I just finished a beaded fir tree. The pattern is by Julia Pretl. I will be taking a class of hers at the end of January at my local bead store - Bead Soup.
Here is a picture of the tree.
It was so fun to make.
The pattern I will be working in January is for 3 beaded turtle boxes. They are so cute.
This weekend I will be doing another loom class given by Erin Simonetti. This time we will have 3 snowmen patterns to choose from.
The new year will bring me a desire to finish all the quilts I have in various stages of completion. I think there may be 10 or 12 that I need to finish. Lets see how far I get with them.
I also want to make sure I get my web site pumped up. I need to make some money to assist my family and this is the best way to be able to do it. I am going to start selling my beaded jewelry again. I used to have a business making jewelry so it will be fun to get that going again. I have a ton of designs that I can sell. I'm excited about getting things made.
I think I will be quite busy in 2015.
Well, going to get my crafting areas cleaned and organized to start the new year.
Just wanted to stop by to say Merry Christmas. It's just a few minutes before midnight.
I haven't been in the Christmas spirit for several years now. Shawn's dad passed away 8 years ago on the 20th of December. My dad passed the following November. I haven't wanted to celebrate a whole lot since then. This year I am hoping the day is better. Nate and Naina will be here about 2pm and we will open gifts, then cook dinner. They will stay the whole weekend. Yea. We are going to see the God Daughters on Friday and go into DC on Saturday to check out the museums.
It will be a fun time. We are going to make this a happy time and not have any stress.
Well back to making Christmas gifts. My job is never done.
Spent the day engraving and listing some shuttles. I'm having fun with this new machine. I am really learning what it will do. I am also figuring out what type of pictures I can use to engrave and get the best results.
Here are a few of the shuttles I engraved today
I have learned what pictures definitely won't work. I have a ton of options to play with before I get the right ones.
Now I need to decide what else I can make with this machine. If only I could figure out how to cut with it.
I don't know if I'm crazy or not, but last night I went to my first meeting with the Baltimore Bead Society. There was a Bead Bingo night and I had a blast. There were several people that I know there. We laughed so hard and had great conversation while playing bingo. None of us won, but we didn't care.
So this organization is a group of people who love to bead, do some charity work, and have fun. Annually they sponsor a program called Bead It Forward. It's a program that makes beaded quilts out of 1.5 X 1.5 tiles and auctions them off to help a cancer center in Wisconsin.
So I got a few patterns to make some tiles. This years theme is Animals - Wild about finding a cure. What a cool theme. I am going to make some tiles of elephants, horses, whales, peacocks, and a few more.
So, not much else has been going on. I am still purging stuff out of the house.
Christmas is almost here and I am still making gifts. I'm having fun with the ideas I have going on for the gifts.
Not much else going on.
We don't have much money for gifts this year so I am making most of them.
Today I made Shawn's mom a heating pad for her feet out of rice. I used several ingredients to make it smell really good. I took the idea from Pinterest but made it my own. I even got her favorite color fuzzy fabric. I know she will use it over and over again.
Now I want to make one for a few other people. I may even make one for me. I have one for my neck, but may make another one cuz the new scent is awesome.
I am making my son a beaded Christmas tree. I have the tree made. Now I have to make all the ornaments. That's the fun part. I am finding all kinds of unusual things to use as ornaments - old earrings, random beads, Swarovski crystals, and the list goes on. I need to tat some snowflakes for it also.
Not sure about Olivia and Naina. The inspiration for their gifts will come to me. I don't have a ton of time left so I hope to get inspiration soon.
I'm also going to use the laser engraver to make some gifts and our ornaments this year. Every year we put new ornaments on the tree showing something we did that year.
I also have a new tatting student. Our first lesson is this Sunday. I'm excited. She knows the basics so I can jump in and teach her all the fun stuff. I've also agreed to teach tatting at my local bead store. I need to see if there is any interest first, then if there is, schedule a class. I don't know if people will understand that it takes a while to learn tatting. I guess I will have to make sure I include that info in the class description.
I want to put my Christmas tree up soon. I usually do it the day after Thanksgiving, but this year I'm a little slow in getting it up. I'm really picky about how it goes up so no one ever wants to help me. I like to have my ornaments put on just right and it drives them all crazy. I remember when I got every ornament and like to reminisce about each one.
Well, Peter Pan Live is on and I want to watch it.
