A New Bag

 I took one of the lace pieces and used it to decorate a bag I made using some brown corduroy, a 'wild' orange/brown print fabric, and those lucite purse handles I'd found at the second-hand shop.
Inside, there is one plain side, and the opposite side is filled with 8 pockets, half the full length, and half shorter to allow for holding a variety of items.

I've used interfacing between the layers of the orange/brown print to add strength and stability both on the bag back, and in between the material layers used to create the pockets. The pockets are edged with corduroy to help prevent the pocket fabric from wearing.

What I like about this bag:
1- it's machine washable, except for the handles
2- the handles are a recycled item and can be removed easily for laundering the bag
3- it's not too large, but can carry a lot of differently sized items
4- the handles can hold a key chain, it can be popped off if undesireable, or flipped into the bag for security while still easily accessible
Here's the outside, front:

You can see there is a key chain attached to the handle. It has brown leather dangles hanging from a dark brown oval disc carved with the form of a frog. The top of the lace is secured beneath the fabric handle cover, carrying the inside fabric to the outside for a little contrast and interest.

The back:

Isn't that fabric wild? I think it would sure wake me up in the morning!

                                    Inside, showing the pockets:

I do have to sew all around the outside of the oval lace doily to secure it to the brown corduroy. Then, this bag will be on its way to someone very special. I sure hope she likes this surprise! And maybe there'll be a few little surprises tucked into those pockets, too!

May you have a nice surprise in your day, too!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Yarn Tale

Truth be told, I'm not spinning a yarn.
But this post is about yarn. A tote of yarn my generous S-I-L gave me the last time we got together for a visit.
Here's the tote:

And here's the beautiful, soft, delicious yarn:

I've already used some of the white, ribbon yarn on a special project. But I can't share just yet.



I think the stars must be aligned just right for generosity of spirit: I have received so many lovely gifts lately, and met wonderful people, that I am feeling especially blessed.

I hope your day is filled with Blessings.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Surprise Package

I found a package in the mailbox Friday, from my friend Shirl.
She sent me this:

Printed in 1944, it cost only 15 cents! Although it contains mostly crochet patterns, there are several tatting patterns I want to try.








And this pretty bag contained:

I opened the wrapped tissue paper and found these

Hankies! Beautiful hankies!

 See all that lovely lace? And embroidery and  cut thread work?

In all, there are 16 hankies! They range from 8" square to 12" square.

It looks as though they have never been used, and are in perfect condition except for two which have some tiny tears in the fabric. They look so delicate, and dainty. Shirl told me they came from her aunt, and now they were for my CQing.

Wow! Shirl, you're the Best! Thanks so much!

I hope you find nice surprises in your mailbox.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Found Treasures

I went back to the second-hand shop to search for more treasures, and found these:

crocheted lace

an oval doily

and a third lace! I think this one is machine-made. I'm gathering laces for my CQing stash. At 50 cents each, it's a steal! I can't help thinking of the many hours someone invested in creating the hand-made laces, and how under valued they are!

Then I found these handles from a purse, and a tie clip, each for only $1, so I scooped them up. The tie clip goes into my CQ stash, but I have an idea brewing for the plastic (lucite?) handles. It just might involve some or all of the following: dark brown corduroy, animal print cotton, rusty bits, laces, embroidery, ribbon, and tatting. Hmmmm, I wonder,.....

Wishing a Happy Columbus Day to all in the USA

I'll be celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving  and hope you are too.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Paintings: Wolf and Nebula

I have made some additions to the wolf painting.
from this:

to this:

This third pic shows the addition of a third colour--green. I'm not sure if I like it yet. There is some more definition I want to add, but I don't want to do too much as I'm concerned it might negate the freshness of it and the feeling of the painting growing out of those initial paint smears. What do you think?






Shirley began her Nebula Experiment:

Then I added a little:

with another 'planet' and some warmer colours...

This painting is a bit more realistic in nature and execution than the Wolf, but I want to soften edges a bit and capture a more mysterious and ethereal look. I think I may need to darken the background and create vapours of noxious gases, stars, and hint at the abstract. The dilemma is how best to go about doing that. So, I'm thinking about it, and trying to conquer that 'fear factor'.
What would you do? Add some acrylic white to create those gases? Wink out sections of the planets to soften the hard edge look and push them back into the darkness? Add acrylic metallic paints for some glimmer?

I hope you have fun experimenting with new ideas today.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Cluny Catastrophe

Georgia Seitz challenged The Online Tatting Class to tat her cluny bookmark. Having never tatted clunies before, I thought I'd give it a try. Oh, Boy!

I tried clunies with a plastic canvas loom. Nope. No good.

I tried clunies with a hand 'loom'. Unh-unh. Didn't work.
So I threw in the towel, at least temporarily. I really need to work on perfecting the tension. Really.

Here then, for your daily chuckle: Suz Cluny Catastrophe!

Are they not sad? All different shapes. All different sizes. And all the same pattern! Arrrgh!



I do love the thread, though. It's Yarnplayer's 'Stardate".   Hhmm, I think I'll go and try to make something simpler with what's left of the thread. ;-)










Hope you have better success with whatever you're doing today.
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Another Painting or Two, or.......

My friend Shirl and I decided to paint together during her recent visit. We began with a limited palette of 2 colours, added water to the paper in a random fashion, sploshed on paint, squirted water, dabbed, tilted, spritzed, sprinkled salt, and repeated the process until we saw something in the dried paint.
And I forgot to take pictures at this point!  Waaah!
We began to develop what we had seen in our paintings. My friend had never begun a painting in such an abstract  way before, but check out her work! I think it's fabulous!

Still in the beginning stages, she left her painting for me to complete! Having just moved, all her art supplies are packed. Gee, I hope I don't wreck it! I already have a few ideas percolating! This is going to be fun!

This is what I spied in my paint dabs. Shirl said it was evil! ;-) I saw a dragon, with flames spurting from the nostrils.......But a funny thing happened on the way to the dragon..-- it morphed into a wolf!   I still have to develop the left side of the paper and play with what's already there. Perhaps I'll add another colour........What do you think?

Well, now there are three painting experiments in progress! How I love to play!

I hope you have fun playing, too.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz