Fancy Matchbox Tutorial

Here is the tutorial for a Fancy Matchbox Holder that you can leave out on a table (providing there are no kids around, of course).

Materials needed: 2 corkback coasters
4 boxes of matches
4 wooden beads
and a glue gun.
Glue matchboxes onto back of one coaster in the directions shown.
Glue second coaster picture side up on top of the matchboxes.
Glue a wooden bead on each box end to use as a handle to slide the box open.
Another finished project. Perfect for a last minute gift. Takes about five minutes to complete.
Happy crafting!!!

Upcycled bags

A friend bought a 'Grenfell' coat at a thrift store. These coats were, and probably still are,made in Newfoundland. They are made from blanket weight wool and embroidered with motifs, most commonly, eskimos. She gave me some of the wool when she took apart the coat. I decided that this was too heavy for hooking. After a while of dwelling on the material, I figured a purse would be nice made from it. Keeping the embroidery intact (I don't know the name of the crafter who embroidered it), I cut out the pieces for the purse, lined it with satin lining from a sports jacket that I had taken apart,(complete with a cellphone pocket inside) and added a recycled leather belt for the strap. Here is the result
Seeing I was in a crafting mood, I then took a sweater that I had felted, lined it with a printed cotton fabric, added a pocket outside for a cellphone or keys and added a set of wooden handles (recycled too, of course) and another purse was born. Here is the end result.....
All in all a very productive few days. Now that the Forests Secrets rug challenge is finished, I have started a new rug. This one is a Jane McGown Flynn pattern called 'Crewel Allure' I purchased this pattern that was printed on burlap from a lady that was selling off pieces from an estate sale. Will show some pictures of progress in next post. Happy Hooking .................. and crafting. Melaine

Oh my aching back..... I'm Done

Spent the last 4 days on the marshes picking bakeapples. My back is screaming at me to stop. Picked 9 gallons altogether. Should have worn my pedometer.... I'm sure it would have rolled over a few times, lol.
If you have every tasted bakeapples, you would know that it is definitely worth it.

Despite the Fog!!!

Went to Great Paradise last weekend.... a little town that was resettled in the late 1960's.As any Newfoundlander would know, Resettlement was hard on people. They were pretty much forced to leave the small communities by the Government (Premier Joseph A. Smallwood) and move to larger centers, leaving behind a way of life and even some of their loved ones in the cemeteries. A number of former residents have built summer homes back there and every summer they have a reunion party. We went over by boat with a friend from Petite Forte.
There was an old fashioned Garden Party Dance with ages from 5 to 95. The weather was a bit wet and foggy but everyone had a grand old time.

This and That

Hi all, haven't blogged in a while now. Busy times in the garden and then my email account was hacked into. And let me tell you... that was no fun. Anyway on with what I have been up to... June 18th. was our last lobster boil for the season, snif, snif. Here is a pic of hubby with the lobsters. There is nothing better than lobster boiled in water right from the ocean. There is just the perfect amount of salt in it.



My Rose Medley rug is finished except for the binding. I'm happy with the background now.
Been working on my Forest secrets challenge. Going pretty good so far, can't show any progress though. Just have to wait for the deadline date and then will show all.

Lately, I have been doing some knitting.. trying to knit up some of my stash... telling myself that I will NOT buy any more wool for a while, LOL. Now that's a Challenge all of it's own.
I knit this blue cable baby afghan Had some wool left so I knit a Blue Cable Scarf
Just finished this Baby Shells afghan last night

This last one didn't take too long, seeing as we had rain and fog for the last three days - grrrrrr. Hopefully there are some sunny days ahead of us. The fog can only last so long... right? But then again the old saying goes - if you don't like the weather in Newfoundland, wait five minutes - it will change!

Toodles everyone, hope you are all having a fun summer.

Nature Rocks!

Spent the weekend at the cabin. Our cabin is by the ocean and a while back Mother Nature herself turned this point of land into a beautiful point of view.

I was actually almost on the top of this point of land picking cranberries in the fall. Glad I wasn't there when this happened!!!
Sometime during the winter the rock foundered and left this really large hole. It was so awesome that I had to take several pictures from different angles. The dogs and I enjoyed our afternoon.

Kindergarten Grad

My little niece had her Kindergarten grad this past weekend. Kids are hilarious, no inhibitions.
Here is the stage decorated at the school. The high school Prom was the night before and the Senior class leaves up all their decorations for the Kindergarten Grad. It looks like a winter wonderland.



Here she is on stage with her class doing their recitations and songs. She wants to be a pet shop owner when she grows up, there are 4 kindergarten Teacher wannabes, 6 Police Officers, a Horse rider, 2 Firemen, a Doctor and a Nurse......



And here is a picture of Kennedy and I with her favorite gift..... Jelly Bellys

5 minute cheesecake

This cheesecake is the fastest and easiest one you will ever make. No baking... if guests show up unexpectedly, you can have this on the table by the time tea or coffee is done!!

1 block of cream cheese
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of frozen Cool whip (1/2 small tub)
1 graham pie crust shell.

Blend cream cheese and sugar. mix in cool whip. Spread into pie shell. Add toppings of your choice.

Mine was done with bakeapples - a berry common to parts of Newfoundland, sometimes called cloudberry.

Refrigerate..... if there is anything left, lol

WONDERFULLY WICKED WEEKEND

Had a great weekend. Went to the cabin on Friday, the weather was definitely co-operating for some outdoor activities. This is the beachglass that I collected during the weekend from the beach just down from the cabin.

Here are a couple of really nice pieces, a pottery shard with houses on it and a bottle stopper. They are going to make some great jewelry pieces. The Atlantic ocean was very generous this weekend.


I also knit this really soft afghan for a new great-niece. It was knit from Red Heart Baby Clouds and worked up really fast. Two nights and it was done.



And last but not least I just about finished the border on my WIP rug - Rose Medley - now I just have to figure out if I am going to do the background in black or if I will use a lighter. My original plan was the black, but now, I'm not so sure!!!!!
Guess I will have to sleep on this one.

PAGEKEEPS TUTORIAL

"

Here is a tutorial on how to make my pagekeeps, should anyone wish to make their own.
They make a great gift for readers and cooks also. If you are like me I love to read while I am eating breakfast etc. if I am dining by myself. The pagekeep keeps your book open for handsfree reading.

First make a pattern. The pagekeep is 9 inches long, 1 1/2 inches in the center narrow part and 2 1/2 inches at the widest parts on the ends. Round the ends.
You will need wool, (I use wool that is too thick for rughooking), some scraps of wool yarn, a large eye needle and two round, flat beach rocks, or you can buy some large River stones at a craft store - they should be approx 2 inches in diameter.



Stitch down through the center narrow part to sew two pieces together. You can embroider a design on the end through only one layer of the material.



Blanket stitch down alond the narrow center part and halfway around one end. Insert a beachrock inside the wide end and continue to blanket stitch down the other side and around the other end inserting a beachrock.



And VOILA! you have your finished project. Hope the instructions were clear enough.




Enjoy! Melaine

SNOW DAY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

This was yesterday.........Crocus in Bloom




This is today.............Snow. School cancelled in the morning. 5-10 cm. of snow!

The wind whistled and howled last night and reminded us that Spring may be here on the calendar, but Mother Nature has other ideas entirely. Ironically, I saw my first Robin today. Poor little fellow.

On the up side.... it is a good day for hooking.

Easter Weekend

Spent the weekend at the cabin. Beautiful weather. Gordon and a couple of friends went diving for mussels. Had a great mussel boil with friends and even managed to preserve 5 bottles of mussels in vinegar. Yum!!!!!

The garden is showing a sign of spring and I was so excited when I saw these little gems shining through.


spent some time hooking on my rug. I like how the flowers are looking, but I have to take out some leaves around my pansies (you can't see them on this picture) the green is not right.

And to top off the weekend, I made 17 Pagekeeps. I gave one each to my four sisters for Easter and rest will hang around waiting for homes. I previously made them for my son and daughter and my son's girlfriend and they were a big hit. They are made from recycled wool material. (Usually wool that I have that is too thick for hooking) stitched together with a blanket stitch and have a beachrock in each end for weight. They work great to hold your book open for handsfree reading (ie. reading and eating) or holding your recipe book open. Makes a great little low-cost practical gift.


Keep on hookin' and I hope everyone had a great Easter.

Empty Nest again

The kids were home on a March break holiday and have now gone back to their own lives. Miss them lots. Grant will be back home for the second week of April before he gets deployed to Afghanistan on April 17th. (Please keep him in your prayers)

Have been trying to get in at least 10 minutes of hooking on my rug everyday.
Just finished crocheting a beanie for my daughter, but forgot to photograph it before I expressposted it this morning. I'll have to get her to send me a picture and then I will post it later.

Ordered my glass drill bits yesterday. Have to start on my new inventory of beachglass jewelry for the coming tourist season. Busy, busy, too many projects and not enough hours in the day to complete them. I guess I will close the laptop and start checking off items on my craft bucket list.

Keep hookin'

Life goes on.

Haven't written anything for a while now. On March 9th. my father-in-law passed away at the age of 79. He was a kind and gentle soul, and I will miss him dearly. Our children made it home for the funeral service, so glad to pay their lasts respects to a man who touched their lives and hearts in so many ways. Our son is also home for a visit before he is deployed to Afghanistan in April. Life goes on, no matter what happens around you.

Hopefully, I will get back to routine again and do some more hooking on my latest mat. Till next time.....

In the dye pots

Spent last night in the dye pots while the hubby was at work.Tried Wanda's (Wandaworksinwiarton) point step dyeing and here is what I came up with. Used Prochems three basic colors... Magenta, Brilliant Blue and Sunshing Yellow.

Overdyed three different greys with gold to get some green for leaves, like the first two but not so much the third one. I guess this one will go back in the dye pots at a later date for something else.

Dyed four shades of a rose for my Rose, two shades of purple and a yellow for my pansies. the purple is a really nice royal purple, although here it looks like a royal blue.. so much for lighting.

My design is now transferred to my backing - verel. Tomorrow I shall start hooking. Can't wait to get started on this. Going to try some shading on the flowers, so my Rug Hooking Bible will be close at hand.

HOOK ON LADIES AND GENTS.

Trivets finished

Just finished my two hooked trivets. so now I have to tweak my new rug design and get it onto the backing. The new one I think I will call Rose Medley. Hoping to do some shaded flowers, so the last few days I have been reading my Rug Hooker's Bible... Wish me luck on that front.

Crash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talking to my daughter yesterday and told her it is time for her to change cities, she has had to much bad luck in the one that she has been in for the past three years. Over a year ago some guy came through a stop sign and she ended up t-boning his car and wrote off her own. Insurance only paid the value of her car so she ended up paying off the rest of her loan herself. And yesterday, she was getting off her shift and going too her new car when some guy in a jacked up truck gouged the side of her car with his hitch and didn't even stop....... Who does that kind of thing.
Us Newfies don't that is for sure.

Marbelized dyeing

Love to marbelize wool. the easiest way to create new colors without using any dyes.
the results are outstanding.