Divinely Crafty

This is going to have to be quick. As I sat down to write this just now it occurred to me that I really need to get busting a move on the final prep for the trip. I need to make at least 2 more things. Further evidence of my full blown case of pre-holiday making madness. There are patterns to be printed out, yarn and other materials to be gathered for my trip, with glaring omissions that will need to be purchased in the obligatory crafty shopping. I love the stories behind the things I buy while on holiday. It makes the things I make out of them that much more personal. I will try to post while I am on the road and share some of my scores. But if you don’t hear from me for a few days – trust that all is well and we are gearing up for a great journey. My youngest brother is getting married to a woman who I am going to be honored to call my Sister In Law. I do have to say that my brothers have done really well with selecting fabulous sisters for me. If I was denied female relations as a child by being the only girl, I get the good end of the deal this way. Thanks guys!

With that lets get to the business at hand – The giving of awards!

This is my first actual passing on of an award. I did get one before, but it was during a time that my posting was less frequent. Which is a round about way of saying I blew it off. Bad blogger that I am. However, in an effort to be better at showing my appreciation to both those who read my blog and to those who’s blogs I read for being a part of my day – I am going to participate in this one.

I mentioned yesterday that Barb at Craft Therapy was one of my latest discoveries. We found each other through EntreCard and I quickly added her to my daily blog reader. Last week she gave me the “The “Arte y Pico” award, which I was very flattered to receive. Thank you, Barb!

“The “Arte y Pico” award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creative energy and their talents, whether it be writing, artwork in all media’s. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to at least 5 others.”

Here are my five Divine Picks for the Arte y Pico award:

The first goes to the blogger who gave me my first award that I flaked on giving a proper shout out to. Jo at Mom Of Heathens is more than just another name in the blogosphere to me. We have been online together for several years at a couple communities and this past February, she opened her home to me on my healing journey to New Mexico. Jo is like no other out there. I won’t even try to describe her – go see for yourself. You will fall in love like I did.

The “other” Katie, The Wool Food Mama, is next on my list. Another crafty mama that I have been online with for several years. (Yes, I have a slight addiction to the internet. This is not news.) I am honored to share both a name and an obsession with wool with Katie. Her stuff is cuter than I could dream of making myself. She just posted some new insanely cute offerings on her blog. I am coveting the nesting dolls. Katie is a deep thinking, down to earth, and very talented mama. And she has chickens, which just make her even cooler in my book.

Keeping with my theme of great women I have been privileged to share the web with, I would like to give the nod to Danielle, at Princess Nimble-Thimble. Danielle is a fellow crafty mama with Fibromyalgia. She has really been kicking the fibro’s behind this past year too. She gives me hope that there is a way out of this somehow. She has been a crafty idol of mine for many years, and I am sure you will see why. Take some time to look at her work.

Cinders is also one of my choices today. I found Cinders through Ravelry in a fibromyalgia knitters group. It’s a great group of knitters who share a common bond and support in the illness we have all been so lucky to draw out of the hat. She has recently entered the wonderful world of selling her lovely hand painted yarns in an etsy shop. She out shines me in the productive with fibro department – I am in awe of how active she remains and as a newbie over here in the UK, Cinders is great for me to find out if I’m on track with all things fibro related over here.

Val at Hobbies of a Domestic Goddess is my final pick today. Val and I go back to when I lived in her corner of the US. We also met through an online community. The same one that I met Jo,Katie,and Danielle through in fact. There have been many good relationships to come out of that particular community. Val is a creative and committed lover of all things about gardening, homeschooling, and making of yummy healthy food. You will want a cup of tea and some time when you go see Val. She has loads of interesting stuff and beautiful pictures on her blog.

I want to say thanks, again, to Barb at Craft Therapy for giving me this award and the chance to share a little bit of love with a few of my favorite people on the web.

Now, I am outta here. I have got so much to do and the time is rapidly going by. I will try to get in at least one more post before we go, but if I don’t then look for me to post at some point during my travels. See you then!

I do this every time. No matter where I am going or how long I am staying, during the time when travel is imminent I get an unstoppable urge to make stuff. I thought that I would get past it this time because I have just not been feeling up to doing too much sewing wise and normally it is a pre-trip sewing frenzie when I realize I have no travel clothes. I had already decided to do some *gasp* shopping when I got stateside since the exchange rate is well in our favor. (I am thrifty as well as crafty. ) Yes, I thought – this will be the trip where I just casually stroll over to my closet and effortlessly select a few simple items. I would relax before this trip.

It was with great amusement that I found myself making this yesterday. Because I needed it. Now.

I made it to go with this dress:

Which by itself is a great idea and it will look stunning. But when you consider that I have had the dress for 2 years (though it didn’t fit properly until recently since I have lost weight) and I have had the beads for nearly a year, the folly of it becomes apparent. It wasn’t until I was struck once more with a bout of pre-holiday making madness that made to order jewelry became an imperative. It is oddly reassuring that everything is right on track, and despite being far from where I had hoped to be physically for this trip my old habits and routines have survived in tact. I am thankful that I have creative outlets for diffusing stress and energy. I know I should probably be trying to be more still and reserving my energies for the upcoming journey, but truthfully I think if I were to try and sit still I would waste way more effort fighting the urge to be active than I would just surrendering to it.

The big blue beads were brought back last year by a friend from her summer in India. She gave me a beautiful silk bag filled with gorgeous glass and stone beads. The small pink and green beads were purchased on our trip to Barcelona last year. I love the idea that I took beads from other travels and used them to make something to wear in a time of traveling.

Tomorrow I am going to be doing some long over due showering of love to some of my most recent finds and favorites in the web world these days. I’ve made some great new discoveries, like Barb over at Craft Therapy, who is not only a fellow crafter but is after my heart with a blog by that name! She gave me an award last week and its my time to give some of my own out. So be sure to stop by tomorrow when I share some Divinely Crafty Finds!

I finished the Log Cabin blanket that I started back in early May for the wedding of our friends. Finished size was roughly 48″x42″. The perfect size to throw over your lap and snuggle up with a cup of teas and good book. True to the best of gifts, it is a bit difficult to see this one leave my home. Made of odd bits of yarn left over from projects over the past couple years, making it was a fun trip down memory lane and they type of item that would give warmth of heart and body on as cold day. Several yarns were those that I dyed myself, including a small bit of my very first skein of hand painted yarn. There was even some that I spun from sheep which were raised on the farm where the happy couple lives. Definitely a project that I will do again once I have a good stash of leftovers that needs using up. I have a few new projects lined up to work on that will start me on that quest. It feels good to have made a “big” knitting project. It wasn’t the most complicated of patterns, but it did take time. I often shy away from the longer projects because so often I will go into a flare and not work on it for a time. (Not too different than me and my blog in that respect.) If I chose a smaller, quicker piece then I have a better chance of finishing in a reasonable time frame. I didn’t rush through this one, and only at the end when I was in a time crunch did I push myself to work on it when I didn’t really want to be working on it. True to my form, I finished it the day of the wedding with 3 hours to spare. Just enough time to get my daughter and myself cleaned up and ready to go. She was the flower girl, which in the world of a 7 year old girl is a much honored role. She was up first thing in the morning asking how long until the wedding. When I told her she had 7 hours to wait (an eternity in her eyes) she groaned and asked how many minutes that was. 420 met with several more groans.

We are in our final week before we leave for our trip to the Pacific Northwest of the US. My brother is getting married and it will be the first time back for my whole family except for me. I went last year to gather with several of my sewing mama friends, where I taught a little workshop on wet felting and then I went to a course on using hypnotic techniques as an element in the childbirth classes I teach. This year I went to get started on a holistic course of treatment for my fibromyalgia. Very different reasons. So much has changed. I know from my own experience that it will be odd being back in a place that used to be home and have it seem so foreign. It’s remarkable how much we have settled into life here.

There are always a million details that pop up at the last minute. With this being a month long trip I am expecting twice that. We are moving house (again) shortly after we get back so all that needs to be squared away this week in addition to all the normal packing business. Fortunately it is still pretty calm today with a week left to go, and maybe it will stay that way if we are lucky. Cross fingers and hope for the best!

Tags: friends, knitting, spinning, traveling

I don’t usually do this, but today I am posting the same thing on both of my blogs. (For those of you who haven’t been over to see it, I blog about my family’s adventures at Beneath Our Feet.  I invite you to  have a look around and see what we have been up to. ) I was so moved by the beauty of these apple blossoms this weekend that I had to share them with all  my readers.

I haven’t been to the new orchard in a very long time (It may have been as long ago as during the last harvest unless there is a gap in my memory.) So yesterday was a real treat when I finally managed to get over there to see all the pear trees that Axel and his crew have been busy planting. All 7,500 of them. In three days. I kid you not. Did I mention how hard he’s been working?

While I was there I noticed that some of the apple trees that were recently planted were still in bloom. I was very happy to see this since I missed the primary explosion of blossoms in early May. One row of these trees in particular caught my eye. The color of the blossoms is a deep vibrant, almost on the verge of purple. I had never seen such a color in apple blossoms, most of which are a white with hints of pink. I asked Axel what variety it was and he could not remember exactly, but said that it was either sunlight or moonlight but that he would have to check his list to be sure. They planted a few new varieties to test this year. I also learned that not only are the flowers an unusual color but the flesh of the apples they produce will also be unusual. They will be red inside as well as outside! I don’t know much about this type of apple, but from what I gather its a rare variety that they are introducing back into the market. I can’t wait to get a look and a taste of them.

I had brought my camera along (double checking that I had my memory card) in hopes of getting a good picture of the new pear trees, which as it turns out don’t make much of a photo right now. Maybe once they take root and start getting leaves. So much to my delight I was able to take some pictures of these gorgeous blossoms and even managed to get some snaps of a bee busy doing it’s part to help with the apple growing business.

Here are a couple more shots. I could sit and look at these flowers all day. They are so beautiful, and exactly what I needed to lift my spirits.

Tags: apple blossoms, beauty, flowers, nature