USING UP MY PINK FABRIC

First off I want to thank everyone who made suggestions for solving my blogger dilemma. I switched my browser and it seems to have corrected the problem on most of the blogs where I couldn't leave a comment. There are still a couple of them that aren't giving in that easily but I'm persistent and will eventually get to the bottom of this.

Now that I've started making messes in my work area after the "Great Cleanup of 2012" I've decided to keep at it. Since the pink fabric was just laying there on the table I gave some thought to what I could do with it.

At the beginning of last summer I stayed with my sister Maggie for a couple of weeks and while I was there she gave me a few things that were in her discard pile. I have no idea why these things were being tossed aside as they are really cool items. One of the items she gave me is a cloth doll with painted head, breast plate, forearms and boots. When I came home I tossed the doll related items into a box labeled doll supplies. After doing that I pretty much forgot about her. Now that I was trying to come up with an idea for using up some of the pink fabric I decided to give the doll a second look.

I make most of the patterns I use for sewing so I chose some fabric to work with, one solid and one small print and I started cutting and fitting paper and came up with this.

The dress has a dusty pink drop waist top trimmed with white lace hearts and a printed skirt and jacket. The jacket and skirt are fully lined in the pink solid.

There are a couple of you who seem to enjoy seeing pictures of fur kids so Sampson volunteered to join Mildred for the photo session.

I hadn't planned for Mildred to be seated in the bowl of hearts but was told she preferred sitting on pillows rather than the hard, cold marble. I can see how that would be preferable. I think I'll make her a cushion as her sitting in the bowl makes the hearts impossible to see. 

After making the cushion I think I might leave any more sewing for some future date. I'm not sure which direction I'll be heading next but will end up finding something that tickles my interest, no worries there. Perhaps later this morning I'll cook up some paper pulp and make a batch of paper mache clay to work with. I have a couple of pieces that have been around since early November that need to be finished.

My Christmas stuff is still waiting to be put away. I have high hopes that I'll have some help with that this coming weekend. It's a bit difficult trying to decorate for Valentine's Day with Christmas still hanging on. Wish me luck.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Bowl Fillers

Question:

Has anyone else been experiencing difficulty leaving comments on blogger? I've been having trouble with about half of the blogs that I visit. The trouble is the comment window won't open and when I try I get a blank page that remains blank. Nothing happens. I'm still reading the posts and haven't forgotten about you, I just can't leave a comment. If you've had this problem and have found a solution please let me know what you did to correct it.

I'm still trying to get my Christmas decorations put away. They've been taken down and rounded up and are ready to be packed up as soon as someone helps me get the containers down from the attic. This is what happens when you have to rely on others for the muscle, you have to work with their time table.

This month has been a weird one for me as far as getting anything in the creative area completed. I've spent a great deal of time getting my house in order and all is organized and neat and even dusted which is the one chore I loath. Now that everything is orderly I find myself not wanting to mess it up. Yesterday I decided that I really needed to start working on something so I made myself make a little bitty mess.

I pulled my good old sewing machine out from under the table and a box or two of fabric down from the top shelf and started looking for something suitable for making something for Valentine's Day decorating. I've never really decorated for this holiday but have been seeing some really nice things being made by some of you and decided to give it a go.

Here is my collection of pink or rose fabrics. It's a limited assortment as pink isn't one of my favorite colors. There's nothing wrong with it but I prefer red or green. Go figure.

Since the heart shape is big for this holiday I fooled around making several heart shaped patterns and finally decided on a shape and then I went about cutting and sewing and stuffing the little heart pillows.

Then I needed a bowl to display them and found an old wooden salad bowl that I've owned for nearly 50 years. I haven't used it in ages and had forgotten about it. It didn't look all that great so I set about giving it a face lift. This morning I took some pictures of the finished display.

The fabric used for these hearts is muslin. The patterned fabric is some that I sponge painted years ago for another project. A small contrasting heart is stitched by hand on the plain muslin. I know that three hearts would follow the rule of odd numbered elements in a grouping for a more visually appealing arrangement but I've made four hearts and couldn't decide which to leave out of the bowl so just pretend it looks just fine. That's what I'm doing.

I"m trying to decide what type of mess to make next. Since the sewing machine has been behaving itself I might make a small quilt or some pillow covers for the some of the pillows I've grown tired of. Then again, I might make some new dresses for a few of my dolls or maybe a new doll. That's what's so great about having so many supplies tucked away, all of the options of things to be created. 

Hope you're finding enjoyable ways of being creative.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

WORK SPACE #1

I've decided that in the spirit of sharing I would invite you into my work space or at least one of them. I have several but this one is the most organized. The reason it's so organized I paid a visit to Ikea and came home with several of the wonderful storage boxes they carry. So without wasting your time with a bunch of verbal nothing I'll show you a few photos.

The hutch which is the backbone of this work station was built by my son who is a very gifted carpenter. There are all sorts of spaces such as the ones where my sketch pads, far left and bottom middle are kept. I went with the green and white as my favorite color is green and I like the crisp look of this color combo.

This is where I do most of my blogging and where I'm sitting at this very minute. There is more storage to either side of the computer station.

The photo above is the stack or pile of junk  supplies and books, and boxed toilet that blocks the closet where more supplies and my Christmas wrap is stored.

While straightening up the area the other day I discovered a project that I started many years ago. This was in the time before my eyesight got so bad. At least then I had some closeup vision. I made the pattern for this piece and although I don't have many colors of floss left after giving most of it to my daughter I'm thinking about trying to complete this piece now that I've discovered that wearing my reading glasses and using the lighted magnifier I might be able to see what I'm doing. This isn't the only piece that's in the box that got left partially done.

I've got to hurry and finish this as my batteries in my mouse are fading fast and I haven't any new ones until I get to a store. 

Hope you weren't too bored with this visit. Now you know where I spend most of my time.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

MY GOALS for 2012

I've noticed that some of you are setting goals for yourself instead of making New Year's resolutions. I've decided that I need to set some goals for myself as well. While I'm thinking of what they should be I've decided to share a few photos we took on Christmas day.

Do you remember my grandson Donovan? The last photo I showed of him he was 7 years old.

such a handsome guy then.....

.....and now, he's still a good looking guy.

He'll turn 25 on February 2nd.

Remember how my daughter looked back then?

then......

....and now. She's still wearing black.

This is Donovan's lovely girlfriend Dee who is a sweetie and is pretty as can be.

This is Bambi's hubby and my son-in-law Damien.

This is me Christmas of '92 and since I haven't changed any I saw no reason to include a photo from this year.

I'm still working on those goals. Nothing concrete yet, just vague ideas like eating healthier, getting more exercise and more sleep. I might add something like maintaining a brighter outlook and not being too hard on myself.

Maybe I should be getting out in the world more and perhaps finding something out there to make me feel like there is a reason for my existence.  We all need to feel like we have a purpose and lately I've been feeling like I really don't have one. Something to think about.

Maybe my goals will be something like refurbishing my home, room by room and posting my completed rooms one at a time. Now that's a hoot!!! This body does come with restrictions. No bending or folding to name a few.

Maybe I'll start working on that stack of canvases and do a painting a week or maybe just one a month since I'd need a whole lot of inspiration which I don't seem to have lately.

Maybe I'll start quilting again and get involved with some of the quilting blogs I follow. Could be a way to use up some of that fabric I've been hording.

So, how many of you are putting together a list of goals you wish to accomplish in 2012? How many of you think it's a waste of time? I'd love to hear from you on this subject.

So, welcome to 2012 and as always, thanks for stopping by.