I'M A BIRD BRAIN + PICTURES OF SAMPLER, SEWING and SNOW

Good Morning Primmies ~


As if watching an Eagle sitting on her nest isn't obsessive enough:
I now watch the skies for Turkey Vultures. Yes, I need an
intervention. No wonder I don't get as much done as my bloggy
friends do. But for me I did get a lot done. I'm working through
the pain and I'm using biofeedback to fight it. Mr. Glen Oaks
even asked me what had me bright and chipper when everyone
else would be winding down for the early evening.  I'm not
quite sure why, I think it's because I'm doing what I used to do
and I have so much enthusiasm. I think they used to call it
"giddy"! A Southern phrase, when I was very young my dad
used to tell my mother, "Rose, why is she so giddy-headed?"
It means frivolous, lighthearted, (lightheaded). The synonyms are not quite as kind. "Without prudence or judgement", and
unbalanced. Well that's me alright! I think it's Spring fever.
Here is the pair of turkey vultures, they migrate farther north
to breed. Well, they got here early. They were so cute. I think
there was some courting going on there and I captured it. This is the view from one of our living room windows:

As John Dillinger said to his girlfriend 'Billie',                 "Where have you been all my life?"              

"Hey, I don't kiss on the first date"

"How about dinner later? My tree or yours?"

If you have birds on the brain, here's a link called

All About Birds. They have a little information on the turkey

and other raptors and birds. There are all sorts of new birds

coming to our yard. We put out fresh water several times a day because it freezes, and the blue jays especially love their water.

There were two baby blue jays here today. And I think the ones

I love are called Snow Buntings? Maybe someone could help

me with that one.

I have three things going on right now in the craft zone: the

Polly Daggett sampler, Safrona Ager sampler, oh wait, more

than 3, Miss Peabody, a large grunge prim rabbit, pear and crow make-do and the 3 dog coats. I have everything in various

stages except for the dog coats. Sorry dogs.

Polly Daggett as of tonight. I wish I could go faster but between her mistakes and mine I'm confused (remember I'm giddy).

Close up of the border and Polly's boo boo's. I should be in the pretty colors tomorrow.

All rolled up for the night and going in my needlework bag. My sewing project is from the March/April 2012 Issue of 

Create and Decorate. She's a rabbit called 'Miss Peabody' and

she's designed by Kim Grasso. I'm thrilled with this pattern

because the rabbit is a HUGE doll.  It doesn't indicate what size it is but the torso and the legs are soooo long. And it's grunged

pretty well, so you will adore her, I'm sure.

This is as far as I got tonight after putting the sampler down.
Biggie was tired of me ignoring him, so patterns and transfer

pen kept mysteriously ending up on the floor:

I don't use pins when I have pets underfoot. I traced the shapes and I'll sew along the traced lines and cut a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I have the prettiest fabric for her dress. It's a medium weight homespun, red and mustard check with :0) you'll have

to wait to see her wear it. I'm a stinker.

 

Speaking of stinkers, there go the Noah's Ark figures. Biggie does this when we try to work or use the printer. They are both good about not sprawling across the keyboards, they just like to sprawl across things in high places.

So far the 30- hour snow storm turned into not enough to shovel.
Maybe we missed the worst. We only have about 3 inches.

I snapped these while it was really starting to snow:

I don't know if you can see them, but those are mountains in the background. That's my across-the-street neighbor's yard.

My view from the kitchen. Here's our poor little neglected shed:

More of those gorgeous oak trees that like to fall on houses and power lines. Lastly, my view from my sewing chair:

Our Cypress trees outside the living room windows. The turkeys

were across this street in a huge Maple tree.

I hope you have a happy day whatever you do.

Hugs,

Susan

written Wednesday February 29, 2012 post Thursday March 1st

I Do Like Them Dirty

Hi, Primmies:


On Wednesday I did a post about a wish list I had started. I listed some patterns from Victoria of Kentucky Primitives. Well, in the
post I made a comment about how I like Primitives and of course
my blog has primitives in it's title, but I said how some of them I
didn't make because they looked a bit on the 'dirty' side. WELL,
I take that back!! And this is one of the reasons why:

Photo copyright Create & Decorate All American Crafts Inc.

~Upate: I  found the link for Kim Grasso's patterns. Click
Kim's Whims ~
Can you stand it? Isn't she ADORABLE? Her name is
"Miss Peabody" and she is designed by Kim Grasso. The
pattern and directions are in the March/April 2012 issue
of Create & Decorate. And she's a huge bunny. I don't know
exactly how big of a bunny she is but she's at least two feet
and maybe 8-9 inches, so she's close to one yard in length!
Now here's the fun part and what changed my mind about
being 'dirty'. Kim supplied some grunging instructions to
go along with the finish of Ms. Peabody and there are two
methods that she gives. Now I know everyone that does
extreme prims probably knows about the recipe(s) but I did
not know about this one ingredient: molasses! I had heard
about the coffee and spices and vanilla, and even brown
craft paint to make a nice deep stain, but molasses was
news to me. I think that this rabbit is going to be the sweetest
smelling prim I've ever made. Here is Kim Grasso's method
for grunge:
" add two tablespoons of instant coffee to every two cups
of boiling water in Mason jar; if desired, add 1/4 cup of
vanilla, 1/4 cup of molasses and a tablespoon each of ground
cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or cloves. Shake to mix and set aside".
Also, if using a spray bottle to apply she says to only use if
you aren't adding ground spices because they will clog your
spray nozzle. In that case paint the mixture on the rabbit,
undies and dress. Some of you like to paint the grunge on 
anyway as opposed to spraying on. 
So now you know why I changed my mind about dirty, grunge-y
prims. I'm apt to change my mind a lot, so don't mind me!


If you don't have this month's issue of Create & Decorate, it's also got some really nice folk art painting projects, more sew-
ing projects and punch needle, rug hooking a sampler and also
mixed medium projects. There are free projects included on the
website so don't forget to check if you aren't buying the
magazine. Here's the link again: Create & Decorate.


Ms. Peabody will be my next giveaway item after the sampler
I'm working on. Speaking of, I'm coming along with the sampler nicely, I'm starting the dividing band after her name 'Polly
Daggett' and there's the bottom urns and the rest of the borders.
I'm having a harder time with the borders than anything else,
so I'm leaving them for the end. They were supposed to be done
first but I was making too many mistakes! (like Polly)


Hugs to all my Primmies,


Susan