CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS YEAR ROUND: PRESSIES!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

PRESSIES!

AH-HA! You caught me! But that's okay because it's good that you see I am doing SOMETHING semi-creative and NOT just jabbering! I attached photos of two very recent projects. Neither was what I'd originally intended, and you all know how THAT goes! But lack of time and - sigh - TALENT did me in, and these are my alternate results.

Below, is the lil' pillow I made for my wonderful friend, Ria! She loves Tigger! I WANTED to crochet her a really super cool pillow for which I do have a pattern. Sadly, the pattern is EASY but VERYYYYYYY time consuming and I was pretty sick with the flu when needed to work on it. So I scrapped that idea and went for a counted cross stitch pillow. It's NOT (duh) washable because of the glued on decal, but I DIDN'T have a chart for him so I couldn't stitch him. (Some things one can improvise in counted cross stitch. Most things, NO! Tigger was a DECIDED no!) Ria received my box more than a week ago (ANAL, ANAL VIRGO KAI) and opted to open it on her bd which is TODAY!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIL' RIA! I LOOOOVE YOU! She said she likes it and I KNOW she is kind because my hand sewing is atrocious. I made the pillow. Eeeeeks!

This next picture (my lighting in this room has been BRUTAL RECENTLY - sorry!) is another gifty. She's a little fairy girl sitting in her butterfly bubble. She is on her knees, and peeking out. She's dressed in her warmest jammies. Her hair is colorful - pinks, blues, yellows. And she has a beaded headpiece which doesn't show up well in this picture. I added beads and baubles to the inside of the bubble. See the pink ribbon attached to her arm? It holds a little silver charm with the word, 'Love". You can KIND OF see the flowers on either side of the butterfly, but the pictures are WONKY, so I decided to skip adding more.

Hopefully, I'll still be in my friends' good graces after these two gifts! Ummm ... I TRIED! So my HEART was in the right place! Does THAT count? NOTE: I am SOOOO tired. Just realized I had written DOS that count? Arrrrgggh! I DO (or should I say 'Dos') know how to spell. Honest Injun. LOL!

7 comments:

Christel Hutson said...: well, first off, theres NO lack of talent here! Both of these are very lovely gifts anyone would love to receive! I love the dolls face, she is so very sweet. Your friend will cherish her, I'm sure. The pillow is so cute Kai, who doesn't love Tigger?..I think it's Tiggeriffic! lol XOXOX Christel; November 20, 2011 at 4:44 PM
Harley Dee said...: These are great! You give the BEST pressies Aunty Kai ;); November 20, 2011 at 7:43 PM
Jingle said...: These are wonderful! I'm sure both recipients are very happy girls!; November 21, 2011 at 7:47 AM
Susan @ Blackberry Creek said...: I agree with Christel: no lack of talent on your part, my friend. I love the projects, and I know your friend will love them too. The Tigger pillow is precious.; November 21, 2011 at 9:55 AM
creativedawn said...: Yes, I'm chiming with the rest..YOU, my friend are a MEGA-TALENT! There you go; a new word. Lol! Seriously, you should never doubt your talent. AWESOME!

big hugzzzzzzz(((((((((((((((((KAI)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

thanks for the birthday wishes...I LOVE YOU!; November 21, 2011 at 12:14 PM
Sandy Michelle said...: Great creations girl friend!!

Sandy xox; November 22, 2011 at 11:43 AM
creativedawn said...: Goodness gracious, I have been remiss... THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT BEAUTIFUL GIFT! She is GORGEOUS!!! and so are you!

hugz
Pam.... I AM a very LUCKY girl to have you as a friend!!!!; December 6, 2011 at 9:41 PM

WHAT I'M READING

MOLOKA'I BY ALAN BRENNERT - Rachel is only seven years old when she's torn from her family and isolated in an area of Hawaii reserved for people with Leprosy. This is a very sad, yet very beautifully written account, spanning the years from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. While the story is a novel, it's based on truth, and as I read, I paused and researched some of what I was reading. I learned so much about Leprosy and how what MOST of the characters in this book actually had compared to the Biblical depiction of the condition. Reaffirmed through not only Rachel's history, but the history and stories of those condemned to live separate from their families and ostracized from mainstream society, was one constant: people learn to live with what they are given. Some retreat, some thrive, some give up. But regardless of circumstances, like Rachel, the fabulously real focal character of Brennert's book, they endure. Moloka'i is 388 pages of wonder. Parts of it will forever haunt me. Parts will bring me to tears years from now. But I will NOT forget it.
THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC - At a scant 129 pages, this compact book holds so much intense emotion I could not read it as quickly as I wanted. I had to stop, chew, swallow, and wait for each nuance of each chapter to digest. Narrated by a single (unknown) woman of Japanese heritage, THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC is the story of Japanese women pre-WWII, who came to America as promised wives to Japanese men. They arrived with hopes and dreams, fear and excitement, memories and momentos. Each woman carried a different past into her new present. But all carried ONE thing in common - a photo of her husband-to-be. Suffice it to say, all were NOT what the pictures OR the letters promised. This story is a quick moving account of what happened once the women arrived until which time they found themselves in the middle of the second world war and all the fear and prejudice and change it brought. Though the reader never learns the name of the narrator or gets to focus on any one woman, somehow the overview of ALL the women is sufficient to move the story along easily and interestingly. I loved it. I really, really LOVED it!
Noah's Wife 5500 BCE by T.K. Thorne - I've read a lot of novels based on the Bible's Noah. This book is VERY differnt in that it centers almost solely around the woman who was Noah's partner. In this version she is Na'amah, a girl with Asperger's Syndrome, a branch of Autism. I am not quite finished reading this but I had to add it here in hopes that some of you will also read it. Beautifully written, VERY interesting take on the familiar story, and - regardless of the fact that I KNOW how it ends, I am enthralled with this writer's clever portrayal of one who was, in previous versions, all but ignored. BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL BOOK!
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield - OMG! I read this straight through, shivering, crying, remembering ...! The main character, Khendra, is in therapy for sexual abuse which began at age 2. The problem is - her mind is supressing the identity of her abuser. A WORSE problem? Her abuser is trailing her; leaving threats and insidious messages. Khendra also cuts herself. This relieves the pain inside yet leaves physical scars meant to soothe the emotional ones. This book is one you will read until you gasp for air and realize you haven't been breathing! PLEASE, if you want to understand the methods of a predator and the agony of a person being abused, read this book. It isn't pretty. It isn't happy. But it's REAL. And it MAY just help YOU help someone else one day.
Watersmeet by Ellen Jensen Abbott - This book is well over 300 pages and I read it all, but STILL don't know how I feel about it. Let's just say I wish I had been the editor because her premise was awesome. Her execution? Well ...! The story is about a young woman who lives in a society where she and many others are outcasts because of a ruler's mandate. She ends up finding her father, a leader in another realm, and comes to terms with her anger, prejudices, etc. Am I making it sound compelling? NO? Good, because most of it isn't. The author has some really good segments through the book, but there's so much convoluted yakking & silliness in places, it distracts a reader from the good parts. I would not buy this one if I were you! Just my opinion.
Impossible by Nancy Werlin - (Young Adult) If you like to delve into the realm of faeries (and I DO) and want a bit of mystery, puzzle solving, and 'real life' tossed in, along with amazingly good writing, this is the right book. I own several by the author, but so far have read only IMPOSSIBLE. Despite my strong aversion to ANYTHING that even smells of romance novels, I loved this story. The 'romance' was a focal point in the story, but NOT, by any means THE story. This writer knows her stuff! THUMBS UP!
Reckless by Cornelia Funke - the author of the Inkheart trilogy wrote this very strange novel. It's meant to be a take on the Snow White mirror thing, but it jumps around WAY too much and not necessarily in a good way. Her IDEA is magnificent. Her execution left me cold.
The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood, Duchess of Northumberland - I picked up this book about the daughter of a man who heals with plants, the man himself, and a very mysterious young man who's called Weed. Read straight through it because I absolutely COULD NOT put it down!
Folly by Marthe Jocelyn - a rather down-in-the-mouth YA book that seems to focus more on building UP to a 'surprise' ending than on anything else. Didn't HATE it. Also didn't LOVE it.
Dark Song by Gale Giles - a girl finds out her family has been living a lie and the lie changes everything, including who she becomes. I couldn't put it down!
Plain Kate by Erin Bow - a young girl who has learned to carve from her father suddenly finds herself an orphan, accused of using a 'witch-blade' by the superstitious town folks. A good story with so many twists!
Stolen by Lucy Christopher - young adult but not just for kids! Very intense story of a young girl who is kidnapped right out from under her parents' noses at an airport. Extremely suspenseful! Very good!
The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter, the Christmas Miracle Dog by Dave Barry - for those of you familiar with the author, three words: TYPICAL DAVE BARRY! For those unfamilar, three words: FUNNY, FUNNY, FUNNY! A VERY quick read!
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman - There is NO doubt in my mind why this was a HUGE bestseller! I LOVED IT!
The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenhauf - a mystery as well as a beautiful story
The Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay by Beverly Jensen - Heartbreakingly wonderful
Knitting by Anne Bartlett - set in Australia, this follows two women and a homeless man's personal journeys - a comforting book!
The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins - About Irish 'Travellers' or Gypsies - SOOOOOO GOOD!