2013.12.20 Project - Christmas stocking

I make a Christmas stocking for each of (sister) jan and Greg's kids.

This year, Hannah joined the family.

Here is her stocking and also a photo of Hannah and me

when I gave it to her on Thanksgiving.

Each stocking is designed especially for the recipient and

is made from felt and extra embellishments.

2013.12.13 Project - 2013 Christmas ornaments

Every year, my sisters and I share Christmas ornaments

between ourselves and families.

Most years we craft them, but there isn't any pressure if we buy them instead.

This year, I made owls from paper tubes, paint and a black Sharpie.

These don't hang, but go over a branch or just nestle in somewhere :)

2013.11.29 Project - recovering a footstool

What I've been up to ... recovering a footstool.

This is a footstool originally from Vince's Uncle Ray.

I have no idea how it came to us, but we've had it for decades.

I forgot to take a "before" photo,

but I still had the fabric so I laid it on the completed footstool.

An interesting note on the bottom of this stool

says that Uncle Ray re-covered it in 1981.

He must have used the gold and blue fabric I removed.

It feels "right" to update the things we already own,

especially when there is a family history.

It's a simple procedure to re-cover a footstool.
Here is my "how-to" ...

Remove the old fabric if you need to.

Usually the fabric is stapled or nailed to the bottom.

There may be decorative nails around the lower edge.

For this footstool, there were both nails in the bottom

and decorative nails along the lower edge.

Use a hammer (the prying end) to remove the nails on the bottom and

a prybar, hammer, and pliers to remove the decorative nails.

Using the removed fabric as a guide, cut the new fabric.

If you are adding fabric over the existing fabric,

turn the footstool upside down and add several inches all around the shape.

Tape (masking or painter's) the edges so the fabric won't fray.

If you have a sewing machine, run a stitched line around the edge instead.

Center the fabric and begin stapling.

Put one center staple on the long side,

then one center staple on the opposite long side,

then a center staple in each short side.

Pull somewhat tightly so the fabric is taut, but not over-stretched.

Turn the footstool over to check how it looks.

Turn it upside down again and begin adding staples.

Put one on each side of your first staple,

then on each side of your second staple,

then on each side of your centered staples on the short sides.

Turn it over for a visual check.

Keep adding staples a few at a time

until all the fabric on the bottom is stapled in place.

Fold the fabric around the legs as necessary.

Just use your judgement.

2013.11.23 Project - making new seats for dining room chairs

What I've been up to ...

covering the seats of 4 dining room chairs.

We have multiple tables for eating as well as crafts and projects.

One table seats 6, the other 8.

However, we don't have that many matching chairs.

So, we have 4 pine chairs, 6 oak chairs, and 4 chairs painted green with caned seats.

At least the green chairs used to have caned seats.

Each table has the natural chairs along the sides and two green chairs at the ends.

With the caning on the green chairs falling apart,

my daughter-in-law, Theresa, and I decided that upholstered seats would save our chairs.

Vince (husband) cut plywood bases for the new seats.

Theresa and I picked out fabric, two different, but coordinated kinds.

With some padding and a stapler, this is the result ...

2013.09.27 Five random facts about me

Linking up with A Rural Journal for Random Five Friday (five facts about me) ...

this week with a few pictures! ...

1.  I went to the zoo this week with my daughter-in-law, Theresa, and

my grandkids and friends.  I hadn't been there in many years and I had a wonderful time.

This is one of my favorite animals ... the polar bear ...

not my grandkids and friend ...

although at times, the kids do resemble monkeys.

2.  Indiana is still having moderately warm days and sunshine,

but the signs of fall are everywhere.

3.  I'm consciously spending less time on the computer, more time in reality.

And feeling better because of it.

4.  I bought the book Yoga for Life yesterday at Half-Price Books (only $2 ... yay!)

and you all can hold me accountable :)

I need to s-t-r-e-t-c-h myself out

of my folded-in-upon-itself body left from cancer treatment.

5.  I am still working on my Moleskin art journal for this year.

I promise to blog some more photos of the pages and my *super easy* way of doing it,

no photos required.

A couple of pages ...

2013.09.13 Five random facts about me

Linking up with A Rural Journal for Random Five Friday (five facts about me) ...

this week with pictures! ...

1.  I've started volunteering again.

From the parking lot of the Boys & Girls Club ...

2.  Our made-by-Vince camper.  It has electric hook-up, beds, storage.

I took this photo while I was sitting at a picnic table prepping for a snack.

Thought it was funny that Vince's legs are showing under the open back door.

Like a Fred-Flintstone-assisted camper ...

3.  Granddaughter ... that says it all ...

4.  All the Saturdays between now and November are committed.

I may be, too, after this ...

5.  I've returned to kindergarten this year by documenting my year

with an art journal in my Moleskin planner.

More photos and info later ...

2013.08.16 Five random facts about me

Linking up with A Rural Journal for Random Five Friday (five facts about me) ...

1.  I love Converse All-Star shoes.

My first pair were lime green, then red, then back to lime green.

This year I bought a black pair (with rainbow edging).

2.  I have to limit my time playing computer Solitaire and Free Cell.

3.  I’ve been in a book group since July 1996.

4.  Living on water whether a pond, lake, river, or ocean

is a dream I have not yet realized.

5.  I like taking photos, but I love processing them in PhotoShop Elements more.

2013.08.09 Five random facts about me

Linking up with A Rural Journal for Random Five Friday (five facts about me) . . .

1. I had a PET/CT scan today so I’m radioactive

and have to stay 6 feet away from people

(just for 6 hours).

2. The folder where I initially download all my camera photos is e.m.p.t.y.

This rarely happens.

3. Most of my clothes come from Goodwill and other secondhand stores.

4. I became addicted to “Andy Griffith” on NetFlix

while vegging for three months during cancer treatments.

I still watch an episode every morning during breakfast.

5. My grown daughter is living and working 1300 miles from me.

I am very proud of her.  I also miss her terribly.

p.s.  coming up with 5 random facts about me is harder to do than it would seem.

[ photo:  chalk handprints by my two grandkids and their friend on the garage door.

processed with Perfect Effects 4 OrtonHearsAWho 50 and  Earth 50 ]

2013.01.05 Remembering summer . . .

You become what you think about all day long

and those days eventually become your lifetime.

~ Wayne Dyer

Whether he is an artist or not,

the photographer is a joyous sensualist,

for the simple reason that the eye traffics in feelings, not in thoughts.

~ Walker Evans

Lo, I am with you always,

even to the end of the age.

~ Matthew 28:20

2012.12.01 Say you are well

This photo is my life . . . with cancer.

Treatment is starting.

I'll be in touch.

~ Me

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage.

The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.

~ William Ellery Channing

Talk happiness; talk faith; talk health.

Say you are well, and all is well with you,

and God shall hear your words and make them true.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I will sing unto the Lord
because He hath dealt bountifully with me.
~ Psalm 13:6

In everything, give thanks.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

2012.11.19 Explore

Explore rather than expect.

~ Mary Anne Radmacher

as quoted in Desire to Inspire by Christine Mason Miller

2012.10.30 It is in us

Joy is not in things; it is in us.

~ Richard Wagner

The goofy photo when we let our insides show on the outside.

I am so blessed to have family who are also my friends.

~ Me

[ photo by Theresa, on the far right in the photo ]

2012.10.28 What I might yet become

Every human being is making a request of their friends,

though it usually goes unspoken.

Here's what they ask:

Motivate me, call out the best in me.

Believe me.

Encourage me.

Speak truth to me and remind me of my deepest values.

Help me achieve my greatest potential.

Inspire me.

Tell me again what God called me to be, what I might yet become.

~ John Ortberg

Thank you, kiddo . . .

you are among those who are essential to my core being.

~ Me

2012.09.20 There is nothing lacking

A Thursday photo-dump of recent, personal photos . . . 

people and things for which I am extremely grateful.

First up is my Anne.

Her Oregon summer job for the USDA has ended

and her job with the U.S. Forest Service doesn't start for a couple of weeks.

So my sweet daughter is "vacationing" at home.

We went for a visit to neighbor and friend,

Libbe of Willowfield Lavender Farm . . .

Wouldn't you just love to have a studio for your art?

Here is one room of Monrovia Mudworks where I took my pottery class . . .

The light caught my eye

when I was standing in the breezeway looking through the garage

and towards the slightly open garage door.

One of Jewel's ubiquitous tennis balls can't decide between inside or outside . . .

Sad or just a natural frown?

This should bring a smile to all the library patrons . . .

Mare's tail (wispy cirrus) clouds with moon . . .

A double reflection of me . . .

(I didn't realize it was a double reflection until viewing on my PC)

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.

When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

~ Lao Tzu

Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

~ 1 Chronicles 29:13

It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful,

but what you have in your heart.

~ Anonymous

2012-08-23 Give thanks

Inspired by TexWisGirl at The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

who posted a "Photo Dump" last Sunday . . .

this post is a collection of recent, personal photos,

a what's-going-on-in-my-life kinda thing . . .

all things for which I am grateful.

 My county in Indiana is at about 60% of normal rainfall for the year.

Gratefully, we've had almost 4 inches in August.

Once, there was enough for an actual puddle near the mailbox . . .

Three generations at work,

my husband near the red truck prepping for the next week's work,

my son cleaning out his Cherokee,

and my grandson helping me spruce up the front garden . . .

Three projects from my pottery class, all completed.

There is a basket with a dark green and blue glaze,

a pot with zen-tangle-like decorations,

and a tree of life wall-hanging. . . in rainbow.

Thank you again, jan and Greg, for giving me this class.

I love learning . . .

At one of Vince's job sites . . .

Wyatt, Jeremiah, Vince, Barry, Alan,

and my Sweet Lee is somewhere over the roof edge installing something.

(See how much I know about construction?)

The above photo . . . from ground level . . .

And last, a self-portrait, taken at the county fair . . .

For all these things, and many more, I am grateful.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.

Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

~ Denis Waitley

In everything, give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18a

For those of you in a humorous frame of mind . . .

Let us rise up and be thankful;

for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,

and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick,

and if we got sick, at least we didn't die;

so, let us all be thankful.

~ Buddha

Shared with:  Share the Joy and A Bigger Picture Moment

2012.08.12 Seldom looked into

A photograph is usually looked at — seldom looked into.

~ Ansel Adams

Except here, where you can look "into" the pottery [smile] . . .

and see the gorgeous colors.

~ Me

Note:  Pottery by Jolee Chartrand; taken at Monrovia Mudwords.

Linked to:  Mandarin Orange Monday

2012.08.09 Love life

My granddaughter, Anya, delights in her newest game . . .

"pretending" to be asleep . . . 

A good photographer must love life more than he does photography.

~ Joel Strasser

Linked to:  Share the Joy

2012.08.06 Who she is

It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like,

it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.

~ Paul Caponigro

My niece, Melanie . . . her portrait should show . . .

strong, loyal, funny, beautiful, stylish, talented.

Then, it would be who she is.

Linked to:  Sweet Shot Tuesday
Tuesday's Tips and Pics

2012.07.09 It's what you see

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.

~ Henry David Thoreau

What I was looking at was one of the posts for the garage porch.

What I saw was a dragon.

~ Me

2012.07.05 Now it is yours

As I have practiced it, photography produces pleasure by simplicity.

I see something special and show it to the camera.

A picture is produced.

The moment is held until someone sees it.

Then it is theirs.

~ Sam Abell


Linked to:  Weekly Top Shot at The View from Right Here