Excited!

Mom and Dad had an old sewing machine repaired and gave it to me as a birthday gift. Wow!! Now I have something to practice on. Over the holidays, we were in Oregon and I got to visit with my grandparents. Grandma showed me her stash of fabric and gave me some tips on quilting... it just made me wish for the skills even more! So now I'm up for the practice, and I can't wait!! I'll post pics soon of the old sewing maching, and the pot holders gramma made me. :-)

Ribbon Braiding

Just a little craft I did recently... my hymnbook bookmarker fell apart recently, so I went about creating a new one. Quite a few years ago, my aunt taught me how to braid ribbon. Mostly she used it for decoration on hats and other things. I had some pink and blue ribbon on hand, so here's what I ended up with... I love it!

Christmas Baking... mmmm!

I don't know if baking counts as crafting... but it's something we create with our hands, so I'm going to say it qualifies! :-) And the results are so yummy! Last saturday I had a free day (doesn't happen too often), and ended up making whole wheat bread, chocolate covered pretzels, sugar cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies. I have plans for butterscotch/white chocolate chip cookies, and more chocolate covered pretzels. We are going to have sweet holidays!!

Grandma's 75th Birthday Scrapbook

I am *almost* finished with Grandma's 75th birthday memory book. We sent out requests for people to send memories, poems, pictures, etc of Grandma to be included in the book. Many responded, and it's been so interesting reading about her life through the eyes of her friends and family. I'm happy with the way the book has turned out... not too fancy, and definitely some of the pages could have been better....but overall it's a pretty representation. Tears, happiness, joy, memories, fun, adventure... all wrapped up into one. I hope she likes it!!

Here are some pics of my favorite pages:

Mom wrote a nice letter to Grandma...

Memories from Lindsay and Marlece...

Some of Grandma's favorite things...

Early married life...

Aunt Sue wrote memories and sent pictures...

I LOVE these pictures. They needed to stand by themselves on a simple page.

Hawaii!

Possiblities, possibilites...

There are so many projects that I've seen that I would LOVE to try! Here are a few:

http://www.treadleon.net/quiltshop/TrailtoTreadleonia/trailtotreadleonia.html

It's a quilt called Trail to Treadleonia... and it's so pretty! And it looks easy, even better!

Some of these flowers would make really nice bookmarks:

http://cross-stitchers-club.com/Fleurs-violettes

Or these:

http://cross-stitchers-club.com/Fleurs-jaunes

Well, we'll see what happens... I think a scrapbook is near to being finished first though! Pictures will come soon. :-)

"Cro-shetting" (as Curt calls it)

I've made four blanket now (one I gave away for a baby). The purpley-blue one was my first ever... I just started playing with yarn one day. The red one is a recent finish, and the blue one is only half done. It's made from really soft yarn called Montana Sky. Coincidence. :-P I think once I finish the blue one I won't be making another for awhile. I have a hard time making things that won't be used, and I will have three here at the house! Here's some pictures...

Stacked up

There are just so many fun projects waiting for me! This weekend is my first Saturday off in 4 weeks, so I'm looking forward to working on a scrapbook. I made one for my sister this summer of her time here in Montana and our visit to Yellowstone National Park. It turned out well, but I'm hoping this next one will be extra special. I'll share pics! I've also got a blanket almost finished, and I would love to learn quilting, and there's always our wedding scrapbook that needs to be put together! Choices, choices!! :-)