Leather woven mat

Leather is not for the timid, you have to be brave to have leather and a large pocket book. Not everyone appreciates the uses from leather, it does come from many different...animals. It binds books, we ride on leather saddles, cowboy boots, sandals, shoes, belts, saddle bags on motorcycles, jackets...a culture of leather art and crafts, jewelry and bags.

I collect things, and leather is a favorite if I can find scraps. A leather clothing business was moving out of town and sold bags of scraps from the garments and accessories they made. I rummaged around and picked out a bag of colored leather small scraps and another scrap bag of mixed leathers that were larger very thin scraps. So two bags for $25 and I was happy for my find but I feel I went over budget for the cost of scraps.

Until...when I got home, I found one of the bags had within it a large, uncut hide of the softest dark brown, very thin hid as soft as butter....that alone was worth it all. It still remains uncut or altered on my orphaned wood chest I keep all my fabric in for sewing. Now, here is what I did...

American Indian artwork has all kinds of weaving in baskets and leathers. I found a pattern on a wallet that I liked.

Taking a base firm piece of about 4" by 8" with a smooth side out. Taking the colored leather very thin choice pieces I found blue, red and a light tan. I made these into the width of shoe laces, about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide and as long as the scrap was, which was about 4" to 6 ". Cutting into the base leather with an sharp pointed Exacto Knife slits from which to weave into. This is the first pattern formed from these scraps.

Taped the leather down on my cutting mat, and with a ruler, next I made sliver thin strips. The next pattern is a border for the center piece.

 I cut two more base leather pieces. Using the same method and altered the pattern just a little bit. Using only red for the center focus point made these two bookend pieces.

Now, I have this pattern and border design.

I used this to line a western jewelry chest, but now placed them on a bookcase as mats under family pictures.

...man hide or? scent to your liking and save $$. Commercial Free!!

Start with an empty spray bottle. Starting with a facial toner that is witch hazel based and adding neem oil, jojoba oil and almond oil. This is the base for thirsty and dry skin. We don't always eat right, stress shows up on your face and all those hot steamy showers drains the moisture out of your skin...and you never returned the moisture! So here you can enjoy the development of new skin on your man or woman hide before the summer.

I am using a small spray bottle that can hold about 6-8 ounces. For this batch I am using Zum face or witch hazel of your choice. Fill the bottle almost half full with the witch hazel.

Neem oil is very expensive, concentrated and you only need a two complete dropper full squirts, that is all, not more. The warmth of your hands on the bottle before using will help the oil flow as it is a very thick oil in cold climate and flows readily in warm, shake the neem oil well before adding to the witch hazel.

Jojoba oil is your moisture, you should only add as much as will bring the total almost level to about mid way now as in the picture above.

Almond oil balances your moisture of the skin. This is added to bring the total level to just over half of the bottle. Now for the fun part...shake, SHAKE, S H A K E the container...if you shake too, go to the gym, do not pass go, do not collect $200 dollars.

You need the room in the bottle to shake the ingredients each time before you pump the sprayer. Check out these ingredients yourself online. You can add other oils, but this is a base, I use it plain like this daily. Remember this is commercial free, I use it daily and after every time I wash my face. It refreshes and you can apply as much or as little as you need. Place enough on your face so you can with your flat of your palm of your hands gently press onto the skin of your face.

Refresh and enjoy your skin that you are in!

...the accent is in the napkins....

I explore the nooks and crannies of our H.E.B. Central Market and could not believe the beautiful napkins available. I know many use these for cocktail parties, birthday parties, anniversary parties, bridal parties, baby showers, no reason parties....but why not make a non special occasion special without a reason. We rush so much to prepare things just right that sometimes I find the specialness is just the two of us.
This was a flower and butterfly dinner napkin size and the dragonfly was a cocktail size. It made the Snickerdoodle cookies so special. I only baked 13 cookies while the rest sleep in the refrigerator, but this was a special batch. I tried more cardamon instead of the usual cinnamon and they turned out to be such a treat. So special that the crispy snap of the cookies were displayed upon flowers, butterflies and dragonflies...enjoy spring, enjoy life, enjoy togetherness, just the two of you....and cookies.

...cheaper than WalMart or Target...

 So, I had taken some cuttings from the plant lady at work several months ago. They were sitting in water, a jar, for the roots to develop. I waited patiently and beautiful roots began to show on the cuttings. Changing the water weekly, the roots began to grow longer and longer. The cuttings showed signs of new growth, new leaves started to appear. During this time I had four pots of basil that never took to the shock of being transfered from water to soil. So...yesterday I potted my cuttings.
Taking a cottage cheese container of plastic, poked the bottom with a knife, twisting the tip so small holes broke the bottom up in about 12 places. Filling the cottage cheese container up half way I gently placed all the cuttings, roots spread evenly on this level. Next I placed the rest of the soil into the cottage cheese container till it was full to the top. I placed this in the sink and slowly dripped water in, the soil was very dry, so I let the water soak in completely till it would drip out the bottom. Then I left it in the sink to drain by itself after filling it up again full with water.
Next, I took a Blue Bell Ice Cream Container http://www.bluebell.com from our recycle stock (yes, we save lots of containers to be reused) and measured and cut the center out of the ice cream container lid. I then set the plant container inside the ice cream container with the lid. Water won't spill out everywhere and makes an interesting conversation piece.

...linen, I am making something old, now new...

When linen becomes aged, used, loved...it is in it's prime.
Linen goes back thousands of years, in ancient Egypt it was sometimes used as currency. It was a symbol of light and purity, displayed as wealth and mummies were wrapped in linen. Woven from hand spun yarns, the older linens were coarse in comparison to the modern linen of today. As a vegetable fiber, it is strong, smooth, lint free and gets softer the more it is washed. It wears out in areas where it is constantly creased in the same place and it is these sharp folds that breaking linen threads occurs. It is resistant to moths and beetles, dirt and stains,no lint or pilling, dry cleaned, machine washed or steamed and moderate shrinkage. But, it should not be tumbled dry too much as it is easier to iron when damp.
The wrinkles in linen is the character and charm that I love about this fabric, I don't iron it, just smooth it out as it dries on the line. The small slubs, or random small knots may lessen it's quality, but I consider it a natural tendency with the flax quality that I cherish it all the more.
This piece, Australian Cockatoos, was given to me as a gift from Billy's family. I have several of these linen tea towels, each with beautiful images from Australia on them. Bags are the one item I love to make for myself. A strap of cotton I crochet with natural, red and green and hand stitched the sides for a unusual fun bag. I tend to wear solid colors, so I use a bag, bandanna head cloth or jewelry to play up my wardrobe with, and I felt like sewing on this restful Sunday.

...you matter to me....

Owen woke me this Sunday...needs his walkie....NOW please! Gentle breath upon my arm, I roll out and leash and doggie bag head out the apartment door. I'm glad I have a light sweater on, the sky is darkening and it's a warm 69 degrees. I decide to take the long walk again this morning, just as we did yesterday morning. Nobody up yet, not even the other dogs in the complex. Determined, nose to the ground, favorite trees sniffed and squirrels and jay birds scatter. Doves and pigeons wake and take flight as they hear us on the oak and acorn littered grass way as we exit the complex. The road is empty, a light breeze reminds me of the rain, a faint hint of rust lingers from perhaps hours ago when a gentle mist had fallen just enough to make grass dew drops roll. Quick steps take us about one mile, west from the apartment, north out the gate and along north east road, back in the complex entrance, east along the other buildings, south along the green belt back to our apartment. Time to make some coffee and feed Owen.
You have a choice...a small cup of coffee or a mug. I will have the mug, an ordinary shop tin of already ground coffee labeled as French Roast. Brewed myself this morning, water from our faucet, 10 measured scoops of ground coffee in a paper filtered drip $9.99 coffee machine. A little organic cane sugar, a splash of lactaid milk. I'm hungry, a ceramic bowl made by humble large hands, a familiar artist friend with a outdoor massive walk through kiln, are my loving dishes. I crumble one large shredded wheat biscuit, toss some frozen organic Canadian blue berries and lactaid milk. Sit at my oak table, 30 years plus, found in a warehouse of tables in Long Beach, all replicated from kitchen tables of past family heirlooms. Sitting in a blue chair, once owned by a doctor, his waiting room chair. I start to eat, berries pop and the milk turns from a cold milky white to blue tinted swirls and then with my spoon stirring, purple.
Milk, the recent news from the internet splashed milk contamination...radiation. Friends ask, fear is driving them, concern, protection...they want to protect themselves, family. I am drawn into searching what I can and I, by my self feel fear too now, hope is venturing to less hope...radiation can be anywhere. Items I research are but band aids to the issue. Self preservation is what people are looking for, they don't trust what the media is saying in Japan, they don't trust what the new media is saying to the world and they don't trust what may become of them...what choices do they have...and it matters to me, they matter to me and I don't know how to comfort them, comfort myself, my own fears. We have more than hope can be measured, but we need to measure things in order to balance our hope from our fears, to out weigh and drive the balance towards a resolve towards the goodness that is hope, it enables us to out weigh fear.
We have our own history, my family has been prisoners of war, fighters of wars, overcome situations of despair, grief, stricken from country to country and driven to where we are today and we have not done this alone. You matter to me, my friends matter to me, my family matters to me and we will overcome, again a situation of fear that binds us but cannot hold us apart.

Pie...

Apple Raisin Pie

Crust for bottom and top of a single pie, or two bottom only pies.

• 2 Cups Barley flour or bread flour
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 sticks of cold unsalted butter, cut each to 1/3 cup line and cube each. Remaining butter return to frig or place in your butter dish for toast at breakfast.
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cloves

Glass tumbler filled with ice and water, needs to be very cold. You will measure out to use about 6 Tbsp water

In large ceramic bowl, place flour, salt and spices. Mix well with wooden spoon. Add the cubed cold butter. I use my left hand and squeeze the butter cubes and flour over and over till it is mixed well and resembles coarse ground grain. It should almost hold together by itself. 

Sprinkle in about 6 Tbsp cold icy water. Mix using your fingers and in a stirring motion start kneading the dough. Stop when it is all smooth, mixed well, not very long. If it becomes to sticky, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix again till the dough will ball up. Divide dough into two unequal halves. 

Taking the larger half, place dough between two sheets of wax paper. Roll with bottle or pin till 1/4" thick and will cover a pie pan.

Roll the remaining dough and keep inside wax paper so it doesn't dry out.

Apple filling

• 6 very large red tart apples, peeled (crispy, hard and not overly tart, use Granny if you like very tart)
• 1 Cup Organic sun dried raisins
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 Cup Organic Sugar Cane, granulated

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Grate on large size grater all the apples into the ceramic bowl. Add the spices, sugar, corn starch and lemon mix well. Add raisins and mix well again. Adjusting to taste. Mix well with wooden spoon.

Pile into prepared pie crust. Wet rim and add rolled out top crust. Turn and pinch to seal. Carve into crust to allow steam to be released. 

Place into preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn heat lower, to 325 degrees F and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes.

Crust will be light golden to brown. It won't spill over the sides if you roll the dough much larger than the pie pan so you can hang the dough over the edge and pull up and pinch the dough together. Don't pinch hard because you want to have crust that is crisp and not hard as a rock. Don't over moisten the edge. It will not burn or over brown if you moisten just a little bit before pinching closed.

Serve after pie has set for 20 minutes.