COLORADO COTTON CANDY AND BIG BUNCHES OF BEADS!

Here are two balls of finished hand spun. The large gray one is a little less than half the Icelandic I've been working on for a year. The little variegated ball is the "Colorado Cotton Candy" I spun up this week. See pics below for the "Cotton Candy" in the various stages of construction--reverse order! I am starting a lace scarf today using these two together as contrasts. Pictures coming in the future!

I'm excited to share pictures of the paper bead necklaces I've been making. I gave many away as Christmas gifts. This little craft is addictive! I can't wait to see what a magazine page will roll up to be! So far, my favorites are pages from gardening catalogs! Very bright!

Next is the finished yarn from the roving I named, "Colorado Cotton Candy." I purchased this pretty bit of fluff on our last trip out west in September. I thought it looked like cotton candy. Sorry, for all you fiber enthusiasts, I think I threw the tag away and can't vouch for the exact fiber content, but I remember Merino, silk, and some rayon (the metallic blue thread, I think.)

Here is it in the process of spinning. I am not totally happy with my spinning at this point. I feel once it's plied, my yarn looks too "loose." Any tips? I think this turned out as a fingering weight or sport weight when it was done. There's not much of it and so it will have to be knit along with something else to make a project. I am thinking it will be pretty with a bit of the grey Icelandic I've been working on. I am pretty sure I can see grey Icelandic socks with this yarn as a design in the pattern! Blessings, LORI

OUR CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS

Welcome to Christmas in our parlor! The stockings are all hung by the.....piano??? with care??? Well, no mantle or chimney at our house! The tree is right next to the piano.

Our "pencil" tree. We had to go to a skinny tree ever since we moved into the new house. No place for a real full tree. I'm surprised we didn't think about space for a tree when we built this place after living in the Victorian for 10 years and going all out with a huge round 9ft. tree and four other trees elsewhere in the house!

Looking at the tree from this view, you see my fringe curtains that adorn the archway separating the living room and formal parlor. The parlor is one of my favorite rooms in the whole house, though I use it very little. Many of my family heirlooms and antiques are kept in there.

I hope you got to see my paper beads on the last post. I have some amazing pictures of the finished projects coming up soon.

I hope you are all ready for this most wonderful season when we remember Christ's birth! Blessings, LORI

CHRISTMAS CRAFTING

Thanks to Rebecca for asking what I've been up to! As well as working many hours at the library, I've done some crafting for Christmas gifts. The first picture is me assembling one of the six or seven footed cake stands I made for gifts.

Using second-hand store glassware or dollar-store items, I glued "pedestals;" glasses, ice cream dishes, or candlesticks to the bases of pretty plates to create a footed dessert plate. I gave one to each of the ladies at work. The next picture shows a finished cake stand, complete with one of our miniature pound cakes made with eggs from our own hens! This is a very old recipe and requires a lot of beating. Kori, my daughter in law, made me one of these wonderful plates for Christmas and that's where I got the idea!

Next is an assortment of Christmas tree ornaments I found yesterday while shopping. The little frames were only 50cents each so I snatched two complete sets. I made up one for my mother in law and one for me using parts of Christmas cards for the pictures!

Yesterday, Rhiannon and I went shopping for a few gifts. I was interested in obtaining more candlesticks for making footed dishes. We ran onto a half price sale at Goodwill and I purchased these lovely candlesticks for $3.00! I intended to use them for cake stands until I brought them home, wasshed them up and saw how absolutely gorgeous they were. They are very heavy and etched. I will give them as a gift instead of glueing plates to them. They are quite tall, though you can't tell from the picture.

More projects coming up in the next few blogs. I trust you are all having a wonderful Christmas season! Blessings, LORI

ANOTHER PAINTING PROJECT!

In addition to Christmas crafting, I've gotten the card table back out and set up the paint set Rhiannon gave me for Christmas last year. The other night while we watched a program, I painted a picture of Jenny Lake in Wyoming--the first picture below is one we took probably 11 years ago when we first took the kids out west. Now one of them lives out west (Colorado) and can view scenes like this daily! My how things change! I do regret that the color on the picture of my painting is "off." The colors on the actual painting are much closer to those in this photo, but for some reason the camera didn't capture it correctly in the painting. Blessings, LORI

MAKING BEADS!

More of what I've been up to--making paper beads! Yes, paper! I learned how to construct beads from paper and have been enjoying this little craft now for the last month or so. I have an egg carton just filled with these potential necklaces! Round ones are the biggest challenge for me so far.

Beads from grocery sack style paper. Various pages from magazines. If you work with a page of a predominant color, you will get beads with a "marbled" effect of that color--these green ones, for instance.

This is a view of the larger assortment--only a few! Here are the first ones I made--still my favorites! They are a beautiful black/rose color and look like cloisonne. I have begun to string them with other beads for a necklace. The way I do the beads, several can be made from each page of a magazine. These particular beads were from a colorful picture of pink flowers in a garden catalog.

It's a fun hobby, but now every magazine and piece of paper looks like a potential necklace to me ! I have a hard time, especially at work where I am in charge of the periodicals. I view every page with a critical eye, wondering just how it will roll up into "jewelry!" It keeps me constantly experimenting with color schemes! Blessings, LORI

BACK TO BLOGGING!

Since it's winter, we're baking more. Rhiannon made this lovely pie the other day; yum, yum!

Been too busy to blog! I'm glad to finally post! I've been crafting, working lots of hours, and visiting with family.

Here's what we woke up to on the last day of November! I think we got about 7 inches and still have some on the ground even after several warmer, sunny days! This pictures looks out over our back deck.

Here's a picture of Clint and I a few months ago at a wedding. I thought I'd post it just because I kind of like it. Clint's outfit is one I made him a few Christmases ago. Though he has several western outfits that I made him, this is my favorite. I can sew these tab-collared shirts and silky vests for about 1/4 of the price they would be in the stores. This wedding had a cowboy theme and we had line dancing at the reception. The couple is/was from Texas!

Had a productive day. Besides blogging, I worked three hours this morning at the library and then did some cleaning and ironed 12 shirts, made some Christmas presents and enjoyed lunch out! Blessings, LORI

PICTURELESS POST

Yes, I'm still here....just very busy! Working 6 days this week and starting to add in Christmas parties in evenings. My family from Colorado got home safely Monday morning and we are missing them. Even though Kori and the kids visited for 5 weeks, the time was too short.

Will be back with more pictures and updates soon! Blessings, LORI