My Dotee's Arrived..

Here are the Dotee ATC I received ....Left to Right....made by: Elizabeth Atkinson from West Melton Victoria, Australia, Dorian Gery from Belconnen, Australia and an original Dotee..by Dot herself in Frankston, Australia..now aren't I one of the lucky ones.. each one is so special... These are the Dotee Dolls...left to right..Beth Deegan(with the wild hair), and another work of art from Elizabeth Atkinson and the little baby, from Norma Bullon, Australia. I give each one a very good home...
I don't have blog sites for all of them..hopefully I will be able to find them all if they have blogs.
We went camping again this week-end and I just relaxed.. I knitted on my forever socks..and I'm at the heel now..so maybe.. I can get them done in a couple of weeks..
I just wasn't in the mood to be creative..I guess you could say I had the blues.. Not sure why..sometimes they just come over me.. and I want to just cover my head. I walked around the campground hoping that would help...but it didn't..I really need to focus on eating healthy,walking and all that goes with a more healthy lifestyle. Why is it..that what I put in my mouth is one of the only things I...myself can personally control..but yet I don't do it? I must find another way to deal with stress, depression, loneliness's...I have talked about doing a journal..maybe that would help me? If we go camping next week-end I want to walk in the hills..they wild flowers are blooming..and I want to take pictures and post..they are so pretty. We also need to plant flowers and work in our little yard at the campground. Well I have rambled on enough..

Cupcake.....

Here's my no calorie cupcake !!!!!!!

Felted postcard from Beate

I finished my no calorie cupcake...and it has chocolate frosting of course !! It was fun to make..at first I had a hard time with only 6 stitches on double points..but it all comes back to you. Now I want to make more...it would such a fun thing for little gifts..It would be a fun thing for a trade too.. I signed up for two trades..one is for faric charms no bigger than 1 1/2 inches..they must have a gromet and jump ring attached. I think I need to make 21..and then another doll trade and I'm not sure when that is due. I have been wanting to make some charms or inchies as I have heard them called so I'm looking forward to this trade. I found a great tutorial for them here

at Sue Bleiweiss's Blog. She has some other tutorials as well. In the mail today I received this great postcard from Beate. I won it in her Blogversary Draw...(actually we all won one) isn't that great..My picture of it doesn't do it justice. I love to look at her work..when I first started postcards her work was very inspirational to me and it still is !! Thanks Beate....

It was a beautiful day here...

I finished my bag project...next will be a purse..I also got the quilt top done.. well almost done. I need to put on a border..I have so much fabric of every color..style etc.. but no black for a border. So now it have to wait until I can get to the Fabric shop...I don't do Walmart fabric...for quilts. We worked out in the yard this morning. Pulled some weeds and planted some flowers. Then I sat outside and knitted in the sun..ahhh it felt so good.
I started a knittted cupcake mine will be white with chocolate frosting. I wanted white cake and pink icing..But in 3 large totes of yarn..I have no pink..no yellow hmm no pastels at all. But what I have will have to do. I'm in that if I don't have it... I don't need it phase. I was looking through my stuff and found about 8 quilt tops that are finished but not put together with batting and backing..and then quilted. So I will start on those..and of course still do some ATC's, postcards and other fiber art stuff and of course my funky flowers...(hmm that might mean buying some stuff at the hardware store).. but that's not sewing stuff.. does that count ? I guess I did go to the thrift store and buy sewing stuff...But I was helping them out.. it's a Sr. Center.. they need me.

Well time to go knit and finish the laundry.... Here's my bag.....

Some new old stuff.....

We went to a thrift store today in Moses Lake..it has lots of cool stuff and the prices are great... I picked up a few things...a package of old transfers for tea towels "Mexican Motif"..not sure why I got them..but for 2o cents....I thought someone might want them...and lots and lots of packages of flower petals....I can use them on postcards, ATC's and I'm thinking of making a purse of some sorts using them and perhaps putting them under some tulle and stitiching all over it... this book...

Here is a close up of the "The Complete Book of Sewing" by Contance Talbot..1943..1st addition.
It has all sorts of project ideas..even a pet blanket...here are my pets...

Oscar and Peanut...they are looking out the window of our 5th wheel.. I kind of funked the picture out.

It's cold and dreary here today..a great day to stay inside and sew...I'm working on a small tote bag ..from some vintage type fabric with kids and hula hoops..I would like to try and put a quilt together this week-end. I 've had the blocks completed for a year now..I just like smaller projects now..but this will be a beautiful quilt if I ever get it done..So now I will clean up my sewing/painting/beading.blogging area and try get this quilt on the design wall(fancy name for flannel thumb tacked to the wall) and get a picture of it posted tomorrow eve...Now that's my goal..but who knows what could happen. At least I will get the tote bag done...

My funky garden flower...

Well here it is Friday already...time does fly..here is picture of my funky garden flower I made last night at Laura's Art Garden in Ephrata, WA. Thats the same place I took the class for the mosaic mirror. The moose in the yard was made by our neighbor Dave..our cat had been run over..(hit and run) and I was so upset..so when I came home from work one day he had made us this moose..kind of a sympathy gift.


Here is a close up of the flower...It's made from recycle tins..youknow the big ones you get popcorn and stuff in..some metal mesh..flashing.. nuts and washers..and a threaded rod.. and beads...We even got to use power tools..(well one ..a drill) So now I will be begging all my friends for their old popcorn tins..
We are heading out camping later this afternoon..it's supposed to be a beautiful week-end. It will be good to just relax. I would have been nice to have the family all get together for Easter..but it's just not possible. My grand kids all live in Minnesota..it would fun to have them all here..(their mom & dad (son) too). My daughter and her husband live about 175 miles away. John(my DH) has 4 daughters and 10 grand kids.. some day it would wild to get everyone together. They live all over.. from Mass. to Texas
At the nursing home where I work, the residents have been working all week to fill 3500 Easter eggs for the Easter egg hunt sponsored my the nursing home and the local fire dept. They have had so much fun doing it..and eating the candy..
I don't think I'm going to pack all my artsy stuff to take camping.. Maybe just my sketch book,water colors etc. Sit outside and just relax.. You all take care and have blessed Easter.

New art to show....

I finally tired to make the Tyvek beads...first I painted the tyvek..let it dry and then cut with my rotary cutter into long triangle strips..wrapped around bamboo skewers..then I wrapped wire around , then added beads to wire for one of them. Sorry the pictures aren't better..I think they would be great to use on a mini art quilt or on a journal quilt page..

Next I made a couple more ATC's ... I love making these little things...and I love the little birds on them. Next time I will try paper as Dotee said that she uses. The next one is 3-D of sorts butterfly. Well that's about all I did today...we went for a drive and I made supper..So now it's time to relax..maybe work on my socks that I have been knitting for months. I will never use size 1 needles again..I like at least 2's or 4's. I'll post a pic. when I'm done..but don't hold your breath..I have one sock complete and almost ready to do the heel on the 2nd one. I open to trade for these ATC's if anyone is interested.

Look What I made !!!!

Well after a four week class I finished my mosaic mirror. The tiles were made yours truly.. It's about 22x22. All of it was great fun until it came for grouting. I was almost ready to give up. I never thought I would ever get the grout all off of the tiles. Our teacher said we were her best class ever...(out of two classes)..but the night we grouted we were all big whinners. But in the end it was worth it all.

Thats about all the artsy stuff I have done this week. When it's the end of the month I have so much to do at work, getting ready for the next month. I'm also still working on the dining room project and now I have taken on the new tub room project. Why can't I just say NO ? Today was a stay at home day and clean house..how are two people be so messy? Tomorrow and the rest of today..I will start some project. Not sure what it will be yet.. I will have to see what moves me...or what my muse might inspire me what to do. Right now the artfest is going on in Port Townsend..oh how I wish I were there.. Maybe next year.. but I'd better start saving now...

Now it's time to throw things in the dryer and start another load..It was nice and sunny today..now is getting cold and the dark coulds are coming. I was out reading famous quotes on the internet..here is one I will leave you with by Kahlil Gibran."Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream" so dream on my firends...

New ATC's anybody want to trade ??

Well we went camping this week-end and I got to work on my ATC's..I was able to finish 5 of them. These are my really my first ones, beside the Dotee ones I made. I really enjoy doing them. I think it's all the hand work on them. Now I want to learn more embroidery stitches. I might think about doing a fabric journal just with embroidery stitiches in it.

I'm also working a little bundle of gifts for Dotee

I know it's a lot of work to organize a trade so I'm just sending a little something..from my stash of treasures. Well time to go relax a little bit.. Take care all..Thanks for your comments.

My New Muse Art Doll

Here is the my Geisha Muse Doll...I liked my other one so much I decided to make another doll..she wanted to be a Geisha..I'm going to trade her..my I have to keep my first one. I have so little of the art thatI do.. I send it all off for trades or gifts. I think my next project will some Tyvek beads...I have never used Tyvek before so it should be fun..I'm also going to make some ATC with an Easter theme..eggs...spring..cross etc. I think they would make nice little gifts. They are so much fun to make..I would like to learn more beading and stitching so I think that will be a god way to learn little tiny stiches.

I'm glad tomorrow is Thursday..its been a long week. You take care...and remember "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Picasso

A day of Art....

Well this is what I worked on today. She is my muse art doll. I love the way she turned out..and she just happened..I looked at my fabric stash..and this red caught my eye first. I wasn't going to give her a face, but now I'm glad I did. I gave her long eye lashes too, something I sure don't have. I made her for trade ..but I now I'm not sure I want to part with her..I have until Tuesday to decide.

The other thing I did today was finish my Bride of Dotee Doll.. she will be leaving with her friends for Australia tomorrow if I can make it to the post office.

It was a beautiful day here..in the 70's..I went outside to do some of stitching the sun felt so good, the warmth was healing and stitching relaxing. Art is truly good for the soul and mind. I spent a lot of time reading blogs this morning..Its just unbelievable the talented people there in this world. They so inspire me to step and think outside the box. Thanks for visiting me today...Your comments are appreciated.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well,,Happy St. Paddy's Day to everyone...We had sunshine here today..it was still a little chilly..but still...the sun was out !! My brother called from Salome, AZ and it was 100 there yesterday..ahh that would feel so good for a couple of days.
I actually got quite a bit accomplished today. We went to town to take care of some errands. Then came home and done that homey stuff of laundry, cleaning etc. Then ran over to a friends house for a little party for her 4 year old grandson. Then back home and hubby put on a New England boiled dinner to cook..We had it for supper it was so good.. Corned beef, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beats and onions. Then tomorrow he will make red flannel hash. I'd never had it before he came into my life, he's from Vermont..hence the name New England Boiled Dinner. I did have time to work on a few things.. Here is the collage of my parents..I think for my first try it turned pretty good.. What do you think ?? Click on it for a bigger picture..


Here are the Dotee ATC's that will be in the mail to Victoria, Australia on Monday.
I made another Dotee Doll but my camera's battries are dead... and of course I forgot to charge the extra ones... so now at least I have something to post tomorrow...I think it's time to go soak in the jacuzzi tub..

Camera Fixed !!

Well here is a picture of my journal.. and a picture of my first received Altered Altoid Tin Trade.
It's from Liz in MD. the little heart inside is felted..I think it's so sweet &
nice...I can't wait to get more. I'm almost finished with all my little Dotee items.. I have done 3 dolls and 3 ATC's. I will post pictures of those later. I was supposed to be off today..but instead I went to work for a little while and it ended up being a longer while. I also had to go to the dentist..and that was at 9:30 and I still have a splitting headache..I guess from the Novicane..I never get headaches so I guess its from the Novicane. Surely not the stressful day at work. I'm starting a new project at work..and I'm finding more problems than I anticipated. At home I started a new project too. I'm working a pciture of my mom and dad..It will be kind of a funky but a sweet one with memories of them. I'll post a picture of my progress tomorrow night. Lots of stuff to do tomorrow.. you know some yard work. house cleaning and all that fun stuff. I read where some of my favorite artists are going to something called artfest...well it's in Washington State...not really close to me..but still in MY state..at Port Townsend..maybe next year I can save my nickles and go...check it out and see the really cool artists that will be there..There is another in Portland..its called Art and Soul Retreat.. That would be great too and it's this year and in October..might just be doable..There is still one more..with Katie Kendrick these are just some of the reasons I need to retire..hmmm what fun that would be..Now it's time to watch a little TV and cuddle with hubby and the weiner dogs...

My camera is sick.....

I think I have a bad chip..so I can't post any pictures of things until I get a new one. I received a tin in the mail too..Its from Liz in Maryland,,so soon as I get a new chip I will post a picture. I also started an Art Journal..I started it as soon as I can home from work..It was kind of fun to just be creative right off the cuff..and just put down some color and thoughts. Well today is my Friday...woohoo..except I have dentist appointment tomorrow.

Here's picture of the largest peice of altered art I have ever made!! It's a med. cart from the nursing home where I work. I used Mod Podge on it..and used clip art and tissue paper vintage pictures of the residents on it. I covered the all of the cart with it. I use the cart for one to one type activites for the elders. I have games on it..things to fold and sort. The drawers are all full of goodies of things for them to do. Its on wheels so I can just push it up and down the hallyway. Well type to get ready for work...Thanks for coming here today..leave your comments and I will visit your blog too.

Picture from the Past

Well here it is..the picture of my son..in his younger years..He was probably about 13 or 14 years old. I would have posted a newer picture had he sent me one...He is very handsome as he said..he takes after my side of the family. I only wish he wasn't 1400 miles away. Love ya sonny boy, Troy Boy..

Good Morning All..

When I started writing this post the sun was shining..and it was shining right on my new Dotee ATC I just finished last night.Now just a few minutes later it's gone the..the sun that is..This is my first ATC..it was fun..The size is 2 1/2 by 3..but now that I write I realize I made a mistake..It should be 2 1/2 by 3 1/2...It only took my about 2 hours to make it..!!! Oh well...it was good practice I guess..Trouble is I have another one almost done and it has more details..but maybe I can save her. Nope.. she's a total loss..Oh well..My dad always said measure twice cut once..he of course was talking lumber..My dear son left a post about nudity on his mother's blog..and a picture of her handsome son would be much better.. So I guess now I will have to look through pictures and post one of him..hmmm of course he never sends pictures of himself.. so I will have to look through the old picture box and see what I can find from his school days...stayed tuned.
My grandson will be 10 years old this week March 13th..how can it be ? I'll never forget that day when he was born..my son called early in the day..and then later that same day I got a call from my son-in-law that my daughter had a brain anurisymn...she was in the hospital for a month after brain surgery and the miracle is she had no lasting effects from it. So in March there were two miracles...a new baby boy Everett and life for Shelley. Well I'm getting all misty eyed.. so enough for now...I really need to clean up my mess from last night..Looking for all the right stuff for my Dotee ATC.. that is the wrong size..grrrrrrrr.. Judy..

Happy March...can Spring be near ??

We went camping this week-end...it was kind of nippy but not too bad. The sun did not shine however...I do miss the sun. But I did all sorts of crafty things including these new Dotee Dolls.

There were fun to make..I think a person could get very addicted to making them. Each one has it's own personality. I also made another Altered Tin and a Joy doll for a swap in FAT . The FAT swap.. was kind of funny I use "kind of" loosely..I received a Joy doll on the mail on Friday. I of course didn't remember that I had signed up for this trade. I had made a Joy doll..but unfortunately Oscar the weiner dog decided he really liked her hair. So I had to make another this weekend and I think I even like her better.. She is about 5 1/2" and the Dotee's are 3".

I also made another tin..that's 3 now I have made.. I'm hosting this trade and have quite a few to trade about 38 so far !! I can't seem to figure out to add pictures ..like here where I want them.. They always go back up to the top. So until I figure this all out you will just have deal with me having them out of order. It can't be that hard.. can it ?? Somebody help me please...

New cards and a Dotee Doll...

Wow it's been over since I've posted...I just have so busy..Last Thursday I took a class at a new shop in town..it's called Art Garden and they offer vaious classes. So I'm taking a mosaic mirror class. It''s going to be quite large..probably 24" x 24". We make tiles in the first class, she will fire and then we will paint next Thursday..Its a 4-6 week class, depending on how long you take to finish and she supplies all the stuff. I got these cards in the mail this week from my art2mail22 group. The one with the garden fairy if from Bev in Victoria, Australia, the Patchwork Diva is from Jo in Alabama and the Asian is from Glennis in CA. Each one is unique and different. I'm also going to add my first DoteeDoll you check out more qbout them here at Dotee's Blog They are really cute and fun to make. I made this about 1" too big. So I will not use her in a swap. She needs to be no bigger than 3". She really just makes you smile when you look at her. Dotee is doing a swap for her you can check it at her blog. Hubby and I went to Leavenworth on Friday and spent the night. It was our 7th wedding anniversary. It was beautiful and we woke up to snow falling. Leavenworth is a town in the Cascade moutains with a German/Bavarian theme. We had some great german food and wine. We came home the next day after stopping at Joanne's and an art suplly store. Both of which had nothing I really wanted. I went armed with my list from a new book I got Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor I guess I will have to get of the things from the internet. Trouble is..I can't find it all at the same spot. I hate to pay all that shipping, but I guess it's better than using gas running all over the state. Well time to go make Dotee Dolls...

New postcards received

Well here it is Friday already..Where does the time go. Remember when you were a kid and you could'nt wait until you 13 years old...or until Christmas came. Now time just passes by like a fast moving train. There is just not enough time to do what I want. So then why so I just seem to sit in from of the TV sometime? I get lost in someone else's problems I guess. What I need to do is get off my butt and start walking again. My weight has got my mood down again. I look back at what I did just a couple of years ago..I lost 90 lbs. and some how..somewhere..it found it's ugly way back. I remember one of my wise old sage friends once said..Never say you lost the weight..

because when you loose something you want it back...instead she said..say I released it. Now I understand..Now I need to release it again once and for all..this time I'm going to send it on a one way flight to somewhere...somewhere that it will want to stay. Any suggestions where that might be ? Well now for some happy thoughts.. I have two new postcards to show you..The snowflake is from Laurie in CT. and the Valentine Patchwork is from Gwen in TN. This has been such a great group to exchange cards with. I'm also currently hosting an Altered Altoid Tin Trade here at..FAT It's a really fun group..go check it out and join. We do all sorts of Fiber Art Trade)hence the name FAT. If you want to join just tell them..Judy Spencer sent you !!

Another week-end gone....

It seems the week-ends just get started and then its back to work. It was a good week-end though. I had lunch with a friend on Friday and we went shopping. I bought some new clothes and a got a great new rubber stamp..It's huge and has four sides..It will be fun to use with fabric..postcards and maybe something new..like tags. I got a new postcard in the mail over the week-end. Its from Carol in Welling,Kent, England..It's quite unique..I love the funky ribbon on it. she did a great job..Thanks Carol !! Well Monday..will be a different day at work..We are working with no administrator...not a real big deal..unless it takes the board a longtime to find another one. It can be an anxious time waiting for a new boss..then getting to know them..and hoping we can meet each others expectations. I'm busy doing my own job as well as a re-decorating project in the main resident dining room. Not like picking furniture and floors for your own home..everything has to pass approval by the state and that takes time. We hope to have it done by April or May at the very latest. I working on more altered Altoid tins...and will post pictures when I get done. Well I need to do more work on tins..thats all for now...

Altered Tin.....

Here are pictures of the Altoid Tin I've been working on.

What do you think ????
I think it needs something else..I'm just not sure what.....I still need to paint around th edges a little. The tiny book is made from the old speller I bought at the second hand store the other day..I reduced and copied
on card stock and then reduced some pages to go inside.
I think it turned kind of cute.
Some of my old fellows at the nursing are even helping me out. We are rusting Altoid tins.
We have 4 different experiments going..

• Coke
• Shasta Cola
• Water & Salt
• Vinegar & Salt

Each have the tins soaking in the solution. We doing a study to see which one rusts the quickest. Well enough rambling for the nite..Take Care All...