Haven of Creativity

Spring is right around the corner, and with it brings flowers, weekends “down the shore” and being outdoors to enjoy it all! I also have been working on new designs and kits, microwavable heating pads, cat nip toys and lavender sachets, just to name a few. Feel free to browse! There is more coming, but I didn’t want to wait to get some new items listed.

I’m so glad that I have crafts to keep me busy when we are limited to going out and about and our regularly scheduled activities are postponed. I have been doing a lot of punch needle projects, some small rug hooking projects and hopefully soon, a large rug. Having the right tools make the biggest difference as far as the enjoyment level. Frustration can make you want to give up on a new skill.

I love my spinner frame and stand from The Old Tattered Flag. I am in awe of Julie and Carol, the mother/daughter team who own the shop that has everything I love! They are in upstate New York and my best friend and I are so anxious for their new shop to open and take a road trip when we are able to. I have some of Julie’s patterns for sale on my Etsy site and I just completed this one this past weekend.

My friend and I went to the shore for the weekend, saw hundreds of baby hermit crabs on the bay (scooped up a handful to watch them move around, and placed them back with their families) and after a glorious day at the beach and a good take-out dinner, we settled in with our respective fiber art projects and watched a movie while we worked! It was heavenly!

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I’m so easy to please, that I will tell you that when we arrived at my little place at the shore, I was so happy to see that my daughter had gotten a new trash can for the kitchen! I absolutely hated the one that was there because the lid was so difficult, and I just hadn’t replaced it. I think my disdain for it, and her hearing about it, helped prompt her to surprise me with a new one. I was quite pleased. I reminded her that I also don’t like the one recliner in the living room, but she informed me that she likes it. Sigh. I tried!

I have been keeping busy creating during this time of quarantine, as I hope many of you are too. I think a lot of people value the arts more than ever as we need to entertain ourselves with projects, movies, music, and creating in many other aspects. I notice that a lot of people, me included, are getting more resourceful at improvising and thinking more creatively so we don’t have to leave our homes more than we should.

I have discovered that my two Yorkies are as needy at times as toddlers! I will sit down to do work for my job, or work on this blog or my Etsy site, and they will start demanding attention! Pawing at me to pick them up or pet them, wrestling with each other, or barking at me demanding attention! I think they’re wondering why I’m here all the time.

I have been sorting wool and wool thread, doing rug hooking, punch needle and designing patterns. I don’t know about the rest of the crafters out there, but I can say that no matter how much organizing I do, there is always more to do. It’s just a forever struggle. I’ve been that way since I was a teenager and my dad would look into my room where I would be crafting and I’d announce how I was cleaning it up and he would comment that it looks like I just shook a box! So true– Same stuff, different place!

I did this punch needle project last fall, but finally worked up the pattern and got it listed on my website. It is available printed on weavers cloth or as a digital download.

I also created a “Sally the Sheep” pattern which is great for learning and I have kits that include the thread needed to complete this project. I was going to teach classes with this pattern, and still hope to eventually, but in the mean time, here it is!

Check out my Etsy site for all items available!

I’ve been busy making some Christmas gifts and items for my Etsy site. I don’t know about you, but I sure can get side tracked when crafting! I have tried to remedy this issue by cleaning out my craft room of things I don’t need at my fingertips. Of course, that means relocating those items to the garage which is still being cleaned out as well. It seems like an endless cycle! I remember when I was a teenager and I’d “clean up” my bedroom and my dad would look in and say, “Well, it looks like you just shook a box!” There was definitely some truth to that! I do believe creative people need things out and visible. Out of sight, out of mind doesn’t work well when crafting. I NEED my things to be visible!

My mom passed away in May and I have her things to sort through as well, and that is a more emotional job. It’s bittersweet to look through the things she treasured, without her being here to talk to about them. I am taking my time parting with some of her things, because once they’re gone, they’re gone. No rush. I’ll get there. It makes me wonder about those things that I treasure and if my kids will really care to hold on to them or not. My best friend and I have discussed that if anything happens to me first, she is to go through my person things because she will likely know better the significance of most! My daughter is a “pitch it” kinda gal, and my boys would likely feel overwhelmed! Oh well, I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon, so I have time to scale back!

Here are some pictures of items I’ve been working on: Woolly Trees

I’ll be adding more colors as I come across the right color wool. These are a lot of fun to make and are so cute!

Here are two punch needle trees that I backed, stuffed and mounted. These take more time, as they are needle punched, but come out so neat. I love the relaxing process of creating these, and I’m working on additional patterns, but here are two for now. Writing patterns is time consuming, but I’m figuring it out so they will soon be available in my Etsy shop as a digital download. UPDATE* This pair of patterns are one listing in my ETSY Shop!

I have accumulated a lot of beautiful wool and also repurpose wool sweaters I find, wash and make into something new. These tree ornaments are all from parts of a sweater and have cinnamon stick trunks! They can be hung (strings will be added) or nestled in a basket or attached to a package.

That’s what has been keeping me busy for now so stay tuned for more goodies!

Hi all–I expected to have a new post WAAAAY before now, but here we are! I have been keeping busy in different ways this summer.  My youngest son graduated from high school and this is the first time in over 26 years that I don’t have a child going off to school each day! It is a new phase of life, for sure.

In May, my mom passed away. Adam graduated in June. My mom wanted to make it to his graduation so badly, but it just didn’t happen. She had congestive heart failure and it took her. We had many wonderful conversations in the last few months of her life and I am so grateful for that time.

We both had a love of the beach. Long Beach Island, NJ to be exact and we had been going there since I was a teenager. We would talk of having a place down there and my mom encouraged me to do it if it could. Even though she was gone, she helped make the dream come true of having a little slice of paradise of my own. I got a small place 10 miles off the island so I can enjoy the beach as much as possible and share it with my friends and family. It’s been a wonderful summer. It’s small enough to be easy to take care of, yet big enough for my kids to come and enjoy being together. We’ve made wonderful memories so far with many more to come! Beach time with my grand kids is priceless!

I have also been busy designing punch needle patterns and crafting with rug hooking techniques and needle felting. I have made my own paper making kits for many years and they are still popular on my Etsy site! I think recycling paper in a creative way will always be in style. click on my Etsy site link to see what’s in my shop and more is coming soon!

I hope you’re enjoying the last week of official summer and I look forward to enjoying more beach time before we put away the chairs and towels!

Never stop dreaming. Keep your dreams and aspirations close to your heart and you’ll find a way to make them come true. Life is good and I am forever grateful for so much.

I’m sorry I’ve been absent for awhile. There have been a lot of emotional events these last few months. My mom’s health was declining and she passed away on May 2nd. It was peaceful, but difficult. I miss her. We had quality time the last few months and for that I am forever grateful. I was with her when she passed and I am honored to have been there, just her and I, as she left this world.

My youngest son graduated on June 11, and while my mom wanted so badly to make it to his graduation, it didn’t happen, but we felt her presence with us. We had a wonderful celebration for his graduation, the weather was perfect and we had a little over 60 friends and family join us. Now, he’s figuring out what his next steps will be and we are enjoying the summer. It certainly will be strange, yet freeing, to not have a child in school this fall!

I am gradually picking up my creative projects again and starting to design some punch needle patterns that I hope to have listed on my Etsy site soon. Sales of my paper making kits on there are keeping me busy! I also have been spending a lot of time at the shore, (Long Beach Island, NJ) My Happy Place, and I’ll write more about that later. For now, I’ll leave you with this: Sometimes dreams really do come true! To be continued…

Today my son and I ventured to the local DVM to get his permit to drive. He wasn’t ready when he turned 16, but now, just days before his 18th birthday, he’s ready. We had another appointment earlier, so we went right after that, arriving at 11:30 am.

We received out ticket and saw that there were 20 ahead of us… actually 20 “b”s ahead of us. There were categories depending on what you were there for. “A”s came and went quickly–they were there for a photo license renewal. “C’s” are still a mystery to me, but they came and went a little slower. B350 was on the board, and we were B370. We were standing for the first 45 minutes, and then, mercifully, 2 seats opened up. We killed the next hour and 15 minutes chatting, him listening to music, me reacquainting myself with level 2025 of Candy Crush, which I hadn’t played lately, and finally pinning a lot of rug hooking and punch needle patterns on Pinterest. I was grateful for the granola bar in my purse after the first 45 minutes, but now I was getting thirsty. B360 was finally called and we were 10 away. At this point, I texted my son-in-law and told him of the wait and asked if he wanted me to pull a ticket for my granddaughter while we were there. She is six.

B365–We were getting close. The guy next to us jumped up as if he was stung on the butt and hurried in to claim his spot at counter 3. About this point I reminded my son that not passing the permit test was not an option. I would not be back to sit vigil again. He laughed nervously and began taking the practice test, yet again, on his phone. People came and went, forgot to get tickets, or just wandered in and decided to go into the doorway where we all wanted to go. I mumbled to my son under my breath–“Sure, just go right in. All of us are just sitting here clearly waiting for something else. Don’t mind us.”

The woman next to me appeared to be detoxing from something, but determined to wait it out. Maybe she wanted a cigarette, a drink or a Reese’s peanut butter cup. regardless, no one was leaving at this point. We hung in there way too long.

B369 was called and I was giddy with excitement! I leaned over to my son and said I feel like I need to yell “BINGO!!” when our number is called! It seemed fitting! At the 2 hour, 55 minute mark our number was called!!

We had all of our paperwork ready and other than the slow-as-a-sloth person who typed his info into the computer, it all went well. Later my son and I agreed that it was downright painful watching him pluck those keyboard keys so slowly we wanted to reach over and help him. The mystery of what was taking so long was solved at last.

I now have a permitted driver who I need to teach to drive. I am counting on my older kids and friends to help too because some things truly do take a village!

Onward and Upward–tomorrow is a new day!