Where Have I Been?

Goodness, it's been a long time since I've written. It's funny how busy I can be without doing much!! I can now relate to my Mother when asked at age 80, "What did you do today?" "Nothing much but I was busy all day."
Mother did read a lot, starting with the morning paper. She read it ALL, including every word of the Editorial page. I'm too cynical to read the 'letters to the editor' on the editorial page but I have been reading a whole lot more books than ever before in my life. The latest book I've read is called The Shack.

It's been a long time since, when reading a book, I have wanted to underline some profound truth that I want to remember. My copy of The Shack has several pages with bright yellow highlight. One that really hit me hard in the stomach is on page 142 and 'God' is speaking, "do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely ever, pictures Me there with you."
The first four chapters are really hard but thankfully I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did. In another place in the book, it is said, "God is not in a box...and He's not in a book either." Meaning we confine God to what the bible says about Him. And He is SO much more and wants to BE so much more to me and to you.
I heartily reccomend this book. I got mine at Cosco for $9 in paperback.

The Wee Folk move in...

The four story doll house was made when my girls were little. The boys are good at moving the furniture around but they leave all the cute little extras in the box.John-Thomas and Emmett 'creating their own Wee Folk. They did all the work themselves including the wrapping, cutting, sewing and face painting. Stewart made his last week. Having had only daughters, my grandsons continue to amaze and delight me.
Did you notice the 'swords' in their wee little hands They were robbed from my pin cushion. Home Sweet Home

Scanning Fabric

I had some fabric left from making matching dresses and purses for cousins,
Anna-Kate and Elise. I scanned the fabric into my computer and my Photoshop elements. I cropped out each flower and removed the background. Some of the flowers I changed the hue and brightness to give them a different color. I isolated one of the heart petals, added a bow and some shadow. For the flowers across the bottom, I 'drew' the green stems on my background paper, then added the flowers I had made. All in all, pretty cute even if it did take most of the day.
Thanks for taking a look,
Sally Swift
Visit my Etsy shops for more great ideas:
http://www.sssstudio.etsy.com
http://www.allthingshomey.etsy.com
http://www.treasures4ewe.etsy.com

Can be addictive!

Emily told me about a booklet, 'Wee Felt Folk' by Salley Mavor, she saw at Michaels. We looked it up on the internet Library and found it at the library next to her church. So off we went.Found it there and we both checked out a copy. Just looking at the booklet is a feast for the creative eye.
I started scavenging my saved goodies and had everything I needed to make my first Wee Folk except paint for the wee faces. Mine was dried out. I'm sure an organized person would cringe at all the 'stuff' I save, but they are priceless to me. I even had olde cotton pipe cleaners. Must have had them for 20 years!! It was much more fun to make these Wee Folk with my olde cotton pipe cleaners than new acrylic ones would have been.
If I get a twinge of conscience and throw some old thing away...never fails...within a few weeks that item is just what I need for something I was making. SO, now I don't throw anything away.
Back to my Wee Folk. They were easier to make that I thought they would be and a lot of fun too. When I was quite a bit younger, I loved making small things. The smaller the better. But now, my aged eyes and hands have caught up with me and it's now, the bigger the better. I am going to make my next Wee Folk not so wee and see how that goes.
The question now is, what am I going to do with these Wee Folk. Woody, my cat, has already tried to pull out the hair.

And the winner is...

Got-a-minute is a favorite family word game with the Swift/Gideon families. Stewart is good with words and tries so hard to win. When he comes to Grama's house he wants to play scrabble and was determined to win one day. That day came, and the day after. He beat me twice! He was so proud and rightly so. He doesn't just put down a good word but is very good at placing his letters to get the maximun points. I am so proud of you Stewart, Way to go!

And it only took four hours...

Finally, after a year or more of saving tons of digital scrapbook freebies, and viewing a youtube tutorial, I would not let myself stop until I had completed ONE page. Well, I did learn alot and I have much more to learn...another day.
And it didn't cost anything in supplies. Just a stiff neck!

FELIX...that's the cat's name.

...what was his name...

Notice the 'black cat' clock newly added on the right.
I saw it on another blog and it brought back swift memories.
I remember my aunt Mae had one in her kitchen back in the 50's.
The cat was a part of a newspaper cartoon and had a name but alas, I can't remember his name. I think it was from the Katznjammer Kids strip. Sounds good anyway.

HOME

Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell.
While other folks go hungry, we're eating pretty well.
With HOME and health and happiness, we shouldn't want to fuss;
For by this stack of evidence, God's very good to us.
Annon.

6x9 Surprise Envelope Swap

So far, I have been able to get all the above in the 6x9 envelope. I may be able to scrunch in a few more items if I run across some cuties.
This has been fun just to find so many different things to put in. So far I have 60 items and some contain more than one piece.

A Busy Week

A week ago today I found out that my daughter and family were coming for a visit from Atlanta. We were going to celebrate her daughter, Anna-Kate's 6th birthday. She was hoping I would make matching dresses for Anna-Kate and Elise. So off I went to JoAnn Fabrics to find some material. It had been a long time since I had been to JoAnns and I sure wasted a lot of time there before I found just what I was looking for. Fortunately I already had the pattern and it was for sizes 4, 6 and 8. I used the size 6 for Elise and the size 8 for Anna-Kate. I also made matching purses for each. I hadn't sewn for many years and I actually enjoyed it however I would have appreciated a little more time.
The party was a big hit and the girls loved having matching dresses.

Today, Elise, Anna-Kate, her mom, my sister Diana, neice Sally and I went out to lunch together to The Back Porch Cafe.
When my girls were growing up, they benefited from hand-me-downs from their cousins. Now Elise is benefitting from hand-me-downs from her cousin Anna-Kate.

No matter how much things change...they stay the same!

Just us girls...

Emily asked if Elise could spend the night with me Easter Eve and go to church with me Easter Sunday. It didn't even take a millisecond to say yes.
We had a nice girly time that evening with Elise having a nice bath with soap shaped like rose buds and some bubbles. Then of course make-up time with fingernail polish and a little face cream.
Sunday morning started off with a early start so by 9 o'clock she had had breakfast, blew bubbles, painted, watched a video, washed dishes, and made two strawberry pies. Elise mashed strawberries, poured in the sugar and corn startch and stirred it all. She also arranged the whole berries in the bottom of one of the pie crusts. She did it like she knew just what she was doing, which of course she did. She definately has a I CAN DO attitude about everything whether it is smashing berries or racing in a sack race against seven older boys.
Elise kept asking me when is Easter going to be here? On the way home from church she asked, "When are we going to have Easter?"
Speaking of church, Right after we arrived back at Elise's home, her mom, Emily, hesitantly asked, "How was she in church?"
She was just perfect. She almost ran up to the front when time came for the children to come to the front of the sanctuary to gather for Children's church. She spoke right up when asked what was in your Easter basket. Her answer, "Chocolate and money." (they were in her basket from the previous' day egg hunt.) She danced to the music and captivated all who were seated around us. (proud grama)

MATCH-less

My first swap is 'Just The Box Please'. I am to decorate a tiny matchbox anyway that I feel inspired.
The box is only 1 1/2" x 2" x 5/8".


The cameo in the center was a treasure find at the Humane Society Thrift shop just two weeks ago. It is edged with tiny pearls and then some vintage gold braid. The tatting around the outer edge is very old and may have been made by my then husband's grandmother. The rest of the box is covered in blue check. The drawer pull is a vintage glass button in shape of a crown. I wish I were better with my picture taking but hopefully that will evolve.

I had no idea how I was going to decorate the second box until I found the picture of the ladies head in an old Mary Englebreit calendar. I covered the box in deep purple velvet. The top is edged with two vintage gold trims. I put a garland of leaves and glass beads on the head and draped a pearl necklace around her neck. The drawer pull is a vintage glass button.
I had alot of fun making these boxes and hope the receivers will treasure their little treasure boxes.

EASY is relative

"You ought to set one up. It's easy."

That's what Emily told me after she whizzed through setting up her blog,
As the saying goes...EASY for you to say!
I have been working on this for three weeks. Just today, it has taken me 6 hours just to figure how to get my masthead on the computer and over to the blog. Now that I have figured it out, could I do it again? I doubt it!! Well, maybe I could do it in four hours...if I did it tomorrow!
All of this because I found a blog and signed up for three swaps. It's easier for your swap partner to know about their partner if she has a blog.
Just in time, I am to mail off my first swap tomorrow.

soon...very soon

soon...very soon...I will finish my header and actually start my blog.
Just remember, Patience is a virtue.