I found a treasure!

I did manage to finish my "challenge" last night.  In the end I scrapped the really small hanger I had made and went with a medium-sized one I had also made.  I don't like the hanger at all - but it is what it is, and I can't change it now.  The project is done and wrapped and in a box and ready to be mailed.

I still haven't found my wire cutters and pliers - and believe me I have turned my work room upside down looking for them.

I get very huffy, when something goes missing from my workroom.  I am pretty organised, in a messy sort of way - but everything has it's place and when I am not using things they do go back into their place.  I don't remember when I last used my pliers and cutters, but I do know they would have been returned to the "Tool" drawer.  Well they are not there, and you can imagine the NOISE that was created on the weekend, because they were missing.

I did however find a forgotten treasure in one of the large drawers of my trolley.

Take a look...

Ha!  I'd forgotten about these !  Eight china doll-house dolls, and 4 other dolls.  Well I guess I have more dolls to work on ... some bodying, and a lot of dressing!  

Fun  - more sewing  :(

Or I could just knit or crochet all the clothes...  :)

Thing is I have kinda switched gears and was planning to do some quilting projects for awhile.

What to do, what to do?

Well I could always return them to the drawer they were in and put a label on the outside of the drawer - that would work!

I'll have to think about this for awhile.. - Okay - I'm done thinking - they will go back to the drawer as I am still working on the monkey, and then I have plans to re-open my Etsy shop in the next few weeks.

Yup - back to the drawer they go...

Sorry babes....

CHALLENGES!

Another week has come and gone.

This past week was the 7th Anniversary of my second surgery for breast cancer - my mastectomy... at times it seems so much longer than that, and then sometimes it really feels like yesterday.  I am thankful that I am still here to count these Anniversaries.

Last week was a gruelling week at work, and I only have 2 more Friday's off before I return to regular full-time hours, which means summer will be over.  I'm not liking that idea at all.  I have had 14 weeks of working a 4 day week and I have become very accustomed to having an extra day at home.  Not that I really accomplished much for having that extra day.  At the beginning of the summer I had promised myself all kinds of completed projects -but in actual fact I fell terribly short of the mark this summer.

Still I am not going to beat myself up about it - The Friday's off were after all my "Vacation" so I can actually say I did take vacation time in a weird sort of way.

If you visited Fiona's channel, you will have seen that she has set out a "Challenge" - and yes, I have entered it.  The challenge is to create a hanger from wire and make a plaque to hang from it.  So I registered for the challenge and got right down to creating and making it.  I finished the plaque part in no time basically because she had no restrictions as to what the plaque was to be.  Believe me - my plaque will be non-traditional as far as plaques, go - but I'm sure she will love it anyway... in fact I know she will.

The hanger - well that was the real challenge for me.  She said to use a 1.5 mm wire - such a thing I have yet to find anywhere here.  However I did try to use several gauges of wire - all were too thin.  Because time is an issue ( I have to get this in the mail if it is to reach the UK by the deadline) I decided to make my hanger out of a coat hanger... that wasn't easy either, as my wire cutters and pliers have gone for a walk... Oh Bother!

My end result is less than satisfying, and small.  Small mainly because of my non-traditional plaque, which also is small to keep the shipping costs to the UK to a minimum.  So this was indeed a CHALLENGE.

I haven't done a challenge in a long time - but this one was fun - wire woes and all.  Tonight I'll finish it up, wrap it up and hopefully in a day or two it will be in the mail to Fiona!

Then we'll wait and see the results!

Wish me luck!

Introducing Fiona!

I was going to work on the Monkey after work yesterday, but after pretty much a day from hell at work I didn't even have the energy to cut out a pair of overalls for Mr. Monkey, so instead I sat in my rocking chair and had a sleep, then I ate supper, then I returned to my rocking chair and spent pretty much the rest of my evening catching up with Fiona's video's on you-tube.

Who's Fiona?

She is an awesome crafter from the UK who as roughly 3000 videos (mostly tutorials) on how to make things.  I love her.  All you ever see is her hands which are never still - she is an amazing talented woman who gives generously of her talent and time to anyone who wants to spend a few moments and watch her video's.  She has an amazing Etsy shop as well where she sells her creations, her kits and things she picks up at her Cabot sales in the UK - wonderful stuff....

She does a lot of Shabby Chic, but she is also into Fairies, miniatures, well  just about everything.  Of late, I have been catching up on flower making... she makes beautiful fabric flowers for any occasion.  I thought I'd share one of her video's here with you today.

If you want to know how it's made - Fiona is your gal.

So without further ado -

Fiona....

http://youtu.be/Gi4yI3zFTKs

Touring the World!

Every year for two weeks in August, our beautiful city hosts Folklorama.  If you have never been to Winnipeg this would be the time to visit us.

Folklorama is two weeks packed of touring the world - without ever leaving the city.  It is an experience like none other, and we are the only city in the world that celebrates the world's cultures in just this way.

This past weekend, our friends Bill and Deb drove up to Winnipeg from Fargo to experience Folklorama.  I had not been to Folklorama in years, and although Gary has lived here for many years, he had never been before.  We decided we would try and do three pavilions on Saturday night... so shortly before 5 pm we headed to the first one we wanted to see.  We chose the Greek Pavilion first.  It was held in a beautiful Greek Orthodox church.  The place was packed, the food was awesome (especially the Baklava) and the dancers were wonderful.  What a way to start and incredible evening.
We were allowed to go into the church and take some photos after the performance... Is this not beautiful... sorry the picture couldn't have been better -

The second stop was the Russian Pavilion.  All I could think of was the Russian dancers, but let me tell you there was so much more.  The music, the costumes, and yes the dancers were outstanding.  And the food - oh wow, my mouth waters just thinking about it.  Have you ever had real Russian Borscht?  So good - amazing.

And then were heading to the Korean Pavilion for our last stop of the night.

This was my favorite Pavilion of the night.  The Koreans are such beautiful, friendly and warm people... everyone bows and smiles, and you just feel so special - and that was even before the performances.  The entertainment for the evening was so wonderful.  They started with little children dancing -in traditional costume, I might add - OMG they were so beautiful.  Then came the Drum dance.

This was really something to see - this video was taken a couple of years ago at the Korean Pavilion and the same young woman performed this year as in this video - be prepared to be wowed!



http://youtu.be/bGQa40LwRk4

Then a stage full of beautiful young women did the Fan Dance.  If you ever get the chance to see this dance you will never forget it.  It is breath-taking beautiful... as were the young women who performed it.

What a fun evening we had travelling with our friends.  We are already planning next years Folklorama event with our friends, in anticipation of seeing so much more of Winnipeg's cultural diversity, talented performers and enjoying the wonderful flavors of the world.

Thanks Bill and Deb - we had a great time!

This and That - And The Next Thing Too!

Here a few of the crazy-quilt patches I made over the last few days.  I love crazy quilt, and making these is sort of like eating popcorn - once you start, it's really hard to stop!

Back to the monkey:

I let the poor monkey lie around for a few days, all the while pondering how best to restore him.  I like him a whole lot better in his blue and white striped suit than the fur that I had removed.  I could almost picture him with a bright yellow pair of overalls... but the very worn material and the huge gaping hole in the arm really had me worried.

I considered trying to find material to make a new body, I even thought about new material for the head and arm, but I really just wanted him to stay the way he was originally made - so that meant fixing what was wrong.

First he needed to have his rubber or vinyl parts cleaned - so we had a spa day.  Good old plain soap and water and a little Magic Eraser worked wonders on his face - although there is still a marker mark on his chin.  No amount of scrubbing is taking that off - so he will have that scar to keep.

A bath for him, and a day spent hanging around the yard to dry.

The bad arm is off, and he's looking mighty clean!

Feeling pretty happy, all things considered... and a bit of fun with a photo shoot  as well:

Well that was fun!  But now the hard work begins... fixing what is broken and missing so he can be put back together...

Wish me luck!

Baby Dear is done!

I took a bit of a break from posting here last week - it was a hectic week and I honestly couldn't find a spare moment to think of anything to post let alone settle down to actually write a post.

That busy week was followed by 4 days off from work, which really helped to rejuvenate me (somewhat)!  I have had so much piling up for me to do at home that I just had to spend some of the 4 days getting some projects finished... and I did.

I spent the better part of Friday and Saturday working in the craft room, and I really got a lot accomplished for once.

I worked on the doll (baby Dear) that I am restoring for a friend.  The doll needed a new body and there was a lot of work needed to clean her head.

  This doll has a top knot hair style - meaning all the hair comes from a central spot on the top of the dolls head.
 Over the years the hair clumped up and would not lie down on the head.  At some point glue was used to try and get the hair to stay down, but all that really accomplished was adding glue to the scalp which later discoloured with age and dirt.

The glue was the most difficult thing to remove from her head.  I used all kinds of things to try and get it off - repeated washings, and even so I was not able to remove it all, but what remains is no longer visible.

The hair had to be trained to stay down so after it was washed I encased the head in a plastic bag with holes punched all over the bag.  I left the bag on for well over a week as the hair dried.  And the end result was this.

Then it was make a new body

and put her all back together again.

I think she was praying that I knew what I was doing!

My friend had an outfit she wanted put on the doll - one that was worn by her grand daughter, so once she was all back together, I dressed her in her new clothes, and here she is...

All done and ready to go back home - she's good for at least another 50 yrs of play now!

  This doll was created from this little golden book, and I was so lucky to find one at the thrift store.  

Next -  I really have to tell you about the Monkey!

Tomorrow...

Bees - A Buzzing!

I think I am going to start to wail!  I just looked at the calendar and I only have 5 more Friday's off before it's back to a a 5 day working week.  How depressing is that?  But I'll try to get that number out of my head because really 5 more weeks is nothing to gripe about.

Am I enjoying having every Friday off?  You bet I am!  Do I wish I could work 4 days forever?  Yes, for sure!  Am I getting lots of stuff done at home?  Not at all.  Am I getting some rest?  I'll say!  Am I maybe turning the corner to laziness?  Perhaps!  Would I change a thing?  Not a chance!

So far we have done nothing special, gone nowhere, and I have accomplished very little - but isn't that the joy of summer?  Isn't it supposed to be a lazy, hazy time?  Should we not be sitting in the shade, drinking Mint Juleps and fanning ourselves?

I find myself with no more ambition than to sit in the garden and pull weeks, or to sit on the front step and watch the flowers grow, or the bees buzz, or listen to the cat purr.

Didn't know I had a cat, did you?   Well I do.  Her name is "Little Gray Cat", and she is a darling... little Gray cat.  Not really mine, but she thinks she is...

She actually lives down the street, but she spends her whole day sitting in the sun on my front steps.  She won't leave no matter how many times I shoo her home.  So I guess we have adopted each other.  I can't have a cat  - Gary is allergic to them, so I take advantage of my time with Little Gray Cat whenever I can.  She's my summer cat - and she is just as lazy as I am.

Our weather has been much cooler than normal, it's made me think of fall, beautiful wonderful fall with it's fresh air and beautiful colors of orange, gold, and brown.  Soon it will be time to think about fall decorating inside and out, I will be making cabbage rolls, and cabbage buns, bread, and if my garden co-operates - pickles!  Laziness will be over for another year...

So, I think I'll allow myself this indulgence for 5 more weeks.  I'm gonna sit on my step with Little Gray Cat, and enjoy the flowers growing and the bees buzzing - and the cat purring... while I can!