Gathering Dust

Her Life In Stitches Round Robin Update

When I was at Karla's on Tues, she asked me about our Life in Stitches round robin.  She didn't have a book, but wanted to get started making some pages.  We started looking at the original schedule I had made up, and both ended up confused. 

I think the confusion started in Dec, when the holidays got in the way for some of us in meeting our deadlines--- I'm not naming names, but you can just call me "Guilty".  If I was to make a recomendation for future Round Robins, I'd say take the month of Dec off. For most people, Dec already has plenty going on. 

When I was part of a book club, we skipped reading a book in Dec and went out for dinner and shopping instead.  It was nice because we still all got together, but none of the pressure of trying to read the book the day before.

The first picture of the post is the front of the page that Sandra  made for Lisa's book.  One of things that these books have in common is lace- they are dripping in all kinds of beautiful lace and little details.

Like this- little pearls sewn on the edge of the page.  They almost look like pearl buttons along the side of the page.

The back of the page is a piece of crazy quilt.  I think this ties in so nicely with the quilted page that Lisa made.

Thanks for all the suggestions about the last square in my free style sampler.  Lots of people suggested I sign and date it.  I liked that idea, but I might sell the sampler, and I didn't know if a potential buyer would want MY initials.  After all, I'm not RL (Ralph Lauren). 

But I liked the idea of letters and numbers so I just did a simple ABC and 123.

Here's the full sampler.

There's a bit of shadow on the left side, because I had a DOG laying on the bed next to it.

Isn't it funny how a dog will lay down in even a little bit of sunshine?

Yes, Mom, that is a dog on the quilt you made, but he doesn't sleep there very often- it was his second choice.  Button got the first choice- the bench by the window.

Blogging Yips

I haven't posted in what seems like a LONG time for me. Blogging used to be easy, but the longer I went without posting, the harder it seems to be to find something to talk about.

I'm calling it the blogging "yips". I think the term yips actually means something like a golfer who loses his ability to putt or a surgeon who's hand starts shaking.

So I'm starting back with something easy- what I got for Christmas. The "other Karla" got me this beautiful journal and a bag of felted balls. You wouldn't get (or give) felted balls to just anyone, but I love them. Clearly, Karla "gets" me.

Karla "gets" me too. She knows how much I love the French General books, and she got this jewelry kit from the actual brick and mortar French General store when she was in California before Christmas.

However, she may have over estimated my skill at putting together jewelry. I can attach a charm to a chain with a jump ring, but that's about it.

See all those pearls and pins- they all have to be cut bent and strung to make chains like the one in the upper right corner that took me an hour to make.

I'm going to have a beautiful (and fun) necklace when I'm done...which will probably be NEXT Christmas...but I'm up for the challenge.

I'm lucky to have friends that "get" me.

Ok, that post wasn't too hard- hopefully the only "yips" in my future will be when this guy looks out the window and sees a cat.

Button Floozies

If you'd like to hear more about buttons, or more about my Yorkie puppy who's name is Button; I've written a guest post on the Button Floozies blog.

Button- hiding under the bed.  Maybe I should wrap a Swiffer around him so he could tackle some of the dust under there.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

 
(Top to Bottom: Button, Aggie, Twinkle)

Yesterday, while I was crafting at Karla's, I tried to get a "family picture" of Button (my dog); Button's sister, Agnes Rose (Karla's dog); and Aggie & Button's mother, Twinkle (Karla's dog).

 
(Twinkle and Aggie looking darling, Button- looking at his toes)

It is not easy to get three dogs all looking in the same direction at one time- but in the words of my teen age idol, Meatloaf: " Two Out of Three Ain't Bad."

 
(Button and Aggie being kissy and sweet.)

 
(Aggie says "ooooh, that Button has DOG breath".)

 
(Twinkle and Aggie smiling for the camera; Button with his nose in a pillow)

 
(Button and Twinkle smiling for the camera; Aggie, ready to jump the bench and end this photo session)

  
Aggie was right- it really was too nice a day to spend inside taking pictures.

Button Card Collecting

 
Back when I started my blog- about 4 years ago (oh my!)- it seemed like I was posting about buttons all the time.  I loved buttons and wrote about them so much that I was afraid people would refer to my blog as "that button blog".

I haven't had a button post in a long time,  because I haven't found a lot of great buttons or button cards. 

At an auction last week, I sat next to a dealer who bought a tin of buttons.  We looked at them together and found quite a few pearl buttons.  We started talking about Muscatine Iowa, which was once a huge producer of pearl buttons because of its location on the Mississippi River.  My friend Tami, who is a button collector extraordinaire wrote a post about her visit to the Pearl Button Museum in Muscatine.

Thinking about the pearl buttons got me to take a look at my little button card collection. 

 
I have lots of cards- but not a lot that have all their buttons, or don't have some other problem- like "pushed" corners.

 
Simple but so sweet.

 
Love this one- enamel and glass from "Czech-slovakia"- I'm guessing it's from the 1920's or 1930's.

 
While I was taking pictures of my button cards, I wanted to get a picture of this Button, too- but he was being shy and hid under the bed.

 
I want to give equal billing to Button's brother Buddy- but it's so hard to get a picture of Buddy- he's always busy patroling, with his nose is to the ground. 

I scanned some of my favorite cards, so you can use the images in your projects.  Just click on the image to enlarge it and then right click to save to your computer.
 
Bluebird pearl buttons- from Iowa 1923.

 

Mermaid Pearls.

 
Another Bluebird card.

 
Lucky Day was another brand of pearl buttons.

 
 Another Bluebird card- I'm not sure of the significance of the camel and the desert....

Happy creating- I better get that fuzzy Button out from under the bed.

Craft Day Shout Outs

 
Yesterday was craft day at Karla's Cottage.  (Beautiful wedding fairy doll made by Karla.)

Here's what everyone had to say.

 
 Mary says "No dolls for me, I'll stick with my gluebooks"

 
Karla says "Make me smile, join my Bird Song Tag Book Swap.

 
The Other Karla says "Happy Birthday Ethan". 

Ethan is her son. This picture is from his third birthday- we decided that was his peak of cuteness.  Now that he is twenty years old, he's no longer cute, he's handsome.

 
Agnes Rose and Button say "woof".

Actually this whole post was just an excuse to show you this picture- because I know I'm a little biased, but I think Rosie and Button are at THEIR peak of cuteness.

Good Bye Sweet Maddie Girlfriend

 
Today is a tough day- we're going to send our sweet Maddie girl over that Rainbow Bridge.  We got Maddie when she was two years old, and we've had her for twelve years, so she's at least fourteen years old-that's old for a big dog.

 
Maddie's been a sweet  spot in our family of dogs, always happy to greet you at the door with a smile and wag in her tail.  In the last few months, she's had more and more trouble getting up and getting down, and will sometimes wake us up in the middle of the night whining because she just can't get comfortable.

I know a lot of you have been though this,and its a hard decison, but I keep telling everyone it's ok, it's the right thing, and it's her time, but it still makes me sad.

 
Maddie's been a good sister to four brothers.  Here she is on a walk with Milo, who we lost about three years ago.

 
With her brother Buddy. 

I don't think I even have a digital picture of Maddie with her first brother, Boone.  He was a Golden Retriever, too- and except for Maddie's white chest and paws, they looked almost exactly alike.

 
I think her brother Button is going to miss her most of all- from the day I brought Button home, he's curled up with Maddie to go to sleep, and she's been very patient with his puppiness.

I wasn't sure if I should do a post about Maddie, because I try to make my blog posts light and entertaining, but Miss Madkins has been a big part of our lives and I wanted to acknowledge that.

Even though I'm sad, I know Maddie is going to be happy on the other side of that Rainbow Bridge where she can play with her brothers Boone and Milo, go for long walks without hurting, and chase the squirrels.

 
{watercolor portrait of Maddie by Karla}

Nothing Says Happy Birthday Like Fish

 
Hard to believe but today was Button and Aggie Rose's first birthday.  Grandma Karkie never misses a chance to celebrate, so she had party hats for the pups and dished up pretty plates of trout topped with homemade yogurt.

 
A good, but smelly time was had by all.

To Nana from Button

 
My mother in law is so sweet- she says that she loves my blog, but it just doesn't have enough pictures of her Granddog, Button- so Button is going to be a "guest blogger" for his Nana today.

Hi, My name is Button.  I am almost a year old.  I was born in Lawrence Kansas.  My Dad says that makes me a Jayhawk.

 
My Grandma Karkie and my litter mate sister Agnes Rose still live in Lawrence.  Sometimes I take a drive and visit them.

I try to play with my sister Agnes Rose, but sometimes we like different things. 

 
I like to wrestle and play loud and rough with my brother that I live with.  His name is Buddy.

 

Agnes Rose likes to play dress up.

 
I have a sister that I live with, too.  Her name is Maddie and she is very old- she is at least 14.  She is sick and I try to take care of her.

 
I give her kisses.

 

And sleep next to her- she makes a good pillow.

 
I went to Dr Rucker last week.  My Dad said I had to get fixed.  I did not know I was broken.

 
Nana, thank you for asking for more pictures of me.  I hope this is enough until I can see you.

Love, Your Granddog, Button

Sidetracked with Good Intentions

 
I fully intend to participate in Karla's Using the Good Stuff challenge.

 
I've set aside supplies.

 
And made a book to decorate with them.

 
 
 
My "book" is just different pieces of cardstock, chipboard, photo folders and Bingo cards- but I intend to decorate it with "the good stuff".

 
Like these images I bought from Tina at Tiny Bear.  I always thought that postage made it too expensive to buy from European artists, but it's not.

 

Both Tina and Dorthe at Den Lille Lade have great supplies and beautiful pieces at very reasonable prices.

So...there you have a start to my supplies for "Using the good Stuff"- but I get distracted so easily.

 
...like when I saw this beautiful piece of embroidery.  I bought it last summer, it has some tears and missing stitches, but it looks so much like the redwork that I like so much.  I knew I had to rescue and recycle it- but before I could make that first cut with a scissors, I had to make sure I had a project "worthy" of it.  Yesterday I knew how.  I started cutting bits of the runner and adding them to a tote bag, patchwork style, along with lace, crochet and scraps of barkcloth.  It's not done yet- but I was happy to find a way to use some "good stuff".

And here's another distraction.

 
 
I found this in the garbage at work yesterday.  It's flooring samples.

 
It doesn't look like garbage to me...it looks like craft supplies.  I already have an idea for these, but just need to find the time- isn't that what we all struggle with?

 
Maybe I can get this little guy to help.