Hello March!

Happy March!

I think it's safe to say we all want winter to go away!

The green is cheerful from all the St. Patrick's day decor!

It won't be long before the first signs of spring will be here.

I heard birds chirping like crazy the other day... it was beautiful.

I made another phone/tablet calendar for you!

Click here to download it.

The theme is a mouse with shamrocks.

I painted these using acrylics. 

Click here to download the desktop calendar.

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Now onto some more serious content.

I've decided to simplify my life more 
and post LESS on my blog and newsletters.

I have been working hard on these throughout the years...sometimes stressing out about getting it done  and making all the content. 

Since having a stroke and other health complications back in 2020....I have had to really change my life.  My health is number one and of course... my family.

I am not going to stop creating....just changing a few things to make life easier.

I love creating art and making patterns... they really feed my soul.

So  I think I will just occasionally post on my blog and newsletter.

I will continue to post on Instagram and Facebook!

Please follow me there and get daily content....

about things I have been doing, art, designs, and more!

I will stop making monthly calendars.

Freebies will be an occasional thing. 

I will have all my designs on Etsy for instant download

ETSY

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and if you prefer a printed and mailed pattern ... please go to my website.

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I created a new set of collage sheets...celebrating St. Patrick's day!

They are easy and fun....make them into these cute decorations!

These 2 collage sheets are perfect to create your Irish home decor, use to create tags, journaling, ornaments for an st. patrick's tree, art for your planner and more ....they are just plain fun!

I drew all the artwork. There are shamrocks, frogs, a mouse, a sweet lassie, a fun doggy, clover plant, flowers and sayings. The second sheet is a ice green background paper to make your creations. I have a small tutorial on my Instagram.

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Stitch up this sweet St. Patrick's day design ... a Fast, Easy, and Fun embroidery project.
I drew up this kitty cat design....I thought it would be sweet having the saying about pinching... that was such a big deal in school.

It measures: 5 3/8" wide x 4 3/16", but could be enlarged or reduced.
This pattern sheet comes with embroidery instructions and tips for embroidery (my secrets).

*There are color suggestions listed , but you can stitch any colors you like.

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I want to share some of the art I have been doing lately!

I have been taking an excellent class from Mindy Lacefield called :Illustrated sketchbook.

It is pure FUN!  

It's childlike, easy, inspiring, and makes you feel like a teen again!

Above is a page I did....sort of random drawings and doodles.

There are lots of lessons in this.... 16 lessons and lifetime access to it!

Here is my rain puddle...this pic doesn't show all the magical glitter in the rain.

There were lessons on cute characters like the peanuts gang too.

This one was super fun...a rain drop girl.  Adding stickers is fun too.

I loved the poodle and working with these Marabu art crayons.... that deactivate with water and paint brush.

I love working with watercolors and markers. It is very satisfying.

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I love making raggedy ann... I got a wonderful pattern from Sweet Meadows farm.

I made the small doll with fun fabric from my pal Kat... I love the shamrocks. 

She turned out so cute.

I made a cat apron for her.

Her hair was variegated green yarn.

I made another with vintage sheets... she is pink!

It's always fun to have some time for play.

Have a great March...

.and I will see you on Instagram and Facebook

with an occasional newsletter or blog post.

 

Hello February 2022!

Wow...It's time for February and Valentine's day!

I am hoping spring will be right around the corner. 

Until then, I am letting all the hearts....pretty pinks and reds...cheer me up!

The above phone and tablet calendar is available here...It is my own artwork.

The desktop version is available here.

I love the fun heart flowers...blooming in a meadow.

I do believe each holiday has many purposes.

As a school kid....it got me looking forward to another special day.

I think valentines takes some of the gloominess away...especially since it is still pretty cold.

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I made some new valentine dolls!

Everytime I make new ones...I am thrilled with the process.

The cat sold immediately, the others are available.

I love raggedy Ann...she has always been a favorite of mine.

She has a crochet bow on her head and she is holding a valentine I made.

Check her out in my etsy shop.

Here is the beginning stages of her and some heart ornaments.

I also made a fun bunny!

Green eyes, flowers on her head and a ruffle skirt.

Her valentine is especially cute.

My daughter Selina always gives me good ideas...like putting this stitched word of love onto one of the hearts.

Learn to make your own...with my book, published by C&T Publishing.

There are detailed shots of every stage on the process.  That includes the painting steps too. My daughter Selina took all the detailed shots in the book.

I sell them on my website and etsy....I can sign it for you!

This cat doll is in the book.   The sky's the limit on what you can create.

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I also made some finished valentines for my etsy shop.

Paper hearts with chenille stem dolls....

Love like crazy....

Old friends ornament....

Another chenille stem doll in a vintage jello mold...

Plus lots more!

A small trophy of love...

Let's fall in love...

and sweet felt ornaments too.

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I want to remind you to follow me on Instagram....It's where I post everyday...

sometimes it is really timely. Like I posted about my snoopy ornament....and it sold minutes later.

I don't want you to miss out. 

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If you live in Spokane Washington....come see our vendor booth called the Great northwest vendor mall. We sell patterns, wood pendant blanks, glittered albums, art, ornaments and antiques.

Plus there are tons of other vendors with cool stuff too.

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Now to the sad news

I had to put my beloved cat Froy down.

He has been sick for a month....it started with him not bathing as much...

then drooling a bit.

One day he would seem better, then it would get worse.

He was drooling brownish saliva.

He couldn't eat dry food.

He was getting messy...but I cleaned him and gave him wet food.

Him gums seemed swollen.

I took him to emergency and they gave him antibiotics and nutrients.

I took him to my regular dr and they said his teeth and gums needed cleaning.

I called again because he seemed to be so hungry and had problems drinking water.

That time they saw a big mass under his tongue...he had a fever....thinking its cancer.

It was sooooo hard to make the decision to put him to sleep.

I selfishly wanted him to be alive....but his suffering was terrible.

He was the cutest kitten ever.

He was my constant companion,

my 13 year old baby.

This was his last playful day.

I would have never guessed it...I thought he was getting better.

I have cried so much my face hurts....my heart hurts....I miss him so much.

We have his ashes now and I placed a picture of him by it.

The gray bow is for his gray fur.

I just got this sweet card from the vet....plus Froy's paw prints.

He always said hello to me in the office, crafted with me in my studio, gardened, snuggled, sometimes would be a bully but most of the time was sweet.

Life is not going to be the same without him.

I guess I will just grieve and see what happens.

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Let's leave on a happy note...

How about some vintage valentines!

Happy February!

May day!

It's May day!

Wow, is this an amazing spring or what?

The birds, flowers and leaves on trees are so cheerful.

I have started planting my flower pots, clean my patio and I have done lots of yard work....great exercise!

The May phone/tablet calendar download is here.

The May desktop calendar is available here.

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I want you to consider joining my newsletter....because this blog site that I use is going to stop emailing new posts. I will still post and you can see it if you come here, but they are stopping the automatic email.

Plus...when you join my newsletter....you get a cool freebie every month like this one:

I am offering the freebie to you here this month.

I wanted to share a little about how I make a design like this freebie.

First I draw in pencil a design like these flowers...just a sketch.

I then use a sharpie or Micron pen....to go over my sketch...sometimes improving it as I go along.

After the pen ink is dry....I erase the pencil lines gently.

It is ready to scan using my printer/scanner.

This is a picture of my scanner window.  I usually crop the drawing down and adjust the brightness so the drawing stands out really well. 

I use adobe illustrator to make the drawing perfect.  It is a great program I pay for monthly. You can draw and do all kinds of things on it. There are classes on Youtube and Skillshare that can teach you everything if you are interested.

I put my drawing in and use the image trace tool...it makes it easy to fix flaws.

I smooth out the drawing using the smooth tool.

I draw a curved line to type on...

Then I typed May flowers...I can change it all that I want.

I drew a box around the design to finish it and made the box look like a stitched line.

I also add my name and date to make it complete.

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The "May" surprise pack is now available in my etsy shop!

It is full of goodies to celebrate this month and spring!
My daughter and I are collaborating on a fun MAY pack...that consists of:

* 2 ornament Hexagons pack with THREAD PAINTING Pansy and little bird design/pattern....with full instructions (and thread painting details too), colors used for hand embroidery and green glitter string to use for hanging. (This is not the finished item...you create them with this pack)
Each one is 3 1/2" Tall and 3 3/4" Wide.... Then the inside (embroidery fits in here) 2 1/2" tall x 3".
Each ornament blank is plain wood but can be painted (watercolors work great!)

* 1 lil Birdie needle minder measuring: 1 3/8" x 1 3/8", made from wood, laser cut and has a very strong set of magnets to hold the needle minder in place on you embroidery hoop. It keeps your needles handy and it won't end up on the floor or couch.

* 1 Handmade art tag: Art (Girl with flower) made from one of my paintings...turned into a print with "Every flowers blooms in its own time" with glitter and a ribbon....tucked in a glassine bag. The tag measures: 3" wide x 6 `1/4" tall. It is signed and dated.

* plus a couple extra goodies.... a surprise!

This is the cover of the Hexie ornament pack.

There are detailed instructions and the pattern designs.

This little bird needle minder is so sweet!

This is the hand made tag you will get.

Plus some flower preemie flash cards.

May surprise pack.

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This month I made a sweet deer mug rug...from these gorgeous pink and turquoise fabric.

How to do it?....I drew a quick diagram...below. 

Use a 1/4" seam allowance.  Sew the featured fabric next to 3 strips of deer fabric.

Press well. Sew 1" strips all the way around. It is a good idea for the fabric border strips to be the same as the backing fabric.  It makes the strips resemble quilt binding.  Cut excess fabric and press. Layer batting and backing fabric (slightly larger than top) then lay top over backing (right sides together).  Pin in place. Sew 1/4"  around mug rug leaving a 3" opening. Turn inside out. Sew opening closed. Quilt squiggles on featured fabric and also quilt down strips and around the borders. 

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When my sister came to town...after not seeing her for 9 months...all of us sister (4) went shopping....finally....it was so much fun! We all have been vaccinated...but our state has a mask mandate....be it was like old times.

I got this cool old book.

The graphics are so amazing....I loved the Halloween section.

All the holidays are so cool.

It is a treasure... to find a book in such great condition.

I love paper products...like these stickers.

I had to have them since. Look at the fun hallloween owl.

I also got this raggedy Andy nut cup kit.

He is so adorable.  I didn't add any nuts since it will make it oily.

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This is a sneak peek for "June's Surprise pack"... available soon!

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Have a wonderful May!