J is for Jack-in-the-Box

This is activity is very quick.



Just lift the flap of the box, and here's another weird clown. His eyes are two different buttons.



(Sorry about the pictures.)

I is for Igloo

I'm quite sure that this activity has never been done. The reader tends to flip over this page quickly. It involves unpinning a each puzzle piece, which is held in place by a safety pin. DD asked if I was going to modify this page, and I hadn't thought of it, but since then I've been thinking of making small eyelets in the background, and cutting or filing off the sharp points of the pins. That way little fingers could get practice with safety pins without worrying about the sharp points. We shall see if that comes to pass. (I think the bear paw prints at the bottom are cute!)



No stitching last night. I was finishing up a Christmas present, and preparing supplies for my temari class on Saturday. I stopped at JoAnn's and picked up fabric for a Cinderella dress (can anyone say wrapped around a little finger?), grey thread to wrap a mari to try the last temari over again, and some interfacing to make a purse organizer. It takes forever to find anything in my purse/bag, and something has to be done about it.

I also had to stop at the grocery store. I can't believe how fast I can spend that much money... over $100 was a fortune when I was a kid, and I can spend it in half an hour! DH and DD have been trying out the new (redeemed w/ credit card points) food processor by making hummus. Their first try was pretty good, now they will be trying variations.

H is for Hands

The page for today features a clock with people hands as it's time-piece hands.



DH and I have noticed that many kids do not learn to tell time any more from a clock-face; they depend on digital clocks. When I was a kid I do remember my confusion about a toy clock that had the 1-12 numbers in front, and the minute numbers behind. I could not figure out what that second set of numbers was for. My grand kids don't get this page either. They swipe at the hands and go on.

I mentioned yesterday that I got a very generous gift from my friend from Moonsilk Stitches. She was not at the party, but sent everyone her gifts with a friend. This is a box of antique threads suitable for temari. The threads are rayon, made in India.



Here's the view inside the box. Four of the spools contain 1,000 meters of thread, but the smaller spools, containing variegated thread, contain 550 meters.



I tried to get pictures of the end of the spools so you could see the variegation.



I gave away the temari ball I made with autumn leaves on it. I'm so intrigued by the pattern and the c8 coming through on a c10 ball that I think I will use these threads to make myself another one of those. Even though I could look at it for ages, it didn't take long to make, perfect for this season.

G is for Game

This game actually works! I played it a couple of weeks ago with C. I think she won.



I got a lovely Christmas present last night from a friend, and I took pictures of it this morning, but my camera doesn't have the card in it, the picture went on to the internal memory. Now the only way to get it out is with a cable, which is elsewhere. I will take pictures again and share tomorrow.

F is for Flowers

On the page for today the spring-time flowers grow (about 2 inches). This activity is easy, and seems to always be a favorite. Felt is glued to cardboard shapes to keep the flowers rigid.



After my inspiring temari day last Friday, I finished this temari. I don't think it is a great success. The colors are too dark for the pattern, or I should have had a dark base; the white shows through too much and distracts from the pattern. I like the colors themselves, Anne pulled out a color wheel, and this is a spot-on triad, 3 colors equidistant around the wheel. The stitching (and the photography) needs a little improvement.



This is a combination 8: 6 hollow squares stitched at the 6 faces, and then bands interweaving around each dimension. I really like the arrangement of the colors, just not these colors, so much.

E is for Earring

Here's a pirate wearing an earring. I think the earring is too big, it is supposed to fit into the pocket that forms his eye patch. But a big earring is more fun.



This guy was fun to make. The face is traced on to the felt and colored in with markers, but the beard and the eye-patch string are added by machine. The felt did not originally hold up, so the earring actually pierces the backing fabric as well.

Temari Friday

Thursday was a very nice day. Church in the morning was full of fun, fellowship, and good music, with a good chance to give thanks. The rest of the day involved preparing food, eating food, and cleaning up afterwards. No one got too stressed out, I did the turkey & stuffing, DDs did the potatoes and green bean casserole, DD2 and C set the table, and the guys played video games and carved the turkey (after fixing the cord on the electric knife, used once a year, that was mysteriously cut in the past year) and opened the wine. I'm thankful for my dishwasher. It ran 3 times that day and one the next.

On Friday, instead of shopping, I went to visit a fellow temari-maker in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. We were partners for the autumn GITS (Great International Temari Swap) and I wanted to deliver the temari I made to her in person.



This is the temari I mentioned several days ago that I couldn't show. We were to use the colors we saw out of our own window, and feature the mistubane (tri-wing) shape/motif. I saw this pattern in one of my Japanese books, and thought it would fit the bill perfectly. It reminded me of fluttering, falling leaves. It is based on a c10 division, but I was shocked when I was done. When I studied the placement of the design, I saw it was based on a c8; I never knew before that you could find a c8 in a c10...

This is Ann and me taking a break from stitching and chatting. We had a wonderful time together, and I really enjoyed seeing all her beautiful temari. I learned a thing or two, got some ideas for displaying temari, met her family, and in general had a very nice day.



She had her temari for me prepared as well. Isn't this beautiful? All the leaves against the clear blue autumn sky.



We stitched the whole time I was there, and then I drove back to Chicago-land, getting to the area in time to sign the down-payment check for a new car for DD1; her old car was no longer reliable.

D is for Dinosaur

This page is a single. I always loved lacing cards when I was a kid, and I had fun making this page. The biggest problem is that some of the eyelets aren't completely smooth, and the lace occasionally gets snagged a little bit.



I like the way his eye makes him look startled.