Christmas Ornaments Revealed!

Now that the celebration has been completed and the gifts distributed, the ornaments (aka the gifts) can be revealed. Most of the designs are from 202 Little Log Cabin Blocks by Linda Causee.



The ornaments are all foundation pieced. I used copy paper for the foundation, and I ripped it away, assisted by tweezers, before I made the ornaments.



The large ornaments are 2.5 inches square.



This small ornament is 2 inches square.



The penguin is 4 inches tall.



If you haven't tried foundation piecing, I recommend it.

Darth Vadar Shoes

I am now the proud owner of two pairs of Darth Vadar shoes.



You may wonder why anyone (other than Darth Vadar) would want Darth Vadar shoes. Sometimes I wonder, too.

However, faithful readers will remember my difficulties finding footwear (described here). The humiliation of being laughed out of every shoe store in town... I can't go on. It's too horrible.

So I've tried to get used to being a Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes. Except that they are running shoes not tennis shoes. And I'm not that old. I'm not!!!

Now a Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes is a vulnerable person. People ask her if she needs help lifting her turkey out of the frozen food bin. I don't, thank you very much. I'm just looking for one larger than 20 pounds. People tell her not to worry and reassure her that they won't knock her over as they push ahead at the yogurt display. You bet your sweet life you won't knock me over. And what exactly are you going to do with those eight one-quart containers of Dannon Low Fat Vanilla yogurt? (Ok, so I didn't say that, but I thought it.)

Now nobody messes with Darth Vadar. Except Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, and they are in a galaxy far, far away.

So if I have Darth Vadar shoes, nobody will mess with me. Brilliant! Because I do have two pairs of Darth Vadar shoes, as shown above.

And these shoes will be good travel shoes. Although they're not exactly glamorous (or at all lovely, except perhaps to Darth Vadar's inamorata), from a distance they look a little less like sneakers than the mostly white-colored shoes. And with another four months to perfect my Spanish, no one, not a single person, in Madrid will know I'm a tourist when I'm wearing these shoes.

Note to shoe shoppers: I ordered these from Endless Shoes since nothing in the right size was available locally. They had the best online prices and free shipping and free returns. I mean free overnight shipping. They arrived less than 24 hours after I ordered them.

More Major Surgery!

First a heart transplant and then a complete facial reconstruction! Poor little doll! Thanks to all of you for your concern and good wishes. She's doing very well now and is making a quick recovery.

When we last spoke, I told you about the little doll I was making. You can refresh your memory of that conversation by looking the last part of my previous post.

As I continued to work on the doll, I realized that her heart was not in the right place. Her front looked like a back and her back looked like a front. I reluctantly came to the conclusion that a heart transplant was needed. So I removed the copper-colored heart from the back/front and placed it on the front/back. You can compare the photos in the previous post. Now I am confident she is anatomically correct.

This is the front:


And this is the back:


Last night there was a minor setback. Her face popped out! This required another trip to surgery for a complete facial reconstruction. Two more rows of 15/0 beads and she is good as new. Well, almost as good as new. She was left with a tiny scar on one eyebrow, but we all feel this gives her character. Now all she needs is a hair-do.