Too Many Ideas..never enough time...

As Dorthy always says.."there's no place like home"....so, we safely returned from our trip to Arizona to drop off our daughter Emmi. It was great family time, beautiful scenery and lots of time to think about things I want to craft! I want to work on altering canvas for the month of December (a Christmas idea), work on having cards for every holiday and birthdays, start working on stamping on blank metal to make ornaments, work on some altered art ideas from things I bought a while ago and knit...and of course Halloween projects are an absolute MUST! I could go on, but it overwhelms me to even type out my ideas, much less do all of them with school lurking around the corner!

As for my vacation crafting plans, I did complete 4 knit washcloths, 4 pumpkins (need to be felted) and 5 coffee cuddle-rs on the trip in the rv..pretty pleased with myself. Photos of them need to be uploaded for you.

As I reflect on what I did and what I want to accomplish I find that if too much time goes by without the creation of something my mood starts to become a bit ugly (just ask that wonderful family of mine). I need the release of creating as well as completing something with my hands on a regular basis or I get frustrated. I need to list my ideas, inventory what I have and what I need and complete a timeline for these crafts. Although I am fully aware that the craft police do not keep a careful watch over me, more realistically I find comfort in being organized even in my processing of my projects..make sense?

As for now I must organize the craft goods I bought as we traveled the Southwest...and make my master list because there will be much happiness in the land when I go to Milwaukee next week and I get to go to HOBBY LOBBY!! I ADORE THAT STORE!! 3 hours to wander and take in all the wonderfulness is just waiting around the corner for me.....I feel like a kid and can hardly wait!

As for now, no more computer, more crafting and organizing..

Toodles,
Lola

Knitting for the RV

As we prepare to take Emily to ASU I have tried to think of things I can do while traveling in the RV, because just sitting without crafting just does not work for me!! As much as I would love to take my altered art or card making (which I have had some good ole' fun doing this week), it just would not be practical..much sadness!
So, I thought that it would be a good time to work towards my favorite season AUTUMN. I always make some sort of pumpkins and hand them out like candy to friends. My tradition is to create a new pumpkin every year and add it to our family's personal pumpkin patch (we have about 12 different ones)I set out. It is so funny that my son Chris is always waiting for me to show him the latest and greatest pumpkin to be added to the patch every year. This year... (drum roll please) knitted and felted pumpkins have made the cut. I will try to just use orange and green yarn on my

stash to create them because that is the fun part. In years past I head to the thrift store and buy old clothes to support how and what I will make the pumpkins out of...so this year that will not be part of my process. Its always hilarious to see how adorable I can make them for a very small amount of $$$$. Also some of my people just can not believe what I come up with..(smile of joy)
I know some of you are thinking "it seems early to be thinking about Fall", but as far as I am concerned, it is NEVER to early to think of pumpkins, apples, falling leaves, cool weather and blue as blue can be skies!
Off I go to hunt for pumpkin patterns and orange and green yarn...wish me luck!

Tootles
P.S. Start thinking about the "treats" you will be creating this year !!
Lola

Successful Crafting..

We had a blast yesterday crafting!! Callie did some beautiful pages of her wedding for her scrapbook. She also made a wonderful homemade wedding cake out of paper that was precious! I really appreciate Callie and her caring heart. She is not as talkative as I am (but then who can be when they can not get a word in hee,hee) but totally has a 6th sense about people and events. She is one of those people who kinda sits back and watches what is going on and then when she needs to will add her opinion. She is also an awesome mom to her son and 2 stepdaughters and (very exciting) is expecting a little one in Feb!! Love it when friends are expecting..showers to plan, crafts to be made and blankets to be knit. I already had 3 baby washcloths and a baby hat knit up for her..which I HAD to give to her because I can NEVER wait for surprises.

Then there was Michelle..who keeps me laughing all the time. She is so talented at card making and so creative that I always have to borrow her stamps, ideas and even paper sometimes. Now this lady is so much fun to be around because she just does not know how funny she REAAALLLY is! She has her own lingo and her tone of voice that just makes me tinkle in my pants from laughing so hard! Emmi had her as a teacher for Robotics and to this day absolutely loves her and her teaching style (although kids loving her as a teacher is no surprise)!

As for me, I did a lot of talking and some card making. Would love to show you photos of the cards (really cute 3x3 cards), but my hubbie took my camera to Camp for the week. Here he is with Chris the morning they left..aren't they cute looking so official! That's all for now ..

Tootles!
Lola

A Craft day....slice of heaven

I have been waiting for another craft day with the gals..and finally it is here. Although I should be getting ready for the Brytowski Family Vacation (think of Griswald's in National Lampoon's Vacation), I needed some emotional release. Some people exercise, some people cook, while others watch movies, my outlet is 100% crafting. When I am creating the stress leaves my body and relaxation just sets in. I also am so excited to see what other people are doing with their creativity..always fun to share ideas. I enjoy preparing the menu too when people come over. I will be serving walking tacos, cherries from the Farmers Market (will post those photos from Saturday later this week), blackberries, Aunt Trudy's snack mix, cookies, cheese and crackers and a variety of beverages. We all just sit around work on our projects, munch, laugh and share ideas..life with good friends is a pleasure everyone should indulge in often! Will let you know about all people are working on later...

Tootles for now....
Lola

P.S. Made the pesto, kinda made up my own recipe and served with whole wheat pasta..yum yum !