Magnets

These magnets are embossed with tiny glass beads that are clear, so they take on the color of the picture underneath and create a shiny, mosaic-like appearance. I did the lady with the hat and then Ellie picked out the picture of the kids sitting down to dinner and helped me make the magnet. The pictures don't capture how shimmery they are, especially at night with an overhead light on. I love the old-fashioned look to the pictures and the beads, but the pictures underneath aren't brightly colored enough. Next I'm going to search for some bright pictures, but hopefully some that still have fancy, old-fashioned images.

These magnets are great because they are quick to do and the materials are so easy to find. Now I'm going to be saving every advertisement magnet I get!

Mimi

My latest poppet. She's much prettier than Luella, but I still have a soft spot for that freaky alien-lookin thing.

This is Mimi. Mimi followed the Dead for a few years back in the '80s and now she's a hairstylist in her own salon. She doesn't have any kids, but she's been married for 10 years to a guy who has three kids from a previous marriage.

Jewelry box

I've got the cord back, so I have some crafts to share! I'll try to show them in the order we made them. Here's the box that Ellie made, before she painted it.

No pics, but I've been busy

I'm too scared to do my quilt, so I'm putting that off. (I know, after my big excited post about it and everything.) I have done quite a few other crafts, including painting glass with stained glass paint, making more jewelry and making some craftsy containers with recycled materials. Ellie has been doing a lot of the crafts with me and she made a box with glitter glue and gems that she copied from a demo version in Michael's. In fact, she brought her box in to Michael's to compare it to the demo and the woman at the store thought it was theirs.

I would post pics of all of this, but I can't find the cord for the camera to upload to the computer. As soon as I locate that, I'll post pics of our amazing creations.

Almost last part to do to finish quilt

I was on vacation for 10 days, but I'm back now and I'm ready to finish my quilt! I got the batting and back piece before we left, and now I've prepped them and they're ready to go. I have no idea what I'm doing, but some basic research has told me that I need to start quilting in the middle and stitch to the edges. I've decided that that's enough information for me, so I'm off to finish it. Woo hoo!!

Once I have it quilted it, I need to put the binding on and then I'll be done. I have a feeling the binding part will be tough, too.

A lovely necklace

Here's a necklace I made from some beads I had lying around. I love all the shades of blue--my favorite color!

Luella

Here she is!! She's possibly not totally done. If I want to really fix her up, she needs hair and a dress. But Ellie says she likes her better without hair. And with the crazy eyes that make her look like a cross between an alien and a Japanese cartoon, she might do just as well without hair.

This is my first attempt at a pretty poppet (in this case a not-so-pretty poppet), which is a doll created by a Craftster member named Ghilie. Ghilie was kind enough to send me really great instructions on how to make the poppet. I discovered that it's really freakin hard to find doll eyes and it's absolutely impossible to find freezer paper. So I had to improvise and make do and that, combined with my inexperience, made for a doll that is completely asymmetrical and kind crazy looking. Here she is again:


Her name is Luella. I had a whole backstory for her before she was done--she was a divorced mother of three who had recently gotten certified as a dental hygienist and was looking forward to starting fresh with her kids. But the thing I made doesn't look anything like a dental hygienist.

I'm going to make a new poppet as soon as I can find some freezer paper (off to Walmart). I started Luella yesterday while Ellie was at school and I finished at midnight but of course I had to stop a lot and do other things and I also had to make a few trips for supplies. So I think the next one won't take me as long.