Halloween

We did way too much Trick-or-Treating. We had a “Trunk-or-Treat” in the church parking lot one night. Then they opened up Barry’s office building for parading costumed children. And, of course, we had to go through the neighborhood on the real Halloween night.

Brenna and Jonah did sketches and decided they wanted to be a cat and a mouse.

They made their noses and whiskers.

Trick or Treat!

in a while

First of all, I needed to post a better image of my stamped stamps I made with my tools from my back tack buddy. So, here it is. Sorry about the bad lighting yesterday.

And…

I need to take a break. I’m just too caught up in my little crafty blog world, and I’m realizing that it isn’t the best thing for me. The computer is always here and always on and it has become so habitual to just make a few clicks to see if there’s anything new on Wee Wonderfuls or Angry Chicken. There is nothing inherantly wrong with that, but I spend too much time thinking of all the things I want to make, or feel bad that I didn’t make that cute doll first, or just wish I had time to make things as cool as this blog girl or that…

So, I’m not going to let myself check blogs for the next week or two. And that means no posts here either. After that, I’m going to just make one post a week– or just post one day a week (there may have to be a few posts, all in different categories). I just need to spend my time on other things– to serve at church (where the group of women I lead has been rearranged and has grown from about 80 sisters to over 200), to recommit to my orderly house routines, to making my own art with my own ideas…

Anyway, I hope I come back refreshed and renewed in a couple of weeks. Wish me luck!

over and out

Well, school today was “watch mom cut.” I put my new tools from Margie to work and made some stamps. We’ve had little wrens in the japanese maple right out of our dining room window. They are so cute with their tails straight up. I love having a yard with trees. I love my dining room window. I love the wrens and cardinals and chickadess and gold finches and other feathered visitors just as we sit at our kitchen table. Oh, yeah, stamps– that’s what this is about. I made some wrens, and of course, some bunnies. It’s fun to be a printmaker again, even if it is just stamps and not anything glorious and artsy. I need more ink colors. As much as I love brown, it’s just not doing it for me here.

So, back tack II has come full circle for me. I made a bag and craft kit, I received a bag and craft tools, I sent a bag, and I used my tools. What a fun game to play!

back tack– on its way to CA

I’ve had the bag done for quite a while, but collecting and crafting the goodies inside concluded Monday, and today I was able to steal some time with good lighting to take pictures.

The bag is pretty simple in its construction. It’s made of some thrifted wool fabric that I felted (the technical term for “washed it in hot water so it would shrink”) and lined with Amy Butler Charm fabrics. There’s also a little pouch made to match the lining, and both have rug flower pins to add some fun.