I have decided to join the ranks of crafting blogs, at least until I change my mind. I looooove checking out Pinterest and Google for new crafting ideas, so my hope is to document both original pins or posts I am using as inspiration as well as my results - good, bad, or otherwise. 

With that being said, today's inspiration began with the desire to create a window cling for my front door that goes high enough for Charlie not to be able to see through. He feels it is his right and duty to suddenly and loudly let us know when someone is on our street. 

Could I buy window clings? Sure. But where would the fun in that be? On that note, I found a pin that led me to a post about DIY Holiday Window Clings on The Polka Dotted Turtle (fun name!) that specified how the blogger and her family made some fun patriotic (if you're in the USA, which I am) window clings. 

She used glue, dish soap, and food coloring. As any good crafter should, I easily found these supplies. I spent a little time online looking for a design to use, but I quickly decided the ones I found were too intricate for what promises to be messy and not precise at all. I made a simple design in Pages and printed off 6 templates, which I then taped under wax paper. 

My house is yellow and the front door is an adobe-ish color of orange, so it was decided to attempt yellow and orange ... but the yellow was transparent, which would defeat the purpose of thwarting my darling Charlie's love of startling us with updates on our neighborhood, so we decided to try orange and white. 

Obviously we didn't wait for the food coloring to work through the glue as instructed but I do like the fluidity of the colors (I apologize for the awful pic - so it goes). My thinking was the blue parts will be what we do white, and if it turned out we would put them up on the door when dry. 

Well, that didn't work. The glue is really runny and I sincerely doubt it will be opaque even if we do 6 coats ... so it looks like I will be stopping by the store later. 

The good part about this is I had fun trying something new-to-me with DD and a friend of hers, and I think they did too. Things don't always turn out the way we think they will, and that isn't necessarily bad.

Back again - embracing change and life.

I've written and rewritten this post many times in my head, so I think know it is time to sit down at my computer & type it. Many life events have happened since I last blogged, and while I'm not sure that the details are particularly important to anyone but me, what I do think is important is reaching out to others whether it's IRL (in real life for those of us who are life-experienced, and by that I mean old) or via the web. Today I want to thank you for stopping by to read my pitiful short little brief post - because the fact that you are reading it shows that we have a connection, and I appreciate your time. We all have demands on our time and I know I could make better choices about my "free" time  - instead of searching on Pinterest for recipes or knitting ideas, instead of scrolling through Facebook to see what everyone is up to, instead of reading all the junk emails with offers of 10-20-30% off, instead of watching movies I've seen too many times to count, instead of searching Ravelry for new projects or patterns or yarns - I could be exercising (sorry - if you know me IRL, you just snorted your coffee out your nose - you can go clean up - I'll wait), I could be reading a meaningful book, I could be calling a friend, I could be cleaning (sorry again - you may just want to keep the paper towels close by to clean up the coffee), or I could be doing 3,000,000 other things. Instead I do things that are not usually productive, but they do help me disconnect from stresses and come back with a fresh perspective. That's not a bad thing.

What does all this mean? It means I am coming back to the blog with a fresh perspective and bifocals. Because well, I'm life experienced. :)

Creating

DD mentioned how hard the porch swing is & she would really like it better if there were cushions, so off to WalMart I went. It's the end of the summer season so I knew it would be slim pickings, but I might be able to find a pretty good deal. Nothing I found was just right, so as I was wandering through the aisles I got to thinking how I could make my own, keeping in mind that sewing is one of the few crafts I just don't like.

I would need fabric comfortable enough to sit on but outside-friendly, so I headed over to the shower curtains. I found a real pretty soft blue paisley pattern that I liked, so I got 2 - better to be prepared for  "whoopses" that not.

Next I went to the craft section & found some prepackaged "bio foam" (don't know what the bio is about but it was the right size, density, & thickness).

Next I went looking for adhesive, finally settling on some E6000, a can of spray adhesive, & some white duct tape. I ended up not using the E6000, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I  plan on picking up one more package of cushions so I can take care of the back rest too.

DD likes it, but says I need to hurry up & finish it. That's 8 year old gratitude I guess.

Beautiful morning, I'm loving this weather, if we could keep it 75% of the time I would be happy (the other 25% would be lots of snow & rain).

Enjoy your day.

On my heart

I am a Christian. If you did not know that about me before, you do now. To me being a Christian is about my own personal relationship with God, not belonging to a particular denomination or religion. I am grateful to live in a day, time, and country where I can worship freely and can speak my views openly. Keep this in mind as you continue reading.

There is a great deal of talk of tolerance and respect being shouted for one and all to hear ... yet what is the message? I am supposed to be "tolerant" of others' views even when they conflict with my own, yet when others hear my views they are not "tolerant" of me - why is that? When did tolerance turn into agreement? Why can't it be simple acknowledgement of differences and respect of others? Why do I have to embrace a view that is drastically different from my own but I cannot (nor do I want to) force someone else to embrace mine? Why do I get labeled, branded, and judged for my views when I do not use those labels on others? Why am I lumped in with others who claim the same beliefs that I have but when you truly study their views and actions do not represent me and my beliefs?

Christmas Knitting

Below is a list of gifts I've made, am making, or will make in the future.

1. E's "Fred" - done.
2. J's "Ninja" - in progress.
3. R's "Jacque Cousteau Cowl" - future.
4. J's present - future.
5. J's "Warm Socks" - future.
6. H's present - future.
7. M's Cowl - future.
8 - 24. Mini-stockings for a variety of special people - future.
25. 2 Teacher presents - future.
26. Do I really need more?

I'll get back to working on these just as soon as I finish designing and making my Wrist Sock iPod Cozy, because I need to have inspiration while I work. Right?

Movin' Right Along

I love the Muppets. The original ones, from the 70's & early 80's, with Kermit & Gonzo & Miss Piggy & Fozzie & Waldorf & Statler & Dr. Bunson Honeydew & Beaker & Scooter. The original "Muppet Show" with Pigs in Space & the Swedish Chef. The movies "The Muppet Movie" and "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "The Great Muppet Caper." I love the music and the stories and the lessons I learned - it's not easy being green (or red or yellow or blue), but it's ok & it's beautiful and I like it and it's what I want to be; never agree to help Fozzie with a joke because more often than not it will backfire or just plain not work; don't try to figure out the Gonzos in the world, just appreciate them for who they are; sometimes there are going to be people who heckle you & pick on you regardless of what you say or do; and singing loudly (in-key or out) can make a bad day better and a good day great.

How did I get on this subject again?

Oh yeah. I was going to post about how it's the end of summer and school will be starting next week here. Changes are coming, ds is going into 5th grade and dd into first. I'll be volunteering again, dance and tae kwon do will start soon, girl scouts and boy scouts will keep us hopping, and just for fun I've decided to take ballet. No, I'm never going to be a ballerina, never wanted to. It just sounded fun, and I really like the woman teaching the class. Anyway, changes are coming & I'm not sure how often I'll be posting... but having said that, I'm kind of a random blogger anyway, and I like it like that.

"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection...
the lovers, the dreamers, and me."