Here are a few of the knitted items I made for the AG dolls for my g'daughters. I found the patterns on the internet and used up a lot of leftover yarns. The first outfit isn't knitted, of course, it's sewn and I added some embroidery. I think I'll do embroidery on the one of the legs, too.

My Little Crafter

Our 42nd wedding anniversary is tomorrow, September 23. Yesterday Emma disappeared upstairs for a few minutes before her mother came to pick them up. She came back down with a card she had made for us.

Using the Cricut, she cut out the champagne glass and glued it to the front of a card that she had covered with patterned paper. Inside she wrote:

Happy Anavirsry, Love Emma and Maggie.

She also drew a heart with red pen. And to top it all off, she applied one of her "Handmade by Emma" stickers to the back.

This is one of the anniversary cards I'll be sure to keep.

The 2009 County Fair

I took fifteen items to the Warren County fair this year. When I went back to get them, I had my granddaughter Emma with me. We were picking the things up before church, so we had to get in, get them, and get back before Sunday School started.

I was pretty sure the crocheted Barbie gown would get a blue ribbon and I was right. The doll was over on the "Best of Show" table with another hugh rosette ribbon. The judges liked the crocheted umbrella and the fact that the doll was wearing pantaloons. I worked a long time on that outfit. I'm already trying to decided which pattern I'll make for next year. What the heck and I going to do with all the dolls?

The other first place winners were a cross-stitch picture of an old barn and antique car that I had used an old wooden tray as the frame; a dress and apron for an 18" (American Girl) doll; a crocheted bear (black) wearing a crocheted dress and hat (green); an 8x8 scrapbook "Our Family", that has pictures and notations of all our ancestors; a crocheted "Betty Boop" potholder; a crocheted doily; a crocheted pocketbook; a "Pumpkin Queen" centerpiece.

Second place winners were the painted box (Donna Dewberry "One Stroke" painting); a blue crocheted and beaded bookmark and a crocheted hooded sweater with mittens for Alex. The third place winner was a Spring grapevine wreath.

After church, when I got home, I wanted to lay them out on the table and take pictures. (I'll post them here after I get them uploaded) After getting everything out of the boxes, I realized I was missing two items! A cross-stitch advent calendar and a fabric teddy bear. Yikes! Were the fair people still there? Would I get there in time? Would someone hold them for me???

Kara, the girls and I rushed back to the fair building and yes, they were still there! Thank Goodness. I hurried inside and found they were just about ready to leave. There were my two missing items - the advent calendar (no ribbon!!!) and the fabric teddy bear with a "BEST IN SHOW ribbon!! They told me it was sitting with all the other "Best in Show" entries, didn't I see it when I picked up the Barbie doll? Well, obviously no!

When Emma and I had gone before church, she was Chatty Cathy and I was trying to find all my entries and listen to her at the same time. It's pretty well established that I can't do both! She even said later that she saw the advent calendar and thought it was theirs, but since I didn't get it, she figured it wasn't the one they had. Any other time, she would have said "Nanny! Is that the one you made for us?" But, not this time. This time she decided to stop talking.

Newest Cards

These are two samples of cards I've been making lately. I had forgotten how to write in a circle with MSWord, but found the instructions on a card-making forum. I think it adds alot to the card. The champagne glasses are from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge (Cricut). I added a piece of vellum behind the glasses and glued little tiny clear marbles to the vellum.

I love the black and white paper, too. I made several variations of both cards.

Stitch This!

Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does. I've been trying to use my PC Stitch program and I've encountered one problem after another. Since I'm having so much trouble, I decided the best thing to do would be to start from the beginning.

I opened the program as if I had never seen it before (I've had it for about seven years!). I pretended that I was a newbie and was going to start with the tutorials. OK. Click on the icon to get it all started. Now comes the first obstacle. A little window opened up and said it was starting the install wizard. Hmmmm. It's been installed for seven years. Ok, never mind. The little green dots go across the little screen, everything seems to be going along splendidly. Oops. A little message comes up that I need to install Photo Explosion SE. I check my programs list and see that I have Photo Explosion already.

After clicking on the "close" button about a gazillion times, the stupid little box goes away and the program starts. What?!? Why is it starting? What about the Photo Explosion SE it demanded from me a few minutes ago?!?

Never mind. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Just relax and enjoy this nice little program. Sit up straight, relax my shoulders and let's get on with it. Ok. The program opens and I click on the tutorials box. I've decided that I'm a newbie, right? I click on the first tutorial. Click this, click that, yawn, boring. But I've decided to go from the very beginning. Ok. That's done. Let's click on the second tutorial.

This one is about importing pictures. It doesn't want me to import my own pictures, yet. It wants me to open its own first, to get the hang of it. I'll all for that. I click on the "import" button, I see the box it wants me to open. I open that box. Now the instructions tell me to open a file that the installation program put on my hard drive. I see two files but they aren't the one I need. It's a picture of two little kids. Nope. Nowhere. Gritting my teeth, now. Wiping sweat from my brow. I search my program list. Nothing.

I've been at this for about 90 minutes. Jimmy wants to use the computer. Hah! Fat chance. I'm going to get this thing worked out or the computer goes out the window.

My next question is - can I uninstall this program and reinstall it? Will that work? I've got an email out to the PC Stitch company. I wonder if this will take as long as the Cricut fiasco did? That was about two weeks.

The Clipboards

The image is not as clear as I would have liked, but...these are the clipboards I made for Maggie's and Emma's teachers as "end-of-the-year" gifts.

I really like black, white and red together. I found these black and white papers at Michael's in a pad called "color basics" by Me and My Big Ideas. They also have a pad of red and white. I cut the butterflies with my Indie Art cartridge, layering the colored paper over red.. The letters spelling out the names are from Base Camp. I found a cute quote from Phyllis Diller to add to the top of the clipboard - "We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and be quiet". I thought that would be appropriate to give to a teacher, since she must spend a lot of her day telling the kids to sit down and be quiet.

I glued a 1/2 inch strip of red paper where the two black and whites meet, simply because I love to add red to black and white. I cut 6 lengths of black, red and white ribbon and tied them to the clip, just for pretty.

When I saw this clipboard being demonstrated on tv, the lady made it look so simple. She said to get a clipboard with a removable clip. That's hard to find. I finally found them at Michael's. The clip has two little screws with washers at the back. They were very easy to remove. They were NOT easy to get back on! It's almost a two-person ordeal.

What she didn't say was that the clip has a very tight spring to keep it closed. Yes, to keep it closed. You can't put it back on when it's closed! Yikes! And the screws are very short! They barely poke out the back where the washers are supposed to screw on. I had to keep a good grip on the clip, keeping it open so it would lie flat enough for the short screws to go in far enough that the washers could go on.

How many times do you think the little screw when flying off into who-knows-where, or the little washer would slip from my sweaty hands and land somewhere under the table? How many times do you think that clip would snap shut, almost severing my fingers? I tried jamming something under the clip to keep it open, only to have it slip out, time and time again. How many times do you think I almost gave up?

AG Dolls, Move Over

Maggie's and Emma's birthdays are next week. They'll be 8 and 7. How fast the years have flown! I didn't know what to get them for their birthdays - money is tight. I started thinking about their AG dolls and decided that I would sew up some doll clothes. Going through my fabric stash, I realized that I didn't have much to choose from. Most of the fabrics I have left over aren't suitable for dolls.

When I was at band practice last night, I saw my friend, Roberta! She's a seamstress and has a basement full of fabrics. She gave me lots of satins and silks when I wanted to make my son's ring pillow. I asked her if she had any fabric scraps big enough for 18" doll clothes and she looked at me as if I were crazy. "Do I have any fabric scraps?!? I have a huge bag just waiting for anyone to come and take it!" Wow! I made arrangements to come to her house the next day.

She gave me several "pieces" that are large enough to make Maggie and Emma each a sundress. There are all sorts of pieces for the dolls. Solids, coordinating prints, kittens, "suede", corduroy, flannel, fleece, sateen, velvets, black lace (ooh-la-la!). I'll be making doll clothes for a long time.

I went to Michael's and bought two of the 18" dolls, $10.07 each (with my 40% off coupons). That's a significant price difference when you consider that American Girl Dolls are almost $100. Maggie and Emma always drift to the doll aisle at Michael's and they've each chosen the doll they want. I wasn't going to get the dolls for them, because they already have AG dolls that they got for Christmas, but the last time they were there, they told me that they wanted them "very, very much, Nana".

I wish I had time to get Jimmy to make four beds, or two bunk beds. I've been imagining myself crocheting bedspreads or making "quilts" for the doll beds. I could make pillows, mattresses, blankets....

Thanks, Wayne!

After all the trouble I went through with the Cricut and not being able to get through to ProvoCraft, I was ready to explode!

The answer to my question of why my Cricut DS kept telling me that my (only) 6x12 mat was the wrong size (there is no other size for my original Cricut) was finally given to me, not by Cricut personnel and not by ProvoCraft personnel, but by someone on the forum page. I still don't understand why I couldn't get through by phone, email or fax.

I finally got an email from a guy named Wayne, from ProvoCraft. He was sorry it took so long to get back to me and what was my question? Oh, boy! I wrote back to him, explaining that I had gotten an answer from another crafter on the forum page. I did ask him why it took over two weeks to hear from someone. He never answered that one, but instead, he offered me a cartridge of my choice for all my trouble!

I jumped at the chance to get one that I had wanted: Storybook. I told him that I was saving up for it (the cost is extravagant! $90!) and if he was serious, I'd love to have that one. He wrote back and said it was on its way!

A few days later I opened the mailbox and there it was! Storybook. Mine. All mine.

I've had fun using it. It has a nice font with all types of changes, plus all types of swirls, leaves, flowers, birds, a crown and some word phrases. In with that, there are several creative features: Tall/border, shorty with holes, fancy corner, accent frame, shadow and accent blackout.

Newest Birthday Cards

I decided to get a head start on making Maggie's and Emma's birthday cards. Maggie's is the pink princess crown. I cut it with the "Indie" cartridge from Cricut. After cutting out the crown and the background, I cut the front piece from silver foil cardstock and glued it to the pink crown. I used foam squares to adhere those two pieces to the background crown. These three pieces are glued to a piece of glittery matstock. It's not noticeable in this picture, but it is very glittery. She'll love it!


Emma's card was made using the same "Indie" cartridge. The guitar and "U ROCK" are cut from dark lavender linen textured cardstock. The wings are cut from that same silver foil cardstock. I chose this one for Emma because she getting pretty good (for a soon-to-be 7-year old) at Guitar Hero. She'll get a big kick out of it!

Trouble In Cricut Land

I've been having a hell of a week. My Cricut Design Studio wasn't working and I couldn't get in touch with ProvoCraft or Cricut. I tried emailing them. No response. I tried faxing a letter. No response. I tried calling them.

When you call the 877 number you get a selection of menu choices. After you've made your choices you are put on hold and told to listen to the music. At first, the music is ok, then it turns scratchy, fading in and out, popping and cracking and then it just becomes a big ice pick digging in your ear. I tried holding the phone away from my ear, but then I was afraid I'd miss hearing if a person came on the line. After holding for about 30 minutes, I gave up. I do have a life, ya know.

Each time I called, I gave up after 20 - 30 minutes. I found another number and tried that. No change. Same voice, same menu, same selection, same waiting, same music. Aaaagggghhhh!

My problem was that the Design Studio said I had a larger mat in my Cricut than on the screen and I needed to change it. I have a 6x12 mat in the Cricut and a 6x12 mat selected on the computer screen. I finally decided to get on the Cricut forum page and ask for help from all the crafters. I got several suggestions that didn't pan out. Finally, someone wrote and told me how to fix it! I won't bore you with the details, but just know that it worked!

Then my Cricut LED screen became all pixelated. Good grief! I couldn't tell if what I had selected to cut was actually what I was going to be cutting. What the heck caused that? This was a brand new machine! This was causing my brain to hurt. I already knew that I'd have to mail the Cricut to Utah for repairs and pay for shipping both ways, plus the fee for fixing it if it wasn't included in the warranty. No way could I afford to do that. I just wanted to cry.

I had gotten out the little pamplet that came with the Cricut and saw the sales slip that I had taped to the inside cover. Wait a minute! Joanne Fabrics has a 90-day return policy. Hope springs eternal.

Today I took the Cricut back to the store and explained my problem. The cashier asked the Assistant Manager to come up to the front and asked her if they could take it back and give me another. "Of course we can" she said. She said it was easier for them to return it than for me. I totally agreed! Yeaaaaah!

I came home, set up the Cricut, opened the Design Studio, connected the Cricut to my computer and away we went! I started making Alex's scrapbook pages.

I'm back on track.

Well, Thanks Bunches, Walmart!

It's right there on their advertisement - We honor all competitors sale prices! I took an ad in to purchase a Cricut. Joanne's Fabrics had it on sale for $99.99. It's usually $199.99. This is a great savings! When I approached the Customer Service person, she said she didn't think it would be honored. She then called over one of the Assistant Managers. He left to go ask someone else. I knew then that this wasn't going to happen.

He came back with a pretend sad face and informed me that they couldn't let me have it for that price. It was too great a discount. I asked him about WM's statement in all of their ads about honoring competitors' sale prices. He shrugged his shoulders and said "Sorry". I shrugged my shoulders and said I had wanted to keep Front Royal money in Front Royal, but now I was going to have to take that money to Winchester. "Sorry" was all he could say.

I've never been able to get a competitor's sale price on anything at Walmart, except for items that are maybe less than $5.00. If that's what WM means by honoring sale prices, they should put that in their advertisements. "We honor all competitors' sale prices as long as it's less than $5.00."

I had tried last year to get the Cricut Design Studio at WM, using another store's advertised sale price. The CS person told me that the competitor's store had to be outside a 50-mile radius. Since it was for A.C. Moore, that left me out.

I wish they'd just print out their exceptions.

One Almost Dead Cricut

About two years ago, I purchased my little Cricut cutting system. I got it with a 40% off coupon at Michaels Craft Store in Harrisonburg. The Michaels in Manassas wouldn't let me use a coupon, so when I went to Harrisonburg, I thought I'd try my luck there.

I really enjoy using the Cricut and I've subscribed to the Cricut Newsletter that comes every month. I like seeing what other, more talented, people create using their machines. I kept coming up on all these abbreviations that I didn't understand. Finally, I realized that "DS" meant Dear Son, "DD" was Dear Daughter, "DH" meant Dear Husband, and so on. They even abbreviated the titles of the cartridges, or "carts" as they call them. For a long time I was totally confused, but finally got the hang of it. The only one I didn't understand was "DS" being used as in "I used my DS to create this design. Huh? She used her Dear Son? How? And why? "DS" was doing an awful lot of stuff. How old were these kids, anyway?

When I needed to call the company about something one day, I asked her what else did "DS" stand for? That's when I found out about the Design Studio! Ah ha!

Months later, I was able to purchase the Design Studio and I've loved it ever since. Until Friday. Well, to be honest, it's not the DS that I'm upset about. It's the Cricut. It seems that the motor is going. I've only had it about 2 years and I need to send it to Utah for repairs. I can't afford that. The repairs will probably cost around $75 (if I'm lucky, he said) and I'd have to pay postage both ways, plus insurance. I'm thinking that I'd be better off if I bought a new one. Crap.

You'd think that Provo Craft could have manufactured it a little better with a stronger motor so that it would last more than 2 years. This one doesn't even get heavy use. I'd say it gets light to moderate use. I have never taken it out of the house to use anywhere else, the g'daughters don't use it without supervision, and Kara has used it occasionally. That's about it. Never dropped it, never lent it out, never bent, folded or stapled it.

I first noticed trouble when it wouldn't cut all the way down the length of the mat. I had tried to cut "Congratulations" using Base Camp at 1". It cut "Cong" and then traced the rest of the letters. I reinserted the mat and typed in "rat" and cut that. Reinserted it again and cut out "ula". It took forever, but I finally got the rest of the letters. After talking to a Provo Craft rep, she finally told me how to reset my machine. I followed all the directions, waited 1/2 hour and tried it again. It worked!

Until the next time I used the machine, about a week later. Same problem. I tried the "reset" procedure. It worked, but it only lasted through one cut. The very next cut only cut about 1/2 way down the mat. Each additional cut was shorter than the first. Finally, only one letter. I reset it each time I want to use it. This takes 1/2 hour for each cut. Yikes!

This last time, the technician told me that it must be the motor. Unfortunately, I can't afford to get it fixed.

'I'm very disappointed.

Alex's Sock Monkey

I finished Alex's sock monkey! When I made the monkeys for Maggie and Emma, I had two socks left, so I went ahead and cut out the pieces and put them in a zip-lock bag with the pattern. You simply never know when you'll need another sock monkey!

I made him a pair of pants with some green starred fabric I found in my scrap box. When I was going through the box looking for something suitable, I realized all I had was girly fabrics. Pinks, flowered, satiny, lacy, frilly - but nothing for a boy. The green starred piece was just big enough to cut out a pair of monkey pants.

I made him a pair of socks with the leftover piece of sock. When I didn't find anything for a shirt, I embroidered a red "I love you" heart on his chest. To finish him off, I embroidered Alex's name and the year on the monkey's butt.

I'm going to try to find a straw boater hat. That will look great!

Art Is Art

I received a call this morning to come to the opening of a new jewelry shop. There was no way I'd miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime event. I was asked to stop by and not to forget my purse. The shop was located in my granddaughter's bedroom. On her desk, to be precise.

She has learned that by taking several strands of colored string and twisting and turning them, she can fashion a necklace or bracelet. I'm not sure where the term "jewelry" came into it, but that's what she's calling it. When you're 7, I guess you can call it anything you want!

I noticed that all the necklaces and bracelets were finished off with grey duct tape. When I asked her about it, she said she didn't know how to tie a knot very well, so she went downstairs and got the tape. Works for her, works for me.

My necklace is twisted purple string with a duct tape "clasp". Very fashionable. Cost me 50 cents. We're definitely going to learn how to make friendship bracelets this summer!

The Newest Creation

I'm almost finished with the newest Barbie gown. I tried my best to get it to look like the pattern, but I couldn't find the right type of 9" wide lace that would pleat correctly. I tried using dress lace, cutting it down to 9" but it was too soft and wouldn't pleat. I tried using a stiffer type of dress lace, also cutting it down, but it was too stiff and stuck out too far, making the dress look like one of those lacy bed dolls. Not what I'm aiming for.

I took it all apart (for the sixth or seventh time, I've lost count), unraveled the bottom four inches of the dress underskirt and started the same pattern as the dress overskirt. I've added white and very pale pink pearl beads all around the edge of the overskirt.

I especially enjoyed making the pantalettes. I might make another pair without the lace and put them on the last doll. It gives a more finished look, I think.

I still have to crochet the shoes and finish the hat. The glue is still drying on the gimp and I have about eight clothespins clamping it down. I also need to do something with her hair.

Sweet Sleep

This is the birth announcement I cross-stitched for Alexander. His room has a big moon on one wall with stars and the adjoining wall has a big smiling sun, all painted by his Dad. I thought this would be appropriate for a boy, too - since the mother is holding a baby boy.

The inscription says: A mother's arms are made of tenderness and sweet sleep blesses the child who lies therein. Victor Hugo

I stitched this a few years back for our oldest granddaughter simply because I liked the picture and the verse. Her birth announcement cross-stitch was a beautiful bassinet with ribbons and "girly" stuff - a little too frilly for a boy. I shopped several stores looking for a nice chart for a boy, but they were all lame looking. I kept coming back to this one in my pattern box. I think it goes well with his room.

I hope he and his parents think so, too!

Guys And Dolls

This is the bridal gown that won Best of Show in the county fair this past year. Since my newest grandchild IS A BOY(!!!), I don't think I'll be giving it to him. I wonder if I can sell it?

I guess I better learn how to make toy cars and trucks. We still have his Popie's cowboy guns and holster, so maybe that'll be a better gift.

I was looking at newborn pictures of Kara and Justin. He looks a lot like Kara - round face, lots of black hair. Justin had an oval, skinny face and light blond fuzzy hair. It doesn't matter because he's still the most beautiful baby in the world!

Yesterday, I told Maggie I was glad the new baby was a boy because I was tired of having nothing but little girls. She just smiled, walked away and said "That's not true, Nanny". Very sure of her place in my heart, don't ya think?

I hope they ALL know.