Honoring D-Day

Remembering the great importance of today, and honoring those brave who fought and fight for freedom
Thank you
I love all my family who were apart of D- Day you are always in my thoughts and heart.

Little Red Jewelry Box

This is one of those cute wooden jewelry boxes that look like a purse; I think these are lots of fun to design.
What I did first was to mix a bit of red acrylic paint and a bit of burnt umber and then I took an old cloth and began applying the pain and wiping off the paint as to create that washed out, old or aged look.
Then I let the jewelry dry for about 2 days as to make sure the paint was completely dry; before adding the stickers of flowers and birds. Then I let that sit for a day before applying sealer and I would add just a single coat and let that dry then another coat, so about 2 coats of sealer and I used a flat sealer so that it did not look that shiny.
I also stained the inside of box and and added more stickers, and applied only a very light coat of sealer.



This was a fun project to do and it will make a nice gift for a friend, or a family member.

Tinker, Just a Small Cloth Doll

This is Tinker just a small cloth doll measuring about 13 inches long; she is one of my smaller dolls that I have done up.
I had some scrapes of cotton doll fabric and decide the scrapes needed to be a doll. So I designed Tinker. She is filled with fiber fill and her clothing is Pajamas made from some cute cotton flannel
Her eyes are mismatched buttons done with a bit of soft sculpting and some black cotton embroidery floss was used to make the eye lashes. I had a bit of dark red yarn with gold in it so that is what I used for her hair and the hair is sewn into her head. I think it gives this dolls a wonderful contrast.
I also added a small heat pearl white button to the outfit and some brightly colored ribbon to add more to that contrast theory.

She really is not for small children because of the buttons on her; an older child would be perfect for her so just someone who is a great doll lover and collector.

A Memorial Thank you

Today I and my family wanted to say thank you to those many who serve to protect us and their families for the sacrifices made, we also pray for those families and those that have chosen to serve.

I also want to say thank you......

to my husband Jac who served in the army
his sister in law Marion who served in the army
My Uncle Roger who served in the Navy
My brother in law Ray who served in the Navy
My Uncle Bill who served in the Navy and Vietnam war
My cousin on the Barger side who served with the Sea Bee's in Vietnam and died
My half Uncle who served in the Marines
My Grandfather on my dads side who served in the army Robert Long
My Great uncles who fought in War II and were in the Navy
My husbands father who was in the Navy and was in War II and the Korean War and was a prisoner of war.
Longs were served in the Civil war
Thank you so much, Love all of you, and you will always be in my thoughts and prayers.

The New Sewer System

Holly cow what a mess is in my yard, the sewer is coming in and what a mess!
I have been trapped most of the day unable to send out graduation notices or go anywhere, plus trying to keep dogs calm.
What is going on you might ask?
Our neighborhood is getting a sewer system, I could be really excited but instead I have mixed feelings.
The water company is the one who set this in motion and for me it has been frustrating and for a few neighbors who have been seeing red over this sewer system.
Would you believe this started in 2000? and now we all are seeing some work go on.
I am upset about it because we all started paying for it and someone in the water company stole all the money that was put into this project, so we residents had to start all over and of course the money has doubled and tripled, to say the least it has been tough on us.
I think what makes me so frustrated is when my home burned in Nov of 99 insurance did not cover the garage nor the septic tank. So we had to use the contents from insurance to pay for a new sand filter septic system, so its kind of like burning 28,000 dollars in the fire place and having an extra debt or paying for 2 other sewer systems. I know it will make the value of the house go up and believe me, we all new sewer out here because not everyone has sand filter and a lot of these septic tanks are out dated, and very stinky in the summer time; so its mixed emotions about the whole thing.
Oh crap! they hit the water line to the house! I stopped writing for second to go see what all the screaming was about and why the dogs are going insane, I hope they fix what they damage!

Talking about My Geisha Quilt

This has to be one of my most favorite quilts that I created mostly because no patterns were used and it was all my original design.
I used all kinds of fabrics in this quilt cottons, rayon's, recycled fabrics from shirts and I did a bit of ribbon embroidery on this one. The ribbon embroidery was done to create a flower in some of the Geisha girls.



The story of the quilt is the girls decided to do some practice of using their fans and decided to do it outside, but the wind caused them some problems. I also added colorful buttons and you can see some of them in this panel that I did; in this panel she is heading out to start the practice.





This is the last panel where the fans have blown away and the other girls have left and given up, so there is only one left and you can see the wind is blowing pretty hard being her is hair is all messed up. I know I have talked about this quilt once before but it is such a favorite and I had the new camera I wanted to show more detail of the quilt for you all, I thought the photos came out better this time around. I love making these type of applique quilts and not using any patterns because it really gives one that original type of quilt, I am thinking about adding it to my Art fire shop or to my other blog, but for now I just wanted to share it again with you all.

Black Eyed Pea Stew

I just love making home made black eyed stew!
If you have a crock pot that will help but it can be done on the stove also with a pot.
First cook up bacon and cook it until its really crisp, cook about 1/2 of the packet of bacon for this. Or if you can get a packet of bacon ends even better to cook up.
Set the cooked bacon aside.
Slice one large yellow or white onion, dice into small pieces and add butter to a small skillet and cook onion until transparent.( Be sure to add onion and butter to the crock pot or large stewing pot on the stove.)
Okay now add 7-8 cups of water to pot or crock pot and one full bag of black eyed peas, onion, back, 2 cans of beef broth, a bit of basil, sometimes I liked to add stewed tomatoes add the cooked bacon.
Set crock pot on low or cook on stove on very low heat.
Stir occasionally; start this early so that it will be ready for dinner and this is a large amount so you can put it in a container and freeze for another day.
This is a easy idea but I thought I would share it anyway, I love black eyed peas! Yum!
Remember this is going to cook all day on a low heat, you will know its done when everything looks thickened.
Serve with corn bread muffins and cold glass of milk.