Saturday, December 31, 2011

New article at the Examiner, on starting a pineapple top for a houseplant!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/pineapples-as-houseplants

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

101 uses for a dead Christmas tree... okay, only a few uses. But still. http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/christmas-tree-recycling

Monday, December 26, 2011

New article

New article up at the Examiner: thinking about New Year's resolutions? How about some resolutions about gardening?http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/new-year-s-gardening-resolutions

Friday, December 23, 2011

Rooster doll





















A crazy pieced and embellished rooster. Sadly, it has a few problems. One, by the time I got all stitched around them and stuffed, the feet are too small to support it; it wants to fall over if it's just leaned against something. Two, it looks like a duck with a poofy hat on instead of a rooster. 

Oh, well, The recipient likes ducks, too. It's just that the kitchen is rooster themed.
New article at the Examiner: the legend of the poinsettia: http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/the-legend-of-the-poinsettia

Monday, December 19, 2011

One gift achieved!

Got my aunt's present made and wrapped up in tissue, but need to go to the post office for a Priority box and get it sent off. Thankfully she's only across Washington from here! Didn't feel up to going in to do errands, but managed to get off my ass and piece the three other CQ gifts. Now to sew the pieces down, embellish them, sew backs and fronts together, stuff them, mail them... Felt better earlier but now I'm exhausted and my blood sugar is back up waaay higher than it should be. The plague is still with me, apparently.

The gift: a crazy pieced and embellished cat. 

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Green and gold necklace



Although I'd started this necklace sometime in early or
mid-summer, I just finished it Saturday, hours before the party I wanted to wear it to. It's clear yellowish-green 11 seed beads, a few gold metallic seed beads, 6mm dark green pearls and 4 mm metallic gold pearls.

















I'm not totally pleased with the pattern. It's from a magazine, and even though I swear I followed it exactly, there are problems. There is a lot of thread showing in places, but when I tried to tighten things up, the piece gathered and buckled. If I ever try this pattern again, I'll be putting more 11s in certain areas to make it lay flatter and be tighter.

The bracelet that I took for the gift exchange was a big hit- got a commission out of it!
New post up at the Examiner, on lighting up the garden for the holidays!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/outdoor-christmas-lights

Sunday, December 11, 2011

New article

New article up at the Examiner, on the annual flower Love in a Mist (comes in true blue!) , Nigella damascena:http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/annual-nigella-damascena

Friday, December 9, 2011

Beaded bracelet!

I needed something for a white elephant gift exchange, so I quickly beaded this up:











Metallic gold #11 seed beads, 4mm pearls, and a few clear green #11s. Now I want to keep it!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Saturday, December 3, 2011

New article!

New article up at the Examiner, on a holiday gardening giveaway that Horticulture magazine is sponsoring!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/horticulture-magazine-holiday-giveaway-contest

Thursday, December 1, 2011

New article

New article at the Examiner: the digital magazine Leaf is having giveaways for the first 10 days of December!http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-spokane/leaf-magazine-december-giveaways