I have a new great-niece!!!

She was born on Tuesday the 24th. She weighed 6 lbs. 9 ozs. and is 21" long. Here is the happy family. Her daddy is my sisters son. (She still doesn't have a name!)

Here's her big brother, Connor bringing mommy roses. Isn't that sweet?

I kind of went overboard making baby things. The first is a rag quilt with dancing bear queens. I made one for Connor too with boy bears.

This little hat and mittens were pre-made but I glued on the rhinestones. What baby girl doesn't need a little bling?

Seven polka dot bibs and seven burp cloths. I make these for Newborns In Need a great charity for mothers and babies. I used their pattern and I think they're great!!! My other great nieces and nephew had them and their mommies used them alot.

Please be sure to look up http://www.newbornsinneed.org/ and find out about sewing or all kinds of other charity work they have available. It's really an outstanding organization. All of the things we make are distributed locally so that makes it nice to know we're helping our neighbors.

This was one of those unfinished picture frames from Michael's. I painted it, embellished it with some bling and framed a piece of the cotton material from the quilt.

Ok, no more baby stuff... I was talking via email to one of my hooking friends, Ter'e about how much we like bright colors and how I had just checked out a book from the library about Mexican textiles. I LOVE the bright colors from Mexico. So I was inspired to draw a new hooking project. I haven't been hooking lately-haven't felt good. That's another story. Anyway I've also been kind of obsessed with this type of Mexican pictures of Mary. I'm not even Catholic. There's just something about them that I'm attracted to. I even bought a paint by numbers painting last summer of Mary that someone else had painted. It's very naive and I love it.

I printed this photo onto fabric and will put it in the middle of the hooking. I am going to make sort of a triptych. Three hooked pieces held together with leather strips.

Here is the rough....very rough drawing of what I have in mind.

I also want to include Milagros charms. I learned more about them today on http://www.craftychica.com/ Milagros are silver charms that can be held in your pocket. I am going to use five of them in my hooking.

The head: knowing is wisdom.

The heart: how we love.

The hand: your hands connect you to others.

The foot: your feet support your journey through life.

And the mouth: our words are as good as our deeds.

This is going along with my thinking "outside the box" theme this year. I want this to be a kind of altered hooking project. I am so enjoying the journaling. It's really opening up my mind. That could be dangerous!!!!

Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted with pictures often.

Peace,

Sheri

Great new dye gloves!!!

Check these out!!! While shopping at Hobby Lobby I spotted these!!! How fun are these for dyeing wool? Also I got the matching scrub brush in the event I would actually have to wash dishes. (You would have to cook in order to have dishes to wash!)

I spent the Whole day yesterday cutting up sweaters I have felted. I really didn't realize I had collected so many sweaters. I stop by the thrift store, find a couple, wash them and then I put them in old suitcases in the basement. By the washer and dryer. I remembered them yesterday and thought I ought to make a couple of bags and see if I can sell them! Here are the ones I got cut up. I still have one more suitcase full!

Looks like I better get the sewing machine warmed up.

Here's the little bag I made for myself quite some time ago.

As you can see, it holds all of my hooking supplies with ease. I think I could easily make two bags from one sweater. I'll show you what I come up with.

Tonight's hooking night so I'm off to see the girls. I missed last time so I have some catching up to do. I'll take some pics and share with you tomorrow.

Peace,
Sheri

Happy Valentines Day

Hope everyone has a great day!!! Here is a collection of my heart shaped rocks I thought I'd share with you. On our first fishing date I was laying in the sun at the beach at Tablerock lake. Mickey was walking the shore fishing and looked down and saw this rock. The one in the center. He handed it to me and I thought ~ I LOVE this man!!!

After that date we discovered we both had a collection of favorite rocks and got out our boxes and put them on the floor and explored each others favorites!!! A guy after my heart. He loves rocks too! Weird, I know.

My favorite is this little one I made into a pendant!

I have many uses for them. One keeps my tacky glue upside down and ready to pour, and one is a great pen holder.

This is my beautiful box of chocolates that was waiting for me this morning by the coffee pot.

Earlier in the week after dinner we were both craving chocolate so I said, "well I could give you your Valentines candy now!" Great!!!! We ate it all but.....he left.........ONE PIECE!!!!!! See it in the upper right corner? What the ......??? They say opposites attract. I sure believe that! We laughed and ate chocolate and said Happy February 9th!!! But I Will Not eat that last piece. I'm just going to see how long he'll leave it there. Men........can't live with them, can't live without them.

Hope everyone gets to spend the day with someone they love.

Peace,

Sheri

Dyeing with Tammy

You know it's going to be a good day when the girl who designed and dyed the wool for this raven rug is teaching you!!

I spent most of Saturday at Tammy's house with my own personal dye instructor!!!

I think we dyed six different yards of wool! And in her beautiful new kitchen to boot.

She taught me spot dyeing in a casserole pan and "fantasy wool" dyeing.

Also a technique she didn't name, but we kind of floated the wool on water and added dye in spots on top.

See her blog for this: http://www.skiptomyewe.blogspot.com/. It's the Easter wool. AND all the wool we worked on is FOR SALE on her blog!!!

Doesn't this look like a Van Gogh palette? Scrumptious. If I could order a drink like this, I'll bet it would be great!?!?! Does anyone get what I'm saying? Maybe a tutti fruitti with rum!!! And a little paper umbrella in it!

This is her rug titled, "live the life you've imagined". That is exactly what I was doing yesterday with such a talented teacher working with me!!! I'm not rubbing it in~~~really! OK, maybe a little~~tee hee!!

Yesterday really fired up the creative juices in me-like I need any more help with that! I've got so many projects in my head it makes me dizzy. The visual journaling is going great too. My husband came in the door the other night and I was working on it at the dining table and he said, "this is really good for you, isn't it?" I guess he could tell by my body language I was really enjoying it and expressing myself in another way. I am doing this journal for Me. I'm doing it as a visual with the words Wanda from "The Welcome Mat" is giving us, but also as kind of a healing journal. Adding my own words and thoughts on being sick, and sick and tired of being sick and tired!! I'm trying to really explore my inner thoughts and resentment for living with chronic pain. Someone wrote, I think it was Wanda, that it seems like I'm grieving my "old life". My dear sweet husband Mickey said, we'll just to learn to do stuff with your new life and adapt to that. What a wonderful man.

Here's the cover of my journal. There are my eyes~for the visual part. Some teeth for the career that I used to have, my favorite quote: let the beauty of what you love be what you do, some gardening gloves, wool strips from hooking and of course lots of BLING!

Have a wonderful week.

I go to nature to be soothed and healed,

and to have my senses put in order.

John Burroughs.

Peace,

Sheri

Big Smith concert

Last night we were entertained by a group with local beginnings that's "going places". Their name is Big Smith and for those of you who have never heard of them, here are some terms used to describe them from their website/press page. hippie-tinged roots band, hillbilly music, a vivid reminder of their hell raising antics of their bootlegging ancestors, haunting, ancient, raucous, comic, patriotic, and deeply religious. Oh yeah and a bona fide hillbilly band. If you ever hear of them in your town you MUST attend. They'll blow your socks off! You can read more about them and purchase their music at www.bigsmithband.com.

They played at our beautiful Juanita Hammonds Center for the Performing Arts building in Springfield, MO. I'm sure it was quite a change performing on such a stage. I think they're really used to people drinking a little beer and doing a lot of dancing. We all sat properly in our seats. I thought the crowd was a little older until my husband told me they were all about our age!!! Well, he's ten years older than me.

I haven't got much hooking done since I started the visual journaling. I'm obsessed with it!!! Imagine that... me, obsessed. I know!!! So far the words have been, space, comfort, layers, new, ebullient, and secret. I knew I would enjoy journaling but just never thought I could possibly make any time for any other artistic venture. Well I'm glad I did. Wanda gives us a new word each week and we interpret it's meaning in our visual journals. I have used magazine pics, newspaper clippings, balloons, you name it! Like I said I already had the rubber stamps and scrapbooking paper and Glue... every kind imaginable. Here are a few of my pages. Don't laugh if you're an experienced journaler. Remember, I'm new. Anyway there's no way to do it wrong. It's MY journal!!

This is my "secret" page.

And this is the "new" page. New president and new puppy. How lucky could one girl be, I ask?

And finally, here is my fountain rug in progress. I have made Some progress. I'm worried I'll run out of green roving for the tree I'm working on now. If I do, it won't be such a tall tree I guess!?!?! I used teeny-tiny prodding for the black-eyed susans on the left. And Jimmie Dean didn't like the look of the hot pink flowers I guess, so he pulled some of it out for me!

Jimmie Dean is changing colors right before our eyes. Each day he has a little more silver on top of his head and on his chest. He's still fighting the bronchitis!!! I went to a new vet and she put him on a steroid/antibiotic combo. She raises Yorkies, so I feel much better with her as my vet. She said if we don't get the coughing controlled it could permanently affect his trachea. Boy, I'm still mad at that breeder for selling me a sick puppy. Shame, shame, shame.

That's all for now. Off to a Superbowl party at my sisters! She told us to bring Tupperware. That's a good sign there will be plenty to eat!!

Peace,

Sheri