Tuesday's Tips and Tools- Packing Tape

The last few months I have been sorting and packing,
 getting ready for our move this Thursday.

While going through this process I came across a wonderful packing tape,
I would love to share with you.

Chateau products has a paper tape that is self adhesive.
 It does not sick to itself because it has a wax- like finish on the top of it.
It is very easy to tear so you do not need a tape dispenser.

I had been using other tapes that would stick to themselves and twist,
making taping boxes a pain.

While helping my son-in-law and daughter with some packing,
 Josh give me a roll of this paper tape.
 I am telling you there is a real difference. This tape goes on to the box smooth and easy.
It was a pleasure to use.

If you ever find yourself packing or just shipping a package
 give this tape a try.

An Evening Stroll

May and June are the perfect time of year to take an evening stroll

 on the small island on the West Coast of Florida called Useppa.

Once a year a flower blooms here called

  a Night Blooming Cirrus.

These flowers grow on a cactus-like vine 

that wraps itself around some of the trees on this island.

If you are really lucky you may see as many as fifty blooms on one tree.

This is spectacular!

Each one of these beautiful flowers

 only bloom one time, at night, once a year.

Here you see a bud getting ready to open

 with one of our island friends the scorpion standing by.

The Night Blooming Cirrus in bloom

is truly something to see.

I hope your week is full of spectacular moments.

Tuesday's Tips- Controlling your Raffia

Hello craft friends.

 Have you ever finished a craft project, 

looked around only to find yourself drowning in raffia.

Today I have a solution to this problem.

Mesh laundry bags with  zippers are the answer.

Place your Raffia in one of these mesh bags.

Zip up your bag and your raffia is in control.

When you need a few pieces of raffia 

unzip your mesh bag about two or three inch's.

 Gently pull out a few pieces of raffia.

Amazing, no raffia on the floor.

When you are finished with your project, zip up your mesh bag. 

Your raffia is now easy to store and you have easy access to your raffia without the mess.

Baby Raccoons

This evening two cute little raccoons made an appearance in my back yard.

They were playing in and around a cabbage palm.

Their mother was nowhere to be seen.

I grabbed my camera and snapped some

 pictures as they played.

It is amazing how well they got around

and how they know to hide and blend in with their back ground.

These little guys are very cute, but don't be fooled

 they are wild animals and they may bite.

When it comes to nature, cute does not necessarily mean nice.

Weekend Craft for the Young and Old- Butterfly House

If you like easy crafts and butterflies

 you will love this project.

This is a butterfly house.

Why have a butterfly house?

Birds and bees love to eat butterfly larva. If there are no butterfly larva there are no butterflies.

Therefore, a butterfly house is a wonderful thing. 

You can save the caterpillars and butterflies and at the same time

 you can experience nature's wonders right at home.

Here is how you can make your own butterfly house.

You will need a dainties laundry bag with a zipper and two embroidery hoops.

You will also need a zip tie.

(I picked up all of these things at the dollar store.)

Unzip the zipper on the laundry bag and and place the

 inside loop of your embroidery hoop on the inside of the bag. 

Push the loop to the top part of the bag. Place the outside embroidery hoop 

on the outside of the bag so that it slips over the inside loop. 

Now tighten the hoop.

Repeat this proses on the bottom of the bag.

Now you should have a bag with a embroidery hoop on each end.

Place your zip tie at the top of your butterfly house

 and it is ready for hanging.

Unzip the bottom of your butterfly house.

Now you ready to explore the garden.

 Look for butterfly larva and caterpillars.

Place your caterpillars in your their new home. 

Don't forget to feed your caterpillars new food every couple of days. 

They have a lot of work ahead of them.

Enjoy watching life transform before your eyes.

Have a wonderful weekend.

May Morning

When the moon is full

and the dawn is breaking

the clouds are forming

and the wind is blowing 

a flower opens and life begins again.

Sweet Little Bracelet

Today's show and tell is a sweet little bracelet.

This bracelet was made with semi precious stones 

and sterling silver.

The focal piece of this bracelet is a sweet little flower
that was hand made and original as well as the toggle.

The Move - First the Studio

My husband and I are moving to a condo in the sky.

 We will be leaving our home of twenty-five years. The children are all grown up and Jay and I don't really need all the space and property we have now. 

This is the room that will soon be my new studio.

 The space is great.

The studio space is even better now that there is a wood floor and no carpet.

Beads and small things seem to disappear in carpet.

 I'm very happy with the wood floor.

Thanks Jay!

                                                         

This is the old studio. 

It's now time for the packing and moving.

The new studio has a bath room that is now a mini studio. 

The bath tub became a storage area.

 I had the plumping plugged and the fixtures taken off.

 I then measured the bath tub from wall to wall. I then went to Lowe's and bought a piece of wood that a nice young man cut into the size I needed to fit over my tub. I took my board home,

 covered it with fabric and placed it on top of my tub.

A good friend of mine made a closet out of her bathtub, so I played on her wonderful idea. 

Thanks Colleen! 

Now I have a great place to store all of my paper goods.

The sink area was the perfect place to set up my soldering space. 

My studio has a large closet. I had shelves installed from floor to ceiling.

This is where all my fabric, lace, ribbon and sewing related things are.

 The old baskets that I made years ago now have my collection of beautiful lace in them. 

On the far side of this closet are all of my reference books.

When you first walk into my studio you will see a green step-back cupboard.

 I keep all my household tools in here. Things like tape, nails, hooks, my drill, etc.

You will also see my mannequin.

I think you should have all the things you love in your studio.

 I love old cupboards and antiques so I have surrounded myself with these things, using them as storage.

This antique oak english cupboard houses all of my yarns.

 Next to it you see my spinning wheel.

This wall has three work tables. 

The first table has my rolling mill, drill press, band saw and metal cutter.

 This table also has drawers that house some of my metals.

The next table is the hammering table.

My anvils, vises and other metal bending tools are here.

Above this table you will see a peg board that I covered in burlap.

This is where my hammers and files hang, they are easy to see and grab.

The last table on this wall is my jewelers table. 

I have my flex-shaft here and all of my smaller hand tools.

On the opposite wall is a third antique step back cupboard.

It is my beading cupboard. 

All of my beads are here as well as anything having to do with beading.

I have collected boxes for years. 

Now they are on top of his cupboard housing wonderful things for future projects.

No studio is complete without a comfy chair for those times when you just want to contemplate or a friend comes to visit.

Last but not least is my work table.

( I will show this in more detail in a future blog.)

This is the end of my new studio tour.

 The wonderful thing about moving a studio is everything has a place and everything is labeled.

 The bad thing is, I don't want to mess it up.

 Oh, but it will be a wonderful place to create.