Crafting blog idea

Okay.  I'm going to try and start a crafting blog so you don't have to sort through all the boring stuff.  I'm starting this off with a welcome for all of your great crafting ideas.  We are planning for a fundraising project for an announcement that is soon to come. 
On this blog, I will record and share all of my crafting ideas and also offer them for purchase to contribute to our cause.
Everything's totally out of order so ingnore that if you can.  New crafts and ideas coming soon!  Click HERE to view my new blog.

Renaissance Festival

One random pic of our cat who has been known to make a nest of straw to nest in.

How Can I Be

Happy Mother's Day!

I have finally found the time to do something with the Turquoise I bought in Ethiopia.  These are for my Mom, Grandma and Adopted Grandma.  I love you girls!  I am so blessed to have so many wonderful women in my life.  Oh, and Mom - Thanks for "borning" me ( ;

I made jewelry cases from an old pair of Thomas' jeans - I'm all about up cycling!

This is the bracelet I made for my Mom.  It has 2 freshwater pearls and my favorite Ethiopian Turquoise.  I love you Mom!

I made this necklace for my Grandma.  She will look amazing wearing this.  My Grandma is gorgeous by the way.  Thomas always tells me that he looks forward to every stage I go thru in life because of how beautiful my Mom and Grandma are ( :  What a sweetheart.  It's true.  My grandma is a babe!

I found some old music in a seminary or institute songbook from the 1960's.  I thought it would make a nice back for this pendant.  The front is made from grass and a flower petal I picked and dried in Addis Ababa while we were in Ethiopia.  I like the way it turned out.

This is Marilyn's gift.  Marilyn is my adopted Grandma.  She is my grandma's soul-sister and I am grateful to her for her friendship and love for my grandma.  I love her so much! 

Thomas and I found an amazing little silk place in Addis Ababa called Sabahar and made an appointment to visit there.  Sabahar translated into English means Queen's silk - Saba was the queen of Sheba.  It was like a garden oasis - the whole property was a beautiful garden and the buildings were made of rock.  We spent the whole day there soaking in the sun, the flowers and the freshly dyed silks drying in the breeze. 

The woman who owns the place learned about silk worms in Asia and decided to try it out!  (My kind of girl!)  Anyway, she employs local disabled people to spin the silk and weave it.  They even save the pods the worms make, dye them and sew them on their shawls like flowers - beautiful!  This is a piece of raw silk and cotton woven into a shawl that I couldn't pass up.  SO beautiful!  Happy Mother's Day Marilyn! aka My other Gran.

P.S.  Check out my post on Sabahar - I've linked it to their website.

Happy Birthday Rahel!

Here's just a random pic from about a month ago.  Such a doll!

The birthday party was rained out and blown away so we ended up having it inside and unfinished.  The kids still loved it!  We're so happy to have Rahel in our family.  She and Faith are the best of friends.  Happy birthday Rahel!

Sabahar

SABAHAR

Aren't they cute! - Silk worms hard at work

Look past the grumpy little girl making a rough transition to her new mommy - look at the beautiful silks in the background - aaahhh heaven!

More shots of the amazing garden at Sabahar

Silk waiting to be spun into thread and yarn

Thomas' famous shot - he's so proud!  BEAUTIFUL garden!