Oh Martha, You Naughty Girl!

 Well, of course, I have jumped on the Martha bandwagon. Wait till you see how crazy I went! We are watching Pan's Labyrinth and I have to hurry back, but I wanted to share this with you.

This is Martha's Photo Family Tree project re-done with a beach theme. I made it for my mother-in-law. It is not completely finished here, but I had to make preperations for wrapping and thought I better take a quick picture of it before I get too far along.

There were pluses and minuses with this project. Let's start with the pluses. It is quick and easy and even if it is not perfect I think it still comes out relatively pretty. The minuses make up a slightly longer list but it is still totally worth it. Here they are though.

1. The Martha label is glued on to the decorative frame so be very careful when removing it. Mine marred the decorative side pulling off some of the finish and I had to sand the whole thing to disguise the marks.

2. Martha tells you to use approximately 26 collectors pins for this project. However, only 6 are provided. They are WAY too long for the box though and if you cut them with wire cutters to a more appropriate length they snag the fabric on their way in.

3. Packaging is lovely but not terribly easy to open and maintain.

4. Martha does not specify which thickness of double sided adhesive foam dots to use.

This project is still an awful lot of fun and certainly worth working around the incredibly minute snafus (hmm have not ever written that word before). If you try this project and have any questions feel free to send me an e-mail.

Tomorrow, we are off for a day trip to B.C. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Hugs. xox=vv.

Projects Coming Soon.

None as incredible as these. I am in love.

A Must See.

"Madame Tutli-Putli boards the Night Train, weighed down with all her earthly possessions and the ghosts of her past.

She travels alone, facing both the kindness and menace of strangers. As day descends into dark, she finds herself caught up in a desperate metaphysical adventure. Adrift between real and imagined worlds, Madame Tutli-Putli confronts her demons and is drawn into an undertow of mystery and suspense."

madame tutli-putli

Journey.

I picked this lovely little book up at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in Seattle. I only had a few minutes to look and I could hardly tear myself away. Actually I couldn't. Simon had to have me forcibly removed from the store.

I can not wait to go back. I think it is my favorite place on Earth. I wish I could read all the books and understand all the instructions, but it is certainly not a deal breaker. Just look at these photos.

I am desperate for my gocco and a place to sew. A lot of my supplies are in storage and we still lack a table, chair or anyplace suitable to operate a sewing machine.

Oh well, I guess I should be cleaning anyway. I certainly have enough to do, but it is hard to ignore all of this new-found inspiration. Hugs. xox=vv.

Spring Greetings.

I can not keep this to myself any longer. I must share. I love this too too much! Isn't it a strange combination of creepy and girly? Mildly perverse and delightfully feminine?

Short and sweet. I hope you all have a wonderful evening. Hugs. xox=vv.

The Paper Quilt Project.

I am terribly honored and lucky (although un-deserving *smile*) to be an April participant in Dawn's beautiful Paper Quilt Project. I borrowed this scan of my collage from her flickr page. Thank you very much dear girl!!

This post will be finished in just a little bit. Gotta order dinner! All right, where was I? Here is an in-progress picture. It is not very good and I planned to take a lot more, but once I really got started I completely forgot.

The other artists are totally incredible and I can hardly wait to see their collages (like lovely Lisa's). I don't know how Dawn thinks of these amazing projects, but I am very grateful and constantly in awe. Hugs. xox=vv.

It's Really Old, But I Did Make It.

That must mean something. I know that at some point I posted this picture of my puppies elephant, but did I also show you this coaster I made? I am not sure if I kept it during the move, but I have got to say that it was the best coaster that I have ever had.

It would absorb the water from your drink and would discolor slightly, but then a little later it would look brand new and still be conveniently free of puddles. It was a modern crafting miracle because it worked out just the way it was supposed to without prior planning or expensive tools or equipment that I did not already own. Crazy! Anyway, Hugs. xox=vv.

15 Out Of 135.

That is how many posts I still have to repair. Not too bad. Some of the pictures are still earmarked private on Flickr. I will change that next. I think you should still be able to see them though.

Oh this picture is not so great. I took it so so long ago now. I just like the colors and thought I would post it anyway.

We were supposed to do all sorts of things this weekend and yet we accomplished absolutely none of them. Why am I so exhausted then? Hmmm. Strange. I hope you are all having a wonderful and restful weekend! Hugs. xox=vv.

Fruity Chandelier.

Hello Lovelies. I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I just wanted to quickly share this photo from dinner tonight.

This is the atrium of our favorite restaurant. Yes, that is fruit hanging from the chandelier. Mmmm ... yummy! Hugs to you all. xox=vv.

Continuing To Test And Grow.

Hello Lovelies. I am working a bit behind the scenes here as I am working to rebuild the oldest pages of this blog. Unfortunately, I know that those delightful people using bloglines may be seeing these tests and I apologize.

This is a quick test of Flock. It seems like a great browser. It integrates Flickr, Blogger and Bloglines. There are a few things I am trying to figure out. I will have to let you know more later. Hugs. xox=vv.