nimbleknot

Drip

I just ate 39 cheezits. I always count my cheezits. I washed them down with a diet Sprite which was surprisingly good. I prefer 7up but my daughter isn't feeling well and requested Sprite.

The rain around these parts has taken it's toll on me. It is ridiculous. One town over had 10 inches in two days. It's been raining everyday for over a week. The lakes around here have risen over 30 feet in just a few months. That is a good thing I know, so I really shouldn't complain. We were deep into a drought.  It's just that I like the sun. The photo is a picture of my crape myrtle with water dripping from a branch that I forgot to prune.

I am getting ready to go on vacation in a few days and won't be able to make any bears in the next few weeks. I am going with my family to see my niece graduate from high school. My rival high school no less. HA! I plan to eat, shop and bike. I will go back and ride the same trail where I permanently damaged my hand last summer. I am also going to Yosemite. This time I will not have a cast up to my elbow like last summer and will get to enjoy the hikes. Ironically, I picked up needle felting again after my hand disaster because it hurt too much to quilt.

Big Weekend

I had a tiring weekend. I raced mountain bikes this weekend in West Texas. I had so much fun and the weather was perfect. The trail was in perfect race condition and everything was in bloom, the native lantana and cactus plants. Gorgeous. The price of gas at $3.25 a gallon was the only downer to a 500 mile trip. I am happy to report I brought home a nice prize and a first place finish in my age group. There are some incredible women athletes in mountain bike racing. I am always impressed with all the women that compete because it takes a certain kind of lady to get out there and push the limits in an extreme sport that requires skill, determination and a lot of guts mostly dominated by men.

I have been too busy lately. I am getting ready to go on vacation, and I am trying to order custom cycling jerseys for our club, filling out a job application, clean my house, pack, finish a bear, and prepare goodies for two end of the school year parties. It's almost like Christmas stress.

My husband had a birthday last week and my son picked out the gift, wrapped it and drew my husbands portrait on the wrapping paper. Nice huh? I like the eyebrows.

My son got him a Star Wars gift pack of figurines. My five year old knows more about Star Wars than I do.

I did manage to pick out a new palette for my "half-made" bear. I really like these colors. I especially love the deep red because it has an illustration of a rooster. Not sure of you can see it in this photo.

I took this photo very fast because it started raining on me. I'd really like to finish this bear this week and get it listed. I think I have another cupcake bear in me. Then I'd like to do more boxes. I really like those.

I have also noticed a blurriness in the corner of my camera lens. At first I thought it was me. I went back and examined several photos and the blurriness is consistent in the same corner. Hmmm....time for a new camera? Or maybe I just need to learn how to use my husbands.

Lost

Well...I wish I had a photo for you today. But alas, my husband has lost my card reader. He keeps borrowing it and this time it didn't come back. So now he has to buy me a new one. Grrrrrr! The new one will be hidden after I upload my photos.

I want to thank everyone for all the nice comments. I read all of them and appreciate every single one of them. I also wish I had more time to visit everybody's blog! So many gorgeous and funny blogs I have stumbled upon lately. The creativity is endless.

So yea...not very exciting today. I ended up making about 75 water balloons for my kids to throw at each other after school today. It was 90 degrees so I figured they deserved it. And hey...I actually have photos of it. But...nope...can't show you those either cuz I don't have a stinking card reader.

The Box

I think I've been a slacker the last week, or maybe just sidetracked. Dunno. School is coming to a close, the weather is getting nicer, I am planning a vacation, I need to pack...you know, that kind of stuff. I also really really need to straighten my craft room which looks like it experienced a small hurricane. But, in rummaging through my mess I managed to find this cute wooden box. For some reason this photo looks lopsided. Or maybe it's me. Anyway, it's cute and was screaming for attention. So I painted it white with purple accents. Then I took some sandpaper to it for that shabby chic look. I took this picture outside and the background wanted to reflect the purple but it's really white. Then I realized the box was too small for my regular bear size. So I made another bear a teensy bit smaller than my regular ones but only by about half an inch. Not much but really a perfect fit. I really love making bears with a box. This one looks more like a hope chest.  I am kind of obsessed with containers, packages and smallness. Makes for a tidy little gift! Well back to cleaning my craft room. I never know what I might find in here. Perhaps another kid. NOT!

Mama

For me it all starts with the fabric. I get inspired by the ensemble and palette. The way the colors work together and bounce off each other. I start with one print and base everything else around it. I really love the colors of this little 5.75 x 6.5 inch quilt. The colors of this fabric really screamed "baby" to me. I purposely cut the fabric randomly and sew it to look crooked. But it is machine stitched and quilted.

So this is the baby I created. It's not a girl or boy, just a little baby bear with a baby bear hat. The wee baby is 2.25 inches tall and turned out quite nice. Of course baby needed a little friend. So I busted out my 11 pounds of polymer clay and made this little bluebird out of a smidge of clay. I plopped it right inside the cute little basket I was saving.

Of course baby bear needs his/her mommy. So that's just what I did with my stash of lime wool. I created Margarita.

Margarita is a lovely shade of lime. She has a cotton dress complete with an apron. I had to get my beading in somewhere so I adorned the bottom edge of her apron. You probably know by now I love to bead. It adds that little sparkle to any creation.

It all came together on the rocking chair. Mama Margarita and her baby...to commemorate Mother's Day on May 13th. I hope y'all like this one. I'd been thinking of it for awhile and thought it would be perfect to have it ready for Mother's Day. The set is for sale on my etsy site. Just click on the link in the upper left corner.

I would also like to thank my husband for shooting my photos. He does this after a long day at work and will re-shoot anything I want. If I say, "Ehh, something doesn't look right." He happily says, "Let's do it again, we want it to look good."