In this Month of Gratitude and Thanksgiving, I want to say THANK YOU to anyone who reads this blog by...

Giving you these banners to use in your Etsy stores.

Even if you don't have an Etsy store, you can still download them and use them as you would like.

Now, here's my problem.

I don't know how to put a download button on this page.

Jenny said that she would show me at Thanksgiving.

So, until then, what you will need to do to download these banners is to 

right click on the banners you would like,

click on save as,

and the banner will download to your computer.

Each one has to be done individually until I learn how to add a download button.

You will also need to add your own text using whatever program you have.

You can do this with Picassa or Photoshop.

Thank you!

All the banners are made from photos I have taken.

I give you permission to use them!

 I hope you enjoy them.

If you choose to use them, send me the links to your store.  

I'd love to see what you do with them.

Thank you for sticking with me this far!

Our journey is just beginning!

Banner #1

Milkweed

Banner #2

Flaming Maple Trees

Banner #3

Roses in the leaves

Banner #4

Beads and Book

Banner #5

Advent Wreath

Banner #6

A Tree and Berries

Three Beautiful Things This Week

Three Beautiful Things This Week was inspired by a wonderful blog that Clare writes called Three Beautiful Things. Everyday, Clare writes about 3 Beautiful Things that happen each day in her life. It's a wonderful blog! I can only hope to imitate her in a very small way.


1)  Jenny is starting to feel better.  The shingles have been a very painful condition for her.  I'm sorry for that, but, as usual, Jenny shows her strength as she endures this side effect disease.  She's on the road to recovery, and that is great!


2) I took Stephanie Lee's online class about bookmaking.  What is so interesting is that she uses plaster for pages.  I haven't had a chance to order my plaster, but I did today!  I'm really looking forward to making my books.  I am working on the covers, so that when the plaster comes in, I can put my book together.  Stay tuned for blogs about the bookmaking!


3) Deer hunting begins this weekend.  I made the chile and I'm taking it to the hunt tomorrow.  I hope they enjoy it!  I think they will, though. 

Weekly Photo Challenge - Hidden

Until the leaves fell from this tree, this nest was hidden.

Hidden

h-i-d-d-e-n

Hidden

La Dia de Los Muertos - The Day of the Dead Celebration

Today is the second day of the celebration,

La Dia de Los Muertos,

(the day of the dead).

Although this celebration has spread to other parts of the world,

it began in Mexico.

These two days,

November 1

(All Saints Day)

and 

November 2

(All Souls Day)

are set aside in Mexico

to remember and pray for the dead.

The celebrations vary,

but,

usually, the favorite foods and drinks of the dead are served to family members.  Sugar skulls are also added to the mix to remember the dead.

Time is set aside to pray for the dead.

Trips to the cemetery as part of the rituals of the days.

I chose to join in this celebration this year by making and wearing my

La Dia de Los Muertos necklace.

I hope, besides the prayers I have offered up for the dead, I honor the dead by wearing my necklace.

I'll only wear it three times a year.

I wear it on Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day. Tomorrow, I will visit the cemetery.

Exploring the New - Nuno Felting!

All right, you're going to have to promise not to laugh when you get to the end of this blog.

I made my first attempt at nuno felting.

Nuno felting is a process by which you felt using a sandwich method.

Fibers are forced from one side of the sandwich to the other.

Since I am new to nuno felting, I made my sandwich using cheese cloth, wool roving and silk from recycled saaris.

Follow along with me now.

 I began to make my sandwich by taking bits of roving and placing them over bubble wrap and plastic.

I found my recycled sarri's yarn.

I added bits of silk fiber to the roving.

I added the center of my sandwich which was the cheese cloth.

I repeated my fiber mix with the roving on top of the cheese cloth.

I added more silk to the sandwich.

I rolled the entire sandwich up, including the plastic wrap and bubble wrap, around a piece of pvc pipe about the size of a large rolling pin.

I wet and rolled the sandwich until the fibers began to force their way through each side of the cheese cloth.

Here you can see the fibers coming through and the shrinking begin.

As this happened, I began to wet felt the sandwich.

Then more shrinking happened.

I ended up with about a 50-70% shrinkage rate on this piece.

What was meant to be a scarf turned into a scarfette.

Now, you promised not to laugh.

Here's the finished product.

Oh, I forgot to tell you that I did cut holes in it for effect.

No laughing now.

This is my first nuno felted scarf.

It's really much prettier in person.  What looks like dark blue is really a rich purple!

Now, I have to finish it, but I'm not sure.

I do think I'll enjoy wearing it!

Now, I want to use some better fabrics like silk chiffon.  Wool is supposed to be a perfect blend with that fabric.

More to follow later.