Handmade Books - Part One

I have a confession to make. I love paper. I also love reading and writing. Making books by hand that I could write in seemed a perfect way to combine these adorations of mine. One of the first and easiest methods of book making I learned was the piano hinge book binding. No sewing or glueing involved, just cutting and weaving. I could also decorate them any way I desired. I loved it!

I also developed a new love, one of handmade paper. Oh, the things you could do with handmade paper! And beads! Yes, beads are a must to decorate piano hinge book binding, they just seemed to add the perfect touch.


And let's not forget glitter. Or stamping. Or pretty, pretty ribbons!


Trying to match all those items together into a coherent theme just adds to the thrill of the finished book!


I'm not sure what happened to all the books that I've made over the years. I know I've sold a few, and given a few away as prizes. I found a few of my favorites in my treasure box the other day, and was instantly filled with the desire to go search for paper and bamboo skewers. Fortunately, I had a pile of yarn with a crochet hook sticking out of ut to bring me back to my senses.

Ah well. Maybe I can talk my granddaughter into another bookmaking class this summer.

I'll Never Stop Learning!

Pen and Ink Painting (stippling) of my grand-daughter Jeva Lee sleeping on her Daddy's shoulder.



Pen And Ink Painting (stippling) Of My oldest grandson John-John.


Pen and Ink self-portrait, done quite a few years ago.




My daughter and her then youngest son, Jules Ethan. (Pen and ink stippling, again)



I miss teaching.

I miss sharing what I know and what I have learned. I miss working with people of all ages, and all the fun we had making things.

After all my children grew up, my husband and I found ourselves moving all over the country. He is/was a computer programer who worked under contract which meant we moved every six to nine months for a new contract. If you can imagine, that can be a very lonely life. You never really live anywhere long enough to make friends of any kind.

I don't remember exactly how it happened but when we moved into an apartment in Edina, Minnesota, I offered my services as an arts and crafts teacher to the manager of the complex. She jumped at the chance, and I soon found myself planning and writing up lesson plans, and gathering materials for my classes.

I wanted to keep my classes fairly simply, with supplies that most people could easily find around their homes. Two of my favorite classes were making books and origami. We also worked with polymer clay, and learned scrap booking. We learned to make Shrinky Dinks, and stickers to decorate our homemade scrapbooks. One of my biggest kicks out of teaching these classes was that my students usually ranged from four years old to 80 + Years. I've always felt that when you stop learned, you start truly growing old.

I think my most popular classes from that time were the origami and eraser clay lessons.

I was sad to leave Edina, but that wasn't the end of my teaching classes. When we found ourselves living in Shaumburg, Illinois, I quickly got caught up in teaching beginning crochet classes to adults, baking and cooking classes (homemade pizza crust and marinara sauce from scratch, and again, arts and crafts classes to kids. I found both the kids and the adults were fascinated by my watercolor painted classes. One of my highest compliments was hearing an adult say, "I did that? I DID that, all by myself!"

I haven't done any teaching for a couple of years now, and I miss it so much. I wonder what happened to all my former students. Have they kept on trying and experimenting what they learned?

Way back in my thirties, my dream was to take classes to become an art teacher with an official degree. Now with all my health problems, and our financial difficulties, I've had to watch that dream die, and it has been hard.

SO now I have a question for you. Is there anything that you have always wanted to learn to do? I had an online friend who always wanted to learn to do polymer clay, all the techniques and tricks, but she lived clear across the country from me. We managed through email and email photo attachments to teach and learn from each other.

Is there anyone out there willing and wanting to do something similar with me? Leave me a comment and I'll get back to you by email. Please note, I don't know how to do everything artistic, but I may be able to direct you to a website that may help you.

Happy crocheting and happy crafting!

p.s. Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of my work, both from my classes and things I've taught myself. Consider this a warning...

I Remember Grandma

My Grandma in her sunflower patch.

As I sat quietly crocheting this morning, I started thinking about the first time I saw someone working with hooks and yarn, and how intriguing it was to me. It was my own grandma, of course, she was the type of person who couldn't just sit still and do nothing.

Grandma was one of my heroes when I was growing up. There was nothing I loved more than spending time at her house. Even with all the other grandchildren she had, she had the special talent of making each and every one of us feel like we were her personal favorites.

I remember Grandma loved to bake and crochet. She loved to garden, too, but best of all she loved to spend time with us.

She lived on a tree farm way out in the country, and grew not only Christmas trees to sell, but she had a blueberry farm where we kids spent many a summer day helping pick the plump, juicy berries for her to sell. I'm not sure if more berries ended up in our bellies or in the baskets, but it's one of my favorite memories.

Grandma used to let us spend summer nights camped out in a tent in her front yard, and that was always an adventure to me. I'd fall asleep listening to the turtledoves coo, and crickets chirp. I tried very hard not to wonder what the other sounds were I heard were coming from. I knew Grandma and grandpa wouldn't let any coyotes or bears get us, They would keep us safe from any dangers.

I remember that when ever I got hurt or sick, not one else could take care of me like my grandma. My Mom was wonderful, too, don't get me wrong, but she had four other children to take care of. When I was with my grandma, she had the special skill of making me feel as if I was the only child in the world, and as such, the most important one as well.

One of my special memories involves peaches and my own children. One of my greatest joys is knowing that she lived long enough and was healthy enough to enjoy my children, her great grandchildren. Which brings us to mty before mentioned treasured memory.

I can still see it, like it happened just yesterday. My grandmother seated at the head of the kitchen table, peeling and slicing fresh, sweet peaches to make peach cobbler for our evening meal. On each side of the table sat two or three great-grandchildren, my oldest son, his little sister, my sister's two girls and her littlest at that time, a boy.

With every peach Grandma peeled and sliced, five little mouths opened in anticipation, reminding me of five hungry baby birds in a nest. And Grandma never failed, she'd pop a slice of peach into each eager little mouth. I swear, for every peach she did, only two or three slices landed in the bowl for the cobbler!

Time passes much to quickly sometimes. I lost my beloved Grandma over twenty years ago, and I miss her still everyday. My children are grown now, and have babies of their own. Recalling this memory today makes me determined to sit down one day soon, and make a peach cobbler of my own with MY grandchildren seated at the table around me. Maybe I'll forge some precious memories for my children, too.

Even though I have loads of loving memories, I don't have many physical things to remember her by. I DO have her precious tea set, though I've never used it. It spends its time perched on top of my kitchen cupboards, safely out of harms way. I got it down this morning and carefully washed all the dust and grime off so I could share it with you.


I recently decided that I'm going to find a teacup and saucer or two to match grandma's set, and then I am going to use that tea set to have special tea parties with my own granddaughters. I'll share stories of my special grandma with them, and all the joy that she brought to my life. Hopefully they will pass these memories down to their children and grandchildren, too.

This is one of the few photo's I have of my grandmother and myself when I was a baby. I know my mother has more, I just need to ask her for copies of them.


Love is meant to be remembered, passed on, and most importantly to shared and allowed to grow.

I love you, Grandma, and I always will! Thank you for giving me the good things in life that have helped me grow into the person that I am today.

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

...And my old man is snoring! When we were first married, that used to bother me a LOT. Now I look at it as a blessing. I hear the gentle sounds of his sleeping and give thanks that I have him here and beside me every night. But I digress...

In my last post, I wrote how happy and excited I was that we were going on a trip to visit Fort Mantanzas National Monument. There was a reenactment planned and we were all looking forward to seeing it. Imagine how disappointed we were when we arrived at the park and found that not only was the reenactment cancelled but also the ferry. It seemed that our area, in fact, the whole of north east Florida, was under a tornado warning! How could that be? The weather was a little overcast, but it was a warm spring 86 degrees, and there was nothing but a gentle breeze blowing!

(We had the radio on in the car the whole way there, listening to our local NPR station and there was nary a word about tornado's or storms mentioned, by the way.)

Ah, well. No one can control Mother Nature, she will do what she will do. We walked down to the Mantanzas River, and explored the shore a little, then decided we'd better have our picnic as everyone had built up quite an appetite by then. And after the food was consumed and our picnic supplies packed away, we walked off some calories and fat by exploring the nature trail.

I took way too many photo's to share here, but I have a few of my favorites of the day.
This is a view of the shore of the Mananzas River. Those big boulders piled up there are coquina, and we debated about why they were piled there. I think they are lfeftovers from building the fort, which is almost right across the river from this point.

Beautiful sand dunes along side of the Mantanzas River. We reached this point from the nature trail, and it's marked for gopher tortoises, but we didn't see any. My granddaughter and I had fun picking out animal and bird tracks in the sand, and figuring out what made them. Two notable tracks we saw were those of deer and and a snake. How awesome is that?

*side note: My granddaughter made a remark about how much fun it would be to go sledding on the dunes. I explained to her how bad that would be for the dunes. Even walking on the dunes disrupts the tiny plant systems that help hold the sand dunes in place, and once they are gone, the wind and water erodes the dunes. She had an 'Aha..' moment, and quickly agreed with me.


We spotted this lizard crawling down the wall outside the visitors center. I think it's a skink, but my granddaughter disagrees with me, even though the area is known for the five-lined skink. Ah well. I have been known to be wrong before, and will be the first to admit it when I am. It was a big lizard though, at least 7 inches long!


I got a little kick out of this sign! I'm glad none of us chose to wear flip flops, but the first image that came to my mind when I saw it was of little oysters chasing people along the shore, snapping at their heels!


This is THE fort, Fort Mantanzas. I know it's not a very good photo, but I did the best I could with my digital camera, and it is quite a ways away across the river on Rattlesnake Island.



Spring has already arrived here in north east Florida, as proof, the fire flowers are blooming, along with some Black-eyed Susan's maybe? I'm not really sure what the yellow wildflowers are, but we have them blooming in our front yard, too.


I don't know what these delicate little pink blossoms are either, but they were blooming all over the yard in front of the visitors center at Fort Mantanzas. I think they are so pretty!


It really was a lovely afternoon, and I am so grateful we went when we did. I'm doubly pleased we came home when we did, too. No sooner had we arrived home and unpacked the car when the skies opened up and it began to storm. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening, too, under the tornado warning, and much of the time with either flickering lights or no power at all. The temperature dropped over ten degrees in less than 90 minutes and I admit, I got a little nervous when the wind really picked up, the thunder was booming and lightning flashing. I got goosebumps, and was so relieved when Mother Nature calmed herself down.

Today promises to be more of the same. We are under another tornado warning until 1 o'clock this afternoon. It's a good time to curl up on the couch with my hooks and yarn, don't you think?

We're Going On A Picnic

It's spring break time here, so the kids all have the week off from school. Yay!!!! Dearest decided that today would be a good day to visit Fort Mantanzas National Monument, where they are holding a historical reenactment today.

My granddaughter and I decided that it would be a perfect time to have a picnic, too. We spent the morning in the kitchen making a French Picnic Tart for our lunch. She loves cooking and baking with her NeNe (me) and she's really very good at it. She's developed a taste for what spices and seasonings go well with what foods. I'm quite proud of her.

I don't make the French Picnic Tart very often as it's a little complicated and time consuming to put together, but it's also oh-so-good, so it's worth all the effort. I make a Perfect Ten pie crust, then layer cheese (this time we used Swiss, but I love Gouda in it), sauteed onions with sage, slices of crisp veggie bacon, slices of parboiled baby new red potatoes, steamed and chopped fresh greens (had to use kale this time as the store didn't have any of my favorite Swiss Chard) slices of red, ripe tomato, and then top it all off with another layer of cheese.

Did I ever mention that we're vegetarians here?

We're having frozen green seedless grapes as our side dish, another favorite of ours. My mouth is watering just thinking of the meal waiting for us.


I hope you all have a wonderful, sunny, warm spring afternoon! I'm thinking you.

New Angel Rosebud Baby Set!

I finally finished the new Angel Rosebud Baby Set that my cousin asked for. For awhile there, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. If you read my last post, you'll recall that I couldn't find the pattern for the little rosebud wreath that I put on the shoes. Apparently I didn't write it down when I made them, so I had to start from scratch. I'm not sure if the new wreath I came up with is as good as the original, but I think it's pretty darn close.

And the good news is, this time I wrote the pattern down!!! So without further ado, I present the newest Angel Rosebud Baby set.


We begin with the hat. This time, I didn't use the Newborn Shelly Hat found here. I used a pattern I wrote myself. (I also wrote down the pattern for the rosebuds and leaves I used, I'm so proud of myself!)



I used Heartfelt Angels - Angel Shell Dress pattern for the baby dress, again with the addition of the rosebuds and leaves. I changed the pattern again, too, opting to use ties to close it instead of the buttons as I didn't feel up to braving another visit to the store for buttons.



Here's the complete set. I think it's pretty, I hope my cousin does, too.


Last, but not least, the baby shoes that I agonized so much over. I love the pattern for the shoes itself, it really lives up to it's name, Easy Baby Shoes, and it can be found on Gardener's Ramblings blog here.

As I mentioned before, I remembered to write down the pattern I used for the rosebud wreath for these baby shoes. I feel so good about that.

Now I have to wait to see if my cousin likes the way this set turned out. She requested the colors, and I should have asked her if she wanted dark brown or light brown, but I took the chance and used the light brown I had in my stash. If she doesn't like it, I can always make her another set with dark brown, and donate this set IF I don'[t get any new granddaughters this year!

Happy hooking!

It's One of THOSE Days

I was very flattered when my cousin asked me to make my Angel Rosebud Baby Set for her to give to one of her newborn grand-babies. She loved the set I made, which you can see here, but wanted different colors. I had a couple of other projects to do before I could get to hers, but I finally picked up the yarn and hooks this morning to get it started.

Everything was going well. I made the little dress with no problem, and the sweet hat to match. Even the baby shoes went together easier than the first time I made the pattern.

Then I hit a snag.

I can't remember how I made the little rosebud 'wreaths' I put on the top of the original baby shoes. I have looked at the pictures. I pulled the pair of shoes out of the bag I'm keeping the laundered baby things in and looked at them. I searched through my documents on my computer, but nothing has helped!

I'm normally pretty good about writing down patterns that I either make myself, or change from the originals. But I apparently had a brain burp when I made those little wreaths, because there's not a note to be found anywhere.

sigh....

I guess I'm just going to have to do some experimenting.

I hope you're doing better today with your brain than I am!

Happy hooking!

Adventures In Crochet Design - Part Three

I can't believe the cape is almost finished! It still needs four buttons and a pretty ribbon to lace around the neck line, but other than that, I think I'm done!

This is a close up detail of the neck and button placket. The pink colored scrap of yarn marks the middle of the back, and the blue yarn bows mark the buttonholes.



Here's a picture of the (almost) completed cape. Would you believe there wasn't even a breeze until I put my shoes and socks on to go outside to take some photo's of it? The minute I put the hanger on the clothesline, the wind started gusting!


A closer view of the cape. My family here thinks it's very pretty, but I have to wait and see what my great-aunt Mary Jane thinks of it, as I made it for her sister.


A close up view of one of the armholes. I marked the top of them with blue yarn, and haven't removed them yet as I haven't decided if I should use a border of single crochet around them yet or not.


So there you have it. One Victorian-style cape, designed and made by me. I'm interested in hearing what you think of it.

Happy hooking!

Bird Book Thong Crochet Pattern

Forgive me, I'm having a hard time finding a crochet project to work on right now. So instead of sharing my current projects, I've decided to share a pattern that I designed a couple of years ago, but never tried publishing to my knowledge.


Back then, I had a thing for crocheting fun bookmarks. I love to read, and never have enough bookmarks for all the books I may be reading at one time. My grandchildren have an affection for some of the cuter ones I make, so I tend to lose them that way, too.

Without further ado, I give you my LoveBird Book Thong Pattern. (This pattern has never been tested so if you have any problems with it, please don't hesitate to let me know.)

LoveBird Book Thong

Note: This pattern is worked amigurumi style, which means that rounds are not joined. You may wish to use a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each new round.

Abbreviations used:
Rnd = round
sc = single crochet
st = stitch
sc2tog = single crochet 2 together or single crochet decrease
ea = each
sl = slip
FO = Fasten off


Materials:

Size 10 crochet thread
small beads for eyes
embroidery floss for beak
tassel or large bead for end of book thong

Rnd 1: In a magic ring, make 6 sc. (6 sc)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea st around. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: *2 sc in next st, sc in next*, repeat from * to * around. (18 sc)
Rnd 4: *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 st*, repeat from * to * around. (24 sc)
Rnd 5 - 12: sc in ea st around. (24 sc)
Rnd 13 - 14: sc2tog, sc in next 9, 2 sc in next 2 sc, sc in next 9 st, sc2tog. (24 sc) Do not fasten off!
Sew eyes and beak between rows 6 and 7
Rnd 15: sc in ea st around. (24 sc)
Rnd 16: *sc2tog, sc in next 2 st*, repeat from * to * around. (18 sc)
Rnd 17: *sc2tog, sc in next*, repeat from * to * around. (12 sc) Do not fasten off!
stuff
Rnd 18: *sc2tog* repeat from * to * around. (6 sc)
Fasten off, leaving long thread to sew closed.

Wings

Rnd 1: In a magic ring, make 6 sc. (6 sc)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in ea st around. (12 sc)
Rnd 3: *2 sc in next st, sc in next*, repeat from * to * around. (18 sc)
Fasten off, leaving long thread. Fold in half and sew together, sew to sides of bird.

Thong:

ch 121, sl st in 11 ch from hook, and in remaining stitches. FO, leaving long end to sew to bottom of birdie.

Sew tassel or large bead to end loop of thong.

Happy hooking and reading!

I'm Blue

Just a quite update to let you know I'm still around. I ran out of white yarn with less than three rows to finish the main body of the cape design I'm making, and I have two or three days until I get my allowance so I can buy more yarn.

We've had some sad news on the baby front, too. It seems one of our babies is not going to join us here on earth. A ultrasound has shown that the baby has something wrong with his or her brain, and there are other developmental issues, too. The doctors have recommended an abortion as soon as possible. I feel terrible for the mother and father, I can't imagine how that must feel. I'm trying to have faith that there will be one more baby waiting for us in heaven, but it still hurts.

So right now, I'm taking a little break from crocheting baby things, and I have to wait to resume work on the cape. I've looked around for some other crochet project to begin, but I'm not finding anything that catches my interest.

My pancreatitus is acting up to boot, nothing like an aching stomach and rumbling intestine to add more excitement to ones life.

I hope life is treating you better.

Crochet hugs...

Now For Something Different

My granddaughter, Brianna, has expressed an interest in learning to draw and paint again, so she dragged out a bunch of my art supplies, and some samples from the classes I taught years ago. The above rose was one of my popular classes, and was done with pen and ink and watercolor.


This is a pen and ink poppy study. I learned to do drawings like this from free classes online, and discovered much to my delight, how great it made me feel. Talk about a confidence builder!


This is a pointillism pen and ink I did from a drawing I found online.


Another pointillism pen and ink with watercolor I did from a photo I found online. I love frogs!


Pen and ink poinsettia done in 2008. I keep stressing to my granddaughter that drawing and painting doesn't necessarily come naturally, it's something that you really have to work at. In other words, practice - practice- practice!


Daisy study done in pen and ink. I later did this same sketch in watercolor and pen and ink, but it was gifted to a loved one long ago.


A peach study from the book "The Art of Drawing by William Powell.


An autumn leaf study we did in one of the art classes I taught. We used different techniques to affect the shading and textures on these leaves.


A pen and ink watercolor hibiscus, one of my favorite flowers to draw and paint. I think I used metallic pens to add some highlights to this painting but I don't think you can tell from this photo.

Yet another hibiscus, this one I worked to teach using pen and ink and watercolor to teach blending and shading techniques.

Pen and ink fuchsia flower. I matted and framed this to give as a gift to one of my family members.


Watercolor, pen and ink daisy. This was one of my favorites, but it, too ended up as a gift.


I love dragons! This is just a colored pencil sketch I did as a doodle, but I think he turned out pretty cute.


A goofy little colorful fish, done as a doodle from a free lesson on line. I might just frame him and hang him in our bathroom, though I am not too sure how well he will be accepted by all the butterflies flitting around in there.


A colored pencil silly fish from a free lesson online.


A colored pencil sketch I did to enter into the Illustration Friday competition. I never did work up the courage to send try entering it.


Eye study in pen and ink from one of my favorite artists books written by Claudia Rice. She makes one feel that anything is possible!


A Chinese dragon I did in Colored pencil and ink for my oldest daughter. Unfortunately, she didn't seem too excited about it, so this poor lonelt dragon still haunts the pages of my drawing pad.


This is a sun my granddaughter did free hand in watercolor. There's a lot of artistic talent in our family, not just painting and drawing, but fiber artists and green thumbs as well.


Here's an egg study I did, practicing my shading techniques. I can't remember which book I got this exercise from, but it's probably still packed in one of the boxes out in our garage.



African violets I did in pen and ink. Someday I hope to do this in watercolor as well as pen and ink. African violets are one of my mother's favorite flowers, and I'm thinking it might make a nice Mother's day gift for her.



This was a lesson I taught in masking, splattering and blending as well as pen and ink. The class made a mess, but we were all happy with the results, even if they did end up a little abstract. Can you tell the painting is of birch trees and fall leaves?

A five minute pen and ink sketch of a much loved teddy bear.

So what about you? What other artistic talents do you keep hidden from the world? I dare you to share some samples with us, and I promise not to laugh at your if you don't laugh at mine!

I'm still crocheting on my Aunt Mary's Sister shawl. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of yarn before I can finish it, but I'm going to work on it until I do. I'll share some updates soon!
Until we meet again, Express YOURSELF!