Pink Cure!

Today is Saturday and I participate from time to time in a link called Pink Saturday! (Link widget on my sidebar) I am participating today because October is two days away and it will be Breast Cancer Awareness Month!  See my breast cancer awareness bracelet! 

I am encouraging everyone to find a way to reach out, being a positive influence for the cure this October! 

Won't you join us! What can you do?

WW - Seed?

Broken Sewing Machine!

It's National Sewing Month and my sewing machine finally "bit the dust"! It had a good long life; I've had it since about 1979.  I gave away my sewing machine kitty (designated savings) to a family that was short on rent money, due to a lost job.  (They have since gotten back on their feet! Yay!)  I did a side job, but will not be paid for about 30-45 days.  So what does a textile artist do besides the mending?  Well. . . .

 There is more to sewing than a sewing machine. 



Sew up a pretty broach with scraps by pruittcreations



Get out the floss!  Embroidered Art Hoop by pruittcreations

Or grab your scissors and some fabric scraps and make yo yos!!!


Yo yo tree wall hanging that I am working on for Christmas



Embroidery accents sewn on

It's fun and creative! And it's what I am doing lately,

until I get a new machine :)  



Autumn Begins!

My favorite time of year!

Let the fun begin!

 Hang out the decorations:

Paperbag Art by pruittcreations

 Spruce up the table:

Table Runner  by pruittcreations

and . . .

I think I'll go make a pie!

Mount St. Helens Visit

Yesterday, hubby and I went on a day trip.  Mount St. Helens can be seen from the near environs of our home and we had never been there.  We were not living in the Pacific Northwest when it exploded thirty years ago, but many of you might remember it being in the news. You can see many historical pictures on the Mount St. Helens National Monument site. The ecosystem after the blast is just so interesting!

Actually the mountains east of where I live in Oregon (and Washington) are the Cascades and are of volcanic origin.  I have posted about Mt. Hood (previous post) which is closest to me (and in another post). There are other peaks that we can see if we just travel a little farther, like Mt Rainer in Washington or the three Sisters in eastern Oregon, which are also a part of the Cascade range.  None seem to be currently active, except for ocassional earthquakes centered deep within the volcanos,which we can sometimes feel. 

Yesterday, we tramped around the southern apron of St. Helens at the 4-5,000 foot levels. Being the end of summer, there was little snow left on the top of the mountain. The mountain itself now rises to only 8328 feet having blown off it's top in the eruption of May 1980.    Previously it had stood a tall 9677 feet.  The blast history is fascinating, but I won't go into it here.  See the site previously given for more info.

After driving around everywhere in the southern portion of the mountain, we came to the Blue Lake trail head which began by following the gray ash and lava rock wash.


Blue Lake Trailhead



Upper right brown area is the foot of the  mountain

Trees in the path of the wash were dead and contributed to an eerie look.

You can see the moss clinging to the dry branches. I don't know what caused this devastation but it was really weird considering we were standing on the site of the volcanic mud flow from the earlier eruption.

I did see lots of little seedlings coming up all around the base of these dead trees.  I took a picture, but I'm not sure you can see all the green baby trees.  I hope you can see them below!

Another eerie shot.   Everything--this dead wood--was covered with the gray ash.  You can see a baby seedling in the lower right hand section of this next picture:

But not all of our day involved this eerie sight.  Much of the area around the mountain was lush forest of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest with lots of lakes and reservoirs like this shot of Smith Reservoir just south of the mountain. 

It was a great day--I hope you enjoyed it with us!

WW - September Patio Crop

Wordless Wednesday Patio Posey

Ancient and Modern Fabrics

National Sewing Month is September:   This is the second article celebrating that topic.

One cannot sew without fabric!!  Fabric that sewers use today, has come a long way from the original pieces recorded in history, circa 9000 to 3000 BC.  The origins of fabrics are found in Turkey, Israel,  Egypt and Assyria with China being a late comer about 3400 BC. Woven materials made into cloth can be found in oldest history coming from the cradle of civilization.   Recorded specimens of wool with pieces of mohair and hemp are some of the oldest.  I can image that those were heavy SCRATCHY fabrics! Fragments (not unlike our own remnants of today) of blue and purple dyed cloths were also found in ancient Phrygia and Israel.  Of course these were solid colors, not the printed design types that we know today, although solids are still available:

modern purple Bella Solid by Moda

Linen fabric began to appear more commonly from Egypt to Turkey that seemed to be made from flax seed, although spun and plied-thread garments used other plant derivatives.  Silk and brightly dyed and beaded specimens later began to appear in Asia as cloth trading started to be recorded.  



 present day Hand dyed silk scarf by SplendidLittleStars



Today's fabrics, textiles, are much more pleasantly tactile than those early fabrics, obviously.  I guess that is what draws me and other sewers to fabrics in the stores--not only being able to touch and feel their texture, but enjoy modern print design! 



Lark (Floral) by Amy Butler

I have offered a few modern fabrics for you to see, but--sorry, you cannot feel them! 

Fellow Oregonian Blogger

I have a fellow Oregonian blog friend  who has an awesome Etsy shop with the by-line "We're Making Tails Wag One Bead at a Time!"  Her shop is called BeadedTail.  It's not just a cute title,  as Sharla loves animals and supports animal rescue with a portion of her profit! You really need to go read her profile to see the extent of her big heart!  We usually chat online since we are members of the same BBA team (Blogging Business Artisans)! Sharla has chosen to do the team giveaway this month and the giveaway item is one of my favorites--her lovely tennis bracelet!

You will need to go to our team blog to enter! 

Here are a few of her other lovely items that are my favorites:

And not forgetting, beloved Sadie . . . . .

Sharla has a wonderful blog, all written from her pets' point of view.  Very delightful.  Read about Sadie there. Love ya, Sharla!

National Sewing Month

Well, we are into it now by seven days! 

Welcome to September! 



Dress pattern by TenderfeetStitches


September is National Sewing Month, as originally proclaimed by president Ronald Regan in September 1982.  It was in conjunction with the American Home Sewing and Craft Assoc. and  said, in part, "in recognition of the importance of home sewing in our nation."  It also said, "Tens of millions of American sew at home.  Their efforts demonstrate the industry, the skill and the self-reliance which are so characteristic of this Nation."



Wallet pattern by chasingelephants

 
If you are interested in the history of National Sewing month you can visit NationalSewingMonth.org.  They have some free projects, a contest and the history of the month.  I will be writing about sewing in this blog all month.  In the meantime, enjoy the awesome sewing patterns for today's Friday Finds!



Bib patterns by preciouspatterns



Let's go Sew!

Kickin' Back in the Patio Sunshine

Excuse my foot, but one of my favorite places is my little patio in 70 degree weather, with warm sunshine and a good book.  Also with the breeze in the treetops, a jay squawking, and distant hustle and bustle far away!  Better than an afternoon nap!

All of my Wordless Wednesday posts in September will be from my little patio! Look for them!

ALMOST Wordless Wednesday!  I've linked up with NCSue's blog link today.  Lots of other blogs to visit  for Wordless Wednesday!!

Jack (Jill) of all trades!

Hope that title is not politically incorrect!  Seems like everything we say lately has to be considered for fear of offending someone! Oh . . . heck with it!  Anyway . . . .

I'm back!  I have had a wonderful vacation from the riggers of promotion blogging in favor of blogging about my creativity, as I have been doing in my other blog during the month of August.  I know that this sounds a bit on the unfavorable side,  but I have had a time to be honest with motivations and take a frank look at my time availability.

"Promotion blogging" as I have labeled it here, is just that.  A blog that exists for the sake of promoting something.  I originally started this blog to promote my fledgling Etsy shop.  Along the way, I have met quite a few wonderful friends in the blogging world and other Etsy sellers. Blogging has blossomed into a healthy community "thing".

In looking back over my nearly four years of writing this blog, I have made a few observations:

1) I have blogged about my creativeness, but there are so many others who do the same. There are so many great blogs out there! I feel sort of like just one of the ships sailing in a vast albeit crowded sea.

2)  I have blogged about my family, from time to time, which I dearly love. (This is not strictly a family blog.)

3)  I have blogged about and participated with my favorite Etsy team, the Blogging Business Artisans.  I have met an awesome group of ladies (all Etsy sellers) thru my BBA team participation and consider them friends.  I thoroughly enjoy participating with them in this selling journey.  (If you are a serious blogger and are interested in participation with an active group, please visit our team blog.)

4) Blogging puts a bit of pressure on the writer, unless, of course, one lives for writing.  I like to write, but I don't live for it! I am a "jack-of-all-trades" kind of person, but "master of none" as I can hear my dad saying. I like writing, and sewing, and painting, and reading, and creating and . . . um . . well. . . you get it!!! BTW, my BBA team has a September challenge to try something new. . . that's gonna be difficult for me!

5) I can be consistent with something!  Over 530 posts just in this blog!! My gosh, I have been blogging for a long time!

So . . . . I do like the outlet of the blogging medium, if for nothing else than to have a communication outlet with you, my reader, and with my potential customers! This online selling environment can be a lonely world at times, and honestly, we all need to share our triumphs and our failures with an audience of like minded and friendly individuals.  Thus, I will continue blogging after my much needed break!  Hope you will continue to follow along.  I love having you! 

Looking forward to our chats and your comments!