We stayed long after the rides had started to light the night sky, and as we carried sleepy babies out of the park, I snapped a few shots of one of my favorite rides, the Ferris wheel.

It’s amazing how, when you start making a practice of creativity, you see art everywhere you look, isn’t it?

I’ll be back next week with my completed mystery project and my first-ever giveaway. Have a good weekend!

I feel honored to have participated in the project with so many amazing people, to have done something I’m proud of … and immensely relieved to be finished and able to move on to something else. Whew!

The weather is turning here, and one of my favorite kinds of sunlight—Autumn light—is inspiring me to no end. And now we’re off to enjoy what promises to be a beautiful weekend. Have a good one!

]]> http://www.juneatnoon.com/2009/09/september-sun/feed/ 2 http://www.juneatnoon.com/2009/07/pocket-full-of-posies/ http://www.juneatnoon.com/2009/07/pocket-full-of-posies/#comments Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:42:56 +0000 Gretchen http://www.juneatnoon.com/?p=409 See what’s blooming right outside my front window:

It’s tall enough that I can see it from inside. So then I am tempted to wander outside to see it closer.

And then I see these:

And this pretty, green, pebbly path:

And then it’s very hard to go back inside and get anything at all accomplished. (But there will be some actual finished projects next week, I hope.) Have a good weekend!

My dad is the person who taught me to crochet. How did he learn such a skill? The story goes that when I was quite young, he worked at a bank. There was a group of older ladies there too, and on their lunch breaks they would sit and crochet together. They convinced my dad he ought to learn, and the rest is history. He taught me when I was pretty young, and it was the first real craft that I truly embraced and, over the years, became fairly skilled at.

There’s something very therapeutic about plugging away at row after row with yarn and hook and in the end holding up a closely twined fabric that somehow came together from all those loops and twists. While it’s no longer my favorite craft, I still enjoy it and dabble in it from time to time. It led me to knitting and many other things that I enjoy, and it taught me about the craftsmanship to be gained from fine-tuning a skill, the necessity of learning to rip out and start over as part of the learning process, and the deep satisfaction of turning out a quality finished product after many hours of steady work.

And it was something I shared with my dad. Almost three years ago now we lost him after a long battle with cancer, and I miss him all the time. He didn’t crochet all that much over the years, but while he was sick and undergoing treatment he picked up the hook again and made a few things, and we spent some hours crafting together and just enjoying each other’s company in quiet. We liked to do that.

My dad wasn’t perfect, but he passed on some good things, like his determination, his strength, and his abiding faith in God, among others. While crocheting certainly isn’t the most important of those, it’s still a special one to me. The photo above hangs in a prominent place in my craft area, and when I see it I’m reminded of all those things I learned from those early crafty days. I’m also reminded of my dad, who was a pretty special guy.

Thanks, Dad. Miss you. Love, Kitten.

To start, there was a storage box. He knows I like to have things to put things in. And he even went to the trouble to pick a box with an interior paper that I’d like.

But there was more. Each part of the box had something else in it.

There was the much longed for Speedball lino cutting tool.

And a tin with a gift card, the tin also selected because he knew I’d like the print. It’s now being used as a place to keep frequently used sewing notions in my embroidery bag.

And there were oodles of flossy goodness, with lots of bright, summery colors.

I told you he was good.

(I’ll be back next week with more Adventures in Craftland.)

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

We had a nice, warm weekend full of leisurely walks, visits with out-of-town relatives, sidewalk chalk drawings, and a little flower picking. I’d say it was a success.

I was all set to start crafting again and building back into more regular, serious creating and posting when whammo, I am hit with The Cold That Won’t Go Away. Normally when I catch a cold I am miserable for two or three days and then life returns to normal, but this one is just hanging on. And on and on and on. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with the fact that I’m just not able to rest much, even at night. Children are tough task masters. They prefer you not call in sick. So I’ve been rather out of commission, and my little stack of ideas and project hopefuls has been growing taller and more precarious.

This is, in part, thanks to this:

and this:

I have so many other things to finish, yet I am itching and scratching to try something new from one of these lovelies. I may be entering another shift, in which I leap to a new medium* and get obsessed with it at the neglect of all other interests. Hmmph.

*Are you watching Lost? Can you see the influence?

Anyway, back to reality. I did manage to put together one simple project, which I’ll post tomorrow, complete with a bare-minimum-to-get-it-done tutorial for … Tutorial Tuesday! I’d like to start a semi-regular habit of posting tutorials on Tuesdays and/or freebies (patterns, likely) on Fridays. I can’t guarantee it will happen every week, and I might just point you to someone else’s instructions if I like them a lot, and this might fail miserably and I’ll quit, but we’ll see where it goes starting tomorrow.

Until then, I leave you with one more crafty space photo. I promise it is completely devoid of snotty tissues. It was late last night, but I swiped the tissues to the side of the frame just for you.’

I haven’t found time to return to crafting yet, but I’m already getting the itch. When the new little one gets into more of a routine with his sleeping habits and actually has a bedtime to speak of, I will get some “me time” back. Until then, looking lovingly at my newly acquired crafting goodies (yay for Japanese craft magazines!) will have to keep me satisfied. (Not pictured: Awesome sewing machine cover made by MIL. Detailed notes on my Flickr page.)

P.S. Coming soon: Design and other changes for the new year!

First, just some lovely stitching that makes me happy.

1. PB040022, 2. Lavender Loveliness, 3. Hey Diddle Diddle, 4. Tree, 5. Little Yellow Flowers, 6. cat tree tea towel, 7. Felt House, 8. Doll quilt with tiny bluebird

And then, a few things that have gotten me in the holiday spirit already.

1. Gingerbread.Felt.Biscuits.Trio.1, 2. string of lights, 3. Cosy Gingerbread Home, 4. Christmas applique cushion, 5. candycane fairy_, 6. Christmas cards, 7. tree family, 8. Redwork Mini Quilt for Christmas, 9. DSC02211, 10. christmas lights holiday hoo no. 2, 11. Embroidered Felt Advent Calendar, 12. Mr Claus

Lastly, there have been some gorgeous ornaments appearing in the pool. These are mostly recent uploads with a few older ones mixed in.

1. Hot Chocolate Ornament, 2. forest of tree ornaments, 3. 2006 Holiday Ornament Swap, 4. First Snow Heart Giveaway, 5. late night ornament making., 6. Horse, 7. Little Bird Tree Decorations (Red), 8. Cuckoo Clock Ornament, 9. ornies all done–front, 10. “Up On The Rooftop…” Blog Giveaway, 11. felt ornament dove, 12. 2008 Christmas Ornament Swap #2

Enjoy. Hopefully more to come soon!