I’m teaching more fiber arts classes which has allowed me to cut back my hours at the Chocolate shop. I’ve actually had the time to go on some nice long winter walks for the first time since I moved to Ames. I’ve been reading more, a lot more. And I’ve had more time to putz in the studio. It’s those kind of things that feed my creativity. I’ve already finished a great book that I had put on hold quite some time ago – Harvest for Hope – which has inspired some pretty amazing things. Immediately I signed up for a community garden plot here in Ames, IA. I can’t wait to get my hands into the earth and start growing my own food again.
Of course more reading was in order after I found out that I would be gardening again, haha. I read Four Season Harvest – which is all about extending your fall harvest to late winter and your spring harvest to early early spring. And then today I went to the Ames Public Library and picked up a book on gardening in Iowa, the Moosewood Kitchen gardening book, and gardening calendar for organic methods. Perfect!
And so now, being rested and well read and walked and eating better and sleeping better and then reading more… well, bookmarks are so in order!
I started searching for ideas for bookmarks to make (or buy) and I found so many great ones. I particularly like the nintendo themed ones by CriminyRobots:
I found these great fabric scrap bookmarks in GreenBeeGood’s shop, they look beautiful and very well made. They go just perfect with the ideals of Craft Leftovers. I might just have to try to get my hands on one for all this reading I’ve been doing.
Tangled Things has a really great embroidered bookmark here. And I love the simple lovely stitching of Amy Leigh’s linen bookmarks.
Oh and you can see how to make these great bookmarks here on Berlin’s Whimsy.
WordPress is starting to get all funky on me and won’t let me add any more pictures. But that’s okay because it is getting pretty late.
Needless to say though there are many great bookmark ideas out there and I can’t wait to work on some of my own!
Best wishes and happy crafting and reading!
Kristin
Hi Kristin ~
I LOVE TO GARDEN TOO! Luckily, my dad has an acreage in Boone. We had poor production last summer due to the rains, with the exception of the 3 apple trees which had a bumper crop. We do mostly tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, beets, onions, and raspberries. The cucumbers have not done well for 2 summers now. I think its the variety that Dad is using. It’s a good time to get out the Burpee seed catalog!
Also, if you ever need a test knitter, just say the word. I’m not a fast knitter but technically competent and also do quite a bit of writing and editing in my day job (which is NOT as cool as working in a chocolate shop!)
Take care,
Michelle
I joined a community garden here in Salem, MA last summer. I’ve always balcony gardened, but it was awesome having a real bit of earth to plant in. I grew tomatoes, bush beans, cukes, lettace, eggplant, and zucchini. The garden is between work and my apartment, so I walked to work and stopped in the garden on the way home. It was great stress relief, and I lost a chunk of weight, too. Hope you enjoy your community garden experience!