Bump Bump!!!

Well...all of the gifts for the Baldwin County Christmas Angel program are wrapped and ready to be picked up. I placed tags on each one of what was inside the box...who it was for (girl or boy) and the appropriate age to receive the gift. I so hope all the kiddos like their gifts from me ummm I mean Santa!!! I know that it so warms my heart to know that I could do my part to help make Christmas a bit brighter for them. I have to admit that it's been a bit harder to work on them this year because the Chazman has been full of questions. Why and for who was I making all of these? I do NOT lie to my child so it's been difficult to tell him why and who without telling him the whole answer. Why, you ask? The Chazman still "BELIEVES" in Santa and I'm going to let him keep that magic for as long as he can!! I have told him that I am making gifts for Ms Sue to give to some children she sponsors. Not a lie because it's true....just not the complete story!!! I can be smart when I have to be...whew!!

Today's project.....I love making my chenille vintage ornies and that's what I'm working on....right now...well...not RIGHT now because I'm visiting with YOU but after we finish our visit. hehe  Here's what my ummm messy work area looks like:

I warned ya it was messy!! I have been banned to the dining room to work due to the fact that Ms Boo feels
it is her responsibility, obligation and right to lay right on top of my work and grab my hands so I can NOT work. She knows not to jump up on the table but I just can't teach her that my studio desk is not a horizontal pause station. CATS!!!!

I don't know if I told ya'll this but someone hacked my Southerooaks mail account a few months back and that was so.....Argggg...frustrating and aggravating!! I had my email addy on my business card and so needed to get some new ones. With the holidays coming, I'm saving money whenever I can so buying new ones just weren't in the budget. Yesterday while pulling out some of my vintage sheets I found my folder of Avery business card paper. I had totally forgotten that I had them. I found them at a yard treasure sale a few
months back for only .50. Can ya believe that? Fifty cents for an unopened pack of business card papers? I was soooo happy!!! I snatched  ummmm I mean nicely picked them up and paid the lady. I opened them up
yesterday and followed the instructions and to my amazement discovered that Avery offers templates you can use for free. FREE peoples....free is always good!! (Click HERE if you are interested in the link) You can use your own designs too and I plan on going back and making a few for the different holidays with some of my ooaks on them. (Santa, witches...ya know) Have to get a new ink cartridge first...I'm always
running out of ink for some reason...hehe  Now where was I...oh yes....free templates. I found one that I just fell in love with. What grows on oak trees? ACORNS!! Yes, I found one with acorns and pretty colorful ones too.

Cute, ri iight? I did a front and back and it was soooo easy. If you need business cards, labels ohhh just about anything you need to print, go and check them out. This was the best fifty cents I ever spent!!!!!

Until next time............Hugs,
Regi

Got the Monday Blues...oh yeahhhh!!!

Well, it's a Monday....any and every which way ya look at it. It's humid and rainy and dreary and WAIT...what am I complaining for? The good LORD let me wake up this Monday morn so it's a very good day....a very good day indeed. ^_^

It IS humid AND dreary this morning and the perfect weather to stay inside and that's just what I'm going to do. It won't be wasted time, although a small horizontal pause might be good. Would that be wasted time?  No time for that...hehe...I'm going to be making my paper boxes and pompom bows for all the wristlets I've made. That's going to take some time...whew!! I'm also going to work on making some pocket pouches for some hair accessories I made for the program too. Yes Yes I will be making them out of toilet tissue holders. Stop laughing...ya'll know how much I love to recycle!! Ohhh, here are the hair barrettes I made yesterday.
STOP the laughing already...will ya?  HAHA If they don't work then I will use cardstock. Happy now ^_^

Until next time...........HUGS,
Regi

Tooth Faerie Brigade!!

Quietly coming into a room without making a sound and then darting under their pillow and perhaps even their covers and almost getting squished by the sweet, sweet child laying in the bed doesn't sound like a very good experience, does it? It is though and one that bestows great honor on the one that holds the job title of Tooth Faerie!!! She loves collecting the baby teeth of all the wee ones and exchanging them for silver coins and she has been doing it for centuries. She is however a bit tired of all the hunting for teeth that have slipped out from under the pillows and rolled onto the floor and under the bed. This can be very dangerous as cats can SEE faeries and I'm sure you know what might happen if she is seen by the family cat. Not to mention how many times she has had to spend time whispering in the child's ear to open it's little hand that is gripping the tooth with all he or she has.

After a very long and tiring night of having to hunt, search or persuade her little charges to let go of their baby tooth, she came up with a plan. A very good plan and one that would help make sure she collected all the baby teeth being offered to her each and every night. She was going to recruit some assistants!!

Meet Pumpkin and Squeak....a great little team if ever there was. 

Meet Fernando who can't leave the pond without his lily pad.

Meet George who loves wearing his Banana tie.

Meet Rascal who again has pulled up one of farmer Joe's carrots.

Meet Cupcake..the sweetest of the team. (Warning: Never, EVER try

and take her cupcake)

Didn't the Tooth Faerie pick out the cutest little whimsical characters? She discovered them living near the old Southern ooaks tree and made them an offer to help that they just couldn't resist. Are you still scratching your head wondering just what a tooth faerie assistant is? Let me explain. Being a mom and wanting to keep up the magic of the Tooth Faerie and having dealt with the lost tooth not under the pillow, lost tooth under the covers, lost tooth under the bed or finally realizing the lost tooth was in the hand, I designed these characters to help me out AND keep the magic going. It's important to let magic flow in a child's imagination especially one that has a very quirky artistic mom. HEHE  Each one of these were hand sewn using a cotton fabric from one of my own patterns. They were lovingly stuffed with just the right amount of batting so that they are still very huggable. Each has been hand painted using acrylic paints and detailed using a black fabric pen. The mouse, lily pad, banana, carrot and cupcake are pouches made from felt. These are the things that will help the parents Tooth Faerie out the most. Each has an open top so that the very special baby tooth can be placed inside. I have placed two little plastic bags inside for now.....one for the tooth and one for the silver coins. (or dollar bill or even a IOU that promises a future fun adventure) The pouches have twine so that on that special night they can be tied around the fabric characters neck and the character sat on the bed or nightstand. You can even take this a tad bit further and make it fun by making up a small bedtime story to go with their character and make this a truly magical and special time for your child. The best part is that you won't have to be taking a chance waking them up by feeling under the pillow or the covers to locate that tooth anymore. ^_^

These whimsies are being donated to the Baldwin County Christmas Angel program and I do hope that the child that receives them will love them as much as I loved making them....just for them!!!

Until next time..........Hugs,

Regi

Dragons and rabbits and bears...OH MY!!!

It's a beautiful day today and I'm staying inside..hehe  The mister has gone off with some of his work buddies, the Chazman is pillaging and plotting (playing one of his games) and I'm sewing. Happy Happy Happy!!!

I am working on some of my Tooth Faerie assistants for the Angel Christmas program today. A rabbit and a bear. Yesterday I finished with the dragon and he looks "adorable".

Dragon, monkey, cat and frog are just in the "bones" stage right now but will look amazing when I get them painted. I think I might even dress a few of them. Still pondering on that!!

Now I can see that some of ya might be a scratching those noggins wondering what in the world a Tooth Faerie assistant is. In a time far away and long, long ago....hehe....it does feel that way as I made my first one about 30 years ago. Tooth Faerie assistants are fabric characters that aide the tooth faerie in her quest to gather children's baby teeth. Do you remember how frustrating it was to try and find that tiny little tooth hidden under your kiddos pillow? I can remember having to lay on the floor and search and search around and under the bed, only to find that my son(s) had the tooth in hand....literally!!  Well....that's where these guys come in. Each has a little pouch they carry so instead of putting that precious tooth under the pillow you put it into the pouch. The assistant then sits on the bed patiently waiting for Tooth Faerie to come and pick up the tooth and leave some shiny coins in its place. Yes I said coins people...no need to spoil our youngins. Well...we don't want to spoil them TO MUCH!!

While I'm sewing today I'm also doing some baking.....BING...the dirts ready!! Did ya try my dirt brownie recipe yet? I'm on my third batch this week..hehe  I have some eggs sitting out to come to room temp so the Chazman and I can make some ghost poo cookies. They are really "forgotten kisses" but they have different names depending on the holiday around this homestead you see. Halloween they are ghost poo, Christmas they are angel clouds and at Valentines they are smooches..hehe Here's our easy recipe just in case you want to make some for your little ghoul or boy. 

Ingredients

2 large egg whites at room temp

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

2/3 cup fine granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional:

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup crushed peppermint sticks

1 cup walnuts

Mixing and baking

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until fluffy. (do not overbeat)

Add sugar about 3 tablespoons at a time beating well in between spoonfuls. When half of the sugar is added, add vanilla extract. Continue beating and adding sugar until all sugar is mixed in and not grainy. Your fluffs should be shiny. Fold in any of the optional ingredients you may want to add at this time. (we love them without any of the optional ingredients too...just sayin) Working one teaspoon at a time, push a teaspoon of the meringue onto the parchment paper using another spoon to help you. Leave about 1 inch in between cookies. Place in oven...turn oven off and leave cookies in at least 2 hours or even overnight until cookies are crisp and dry. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.....if they last that long!!

Until next time........Hugs,

Regi

YIKES...it's morning already???

Good Morning for now...hehe  I might not feel like it is in another few hours. It might just be "Morning ya'll" instead of good morning. You see, I did burn the midnight oil last night working on the little finger puppets and when I finally looked at the clock (because the hubbikins, who went to sleep on the couch scared the hibbie jibbies out of me with his snoring...which according to him he never does) it was 3am. THREE AM people!! I haven't sat up that late (or early..depends on how ya look at it) for a very long time. Alarm went off at 6am so I am on my SECOND pot of coffee to make sure this olde gal stays awake to finish my projects. Kiddos are depending on muah and I can not disappoint.

So here's what I sat up so late working on. Ummmm, I need to make a confession though...it wasn't just the making of the finger puppets that kept me awake. I had to try them out after I finished each one. HEY...it's called product testing people. HEHE

I am working on the last book that will get a puppet and the puppet is a rooster!! Cock-a-doodle-doo!!  Now this is going to be a small challenge as I have never made a rooster before but as they saying goes "there's a first time for everything". Wish me luck!!

Just had to come back and let ya'll see the Li'l Rooster ^_^

Until next time..............Hugs,
Regi

Angel Gifts...makes my heart feel all warm!!

Good evening my sweet friends. I know that I'm late posting but I have been a busy busy woman today. Plus my muse wouldn't let me get near the computer very much....slave driver!!!  I guess I'll forgive her THIS TIME seeing how I have to have the items for the Angel program finished by Friday around lunch. However, I would greatly appreciate it if ya didn't tell her I forgive her right now. She can be such a DIVA when she discovers that she was correct in how she handled me. ^_^

I told ya'll yesterday that I was going to be making some of my gloved characters. WELL.....I lied...no...not really lied just temporarily misplaced my gloves and it's near to impossible to make gloved characters without gloves. HA!! I decided since my feeble mind or my muse (I bet she hid them...I know she did) couldn't put my hands on the gloves that I would make some of my felt finger puppets. The Chazman loved to have a little character from the story bouncing around while he was being told all about them. I figured it was a kid thing so others would too. (hoping with big hopes that they do) I only made one today but that's one less I will have to burn the midnight oil tonight making....ri iight??

TA-DA...little mousie is saying!! He is very excited that he got pulled out of the book so he can bounce around and peek over the top as his story is being read to a wee one. Hopefully, this will become a favorite bedtime story for someone. Tomorrow I'll be making a bear and a rabbit to go with two different storybooks. I love helping with this program!!

Now I know you must be thinking why in the world only one mousie got done today. Let me tell you why before you have to ask. ^_^  I was making keychains and a macrame wristlet. I use to macrame every chance I got. I mean the bug bit me big time back in the day..hehe!! I'm having to refresh myself on some of the knots and thank goodness there is google. What in the world would we do without google and youtube? Yes, once I found what I was looking for on google, I went to youtube to watch videos to help my feeble mind remember how to tie different knots. I did the Josephine knot....very cool knot!!!

See the fancy knots on the white keychain? Well of course you do...silly me!! That is a Josephine knot. Looks like a sailor knot on the white cording but on the red rope it looks completely different. Love them both and I hope who ever gets either of these loves them too.

I made a wristlet using it too and a guy or a girl could wear it with pride. It takes on a Celtic look in the red and black rope...or at least I think it does. ^_^

Now....family is hollaring their HONGRY and dinner is almost ready so I need to get up from here and make them happy. Thank you for dropping by....leave a comment and I will always reply back. (either to your email if I have it or I'll just leave it here.) Love my comments and I love YOU!!!!

Until next time............Hugs,
Regi

It's Angel Program time!!

Good Morning my sweet friends!! Ahhhhhh....the smell of French Vanilla Coffee. There's nothing any better. WHOAAA...hold up....I have to confess...that's a lie cause there is something better...the TASTE of French Vanilla coffee..hehe  Hold on a sec while I go and fix me yet another cup. Would you like one too?

Ok..I'm back and I brought YOU a cup too. Now...let's talk about the title of this post. Most of you that know KNOW me...know (WOW..that's alot of knows....ya know..hehe) that we have had to have some help with Christmas for our Chazman the past two years. We are so blessed to be a part of the Baldwin County Freecycle here. Blessed in that they help us (Angel Program) and even more BLESSED that I can return the giving by using my gift that God gave me....my artist abilities. I love making things for people...especially kiddos!!  It can be a hard task though..not really knowing (there's that word again....perhaps I should change the title to KNOWING..HA) the ages of the children that are being helped. I was told that the ages ranged from 2 to 17 so that's what I'm working with. You're looking at the age 17 aren't you? Well...I'm *cough cough* 54 and I still BELIEVE!! ^_^   I decided that I would start out with the teenagers....the female teenagers first. Here are five of my Bohemian bracelets that I'm donating. So hope they will be liked and worn!!

I'm going to make some of my hemp macrame bracelets for the guys and then some hemp macrame keychains that could go to either.  For the younger kiddos, I have been collecting books. It's amazing that I have found some in what looks like brand new condition. A few of them I am going to make little gloved characters to go with them. That way when they are being read to they can play along. The Chazman always liked to do that. HEY...I'm giving and getting on this project. Love to bring memories back into view!!

I picked these three to do the gloved characters with. There will be a mouse, a bear and a silly old rabbit. I love making my gloved characters...since I use to make them for Chaz and he loved them.....I'm hoping that who ever receives one of these will love them too.

After I work on these then I'm going to make some more of my little snow birdies. I'm thinking of doing the scarves around their necks with the colors of the major universities in the state. What do you think?

Until next time..............Hugs,
Regi

P.S.  Thanks for enjoying a cup of coffee with me this morning ^_^

Oopsie and Tig!!!

I have soooo much to get finished by Friday. Where in the world has the time gone to? Someone? Anyone? Please grab it and hold it for me ppplease!! So without rambling any more..hehe..here is the introduction to Oopsie and Tig. (Two of the cloth critters I have been working on) They are so happy to meet you!!!!

Oopsie and Tig

Oopsie is so excited to find out who will be his new caretaker!!

Tig is excited too but seeing that he is a CAT...he isn't letting on!!

Just look at that cute monkey face!!

Awwwww...who could resist those eyes?

Until next time............Hugs, Regi

I made my own gift box..hehe

I hope that you read about how to make your own box in my last post. I also hope that they were easy to follow directions so that you could make some of your own. I enjoyed making the "How to" post so much for everyone that I made some more boxes...ten to be exact....LOL!!!  These were made for a purpose. Do you remember the flower garden I have been cultivating here of late? You know the one....don't you? The one that took up a weekend plus. Need a reminder? Just Click Here.   I made the boxes to hold these precious flowers plus I made three more flowers to add to the bunch.

I do hope that the little girls that receive them Christmas morning will love them just as much as I loved growing making them. I just love the fact that so many people are coming together to make Christmas a special time for the families that need the extra help. I'm very excited to be one that is able to use my whimsical talents to help out. Paying it forward is a motto that all of us should take to heart. I know that I certainly do. Let's take a walk and see the newest flowers clipped from the garden.

I love using fabric and ribbon. This little beauty of a rose was made from a wired satin ribbon and has cotton fabric leaves. Not only do I love using fabric and ribbon but I really love buttons. The prettier the better!!! On this one I was able to use two buttons. The white one looked like the center of a flower. How perfect...ri iight??  I just couldn't resist using this little butterfly button to go along with it. It's attached to a large clip barrette.

Here is another rose from the same bush. No thorns either...that makes it nice. We don't want any ouchies from our sweet little ladies.....now do we? I used one of my flower buttons for the center of this one and instead of a hair clip...I attached it to an elastic headband. Can't you just see a sweet baby girl wearing this?
Sit and imagine....now let's all say...........Awwwwww!!!

This little beauty is from the whimsical side of the garden. I had these fantastic, colorful fabric scraps that a friend gave to me in a big bag of.......scraps!! HAHA  They were just the perfect size to make these with. So important tip here.....never throw out those scraps you might think are to small to be keeping. I just adore all the colors in this one too. What do you think of when you see the colors? I think of ice cream..... Neapolitan ice cream and a scoop or two of sherbet thrown in with perhaps some peppermint. YUM!! I suddenly am in the mood for ice cream. ^_^   Hmmmmm...wonder why? Instead of raiding my button stash for these...I raided my vintage bead stash. Tiny, pretty pink pearls. The leaves surrounding the flowers are made from a ribbon. This one has a hair clip attached to it.

Now I have ten beautiful flowers in all to give away but I just couldn't hand them over to Ms Sue and say "Here ya go". I wanted them to be extra special so that's why I made the boxes. The box liked we talked about at the beginning of this post....the box that this post is suppose to be about. Sorry...I just had to wonder in the garden BUT at least I took you with me and you got to smell see the pretty flowers. For the boxes, I used white card stock......because I know that the box probably won't survive the opening process. I mean if they were big boxes...then they would be "priceless" but these are small boxes. I hope they do survive though because they are really cute and could actually be another gift in itself. For the top of the box, I found this cute vintage page from a children's book with rabbits....I love rabbits....don't you? Rabbits looking out the window at Santa and his reindeer flying over the snowy sky. I printed it off in black and white and then water colored it in to give it that vintage look for real. I applied a tiny bit of sparkle flakes to the rabbit tail....some red glitter by some of the holly leaves and even a teeny tiny piece of red glitter on the nose of the first reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh. RUDOLPH!!! Well....either Rudolph or the reindeer had one heck of a party the night before....but....that's....another......whole post entirely!!

Until next time.............HUGS, Regi

Angel gifts are complete!!!

Now that I have rummaged through all my jewelry supplies..I have finally finished with my Angel gifts. One of the items that the group had requested for people to donate was for books. Books are wonderful and make an excellent gift for any age. I wrote a saying some time back  "What makes a Book Great? A grouping of words...that allow our minds to travel" Reading for some of us is how we get to experience far away places..mystical places and places that only the written word can take us. However, what does every person need that is reading a book? They need something to mark their page when they need to put the book down for a bit. (unless you are like me and run into doorways because you just can't put it down) Yes...yes...you can turn the corner of the page down....or stick a piece of scrap paper in it. Books, especially good ones, deserve more respect than that...they deserve a bookmark that is worthy to be placed inside the pages to bring you back to where ever your journey was taking you. So far the last of my gifts....I made some whimsical bookmarks.

I think that the book reader that gets one will be very happy and so will I, especially knowing that (fingers crossed) there will be no more pages bent down at the corners. I use to make these and forgot just how much fun it is to twist and curl the wire. I do believe that once I can rebuild my supplies then I'm going to make some more. Heck...I might even make one for myself ^_^ Would you like to make one? Very easy peasy..honest!! I think just giving you some tips and hints here is all you will need. If you do have any questions feel free to leave a comment or email me.

*WIRE* (of course ^_^..any size or type that you like to work with..just keep in mind you want something that will hold it's shape. I used 18 gauge. Using recycled copper wire makes a great bookmark..you will need to hammer it flat once you get your design complete due that most copper is fairly thick but this gives it a really nice look. Cutting a 12-18 length works for me...keep in mind if you want the bookmark hanging out the top and bottom or just the top. I cut a 12 inch length piece.

*Needle nose Pliers* (if you don't want any tool marks on the wire then take some masking tape and wrap it around the ends of the pliers. To make your spirals all you do is wrap your wire around the end of the pliers...as many wraps as can fit...then remove from pliers and then simply flatten them and reshape if needed. To make the zigzags I simply took the wire and laid it in the pliers and bent it over without looping. Make sure you put a small loop at the bottom of your bookmark..wire can stick!! If you are making one that will hang out the bottom of the book you can add a bead to the end or perhaps a tassel)

*Beads, Jump rings and Head Pins* (again..this is what ever you want to use. For some of my bookmarks I used loose beads..just make sure they will slide over your wire...and keep in mind that you want to slide them before you make a twist or zigzag *hard to slide a bead over a zigzag ya know*. I also used the head pins to make some cascading beaded findings and then put them on jump rings and attached to the wire)

Now go make some bookmarks. They make great gifts...stocking stuffers....even a cool gift tag to go on top of that wrapped book you got for someone. Think they will figure out what the actually gift is. ^_^ I would love to see yours if you make some...come back and share.


Until next time.....Hugs, Regi

Something Simple from the heart

Those that have been reading my posts already know about the gifts I have been working on to donate to the Angel program here in Baldwin County. You know....it doesn't take much to put a smile on someone's face and I'm hoping that these help do just that.....plus more. I hope the ones receiving them will get a smile placed on their hearts because they will know that someone really cares. I'm hoping to get a few more things made before they are picked up tomorrow but here is what I have so far....

This time of year is a time of "giving" and I'm so blessed that I have a talent that I can use to hopefully bring a big smile!!!!



Until next time......HUGS, Regi