Denim Rag Rug

What to do with denim scraps?

This denim rag rug is made from old jeans. I used the leg seams and waistbands. When harvesting fabric from old jeans there's a bundle of these pieces leftover. They are very sturdy for a rug and I expect it to be long lasting. A heavy duty sewing machine is needed to sew these strips onto a cotton base fabric.

Butterfly appliqued dress

A sweet little girl's dress with a butterfly applique.

Size 2T

This dress is made using fabric I found at a local thrift store and a vintage zipper. This was a fun project.

Hexie making

Hexies!

My hexie making journey. Learning as I go.

Fabric scraps.

I have tried a few templates/methods and I have found that I like working with freezer paper best.

Ironing on freezer paper templates.

One inch hexies completed. I love fabric! 

These are a few of my vintage fabrics. 

    Grandmother's Flower Garden hexie blocks.

 I stop with one row on the flowers so they will fit into pattern placement for the quilt I have in progress. Or at least that's how I hope it will work out.  

I really enjoy my hexie way it's happy therapy for me. 

A-Line Poodle Skirt Dress

A-line dress made from cotton blend fabric in a mint green and soft purple. This is my design using a basic A-Line pattern. I was inspired by the old poodle skirt and blouse combo.

One silly poodle with matching bow and leash make this a fun little dress!

I enjoy mixing fabric and notions! I especially like to use vintage notions when working on a project.  The buttons, cording (leash), and ribbon are all vintage items applied by hand stitching.

Vacation to grow on

                           BEACH!

       A view from our balcony at Compass Cove.    

We just returned from Myrtle Beach, SC. We had a great time and the weather was fine! Compass Cove Resort was wonderful and the family gives it a solid 8! We always rate our vacations, do you? Last summer we went camping in the NC mountains, by day 2 our youngest announced he was giving this trip a D!  No internet, no TV! It was wonderful. We love taking vacations to grow on! 

We came home to find that our romaine lettuce plants had grown wild! They are huge and gone to seed but still cool as plants.

Now to put some plants in those empty pots.

New painting

Subtle signs of nature by ~JPDesignhome on deviantART

Passing Time

Passing Time by ~JPDesignhome on deviantART

A painting I made in ArtRage. I think I'm liking my Adesso!

How many steps has it taken to get to where we are today? Are we moving forward?

The Last Mile of the Way > Lyrics | Johnson Oatman, Jr.

The Last Mile of the Way > Lyrics Johnson Oatman, Jr.


Matthew 16:27 For the Son of God shall come in the glory of the Father with the angels; and the He shall reward every man according to his works.

Man was I tired this morning after a long night working. I felt as if I had walked miles. My thoughts raced to getting home, so I could rest and relax. Well, since I have a fairly long drive home I have time to think. My mind is like a whirlwind so I have lots of thoughts bouncing to and fro while driving from there to here, or here to there, really! But one thought worked it's way arround for awhile. I thought, What if this is your last mile? The last mile you travel on this earth. I wasn't thinking about a mile in a car, but rather one mile, one step at a time. What if I wake in the morning and start my last mile? No, I'm not talking about walking a mile for exercise or being out wandereing with friends and get smacked down by a truck just shy of a mile. I'm thinking more along the lines of ...one step at a time until I've reach the last mile of the way.

Someone once told me they often thought than when she was born she was would be given ??? so many steps to use up in life. She told me she didn't want to waste steps. What a powerfull thought! Keep up with me now. With the "my last mile" thought in mind...What would I do in a mile? Huh? So, ok, everyone doesn't  have the sane routines, or lifestyles. For me what would I be doing in those last steps of my way. To answer myself ( yes, I hold peronal Q&A sessions) I put it together like this:

How many steps are in a mile? For the average person there are 2000 steps in a mile. Stride would have to be considered.

How much time would I have? I know that it takes 15-20 minutes for the average person to walk a mile. That's not the answer. Would it be a morining, half a day, more than a day. I'll be the first to admit I have some lazy days! Not as many steps taken on those days. You get the picture!

What would I spend those last steps doing? It takes more questions to answer this one.
Would it be chore day...oh, I hope my last steps aren't spent behind a mop bucket! If they are I hope I leave that floor spotless.

Clouds Painting

Clouds by ~JPDesignhome on deviantART

This is a painting done in ArtRage. I have a new Adesso Graphics Tablet and ArtRage software. Hubby gave these to me for Christmas! He encourages my creativity!  Digital painting is amazing and so much fun. It's so much cleaner and easier to use than traditional paint and supplies. So I hope to keep teaching myself new techniques and hopefully produce art worth viewing!

Unreason

Unreason by ~JPDesignhome on deviantART

New Art! This is a drawing done in pencil and charcoal. A growing collection of my art can be found on DeviantArt.com, the link is above. My art ranges from drawing and painting to altered books and fiber/fabric art. I love to experiment with new textures and mediums.

Hubby was very good to me this year. One of my Christmas gifts is a cyber art tablet, woo hoo! I'm getting started with it now and have been enjoying learning about all of the features. More to come...

Christmas Card - Art

Christmas Card - 10.1 by ~JPDesignhome on deviantART

Christmas is coming! A new Christmas card by me for this 2010 holiday season.

Grape Ape and a look back at the 1970’s

Why am I thinking of the 70’s today? Maybe I miss the simple times. Maybe I need more oxygen to the brain. Do you remember where you were or what you were doing during the 70’s?

The Cartoons

.

The Grape Ape was a completely mindless piece of entertainment. Back then, I loved him. Now, I think the theme song could possibly cause a brain hemorrhage.

Droopy!  A canine classic. He was the happiest dog around, right?

Fun wear from the 70’s!

This was one of my favorite Tees.

Don’t forget the shoes! 

Source:Microsoft

Platform shoes! The wearable weapons.

And the big bells!

Source: Microsoft

What about Bell Bottoms? Some were way out there!

Music! This is a TRIP!  Loving some 70’s sounds!

This post was inspired by a dented mind and the fact that I just don’t get the cartoons that my kids watch, the choices they make in the clothing department or the music they are always plugged into enjoy. And it’s ok.

I encourage their creative differences and force them to go shopping. When it comes to the ear buds we have developed a communication plan. The plan is sort of a combination of sign language, charades (airline traffic controller), and a little hand to head contact!  It works for us!

So what moves you today? What’s your flavor?

 

inthe70s.com: Slang from the day! If you’re hip you’ll check it out!

Battle of the Bulge

Gone Home - Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder





Battle of the Bulge (1944-45).  A great tribute!


More amazing photos and paintings can be found here.

Ice cream cakes are the sweetest!

Yeah! Cake! A birthday cake I made for our daughter. It was so very yummy! This recipe can be adapted to fit many dietary needs. Enjoy!

Easy as Pie Ice Cream Cake
Making an ice cream cake at home is very simple. These easy to follow directions will have you enjoying a cool and refreshing treat very soon!
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Happy September and Emma M. Nut Day!

September 1 - Today is Emma M. Nut Day (real name;couldn't have made it up. Poor child!) See for yourself. Emma was the first female telephone operator for the Bell Telephone Company. Before Nut made her first connection the lines were managed by teenage boys. We all know what has happened to our friendly and rude phone operators. -----Ring!!! What city?....What listing? I'm sorry I'm not sure I got that...What city? Automated operators and answering services DRIVE ME MAD!

September 11: Make Your Bed Day. Really! That's a relief, whew!! I'm not going to make another bed until that day. I want it to be a real special day at our house! Do they make a card for this day? Maybe a wall banner? Wait...I don't want to know.

September 30: National Mud Pack Day. Ahhh! This sounds like a nice treat. Now to decide - go to the spa or make your own. Hmm. I'd pick the spa. I do make my own facial mask occasionally. It's comes in a shell, is kept in the fridge and is always handy. A fresh egg. Beat the egg white, apply it to face and let it dry. With a warm towel wash face and enjoy! A source for make your own facials can be found here.

Note to self: Putting off making one particular bed (not calling anyone out) in this household could possibly yield the required amount of sand needed to make at least one beauty treatment! Smile, I love freebies!

September is a month to plan or tighten up plans for some. What will we do for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas? Christmas is in three months...yes, count them, WOW! Plan: Make lists.

You can countdown to Christmas here and email Santa! Fun!

Enjoy September while it last! Now, where did I put those stuffing recipes?

Peace!

A day trip to South of the Border

                            Hello Pedro

We recently visited the South of the Border (SOTB). The much advertised tourist stop located in Dillon, SC along I-95 offers services, food and entertainment. It is known as America’s favorite highway oasis and is home to Pedro. What started as a simple roadside stand selling alcohol to dry counties across the border continues to thrive with shops, cafes and more on both sides of Highway 301 North. This year they are celebrating 60 years of soothing weary drivers, entertaining bored kids and providing a temporary home with a motel and Pedro Land for campers (RV and tents).  Happy Anniversary SOTB!

The SOTB trip is just one of the day trips we took this summer. Visits to places that require one tank of gas and a picnic are one of our favorite treats. Those hokey small town festivals, crafts fairs and bazaars are other day trips I like and take drag the family along on! It’s good to spend time together as a family. I know this sounds really simple, but check your schedules and see how often that happens. I don’t think it’s often enough.

While at SOTB we roamed through the many gift shops checking out all of the border items. If you’re in need of a snazzy looking sombrero then this is the place for you. There are even matching ones for your pet! After shopping, we enjoyed some time in the arcade. We all like to play air hockey and Skee-ball and the competition gets heated at times. We then had a lovely lunch at The Sombrero Restaurant. The food was delicious with large portions and the beverages were very cool and refreshing as the temperature was close to 100 degrees on the day of our trip.

My only disappointment that day was that we did not get to ride the Sombrero Tower! This is one of the things I really like to do when we visit. There’s nothing like seeing the sun set over Pedro’s place. However, when we were ready to go up it was closed for maintenance! We needed to get back home..... so maybe with the next visit we will make it up to the top of the big hat! Oh, the hat shop was a real hoot! We had a ball trying on a lot of crazy head covers!

Now, some people that read this post and have also been to SOTB might say,”What?? Are you talking about the same old, run down, hokey place I know?” Yes, that would be one in the same! :) Over the years it did become somewhat run down, but now they are making changes and adding new stuff. Hopefully SOTB will make it another 60 years!

I have been stopping at the border since I was a little girl. We would be off on a family vacation to some NC mountain destination and as soon as we began to see the famous roadside signs we would get excited. Got to love Pedro’s signs! Begging cries would begin and soon either Daddy was aggravated enough or most likely...... uh..mm.....thirsty enough to stop. Of course, with a family of six jammed into a Volkswagen Bug it didn’t take much to get excited about being released from our tin can stretching our legs. So, the long and short of it is that I first saw the border as a little girl who was very bored, squished, hungry, rocking cause I had to pee and trapped somewhere near the floorboard. My heart was sold!

Next time we’ll check out the Reptile Lagoon and make it to the top of the big, red sombrero!

If you would like to visit South of the Border more information can be found here.

Ugly oil spill cake

                                                                   Let's eat cake!

I'm the luckiest, and at the same time the most cursed, girl for having married a man with a insatiable sweet tooth! My husband will say, "Did you know tomorrow is President's Day? Can we have cake?" or, "Did you know that five years ago we ate lunch for the first time at Fat Joe's. You were wearing your favorite color, green. Can we have cake?" So, you get the point any day is cake day in his world.

His latest request, and even this one threw me, was for an oil spill cake. A what? The husband says, "You know, a cake with oil spilling out and over the side." Sure, I reply.  I'm sure I've seen that one before! NOT! He has OD on news and information floating around on this greasy topic and that's reason enough to eat cake! Anyway, I attempted to please him, even if it was only with a box of cake mix and canned icing. He liked it. He (with the help of two greedy kids and yours truly) ate it. It's all gone.

                      Here is the photo documentation of the unfortunate but delectable OIL SPILL CAKE! 

I cut the center from the top layer, put the two layers together and iced the entire cake with canned chocolate icing.

Next, I used the center piece round taken from the top layer of the cake (cut into cubes) and a batch of homemade chocolate icing to fill in the hole and that helped to create a spill of gooey goodness.

The ugly oil spill cake.

Not always beautiful

This is the final result of the tree A project.

 Often when challenged by life we hang on to things that may not be best for us. Being unable to move forward or to make decisions hinders ones ability to function in life. As in our daily living it's best that we leave somethings unsaid and to let other things go!

Purple Leaf Smoke Tree hangs on

I bought it at a bargin for $4.00. I had my doubts that it would survive.

But with a little TLC this small tree is growing.

Sharing some plant love!