Dear Rocketman:

 Dear Rocketman:  Have you noticed a difference in your clothes since our return from South Korea? 

 Every time I put the clothes on the bed to iron, I find Louie making a home in the midst of the pile.

                            Caught you!  I pick him up and move him to another part of the bed.

Only to turn around from my ironing to find this again and again.  I give up and hope you don't mind the added cat hair to your work clothes.

Metal Stamping Class

Last week I took a metal stamping class at my local bead store.  I was intrigued by the craft and wanted to learn more.  The class was full with ten of us.  There was a little mix up with my registration.  I had signed up online for two classes and they had only given me credit for the second class.  It was easily corrected.

We started with this brass square and we were told to practice hammering letters into it.  It takes practice to do it well.  She also told us not to stamp in the center.

Next we got to choose blanks from the store's stock.  For the amount of people in the class plus how quickly you could stamp and complete a blank, there was little stock to choose from.  I left the class happy with what I made but feeling let down by what I learned which was very little.  I'm also a big fan of handouts which include the teacher's name and email or phone number.  The teacher offered little information during the class and I left knowing just slightly more about metal stamping than when I arrived.

I also realized when I got home that she never told us why we needed to keep the center of our first brass practice piece blank. 

Last Saturday, we took advantage of Donatelli's "Spin & Win." From now until December 24th, if you buy a $100 gift card, you get to spin the wheel and get a prize.  We eat there every Saturday so Rocketman thought it was a great idea to buy a gift card.

                                        Here is Rocketman getting ready to spin the wheel.

                                        We won a free t-shirt and we took one in Noah's size.

        Last week they also had my beloved Prime Rib Sandwich as a special.  I was in heaven!!!

Funky Onesie!

This was so much fun to make and so very easy!  I hadn't done any tie-dying since I was a teenager and the process back then always involved buckets filled with Rit dyes.  It was quite difficult to do multi colors and it was extremely messy.  Leave it to I Love to Create to come up with a kit that included everything you needed to tie-dye.  The only thing I had to supply was the onesies.  Here's how I did it.

First, you need a Tulip Tie-Dye Kit.  There a lots of choices and I went with the Neon. You will also need a button (not the three you see above), a flower cookie cutter or flower shape of your choice, scissors and thread.  For this project you need two onesies.

The instructions enclosed in the kit are excellent and I had no trouble following them.  For the main onesie, I went with the swirl method and this is what the onesie looked like after I put the rubber bands on.  Remember to prewash your item before you tie-dye to get the best results.

Lay down some plastic to protect the surface you are working on.  The tie-dye kit has premeasured dye in bottles and all you need to do is add water.  I chose to use the pink, orange and yellow.  Next I squirted sections across from each other in the same color.  Turn over and repeat. I let it set for 7 to 8 hours to allow the colors to set.

This is what it looked like after I removed the rubber bands.

For the second onesie which will be used to make the flower, I used the crumble method.

                                         I squirted dye all over.  I used only one color.

When die is set, put both onesies in the wash and run through a cycle.  I did it with some dark colored towels.  Don't add light colored laundry to the load.  It might stain.  Afterwards, I cut the side seams of the crumple onesie.

I pressed the flower cookie cutter into the fabric and it left a nice indentation.  Cut out.  You can also find a flower shape, trace it onto the onesie and cut out. 

 Center the flower on the onesie, place the button on the center of the flower and stitch in place.

Finished!  I absolutely love it and can't wait to do it again.

 

I Love To Create provided the tie-dye kit used in this project.

Hanging Around

I did a lot of crafting while living in South Korea and I came back with  a ton of things to put on the wall.  It included things I had made, things I had bought and gifts that were given to me.  I had my chilbo (Korean enameling) put onto a handmade frame while in Korea knowing I wanted to make a collage on one of my walls back home.  Rocketman helped me set these up.

On Sunday, I spent the afternoon working on hanji with the Hanji Crew.  I had hinted (asked) Rocketman that it would be wonderful to get everything put up on the walls while I was away. This is where I wanted my chilbo collection to go.

 

 He got to it while I was away and he placed these on the wall for me.  The center is a chilbo piece I did and the other two were made by my Korean bodyguard who is also an expert in wood carving.

 He also did this over the television which included the copper painting done by my friend, Metal Guy.  I made the chilbo on the left and I was gifted the chilbo on the right by a dear friend.

He even managed to place this painting that was a going away gift from his co-workers.  I forgot the guy's name but he was a friend of Buddha.

And here is my chilbo collection.  I was so surprised at all the work Rocketman did while I was gone.  We both LOVE how everything turned out.  I think Rocketman was a little surprised at how may nails he had to put into the walls.

Maedeup Monday!!

I bet you are wondering why I am have a picture of the latest (December) issue of O Magazine.  You will see it why on page 101.

Maedeup has made it to the big time!!!  See the garakji cuff links!!  I was so excited to see them.  Can you tell? 

It was a wild weekend weather wise here in Minnesota.  Saturday, we reached a record high of 67 degrees which was wonderful since the winters are so long here.  Then a front came through and we had a couple of tornadoes here in the Twin Cities Saturday night, something that had only had twice before.  Today, I woke up to big fluffy snowflakes.  It doesn't get any stranger than that.

He Who Has Brought So Much Joy

I couldn't find Louie anywhere this afternoon.  I looked in all of his usual haunts: our bed, my craftroom chair and the sliding glass door where he soaks up the sun.  Then I looked at the family room couch and found this little face staring back at me.

 

Here is a closeup.  We've had Louie for 8 1/2 of his 9 years.  I know that the promise of tomorrow is just that, a promise but I do treasure every day I get spend with him.  We love you Louie!

Asian Brush Painting - Last Class of the Year

Last night was bittersweet as it was my last Asian brush painting class.  But we have agreed and our teacher is willing to continue the class next year in our homes.  I can't wait to host a class and I vowed to practice in the meantime.  This is what I worked on last night.

I also learned a new flower which now I can't remember the name.  We also played with making bumblebees and trees.

                                                  This is one of my teacher's samples.

                                                                    Here is another.

A closeup of the flower.  I'm working on Christmas presents and time is just flying.  I hope I get them done in time.

Milkweed

I've always loved milkweed especially during the Fall when the pods opened to release fluffy little seeds.  It reminds me of home and growing up.  We moved a lot when I was little.  I went to five different grade schools, three in one year.  And no matter where we settled, I could always find my beloved milkweed.  I loved to collect them and I would image little fairies living in the pods.

So I was surprised to see in all my years of walking the same route, to find milkweeds for the first time.  I decided to stop during my walk to bring some home.  I must of been a curiosity to a driver because he didn't pull out into the street until I had pulled the milkweeds I wanted and continued on with my walk.

 If you are wondering what I did with milkweed when I got home, here they are in my bathroom.  I sprayed them with hairspray.

I don't think I showed you a picture of the finished bathroom.  It's very, very tiny and we always do something strange with it.  Before this paint coat it was covered with leopard wallpaper.

Maedeup Monday!! Crafty Cops!

My son, Luke, stopped by the other day and couldn't wait to show me this bracelet that a police officer friend of his had made.  Can you guess what this is made from?  Parachute cording.  It was very, very stiff but one of the coolest things I had seen in a long time.

This is the clasp.  I can't tell you how excited I was to know that there is a police officer somewhere in Minnesota making these for friends and collegues.  I was also excited to share this with you to show you that crafters come from all demographics.  You never know when you might meet a crafty soul like yourself.