AMANDA'S BASKETS: NEW SCISSOR HOLDER DESIGN

Thursday, March 28, 2019

NEW SCISSOR HOLDER DESIGN

Well, although the snow is gone and the high is in the 50's it's still cold. Too cold to even sit outside today. The wind has a very cold bite to it. But I guess when the lows are in the low twenties, it still takes a bit of time to warm up. Compared to other places, I have it rather nice...so I will stop complaining.

If you remember, I was looking for something to make for the quilters at the guild I belong to. I decided on a scissors holder and came up with one design but I really didn't like it very much. So yesterday I played around with the design and came up with another and I like it much better. First of all, it's a lot larger and it holds four scissors instead of three. Check out these pictures, the larger is the new design...

I simplified the design so after I turn the fabrics, I do not have to sew the open side closed. I am simply going to tuck it under the last fold. On the picture it would be the smallest pocket. I can easily slip the raw edge under the fold and stitch around on the two longer sides and it's done.

Since I liked the pattern, I traced it on a piece of cardboard and cut it out. I have to make close to 200 so I wanted something that I can trace around easily and cardboard is much better than paper.
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I have been slowly working my way through Julia Cameron's book It's Never To Late To Begin Again and I do mean slowly. One of the activities was to write a list of 25 things I like. You'd think that would be a cinch to do but in reality it took almost a week to come of with that list. Of Course, I only spend a short amount of time each day on this adventure, but still...a week! Maybe I think too much...what do you think.

Near the top of the list was, of course, Grandma Moses. And New England...still have that love affair with the New England in my head as well as the actually New England. I guess I romanticize the past but then wouldn't it be a dull world if we didn't dream delicious, wonderful dreams...even during the day. Imagination can be a wonderful thing.

Tomorrow is already Friday...where did the week go? I think I will spruce up the house a bit, take care of the leftovers from tonight's dinner (Baked chicken, rice, stuffing and green beans) and then work in my studio.

Plans for the weekend? Yep including a bar-be-que.

Thanks for visiting...
See you tomorrow...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?