This is my wish or dream of what I would like to do next:

What in the world is this, do you wonder? Warp? Weft? It's all about the loom Darling! This is a short (4 minute) video on talking about putting all those pesky strings onto your loom. I wanna loom!!! I am *thinking* of joining a weaver's guild (& a sewing guild, but that is another post) to learn all things wonderful. Does anyone want to see my finished sock and the work I'm doing on the second of the pair? Post a comment, friends!

Time to Post a Picture!

I have just been missing from this blog for a while and decided to make somebody's (anybody's?) day by posting! Yay!

I have been working on projects, especially sewing projects, which is a fairly new craft for me. I am very excited about it. Like I said on the Jungletart blog, I am taking an online class on Craftsy ("Sewing with Diana Rupp") and having a blast! I really like the online thing, the fact that I can keep referring to it forever and that I do understand the instruction. I am not paid to glow about it, I just feel like glowing about it!:)

I still have the Jungle, a Pug is sleeping on me right now making wonderful dreaming sounds. Come to think of it, I should be doing the same thing, so I will sign off for now. Hopefully, it won't be too long before I am back again! Good night all.:)

Still thinking about hobbies.

Even though I am experiencing irritable symptoms, and may I say I know that I am a Pill to live with (I am sorry, Hubby) I am also percolating thoughts on my hobbies and new things I want to get into.

I have been looking into heddle looms (as if I could afford one, but one can always dream:) because the thought of weaving has always interested me. I even watched the videos on YouTube about some specific one and how to operate it. So neat. Someday, I surely hope, I can do that.

I have been interested in weaving for a long time. Everything about it, from the fiber from the animal, to its roving and spinning it into thread, to knitting and crocheting (which I am now convinced is much cheaper to do than actually weaving cloth). But I would like to delve into everything.

Then there is doll making. The soft dolls made of fabric. I found some adorable dolls that my mom made me when I was little, complete with little outfits. We were both so thrilled that I found them and in such good condition.

Then I read about 'Doll Fashionistas' which comes with a DVD and teaches the newbie how to make fabulous dolls. Mom's willing to get it for Christmas! Oh Goody!

Sewing project link: fabric paint featuring Kenley Collins of Project Runway

http://www.sewfastseweasy.com/stitch_and_bitch/index.php

I've been reading Sew Fast Sew Easy by Elissa K. Meyrich which includes three patterns - an envelope pillow, a tote bag and a skirt. I typed in the url in the back of the book and after some poking around, found the neat video featured in the link above.

I will be getting my sewing machine out this weekend as I have been offered a small hemming job (four pairs of jeans) that I will be paid for and I have been thinking about maybe starting to sew things. I remember being good at it in Home Economics in school many years ago, how soothing it is to keep a straight line on a machine, the hum of it's motor, the thrill of creating something.

Spinning: How to Spin Yarn With a Drop Spindle (from Alpaca Direct)

Can't see the yarn up close, but it does show the action of the spindle.

I have a wooden spindle that I bought and some roving, sent to me by some wonderful person when I was on Sparkpeople.com (TY!:) and I am still in the process of figuring out spinning. The 'Tart loves, Loves textiles.:)

My easy crock-pot recipe for chicken.

It's not very fancy, but it feeds us. The one meat that I have a lot of is chicken breast because I get a big package of individually frozen ones at the warehouse store. So I am always wondering what can I make with this chicken that is different than a few days ago?

Well, I have been cooking at the cooking/baking class and we have made a few things, but I feel so bad for my husband who just comes home and makes a frozen pizza (we get the inexpensive generic kind from the store) and he is not fond of trying the many neat things that we make in class. So tomorrow I don't have cooking class and I think early in the morning I will:

Defrost 4 chicken breasts
Pour a can of either cream of chicken soup or (my favorite) cream of mushroom soup in the crock pot. I get the cheap soup (that is still low in fat) and it's condensed so I put the soup in first, so I can pour the can of water in, beat it with a whisk and it get smooth before putting the defrosted chicken in.
Arrange the chicken in the soup.
Season to taste.
Put the crock pot on for 8 to 10 hours.
It will be tender.
Drizzle the now cooked soup over the chicken for a nice gravy.
You can serve it with rice. I get Uncle Ben's wild rice medley - that's my favorite.
Makes four servings. If you're only feeding two, you can refrigerate the leftovers, and I believe even freeze them, for another nights feeding!:)

Fancy it's not, but it is easy, and it uses the crock-pot which is such a great time saver. Maybe others can share their recipes. Come to think of it, I don't know if I shared this before! Aw well CRS (Can't Remember Stuff!) kicking in.
Enjoy!

Flowers brighten the little places too.

Reinvent your parking strip at this site at MSN. It shows pictures of the average parking strip (that couple of feet between sidewalk and curb) made more beautiful and economical (saves water) with local plants instead of sod.

I like this article because it gives simple ideas and has pictures.

'Ranch Crispy Chicken'

I got this 'bargain bin' cookbook called '100 Best Chicken Recipes' and it has this super easy recipe for Ranch Crispy Chicken that we tried at home and it was Dee-lic-ious!

1/4 cup unseasoned dry bread crumbs or cornflake crumbs

1 packet (1 ounce) HIDDEN VALLEY Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix

6 bone-in chicken pieces

Combine bread crumbs and salad dressing & seasoning mix in a gallon-size plastic food storage bag. Add chicken pieces; seal bag. Shake to coat chicken. Bake chicken on ungreased baking pan at 375 degrees F. for 50 minutes or until no longer pink in center and juices run clear.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

I also made homemade mashed potatoes and chicken gravy to go with it, and a little salad for greens.:)

cut up, peeled potatoes ready for cooking to make mashed potatoes

ATCs - I am intrigued.

ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards. Using what media you want to (collage, painting, clay, metal, drawing, scrapping) you create a card the size of a playing card (the dimensions are exact, I *think* 2.5 by 3.5) creating art and pictures on your card and you exchange them with other artists. No money is exchanged, they are not bought, they are traded. I think you can find other people to do it with over the internet. I am researching.

Then there is something called mail art. Mail as art, essentially. I guess decorating the mail you send out Is in fact considered art. How cool! I love to do that anyway, put rubber stamps, stickers and draw on envelopes. There's a whole world out there!:)

A resource for tatting/cro-tatting.

a picture of cro-tatting from the site 'MaryM's Original Daisy Boullion edging,' referenced in the website below.

You can Google this as easily as myself, but I found a great site that has pictures showing step-by-step how to cro-tat here.

Tatting uses a shuttle to create 'knots' and circles, or tiny picots, and when done over and over can create a beautiful lace that can look similar to a very fine crochet lace piece.

Cro-tat uses a small crochet hook to create the tatting, instead of the usual "shuttle" that tatters normally use.

Tatting is an art, one that you don't hear about as often as knit or crochet. My husband's aunt use to tat constantly, it was her special gift (her hands were always moving and working - constantly) and she made many special gifts for his family, until her death a few years ago when she was in her late 90's.

I would love to learn how to do it, and have noticed that my LYS (local yarn store) does sell shuttles. A few years ago I bought a VHS video on tatting called 'Tatting I - The Basics' by Mildred Clark, brought to you by Victorian Video Productions.

I also bought 'Tatting Beginner Tatting Kit Quick and Easy' (Item number 5050-K) from the Tatsy company, which includes a shuttle with instructions for making an Angel, Photo Frame, Flower, Book Mark, 2 Mini Flowers, 2 Butterflies.

I admit I haven't checked it out yet or haven't delved into the art yet, I have been holding onto it for 'one of these day' (I love needlework, stationary, and art supplies and have probably a lifetime amount of them as I have noticed that many others do as well out there, off my Amazon emails "What do you like to craft" that comes to me, but that is probably another post entirely! It's a SICKNESS! But such a fun one.) but maybe you can still get it on the web or Ebay, if you are interested in learning tatting.

Turns out, Husband likes beans!:)

my Navy beans with carrots

At least he liked the Navy beans I made. Then I made black-eyed peas with cut up ham (from a slice that I bought at the store - no picture). He ate that and thought I did a good job, however, he liked the Navy beans better. I'm making them soon again in the crockpot.:)

The Baby cross-stitch is done!

I gave it to the Mom, Dad & Baby Elizabeth on Christmas Eve. They loved it!

The Gray Husband scarf is done!:)

It's done, and he is happy with it!

I read on a knitting blog somewhere (which one escapes me, I apologize) that the person noted that it was neat that you could refer to something as 'gray' or 'grey' depending on how you felt at that moment. I think this scarf is gray with a grey stripe! Good evening to all!:)

Progress on a Baby Cross-stitch!!:)

For a Mom that's about to POP!! My husband's cousin is due Oct. 24th!! I can't wait to find out the name of the baby, literally, because I will be cross-stitching it in! Here is my progress as of today. I've got a teddy-bear head! And so much more to go. I'd like to get it done in time for Christmas.

Pics of the biggest fish I ever caught!!:)

It's a catfish, several feet in length, weighing, I would estimate at least as much as my Emma dog Emma dog (18 pounds), probably more.

Like I said on www.jungletart.blogspot.com, my other, bipolar blog, it is hard to see in these pictures how large the sucker was because he was hard to hold out of the water, but Here He is!!:)

Johnny Depp 'tips' / gives hat to boy; I have a splendid pool time:)

I found one of these heartwarming stories on MSN today here , where Mr. Depp sent his hat to a teen after promising to do so! The child's family was impressed.

Hope everyone is starting their week off well.

I went to the pool as I mentioned I would on the Jungletart blog , and had a good time. I did the class with a bunch of nice older women, I was definitely the youngest, and that's okay. Then, while my Mom and others got into the hot tub there, I did some laps in the Adult swim lap lanes, including my 'famous' back stroke. I managed to do this for 15 minutes then I very ungracefully got out of the pool. But, I got out, and that's the important thing!:)

Have a great week, everyone!
Tart

Knitting again! Playing clarinet, again!

Now that I have a little more 'contained' energy, I've returned to some hobbies. Some I didn't talk about before, playing clarinet, and some I've mentioned, that cute 'lil' hobby known as knitting!

I don't do them at the same time (grin) but I do use them to keep my hands busy and mind thoughtful when not at the ol' bloggin keyboard.

Perhaps photos will come soon of the enormous pink acrylic needles I decided to finally use and may I say they just work better for me than skinny metal ones, for playing around and learning! I highly recommend the 'fat' ones for just that purpose. The ones I have are size 15.

And clarinet: I've had mine for a very long time and I can still do it, which is a miracle. And I have lots of sheet music, which is my forte: reading music for it. I never learned scales properly, which held me back several times. But I actually play for recreation and my own personal fun. (I'd love to be in a Jazz Band someday - but I think that will take lessons in order to do (check my 25 wishes!). I'm not there yet).

All have a pleasant day, this Saturday morning and rest of the weekend!
Yours,
Tart