JANUARY PROMISES

 DON'T MAKE PROMISES YOU CAN'T KEEP

I heard the bird lady in the movie 'Home Alone II' saying this as I wrote it, and it is true. That's one of the reasons why I don't make new year's resolutions. I don't like to make promises at all. I don't like failing at keeping them.

A resolution is 'resolving' something, right? I'm not out to resolve anything but I am going to try to do more things that I've not done before! Some things that I've wanted to do, like finally paint the bathroom, redecorate it, and some things will be things I've never tried yet, or don't know about yet. BUT, (there's always a 'but' for safety net) I won't make any promises to myself or to anyone that this will be.

I have good intentions. I want to learn new things, experiment with new art, new crafts, make things and learn things that are new to me. The first step is getting inspired though!

I've run across a woman named Marion who lives in the UK and she is my inspiration lady! She's a fine woman and is so interesting to listen to and to watch as she does her day-to-day things which is most often crafting! My kind of person!

Don't know how I ran across her but I always feel that we are introduced to the people we need in our lives. I believe that wholeheartedly. I've seen the comments on her YouTube page and lots of people feel the same way. They are truly inspired by her and I can see there are so many good reasons why.

I won't try to explain Marion (named for the 'maid Marion' in the Robinhood story, per her telling us this on one of her videos.) You can view Marion at 'Marion's World' (her dear deceased husband coined that phrase) and here is the link.

MARION'S WORLD at YouTube

I loved joining Marion on the new year's eve video, I was there waiting and then went to some other site or forgot about it and then I missed it! So, I watched it the next morning and it was so fun watching her and listening to her 'chittering' on as she called it.

Bringing people together and making it feel like we are all friends in 'real' life is precious to me. Even though I'm an introvert, I like my alone-ness, I do enjoy having online friends. Online friends are there when you need them and not just popping in when it's inconvenient. It's not a selfish or mean way to be but it keeps me content and not worrying about having to put on for others. I don't mean to seem snobberish or rude, but I am not sure how else to explain that.

So, getting back to making promises, I promise to keep trying to be inspired by others or by myself to try new things, new crafts, do different things or pick up things I've not done in a long time and loved doing ... like playing my guitar! I am promising myself this, to try to live mindfully and FULLY with keeping myself active and feeding myself new ideas and new ways to live my life better. I feel like volunteering myself somewhere too. I'm not sure where, or what that would be, but I need to give to others. It feels so great to give!

I don't know if Marion will ever see this blog, but if YOU DO, Marion, thank YOU for being so fun. For sharing your videos showing your crafts and handwork, for your chats and information and for sharing your precious TIME with us here in the online world!

MARION'S WORLD

AUTUMN CRAFTS

 CRAFTS FOR FALL

Time for making those beautiful crafty home decor items and accents for the fall season!! I love crafting and trying to come up with something different and wonderful for decorating the whole house!

I've started making fabric pumpkins out of flannel fabric and some of the left over fabrics I've had laying around for years. I am in the trial and error phase, not sure what size I want the pumpkins to be so I am experimenting with different sizes and ways to make them. There are so many cute pumpkin crafts, some out of old sweaters, socks, rectangles of fabrics, cutting out pieces or using one piece of fabric. So many styles to choose from!

I was going for sewing them but now am thinking that I'll not sew as many and go for the one piece pumpkins. The stuffed kind are to my personal liking but if I can find those styrofoam pumpkins to cover, that will be good so I don't have to purchase a ton of non-toxic fiber filler.

After I finally get the process down the way I want, I'll make a bunch of pumpkins and then move on to something else, I'm sure. But, for now, here they are and I'm going to try to post a video at my YouTube channel of me making them. First I have to find a good way to film the video and that's half the battle!

I have designs on Spoonflower Fabrics and got this cute fat quarter kit!

I started by cutting them out at the edge of the border, then put them on top of black small ribbed corduroy fabric, traced them and cut that out. Now sewing and stuffing!

Notching the outside curves ...

Clipping the inside curves!

I'll post the photos when all of the pieces are done. I'm taking a craft break right now. But will be back with the finished product soon! Enjoy!

Turning a cat right sides out.

 SEWING

VIVA MAGENTA COLLECTION

Spoonflower fabrics has design contests all the time and I love entering them! This pattern is the latest entry for the 'Viva Magenta' Color of the Year by Pantone contest. It's a quilt block with the look of real stitching! Isn't it neat?

The color palette was of course, magenta, mixed with very neutral and subdued colors like khaki, light grayish lilace and a pale blue.

I had a hard time 'seeing' anything to create. The colors are not a great palette for me. I don't like the pastel blue and purple at all with this palette.

I like the beiges, brown colors but I do not like those gray lilac and plein air colors with this selection. That is why it is a challenge, especially for me!

Here are some of the other patterns that I've created for this collection. I will be designing more today, using a variety of dots, plaids, florals, paisley and more! I'll add the photos as I get them created and submitted to my Spoonflower shop.