elfcroft

Enjoy the longest day of the year!

My first choice for sending cards is to make custom ones on Kodakgallery.com.  I have made over 60 different ones.  The accordion fold is perfect for “telling stories” given related photos.

My second choice is Hallmark cards designed by Marjolein Bastin.  I stopped after work today to buy sympathy, wedding and birthday cards.  The clerk said they are phasing out cards designed by MB, which have declined in popularity.  NOT with me!  I looked up her website.  We have other sources of Marjolein’s work.  I also learned she is Dutch and more….

http://www.marjoleinbastin.com/en

“Purse Envy” is the subject of a recent post by Lara Rossignol on Piewacketblog.com.  Ahhh, inspiration for this post, because I have a couple of special crafty purses too.

circa 1975 purses

Both of these projects are classic examples of expensive do-it-myself projects.  For example, the hardware of the wooden purse and the contracted assembly of the needlepoint were relatively costly.  Lesson learned.

Check out this link to Piewacket!  The lovely young woman is my niece Claire.

http://www.piewacketblog.com/journal/2012/4/4/purse-envy.html

I have posted 100 times between my Elfcroft and Kiheilife blogs since November 2010, wheeew!  My inspiration was and continues to be Lara Rossignol’s Piewacketblog.  As I dabbled and studied blogging, one memorable piece of advice was to be ready with 100 ideas for posts, which was in contrast to dive in and let the creative juices flow.  I did not have a 100 idea list for starters and therefore thrilled with this milestone.

This post features another evolving project inspired by an e-book Art Journal Ideas by ClothPaperScissors.com which includes a chapter by Tracie Lyn Huskcamp @ thereddoor-studio.com titled “A Year Captured in Fabric”.  What I have so far are 11″X12″ pieces of muslin with themed collages from remnants and fabric photos from Spoonflower.com.  This is a great opportunity to prepare custom “quilt squares” that do not have to stand washing and wear.  A few unfinished projects are getting closure and inclusion in the “journal”.  Beads, buttons and trim are embellishing layouts.  I have 11 squares completed and 11 squares with concepts.  My intended scope is 48 squares which will finish the bolt of muslin that Mam-ma Tuggle left with her sewing accessories.

Fabric Journal under construction

As much as I have enjoyed knitting and sewing lessons as a change of pace and producing “a product” (after all, I am a career Manufacturing Engineer.), this project is about the ideas and rules that I make up along the way.  Liberating:)  I’ll keep you posted!!

Special delivery

My idea of custom cards come from Kodakgallery.com.  This special delivery arrived in the mail today from Pam C.  She made it herself!

We have known each other since 5th grade and got reacquainted for our 50th birthdays. Though our careers have been different, we have many shared interests.  Maybe I can get her to do some guest posts.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day to ALL from Pam C. and Elfcroft!

Last week I posted photos of two of my favorite homemade soups.  The rest of the story is serving soup in handmade pottery bowls/mugs.  My favorite dishes are basic white Corelle, however I do not like serving soup nor chili in thin bowls.  Over each of the last three years, I purchased a pair of pottery bowls at Talbot Street Art Show (mid June).  I matched them with department store plates in in coordinating colors.

Stacked mugs

I would like to get a few more pairs of mugs in greens, purple and/or blue.

Eggplant and White Bean Soup

I love this soup!  This is a great low-calorie alternative to my long time favorite eggplant casserole made with cheese and stuffing.   This soup recipe is very easy, since I have frozen eggplant from Mom’s garden.  Thaw the cooked eggplant, sauté one onion and add two cans of white beans.  Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.  I found the recipe on thestonesoup.com.  Jules Clancy is a Australian food scientist who has blogged about her speciality for six years.  She does an amazing job developing recipes.

“Try it.  You’ll like it.” 🙂

Homemade corn chowder, it is not a dream!

Corn chowder

This is the second time I have made this recipe from “Recipes from the Wildwood” published by Whitelick Presbyterian Church for their 160th anniversary.  Minced ham is one of the ingredients.  The recipe also calls for a cup of frozen hash browns which helps thickening.  This is definitely a one dish meal and tastes better as reheated for left overs.

From The History of Beads, Concise Edition by Lois Sherr Dubin we learn that prayer beads originated with the Hindus in India followed by Buddhists in Tibet, China and Japan and Muslims in Persia and Arabia.  Christians of the Middle Ages also used beads to count prayers.  So today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population use prayer beads.  One can say human beings universally value  beads as a spiritual necessity and jewelry accessory.

Beaded bracelets and necklaces

For Elfcroft, collecting beaded accessories as taken priority over beading projects.  Time to reconsider because I have a tsunami of inspiration.  Yesterday, I went to the library to scan 35mm slides into jpeg files.  The process is slow.  I picked up the February 2012 issue of Bead and Button magazine (which I had never heard of).  The number of resources is amazing.  These are a few of the websites mentioned.

shophandmade.com     artbeads.com    zacoo.com    pandahall.com   gracebeads.com    paulabest.com (mixed media fabric)

There was a great story about how agrainofsand.com acquired their inventory of vintage beads.