Good Grief Girdie's blog

monday morning......

I love this and remind myself all the time.......so much going on right now and I have several lists going to keep my brain from exploding and loosing sleep ...........

Hope you all had a great weekend and looking forward to a week full of sunshine and creative work........

I just received a few more photos of the finished Mother's Day class..

I always feel good after a class and they go home to finish the project........Hopefully that means they enjoyed what they made and are proud of it.....

even pages added........love it and so glad they will continue to add to their journal.........thanks again girls.....as they continue to send photos I will try to post them as we go along.....

 

Happy Monday.......

Mother's Day Class with a few photos.......

Even though these girls worked really hard on their class project they had to take them home unfinished and hopefully they will finish them .........since I did not take any class photos I do have a couple of them while they are stitching away......

They really didn't want to show you their unfinished project but just wanted you to see what was going on tuesday night in class.....I hope more photos will come in later and I will share those!

 

have a great saturday...............

Happy Friday ..........

Look at these beautiful yellow " Peony Tulips"......I never knew there was such a thing until this week,,,,,I know Tulips and Peonies but did not know you can have both in one ! Learned something new ............

Just thought I would send these your way on the beginning of hopefully a great weekend.......stay safe!

Happy Friday.........

Seattle in May..........

A  couple months ago this sweet friend Terri Brush asked me if I would like to teach a class at one of her Terri Brush retreats..... and of course I said yes.  This is one of the sweetest most talented teachers in our creative circle of artists friends.  I feel honored and privileged to even be asked. I am so excited to finally  see her unbelievable studio/classroom in Chehalis Washington but to teach in these surroundings......last week and this week Terri is in Newton Kansas at the Whatever House doing retreats back to back and yesterday my dear friend Nan and I drove up for the day to see Terri and show her a couple samples of the class project I will be teaching......I needed her blessing and approval........

The  gals attending the retreat were really having fun creating little metal books, dyeing fabrics, soldering crowns, making stuffed bunnies and just creating wonderful Terri Brush and Julie Collings projects.......speaking of Julie Collings.......I finally got to meet her in person yesterday......another sweet talented artist. If you don't know Julie she is the Queen of anything colorful that has been dyed to perfection.........she has it mastered and I am so sorry I did not get photos of all the wonderful projects Terri and Julie were teaching but you can go on their Instagram and just drool all you want......

My dear friend and partner in crime Nan Nix.....we had the best time to just finally get away for the day .......Starbucks and donuts was the first stop.... stopped at a couple quilt store along the way and the famous Mrs. O'leary's in Wichita........in fact Joni from Mrs.O'leary's taught the girls last week and this week how to make small and large metal books. ( if you go on Terri or Julie's IG they have photos)

Well that is my news and excited for this Terri Brush retreat......

 

I apologize to my students tuesday night that I did not get any photos but I will try to see if they can send me their books and you can at least see what they all did.  Brenda and Olivia I hope you are enjoying making yours together at home, we missed you in class...... I guess you can say I am a little rusty in the classroom if I forgot to take photos......hopefully in the future no forgetting the class photo......

 

This week has gone by so fast and it's been so stinking cold here in Oklahoma in April.....what happened to those warm spring days....please show up soon!  Happy Thursday!

good morning tuesday

Random shots of class prep and what I have on my worktable right now.....it seems like once the spring got here a lot is going on and I am so ready to get going once again!

 

Thursday I will have a little news to tell you.........so until then have a great day and do something creative today!!!! 

espadrille kit..........

 

Had this  kit sitting around waiting to be tackled for the past year and a half......up until now I just was not in the mood because it is so involved on the construction part of the shoes ...I don't mind the punch needle it's the putting together that I dreaded so last week I went and got all the yarn and here is the palette I came up with.......

The photo above is the color on the original pattern but I wanted something a little different.......

the wrong side above photo

When I'm finished I will gladly post some photos.......don't know when that will be but hopefully putting them together won't be as complicated as I am expecting.....

 

On another note........ have you ever tried this ...........if not and you have a Trader Joe's close by go get some.......I usually don't like a sweet tasting condiment but this stuff is SOOOOOO good either with just chips or I like to heat a tortilla with cheese and spread some of this in the middle with a little lettuce and chopped tomato roll up and eat!!!!  I promise you will be addicted!

 

Hope you all have enjoyed this weekend.......a super busy week ahead but I am so ready to get back to teaching and a little traveling......I will  be posting photos this week of something I am doing in May that I am excited to share with you...........

 

 

 

 

first class prepping after 1 year.......

There is something about getting everything ready to teach a class........prepping all the kits is something that I really do enjoy....the process of making sure you have all the supplies you need and reviewing the project to make sure you remember how you made it......something that I have missed and so ready to get back into it even though I am keeping the classes small making sure to keep everyone safe.  Hopefully before to long I will have more classes to offer with more space to accommodate more students but for now I am giving it a whirl and looking forward to seeing you all once again......

Happy Tuesday..........make something creative today!

shrink tassels........

I always love finding new ways to use a little shrink, like cones for these tassels.....Julie Haymaker the "Queen of Shrink" came out a year or so ago with this new mold that you can fit the hot shrink around wrap it while its warm to form the cones.......some of them I used the ruff n ready shrink and drew my own patterns and then the black and pink stripe is the newly found shrink already with the pattern on......then I made the tassels out of a skein of embroidery floss and added beads and findings to finish them off.....these are always fun to add a little whimsy to journals, purse pulls or just about anything that looks good with a little dangling goodie.....

Hope you all are enjoying this Sunday afternoon!!!

my new bag handmade by Mr. Adam...............

Our son has taken up leather work and I have blogged about it before with photos etc.  He come

this is the inside with a pocket for your phone or whatever........

To say the least he has mastered his leather sewing machine and has made so many belts, dog collars, money clips and several other things...He also has a sketch book he carries and draws his patterns for ideas........he is really talented and I am not just saying that because I am his mom but he really is. A natural talent and takes after my dad who was an awesome leatherman....

 

anyway that is it for today......my new bag handmade by Adam

 

punch needle.......

Yesterday I decided it was time to do a little punch needle........it's been a while since I have but it felt good.......the photo above is the front and the one below is the back in which you work from....

The back looks almost as good as the front.......

 

I am thinking of doing another  beginning punch needle this spring or summer if anyone is interested. Just email me at [email protected] if you would be interested in a beginner class....

 

Hope you all are having a great week.....I have been a little slow getting back into the creative mode since the kids left but I need to get in gear........Happy Wednesday!

(By the way if anyone is interested in this pattern I do sell them .......just email me at [email protected].....)