EPB on My Mind

Of all the books and patterns in that box of goodies from my garage, I was just thrilled to find my "How Many Angels Can Dance? pattern book by Elinor Peace Bailey. I feel very happy and at ease when I work on her patterns. So guess what? I picked a couple of her patterns to make gifts for Miss.N's second grade teachers. The first one is called "Arm Full of Angels" and the second one is called "Little Tyke Angel".

November Pin

November theme at my pindoll club was quilts. I used the traditional quilt pattern called Sun Bonnet Sue and mixed it with the crazy quilting technique to make the pindoll.

I Found it...Found it...Found it..

Finally after a year and 2 months I found my doll books and patterns! Can't believe that I finally have all my patterns. I am so happy. Sometimes what we think simply isn't. I was sure that the books were in a big box and they all turned up in a small one. Go figure!

October Update

Where did most of the year go? It is only beginning of October but looks like Christmas is already here. We went shopping the other day and the stores are all so full of Christmas stuff already. What is going on? I usually love to stretch out this part of year and really enjoy the season- have nice scented candles around decorate and have cozy evenings with family. But I feel hurried to do a whole lot of things all at the same time this year.

I have been working out a bit and catching up on some reading- just light reading. I have also been working on Deanna Hogan's Avril. Looks like I took most of this year to get back to her. I had started working of the masks early this year and it is only now that I am getting somewhere with her. I have not found my box with all the patterns and doll books yet. I know it must be with my husband's heavy tech. books boxes if at all. The boxes got shuffled again and I am not even sure when I will get the patterns and the books. I do hope it is there and I have not lost it in the move. I do miss the books and patterns a lot but the sheer size of those boxes just put me off. So I am winging it completely. When the Avril doll (actually I am working at 3 of them- triplets no less!) is done I will move to other things. I also feel that I have to finish them all before I move on to other dolls. Here is a pic of the mask I made and colored.

August 2008

Well, how long has it been since I last wrote in my blog? About 3 months! I have had a fun time this summer with the kids just chilling and doing very little actually. My parents were here with me for a little over a month. We visited a few people and places and watched a whole lot of movies and chatted a lot of course. I also participated in a few pindoll swaps and did some crochet for an aunt. Unfortunately I don't have the scarf I crocheted. But here are some pictures of the pindolls I made. (Looks like I have problems with this computer too. My old computer gave up on me and this one is too new for me to figure out yet.)

Garden Pictures

I have a five pot container garden on my deck. Here are some pictures I took a couple of weeks ago.

That is a picture of me pulling out weeds. The long grass is mostly gone but the weeds are growing back very fast....

Pindoll Swaps for January and March

February was a busy month to participate in the Pindoll Alley swap so here are my January, March and April swap pictures. In January the theme was "Cold" . My January swap partner Charie made Jack Frost for me. Isn't it an exquisite piece of art? I absolutely love the clay sculpting and all that glitter. I made her Ms. Snowflake with a snowflake for her outfit.

For my March swap I made Maureen a member of Lollipop Guild from the Munchkin City. The theme was Wizard of Oz.

I received my April pindoll on March 31st- one day early and she has become my muse. Kai made a beautiful "Ms. Sunny Side" for me. The theme was "Eggactly". I made Kai a scrambled lady with a broken egg shell shaped outfit.

Well I think I am all caught up for now. Have been busy pulling out those gazillion weeds in the grass/ lawn outside. Every part of my body hurts but I guess it is worth it. (maybe!)

Catching up in May!

I took a ceramics class at the Cary Parks and Rec. I go to the open studio every Thursday to play. Here are some pieces. My Miss.N helped me with the mermaid's scales.

Catching up....

Here are some pictures of swaps and other projects. The first picture is a Ginger bread house which Ms. N made at school. The Elf with the candy cane was my pindoll for Kat and the Snow fairy was hers for me. I love the doll Kat made for me. She will visit with me every December with the Christmas tree. We exchanged it for December swap and it took me so long to post it to the blog! The two blank dolls are the holiday project with Ms. N. She had a wonderful time dyeing the dolls with tea. Actually she had so much fun with them that they are several shades darker today. Have to get back to making clothes for them. So here it goes...more entries to the unfinished projects list.

New Year a New Project

Actually it is an old one. I think I remember making the body parts sometime in 2006. I made three heads for her and did not like any of them. That is what happened before I gave up and put the project away for another day. Now I am tackling it with a renewed vigor. I hope this enthu (enthusiasm) lasts until I am all done. The mask I made for her might work so I decided to work on her clothes. This doll is my interpretation of Deanna Hogan's Avril. But mine might look completely different with due to the kind of joint I used on her. I do have one doll with the joints which Deanna teaches in her pattern.

The pattern for the doll and the clothes is stashed in my pattern and doll book box in the storage garage. I think this piece of cloth will work. This is just the first stage of applique. The stems went in first and I am working on the flowers now. Will post that picture soon. More later.