Alright.  Hands on hips. A belligerent glint in my eye.

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I am making my Sweetipie,

my Darlin’,

the Light of my Life,

my Hubby,

a Valentines day presie.

I am weaving him a

scarf.

Pah! you say!

That’s not romantic!

I beg to differ…

Indeed I do!

What could be more romantic that making a soft, whispering, tender piece of loving kindness that will keep the cold winds of winter away from the throat of my Beloved?

Wrapping it around him will be like wrapping him in my love.

So, you betcher boots that a scarf is a romantic gift.

And, yep…. Valentine’s Day gifts do not have to be PINK! or even RED!

BLUE and silver and white and black and turquoise and a hint of gold, yesssiree… those are now officially Valentines Day colors, too.

Sez who?

Sez me, because I love these colors and they are going to be wrapped around the man I love on Valentines Day.

That’s my final answer and I am weaving it.

Yesterday, I posted about the wooden doll that I made for my mom for Valentines Day: Link.
As I looked at the doll,
I thought that I couldn’t
send her off without
some kind of cosy wrap.
It made sense to me
that she should have
a little shawl made of
hearts , to symbolize
being kept warm
by love and loving thoughts.
That makes sense,
doesn’t it?  
So….
With a size ‘G’ hook
and Patons Lucette
in ‘Hint of Rose’,
I crocheted 3 hearts,
using the
Crocheted Love Hearts
pattern:
Link
I left a few inches
at the last stitch
of each heart,
for stitching them together.
I used the
baseball stitch
Link to tutorial
to stitch them
together
to make the
doll shawl.
There!
Now she looks like
she can step …read more

Hmmm…. what to make for my mom for Valentines Day?
What would she get a kick out of?
Why not a portrait dolly of her as a child?
I don’t have many photos of my
mom from when she was
a little girl.
One of my most
favorites is of her
posing after
a dance concert,
wearing a silk
costume and pink
dancing shoes.
I  scanned the photo
and then
set to work
with photoshop.
I flipped the image
180 degrees, and
then used my clone
tool to paint
a back view of her
over the flipped
front view.
Then I printed them both.
Next, I cut out
the photos out.
I drew a pair of
interlocking stands
and cut them out, too.
I glued the front view
to a piece …read more

This week has been a challenging one, and one of the things that I have noticed is how much I really appreciate small comforting rituals and aspects and elements of ‘normal’ life.
For me, the Artsy Bloggers links are one of the little pleasures of my week, and so I take pleasure in sharing them with you.
Beading Arts
A beautiful glass bead becomes the focal point of a Valentine’s Day necklace!
love-is-rose
Creative Dreamer
Here’s a fabric ATC swap…Everyone is welcome…come join in and be a part of the fun!
whos-up-for-atc-swap
Faint Heart Art
Vicki has a different take on inchies
another-birthday-and-inchies
Gadabout Media
Chloe has found some sweet Valentines …read more

Yesterday, I posted the instructions for my design for crocheted love hearts . The photos were bad- taken late at night… so…
I re-photographed the hearts today
and have edited yesterday’s post
with better photos
that weren’t taken late at night.
Sometimes you can get
away with a flash shot, and sometimes, you can’t!
So, now you’ll actually be able to
see what the hearts look like!
Yesterday, I also promised to
show you some ideas for
Valentines Day projects
for the Crocheted Love Hearts.
So, here we go….
Why not make
a little card
or postcard
and glue
or stitch
one of the
Crocheted Love Hearts
to it to embellish it?
The Crocheted Love Hearts
would also be beautiful
on a scrapbook page
that …read more

Yesterday, I posted the instructions for my design for crocheted love hearts . The photos were bad- taken late at night… so…
I re-photographed the hearts today
and have edited yesterday’s post
with better photos
that weren’t taken late at night.
Sometimes you can get
away with a flash shot, and sometimes, you can’t!
So, now you’ll actually be able to
see what the hearts look like!
Yesterday, I also promised to
show you some ideas for
Valentines Day projects
for the Crocheted Love Hearts.
So, here we go….
Why not make
a little card
or postcard
and glue
or stitch
one of the
Crocheted Love Hearts
to it to embellish it?
The Crocheted Love Hearts
would also be beautiful
on a scrapbook page
that …read more

Yesterday, I was sitting at my daughter’s bedside in the hospital, with my crochet hook going like mad.
When in distress, making that hook fly is one of the best ways to calm myself down.
We were hoping that she’d be home, and were disappointed that they weren’t ready to part with her yet.
She’s so lovable that it doesn’t surprise me that they want to hold onto her, but hey, we want her back, thank you very much!
Anyhow, we were talking about projects that we were designing for Valentines Day.
I said that I had been mulling over some ideas
and I said that …read more

The last few weeks have been really rough for our family. Our daughter has been very sick and it’s been challenging as all get out.
Her gallbladder and
she parted company yesterday…
and the surgery went well.
On Sunday, she had a
scope procedure to get a nasty
stinker of a stuck stone
out of wherever it wasn’t supposed
to be. She  came through that with flying colors,
and that was the beginning of
a process of getting relief.
For a young mum to have to endure
separation from her brand new baby
is really hard, and so we have been
doing our best to be the best possible support for our wee grandson, …read more

I absolutely love love love doing interviews with other designers. It’s always such a fascinating process to be given a glimpse into their lives. Today’s designer profile is with editor extraordinaire, feisty workshop presenter and designer delight, Susan Huxley.
My questions are in GREEN and Susan’s wonderful answers are in black. She’s got some sage advice for anyone who would like to enter the world of designing… read on….
1. How did you create your life in the fiber arts?
I’ve stitched all my life. So when I decided to pursue a degree in my early 20s it was only natural that …read more

Last night, my husband and I stepped into an elevator at the hospital, after an exhausting day, an exhausting week…  and we both slumped against the wall for a moment.
The door opened again, and a man stepped into the elevator, and with huge brown eyes, scanned us and then said in the gentlest voice:
“It’s difficult sometimes, isn’t it?”
He was holding take out food and was
obviously in the same boat as us,
caring with every molecule of our being
about a sick beloved one, and also
looked worn and  weary.
The thing was, that just filled us with awe,
was that, despite  his obvious weariness,
he was …read more