Snowflakes!

My, oh my!  Back in November, I was helping a friend who wanted to learn how to crochet an easy snowflake, and I decided I wanted some more snowflakes myself!  They are so pretty, and take very little time to do, at least compared with a 'normal' project. (Like my sweater I've been working on for over a year that only needs 1 1/2 sleeves and then it will be done. That's next on my to-do list.)

After I made just a few, I first decided I wanted 100 snowflakes, so I could display them on my front two windows, but realized that 100 would probably make it so I couldn't see out very well. :-)   Fifty seemed more reasonable! 

I started out with a few free patterns online, then made about 10 from the Christmas crochet book I have, then got the rest of the patterns online.  I will try to find the links to as many as I can!

First of all, here are all 50 snowflakes!

50 snowflakes, made between November 2014 and February 2015.

Whew!  It was fun, but am glad I'm done.  I am VERY sure I will be adding to this, but my to-do list is waiting....

Now for the individual snowflakes....  in groups!
(If you read this and the links aren't here, I am "in the process".  Couldn't do it all in one sitting.  Would have been a lot easier if I had done it one at a time, and not had to try to find the link later... I've loaned out my print-outs.  Plus, in my groupings, I duplicated two, and can't find all the patterns...)

1.  Sewemup Mesa Snowflake, large
2.  Book, "Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet", #34.
3.
4.  San Luis Peak snowflake

5.  Vintage Blazing Star Motif; Really interesting construction.
6.  Fiocco di neve
7.  Conundrum Peak Snowflake
8.  Spindrift 1

 9.   2010 Snowflake,  I had to rewrite a good portion of the pattern.
10. 
11.  Blue River Snowflake
12.  Dainty Snowflake

13.  A Snowflake for Marikamum      
14.  Sam's Garden Snowflake, by Orb Weaver  Unique design. A few things were tricky to understand. On rd 3, "dc in top of half of next dc" it means the LAST dc on previous ch 6. On rd 4, "Working around" means skip that part of the snowflake and move to the next part. When she did "ch 1, sl st in top of last dc" I did a ch2 picot instead. Would have been easier with clearer directions.
15.  Book, "Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet", #33.
16.  Book, "Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet", #36.

17.  Snowflake Chart;  One of my favorites- best chart I used, made it quick and easy.
18.  Charmed Snowflake (without the bead)

19.  Yarnspirations Snowflake C (Photo is C, Pattern is B)
20.  Book, "Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet", #30.
21.  Yarnspirations Snowflake A (Photo is B, pattern is C)

22.  Snowflake 1
23.  Yarnspirations Snowflake A    
24.
25.  Stand Out Snowflake
26.  Chain Loop Snowflake
27.  Rosa Snowflake   I only did 3 clusters on each outside spoke

  

28.  Charlie Brown's Tree Ornament

29.  Lion's Brand Snowflake   Make sure you note the corrections.

30.  Snowflake no. 98

31.  Sewemup Mesa Snowflake, small

32.  Pretty Picot Snowflake    Made a few corrections/changes to pattern. Round 2: Should read 6 ch-4 loops, 6 picot loops (not 12 ch-4 loops) Round 5: Instead of "ch3, p, ch3", I did "ch4, p, ch4." At end, instead of "sl st around beg. ch 2", I did "sl st around 1st ch in beg ch3."

33.

34.  Snowflake no. 93

35.  Snowflake No. 44

36.

37.  Snowflake no. 43

38.  Yarnspirations Snowflake B (Photo B, Pattern C)

39.   Bicycle Spokes Snowflake   Made a few corrections/changes to pattern.  rd 4: Ch 2 (counts as first hdc), *into same ch 3 space, work dc, ch 3, 2 dc into 3rd ch from hook, ch 5, sc into 5th ch from hook, ch 5, sl st into sc, ch 5, sl st into sc, ch 3, 2 dc into 3rd ch from hook, (dc, hdc) into space, sc into dc below, ch 8, skip hdc, sc into next dc; hdc into next ch 3 space, repeat from * around 5 times for a total of 6 spokes and 6 points, finishing with sl st into sc before starting ch 2 instead of hdc on final repeat; bind off. Weave in ends.

40.  Crochet Snowflake by The Purple Poncho

41.  Snowflake no. 99

42.  Snowflake no. 92

43.

44.

45.

46.  Oops! This duplicates #17.

47.  Snowflake garland; One of my favorites, and whips up quick!

48.  Book, "Our Best Christmas Thread Crochet", #31.

49.  Chain loop snowflake- making 12 large points instead of 6

50.  Oops! This duplicates #20.

The real number 46 (on left):
46.  White Snowflake Christmas Ornament 2
The real number 50 (on right): 
50.  Oro Snowflake   I did 4 ch loops instead of 3 ch loops on 2nd row.

Ones I know I made but missed the picture somehow:

      Snowflake no. 100

  

Truck Quilt

I have meant to post this since Christmas, but it was very busy, then I forgot! 

I made this quilt for my grandson, who loves trucks! 

We (my mom and I) have made our quilt 'sandwich'.

On the frame and Mom trimming off the excess.

Details of the before and after trimming.

On the frame and ready to start quilting!

Wahoo! We've done our first roll!

Mom is REALLY good at this.

See how nice her quilting is?

All done except the parts that are going to be machine quilted.

Sewing on the binding.

Proof that I actually did do some of the work. :-)

Christmas Day! "Did you get a blanket?" "No! It's trucks!"

Already playing under his new quilt.

Elise says he won't sleep with any other blanket.  I love that he loves it!

Dried Leaf Stationary

My friend, Beverly, makes this very cute craft that her mom taught her when she was a kid.  She wanted me to post it.  Absolutely!  Adorable!

Dried Leaf Stationary

Supplies:  envelope, paper for template and inside of card, dried leaves (flowers, construction paper cutouts, whatever you want to use), white water-base glue, soft paint brush, bowl, wax paper, cheap facial tissue,  paper-cutter or scissors, and rubber cement glue.

1.  Decide what size envelope you are going to use.  (Can't seem to get rid of this HUGE space!  Sorry!)

   2.  Cut a paper twice the size you want your finished stationary/card so that you can fold it, and use it as your template.  Draw a dark line down the crease where your stationary will fold.  (if your card is too big, it won’t fit easily in the envelope, and too small will look funny.)

  3.  Choose your pressed/dried leaves that you wish to use.  (you can buy them at a craft store or make your own ahead of time by doing the following:

Pick unique leaves, place a single layer of them in newspaper, place a book or heavy object on top to press it.  Repeat until all the leaves are pressed.  Wait 6 weeks until the leaves are thoroughly dry. )

  4.  Using your white glue (I use Elmers, but any brand should work) and soft-bristled paint brush (I get mine out of the kids water-color kit), mix together some glue with some water in a bowl.  I use about 2/3 glue and 1/3 water.  (It needs to be runny enough to spread, but glue-y enough to hold everything together when it dries).

  5.  Lay your template on your work surface.  It is a good idea to label which side is the outside front and outside back of your stationary for easier leaf placement later.

  6.  Cut a piece of wax paper and place it over your template.  If it tends to roll up, place something on the edges to hold it down.

  7.  Place your desired leaves on the wax paper in the desired location.  I prefer just to have mine on the front, but you can also have them on the back.

 8.  Take a piece of tissue paper, and pull the 2-ply piece into two separate 1-ply pieces.

 9.  Use one 1-ply tissue and place it on the leaves and wax paper (the template is still underneath the wax paper). 

  10.  Using the soft brush, VERY gently spread glue-mixture on the tissue.  It is best to “dab” (up and down) the glue-mixture on rather than “brushing” (sideways) it on.  I start on the leaves so it holds them in place better.  You want the tissue to be thoroughly wet so it adheres to the leaves and wax paper.  Do not use so much that it puddles up. 

  11.  Continue spreading the glue-mixture.  This process takes time and patience, it usually takes me about 5-7 minutes, so if this is your first time, make sure you allow plenty of time for this.  If you happen to tear the tissue, gently and carefully push the torn edges back together.

  12.  Continue with the glue-mixture until you have covered the entire area of the template.  Remove the template and set the project aside to dry.

13.  It takes about 4 hours to thoroughly dry.  The glue is slightly flexible, but if you bend it too much, it will crack or start separating apart.  It is best not to stress it too much.

14.  When it is dry, it can be ironed between clean paper to make it flatter, or just leave “as is” as I usually do.  Then, cut it to your desired size.  You can use your template as a guide.

  15.  Fold it in half so that your design is on the front.

  16.  Cut and fold a plain white paper so that it is just a tiny bit smaller than the stationary.

  17.  Write a note/letter, then using rubber cement, glue in the paper (if you glue it in first, writing on it will be bumpy).  It looks best to glue the back, then just a little on each front corner to hold it in place.

    

18.  All finished!

Railings, and DONE!

Life has been kind of crazy the last few weeks (I did can 75 pints of apricot pineapple jelly, for instance), so even though work has been going on on the deck, I haven't gotten the pictures posted.  And now it's done!!  Yippee!!

Well, there is one post cap that was warped, and I have to take it back and get a replacement.  But that just has to wait for another day.

Once the stairs were up, we could walk up and down, but it was a bit nerve racking, since there were no railings.  So we didn't do it much.  It was very nice to have the back door available, though!

So the first thing to do was put in the posts.  What a pain.  There is a steel post, then the vinyl sleeve that goes over it.  You have to put down the steel support, then attach the post, then put on the sleeve to make it pretty.  But they got done! 

 

The metal support under the post.

Railings done on the stairs.

That was one day's work.

Next came the railings.   We did the railings on the deck one day, then another day we did the stairs.

First railing section done on the deck!

All the deck railings finished!

The stairs were a bit tricky.  We didn't get them perfect, BUT unless you are looking for it, the imperfections are not noticeable. 

Here's the railing support for the stairs.

One section done, one to go!

All done!  Doesn't it look great!

Stairs!

We worked a little bit on Monday and 4 hours today, and now we have stairs!  They aren't completely finished, as we are going to put Trex on top.  But they are all bolted together and onto the deck. Secure!  It's kind of creepy walking up and down them, though, as there are no hand rails.  Eeek.

All the treads on, but upside down so we can put supports under the top stair.

All ready to put into place to measure the header.

All the supports in place!  Just needs some railing and the Trex.

Decking on!

Jacob and John got all the decking on yesterday!  It was quite a chore, and John was glad to have Jacob's help.  Here are some shots:

Here, they've laid the boards down to just see how they fit. But you can now stand up on the deck!

You can see how long the boards were before they cut them off!

Finally getting rid of the last piece of the old porch.  They couldn't put in the last board with this in the way.

Wahoo!  All the decking is on and secured!  Looking good!