vintage paper/collage art – Page 25

Taking better pet photos

Books, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how to's, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 3, 2010

Here is another little video of Sugarwings and a puppy. When I ask her which puppy she has, you can't hear the answer very well, but she says "This one". Well, dur, Grams.

There is an ad in the paper to sell two of the remaining 3 pups. (the last one will go to Beth, she says any of them are fine with her) Here is Dorothy, who will be bigger than the others, and is chocked full of personality. Her tail is in constant motion, she can't contain her happiness.

This little guy, has an explorer's view of the world, he is the one who is always off deep in the bushes looking for something exciting.

And this fella has a darker face, his coloring is a bit different than the rest of the group. He is a snuggler.

Of course, this little beauty isn't for sale, I'm keeping Miss Aggie Rose. She is modeling one of the items I just listed in the Boutique, a vintage rhinestone bracelet. I have a feeling that Agnes will be every bit the camera hog that her mom is.

Thanks for all the compliments on the puppy pics. I do love my camera, a Cannon Rebel XSi, even though I've never learned how to use all the bells, whistles, tricks and doodads on it. I'm afraid I'll always be a point and shoot kind of photographer.

I use my pocket sized Cannon for some of the pictures too, and I think it does very well also.

For me, the trick to good animal (or child) photos, is to get down on their level. With the 1 pound baby dogs who have 3" long legs, that can be a hard to do. Sometimes, I am laying on my belly in the gravel trying to get the right angle. Then, the other pups tackle me and try to play tug of war with the camera strap.

Also, have a good background. Don't just snap a picture of Fido (does anyone really name their dog Fido anymore?) in front of Dad's Lazyboy, or the kitchen trash can, or a garish dog blanket. The photo might be of your PET, but the background is a big part of it!

I don't always clean up the yard before pictures, so you'll see a garden hose, or some of Sugarwing's toys sometimes. But, I do try to angle the camera away from clutter, or kick some of it out of the way.

Pose your pet. It takes practice for the animal, and LOTS of snaps of the camera to get one good picture. I set them where I want them to be, pet and love on them a bit so they are comfortable, then take about 20 or so pictures to get one good one. And remember to still bend down to their level with the camera! A straight on shot is so much better than one looking down at the animal.

EDITING! I use Picassa and Picknik and adore them both. Both are simple and easy and make a huge difference in your pictures. Crop, crop, crop, cut out all the extras and bring the focus to the pet.

I crop and tune on Picassa, then upload to Picknik. On that site, I do the auto-fix, and sharpen. Then hit the creative area and play with all the buttons. It sounds complicated and time consuming, but I promise it is not. I never spend more than a couple minutes per picture.

I'll leave you with some photos of what's new in the Boutique.

A vintage paper covered mini birdhouse/fairy house.

A mini collage sampler book.

It was Beth's idea to call it a "sampler" because it didn't really have a theme, beyond coordinating colors.

It was also Beth's idea to make these. She brought cabinet cards to share with everyone at my Creative Cottage Girls Weekend, and showed us how to turn an old photo holder into a book.

I kept the photo theme going with mine by using old pictures on the inside and outside of the covers. The rest is watercolor paper, blank and ready for its new owner to use it as a scrapbook, photo album, or art journal.

Oh! Before I forget, here is something fun! Lisa is having a challenge. I'll be playing along and hope you will too.

More Puppy Pics and a lost and forgotten giveaway

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, give away, jewelry, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / June 1, 2010

We had such a nice holiday weekend. Of course, any weekend when we get some Sugarwings time is a good weekend.

Add in some pups, and there couldn't be a better way to spend some time.

Then, today was craft day and we took a few puppy breaks outside to enjoy the day. This little tiny girl is the one we have decided to keep. She was going by Glinda, which we like, but since we won't have a whole passle of pups any more, we won't really need to stick with the Oz theme, so we might change it.

I've kind of liked the name Agnes. That was my Grandma's name, and my cousin suggested it for the Name the Puppies contest. I had told her that I loved the name but would save it for a baby we keep some day, not one that was for sale. At that time, we didn't realize we were keeping one.

Since Twinkle got so ill, I simply had to keep one. We might never have pups again! I'd kick myself for not snagging one for myself if there were not any more coming in the future. I also decided that Beth needed one. Her birthday is coming up but I just couldn't wait til then to surprise her, I had to tell her today.

We are going to have a blast taking the two pups with us everywhere. Can't you picture us pushing our flea market carts with the dogs in them when we go to Sparks and White Cloud to shop? Its going to be so much fun to have the puppies play together under our work tables while we cut and glue.

Beth is not ready to take one home yet, her husband has a trip planned and they want to wait till he gets home to be a part of settling in the new baby.

Its so fun to have a houseful of them, I'm glad I get to have Beth's pup around for a while too. The other two are for sale now and it will be too quiet around here when they leave.

They are so funny right now, running and fighting and wrassling. Quite a few of my photos were just blurs, since these guys move so fast.

Not everyone around here is as impressed with the babies as I am, though. Our old tom cat has eaten rabbits bigger than these guys. He can completely ignore how cute they are when they try to get his attention.

Not me. I'm smitten. You might have noticed by my blog becoming a Dog Blog. Sorry guys, bad news if you are sick of puppy pics, they are still coming. And by adopting Agnes Rose (or Agnes Fae?) into our lives, that means we'll have a never ending supply of fuzz ball photos.

See what I mean?

It might seem like it, but I don't spend ALL my time giggling in the garden with Dorky Babies and Fairies. I've gotten quite a bit of new things made lately. This is the May Giveaway Prize. Kind of late to announce, it, huh? If I was trying to drive my readership by offering giveaways, this is not the way to do it. Announcing it after the giveaway was over would be pointless.

But I do them because I enjoy them and I have tons of crap, I mean- cool stuff- in my studio to share.

So this little mini book goes to:

Joanne

There is new stuff in the Boutique too. I took a few hours to list a ton of it the other day.

A few of the vintage paper pieces that I made, but not all. I'll add more of them later.

Quite a few pair of earrings that I made from vintage pieces.

And some junk jewel bags for you to make something with.

Some junkier than others.

By the way, there is a JUNE GIVEAWAY starting now. All comments, all month count. I'll come up with a prize and let you know. Hopefully not after the fact again, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Peonies and puppies

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, flowers, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 27, 2010

Here are a couple of little videos of the pups on You Tube. Each is a minute or so, really short.

Springtime is my favorite time of year. I love seeing the ground wake up and turn green, and plants take off blooming. While I don't have the greenest thumb around (sometimes, I think I should just plant dollar bills, I wouldn't be any worse off) I have learned about gardening by experience.

And after 19 years at this old farmstead, my yard has come to be a place that I look forward to spending time in every Spring. After all these years, most of the big, hard labor jobs are done. I've moved tons of rock with wheelbarrows, I've planted dozens of trees, hundreds of flowers, built sidewalks with stones I've dug up from the side of the road.

This is the year to really enjoy all the previous years of hard work. There is still a lot of maintenance to do, and weeds to pull, but the major projects are finished and now I can take time to sit in the garden swing with my little buddies and soak up Spring.

Nothing around here is very polished or perfect. Its homey. Its home.

When something really insists on growing somewhere, like the violets in this planter, I just let them go. Instead of weeding them out, I just added a couple of coleus for color.

I've learned that this big old yard will never be well manicured, that some plants live and some plants don't. That a favorite area one year might not do well ever again, and to enjoy that area while it is thriving.

And that any garden looks better with puppies playing in it!

The little guys have taken over our world here, they are underfoot every step I take. We've been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. But tiny pups need naps, so while they sleep, I've gotten a little work done. I've added wings to the Charlotte on my bird house.

And now have got all these Charlotte fairy projects done and ready to mail to Somerset Life.

This is the bottom of the pocket watch with the fairy in it. Its one of the images from Mary's class. She has tons of images that she has included for the glue books, and I just had to use this one somewhere.

During the dorkies' nap time yesterday, I made up a couple of these little books (less than 4" square). They are filled with watercolor paper and the inside of the covers are lined with rose wallpaper.

I've added one of the books, and some of these fun vintage doggies to my Boutique.

Sounds like nap time is over and there is a basket full of furry babies calling out to me. I'd better get them outside to potty!

In the land of Ahhhs

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), Silver Bella, the Boutique at Karla's Cottage, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 25, 2010

The puppies have names now, thanks for all of your suggestions. It was a tough job, but since Sugarwings is such an Oz fan, can you guess which ones we went with?

The little girl is now Glinda.

And of course, Sugarwings already named her favorite, Dorothy.

The third little girl is already living at her new home. She is the one I had been calling Bella, because she was on her way to go live with Teresa , creator and hostess of Silver Bella. On her blog, she mentions that the little sweetie might be called Lilly.

I look forward to seeing the pup in November up in Omaha at the event. I hear she will be the mascot! I hope she has a tiny crown to wear…

How could we not have a Toto?

And Jenn suggested naming one boy after the farm hands on Uncle Henry's farm. So, meet Zeke.

This guy is going by Oz, or Ozzie.

Winners are of the 'dog tags" are:

Jenn

Freda

And Deborah Woodrow

I'll leave you with some photos of what is new in the shop. These are the test tubes filled with buttons that were in Somerset Life. The magazine was done with them, so sent them back. I thought I'd get them listed in the shop.

Craft-a-thon

celebrations, Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), how to's, how-to projects, parties, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 24, 2010

Thank you for all the puppy names you suggested! There were some GREAT ones, and it was hard to chose. But one theme stood out and I went with it. I know I said I'd announce winners today, but I don't have photos ready yet, so it will have to wait.

But this photo is a hint.

Also, thanks for all your well wishes for Twinkle's health. She is not happy about being taken from her pups, but the Dr. says no more nursing. The babies are old enough to eat puppy food, but I do have to get up during the night to give them fresh food, they need to be fed every few hours.

The only good thing that came of the terrifying 45 minute trip to the vet's office, while Twinkle was near death, was that we decided to keep a puppy. It was just too frightening to think about breeding her again someday, so we thought we should have one of her babies live with us forever.

Each of us have our favorite. So, I'm not sure which one yet. Sugarwings' vote is for Dorothy, but I have a feeling that she can be swayed. There are two that I don't think I could live without…. But we already have three dogs, we don't need 5. And that really would just be heading towards the sheriff knocking on the door wearing a gas mask to deal with the stench, and telling me that the county is confiscating my 50 animals that have taken over the home and made it smell so bad that neighbors have complained. (Or so my husband thinks.)

This tiny girl is one of my choices. The other is the spotted guy. He is just too perfect to let go. We all have a soft spot for him.

When I came across this dress in the studio, Suzanne and I were giggling like kids and having such fun playing dress up with the pup and taking her photos. Both of us were just howling with laughter. Which describes quite a bit of our Creative Cottage Girls Weekend. It was a joy to have Suzanne stay here with me, she is an excellent house guest, we never ran out of conversation.

I'd made up scrap packets for everyone, then sat out lots of other supplies on one of the dining room tables in the front of my studio. Beth generously brought boxes of fun stuff from her stash too.

First, we all covered bird houses in vintage papers. This one is mine, but I think its not quite done yet. Don't you think that Charlotte needs fairy wings?

In February '08, I did a tutorial on blinging out a birdhouse. If you'd like to read it, and try one, I've added it to the list of free tutorials on my side bar. Just click on the "tutorial" flower button to the right and it will take you there.

Before everyone came, I warned them that I don't craft in a sassy sundress, and that the weekend was just casual and relaxing, we were all there to chat while we made things and just hang out. No classes or group things, everyone was on their own to rifle through supplies and come up with their own creations.

It seems like every time I see an arty gathering on other blogs, everyone looks like they are going to a wedding instead of a craft-a-thon. And the tables look too pretty to work at. Not here, these tables looked like work stations. And I think it was successful because we were all still cutting and gluing and talking long after dinner was over.

There is so much crap good stuff in my studio, that I told everyone not to bring anything, I'd supply it all.

But my pal Angie brought jewels and Beth brought lots of old pictures and papers. I was glad, because its so much more inspiring to play with other people's supplies and I had a good time going through what they brought.

We ended up making not only birdhouses, but tags, and cabinet card note books. Beth had a big box full of the old cabinet cards and showed us how she takes out the photo, adds watercolor paper, then sews it up into a book and embellishes it.

This one is Debbie's.

And this one is Suzanne's.

Of course, a big part of the day was playing with the little guys.

The weather was beautiful, we worked with the doors open all day, and were able to have dinner outside. Debbie brought Pearl, who seemed to enjoy wandering in and out, but she wasn't so sure about the pups.

Pearl liked to keep her distance as much as possible. But she warmed up to me and I think we might be friends now.

After all the running around, the babies were plain old worn out!

I have more pictures of our lunch at Carol's amazing farmhouse, (I felt like I was stepping into the pages of a magazine at her 1860s dreamhouse!!) and shopping at the Curious Sofa. But for now, I need to go and watch the last episode of Lost before I accidentally hear any details from someone. I didn't have a chance to see it last night, but its taped and waiting for me. I hear it calling out to me and can't resist another minute.

ps- Hi, Wanda!! It was nice to meet you!!

Creative Cottage Getaway

celebrations, flowers, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / May 22, 2010

Our Creative Cottage Girls Weekend is so much fun! Thankfully, Twinkle's vet appointment this morning gave her the all clear and she is doing well. The pups are handling being taken away from her much better than I expected. But they were getting plenty of attention from all the guests!

We made bird cottages. I had piles of supplies and a big basket of bird houses to work with. Beth brought goodies to add too.

I'll have some more photos later, right now its time to go play, we are on our way to Carol's renovated 1800s farmhouse for lunch.

Name the puppies

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 17, 2010

Ready to name some pups? We've got 4 that need names, the largest girl and smallest girl are already called Dorothy and Bella. If you'd like to play along and send in some names, I'll have a drawing and make up a special prize for the winner. Please leave your name choices on THIS post.

These little guys are posing in some new hats I picked up yesterday for only 2 bucks each!

Puppy # 1- The bigger boy.

#2- The smaller boy.

#3- The middle sized girl.

#4- Our runt, the little spotted guy.

I'll draw a winner Monday the 24th on their 6th week birthday, and will announce a prize as soon as I get one made.

By the way, for those who were wondering, the litter box training is going extremely well! I have not had to mop up dog pee once today, they are all using the litter. I'm impressed.

This week, I am still on my wallpaper folder kick. I've made up a few to fill with ephemera for a little something special I have in mind. I also plan on listing some in my shop, filled with goodies. but for now, I need to get to work on cleaning the studio up for my party next weekend.

Only 4 more days, I just can't wait!!

PS- thanks for all your input about the lamp. I painted it. Not the frames on the wall behind it though. I kind of like the mix. For me, it was looking too formal with all that gold.

I'll have photos of the whole room as soon as its cleaned up for the party.

Joining Mary’s Glue Book class and some Charlotte inspiration

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), fairies, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 12, 2010

At craft day on Tuesday, Beth came across an old velvet doll hat in her box of supplies and of course, we had to try it on one of the pups! This is the biggest girl, and she is not shy at all when she wants some attention, she will call me until I come over and give her a snuggle. Its fun to see just how much these guys love people already, even when they are still living in the nest with the other babies.

Mary is offering a glue book class online and gave us all a sneak peek yesterday, as well as personal tutoring and downloads of the extensive paper selections for the class!

I didn't have a book to start, but wanted to make a sympathy card for Beth's mom, who lost her own mother recently. So, I used Mary's images from the class as well as her guidelines for a glue book. The rules are pretty simple:

ONLY GLUE AND PAPER ALLOWED!!

Which was a challenge for me, where was my ink, my glitter, my buttons, ribbons, and of course, my MILLINERY FLOWERS!!! I had no idea how difficult it was to make a collage with no 3-D objects. Mary had to walk me through it, and when I got really shaky from millinery withdrawals, she suggested that I cut out a picture of a flower, and that seemed to get me through it okay.

The class begins Sunday if you'd like Mary to give you all the tips to working on a glue book. She certainly knows them all! I learned a lot from her. You can too.

Working flat was quite a stretch for me, I even used fluffy millinery in this collage that I then smashed under beveled glass. But its always good to try something a little different, and I got a lot of good ideas from Mary. I'm looking forward to playing along with the classes and trying a few more. (plus you can use the ideas and papers for other projects that you do, not just glue books)

When I finished the card, I went back to my old ways and started sticking flowers everywhere.

This little Charlotte fairy is nesting in a pocket watch.

This is my favorite of all the Charlotte fairies and I was thinking of her as the queen even before I came across the words "Fairy Queen" in a 1930s book. How lucky was that? Her wings are a rhinestone studded, leaf shaped brooch that I cut apart.

(the background for this is some of Mary's paper too, she provided LOTS of good backgrounds)

A canning jar lid is the home for this 2" Charlotte sprite. Her wings are sequined leaves off of an old hat.

The inspiration for all of the fairies that I made came from this tiny little fairy collage that Beth made in a tin. Its done with one of my 1" eensy Charlottes.

It was good to see how many of you loved the vintage new stock necklaces that I loved too! I added a couple more to the shop, then that is the end of them. (Except for the ones I kept for myself!!) This one is really something, a pink glass rose pendant, that is kind of mirrored.

And there is this rhinestone one too. I think all but one of the others have sold. Its really special to think that these are almost 100 years old, and were packed away, never worn by anyone.

There are a few more new things in the Boutique, including a lot of prize ribbons from 1950s garden club shows.

And by the way, all comments are entered into the May giveaway. What ever it is…. I'll see if I can find something extra special at garage sales this weekend. I know you love junk as much as I do!

Bag-o-pups

Dorkies (Yorkshire Terrriers), family, I do tend to run on, don't I?, jewelry, Sugarwings, vintage paper/collage art, yorkies

By Karla Nathan / May 11, 2010

The sampler that Beth made for my birthday is so beautiful! I have been moving it from one place to another until I decide where I'd enjoy it best. I'm in the middle of some redos (again!) so this is good timing for finding just the right spot to show it off. I will have some photos of it later, for some reason the ones I just snapped didn't come out so good, and I am short on time right now, we're getting ready for a craft day in the studio with friends.

The pups come over to the studio with me every day when I go to work. I load them up in a bag and haul them all together to the work space. In the evenings, they come back to the main part of the house with me and live in a wading pool that takes up a big part of the kitchen.

Here is their studio home, they have a bed (on a heating pad to keep the chill of the cement floor away) and next to that is a chair that Twinkle can jump onto to escape them if she wants a break. And don't all moms deserve a break? I remember when my boys were little and I was day dreaming of the time when I could finally close the bathroom door and not have someone on the other side demanding to be let in.

Speaking of potty time, I'm experimenting with litter box training these guys. At this age, they are learning not to pee in their nest, but have such tiny bladders that they have to go just about as soon as they climb out of it. So, I placed the litter box right next to the bed, and it seems to be working. I do have some papers down too, but most of the mess is going in the litter.

Its hard to believe that something this tiny and sweet can produce so much pee and such a mess. I'm hoping the litter idea works, because I have been changing newspapers all throughout the day. And am already getting a bit tired of that part of the experience.

My husband is going to Nag's Head on business this week and invited me to tag along to the coast with him. Instead, I am home with an ocean of puppy pee. I probably could have found a dog sitter for a few days, but honestly, we have these guys for such a short period of time, I hate to miss any of it. I promised my husband I'd go anywhere with him at all when he travels in June but I just didn't want to miss any puppy time now.

So, it looks like I'll be tagging along to Pittsburgh in June instead of the Outer Banks in May…

Do you blame me for not wanting to miss a week of the few short weeks we have these guys?

Plus, I still have Sugarwings a few days a week until her Daddy gets out of school at the end of the month. I didn't want to leave them in a lurch for a babysitter. (and I don't want to miss out on any of my special days with her either!) Once June is here, I don't know how often I'll have her with me.

My poor husband really is on the road a lot. We try to make up for it when he is home by making the time as fun as possible, but I need to also make an effort to travel with him more. I'm such a home body, its hard for me to pack up and go. Seems like last year, I was taking one trip after another and it really wore me out. I don't know how he handles traveling so often!

I'm going to have to be a bit more supportive and travel with him when I can. We usually have enough Southwest points for a free flight, so tagging along with him is pretty cheap. And we do enjoy our trips together once I force myself up and out of the house.

For now, he understands about these guys and my ties to them. He's such a wonderful guy to work so hard for all of us and sacrifice his time away from home to do it.

While he is away, I put in as much studio time as I can, so that we can hang out while he is here. And I can spoil him with his favorite meals.

I'm still embellishing the tee shirts from Wal-Mart. I wish I could buy two in every color, I swear, these are the most comfy tees I have ever worn.

For this salmon pink shirt, I made a rose from ribbon and a cut up hankie. The kerchief was cut into half, and I used just one of the halves to make it. I cut it into equal squares, then pinched each together from the center of the square and put a stitch there.

After that, I put all the pinched and stitched squares together and sewed them into the rose. I'm not much of a sewer, but this was really easy.

Since I didn't have pinking shears and was afraid the edges might fray, I sewed the rose to a pin instead of directly to the shirt, then tied the ribbons to the pin.

I took scissors and rounded off some of the corners, to make them look more petal like after it was done.

Yes, I am still yammering on…. here are a few packages of purchases from my Boutique that I wrapped up yesterday.

These vintage flocked wallpaper pouches are becoming an obsession with me. And some are getting a bit fancier than others.

If you order anything from my shop that fits in one, that is probably how your purchase will be wrapped up. I've made quite a few for that purpose.

If you are wondering whats new there, I'm adding some vintage new stock necklaces. Man, are they something! Each is close to 100 years old, and has been packed away, never worn. YOU would be the first to wear one of these beauties!!!

I listed a few yesterday, and have more to get in the shop. So please check back!

Some Art Therapy

Books, vintage paper/collage art

By Karla Nathan / April 23, 2010

How funny is this!? I love looking for messages in these word verifications, but usually they are 'almost' words, not real ones.

Thanks for your well wishes for my little snipping. It went well, and was done in the ENT's office with local Novocaine. I've had sleep studies done and was told I don't have apnea, but I have such horrendous snoring, my poor husband can't sleep at all.

The Dr. seemed to think that the little dingle dangle in the back of my throat was too long, and that trimming it might cure the chain saw noises that come from me all night long.

Typically, this wasn't covered by insurance! It is considered cosmetic. It was about $500 cash upfront, and if it works, will be totally worth it.

At first, I felt perfectly fine. And the next morning too. I went to the gym, out to coffee with friends, and shopping to replace our dishwasher AND microwave.

I have a theory that if you spend any money on an appliance, other appliances get jealous and demand that you spend some on them too. I never have just one break, its always in twos or threes.

When I got home, I was worn out and spent the rest of the day watching movies and laying around sipping my liquids.

Today, I feel worse! I thought all was completely fine. But I have a feeling that this is not from the mini surgery, its from poison Sugarwing kisses. She is in the middle of another snot-fest and I probably have picked up a cold from her.

She will be here this afternoon when she gets out of school and if both of us are still not feeling our best, I'll probably rent some more movies and we'll lay around together and hold puppies while we watch TV.

She isn't allowed to watch TV on school days, but since its Friday and I've got a sore throat, I'll make an exception. Because I watch her so much, I have to be careful to respect her parent's wishes and be part of raising her the way they want, and not just be a spoiling Grammy. But there are days when I have to just be Grammy and not day care, so we will break a few rules just because its Grandma's house.

This is a book I started on my all night vigil while Twinks was trying to have her pups. I thought it was all done, but it seemed to lack something. I figured out that it needed a purpose. It started out just as vintage images of women. But I wanted it to be useful too. So, I've added pockets, notes, pages, and envelopes all throughout.

It seems more complete this way. It would make a nice art journal or diary now that there are spaces for additional materials and text.

Too bad I didn't think of that before, because I had to go back and try to pull things up, cut around them or move them to add some things. Some pages were easier to change than others. This one was already a layered transparency, all I did was lift up the lady's picture and glue a folded piece of old stationary underneath it, so there is a hidden space for writing.

Some pages are still just decorative, not functional. I've tried to make sure that at least half the pages have a purpose.

It has been a good project for me to get lost in, first when I was worried about Twinkle, and then today when I am not feeling quite myself. It wasn't anything on my list to get done, but it is something that I really enjoyed working on and was a wonderful distraction. Sometimes, you just need to MAKE something, for the joy of making it.