What a whirlwind I’ve been in lately . . . for instance, just the week of April 7^th proved to be quite a week.  On Monday, I had to have oral surgery; on Wednesday, I taught a Knitting 101 class at the local yarn shop in the morning and attended a trunk show (Cascade Yarns) that afternoon at the shop; on Friday, we had a dress rehearsal at our house for the wedding of our oldest grandson which was to take place at our pond on that Saturday; on Saturday, we had the wedding (beautiful weather); and finally on Sunday night, our youngest granddaughter sang a solo at her church.  Whew!  I didn’t even mention that I was in constant pain for 7 days before the oral surgery.  Now I have a great appreciation for anyone with a toothache and am pain-free!!!

Blogging was put on the back burner, but here I am again  . . .

Paper crafting!!!  Whew what fun I have been having!  Cards, mini-books, accordion fold books, etc.  Here are some pictures of a Doodle Book I made for a friend. . .

Cover . . .           

Inside pages . . .

You will notice lots of tags for journaling, pictures, etc.

     

I also made a Quote Book for a special friend!  I love to document quotes that I find and thought she might enjoy doing this, too.

Cover . . .

 

Inside . . .

You will notice the pages that I included with some of my favorite quotes.  I also included pockets for quotes cut from books and tags for jotting down quotes that she finds that she likes.

I also made Thank-You cards for the new granddaughter-in-law to use . . .

Also, made matching envelopes.

And a birthday card for one of my sweet daughter-in-laws . . .

 

Inside . . .

 

And an envelope!

In my next blog, I will feature easy and quick mini-photo albums made from a single piece of 12 x 12 cardstock.

Until then  . . .HAPPY CRAFTING!

SPRING AT COLE SPRINGS STUDIO

Yesterday was the first day of spring and we are surely ready!  It is 68 degrees today but cold weather is not gone.  The prediction is for 28 degrees next Tuesday and I hope they are wrong!  We will see!

Thought I would share some pictures of spring at my studio.

Bradford Pears in full bloom . . .

 

 

The weeping Pussy Willow. . .

 

 

Our weeping cherry . . . love this tree . . .

 

 

 





 



And a colorful red maple . . .

 

 

 

We have a couple of Canadian geese that have taken up residence on our pond and in fact the female has laid eggs.  Hope they make it out here!  We have lots of coyotes!  The gander swims around the pond and keeps watch over his mate and their eggs. 

 

Okay, I know there are no finished project pictures!  What can I say?  I must have a little SPRING FEVER!

Thanks for stopping by! 

 

A Little Paper Crafting

Oh my goodness, do I love playing with paper.  Even though I love my sewing machine (which I do use in some of my booklets) and my knitting needles, I love playing with paper.  I make cards, books, bags, boxes, you name it.  And tea bag folding is another favorite which I will blog about later.

Recently, we had a good friend to get married and I thought I would put together a little journal for her to use to put down her thoughts and extra pictures that she might have.  I put in lots of pockets and tags and neat little hiding places for special notes.  Here are some pictures for you to see . . . If you haven’t played with paper lately, you really ought to give it a try.

 

 

Sorry about the orientation of this picture . . . It doesn't show up portrait on computer or my camera.  Guess the computer took over and decided on its own how to print picture! 

 

 

 

Added handmade envelope for extra pictures, journaling notes, or whatever she wants to tuck away in it!

 

 

These pages left blank for pictures or journaling . . . paper just too pretty for me to cover up.

 

 

 

And . . .

 And back cover . . .

 

 

 
I punched holes in the book and used rings for binding.  Added the front and back clear cover sheets for extra protection and lots of little ribbons.  Loved the way it turned out!

I cannot tell you how much joy I found making this book for this special friend.  Now off to knit a beaded cuff!  Until next time . . .

 

CREATE AND HAVE FUN!!

Snowed in . . .

 

We have just survived a snow storm of “epic proportions”, a “historic event”, and one that could be “catastrophic”.  These are a few terms used by our local weathermen and women about the Ice/Snow Storm heading our way.  We live in Georgia and if we get 2” of snow, we all panic!  I do okay with snow if we do not lose power!!  That was the only worry I had when they started predicting ½” to 1” of ice.  I have lived through two terrible ice storms before and they are anything but pleasant.  Luckily, no power was lost at our home; however, I believe in and around Atlanta, there were about 150,000 customers who did.

Some of our snow pictures . . .

 

Just say the word “snow” and I immediately start getting sewing and knitting and card making fever.  I guess you could say, I never am bored or still for very long!!

I made six KnitClutches® that I market at Main Street Yarns.  And if I do say so myself, the fabrics on these are to die for.  Three of which are completely finished . . . And on the back of the clutch you will find two grommets where your yarn can easily slide through, making your project portable and I might add, stylish!  I usually do not make two alike; however, the Paris fabric is so very popular that Dee ordered 6 more in that fabric. I still have two more to make in this fabric.

 

 

Two almost finished . . . Just need to add closures . . .

 

and one that I need to add the lining and then the closure . . .

You can see the lining that I chose for this bag!  I love it!!! 

I did make a couple of knitting needle clutches.  I love making these.  Simple, quick, and very functional as well as pretty to look at.

 

 

and Opened . . .

 

AND

 

 

and Opened . . .

 

 

 

Love shoulder bags, too!  So I took scraps and made this one for me:  Cut the flower from another piece of fabric and appliqued to the top of the bag where I used an old pair of jeans to make the flap and strap.

 

I know I said that I had knitting fever, too, and when I finish up the knitting project(s) that I started, I will post pictures of these in my next blog.

 

Have a great weekend!  Stay warm!

 

CREATE AND HAVE FUN!!