A Quick Journal Cover

Something new for something old...My worn journal/sketchbook was looking pretty rough so I decided to make a new cover for it. This is the result. I didn't want to make this one highly embellished as it is the journal that I throw in the car, make quick notes in and sometimes fall asleep writing in it. I just glued the paper on, did some stamping, distressing and a bit of stitching. Sometimes you have to do something simple to jumpstart your creativity.

We had a most wonderful Christmas with our children and our granddogs. They drove here all the way from Ohio. They gave us a most wonderful Christmas gift...a gift certificate to our favorite ocean front resort on Ocean Isle Beach, NC. I will post later all the pictures of our new grand dog, Barley...he is adorable...and our ever adorable grand dog, Betty Boop.

Santa was so very nice to me. I even got my favorite paper dolls...The Lennon Sisters!! My favorite since I was 5 years old!

I'm hope all of you have a wonderful and Happy New Year!

Christmas Delights

Merry Christmas Week! Below is a table runner I made from a Pat Sloan pattern. (I forgot the name) It looks perfect on my table. The berries are yo-yo's.


This is an ornament made from the Basic Grey Fruitcake line. I don't have a hangar on it yet, but I'm getting there. I love this paper.



This is a hooked rug star pocket I made last year. It is hanging on my grandfather's clock. I am going to try making some hooked rug book bindings...another New Year resolution!


I can't believe it is December 21st already! We are having Christmas this year in Virginia with our kids. They will travel from Ohio on Saturday. We are very excited to have them here. Yesterday, I spent all afternoon baking cinnamon rolls. I can truly say I have lost my touch for baking. They were not the best I've ever made. I am debating about tossing them out. This is not the best week. I woke up this morning to find out that one of my brothers is having heart surgery tomorrow. On top of all that, my hair dryer broke! Well, the still wet hair made me slow down a bit to update my blog while it air dries. Frizzy, frizzy! Surely it's fashionable somewhere!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Small things make me happy...shipping tags are one of them. I love them because you can make neat things with them like tag books, accordian books and tags like the one below.

These are lots of fun to make. I hope after the holidays are over, I can diminish my abundant supply of blank tags to an abundant supply of highly embellished tags. Tags are fun to stamp, stitch, glue, paint, dye and punch. About any type of medium can be applied and they just keep on smiling...

Wool Star

Ok, I am posting twice this morning because I have been bad about not posting. The first picture is of a wool star I made yesterday at G-Street Fabrics Quilt Club. It was fun to make. First, we cut the star shape from felted wool, then chose embellishments to design any way we wanted. This is my design result. G-Street provided all the supplies. There was a table full of buttons, ribbons and sequins. Most people chose to put shiny gold on theirs but I love the vintage look. After embellishing one side, just sew the edges together with a buttonhole stitch, leaving a bit open to stuff and finish sewing. The whole process took about an hour to make. You can see it hanging on my hutch in the dining room. Fun! We mailed packages last night...good thing the post office stays open until 9 PM. Today, I have to finish up my Christmas/New Year cards and get them in the mail. Then there is baking and more sewing to do.

Taylor's New Collar

This is Taylor wearing her new collar. She thinks the tree skirt is for her and "mouse". She now has six mice, each one with varying faces...some have eyes still and some do not. This is a new one that she is letting live a bit longer. She had her check up at the vet yesterday and was pronounced "beautiful". Of course she already knows that. She is a princess. To make this sewing related, the tree skirt is a yard of fleece that I folded and cut in a circle, hemmed the edge (though you wouldn't have to) and quick as a wink, it is done! Now I can applique anything on it and it's washable. But who needs applique on a tree skirt when you have an adorable cat to adorn it?

Fabric Book Fun

"A Walk In The Woods" is a fabric book that I made using lots of embellishments and quilting. It includes photos that I took while taking a walk in the metro park in Columbus, OH. I love nature and it was a fun way to preserve the memories. I used angelina fibers, charms, buttons, ribbons and yarn, beads and rubber stamping on batik. Below are the inside pages of the book.