I'd like you to meet Charlotte

I worked on this sweet little girl for many nights leading up to Solstice! She was made using the Wee Wonderful pattern available here. I had never made a doll before and she was not difficult, but it did take longer than I had expected.


Zara was absolutely thrilled to see her on Solstice morning. She immediately named her Charlotte (that was the name of Laura's doll in Little House on the Prairie!). Since that morning, the two girls have been inseperable. I laughed out loud the first time I saw Z go flying by, holding Charlotte by one arm saying "Wait up Charlotte....you're going too fast!" They have so much fun together!

One night last week, I was tucking Z in to bed and I asked if Charlotte was okay in there with her, or if it would be better if she slept on the edge. Z answered, "She keeps my heart warm at night". My heart was certainly warmed that night!

I had pictured Z treating her fairly gently as she's a handmade doll, but I don't know what I was thinking! I may need to sneak some extra stitches around her arms and legs at some point. Ahhh, she's well loved and that's what I'd hoped for.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!

An exciting weekend

During these past few months, I've spent almost every spare moment in my sewing room, preparing for Winter Cache - an art and craft sale that took place last weekend. I sewed while my babes were sleeping, or playing happily, while they hung on my leg or sat on my lap. I even sewed a few seams while nursing one of them!

I have been wanting to sell my handmade goods for years, and for different reasons it just hasn't happened. So this weekend was pretty exciting! As the weekend drew nearer, my momentum continued to build and I managed to get a lot done. I realized that I'm so much more productive when I have a deadline. Is everyone that way? I have a hard time pacing myself. I just wait until it's right down to the wire, then I really get busy! But I had fun doing it! I love mixing and matching fabrics and making something beautiful out of a couple of pieces of cloth.

I went in to the sale with no expectations.... I was just happy to be there and was eager to get some feedback on my work. It turned out to be a great weekend! It was fun to be hanging out with other local crafters. I enjoyed talking to the people that came by. I got some really positive feedback and I learned a lot! But the highlight of the weekend was definitely having so many friends and family come by to say hello. I felt really blessed to be surrounded by so much support! A HUGE thanks to all of you! It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces come through the door!

That deadline has come and gone and although there were a few stressful moments, I know I'll do it again. I'm still spending lots of time in my sewing room making solstice and birthday gifts and filling a few orders I got from the show, but it's a much more relaxed pace!

Beautiful hand-crafted bags

Women have always amazed me. I find it fascinating to watch just how capable women are. Amongst our many, many talents we give birth to new beings - how much more amazing can we get? ;-)

I am blessed to be surrounded by the most amazing group of women. Last week while visiting my friend, Jacqueline, I had the opportunity to see several of the items that she has been creating for a sale she is in this weekend. I was prepared to be amazed by her things...I've seen some of her quilts and some clothing she has made for her oldest daughter so I knew she was a talented seamstress and designer but Oh My!! I had no idea just how talented. I was floored...and all this while mothering a lovely little girl and twin toddlers. Truly an amazing woman. I'm so excited to see her show this weekend. I took some pictures of just a few of her items so that I could share them here.

Fun skirts for little girls.

Funky bags for girls too. These bags are fully lined and I just love the fun fabrics and the way that Jacqueline combines the colours and patterns. And the aprons...Oh, how I love the aprons! They are all reversible. I've only pictured two aprons below - this one reverses to look like this.And this one

reverses to this.

Aren't they stunning? Definitely Not! your gramma's apron. ;-) I love the fabrics that Jacqueline combines. But my favourite (I think, it really is too hard to decide what my most favourite item is because truly, they are all so gorgeous) are the bags that she makes.These are also fully lined and each and every one is unique. Jacqueline makes each one different - either by style, fabric combinations or added details.She even makes her own covered buttons to match (or contrast) the fabrics.
These are just a few of the items that she has created. For any locals who would like to see more you can check it out in person this weekend. Here are the details of the show - it sounds like a great way to get some holiday shopping done too. ;-)

Event: Winter Cache - an art and craft show and sale

Date: Friday, Dec. 5th, 5pm - 9pm
Saturday, Dec. 6th, 10 am - 5pm

Where: The Kelowna Art Gallery, 1315 Water Street

What: The first of an annual art and craft show and sale, featuring local talent in a variety of creative disciplines - jewelry, textiles (that's her!) art, clothing, accessories, pottery and ceramics, baking, t-shirts, furniture, home accessories.... all new and fresh from local young creators.

Vintage floral sheets

Well, I promised Katherine (and extracted a promise from her) that we would keep each other informed of our thrifting finds even after she moved. Now that she is living in a city a ways away it isn't as easy to ooh and aah over each other's finds. I mentioned in an email to her that I had "scored" at our favourite thrift store and was prodded to show my find.

I couldn't resist these. I often do pass up vintage sheets but after seeing all the cool things that Katherine makes with them, and thoroughly enjoying a pair of the pj pants that she makes with them, I just couldn't leave this set in the store. They might end up as pj pants, shopping bags or even a quilt. My friend, J, mentioned that I could just sew the two sheets together with batting in between, machine quilt it and...voila! A bright, pretty, easy quilt. Sounds good to me. (the problem is that I have such a hard time cutting into them so I hem and haw about how to use them).

Crafting with Roses

I truly enjoy fresh flowers, but when it comes to roses I can't help wanting to enjoy their scent throughout the year which is why I harvest some to dry. I'll collect some petals off of these beauties,

or I'll collect the buds from some wild roses.
Not only are they lovely to look at, but the soft rose scent makes them perfect for potpourri or for other crafts. Go here to see what I made using rosebuds and petals.

What boys make with beads...

will reflect their interests...
so I had to join in on the fun to make these...
and then marvel as they continued to put together these fantastic bead frogs.
The patterns for these boy friendly bead projects is from a Klutz book & kit on beading.

and gnomes too

E chose to do two gnomes yesterday while W chose a bear. This morning as soon as they woke up they wanted to do more felting. We now have a whole...flock?...passel?...gaggle?... gathering of gnomes in various stages of completion. There are big plans in the works to create a whole village of felted people. I'm working on them to consider a Star Wars theme (I want to make Chewie ) or at least a Harry Potter theme. What fun! Isn't it amazing what you can do with a bit of wool and a (sharp!!!) needle.

Almost FO, yarn and beads

I'm pleased to announce that the Sunrise Circle Jacket is done! Well, except for some buttons, which I haven't bought yet. But the knitting is finished, and it took me the whole of Friday evening to sew it all together, snug in front of a wood fire. I would love to wear this to Vancouver on Monday, but it really should be properly finished first.

A friend of mine is driving us to Vancouver so we (two mums and three kids) can enjoy a sleepover at the Aquarium with a group of about 35 homeschoolers on Wednesday night. We're going on Monday, though, so she can spend some time with her mum, and we're all staying at her mum's house for a couple of nights.

I decided, as knitters do (any excuse for knitting), that a thank you gift for her mum was necessary, so of course a visit to a yarn shop was then essential! I went out early today, before the kids were up, and I arrived so early that it wasn't even open yet. So I just HAD to divert to Michaels, where I picked up some beads and earring hoops and posts (this wasn't an impulse buy, I had been planning to buy these for some time - honest).

I also bought a skein of Homespun - I think the colour is called Edward - very masculine charcoal shades. It will work well for a scarf for my dad. I don't know if he wears scarves, but maybe if he has one this winter, he will wear it, don't you think?

I plan to use something called Cartridge Belt Rib, which is a stitch I used for a scarf for myself a couple of years ago. It's not really rib, it's a combination of knit and slip stitches, but it looks good and doesn't curl. I thought it would make a good airplane project, but do you really think I can resist knitting this before May? No, I don't think so. In fact, it might just get knitted this week as I'll be a passenger in my friend's car for at least 10 hours.

When I finally reached the yarn store, I bought three skeins of the James C Brett Marble DK, which I'm still in love with, in Moss, which is mostly green with some pink and other colours twisted in. I have the rest of today (Saturday) and Sunday to whip up a scarf on the Bond - it'll just be a plain scarf, knitted twice the width so I can sew it into a tube. I envisage having the reverse stockinette stitch side showing, as the colours always look better on the "bumpy" side.

Off to get some belated breakfast now and make sure the kids are getting ready to go the library.

Oh yes, and I nearly forgot - raw scores for the last four days - 87%, 86%, 80%, 87%. Not sure how easy it will be to maintain my willpower while I'm out of town, and I certainly won't be keeping score!

What happened to these?

I'm happy to say that some of my thrifted sheets have already been re-purposed into shopping bags. Click here to see more details.

Cant...stop...making...bags

Oh how I love easy-to-make and yet ever-so-useful things. I can't seem to stop making these right now, even though the sun is shining and outside is calling. Want to know what they are for? Here is an explanation.

Mini-wheat Bags

Yesterday I had some time all to myself and thought I would spend some of it sewing. As I was digging through the pile of mending on my sewing chair I came across E's wheat bag. He discovered a small hole in it last week, he often puts it in the microwave for just a little too long, and I think at some point the wheat must have burnt a bit of a hole into the flannel. It needed replacing anyway, the flannel was definitely worse for wear. This time I decided to use some unbleached cotton (I had some on hand from the yardage I had for making cloth shopping bags) to make a base bag, and then I would make a separate removable flannel cover. That way I would be able to launder the cover when needed. As I started to work on that I was thinking about a friend who had just broken her leg and was on couch rest. I couldn't think of anything I could do to ease her pain but I do want to help, so I thought I would make her some mini-wheat (ha ha, mini-wheat) bags to help ease some of her aches and pains. And soon, when she is all nicely healed, and feeling fantastic again, she can use them on the little ones in her life.

Now...better get back to E's wheat bag cover.

Painting

One of the mums in our homeschool support group organised a painting session this week. We painted with tempera paints on canvases. We had to mix our own colours from red, blue, yellow and white. I think that just having the primaries available made us more creative at mixing our own shades.

When I looked at my blank canvas, I wasn't sure what I was going to paint. My ability with a paintbrush is about at a 3 year old level! I started with some pale blue, thinking sky or ocean, and waited to see what developed. I was rather pleased with how this turned out. Youngest son wants this for his wall...



Middle son was obviously on a similar wavelength...



I love that his picture (he says it's a lava dolphin) is so fiery compared to the coolness of mine.

And youngest son's painting is of a Viking longboat, complete with Vikings and a speech bubble that says, "On to shore."



We all enjoyed this quiet, meditative session and I intend to "strew" the art supplies on the dining room table a little more often so that we can paint more.

Pockets on my Tea Cozy...

Got a wool sweater that has seen better days? Do this !

MIA

It seems like this local scene, I too have gone into hibernation in regards to posting on Four Friends.
I'm actually still working on ideas and projects, but have been posting those things on my blog, rather than on Four Friends. I thought I would manage to keep posting here even after starting my own blog - with the lofty idea that I would start posting more regularly. Ha ha. It's obvious that it hasn't happened yet. Lucky for me, I have wonderful friends with interesting lives and posts to keep you all reading at this blog. I guess I better start pulling my weight around here, or they'll be looking for a replacement... ;o)

More Handmade Prezzies

We seem to have left some of our gift making 'til the last minute this year...well, what I would consider last minute, I'm not talking about what men consider last minute. :-) So, here are some pics of some of the things that we have been making today and yesterday.The boys made these yesterday, they are flower pens and they seem to be a hit with all the females in our family.

We have also been packing up a lot of preserves and I am wishing that I had done more jams and jellies this year, that'll teach me for just throwing all those fruits in the freezer to save time.

Some simple crochet cloths with some divine soap. It is Mountain Sky soap made in the Kootenays. I think that is the only bought gift that we have for the adults in our family. I love, love, love the Kali Spice bar.

A gift W made for my dad, he saw this shirt in a "help save the earth" book that he was reading and we thought it was great.

And this? Well, it will get done....I still have...what, four days?

Tree trimming

We decorated our tree on Friday. I love unpacking the decorations and remembering when each handmade one was made (they aren't all handmade). These ones I made many years ago when my 12 year old was only one year old. Can you tell what they are made of?Peach pits, with a little bit of black Sculpey for heads. I have always loved loons ( who can resist their calls?) and so when I saw these ( I think it was in a Canadian Living magazine) I really wanted to make them.The boys also love making tree decorations, and here is one that W made out of a cinnamon stick , fabric strips, whole allspice and a star anise.*A slipper update - four pair knitted and felted, one pair needing one last sole which will be done today - it will, it really will.

Knitting needle roll

Last night's foray into the land of old jeans resulted in this...


a knitting needle roll.




The denim was once the leg of a pair of jeans. I lined it with plain black fabric and bound the edges with a white on black print.

You can't see the black stitching on the denim, but there are channels of varying widths to hold different sizes of knitting needles.



I just happened to notice a pile of quilt squares that I made months ago, sitting on the shelf, a couple of which incorporated the same fabric, so I used them to brighten up the outside.

Another strip of the same fabric and a tie was born! Another gift off my list.

More jeans bite the dust

Even though it is my 20th wedding anniversary today, and even though the dinner dishes were not done, I spent a few hours in my sewing room tonight making more bags. (Sorry, R, I do love you....really!)


I made two small bags to use as gift bags for friends this Yule. I made them from the lower legs of a wide-leg pair of jeans and used a contrasting fabric around the top edge and as a handle.



I had another pair of jeans covered in pockets that I loved, so I cut through the crotch seam then down the inner leg seams to open them out. I cut the bottom half of the legs off, rounded the corners and sewed the pieces together then lined the bag with a pink striped fabric.




It's very roomy, though the top opening is rather small in comparison. I was thinking of gifting this to a friend, but I'm not sure if it's up to scratch!

I made a little bag to co-ordinate with this. I had
a small piece of patchwork lying around from my
quilting days - it was English paper pieced by hand,
and I added on a few more hexagons, joined it into
a tube, and closed one end. This bag is lined
with the same pink striped fabric as the denim bag.




Now I have the delightful pleasure of tackling the mess in the kitchen and on the dining room table that was left there after dinner! Now you know why I'm on the computer, posting to the blog...it's called PROCRASTINATION!