Spring has Sprung and A Trio of Cards

The sun is out and its warming up beautifully outside. The daffodils, irises and snow drops are popping up all over the yard. All but a few of the geese and ducks have now left the lake to head north to their summer homes.  Spring has definitely sprung here at the lake!

Yesterday I enjoyed a day of scrapbooking and card making. It is so nice to spend the day with like minded crafty people. I even managed to get a 2 page spread done along with the cards and started on an Art Journal but that's for another day.

Distress inks and stencil on whisper white card stock.
The sentiment is one of  Suzanne Cannon's new Quietfire Design stamps.
It's been entered into Love Handmade Cards... April Challenge

Stamped the bird direct to designer paper then used a
marker to extend the branch to the edge of card.
Added a bit of colour with markers.
Stamps from Stampin Up!

Coloured stamped tulip image with markers.  The robins are
punched out of designer paper brown marker was added
then clear embossed. Sentiment from Stampin Up!.
This card is on it's way to Croatia as part of the April Card Chain Challenge.
I have also entered this into the Die Cut Divas April challenge.

And a photo of Taag and Jada after they decided that the chair is big enough for the two of them. They had been fighting over it all winter. Peace at last! :)

Thanks for the visit!
Jutta

Spring happenings at the Lake

This week the Canada geese continue their stop over as they wait for the weather further North to warm and for the lakes to thaw. Otter lake turned to a giant slurpee over the course of last week. Then on the weekend with the help of some fairly stiff winds heading up and down the valley the ice was rounded up and pushed on down the creek.

The kids were up for the week before Easter so on Good Friday we had an early Easter egg hunt as they had to head home on Saturday. Here they are looking for chocolate Easter eggs. The Easter rabbit was very energetic and super sneaky hiding the chocolate eggs in the trees.

Push higher!

No chocolate eggs here.

Our beautiful family!

Until next time, keep it crafty!

Jutta

Bagettes and a Tote

Happy Spring!

Hello, these first few days of Spring have been a real mixed bag as far as our weather is concerned. Some sun, then some snow and then both! Well that was just fine by me as it gave me time to stay in and sew. Today I'm sharing two items.

The first share is the fun Bridgette's Bagettes that Mary taught us last Monday for Make and Take at Pleasant Valley Quilting.  The smaller bag in the photo is actually the largest of three that come in the pattern. I loved how the small one turned out so much I decided to double the size and make the larger one. I really like that the front is clear plastic making it easy to see what's inside. I'm so happy with how these turned out and loving that cheery fabric.













Then Friday it was back to the quilt shop where Bev of our Creative Fibre Play group lead us through the steps to make the quilted tote below. The sewing of all the layers in this tote turned out to be too much for my poor old sewing machine. After it had several tantrums resulting in thread everywhere I ended up sewing the handles on by hand. I'll be able to haul home the store in this sturdy tote with it's extra large pockets.



I have to admit that I have really been enjoying the sewing. For one thing it feels good to start and finish a project in a matter of hours.

I also have a couple WIPs. I'm almost done a striped crochet lapghan from a lovely Peruvian wool. Also working on a knitted Fair Isle sweater of Jaimeson and Smith wool that's a bit of a challenge and mostly sits in the bag neglected.

I'm super excited that my Daughter and the littles will be here tomorrow for a weeks visit. I hope to do some Easter crafts with them. Oh the fun we'll have! 😀

Staying crafty,
Jutta

Snow Dyeing Cotton

Hello,
I'm here today with a quick post about a fun and  new to me technique for dyeing cloth or yarn. It involves snow which is something that we have plenty of most years with this year being no exception.

Yesterday myself and seven members of the Creative Fibre Play group gathered at Marnie's place for an afternoon of snow dyeing. Cath a fibre artist shared freely of her dyeing knowledge, fabric and dyes. She also introduced us to some very fun types of silks, who knew that there is such variety.

After getting our projects done to the point of where the melting snow was left to work its magic we were served yummy cookies and muffins with tea or coffee. We were treated to a tour of Marnie's craft room. Then we discussed what other crafts we want to try next. Crafts and friends, my favorite way to spend an afternoon.
There are many You Tube video's on the subject of snow dyeing so I won't go into any of the how to details.

Here is a photo of my dye covered snow set up.

 The wet fabric pieces hung out to dry after they were rinsed and washed.

 And the same two pieces after they were dry and ironed.

 I see so many flower shapes when I look at them. They are a bit more vibrant in real life and 

I love them both. Now to come up with a project that will showcase them best. Stay tuned.

Have a crafty day!

Jutta

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day my friends!

Here is where I'm at on this wonderfully sunny day in the valley. Yesterday the swans were flying about so gracefully for such big birds. Sadly they are too fast for me to get a photo of them in flight.
In an attempt to find some creative mojo during our never ending  reno project I am taking several classes at the quilt shop. Although they take place in the quilt shop they are not actually just quilting. The first was a baby blanket sewn from two sheets of flannel the second a wet felted bowl.
February has seen me join back into several art exchanges that I enjoyed.  Below is a collage of some of the projects I've made. I have three crochet / knit projects that I've been working on in between. Last month I joined a book club so I'm reading again. Slowly I feel like I am coming out of hibernation as we move towards spring. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Jutta

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Here on this snowy day I'm sharing my first card of 2018. Made for the January Card Chain Challenge and soon to be on it's way to Spain.

I managed to use 4 of the criteria for this card and that is pretty good for me. ;) The pretty snowflakes are from 3 different Stampin Up! sets and the sentiment is from Quietfire Design.

~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy a lovely day!

Jutta

Spring Harvest, Shawl WIP and more

Hello and welcome!

I took advantage of a break in the weather today to harvest some rhubarb, asparagus and chervil. The rhubarb sits at the edge of the garden plot. The asparagus however are volunteers that have popped up on the bank along the lake so it's a bit like an Easter egg hunt to find them. 

Much of the surrounding area is flooded and last week Thursday a state of emergency was called after a powerful rain storm had the streets in downtown turned into rivers. There are many businesses with water damage so the talk yesterday of another round of storm had a lot of people on edge.

Yesterdays storm left a deposit of hail on our deck. There was some wind and rain too but luckily no damage here. 

My current work in progress is a dusty rose shawl that has a simple pattern of diamonds.  The yarn is Berroco Corsica, a very soft cotton cashmere blend a dream to work with. I have a tendency  to loose my yarn overs and have had to undo quite a few rows to the point where I can almost unknit as fast as I can knit. Other than this I'm pleased with how it's coming along and am looking forward to using it soon. 

The cats are settling in nicely, I have been introducing them to the outdoors slowly but at the first noise they head right back inside. Here's a photo of Taag doing what he does best.



Happy Mothers Day for Sunday!
Thanks for looking,
Jutta

Project Tote

Hello!
I really enjoyed the sun and it's warmth this morning and good thing as it is once again raining cats and dogs out. At one point I looked out of the window and found two beautiful ducks perched on our deck railing. To bad that they flew off before I could get a decent photo. I completed this project tote for myself today using the left over yarn from the Kittens in a Row Afghan. I wanted a pretty tote to hold my current project when I head to knitting drop in, much nicer than an old plastic bag.



Thanks for looking,
Jutta

Odd Girls Scrapbook Day Share :)

Can you ever have too much fun? No way never. I'm back from an awesome day visiting friends at an all day scrapbook and craft retreat. We had lot's to catch up after not seeing each other since last year. I managed to make a card for my grandson and 5 artist trading cards.
Thanks for looking,
Jutta

Kittens in a Row Afghan

Where oh where has the time gone. I hope you've enjoyed better weather than we have here. It's been raining almost nonstop this month. Well at least it stopped raining long enough for me to hang up my latest creation for a photo shoot. I made this Kittens in a Row afghan for my young grandson who has a birthday coming up in May. He is a fan of Star Wars Lego which I used for my colour scheme.

Kittens in a Row afghan pattern from
American School of Needlework,
The Great Afghan Book

 Thanks for stopping by,
Jutta

Knit one, Crochet one

Hello!
It's overcast outside this morning, so it's a perfect day to catch up on here. I've been keeping busy had my daughter and the grand kids visit for Spring break. As she lives twelve hours away we treasured every moment together. I had every one crocheting before the week was over. :) We also celebrated two birthdays over the last week, my mom and DIL. Too much fun and cake was had by all!

I mentioned before that I've joined the knitters drop in group at the Twisted Purl Yarn Studio. They are a talented group of ladies that meet two days a week. You can't help but be enthusiastic about knitting after an afternoon spent with them surrounded by all that beautiful yarn.
Here are a few of my latest projects;

Knitted a wurm hat and matching crochet scarf for my DIL. 

Two seat cushions and matching trivet crochet for an awesome neighbor.

Hand dyed silk scarf for a gift exchange.

Even a rainy day won't stop a boy with a hummer. :)

That's it for today, I'm off to prime some walls and dream about my next projects.

Thanks for your visit!

Creatively yours,

Jutta