That's It

It's done!

I stitched the last stitch--including some thorns as requested--I added the hand-dyed border and I've wrapped and pinned it around the canvas. On my way home yesterday I stopped to buy a staple gun. I thought I could borrow one, but let's face it, this won't be the only time I need one. So that's one more bit of equipment in my collection and one more assignment finished.

The binder cover featuring my tree is also finished, but it's still too dark to take a photo this morning and I need to pack my bag, make and eat some toast and catch the train to school. Today is a mega "show and tell" at the beginning of our history lesson, so I'll pack my camera and then I can post that tomorrow.

Yarn Candy

What do I do when faced with a new challenge--even a happy one like decorating a tree? One approach is to start with what I know. I tried that last night. After unpacking the tree and rigging up the chain of itty bitty lights so they could reach a power point and stay out of the way of my active dogs, I needed to add some bling. I took my silver sparkly yarn and a crochet hook and made a nice long chain. This morning I took a bit more of the yarn--there's heaps of it--added some red handspun and made a twisted cord. This in one situation when nobody can complain about a candy-cane look! A phone call after breakfast reminded me that we're supposed to be decorating the tree together, so I'm going to have to restrain myself, but I don't want to live with a bare tree for the days before Christmas and there's still plenty of room to play.

All that Glitters

I'm home for Christmas this year. That hardly ever happens. What's more I will have at least one guest young enough to enjoy the idea of decorating a Christmas tree. Last weekend I bought a tree: admittedly a small artificial one at a reduced price. Not really my first preference, but it got me going. The next question, where to start with decorations? I'm not really the tinsel type. What about a smooshy yarn with silver spangles? There just happened to be a bag of it in the clearance rack at the craft store: I've got lights. I've got silver baubles. I've been making beaded angels for years, so there are a few of those hanging around the house. They can go on the tree. I've got some glass DIY baubles too and glue and paint and glitter to pretty them up with. I think I have the makings of sparkly Christmas that's conventional enough to be easily recognised, and individual enough to make me happy too. Now to put it all together over the next few days.

Workshop

I have shelves--a whole wall of shelves! It took most of the day, but that part of the job is done: Working in the Studio not only protected me from the occasional showers, but meant I had easy access for measuring and adjusting as I went along. The biggest challenge was the corner shelf. You can see it in the far right of the pic. I'm glad to see how accurate it looks from this perspective, since it cost me a fair bit of effort. The reality is less precise, but I won't care about that once I load it up with boxes and bits. That's today's task, but first there's some cleaning up to do.

My friend L is dropping in this afternoon with some jewellery that needs repairs and adjustments. I'll see whether I'm up to doing that in the studio or back on the kitchen table. And I need to buy a Christmas tree and some trimmings. That sounds like quite enough for one day.