Garden Gone Wild

In case any of you didn't quite believe me in my "Porch Prettiness" post when I said my back gardens were a mess, I'm here to shame-facedly show you what I mean:

It's been less than two weeks since the patio was weed-free -- where did they all come from?!?!?

Can you say, "Jungle"????

I'm not even sure if the thing below is something I planted, or a very large weed! Can anyone enlighten me? It looks like it's going to flower soon, so maybe I'll know then!

That tall thing below is the biggest thistle I've ever seen! I think those are silver dollars growing in front of it -- or are they weeds, too?

Look -- DS3 can't even get through on the path, the weeds are so thick and tall! He's saying, "How can I get to the other side, Mom?"

 We got rid of a sumac a few weeks ago -- and it's like a mythological creature that when you cut off one head, it grows 15 more -- in a whole bunch of different places! (Read: "all over the yard!")

And yet, in spite of the neglect, the gardens still yield prettiness like this:

And this:

The flowers bring life to the table as we enjoy the fruits of DH's labour on a fine summer morning:

Ya -- I'll get to the garden later . . .

What creative endeavours (or work!) are waiting for you, perhaps not so patiently? (I know gardening is a creative endeavour -- but it feels so much like work to me. I like the idea of a garden -- but not so much the work of growing one in the ground :{ )

So Not a Sewer

The third project in The Artistic Mother  is to create a tote bag to carry your altered journal/poetry book. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do it because I don't see myself carrying my journal around with me -- but then I thought that it would be fun to try printing on canvas (and it would have been had my computer and printer co-operated with each other!!! Such a simple thing -- and yet it took me hours to make my printer work!), and it would be a good opportunity for me to practise my sewing skills. As you'll see, I need all the practise I can get!

So, after printing an old photo of my mother on some gesso-primed canvas using my inkjet printer, I dug through our stash of scrap fabric (acquired through freecycle -- an amazing resource of free stuff! -- from a lady who makes custom dog collars) and came up with this collection of squares, cut as per the instructions in the book. (You'll notice that I didn't think ahead in planning the size of my printed photo. I could have redone it easily enough -- if my printer had been co-operative! But it was refusing to communicate with my computer effectively, so I stuck with what I had. A little extra white space never hurt anyone.)

 For the back of the bag, I chose a piece that had once been a curtain or something and already had beads attached to it. That turned out to make the project a bit more challenging, but I like the danglies:) I ended up modifying the pattern a bit because I realized that if I followed the instructions exactly, my bag would be too small for my book!

 As you can see, in spite of lines drawn to facilitate perfectly lined up squares, none of my corners matched. I am so not a sewer! I considered ripping out the seams and starting again, but decided I didn't need to have a perfect bag. It has more character this way, right?  

 Ya -- so don't examine the lines too carefully! ;)

This is the fabric I used for the handles. It happened to be the perfectly sized and shaped piece of fabric for the job! This was my first time ever using -- oh, what's it called -- my brain is failing me -- that white backing stuff you iron on to make the fabric stiff. Is it called interfacing?!?!? Anyway -- that stuff is really cool!

 It was shortly after this point (below) -- when I actually started sewing the lining to the bag -- that I began to question my sanity for even beginning the project! I broke a needle on the sewing machine, and for some reason the machine kept coming unthreaded before and after that happened. I ended up going to bed with only about 3 more inches left to sew, thinking that might just be the end of it. However, I rose before the children and tried one more time -- and I was done in a flash! It's amazing what a little sleep can do to make the world look better!

Next was the most exciting part -- the "birthing" of the bag! I've never made a lined anything before, so I wasn't convinced I'd done things right. But I'd made a quilt before -- so I had hope . . .

Sweet! It worked! It was at this point, when I put the lining into the bag where it belonged, that I really learned how an iron is a sewer's best friend! I was worried there for a while because my seams on the inside were making everything ugly!

 But here is the finished  product, of which I'm really rather proud :)

And here's the back. The little pocket was my own addition -- I wanted a place for my little Joy notebook.

And here are the journal and tote together:

BTW -- in case you're wondering, I really HAVE been using my journal :) I even wrote a poem yesterday. As I told my daughter (who was lamenting that a song she wrote wasn't very good), I know it isn't brilliant poetry -- but it felt really good to write it. Sometimes the process is more important than the product.

 These are the other little treasures that are tucked (or rather stuffed) into my little tote (making me wish it were a tad bigger). Just a bit of inspiration . . .

So there it is -- another project completed! It sure had its ups and downs -- but I'm really pleased that I stuck with it and finished it.

Are there any creative endeavours that you started and were glad you finished? Are there any you started and wish you'd finished? Why not pick one up again and follow it through to completion. I'll bet you'll feel good about exercising your creativity :)



I'm linking this post to . . .

Making Sickness Sweeter

Nobody likes to be sick. So when DD12 got hit with the same flu DD8 had, I tried to make her misery more tolerable with some prettiness. It's traditional in our family that when someone is sick, they get served their meals in bed on a tray. I always like to make it special in hopes that it will help them to feel better -- or at least feel loved :)

This teacup is too chipped and cracked to be used for tea, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I'm glad I thought of a new use for it.

There is just something about star-shaped ice cubes that pleases me. But I think I've told you that before.

Pansies are my mother's favourite flowers, and they're mine, too. There's something about their smiling faces that cheers a soul up. Besides, they're edible :) I love how the pansy on the placemat matches the ones on the plate! (I didn't plan that ;)

What special little things make you feel better when you're sick?

What little family tradition do you have that says "I love you" in a creative way?

Canada Day Play

Alack, alas -- I am undone! My computer is in the care of the Geek Squad (again!) and I have been at a loss without it! The children's computer is slow and loud -- and lacks the software I've needed to upload my pictures. But I've figured something out, so I'm here to catch up on some posts I've been meaning to write. Did you miss me? :)

We celebrated Canada Day last week on July 1 -- best of all with DH winning a trip for our family -- on the same day I won Halle's art supplies! But DD8 had been suffering from the flu all week and just wasn't up to staying up late to watch the fireworks. (She's never liked them anyway -- too loud and scarey.) So we had some girl time together -- which included some playing with my camera's settings.

Here are a few shots from our impromptu photo shoot . . .

This one is with the sepia setting -- which I NEVER use -- but really like:

The same shot in black and white -- which I also NEVER use. Why don't I????

And this one was "low colour" -- which looks pretty normal to me:

This was done with the sepia setting on the camera, and then I "cartoonized" it with the software I uploaded to the computer today. Look at those beautiful eyes!!!! You can tell she's not feeling well, though :(

Here we're playing with different facial expressions -- just for fun:)

Prince Caspian needed to pose as well. Poor guy -- he REALLY didn't like the fireworks being set off in our neighbourhood. In fact, he was literally trying to climb the walls, and trying to haul his huge carcass onto tiny tv tables! Crazy guy. But (and this is an interesting aside!) I squirted a bit of Bach Rescue Remedy in his mouth and he calmed right down! Huh!

I'll have to remember that.

Finally, the evening would not be complete without a sparkler or two:

How do you celebrate when things can't quite be normal because of sickness or circumstances?

Have you tried getting creative with your camera lately? Why not give it a try!