Pink Artist For A Cure

The top picture is my 2x2 crazy patches to add to all the other lovely creations for this wonderful cause to raise money for the cure of Breast Cancer!!! For more information about the Pink Artist project please go to Monica Magness blog.

YOU are cordially invited to join!

"the pink artist"

Is a community of artists joining together
To create one joint art doll to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
When doll is complete, it will be mailed in to Art Doll Quarterly™
before finally being auctioned off on eBay at a later date.
ALL PROCEEDS WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT CHARITY.

MeMe Tag.

Aryd'ell my new friend tagged me for the MeMe Thing.

The rules of the game are this–Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.Post the rules on your blog.Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.Tag 7 people and link to them.Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

(1) I have lived in two foreign countries, Australia and Germany
(2) I drove from Michigan to Fairbanks Alaska by myself with my young son of 15 yrs old.
(3) I won a lottery to drive my own truck through Denali National Park, all 84 miles of it and back again in September. It was a wonderful experience.
(4) I went for Flight Nurse Training in Texas and survived the survival training with no food for three days. Our group of nurses killed a Armadillo for food but I could not bring myself to eat it. So no food for three days and when we all went out to dinner when we got back we had all lost our appetites and could not eat our Texas Steaks we ordered. LOL
(5) My most interesting nursing job was being a Bush School Nurse. I flew out of Fairbanks and cared for Indian children in 10 Indian Villages along the Yukon and Koyukok Rivers.
(6) I love gardening, quilting, beading and simple being in the out of doors.
(7) I played High School Basketball and had to walk 7 miles home with part of the walk being on railroad track so I could get home sooner.

Maggie: http://magpiescollectables.blogspot.com/
Jane: http://www.crazyhereandnow.blogspot.com/
Tammy: http://www.crookedheartart.blogspot.com/
Jodi: http://bloomingwriter.blogspot.com/
Dot: http://dotslifeandart.blogspot.com/
Laura O. http://cottagewindow.squarespace.com/

I can not think of anymore. I did this some time ago but deleted it. So I hope I did not inconvence anyone by tagging you. Hugs Judy

Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams, Progress

On January 24th 2008, I started piecing the large center hexagon which took me two whole days to finish. You can see a picture of this in the center picture above. I used 22 different fabrics and used 8 of these fabrics twice. The color wave is shades of white and creams with a small dash of pinks added. I used the stitch and flip method of piecing this section which was easy for me. The rest of the muslin templates will be crazy pieced which will be much more of a challenge.
The top photo shows a picture of the next step which will be crazy piecing the small center hexagon. I plan to add a photo transfer photo inside the heart area.
I have 16 more muslin templates to crazy piece so much work to go. The piecing of all these templates will be the most challenging for me. Then I will be able to start the fun part of embroidery and embellishing.

The Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams, The Beginning

I have always wanted to create a Crazy Quilt and especially so since I joined the Crazy Quilt International Online group about one year ago. The Crazy Quilts that these ladies create are works of art and I have been greatly inspired by them all.

I have been doing embroidery since a young lady and seriously since 1994 but I have mostly added stitching to quilts I have created for family and friends. I have never made a quilt or Crazy Quilt for my home. This is the year for creating "The Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams". I believe the theme of this Crazy Quilt will be "Hearts and Roses". I having been collecting fabrics forever and so I searched through my old stash for fabrics I could use and have been collecting new ones over the pass year. I have bought new embroidery threads and will use old collections of flosses too. I have also been collecting beads and laces from every where I go.

My DH has drawn out templates from looking at a picture of a Japanese Crazy Quilt ( Top Photo) that I truly admired in a magazine published several years ago. I would not want "The Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams" to look exactly like the Japanese Crazy Quilt but I am hoping I can create "The Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams" I will be proud of.

The colors I love are Burgundies to Light Pinks and Creams. I am planning to use fancy fabrics to 100% cottons ones. I have a selections of fabrics I have chosen in the above pictures to start with. I am not sure if I will use all of them or if I will add new ones along the way. The reason why I loved Crazy Quilting is that is NO rules. vbg So today January 22nd 2008, I will beginning piecing my Crazy Quilt. Hopefully before the end of 2008 I will be able to show you all a completed Crazy Quilt Of My Dreams.

Sunny Day After Snow Blizzard

Today Wednesday January 22nd is a sunny beautiful day after experiencing two days of an awful dreadful "Snow Blizzard". These pictures are for my dear friends you live in the very sunny south or " Down Under"!! I know they just love looking at Mother's Nature blanket of snow. We got inches and inches of snow as seen by the bottom picture. The middle picture is of our backyard with the bird feeder and trees covered in thick layers of the white fluffy stuff. The top picture is of our front yard fence and you can plainly see our world is definitely white and extremely cold. We are told more snow is to come this evening. Just what we need, more snow. Oh when, Oh when will Spring arrive????

Pay It Forward, Handmade Gifts Completed

On November 26th 2007 I signed up for a wonderful program call, Pay If Forward. I was introduced to this program by Maggie a "Beaded Art Doll Friend". My commitment was to make 3 handmade gifts for friends who signed up on my blog to participate in this program too. I had 4 lovely ladies sign up to play with me and I greatly appreciated their trust to create sometime lovely for them. The above picture are the gifts I have created for Susan, Noel, Tammy and Maggie. I hope you all like your "Gift Of Friendship"!! I truly enjoyed this challenge, it was a lot of fun.

Enchanted Gallery Clay Faces

This past week I found time to play with my newly purchased "The Enchanted Gallery" Face molds. I think they are absolutely fantastic and very easy to use. I used Sculpey Polymer Clay to create the clay faces because it is a soft clay and easy to work with in these soft molds. I used two different color of clay, Translucent and Pearl. The top row of faces are made with the Translucent color clay and the bottom with the Pearl. I painted them all with PearlEx Pigment Powder by Jacquard before baking.

The second picture was a gift from the owner of The Enchanted Gallery Molds. A nice surprise and greatly appreciated. Thanks

The bottom picture is of the actual molds. The face molds are very creative and I love all the extra features like roses, dragonflies, and butterflies that are included with the faces. I plan to use them on the Spirit of Friendship Dolls I create and on my Crazy Quilts.

A Tutorial For Making Polymer Clay Faces are in my Old Posts.

My Memory Story Quilt of Alaska

I started quilting in 1994 and this Memory Story Quilt was started in 1997 while I was living in Oregon. I started this quilt to remember the wonderful memories I had in Alaska while being a Bush School Nurse in the early 1990's. It has been stored away long enough. I think I would like to quilt it by using embroidery floss an a big stitch to keep with the rustic theme. I would appreciate any input on hand quilting this Story Quilt. Thanks.

A little about the story behind this quilt. I flew to 10 Indian Villages along the Yukon and Koyukuk Rivers to take care of school children. I was able to drive to two of these villages which I did once and unfortunately I encountered White Out Blizzard conditions while going over the Mt. pass at the end of May. With much pray and guardian angels, I barely made it over the pass. When I finally made it to the other side I discovered two village natives were already searching for me. When they told me this the tears flowed. What wonderful people I worked with while living in Alaska. I never drove to Minto and Manley Hot Springs again. vbg The bush pilots who flew me to the villages were incredibly wonderful. Many times I was flown to special places to see things like the migration of the caribou from the Artic National Wildlife to their wintering grounds. Another adventure was to follow and wave at the dog mushers along the Iditorod Trail. While in the villages I worked with great teachers and the members of the village community. I was in a village a week at a time so while there I would help out the medical aide person when needed. I could go on and on about my adventures living in Alaska but I think it would bore you all. vbg

The background fabric in the center block looked like the Northern Lights to me. I will never forget seeing these glorious Aurora, colorful rivers of light in the midnight sky. The small figures represent me and the aide showing me to the clinic in the village. The river in the quilt represents the Yukon River and of course there is the salmon too. Because of this quilt being a memory quilt I added highlights of the landscapes I loved about Oregon too. Like the Three Sisters Mts. of Central Oregon. I added beaded Blue Berry Bushes, silk ribbon embroidery birds, flowers and trees all symbolizing the states I loved.

I must finish this Memory Story Quilt soI can proudly display it on my wall.

January 11th Snow Day

This picture is for my friends who love to look at the White Fluffy Stuff called Snow. Today we awoke to a gray dreary day. Our week of Spring in January with green grass and warmth has now gone back to the winter mode of snow. I have to admit it is pretty when you look out your living window and not have to drive in it. VBG I remember the days when the kids and I would go out outside on a day like this and make snow angels and create pictures and spell words in it. I used to cross country ski I think I would like to get back too doing this..

My First Flower Beading Class Samples

Today Thursday I took my first beading class at the Creative Fringe which is about a 40 minute drive south of my home. I received the Beaded Garden By Diane Fitzgerald for Christmas and fell in Love with many of the beaded flowers in this great book. Stacy is the owner and was my teacher today. Please see the above picture of Stacy and the sample of the beaded flowers she did for my private class. I really love the Scottish Thistle but had NO idea how difficult it would be to create. The very top picture is of MY Flower Samples in the white dish I made in the class which took over 3 hours to make. vbg

I learned how to do the Brick Stitch Ruffle which I found to be the most difficult. This flower sample is the Morning Glory with the green stem increasing up to the weee pink beads. The next flower I started was the Scottish Thistle which is in two parts. The Netting Bead when completed goes around a 14 mm wood bead. The Thistle part is the 4 small Rolled Flower Pointed Petals in purple you see in my dish which I have many more to do. They will eventually be wrapped around the top of the wood bead. The last sample is the starting of a Wrapped Rose using a flat Peyote stitch. This beading stitch was the easiest stitch for me to learn. It is the bead sample in a dark rose color in my white dish.

I truly enjoyed every minute of my class and I look forward to finishing my beaded flowers.

Terese Special Gift

Today in the post I received a lovely surprised gift from a friend Terese who I met in Germany while we were both working as nurses for the government. I think my friend knows me well. vbg How thoughtful of you Terese to think of me and send me a gift I can use over and over again.

Terese and I traveled many places together. The top picture is of Terese while we were visiting a Antique Market and hunting for Treasures which we both found. vbg The other picture is of us visiting a Easter Market at a castle. We both fell in love with Easter Markets and visited many. Thanks Terese for all the wonderful memories of our time in Germany.

Ogalala Butterfly Beaded Face

Last evening I completed another beaded face. I think I will use her on a beaded doll I hope to start in February. I used the Ogalala Butterfly Beaded Stitch for the 3rd and 4th rows. It gives the appearance of a lace wave or fluttering butterfly wings which I really love a lot. I just learned this beading stitch from Leslie a friends who lives in Colorado. I first learned of this lovely stitch when Leslie used the Ogalala Butterfly Beaded Stitch on a Spirit of Friendship Doll she made for me this past Christmas. Thanks Leslie for teaching me this lovely beaded stitch. I love it. Leslie may do a tutorial on the Ogalala Butterfly Beaded Stitch on her blog in the future.

Lovely Plate Rack, Created By DH Bill

When we moved into our "Retired Home" I had no place to display my Polish Pottery I purchased while I was living in Europe. So they have been hidden away in a cupboard until this past weekend. For a Christmas present my sweetie surprised me with this "Lovely Plate Rack". His woodworking talents are awesome. I tried to show the detail of the wood beading around the edges but it did not show up well. I am very thankful to received such a very lovely gift from him. So now my Polish Pottery has a gorgeous place to be display. We use the Polish Pottery everyday so now I have easy excess to them. Also the Lace Sunflower curtains next to the plate rack I bought in Poland too.

This picture was taken at 1030AM so you can plainly see we are having a very dreary overcasted rainy day. Today is January 7th and we in Western Michigan is now having a thunder storm with temperatures in the low 60F. Crazy weather for this time of year.

Egyptian Princess Brooch, New Years Day Project

On New Years Day I decided I wanted to start and finish a project so it would set the tone for the rest of the year. My Project was simple but I think she turned out lovely and I called her "The Egyptian Princess". She is a brooch and will be a gift for someone this year.. I love making the polymer clay faces and I have some new ideas for some that I hope to start creating this month. I wish all my friends a very creative year in 2008.