Creativity Month Week Three

For the third week of Creative August I wanted to try to step outside my comfort zone every day. I haven't made a journal in quite a few years, so I got out my papers and some pretty linens and started with that.

I got out these two thrifted kits that didn't come with all the components to do a little jewelry making.

I've never tried a pre-fused applique kit, so I decided to use this one that I thrifted and see how they work.

I made an adorable vintage handkerchief I've been saving into a mini-quilt box topper. Definitely thinking outside the box here. :)

I've never tried to make anything from the selvages I save from fabric, so I hauled out the bag to change that.

I found a dusty wooden hatbox at a junk shop for a few bucks that I thought I'd try to clean and upcycle to store my perle embroidery thread.

I sewed together some chili peppers from the garden in my first attempt to air-dry them.

This little raggedy piece of patchwork became a stitch practice piece, and then evolved from there.

I've not done much crocheting with chenille yarn (I've made exactly one thing from it), so I pulled one blue (far right with the Lion Chenille label) and two brown skeins (far left, no labels) from a thrifted lot to do a practice piece.

I've got one more week plus three days left in August to be creative, and I'm pretty happy with what I've done so far. Let's see if I can keep it up for ten more days. :)

Comments

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Holiday Prep

For Thanksgiving this year we've invited some guests from Oliver's mom's side of the family, so I have to start prepping now to get the house in shape for the big day. The first major thing is having the carpets cleaned, which we've scheduled for next week. This weekend I'll be cleaning out four rooms to get them ready for that. I started with my front dining room, which I use as my sewing room. It was kind of a mess already, so it felt good to get everything cleared out. We'll be having ten people at dinner plus two babies, so this will give me a chance to figure out how to arrange two tables in this space. I think this will be my last time hosting a big Thanksgiving gathering. Mike has started his family with a lovely girl who has a huge, close-knit family of her own, while Katherine will likely be off at grad school out of state for the next several years. I'm also not getting any younger. My guy and I will always celebrate Thanksgiving, but ...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.

Valerean

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