Lemon Tree Tales

Do I have Craft ADD?

  

Sometimes I wonder whether I have Craft ADD. I go from project to project at the drop of a hat - sometimes I even finish them but often it gets left behind while my attention flits away to the next shiny fun task. There's the gazillion bags of doll parts/fabric that's awaiting me - no, really, there are a gazillion of them, I counted! Most are hidden in the fancy boxes, but I know they're there - taunting me, telling me that I've abandoned them.

 

There's the knit hat that I'm trying to make but I'm only half way through. It was left in a bag for months before I picked it up again last week and knit a few rows. Knitting is still such an awkward thing for me to do that a few rows is all I can do before I get bored, tired, frustrated with it. Then it's off to the next thing.

 

What's that? Oh I have some quilting that is ready to go on the cutting table. String blocks, pieces for my quilting bee's auction project, an old top that just needs a border and then quilting.
  

 

In the midst of it all there's the mess from days of concentrated creating. I spilled the container of red sparkly beads on the floor. So far I've only rescued half of them. It's time to clean up and calm down - take stock of the situation and get to one of the above mentioned projects. Time to finish! Do you have Craft ADD too?
  

Goals for 2010

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday. I was frantically trying to get Miss Molly's vest completed but then decided to relax once it was 10:30 pm or so. I'm glad that I did because it turned out that the vest needed more work. That's now done and I'll post pictures tomorrow when the light is better. We ended up spending a quiet evening at home relaxing and contemplating the new year.

I'm not really big on follow-through with my resolutions every year. Perhaps this year will be different? The main thing is to simplify/organize/reduce. I think there's too much hidden clutter in my house - in closets, kitchen cabinets, and the garage. So I'm going to tackle one area at a time. A couple weeks ago I got to the two drawers in the master bathroom. They're now clean, organized and only hold the items that I need. It's a nice feeling. The main goal is that by the end of the year the entire house will be pared down to essentials and things that we really use. Plus it will have been deep cleaned! Maybe even a little decorating here and there.

I'll extend the concept of simplify/organize/reduce to my computer as well. It's so filled with pictures that need to be deleted. The downside to digital cameras is that you can take dozens of shots in the hopes of getting the best one. The problem is that I'm not good at deleting the bad or so-so ones once I've selected the good ones. My poor computer is overloaded. Oh, plus have you ever gone through and organized your browser bookmarks? I have so many that it's not useful at all.

The next one is to really make a dent in my UFOs. Thanks to Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio's UFO challenge of 2009, I'm already on the way. Not to mention that I've been pretty good about completing major dolls these last four months - the Handmaiden Faerie, Lady Henrietta Constantine the Gossip, and tomorrow Miss Molly. Along the way I'll pare down things/supplies that I no longer need in my studio. There's an entire bookcase full of books that's in the closet BEHIND the fabric drawers. They aren't easily accessible so I'm wondering how many of them that I actually need to keep. Look for book sales soon!

The fourth item is the most important one of all - me. I need to get healthy this year! That means eating more vegetables (I do like roasted green beans with new potatoes and shallots), less fast food, and walking. I'd also like to get my hair cut and be more conscious of what I wear. I've gotten into the horrible habit of not wearing thoughtful outfits unless I'm going somewhere nice. That needs to stop.

And finally I want to redo the look of my blog. It's long overdue for a new banner and a complete overhaul. That's not a necessity but it certainly is something I'm looking forward to doing.

Ahhh, it's good to get that written down. Now to actually get to it. In the meantime, I'll leave you with pictures of the two Tiny World pincushions that I made on New Year's Day for two of my doll making friends. There's a third one, but the recipient hasn't seen it yet. (Mimi Kirchner is the creator of Tiny Worlds and sells the Tiny World pattern on etsy.)

Tiny World teacup with saucer pincushion for Valerie

Tiny World sugar jar pincushion for Laurie

2010 is off to a fantastic start!

Saying goodbye to 2009

Well as the hours of 2009 dwindle down, I'm thinking about what this year was all about. It wasn't the greatest year - lots of stress about finances, the economy, my breast cancer scare, and the death of my stepdad. But there were lots of good things too - visits with family, gatherings with my doll club friends, a new quilting bee, book club nights, Sunday night dinners with friends (not as often as we'd like but our schedules were crazy this year), lots of fun times at the track with racing friends, road trips with Steve in the Box++, fantastic blogging friends, a brand new nephew (born on the 23rd!), and quite a few completed dolls/quilts/goodies.

I know that 2010 will be a better year and am looking forward to all sorts of challenging things to do. I had wanted to get Miss Molly completed before tonight but I'm not sure she'll let me. She now has arms and a skirt and her shoes have been beaded and trimmed. All she needs now is her quilted vest and sleeve puffs. She'll either be the last of 2009 or the first of 2010. Cheers and a Happy New Year to everyone!

The shortest day of the year

What will everyone be doing today - the shortest day of the year? I'm always glad when this day has come and gone because I'm a huge fan of daylight. I'm looking forward to the lengthening of the days.

The short days were very apparent this past weekend when Steve took me down to Buttonwillow for an unusual treat. He thought that I'd like to do a track day and learn how to drive corners, etc. I had a blast! Of course I'm no where close to being a natural at this. On my very first lap I drove off a sharp corner into the mud - where I promptly became stuck! I had to wait for the 4-wheel tractor to come and tow me out back to the track. It was an alkaline mud so we had to quickly wash off the car with the power washer so that we wouldn't have permanent concrete stuck to it. I decided to drive slower when I went back out.

By the end of the day I was finally getting a little comfortable with the concept of light braking before a corner and then accelerating out of it. But wow, is there a lot to concentrate on when driving on a race track. Not only did I have to worry about the corners but I had to be aware of other cars on the track. Of course I was so slow that I only had to worry about them coming up behind me in my mirrors. LOL

I also tried out the skid pad. That's where you learned how to drive around a circle without turning the steering wheel. Once you got the right position on the wheel, you held it and just accelerated around it. It was amazing! If you went faster then you'd circumscribe a larger circle and vice-versa. That helped me the next time I went back on the track. And the best thing is that by the end of the day when my coach (our friend Dan) drove me on the track at his speed - fast! - I wasn't scared at all. In fact it was pretty exciting. All too soon the daylight was fading and we had to stop around 4 pm. Definitely winter.

I think that the rest of this short day will be spent sewing up presents for our two favorite little girls. Hopefully I can share pictures in the next day or so. Happy Solstice everyone!

Conversations with grandma

My Grandma Panetta called me this past weekend. We've been playing phone tag for over a month so it was fantastic to finally catch up with each other again. Our conversations aren't usually deep .. just chit-chat back and forth about what's new with each of us and our family, perhaps friends as well. Occasionally I'll ask for her advice but no matter what, afterward I'm always in a great mood. I think it boils down to one simple, but ever so important thing - my grandmother loves me unconditionally. She accepts me for who I am, faults and imperfections, yet she still loves me. Isn't that a wonderful gift? She's always amazed me by how youthful she is, both physically and mentally. Although she's starting to feel a bit closer to her age, she still manages to remain incredibly active and involved. She said that one of my cousins got her hooked on the Twilight books. She's even seen both of the movies. What can I say, I have an amazing grandmother.

Care package from Calamity Kim

I've been feeling rather blah and uninspired this week. Perhaps it's the weather - a bit on the drab and dreary side, not much sun. Either way this week hasn't been one of the best ones. Oh there were splendid moments here and there - dinner out with Steve and his cousin from LA, a quick drive to the city, a surprise shower for two. But overall it just wasn't a fantastic one. Ah, but then again, that's before the doorbell rung this afternoon.

Surprise! It was our friendly neighborhood mailman (just not the same one we first had - hmm, in fact the post office seems to switch them out on a regular basis) and he had a package for me! Yippee! It was a lovely care package from my favorite friend that I haven't 'met' yet - the one and only, Miss Calamity Kim! Isn't she wonderful?!

Look, a book that I've been looking forward to reading, a copy of Selvage magazine (which I've never really read before, what a treat!) and some delicious Halloween cupcakes. Oooh, Halloween is going to be fabulous next year. Can't you see them sitting on a nice cake stand amongst the other spooky decor?

Thank you so much Kim! This was the perfect pick-me-up!!

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all who serve in the military! I especially want to thank my Grandpa Panetta who served in the US Navy during WWII. He never talked about the bad parts of it, but he would speak about the times he was in the UK driving a truck. Many tales about driving on the "wrong" side of the road. LOL He joined the Navy not too long after arriving in the US from Italy. He told me that he was adamant about fighting against Mussolini and how life was in Italy. He also wanted to fight to protect his new country - he's a very proud American.

I'm not as great with words as my husband, he said it best earlier today:

".. to all servicemen past, present, and future, as an American given the freedom on the back of your sacrifices -- thank you!" Steve Levin

Grandma's Notions Dresser

Last Friday I drove down to meet with my Dad to take my Grandma Waltz out to lunch. It's been a year since she moved into the retirement home. She was kind enough to give me her notions dresser from her house. I can't tell you how much this reminds me of summer vacations at Grandma's house. Time spent sewing and making things.

Until I can find room for it in the studio it'll live in the bedroom. I can't wait to go through all the drawers. Already I've come across such great treasures as little tiny doll shoes, thin leather gloves to make those shoes, wooden spools! and even a box of crayons that my brother wrote on. I'll have to gather all the crayons together and send it to him. Ahh, and the dresser smells like craft projects too. I remember using the twine and googly eyes to make refrigerator magnets.

What's even better (and this was a surprise to me until my Dad helped me get it in my car) is that my Grandpa Waltz built it especially for Grandma. How cool is that?!

Happy November

I can't believe that it's November already! Where in the world has this year gone? It truly felt as if it's sped by in the blink of an eye. How was everyone's Halloween? After a delightful morning of brunch and laughter, watching F1 qualifying, we dropped by our friend's house and had dinner with them and a few of their school kids' parents. Good company plus we got to see all the costumed kids before they went trick-or-treating. When we returned to our house we still were in time to spend an hour or so handing out candy. Lots of kids this year and it probably had a lot to do with the haunted house that some new neighbors put up this year.  :-)

This week there's lots to do. The number one thing is to get cracking on not one, but two baby quilts. I have the fabrics all washed and ready to go. I've decided to make things easy and do a variation on Denyse Schmidt's Hop Skip & A Jump quilt. That should make it quick and still very graphic and bold.

Here's the two fabric stacks. I have something special in mind for the animal print:

Also sometime next week I need to complete the homework for a one-day doll class that I'm taking on Saturday. It'll be busy here that's for sure.

In Memoriam: Louis O'Neal Scott

On Sunday morning, my stepdad, Louis O'Neal Scott (known as Scott by all his friends and family), lost his battle with colon cancer. He had six children (including me) and five grandchildren plus one more that's due in December. He and my mom married when I was two years old and I lived with him until I was on my way to college at the age of eighteen. Things that I'll always attach to his memory: good old-fashioned Southern cooking (he was a great cook!), love of football (I used to watch the Raiders football games with him way back when I was in junior high school), being house proud (he loved taking care of his home from the yard work to keeping it clean and decorated), and just being a family man.

I was able to see him in the hospital on Saturday night to say goodbye. He had collapsed earlier in the day at his apartment. I doubt very much that he was aware of anything since he was on a ventilator but still it felt nice being able to see him one last time. He seemed to be suffering so my brother and sister decided that rather than waiting until Sunday morning to take him off the ventilator they'd do it that night. Immediately his body relaxed and seemed to be more comfortable. Thank goodness for that. A little over twelve hours later he took his last breath. Earlier, many of his friends and family answered the call to come and pay their respects to him one last time. One can always judge the quality of someone's life by how people react to their death. His has created a hole. He'll be deeply missed by many. Rest in peace Daddy.

"To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die." ~ Thomas Campbell