No rain, no wind - not even a cloud in the sky! What’s up with that?! A few nights ago we woke up to this in the morning. My husband said these trees, a flowering pear, have a lot of moisture inside. We finally had a really hot day and the tree “popped” a branch. I never knew trees did that but he said he’s seen it before with trees around the city he works in.
So now our tree has a bare spot. Yikes! Thank goodness my car wasn’t parked closer to the edge. As it was it brushed it on the way down but only seems to have swiped away some of the dirt (yes, I’m admitting I haven’t washed my car in quite some time).

Speaking of waking up to something, this was not the first time. A couple weeks ago my husband was going fishing and hooked up our little trailer the night before. He woke up bright and early and started his car - a terrible, terrible noise! Found out that someone that evening tried to steal the catalytic converter!

We spoke to the police and apparently there’s been a ring of thefts for these things in the area. What?! We were lucky in that they didn’t get the thing all the way off. The police said they usually cut one side and then leave, come back and unbolt the other side.

Might I add…the dogs can tell when a cat walks on their grass out front or a little bird lands on the fence rail but heard nothing that night! Good grief. No more treats before bedtime!

Oh…he was able to get it fixed and go on his fishing trip - thank goodness!

Awhile back I worked on a project with a wonderful gal I met through school, Jill Turney. She’s an Art Director with Klutz (those really fun books that always have stuff with them).

Well the book arrived in the mail!! I was so excited.

For the book, we could only work with shapes. See those dark purple shapes on the cover? That’s all the artists who worked on the project could use. Let me tell you, it’s easy and hard at the same time. Some things came pretty easy - you know how I love animals, so the dog on the cover is a version of mine (wahoo). That came pretty easy. But sometimes they’d need something and trying to figure out how to create it with just those shapes - I went through a lot of paper.

It’s been so much fun to look through the book and see what everyone came up with. Right about the time I was working on this we had just gotten our little dog Squeaky. One of the sections in the book is called “Dog Show”. Squeaky made the cut!

If you’re at a bookshop or art store or wherever, please check it out. It’s fun and colorful and comes with 64 stamp shapes, 6 colored pencils, a clear block and a little stamp pad - oh and you can create your projects right in the book!

Stamp Art
ISBN: 978-0-545-94626-9
$21.99
Ages 8 & Up

This past weekend we did a little camping trip - Calaveras Big Trees was our destination. It was so nice to get away, if only for a weekend.

We went with my brother and his family. It was the first time our nephew met our new little dog Squeaky. There was an immediate connection. Squeaky was just his size and he walked him and went looking for wilderness-what-nots all weekend. They were true pals.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, the mosquitoes however, not so much! I have over a dozen bites and I’m trying not to think about them or they itch. But as my husband said, better those than poison oak! I agree.

We went hiking, sat and chatted and of course cooked marshmallows over the campfire pit (setting fire to only a few).

There were bear-proof boxes all the food was to go in for each campsite. Hmmm. Good thing we have a trailer instead of a tent I told myself. We actually ended up putting a bag that carries our dog supplies inside the box. It was something I had purchased off of etsy years ago - a 50 pound Purina dog chow bag made into a tote, so it was rather large.

We went to bed, were sleeping soundly and all of a sudden heard the bear-proof-box creaky hinge! The dogs barked, my husband grabbed the flashlight, shined it out the trailer window - nothing. I would have preferred he didn’t check things outside the confines of our cozy trailer, but he had to see.

The bag was gone! Apparently we had forgotten to lock the box, it was dark when we went to bed and hadn’t noticed.

The next morning we got up bright and early to see if there were any tracks. I thought maybe some racoons had taken it, but there were no drag marks, and unless they were standing on top of one another there was no way that could have happened. Then we heard other people discussing a bear. A very clever bear though, because the way it had grabbed the bag nothing had fallen out - no leashes, no dog dishes, no dog food.

I had to giggle (now that I knew I wasn’t the entree) when a mental picture popped into my head - I thought here was this big bear, carrying around this big green dog chow bag going shopping around to all the campsites. It would have held quite a lot of loot!

We never found any signs of the bag. But somewhere out there amongst the big trees there is a nicely accessorized bear.

I hope you all had a wonderful Father’s Day.

I spent the day up at my parents house - beautiful weather and a lovely afternoon chatting on the screened porch.

I was going through photos and found this one of me and my dad back in 1968. I guess I’m showing my age. I think the photo was taken out in our front yard. A happy memory. I hope you all have some of your own.

I believe this is the 3rd year in a row Anne Sutton, Bunny Hill Designs, has done a free block-of-the-month pattern. I think at the beginning of the year (or around there) she puts out the first free pattern, then once the year is over, the patterns aren’t free anymore, you have purchase them - but please don’t quote me on this. :)

Month 1

This year’s pattern is called Henrietta Whiskers and I just love it! The main feature is a squirrel which is too cute! But then all of Bunny Hill’s patterns are just adorable.

Month 2

Don’t let my blocks fool you, I have them all glued up but I haven’t finished stitching them or adding all of the embellishments - embroidery, eyes and buttons. If you go to her blog you can see the actual finished blocks.

Month 3

If you like applique and want to join fun I’d highly recommend hopping on over to her blog. You can put yourself on her mailing list and then on the 5th of each month you’ll get a note showing the next block.

Month 4

The next block is coming out in a few days and the anticipation of what it will be is always something to look forward to!!

Month 5

I was on the Scraptime blog (which I love) and Christine talked about a workshop she had taken, something called “She Art”. What caught my attention was the use of color and free form shapes - without being abstract (I don’t do well with abstract, I need to know what I’m looking at).

I signed up and all I can say is I am feeling truly inspired.

Christy Tomlinson is a great instructor. She’s fun, she talks to herself and I find myself saying “I looooooove it” after hearing her say it throughout the videos. She shows you a ton of techniques using all sorts of different inks, paints and textures. I haven’t had so much fun walking around the hardware store, well, I don’t think ever. I went to Lowes and found PVC pipe couplings make great circles when dipped in paint. They also had texture rollers in the paint department - very cool and not just for walls.

I found that I really needed to do something different. I love stamping and quilting, but so much of what I do I’ll say is “coloring within the lines”. I needed something that used my supplies in a whole new way and this workshop was just that. She creates backgrounds with layers upon layers of paint, ink, stamps - tons of stuff. And then the artwork - she did girls (I guess that’s where the “she” in “she art” comes from), but you could do anything. I did the girl in the green dress as my first one. But then I thought, what about a cupcake, and a house and…

Seeing Christy just cut into 12×12 sheets of paper and not care - it’s freeing I tell ya! I have scrapbook paper and I think what the heck am I saving it for. She just whacks away, makes her shape and if it doesn’t come out right she thinks nothing of whacking away at another piece of paper.

If you’re looking for something fun, something that might make you stretch a bit, or it’s time to let your hair down, I highly recommend Christy’s She Art workshop. You’ll have so much fun with color, paper, scribbles, buttons and more.

Awhile back we enrolled Squeaky in puppy school. Well I’m happy to report that he graduated! He had to do a sit stay and to come when I called him - which he did, yeah! In fact there were no remedial doggies, the whole class graduated. After which, our instructor pulled out caps (thank goodness it wasn’t formal with caps AND gowns) and we took pictures.

Squeaky wasn’t too sure about this, in fact this is as close as the cap was coming to his head without him wanting to taste the tassel.

Yeah Squeaky!

I just can’t help myself! I saw this posted on Facebook by my friend Julee and had to share it here. Anyone that has a dog can probably relate. I giggle every time I play the video (which I’ve done at least a dozen times).

I hope you giggle too. :)

I’m really excited! I FINALLY finished a new quilt pattern.

I just knew this rubber stamp image was one I’d be turning into a quilt - I just wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I started pulling fabrics and collecting my thoughts and then it started to fall into place. Right now the quilt is hanging at a shop in Concord - ThimbleCreek and I taught a class a week ago. Two of the ladies in the class were making it with boys in mind, so they changed her hair, took away the skirt and put on some shorts and removed the flower and were putting on a leash.

I’ve already begun another quilt and have one that just needs quilting when I can fit it in. But next up I have to finish some new rubber stamp images for this month - they are long overdue!

So much to do! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

So I know that if you’ve been watching the news you’ve seen or heard of the huge outbreak of tornadoes last week. I’ve been in awe of tornadoes and the massive storms that create them ever since I can remember. Storm Chasers (Discovery channel) is set on the DVR and I’ve seen the movie Twister more times then I can count. But I certainly never want to see one up close and personal.

This was a before and after picture on The Weather Channel website.

With that being said, a tornado ripped through Tuscaloosa, Alabama - where my brother and his wife live. Their house is ok, he was in the basement when it hit about a mile away. My sister-in-law was at work and it missed where she was by only about a 1/4 mile.

The area around where she was, however, is decimated. My brother said the destruction is unbelievable. I just had to write and say that I am so thankful they are ok, but my thoughts and prayers go to all those who aren’t.

I don’t know about you but it seems to me that so much has happened around the world lately, so much that is beyond our control. We cannot halt it, it just has to happen and then somehow people start to build again - their homes, their lives…

I just needed to take a moment and pray for those that have had to endure these things. And at the same time be so grateful for all that I have.

The winner of Kay Mackenzie’s Inspired by Tradition:

Congratulations Beth!
Thanks to everyone for stopping by and leaving a comment!

To keep things on the up-n-up, here’s a snapshot of the winner’s number from random.org…

Hi everyone!

My friend Kay Mackenzie has been hard at work creating her second book, Inspired by Tradition. Like her first book, this one comes with a CD featuring 50 different blocks in not one, not two but FIVE sizes! I don’t know how she comes up with all these blocks but she does!

Because I am both a quilter and scrapbooker/rubber stamper I wanted to pick a block and show how it could be made in both mediums. After perusing all of the blocks I chose one called “bluebell”.

I chose to do it as a 6 inch block…here it is in fabric. Even though this block is inspired by tradition, I’ve made it a bit more contemporary with the color scheme.

Here’s a close up of the detail.

Like I said, I’m also a stamper and use a lot of different scrapbook papers. So I wanted to show that you don’t have to be a quilter to enjoy Kay’s book.

Here’s the same 6 inch block done in paper.

Pretty cool huh. I printed the block and then cut it apart to use the paper as templates. You may notice that the center is a little different. If you’ve visited my samples blog you’ll know that I love Tim Holtz’s Sizzix Rosette cutting die. I used the large one for the center.

Here it is close up.

I also used a little Distress Ink around the edges of the paper and added some pearl drops to the end of each flower.

So guess what! You could win your very own copy of Kay’s book! The publisher, That Patchwork Place is providing the books. All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment on this blog (anytime before midnight)!

Please also visit Kay’s blog, All About Applique to follow along with the rest of her book blog tour. You’ll meet some wonderful people and most certainly be inspired to create!

So I don’t know about you but I have a lot of small cords. Cords for my cellphone, my camera, my iPod, my iPad, the list seems to go on forever.

One day I was sitting at my computer and I took a clip out of my hair - you know, at the end of the day when the sweats go on and the hair gets let down.

Anyway, there it sat next to one of my many cords and I thought “hmmm…”

I wound up the cord and clipped it. Wow! Maybe I’m the last one to think about this, but what a great cord keeper! I’ve tried those long Velcro ones, but honestly, even the small ones are big around cords that are thin and they always stick to themselves (which they are supposed to) but they make it tough to unwind small cords.

You can get these hair clips practically anywhere and they aren’t that expensive. They also come in a bunch of sizes from mini to extra large.

So anyway, if you’ve been struggling with your smaller cords I definitely recommend giving these a try.

Ok, toodles for now.
Holly

My friend Julee Maggiora created this adorable puppet pattern. It’s her first pattern, hopefully more will be coming. :)

The large black and white kitty, KeeKee, on the cover was actually a puppet given to her by her uncle when she was just a baby.

Well, Julee still has KeeKee Kitty - she’s holding up quite well for a kitty whose over 45 years old!

Julee used her for inspiration for all six puppets in her pattern - KeeKee (of course), Parker Pup, Nanna Monkey, Polly Pig, Rex Coon and Barry Bear.

She gave me a copy of the pattern and I decided to make the dog. The puppets she made were done in felt, but I wanted to try using cotton fabric. I choose a chocolate brown print for the body and a cream print for the accents. I added a bit of interfacing to give it a little more stiffness, I also added a little pink tongue and used crystals for the eyes.

He made up really quickly and easily. I think you could go a little crazy with embellishments -maybe a collar, or buttons for paw pads, maybe even give him something to hold - a bone, a flower…so many possibilities! I’ve added the pattern to my website, so if you’d like a copy of your own you can order them here.

Have fun!
Toodles, Holly

February has been busy to say the least.

As many of you know I have a rubber stamp and quilt pattern business. Even though I stay busy I usually take on contract jobs to generate income - building websites, doing illustration work, layout and design - interesting things that seem to find me.

This month I was working for Klutz (owned by Scholastic Books). What I thought was going to be one day’s worth of work turned into five - plus commuting to their office. I had a blast being around a whole office full of creative people - not to mention the building itself, painted walls and every bathroom is painted with a different theme (castle, space, outhouse, circus). It wasn’t for my artwork  or anything, just helping them with a project they were working on, but great fun and really wonderful people.

With all of this happening, on Friday we had a bit of a scare. Our dog Tucker had a small seizure. He had actually had a few when he was really small, right after we got him. The vet said that it could be juvenile epilepsy but that we should just watch him. Well, he’s now just turned 3 and he had one. It was 3am and for some reason I woke up and found him. He was shaking, couldn’t stand because his legs wouldn’t hold him and panting heavily. I just sat with him on the floor until he was better. It didn’t last very long at all, although it felt like forever. We took him to the vet and again are watching him. Because it was so slight (less than a few minutes) our vet said that he really didn’t want to put him on medication because it’s hard on his liver. I’d rather he wasn’t on medication unless they get worse or become frequent, but we’ll cross that bridge if it happens.

So I will write more as I know more. I’ve been working on some fun projects that I’ll be posting, as well as getting two quilt tops done (they are pinned, just waiting for me to quilt them) and then finish writing the patterns.

Thanks for listening.
Bye. Holly