My Country Tis of Thee

I can hardly believe it's the last day of July. Summer is flying by~and with it the Celebration of Our Country on July 4th. To help us celebrate the 4th this year I made this banner. It's made out of my very favorite material, "felted wool". I already had my white wool felted, so I took some red and blue wool from my stash that I had collected and I "felted" it. Then I started cutting everything out and putting it together. I was running out of time to get it completed by the 4th so my dear husband joined in and helped me make the pendants. And then he hung it up for me.

I love working with felted wool it feels "meaty" as if your working with something substantial and not wimpy. And when layered it looks even better. It turned out just as I had hoped. Except that I possibly should have made it a little larger.

Let us live in such a way so that, "God Can Bless America"!

And now on to August :)

Felted Wool Embroidery Keeper

I have recently finished my "Embroidery Keeper". I love it. Now I have most of my "tools" all in one place, ready to pick up and embroidery whatever project I'm working on. It was also the second time I had ever "felted my own wool". It was a fun project.

And here it is opened to reveal all the little compartments. The pocket on the far left is to hold the embroidery floss. In the middle portion is a pocket to hold the scissors, a pocket to hold a pen or pencil for any tracing that's needed and then there is a pin cushion. On the far right is a removable needle keeper and the heart below has two little pocket areas to hold incidentals. Here I have some buttons in it.

In this picture I've opened the needle keeper so you could see inside.

And here I've taken the scissors out to show that I added a plastic covering to the bottom of the scissors because it kept snagging on the wool as I would put it back in the pocket. Finally I decided to take the covering off of a pair of tweezers and put it on the bottom of my scissors and it worked perfectly. No more catching on the fabric. I bought the pattern from Crab Apple Hills Studio, I really had fun working on it. I am also making one for my sister with a pink wool inside lining. I can't wait to finish it so I can send it to her. We are both working on a quilt from Crab Apple Hills and it has alot of embroidering on it. It seems that embroidery is making a come back...:) So try it, you'll like it.

The Blessings of Industry...

Industry defined:

Habitual diligence in any employment, either bodily or mental;
Steady attention to business;
Assiduity;
Opposed to sloth and idleness.
We are directed to take lessons of industry from the bee.
Industry pays debts, while idleness or despair will increase them.

There is a story that goes like this: Charles Schwab, one of the first presidents of Bethlehem Steel Company, once inquired of efficiency expert Ivy Lee: "If you can give us something to pep us up to do the things we know we ought to do, I'll gladly pay you anything within reason you ask."

"Fine." answered Lee. "I can give you something in two minutes that will step up your 'doing' by at least fifty percent." "All right," said Mr. Schwab. "Let's have it." Mr. Lee handed Mr. Schwab a blank sheet of note paper and said: "Write down the six most important tasks you have to do tomorrow and number them in the order of their importance. Now, put this paper in your pocket and the first thing tomorrow morning look at item one and start working on it until it is finished. Then tackle item two in the same way; then item three and so on. Do this until quitting time."

"Don't be concerned if you have only finished one or two. You'll be working on the most important ones. The others can wait. If you can't finish them all by this method, you couldn't have with any other method either; and without some system, you'd probably not even have decided which was the most important." "Do this every working day."

"After you've convinced yourself of the value of this system, have your men try it. Try it as long as you wish and then send me a check for what you think it is worth." A few weeks later Mr. Schwab sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000 with a letter saying the lesson was the most profitable he had ever learned. In five years, this plan was largely responsible for turning the unknown Bethlehem Steel Company into the biggest independent steel producer in the world. And it helped to make Charles Schwab one hundred million dollars.

I like this plan--I think its simple and to the point--obviously in the home it will look a little different, but the principle is the same. What ever your working on stick with it until its done. Even if it overlaps into the next few days (or weeks-or months) depending on the project.

I have numerous projects that I am working on in all different categories. Some of these categories are; collecting and felting my own wool-quilting-embroidery-sewing-cooking-knitting-crocheting-scrap booking-geneology-writing books about my children-A wall of history with time line-decorating-gardening etc. I am finding if I apply this principle to my projects list, first choosing 6 projects that I would like to have completed and then begin working on the first one for a set amount of time each day while in between I do all the other things that are needful for that day--meals, laundry-phones for the business etc. I am seeing success with accomplished projects. The next day I pick up where I left off the day before on my project. Almost all my projects are rather lengthy and will take considerable time to complete (even years). That just seems to be the way I like doing things. A little twist on this is that I also rotate my 1-6 priority list and may work on say, knitting for one day and maybe the next day I need to step away from it and then I may pick up project 2 embroidering an embrodiery envelope holder made from felted wool. And depending on the length of the project I may have 1 or more wonderful things completed by the end of the week or by the end of the month.

But either way the power is in the "finishing". Finishing what we start can never be praised enough. Because its then that we feel and see the "fruits of our labors". Very rewarding!!!

Some one once asked a famous designer to finish this question;
-The only thing I know for sure about the creative process is ......
(his answer)-"People spend a lot of time talking too much about it rather
then getting on and doing it".

Industry, in praise of our hands for the ability to create, to work, to serve.......:)

Knitting! I think I can, I think I can.

Fun! Fun! Fun!

I came across this pattern on Martha Stewart's site. I loved it instantly and wanted to try it for myself. So I dug right in and with help from a knitting book and many questions typed into Google (ex: How do I cast on? How do I knit? How do I Pearl or Purl ?(I've seen it spelled both ways? How do I increase???... and on and on ) I was on my way. About 15 or 16 hours later (I saw one site where a woman had made it in 3 hours) I am the proud owner of a neck scarf. I'm sure, now that I know how to knit a little I will be able to make the next one much faster?

Happy Knitting:0)

Scrapbooking

Wow!!! I was on "blog-rest" for a long time~

I really did have all kinds of fun things to share, but excuse #1 my son Morgyman borrowed my camera for a ten day trip back east in June and somehow I just didn't pick it up again until now.
Partly because the SD card was completely filled and we never got around to transferring the pictures. So now I have a new SD card all to myself.

Sooooo, I thought I would share a little craft I did last night for scrapbooking. It has many, many flaws. With practice I will get better~and with the right tools. I got this idea off of Martha Stewart. I love it, the picture is clip art that my sister Angela had sent to me years ago. I just slipped it in for now. When I make my next one I will of course have a family members picture in the frame and then it will go into one of my scrapbooks.

P.S. Don't you love the dragonfly brads? I sure do:)

~A thing of beauty is a Joy Forever~

I find that the happiest days are creative days:~)

Faux Milk "Naturally" Delicious

Almond "Milk" Mmmmm, Mmmmm, good :)

Actually the label on this antique milk bottle is a little deceptive when it comes to people who are milk intolerant like me. It really should say "Be Wise, DO NOT drink cows milk." I use to drink lots of milk in my teenage years and into my early twenties. I was having a lot of pain in my stomach and intestines, but did not associate it with drinking milk. After all, milk is a bodies best friend, right???

Finally I went to see a specialist who quickly determined that I was highly allergic to milk and milk products. Sigh !!! I was also an ice cream fanatic what was I to do now? Well, I promptly quit drinking milk, I was amazed that all the pain I had had for years disappeared in about a weeks time.

During that time Tony came across a book called Fit for Life (recipe is also in The American Vegetarian Cookbook--See side bar). In it I found a recipe for something called Almond Milk, it seemed completely foreign to me at the time. I decided to try it. Well needless to say I am still making it twenty-three years later. I love it. And the picture below shows everything you need to make it.

• 1 cup of raw almonds
• 4 cups of water (I use RO water or alkaline water)
• 1 to 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup (optional)(I never add the maple syrup)
• a simple blender or Vita-Mix
• one medium-size fine strainer
• cheesecloth to line the strainer (optional)
• a large bowl
• a container with lid, for storage

Blanch 1 cup of raw almonds by placing them in 1 cup boiling water. Allow them to stand until the water has cooled slightly, and then peel off skins, or prepare milk with unblanched almonds. (Milk from blanched almonds will be slightly whiter in color and smoother in consistency with no difference in flavor.)

Dry almonds well.

Place almonds in blender and grind to a fine powder. Add sweetener (if using) and 3 cups of water. Blend again for 1 to 2 minutes to form a smooth cream.

With blender running on high, add remaining cup of water slowly through opening of blender lid. Blend 2 minutes. (I'm showing off here by taking the lid off to take the picture).

Place the strainer over a large bowl; to ensure a smooth milk, line the strainer with cheesecloth. (If you do not have cheesecloth, you can simply strain your milk twice, using an even finer strainer the second time.) Pour almond milk slowly into strainer and allow to filter through. Add liquid to strainer in increments and just let it drain naturally, or stir the milk in the strainer with a spoon to encourage it to pass through more rapidly.
When all the milk has passed through the strainer, there will be approximately 1/2 cup of almond fiber accumulated. If you have used a cheesecloth liner, you can pull the edges together and gently squeeze the remaining milk out of the fiber, or use a spoon to gently press the remaining milk through the strainer.

The fiber can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days and used as a moisturizing body scrub when you shower.

And there you have it, a "naturally good for you milk" :0)

And one last note.

All I do is periodically purchase (when the price is good) a bunch of almonds from the health food store, (last time 50 lbs.) I put them in gallon size freezer bags and pop them in the freezer. They keep that way for a long time. I put a small amount in an old glass milk bottle in my refrigerator and as I use them I just re-fill the bottle from the bags in the freezer.

Almonds are such a versatile nut they can be used for many purposes.
1. Just snack on them plain
2. Put them in a trail mix
3. Make candy with them
4. Make Almond milk, which then can be used to pour over cereals, and to make almond "shakes" in many flavors, or almond flavored "milks".
4. Sprinkle them over green beans, or use in chinese meals etc.
5. I make soups with it.
6. Smoothies
7. Use it in baking.

It is so easy to make and soooo, good for you too!

I'll be back soon {:~)

Shakespeare, To Ruff Or Not To Ruff---That Is The Question...

Here is our loyal family dog Indy, modeling a Shakespearean Ruff collar that I made.

Do you really think he was sitting there so nicely for the picture--no way!

What you don't see is that I am holding up a piece of chicken lunch meat above the camera to help encourage him to let me take the picture. He was so excited to get the meat that he kept doing flips and rollovers constantly, it really took some effort to calm him down and have him sit still.


It was really fun to make these, and here is a quick description of how it was accomplished.

1. I first measured Tony's and then Morgy Man's and then Penny's, necks, and added about 1 inch to that measurement or less.
2. I then used 4 inch wired ribbon (from my craft storage for Tony and Morgy). Penny bought the ribbon you see on Indy, from Michaels.
3. It took approximately 4 to 6 yards of ribbon per Ruff Collar.
4. I used a ruler to measure how wide I wanted each pleat (between 1 inch and 1 1/2 inches ).
5. I than pleated the whole length of ribbon .
6. I then took needle and thread and "sewed" through each pleat at the side that would be around the neck, to draw the ribbon tight to form a circle.
7. I then attached ribbon at each end opening, so it can be tied around the neck.
8. Voila!!! All done, what fun!!!

I have now made two of these in different ribbons. When I have made enough of them I will have a Shakespeare party and everyone attending will be encouraged to wear one.

I can't wait!!!

Bye for now`:~)