Vanilla Socks To Tadpoles

Hi there!

 Like anything else in life learning requires some basic knowledge and training to learn the mechanics of a new skill.  All kinds of subjects interest me and I enjoy learning new things.  Recently, while learning to knit socks and mastering the skills necessary to knit them, I've discovered that knitting socks is something I really love doing.

Vanilla socks using striped yarn

 After knitting my ninth pair of socks, it's time to branch out and try something new. Lest you think I'm ditching my new found knitting skills for another hobby, forget about it!  I am looking to take my knitting game to a new level!!! 

Vanilla socks are what sock knitters call a sock pattern without a design on the front or back of the sock. The vanilla sock is basic stockinette stitch knit in the round on circular needles.  Believe me, knitting a "vanilla" sock is enough of a challenge for a beginning sock maker learning new techniques. Nothing wrong with knitting vanilla socks either, I love knitting them especially with a variegated or self striping yarn, but I'm ready to try something more challenging now that I've got my basic training skills down pat (or pretty close to down pat).  I'm ready for a sock with pattern.


Now, mind you this means finding a pattern that is simple enough to read, memorize and execute within a reasonable amount of time.  Knitting at the end of a long day is my "down time" and the last thing I want to do is try to memorize anything too complicated.

As I've probably mentioned before, my favorite source for patterns is Ravelry.com *, spending time on this site is such a pleasure!  This is my Go To source for knitting patterns and where I found my next sock adventure....

The pattern I chose is by Jenna Swanson called "Tadpoles" and is a bit more challenging than I originally had in mind but the pattern spoke to me and since I'm not newbie knitter, it seemed doable. WARNING: Tadpoles in not a beginner pattern, if you are new to knitting save this one for later when your skills have "matured" and select a very simple pattern. 

The yarn is called Tide Pool by Lorna's Laces in fingering weight.

Tadpoles

It's a beautiful hand dyed yarn made of 80% Merino wool & 20% nylon.  This yarn colorway shows off the beautiful and intricate pattern design of Tadpoles so well.

My knitting skills are intermediate level, however I'm not well versed in chart reading so I was happy Jenna Swanson's pattern "Tadpoles" includes written instructions along with a chart.

 Learning to read a chart is next on my list of  TO LEARN but for now I am using the written instructions and my Knitter's Pride Magma Knitting Fold-Up Pattern Holder to keep track  of the pattern rows. 

Have you ever used one of these?  They are pretty nifty and really help to keep track of your pattern and the current row.  Reminds me of the magnetic pattern holders used in cross stitch only this one stands upright and folds up to keep your pattern safe when not in use or if you are knitting on the go.

What have you been making this summer? I'd love to hear about your knitting projects!

Speaking of keeping track of patterns, who knew there was so much to keep track of with Knitting? I'll be talking about this in another post so stay tuned.


Until next time...

Bee Creative,

Suzy

* Ravelry is a great website to discover new designers and to see what everyone is making. You'll need to sign up for an account, which is free and then you'll have access to patterns for knitting and crochet, many patterns are free and some are not.  Enjoy!

A Sock Journey

Hi there!

The last time I posted in January, I was in search of a simple beginner's sock pattern, determined to try again to learn to knit socks.  This is not a new endeavor for me since the previous year I attempted to learn to knit socks.  Since I've always been a do-it-yourself kinda girl, self taught mainly by watching or reading How To books, etc. it seemed logical for me to sign up to take a knitting course and I found one online to try.  In fact, the knitting was pretty darned easy until the very end of the process when the heel was added in after the sock was completed. That's where things went south for me. While trying to put in the after thought heel my stitches accidentally slipped off the SIZE ONE needles! For me, it was a bit of a disaster because I was unable to pick the stitches back up again (tiny stitches, tiny needles & bad eyesight) without twisting and losing some stitches in the process. Not that I didn't try, mind you but the effort didn't seem worth the aggravation I was having at the time. Sometimes you need to know when to "let it go".  THAT was my first attempt to knit socks...not a complete fail....but very frustrating, enough so that I put it aside until THIS year.

 Once again, my 2018 goal was to learn to knit socks and I refused to give up my desire of learning to knit socks. My Mama always told me where there's a will, there's a way (in other words if you want something bad enough, then find a way to make it happen-don't give up trying).  Meanwhile I began to do research on sock knitting, reading books, patterns for heel techniques (since that seemed to be the part that stumped me in the process), exploring Toes-Up vs. Cuff Down, Magic Loop vs. Double Pointed Needles and watching You Tube videos on sock making. Eventually I felt encouraged to TRY it again.

Perhaps you are looking into learning to knit socks too, if so these are some of the things I've learned about sock knitting.

• You Tube is your friend.  Videos are plentiful.
• Ravelry.com is your friend.  Lots of free patterns available, plus tons of inspiration.
• Big box store yarns are good for learning.  Later invest in good quality yarn by supporting your local yarn store. 
• Expect to make mistakes, it's okay. Learn from your mistakes.
• NEVER EVER GIVE UP! The first pair of socks that come off your needles will be worth the effort it took and the second pair will go quicker and easier.
• A word of caution: sock knitting can become an addiction. 

My First pair of hand knit socks

Here's an update on my progress:

I've learned to knit socks! Are they perfect every time? No, but each pair is wonderful in it's own way and I learn something with every pair.  Each time a sock comes off my needles, I immediately cast on the second sock and when I complete a pair of socks I'm totally delighted and cast on for a new pair.  There is always a sock on my needles no matter what else I happen to be knitting.  

Bee Creative! 

Suzy 

P.S.

It pays to never, ever give up on learning something new. Thanks Mama!

Knitting Therapy

Hi there,

Happy New Year!  I’ve been mentally writing blog posts to you over the last month or so but haven’t actually written them down until now.  Wait, that’s not entirely true, I wrote a nice post before the end of 2017 but for whatever reason, it was deleted mysteriously by blogger while I attempted to insert photos using my new iPad <big eye roll>.  Geez, sometimes technology is NOT my friend, if you know what I mean.

Oh looky what I did! Yay!!  Okay, the above photo is my new obsession....winding yarn with Ball Winder received as a Christmas gift, there’s also a yarn Swift that completes the yarn winding experience.  The Swift is for yarns that are in hanks, these yarns were in skein form from Joann’s not the fancier yarns in hank form. I just waned to get a feel for the ball winder and I’m pleased to report it was a successful experience and I’ll be “caking” up more skeins in the future, which makes knitting so much easier.

After the “fall” and between physical therapy twice a week and recovering from PT & working, the remainder of time I spent time knitting more cowls, a shawl and starting a pair of socks (which I recently “un-knit”).  

  I really fell in love with the Concerto Cowl pattern and have since knitted several cowls using variegated yarns, each time being totally delighted with the “new”look just from changing yarn colors and the simple slip stitch pattern.

Since I love the pattern so much it’s only natural to segway into knitting other projects like a hat and scarf!  Who knew one simple pattern would lead to more creative design projects.  If you’d like the free pattern from Lion Brand just click this link and then search for Concerto Cowl . Enjoy!

Each week at knitting group I’m inspired by the gorgeous wraps my friend Gail makes and thought it would be fun to try one.  This is my very first attempt at a wrap/shawl with lace.  Pinterest is a great source for ideas and inspiration and after several hours looking I found a free pattern for the Gatlin scarf. Simple stockinette for a beginners to knit and interesting with yarn overs to create the lace.

Once again I used a variegated yarn, this time in cotton baby weight #3. I love the drape of the knitted fabric, lightweight and pale variegated colors.

For Christmas my husband gave me a set of Chiagoo interchangeable circular knitting needles I’ve been eyeing for some time. then purchased a set of DPNs to complete the set, all in hopes of keeping my New Years promise to myself of learning to knit socks!

Here’s

 the socks I started on my new Chiagoo needles, then ripped them out because I wanted to try a different pattern. Stay tuned for the sock saga....

TOBECONTINUED

Until next time, BEE CREATIVE! 

Suzy

Fall In the City

Hello everyone,

My goodness how time got away from me since August! Let’s say it has been busy around here between hurricane season in August & September, a trip to NY that has me still recovering from an accident and working through the pain of a fractured and dislocated shoulder. Thanking God because it could be a lot worst.

It was Girls Day Out in NYC my daughter Amanda and I were having the best day taking the train into the city to visit the 911 Memorial,walking the Brooklyn Bridge, eating dumplings in China Town enjoying the sites and sounds of NYC in the morning and seeing the off Broadway play “Carole King Beautiful “ in the afternoon, then heading to Tony’s for dinner via Rockefeller Center when I missed a step and it all went down hill from there. It was one of the best and worst days of my vacation.  Ten hours in the emergency room in NYC was not what I had envisioned for vacation but there I was,  unfortunately. Thank God for my sweet daughter who was great in an emergency situation and my dear son in law who drove two hours to come get us in the middle of the night, and who held my hand as they put my dislocated shoulder back in place.  It’s been a long journey from that night until now, six weeks later and I will spare you the details. As I write this post I’m grateful for my family and friends that continue to support, encourage and pray for me.

The good news is that although many areas of my life are limited right now,  I’m able to knit for short period of time each day and count this as a blessing. You could say  it’s a form of therapy (both physical & mental) for my arm when it is out of the sling. I’ve knit several cowls and discovered mixing variegated yarn with solid will give the look of fair isle knitting, using a drop stitch pattern. It is always fun to discover a new way to knit the same pattern over and over again with a new look.

So, you might have noticed that there aren’t any photos in this post.  Having recently purchased an iPad I’m still trying to figure work out how to insert photos.  It’s just a small technical glitch so come back again real soon and there will be lots of knitting and things to see.

Until then....
Be Creative
Suzy

HOT OFF MY NEEDLES-FINITO

Hi Everyone!

It's been a few weeks since my last post and I've been a busy girl.  I've been creating art and knitting my fingers to the bone <grin>.   That's right, my Wips (works in progress) are whittling down and soon I'll be forced to work on the Summer KAL (Knit A Long) Zadie Sweater.  It's been so hot here that the thought of working on a sweater makes me sweat, so I put it aside to work on some smaller projects.

For the life of me, I can NOT remember where this yarn was purchased; so bad about taking the wrapper off yarns when knitting and forgetting where I put them for safe <wink wink> keeping. Before my BFF Bonnie came down a few weeks ago, while doing the mad dash knitting pile clean up I came across a WIP and knew that needed to be finished.  The Drop Stitch Scarf.

Oh my, the colors and texture of yarn was just so pretty.  Don't you agree?  Stunning changes in color and texture made my heart sing as I was knitting along.  Oh did I mention I had to look up how to do the Drop Stitch pattern again on You Tube?!?  Here it is if you are interested in trying the Drop Stitch scarf.  This yarn was perfect for the Drop Stitch pattern, believe me I knit it several different ways before coming up with this pattern.

Next I was on Craftsy.com (have I mentioned how much I LOVE Crafsy.com?) and found a few patterns/kits I wanted to try for Fall/Winter.  This one is called the Leaf Press Shawl  and it is just so pretty, loving the stripes and leaf pattern. I couldn't help myself.  Look for a post when this scarf/shawl is done!

This kit is called  Concerto Cowl .  This is my finished Concerto Cowl that is hot off my needles and it will not be my last one either, I can already see it in other colorways. It knits up very fast and is a fun pattern to knit and will be nice and warm for my next trip to NY in October.

Oh AND I finished my Cable Knit Blanket last week!!! I'm definitely on a knitting roll!!!  This is called Violet's Cable Knit Blanket.   I LOVVVVEEE it !   I knit it up in Big Twist yarn color Sky Blue and it is Soooo soft, yet light weight enough as a nice throw over the legs when needed.

My husband has put a claim on it and my daughter has already said she wants one.....good thing this knits up pretty quickly with large needles and once you get the initial rows started, it is easy to follow the pattern without having to read or memorize it.  The only thing you have to keep track of are the rows where cables are inserted.  Easy peasey cables too!  I could knit this one in my sleep. Lol!

Well, that's what I've been up to lately, how about you?  Got some finished projects? Would love to see them.

Bee Creative,
Suzy

Hi Everyone!

Last week I missed posting on here.  It was that kind of week. It's my husband's annual trip north to Saratoga Springs and the annual visit from my BFF.  BFF Bonnie was coming in town and there was prepping for the big week of art and some housekeeping to be done beforehand between working and getting hubby out the door.  If you know me, you know I'm a procrastinator, last minute kinda gal. But I got it done and was ready for some fun!

Bonnie was here when I arrived home from work on Wednesday afternoon, we caught up, did a little grocery shopping (no, I didn't get to the store beforehand) and I cooked us a nice dinner to start off the visit.  Unfortunately, I had to work on Thursday but that gave Bonnie a chance to rest up.

Let me give you a little back story: Bonnie and I love to paint with watercolors and when we get together we try to get out to paint, sketch and draw, (see our  blog: SketchyGirlz) but this year we decided to try acrylic painting.  I was recently inspired by a painting class where I used acrylics as my medium and shared the experience with Bonnie about the class, she naturally wanted to try acrylic painting.

Another back story: In January I had joined an online site Creative Bug that has loads of crafts (knitting, crochet, cooking, jewelry making, etc.) plus videos how-to's and classes.  You've got to check it out! Yes, it does involve a subscription to join but it is WELL WORTH the cost.  On this site is a class by famed artist Flora Bowley called Intuitive Painting which I really enjoyed and thought it would be the perfect art adventure for Bonnie and I to try when she came down for her annual visit.

Armed with video instruction we took a "walk about", taking photos for inspiration and then interpreted the images for the painting process.

 I will not spoil the process for you, but let's say it was WAY out of our comfort zones and took multiple times of viewing the videos to be able to paint in such an abstract way. Bonnie is a realistic painter and I am too pretty much, although I have a more intuitive paint style than her.  She likes to know what the END result is going to be, where I'm more of a go with the flow/intuitive painter. Nothing wrong with either style. Flora's process is very intuitive and somewhat abstract (at least for this lesson) in the fact that this process doesn't really involve a great deal of realism.

Suzy BEFORE: Half way thru process. 

With that said, we dove in and just tried to go with the flow, at times it was easy and at times it was downright hard.


Throughout the process when we would doubt our abilities, we just repeated Flora's mantra "we are awesome for trying this" and we would say out loud what we LIKED about our painting.

Bonnie BEFORE Half Way thru process

Half-way thru the process I think we both wanted to call it quits but we pressed on.  As you can see the half way point was mostly abstract and way out of our comfort zones.







It WAS fun and it WAS challenging and we both were pleased at the final product and we both said we would try it again and are planning another painting using this method.  

AFTER: Bonnie's Final Painting 

AFTER: Suzy's Final Painting

  So all in all, a very successful art adventure was had by the Sketchy Girlz.  Tell us what you think. We'd love to hear your comments. Oh and be nice!

Bee Creative!

Suzy

WEEK 2 ICAD

Hi Everyone!

Week 2 of the Index Card A Day challenge is posted and up on 30 Days in April ICAD.  Just click on the sidebar and you'll be able to view Day1-7 and Day 8-14.

Let me know what you think! Have a great week.

Bee Creative,
Suzy

Veggie Tale

BreesMimi Design Studio (BMDS)

Hi Everyone!

It's hard for me to remember a time when I didn't eat veggies, even when I was little there wasn't much in the veggie department I wouldn't eat.  But when my husband and I met some forty plus years ago, he wasn't a fan of vegetables, in fact the only veggies he ate were corn, tomatoes and onions.   He told me the story about how much he disliked peas and how he put them down the heat register in the floor to hide them!  Many years later his father discovered the dry, hard peas when he investigated a strange rattling sound..... coming from the heat register.  We still laugh about that one.

Watercolor sketching veggies

SO how did I get him to willingly eat veggies?!?  The answer was to smother the vegetables in cheese sauce.  Yep, I lured  umm, introduce him to veggies smothered with cheese and gradually weaned him from the sauce. He's a big veggie lover now, with the exception of beets.  Okay, I can live with that, because I Do have one vegetable I won't eat. Brussel sprouts.  Ewww! Gag. Enough said.

But why all this talk about veggies?

 I've been painting veggies for an online class with on of my favorite artist, Tracy Fletcher King.  Having fun with the sketching and water color.

Finished watercolor of fruit & veggies.

Here's a few of my favorite veggies/fruits, in case you can't make out what they are: eggplant, pears, apples, carrot and zucchini. 

Sometimes a process will inspire other things like the Index Cards below.

Hope you find some delicious inspiration today!  

Bee Creative,

Suzy

30 DAYS IN APRIL REVEAL

Hi Everyone!

Please join me for the reveal of Index Card A Day (ICAD) 30 Days in April.  This is the third  ICAD challenge I've completed in the last several years.  My first challenge was with Daisy Yellow's 60 Day Challenge!  Sixty days was a bit ambitious for a first timer so I scaled it back to 30 days as a personal challenge each year. Thirty days once a year works as a great starting point for the new year or whenever I feel I need a kick start in creativity.  If you've never heard of an ICAD challenge, please go over to Daisy Yellow Blog to see how this challenge works.  It's so much fun!

Meanwhile join me for the weekly reveal of my personal challenge on Thursdays. Just click on the side bar 30 Days in April ICAD and you'll see what I created each day and a glimpse into the "how" I made each card and the thought process behind it.  Enjoy!

I'd love to hear if you are interested in this process...please leave a comment so I know you've stopped by.  Have a great week!

Bee Creative,
Suzy

A Yarn Tale

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago on a Saturday morning, I was perusing my favorite online site for knitting patterns and looking for knitting stores in my area.  My neighbor who is visiting from PA and I thought we would take a ride up to the next county where there was supposed to be a yarn store, unfortunately, after 35 minutes driving up the busiest road with some fairly crazy drivers we found the store closed. OUT OF BUSINESS (apparently for some time since another business had taken its place).  We were both very disappointed that the information was neither updated on the knitting site nor on GOOGLE Maps. Just goes to show, perhaps we should have called before making the trip.  But do not fear, for we did find a new vintage/junk store which provided us with entertainment for several hours and the Back up Plan B, included lunch. It was all good.

So back to my tale of the knitting store....later on the knitting site again I found a contact person and sent a note asking if the group that met at the yarn store still met, I received a prompt reply that a group met during the day.  Unfortunately, I'm still working and not able to meet up in the day, but after a few emails back and forth we decided to meet in the evening and she offered to contact some of the other ladies in the group and post our evening group online. Well, I am happy to report that we have a nice group of knitters meeting once a week at a local restaurant/coffee shop.

This was my first time "knitting in public" (other than a hospital room or lobby) and I was a bit concerned about chatting and knitting at the same time which apparently is a common issue among knitters, especially if you are working on anything that requires concentration (pattern or stitch changes).  Currently I've been working on a knit a long (KAL) sweater project and at a point in the pattern where there was going to be a significant change, concentration was required so the sweater wasn't a good candidate to take along to knitting group.  My Go To project (in between knitting projects) are baby hats (knitted for local hospitals). With knitting group in mind,  I started the ribbing on the baby hat so during the group meeting all I needed to do was basically stockinette stitch and some decreases to finish the hat that night.

Baby Hat for Hospital

 After knitting half a dozen baby hats in the last two weeks, I pretty much am burned out on them and looking for something else "fun & easy" to do in group knitting.  Dish cloths are fun and easy knitting and Michael's had a sale on Sugar & Cream cotton yarn yesterday!  I started my first dish cloth after watching this video from VeryPink Knits on You Tube last night.  Look out! I might be hooked on knitting dish cloths now.

My First Knitted Dish Cloth WiP

Simple and easy and fun to knit!  The dish cloth is another good Go To between projects.  Dish cloths are re-usable and an Eco-friendly alternative to sponges and paper towels and really, who can have enough dish cloths???  Look at those ridges, perfect for scrubbing things! Give it a go and see if you don't agree and actually enjoy the process.

Bee Creative!
Suzy

A Little Over It

Hello Everyone!

Happy Summer!  It's been a little over a year since my last post. Once again I managed to fall off the blog-O-sphere after trying to re-establish the SketchyGirlz blog with my best friend last year. It just was a bit overwhelming (to both of us) trying to keep up with two blogs, working full time and creating art. That's how it happened....Now, it is time for a fresh start once again.

How is your summer going?  Are you working on anything new?  Living in south Florida, the average temperature each day is in the 90's so it may seem a bit strange to know that knitting is one of my hobbies.  Most people think of knitting as a winter activity but because of the warmer hot temperatures here, it becomes a summer activity for me.  I enjoy looking for knitting patterns and taking classes online during the summer months and have several knitting projects going.  In the knitting world, these are called WIPs or Works in Progress. My latest WIPs are a sweater knit-a-long (KAL), a few baby hats (charity donation) and finishing up a cabled pattern blanket (almost done with that project!). Any knitters out there that can identify with the WIPs?  I'd love to hear from you.

The Knit-A-Long (KAL) is where you join a group of knitters for a specific project during a period of time.  The KAL is new to me, my first one!  I'll talk more about it in an upcoming post.

On the ART palette are several works that have been completed and another ICAD project (Index Card A Day) which I'll be sharing with you soon.  Each year I challenge myself to do the ICAD for 30 days.  You can see my previous works by clicking on the side bar. Meanwhile here's a glimpse of the recent challenge and I'll be posting more in the coming weeks.

My daughter and family visited recently and we had a great night out at "Painting With A Twist". This was a totally new experience for me, painting in a group setting where everyone paints the same design and it was SO much fun!  We painted a beach scene and every single painting was different! Fun seeing what everyone was doing and how they interpreted the theme.  I'd definitely do it again and would encourage everyone to try it at least once!  Take a group of friends and enjoy the evening painting and having a blast.

Let me know what summer projects you've been working on!  I'd love to hear from you.

Bee Creative,
Suzy

March Index Challenge Week 4

Hey Everyone!

Happy Belated  Easter!  I totally failed to get my blog post done in time for Easter Week, but I trust that you all were celebrating on Sunday with family and friends.

It's the final stretch of the 31 days in March Index Card challenge.  This last week proved to be another challenging one for me, mainly because it was a busy week at work and my brain was pretty tired by the time Thursday rolled around.  Thankfully my Fridays begin on Thursday afternoons and I quickly revived in time to get the Easter shopping done and throw in an Easter craft with my little Sunshine and Lollipop!


We made paper plate Easter eggs and Crosses wreaths to hang on their doors! The girls were really into the crafting, cutting and gluing embellishments (a bit of chocolate helped fire them up....shhh! Don't Tell Mama! <wink wink>.


Such fun with the Little's who are not so little anymore, they are growing in leaps and bounds and doing wonderful things.  Miss Lollipop has lost 3 baby teeth since Christmas and has won awards for "Best 1st Grade Colorist" (this sure makes her Mimi's heart sing).  Little Miss Sunshine is doing very well in school too and is enjoying her crafting time so much she said "Mimi, that was SO much fun, please don't go! I love You SO much, You could stay here Forever"! she's the dramatic one, if you can't tell.

I've posted Week 4 of the 31 Days of March (ICAD) challenge, just click on the link over to the right sidebar.  Enjoy!

Have a wonderful week....
Be Creative!
Suzy

WEEK 3 ICAD CHALLENGE

Hi there!

This is where the rubber starts to meet the road in the Index Card A Day (ICAD) challenge in the month of March.  When ideas flowed freely in the first two weeks of the challenge now they aren't coming so easily, but I press on to the challenge of making a card each day for 31 days and finishing the race.  My first adventure into the ICAD was a 60 day challenge I did with Yellow Daisy and you can see the cards were much more elaborate collages where this time I've stuck to the everyday life theme.

Maybe you'd like to try a personal challenge of your own?  Making an index card a day does require commitment and as much time as you are willing to put into it.  I guarantee you will learn a great deal about yourself and develop your own style of art work.  If you decide to try it, please let me know, I'd love to hear from you.

Please click on the side bar link to 31 Days in March to see  Week 3 and the previous works for Week 1 and 2.   Thank you for stopping by and I'd love to hear from you, please leave your comment below.

Bee Creative!
Susie

Index Challenge Week 2

Hello there!

It's been very windy this week....in fact another week has just blown by! I'm working on 31 Day Index Card Challenge for the month of March.  Be sure to check it out!  If you haven't done a Index card challenge before, I would encourage you to try it.  A simple 3 x 5 index card will do, some pencils or pens or whatever media you'd like to explore and go for it!  Make one card per day, any subject is fine.  I'd love to hear from you if you are doing the challenge.  It's not too late to jump in and give it a go.

Please check out WEEK 2. Hot off the press....click on 31 Days In March (ICAD) link in sidebar.  Let me know what you think.

Have fun & Bee Creative.

Suzy

31 DAYS IN MARCH CHALLENGE (ICAD)

Hello Out There!

It's me and I'm BACK!  Are ready for some FUN in March? A little March Madness???  A few years ago I participated in a 60 day Index Card a Day Challenge with Daisy Yellow.  Look at the Link over on the right side of this page and check it out.  Sixty days was a LONG time to do a challenge and to do it everyday was REALLY challenging as well as inspirational and super fun too. I love to do art challenges because it makes me DO something creative every day!  Also it continues to inspire me to create more art, larger pieces and sometimes a series of ideas comes out of it.  I love when a little piece sparks a larger piece and that sparks the imagination in other ways.  

So, I've set up this little 31 Days of March Challenge for myself to get back into the art everyday routine.  The best part about doing this on index cards (3x5) is that the small format isn't intimidating, its not time consuming either.  I like that.

I'll be posting my index cards on the page "31 In March (ICAD)" so please check it out each week during March.  Oh, and there will be other March Madness coming too. Hope to see you around and please leave me a comment when you stop by, I'd love to hear from you. 

Bee Happy! Bee Creative! 

Suzy

Traditions With A Twist

Hello Friends,

Christmas is rapidly approaching....Countdown has begun.  There's still cookie baking to be done here and presents to wrap.  How's your preparations coming along?  I'm putting finishing touches on the Mermaid Tail Blankets I've been knitting for Sunshine & Lollipop and I'll be sharing those with you after Christmas.

I promised to share more decorating with you......most of you know that I have no fireplace mantel to decorate (I live in Florida where it is currently 82 degrees in Mid-December) but I do have a baker's rack that gets the full treatment each season.

In addition to the Santa collection

I've added a new chalkboard greeting

A few of my favorite things

including a vintage angel and her reindeer buddy.

More Santas and a new addition of glass pedestals to hold  my jeweled fruit. 

Oh another crafty project I've been working on is the Coffee Filter and Cupcake liner Christmas tree.  This was inspired by Pinterest: see it HERE.  

 Of course I did my own spin on the original, adding pom-poms and painting my own design. 

I originally planned to use the tree on the baker's rack but it just didn't look right.  Less is more, right?  And looking at the BR it didn't need More! So, this year my cheery little tree will join the moss-filled hurricane lanterns on the dining table.  I think it fits in perfectly here, don't you?

Until next time,
Bee Creative!
Suzy