My creative friends

Every now and then I like to post some creativity from some of my friends.  We like to share little handmade gifts with one another -- sometimes for birthdays or other occasions, but sometimes for no reason at all.  I want to share today two newer items -- and an older one which looks new again.

My friend M. gave me two lovely handmade items for my birthday.  The first is this adorable holder for purse size tissues.  I love the black tea-themed print and the vintage button trim!

 It is constructed in a similar way to these criss-cross coasters shown below.  (Those were made by me.)  The pieces are folded diagonally, but the pinning/sewing/turning technique is the same.  If you have ever made this type of coaster, then you know how this tissue holder is put together.

M. also made this pretty necklace for me.

The dark beads look black in the photo, but are actually blue.

M's gifts were in this pretty bag -- which she did not make, but is still so pretty...

 The other item is a sweet pincushion made for me some time ago by my friend J. It has a little embroidered design on every side.

Friendship

Laughter

Love

Sewing

 I had noticed it was becoming dusty, so put it through the wash with a load of towels.  It came out just perfect and looking brand new again.

Are you as inspired as I am by the creativity of others?  Please share some of your thoughts -- and maybe some of your friends' creativity -- in the comments.  I would love to hear what you share!

Goals for the week of 3/4/2012

... just a bit late!  I was thinking about prefacing this post with a quote from Anne of Green Gables ... remember, the one where Anne says that tomorrow is a new day, with no mistakes in it yet?  I thought I could consider the week ahead as a new week, with no mistakes in it yet (since I failed miserably at meeting last week's goals).  Too late!  I've already made plenty.  But I decided to go ahead and post goals for the week anyway, remembering the old adage that if you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.  So I'm aiming at something!  Goals for the week:

1.  Memorize Psalm 85:6-7.
2.  Read 1 chapter in Essential Virtues.
3.  Exercise 3 to 5 times.
4.  Plan and cook healthy meals.
5.  Do Kelly's Missions for each day.
6.  Keep up with crafting goals.
7.  Continue working ahead on Sunday School, lesson 7.

As to how I did with last week's goals, well, as noted above, not very well.  I managed three of them.  I planned and prepared healthy meals, kept up with my crafting goals pretty much, and finished Sunday School lesson 6.  Needless to say, I'm hoping for a better week this week!

The newest super hero cape!

Three more of my grandchildren requested super hero capes for their birthdays.  Here is the first one:

The cape is red with bursts of black stars all over it.  As before, I used this pattern:  Clever Little Cape  which I have enlarged considerably from the original pattern.

A closer look at the emblem.  Just a plain "S" for Sam, or for "Super [fill in the blank]".  The emblem is done in his favorite colors.

You can just see the edge of the lining as it's flipped up here.
 
 It's a black background with bright drips of paint in many colors.  I chose the same lining fabric for all three capes.  When I made the previous three capes, I didn't buy fabric -- just used what I had on hand and it was great.  But this time I didn't have much left for appropriate fabrics in the right amount of yardage.

The birthday boy with his mom adjusting the cape for a picture.
 
 In hindsight, I should have made this cape larger.  It fits him now, but for how long?  When he outgrows it, assuming he still wants a cape, I'll remove the emblem which is just hand-stitched on and sew it to a larger cape.

One cape down and two to go!

Nice pot roast recipe for the slow cooker!

(Photo by Taste of Home)

On Sunday, I made this recipe for the potluck lunch at church:  Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pot Roast.  I think I had tried this one time last year but had not posted about it.  I put more potatoes and carrots in than the recipe said, and I also put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker insert the night before and refrigerated it, so I cooked this at High for all but the last hour or two, when I turned it to Low.  (I thought I remembered that when I made this last year, the potatoes didn't get cooked.)  This time, everything turned out just right.  To serve this at church, I cut up the pot roast and put it in the center of a large platter (we have a number of these in the church kitchen).  Then I arranged the potatoes and the carrots (I just used regular carrots, cut in sticks, rather than baby carrots) around the meat and drizzled a few spoonfuls of the broth over everything.  I put the remaining broth in a pitcher to serve alongside.

People really enjoyed this pot roast, and I will not hesitate to make this recipe again the next time chuck roasts are on sale.  Definitely a "keeper" recipe!

Another fabulous giveaway at Faithfulness Farm!

Gail, over at Faithfulness Farm, is offering a wonderful giveaway you might like to get in on.  She's giving away a copy of Gooseberry Patch's Meals in Minutes, the special 10th anniversary edition.  The recipes she has shared in the giveaway posts sound absolutely delicious, and she recommends the entire cookbook.

But Gail is not just giving away a book -- oh no, she is also giving away a vintage-inspired apron she has made, and a vintage-inspired tea towel set.  A very generous giveaway!  You can enter here: Faithfulness Farm Giveaway and, for a bonus entry, you can post about the giveaway on your blog or on Facebook.  If you do this, be sure to leave a second comment telling Gail you have done so.  Now I'm off to do just that!

Weekly Goals 2/26/2012

(Photo from NH Troubadour, 1950s)

I'm a bit late posting these goals, but Sunday and Monday were exceedingly busy days.  So, for this week, here are my goals:

1.  Review Psalm 19:7-11.
2.  Read the next chapter in Essential Virtues.
3. Exercise 3 to 5 times.
4.  Plan/cook healthy meals.
5.  Do Kelly's Missions (from FlyLady) for each day.
6.  Keep up with crafting goals.
7.  Finish lesson 6 for Sunday School; work ahead on Lesson 7.

And here's how I did last week:

1.  Still need to review the Scripture memory passage; still don't quite have it perfectly.
2.  I read one chapter in Essential Virtues, so DONE!
3.  Only managed to exercise twice.
4.  Planned and cooked healthy meals, so DONE!
5.  Did Kelly's Missions each day and then some.  DONE!
6.  Didn't keep up very well with my crafting goals, though I did get quite a bit done on Friday. 
7.  Work ahead in Sunday School study.  DONE!

Four out of seven isn't too bad, I guess, but I can always aim for more.  I hope to post in my Christmas blog later today about the crafting I accomplished on Friday.

Quote of the day

(Photo from Free Public Domain Photos)

Here's one especially for parents and grandparents of younger children.  Some years ago I had one of those page-a-day calendars -- a variation that was written especially for parents, with an encouraging quote and Scripture verse on each page.  I liked some of the quotes well enough to save the little pages.  Now I'm decluttering, and thought I would share the quote and toss the page at last.  Here it is:

"Many children discover their life's work through creative, playful activities.  As parents of future Thomas Edisons, this means we need to give up our dreams of winning the House Beautiful award.  Inventive pursuits often produce creative messes."  -- Kathy Peel and Joy Mahaffey

This is so true.  When my kids were young, I'm afraid our house was not always the neatest.  I kept art and craft supplies and all sorts of interesting bits and pieces around for them to create with.  It wasn't always neat, but they learned valuable lessons about creativity and had a lot of fun.  My house is usually a bit more orderly these days, but my grandkids know just where to find the art supplies!