I Confess...

My last actual full working day was Monday. I should have more to show for the week, but honestly, I was pretty lazy...

Tuesday was a blur, and aside from emptying and refilling the dishwasher and feeding the puppies, I did nothing productive (except catch up on Game of Thrones, which I enjoyed very much).

When it came to the Creatin' Contest, I crossed old items off the list and created a new list. I farted around with it for a while yesterday, then on and off between loads of laundry and housekeeping today (I had groceries delivered - my life is so hard! :O>). When I looked at the list again, I was surprised that I got so little done. I enjoyed myself, so that's something...

The next bit is going to be a bit less organized than I usually try to be. I think all those long hours took a toll, and I'll need a couple weeks to restart the old brain again. Enough whining... Here I go...

I had to change the sandpaper on my sanding stick, so I thought for the sake of any newbies who happen by, I'd risk the redundancy of a little "how to" because learning about the sanding stick really helped me to become a much better sander.

Very briefly... You'll need:

1. 2 different grits of sandpaper (I use 220 and 400)
2. Double sided tape
3. A stick, of course
4. Scissors and/or Xacto knife

Cut the double sided tape to the length of your stick, peel the backing (only the stick side) and adhere.

Cut the sandpaper to cover the stick. Each piece should cover half of the stick. Cut the width so that it wraps to meet itself at the center of the back sides.

Peel off the top backing and carefully adhere the sandpapers.

Viola! Now you have a sturdy and flat surface to sand on that lasts a long time. No more rounded edges or uneven surfaces! So simple, but so handy. To the forgotten person who suggested this to me so long ago - a giant cosmic Thank You! I hope you just received good shivers!

Next up, I needed some throw rugs. I have some wonderful velour paper that has an adhesive backing. I bought mine on Amazon about a year ago and have not seen it in all white packs since. They do have multi-colored packs, but there are only 2 white sheets included. S.E.I does sell velvet non adhesive backed paper by the sheet in Coconut. Order at least a dozen to make it worth the $7.50 shipping. The service is excellent.

I found some rugs in colors I liked on www.rugs-direct.com. I made a kitchen runner, a round rug for under the table, an oval rug for the hearth (I think I need to print it a bit larger) and an inside and outside doormat.

 I let them dry overnight, cut them out, then colored the raw edges in coordinating Sharpie. 

Once I've done a "final" cleaning, I'll peel the backing off and adhere them down. Since this build will be displayed in a library, I am going to "nail" everything down.

This next section we'll call "How to make a NON GOOD LOOKING cherry pie because you have not done it in 14 years".

I started off with some light beige and translucent Sculpey, some Translucent Liquid Sculpey, some artists chalk and the leftover choke cherries from the previous canning. Oh! And a pie tin - duh!

To make the pie filling I added some Translucent Liquid Sculpey and chalk scrapings into a cup, then added in the cherries. Don't panic - the Translucent Liquid Sculpey does not actually become translucent until it is baked. Right at this stage it looks like Pepto Bismol. Not exactly a good association when expecting a cherry pie!

I mixed a tiny bit of the light beige into a large amount of translucent to make the pie crust. I flattened it out then set the pie tin up-side-down on top of it and cut around it with the Xacto.

You'll have to forgive me here, as I was more worried about messing up the pie than I was about showing you how (not) to do it. The photos are sparse.

I poured the filling into the tin and covered over it with the "crust". A little peek...

I rolled out a snake of pie crust and placed it along the edge of the tin, then made little pinch marks with a toothpick. What I failed to show here were the little "vent holes". I cut six of them, then used the remaining Translucent Liquid Sculpey to indicate oozed out filling.

Then I baked it, brushed the edges with brown chalk to give it a fresh baked crust, scraped some more cherry colored chalk into a bit of varnish and coated the top. Not beautiful, but passable in this setting. I obviously need some practice!!!

There are still several things "to do", and the one I hope to tackle this weekend are the bed pillows. I've had this new machine since July and have not even opened it yet! There it sits as if it's purpose was to be a pile holder! The nerve of me! 

Send good thoughts my way for the reawakened adventure into sewing. I'll make sure to practice on some scraps before I get out the good fabric!

And I'll leave you tonight with a beautiful fall shot of Mt. Rainier from the back yard. If October is any indication, I think the snow pack is going to be good this year!

Have a happy weekend, and don't forget to buy candy!

Jodi