How to Get to Art @ The Mill

This is a video for how to get to 

Art @ The Mill

from Hwy 140, where Waze gets wonky.

TO get to this point, take I-575 north.

Take exit 16

Stay to the right when the exit splits

Turn left onto 140 at the bottom of the exit ramp

Turn right at the dead end (by the gas station)

That's where this video takes over.

What I Learned From Yarn

There's something really, truly relaxing to me about yarn.

I'm not certain if it's the feeling of the yarn gliding through my fingers, or the fact that it takes only a tiny amount of time to make something really cute with yarn, or if it's some more transcendental connection I have to sheep - but whatever it is - I really dig yarn.

Occasionally I will knit or crochet something.  Usually something small.  I tend to grip needles and hooks way too tightly and my hands end up going to sleep, so, usually I stick to other yarn-using activities.

Like pom poms.

Or wreaths.

I first started my yarn adoration in 1985 when a college friend (and fellow fraternity little sister), Michelle, taught me to knit.  We had been cast as jury members in the school's production of Inherit the Wind.  The production was done in the round, so most of us weren't able to leave our places at all during the show.  The two of us were elderly women who sat in seats and knitted, commenting from time-to-time on the happenings of the trial which was the play.  So, you can imagine, after many weeks of practice and several weeks of performances, I had quite a number of knitting hours under my belt.

I share my somewhat-lengthy yarn adoration period with you so that you might better feel the idiocy in what I did today.

After nearly 30 years of loving yarn, I still took a skein of yarn, rooted around in the center of it for the loose end and decided not to ball the yarn.  Again - as thousands of times before - I somehow thought that the outcome would be different.  That I'd somehow mange to use the entire skein, pulling from the inside without getting it all knotted.

Of course - as usual - I was wrong.  About 30 minutes into my pom pom making frenzy, I was faced with an ugly, knotted, tangled, twisted mess.

Without hesitation, frustration or even a sigh, I slowly began un-knotting, un-tangling and un-twisting as I wind the remaining yarn into a ball.


This is more than an hour into the balling.

Necklaces for Christmas!

I mentioned in a previous post that I participated in the It's Just Emmy Christmas Exchange recently.  The ice was to make something that the recipient would be able to replicate and give out as Christmas gifts.

One of the items I made is what I'll probably be giving a lot of this year:  Necklaces!

This one contains a lyric from my very favorite Christmas carol.


It's pretty easy to make.  Here's the step-by-step:

1.  Select a Pendant Tray at your local craft store.  I chose these 1" round ones by Bottle Cap Company that I purchased at Archiver's (full disclosure, I work at Archiver's).  I particularly liked that I could get the matching cabochons or photo seals, which makes it much easier than having to use UTEE or Glossy Accents to seal the image.

2.  Find, create or purchase an image you want to use.  I created this one.  Print it at the appropriate size.  In this case, it was 1" circular, which was available as a "Collage" option at the Archiver's Memory Lab.  So, I got 15 of these on a 4x6" print for less than 30 cents.

3.  Punch or cut out the image to the appropriate size.  I used my 1" circular punch.  Although, the picture above is misleading, I actually use my punches upside down, so I can easily center the image.  

4.  I used Ranger Glossy Accents to secure the image to the pendant tray and then again on top of the image to secure the cabochon.  Glossy Accents dries completely clear very quickly.  I usually make sure to press down really, really hard on the cabochon to make sure that there are no air bubbles caught underneath.  

5.  I secured a chain for the necklace.  I prefer to wear mine long.  So, I purchased these Tim Holtz Idea-ology ball chains that are 36" long.  I trimmed it to 25" and added a closure.