Been posting at Facebook instead of here

I've been posting at Facebook when I have the time instead of blogging. I just can't seem to find the time for both.

Yesterday I took the cover photo for the next season of tatting pattern. This one is summer. I had way too much trouble with the last pattern for it. I was all set to put the 4 tatted pieces on a fabric banner but couldn't find fabric I liked so I looked for scrap paper that matched. I found the perfect tablet of matching papers and extras stuff for decorations. After cutting out the rectangles and triangles and starting to decorate them I stalled again. It just didn't "talk" to me so I knew it wasn't what I was supposed to be doing with the tatting, I set it aside for 2 months, coming back to it again and again but not moving forward with it. Two weeks agao I knew I had to put it all away and come up with something new. That's when it came to me, another bag. I finished it quickley so now all that needs done is finishing the directions and ordering the cover photos for those who prefer a printed pattern.

Of course saying that's all that needs done doesn't mean I can finish it quickly, not with the puppy. She takes a lot of my time. With so many interuptions I find I can't concentrate on writing for very long.

Here's a peek at one of the patterns from the new Summer Pattern.

Are You a Fan of Alice too?

I LOVE Alice books and read anything based on Wonderland. Right now The Philie library  at  rosenbach.org  is celebrating 150 years of Alice. If you are lucky enough to live in or near Philie the original manuscript is on display Oct 14 - 18. I'm on the other side of the state so it's a no go for me.

If you are looking for free e-books of the Lewis Carroll stories go to http://www.gutenberg.org They even have a file of drawings. LOVE Gutenburg for old books!

The picture above is for an 'Alice in Wonderland' series I recently read. It's set a YA series and is set now. The difference is that it's about Alice's descendants and is a bit dark. That makes it different from any other Alice book I've read. Here's a link to the writer's blog. I love the cover of the first book! I got it at my local library and the colors are beautiful.

Barnes and Noble and Amazon have some free e-books with reference to Alice. I have a nook so I go to B&N. There's the Kingdom series by Marie Hall.  There's a Wonderland story with quite a twist. A crazy mad hatter is searching for an Alice and finds his match in one from Hawaii. Definitely different love story.

I also found a mystery that centers on the main characters love of Alice but has no trips to Wonderland. Murder In Wonderland by Leslie Leigh

I just DL Insanity (Mad in Wonderland) by Cameron Jace so I don't know what it's about yet or if it's any good.

Oh, and if you wonder about the riddle, why is a raven like a writing desk? Here's what I found while researching.
Carroll's answer to why a raven is like a writing desk? "Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!" Originally, it was supposed to be a little funnier than that. Carroll spelled 'never,' as 'nevar' — 'raven' spelled backwards — but a proofreader erased the inverted pun before it was published. Personally I prefer puzzle expert Sam Loyd's answer 'Because Poe wrote on both'. Makes the most sense of any I found online but then should anything to do with Wonderland make a lot of sense? :)

What did you do yesterday?

The reason I ask is that yesterday, Aug. 9, was National Book Lovers Day. Here's how I spent mine:

I LOVE books and have a big collection, on shelves and in my nook. The books in the pic are my newest additions and I won them when Meghan had a giveaway on her blog a few weeks ago.

I became a fan after finding a free ebook of Dowser book #1, Cupcakes, Trinkets, and other Deadly Magic, at Barnes and Noble on a Free-Book Friday list. It was exactly the type of book I'm enjoying reading right now. I liked it so much I went in search of her website,  made by meghan , found her facebook page , and then added her to fav authors on my goodreads list.

On her website I found recipes for many of the cupcakes she features in the Dowser books and that's how I found out about the giveaways she was holding. I missed entering the first one but was in time for the second. When I learned I won the 5 books plus an ebook of her newest Dowser #5 I was beyond elated. Let's just say I was happy I was home alone with a only the cat and dog to see me jumping around. Winning is not something I'm familiar with so I went way excited.

So anyway, Sunday was spent reading book #2, painting my nails (Flower by Drew Barrymore, color Go With the Flow-er), and doing laundry with Ion TV's James Bond Marathon playing in the background. By 1am I finished book 2 and had to start 3. Love this series!

In case you're wondering some of the things in the pic are the 5 books and 3 stickers I won; my fav drink, a chocolate vanilla iced coffee; charm bracelets I collect and wear joined together as a necklace (there's a tiny wedding ring set on 1!); and the hand is mine.

One last thing, I sent her a thank you card with 2 gifts, a tatted ring and bracelet. Just because I won something for free doesn't mean I won't show my gratitude. I mean really, it was the least I could do was to send a thank you gift when she shipped the box all the way from British Columbia.

Woodland Crazy Patch That Makes Me Crazy

Here's a photo of a square crazy quilt I've been working on and off for years. I'm not even sure how many any more cause it's been too long. I did most of this embroidery done last year and hadn't picked it back up until recently when I moved it back to my UFP (unfinished projects) basket. I also have a shelf with more UFPs.

I start a lot of things, get sidetracked then store it. Somethings I never finish, I just try to recycle the materials into something else or toss it. This past spring I finished 2 rabbit girls I had started 3 years ago. Today while searching for some mini bottles I bought cause they looked like 'I Dream of Jeannie' bottles only clear, I found all the supplies I bought to make microscope slide jewelry. I could never decide what I wanted to put between the glass pieces so the small crate of supplies has sat for years. I don't even want to talk about all the mini quilts and blocks I have cut out, sewed, but never did anything with. Oh, BTW, I don't know what I ever had in mind for the bottles. Now I'm thinking about turning them into jewelry.

I did have a small clean out of craft supplies I thought I'd never use in May and guess what? Yesterday I came across a craft I wanted to make but now don't have the foam balls I got rid of! From noe on everytime I even think about getting rid of any supplies I'm going to search Pinterest first just in case I find something using it I'd like to make.

Here are some more close-ups of the woodland quilt.

This is the upper corner. I had a beautiful large goldfish embrodered here but decided it was too large so cut off all that work and made these smaller ones. I prefer the smaller ones but it was really hard to destroy that goldfish. I was so perfect just way to big. Below is the pond in the middle. I love the blue heron I made. My husband took some fantastic pics of one at a local park and that gave me the idea of putting one there.