BOOK REVIEW #1 THE GREEN EMBER

The Green Ember

by S.D. Smith

My Rating: ★★★★★

(5 out of 5 stars.......that's pretty good!)

I love to read.

I have a lot of books and I do a lot of reading. I read books for fun and for the BookShark Reading with History program I am doing for school (I do school at home through a homebased public school program). By the way, most of the BookShark books are really good too (not necessarily aaall of them though).

Ok, now getting back to The Green Ember,

I read The Green Ember for fun (not for history). 

WARNING:

THIS IS THE GREATEST BOOK EVER!!!!!!!

TAKE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN READING THIS BOOK, IF YOU HAVE HEART PROBLEMS......YOU MAY GO INTO CARDIAC ARREST BY THE SHEER AWESOMENESS OF THIS BOOK.

Welllllll that might be a little overly dramatic, buut

this book IS action packed, full of adventure, and you never know what's going to happen next!!

I loved it! It's about two rabbits named Picket and Heather and they are brother and sister.

Their family gets taken by wolves but they get saved by their uncle Wilfred and Cousin Smalls.

Then they get sent down the river to Cloud Mountain where they learn things about their family and king Jupiter. They also meet their new friend Emma. 

One of my favorite quotes from this book is "My place beside you. My blood for yours. 

Till the Green Ember rises, or the end of the world."

And what is the Green Ember you ask? Well you're gonna have to read it to find out!

(p.s. a LOT more stuff happens!!)

This book is the best book I have ever read (my mom said "so far" but I said, "No, nothing is ever going to top this book"). It's is my most prized possession (aside from my gigantic bear, my sewing machine, and my keyboard).

I recommend this book for people 10 to 100 (or for people who love great books).

This isn't just a book for kids (FYI there is a little violence, such as some sword fighting and some mean wolves).

 Even adults have enjoyed this book. The lady in charge of the school program I'm in recommended it to me, and she's in her 40's and she really liked it and...... I think you would too. (p.s. There are two more books in the Green Ember series that I can't wait to read!).

     ~SHAWNEE

HOW I LEARNED TO KNIT

Remember theeeeeeese......
My mom calls it every mothers nightmare!!

Remember when the Rainbow Loom was popular?

It's that loom that you put little colored rubber bands on and you make bracelets. What does this have to do with how I learned to knit you ask?

Well I'll tell you. Sit back and relax with your hot chocolate because it's time for a story!!!!

Once upon a time my mom got me a Rainbow Loom, a bunch of little rubber bands to go with it, and a case to put it all in.

(Here it is):

I would make bracelets every day.  I must of made about a 100. One time I even made a unicorn!! 

And then one day when I was looking for new bracelet ideas on my favorite website loomlove.com I stumbled upon a video about how to knit baby hats on a round loom. I had never heard of or seen a round loom before and I thought it looked really fun. So my mom did some research and liked it, so she bought me a round loom set and some yarn at Michaels.

I couldn't wait for the package to arrive.

And then one day it finally came!!! And I was sooooooo exited and I opened the box and got to work on my first hat.

(Here is my hat and looms):

So after a few months of knitting on my round loom my mom signed me up for a community ed class called Beginning Knitting.  It was with needles!!!

I didn't want to go. Why do I need to learn how to needle knit? Needle knitting looks hard. I'm not gonna like it. All these things I said to myself, but it didn't change the fact that I had to go (my mom wouldn't take no for an answer!).

And I'm glad I did go!!!!

When we got there I noticed I was the only kid there. It was just me, my mom (my mom wasn't learning how to knit because she had a broken arm), three other ladies and my knitting teacher.

We had to knit a scarf.  My teacher Amy taught me how to cast on, knit, and purl (on night 1)

and I started needle knitting my first scarf!

It was surprisingly easy and a lot of fun!!

After we went home and Amy gave us all a pattern (or a recipe as my mom calls it) on how to knit a beginners scarf.  I remember that it took me many hours that week to knit that scarf.  I would knit and knit and knit and then measure it, and it never seemed to grow!  But I didn't give up.  I followed the pattern and by the time we had to go to the next class (about a week later) I had already finished knitting the scarf (it was still on the needles). All I had to still learn was how to cast off and add fringe. I had even added little flowers here and there with my flower loom (mostly to cover up a lot of drop stitches lol).  By the end of the second class I had completely finished the first thing I had ever needle knitted.

(here is the scarf I knitted and the pattern):

Most kids learn how to knit by their grandmas or other family members, but nobody in my family knew how to knit (they still don't).  All I had was two lessons with Amy who taught me the basics and youtube.  Other than that, I was self taught.

Ture story.
THE END.

(That was a pretty good story huh?)

~SHAWNEE

MY TIM HOLTZ LAYERING STENCILS

These are my Tim Holtz layering stencils

that I got from Ebay.

So far I have 21 and they are in order...

Woodgrain,

Eye chart,

Doily,

Holiday knit,

Lace,

Bricked,

Honeycomb,

Splatters,

Bubble,

Dot fade,

Clockwork,

Cargo,

Shatter or Cobweb,

Burlap,

Stripes,

Crackle,

Measured,

Wildflower,

Rays,

Speckles,

and Gothic

Tim Holtz layering stencils are thinner and more intricately cut than most stencils.
The layering means you can use more than one stencil on top of each other. 
For an example......you could use paint or ink with the woodgrain stencil and then use some whipped spackle over part of the splatters stencil, that you layer on top of a section of the woodgrain.  It will look like something spilled on a wood table.

Because these are so fragile, you need to be very careful and dab or blot the ink, paint, or whatever media you are using.

I use these stencils on almost every art journal page I make.  My most common one right now is dot fade.  Depending on what art media you use, these stencils can give your pages texture, demension, and interest.

  ~SHAWNEE

               

ART JOURNAL PAGE #1 Music Is What Feelings Sound Like

This is my art journal.  It's a red hardcover Moleskine sketchbook that I got from Amazon for $18.83.  So far I have done 14 art journal pages and I plan on making blog posts about them all.

A lot of art journal page ideas I got from Vicky Papaioannou from youtube.com.  Later on in my art journal I started thinking of my own ideas.

This is my first art journal page that I made on 8/25/16 and I got the idea from Vicky Papaioannou.

The two pages you see are really four pages.  The 1st and 4th pages I made piano keys along the edge (both hand drawn and with cut paper).  These are glued to the backs of pages 2 and 3 that have a ripped upper and lower edge (but I didn't glue them down until the end, you'll see why).  

I ripped about half an inch on the top and bottom of pages 2 and 3 and then I used gel medium to glue down pieces of Tim Holtz tissue paper here and there (the tissue paper has small music notes on it.  The paper is called Melange). Then I used a blue gelato to color the background and yellow green and brown gelatos to darken the edges to make it look old and worn.

I used whipped Spackle and Tim Holtz dot fade layering stencil to add some interest and depth to the page (that's the little white dots that stick out like 3D). I cut out pieces of paper to make a guitar and I painted the neck and body brown and the hole and the bridge black.  I had to cut the top and bottom of the guitar to fit the page.  After glueing the guitar down, I pocked holes through the bridge (through the guitar and page 2) and I cut slits at the top.  I threaded white thread through the holes and in the slots and I just taped the strings to the back of page 2.

Then I used gel medium to glue page 1 to the back of page 2 and page 4 to the back of page 3.  I added the quote which is "Music is What Feelings Sound Like".  Then I added white highlights and the date.  You can go to Vicky Papaioannou's YouTube channel to see the tutorial. 

~ SHAWNEE

HAND KNIT 18" DOLL WINTER SETS FOR SALE

Our first photo shoot with a few of the girls modeling some of the hand knit sets I made.  Click the pictures to see up close.  

Our first stop was Crex Meadows.

Here's Olivia wearing a hat, scarf, and mittens set I knitted.  A heart button adds a nice touch.  

This set is knit and purl:

Buttercup came along too:

 Next is Ella Grace wearing a two color choice (striped) knit hat, scarf, and mitten set.  This hat has a pom-pom.  The two color choice is a good one if you want to choose team colors for your favorite sports team (I'll knit some of those soon and post pictures of them):

Ella Grace admiring the view:

Kiana was kickin' back enjoying the lake.  

Here she is in a hat and poncho set that's knit from ombre yarn.  

She's borrowing Holly's boots, by the way:  

This hat has a flower that I made on my flower loom:

All Three girls really enjoyed the view at Crex Meadows:

Kiana was getting tired, so we thought we'd better head to the park before it got too late:

As soon as we got to the park, we saw this buck come out from behind the swings:

Olivia made sure the coast was clear......

......and then she headed straight for the monkey bars:

But Ella Grace wanted to swing:

There was a lot of climbing around:

And then we headed for the woods:

A fun day was soon over and we headed home:

Olivia, Ella Grace, and Kiana are just 3 of the 16 Our Generation Dolls I have.  I'll do a blog post about all of them soon and introduce you to the rest of them.

If you are interested in having me knit you a hat, scarf, and mittens......or a hat and poncho......please contact my mom by e-mail.  These will fit any 18" doll, such as Our Generation, My Life, and American Girl.

  Here is a picture of the order form we use.  It will give you an idea of what choices there are:

~ SHAWNEE

MY CREATION STATION

This is my Creation Station......or my Craft Corner.  It's a corner in our living room.  This is where I spend a lot of my time and do most of my creating.  I keep practically everything I own in here.  I have my sewing machine, art cabinet, my books and games, all my knitting stuff, my drawing stuff, Rubik's cubes, Speed Stacks, laptop, and everything!  It might look like a mess, but it's as organized as I can get it.  
See the red shelves on the wall?  I made those from Our Generation doll boxes.  I even hung them up myself.  See......I'm always thinkin' outside the box.  :o)

Let's take a closer look......

Here is all of my spools of thread, my S light, my sewing machine, my spice jars that hold all kinds of little things.  The Create painting I did not make, I found it at a thrift store:

Hanging on this hook are my Tim Holtz Layering Stencils (I'll write a blog post about those some day soon) and my sample drawing cards for hair styles:

I made this book shelf from a tray that was once on my easel.  I added the stickers.  I have so many favorite books I can't possibly put them all in here.  You can see that one of my very favorite books is  The Green Ember.  I'll do a book review on that soon.  Below the book tray are all my little Shopkins:

Here are my round looms for loom knitting.  I have a bunch of long looms, flower looms, and a sock loom too.  And here are my paintbrushes:

Here's a corner with my Boxcar Children and Saddle Club books.  This is only some of the many books I have:

Inside this upper cabinet is my sewing stuff, knitting notions bag, and my history comic books.  You can't really see it, but on the side I have my knitting needles.  You can see some of my duct tape.  Inside the bottom cabinet (you can't see it) are some games, a huge dictionary, and some other stuff:

This black book shelf we tipped sideways and it holds more books, and other things.  You can see some of my paper flowers I've made.  Up above is a shelf with my Rubik's cube collection, Speed Stacks, juggling stuff, and my Tapefitti:

  So that's it.  That's my Creation Station.  

Hope you like it! 

~ SHAWNEE