CHANGES (and a GIVEAWAY!!!) ARE COMING TO CLEVELANDGIRLIE....

Like I do every year - I've been rummaging through, sorting out, purging, reorganizing, evaluating, touching and thinking.

Sunday it was my office, yesterday our studio and today my bedroom closets and drawers.

Also - with the countdown to the New Year, I'm hard at work reorganizing, redecorating, reworking, cleaning up and clearing out Clevelandgirlie.

Some changes are coming to my little corner of the cyberworld as I prepare for and look forward to stitching and painting my way through 2009 -- with YOU!!! I'm taking these last few days of 2008 to finish up (and ride my new bike!!) and will be back on line by January 2nd with a bit of a new look AND......

GIVEAWAY surprise to start the New Year off on the right.

So - What are YOU planning to do differently in 2009? Hmmmmm? Enjoy these last few days of 2008.

Make them COUNT!

C~

P.S. Oh, and Thank You Santa! Gizmo and I are sooooo happy.

Santa Cam......Corgi Caught on Tape

With Christmas only 3 days away -- I guess the anticipation is just getting to be too much......

Even for Gizmo.

Gizmo, you are BUSTED!!!





AND NO those are not both yours. One is for Toby.





Silly dog.

And YOU.
Sabrina Jean - DON'T even think about it.




Sheeeesh!

Sew Much Sewing..... Sew Little Time....

I have been up to my ears in the studio the last week or so. I get up early, stay up late and I'm STILL NOT DONE! One more thing to complete, and a few finishing touches to two others and THEN I'll be done. Pictures not posted - for obvious reasons!!

This morning we're heading out early 6:45 a.m. for Sabrina's favorite traditional IHOP Christmas shopping breakfast, then it's off to Wallmart, Harris Teeter, Harbor Freight, Michael's, JoAnn's and Jerry's Artarama. I hope to be back home before noon.

I'm usually takin' 'er easy by the last week before Christmas -- everything bought, wrapped, hung, cleaned, etc. But this year for some reason - I'm still going. NOT happy.

Are YOU ready?

What the Heck???

No Gizmo doesn't have a bad case of dandruff -- he's just standing there collecting snowflakes as they randomly drift down from the sky a week or so ago. He's ready to play in the snow.

So, am I.

It's a Mouse Parade.....

I'm working on a few presents for Sabrina and cannot post pictures, but suffice it to say, that as always - I bit off more than I can chew. As much as I want to perfect my garment sewing abilities, without a "person" handy to present my work to and ask questions as they arise - it's a hit or miss. Someimtes I "hit" and sometimes I, #$%*#$%&@#%(@% miss! And I spend LOTS OF TIME RIPPING OUT SEAMS.

I guess the question of the day today is, "NOW WHAT????"

What do I do with this pile of Minky, flannel, satin backed flannel, jersey and cotton that I've got all pinned and cut out. I'm getting confused! It often takes me longer to pin and cutout the patterns to sew the actual garments. I HATE THE CUTTING PART of the job. Once I start sewing, things kind of fall in to place. Most of the time.

Now I've got to get back to my Christmas sewing or Santa is going to be delivering a bunch of gifts riddled with pins and unfinnished seams!!

What's your LEAST FAVORITE part of garment sewing???? Is it the cutting, the zippers, hems?

When All Else Fails........ PAINT!

I've been very devoted to working on Christmas gifts. Big ones, little ones and some in between ones. One at a time they are having their last stitch stitched and being taken upstairs to the "wrapping" table -- where they will be admired one last time, wrapped, boxed and sent off to their new homes.

I needed to take a break from the intensity of 1/4 seams, straight lines and evenly matched prints and plaids. Words like accurate and straight were really starting to annoy me -- so I took out the Neocolors, paints, Modpodge, Stazon, tissue and stamps and went to work on the six pieces of hand made paper I committed to making for Ophelia's paper trade. I was an enjoyable diversion.

Blue, Ocean and White Frost Lumiere Paints, laid down in excess and stamped with snowflake and text images India Ink brushed flowers colored and water painted with Neocolors....

Bronze and Green Lumiere Paint, over-brushed with Gold Pearl ex powder and stamped with leaf and text imprint.....

Liquitex Acrylic Ink penned on with calligraphy and drawing nibs, over-colored with Neocolors and then water brushed....

Tissue paper shredded and Mod-podged down, then painted over with Purple, Ocean and White Frost Lumiere Paints. Once dry I stamped images with Stazon onto tissue and modpodged that down, painting over the edges with paint soaked paper towel.

As always, were I to do this again there are tons of things I would do differently, but all in all they came out ok.

Now, it's back to stitching, measuring, cutting and cursing!!

Neocolor Gardener's Journal.....

Sometimes we begin a project that we think we will enjoy and it ends up being a nighmare -- either because we are not happy with the quality of our work (I've recently suffered through one of those after spending weeks on it) or, because we are simply NOT enjoying the process. Other times we begin a project not knowing exactly what direction it will take us and end up gaining a wealth of knowledge, valuable experience and, if we're lucky, indulging our creative muse along the way. This was one of the projects.

What started out as a painting "experiment" on some white duck cloth when I first received my Neocolors in the mail, ended up being free motion embroidered, quilted, is being beaded and turned in to a Journal cover. (I'm currently beading the centers of some of the flowers with crystals and beads.)

After inserting the blank lined journal into the cover to make sure it fit, I decided that blank pages just wouldn't do. Once again, I got out the Neocolors, and a few of my favorite gardening magazines and went to work as I clipped out words, flowers, and implements to adorn the pages which I later modpodged down, and watercolored around - being extra careful to NOT saturate the pages too much with either water or color so they can be easily written upon by the special person for whom this journal was made.

I plan on making another one of these soon, utilizing the knowledge I gained from the first one, as there are many things I will do differently -- next time.

As an endnote: I also finished some bookmarks I made with my Neocolors when I first got them. They too are off to new homes within the next week.

Now, it's time to get back to work.

I've only got 24 more days!!

The generous man enriches himself by giving; the miser hoards himself poor. - Dutch Proverb

'Tis the Season for Giving...

Give from the heart!

C~