junkin at goodwill

what good luck i had today at the local goodwill.
i collect wexford glass and found 8 water goblets.
a daisy candle ring for spring. it will be here before we know it.
picture frames for the girls to decorate. a mirror and a few other picture frames.
the battat doll was a nice surprise. Merry Christmas to me. i have never found an 18 inch doll in the goodwill.she has her original clothes but no shoes.she has had a haircut but it was a good one.

wool picture

i made this in 2007.wool felt on screen

memories

i don't know why this picture brings back childhood memories. it is the doll i think. she looks like a hoyer doll.
the day is getting closer and there is still much to do.

new picture

the top picture is of the front of the porch.
it was very cold but beautiful.

2008 fresh tree

i finally got the fresh tree decorated. poor thing was sitting there naked for 2 weeks.
it smells wonderful. this tree is decorated with a collection of hand made and vintage glass. it also has the bubble lights.

festival of trees

i helped a friend set up her beenie baby tree.
there are more trees on my webshots pages.
http://community.webshots.com/user/nana5111

moon close to the earth

i was told the moon is the closest now that it will be for over 50 years. some day i will have a better camera for night pictures.
it was so very bright and beautiful.

a partridge in a pear tree

There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me.
What in the world do leaping lords, French hens,
swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out
of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?
This week, I found out.

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were
not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone
during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.
It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning
plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each
element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality
which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.

-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.

-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.

-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.

-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.

-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.

-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.

-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.

-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.

-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.

So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish.'

snack mix.

this is a really good snack mix too.
3 cups rice chex cereal
3 cups corn chex cereal
3 cups cheerios
16 oz. jar dry roasted peanuts
12 oz pkg. m & m's
1 1/2 #'s white chocolate(almond bark)
measure all dry ingredients into a large bowl
melt white choc.,pour over dry mixture and blend well. pour onto cookie sheets to dry. break apart and store in covered container.

snack mix/peanut clusters

this is the best snack mix recipe.
6 cups bugles
6 cups nacho bugles
4 cups cheese its
3 cups mini pretzels
2 cups crispix cereal
2 cups cashews or mixed nuts
1 small pkg fish crackers
2 pkgs ranch dressing.
3/4 cup popcorn oil
put all in large roaster- stir.
sprinkle the dry dressing mix over all- stir. drizzle the popcorn oil on a little at a time stirring to coat mix. bake covered at 250 for 40-45 min stirring every 10 min.

tree entry

i entered one of my trees for the challenge on a yahoo group.it is no.4
all decorationgs on the tree except the roping are hand made. this tree is in the entry.
i did not have the rest of my trees up so i did not have a picture of our fresh tree to enter.
here is a place to vote.
http://www.scutterbear.com/index.cfm?content=140&Menu=34

susie mcmahon

this is a doll maker extrodinare.i do wish i could take a class from her.

www.susiemcmahondolls.blogspot.com

felt faces

i bought myself a christmas present off e-bay. what a fun time i will have after christmas designing a new body pattern.

more decorating pictures.

i have many trees. a few stay decorated and are just put in a large closet. lots of small trees. favorites are the vintage tisel trees and wreaths that are on the shelves above the coffee bar.
the other picture is the entry.the santa and elves i made years ago. they sit on an old school desk.

christmas decorating/baking/gifts

well i've started the christmas decorating. i am never done.the weeks fly by and the things i plan on getting done don't seem to get done. there are pictures on my webshots pages of the decorating i have done so far.the sled is tom's childhood sled.i painted it a couple of years ago.this stands by the front door.the shalk of wild grasses i gathered for the fall decorations but could not throw it out so i added a bow.the front porch decoratinons is pretty primative.
http://community.webshots.com/user/nana5111
sunday after church we delivered 2 of the christmas plates. i wanted our friends to be able to use the gifts for this holiday.they are easy gifts to do.the plates i have been gathering since fall gluing them onto chunky candle holders.these will also make a great bird feeder after christmas.
there are more to deliver but they will have baked goods on them.
yesterday i made a batch of pumpkin bread and a batch of pumpkin muffins.
i had purchased a real pumpkin to make the table center piece for the festival of tables. i didn't use it and hated to throw it away so i cooked it up and used fresh pumpkin in the bread and muffins. oh my what a difference it makes in flavor and texture.of course there are already missing muffins.oh so good warm.

mimi kirchner dolls and pin cushions

oh my goodness i found a site that i really love. the black doll and the tea cup pin cushions are wonderful.
i will have to try making some of the tea cups. thanks for the inspiration mimi.
http://mimikirchner.com/blog/

a special birthday

today is our sydney's birthday. she is 9 today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!!

beautiful snow in Iowa

I love the snow. we had our first measurable snow on sunday. it was beautiful. we drove through a couple of parks and took pictures. the pictures are color but they look black and white.
i will add a winter snow album to my web shots pages.
http://community.webshots.com/user/nana5111

friday

good morning,
we had an event on saturday. we had a mass celebration for a very special person. my mother in law passed away on tuesday. we did not always see eye to eye but she taught me many things in the 44 years i knew her. cooking. she was a fantastic cook and taught me a lot. no one could make potato salad the way grandma did. there were many times over the last few years we did not think she would be with us for long but she was like the energizer bunny she just kept going and going. she loved her gardens especially the hosta. the rose,in the picture was from the service. it is beautiful. she is not longer suffering and that is a blessing.

yesterday

i worked on santa pincushions and 2 christmas stockings.

festival of tables

what a great bunch of tables we had this year.
i have posted the pictures to my webshots pages. this picture was mine.
http://community.webshots.com/user/nana5111

cake plates

made from glass plates and chunky candle holders.i will fill them with baked goods or candles for christmas gifts. good for the vet or pastor etc.

44 years

good morning,
i thought i would share my flowers.
in 44 years my husband has not missed giving me roses on our anniversary, the 14th of nov.. i was in the floral business for a lot of years and even then he gave me roses. it is good for a florist to receive flowers.
bless his heart. he's a keeper.

ufo's

i have 7 dolls that i put the messy mix on yesterday. they will need sanding then another couple of coats of the mix and more sanding. then gesso and sanding.
then i get to do the fun part. giving them faces.
it is a cold dreary day.we are lucky so far and it is just rain. north of us it is freezing raining and snow. seems early for this but it is Iowa and it is close to winter. back in 1964 the weather was beautiful in the 60's and higher. i remember because i was married on the 14th of Nov. 1964 and for years that day held the record high for the date. we moved into this house on the 14th of November 1970.
how did so many years pass so fast?

repair

when you take a close up picture and post it to the pc you can see what needs to be repaired.there was a spot in the left eye and the line above the eye that needed repair.
she now can dry and i can dress her in a few days.

on to the 2nd doll

well since marcella needs time to dry i dug out another ufo. no name yet. she is a doll made from my same pattern as marcella only i added a paper clay face.
i have a basket of dolls i need to finish.some need sanded then gessoed.
some need the messy mix. i need to stay focused on these dolls.
this girls went through the flood and got dropped on her head.she did not break but had a crack that had to be repaired on the back of her head.she had been base painted. i finished her today. feels good.i will work on her clothes after she drys.

poor marcella

this morning when i went back to paint marcella i noticed a small dark mark just above her right eye.
i used my eraser to wipe off the paint to see what it was. oh my poor thing.i learned a lesson today.
always use the messy mix on every doll. the most important thing for me in doing a face is drawing exactly what i want before i paint. so i do a lot of erasing with a soft white eraser.
it works well but this time i erased to often and softened the gesso.i am glad to find out and did not just leave it. the face would have cracked for sure eventually and if i had sold her that would have been a disaster.
so her beautiful face will get sanded off and redone. she may even have a different name when she finally gets a face. and it was going so well.

marcella june

what a difference just a little movement makes.enough for tonight.
i will start again tomorrow.

marcella june

oh my--- i started painting a new doll. well actually she has been waiting for a face for a long time.
the nose is a bit to small and the mouth is to close to the nose.
having a picture on the pc makes it mush easier to see what needs to be changed.
i love oil painting dolls.the paint moves so well.

the cousins

we went to a 60th birthday party last night. the rain was freezing on the windshield but not on the roads thank goodness.
the party was for dh's first cousin diane.

pin cushion

i have started a new pincushion.it was inspired by one i saw on the crazy about pincushions list.
mine is made of wool, tapestry and linen. i am using the needles n thread tutorials to learn the stitches. thanks needles n thread. the beading does not show up it is on the stripe of lace it looks good in person. there are so many pin cushions i want to make and dolls to paint. i don't seem to get much done these days except housework,laundry, cooking and dishes.
i need to get busy on Christmas presents. with the tight economy i want to make as many gifts as i can.

emma my columbian wanabe

i made emma a year ago and love her still.
here she is dressed in her witches outfit.

columbian and a girl

columbian and a girl

someplace on the internet i found this picture.
it is old so i think it is ok to post it without copy right infringement.
i love the doll so much.
what an inspiration emma adams is to me and so may others.
helen pringle is my modern day inspiration.

fall decorations.

i have done some decorating on the porch.soon it will be time to put out the Christmas decorations.

first winter snow

we woke up to our first snow. hopefully it will be gone later today. we still have yard work to do.

pumpkin head doll

i have not made a doll in a long time and decided to do an on line challenge from one of my yahoo lists.she was fun and turned out cute.
the rabbit she is sitting on was a gift for our 20th anniversary.
we will celebrate our 44th on the 14th of this month. does not seem possible.

collecting for the festival

I love to stop at 2nd hand stores.I found several pieces in the last few weeks that just complete the table settings.The amber water /iced tea glasses and silverware were given to me through freecycle.org.
They are perfect.
I found a amber relish tray and candle holders at goodwill. Also perfect.
The dishes are from Hobby Lobby.It took 2 years to get the whole set i wanted.All at !/2 price.
I collect pumpkin things and have looked for a set of dishes with pumpkins on them for a long time.
The sheet was on sale as were the 2 table runners and the napkins.Yipee for me it all cost less than $10.00 for all.

the festival of tables

Well it is the time of year our local library has a fund raiser.They host a festival of tables.This year it will be Nov. 14th and 15th.
I did a practice set up today. My theme is A Pumpkin Fest.
The sheet I am using for an under table cloth needs to be pressed so just don't pay any attention to that. My pumpkin dishes are new. The rest is a mix and match of new and vintage.There are a lot of pieces to put on a 6 ft. table. It is not round like mine here at home. I think it will be a really fun table to do.
I went on line to see how i wanted to fold the napkins.The hat/crown style worked well. The spreader that has a pumpkin on the handle fits right into the little pocket the fold makes.

footed glass trays

i have been making footed glass tray from plates and things like glass candle sticks and other glass.
i glue the candle stick to the bottom of the glass plate and have a great gift plate for christmas giving. i will put home made cookies, breads and cakes on these plates.
this year i am hoping to make most of the christmas gifts.

bloging

i am hoping the more i do this the easier it will get.

pin cushions

it has been months since my last post.
i have made several pin cushions.
this takes so much time. time i would rather be using to do other things.

perhaps if i do this more it will not take so much time to find my way around. now i need to figure out how to post pictures again! ureeka!! i did it