I Want To Wish You...............

A Happy Holiday!!  Merry Christmas to everyone in blogland.  I hope the spirit of the season is with you and the true meaning of Christmas shines through in everything you say and do!

SMS Giveaway -- Wow I Won!!

     As I think I made clear before -- boy I had fun with the SMS giveaway.  Guess what?  I even won some things.  First I won a take one - make one bag from http://www.thegreenbaglady.blogspot.com/.  Check out this site if you want to read about her very worthwhile mission.
Second I won this gorgeous basket from http://maevyscorner.blogspot.com/ .  It is made to hold fat quarters perfectly.  I just love it!!  If you like the basket as much as I do... Make Your Own.  Maevy has generously posted a tutorial.

The Big Bowen Christmas Party:)

Tonight we went to our annual Bowen get together at my sister-in law Cher and her husband Harry’s home.  Cher always has their home decorated beautifully.  She has a that special touch.  The Bowen family is ever growing with new babies and marriages.  This year there were 43people.  The food was great and a good time was had by all.  We celebrated my father-in-laws birthday. 

We exchanged Christmas gifts and some of them were handmade.

Cher knitted us all this adorable Snowman Ornaments --THAT IS A LOT OF KNITTING --when you are making so many.

My mother-in-law, Pat, cross-stitched some Kate Greenway patterns for Emily and Ali, two of her seven great-grandchildren.

And............... I made this Crewel picture for Cher who just adores pansies and chickadees!!

And this has nothing to do with the Christmas get together........

Cher made this absolutely gorgeous quilted wall hanging for ...... her bathroom!!  She is such a talented quilter.  On a later blog post I'll show you the quilt she made for me. (It will make you all jealous.)

And I have to show a few pictures of the kiddos...

Grace with her Mommy and Nanny.  Grace's sisters were Em and Ali in the cross-stitch pictures.

Drew, Georgie and Lexi -- our adorable grandchildren.

Jack

You have to admit Bowen Babies are Pretty Babies!!

And Just One More Thing .....................

This is my niece Kassy with Lexi.  She has been our best and most consistent helper since George's diagnosis.  The kids adore her and so do I.  Thanks Kassy.

Another Great Giveaway!!

These two blogs are joining for a totally awesome giveaway.  Go to one of the blogs and check it out.  Then enter.  (But don't win the stocking I'm going to win:) )

The Winner of the SMS Giveaway is...............

The Sew Mama Sew Giveaway was so much fun. I discovered a treasure trove of new blogs that I will continue to visit and I had more visitors to my blog than I could have imagined. Thanks to SMS for hosting the giveaway and giving us a chance to have so much fun right at our own computers. Can’t wait until the next one!!
We did this the Old Fashioned Way-- Thanks for your help Georgie!!

And the winner is...




Christy who said “I'm Grandma to a 3 year old train-aholic! Love the trains!! My heart and my prayers are with your grandson!

Congratulations Christy and... ThankYou to all that entered my giveaway or visited my blog.

The Great Giveaway --

  I’m so excited to have my firs t GIVEAWAY!!   Sew Mama Sew is having their annual Giveaway Day December 13^th.  Check out the blog:   http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=14170 for lists of participants and you may be a WINNER!!

Now ……………back to my giveaway.  

I will be giving:

1 package of Making Memories Fresh anthology 12x12 paper( 24 sheets) 

2 spools of ribbon for embellishment

1 package Photo Fun photo greeting cards w/envelopes (just add your favorite photo -- contains 8 cards)

1 Titan Needlecraft decorative silhouettes: A stamped Cross=Stitch Kit to make a stuffed 16” x 9” Bear

·         Includes fabric, thread, paperboard base, trim, and instructions

   

HOW TO ENTER:

It is simple -- check out my blog and leave a comment about your favorite entry.  (I just started my blog last month so you won’t have too much to read.)     Winner will be picked by random December 17^th and shipped December 20^th.  (Sorry I can only ship to the 50 states.)  Don’t forget to check back to see who the lucky winner will be.  Good Luck  Hope you enjoy my blog.  I hope to be adding tutorials in the near future so visit often.   Carol

Christmas 2009: The Year of the Lamps

     Every year at Christmas I try to make each of my three children something handmade.  Last year both boys were engaged and my daughter was married so I thought—hmmmm-- something for their homes.  I decided it should be a collaborative effort between my husband and me.  A Lamp!!  He made the lamp –I made the shade.  Of course, I covered the shade with felted wool and I made it personalized with the first initial of their surnames.  They all loved them.  My husband and I were pretty pleased ourselves.

A Few More Pins

Christmas Pins: Decorations for your Lapel

     Here are a couple of the pins I made from my wool scrap bag.  The patterns are my own.  They are all hand-stitched with DMC embroidery floss or perle cotton.  Each one ooak –I couldn’t make them exactly the same even if I tried, similar but not exact!! I think they’ll make a cute small gift for someone on my Christmas list.

Train Station: Another Nursery

When my first grandson was born I used large foam stamps and stencils to make a Noah's Ark themed room.  When my second grandson was born my daughter decided that his theme would be "trains."  I decided to go freehand with acrylic craft paint.  First I drew a line around the entire room and made that train tracks.  Then I painted trains (of course), a station and children and animals watching for the train to go by. Over the door frames I wrote "All aboard" and "Tickets Please."  My cows may not be "utterly" perfect, but they'll do.  (Sorry--so Sorry!!)
 

Babushka Doll

     I decided to make a babushka doll for a special someone for Christmas.  I searched the net for ideas and found a wonderful pattern at http://weefolkart.com/  I made the pattern about 10  inches tall, added a backing of wool felt and stuffed it. I also changed some of the doll's embellishments and embroidery.  I think she is adorable -- what do you think?

My Grandbabies

Our four year old --he was diagnosed with leukemia this year--but he really tries not to let it get him down.

The two boys -- a moment of brotherly love.

Can you tell he is a "stinker??"

Here she is -- our princess.

Making art.

Gotta love him!!

OK I've waited long enough.  Here are some pics of my favorite little people.  My three grandchildren.

Is That a Giraffe in your Room? A New Nursery!!

When my granddaughter was born I went to town fixing up her nursery.  She was going to collect giraffes --so I started with a life-size tree and 51/2 foot giraffe. 

The owl peeking out of the tree trunk is a favorite of my grandsons.

Birds and baby birds in a nest -- cute huh?

The boys painted the birdhouses and made the butterflies -- with Mommy's help.

The boys LOVE turtles so --here is the one I painted.

My oldest grandson really enjoys the goldfish pond at our home so he suggested I paint one for the nursery.

After two boys --this girl was going to be THE princess so I made a canopy for the crib.  It is carefully out of reach and may have to be removed when she gets bigger.

The bureau scarves are embellished with a flower.

A Pretty Room for A Beautiful Girl!!

Wool, Wool, Wool

      I love working with felted wool.  Some is new fabric, but much of what I use is repurposed and salvaged from thrift shops. I love the variety of textures and colors you can get when you recycle wool.  I haven't learned to overdye yet, but this may be the year:)  Most of the crafting I'm doing now involves wool and if it is big enough to trace a penny on -- I'll use it somewhere!! 

Santa Is Coming

     With Christmas right around the corner I've started making presents.  My goal is to make one thing, no matter how small, for each person on my Christmas List. 

Unbearably Cute Bear

     I  dressed this little bear with scraps from my wool felt basket.  Here she is with her flowery dress and  a rose in her "hair."  I think she is adorable and I hope my grandaughter will think so too!!

A Penny Saved
     I made several penny rugs for gifting:


Here are two plain three stacked penny rugs for two special ladies on Santa's List. Aren't the colors beautiful?   They measure approximately 10" x 10".  The pennies are 1 1/2 ",  1" and 1/2 inches.  To make the pattern for the "rug" part I cut a square or rectangle of freezer paper about 1/2 inch bigger than I want the finished rug to be.  Then I get something round to make the scallops.  You have to play around a little to make them even --but you can use this pattern quite a few times and trace it when you need a new one.  Iron the freezer paper on to your wool fel and cut!!  Pennies get nicer if you use freezer paper too, but if your pennies don't look perfect don't worry -- blanket stiching does wonders.  After cutting out the number of pennies I need I blanket stitch the smallest one to the medium sized one, the medium sized one to the large one, and the large one to the rug.  Then I cut a second rug and blanket stitch it to the completed rug to give the penny rug weight.  (To keep pennies from shifting while I stitch I use a small dab of Aleene's No-Sew Fabric Glue in the center of each penny . Caution:  Don't use too much or it will seep through to the top and do not use on the part you'll be sewing -- it is very difficult to get a needle through the dried glue.)

This is a longer version of the penny rugs above.  This one is 26 inches long and 11 inches wide.

This is one of my favorites.  Same general shape as the first ones, but the middle "penny" is cut in the shape of a flower and embroidery is added.  Cut two 1 1/2" pennies -- one black and one any color you want yor flower to be.  Then cut triangles out of the flower color to make the petals.

Ornaments
  These ornaments are from a kit by Rachel T. Pellman of Rachel's of Greenfield.  Of course after following general directions you make them one of a kind with special embellishments.  I added extra embroidery and beads to mine.  I still need to ad the hangers and some greens.  I'll take a picture when they are completely done.

Santa Clause is Coming
      These Santas are made from a pattern by All Through the Night--Folk Art Designs with a bit of Wimsy.  Each one is a little different.  I sewed mine by hand, but you can use a machine.  Love this pattern -- so simple but the results are very impressive -- don't you think?