16 September 2025

Sunflowers Make Me Smile


(affiliate links to my designs)

I've been collecting sunflower photos in my garden this year because the photos are fun to collage when I can't sleep at night. (I did a sleep study last month, and I have an appointment with my primary care this week to review options, now that we know I have sleep apnea. Perhaps my sleepless nights might be soon coming to an end. Let's hope the photo creativity doesn't jump ship with the sleeplessness...)

Last week I noticed pairs of sunflowers that looked like eyes. So, of course, I had to play in Photoshop. But first, I had to get just the right eye shot. I got a few "on the vine", so to speak, but I didn't really have enough room in the photos to later compose a smile, especially given some of the backgrounds.

After a few fun Photoshop smile attempts, I decided to shoot a few more eye shots with better backgrounds. During the process, I accidentally broke two of my Ring of Fire snowflakes from their mother stem. As a result, I got to pose them in what I thought might be more photographic locations.

The nice thing about removing a sunflower from its stem is that other sunflowers likely will bloom from the multiple side buds below. Especially with the red and chocolate cherry sunflowers!!!

I'll probably keep trying to create more sunflower smiles as long as I still have sunflowers. And inspiration... But for now, I have a few new to share.

I needed extra reasons to smile last week, and I hope these sunflower smiles make you smile, too.

15 September 2025

Snowflake Monday

This one takes a LOT of pins to shape the spokes into evergreen tree shapes. Sometimes hard things can teach good things. When a very difficult thing strikes a family, community, country or the world, the collective can learn they are powerful when their voices come together as one. We are all children of God (or whatever name anyone uses for a higher authority), and we are all loved. We ARE one.

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 6 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Evergreen Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: 6 sc in ring; sl st in starting sc. Don't pull magic circle too tight.

Round 2: Ch 7. (counts as 1 dc and [ch 5), 1 dc in next sc] 5 times; ch 2, 1 tr in 2nd ch of starting ch 7 to form 6th ch 5 tip of Round

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 3 dc over post of tr directly below, 1 hdc in same sp, 1 sc in same place, [in next ch 5 tip work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc)] 5 times; in next ch 5 tip work 1 sc, 1 hdc, 3 dc, ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: [Ch 10, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 6 ch, ch 8, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 5 ch, ch 7, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 4 ch, ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 3 ch, ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 2 ch, ch 2, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, working back down spoke sl st in next spoke ch, ch 4, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 2 ch, sl st in next spoke ch, ch 5, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 3 ch, sl st in next spoke ch, ch 6, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 4 ch, sl st in next spoke ch, ch 7, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 5 ch, sl st in next spoke ch, ch 8, sl st in 2nd ch from hook and each of next 6 ch, sl st in eac of next 2 spoke ch, sl st in same ch 3 tip, ch 5, 1 fpdc around next Round 2 dc, ch 5, sl st in next ch 3 tip] 6 times; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

09 September 2025

Enhanced

I keep hoping for bears in my backyard, but there have been other great visitors to my little neck of plains meet foothills. We had a gorgeous buck in the field on the other side of our fence, but all I had with me was my phone.

We had a Cooper’s hawk on the fence just after sunset, so it was nearly dark, and I had to fully zoom my point and shoot. Both photos came out pretty grainy, so I ran them through Photoshop filters and then an AI program to better illustrate the moments. I’m pretty pleased with the results.

Last weekend I got to sit on the porch for about an hour. I don't get to do that often anymore. I used to watch the birds through my window while I worked from home until 2024. Then we had to take down the birdfeeder from April to November due to bears. Now that most of the garden is going to seed, the birds are feeding again. Watching them from the porch, without a double sheet of glass between us was thrilling.

I've been cutting down most of the wild sunflowers because I didn't want them to overgrow the garden. Now that I've been able to photograph the birds feasting on the wild sunflowers again, I'm thinking maybe I'll let the sunflowers go wild again next year. That will extend my flower season by a month or more, too!

08 September 2025

Snowflake Monday

Friday snuck up on me last week, not that losing track of days is foreign to my nature these days. Suddenly, the weekend, which in reality isn't much different to me in retirement than any other day of the week, was upon me, and I hadn't even thought about a snowflake for today. Gulp! I still have 29 unpublished flake patterns I need to test and polish, but I didn't have access to them when I discovered I need a new flake pronto. This hasty pasty (using my very last glop of (non-colored) Elmer's Glow In The Dark Glue) is the result.

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Impetuous Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 6 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 4), sl st in 2nd ch from hook, 1 sc in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, 2 dc in ring] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: Ch 8 (counts as 1 fpdtr and [ch 3), 1 fpdtr around post of next dc, ch 5, 1 fpdtr around post of next dc] 6 times, omitting last fpdtr; sl st in 5th ch of starting ch 8.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 3: Ch 9 (counts as 1 fptr and [ch 5), 1 fptr around next dtr, ch 10, 1 fptr around next dtr] 6 times, omitting last fptr; sl st in 4th ch of starting ch 9; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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