Tolentreasures

Well at least The Fastest Hat I Have Ever Knitted! These hats are finished in a little over an hour. For me, that is perfect because somehow I have amassed a little stash of yarn again. Last winter I sent bags and bags and organized bags of yarn to the Dominican Republic for the ladies there that were learning to knit and crochet and somehow similar to the loaves and the fishes, the stash has multiplied again. ( OK , I'll admit that I can't enter a yarn store or craft store without helping that stash out a little) So, with a panicked feeling that I can't knit fast enough to use it all up and knowing that I have fallen way behind in the hat, scarf and mitten donation plan this year, I came up with this idea: Bigger knitting needles = less stitches. More yarn = more room in the sewing room. Faster knitting = more warm hats for little and not so little heads that need them. So... as in many of my schemes and plans I CALL DAD! Checking the prices of really big double pointed...

Where is my camera? Where is my coffee cup? Where is the coaster for under my coffee cup? Where is the cord to my camera? and Why are my pictures not centered? Christmas...the morning after! These are some gifts that I could not post earlier. Shelby and Ryan and Jenn and Chris did not have name boards. So...not one to not take a hint. They each got one for Christmas this year. And Dad and Mom and John and I made these games for each family for Christmas. Well, really Dad and Mom did the most work on them. The SIL's were out in the driveway playing them yesterday. And a couple of scarves that I made for the girls. Christmas started yesterday at noon with this little princess. Calm, orderly present unwrapping...see how she lays it in her lap and daintily opens it? Christmas then went into it's normal overdriven, overstimulated blur of events. Baby Wyatt slept through a lot of it. I am sure he will do his part to add to the chaos next year. At one point, it seemed quiet and upon ...

Supplies: Decoart Americana paints Cocoa Milk Chocolate Hauser Green Medium Black Antique Gold Antique Maroon Butter Bleached Sand Heritage Brick Tangelo Orange Evergreen Country Red Assorted brushes. Star Stencil Start by painting the center area of the board with Cocoa and shade with Milk Chocolate. The outside edges are painted with Hauser Green Medium and shaded with Black. Stencil stars in the corners with Antique Gold. (I like to stencil using cosmetic sponge wedges) Add some checkers with Antique Maroon using a 1/4" brush. The trick to these is thinning your paint, but not using a lot of paint on your brush. Too much paint will cause them to look rounded. Sketch in your snowman face and hat and letters with chalk. Then base in the face using Milk Chocolate in the darkest areas, Cocoa for the medium and a brush mix of Butter and Bleached Sand for the lightest areas. Blend and dry brush with the Bleached Sand. Repaint the start with Antique Gold and shade with Milk ...

Sketch in the face. Use chalk (I like welder's chalk) and don't be afraid. After all, it is a snowman and they are all different so you can't get it wrong. Paint the face white or light gray or light blue. Just get a base on it and let that dry. Then, and you have to work sort of fast to do this part, lay in three values of color. This one is a medium country blue, a lighter blue and white. I also frequently use Milk Chocolate, Cocoa and an Off-White. Experiment, you might find a better combination. Then Blend, Blend, Blend. I use the largest brush that I can fit in the area. Keep a paper towel folded in your hand and keep wiping your brush. Do not dip it back into the water at this point. Blend between the dark and medium, wipe your brush, blend between the medium and light. Nice soft blend between the values. And then, wipe your brush again and pick up white and drybrush more white in the lightest area. I like to drybrush a little white in the dark areas also. I t...

Our Christmas with our family was to be today. And then.... John is sick, nasty cold that still may need checked. My Mom is sick with the flu, My Dad has pneumonia, Marilyn had dialysis. And so... We postponed. Christmas has officially been moved to December 29 this year. And so on my day off I painted. This Santa was inspired by one of the stacks of Christmas cards that I have kept for inspiration. Fun to paint. We did pass out of few of the hand-made gifts and now I can post pics of them. This was made for my MIL for Christmas. We filled it with all kinds of purse things. This was for Shelby and Ryan's bathroom. The letters are their initials. After looking at this pic for awhile, I lightened up the block in the bottom left corner. Forgot to retake the pic. And this...another repeat of the snowmen heads. Jenn really liked this and kept telling me and I took the hint. And so, the presents are still wrapped, the food is in the fridge and freezer and everything is on hold wait...

Merry Christmas! Here's hoping that everyone has a wonderful, restful Christmas season!

And at the Mall, no less! John likens these little boys to a couple of Rottweilers . Pretty graphic for as adorable as they look here, right? Well, Mom and Dad were getting them this puppy for Christmas this year, so I decided that I would take them for the day. We would shop. It is time that they picked out gifts for their Mom and Dad on their own, right? We would go to the mall and maybe I could even get a little of my last minute shopping done. Where do I get these true moments of insanity? Should I be checked for senility? Now I know that any public outing with children five years old and under should involve at least a 2 to 1 ratio. Two adults for every child five and under. Did I suddenly think that I was superwoman? Well, we shopped. I am sure that there is some psychology involved here that when they picked something out for Mom it came from the KITCHEN department and when they picked out something for Dad that it came from the TOY department, but I am sure that most of you ...

Disclaimer: Pay no attention to the dirt, junk, mess, etc. in the background of any of these pictures. It has been a hectic Christmas season...well the whole year has been crazy. As told by the candy canes themselves. So, here we are, we have been abandoned. You bought us all shiny and new at your local discount store. You brought us home, so proudly displayed us in your yard. We were shiny. We lined your walkway and held up little lights. Then, You got tired of us, we didn't shine any longer, we even FROZE in the ground and some of us broke! And then... You sold us at a yard sale! or donated us to Goodwill.. or the even worse fate... YOU THREW US IN THE DUMPSTER!!! But thanks to some enterprising, kind-hearted crafters, we have been saved. They take this nice, warm cotton fabric and wrap us up nice and cozy. The glue gun hurts a little, But then we get decorated with some lovely reds and greens. Ouch! They seal up our ends. But then a nice cozy wrap. Spinning, spinning, spin...