The J Collection

What a fun collection of cards I did receive for January's "J" Swap. It's so exciting to look at the cards when you just receive them. It's fun to make them and even more fun to take them home and add them to the gallery. I always enjoy looking at the cards I have collected over the years!

J is for.........

It's always difficult for me to create an ATC when there really is no theme or the theme is very broad. This month the theme for the Mystic Paper swap is: J is for....... After thinking about this for a few minutes and all the possibilities to create with the letter J, I thought It would be a perfect time to use my new Stampin D'mour stamps. So out came this little vintage cutie(she has the sweetest face, doesn't she?), stamped in green, then layered with a piece of vintage sheet music, a matching patterned paper and a vintage button, from mom's big button jar, and voila!

Charming

When a call for a charm swap sounded, I could not resist the invitation to participate in a Heart Swap to celebrate Valentine's Day. After some thought on what I should and could create, I embellished little wooden hearts with paint, glitter, ribbons and a flower to look like a miniature box of chocolates. These are the finished heart charms that had been mailed to the swap host:
When the swaps arrived back to me in the brown bubble envelope, I was excited when I pulled out this cute little pouch with it's adorable hearts.

It was so much fun to unwrap the sweet little charms and admire what all the participnts made!

So very charming!

Visual Journal

Strathmore has a Visual Journal online workshop series that had begun January 1. Each week the lesson offered adds to a journal page that you create throughout the workshop from materials gathered from a previously created journal...This is the page I am working on after week one.
It will be exciting to see the transformation to this page from week to week.

Preventing The Winter Blues

While the air has a chill and the family and friends were in town, crafting has taken a shift!......... Knitting!
Knitting is so sociable-it can be done anywhere and everywhere. The essential equipment needed are a pair of needles, a bodkin and the yarn. One to a dozen rows can be completed in a short span of time, so before long a project can be completed. There are such wonderful yarns available, too. Scarves, sweaters, purses and pillow covers are some of the fun items that can be created.
During the winter is a great time to whip up a scarf or two. Rose is wearing an extra long scarf created in black eyelash yarn created for our "Venti" sister. This is one of my favorites to create, as it knits up fast, takes two balls of yarn and is a straight garter stitch. Cast on twenty two stitches on a size 6.5mm set of needles (bamboo are my favorites) and knit to the desired length.
While knitting this scarf a request was made to create scarf made with purple yarn. Here it is so far:

This scarf is not very wide, it's being created with a pair of 4.5 mm needle in a k1b p1b rib stitch which will provide a little more warmth for the wearer. The fringe should give it a fun and sporty and youthful look. The intention is to finish the scarf by attaching tassels with a crocheted short chain ...we shall see!