A Queen for a Day

This is not the first time I've tried to make cards, and I really enjoy it. This one my sister and I made for my mom's birthday. I drew and cut out the crown for the front so we decided to have something having to do with a queen in the message.
This part worked out very well because we got her a nice new computer desk chair as a present. "So, set your royal hiney down and let the eat cake." We thought it was kind of funny...of course, it was really late...at time when we would've laughed at anything...

Sunset over Germany

My own sunset picture, as promised! I actually alomst forgot that I was going to take the picture when suddenly I noticed the walls in the hall turning orange. I rushed downstairs to get the camera then had to rush back up. I barely caught it before the sky turned dark and you wouldn't be able to see the town.

Land of the Phoenix Chapter 9

The Sorceress

The lion-man just so happened to be close by, he had been wandering around aimlessly, regretting his treatment of Anne. Now, he was sitting on a fallen tree, flipping through Anne’s drawing book and thinking about the way she seemed to love or want to love everything, even if it was bad.

Suddenly, his lion ears tingled at the sound of a faint far away scream and immediately knew that it was Anne in trouble. He got up on impulse and ran towards where the sound came from faster than any lion ever could.

***

It wasn’t long before the crow-men stopped at a huge and magnificent but terrible castle. Anne knew that this was probably where the Sorceress lived and her heart sank. The door stood like the mouth of a dragon, its portcullis teeth opened and the bird-men took her inside to her doom.

Their footsteps echoed in the hollow throat of the dragon as the headed towards the dark stomach. There she was sitting on a blood red throne, the very person Anne had feared to meet since two days ago. The evil unfeeling witch who had haunted her as she followed the lion-man across this strange country.
The witch had a long glittering grey dress, white wolf ears and flaming white hair that seemed to have no definite end as floating snowflakes issued from the end. She leaned back smugly in her throne as Anne was dragged in before her and propped her wolf paws on a red velvet stool.

With enormous surprise, Anne saw her friend the stag-fly buzzing around the queen’s throne. It’s tiny hooves clicked as it landed on the handle of the throne. Anne realized that this bug was not her friend but had told the Sorceress where the bears and crow-men could find her.

The Sorceress moved slightly in her chair, drawing Anne’s attention back to her as she spread a horrible smile across her pale face.

“So you are the young witch who has been ruining my kingdom with your unwanted feelings.” She said n a deep menacing voice which reverberated against the stone walls. The crow-man pushed Anne farter into the room and knocked her cruelly to the ground.

“But, I don’t worry. Nobody cares about you, nobody wants you here, nobody wants your feelings and soon you’ll be gone and nobody will have to worry about you. You’re witching days are over!” She stood up proudly and stepped down from her throne and raised her staff at the girl kneeling on the floor.

***

The lion-man had just arrived at the castle when he heard Anne being thrown t the floor. He slid under the portcullis which, conveniently, had not been closed all the way (it turns out that fate placed a knot in the rope that lowers the portcullis and it got caught, and the guard had not cared enough to fix it.) His padded lion paws made it easy for him to sneak through the hall. Sunlight, streaming through a stained glass window in the throne room, lit magnificent colors over the room.

The lion-man saw Anne lying at the feet of the Sorceress, her doom written on the point of the queen’s magic staff. He sneaked further into the room, the blood-thirsty crows oblivious to his presence. The Sorceress raised her wand; Anne covered her head and the lion-man, against his whole being yet unable to control himself, stepped in front of the wand point. The earth quaked harder than ever as the Sorceress, angry at his interference, stabbed at the lion-man. She screamed, when the wand stopped short and shattered into tiny glittering pieces.

Another howl came from the Sorceress as the crows standing nearby were suddenly knocked to the ground and vanished. A glowing light passed over them and hit another crow next to Anne. When it passed over the lion-man and the girl they felt its warmth flow through them. As the wave of light approached her, the Sorceress’s eyes grew wide with terror, with her dying breath she whispered “The Phoenix”

The room grew brighter as the center of the light came closer, the lion-man helped Anne up from the ground and embraced her. They both realized that the curse of the Sorceress was over and the world was returning to its natural state full of feeling and meaning. The Phoenix was released because the lion-man preformed the ultimate sacrifice. He was willing to give his life for Anne who taught him to love.

Soon the Phoenix arrived, its bright flaming feathers omitted the light that destroyed the Sorceress and gave light to the dismal throne room. Then, the majestic bird let out a beautiful call and flew over them, touching Anne with its long red tail.

Our Lady of the Snows Rosary

I've been wanting to make a rosary since the first time I started beading. But, Germany is very low on any craft supplies. Fortunately, my grandpa sent me a fifty dollar American Express gift card for Christmas and I was able to search the internet and buy craft supplies to my hearts desire! Well, not quite...actually the beads to make this rosary cost $42 exactly, leaving me with only $8. But, thats okay because I'm very glad of how well my rosary turned out!

Because I picked the white howlite gem stone beads, I decided to devote this rosary to Our Lady of the Snows. Here's the story that I got from,

http://www.snows.com/

Devotion to Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Snows is one of the oldest devotions to Mary. It has direct ties to the legend about a marvelous snowfall in Rome in 352 A.D. Mary had indicated in a dream to a wealthy, childless Roman couple that she wanted a church built in her honor and the site for this church would be covered with snow. On a hot, sultry morning on August 5, Esquiline Hill was covered with snow. All Rome proclaimed the summer snows a miracle, and a church to honor Mary was built on the hill in 358 A.D.

Traveling Gear

I made this handy backpack and water bottle holder out of an old t-shirt. They were perfect for sightseeing in Prague!

The water bottle holdre may seem a little, well...useless. But I must say, it was much better than walking around for hours holding the bottle by its cap! I was thinking that since they so cute and handy that I might try selling them sometimes. But, people couldn't order more than two matching ones since they're made from shirt sleeves :)

Wallet Tutorial

Savings Wallet

I’m making this for my saving money but I’m sure that it can be used as a regular wallet if you want.

You need:
1/4 yard Solid Fabric
1/4 yard Complimenting Patterned Fabric
1/8 yard Contrasting Fabric
Medium to Heavy Weight Double-Sided Fusible Web (you might want to get a lot while you’re at it because it comes in very handy!)
Velcro or Snap (if you use a snap you’ll need the tool also)
Matching and Contrasting Thread
Fabric Glue (optional)

Make the pattern:
I used a plain sheet of paper from my printer as a pattern piece
Fold the bottom of the paper up about 3 inches
Fold the top down over the bottom flap about ½ from the bottom edge
Open the paper back up and fold in all the edges about ½ for seam allowance (this will help to lessen your trips to the ironing board)
If you want pockets, decide how many, what shape and what size (you can use the measurements for the pocket I made below if you like)
Draw them on your pattern

Cut the pieces:
Open the paper all the way and use it to cut one rectangle out of your patterned fabric, one out of your solid fabric and one out of the fusible web
With the contrasting fabric cut out your pocket and the flap, with a ½ inch seam allowance. (on the flap add about an inch to the length if you’re using your own pattern not mine)
For my pocket I cut two rectangles, one 4in by 3in and the other 4in by 2 1/4in.
Now, iron all of the pieces flat
And, using your pattern as a guide, iron down all the creases and seam allowances in both large rectangles and the pocket pieces

Cut embellishments:
If you want some decoration on your wallet, like flowers leaves, circles, swirls or anything else, then be sure to draw it on you pattern to see how it looks
Measure and make a stencil of your design if you need to
In center creased rectangle of the fabric for the outside of the wallet (the solid fabric), carefully cut out your design.
Cut and pin a rectangle of contrasting fabric to the backside of the solid fabric, completely covering the cut-out
Now comes the most difficult part; sew along the edge of the cut-out (for beginners with the sewing machine, I suggest making and embellish with no round edges)
Trim any excess of contrasting fabric around the sewn edge

Sew on pockets (instructions for my measurements):
On the flap piece of your pocket, sew down all seam allowances (along two sides and the top edge) then sew (or glue) on the velcro
On the main pocket piece, fold in the two sides and hem along the top edge
Lay the large solid rectangle face down and fold up the bottom edge along the crease
Layer the pocket flap with the main pocket on top (all its seam allowances should be tucked inward) where ever you want it on that flap
You’ll have to keep pinning and un-pinning both pieces and move them around to get them in just the right place
Sew the pocket down along the side and bottom edges

Front side:
Back side:
Sew on velcro:
To sew (or glue) the velcro in the right place, layer the two rectangles right sides out
Fold it up so it looks like it will when it’s finished
Sew (or glue) one or two pieces of velcro to the top of the patterned fabric and one or two pieces on the bottom of the flap of the solid fabric

Sew the rectangles together:
Lay the two rectangles on top of one another and make sure they’re the same size; trim if necessary (that really helps keep the finished edges straight)
Layer the pieces like this: Fusible web, solid piece facing up, patterned piece facing down
With the seam allowances un-tucked, sew along the edges uses the creases as a guide
Remember to leave about a 3 inch gap.
Now, turn the wallet right side out and very carefully iron flat (also it’s a good time to iron the pocket flap down also)

Finish the wallet:
Fold the bottom edge up (this is the pocket for the money so make some last minute adjustments and make sure its tall and short enough. Also make sure the velcro matches up)
Then, sew along the very edges of the wallet (careful while closing up the gap make sure the side stays straight)
Now, fold the top flap down and iron it all to get the fusible web to stick.
Yay! You’re done!