WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE SO COLD YOU CAN'T THINK!

How is everyone doing with this North-American wide cold snap we are all living under?  Even for us here in Canada, it has been extreme.  I was watching a segment on the news yesterday where a climatologist was interviewing a scientist, and she said that as time goes on we can expect more and more such extreme weather events, as the polar vortex is changing, dipping lower and lower for longer periods of time.  Extreme weather in every season will soon be the order of the day, so I guess we'd all better learn how to adapt.

-50's temps and wind chills make it very difficult to be outside.  I have continued to venture out each morning, wrapped in layers of clothes covered with a long down coat to top it all off.  I can honestly say I have not been cold at all.  My coat has a fur hood which cinches in around the face.  The only complaint I have had while being out in the cold mornings, is that my glasses fog up.  So aggravating!

But I guess if that's all I have to complain about, I will shut up. 

Life goes on, business are open, schools are running - but school buses might not be.  People here continue on because we live in a cold climate.  However there are always  the vulnerable who cannot cope.  The homeless, small children, the sick, the elderly, small animals, birds... we must be aware that there are many out there who are at risk  - it's up to us to watch out for them and give them a helping hand when and if we can.

Don't forget to top up your bird feeders, keep your pets indoors.  Wrap your little ones up with lots of layers, mittens, scarves.

Wear wool!  Wool is a natural insulator, it breathes, allows air to circulate through it's fibers.  It is much warmer than any man-made fiber.

Don't go out, if you don't have to. 

And personally  - if you don't have to go out  - craft!

That's what I have been doing when I could get my studio warmed up enough to be up there working.

I have been continuing with my junk journal project.  I changed my mind on the cover and have re-covered it with old jeans.  I have added some jean pockets on the outside for gel pens etc, and I made a totally funky, shabby, blue-jean tassel by unravelling strips of jean fabric. 

I have also made a cute bookmark using a child's poem from an old book of children's poetry by Emily Dickinson - some more envelope pockets, and also some fancy paper clips.  Tomorrow I am going to start work on making the page sections of the book. (signatures they are called).  I think this journal will have 3 signatures of about 15 pages each, so that will be 90 journaling pages in total.  We'll see how this goes - this is my first journal, so perhaps I am thinking way too many pages. 

I will take some pictures this weekend to show you my progress, and then perhaps do a show and tell video once the journal is complete, before I send it off to it's recipient.

So my friends - stay warm, stay busy - be happy.  Spring IS coming...

Till later -

PAPER, SNOW AND HAVING FUN!

I have already thanked my brother Norman for sending us the Alberta clipper we had on the weekend.  Truth be told, it wasn't as bad as the weather forecasters had predicted.  Before the weekend started we were predicted to get from 10-15 cm of snow with lots of wind.  We did get snow, and the wind, but nowhere near that amount, so we lucked out.

It was a great weekend to spend some time learning how to make junk journals.  I watched several tutorials on how to make the journals themselves, and then a bunch more on how to make the embellishments that go inside the journals.

I decided to start a junk journal for a gift to my little soon to be 9 yr old granddaughter - Zhanna.  What girl of her age wouldn't love somewhere to write her thoughts, paste some pictures, store her treasures, create some artwork of her own?

I found an old book and tore the pages out so I could use the cover and the spine.  First I covered the old cover with some fabric - purple - Zhanna loves purple.  I set that aside to dry and started on some embellishments for inside the journal.

Junk Journals have lots of pockets for papers, tabs, pictures etc, some pockets are hidden in envelopes, so that I where I started.

Here are a the envelopes I got done this weekend.  I made all of these using the pages I tore out of the book that I used for the cover.  I will go through them individually so you can see the pockets inside them.

This one is the first one I did.

 This is the front of the envelope., the envelope flips up to reveal the 2 pockets inside. 

I chose this picture for the front of the envelope because of the title of the story from the page in the book, entitled "Christmas Cookery".







When you open the envelope this is the inside with the two pockets...  I added some blank paper to write something for the journal, and a couple of cards with Christmas images on them.

This was the second one I did, and my personal favourite.  Again I used the book pages to make the envelope and the pockets,  The picture of the girl is just a piece of wrapping paper that I mounted on to some card stock and glued to the front of the envelope.  I made the paper flower on the front as well and used my sewing machine to do some fancy zig-zag stitching around the whole piece.  I love the vintage look of this one.

The inside has two pockets, where I added some journaling paper, and a little book I made with with blank pages inside...a  mini-journal.

Here are the two mini-journals I made to pop in pockets here and there.  check the size on the ruler beside them.

 

Here is the third pocket envelope I made.  Again I made the envelope from pages I removed from the book.  I decorated the top with some scrap paper, a piece of lace, a ticket I found in my craft drawer and a handmade flower, consisting of fabric, paper and ribbon.

This is the inside.  I attempted to age the book paper with paint - I'm not sure I like how it turned out, perhaps I need to get some distressing ink to better do this.  However, I promised myself I would not spend a lot of money on special supplies for this project, but instead use what I have in my studio already.  So for now, I will continue the way I am going.

Again the pockets have some pretty paper for journaling on.

This is an open pocket that I made.  It has some templates for drawing animal heads, some tracing paper, and some colourful journaling paper.

These envelope pockets will be glued into the junk journal pages, here and there.  They add some character to the journal, but also some alternative ways to journal, and a few secret places to tuck notes and things.

Today I am going to attempt some corner pockets and some library card-type pockets for the inside of the front and back covers.

Now that the outside cover of the journal is dry, I will also start to create the pages for the inside and think about how I am going to decorate the cover back and front.

I have to tell you, that I absolutely loved doing these projects this weekend.  It's just paper - so if you mess it up you chuck it in the garbage. 

I think these little flip pocket envelopes would make awesome greeting cards, perhaps you could use the pocket for inserting money, or gift cards, itune cards etc.

Great possibilities using recycled materials and much nicer than using store- bought;  made and distributed by some huge corporation that cares not one whit about you!

So time to get the glue out, and start my day!

Please enjoy your day, whatever you are up to.

JUNK JOURNALS AND WIRE SUNCATCHERS!

How can you tell we are smack dab in the middle of winter - besides the obvious?

I can tell, because I am driving myself slightly crazy watching crafting videos and getting so many ideas stacked up in my head that I want to try and make.

I don't need any more projects that are not going to get finished - but having said that - I have completed a few small projects which I will share with you at the end of this post.

Ever hear of a junk journal?

I have always been fascinated with journals and journalling.  Perhaps it's a female thing, but I can see it being something that a lot of girls and women would love to do - if they had a junk journal.

A junk journal - is made from a bunch of different papers, fabrics, anything you can think of really.  It has pages that are all different shapes and sizes, textures  -  it has tabs and pockets and buttons, envelopes - whatever you want it to have.

You can use it for any kind of journalling - for travel, gardening, for recipes, for inspirational material, for music - whatever you want.

They are as busy or as plain as you want to make them, and I am totally in love with them.

I want to make one for gardening.

If I were to make one for gardening, I would use paper from old gardening magazines and maybe some tea-dyed paper, I would use fabric - with flowers on it, I would make my pockets out of pretty seed packets... do you see where I'm going with this?

So - if you are bored with winter and want to make something cute for yourself, or even for a gift - I challenge you to give this a go.  You don't need anything special for supplies just paper, string, a ruler and a pair of scissors, a piece of cardboard from a cereal box, and glue.

Let your junk journal begin!  Here's a great beginner video from Rosa Kelly to get you started.

https://youtu.be/h9Qv-eV4J-s


As promised here are a few projects I finished a week or so ago.  I needed something for my old window now that I have removed the Christmas ornaments that were hanging on it, so I decided to make some wire sun-catchers from things I just had lying around in my studio.

These were so easy to do, and I would have made more to give as gifts, but I ran out of the nice wire...

So I will revisit this again another time...

I made the little tiny angel in the heart above from things I had in my bead box.  Can you see her?

 

the green heart was a pendant given to me by my Mother-in- law years ago.

The fairy and bee where a gift I received from a friend in Ireland this past Christmas.

They look great on my old window -especially when the sun hits them in the evening!

SHOULD I DO THIS ONE?

As I so often do, the other evening I was sitting in my rocking chair not sure if I wanted to watch TV or knit, or read, so I picked up my Ipad and decided to see what was new on the Internet.  Most of the times these days I spend my time catching up on Youtubers that I am following - mostly gardeners or crafters, or both... but this time I went to Pinterest.

I hardly ever go there anymore, but I was looking for an image of a quilt I thought I had saved there a couple of years ago, of an old farm house. I couldn't find it on any of my saved categories, but I did find this quilt which really just hit me between the eyes...

Here is the link in case you want to go to the site.

https://pin.it/sduf3r3rsncgyi

I Love this piece, and would so hang this on my wall 

But seeing it sort of shocked me as well...

I feel like I really, really know this image....

You might feel the same way after looking at some if the images on my last post.

This photograph taken August 2017 is a window on my Grandfather's barn which still stands at the farm that until recently was my Uncle's farm, but now is my cousin's son's farm.

Can you see why I was a little shocked?  It is uncanny how similar my picture is to the quilt.

As I sat looking at the quilt the right side of my brain started to take over, as always seems to happen with me.   I started to consider doing my image as a quilt for my wall.  Why not?  Could I, should I, will I?

Maybe I will.  

I don't believe it would be very difficult if I could find fabric that looked like old boards.

My picture is packed with so much meaning for me.  I look at it and I feel so much in my heart.  It might be an old barn to some, but to me it is a significant piece of my family history - my family's story.  It is a building I have always loved.  One I played in, worked in, and in later years, just sat in and let my thoughts wander in.

It might sit empty now except for storage, but it was the heart of a thriving farm for many many years, and it's contribution to farm life was elemental to those who opened it's big heavy door and entered every day.

It was the heart of the farm, it had a life of it's own, and it is loved by many in my family for where it stands and how it came to be.

When the word HOME was created, I believe they had a building just like this one in mind.

If you haven't read my poem about this barn, then go back to my last post and have a read.  There are some more images that were taken at the same time as the picture above.

So now, I want to do a quilt!

Hmmmmm....

HEART OF THE FARM - a poem.

 HEART OF THE FARM.

He built her in the 40's,

sometime after the crash;

A time when there were little funds,

and hardly any cash.

He needed her to house his stock.

and so he built her strong;

Thick wood walls with lots of stalls,

extra wide and long.

He built her tall and faced her west,

to catch the evening rays:

Seven windows on either side,

gave light all through the day.

An open loft to store the hay,

wide doors on either end;

Ladder's in the second manger - 

up you go, my friend!

Through the years she never stopped,

warming winter nights:

Every creature great and small,

she did hold so tight.

Then she got so old and worn,

her service seemed to slow;

Still, familiar footsteps known to her,

would stop and say hello.

Now she rests, her work is done,

Her duty is no more;

But every once in a little while,

someone slides her door.

She gives a groan, then heaves a sigh,

she's done him proud, for sure.

All those many years ago,

he built her to endure.

2019

Dale Graumann

ALPACAS, GREENS, AND SLUGGISH CLEANING!

Well more than a week has gone by since my last blog post.

To say I have been in somewhat of a slump, is an understatement.  I seem to have been frozen - brain, body, thoughts, activity - just everything!

I have so much I want to do before spring -  projects to finish, some new ones to make...  Cleaning projects that won't get done unless I do them now, because once spring is here, I will be outside again.

I did start a bit of a purge through my studio.  I have so many craft supplies of crafts I no longer do.  I have been storing them for that just-in-case that all crafters think about.  Truthfully the just-in-case mentality persists with me, but I have taken those items out of the storage drawers I do use all the time, and boxed them up, labeled them and moved them to a different storage area, so that I am no longer always having to sift through those items to get to the things I really need to use.

Just doing this one step has made my containers much lighter, and more organized.

I also got rid of three knitting machines and all their accessories which have been taking up space in my studio.  I was able to gift them to a young woman who runs an Alpaca farm here in Manitoba.  She was as delighted to receive the machines, as I was to get rid of them.  I know they will finally be used as they should be.

Here is her web address - check out her online page.  She has an online store where you can purchase not only wool, but hand-made items made by her.

www.enchantedgrovealpacas.ca

In spring our town has a town-wide garage sale.  You buy a spot on a map and then your garage sale is advertised in the town-wide sale.  My intention is that those boxed supplies will be put on my garage sale table in spring (if I have not opened them between now and then).  There are craft books, ceramic and china heads and hands for doll making.  Every colour of crochet cotton you can image and lots of it.  Buffalo wool still in wrappers, patterns, ribbons, etc.

Aside from what I have set aside to sell, I have also purged and donated three boxes for the recycle center here in town.  Christmas stuff, incomplete balls of crochet cotton, trinkets, some craft supplies, some books, picture frames and more.

My work area does have a lot less clutter, and now I think I will want to start working on some projects on the winter evenings we still have ahead of us.

I have been doing some knitting.  I am working on knitting up all my little balls of yarn, so I have been making some Intarsia squares for a blanket.  I am enjoying these, and happy to see a lot of my very small balls of yarn have vanished.

Here's what I have so far... as you can see it is going to be a very colourful blanket.

Remember a week or so ago I said I planting some greens for salads - a sort of cut and come again idea for having some fresh greens until the garden is planted in spring?

To my amazement, my little wash bucket of greens is coming on beautifully.  I have then growing in the cool part of my studio under my daylight crafting light.

Have a look!

So maybe my slump hasn't been quite as bad as I imagined.  I don't know why I am always so hard on myself.  There is no law saying some down time is a bad thing.  I do know my pace is a lot slower than it has been, but maybe thats okay too.

So - until next time... take care and slug along!

I'M SMILING!

I did something yesterday that I have been itching to do for a few months -  I sent my first seed order in!

You can't see my smile, but let me tell you it's been on my face every since I pressed send!

This first order was to Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

I ordered some new things to try in my garden this year...

Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry- perfect for summertime snacks and salads and also great for jams and jellies.

Blauhilde Bean
                                                                                    ( Purple Pole)

Chinese Red Noodle Bean

( I can't wait to try these)

Corbaci Pepper
                                                                                    a sweet pepper

Kajari Melon

And these wonderful Queen Lime Orange Zinnia's

I am popping these beauties in my south side flower bed right under my sun room/dining room window!

They have several more varieties of Zinnia's but I am also ordering some from T& T seeds that resemble candy canes, so I am trying to be sensible....whatever that is.

I also spent the day getting my seedling table set up, and while I was at it, I planted a container of greens as an experiment to see if I can grow and harvest them as a cut and come again crop indoors.

The nook is cool which is a good environment for greens, and I have my daylight lamp on them, so we will see what we get.  Hopefully some salad greens!

I don't know about you, but I can't get my eyes off those Zinnia's!

Gosh, I can't wait to grow this lot!

LIFE IN A STATE OF GRACE!

"And now let us Welcome in the New Year

Full of things that have never been."

 - Rainer Maria Rilke

Welcome 2019!

"Time is New Year's bountiful blessing:  three hundred sixty-five bright mornings and starlit evenings; fifty-two promising weeks; twelve transformative months full of beautiful possibilities; and four splendid seasons.  A simply abundant year to be savoured."

                  -Sarah Ban Breathnach ( Simple Abundance)

Put like that makes me wonder how many of us will actually utilize the year 2019 in the most meaningful way possible.

 - - -

The quote is from a book I started yesterday - Simple Abundance - A Daybook of comfort and Joy.

It is a book of 365 daily readings on living one's life in a State of Grace - finding your authenticity in your daily life.  Learning and practicing Simple Abundance.

Perhaps not the easiest task for many of us, but one that I am finding easier to accomplish the older I get, and in the environment I now live.  That is to say living in the country - away from the big city that sucks you in and sucks you dry at every turn  - if you let it.

I have always known the benefit of country life, I have been exposed to it all my life through my parents and my extended family of relatives.  I thought I knew all about it, but living it 365 days of the year and visiting it on weekends really and truly is a lifetime apart...   and for me,  it's even better than I ever imagined!

What's your idea of Simple Abundance?

What's your idea of enough?

What's your idea of too much?

All good questions -  perhaps questions we should all be taking all that time outlined in the first paragraph to explore.

Personally, I am trying to be more mindful of Abundance each and every day.  

And so, I embrace and welcome the New Year - full of things that have never been...

Lets see where it takes us!