It's that old black magic

Can you just hear ol' blue eyes singing?

"...In a spin, loving the spin I'm in, under that old black magic..."

Finished this up much faster than I thought I would --- even though it's smaller than the Diva necklace, it's heavier and will be more expensive.

This is something that I spend a lot of time explaining to customers when I do a show --- that the price of my pieces is based on two things -- the price of the materials and the time it took to create (okay, it's Econ 101, but folks seem to have a hard time realizing that artists must use that formula too!)

These particular stones were, shall we say, pricey. They are pieces of Pyrited Ammonite. And now you are nodding, yes, yes and thinking "what the heck is pyrited ammonite?"

Ok, ammonites were a little critter that lived here on earth about 65 million years ago, and they looked kind of like chambered nautilus that lives today. As they grow they shed their shells. Like with petrified wood, where the wood is gradually replaced with stone (opals in some cases), the shells that the ammonites shed can also be filled with mineral deposits. In this particular case, the mineral in question is iron pyrite -- aka Fool's Gold.

The iron part is the reason these are heavy. The centuries old part is why they are expensive.

I had been collecting these cabbed pieces for quite a while and decided that it was time to make them into something (before it got too heavy to be able to wear!).

The beads I selected are an AB finished black bead --- that "oil on water" look makes the black less oppressive than it would have been with a flat black bead. These are all fastened to a backing, beading is stitched around them, then the entire piece is backed with a piece of black leather. The chain is graduated right angle weave.

Right now I don't think it needs anything else -- of course I may change my mind later, but for now it has been declared "finished".

The knitting on the giraffe has begun

(actually, I started it Wednesday evening, but I didn't get any pictures taken until this morning)

This is a front leg -- darker yarn is the foot and I've worked my way up to the increases for the knee

Just above the knee I'll be starting the patterning, working from the chart I drew up

Commence with the craziness!

I am working this on that same size 3 needle that I borrowed from my sister -- attempts to locate one I can buy have not been fruitful, so I'm trying to get all of the animals worked up quickly so I can return the needle

The yarn is some of that Vanna's Choice stuff that I got on a sale in three coordinated colors -- I hope there is enough of it to do this entire animal -- I think there will be as the last two animals didn't come close to using 2 skeins, so even though this one has longer legs and a much longer neck, I think 3 skeins (one of each color) will cover it.

And under the catagory of "the more the merrier", this is the beginning of a new quilting project.

Having successfully created the Archangel wall hanging, I'm going to have a go at creating another piece (or pieces) designed specifically to be hung on the wall.

Based on an idea I had while I was picking up leaves last fall, the working idea is to do three pieces -- each of a different leaf from the area -- cottonwood, maple and aspen

Because these will be specifically for hanging, I plan to embellish with metallic threads and beads.

I hadn't planned to buy fabric for this yet, but I went into the fabric store to pick up something for the Unidentified Christmas Project, and the DH just egged me on

what an amazing idea, a man that thinks a trip to the fabric store is as cool as one to the hardware store! -- oh yeah, we had just been there, but I digress

Anyway, after prowling through the baskets and bins and racks of fat quarters, these 6 seemed to be the right grouping

and the plan is to use a deep violet for the backgrounds

stay tuned, there will be pictures of this project as it progresses

not quite ready for prime time

Ever open the mail box with mixed emotions?

A couple of months ago we applied to an art show in Iowa.

I knew that the notification letters were supposed to be sent out on March 1, so the last 3 days, I've been opening the mail box hoping -- and dreading -- the arrival of the letter

It came yesterday

I could tell before I even opened it that it was a "thanks, but no thanks" kind of letter -- I could feel the slides, which means "you won't be coming to our show so we're sending them back to you now"

Nuts

I guess I shouldn't feel too bad about it, the show is one of the top 200 in the country, but still, I'm pretty bummed about it

There's not much to show for the work that got done yesterday.

I have the "chain" for the black magic beading ready to be "zipped", but there are no pictures

I'm right in the middle of another piece of the Unidentified Christmas Project (no pictures here either)

I'm waiting on the birdhouses for the staining to be done (I may have a go at working on a little bird today)

Here, however is the final (I think) chart for the giraffe's body. The one I had posted the other day had a major "oops" in it -- I left out 10 rows in the body that are a really essential piece.

So I split the pattern and inserted some more graph paper and added the necessary "spots"

And last night I cast on and knit the first foot -- while the last two critters have been knit 2 legs at a time, I'll be using 3 colors on this one and the idea of dealing with 6 strands of yarn on the needles all at once sounds like a recipe for frustration. The up side of the one at a time method is that a finished leg should work up quicker and if I have a problem with the pattern somewhere along the way it will be faster to correct.

onward

Meet Bullseye the Zebra

If you've been following along in the saga of the creation of this critter, I'll bet you might have guessed that this would end up being his name.

As with the previously knit horse, the assortment of parts just look -- well, WEIRD! -- until they are all put together

I'm rather pleased with ol' Bullseye

and as long as he's sitting down, you won't quite understand (unless you're in on the story) why he's named that

the mane on a zebra is quite different from a horse --- it doesn't get long, in fact it looks more like a row of long bristled paint brushes are growing out of the back of the head and neck -- I got the look by using 4 strands of yarn in the needle and doing an embroidery stitch called "turkey work".

the tail is also shorter and striped, so I attached the yarn to his rump and braided it together

Hey, check it out, another project complete!! (Have I mentioned that I'm trying to have most of my Christmas gift building done by October? This is number 2).

Yesterday's studio work also included getting the beaded black magic piece all attached to the backing and starting on the "chain".

So, there ya go, movin' west (as my grandma used to say)

Beaded Black Magic

All of the bead embroidery is done!

Those two oval openings on the corners are going to remain open when I put the back on --- which I hope to accomplish today. (Then the "chain", of course.)


Loooookin' goooood!!


As I am seemingly stuck in that black and white world, last night I stitched the legs onto the zebra
so today I hope to get his mane, tail and other features on and be able to add one more to the "finished" list.

But first there are some garden chores to be done

Bullseye!

The zebra has been all stitched ----

and turned ---

and stuffed ---

and ready -- wait --- what?

hmmmm, it seems that knitting stripes in this pattern results in --
{gasp!}

a bullseye on the butt!!

Let me tell you, this development lead to a lot of giggling and several smart comments from the DH regarding "that's where the tail goes". I guess I've discovered a new game -- not pin the tail on the donkey, but sew a tail on the zebra.

What a hoot!!

Meantime, back at the drafting desk, the first draft chart for the giraffe body (and neck) is complete

After having knit a horse and the aforementioned bullseye zebra, I'm at least beginning to understand the mechanics of the idea.

I'm thinking about making a few more changes before the knitting begins, but we'll see


Yesterday I did about 2/3 of the bead embroidery on the black magic piece. If I get enough work time today I'll probably get the rest of the embroidery done on that and be ready to start on the backing tomorrow. Yippee!!

Today of course there is laundry to be done. And a trip to the store, so not as much work will be done on projects

time to get to it!

Progress -- (our most important product?)

The bezels are all complete!

Pay no attention to the black marker lines on the backing -- what really counts are the pencil lines you can barely see on the picture

Never mind, this will all become much clearer soon as I do the background fill

Usually I have used all size 11 beads to do the bezels, but this time the first row (the one stitched to the cloth first) is size 11 beads and the next two rows are size 15 beads. They snug up better, and they cover less of the stone, which is a good thing I think.


On Friday I spent a couple of hours tidying up in the studio.

Usually when I finish a project I just put all the tubes of beads into a plastic tub to be sorted out later. This means that after a while I have to dump out the tub and sort it out and put things back into the places they really belong.

So, after I finished that project, I went through all the pieces I had pulled out for rework when I did the inventory.

This was one of them

While I like the general concept, I'm not wild about the way it hangs from the chain, and I think it needs better fringe.

While I was sorting all the tubes of beads back into their boxes, I puled out the ones I had used for this piece so I can rework it.

Right now the chain is natural stones and glass beads strung on a wire with a toggle clasp. I'm not sure if that is what will remain the chain. When I finish reworking the "bail" and the fringe, I may decide something else will look better. We'll see.

More goodies in the mail box!

This entire issue is full of beading projects that involve flowers.

A couple of weeks ago when I went to my beading club meeting we decided that our theme for the State Fair this year will be "In the Garden"

How interesting is that! I'll be spending some time learning the techniques in the magazine so I can create a piece (or two) for the club competition -- the deadline is July, so I have some time to do this in.

Meantime there are already little "drool" marks on some of the pages (hehe)



The crackle medium has been applied and the top coat put on

I love this look -- like the piece has been in the sun for years

Now I need to decide if I'm also going to rub this one with the antiquing gel which basically makes it look like it's been out in the weather too

Not sure about that yet

One of the accents that will be going with this is a string of heart shaped mardi gras beads that I got at my bead club meeting --- it just seems to go with it


Some of them are now stitched!

I have to say that they look even better than I thought they would

Got to love those knees!!

Hopefully today I'll get the other leg and the body stitched and turned, then it's on to the stuffing and attaching




Finished the chart to knit the back legs of the giraffe from.

I also started on the chart for the body

So far so good!





time to get movin'

zebras and birdhouses

The zebra knitting is done!!

Oh joy

Love those back legs with the cute curves of stripes

The ears (center of the picture) are not actually knit. For something that size I couldn't figure out a way I could do stripes and hide the weave ins and do the curves and --- well, you get the picture. They're crocheted

So now there will be stitching and turning (which will probably mean some mumbling) and stuffing

Pictures to follow my pretties!

This also means I now need to get serious about charting the back legs and the body and the head of the giraffe

More painting has been going on, as well as a little bit of sandpaper being applied

The green and blue ones are now ready for the staining (which will be done when the DH is using the stain -- no point opening the can twice).

The red one had started out as pink, but I decided that the crackle finish just wouldn't show that much if I put white over pink.

The new idea is to use white over the red and red over the white and with the crackle medium it should look pretty cool -- I hope

Oh, and don't you love the blue "spires" on each one? These all have a nice rope hanger that I don't want to "contaminate" with paint or stain, so I wrapped them in painters tape. What a nice side benefit -- they stand up out of the way all by themselves!

The new "black magic" necklace has been started --- there has been some "voodoo" already. The backs of the stones are very uneven and don't lend themselves well to being netted, so I've glued them down to a backing and will do bead embroidery around them. More about that later.

time to get a move on!

Purple Leaf complete!

Finished!

And I really like the look of this one!

I really didn't think I'd complete this yesterday, but the "chain" parts went together so easily I just kept on working and suddenly it was done.

Funny how once the right materials all come together how easy it is to get a piece finished.

So, after I finished this I pulled out some pieces of black stone and I'm fiddling with another design idea.

If you remember the Diva necklace (if not, you can go here to check it out), I was playing with the idea of asymetrical balance. My plan is to take what I learned with that piece and what I learned doing the purple leaf piece and combine some of those techniques for the new one.

Right now the working title for the new one is "Black Magic" --- we'll see if it's actually magic or if it turns out to be voodoo!

You may recall the mention a while back of a bench being built by the DH to go with my loom. Yesterday we went off to the hardware store and picked up the rest of the materials needed to complete it. It's going to be WAY COOL!! The legs and the materials for the little shelf he's building under the seat cost more that all of the rest of it, but since the top is oak, the legs needed to be something better than cheap pine. No doubt the dog will have to go out and do more supervising while he works on it.

Work on the Unidentified Christmas Project is progressing, as is the zebra knitting.

Time to go get some breakfast!

Angels complete, and other works

If you've been reading here for a long time, you may remember this project.

When I first had the idea I wanted to make it all out of beads with no backing so the light could come through it like a stained glass window (in fact, I'm still fascinated with that idea, but haven't yet figured out how to carry it off).

Anyway, this is finally quilted and complete.

It's intended to be a wall hanging (I stitched in loops on the back so it can be hung from a rod or a wire).

As I've worked on it I've thought of it as a kind of worship piece --- something to contemplate about angels as I've stitched.

Now that it is complete, I'm not entirely sure what I will do with it (after I enter it in the State Fair, that is).

I'm hoping some inspiration for that will occur.

The last dog toy of this style stood up pretty well to those super sharp teeth of my daughter's "terrior-izer", so I whipped up another one yesterday.

It will go in the box I'll be sending them soon






All of the components are now stitched together!

The idea of using the twisted cord to put the leaf on really worked well, and I've got the crystals all arranged and connected together

There at the top is the beginning of the rest of the cord that will make up the necklace. I'll be making 2 of these and "zipping" them up then attaching them to each side to make the rest of the necklace.

Lookin' good!



Lookie what came in the mail yesterday.

Nice stuff -- not so difficult that a semi accomplished knitter like me can't figure it out -- hopefully

And of course as soon as I saw some of the patterns I immediately began to think "hmmm, this one could be made into ___ (insert something other than what the original pattern is for here)"

Guess we'll never escape that whole "a pattern is just a suggestion" thing

Speaking of knitting, the back legs of the zebra are slowly taking shape. For some reason, each knitting session is an ordeal of *knit one row, purl one row, untangle 4 strands of yarn, repeat from * It's enough to make one contemplate the virtues of bobbins --- like the kind I used once when I knit a pair of argyle socks (never mind, it's too ugly to return to). It also makes me think that those bobbin thingies will be REQUIRED when I start into the great giraffe project.

Yesterday we did shopping and I worked on taxes, so I never did get to the bird house project, and today I need to make the living room look like something other than a warehouse as we have someone coming by to visit this evening, but I'm hoping to get some project work done!

time to roll out!!

Filing orders

As I said in yesterday's blog, I sold another item from my Etsy store.

It's interesting that I put this particular item out there as a sort of joke, thinking that no one would be interested, but it has been the one thing that has been a slow but steady fund raiser.

The yellow dog toy is the one for the order received -- the other one is for my doctor's new dog (a rescued german shepard) that hangs out in her office. (I figured if I was going to set up the machine, I might as well do both of them at the same time!)

So, that's what I did yesterday --- set up the embroidery machine, do the embroidery, do the standard stitching and the finishing.

The yellow one will be in the mail today, off to Brooklyn.

I did also work on the purple crystals -- the idea of using that twisted herringbone tube as the "cord" to hang the leaf on worked pretty well --- now I'm working on stitching all of the crystals and the leaf together before I start on the right angle weave that will make up the rest of the necklace. I'm pretty sure this one will also be going into that contest that has an April 15 deadline.

Today, being pay day, we will be doing our monthly Costco run and a stop at the grocery store, so not as much will get done in the studio --- but hey, a girl's gotta eat!!

Crystals and Birdhouse Paint

The first real "color" coat of paint is on the birdhouses.

A bright spring green, a shade of blue the color of the painter's tape and a pale pink that I mixed and probably won't be able to match again

The DH and I had a long talk about what the basic shapes are that I need to make the little felted birds.

The next layer of paint will be added today


All of the crystals have their netted bezels (I left the working threads attached so I can just pick them up and use them to do the attachments later.

This is the basic layout I'm going to use for the necklace, and now that I have the actual materials laid out I like it even better than I thought I would.

Next step is the herring bone cord to go through the leave and attach to the big crystals


Yesterday I sold another item from my Etsy store --- so today I'll be setting up the machine to embroider another dog toy or two.

New Jewelry Project and Old Knitting

I started a new necklace.

Back quite a while ago I had purchased a really neat purple lamp glass leaf shaped "bead". I've tried several different ways to string it up with other beads, but just was not happy with the way it looked --- it just looked --- well, like a leaf bead with a bunch of other glass beads -- bleah!

Recently, one of my favorite suppliers has started carrying this new item. They're big (I bought 12mm and 14mm sizes) and they are "pointy" on both sides -- crystals that are sort of facetted.

So, here is the beginning of the new idea for that leaf. I'm using netting to "bezel" each of the crystals, then I'll be doing a thick herring bone tube to string through the leaf so it doesn't "flop", and attach the crystals in a pattern at each end of that tube. Then right angle weave from the other edge of the crystals around the neck.

At least that's the plan right now!


I spent quite a bit of time in the car over the weekend as we made a trip to our daughter's house.

These two blocks for the Wall of Linen afghan are now complete.

Only two more of these (or one if I decide to just pick up stitches along the edge and go sideways) before I'll be deciding if I'm ready to start putting it together or want another row of blocks first.

Looking pretty good here.


So, today it's laundry and taxes for my daughter and a friend then hopefully work on birdhouses and beading and quilts and ---- well, you get the picture

Mardi Gras Mask Earrings

from the front and from the back

These are on a post with a nice leather backing

I think they look pretty good, and they're a nice match to the pin

I haven't decided yet if I'm pleased enough with them to enter them in the competition with the supplier.

Stage One of the bird house painting

All three of these were painted with a paint that is "white"

From left to right the labels on the paint bottles were: white, icy white, antique white -- more like white, blue, tan

anyway, today I'll be trying to decide what the color of the next coat of paint will be. I'm pretty sure the square one will be a shade of pink and I'm thinking that one will have a "crackle" finish too. The other two I'm not so sure about yet except I'm trying to keep the paint off the roofs and perches so those will be stained later -- the wood grain on those roofs is too pretty to cover up.

I have finished the quilting on the guardian angel wall hanging, so yesterday I went to the fabric store to get something to use as the binding.

I found a very nice piece that was on their 30% off sale, which was a good thing.

While I was in there, I found this magazine.

What cool stuff --- and I'm not really all that into Asian design, but there are some amazing techniques in here.

For instance, those camillas on the cover -- there is a full size pattern for them in the magazine (it covers an entire 8.5 by 11 page). The first thing that went through my head when I saw it was "I wonder if you could make those 3 dimensional?"

I've bought several issues of this magazine (when ever I can find it on the newstand), and loved them all --- I think it's time to subscribe --- it will be less expensive!

This picture could be labeled "The Great Speckled Dog -- or Why Labradors Aren't Allowed to Use Sand Paper"

The DH is building me a bench

A while back the piano that has lived at our house for a long time went to my daughter's new house. And of course the piano bench went with it.

Thing is, I used to also use that bench at the loom.

So, like I said, the DH is building me a bench

He has the top all done and was doing some sanding yesterday when Elphie decided she needed to help -- as in put her nose right up to where the saw dust was flying around.

Oh yes, the bench is oak, so the saw dust is light colored. Hence the great speckled dog.

geesh!

ok, today there will be painting and sewing and selecting of a new beading project and no doubt other things too --- like a trip to the pet store for a bag of dog food!

Beads and bird houses

The embroidery part of the beaded Mardi Gras mask earrings is complete!

WHOO HOO!!

In an attempt to make these look as close to a mirror image pair as I could, I did the embroidery on both in sequence --- first the eyes on both, then the green, then the purple, then the gold.

Today I will cut the leather for the backing and start putting them together.


Zebra's front legs are all complete

snazzy looking, aren't they?

I knit them at the same time, and I have to say that dealing with 4 strands of yarn coming directly off balls of yarn and such narrow knitting made for some spontaneous basket weaving looking stuff in the back ground ---

ARRRRGGGGHH!

So now it's on to the back legs, which are (as I remember from knitting the horse) a really strange shape.

The stripe pattern could get even odder




and this is the beginning of the next animal to be knit

The yarns were on sale at the local fabric store, so I decided to go ahead and get them now, knowing I was going to make this project

Oh, yes, and that chart is just the beginning of the charts to be drawn for giraffe parts -- this one is the front leg, but just the portion from the knee to the hip -- below that the giraffe has no patterning

Remember the bird houses from the other day?

Since I want to actually perch a little felted bird on the wood rod, it was pretty clear the original rods were not going to be adequate for the job.

That little piece of wood between the center and right side bird houses is the rod I removed from one of the houses, and they were all that short.

I used the little back saw to cut the rods off flush with the front of the bird house, then the DH used his drill to make the holes and insert the new, much longer rods.

Most of the sanding is done, so today I should be able to start painting! Fun!

A new sort of dog toy

Since my daughter got her new dog (a Cairn Terrier), I've been making various styles of dog toys in an attempt to find something that the "terrier-izer" doesn't instantly destroy.

We've tried squeeky toys of several different materials, but it takes very little time for her to disembowel them.

This is my latest idea.

It's made out of 4 long strips of plush fabric woven together in that square braid technique we all learned by making plastic whistle lanyards when we were kids.

I can report that my labrador, who loves squeeky toys, is totally disinterested in this one, probably because it doesn't sqeek.

We'll see what the "terrier-izer" thinks.

Meantime, I seem to be in the "slog along" stage of several other projects --

the beading on the Mardi Gras mask earrings is progressing, I hope to get the last of the bead embroidery finished today so I can start putting them together

the front legs of the zebra have been worked up above the very cute knobby knees

another part of the Unidentified Christmas Project is complete

yesterday the DH found me some sandpaper so I can start smoothing the bird houses and another wood project I've got in the hopper

rollin' along!

A block complete and a new idea

Here is my first "make it up yourself" block for the Wall of Linen Afghan that I started by following the idea over at Mason-Dixon Knitting.

So now I actually have 3 full rows of blocks complete

I'll be moving on to the last row soon -- I need to spend some time with paper and pencil to figure out what configuration that next row of blocks will take -- what colors, how many ridges in a stripe, etc.









I was in that "den of iniquity" known as Michaels over the weekend and found these adorable little wood bird houses --- only $1.00 each!!

I just love the round ones, and the little heart shaped opening in the middle one is cute too.

The plan for these so far is to paint/stain them (after liberal application of sand paper!), then to create some little needle felted birds to set on the perch of each one.

This should be interesting.

This morning I made the final copies and my taxes are officially DONE!! I'm really happy about that. I'm going to make some changes to the way I keep track of things for 2009 which should make this process easier next year, but I have to say it was not as painful as it's been in the past.

So today, between loads of laundry and a quick trip to the store for coffee, I'll be working on beading and stitching and knitting and who knows what else --- time to move along

Web ponderings

Just when I was wondering if it was worth while to keep paying for my domain name and the monthly hosting

I actually made a sale from my web site!!

I'm amazed and truly pleased.

The goodie will be on it's way post haste of course

So now I'm thinking it's time to actually put some more stuff out there --- like maybe some of the new jewelry?

I'll keep you posted!!!

Beach Glass and Zebras

It's done!

The pendant is more of my Rocky Mountain Beach Glass, but this piece is so different it hardly looks like the same materials.

Because the glass was such an erratic shape, I never could figure out a way to just frame it with beads, so I decided to make it a little netted bag.

Then of course it needed embellishments.

This "chain" is that twisted herring bone stitch that I'm happy to say I can now do quite well, and because of the style of the pendant it looks good on this piece.

I won't be using it for the smaller pieces that are just framed though -- it's just not as flexible as the right angle weave -- which also helps account for the metal (actually magnetic) clasp on this piece --- the chain is too stiff to curl around into a small loop like the right angle weave ones.

But I do like the looks of this piece.

Yesterday I put a new batch of glass into the tumbler.

This batch includes pieces of purple, red and gold that are part of the glass that we had broken before.

There are also some pieces of brown glass that were part of a beer bottle -- and we can tell you beer bottles are very thin! When the DH hit it some of it just turned into tiny little glass dust.

There are also 2 pieces of "found" glass in this batch -- one that is clear and has a very deep pattern running across it and one piece that is green.

Both of these were laying on the street, and I just picked them up and carried them home.

I'm especially excited about the green piece as I have not yet been able to find any pretty green glass object to break (most of what I've seen has been sort of olivine, which is ok, but not what I'm really looking for).

So for the next month I'll be listening to the tumbler hum and slosh and turn these into more "treasures" to make into new jewelry.

Oh the joy of having the proper tools!

Last night I finished up the body of the zebra!!

I know, right now it just looks like an odd rumply piece of knitting, but you need to just use your imagination -- the bottom edge of the picture is his nose, the top edge is his rump

Trust me, this will all work out!!

So now it's on to the ears and legs.

And I've been thinking about the giraffe. I need to get started on the charts for knitting that one --- I want to knit in each and every spot --- none of that embroidering over the knitting stuff.

Recently, I have seen a picture of something knitted that was said to be a giraffe, but it had stripes and we know that's not right, so mine will be properly reticulated. Ooooh! Intarsa knitting!! {Scary!!!}

time to get to it, I'm oh so close to having all of the tax stuff complete, and now that I'm close I just want to get it done and out of here!! Onward

Finished Pin, and winners of the drawing

I finished up the pin!

On the whole I'm pretty pleased with it.

The biggest problem was working the bead edging around the eye holes (which don't even show up very well in the picture)

The finished size is 2.5 inches from side to side and 3 inches from top to bottom.

So, provided the weather is ok on Sunday (I'm not driving if it's ugly!), I'll be taking this to my beading meeting to enter in the Mardi Gras competition.

I did the layout of a pair of earrings using the same design, just smaller that I'll be starting on as soon as I finish the never ending herring bone twist chain I'm working on.

The earrings will NOT have open eyes, I'm going to fill that area with black instead (geesh, I'm crazy but not THAT crazy!!). I'm thinking that I might enter all three pieces as a set in the supplier's competition -- we'll see how they come out -- I have until April 15 to get that done.

I can also report that I have 101 pieces in the Unidentified Christmas Project -- whooot!

Today was the official end of the One World, One Heart drawing. Early this morning, the random number fairy (ok, I had my DH do it) selected two numbers.

The winners this year are from these two blogs: Simple~Needs and "Stampgram". I'll be sending out the goodies as soon as they respond to the emails I have already sent.

I'll be stopping by the blogs of all of those that responded over the coming weeks (and trying to revisit the blogs of all 911 (!) participants).

This has been a lot of fun, and I'll be doing it again next year!!

Meantime, I'm considering doing some other random prize drawings during the year, so stay tuned!

time now to return to the tax forms ---- Pfffftttt!!