Orange Seascape Cellphone Pouch

My mom asked me if I would make her another cellphone pouch. I've only made one for her so far because she's never needed to use her cellphone too much but under the circumstances, she has it with her all the time now. She would like another one so she can alternate. I asked her how she felt about a seascape and she loved that idea so this is my next little project:



Using Heat & Bond, I first added one of my painted dryer sheets to a piece of muslin. Then I added some Angelina Fiber and a bit of pulled silk cocoon. This technically won't be crazy quilting but rather a mixed media project. I have a few things to take care of then I'll start adding some stitching and embellishments to this.

I was asked how to dry pansies in the microwave. It's actually quite simple. I laid out some pansies on a paper towel, covered them with another paper towel and put a heavy glass pot on top of them to weigh them down and keep them flat. Then I microwaved them for 1 minute on 50% power. I repeated that 2 more times and then removed the pot. Then I microwaved them for 30 seconds on 50% power another 2 or 3 times.

You can tell when they're done because the paper towel will be dry and you can only do a few seconds at a time or they will burn. They do keep their color well in the microwave. All microwaves are different so you'll have to experiment a little bit.

Button Block #19

It's been a busy and I must confess, an exhausting week! My dad is doing better. He's been moved to Rehab now and they had him walking a little bit yesterday. He starts Physical Therapy today. I won't be going up there today. I'm going to get my house in order and bake a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies to take to my dad tomorrow when Scott & I go up there to see him. Yes, I am going to bake! I hope that doesn't tear a hole in the Universe or anything! Ha, ha, ha!

Anyway, my stitching, sewing & crafting time has obviously been at almost a stand-still but I did finish up on this button block the other day. I was able to catch Part 6 of John Adams on HBO so I took that time to park myself on my sofa and finish this one up:



Certainly, I could stitch in the evenings, but I've been so tired after driving around all day, seeing to it that my mom has everything taken care of that she needs to and seeing my dad, that I just pretty much crash when I get home. When I can keep my eyes open, I just do some reading.

Anyway, things will balance out little by little. As I said, I'm getting some cleaning and straightening up done today, I'll make some cookies and then see if I feel like stitching.

Hang in here with me everyone.

Handmade Cards

First, I'd like to say thank you again for sending positive thoughts to my dad. He's doing well. They had him on his feet for a few minutes yesterday and then, while I was there, the Physical Therapist came and got him in the chair. And I'll admit, I felt better seeing my dad sitting in a chair!

I went to Borders the other day and bought him the John Adams book which was the basis of the HBO mini series that I'm following. My dad doesn't get excited about too much but that seemed to perk him up a bit. He's had his nose in a book for as far back as I can remember!

My mom is visually impaired and can't drive so my sister and I will be taking mom where she needs to go. I'm getting ready to pick mom up and take her to WalMart so she can get what she needs there.

The rest of the today then, will be a bit of down time for me. My dad will have plenty of visitors today so I'll go see him again tomorrow.

I thought I would share photos of a few cards that I made on Saturday. First are these pansy cards:



I dried some pansies in my microwave between 2 sheets of paper towels. Then I took a single layer of cheesecloth and ironed on a piece of Heat & Bond. I sprinked a bit of dried lavender on 1/2 of the cheesecloth, then arranged a few pansies and some leaves on it. I folded the other 1/2 of the cheesecloth over the top and bonded them together.

I tore one of my handpainted dryer sheets into strips, clued a piece of that onto the card. I took my pinking sheers and trimmed the edges of the cheesecloth and then glued that over the dryer sheet.

Of course you know, I like my glitter so I added a touch of that. I scanned these so now I have glitter all over my scanner! Ha, ha, ha!

I also made a set of cards using some of my button block images:



These aren't all that exciting but they are pretty. I'm not huge into papercrafts, it's just fun to experiment a little bit and do something a little different.

Well, I'm off to pick mom up and go to WalMart. When I get back, I'm going to relax and stitch.

Thank you again everyone, for keeping my dad in your thoughts.

Update On My Dad

Thank you everyone, for sending positive thoughts to my dad. He's doing fine. The surgery went well.

I'll be heading out to go see him in a little while.

Thank you again everyone!

Quick Update

I finished up on the blue Comfort Cat Doll on Saturday:



Sometime this week, I hope to get him and his little friend sewn up so I can mail them to Pat for The Comfort Doll Project.

I also started on another button block:



On another note, I was wondering if you could ask you to send some positive thoughts to my father. He fell yesterday and broke his hip. I'm sure he'll be fine, but it's still a little scary. He's having surgery today to have some pins put in it. Any positive energy you could send his way would be much appreciated.