WW - Making Wishes

TTA - Hometown Favorites

Who can beat Fabrics By the Pound!?! I remember going to this store with my Mom when I was little, and I still love to go there! There are tables and tables piled with fabric, shelves and shelves of ribbon and lace, odds and ends, huge boxes of leather scraps, and amazing little fun finds like a pound of buttons, funky patches, feathers, pompoms, and eyes for stuffed animals. The perfect place to feed a crazy craft addiction! On Apache and McClintock in Tempe.

52 blessings - YW Theme

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.

We will “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9)

as we strive to live the Young Women values,

which are:

Faith

Divine Nature

Individual Worth

Knowledge

Choice and Accountability

Good Works

and

Integrity

We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values,we will be prepared to

strengthen home and family,

make and keep sacred covenants,

receive the ordinances of the temple,

and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.

It makes me choke up every single week when we stand and say it. I always have to stop and control myself so the tears don't drop.

Peeking

Family Dinner

Did you know that

Eating Family Dinner Together

is the number one indicator of student performance?

A Classic Revisited - Stupid Stuff My Kids Have Done

Back by popular demand...well, I liked it. A pre-blog-jack post, republished for the record. (Also, when originally written there was some question as to when this all happened. So, to clarify: this did not all happen in one day, or one week, or even in one year - or someone would not have survived. However, the fact that it all happened in one lifetime, is enough for me. Ooh, and I'm using their old alias' so I don't incriminate anyone in particular too much - just know that Wolverine, is not Wolfman. And, Tattletale, was not an alias, more of a label - and yep, it's usually the same kid.)

- Old man neighbor to Me, "I don't want to get him into trouble, but I thought you should know that your little guy set a bunch of pine needles on fire. He got it out alright though. I was watching. He's sure a creative kid!"

- Q? Me, "Hey you guys, why are all the tips of my knives bent?"

A. Tattletale, "Wolverine was practicing knife throwing last week."

- Q? Me, "Hey guys, why are there a bunch of dents in this door?"

A. Tattletale, "Calvin locked the door and wouldn't let us in, so Wolverine was trying to use the broom handle to break the door down."

- Tattletale, "Mom, I need a bandage for my arm."

Me, "What happened?"

Tattletale, "Calvin told me to hold this piece of cardboard and then sprayed spraypaint at it and lit a match..."

Me, "CAAAALLLLLLLVVVIIIINNNN!!!!"

WW - Eyelashes

TTA - Professional Help!

What would I choose to learn from a professional? Hmmmm, the list of things that I want to do next is so long...

But I think I'll do Stained Glass,

and Throwing Pots, next.

Painted Glass for Enrichment

This is the project that I'll be teaching in May for our Church Enrichment Craft Group! I'm really excited. These turn out lovely, even if you've never had any painting experience. I made one for my Mom about 5 years ago. I had each of the kids paint a glass for her and I did the pitcher. Her glasses have all broken over the years, but the pitcher is still perfect even after being washed in the dishwasher over and over!

52 Blessings - Week 14, Motherhood

The finished product - "The Perfect Pear" Wedding Cake

Fondant Pears

Tootsie Roll Stems
Foam Ball, Fondant Ball, Cover
Pinch off Excess at Bottom and Smooth
Add Petal Powder or Chalk to Highlight

What's She Thinking?

These are 18 yo ds's sunglasses, she often wears his baseball hat too.

YW Cake and Good Mail!

Woohooo! I got some very good mail from Missy! She even remembered my goal for 2008 - Kind Thoughts! See the fun daisy cookie cutter - it inspired the design for my YW Wedding cake!

Thanks again Missy! You are so thoughtful!

Blog Thing - Punctuation?

You Are a Comma

You are open minded and extremely optimistic. You enjoy almost all facets of life. You can find the good in almost anything. You keep yourself busy with tons of friends, activities, and interests. You find it hard to turn down an opportunity, even if you are pressed for time. Your friends find you fascinating, charming, and easy to talk to. (But with so many competing interests, you friends do feel like you hardly have time for them.) You excel in: Inspiring people You get along best with: The Question Mark

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

TTA - Living on The Edge!!

What would I do, If there were no risk?

Wing Suit Base Jump!!!!

(This one was on Rob's (The Nerdy Redneck) LIST, and I thought it was insane!) However, if there were no risk, I'd do it in a minute!!!

Wedding Cake Challenge

This must be my Wedding Cake week. The YW president just asked me to make a small wedding cake for the Young Women to have on Wednesday. The Laurels (16-18 year old girls) are having a "Bride's Night" and will eat my cake for their refreshments.

I'm so excited, it gave me a chance to try a new recipe for Marshmallow Fondant! So far it looks like it is going to work really well! It looks and feels exactly like the Wilton stuff that you can buy at Michael's for $10 for about the same amount. The marshmallow stuff cost $3.50 (Marshmallows are on sale) and took about 20 minutes to make! So far it tastes better than the Wilton Rolled Fondant too! The recipe said that it's easier to roll out after it's set overnight, and keeps really well.

I can hardly wait to try rolling it and covering the cake. I'm baking my cakes tonight for both YW and the Wedding (just the "topper" for the 1 year anniversary). I'll post pics of the finished Brides Night cake for YW on Wednesday! Wish me luck.

Cherry Blossoms

I've started to make the fondant flowers for the Wedding Cake a friend ordered. I love how they each have their own character. I can hardly wait to see how it comes together. What a fun challenge!

Why a Smocking Tutorial?

When my cousin, Paula Ellsworth, came for Easter she gave me some smocking lessons. I took notes and photos, so that I wouldn't forget all the great tips that she gave me. I thought I'd post them here as a tutorial for myself, and just in case anyone else needed it. Enjoy! Thanks Paula, I had a great time!

(There are two parts to the tutorial, click on the links above - "smocking" for part 1, "lessons" for part 2.)

English Smocking Lessons - Using the Pleater (Tips from Paula Ellsworth)

Tips from Paula Ellsworth on using a pleater to pregather fabric for English Smocking.

(English Smocking is a type of embroidery that decorates pregathered pleats. Smocking stitches are worked from the right side of the fabric with a small stitch taken at each pleat formed by the pregathering.)

Fabric: Use a length of fabric that is at least 2 1/2 times the width of the bodice on your pattern. Batiste, cotton, light linen, muslin, or calicos all work well. Roll your fabric loosely on a dowel so that it is easier to handle as you roll it through the pleater.
Paula keeps all her spools of thread in a box with holes drilled into the top. She uses navy for the top and bottom (above and below the design) and red for the design rows. Use a heavier thread, like quilting thread, so that you don't risk breakage.
Thread the needles all the same direction. Paula threads from top to bottom, (hold a finger under the eye so that you can see the hole to thread the needle through, it's difficult against the black bottom of the pleater). Also, she counts the rows from left to right. Remember to count the design rows, plus a top and bottom guide thread. My design has six rows of stitches, so we threaded 8 needles. One end of the thread remains attached to the spools, the other end should be about 10 to 14 inches long, and is not knotted, just left hanging.
Carefully begin rolling the fabric through the pleater and onto the needles. Be careful to keep it straight and to do it slowly so you don't break a needle.
As the fabric begins to come out of the pleater - be careful to continually move the rows of pleating down the threads. If too much backs up on the needles, it can jam and break the needles.

Copyright 2008, Paula Ellsworth & Sarah Jane Mason (All rights reserved)
(Pullen Pleater copyright - Martha Pullen)

Smocking Lessons, Continued.

Work the pleats slowly and carefuly down the threads. Then continue rolling the fabric through a little at a time.
Check both sides of the fabric. The top side will be the one with larger spaces between threads. (It's really best to know this before you begin on your project, because you will want the right side of your fabric on this side.) (My pleater makes pretty even spaces on both sides.) Your stitching is done on the top of the pleats, in the top third of the "hill" that is made when the fabric is gathered up.
Contine to work the pleats down the threads. Be sure that you keep the pleats straight as you do this. Don't let them criss-cross on the threads as you pull them down or life will be more difficult when you begin embroidering your design on them.
When you reach the end of your fabric, pull your fabric down the threads. If you are doing more than one piece of fabric, simply leave a gap between the two pieces and start your next piece of fabric. This will save you from having to rethread the needles. You will just continue working all pieces down the threads.
Since you know which side of the needle you have the tail of your thread on (top or bottom - bottom in our case, since we threaded by going down through the needle) begin to pull each tail out of the fabric and then out of the needles. (When doing multiple pieces on the same threads, be sure you leave about two feet of thread between pieces and one foot at each end.)

Knot the tails of your thread together. One knot on each end of your piece. (So that you don't accidentally pull a thread out.)

Spread your pleats out to the width of your pattern piece. Count the pleats and find the center pleat, mark it with a piece of embroidery thread at the top and bottom of the center pleat (on the hill top).

Begin working on your embroidery pattern, doing the rows in the order stated by your pattern. (Not all patterns are worked from top to bottom - why, I don't know. But, just like in cooking, it's best to follow the directions exactly until you really know what you're doing.)

Copyright 2008, Paula Ellsworth & Sarah Jane Mason (All rights reserved.)

(Pullen Pleater copyright - Martha Pullen)

Laundry

I love washing towels. Actually, I take that back. I don't love doing any laundry, but when I have to choose, I'd choose towels every time.

Benefits: Easy folding, no sorting, easy one-stop delivery! Can't beat that!

So, when I'm overloaded with laundry piles and have no ambition...I wash a load of towels.

I've done two so far today. I think I'll do sheets next.