Princess Bubbles Creates

LeeAnna  has asked did you ever receive a gift as a child/teen that you really wanted and were totally excited to receive? tell us about it. If not, have you ever gotten a great gift at Christmas? Yes, I received a lovely baby doll when I was 5ish.  I still have that doll!  She has such a cute face.  If I weren't so lazy I would take a photo of her!  She is still in terrific condition because didn't play with her a lot.  I mostly just admired her.  My second granddaughter has taken a liking to her and enjoys carrying her around.  I LOVE that!  It warms my heart every time she does.  I remember my Mom made at least one outfit for her.  I don't know what happened to her original dress.  There was a lot of lace on it so it may have fallen apart.   A favourite gift as an adult came from my sweet hubby.  He gave me a lovely strand of pearls.  I wore them constantly and had to have them restrung a few times. ...

 I have just finished a Moleskine journal full of mandalas.  This is the last one in that journal.  I have added up all the mandalas that I have created that are housed in books.  568!  Amazing!  That doesn't include the 400 I created for an installation.  That doesn't include a stack that I have created that is just sitting in the stack.  That doesn't include the stitched mandalas.  Amazing!

  It feels good to have this year-long project finished.  I have enjoyed learning new stitches and recording them on this sampler.  Not every stitch was new but having a refresher was good.  I love that my stitches were mostly neat because of the Aida cloth.  It was helpful to use Aida cloth to learn new stitches but I don't love working on it.  Still, it was nice to know that I am capable of having nice neat stitches.  Ultimately, I love my wonky stitches the best though.  They are a better match for my personality.   I don't have any plans for a year-long stitching project for 2025.  Not as yet.  I enjoy having that sort of project but it is okay if I don't come up with one.  Does anyone have any good ideas?  I am not interested in following anyone's pattern each month.  I used to do a bead project each month called the Bead Journal Project.  That group fell apart when it moved to facebook.  I loved i...

  LeeAnna  asks How was Christmas done in your childhood home/family? example, if you woke earlier than the parents did you have to wait? Did the gifts go under the tree after you went to bed? did your family all exchange gifts? Did you dig in and all open your gifts at the same time or have to go around a circle opening one at a time? just examples, you tell us how Christmas was done in your family Gifts were under the tree before Christmas.  My oldest brother used to sneak peeks of his so he was never surprised on Christmas morning.  I didn't peek because I like surprises.  I remember seeing one of my presents, in a not very good hiding place.  I was so sad.  It was a good present and I was happy to get it.  I just didn't like knowing about it in advance. My family all dove in and opened our presents at the same time.  My husband's family went around the circle opening the gifts and that is the custom that we adopted with our children....

 Another wool mandala started.  Oops, the centre is slightly off.  I could fix it but I reject perfectionism.  I embrace the wonk.  The wonkiness better suits my personality.   The centre is a piece of paper quilling. I am enjoying using different materials with this project. That isn't how the project started, but letting projects morph feels right to me. Mixed-media pieces are so much fun. I am curious about what other interesting centres will present themselves!

 I created this mandala in Kaleidoscope Kreator and printed it on vellum.  I have used a variety of markers to colour it.  I love to colour my own images, other people's not so much.  I love that it is original to me and I find it so relaxing.   Here is the image uncoloured. Please feel free to print it and colour it as you like.  I'd love to see what you do with it!

 I am working on a crazy quilted stocking for my newest granddaughter.  I have included snippets of fabric from clothing that my Dad, Mom, hubby and myself have worn.  I am a sentimental sort to some degree.  I don't have much more to do and should have it finished in time for Christmas. It was fun to visit my Christmas stash of fabric.  It has been a long time since I have made anything in the Christmas theme.  I may have gone a little overboard with all the fabric I have used!  I have tried to tone it down by only using white or off-white trims and stitching.  I am hoping today I can get this project closer to finished. I am linking to https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/