And We Have a Winner...

Cath stopped by yesterday to see all the wonderful entries in the Punny Valentine contest. She was amazed to see how clever you all were, and I was so proud to be showing her that my friends were so funny and cute.

She thought they were so good that there should be more than one winner, but I told her she was going to have to pick just ONE. It took her awhile, but in the end she chose Ragged's "I love you a hole punch."

So Ragged, Congratulations! I'll be e-mailing you to get your address (which I had but can't find).

And to everyone else, you were wonderful! Thank you all so much. I think we need to do something to inspire us to post here more often. Anyone got any ideas?

-Cate

Memory Ornaments

For Mom and Dad's Fiftieth Anniversary we gave them a party inviting family and friends. Since they were married on Christmas Eve, we asked everyone to bring an ornament that has to do with their lives together. I made this ornament for my son to give them. His grandma used to make chocolate cakes just for him. He loved them.

My Dad was an English teacher so I made this book for him. My husband used to listen to the radio on the way to our house to pick me up for a date so he'd have something to talk to Dad about when he got there. Dad always said he never had to listen to the news, because my future husband would fill him in on everything. So I made this radio for Hub to give them.
I made this to show my Dad after he retired. He loved to stand in the backyard with his binoculars and watch birds.

More Memory Ornaments

I made this for Cath to give her Grandma. Cath got a lot of phone calls.
I didn't make this, but it's one of the ornaments I gave Mom. She made almost all my clothes up until I got married.
And this house was one that Dad's brother gave them. Mom and Dad built a lot of houses.

There were lots of other ornaments, one for how they met, and one for babies born, and lots more. I thought you might like to see these. They make a real "family tree."

A Birthday Cake Can Be Creative...Can't It?

My gson had a "Cars" themed birthday party.
I used Little Debbie Cakes to hold the signs up, and graham crackers for the signs and the road. I used those tall elegant cookies that look like sticks to hold the back of the signs, and sprinkled crumbled candy, over the top with candy boulders. This is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made. My DIL had the cars from McDonalds, and I found the little car shapes on the sides at Walmart. If you make this for a little one, be sure and press in tire tracks like the car has run off the road, and use a toothpick to make the cracks in the dessert floor. Just icing the graham crackers like you're putting butter on bread, and voila! a birthday cake!

 

Fast Forward to Halloween!

Here is the little gourd ghoul I made for Phin.
This is the newest member of the trio...a little mummy gourd. He has Mou-Ah-Ha-Ha written on his tummy.
This is Ragged's "Ready for the Ball" little gourd witch.

Our gourds along the fence are doing beautifully. We've counted thirty-five so far. I've been reading more about when to cut them from the vine in the "Foxfire Books", and it said to let them go through two frosts to harden the skin. I go out to check on them every morning and every afternoon just to trim them and see how they're doing.

Hub and I went to Cumberland Gap again this week-end...yes, we love it there. I spoke with one of the merchants of a primitive art shop and asked her if they bought from locals. She said they did, but she'd have to take a look first. She said she bought them outright from the artists and then marked them up for whatever she thought she could get. I'm such a novice at this that I don't have a clue about all the buying and selling part of it. But I did notice that Hub's ears perked up, and he became much more interested in what I'm doing!

 

Found a link to this cool site at Kim's blog. I'd love to fix a titlebar for this blog with this but can't do html.

SMILES Shoes

I'm almost embarassed to put these here, but they're getting thrown out...finally. You can see how the rubber is separating from the canvas. I did them about twenty years ago, and actually wore them to school, much to my daughter's dismay.

I was painting canvas shoes like crazy then. I painted some for her with piano keys and puff paint of all things, and some with sparkles and glitter. Those she liked. Then I decided I wanted some, too. I liked them so much I kept them. Now I'm thinking I could probably cut out the designs and keep them in my scrapbook, and get rid of the rest of the shoe. Or, I may make myself another pair just like these...nah, I never do things the same way twice! 

More Gourds from Cate

Santa Gourd
Kaleidoscope Gourd
Poinsettia Gourd

 

A Tisket... A Tasket... A Template

Yes, I've been monkeying around with the template. Hope this one is OK. I felt a little bubbly about the whole collaboration! So, voila, polka-dots!

For Phin and Anyone Else Who Wants Them: Directions on the Snowman Gourd

MAKING A SNOWMAN FROM A BIRDHOUSE GOURD

Materials Needed
Acrylic Paint (soft white, tan, off white, black, orange and pink)
Scissors
4 Buttons (2 large and 2 small)
One sock (small size – the toe of this will make the snow man’s hat)
Super Sculpey (You can get this at Walmart or Michaels Crafts
Hot glue gun
Wire ties (floral decorations) (You could also use pipe cleaners)
Gourd (birdhouse type)
Any type of fabric
Minwax-rubbing oil stain and finish in Colonial Walnut
Toothbrush
Small container
Metal scrubber
Various paintbrushes
Procedure
First wash your gourd under water, gently scrubbing it with your metal scrubber until it has a smooth clean surface.
Then:

1. With a soft, broad paintbrush paint the entire gourd off white


2. Pour your tan paint in a small container.  Dip your toothbrush into the container and flick the paint on the gourd (Make sure you continue to rotate the gourd the whole time so your paint won’t all be in one spot).


3. Next, rub the Minwax lightly on one section at a time and then immediately rub it off with a soft clean cloth.


4. Cut your wire ties off for an appropriate arm length for the size of your gourd (don’t forget to leave room for the hands).  Unravel the ties slightly and twist the ends to make hands.  Hot glue the wire ties to the back of the snowman’s neck.


5. Paint the facial features on the snowman using a small tipped brush.  To make his cheeks rosy, use a dry-brush technique.  Using a  large, dry, firm tipped brush, dip it in the pink paint and get as much off the brush as you possibly can before you paint the cheeks.


6. Take your sock and cut off the section of the toe and leave room to roll it up so that it will look like a toboggan.  Cut off the end of the sock for the scarf.  In the middle part that is left, cut two long, narrow sections and fray the end with your scissors.  Poke the un-frayed end under the scarf.


7. Make a nose out of super sculpey, bake it and then hot glue it where you want it.  Paint it orange.


8. Hot glue the buttons on his stomach (the big buttons on the bottom with the little buttons on top of them).


9. Cut out little squares (like patches) from your material and hot glue them on him for a country look.

This was a gift for my nephew inside a Christmas card. Very easy, but if you have to give money, at least it should look like something else.

Not knowing how to leave well-enough alone I made this little origami shirt to put in a small "shirt box" to give to my crafty niece-in-law.

I'm so excited. Spring is almost here. You can tell by all the seeds on display in the stores. I've bought a packet of gourdseeds and I'm ready to plant! This is a picture of my first gourd creation, a little snowman.

ANT DANCING

In the early morning air, on a leaf of mint green,
If you had looked very closely you might have seen,
An ant, withered and gray, with one leg gone,
Dancing with delight, on the tip of the frond,
As it swayed above the cool blue pond,

and her dancing went on . . .

. . and on

. . . and on.

Why doesn't she stop? Can't she see she's unfit?
Said an earthworm by the name of Miss Kitt,
We need to save her, she's going to die,
Doesn't she have any friends who are willing to try?

But the insects, the arachnids, the worms and such,
Took one look and decided they couldn't do much,
'Cause if they did what Miss Kitt thought they oughta,
They could all fall with her into the water.

So they gathered around the base of the plant,
And clapped and sang a song for the ant,
And she kicked her legs and tapped her toe,

and she fell . . .

And Miss Kitt said, " I told you so."

The crowd clapped louder, shouting, "Bravo, Dear Friend!"
Miss Kitt didn't get it, all she saw was the end,
Until, stepping forward, a small moth named Sally,
Said, "That was a truly wonderful finale."


by Cate

Note:
Last year I participated in a week of writing assignments on the internet with a project called Blog 5. The first assignment we had, on Monday, was "Growing Old with Dr. Seuss". I love Dr. Seuss poems as most of you know, but had never written one. This assignment gave me the impetus I needed.

I am reading Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hatches An Egg" tomorrow at the school I retired from, and where my daughter teaches now. My daughter told me to be sure and bring the poem I wrote to share with the kids. Phin and Ragged nudged me into sharing it here with you. I hadn't posted it because I knew several of you had already read it, but for those of you who haven't...here it is! I'm working on an illustration to go with it.

Saddle Up, Partners!

Well, I set up the blog and now it's ready. Add what you want. From the feedback I've gotten we'll forego the themes. The frequency of your posting is up to you...no pressure.

I hope everyone will share their work with us...stories, poems, photography, scrapbook layouts, dolls, sewing, knitting, embroidery, anything and everything that you are working on.

I think this is going to be fun!