This & That

Keeping My Hands Busy

I've finished off a few projects over the past several weeks...

This wool mat comes from a recent wool subscription box.

Some fun, fancy stitches to do.

I thought it turned out nice and springy.

I also finished off the February Simon Says Stamp card kit.

I really loved most of the papers in this one.

And I worked really hard to stretch them as much as I could.

And then I stamped envelopes to match, because yes, I have a fairly matchy-matchy personality.

The last couple of week's worth of Project Life pages.

You've seen all these stories,

but I'm always just so happy when I see them in this format.

Family history....done on my phone.

Keeping My Hands Busy

My productivity has reached a plateau lately. It's been busy here. There have been comings and goings, and cabin planning and execution...and chauffeuring...always chauffeuring. That has come to an end, though, and there may have actually been a little happy dance in the kitchen when it did. 

It's been a bit of a challenge lately to find time to finish projects off. I do have one, though. This is a project from a recent Primitive Gatherings wool subscription box. 

I do enjoy being able to totally finish things. (She says as she eyes the piles of unfinished projects lying around the craft room.....lalalalalalalala)

Beyond that, there are a few weeks of completed Project Life pages,

done with the app.

I'm nearly finished with last week's pages,

...just some journaling left to do.

I know I sound like a broken record,

but being able to keep our family history easily current is something that makes me really happy. 

Keeping My Hands Busy

Get ready for a very photo-laden post, because my hands have been very, very busy lately. In fact, I'm going to have to divide this up into two posts so nobody gets overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of my productivity.

I stitched up the April 2" minis from the most recent Primitive Gatherings wool box.

This also came from a wool box, but maybe the one before this most recent one?

I tackled an older Simon Says Stamp card kit. Interestingly,  these papers that came in it were supposed to be Christmas-themed. There were some I repurposed for other cards.

...and some worked really well for Christmas cards.

Since this kit has been in pieces on my desk since last fall, I'm glad to get it done...and I'm totally saying that I'm ahead of the game and willfully ignoring the fact that I didn't get it done before last Christmas.

I had 3 unfinished actual scrapbooking projects tucked in various places that I dragged out to work on. This is the Ali Edwards' Week in the Life album project. 

Yes you're reading the dates right. The week that was documented was May 6-12 of last year. 

I figured maybe I should get the album put together before it's time for the event taking place again next month.

I learned a few this putting this together. I need to take more pictures during the day. There were a couple of days I had to supplement with random yard flower pictures to make it work. Note to self....

This was the last page in the album, which is pretty much my life philosophy right now.

And here are the most recent Project Life pages done with the app.

These are all stories that you've seen....

....and I've said it repeatedly....

.....that this just makes me so darn happy seeing everyday life documented.

Keeping My Hands Busy

One thing about being home more, I've had the opportunity to work on long-neglected projects.

On our recent cabin trips, I've finished off a quilt top that's been in the works for a couple of years. It was too bulky bring home in a backpack on snowmobiles, so it's still waiting there for warmer weather when we can get a truck in.

I finished off a card kit that's been in pieces on my craft table since November.

Here are a couple of my favorites, using some really old stash embellishments.

It always feels good to get something totally finished off.

I also bound off a couple of quilts. This one is several years old, so a big high five for this one.

My quilter does an amazing job.

I really love the colors.

This is what's called needle-turn appliqué and I remember putting the top together. It's not my favorite technique and I won't be doing another project using it, but I'm glad this one is done. I think I had to put it away to age until I forgot about the process of constructing the top...kind of like forgetting labor pains so you can have another kid.

When I made Jude's blue quilt last year, the fabric pack I used also had pink fabric included with it, so I made a duplicate in pink....not that I have any pink babies coming...I don't...but I wanted to utilize the fabric.

So it will go into deep storage until it's needed.

Another long-put-off project was filing recipes I've printed off the internet for the last couple of years and updating the indexes in my binders. I'm almost done with that.

With busy hands, family in town for the open house that didn't happen, and trying to track down some groceries, I'm a little behind in my Project Life pages. That and there are so many wedding pictures I need to wade through.

I'll get there, though. So I guess even though activities have been cancelled, and life is in a holding pattern right now, at least I've been in a mood to get things done.

Keeping My Hands Busy

My hands have made a couple of cards, made some bread, and have worked some on cleaning the house for company this weekend.

Other than that, I've just gotten these Project Life pages done.

Most of them are stories you've already seen.

And if you haven't, it means they're coming soon.

I've also been working steadily on some wool, and hope to have something to show for the next round of KMHB.

Keeping My Hands Busy

So here's what's been keeping my hands busy lately....

Here are the November 2" minis that I change out each week on a little clipboard.

These are from the latest Primitive Gatherings wool subscription box. Who remembers when this was the only choice of shape for a pincushion?

There's this bird of some kind flying across the moon,

....some acorns,

and a turkey.

It's also that time of year....when I start thinking about Christmas cards. 

Kristina Werner has started her annual holiday card series, and these two cards are fairly close representations of a couple she did. I didn't have the exact supplies she used, but I had supplies enough to make it work.

These were also a design from her card series. Again these aren't exact copies, but the design idea done with what I have here.

I also took some of the tags I made last year and put them on cards.

Here are a recent couple of week's worth of Project Life pages, done with the app.

As always, I'm happy to see these pages come together.

Everyday stories....

....documented.

Keeping My Hands Busy

My hands have been busy during my husband's recent hillside adventures.

I finished the last project from the July Primitive Gatherings wool subscription box. Loved this little table mat. 

Plenty of fussy stitching, but it was worth it.

Speaking of fussy stitching, I also finished another Primitive Gatherings summer block of the week. This is block #5 out of 9.

There were Cretan stitches, Lazy Daisies, Bullion Knots...

....and these little rosebuds, made by starting with 3 Colonial Knots, then 3 staggered rows of Stem Stitch.

I also decided to put together the 3 year's worth of Cathy Zielske's 30 Days of Thankful pictures. It was always my intention to print them off and put them in albums, but I just haven't gotten around to doing it.

2016 went into a 4x4 album.

I used a lot of her printables

It was great to see these pictures again.

This is one of my very favorite projects to do every year, whether or not the pictures get printed.

This is 2017's album.

Again, I used printables,

and digital templates,

so this particular project went really quickly.

30 Days of Thankful will be happening again this year. It's never a bad idea to stop and be grateful.

Keeping My Hands Busy

A few things to show today....

These are the cards we did for the Cackle & Craft. I took inspiration from and outright lifted ideas from Lisa Addesa, Cathy Zielske, Debbie Hughes, Shari Carroll, and Kristina Werner.

I've been stitching quite a bit, trying to finish up the projects in the most recent Primitive Gatherings wool subscription box before the next one comes at the end of the month. This is the late summer pincushion top that I've chosen to display flat. There's always a new stitch or two to master in these projects. This time it was the traveling feather stitch between the sunflowers.

I've also been working my way through the flock of sheep.

I took a few scraps from a recent Cocoa Daisy planner kit to make a few cards. I've been trying to get pictures put together into the Project Life app from the trip to Canada. It's hard to decide what to include. Actually, what I'm having more trouble with is what to leave out.

Keeping My Hands Busy

My hands have been plenty busy lately. They tend to be busier when my husband is on an adventure, so prepare yourself for a photo-laden post.

I finished off another Primitive Gatherings summer block of the week 

Yes, I'm behind, and yes, there are other unfinished projects screaming for my attention as well.

But I'm deep breathing and trying to remind myself to just enjoy the process of creating. I kind of love this little black sheep, and I wonder how this little quilt will be finished off.

And while I'm really not keeping up with the scalloped flower blocks, I'm having a lot more success with the little 3 1/2" sheep blocks. I'm only a couple behind on those.

I also finished off another Moon Garden block.  To try to give you perspective, these blocks are 17" square. The scalloped blue flower block is 10". These are just so darn big. It kind of makes me wonder how I'm going to display the finished quilt.

#6 out of 12.

This one has been a long time in the making, but it's done and I've prepped the next block.

In the meantime, the next wool subscription box came with the next group of 2" minis that are designed to be changed out each week. These are August's. I usually tackle these first when the box comes. They work up so quickly and it's so fun to change them out every week. Yes, there was a 4th one offered for the month, but it was script writing and I didn't enjoy the experience of doing the last writing one, so that sun will stay up for 2 weeks. I'm ok with that.

I've also been working on putting together card kits for the annual Cackle & Craft, which will be international this year.

I finished off these blocks from the most recent subscription box. I have 8 of them now and am wondering how they'll be put together when we accumulate them all. The mystery is part of the fun.

I finished this project from the previous subscription box. This was supposed to be a pincushion. They've given us a new pincushion kit in every box so far.

I decided I didn't need a pincushion collection, so I've decided to leave subsequent ones flat and display them on a clipboard.

That meant I had to unpick the second pincushion project and make it flat. I'm liking them a lot better this way, and have ordered a very rustic clipboard from Etsy on which to display them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keeping My Hands Busy

Let's be real. Anything involving keeping my hands busy happened weeks ago, because things have came to a total standstill last month with family stuff and the Savior of the World production. All good things, but not a lot of opportunity for anything else.

Blocks from a recent Primitive Gatherings wool box.

Those tiny little flowers are just larger than a pencil eraser and were a total pain to cut out.

Seriously.

These flowers weren't nearly so small.

Which was a big relief for me.

Block #3 of the summer block of the week. I'm now officially 2 weeks behind on this.

I learned a new stitch with this one called the Cretan stitch.

And the next sheep added to my flock.

The most recent Project Life pages done with the app.

You've seen all these stories already....

.....but I'm staying accountable.