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A Memory Afghan

THe Memory Afghan

The Memory Afghan planning

The only thing better than a Memory afghan is two. A friend asked and I agreed to crochet her Mother’s yarn stash into two different memory afghans. It was a huge project and the first step was to sort the yarn into two different groups. One for her daughter’s Memory afghan and one for her granddaughter’s (or her Mother’s great grand daughter’s) memory afghan. 4 generations of women, the youngest a baby, including a daughter, a mom and her mother.

We added some white to the neutrals and light colors for the daughter’s afghan. Pinks were added to the baby’s afghan. It was created adult size to get the most use out of the yarn and longest life for afghan.

A Great Grandma's yarn stash.

They all started at this point. A wide assortment of yarns from a Great Grandmother’s yarn stash. She crocheted with worsted weight and has a variety of yarns here from Red Heart to Caron and others. The colors were a bit blah so we added a huge skein of white and then also 3 skeins of pink plus a skein of teal to widen the range and create a more girly blanket as one of the blankets is for an infant.

The Farmhouse Style Memory Afghan

The farmhouse style was crocheted for the Granddaughter who is now a Mom. A more sophisticated selection of neutral colors was chosen. Using up the beige, off white, yellow, powder blue, and grey yarns plus a few of other shades. The squares are all sewn together to create a softer look. The afghan is surrounded with a lovely scalloped chocolate brown border. The crochet blanket is 5’x 6′ before the border was applied.

The Memory Afghan for the Grand daughter's created out of her Grandmother's yarn stash.

The Floral Afghan

The Floral Memory Blanket is crocheted using the same basic floral square. Crocheting the whole blanket in the 3-d Flower Garden Pattern was our first idea. Weight was going to be a huge problem with a blanket out of all of the 3-d flowers. It would have weighed 10+ pounds, too much for an infant, too much for me! Such a huge crochet blanket would be a problem. Suggesting instead that we use a few squares of an adapted 3-d flower and then filling in with squares that were the same design as the one above. They look similar but are different enough to add in personality and age differences. The crochet blanket is

The Great Grand daughter's Memory afghan created out of her Great Grandmother's yarn stash.
Another photo of the Memory afghan for the Great Granddaughter.

So much fun to crochet and so many memories are tied up in these Christmas gifts. I have waited 6 months to show them to you. What a great gift idea and way to use up yarn stash!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas, and are working on a Happy New Year.

talk to you later,

Karen

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Finally Vintage Market Days is over!

Finally, Vintage Market days is over! How did Vintage Market Days go, is the question I keep getting asked. Was it all you hoped for? Yes, it was. I knew when I went that my painted furniture is not quite in keeping with the Vintage Market Days customer base. The show was great, management was kind, and other vendors exceedingly helpful. Overall it was a great experience for this newbe. Did much sell? Well, not really but it was exactly what I expected. About 140 people over the course of 3 days wandered into my hidden corner and with great big smiles said “Ahh, Color!” They left with smiles and my business card. What could be better than meeting the people you paint for!

The Show

Here are a few photos to show you a little of our days, for some reason I forgot to get photos of all the family that helped out. My husband, daughter and nephew helped load and unload all the furniture in the booth. Our daughter in law came and kept me company one day and my good friend Kelly came and helped man the booth on Friday when I was a nervous wreck about the whole thing!

Finally Vintage Market Days
Finally Vintage Market Days

This was set up day and things are really in a mess. We had too much out and not enough space between the items for people to see what’s there. It was chaos.

Finally Vintage Market Days

The set up was different every day as we learned more things and were given great advice by our next door neighbor Renee. She knows what she is doing with her booth and changed things up every day to keep things looking fresh and interesting. The photo above is day 2 and things are already looking better. Day three was finished and over before I had a chance to take any photos.

After the Show

Since yesterday several cool and interesting things have happened. I got over my fear for the moment of hearing no. That makes ME smile and the courage to call and email and ask happened because after you receive 3000+ no’s over a three day period what’s a couple more no’s. I’ll get to tell you next week when things are finalized!

Crochet

and finally I get to sit down and crochet this week. I have a couple of little hats and scarves on the list to work on. I can’t wait to get started doing what’s also fun and relaxing. Getting ready for the big show like this is like putting on a Broadway production!

Talk to you later

Karen

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At The Market

This week we’re at the Market, well Vintage Market Days here in Tulsa. It is a big deal for Chocolate Dog Studio. Excitement is pretty high in the house as we have the booth set up in the living room as practice. Adjusting this little thing and finishing up that thing; in other words making sure that it is pretty close to perfect. I know that perfect is unattainable but I love to create a beautiful display.

At The Market

You should know that I don’t “do” perfect well. I’m not a type A person, and I like to paint closer to impressionist rather than perfect or tight as we used to call it in design school. All the polka dots are painted by hand so you can tell that they aren’t perfectly round. I’m have fun painting not stressing over every little misplaced paint spot. I hand paint furniture so it stays out of the landfill and so you can live with it.

At The Market
Hand painted chairs and Christmas ornament display shadow boxes are a few of the items you can find and VIntage Market Days in Chocolate Dog Studio.

Come and see what we have in Chocolate Dog Studio this week. There is so much more than painted furniture. Everything from hand turned wood bowls, painted bowls, vintage glassware, artwork, frames, and Christmas items. We can’t wait to see you, stop by and say hi!

At The Market
All of the chairs, tables, and other items that you have been seeing on our account on Instagram are here at Vintage Market Days on October 18-20 from 9-4 pm at the Creek County Fairgrounds.

Talk to you later,

Karen

You can see more of the furniture here: https://www.instagram.com/chocodogstudio/

Information about Vintage Market Days Tulsa Here: https://www.facebook.com/events/502432996964918/

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and Zoom…It’s October

and zoom…it’s October and so much of life has passed by that it is almost impossible to catch up. Hang on to your hats, here we go on a visual tour of how I spent my time.

Painting

The last two or is it three months have been filled with paint, brushes and furniture. I have been lucky enough to ruin almost all my jeans, shorts and t-shirts due to painting. Thank goodness we are at the end of the hot season and I won’t need to replace them any time soon. I usually look like I lost a fight with a three year old after finger painting. Lots of painting and different pieces of furniture. Pricing small vintage bits and pieces to round out the Chocolate Dog Studio version of Vintage Market Days here in Tulsa has also been filling my time.

The 60’s chair has had a complete reupholstery job.
and Zoom...it's October
and Zoom...it's October
and Zoom...it's October
and Zoom...it's October

I paint each and every piece freehand. There are no stencils or decals used in any of these pieces. Each piece of furniture is coated with a clear coating to make it durable and useful.

and Zoom...it's October
and Zoom...it's October

These are most of the pieces that will be at Vintage Market Days here in Tulsa. There are several others that for one reason or another didn’t make it to the photo shoot. A nice large pub table and 6 matching chairs. There are also room dividers, a china cabinet and also an old radio cabinet that was needing a makeover. It has been so much fun to paint so many different types of furniture in such a short time frame but I have to admit that I couldn’t have done this without my trusted assistant Angie who sands and primes almost all of the furniture pieces before painting. She does a huge amount of work for me and I want to make sure that she gets due praise and credit for all of the work that she does.

and Zoom...it's October

I hope to see you soon at Vintage Market Days October 18-20 in Tulsa.

Talk to you later,

Karen

P.S. Thank you to Jenny Thomas for taking my studio photos! She does an awesome job.

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Unveiling the Vanity

(This post contains amazon affiliate links and I make a small percentage of any purchase you may make.)

The Before

The vanity started out like this. Antique blue and worn. The veneer is all chipped and unglued. It was missing a mirror and needed some help. Truthfully this vanity was in worse condition than I thought and it was intimidating. The photo below is one of the options that I considered. I was going to add sheet music to the areas where the veneer was missing. However, it just never seemed right.

After gluing the veneer down and filling all the spots where veneer was missing. it rested for several months. I was beginning to think that it needed a name since it had been at several family dinners. Painting furniture isn’t always easy. Like all work it can be hard to get started. Then there was the week while it was going to be grey, a very pale grey. The damaged veneer was a problem. Every imperfection showed up terribly.

The Halfway Point

After a week or two of looking at the grey I couldn’t stand it any more. The base coat went on and it started looking much better.

The Finale

Here is the final product. I am so glad that it’s finished. The vanity is available via the facebook page.

Details

The drawers are painted inside and out. They are lined with a coordinating liner. The drawer pulls are original. The gold tone finish was removed to show the natural silver tone beauty. As with all vintage furniture small nicks and bumps are inevitable. The damaged veneer no longer shows but you can still find it if you look hard. It has character. It also has dove tail joints in all of the drawers and is a solid wood construction. It looks great and I am so pleased.

The mirror is new and you can find it in many stores and also on Amazon.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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June-Finishing Up

June-FInishing Up is a reality. It’s hard to believe how many projects are on the verge or finished already! June is more than 1/2 way through? If I work hard I can finish another 5-6 projects and really clear the work list. Work and fun have been happening the past two months. I haven’t written or talked to you in several weeks now and so much keeps happening. Life is just like this, it seems to be flying past.

June-Finishing up the studio move

Finally the studio is beginning to take shape. There are a few more boxes to take back upstairs- Now that I can see them. I’ve recently moved about 8 painting projects out of the studio and into the living room. Which makes the living room cramped for a few days. The biggest two projects will go home this week which makes a little extra elbow room in the studio. Also several of the sewing boxes moved back upstairs which makes even more room.

I still have all of the tools and attic type storage type boxes. These will find their way to another place soon. I was even able to use the carpet sweeper since I could see it. Yay for me. Carpet sweeper because vacuums do not like the chunky bits that end up on the floor. Also the long strings of yarn and thread tend to clog up the vacuum works.

The photo below shows it shortly after the move. It is looking so much better. I’ve added an rug to catch the paint drips. It’s a great photo of one of the between stages of the vanity shown below. The painted version is so much better.

June-Finishing Up

Finishing Up Paint Projects

Several different paint projects are completed and while I’m waiting on the photos to do a big unveiling. They moved out of the studio and so today was a big day of computer work and nothing but computer work. It appears that when we changed web servers for the blog we lost all the patterns in this shop. Today I spent the day adding as many as I could back. The free ones are a bit more ify. They have vanished and I’ll need to do back up from the hard drive.

The newest paint project is staring me in the face. While the base coat is on, I’m not quite sure what needs to happen next so it is incubating while I dream up the right designs for the next step. Another idea that has been in the works is a pattern flip book. Reusing the detail patterns adds some continuity in my work and giving them names helps me remember the basic design. Creating a flip book out of 3×5 cards might be the inexpensive way to keep designs at my fingertips.

June-Finishing Up

Finishing up the Crochet Memory Blanket

The last memory afghan is well under way. I’ve started sewing the squares together so that I can stretch out the boring bits with the fun parts. I’m not much into sewing squares together. It will also tell me if I need to buy some more yarn. While this isn’t an issue for me. It is better for the client if I don’t load her back up with yarn! The purpose of the project was to use up as much as possible. I might write up a pattern for this afghan it is turning out pretty. It also makes good use of stash yarn! Do you want a written pattern for it or can you figure it out?

June-Finishing Up

You can find the basic floral granny square pattern like the white squares here. Let me know if you want me to write out the 3-d flower squares.

Three cheers for June-Finishing Up! I’m so glad that it is happening. I’m beginning to be able to breathe with the to do list getting smaller.

Talk to you later,

Karen

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June Flowers

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Here are the Gladiolus that we planted shortly after we moved in. Thankfully, they come back every year.

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The coneflowers that I planted this Spring are growing and seem really happy.2014-06-23 14.34.04

We planted these lilies about five years ago and this year is the first year I remembering them blooming. I keep having to remind the kids that these are not weeds.

2014-06-024

 

 

This is the Russian sage in full flower. The bees love it and it has been there for about 9 years. It has migrated from the middle of the flower bed to the edge and is now trying to grown in the yard on the other side of the path. I love it because it doesn’t take much care at all.

2014-06-23 14.34.20

The yellow Yarrow is growing beautifully and looks great next to the Russian Sage. I transplanted some to the new flower bed and it is growing  nicely.

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We also planted some Iris in this flower bed but only one came up. I think that more will bloom next year.

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Irises are my favorite flower and when I dig up the iris bed near the street I will move some more to this flower bed.

talk to you later,

Karen

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JackZen Hemp

I found the coolest hemp bracelets on Etsy today. There are so many different colors and styles to choose from.

This shop is owned and run by Ashley Jackson. She lives in Milwaukee WI. She makes beautiful bracelets and there are so many different colors and styles to choose from.

Ashley is a single mom making ends meet. Drop by and say hi! You can find Ashley on Etsy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/JackZenHemp

Thanks for stopping by today,

See you later,

Karen

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Things to do with Kids: teach them how to Really Cook!

I started teaching my oldest (7) how to make toast in a toaster when a good friend told me that she was teaching her 7 year old to fry eggs on the stove. I was amazed here, yet again was a creative outlet for my then oldest (he was also 7) that would teach him needed skills. The pride he had when he finished frying his little egg was overwhelming. He quickly moved on to making cookies, spaghetti and other things. I, of course, supervised him closely when he was little. The harvest is great because now he is 23 and he can cook a whole meal for us (when he feels like it and has time)!  His younger sister can bake cookies, bread, follow a recipe and make cinnamon rolls.

All of the kids have made mistakes, cookies running off onto the bottom of the oven, no salt in the cookies, etc..! In the meantime they have all learned to pay attention to what they are doing. :0) The middle son learned to make pizza crust from scratch. He is rather a particular eater and his interest is being awakened to try new foods. All four of the kids know how to cook basic food from scratch and to follow a recipe.

I would also add that we use regular cookbooks. I am on hand to explain anything so the kids cookbooks don’t work for us. I guess there is not enough volume of food! Having four teenagers or near teenagers it worked best for us to use a regular cook book.

I would suggest that you allow them to cook and then clean up after themselves. Allow them to pick the recipe, if they are interested in the food then they will pay closer attention to what they are doing. Edit their choices a little, if they pick a pastry shop style cake redirect them to a pound cake with whipped cream.

We love the Betty Crocker cook book for its wealth of easy recipes.  We also like  learning  to use crock pot recipes and freezer cooking recipes. We will turn to www.allrecipes.com when we can’t find what we want in our home cookbooks.

Here are some Favorite recipes for young cooks:

Dip for veggies or fruit. (There are many recipes out there and no cooking is involved)

Chocolate Chip cookies, There are so many recipes out there for chocolate chip cookies. Just find one and follow the directions.

Spaghetti with sauce from a jar. Follow the directions on the package for the spaghetti.

Pound cake from scratch. There are many recipes on the internet for pound cake. It is really hard to ruin a pound cake.

Baked potatoes (I have the kids wash, prick and put the potatoes in a cold oven, that way they don’t get burnt. I also take them out if they are under 12.)

After they master some basics I would pretty much let them browse the recipe book, guiding them a little bit and keeping them from exotic ingredients that we didn’t have on hand.

What have you taught your kids to cook?

Talk to you later,

Karen

 

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Start Where You Are!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103937992/quote-pillow-hand-stamped-linen

This is my theme for this year. I really don’t have a better way of saying it than this. No matter what you are trying to do. You can get some part of it done! Is it organizing? Then use the boxes your food comes in or roll newspapers and make newspaper baskets. You don’t have to wait to go to the store to get all pinteresty on it. YOU don’t have to have a beautiful pantry. IF it is organized for you and you can find what you want then it is beautiful. Do you need a new planner? Then print one down off the internet and get on with life. Are you wanting to start crocheting a granny square blanket but think it is going to take too long? It surely won’t take 20 years which is how long I have been working on the cross stitch from the post before this one. Just start. NIKE: just do it. Life is too short to wait for the perfect moment or when you have lost enough weight for family photos or a beach vacation! DO it anyway….unless you have debt and it means putting it all on the credit card and Dave Ramsey has your phone number. Then by all means wait until the right time and when you actually have money to do it, But plan it and start saving. There is never going to be a more perfect time to tell someone you love them or write that letter or finish that project. Do not put things off that are important to you. Learn to speak another language, knit, or paint if you have always wanted to know how. Don’t wait, life is too short!

What have you been waiting to do?

Karen

 

P.s. I featured the pillow cover above from Casa and Co. You can find the Etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CasaAndCo

I have never bought from their shop nor are they paying me for this feature.