Fabric Labels

For some reason beyond my control I have this quirky obsession with twill tape! I don't know what it is about the stuff, but I just have to buy it *grin*. I used to make a lot of dog clothing for mini and tea cup breeds and used it all the time and now that I'm not doing that anymore.... well I guess I miss it. LOL

Thank goodness I've found a way to justify my obsession. I've been using it to make fabric labels for my creations and it works wonderfully! All you need is some of that iron on transfer paper you run through your printer an iron and your set. I've got 2 yards done about 3 more yards of it to finish up. I'm very happy with the results and it will save me some money. Maybe I'll take my saved money and by more twill tape! Hee hee.

~ Rosina

The 'Hostess with the Mostess'

I couldn't resist doing another apron for the shop :) I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the red Michael Miller polka dot fabric I had stashed away but it made a great accent to this red apron along with one of my rhinestone Rosy Posy brooches. If anything I'm going to have LOTS of them for Christmas presents if I can't sell any *grin*

I know my mom is already eyeing them up so perhaps she'll get a surprise for Mother's Day!

~ Rosina

Could This Be A Replacement For The Gocco?

I am totally crazy about the Japanese Print Gocco screen printing machines but have held off on buying one because of all the talk about them being harder and harder to get along with their supplies after Riso announced that they would no longer be making them. I know that there were campaigns to save the gocco & I'm not sure if they were very successful but it sort of put a stop to my screen printing plans :(

I am feeling the bug again though because I just found out that there is a new option instead of the gocco! Provocraft has a screen printing machine called YUDU that is similar to the Gocco as it is an all in one type machine. What really appeals to me is the fact that I can create my own image and make a screen in a matter of minutes without the need for light tables or mixing chemicals together!

Another perk to this machine is its size. Apparently it can print up to 11" x 14"!! WOW, now that is big, especially when the largest gocco only has a print area of roughly 7" x 9". You can find them at the YUDU website, Michaels, JoAnn's, A.C. Moore, and HSN which actually has customer reviews, both good and bad. It's selling for around $279.00 so I better save my pennies if I really want one *grin*, but it sure does look like fun :)

~ Rosina

Bocacaui Seeds

I ran across these fabulous tropical Bocacaui Seeds (Sea Beans) the other day while I was in town! They have the most interesting pattern and texture to them and most of them are the size of a quarter and feel like pebbles.

They're purely for decorative use but apparently you can drop essential oils onto them for a lovely aroma therapy effect while you enjoy looking at them *grin*. I'm not sure though if I can just leave them to sit. I have a couple of ideas up my sleeves as to how I can use them, but for now I've got them on my desk and I can't keep my hands out of the bowl! LOL.

~ Rosina

Working on a new apron

After making an apron for my apron swap partner last month I just had to whip up another one *grin*. The bright pink is such a great accent color to go along with the blues and I've changed up the bottom on this one and created a fun scalloped edge that just flows when you wear it :)

All I've got left is to work on my little Rosy Posy embellishments to be attached and it'll be ready for the shop.... or me! LOL. I don't really want to part with it, but then again I've got some great polka dot fabric just begging to be used so maybe I'll whip up one in red *grin*.

~ Rosina

If you go out in the woods today....

All this snow is starting to drive us all a little stir crazy so yesterday we just had to get out and do a little hiking in the forest *grin*. Our first stop was at my all time favorite trail that takes us down along the estuary but as soon as we had all piled out of the truck and got our packs on we realized that there was a big warning sign posted at the trail head. There had been a cougar and fresh kill spotted on the trail less than a week ago so they were warning hikers of the potential danger :( So disappointing but not worth the risk. Cougars tend to prey on the smaller members of your party and with M barely 3, who tends to stray and lag behind we thought it best to steer clear for a while, especially since we don't have a dog to draw the cougar's hunger away from the children. An awful thought but it has happened quite a few times here where the family pet has saved the lives of children playing nearby when an attack happens.



So with our hopes of a winter walk dashed a bit we decided to head further out of town to another great little hike amongst the 2nd growth trees growing along the Dalrymple creek. So far so good! No warning signs so we headed into the trees :) Hubby was a little on edge after the first trail but the kids were all gung ho for some fungus hunting. We found tons of shelf fungus and different mosses to amuse ourselves with until.....

we came across some very fresh animal tracks!!! About 15 minutes into our hike we found tracks. They definitely weren't dog tracks from another hiker since there were no signs of any other human footprints and not to far back we had also found parts of the trail that had been disturbed and dug up recently by an animal. It was time to cut our hike short and retreat quickly before whatever left that tracks came back.

I guess we'll have to wait a bit before we attempt to go hiking again until the snow melts and the cougars and their prey can move further up the mountains again for the spring/summer months. Maybe we'll head to the beach next time *grin*.

~ Rosina

Wabi Sabi Green Etsy Treasury

Wabi Sabi Green Treasury, originally uploaded by Crafty Nature.

Wow!! I can't believe it, I got picked for another Etsy treasury! That is so cool :) This one was put together by Prairie Garden. There are over 170,000 sellers on Etsy and somehow my little photo of the moss and lichen fencepost (2nd row center) has caught the attention of quite a few people. Now if only I could make a sale! *grin*.

~ Rosina

I'm Featured in an Etsy Treasury!

How super exciting *grin*. My 'Magenta African Daisy' photograph (top right hand corner) was chosen to be included in a treasury that Mistleflowerstudio put together. This wonderfully vibrant and spring like treasury is so uplifting when I think of all the white snow we are covered in still :)

~ Rosina

Quill Pens & Ships Logs

We had a super fun day today exploring at the museum and learning all about the explorer Captain George Vancouver. The highlight of the trip was the quill writing activity that the kids got to try. What fun!!

Using goose feathers that had been boiled to clean and remove any oils from them and then shaped and cut to form a quill tip, we got to try writing ships logs just like the explorers would have done :) They're definitely not as easy to use as they look! We're hooked though and are going to go and scour our goose's pen and see if we can find any large feathers to make some of our own. Maybe while we're at it we'll try making some walnut ink to *grin*.



We've got a great little book called The Diary of an Early American Boy that has all sorts of little recipes and tid bits in it and walnut ink is one of them :)

~ Rosina

Some Of My Favorite Nature Photos

I am completely crazy about nature and taking photos, but I think I've found a way to do both and share some of it with you as well :) I just finished having a bunch of my recent favorites printed up on acid free & archival safe paper and put them into my Etsy shop ~ RosyUndPosy :) Now they won't be just collecting dust in the photo albums on the book shelf, plus it makes hubby happy to see that all that happy snapping I do every day is bringing a little nature joy to others as well *grin*.

~ Rosina

Fellow Tugboat Captain Falls Overboard

Just the other day we learned that one of Dh's fellow tugboat captains had fallen overboard while working and had narrowly escaped dying. He had gone out on the back deck for a minute in only his pajamas and tripped falling into the icy waters without being noticed by his crew members. His screams were not heard and all he could do was watch the boat travel further and further away. Once they noticed he was missing they put out a call for help but it is like searching for a needle in a haystack out there! Thankfully over an hour later he was miraculously still treading water making his way towards Quadra island which was some ways off in the distance and crossed the path of the Pacific Faith fishing vessel which rescued him and pulled him out of the water.

This is one of my worst fears as I always worry when Dh goes to work. He has always worked on the water starting as a commercial fisherman in his teens working in horrendous weather off the coast of Alaska and now as a tugboat captain he still sees his fair share of storms and quite often works in the Nakwakto Rapids which are some of the worlds fastest navigable tidal currents in the world which actually claimed an entire tugboat to its watery depths just barely a year ago.

If you want to see the interview of the recent incident you can view the 2 minute newscast here. I'm off to go and do some deep breathing as Dh is about t0 head out for work in a couple of hours and I don't want him to go!

UPDATE: I had a bad feeling last night about Dh heading to work. I thought it was just because of the mishap with the other captain but a couple of hours after Dh left he returned home again because the tug and barges he was going to assist didn't show. Not long after he got a call that the barges were floating loose and there is no sign of the tug that was pulling them. Dh has gone to help and as of now they are assuming that the tug has sunk and are searching for the crew if there are any survivors :( I am so sad for the families, this is so tragic.

2nd Update: They found them!!!! Dh came across the crew on a beach. They had managed to get onto their life raft and escape before the tug went down. Apparently in the bad weather the barges had started pull the tug back and under the water causing it to sink. They just rushed them to the ER. Thank goodness they were all found alive.

~ Rosina

A New Bed In The Making

There's a lot of excitement around our house as of late! Dh is busy working on a new 'big boy' bed for Baby M since he has mastered the art of escaping from his crib *grin*

Dh loves to woodwork and has had quite a bit of time at home with the current state of the local forestry industry so it was a perfect time to tackle a larger project and I wasn't about to say no. LOL. He's getting so creative in fact with it that he is monogramming the headboard for M with his initial. It turned out great to. I made him a template on the computer and then he cut it out with his router all free hand.

All that's left is to finish the legs, some sanding and a little bit of router work to finish off the edges and it will be all ready for M's bedroom. Oh and we need a mattress to :)

~Rosina