Merry Christmas

Hey everyone, I just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.  This will be the last post this year and it is all abut catch up!

Back on December 3rd the Inchie world tour stopped in Chile.  I found out something cool about Chile.  Herman Melville wrote the book Moby Dick from an encounter with a huge white whale off the coast of Chile!

So that became a challenge for me to try and show a ship, and a great whale at sunset all in an inchie.  I feel like I did a great job on this one.  Hope you like it.

I know that this is a grey whale but with the ship being white I did not want to make a white whale as well (I actually forgot that the whale was white, don't tell anyone LOL)

Then, on the 10th the world tour stopped in Montenegro.  I was really inspired by the fact that Montenegro means Black Mountain.  The country was named after the iconic black mountains.

On the 17th the World Tour stopped in Poland.  So much culture in Poland to talk about, Arts, entertainment, food!  But the one thing that I decided to do was the folk art.  Their repetitive patterns and shapes are a favorite of mine.

Then on the 24th the World tour did it's last stop in Sweden.  One of the cool things I have always heard about Sweden is the Ice hotel.  As someone who lived in the Frigid North for 30 years I can not understand the desire to stay in an Ice hotel!

The pictures are amazing and I love the look, just one request; can you make it 75 degrees please!  LOL.  Here is my inchie version of an igloo/ice hotel.

Lastly, I finally finished a pattern that I have been working on for months.  Back when my daughter was a kid there was a toy called a Sea Wee baby.  So I made one similar to that.

That is it for me this year.  I can't believe that the year is over.  Sadly next year is looking like it is going to be way more busy than this year was so I gave decided to bow out of EIM.  I have thought long and hard about it.  I have been doing inchie for 6 years and it has made me a better designer and made me think outside the box so much more than I already did.  But I can't commit to something that I just know that I will not have time to do anything with.  But I want to encourage anyone who wants a great artistic challenge to fly on over to EIM and check out the weekly challenges over there.

 I hope that everyone has had a great Christmas surrounded by family, friends, joy and love.  Have a happy and safe New Year and a blessed and creative 2019.

2 Weeks To Be Thankful For

Hey everyone, I hope you are all doing well.  Last week was Thanksgiving here in America and I was so busy that I did not take time to do my inchie.  I got to have 2 Thanksgiving Dinners.  A traditional one with my daughter and her friends, and a non traditional one with my son, his girlfriend and one of his friends.  Both were great because I really did not have to cook!  Nice!

This weekend I have been trying to work on some earrings to sell in town, earrings that have the colors of our local school so I have just gotten done with this weeks inchie.  Both are done and I am caught up (for now!) 

So let's get to it.  Last week's inchie world tour landed in Denmark.  So many great things about Denmark to talk about that I decided to go to one thing that is actually becoming a huge deal here in the states.  Cannabis, here many states are starting to legalize it for medical purposes.  But in Denmark there is a district, Christiania or Freetown Christiania.  It was an abandoned military base that in 1971 was taken over by some "hippies".  Ever since then it has been popular as a "Green Light District"  where "pot" or Marijuana is legal.  Even though it isn't legal in the rest of the city. 

So I decided to use that as my inchie.  What a controversial issue from a country that my uninformed mind felt that Denmark was above.  I know that might sound weird but sometimes you think about a different country and in your minds eye you see it totally different than it might actually be and I see Denmark as a country of sweet, gentle, well mannered people who don't know how to commit crime, much less smoke pot!  Haha!  That is what I get for assuming.

This week the Inchie world tour stops in Cyprus.  I really did not know much about Cyprus.  I knew it was an island off of Greece...and that is about it!  But when I looked it up I found out about love.  Apparently Aphrodite was born in Cyprus.  I am all for love so for this week's inchie I made a heart because what is love without a heart?

That is it for me this week.  I will hopefully (fingers crossed) be back next Monday with next weeks inchie, until then have a blessed and  creative week my friends. 

The Austria Effect.

Hey everyone, This is going to be kinda short.  I had a long weekend filled with long drives.  I would like to give a belated Veterans Day to all of the Vets out there.  God bless all of you for the sacrifices that you have made for me and my family so we can be free. 

This week over at Every Inchie Monday they world tour stops in Austria.  There is so much to say about Austria.  But one thing that I thought was interesting was that the Doppler Effect was invented by an Austrian physicist Christian Doppler!   How cool is that! 

I mean we always hear about Doppler radar with regards to the weather but it is more than that.  It is the change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to the observer who is moving relative to the wave source.  Or to put it in non-scientist terms; Doppler effect causes a car engine or siren to sound higher in pitch when it is approaching then when it is receding. 

So I decided that I would do an inchie that represented the sound waves. 

Also this week I had a bit of time to do some beadwork besides my inchie and I did a charm from my pattern stash.  The pattern is one that I have had for some time and forgot to write down the author of the pattern so if anyone knows who designed it please let me know so that I can give them the credit they deserve.  This little yellow geisha (that is what I am calling her) has been on my beading bucket list for a long time and last week with so many Dr appointments and stuff going on I got to work on her.  I think she is adorable!  What do you think?

That is it for me this week.  It is getting closer to Thanksgiving and I am super happy about that. This year I wont be cooking, (maybe a little bit...., maybe) and I am looking forward to it even though it is over a week away lol. 

There is a lot to be thankful for and I feel that we forget that sometimes.  So to all those who are going through tough times, just know that you are stronger than you know and this too shall pass.  God bless everyone and I hope that you all have a blessed and creative week.

Honduras on Time

Hey everyone, I hope that daylight savings time has not messed everyone up too much.  I think it caused me to be overly chefly.  I cooked a bunch on Saturday and that will probably be all I do for the week haha.

This week over at Every Inchie Monday the world tour stops in Honduras.  Honduras is a small country that runs on agriculture.  One of my favorite things come from there.  Coffee!  YESSSS!  I wish I had thought of that for this weeks inchie but instead I kinda blanked everything out about Honduras, so I just decided to make an inchie of the Honduras flag.

Also last week I finished another race from Yes.fit and I got the medal last Thursday.  This one meant a lot to me as it was my late husbands favorite painting.

Here is all my metals on the wall.

That is it for me this week.  I have not had time to do much.  I have decided to set aside my special project for now and work on something I have been wanting to do for about a year.  It is something that I will be doing for next year, but I have to do a lot of research now so it will be ready for next year.

Have a blessed and creative week my friends.  Love and respect one another.

A Leaning in Italy and Jazz in Belgium

Hey everyone it seems this year is an every 2 weeks post kinda thing!  But I am still here just moving a bit slower lol. 

Last week over at Every Inchie Monday the theme was Italy.  With so much amazing food, architecture and artist I decided to go with something that melded 2 of those things.  My inchie doesn't look too great but I decided to do a take on the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  It is a beautiful feat of architecture and it is so beautifully artistic looking!  How can you go wrong?  (well you can go wrong by doing it in beads!  LOL)

This week the EIM world tour landed in Belgium.  So much to talk about with Belgium; chocolate, diamonds and castles; and music!  Did you know that the saxophone was invented in Belgium by Adolphe Sax!  That was amazing for me to hear.  I have always loved the Saxophone!  I always wanted to learn to play it.  So of course I had to make a saxophone as my inchie.  This one was a joy to bead up. 

It is a bit cartoonie but I wanted to get it all in an inch and this was the best way to do it. 

Lastly, I would like to show my support and send prayers to the people and their families who were affected by the Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  God bless everyone and have a blessed and creative and safe week my friends.

Dancing in Spain and Argentina

Hey everyone, I am again doing a twofer!  I spent last week getting ready for a trip up north to see my family.  Then the weekend up there and back in a few days.  Spent this last weekend freezing because while I was up north my HVAC system decided to be bad and go on the fritz!  So now I have to wait until there is no rain for the service man to come by and fix it! 

But all that aside, I did take some time tonight to catch up.  Last week's Every Inchie Monday world tour stopped in Spain.  So many things to design for Spain.  But I really love dancing.  Dance is completely a love language.  It is so beautiful to see people dressed up and moving so gracefully.  So for Spain I decided to design one of the dances that Spain is known for, The Flamenco. 

Dance is also front and center for this weeks Stop on the Inchie world Tour.  Argentina, one of the most beautiful dances, the Tango.  I love watching the tango.  So beautiful, emotional and expressive.  I just had to try to do the dance justice.  I will say that this weeks inchie is much better looking than last weeks LOL.  This is just a close up of the man and woman in the dance.

That is it for me this week.  Let's hope that I get to have time to post again next week LOL.  Check out the rest of the great artwork over at EIM.  Have a warm, blessed and creative week my friends.

Hello Kitty Loves Hockey!

Hey everyone, thanks for stopping by this week.  I missed you all last week but I was busy helping my daughter move out. 

I missed last weeks World tour stop over at Every Inchie Monday, which was in Canada.  Canada is well known for inventing Hockey.  I am also well known for loving hockey!  So of course I had to put both together. 

For this inchie I used the Canadian flag with hockey sticks and a hockey puck.  That is what they are supposed to look like, lol. 

This week EIM world tour makes a stop at Taiwan.  The one thing that I know about Taiwan is that Hello Kitty is from Taiwan!  Who doesn't love Hello Kitty?!?  I remember when I was little my mom got me this little clear plastic bag and inside it had a small, I mean really small white pencil and some Hello Kitty paper, envelopes and stickers.  It was my favorite thing!  I was probably 7 years old.  I kept it forever.  When my daughter was little she loved Hello Kitty just like I did.  So I just had to make Kitty as my inchie.  Squeee! 

That is it for me this week.  Don't forget to fly on over to EIM and check out the great artwork over there.  Have a blessed and creative week my friends.