A Fanciful Twist

Back to Reality...

Everyone here is traumatized.

October is over, and it is now November.

October is over?

Wha???

So, it's been sort of hard to have to come back to reality.

You know.

Pumpkins turn back into frog princes...

Mushrooms sprout in the bell jar.

The norm ;)

Oh Ribbit, don't make that face.

You can be a lil' punkin again next year.

We're sipping tea for our nerves...

What nerves?

I dunno.

Why nerves?

I dunno.

You know, that Christmas is everywhere really really fast maybe.

We love love love Christmas.

Love it to pieces galore.

More than galore.

But for some reason, the rush of it on November 1st makes us all...

Jittery.

Stomach butterfly-ee and nervous.

No rhyme or reason.

Maybe the reality of time passing like, more than a snap.

Like, crazy fast.

Do you feel like that?

I know Mombie has her tree up already.

Not decorated, but up and getting ready to be decorated.

I for one, stayed up way too late last night, so for me...

It's still zombieville.

I just want to stare at the dreamkeeper in the mirror across the room.

From my squishy happy bed.

Even though she is right next to me.

I always stare, daring her to move her head, or say something.

Daring her to wink at me.

Of course, she only hums softly at night.

What I really want to do, is cuddle under the great wall of blanket.

And I will, just as soon as I leave here, me thinks :)

As you may know.

I have been crocheting this blanket for 7 years...

It is sooooo big, and soooooooooo heavy.

It could fit a triple king size bed by now.

But guess what?

This is my first time ever using it.

Ever, in 7 years.

It is getting quite chilly in the late/early night/morning.

And so, I decided to tie it off, and use it.

Gulp.

I found some comfort in having an ongoing project as such.

But instead of adding to it for 7 more years, I think I'll just start a new one.

I am loving using it.

Like, heart exploding with joy, loving.

It is a tinge wonky shaped. 

Like a giant rectangle gone mad, due to all the different winging it weaves.

You can't really tell when it is on the bed.

But the one thing is that...

I have parts of it that I love for different reasons.

Like my cookie monster meets big bird section.

I love that space.

There is such giddy pleasure in making yourself something usable, isn't there?

My heart skips a beat when I pull my blanket up to my chin.

And it makes me all warm.

And I open my eyes to it on bright brisk mornings.

I would be so proud of myself if I could make a quilt.

But I can't.

Can I?

I am not sure I can sit still long enough to cut 10 million squares out, and sew them together.

If you have ever made a quilt, I think you are a rock star.

I want to make one.

I have to get in a quilt zen brain mood I think, if I even want to consider such a thing.

For now...

I think I will give myself the rest of the evening off.

I stayed up until 1 a.m. roasting and pureeing a HUGE fairytale pumpkin.

(+ straining the liquid out)

Then I got up to make pumpkin breads at 6 a.m. for a friend.

But I missed her, and didn't get to gift them.  Sadness.

Mister Lovee is happy to munch though.

So that is grand ;)

Only I am zombified now.

By the by, we had such a wonderful Halloween feast, followed by a scary movie...

And glowing drinks...

That I forgot to take hardly any photos.

For shame.

We enjoyed our tonic water and lemon lime Hansen's sodas a ton.

I made caramel corn.

We had grilled salmon, buttered rustic potatoes, caramelized carrots.

Then we watched Los Ojos de Julia.

No trick or treaters in sight.

Darn.

Not that Matty would have been having any of that.

Ghosts and goblins screeching trick or treat would have put him right over the edge.

Right into full blown werewolf.

For sure.

Anyhow.

Off I go to see how the wartlings are doing ;)

 

Love, Vanessa

 

 

 

Crochet Sunday & Mad Tea Party Thoughts

I am still doing a lot of this...

Trying to get myself to feel better.

I think I might need a detox after all those meds because I am feeling yuckety yuck.

Any ideas?

Tomorrow I am going to start eating raw food again.

(raw was off the list for a few days)

I have had lettuce and apples.

But nothing more complicated than that in the raw fruit/veg dept.

I am dying for the hugest salad ever, ever, ever!

And huge oranges and lemons!

So far, no hives again.

Fingers crossed.

The doctor thinks it was really an isolated incident.

But could happen again with exposure to whatever it was.

What, who knows?

In the meantime, I am taking it easy as I can.

Sitting still is so hard for me.

Luckily my body feels sort of rotten (dizzy, headache, stomach pain, body achy), so I have to sit still.

(par for the course after the meds, I am told)

I am not good at not feeling good I guess?

But who is?

Life is grand, could be a lot worse.

I am not complaining.

I am just happy I have not had a hive relapse.

So so so so so so so so happy.

I am almost afraid to be too happy about it, just in case :)

I am watching deep sea tales (love that).

While I twist and turn yarn.

I just invent as I go.

My grandma always told/tells me to just try different stitches, which she taught me.

And, to invent and try other things.

Which is what I do.

I am so sorry I don't have a pattern or tips.

I have tried to read those crochet books, which look like a foreign language to me.

I am not good with that sort of thing.

It's like cooking.

A dash of this, a sprinkle of that.

I have no clue what the recipe is most of the time.

I also stitched the flowers together, and will add more as I make them.  I guess I will end up with a crude blanket/throw of some sort, I think?

The tip I can give, sounds like this...

(Which will make no sense I am sure, unless you crochet and wing it too)

Make a chain of about 10 links, close it up, then make loops that are 5 links each and loop about 7 of those into your closed circle chain (petals if you will).  Keep inventing stitches, and going around, adding more loops.  Longer chains for loops, and on and on as it grows.

Trying different stitches each time around for fun.

This is my fave thing to do at bed time.

(Oh boy, I just re-read that, sounds like gibberish)

My stitches so are not technically sound in any way.

Guess what?

My hydrangeas are turning pink.

I think my soil must be low on the aluminum sulfate, or whatever makes them blue.

:)

So they are sort of turning lavender and pink.

I wish they stayed blue.

But, pink is good too.

I also brought in the first zinnia of the season.

Zinnias in my garden always mark a change to come.

Means...

Spring is gone for sure, and summer flowers begin their party....

Alsooooo,

About the Mad Tea Party.

It will be...

Our 5th annual one in fact!

I have gotten lots of questions about this lately.

It is so exciting isn't it??

Please don't worry...

As soon as I know that I am going to be 100%, and have a few more days of no hives, I will think of a good date.

We normally have it at the end of June, but this year due to everything that has happened, we'll have it a little bit later in summer, okay?

Does that sound like a plan?

We can't miss a Mad Tea Party.

That would be too tragic ;)

OKay soooooo,

I need to put my head down, woozy woozy.

Oh!

Look who has been asking to be brushed.

He will bring you his brush if you ask for it.

And now, he brings it to you if he feels he needs to be brushed.

He loves to be brushed.

This is about 5 times a day :)

Fluffer nutter!

If that doesn't make a person smile, then I don't know what will?

Furry horrible brush, tee heeee.

(he destroyed his other brush last week)

All the while his little big brother Matty catches creatures...

(if Matty sees you with the brush he runs away)

On the hunt.

Sigh....

Matty is still on medicine but doing much better.

I know it is odd that we both got sick around the same time.

But it was totally different and coincidental.

Miles is snoring on my toe.

I'll be back soon, I hope!

 

Love, V

 

 

Let's get Crafty with Yarn and Fabric Bracelets - Part II

Soooo, after my Part I post of crafting yarn bracelets, I sort of felt bad (inherent guilt, I know).  Why you ask?  Because well, I know not everyone has 5,000 empty tape rolls.  So, this morning I stole one of Mister Lovee's cereal boxes, and tested an idea...

You might know that I love crafting with cereal box cardboard.  It's easy to cut, accessible & perfect for crafting with.

As I was cutting up a box, I was marveling at how many bracelets you could really get out of one box.  Depending on your size, you could probably have about 10.  Isn't that fantastic?

Cut out cereal box strips to your desired width.  Then, trim to fit whatever size wrist you would like, and wind some strong tape (I prefer packing tape, but masking will work too) around your seam. (overlap your seam a little bit)

I suggest using the inside matte cardboard side of your box, as your outside bracelet, rather than the glossy printed on side.

I suspected that if you started with a base of yarn wound around the cardboard, you would have a fairly sturdy bracelet to work with.  It worked!

 Of course, it isn't as firm as the tape rolls.  But, in some curious way, I have to admit, I like the cereal boxes better, because they have this feel when you are done, of being mostly textile.  Which I love.

Easy as pie.

And now, you don't have to scour the earth for empty tape rolls ;)

I have made two with this new base method so far...

Yes, I am addicted. 

You knew I would spiral, didn't you?

;)

I decided to use up some scraps of ribbon and fabric that I had this time around...

Mister Lovee is crazy about these.

He can't believe that I am going to give these two away...

In fact...

You might get to own one...

Aren't these fun?

No glue, no mess.

Use up all your craft scraps, and...

You get something extra pretty and fun, and original too!

As for these two, leave me a howdy in the comment section, and I will choose two names in a couple of days, to gift these to.  First name drawn will choose whichever one they want...

A little Friday fun.  I will pick two names in a couple of days.

Also, do share if you make one.  I can't wait to see.  If you'd like, I'll share your creation here.

Fun fun!

Happy weekend!!!

 

Love, V

 

 

 

ps:  Loving Charlotte Martin's recent album...

 

pss:  I have had Bizarre Love Triangle in my head all summer.  Teenage memories (thank goodness that the remaining members of Joy Division created New Order, as their songs were a huge part of my teens).  In fact, Charlotte Martin does a beautiful cover of "Bizarre Love Triangle" that I listen to all the time.  I picked it up on iTunes.

Fanciful Frills {Let's get Crafty with Yarn Bracelets!}

My evenings have been filled with yarn, and ribbons and fabric pieces these days.  Crocheting, weaving, listening to audiobooks.  All the yarn and fabric bits, combined with me always wearing my empty packing tape rolls when I am working on orders, led me to come up with an idea.

A simple, fun and pretty idea, that I had to share with you...

I am sure that if your are crafty, and/or crochet or knit, you might have that little bit of yarn left, that is too small of an amount to do anything much with.  In fact, I have 1 and 2 yard pieces of some of my favorite yarn.  Not enough to make a scarf, but just enough to roll into a little ball and save.

As I was packaging orders this week, and wearing an empty roll of packing tape, I thought, I should wrap these empty tape rolls with all those pretty yarns and fabrics I have leftover, and make bracelets.  So, I painted a few empty tape rolls with one messy coat of acrylic paint...

As soon as they dried, I started wrapping them.

I instantly felt an addiction coming on...

Of course, once I got started, I wanted to use lots of different textile loves.  I thought this was just perfect due to no glue, no mess, easy and yay. 

A great crafty gift too.  Holiday summer making.  Something I always want to do, and don't.

I figured out that wrapping each bracelet in 24 inch increments works really well.  So, I cut a piece of about 24" yarn, tied it to the roll, leaving a first end, and then wrapped the yarn around.  I did this until I had about a 2" end left, and then tied that end to my first end.  I repeated that until I had wrapped the whole roll.

I left the ties on the outside, which made tassels in a way.  I liked it, especially since I planned on tying all sorts of yarn to the bracelet once my initial wrapping was complete.

As soon as I wrapped the whole bracelet in teal yarn, I took bits of other fave yarns, and tied them wherever I wanted.  I didn't want a uniform look.  I wanted a sort of mermaid seaweed look...

Easy, and so fun!

It's almost too fun, I am so hooked now it isn't even funny.

I think, making usable things, with recycled materials no less, is beyond fulfilling.  Especially when you make something you can gift or wear yourself.

I decided to make a super soft red one.  I was going to make it sort of gypsy.  I still want to sew little coins and bits and baubles to it.

Super soft.

Yummy!

I wrapped other colors and textures of yarn around it.  It is so cozy to wear too.

Like I said, I can't wait to sew all sorts of baubles on to the red one.  I think that will look super fun, don't you?

As I was winding yarn around the red bracelet, I felt a Marie Antoinette inspired piece coming on.  With lace and such...

I am making another one with fabric strips.  Seriously though, you will get hooked on this if you try it.  It is way fun.  Imagine all the things you can add to these?  The ideas are endless...

Buttons, keys, watch faces, feathers, ribbons, millinery flowers, petals, glitter, stones, beads... Anything!

As I was in a mind explosion of thoughts, I had the best idea yet, for me at least.

You see, I have bunches of brooches that I rarely wear, but love.  I have some really special antique ones, that I sometimes pin on a necklace or charm bracelet.  Since, we can't always wear a coat or sweater in Arizona.

However, the bestest thing about these bracelets is that, since you have wrapped them with yarn or fabric, you now have a place to attach your brooches onto.

I would put in a tiny needle & thread stitch or two, just so your brooch doesn't open and get lost.  But other than that, I think this has hooked me even more...

I pulled out my favorite antique brooches, and I thnk that they worked really lovely on these...

I didn't even intend to make bracelets that went perfectly with brooches I had.  It just worked out that way.  These are some of my favorite brooches, that I would never part with, and always want to use more... 

And now I will.  Do you have brooches you would like to use this way as well?

I am really excited.

I am inspired to make some of these, of course, not using my very beloved brooches, but other trinkets and treasures, for Christmas gifts.

I can't wait to wear this one...

The other thing I like, is to push my bracelets up high on my arm.  And these work in that manner also.

I am really looking forward to making more of these with all of my extra yarn and ribbons.  And plus, getting to wear my brooches to boot.  That makes me extra happy.

I have been evening crocheting a lot lately (before bed), listening to really good audiobooks that I purchase on Itunes, and feeling the spirit of the holiday season urging me to make some gifts now, so that the season doesn't slap me in the face, in the height of it.

The thing is, I am one of those people that loves to be in the moment of the season I am in.  I get a smidge annoyed when I see all the Christmas items in the shops in August.  Yet, as I get older, time goes faster, and I suppose I should try to get organized during these hot summer days.  Plus, being in the art/retail/wholesale world, you almost have to be prepared for autumn in May.  In fact, I had an autumn inspired deadline 2 months ago, and a holiday/winter inspired deadline this month.  And, I did enjoy it.

But, what really shocks me is that it is the end of July. 

Can you believe it?

I decided a while back to just succumb to age and time, and all that.  But, it still goes by shockingly fast.  Doesn't it?

Well, I best be off.

 I have paint on a palette.

I would love to see your bangles if you try this.

Love, V