I'm still here!

Greetings!  I just wanted to say "hi!" and that I'm still here.  :)  I've made a few things, but haven't been able to post pictures because the recipient hasn't received the gift, yet.  (My bad, since they were for last Christmas!!)

Now, I'm working on a pillow for a friend.  I don't think she ever looks on here, but, just in case, I can't post the pic until I've given it to her.  I used wool felt and embroidery to create the pillow.... all done on a piece of wool felt.  Just bought the pillow form this afternoon, so now I have to figure out how to put it together.  The back will just overlap and I'll probably put three buttons across it.  Wool felt is great because you don't need to make buttonholes, you can just cut the fabric... kind of like polar fleece.  :)  So easy to sew with!  But, I think I want a flanged edge, that I will embroider a blanket stitch on.

I've also been busy making a flannel shirt for my husband, for Christmas.  It's been years since I've made a flannel shirt!!  This is a green plaid... it's beautiful fabric.... and, hopefully, will be a really nice shirt.  :)  But, hubby is home now, so I can't work on it.  My sewing/crafting/art space is the dining room table...and the dining room is right in the middle of the house... you have to go through it to get just about anywhere in the house!  :(  Some day... *some* day.... I'll have my own studio.  Until then, projects get put on hold as long as the recipient is home.  :)  Or, unless I can tell a little-white-lie about who it's for.  That works, too.  :)

Hmmm.....maybe I'll get my Christmas cards out and start writing some while I make some fudge.  There's an idea!

Have a great night!

     ~  Teri

A birthday card

Here's the card that I made for my sister, for her birthday.  I actually got it to her, along with her gift, on time!  (Even though she wasn't there to receive it.)  It's been years since I've managed to do that.  I'm so bad with getting things off in the mail....even if I have it all ready to go!!  (What's up with that, anyway??)

Anyway, it's hard to tell from this picture, but the butterfly was actually stamped, using Distress Markers for the ink, on a separate piece of cardstock, then cut out.  So, it's raised up from the rest of it.  I used Distress Inks for the background, liquid chalk on top of "punchinella" - that creates the little dots, markers (can't remember if I used Distress Markers - Tim Holtz, of course - or if they were my Tombow markers... I think they're the Distress ones, though.  Maybe a combination?  I added some Perfect Pearls or Pearl-Ex powders, not sure which...they're both great products!  Where you see any glimmer...that's from those.  I used Stickles on the butterfly, which is really hard to see here, but there are some little spots of it along the body and the biggest spots on the wings.  The green, flowery stuff that goes across the top and bottom is Washi Tape....wonderful, wonderful stuff!!!  So fun to use!!  I just added gems on the bottom.  The sentiment is from a little pack of vellum sentiments, on Love.  I had to trim it, to fit on this.  The flowers on the corners of that are Prima, with gems added.  I just happened to have the perfect color to match the green in the Washi Tape!  Yay!

Part of my sister's gift was this book, by Kelly Rae Roberts.  Her story is so great; she's such an inspiration to so many would-be artists.  My mom and sister were visiting in Sept. and we did some art-work while they were here.  I showed them how to do some things.  The only problem was we didn't have enough time!  They weren't here long enough for a trip to Salem, a trip to Portland (which we ended up foregoing, in order to do art) playing with art, music at the coffee-shop, an over-night trip to the yurts at the coast, etc...etc....!!  But, we did what we could and had a great time, regardless.

So, check out Kelly Rae's book.  Now, I need to get a copy for myself.  :)

http://kellyraeroberts.com/book

Enjoy the weekend!

        ~ Teri

Happy Autumn!

Happy Autumn!!

I really can't believe it's even here, let alone it now being November! 
My son looked at the calendar this morning and informed me that it's
three weeks until Thanksgiving!  Wow.

I *do* like to decorate for the seasons, though. I had some cute "Boo" garlands out, for last night. 

I also bought some dimensional scrapbook "stickers" (three or four layers, made of paper....not what most people think of when they think of "stickers"!).... of jack-o-lanterns, cute mice, owls... and I put those on our bathroom mirror and on one of the door-frames.  An easy way to add some cuteness.  I took them off carefully and put them right back in their packages... so, they'll be ready for next year!

This is a "Boo" vertical garland??  not sure what to call it... but, it's oh, so cute!!  My friend Jana made it for me...confessing that she started it about three years ago!  Ha!  Sounds like me!!  It's really cute up close and personal.  Dang... I just realized that I've got to put it away now.  :(

We got together with our homeschool group a few weeks ago, to make a leafy garland.  My 11 year old cut out his leaves and made a simple garland.  His is here, all green leaves, hanging with the "Boo" garland.  But, I'd been wanting to make a leafy-garland for a few years now and just wasn't getting around to it.  So, this was my opportunity to get started!  The drawings of leaves shown here is what I used as my templates.  I found them on Pinterest.  :)  So, I embroidered each one, just free-hand.  I wanted them to hang, like they are, so had to come up with a way to attach them to something... embroidery floss was my first thought.  But, then, I decided on ribbon.  Fairly narrow so I wouldn't have to worry about it not lying flat.  I bought a pack of fall-colored buttons and I sewed on a button to the stem of each leaf.  Then, I arranged the leaves as to how I wanted them so I wouldn't have any of the same color next to each other.  I used Aleen's Tacky Glue to adhere them to the ribbon.  I put a drop on the ribbon and layed the leaf over it, so that the glue went on right behind the button.  I let them dry for a couple of days (not necessary, but probably overnight would be good, just so they don't pull off while you're trying to hang it.)  I put the leaves on about every nine inches.  (Pictures are below.)  There's something about it that I'm not happy with, although I'm not quite sure what it is.  Is it the way I have it hanging?  Are the leaves not big enough?  Are they not close enough together??

I'd appreciate your feedback!  I'd thought of needle-felting little acorns and putting those in between each leaf...but, I knew that would take me a whole lot longer and we'd be going to get our Christmas tree by the time they were done!  But, maybe it needs something like that.  ??
Let me know what you think!

Have a wonderful day!  I hope you're all happy, healthy and safe... especially those of you on the East Coast!

      ~  Teri

It's flower time!!  One of the things I love, love, LOVE about Spring and Summer here!!  (Sorry, I know I'm not supposed to capitalize those words, but I can't help it!!  They deserve to be capitalized!!)  Anyway, plants grow with wild abandon here....especially the ones that you don't want to grow!!  Since I've been gardening more than making art, I'm posting some pics of some of the flowers that I've been tending.  This vine is growing on my front porch.  It's a Thunbergia Alata, better known as the Black-Eyed Susan Vine.  (Not to be confused with Black-Eyed Susan flowers; completely different thing!)  I knew it would need something to wrap itself around, so I just leaned this metal climbing thingamajigger for it to climb up.  It's not only growing up that and up the wall, it's also growing all over the little bench and into the nest that's there.  I figured it'd do that, though, so that's why I placed the bench so close.  I just love these vines.  It is possible to have them grow in a more salmony color...but, I've never seen a seed package that showed them that way.  So, I'm not sure if it's like Hydrangeas, that will change with the pH of your soil or what??  If you know, please share!!  I love the salmon-colored ones the best!!!  But, the only way I've been able to grow them was to buy a start, where I could see what color the blooms would be.  This one was actually a start, also, from a dear friend.... she gave me the watering-can-pot that it's planted in, too.  Hmm.... can't really see that here.  Sorry!

This is a Passion Flower Vine.  These are amazing flowers!  I had one that grew over my picket fence....it must've grown twenty feet that year!  I cut it way back after the end of the season.  Woops! 

Well, I shouldn't say "woops!" because I don't know if that's why it didn't come back the following year or not.  We had some temps in the teens that winter, so I think that may have done it.  Not sure.  My oldest daughter's horticulture teacher told me to put barkdust around the bottom of it in February.  They are fast growers and I was just reading that they do fine with hard pruning, but that it should be done in segments, not all at once, so that you don't shock it.

Coming up the steps to our front porch, you see this on the left.  This is Purple Fountain Grass, which I will transplant out in the flower beds after it's done this year, because it's a perennial, so it'll come back next year.  I've always killed mine, because I'd leave it in the pot that I planted it in and then I stop watering once the rains start.  But, they're under cover, so they don't get any of that rain.  :(  So, this year I'm going to transplant them.  I have two this year....both growing alongside this cool "Wasabi" Coleus!!  I just love the deep purplish/lime green combination!  There's a little Nemesia that wintered over from last year and some Lobelia in there, too.  Another of my favorites!

 On the right side of the front porch....the Passion Flower Vine, along with Cheddar-Pinks (don't have blooms showing in this photo) and Lobelia in the front pot.  Next pot has three different colors of Pansies; next pot is just a big Geranium.... you can see one, big pink blossom.

One of my flower boxes.... I have two that used to be in full sun, so I could plant sun-loving things in them.  But, the Maple trees have grown so much (over the last twenty years, so it's no surprise!) that they shade the area and now I have to plant more shade-loving plants.  This year I really packed in the Impatiens.  I had more than I knew what to do with so I just put them all in there!!  Turned out beautifully!!  I really don't like how the plant tags are always telling you to space things apart... I've always thought they'd fill in that space after they grew...but, that never works for me!!  They grow and look great, but never enough to fill all that space in.  I don't want to see soil or barkdust or whatever between plants, especially those kinds of plants.  I want it to be just the plants!!  So, these boxes turned out great this year.  Lesson learned!  :)  There are the short Snapdragons in there (grow 8-10" tall) that wintered-over.  Oh, I think that Autumn-foliage Fucshia was also from last year.  Can't quite remember... I do know, though, that it hasn't bloomed, yet!!  :(

 This box has more Impatiens, but also Creeping Jenny, which is great in hanging baskets/boxes!  You just have to be aware that it will root wherever it lands in earth!!  It could land in grass, soil, I don't think it'd matter....it'll take root!!  The Coleus in this box just loves it here!!  There's also Fucshia in here... you'll see a close-up in a minute.

 Close-up of the Fucshia that was just about to pop open!!  It did, the next day.  So beautiful!  I cannot look at a Fucshia blossom that's just about to open without thinking of my Grandmother's plant that she had growing on the side of her "washroom".... the "laundry room" that was attached to the garage.  I loved popping them!!  You know, squishing them.  I don't know if it ruined the blossoms or not... it must not have because I don't remember my Grandma getting mad at me for it.  But, now that I grow my own flowers and I wait all year for them to bloom again, I don't want anyone messing with them!!  So, I cringe when I think about doing that.  "Sorry, Grandma!"

 Diascia and Lobelia.
 The salmony color is Diascia.

More of the Coleus, Impatiens, Creeping-Jenny and Fucshia.

Off to have coffee and visit with a nephew, his bride and baby-to-be who are visiting from N. California.

Have a beautiful day!

        ~ Teri

Mother's Day card and gift

Here's the Mother's Day card that I made for my mom.  I used alcohol inks on the back of a Tim Holtz "idea-ology" fragment/charm and then stamped "with love" with Jet Black Archival Ink on the top.  The alcohol inks are done on the back.  Then, I glued a piece of plain, white printer paper onto the back, using Glossy Accents, so it would give it a bit of shine.  If you don't put some paper behind it, you'll see whatever paper it's against.  The butterfly is a new Brenda Walton stamp that I just bought...since I use butterflies all the time!  I used Tim Holtz Distress Markers right on the stamp and then stamped it onto cardstock.  I cut

 it out and then mounted it with double-stick mounting tape... it's about 1/8" thick so it raises things up.  I added some "Stickles" glitter-glue to the little spots on the butterfly.

The art piece (the gift) was done on that really smooth wood...I'm not sure what that stuff is actually called.  But, I know now that I like it better if I'm gluing papers down, instead of painting a background.  It's too smooth for painting, for me.  Even with a coat of gesso, for some "tooth".  I'd rather use a small canvas.  This piece is 5.5 x 5.5.  I love the size... to work with and for hanging somewhere in the house...perfect!  But, I'm not sure I'd paint right on the wood again.

So, this is what I've been busy with!  I think my next project is to organize my stuff and get my dining room back into some kind of order, so I can actually find my supplies when I need them and we can actually use the room for what we intended!!  Wish me luck!!

If you came by for a visit, please leave me a comment!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

        ~ Teri

Four ATC's, for Swap

Hi!  I'm hosting an ATC swap and I just finished mine!  (Bad girl, six days late!!)  I have everyone else's and will do the actual "swap" this weekend (what fun that will be!!) and then mail them out on Monday.  So, I did four which means I will get back four.  Here are my four.  The top two I just did last night and today.  The bottom two I did a few weeks ago.

You all know what an ATC is by now, right??  :)  They're so fun to do.... some people say you're limited by their size... I say you're "freed" by their size!  There's only so much you can do on such a small space!  (2.5" x 3.5")

I'm so glad I'm done, too, because it's supposed to be a beautiful weekend!!  I want to get out and work in the yard!!  Yay!!  Wish me luck.....

Have a great weekend!

      ~  Teri

Embroidered flour-sack towel

Here's a flour-sack towel that I embroidered for a friend.  I added the little strip of fabric at the bottom, too.  I just love this set of chicken patterns!  There are seven of them....some hens, some roosters.  I did another one, but haven't given it to that friend, yet, so can't post it on here until she has it in her hands.  :)

Look closely and you will see a little chick on either side of the mama....one sleeping and one peeking out.  Too cute.  I need to do a full set of these for my daughters and myself!

That's all for now.... need to finish cooking dinner and putting the flyers down at the coffee shop that I book music for.

Have a great night!

       ~ Teri

The 4x6 Exchange

So, here's a piece that I did for a global art exchange.
The exchange is being coordinated by the Art House Co-op,  in Brooklyn, NY. They have a different project each week and you can sign up for their emails which will let you know what they've got going on. They just did a note swap... you write a note, a letter, tell a story, etc... and send it to them.   They send it on to someone else and you get one back, from who knows who or where! I SO wanted to do that, but I procrastinated on signing up and I missed out!! I didn't miss the dead-line, but they had met their quota of contributors! I believe they were allowing 1000 people (don't quote me on that)...and they had to close it because it was full. I'm so bummed. :(  What a lesson on procrastinating! 

But, I didn't miss out on this art exchange!! So, here's my piece, "Don't Forget Your Wings".  It's a 4x6 - that was the main requirement; also, that it would lie flat and fit in a standard envelope.  You could paint, draw, write, sketch, print, collage or sew. I hope the person who ends up with it loves it. I'm looking so forward to receiving mine! I wonder which part of the world it will come from?  What kind of art will it be?   My 19-yr. old daughter did a delightful watercolor to contribute, also.

Oh, my gosh... how'd it get to be 11:00 at night?  I'm usually up until this time, or later, but I have to be up early to go to a play with our homeschool group!  And, I still have to read before sleeping!!  :)

Good night!

      ~ Teri

An altered-art tip-in swap

Well, it's quite a dismal day here, but I really hadn't noticed that until someone pointed it out to me. My head and heart have been busy creating!! And, I have a little vase of some of my lovely Daffodils right here on my table, so that makes me happy.

The ABAltered Books list is doing a "tip-in swap".
"What's a tip-in?" you ask? It's a page that will go
into an altered book. You tip it in, so to speak, to
an existing book. In the case of a swap, everyone
says what the page size should be (the size of their
book) and the theme that they'd like. The host(ess)
figures out who swaps with whom, although it's
not a straight-across swap. For instance, I'm sending
mine to Carol, a woman in southern California, but
she's not sending one to me... someone else sends
one to me. So, anyway, her theme was Garden Party.
I *love* Victorian anything, so I decided to go with
a Victorian Garden Party theme. After all, the
Victorian era women were the queens of hosting
garden parties!
So, the upper-right picture is the back, which is supposed to have my information.  But, I added a pocket so that I could fold up three pages of information on Victorian garden parties and stick it in there.

This is the front, the actual garden party.  :)  I also created a small pocket (upper right on the piece) so that I could put a small menu in there with what would typically be offered at a garden party.  (It has the ribbon sticking out on top.)

Then, down below is the menu.  I just realized that that picture is a tad out of focus....that's a bummer because I've already sent it off to its rightful owner!  But, you get the idea.  Maybe I'll ask Carol to send me a better shot of it.

I'd never done a tip-in before, so this was a new experience.  It was fun.  I used more paper elements than I normally do.  I usually don't like so much paper, but this just seemed to go in that direction!  I hope she's happy with it!

Now, I have four ATC's to make, for an ATC swap that we're doing!  I have a week before those need to be done, but I better get on that....we all know how time flies... whether you're having fun or not!!

Have a happy Friday, tomorrow!!

    ~ Teri

Amity Daffodil Festival Artshow

With only two days to spare, I just finished my mixed-media piece that I'm entering into the Amity Daffodil Festival Artshow!  I'm not sure about it, really.  There are elements that I'm happy with... some, not so much.  But, that's okay.  It's a learning experience... and the joy is in the process.  It's a 10" x 10" canvas.  It shows me that I need to work on layers.  Layers are key to this kind of art and I just haven't played around enough with them.  I also wanted an old, vintage daffodil to use, instead of painting my own, but I couldn't find any that were suitable.  :(  Someone told me she'd send me some... so, if those show up in my inbox, I may do another piece.  Each person can put in two entries.  Each entry needs to have at least one Daffodil, although they do not need to be the focus of the piece.  I did a watercolor one year.... just one big daffodil... but, it was for my mom, for Mother's Day, so it wasn't for sale.  They told me at the end of the show that had it been for sale, I would've sold it!  Yay!

.I'm also participating in two Art House Co-op projects.  One is a 4 x 6 Exchange (called The 4 x 6 Exchange2), where you send in a 4x6 (needs to be able to be sent in a regular envelope) in by March 31st.  Someone, somewhere else in the world, will get your piece and you will get their piece, in exchange.  2000 people have signed up!!  (I'm glad I'm not the one having to keep those exchanges straight!!)  I'm very excited about that project!  I need to get started on it!!!  These are serious artists that are participating and I need to send my best work.  I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can handle already!

The other Art House Co-op project is this - they wanted to get a look at a common space of the people in their online community.  So, they chose the refrigerator!  We were supposed to take a picture of the inside of our frig and print a 4x6 of it.  Ack!!  Mine desperately needed cleaning, so I limited the visability.  Plus, black and white helped, I think.  So, this is my photo for that.

I'm also doing another ATC swap with my Altered Books Yahoo group and also a "tip-in", which I don't know much about.  You create an altered book spread...or maybe it's just one page... and send it to the person who's hosting.  They get the right ones to the right people (we're choosing themes, so they'll all be different) and then we fit them into an existing altered book.  I'm thinking that I'll just make a small book out of the pages from the tip-in swap, instead of adding them to an existing book.

OK.... I'd started a pair of socks for my youngest son, who now has feet the same size as mine, but then I tried to slip it over my heel, after I had about 2" done, and it wouldn't go.  :(  I ripped it out... like a dummy, I didn't check the gauge, first!!!  So, now, I have to do a few inches of garter stitch, so I can figure out my gauge so that I can figure out how many stitches I should be casting on for him.  This is when I need a good movie or TV show....otherwise, I rarely ever watch TV.. I get too bored!  Hmmm....wonder if I can talk my husband and said child out of that Jett Lee movie they're watching and into something else.  ??  Wish me luck!

       ~  Teri

An ATC, with Easter in mind

Another ATC that I did last night.  I was thinking about Easter when I was working on it.  :)  These are so fun to work on!  They can be limiting because they're so small, but they're also sort of freeing, because you don't have such a big area to cover.

All for now,

     ~  Teri

A Valentine and an ATC

Valentine for my #1 Valentine!  (My kids are my Valentines, too!)

So, here are a couple of the things that I've done recently.  The Valentine was done, mostly, with alcohol inks.  They are SO cool to work with!!  This was a glossy sheet of paper.  I cut the heart out and started playing with the alcohol inks (from Ranger/Tim Holtz).  I used the Blending Solution and the Copper Mixative, too.  Those are fun, fun!!  The thing with alcohol inks is that they are very wet.  I tried some on an ATC (artist trading card) that was made for acrylics and it just soaked through.  Now that I've left it to dry, overnight, it has dried, but the coloring soaked through to the back of the card.  So, they're for using on non-porous surfaces - glossy cardstock, glass, acrylic pendants, etc.....   Here is a great video, with Jennifer McGuire, that shows how you can use the alcohol inks, along with glossy cardstock and the pendants!

  

Spring ATC, 2012

This next little piece is an ATC - Artist Trading Card.  Remember, they are 2.5 x 3.5 and they are meant to be traded, never sold!

I made this last night, for someone who does LTC - Letterboxing/er? Trading Cards.  I'd never heard of them!  Do you know about Letterboxing?  It's fun!  Please read all the way to them bottom and I'll tell you about it at the end of this.  :)

But, first, this ATC.  It's an "acrylic" ATC, which means that the paper will stand up to acrylic paint.  It has texture to it, which you can see....little tiny squarish-looking things in the background.  I put a thin layer of Gesso (pronounce "jesso") over the whole thing.  Then, with my finger, I rubbed on some acrylic paint.  Some just cheap acrylic paint that you get from a craft/sewing store and some was from Claudine Hellmuth.  I let that dry... since I rubbed it on, it was pretty thin....so, it dried quickly.  Then, I took a piece of this new Washi tape (that I just bought at Collage, in Portland, this weekend!) and put it down, vertically, on the left side.  You can find lots of it here.  Tim Holtz has it on his site, of course, but since I bought this one unwrapped, as an individual roll, I'm not sure who the manufacturer is.  It doesn't appear to be his, now that I'm looking.  Well, I'm stumped... I have no idea who's tape that is!!  If you know, please leave a comment and let me know!  It is all black and white and is a floral design... just a bunch of flowers.

Then, I printed out some spring designs on my printer (just an Epson, inkjet printer, nothing fancy) and and that's where the girl with the lamb and the butterfly wings came from.  But, there's an image under them, at the bottom, that you can't see very well.  I should've let it dry, overnight, before finishing it.  It's an Image Transfer.... so easy to do!  They just give your art more dimension....in mixed-media collage, you want lots of layers!  So, anyway, it's a little bird's nest... the one that's in this collection, below.  This was a freebie, so you can use it as a freebie, too!!  Please, just use it in your own work, though, not to make money off of it, unless you contact Tim Holtz and ask for permission.  :)

So, I used that nest, in the middle, and put it at the bottom, as an image transfer.  Image transfers look more vintagey and funky.... if you want a perfect rendition of the image, then just use some Mod-Podge and glue it right to the page, face up.  But, it you want it to be one of those layers, that you don't really see clearly...kind of hidden in there...then, image transfers are a great way to do that.  OK.. image transfer has been added.....then, I took a piece of "punchinella", (what is left over after sequins are made!) and a "Warm Red" Colorbox Fluid Chalk and laid the punchinella down and just randomly patted it with the fluid chalk.  ("Fluid chalk" is a bit of a misnomer.  It's not fluid.  It's a spongy pad in a cat's eye shape.  It's not even "fluid" enough to heat emboss!  It's dries quickly, which is great for some applications, like this one.)  Those are the little red dots that you see.  Then, I sprayed some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl color over the whole thing.  It just gives it a shimmer.  Then, I tried adding some Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist, in Ginger Peach color, but the sprayer wasn't working!  So, I was trying to get it to work and accidentally flung some color on the ATC!  That's the gingery-peach color that you see on that Washi tape!  I dabbed it with a paper-towel and carried on.  It worked out okay.  :)

I cut the butterfly wings apart, so I could lay them how I wanted them.  I used Mod-Podge to glue them down and then placed the girl with the lamb over them.  Then, I thought of what I might want this ATC to say.  I printed up a bunch of things like, "Happy Spring", "Happy Easter", "Enjoy the Beauty of Spring" and the one that I ended up using.  I print them out on cardstock and I usually print each line out in different colors, not knowing exactly how it'll look against the piece.  I space out the letters so that there is enough room when I cut them out so that they aren't right up against the edge of the paper.  I print them and cut them with my Fiskar's paper-cutter.  Then, I use Tim Holtz' Distress Inks -I've mentioned them here before because I love, love, love them!!  I just dab the applicator around until they're lightly covered.  I used the Tea Dye one, which I use a lot.  Then, I took the Fluid Chalk cat's eye, in Warm Red, again, and just dabbed it along each edge of each of the paper words.  Once I figured out how I wanted them to be placed, I used Mod-Podge (yes, most collage artists can't live without Mod-Podge!) to glue them down.  I added a little shimmer to the butterfly wings with Ranger's Stickles, in Crystal color, and voila!!  Done!

In order to print out this little freebie, click on the image.  Once it opens, right-click and it'll give you the option to "save as"....choose that.  You decide where you get to save it on your computer, so save it in a folder where it'll be obvious where it is!!  I have a folder for "altered arts".... I put these kinds of things in there.  Otherwise, you may never find it again!!!  :(

OK... about Letterboxing......you can learn about it either here or here.  Basically, though, you're given clues so that you can find the Letterbox...they are out in parks, hidden in books at your local library, in the piano bench at a coffee shop, out in the woods, etc.... So, you get the clues from these two websites (and probably others as well) and you go hunting for the boxes.  But, wait!  You're going to need a log- book, your own rubber stamp, a pen and a stamp-pad and sometimes a compass.  First, when you find the letterbox, you want to be quiet about it.  If you have a bunch of kids, please don't let them scream, "We found it!"  For two reasons; there are those in the park who don't know about Letterboxing and would get more of a thrill out of ruining it than they would the actual activity.  :(  Also, there are others who might be into Letterboxing and you don't want to ruin it for them...don't give it away!  :)

OK... so, you've found the Letterbox.  You stealthily take it out of its hiding place and open it up.  Take out the items, which are usually in plastic bags, if they're out in the elements.   There should be a log-book, a rubber stamp and a stamp-pad.  You take out their log-book and stamp your rubber stamp into it, then you can put your "trail name" in there, along with the date, and sometimes people write where they're from or a little note to the Letterboxer who put it there.  Then, in your log-book, you stamp their rubber-stamp; you add where you were and put the date.  It's a fun activity and a great way to see the great outdoors that are around you!  These are everywhere!!!  We've carved our own stamps before, but you don't have to.

The family that we're going to visit today... the mom of this family is an avid Letterboxer.... she carves her own stamps.  So, the LATC's are Artist Trading Cards, but with a letterboxing stamp on it.  I'm excited to see that!  She'd asked me to bring some of my ATC's, sort of a show-and-tell, but I've given all of mine away, either as gifts, in a swap or in a contest!  I made one for her, so she can see what it is I do.  I hope she likes it!

Have a creative day!

     ~ Teri

A different quilt pattern

Just in case you're thinking that I can only do one quilt pattern....   :)  I started doing that Bricks 'n Blocks one because I just loved how it looked and it was so easy to put together!  Usually, when I'm making a baby quilt, I'm giving it as a gift and I've waited until the 24th hour to start it!  

So, anyway, I kind of fell into that one quilt pattern...also, because I knew it so well. I don't have to think much about the sizes of anything. You just add more rectangles/squares if you want it to be wider and/or longer.  (I've never made a quilt for any of my own kids.....isn't that awful?!)  Someone at my local quilt shop, where I have shopped for 30 years, once said to me, "Oh, you must work better under pressure", because I was in there picking out fabric about two days before I needed to have a Thanksgiving dress made for my daughter!  Really... do you think that's it??  That I work better under pressure?  Is that the case with all procrastinators??  Hmmm.......OK, let's go with that!

So, anyway, this was a "rocket" quilt.  I love the bright colors and the "space/rocket" motif. 

I just made an ATC this evening.  I'm going to someone's house tomorrow and she asked me to bring some of my ATC's.  Man...I've put all my ATC's into a swap or a contest.  I don't think I have any of my own, anymore!  So, I decided to make a couple, to take over to show her.  I'll post them here, later.... one has some glittery stuff on it that's still drying.  I don't want it to stick to the scanning bed.  :)

I need to get some reading in before I go to sleep.  I'm on the sixth book of the Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon.  There's one more book after this one.  Oh, my gosh... I don't know what I'm going to read once I'm done with this series!  What could possibly be as good???  I welcome suggestions, especially if you've read the series!  :)

Good-night....

          ~ Teri 

A hand-written letter challenge.... will you join me?

I saw this on the Crane Stationery Co. Facebook page and I'm going to try it.

I used to write lots of letters.  I've always written letters.  I loved to write so much when I was in my youth, in fact, that I've written letters to friends who lived just a mile away from me!  When I was 14, my mom worked for the Post Office.  A co-worker, who she was friends with, was sorting mail one day, when she saw a letter that was addressed to: 
                                A girl, 12 years old
                              Santa Cruz, California
                                                 95060
                                      USA

This woman knew that I loved to write, so she grabbed it up and gave it to my mom, to pass on to me.  How cool was that??  (I wonder if you could still do that.... if it would make it through the Postal Service??)  I was actually 14 at the time, but I wrote back and told her that.  She was fine with that and we are still friends all these years later!  Let's see... you don't know how old I am, so you don't know how many years ago that was!  35 years ago!!  And, this pen-pal-wanna-be lived in Sweden!  So, that was even *more* cool!  I've had the good fortune to actually meet her, face-to-face; but it was when my twins were about a year old and my oldest was 3.5 years.  We did make it over to the beach and to a holiday festival up in Portland, but I felt badly that we couldn't show her more of this beautiful state!  We were actually also just recovering from a serious flu, which her boyfriend ended up getting.  :(  So sorry, Magnus!!

But, I digress.  Back to letter-writing.  I fear that it's becoming a lost art.  It's such a treasure to find old letters, read them and be taken back to a different time.  To be reminded of days gone by.  Not to mention to have that "documentation", for lack of a better word, of those friendships and connections.  Of your history.... what were your interests in those days?  What did you daily life consist of?  We get more of that in real, handwritten letters.  It doesn't happen so much with emails and online forums.  As the instigator of this challenge, Mary Robinette Kowal writes:

"When I write back, I find that I slow down and write differently than I do with an email. Email is all about the now. Letters are different, because whatever I write needs to be something that will be relevant a week later to the person to whom I am writing. In some ways it forces me to think about time more because postal mail is slower. 'By the time you get this…' It is relaxing. It is intimate. It is both lasting and ephemeral."

That is so true.  I hope you'll join me in this effort.  Think of how fun it is to get mail, too!  There's so much non-personal mail these days... magazines, catalogs, junk-mail, bills.... how many personal letters do you get?  Wouldn't you love to put a smile on someone's face by sending them a hand-written letter?  It could even just be a postcard, from your town, to say hello. 

If you collect stamps, then there's an added bonus!  When you receive a letter, you also receive a postage stamp!  More ephemera....something else to give you a glimpse into the past.  (The one thing I don't like about the US "Forever" stamps...they don't tell you the price!)

OK... yes, I could go on and on about the benefits of letter-writing, but I really should get off of here and, well, go write a letter!

Happy Writing!!

      ~  Teri

A Shadowbox gift

Just a little update!  Here's my latest effort.  This is my nephew and his bride.  We were at their wedding and I managed to get some good shots of them with my little point and shoot camera.  I wanted to put this together for them for their first anniversary.  Well, that didn't happen.  :(  So, they got it for Christmas this year.  There is something about images set back in a shadowbox that makes them look really nice.  Of course, this looks better in person!  :)

By the way, where did January go??  I can't believe it's over already!

Enjoy the day.... do something creative!!

     ~  Teri

McMinnville Habitat's Run, Walk or Ride is coming up!

Hmm....well, Blogger must be hicupping, because the "browse" button, where I can look for an image that I've saved on my computer, isn't showing up.  That's ok.  This post isn't so much about that image, anyway.  It's about motivation and inspiration and how I need some!!!  I don't know what's happened.  I want to walk, but I can't seem to get myself moving!  I can't seem to get back into the swing of it!  I did so well last winter..... and, with a membership to the indoor track, I really have no excuse.  I don't have to walk in the rain, cold or dark.... except possibly on Sundays and Mondays because they're closed those days.  But, that's not the problem.  I've been to the indoor track twice in the last two weeks!!!  I've lost a lot of the ground I'd gained with running....I'm back to 3 min. intervals.  But, last week, I was able to run eight, 3 min. intervals.... and I felt great!  My legs were a bit tired and sore, afterwards... but, a *good* tired and sore!!  I feel SO good, emotionally, after I walk or run.... so, why am I not keeping at it??  Is it only a matter of encouragement??

The annual McMinnville Habitat for Humanity is coming up on June 16th.  I've done it the last two years.  The first year, I walked the 5K.  Last year, I did the 5K run, only I lost steam the last eight weeks of training and wasn't able to run very much of it.  That was very disappointing.  I've decided to do the Walk, again, unless I make great strides in the next few months!  (No pun intended!)  I can run part of the Walk, if I feel inclined....but, it's a bummer to be walking when you're doing a Run. 

So, here's what happened the last two months before the Run last year.  I'd been running, mostly indoors, but on a track.  Not a treadmill!  I mostly timed myself.... didn't care much about distance, although my pedometer was telling me that I was doing about 2 - 2.5 miles.  I got up to being able to run for 30 mins!!  I felt great!!! 

The weather started to warm up and I started running outside, in the mornings, like I always did.  But, it felt differently in my lungs.  I felt a bit of congestion in them... or the bronchial tubes.... as I sometimes have with seasonal allergies.  So, I figured that's what was going on.  But, it didn't seem bad enough to affect me the way it did!  Running outside, I couldn't do nearly what I could when I ran indoors!

Then, the Habitat Run happened.  I had gotten several friends and family members to join me.  I was so excited, but I couldn't even run the first mile!  Maybe I'm still beating myself up over that.  Maybe I need to let go of that so that I can move forward.

I continued on, over the summer.....walking and running....but, I was definitely having to play "catch-up" with the running.  Now, I feel like I'm teetering on a wall.....trying to decide whether to jump over to the walking/running side or the ??? side. 

I'd also joined Weight Watchers and was loving it!  I love that you just eat; you make your own food and you decide what to eat.  But, by keeping track of it, it makes you choose more wisely.  No, you don't want to waste too many "points" on empty calories.  And, you make points by being active!  I lost 20#!  Then, WW decided to switch up their points program and I was totally messed up.  The points that I had memorized were now all changed!  The points I received per week were now different!  I know, it's just an excuse.  It's not WW's fault... but, I have *not* been able to adapt and get back into the swing of it!!  It's so easy to just add your food, for each meal or snack, online; to keep track of your physical activity, online.  They have videos that you can watch about cooking or exercises.  They have forums, etc.... etc... All the support you could need!!  But, somehow, it's like it's too much for me to get my mind around!  Why can't I get back into it?? 

I'll take any words of advice or encouragement I can get!!

Thanks for listening!

       ~ Teri

Happy New Year and the last of Christmas......

Happy New Year!!  I know, I know... here I am, wishing you a Happy New Year and, yet, I'm showing you more Christmassy  things!  Unfortunately, there will probably be even more after this.... I think I have one more of these to make...then, I can send them off!!    You see, it all comes from starting on my Christmas preparations so late.  That puts me still working on Christmas gifts when my mom's birthday rolls around on January 10th!!  So, of course, I start out at a deficit and then that seems to continue all year through.  :(  It has to change.  Please, someone remind me no later than September (!!), to start working on my gifts!!  Plus, I like to make things for peoples' birthdays, too, so I am making things all year round.  It's always one of my New Year's Resolutions....usually the only one, really.  Manage my time better - and don't procrastinate (!!) -  in order to get cards and gifts to people on time!!  Wish me luck!!!

So, the snowflakes that I mounted over everything on these were from a punch.  My son went crazy and punched a bunch of them a few years ago, (after he talked me into buying that punch because he loved it soooo much!!), but, then, we didn't really know what to do with them.  I've kept them in a little open tin all these years, figuring I'd use them someday.  I coated them with Mod-Podge and then covered them with an ultra-fine glitter... the color is "Crystal".... it's a Martha Stewart glitter, actually.  Then, I adhered them by putting more Mod-Podge on the back.

The "Christmas Greetings" on this one is raised with double-sided foam tape.  Mine is made by 3M, but it's no longer in its original package and I've had it for so long that I can't remember what the name of it is.  I mean, I've had it probably close to 20 years!  You can find it here.  It's easy to cut, if you need it to be rounded off, or whatever.  It's also under those birds on the one that I posted before.

OK.... I have some crafting to do!!  I hope you all have a wonderful new year!!  Here's to good health, happiness and prosperity!!

         ~ Teri