Focus on patterns and they seem all around you! These photos, even the entire alphabet were found in my backyard (and front).
Spirit of the Hand
4 Mar
Spirit of the Hand
Open for business
Formerly a gas station, then pottery shop, this gallery is one of my favorite destinations. Located in Dandridge, TN. I don’t believe I have ever left without buying something original and unique in the way of wall clocks, candles, switch plate covers, stationery, pottery, silk scarves, jewelry. The best way to describe the selection is “enchanting”.
Prayer shawls
24 FebInspired by the concept of applying care, concern and prayers to knitting shawls is like a ministry to me this year.
Made from Angel Hair yarn for Laura
Made from lamb's wool blend for Kathy
Shelby blesses me and each shawl
Colors of sea and sand for Barb
Shelby approves!
For the love of eggplant
20 Feb
Grilled, baked or fried?
Kitchen garden
Purple heart aka eggplant
My favorite recipe is the casserole Mam-ma Tuggle would make for me. I also enjoy Thai, Indian, Moroccan, Italian and Afghan eggplant dishes.
Eggplant inspired pottery
My sister Susan gave this to me for Christmas 🙂
About prayers that we did not learn in Sunday school
29 Jan“God boxes” used to hold written prayers, an action symbolizing turning the concern over to God and literally putting a lid on them. Developed by Liza Hyatt in workshops at her “Heart of Art” Studio. Three different themes shown in this photo are mountain tops, puzzle pieces and stars.
God Boxes, containers for prayer requests
Tibetan Prayer flags….visualize the wind carrying prayers represented by the flags through the atmosphere with no limits.
Tibetan Prayer Flags (displayed at Disney World)
Candles Light a candle and say a prayer. Virgin Mary of Guadalupe prayer reads “I implore your help in all the needs of my family and myself.”
Prayer candles from Buddhist and Catholic traditions
Various traditions relate to prayer beads including Catholic, Islam, Hindu and Buddhism. http://en.widipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_beads
“Unanswered prayers” by Pat Alger, Larry Bastian and Garth Brooks. At Larry Bastian’s suggestion the line “some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers” was added to the lyrics. The lesson of the song: “Happiness isn’t getting what you want, it is wanting what you got.” From Garth Brooks CD “the hits”
Prayer shawl ministry. When a knitter is stitching a prayer shawl, she petitions God with every stitch she makes on behalf of the person receiving the shawl. “We come to You Lord God, healer of every ill, and ask for release from pain for all the hurts endured and for the gift of healing. Touch this one and bring peace and healing to her body and soul.”
Prayer shawl for healing for Kathy
Introducing Office Assistants
14 JanEve
Eve is always on alert for a mouse 🙂
We definitely get a lot of work done or should we say nap and play?
Shelby
Shelby personally approves every project 🙂
With love from Elfcroft
Order from Chaos
2 JanI chose this painting to illustrate this post. The challenge presented itself as a large blank canvass, paints and 6 hours to express myself. I did it as workshop assignment in the late 1990s. Measuring 28″ X 40″, it hangs in our hall bathroom.
What happens when you rummage through Grandmother’s end table? The risk is discovery of something that needs to be dealt with, such as hundreds of postcards sent and received over three decades (1964-1994) of world travels. The first sort was to separate sent from received. Then, thanks to Mom saving itineraries, the post cards are arranged by trip, in chronological order. I used three binders, two for Mam-ma’s travels and one for friends and family.
Mam-ma's world travel
I chose binder pages so the cards could be viewed from both sides with removing from the sleeve. The text, date and postage from country of origin are easily observed. Post cards from Iceland are featured in the photo below.
Why use a camera? Buy post cards.
Having reference maps was essential to understanding the many regions Mam-ma travelled. Originally, I was going to remove the pages from atlases purchased at Half Price Books, however many times I wanted to use both sides of the pages in different section of the binder. Solution: I made color copies from the atlases.
Maps provide context
Itineraries as table of contents
Mom saved all Mam-ma’s itineraries typed in the format shown above. This was very helpful with sorting. World travel of our grandmother’s life time ready to share with inquiring minds.
Re-purpose
24 DecRepurposing comes up fairly often around the house, especially with organizing fever. I expect to update this post several times as content on this theme comes up. For starters, the dilemma during Thanksgiving travel was how to handle/pack a knitting and crochet project. The Ah Ha moment came rethinking the fabric bag for dispensing used plastic shopping bags. It has an opening at both ends, expands to the volume I needed and is pliable for easy packing.
Perfect travel bag for knitting and crochet projects
Have you ever had the dilemma of seeing something that compelled you to remember someone, but it was not an item that the person would necessarily like to receive as a gift? Last year, at a country craft shop “Donna and Friends” in Bainbridge, IN I found such an item…a small dish of a snowman with a round nose (which is a favorite thing of my niece). The snowman dish priced at $2.95 was a must buy. So, what to do? This is a very classy dish made by Fitz and Floyd.
Special gift wrap for a special girl
What I decided to do, since the price was in the range of a gift bag or such, was to use it as an alternative bow by hot gluing it to the wrapping paper. The height is shallow and the package is stackable with care.
Add three pairs of wrought iron hooks to a mailbox post and we have a "Fly in" diner serving six types of bird food.
The mailbox post is perfect and was the lowest cost of the options we considered. How about sharing your ideas?
Apron Strings
24 Dec
Aprons for Wheeler Mission Center for Women and Children
I had wondered for a year what I would do with the Christmas fabric yard sale find from Grandpa. Then I heard from Kathy, the kitchen helpers could use more aprons. This year I used a Simplicity pattern for more precision, same fabric straps and a couple of key rings for the neck strap adjustment. Four aprons even have pockets! The delivery included some towels from Target and 6 crocheted pot-holders (thanks to Julie’s instruction).
Then there was the fall themed fabric that netted 5 more aprons and striped fabric featuring contrasting pockets. Like the Christmas project, I added coordinating towels from Target and crocheted pot-holders.
(5) fall + (6) summer aprons
Striped aprons with pocket for 2011
Kathy, Kevin and Bobbi
2009 was the year of my first apron project. When the request came out, I immediately thought of recycling curtains. There was enough fabric to make six of each type. I copied the pattern from one of my own aprons and used strap by the roll from JoAnn’s Fabrics. Kathy, Kevin and Bobbi volunteer in the Wheeler Mission kitchen. It is a privilege to support their work.
Cowl with a twist
12 Dec
Alternative scarf
Soft knit cowls with a twist are definitely one of my favorite things for 2010. I have made 4 for myself, 2 for Claire, 1 for Gail, 1 for Carol, 1 for Susan and 1 for Mom.
Cowl neck lines were popular in the late 1970s. I noticed a few in stores last year. This project came in my sight with an instruction sheet on how easy they are to make by knitting. It is a wonderful accessory for a cold office and the softer the yarn the better.
I most often used “Homespun” by Lion Brand Yarn. The content is 98% acrylic and 2 % polyester. The texture makes the basic garter stitch feel luxurious. The color blends are beautiful.
http://www.lionbrand.com and http://www.shawlministry.com both feature the prayer shawl concept and suggested patterns. I am thinking “future project”.
elfcroft 