Category: memory keeping

I’m a Hooker!

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Ok, I know I have used that line before, but it is true! Mom and I started hooking about 3 years ago and finished our first Halloween themed rug this fall. Well, Mom did. As I was working on the last hooks on Christmas Eve, Dad noted I was on the wrong holiday. I have to bind the rug yet but need to find the right shade of black wool yarn first.

The next day, I received inspiration from a Christmas gift to Jim’s Mom from his sister Sue. Sue is a quilter. She used a design from Kimberbell designs. You are not tipsy, I must have moved as I was taking the photo so it is blurry.

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I traced the squares onto copy paper the good ole fashioned way by putting the quilt on a window. Wrote down the widths and I have a pattern!

Transposing it all to burlap using a wide, black sharpie and Dad’s squares creates a canvas to hook on.

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A mix of new and recycled wools will be cut into strips which are “hooked” in the burlap holes.

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After a few days of hooking in between doing other things…

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The loops up close. Yes, every one is hand hooked by me. A slow process for sure. Lots of time for paper crafting designs to swirl around in my head while I hook.

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Mom decided to wool applique the same pattern but selected different wools. We hope to finish a block a month for our own Block of the Month Club. You can hear me laugh out loud (yes, I just typed it all out instead of using LOL), because our first rug took so long and this is pretty close to the same size.

I’ll share our progress and eventually the completed Halloween themed rug!

What other hobbies do you enjoy besides paper crafting?

Super Awesome Stamper Shirley

Lucky 13 Super Awesome Stamper!

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Tiffany is lucky number 13 to join my Super Awesome Stampers Team! She mentioned being able to select new catalog product in her starter kit as a reason she signed up! Stampin’ Up!’s current June promotion allowing new demonstrators to add any 2 stamp sets free to their starter kit probably helped too!

Want to know how I would support you as a member of my team? Leave me a comment to get the conversation started.

Stampin’ Up! offers compensation too. Follow this link to read about that.  Then click join now if you are ready to sign up. If it asks you for a demonstrator, search for my name to join the Super Awesome Stampers Team!

Thanks for considering the demonstrator opportunity with me today!

Weekend Getaways – a space to create

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So when you don’t travel well on an airplane (that’s me, poor young guy next to me on the way to Utah for convention just felt bad for me, tummy just does not sit right on planes even when it is empty!), travel by car is best.

A short 30 minute drive takes me and my paper crafting supplies to Cattail Retreat in Poynette. A lucky seven other crafters join me for a Weekend Getaway! We each get our own table to spread out our supplies for the entire weekend. Cleaning off your work space before starting another project is optional since it is your table to use as you wish for the weekend!

I am taking advantage of my time without puppy care duties by hosting one weekend a month starting in July and ending in October at Cattail Retreat.

A unique pillow gift awaits you…this one was for the last retreat…

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and a make-n-take will help inspire you. Food is coordinated potluck by pairing up with another person to provide 1 meal for the entire weekend! Sounds like you would like to join us? Leave a comment to start the conversation.

Looking forward to seeing what you create at my next Weekend Getaway!

Update: Here is the link to the Cattail Retreat website. Dates, pricing and fine prints are listed there. Thanks!

 

Fun Fridays – The Dill, The Dog and The Toads

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As I was weeding eliminating the toad habitat aka the dill patch, I thought this might make a fun, Fun Fridays post. Of course this thought came to me towards the end of the eradication and the toads were nowhere to be found for a photo op.

The toads keep me company now that Spencer is gone. He use to circle the plots since they are fenced to keep small critters including himself out. Never to early to check for his favorite – green beans! We can safely say that dill was not his favorite. In fact, if he was being sassy, we would show him a sprig of dill and he would calm down quickly and retreat to his nap mat for some regrouping.

I saved a large jar of dill and used about 2 teaspoons in a pull apart recipe. Never fear, more fresh dill will grow along the edges of the garden. Just enough shade for the toads under the wood board shelter that keeps them cool and the garden dirt contained.

So this is how paper crafts are weaved into the Dill Edition. Buns nicely packaged to take a few to my sister:

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I should have edited my watermark to say “baked by.” HaHa!

I bake my own buns and created a quick digital layout to share the process. My Pampered Chef stoneware is a trusty friend on baking day:

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And the paper crafts:

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The stamp sets Wild About Flowers and Gifts from the Garden, the garden green ink pad, 1 1/2 inch circle punch and paper snips are still current. Cello bags have changed size in the new catalog but we still have them! I used a few recently retired products (washi tape punch, Cherry on Top DSP and clothespin) while I await my first order from the new catalog. I’ll share the unboxing when I get it!

Hope you enjoyed the Dill, the Dog and the Toads! Have a nice weekend!

 

Call for OnStage Display Board Stampers – Pick Me! Haha!

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Stampin’ Up! is throwing a party across the globe for demonstrators on November 4th and 5th. It is called Onstage! Madison will host demonstrators from the mid-west United States. I’ll be there! The home office is calling for display board stampers and requested that we create a blog post sharing our best work. So here is what I have compiled for their review.

For the scrapbook category celebrating Mom’s favorite holiday:

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For the 3-D category sharing swag treat boxes for Convention at My House attendees (blog post link here):

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Second entry for the 3-D category is Mary’s Remembrance Card (blog post link here):

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The card category has 3 entries starting with the WOWSA card for my sister Tricia’s debut demonstrator party:

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Care Giver cards. Yes, we use to sell the beagle stamp! All the products are current or vintage Stampin’ Up! Check back next week for details about this card.

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My WOWSA swap at the November Onstage 2015 Local event is the last entry:

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It is appropriate that these samples stood out when I was browsing my files. My Mom started us on this stamping journey almost as long ago as when Stampin’ Up! was first started. My sister Tricia said just as long ago, there is this new hobby called scrapbooking, maybe I should try it. My Super Awesome Stampers Team is fun to share with. I recently inherited a stamp collection from Jim’s sister Mary. Our beagle Spencer would greet stamping guests and was a central part of my business. He loved every design I did! And the cat card, well, the pattern looked like cats to me so that is how I came up with the cat design.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my best and most treasured work. I enjoyed sharing it with you! I am sending it up to stamping karma that I am picked to be an Onstage 2016 Display Board Stamper!

Thanks for stamping with me today!