Rainy Day Crafts

We finally had some rain...in fact we had a lot of rain and wind...which was perfect for crafting.  I started early in the morning and worked on stuff throughout the day.

Made 2 more bottles.  This one started out as a crescent moon but I screwed it up so I had to make it a full moon and then draw a tree in front of it to cover up my errors.  I used all orange lights inside the bottle.

This one came out so good that I decided to keep it.  Russell loved it too.  My freehand skills aren't very good so I traced the castle and moon from a picture on my computer screen, then cut out the template and traced around it on the bottle before colouring it in.  The only things I freehanded are the cat on the moon and the windows.  Purple & orange lights inside. 

Since I had the glue out in my craft room, I made a couple of keys.

And a key in a mini bottle too.

Finally finished the shells cross stitch.  It took a bit longer than I'd expected when I started it in July. Now I need to find a frame to fit!

I had one bottle left to paint and was at a loss for a design. I tried to sketch some bats on paper but they didn't come out very good.  I googled 'Halloween silhouettes' and I didn't see anything that floated my boat there either.  I just wanted the project done so I did a simple triple moon with pentacle. 

I felt that it was missing something and although I really suck at lettering and centering, I grabbed an alphabet stencil I had and managed to get the text on the bottle without screwing it up too bad.

Now I need more new projects!!

Hiding from the Humidity

I absolutely love it when my friends post or tag me in new craft projects.  A couple of weeks ago, a 'stained glass CD mandala suncatcher' project made the rounds and I decided to give it a try.  First you have to remove the silver from the disc, which is extremely easy.  You just scratch through it and then use clear packaging tape to lift the silver off.  Comes off quickly.  Then I found a mandala design in one of my colouring books, placed the clear CD over it and traced the lines using Tulip silver puff paint.

After that tried, I filled in the spaces with glass paint and let it dry over night.  Except for some bubbles (esp. noticeable in the purple), the results came out great!  I would probably use less glass paint next time.

Drilled a hole in it and added a beaded hanger.

Kinder Surprise Eggs are illegal in the USA, but thanks to a friend who shall remain unidentified, I received some a year or so ago, and I saved the yellow toy pods which are inside the chocolate.  What better use for them than to make minions?  Just a googly eye with silver puff paint, a black sharpie, and some denim bits adhered with double stick tape.

Remember the sand art kit I got a few weeks ago?  I decided to do that too.  

Pretty sand and blue glitter!  I kinda wish there had been some white sand too but oh well.  There was just enough to make the 4 bottles and 2 bracelets, although I ran out of blue and purple and had to dip into my glitter stash to make it up.

Finished!  The tops are sealed with clear glue which wasn't quite dry when I took the pics.

Still cross stitching the shells.  I have since added the last 5 boxes with shell names, done 2 more shells and working on a 3rd.  

This is a skull pattern I found online.  I decided to do black on purple and I had a hell of a time getting the purple Aida cloth but I finally found it on the 123 Stitch website.  The boxes are kind of hard to see and count on the pattern so I had to do the center row all the way across and build from there, doing one side at a time.  Since this was taken, I finished the teeth and am starting up the left side.

I'm hoping that the heat and humidity is behind us now, so hopefully I can get back to getting in some day trips before the leaves fall and the snow flies!

Summer Draws to a Close

While fall doesn't technically start for another 23 days, the end of August is pretty much the end of summer with all the kids going back to school and the traffic loosening up just a little.  Pretty soon I can resume my beach combing endeavors without having to share the beach with a ton of people or paying to park.  

This summer went by just way, way too fast.  I can't think of anything I did at all either, except for a few things.  Life & humidity really got in the way of all the stuff I intended to do.  So I stayed in and cross stitched.  Last summer, 2014, seemed to go by really slowly.  For one thing, the weather was perfect last year.  That enabled me to get out of the house almost daily for walks and day trips.  I've found that time slows down when you are doing stuff but goes by wicked fast when you are doing nothing. 

Finished wine project for Mary's housewarming gift.  This took less than a week to do.  I could've done it in a day or two tops but I kept getting interrupted.

Still working on the shells.  Both the instructions/pattern and the photo on the package show the word 'sundial' off center.  I stitched it that way but it's reeeeeeeally messing with my OCD.  I will probably go back and center it.

Here's another simple craft project that serves no real purpose except look really pretty when you shake it up.  It's just water & glycerin with glitter.  I used a small Sutter Homes wine bottle.  I still need to do something for the cap.  I've noticed that the water has turned pink over the past few days too (these were taken the day after I made it).

If you are going to do this project, put the glitter and stuff in the bottle first.  Mix the water and glycerin in a measuring cup and then pour it in.  If you try putting the water/glycerin in first the glitter will never sink to the bottom when you add it in.  

My sweetie and I were out and about doing some errands and stopped in Benny's.  They have the best craft kits and stuff.  I spied this kit and had to have it.  Russell was over in the automotive department and I met up with him there with a big grin on my face.  He saw the box and started to laugh, and he bought it for me.  

I just finished reading my friend Robyn's book, Woman on the Verge of Paradise.  It's an excellent read, very funny and poignant at the same time.  I highly recommend it....it's a great read.  Please visit her blog too, Life by Chocolate.  Tell her JoJo sent ya.  

The fuzzies on National Dog Day (August 26th).  Of course every day is 'National Dog Day' in this house.

Maxfield Parrish skies.

Pretty clouds.

Unusual clouds

I shot this with my zoom lens, from my chair on the deck.  That's why you can't see my reflection.  

I really enjoy autumn, but I am in no hurry for the winter months.  I am in denial about the Farmer's Almanac prediction that the northeast is going to have an even worse winter than last, which is really hard to imagine.  I hope that it's not true and the El Nino building in the Pacific gives us a milder and rainier winter.  

One Done, Three Started

Here is the final Hummel cross stitch project that I was commissioned to do.  I got it done one day before she arrived in Massachusetts for a two week visit and I was so pleased to be able to give it to her in person.  To say she was thrilled is an understatement, and that made me feel so good.  

I immediately jumped into some new cross stitches.  This one is beyond difficult, despite the fact that it's being done solely in black thread.  It's really hard to count the stitches on the pattern and I have to use a white pencil to cross out each row as I go along.  The first row was the worst but I think I can work off of it OK.  

Another sea-themed project by the now defunct Bucilla brand.  I hope I have enough of each colour floss in this kit.  My goal was a shell a day but I think we can all agree that's not gonna happen.  

This project has been moved to the front of the line because it's going to be a housewarming gift for one of my best friends who is moving this week.  She loves her wine. I hope she's too busy packing to check my blog!  

The weather's been too hot and humid to do anything fun.  Nothing has gelled this summer to allow me to go on any day trips.  I was about to leave for Newport, RI a week or so ago, when I discovered I'd forgotten to charge my camera battery.  By the time it was charged, it was too late & too hot.  The days I'm free, it's raining or humid.  The days I'm busy, it's nice.  Summer's nearly over; it went by way too fast.