Summer Winds

The summer winds have come and gone……………. and so has the Alaskan fireweed. As you know, I LOVE fireweed (see “Alaskan Fireweed” Post)!  You probably already know that just from looking at my blog banner.  I was gone a lot this summer and missed much of the brilliant magenta colors, so I’ve decided I’m going to plant fireweed seeds in our front yard and maybe I’ll have a “fireweed garden” next summer.  I’m going to try!

It’s September now and this is what the fireweed looks like. I love the fluffy stuff too! Maybe I can catch some and keep it through the winter so I can dream of when the next fireweed blooms?

Fireweed Fluff

Hope everyone had a GREAT SUMMER!

♥ Donna

Copyrights

Hi!  I have been silent lately.  Trying to figure out what to think, what to say, and which way to go.

Recently I’ve found some of my copyrighted 1999 locker hooking photos (of my actual hands!) used on 4 blogs/websites to advertise their own products and others (not mine).  My photos have actually been linked to their sites without any mention of me or my business, or the fact that they are copyrighted and used without my permission.  This is just WRONG!

I just don’t understand how people can do this.  It is easy to copy and paste but how can they live with themselves knowing they are doing not only something illegal, but it is just WRONG, and it hurts people!  This also happened to me 11 years ago when I first started my business.  My son, Justin, took several photos of me locker hooking at our patio table ( yes, these are the same photos).  I used them on the front and back covers of my first locker hooking book (registered with U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress), as well as in my second book.  They are used as my Logo, on my business cards, used to advertise my website, blog, facebook page, my classes.  They are registered under Copyright Laws.  But people still steal them.

The first time this happened I pulled back and stopped sharing my locker hooking photos and the ones I did and do share are all watermarked.  Over the years I gained back my faith in people and even took a class about sharing internet social media last June, because I really do want to share.  I would love to have my name out there, that is what the internet is all about.  It’s wonderful!  But when you get punched in the stomach again and again, it affects your trust.  I’ve pulled back again.

I’ve sent letters to violators and some people are nice and others not.  I’ve deleted my photos that I do not want to share publicly, but I continue to battle, trying to get them off permanently and I am frustrated.

I’ve changed my hardcore policies and asked people if they are going to use some of my copyrighted photos, at least ask me and link them back to me or my business.  We will see……………….

So sadly, I’ve come to the same conclusion as when I started this business………………my wonderful locker hooking photos and knowledge will remain in my books only.

♥ Donna

10th Anniversry of 9-11-2001

Locker Hooked "Never Forget"

 I will never forget, especially on this day of 9-11- 2011, as it is the 10th year Anniversary of 9-11-2001.  Today and every day, my heart is with all those who lost their lives and with their family and friends who continue to suffer, and to all those who work to keep us safe in the USA.

Thank you!

Please visit here!

♥ Donna

Alaskan Crocheted Rocks

Bring a piece of “Alaska” indoors!

As you know I’ve been crocheting glass covers this summer and I got to thinking about picnics and my daughter’s outdoor wedding coming up.  How do you keep the paper napkins from blowing away?  So……….I’ve been having fun crocheting rocks that I’ve found on the beaches in Alaska!  I soak them, scrub them, and then crochet the rock using 100% cotton thread and sign them.  They are natural Alaskan rocks!  A long time ago I crocheted two rocks for bookends to use in my store (for my Laurel Burch journals) and they are just as pretty now as then.  But this time I’m getting more creative and adding beads, buttons, ribbon, crocheted flowers, and more and having an absolute blast doing it!

One of my collections of Alaskan Crocheted Rocks

Jake and I go to the Alaskan beaches and hand-pick each beautiful naturally flat and smooth rock, which we lug home.  We have a favorite beach but you have to go down and back up a very, very steep cliff to get back to the car.  Of course it is so much easier to do in the fall when it’s cooler outside.  Put them in the back of the car and they help with traction in the Alaskan winters!  My husband is such a good sport!  At first he thought I was crazy, but now he actually thinks it’s really cool and he even uses them at work!

I make my Alaskan Crocheted Rocks to use as napkin and paper weights, book ends, door stops, decorative and conversational pieces like in bowls and windowsills.  Great for picnics and barbeques!  Or decorate your garden!

And they make perfect unique little gifts!  This is the crocheted rock I gave to my dear friend, Rene.

Rene's Rock

♥Donna

Beaded Glass Covers and Doilies

Hi!  I’m back to crocheting glass covers!  I’ve been making these for a long time and thought I would share them with you.  Because I live in Alaska, when summer comes everyone gets out of their homes and stays outside until the snow comes again.  Well, we have a picnic bench under some trees and the leaves, dirt, bugs, not to mention the pesky mosquitos fall into our glasses!  So I came up with these colorful glass covers to protect water or wine, or whatever you may have in your glass.  They work well for coffee mugs too!  I also make larger sizes to cover food bowls.  If you don’t want to use them on top of your glass, just slide them under your glass and you have classy glass doilies.  And when they aren’t on your table, they look really pretty under potted plants, etc.

We have been saving all sorts of glass jars and that is what we use for our ‘everyday ware’.  They look really cool on your table!  In fact, we have so many now that our cupboards are literally over flowing!  The glass covers also look quite elegant on wine glasses too!  For red wines I use dark color thread and for white wine, it doesn’t matter.

I love to choose different colors and add the beads on the ends.  The beads look pretty and are functional by weighting the cover down.  I’ve used charms and buttons too.  I’ve tried using plastic beads because they can go in the wash (inside a delicates bag), but they don’t hold enough weight, at least for outside.  I’ve even gotten fancier and made lacy glass covers (like doilies) but I have to keep the stitches tight so little bugs don’t sneak in.

Do you prefer a set of the same color or a mix of different colors glass covers?  Each one is unique even if they are the same color because they are handmade!  You can find the “Crochet Pattern” for it  on my website.

Crochet Glass Covers

Wine Glass Covers

Glass Doilies

Have a GREAT summer everyone and protect your glasses!

♥Donna

Hope, Alaska

Hi!  Last weekend Jake and I took a beautiful drive to Hope, Alaska.  Jake, my so famous Alaskan artist husband, was asked to bring some of his original paintings to Hope’s small Art Gallery.  And so we did, and it was such a wonderful day!  Hope is a community of 150 people (year round) but then you have to add a couple of 100 or more people during the summer.  The fun thing to do is to pop your tent out by the ocean (free!) and hang out all summer long.

It’s just a CUTE little town!!

Does anyone remember back in the early 1980′s when Hope, Alaska, got on world-wide news?  Their town was so small with very few women and so the men went on TV to ask if any women would be interested in moving to Hope?  If so………….well they would just LOVE to have them!  They even went on a bunch of popular talk shows.  I guess three women did go ,but I found out on the weekend that all three eventually left!  SO SAD!  But I can understand because I think the hard winters and isolation in Hope was just too much for some of the ladies to take!

I wonder?  Would you go?

I went to the town’s yard sale (for their school & library) and wandered into the little book store, and if you want to buy something you just leave a few dollars in a container.  Before we left Hope, the highlight of the day was having dinner in their little View Cafe.  It was so enchanting! And the food was absolutely yummy!  (I had a BLT w/avocado and Jake had halibut).

I just fell in love with this little town!

Hope Fine Art Gallery

Scott & Fayrene Sherritt's home, owners of Hope's Art Gallery

Hope's Cafe and Bar

Dinner anyone?

So the next time you are near Hope, Alaska, you must come visit!

♥ Donna

Where Did The Easter Eggs Go?

Once upon an Easter, we went camping near MT Rainer when my kids were little.  We lived in Washington state where there are beautiful trees, hiking trails, and campsites.  We camped a lot during summers and winters, in small & large tents, in an old (smelly) Apache trailer, and many camper vans, including two older VW pop-up camper vans (a blue one and then a yellow one).

The next day was Easter.  So after the kids were asleep we slipped out to scatter chocolate Easter eggs all around the campsite  They were wrapped in colorful foil so they wouldn’t get dirty and the kids could find them easier.  We were out there in our P J’s looking for good spots with our flashlights and giggling when we fell over tree stumps!

The next morning the kids went on an Easter egg hunt, but they kept yelling that they couldn’t find any eggs!  We looked all over and SURE ENOUGH……we couldn’t find any either!  So weird!  Where did all the Easter eggs go for heaven’s sake??

We couldn’t figure it out. Did someone come into our campsite in the middle of the night and steal our Easter eggs?  Then out from behind a tree comes this little squirrel.  Could they have taken them?  It couldn’t be possible because we hid soooooo many eggs!  Just couldn’t!!

Well we were all pretty devastated, especially the kids!  But later (much later) we all laughed about it and it certainly made a very memorable and unforgettable Easter!

Where did all the Easter eggs go?

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter and hope you will find ALL YOUR EASTER EGGS!

♥ Donna

First Stuffie

Hi!  For those of you who don’t know, last Christmas I received the BEST gift ever!! Shaunna and Matt bought me a ticket to fly to Colorado for a week to spend time with Joseph. He was about 9 months old.  I had the best time ever, soaking up all the “Joseph time” I could get.  It was so awesome to hang out with my daughter and her baby (yes, my first grandchild!).  It was a strange but a wonderful feeling, something you cannot put into words.  They are such good parents.  I will treasure every memory forever! I sure miss them!

I was able to meet up with my first stuffie I had made and a bunch of others I had given to Joseph, Shaunna, and Matt.  I took photos because I didn’t have one of my first stuffie.  I made it before Joseph was born, not knowing if they were going to have a boy or a girl.  There are also a lot of “Steelers” stuffies in their home because Matt is a big fan and Joseph I know will be a fan too (Go Seahawks!).  Anyway, that purple stuffie was the start of it all and it was so cool to see Joseph loving it!

My First Stuffie

Joseph organizing his stuffies

“Stuffie”=a soft, cuddly, crazy, cute, stuffed creature that makes you laugh and smile (straight from my dictionary!)  Some have pockets for treasures, some have crocheted beanie caps, but all have hearts!

Love, Donna

Etsy Shop Up

Hi!  I finally have my Alaskan Stuffies etsy shop up and running!  It’s taken awhile to get it going, especially taking the photos, sweeking them, sizing and hopefully they are in focus!  I think photo shop 2 is complicated for the lay person like myself and frustrating, but that’s all we have on our computer and I don’t excel in photography.

I’ve had to change a few things such as making two stuffies categories, “For all ages” and “For 3 year olds & up”, and making two different paper tags (one I stick in the pockets).  Even though my 10 month old grandson plays with faux fur stuffies without problems, I’m not sure if it is safe for all babies.  Safety is a huge thing I always worry about.

After I posted my forth stuffie’s photo, I got a nice message on facebook from Shaunna.  I was looking at the stuffie and her facebook profile photo and realized the stuffie looked just like the white fur around her hood.  It was soooo cute!  I couldn’t figure out how to get her photo here, but I found another one and Joseph is in it too!

Eskimo Alaskan Stuffie

Shaunna's hood looks like Eskimo Stuffie

Click on “My Etsy Shop” (on blogroll) to see more Alaskan Stuffies!

Love, Donna

Stuffies In Stores

Hi!  For those who haven’t met “Ivars”, here is a photo of him.  He has long arms you can tie in front that lay on his tummy.  He looks just like I do when I watch football with Jake.

Jake's Alaskan Stuffie

Jake posted some photos of my Alaskan Stuffies on facebook and WOW they just took off!  A very cool store called the Artic Rose Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska, saw the photos and bought 10 stuffies!  Awesome!! They were having a “First Friday” that week and I got them there just in time.  Here is a photo of some of them.

Alaskan Stuffies at Artic Rose Gallery

And then  our dear friend, Rene, who we saw on New Years Eve, bought 12 Alaskan Stuffies for her store, Blaines Art Supply, Anchorage, Alaska!  What a surprise! But I didn’t have any left and I was leaving for 1-1/2 weeks to visit Joseph!  So being the sweet person that she is, she said no worries I could make them when I got back.  So needless to say when I got back from my trip I had to make 12 in one week!  I worked literally day and night!!  Blaine’s was having a “Last Friday” of the month and I got them there in the nick of time.  I stayed for the  party and had so much fun watching people smile and laugh at my stuffies.  Such silly little critters that bring so much joy!!

Alaskan Stuffies at Blaines Art Supply

Yes, I look pretty tired!!

“First Fridays”  and “Last Fridays” in Anchorage are the first or last fridays of every month when the shops & gallerys open their doors that evening and display featured art and artists.  People hop from place to place and check out the art and feast on wonderful food! It is very fun! Jake has been featured numerous times and his paintings will be featured again at Stephan’s Fine Art Gallery, the first friday of April 2011.

Love,  Donna