We Are All Together Again...

This week we met at Mary's house in Long Beach.  We were all working on different projects.  April's daughter, Amber joined us for the day.  She has been working in Dutch Harbor, AK as a teacher and home for the summer.  April and Amber have just returned from an 11 day camping adventure.  It was fun to hear their stories of camping and car rescue.  There was so much laughing going on that some of us had tears coming down our faces.  It doesn't get any better than this!

Below is a card that Pinky made while we were all visiting.  She used two special punches to make the disks and then proceeded to use metallic thread to wind around each peak to form the design.  This is really striking and makes a beautiful card.  Pink, you just get better and better at this.

Below is a new flag April is making for someone in her Bible study.  She has been learning new lettering techniques and the use of bright color and these just turn out amazing...

 Next, is Amber's hands putting together a beautiful beaded bracelet in every color under the sun.  She said the colors reminded her of the bright colors you see in African crafts and clothing.  She would like to go there some day on a mission trip.

 Jan was working on inchies...little creations of art that are only one inch by one inch.  She gave each of us one when she was done.  She was quietly creating while we were all yacking...

Karen was working on her art journal.  She is just loving this.  Each page is unique and full of color.  Sometimes she goes back and adds more to a page later.  She does a bit of writing in it also.  She was telling us that she works on it almost every day.

Mary was working on carving rubber stamps.  They are made on Speedball Speedycut blocks.  Her favorites were a fox and a raven.  They will make great cards, tags, wrapping paper, and who knows...

Jan, if you have any other pictures you would like to add, please go ahead.  It was a very fun day and went way too fast.  It was just so good to be together again and have our laughing fix.  This group is better than therapy :>))  See you next time!

Happy Birthday, Don!

We had a great day at Karen's today. She provided us with coffee, tea, and goodies to munch on.

Each of us seemed to be working on something different today. April was getting ready for a book mark making class at her church. Karen was working on cards. Pinky was working on her crochet rag rug and then April talked her into making a little monster book mark. She is holding it in the pic of her. Jan was working on a newly started beaded piece. Mary was making a couple of crochet dish cloths.

Today is Karen's husband, Don's, birthday and we all sang him Happy Birthday on his special day. He brought us up some pics of him and his band from the 60's...a pretty handsome fellow.

We are meeting next week at Mary's. April talked to us a bit about a challenge that sounds really interesting and challenging. We are all up for it!

Making Bird Seed Hanging Cakes For Our Fine Feathered Friends...

I am ashamed...I was having so much fun making these things that I didn't take any pictures. I am hoping Jan will come along behind me and post any that she took. It was a fun day here at my house (Mary's).

We all mixed up bird seed, gelatin, a little corn syrup, & water and put them into cookie cutters that are open on both ends. It was fun because they all were different shapes, so each of us took home one of a kind bird treats.

I am enclosing a picture of mine when I turned them out to dry this morning. Now, they have to dry 72 hours before hanging them out for the birdies. This was a very fun project!

Oh, and yes...a little elf left me a beaded wooden sewing spool with an angel on it...thank you, Jan!

More Pics From Tuesday...

Here are a few more pics of the calendar pages. Jan has started a new heart for a special friend and I enclosed it so you can see the detail of how she begins one of her heart pin creations. There is a pic of April working on her examples for her Christmas card class coming up soon. The group of 4 cards are by Karen. She was just whipping them out like crazy today! Pinky and Mary worked on rag rugs. It looks like Pink's is almost done!

It was such a good day with everyone there.

See you next week at Karen's!

SCROLL DOWN SOME MORE TO SEE MORE CALENDAR PAGES...

April Has A Challenge For Us!

April told us she would have a challenge for us on Tuesday. She presented us each with a coffee travel mug. It pulls apart so you can decorate the outside of the cup any way you choose. We are to each take these home this week and come back next Tues with our transformed mug...very fun!

The mug April has in her hand shows what it looks like when the colored paper is removed.

The next pic shows the mugs as we received them.

The bottom pic shows Jan's addition to her jean jacket. She did a small project quite some time ago and has added it to the jacket. Make sure to double click to see the detail of her work.

We will all gather at Pink's next week to present our mugs to one another.

Tuesday at April's...

Another great Tuesday...Each of us were working on different projects this week.
Pic #1 is Jan working on her multicolored rag rug. The combination of various colors really makes this one "pop."
Pic #2 is Pinky working on her rag rug in burgundy.
Pic #3 is April's cards that she was working on. We have some excellent card makers in our group.
Pic #4 is Karen's postcard making project.
Pic #5 is Mary's project of making some hot pads for on the table. She did the sewing and now will be adding a back and a loop to be able to hang it up.

Don't forget to double click for a close up of their work.

Star Fish Ornaments...

We all brought beads and tools to work on ornaments. Double click on the group pic to see the detail. All were so different. Some of us made two of them and some of us made a couple pairs of earrings. I meant to take a pic of April's earrings and forgot, so April...if you are reading this, you might post a pic of yours.

We all had such a great day. Marlene learned first hand what a crazy group this is.

I got a kick out of Maddie. She asked how often we meet and we said every week, when possible. She said she only sees her best friend about once a month. In my mind I was saying, we are blessed :>))

Next week we will head to April's and start a mug challenge that she has for us. No doubt, it will be fun! That's what this is all about...art, friendship, and laughing...

The bare pic of the star fish is what we started with. These cute little star fish are from the Phillipines. Mary had a bunch of seed beads for us to use. We all brought extras and beads to use for the project. I think you could do this with any kind of star fish. April has an orament trade for Christmas in her family...so she is one step ahead!

OK, April...I know the beads are not in the proper rainbow logical order :>))

Welcome Marlene and Maddie!

We were at Mary's for Tuesday this week and had a wonderful surprise...Marlene Hawkins, a regular on our blog, came to visit us. I have known Marlene for awhile and Pinky has met her also. The others in our group met Marlene for the first time Tues.

Mary had a little...not exactly a challenge and definitely not a lesson...crafting time making an ornament from a star fish that comes from the Phillipines, wire, and beads. As you can see by the group pic (scroll down to next post to see), they are all very different from one another. They just all turned out great!!!

Marlene brought us all, including Joan, a beautiful ATC. What a neat surprise! I enclosed a pic of those also...so fun!

Felted Flowers...

Last time we all met, I gave each of us a felted flower to alter. Quite frankly...I forgot to finish mine, but did get it started. April used her finished flower on our next give away...using it for the latch on the box. It just added such a nice touch to the already beautiful covered altered box. Karen also finished hers and made it into a pin with birds on it. It is always fun to see what we do with a challenge no matter how small.

























Pic #1 Karen's bird pin
Pic #2 April's Altered Box
Pic #3 April's Altered Box again :>)) Can you tell I haven't done this in awhile???
Pic #4 The felt flower pin we all started with
Pic #5 Mary's started pin

Give Away Coming Up!

In the very near future, the members of this blog will be putting together a give away. Jan is going to help us with the rules as she is more familiar with these than the rest of us. We will have the details on here and pic of the goodies sometime at the end of February...Keep Watching...

Laughter is good for the soul...

On the top, you will see the card Karen made me for Christmas with her little dog, Joe, on it. She made us each a card and if you other girls care to post yours, that would be great. I didn't take pics of all of them. We are thinking of making a challenge for next Christmas to each design and make a card to have printed.

Pinky, Karen and I worked on Christmas cards. Karen was even writing letters in hers! Jan was working on a new beaded piece. Jan if you took a pic of it, would you please post it? April was working on her new project...see below. The pic of the little stocking and goodies is what Pink had for each of us to take home. We had yummy lunch of ham, turkey, bread, lettuce and EVEN mayo (inside joke...:>)) She made scones to eat with our coffee. All of it was wonderful!

No wonder I look forward to Tuesdays!

A Few Other Pictures From Tuesday...

Jan was our hostess for this week and went all out with home made muffins, turkey soup, and wonderful whole wheat bread for dipping. She just kept feeding us all day :>))

Jan started another one of her beautiful beaded hearts.

April worked on a 90th birthday card for a dear friend.

Mary finished the blanket stitch around squares that will be worked into a throw for someone in a care center.

Karen and Pinky worked on cards and Karen even did some letter writing. Both of them had backs that were not behaving themselves.

We missed Joan, as she is still not feeling well.