A cross-stitch finish!  Yeah!!!  Here's the latest addition to my little Etsy gymnastics family.  Lauren Mitchell of Australia, 2011 World Champion on Floor Exercise.  Now if I could just sell one of these darn things!

Lauren Mitchell (Australia)

Some torturous beading and metallic thread work was involved, but I like the results.


close-up of beadwork

Last Friday(6th) was Bottle Wall Day at my neighbor Sharee's house.  She taught a group of 4 friends how to make bottle walls, a new craft for me.  3-4 inches of sand was pressed into wooden frames.  Then we selected some colorful empty wine bottles and pressed then about 1/2 into the sand.  A layer of specially mixed concrete (that's what Sharee is doing in the photo below) is plopped in about 2 inches thick and spread around the bottles.  We next put in little pieces of chicken wire to stabalize the whole thing.  Thi was topped with another inch of the concrete mix.  At this stage we added some surface decorations, like engraved lettering, beads, stones and other textural objects.  The unveling should be some time before the end of this weekend.


Holly, Sharee(side view), Me





This little pair of socks was finished last week too.  Just haven't had a chance to take a new photo yet.  The pari on the needles now is Red Heart Heart & Sole "Green Envy".  I've made a pair of this color before, but they were snapped up before I even had a chance to try them on.

Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Yarn "Citrine"

 As I experiment a bit with Blogger, I am trying this as a "scheduled post".  It feels a bit odd to be writing in the future!  I wonder if it's raining again, if my garden has actually gotten plowed up, if any progress has been made on the doll dresses?  Only time will tell......................