Store Opening and Give Away!!!

It's open! Bear and I have spent all weekend photographing and cataloging all of my crafts; today a dream has been fulfilled. Today I open my online craft store. There is a link in my side bar. There are many more things that I still have to post, but at long last my store is up and running. A special thank you to everyone who has encouraged me along the way. As a special Thank you and to celebrate this milestone I am having my first Give Away. A lot of people seemed to like my mushroom pincushions. As a special thank you I am giving away one of my test pincushions and also one of my sets of two gnomes. A drawing will be held July 31st and the winner will be announced August 1st. The rules of the drawing are as follows:

1. Leave me a comment if you would like to be entered into this drawing on any of my blogs and you will be entered once.
2. Follow number 1 and become a friend and be entered twice into the drawing (people who are already following me and wish to be part of the drawing will be automatically entered twice).
3. Follow number 1 and 2 and help me spread the word of my store opening in your blog (send me the link) and you will be entered three times.

Thank you again for all of your support and encouragement.

How to cut a Love Apple

I hope that you all had a Happy Father's day. I'm happy to have my Father as a guest artist on my blog again today. I thought that it was fitting; AND it also has to do with apples. I do love apples. This "craft" is how to cut a love apple. A love apple is a special apple that is cut so that the two halves fit together like puzzle pieces. The love apple is meant to be shared with someone you love. My Father made these for my sister and I to share when we were little girls. I mangled several hundred apples trying to figure this out as a child. It does take practice to get it right.1. First you will need an apple and a sharp knife. 2. Cut straight down from the top of the apple. 3. Stop when you are about half way though the apple. Turn the apple 90 degrees and cut from the bottom up halfway through the apple.4. Then cut straight through the side of the apple. Stop when you are about half way through.
5. Here's the trick, you cut right at the corner of one of the cuts you made on the bottom, push the knife in about half way in (to the middle of the apple). Turn the knife as you turn the apple from the cut you just made to connect to the first cut you made from the top down on step #2. Count one more line over and then repeat that last step, connecting the bottom cut to the top cut on the opposite side. Use the photos, it will help
6. If it was cut right the apple should come apart with a slight tugging.
This is what is looks like when you are done. I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial. Share an apple with someone you love and Have Fun!

The beginings

This is my craft room. It feels good to have a whole room dedicated to crafts. One day I will have to give this room up for a nursery but it looks like that is in the far future. My craft room is full of unfinished dreams. I love Sterilite containers. They make organization a snap. I have a DVD/VHS rack that my brother in law made. I turned it on it's side and it makes a perfect cubby to hide supplies and finished products in. I will be painting it white to match the Sterilite containers.This is the other side of my craft room. I put a beaded curtain across the closet to make it easier to get in and out when my hands are full.
So many crafts. One day (hopefully) soon I will open my craft shop online. Peg dolls for nature tables, mushroom pin cushions, Waldorf dolls, magic wands, necklaces, naturally dyed wood blocks. The list goes on and on. I've been a bit slow on updating this blog lately because I am trying to get things ready to launch. I wanted to open my store in January *sigh*
I've also been hindered by a myriad of medical conditions. Last night was a bad night, but being able to sit down and blog always seems to give me enough strength to go a little further. A special 'Thank you' to every one of you who has taken the time to leave a comment. You are my friends and my inspiration. It means a lot to me to log on and see that people are interested in what I have to show or say. Thank you.

Corn Husk Angel

Corn Husk Dolls have been around for a long long time. They were first made by the Native Americans. It's a fairly simple craft and once done it can be decorated with dyed husks, fabric, paint, beads, ribbon, just about anything you can come up with.To start you are going to need some corn husks. You can buy them at the grocery store dried. A little soak in water will make them flexible to work with. First tear three long skinny strips of husk. Then braid them together. This will be the dolls arms. If you are making a large doll, you may want to make two braids. Then gather a bunch of corn husks together neatly in your hand. Hold them at the tip and add a bunch of corn silk or thread. Fold the husks over the silk or thread and tie a thin strip of husk or thread around the top (where my fingers are pinching in the last photo).Next, turn the husks inside out. The silk/thread should be sticking out of the top. The thread is going to be the hair. Tie a knot a little way down around the husk like I have done in the first picture. You just made the neck. Lift up a few of the husks (two or three works just fine) and place the braid that you made earlier across the husks evenly like I have done in the second picture. The third picture shows that you pull the husks back down across the braid and tie a piece of husk or thread around the waist of the doll. You can stop here and have a corn husk doll. To make this doll into an angel keep going.Take two pieces of husk and hold them how you want them to look on your angels back. Hold them across the back of the doll and crisscross a piece of husk over the wings. Tie a piece of thread or husk around the waist of the doll to hold the wings in place. You can make a bonnet or a braid to put over the top of the hair out of husk or silk. Place the skirt of the angel over a bottle and leave it for a day or two to dry. Once done you can decorate it however you like or use it as is. Have fun.