) reminded me in her comment ~ there' s also the "chilliest" seat in the house.