Paper and Threads Blog

I just found an inspiring new blog this morning quite by accident. It's called Paper and Threads. I just love the way the blog owner paints watercolor illustrations of her journal pages. I love this! This is so inspiring to me. I would love to be able to do that. It's very inspiring, but also a little intimidating to me at the same time. I doubt that I could ever reach the level of artistic talent that this person has. I just have an itching feeling to try it anyway. Everyone is different and no two person's art is going to be exactly the same anyway, so why not?

I just had to share this. I haven't had a chance to look at the whole blog, but what I've seen so far is just so awesome. To take the time to document in such an artistic way different events and things in your life. Rooms, even ... Floor plans, it's wonderful. Wouldn't this be a great way to document your memories of houses you've lived in? I've been wanting for a long time to draw the floor plan of my great aunt's house as I remember it. This would be a great way to do it. I'm going to give this some more thought. I've got oodles of watercolors. I might just try this! Wish me luck.

Cool Stocking Filler Giveaway!

One of my wonderful blogging friends is having a cool Stocking Filler Giveaway. Just click on this blog link and she has all the information for how you can enter the giveaway. She will be doing the drawing on December 1, so you better hurry and get your name in the hat.

Feathered Friends and Origami Stars

Eddie and I have been sick with the cold/flu/crud thing that's going around. I've only been sick for the past week, but Eddie has been sick longer. He started feeling better last weekend and I started getting sick last Sunday. I managed to work 2 days last week, but had to give it up and go to bed the last 3 days of the week. I'm feeling much better today and plan to go back to work tomorrow. Eddie, I'm afraid, is having a mild relapse. He's going back to the doctor this week. Both of his sisters have been sick with the stuff and can't get rid of it. One of them has brochial pneumonia and the other one has bronchitis. They have both been sick for at least 4 weeks. Eddie has chronic bronchitis, so we want to be really careful his doesn't go into pneumonia.

My mom fell last week at the mall while walking and she's laid up right now with an ice pack on her side. She's going to the doctor tomorrow for another x-ray to make sure she's not developing pneumonia from injuries from the fall.

During all this I have been having some fun. I was confined to the house and I discovered a couple of new projects to work on.

The first one is a really, really fun origami star. I love this star. It took me a few tries to get the technique down, and now that I have, I'm hooked. I've made several of these and I can't seem to stop. The only thing stopping me is not having the right kind of paper. I learned that quilling paper is the best for these stars. I found some paper at the Quilling Superstore online. The paper comes in several different widths and the best length is 24". I also found a Youtube video on how to make one of these stars. Without further ado, here is what they look like.




I also have some feathered friends hanging from one of my trees among the stars. I made about 4 of these birds and they were very quick and easy to make.


The pattern for these birds came from the Fall 2008 issue of Quilts and More and is found on page 86. I tried to find a downloadable pattern for you, but could not. It doesn't seem to be one of the available ones. Hopefully, you can still find an issue on the stands.

Etsy No More

I hated to do it, but I've made the decision to close my Etsy shop at least for the time being. I have been more successful locally in 3 weeks time than I have in a year and half on Etsy. I think Etsy is a wonderful place and I buy lots of things through their site. I just think that, for me, it was not a successful venture. I guess you have to have lots of folks who know you and you have a good following. Or maybe there is just too much competition from other folks who are selling similar items. I do appreciate the folks who read my blog. You mean everything to me. I first started my blog mainly for myself, but when I started to have readers and other bloggers commenting on my posts, it made me feel really good to hear from them. And it still does. I look forward to seeing your comments on my blog posts and I love reading all of your blogs too. It's one of my favorite things to do!

I have to admit that selling my things and actually talking face-to-face with the buyers is so much fun! I've had a really wonderful time at the fall festivals and other events that I've gone to in recent weeks. People are so gracious and complimentary. It's such a community type thing because you become acquainted with other vendors too. I love making my items and I love to see the joy on buyer's faces when they find that little something that they have been looking for either for themselves or for a gift. So, at least for now, I'll be peddling my wares locally.

Colgate's Octagon Soap

Yesterday Eddie and I and a cousin of mine went to visit another cousin (I have lots and lots of cousins!). We had a wonderful time at her house reminiscing and looking at old pictures. While we were there, I noticed that she had a wrapped bar of Colgate's Octagon Soap on her kitchen windowsill. I commented on it and she said that our grandmother used to use it in her laundry and to wash dishes and that she (my cousin) now uses it all the time. She said she liked it better than regular anti-bacterial soap. I asked her where she found it and she said Shop Rite. She said that she had not been able to find it anyplace else lately. I mentioned that I would have to look for some, and she gave me a bar. I also put my bar on my windowsill, but I would like to find some more to actually use.

We were so much in the past, looking at pictures and being nolstagic and thinking about how things were when we were younger, thinking about our mothers and grandmothers and things they used to do. I was just intrigued with the story about my grandmother using Octagon Soap to do her dishes and laundry. I think my cousin said her mother-in-law used to shave the Octagon Soap into her laundry. It just reminded me of how simple things were back then. Not quite so complicated as these days. I'm sure there were things that were more complicated, but for me the desire is there to go back to the simple, uncomplicated life. A slower pace. I don't know if it's getting older that's making me feel this way, but Eddie and I were talking the other day about how hectic life has become and our desire to slow things down a bit and go back to a simpler way of living. Simplifying our life, for us, means going through some things and stuff that we just don't really need and don't use anymore. Just excess baggage that is really not necessary. This weekend we are beginning the process of cleaning out and getting rid of, whatever you want to call it, things that are just taking up space and have no use for us. We are both longing for an uncluttered way of life and right now we don't have that. We're not even close. It's going to be a long, hard road to go through all this stuff. I hope we can get things cleaned out and organized before it gets too much colder. At least, maybe we can get a start.