Distracted

I just saw a plaque for sale in a catalog (Potpourri) that says:

"I can't clean because....

I get distracted by all the Cool stuff I find."

Oh that sooooo describes me!  

Not to mention the condition of my house!

Every time I start to put something away or organize or sort

I start finding stashes  

of all kinds of things

And patterns or instructions for wonderful projects

that I plan to try  -  someday.

And instantly I forget all about what I came in with or for

and want to begin work on:

a flamingo quilt

or a new blouse

a knotted bracelet

or a crocheted sweater

a card for mom

or some tatting for a challenge (how long ago?)

Sprang that I still don't have the hang of

or Broomstick Lace that looks so neat

Christmas ornaments

or grapevine wreaths

weaving a shallow basket for picking blueberries

or maybe knitting a cap for my grandson

A new recipe to try

or that painting of the squirrel I photographed on the fence.

I could go on and on and on and on.

How about you?

What distracts you from cleaning?

Zentangle Cards

Have you seen any Zentangle yet? It was new to me. But of course once you hear of something new and start looking you begin to see more and more. It seems to me to be just doodling. It is fun. Reminded me of sitting in Freshman English class again drawing when I should have been listening. Whew! Yeah, I was more into drawing than figuring out what some dead guy really meant.

Anyway, there is a site on Zentangle where they vaguely describe it and then offer to sell a $50.00 kit with supplies and of course a CD. And even offer classes. Now I am sure there is a lot of the Zen part I am missing and the techniques, by not parting with my cash but I personally think all that would take the fun out of doodling. It was the no rules part that made it so freeing.

So instead I got out some paper and pencils I already owned and trimmed it down to a small size as indicated on some blogs and just started doodling. I started with some ideas from ones I saw and then relaxed and enjoyed.

I tried to describe it to friends and family but it was not easy. So I scanned, printed and trimmed them down and inserted them in cards I made. Now I can share my doodles. Just for fun!

Give it a try and let me know what you think. And what you do with yours. Here is a photo of mine:

Spring Cards

I had a few minutes today to make some of my quick spring cards between other projects. This is a design I have used in the past to share seeds from my Chives:

This time I had saved seeds from a milkweed plant. So first I put a photo with a label on some seed packet templates and printed them:

After assembling the packets and filling them with seeds, I made the cards with some simple changes:

And lets not forget some coordinating envelopes:

Some might wonder why I would share seeds from a weed but you can read about my milkweed plant here. Maybe this year the caterpillars will survive to become more Monarch Butterflies! Anyway, I would love to share the joy of watching these butterflies with my friends. Even weeds can serve a purpose.

Cards

This week I started on a scarf other than the one I had planned to make. This one resembles a spider web to me and I had leftover black yarn so I decided to give it a try. It is working up fast and should be complete by next week.

I also took some time off today and made some cards. I thought about posting photos but then they won't be a surprise when I send them to friends and family so no photos this week.

Star Tatted Bookmarks

At last here is a photo of the bookmarks I have been working on. They were scraps left over from the 4th of July cards I made and just the right size for a bookmark so I laminated them. But they just seemed to need a tassel and I have been wanting to do some tatting so this seemed like a perfect excuse to tat a little something. The star is from a neat tatted bookmark at Needle Tatting Two.



This is the card that started the star tatting for the bookmark from the card that Carol made. I prefer simple designs as you see by this but it is the thought that counts, right?