I like to watch ice skaters. This squiggle is doing a quadruple, triple, triple, toe loop, Axel, Lutz and doing it backwards.
I used only markers on this one and managed to get in a little shading.
-Lynne
Daily Squiggle
Monthly Archives: October 2011
Cheap Trick: Dyed Jeans
I love dark blue jeans. However, they can be hard to find and most often are not in my size or in a style that I prefer. And when you do find some that fit, am I supposed to buy two or three pairs of the same exact jeans?
Also, with the cost of jeans now, I have not been buying any lately. So, Mom and Cheri’s garage saleing to the rescue! Mom picked up 4 pairs of jeans for me on one of their rounds and I ended up taking 3 of them home. The only problem is that they are all in the standard denim blue color. This is not to say that I won’t wear them, just probably not to work.
The other night I was dyeing some pants of my husbands black (he had a bleach accident) and I decided on a whim to throw a pair of the new-to-me jeans in the dye bath too. When they came out, they were the most wonderful shade of dark blue! I am so happy! Now I just have to buy some more black dye and I will have several pairs of wear-to-work jeans.
WooHoo! I never would have figured that black dye would do this to jeans. The other great thing that came out of this dye job is that my jeans don’t have any of the “fashionable” pre-worn spots. Those really irritate me when done on the darker blue jeans. I think they stand out too much, so this takes care of that little peeve of mine.
What a Cat! Gentle Cat Quarterly!
-Cheri
Camping in the Dunes
Kristin and I have always subscribed to the philosophy that if you are going camping, you should sleep in a tent and cook over a fire. That said those things are a lot better to do in the sunshine rather than in the rain.
Sunday night when we were able to check into our campsite at the Indiana Dunes State Park, it began to rain, hard. We are veteran campers and had the tent up in ten minutes and everything else in camp-shape in less than an hour. We got wet, but being wet is not the most terrible thing that can happen to us because our extra clothes and sleeping gear are in waterproof bags and our tent is relatively leak proof. What it is not is mud proof. Trying to keep everything away from the central muddy walkway is a thankless task and continues until the sun comes out.
I took this photo after we were unpacked and tucked away. It is raining and you can see that some of the campers had more deluxe accommodations. Kristin and I both think recreational vehicles are cheating when you want to go into the great outdoors, but if anyone wants to exchange our tent for one of those I don’t think we would turn you down.
We love our electronics. Kristin is reading a novel. Because the phone has its own light, you don’t have to hold a battery operated lantern 2 inches from a page to read. Light is something that we don’t think about much anymore since the invention of the lightbulb. Not much can be done without the sun if you do not have electric light. You can adjust lanterns all you want, but in the end you just end up going to sleep when the sun sets and getting up when the sun rises.
An electric hookup allowed us to take the electronics. We didn’t have wifi, but we took a lot of pictures and having a computer to empty the camera card onto let us shoot as many photos and videos as we wanted.
We knew the nights would be cold and were prepared, but posting to facebook had to be fast. Staying warm was only possible if your were completely zipped up and mummified.
The following photos are of the inside of the tent. It seems to be getting smaller and smaller, but I suppose that’s because we are getting more and more camping “bling.” With the cots we added this year, the slope of the tent became a problem. It’s not that hitting the ceiling will hurt your head, but that if it is raining touching the tent wall can start a leak that cannot be stopped.
We use the coolers for side tables and stuff all the rest of the gear under our cots. We have found all sorts of uses for the dense foam that is a yoga mat. When it is raining, throwing them on top of the tent provides extra protection from leaks and after the rain they can cover the mud in the walkway.
Coolers as side tables and gear waiting to be shoved back under the cot.
Kristin's side of the tent. Notice the blanket under the two sleeping bags and the wool blanket on top. We were able to take real pillows this year. There is more room for fluffy luxuries in a Subaru than in a rubber raft. 
My side of the tent. It may be a tad messier than Kristin's side. The next photo shows Kristin poking at the ashes of our previous fire to see if there are any coals hot enough to get the fire going again or if we have to start from scratch. We ran out of fire-starter quick because of the damp weather and the camp store did not have any in stock. We have carried tealight candles with us for a long time, because I had read somewhere that they were useful in starting campfires. I never used them because the fire-starter did the job. It turns out that tealights work better, because they stay lit longer and can set even the wettest wood aflame.
Campsite fire. Usually when we camp on the river, we forage for our own firewood. We had to buy wood at the campground store and the wood was not much more than kindling which burned quickly. Just enough to prepare a meal, but not enough for warmth. Kristin is doing the dishes. Our one enamel cooking pot serves as our dishwashing basin. We did not have to conserve water as much in the campground as on the river, but this way the pot gets cleaned the same time as the other dishes. A good thing, since we would rather be doing other things than washing pots.
A woman's work is never done. This is one reason I generally refuse to camp with men. They wander off and go fishing when cooking and washing dishes are mentioned. When it's just us women we trade chores. I'll cook, if you wash. Or I'll get water, if you put things away. My pants are rolled to my knees because of all the mud. If the cuffs get wet, it could take all day for them to dry. We use a tripod when cooking. It holds our cooking pot and sausages can be set around it at the same time. Plus, it is really cool to raise and lower the grill to control the temperature of the cooking process.
I am setting up the grill and tripod for breakfast. When it's cold, oatmeal mixed with dried milk tastes wonderful. A handful of dried blueberries and brown sugar makes it a feast. 
It’s early in the morning and the fire has just been started. I’m carrying things from the tent to the table so we can begin to prepare breakfast.
Even with rain, extreme heat or extra cold, camping is something Kristin and I will always love. Your life is reduced to sleeping and eating and doing what you wish during the long, lovely hours between.
Daily Squiggle
I used markers to color this squiggle. The blue of her blouse and the orange stripes of her skirt are complementary and the green tights and red stripes of the skirt are complementary. It’s an interesting combination but I would not wear green tights even if I received many compliments.
I wanted her to be looking at the world. Too many people exercise in their own little bubbles of heart rate and ear buds. If you are lucky enough to be in the fresh air, use all your senses to be in it. You are not a tourist in nature, you are nature.
-Lynne
What a Cat! Cobra Yoga!
-Cheri
Crafty Challenge Two-Five Dollars
With our first official Crafty Challenge completed (incredibly successfully too!), our eyes – and itchy crafting fingers – are looking forward to our second challenge. This one is a bit more focused in an odd sort of way. Instead of a specific material to work with, our limits are money and where that money can be spent.
The rules:
- There is a $5 limit.
- The money must be spent in a hardware store (a home improvement store counts).
- You can only use materials that you purchased with the $5 from the hardware store.
- Projects must be presented on October 23rd.
All of the Crafty sisters are hardware/home improvement store junkies. In fact, Loryn and I can spend hours just wandering around Home Depot, not really spend any money, completely solving a specific repair, craft or decor difficulty and both feel that we had a great and productive day. We are all also incredibly thrifty and bargain savvy (I think I have unofficially declared Cheri Queen of the Bargain), hence all the garage saleing, so this particular challenge is right up our alley.
So, wish us luck and tune in on Sunday, October 23rd when we will post our projects. I can’t wait to get started! I promise I won’t procrastinate this time.
What a Cat! Yoga!
-Cheri
Crafty Challenge One: Embroidery Floss Project Box
Lynne: This project told me something about myself that I did not realize before. The objects I create come from a need for something rather than from the parts themselves. I had to think of a need and then decide if the spools could fit that need.
I spent most of the two weeks drawing spools in my notebook. I find that drawing my ideas first helps me find problems that could occur before I put any permanent glue in place. After pages and pages of spools in all different configurations, I found that the container I wanted for my colored pencils could not be made with the spools I had. I had to find another need.
Since Kristin and I have been back from our Indiana Dunes trip, I had been wanting to make a bracelet that reflected the colors of Lake Michigan. Friendship bracelets have been the rage all summer and I thought a woven chevron would give me the effect I wanted. However when I went to get the lengths of embroidery floss I wanted, the bobbins kept falling to the floor always ending in the dustiest corner of the room. I decided I needed a covered box with a bobbin that would roll and there I realized was the use for my spools.
I wound the floss I needed for the bracelet project onto some of the wooden spools. I threaded the spools onto two 12 inch dowel rods and put the rods into four holes that I had put in the plastic box. I used a heated awl to start the holes and then a craft knife to make them just a little larger than the dowels.
I originally poked holes in the lid for the floss to come out of the box, but the threads tangled every time I removed the lid. I put new holes near the bottom of the box which worked great. I tied jump rings to the thread ends so they would stay in place. I cut off the jump rings when I need floss and retie them when I have the length I want.
The spools can be changed depending on the colors needed for a project and the floss stays clean and neatly wound. The bottom photo shows the completed bracelet.
We were not allowed to see or talk about anyone else’s project before the time limit was up. It was a lot of fun to get together and see what we had all come up with. The projects reflected each of us perfectly. We had a lot of fun with this and are already planning more.
Crafty Challenge One: Spooky Spools!
Cheri: This spool challenge was a lot of fun to do. I think all of us had a really good time and our projects were all so different. For my spool project I decided that I wanted to do a Halloween project. That being decided, I realized that I wanted to paint some monsters on the spools and then I thought it would be so cool to be able to change the parts of the monsters around. I spent a few hours painting the spools and then I had to decide what I wanted to display them on. I had picked up some old alphabet blocks maybe a year ago and they just had the right feel to them. I started working with the letters to decide what I wanted to spell and finally felt that “SPOOKY” was a very appropriate word. I drilled a small hole in the top of the blocks and then I cut 5 pieces of dowel. I then hot glued the dowel into the blocks. My son suggested that I paint the dowels black so they didn’t stand out so much, and voila!!! My project was completed. I think we all did an awesome job and I can’t wait to get started on our next project.
To see the other entries in our spool challenge click here: spool towel holder, embroidery floss project box and a study in teal wreath.
the crafty sisters 