My Little Amineko

I have been so sick this past week and a half. Finally, I'm starting to feel a little better. Between sleeping and just feeling terrible I did manage to finish up my Amineko. This little cat is from a Japanese designer and she has kindly translated her pattern into English. It can be seen here at her website.
In Japanese Ami means crochet or knitting in English and Neko mean cat. This little cat is poseable so you can display him in all sorts of neat ways.





I just love making these little animals and I look forward to making more.

KarenOX

Welcome to a New Year

A new year has begun and I always find for the first week I just like to recover from the holidays. It gives me a chance to make lists of what I would like to accomplish in the coming year. Projects to finish and new ones to start; places to visit and maybe some new skills to learn.

I made some of my gifts this past year and would like to increase the amount in the coming year.
Here are some of them

This little fairy jar was made for my young cousin as a Christmas gift. The jar is an adaptation of the tutorial Nest Baby Project; from Dawn Edmonson. Another great tutorial that was offered on Nancy Green's Artist Class.

Fairy Jar Details

The text on the tag is as follows:

This little Fairy Jar is a very special jar with Magical wishes for Mommy and Maddison. It also contains loving remembrances from past generations.

The Little fairy is Maddison at 6 months old
The little gold charm was gifted to Grandma from Maddison's Mommy.
The pink crochet lace was made by Maddison's Great Grandma Stanton
The white crochet lace on the lid was made by Maddison's Great, Great Grandma Bartlett

The Magical Jar represents five Generations of Women

I made three sets of these wrist warmers using a pattern I bought from BellaMcBride's Etsy shop. They were Christmas gifts.


Some beaded bookmarks, cell phone charm and charms for Saucy's Christmas Charm swap


And my second crochet Amigurumi Pup that is now the proper size.



Wishing everyone a creative new year

KarenOX

Merry Christmas

My Christmas wish for all of you
Photo courtesy of the Graphics Fairy

I hope everyone has a Joyful and Merry Christmas. May the New Year bring you happiness and peace.

Blessings

KarenOX

Memories of Christmas Past: The Christmas Fruitcake

The Christmas Fruitcake is a popular treat for many. The History of “The Christmas Cake” can be found here
When I was young and living at home, one of our many Christmas traditions was the making of the Christmas cake. These were always made during the first week of November. Mother made two cakes one light and one dark. Both were good and they never seemed to last past New Year’s Day.
The cake was prepared in her large canning kettle and we all took turns stirring the batter, this was considered to bring luck. The batter was very thick and heavy so my Father did most of the mixing. After the cake had ripened and before cutting my mother would put a layer of almond paste on the top. It was difficult waiting until December to finally taste these delicious cakes.
Even after I left home my mom and I still made Christmas cakes together and eventually, my sister-in-law joined us. The first Saturday in November became Cake baking Day. We did this for many years, right up until my mom was unable to help anymore. I made the cakes for a few years, but then there just weren’t as many people who enjoyed fruitcake. Now I usually just buy a small cake.
While catching up on my blog reading the other day I found the most delicious sounding Christmas cake over at Storybook Woods. It is called Chocolate Cherry Fruitcake. She is also sharing this recipe and the link is in her posting. This is one cake recipe I really want to try. You can check it out here

KarenOX

Artist Class: Making a Digital ATC with Joy Ott

One of the projects in "Artist Class" is Joy's tutorial for Making Digital ATCs. Her instructions and great photoshop tips were very easy to understand . Also included is a mini kit Joy put together using the fabulous 1905 French Dictionary/Encyclopedia images from Green Paper Packages. I had so much fun with this tutorial and here is the result.



KarenOX

Welcome to November

Today is the first of November and after the scary winds we had yesterday, many of the leaves are gone. This year the fall colour was absolutely spectacular. I have not seen colour like this for many years.

On Thursday we went to the yearly chrysanthemum show. On the way home we decided to check out two local areas with water falls. The trees were gorgeous and we managed to take some great pictures.

Here are two pictures I took at Webster's Fall


Fall is my favourite time of the year, I just love everything about it.

In Autumn
by Fannie Montgomery

They're coming down in showers,
The leaves all gold and red;
They're covering the little flowers,
And tucking them in bed.
They've spread a fairy carpet
All up and down the street;
And when we skip along to school,
They rustle 'neath our feet.

KarenOX

Halloween "A Hauntingly Magical Celebration"

To-day a special Halloween Celebration is being held by Vanessa over at A Fanciful Twist

In honor of the Celebration, I am, with a little help from Photo Shop, providing some Halloween poems for your enjoyment.








I also copied a page and a tag from my Cat themed altered book.





I hope you enjoyed my little bit of Halloween. Please visit Vanessa and check out all the other participants

Credits: Christine M. Stone, Shabby Pumpkin, Kubivet and Woolman

KarenOX