The week caught up with me

Well, I think the week has finally caught up with me. I'm pooped! But I'm still going to head out for my bike ride in a few minutes. I keep forgetting I'm OLD! This body can only be so active, right!
Last night Bob and I watched the Tigers win again! Then turned the channel to watch our Lions play a preseason game, which they won too!! They looked really good or else Cincinnati was really bad. Either way we enjoyed the game and I got lots of beading done on my cuff! I hope to finish it tonight, yes, while watching the Tigers!

And look at what arrived at our door the other day! Aren't these beautiful!!

From my SIS! Thanks so much, MAW!

This is how Mandy felt on Thursday after her long babysitting day Wed. I think it might be me later on but at least I'll turn my head and face Bob! Maybe!

Auntie and Amber are spending the weekend together getting manicures and shopping. This is Amber's annual BD gift from her Aunt and she was so excited yesterday. She called me to say her suitcase was all packed and ready! Enjoy your day girls and make some more memories together!

My 13 hour day

Yes, this is a post about my Wed. with the kids. I arrived at 6:45 a.m. and left after 8 p.m. which gave us lots of time together to be busy!
Amber did make a pot holder so there is some fiber work to show! She got a kit to make these woven pot holders but the fabric in them these days is made of polyester which stretched like crazy. Remember the good old days when the material was just cotton! Anyway, I told Amber I can still use this one to set my water glass on.


Amber working hard on her pot holder.






Nick had a snap-it car to put together.

He was quite fascinated with the chrome looking wheels he had to put together. And being the fussy builder he is (reminds me of Ian! Must be a boy thing!), he had to put the tires back together after he saw the tread was going in different directions on the back tires. Who knew tread had directions!

We moved inside to finish up Nick's car and Amber's pot holder. Nick and I were at the stage of putting on decals on the model car. As I was trying to put this tiny, tiny, tiny! light decal on, it flipped and we couldn't find it. Nick said "maybe it fell in one of your wrinkles, grandma". Hmmmm Out of the mouth of babes!
OK, this is the part where mom and dad stop reading. Do we need a perk-me-up, grandma?

Amber poured some of my coffee into a cup for Nick to taste...

And she tried some herself....not to worry...neither of them will be coffee drinkers...I made them sip it black, which I knew would be too strong for them. It was a funny episode. And no coffee was really consumed by them (just me!).

We did have a full day even after having dinner at our local Italian Restaurant enjoying our 35 cent pasta day! Can't beat that!!

Amber and I made a meal of the salad which is fantastic. She eats the salad with no dressing on it!

Isn't this how everyone eats spaghetti?

After our great dinner, we headed home to go on a bike ride. Amber wasn't too excited about this but I really wanted to move after the bread and salad (yes, I put dressing on mine!). Bike ride was quite nice but Amber's choice of activity was to play baseball. So, after the bike ride, we got all the bases, bat and ball and headed to the front yard. I'm sure the neighbors enjoyed the show of grandma pitching and of Nick running into me on first base! We played until after 7:30 when we had to stop after Amber made a great hit but ran into Nick on 3rd base and slid onto the sidewalk! Just a little skinned knee, but she recovered quickly after her shower. Kids had just finished their baths and deciding what to have for dessert when mom and dad came home.

I'm not sure who was more tired, Mandy or me but we had a great day and memories (yes, the wrinkle comment will go in Nick's BD letter this year!).

Today, grandma will get back to some fiber work! I have a workshop to teach at our local quilt guild next week so I want to get all my notes and supplies together. I have to find all my samples too.

Our weather is turning cooler which is such a relief not to have the air on and windows open! My kind of weather!

Book and beads

I'm so excited! I received my copy of Bojagi & Beyond today! Now to find the time to sit and read it (village council meeting tonight and I want to finish the MQAI write ups this afternoon).


At our CCC fiber group meeting in July, one of the ladies, Chris, brought in the book along with a piece of organza she was stitching following the technique in Chunghie's book. Chris' belongs to a stitching group in Lansing and they are working together on this method.





This is a picture of Chris' white organza being stitched. I laid it on top of a scrap quilt top that she is also working on just so you could see the stitching. It almost appears to be a form of french seams. Isn't it beautiful! My friend, Mary, and I are both interested in this technique so I hope we can actually pursue it! Thanks for sharing your work with us, Chris!!

On another note....I forgot to post a picture and some of the info from a gift I received from my friend, Teresa! Teresa, my daughter and I met a few weekends ago for brunch. I haven't seen Teresa since last winter, before we left for Florida, and look what she gave me! These are beads made by Ugandan women and men from recycled paper. Each one is so unique and beautiful!! Teresa actually had on a necklace made up of these beads which came from the Bead for Life web site that was very nice and of course matched her outfit perfectly! Check out some of the cool beads and jewelry they have. Very impressive. Now to see what I could make using them. You almost don't want to use them but put them in a bowl just to look at! Now there's an idea! Maybe that's what I need to do and then the inspiration will just happen! Thanks again, Teresa!!

We actually had windows opened up until a few minutes ago! The rain has set in but I can't say we really need it! Bob was finally able to mow yesterday, as the grass has grown since last Friday! But better rain then dry...although, I do want the weather to be nice on Wed. The kids and I are going on a pedal or is it paddle?? boat ride. I think it's called pedal since we are the so called power to get the boat moving! If you don't hear back from me, you'll find us at the bottom of the lake! Until then...

Say hello to Betty!

Betty has been finished for a few weeks but I keep forgetting to post her! Today we took the photo's for the Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational exhibit that opens on Sept. 9th. There are so many cool quilts all depicting the theme 'Art of the Kitchen'. We had over 40+ quilts to photograph. It's always fun to see the art work up close and appreciate all the work folks put into their quilts.

This pic shows the hearts that I beaded. Well, yes, I had to add beads didn't I! I'm happy with 'Betty' but still need to finish my 1st Betty (the one with the yellow marker on it!). I want to cut it out in a heart shape and then hang in my kitchen.


Tomorrow I'll finish adding the photo's from today into the writeup for each quilt. Then perhaps I'll play a bit with some oil pastels. Or just bead...or just do some mono printing...or.....

My Sister's Visit (Finally!)

Sniffle, sniffle...the weekend is over with my sister! We had a blast!! So much laughter our stomachs hurt as if we had done 100 crunches! We ate a lot so I hope the laughter did in fact act as exercise! I know laughter is good for digestion so that part was good!!

Amber made this sign last weekend when the kids stayed the night so I put it in the driveway so they would see it as soon as they pulled in the drive. You'll see by the pictures it was hard to get one without us laughing so much! Check out the video at the end and you'll see what our time was like!

My sis and me!

"Oh my gosh, I remember that time!"

"Look how old our skin looks!"

Darrin, myself, MaryAnn and Dawn
Is this a great picture or what!

Maryann, Nancy and I took off Sat. a.m. for breakfast at Panera's then off the the Art Fair in Grand Blanc. Nancy was so nice and contributed to the economy by purchasing this really cool bowl and appetizer glass tray (Grey Goose bottles!). How unique they each are.

And the eating part pictures are below as well as a video introducing my family!!! I loved the time with having everyone here!!!! The entire family will never know what this meant to me!!!

Just another Wednesday

I have been beading on my 3rd cuff so here's the progress so far. I worked on this last night watching the Tigers (yes, they won! Whew!). Since I wear a lot of orange/pastel colors, I think I'll get a lot of use from this cuff. My next one is going to be in black and white.

I might get some more beading on this tonight as the Tigers are on again but it might be the last night for awhile. In TWO days my sister will be here!!!! I'm so excited!! I'll be heading off to grocery store and market on Thursday and Friday (I already bought Tequila!) and preparing for dinner with all the family on Sat.

Yesterday I received back my little quilt from Lynn Krawczyk who was/is curator of the Breaking Traditions Exhibitions. In 2009, Lynn put together the exhibit called 'Home', which raised $795 for A Place to Bark. This was my little contribution to the exhibit.
Yes, that is our little Mandy peaking out the front door, which was made of metal. It was fun to work on and nice to see again! I forgot what the little piece looked like!

This saying sure fit what Mandy has done for Bob and I. She's been so special in our life since we adopted her in 2001! You can tell she's as happy with us as we are with her!!

Today with the kids was fun as usual. I just love having conversations with them. Amber was SO excited since she got a cell phone for her birthday (no texting, just phone). She kept looking at her phone saying "no one has called me, grandma". I told her that her parents were working, as was her aunt and I was with her! Well, her Auntie did call and was Amber's FIRST phone call she received. She was so excited that she got a call. I thought she almost jumped to the ceiling when her phone rang! So cute!!! Thank you Auntie for making Amber's day!

Nick had a Neon sand kit that he wanted to work on. It was kinda fun and kept him busy for at least 30 min.
He had to mix the sand with an activator really well, then pour into the molds. You had to do it in a darken room so we had all the lights out which made it difficult to read the instructions!
But we did it! Results are what the sculptures looked like in the bathroom with the lights out and door closed. It was pitch black in the room but you can see the neon vases! Pretty cool!

And here are Amber's fingernails with her decorative manicure. She didn't think it felt much like a manicure but we did get through it. Another 30 mins. on this project.

We finished out the day by playing Monopoly! Amber and I started out playing then Nick and his friend decided they wanted to play. I was happy when Kris got home as the wheeling and dealing was getting pretty heavy! I just played banker when the 3 kids played.

So off to finish up my planning and menu for the weekend!! Did I mention how excited I am to see my sister again!!! And to have everyone here on Sat. - all my family will be the highlight of this year for sure!

Stars or planets?

Stars are planets or planets are stars! Oh well...anyway, busy day with groomers and groceries then back home to do some laundry then off again to go vote (our Village council) then Bob wanted fish for dinner so back to town we went. I wasn't hungry for fish but since I like being waited on I went along!
I just started on my orange cuff last night so I don't have anything to show with beads! But..I was going through my quilt pics to send in for a local show at the Longway Planetarium, Stars Exhibit, coming up this September. Years ago I sent in a quilt of our little dog inside a star that was shown. Guess I'll have to dig that quilt out and post on my blog.

So here are two quilts I made back in 2006 for the MQAI Out of This World exhibit. This one is called Blue Moons - wonder why! It's hard to see but there are LOTS of tiny beads sewn on individually! Plus a few of the moons are stuffed to the max! And I mean stuffed! Not sure what I was thinking but...this quilt is 20" x 24" and I used dimensional paint for some of the planet bumps! Can you tell I'm not very educated on planets or stars!
The next one is 'A Stellar Garden'. I had printed out a photo on fabric taken by Jeffrey Blye from Long Island. Jeffrey took the picture of the flower at a state park in Oyster Bay on Long Island then manipulated it in photoshop. I thought his picture was so cool so I asked if I could use it. Since then I've used 3 of Jeffrey's photo's in quilts.

I used some white/gray (probably from socks!) dryer lint for those 'bumps' on the planet. Some thread painting and of course my beads, which are kinda free form. Both of these were fun to make and that year I actually made 3 for the exhibit! I didn't know we aren't suppose to make more than one!! I found that out last year. Guess whenever they discussed the number an artist could make I was always in Florida and missed the discussion! Well, I learned my lesson and this year I only made one...ok, two (Betty/Twins) but I'm only putting one of the Betty's in the show. The other one I'm keeping for our house!

So tomorrow I go to see kids..not sure what we'll do and then I'll start some cooking on Thursday and Friday and anticipate my sister's visit!!!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm so excited! Bob said today "you'd think the king was coming"...well, my sister is royalty to me!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET PEA!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMBER!!! I can't believe she is 12 years old! Time goes by so fast!

The kids put on a great BD party (again!) on Sunday to celebrate Amber's BD with family and friends.

Amber's Grandma Nancy made another one of her wonderful cakes...yum!!! She does make the best cake!

And even Spike made an entrance! I just get such a kick out of this little guy! It's the first time Grandpa Bob got to meet him. Lots of swimming and lots of food! Just a great day!

I just talked to Amber and she and her brother are getting ready to head off to day camp.

You have a great day, Sweet Pea! Lots of love and birthday wishes from grandpa and I!!!