I've been included in an Etsy Treasury. This seems to be a big deal and I am honored. Check it out
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=79273

New in the Shop

My friend Ann said she would love to see what some of the fabric looked like before I cut it up and made it into bowls. Here is a sweet piece of blue fabric with little cherries (or apples).


And here is the bowl I made with it.

I have also started to make matching coasters.

Pink Saturday

Who knew you could find so much pink in Office Depot? I really have got to start carrying my camera with me. These cell phone pictures are the worst.

Pink Saturday

I went to Office Depot to look for a new desk chair and what did I find? Somehow you just can't ignore pink, it shows up everywhere. Those pink drawers would make a fine place for craft stuff. I really need to get a new purse so I can carry my camera with me. These photos were taken with my cell phone, true dedication to Beverly's Pink Saturday.

Photography practice

Am I getting any better?

Fabric postcard

I've made some new postcards for Fall. These are the few that I have put in the shop.

I have used natural sunlight, I have created a plain white background and still my pictures are mediocre. You know what they say, practice, practice, practice.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Jamillah, at Godiva Chocolates, Galleria Mall, Ft Lauderale FL making chocolate covered strawberries in the store window.

Internet Friends

My friend Dotti (of Zizzy-Dot fame) sent me instructions for making fabric beads. I made some that very day. Why haven't you seen them? Because they were so bad, that I threw them out and pledged to try again some time.

It wasn't enough for Dotti to send me the instructions, nor was it enough for her to send me some photos, she had to go the extra mile and send me the real thing.


Aren't these fabulous? The truth is that I have made several internet friends that I really wish lived near me so we could visit in person. They have been most generous and I am so grateful. You can visit some of my friends here:

Dotti Pieceful Musings

Cindy Cindy is Crafty and She makes things too

Mary Mary Quilts

Deb Rags n Quilts

Vicki Field Trips in Fiber and her fabulous etsy shop

There are several more friends I have no mentioned because they do not have blogs for you to visit (you know who you are Ann and Maria).

Fabric Rusting Revisited

I just wasn't happy with the way the first time I rusted this fabric. So I put it in a bucket with the rusting chain, some vinegar, water and left it there for a few days. It looked pretty gross.



I do like the way it turned out. This piece even has some dark steel gray/blue splotches. I have no idea why that happened but I really like it and wish I could do it again. Now does anyone have any good ideas what I could do with this piece of fabric?

Beverly's Pink Saturday Around the Block

Fragipani
Bromeliad

Hibiscus


Bougainvillea


Another shade of bougainvillea

I don't know what these plants are but they sure are a pretty shade of pink.

Maybe next week I'll look for yellow.

Midnight Blue

Rust Dying

I put a piece of bleached muslin in a garbage bag, with a hunk of old chain and some vinegar. It's been about a week now and it's time to take it out, (mostly because I'm tired of waiting).

I washed, dried and pressed the muslin and now it looks like this.

This is the only section that turned out to my liking. I think I'm going to take the piece, put in in a bucket with the chain and some more vinegar and let it sit some more.

Around the Block

My neighborhood, in fact much of Ft Lauderdale is built on canals and rivers. It is a very common site to see large masts jutting out behind a house. This looks like a big one.






I can't just walk into someones back yard to take a picture, but there are a few spots where a canal or river is clearly visible. The guy across the river was not too happy with me taking his picture.

We have a small nature park in this neighborhood which adjoins the New River. If you ever take a ride on the Jungle Queen, you will pass this boat yard.

The boat yard is on the other side of the river. On our side of the river used to be a sailboat yard. There were some beautiful boats (including Neil Young's) docked here. The property was sold to a firm that was going to build a boat condominium. They got as far as tearing down all the existing buildings. Now there is nothing there, a very sad site to see.

Beverly's Pink Saturday

For more delicious pink entries, visit Beverly's Pink Saturday.

Blog Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you all for you comments.

My newest bowl measures 8" across and is 3" deep. It is desert sand in color with bits of metallic gold. It is embellished with a matching rope twist sprinkled with gold beads. And it could be yours. That's right, in an effort to bring some attention to my etsy shop, I am giving this bowl, a $20 value, to some lucky winner. You can have up to 5 entries and you have until Monday August 31, 2009 to submit your entries. Here how it works...

1. Go to my etsy shop, here, and pick out which item you like the best. Then post a comment, with your first and last name like this: Mary Smith - Moon over the Mountain Postcard.

2. For and extra chance include the reason why you chose that item as your favorite.

3. Go to my etsy shop, here, and select me as one of your favorites. Then post a second comment with your first and last name like this: Mary Smith - etsy favorite. If by chance you have previously have selected me as one of your favorites, then post the same comment.

4. For a third entry, blog about this giveaway on your blog. Then post a comment with your first and last name, and a link to your blog like this: Mary Smith - blog entry www. whatever blog.com

5. Become a Facebook fan of zizzybob's shop, here. Then post a comment with your first and last name and tell me you are a fan like this: Mary Smith - Facebook fan. If by chance you already are a fan, then post the same comment.

Remember, your comment must link back to you in some way so that I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

Wordless Wednesday

Broward County Sheriff's Department's new cars.

Zizzy-Dot +1 Swap - July

Something New

While most folks were either in church, going to the beach or just chillin', I decided to do something different, different for me anyway. I decided to take a class in jewelry making. The class was called general assembly.I have no intention of getting into jewelry making (good golly there are as many doing jewelry as there are quilters) and I don't really know why I took this class but enjoyed it.

The store is pretty big for selling beads and boy do they have everything under the sun. They even have a kiln and make lamp work beads. That class is expensive....I'm thinking about it. I would have gotten more pictures but the shop was busy for a Sunday morning. Looks like candy doesn't it?

And the final results, one pair of earrings and a matching necklace. OK all you jewelry makers, don't look too close, it's my first try. As for the purple beads, well you know what they are for.

My first oval bowl with beads sewn all the way around.
Oh nuts, my external mouse just died.

Around the Block

It's a hot sun shiny day here in South Florida, so I'll take another bike ride around the block. This time I am interested in the differences in front doors. I am not looking for just plain white doors. There are lots of them, single doors, double doors, some plain, others have glass insets. Here's mine.


There are also lots of natural wood doors and even a few old jalousie doors. You can jazz them up and call them vintage, I call them crap. (I can say that because I used to have one)

But what I'm looking for is something out of the ordinary. There are many red doors.

There are many green and blue doors.

There are even a bunch of pink or yellow doors.

Oh, here it is... a purple door on a lime green house. I'm going to have to revisit this house when the front landscaping is done.

But wait, here's the weird part, I was attacked by chickens. Yes, I said chickens. Why is this so odd, you ask. Because I do not live in rural America. I live in what's considered "down town". In fact, I have 8 lanes of interstate in my backyard. Chickens in this area is actually against the law.

Weird!

Around the Block - Cancelled

This weeks edition of Around the Block has been called on account of rain. Hopefully it will not be raining tomorrow morning.
So in the meantime, I'll show you, what else, some new bowls. It's taken me 6 trys but I finally got the shape I have been attempting to make all week. I got some great beads online from Jerri , some of which are hand sewn around the covered rope embellishment. BTW, I got a great, unsolicited, revue of my blog and etsy shop from Jerri. Maybe that stupid blog grader doesn't know what it's talking about.

What do you when when you have some matching variegated thread and eyelash yarn?

You make another bowl of course. This one is so darn cute. I can just see it on a dressing table filled with cotton balls or bangle bracelets. I would keep it for myself if I had a dressing table or bangle bracelets.

I think I'm going to try to make an oval bowl/basket next.

Vintage Quilters Newletter Magazine

I currently have an ad at Ebay for some old Quilters Newsletter Magazine. If you are interested check it out.



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220462953870&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I have been busy in my studio. I made 6 blocks for the August Block Lotto.

I am still having fun with bowl making. I think they are getting better as I go along. This one was made from a recycled mans plaid shirt.

This one was made from a green and pink batik. Both bowls are for sale in my etsy shop.