Discoveries

I’ve had two discoveries or surprises (in my crafting life) so far this month.  The first one, was that I was chosen as the EtsyBloggers featured member! Yay.  It means I get showered with attention, making me so happy and appreciative.  First blog that I saw was Linda at Pruitt Handcrafts and her post: Unique, unique, unique!  Thank you all!

The second discovery was that sometimes making do with what you have just isn’t good enough.  For a long time I’ve been doing my free motion quilting with gardening gloves to help me get a grip on the fabric:

I thought I was being thrifty using these, but lately I noticed that my hands were cramping up and they weren’t any huge improvement from my bare hands.  And it was a little freaky to look at as you can see in the picture.

So…. last week when I stopped into the new Hobby Lobby in town (not thrilled with it btw), I saw a pair of Machine Quilting Grip Gloves* and picked them up.  They are fantastic. 

I love how they’re fitted, soft and have grippy things all over them.  I enjoyed sewing much more with them and now maybe I’ll get to finish this new handbag I’ve been working on!

Have any discoveries or surprises lately?

EtsyBlogger Carnival – Favorite Summer Recipe

Cool, refreshing, fruity – perfect.  There are NEVER any leftovers of this one:

My husband loves to bring this to parties.  I could be happy with fresh summer fruit, but this is really irresistible.  Enjoy the posts of all the Carnival entries, see them here!

Do you have a favorite summer recipe that you like to bring to parties?

Flower or Alien?

 

I saw this unopened Columbine flower in my garden and immediately thought it looked like the monster from Alien.  What do you think?

More crafty and bread pictures and updates on my Facebook page and at Flickr:

Five Year Anniversary

I’ve been blogging since 2006!  If it wasn’t for a sweet reader, Teena in Toronto, I wouldn’t have even realized the date had come round again.  Good thing I checked emails today, I usually don’t on the weekends.  Thank you, Teena!

Since then, I think my pictures have improved a bit, I definitely write lengthier posts and more often.  Best of all are the fantastic readers and friends I’ve met online – the internet has been a great place to connect with like-minded folks.  Thank you all for always coming by and your comments!!

44,400 blog hits seems like a lot to me!  I’m going to take some time this evening and catch up on reading some of my favorite blogs online. 

Enjoy your weekend! - Tammy

One More Zombie

First it was the zombie wedding topper, then the cute zombies, and now this picture I found in Gyo Fujikawa's A to Z Picture Book.  I couldn’t resist putting this up here, I think it’s adorable that it’s in a children’s book:

And here’s the book it’s from:

I hear there’s a zombie walk going on in Manchester this Saturday…. if I go downtown I’ll be sure to get pictures of that, too.  Have you ever gone to a zombie event?

More Zombie Love

Liked Sunday’s zombies?  These two are only a few inches tall and kind of gory.  They’re patterns from the book: Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead*.   I improvised just a little bit, using felt and beads that I had in the house and combining elements from some of the patterns in the book to make this unique couple.  I’ve already heard that the bride and groom love it and are going to put them in a frame somewhere in their house – I’m so glad.  I still think it’s creepy.

*if you click my Amazon links, I get a % of any sales you make at that time.

Zombie Lite

This weekend I’ll be celebrating at a wedding with a very special couple.  About a year ago they asked if I could make a wedding topper for them…. a zombie wedding topper…

I couldn’t make it too gross, or have them decayed or baring teeth, so I’m calling this “zombie lite”:

So, I’ve been crafting, just couldn’t show this until the wedding came around.  A tutorial may be in the works for this one, depending on whether anyone is interested or not.

And yes, that’s his arm she’s holding (by request).

Crazy Hectic

I’m trying not to let the mayhem that is having teenagers get to me.  Making some cell phone cases & purses to sell locally (will announce on Facebook).  Thinking about some crazy handbag projects for my online shop (in a week or two?).  Working on some family projects (will post this weekend, they have to be kept secret for now!) 

I love to read and usually reach for a fantasy/vampire/post-apocalyptic style book to escape reality…. but I heard about this book, Take Your Time: Finding Balance in a Hurried World* and thought it was great.

It made sense and the 8 steps recommended are practical and doable.  Most of the time, I’d say that I loathe self-help type books.  Loathe.  Have you read this book?  Are you going to?  Do you have any favorite books that you’d recommend that are easy to read and practical?

 

*if you click my Amazon links, I get a % of any sales you make at that time.