Well, 24 hours ago we made it home safe and sound thanks to my hubby! He did a great job being a good driver and being so alert! We had 3 near misses but because he was alert, we were able to avoid accidents. Weather was great for the first two days, but traffic was terrible! And I do mean terrible...between the volume and the crazy drivers...ugh....the 3rd day it rained but traffic was way lighter and drivers were pretty good! This is a picture of arriving in Michigan to the rain! But at least it wasn't snow!
Before and After pictures of our unpacking!!!
Starting to unload the car! You can see some of the back of the SUV where girls are directing us!
Before on left and on the right all 'stuff' put away!
Not much different for before/after in the living room..except TV is working and dog bed is down in the after!
Dining table empty!!!
Suitcases and space saver bags ready to unpack! After: Gigi was happy to have her space on our bed again!
Family room all clean...well, today there's a large plane Bob bought on it! HA
This is my art workspace and Bob's is behind my art table. No, I haven't unpacked those items and I'll won't until later this weekend! I forgot to take a picture of my sewing room but I'll be sure to do that before I clean it up and post!
Fortunately, Bob and I both have to put away our suitcases, etc. when we return from a trip! Now it feels like we never left Michigan! HA I usually go to the grocery store and market but I was too tired and with the rain yesterday I held off until today. No rain today...a little overcast but temps in the 50's. Not bad really. So it's back to baking Cinnamon rolls and preparing dinner! Good to be home...DO miss our friends!!!! I'll be posting some of our good bye's later this week!!!
Yep...we are heading home on Saturday! We were going to leave on Sunday but Wed. afternoon Bob decided we might as well leave on Saturday! WHAT!!! Well, we are both organized and most items are packed up....just lots of last minute items to pack, clean and load up in the car...which we'll do on Friday. Today, I'll be packing up the back floor/seat area for the dogs...that takes some thought! This is what the back area of our car looked like when we left last December!
I keep pictures of how I pack and what goes where!! Makes it easier for me to get an idea on the best way to pack. Works for me...at least it has for the past 14 years!
Most of my art supplies, sewing supplies and food items all go in the back on the floor.
Good old sewing machine gets squeezed in on the floor...and I mean it is squeezed in between the front seat and back seat! This bag is stuffed!
Space saver bags are a must...builds up the back seat so I can set the dogs crates on top. This way the girls can see out the windows but still be safe.
I am way behind in reading the blogs I follow! I apologize for that but perhaps on the trip (night time in the hotels!) I can catch up!
Really hard leaving our friends...tonight is our last get together with the 'gang' of 12! Verna and Ron are hosting a Mexican night for us. I have so much to share from the past two weeks saying good bye to my friends....so until we get settled back in Michigan......keep us in your prayers for a safe drive!
Packing has started...well, actually, I started to pack up my sewing supplies a week or two ago. Figured no sense waiting until the last minute if I didn't intend to be doing any sewing.
And now my art supplies/dyes/paints are all packed up too.
I finished this week's MIP lesson, which was making stamps with found objects around the house. I wasn't very successful but it was an effort at completing my homework! I won't be doing any more lessons until the 2nd week in May! YIKES!!! The first week home will be unpacking and cleaning and seeing family and friends....
These are the stamps I made using some corrugated cardboard I had. I tore some packing tape and wrapped rubber bands around the piece (top pic) ...but by the time I finished printing and took pics the rubber bands had bent the cardboard so they are missing in this pic.
This stamp was made using my hair dryer (didn't bring my heat gun with me!) and the moldable craft foam...it's called something like that. I just happened to have a piece with me. I took a beaded bracelet and after heating the foam imprinted it!
So here is results from this past week's lesson! I forgot to take pics of the stamping before the over dyeing. Nothing outstanding but I did get to use up lots of paints and dyes.
You can see some of the imprint from the beads on this piece.
I used orange paint and some magenta or some mix of paints to stamp and over dyed both pieces with a Cantaloupe dye I had.
This is the back of the piece above! Pretty interesting isn't it!
These two pics look the same but they actually aren't. I stamped with magenta and blue acrylic paints then over dyed with Robin Egg Blue and Blue Violet...two of my favorite dyes. They go so well with Orange! HA
So now it's back to packing and beading and meeting friends for one last get together in 2019!!! Bittersweet!!!
Working away on my beading and finally remembered that I wasn't using my hoop! Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't! In this case I needed to be using a hoop! I could see the piece was started to pucker. Not real clear in this photo but trust me...it was...I think the next picture shows it better.
So, after adding some material to all four side so I can place my piece in a hoop, I started to 'unbead'!
So, after adding some material (yellow fabric on top left edge) to all four side so I can place my piece in a hoop, I started to 'unbead'!
What fun! NOT! Although, the beads come out easily, it's all the little threads that are a pain to get rid of! HA
So now I'm back using the hoop and enjoying the process.
Something for me to do when I'm not packing up to head back home!!! We leave on the 28th so I need to get busy!
Our lesson last week consisted of making stamps using the stickie back kids foam. I have done this in the past but I sure had a heck of a time deciding what to carve! I ended up using an applique pattern for a flower head I found in a magazine! Creative...I know! HA
The top two stamps are ones I made several, several years ago and I decided I might as well use them along with my 'newest' stamp(s). You may recognize the square/circle stamp, which I've used a lot.
I also wanted to use up some of the acrylic paints as well as some of the dyes I have mixed up. We leave in two weeks so I'll be tossing the dyes since I need all the space in my boxes I already have for my art supplies. I used primarily Indigo and Turquoise dyes for over dyeing these papers.
So here is my latest homework completed. These are probably the most unattractive papers I've made but still fun to do and good experience! I think I prefer the papers before I over dyed....
Once again I'm showing the papers stamped and then the same paper over dyed.
I finished another knitted top and finally took some pics today....first off, it was 90 degrees and humid/hot/hot today so fuzzy hair was called for, as well as the frown...I'm not a fan of the heat...so just focus on the knitted top! HA Obviously, I won't be wearing this shrug here in Florida but I'm sure I'll get use out of it back in Michigan this spring/summer/fall!
Verna brought me one over the day she and Kim did the ice dyeing so it's her fault that she may have got me hooked on this new cup of joe! It is SO good!!!!
We sat outside at Starbucks chatting and drinking our brew, then we headed to my favorite bead store here in Florida! The Bead Strand is a wonderful bead store...in addition, they now have high end jewelry, clothing, purses, etc. It's a bead store and boutique!
I will certainly miss this store...so, I made sure to stock up on some more beads today...why, you ask...well, now that my blue squirrel and beaded leaf are finished, it's time for a new beaded piece!
I found this picture in a magazine and I think it will look great beaded! Verna helped me pick out the beads and I think they will work out perfectly.
Verna gave me several sheets of Stick N Stitch stabilizer paper to try. I normally print out my beaded designs on C&T Wash-Away applique sheets, which is a heavier weight paper than the Stick 'N Stitch but I think I like this Stick N Stitch better. It's very lightweight and so far easy to stitch through.
I attached the printed design on to some batting, which is what I would normally do with the applique sheets, and started beading in the afternoon! Why wait, right!
I think the colors are great in this piece...and I'm sure if I need to add any more color of beads, I'll have some at home!
I'm using all Delica's - size 11....just couldn't work with 15's! To large of a piece since I bead two beads at a time. This little bit took me over an hour to do this afternoon! HA
It's hard to tell in this closeup, but Verna found this 'lemon/lime' mix of beads, which should work out perfect for this area. I brought some beads with me and I just happen to have an Avocado AB that I added in with the 'mix'. I'm really excited to finish the outline and get started on filling in!!! Thanks, Verna for introducing me to the Stick 'N Stitch product! I think it's a winner!
Still working on my homework from the Hilary MIP online class...this past week, we made our own stamps from children's stickie foam, which I'll show in my next post. Just loving this class!!! But I've said that before haven't I!
And just because they are so cute!!! Here are Ranger, Gigi and Kalee! Ranger belongs to a friend, Elizabeth who lives a few doors down from us here in Florida. Elizabeth shows Ranger in agility and he is so darn cute and fun to watch in agility...I've only seen him run agility once but I get to see video's when Elizabeth posts on FB! Hope these three put a smile on your face! They sure do that for us!
For those in the Ocala, Crystal River area, you are familiar with The Freezer Tiki Bar...or at least you should be! I've posted about our winters in Florida and eating at this unique 'restaurant' the past few years. It's one of Bob's most favorite places to eat. And eat we do! This week we headed for our last meal at The Freezer for 2019 (and possibly forever since we're not returning to Florida). We had a ball with 3 other couples!! Thanks for the memories!!
Here we are!
First off, I have to thank Jan and Larry for first introducing us to The Freezer back in 2013 (you can read about our '1st time' on this post).
They always add so much to making the trip a hoot! They are also both as cute as can be. Jan usually wears her cowboy hat but she looks just as adorable in this cap!
And here is Mr. GQ!
Howard and Karah have been friends (Howard golfs with Bob) for several of our years in Ocala Palms.
They are another wonderful couple and have such a great sense of humor. Howard can tell stories that are just a hoot and Karah adds those one liners that just make the story even better!
Carol and Dave are our next door neighbors here in Florida! We thought Dave was such a quiet kind of guy BUT we were wrong! He can get out of control easily.....but perhaps it's because Carol gets him out of control! Carol is another lady who is just happy! I love being around positive folks and this couple fit that bill!
They live in Michigan (Ohio border) and here in Florida so we're hoping to meet up with them this summer sometime. Carol's brother lives in Fenton, which is only 25-30 min. from us! A must meet up.
Yep, pitchers of beer are available and you're served the shrimp in a Styrofoam container!
Delicious steamed shrimp!!!!
Of course no visit to The Freezer is complete without a stop at the DQ! This is all Larry's fault as he has investments in DQ...well, not really, but he should! I don't think there's a DQ around Larry hasn't visited! I do enjoy this part of our Freezer excursion!
You have to look carefully, but there's an Osprey on this nest....that nest has been here since we started coming in 2013! Can you imagine how heavy it is!
And hubby and I.....so many memories....but we have lots of pictures in my blog to look back on our trip to The Freezer as well as other outings with the friends we've made here in Ocala. Bittersweet to leave.....but thanks for the memories 'ya all'!
Our last lesson had to do with makin I am learning so much!!! We'll be making our own stamps in the next module! I'm really looking forward to getting home and being able to work on my homework in my own dye room!!
