I cooked this week! Tuna Puttanesca with Spaghetti!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur 

Howdy and Welcome,

It's been a LONG while since I posted. My new replacement

 hip is starting to feel better but I still have pain. 

I'm walking better, but 

driving in the area causes pain for 

2 days - waaaaah!

Meanwhile, I've been watching cooking shows on 

TV and YT and YT posts about Bible Journaling, 

new hobby since Jan 2020. 

I dropped knitting - too much work to

 'frog' mistakes. 

But I still love to Crochet...

Generic photo

.

I cooked Tuna Puttanesca with [leftover] spaghetti

 this week [for one - hubby, Dave is allergic to fish].

 rarely cook - Dave is our 'chef'.

It turned out delicious! 

It's going into my rotation.

Do you cook? Have you ever made 

this particular dish?

Have you heard of Bible journaling?

Are you a Bible Journaler?

 If so, which journaling Bibles(s) do you use?

Thanks for stopping by - and please comment!

Peace, 

LuLu

'2023 Highlights 2 - B'day weekend!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur 

Howdy and welcome,

In September 2023, I treated myself to a long 

crafting weekend with my sister, Marcia.

After crafting all day at One Paper Place (Frankfort, IL)

for my birthday party, my sister, Marcy, and I relaxed 

at a nearby residence hotel for a few nights.

Our huge suite had three tv sets!

No husbands - just us girls - marvelous!

We ate, slept, and played our fave game, Qwirkle!

Of course, I won!

OUR HOTEL SUITE

Me - 
#1 Qwirkle winner!

My Fab Sister Marcy - 
relaxing on sofa bed in living room!
That's my travel Qwuirkle set in the pouch.
My timer is in bottom corner far right...
We also played cards - Crazy Eights!

Who do you think won?

Living room setup with my game/crafting table.
I always keep it in the 'trunk' of my minivan -
very handy for road trips!

Marcy's 1 BR 1BA side of our 2BR 2Ba suite - 
through our living room

Opposite view of living room
with mini kitchen in background
[we had TWO fridges!]

   

My bed in my 1BR 1BA side of our huge suite!
My PJs are laid out, ready for night-night

 

Thanks for stopping by - and please comment! 

 Peace, LuLu

2024 - New Job! 'I'm on my first Design Team!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Happy New Year!

One Paper Place in Frankfort, IL has hired me for their Design Team! 

Thanks to owner, Chris Rispoli, for this crafty job!

Some samples of my work:

Art Journal Planner

(from Annette Green class at OPP July 2023).

Supplies: provided by Annette Green

Front Cover

Technique: Stencils + glitter paste

Inside back cover:

Technique: My original MLH stamp + unknown stamp

Assemblage

(from Finnabair class at OPP July 2023)

Techniques: 3-D collage, painting, gilding

Supplies: gesso, acrylic paints, embellishments 

[from Finnabair class and from home stash]

Thanks for stopping by - please leave a comment!

Peace, 

LuLu

'Happy New Year 2024!' and 2023 Highlights 1

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

A look back to highlights of my 2023!

July 2023 - my Assemblage
Finnabair class at One Paper Place

July 2023 - Assemblage class
Instructor Finnabair

April 2023
Three MLH Sisters [L-R]
Marlene Lynette, Mary Louise, Marcia Lorraine

April 2023
My Four Siblings and SIL [L-R]
Marcia, S-I-L Angela, Milt, Mar, Mikey
[I'm the photographer using my CAMERA!]

 May 2023 - 
Memorial Day at friends BBQ
Playing Charades [L-R]
Host Jim, Hubby Dave, Hostess Mer

June 2023 - Sun at Dawn
through window screen at home aka
Longwood Lodge

AUGUST VACAY!

Aug 2023 - Vacation
Madison, WI
Dave at river restaurant for brunch

Aug 2023 - Vacation
Madison, WI
Me at river restaurant for brunch

Aug 2023 - Vacation
Madison, WI
Alfresco terrace [closed] at river restaurant for brunch

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY PARTY CRAFTERNOON!

Aug 2023 - 

One Paper Place, Frankfort, IL

LuLu and Kim

Christine
Hostest with the Mostest!

[L -R]
Becky, Kim, Chris, Marcy
I'm taking the photo with my digital CAMERA!

Kim crafting and
my station

Thanksgiving 2023

Nov 2023 - Thanksgiving
Nail Art by my nail tech - Left Thumb
Turkey [coloring book hack]

Nov 2023 - Nail Art
Flowering pumpkin vines
[Free hand painted by my nail tech, 
based on design I hacked from free clip art]

 

'Happy Spring + FREE Tutorial'!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and welcome,

Check out my previous FREE tutorial: Drunken Scotch Technique!

Drunken Scotch Technique

Meanwhile: I donated my alcohol inks to my LSS - too many fumes for my asthma.

Thanks for stopping by and please comment.

Peace,

LuLu

'Happy New Year + Freebies!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and Welcome,

Happy [belated] New Year!

Lots of Life happening lately [including ER visit due to chest pain, 

which was a false alarm - NOT a heart attack. Just muscle strain.. So

I've been spending less time spent online and blog posting...

Wanted to let Followers know that I AM still alive. 

Super busy.

I'm feverishly purging/donating much of my stash/

destashing and packing so we can move ASAP.

Giving - and have given - many art supplies, washi tapes,

 jewelry supplies and beads away - most 

to our local Arts Center.

Probably we'll stay in the Midwest - 

wherever the temperature and weather are milder.

Ha! Is that even possible?!

Freebies are below - have fun. 

Permission granted in this post to copy images below.

[Right Click on image to copy].

Negative - edited

Original (Photo used with permission from D.Daruszka) - edited

Please comment AND visit my other posts - 

for lots of other Freebies for you here on LuLu's blog!

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace,

LuLu

Celebrating September Birthday Month 2022!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

After a horrible summer of 2022 - that started with the 5-day power outage in July and included the deaths of my father and stepmother within 2 weeks of each other in August - I somehow made it to September.

I celebrated at a weekend scrapbooking retreat with my sister and a crafty friend, Becky, at a suburban Chicagoland hotel. Becky and I went for sushi lunch on first day of retreat. 

My sister, Marcy, and I stayed in a king bedroom suite since we both snore. We enjoyed the indoor pool and hot tub both nights and we both got a 60-minute full body massage on night 2.  Marcy went after dinner, I went at 9:45pm. 

My stress is just melting away - finally!

Becky's sushi lunch

Becky's lunch after

My sushi (lunch and enough for leftovers at hotel later)

My sushi lunch, After

After retreat, hubby took me out on my birthday Sep 27th for late breakfast, a movie and dinner at our fave steakhouse, Longhorn.

Dinner

Longhorn Steakhouse on Sep 27, 2022

Shaky photo by hubby

My surf & turf dinner, After

Hubby, Dave

I'm finally starting to get my mojo back. Energy level is slowly returning. I'm trying to tidy my home studio so I can do some craft projects over my winter hibernation.

Thanks for stopping by - and please leave a comment!

Peace,

LuLu

July 4th Catastrophe of 2022 in Chicago

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and Welcome,

So far, our summer has been horrible with catastrophic storm damage and minivan transmission woes!

Half of the hubby's inheritance has gone to paying tens of thousands of dollars to the electricians after the storm damage. That was money earmarked for down payment we hoped to buy our new house with this year. sigh...

      .Oh well, at least no one was hurt when the tree limb crashed down.

.The good news is, we decided to take a mini vacation to de-compress from all the stress.

Also, we haven't had flooding from the heavy rains. And we didn't get covid19...

Stay safe.

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace,

LuLu

'The SECRET to MAKE More TIME!' plus a Freebie!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and Welcome!

I'm back for a hot minute, but I had to share this with you...

Today I got an email from an artist whose mailing list includes me. In it, she claims that no one can make more time. I responded back to her email, that we CAN all make more time. 

I’ve found the (not so) SECRET solution aka Time Management.

 

The SECRET for ‘making more time’ is:

1. prioritizing,
2. nixing time wasters,
3. planning (focus and work your plan),
4. just say ‘no’ to everything non-goal related,
5. reducing commitments.

Try these tips for 1 day, 1 week, 1 month - then comment on this post below on your results.

I have been using these tips for about 3 years - and they work great for me. I am moving closer to some goals, and accomplishing others!

Freebie! 

(right click on image, then Save)

(Photo courtesy of D. Daruszka)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace,

LuLu

P.S. I love my two Tim Holtz Tonic glass mats. I use the large right-handed mat in my main craft studio. The small travel glass mat is the left-handed version that I use on the desk in my upstairs computer office. Do you use either of these TH glass mats?

'Happy New Year and a Great 2021'!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and Welcome!

Wishing all my Followers a wonderful New Year in 2021!

(Graphics Fairy free image)

Peace,

LuLu

GIVEAWAY Winner is...!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes - Artist and Bricoleur

Howdy and Welcome!

The winner of the 2020 Birthday Giveaway is.........

Mary Kay! Congratulations!

Mary Kay please contact me with your email address asap (use the Contact Form in right sidebar) or email me at:

 nuvoclassic @ aol dot com  

and we'll get the process started for shipment of your fabulous crafting goodies!

You will LOVE your package!

Peace,

LuLu

'WOYWW 2/27/2013 - Lucious Lovely Fabric Beads - Freebie Tutorial!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes


Howdy and welcome,

For WOYWW, wanted to share these wrapped fabric beads on my table that I just finished making - plus the tutorial based on how they were made!

Photo credit:
David Daruszka for Creative Media Wizards

I used red  fabrics from Maria's stash that I recently 'inherited'.

She had a box of handmade blue fabric beads in her stash - that were incredible. I had never seen fabric beads before...I had seen samples of wrapped paper beads in the past, but I always thought they were ugly. I examined Maria's fabric beads under my magnifying light to see how they were made. Then I made mine - but a bit differently. 

DURATION

I made my beads over the course of one week...Here's a tutorial if you want to try your hand at this!


Tutorial


SUPPLIES / MATERIALS LIST

· Beads - assortment of small beads and seed beads

· Coffee stirrer straws – smallest diameter

. Containers - small divided containers -  I used containers from The Container Store

. Craft mat

· Fabric scraps – cotton (minimum of 2” x 6”) - I used about 6 different patterns. I tried different types of fabrics and blends - but only cotton worked for me

· Fibers - assorted thin scrapbooking fibers - I used eyelash novelty yarns and metallic

· Glue - for this project I experimented with several (White glue, Fabric glue, 3-in-1 (my fave for this project))

· Paint - gold acrylic paint - 2oz. bottle

. Paper towel

. Palette (optional)

· Quilting ruler (or metal edge ruler)

· Rotary cutter (any size)

· Round-nose plies

· Scissors - fabric

· Scissors - Tonic

· Stamps – rubber or acrylic - foreign sript and foreign text designs

. Styrofoam scrap from old packaging - approx. 12" x 3" x 3"

· Toothpicks - equaling the number of beads you want to make

. Water spritzer

· Wire – assorted colors of thin gauge craft wire (I used black, red, gold) small enough to fit through your beads

. Wipes

· Wire cutters

PREP COMPONENTS

1. Stick a toothpick in Styrofoam every inch - make 2 or 3 rows, staggering the placement of toothpicks between rows.
2. Cut some coffee stirrers 2 inches long - then cut a few to 1 inch. Set aside in container.
3. Cut short length of fibers approx. 1 3/4" long. Set aside in container.
4. Cut wire approx. 3" long - one wire for each bead you are making.
5. Using round-nose pliers, make a loop on one end of wire. Set aside in container.
6. Cut cotton fabric into rectangular strips measuring 2" x 4" using rotary cutter or fabric scissors. I chose red fabrics with gold prints or bold prints.
7. Cut cotton fabric strips into long triangles with a 2" base.

GOLD STAMPING

1. Alternately stamp script or text on right side of fabric triangles using gold acrylic ink. Dry overnight.

WRAP FABRIC

1. Lay stamped fabric triangle wrong side up/right side down on craft mat.
2. Squeeze a thin line of glue onto triangle about 1" from base and 1/4" from each side of triangle.
3. Place straw between base and glue.
4. Wrap fabric tightly around straw pressing base of fabric triangle into glue.
5. Hold straw and fabric with left hand.
6. With right hand, squeeze a thin line of glue down center of triangle stopping 1/4" from tip.
7. Continue rolling fabric tightly around straw, smearing glue into fabric to the tip. Drop bead onto a toothpick to dry overnight.
8. Spritz paper towel with water to slightly dampen it.
9. Wipe glue off craft mat with damp paper towel. Then dry craft mat with dry paper towel
10. Clean glue off your hands with wipe - then dry your hands on dry paper towel.
11. Repeat steps 1-10 until you have made all the beads you need for your project.

TRIM ENDS

1. With the Tonic scissors, lightly trim the two ends of each bead so that the straw is flush with the fabric. Also use the fabric scissors if the fabric starts to fray. Set aside in container.

PAINT ENDS

1. Lightly dip both bead ends into a puddle of gold acrylic paint - enough to cover the fabric edges and hide the straw. Use a palette - or I used the paint inside the bottle cap. Drop onto a toothpick to dry overnight.
2. Repeat step 1 for all remaining beads.

WRAP FIBER
 
After fabric has completely dried on the toothpicks, it's time to wrap bits of fiber around each bead.
 

1. Squeeze a very small drop of glue onto center of bead.
2. Choose one matching or contrasting fiber.
3. Wrap fiber diagonally onto bead in a spiral going from top to bottom clockwise, while smearing glue in the center of fiber. Don't glue the fiber all the way down - leave each end unglued a little with the fiber sticking out.
4. Drop bead onto a toothpick to dry overnight.
5. Spritz paper towel with water to slightly dampen it. Wipe glue off craft mat with damp paper towel.
6. Clean glue off your hands with a wipe - then dry your hands on clean paper towel.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 until you have wrapped all the beads with fiber you need for your project.

WRAP WIRE / STRING BEADS
 
Goal is to string 10-20 beads per fabric bead.

1. Hold fabric bead in left hand vertically.
2. With your right hand, place wire loop on left side at top of fabric bead - and press loop down with your left thumb.
3. Holding bead in left hand, hold wire in right hand, tightly wrap one wire diagonally in a spiral going from top to bottom clockwise, stringing 3-5 beads every 360 degree turn as you wrap the wire. Leave a 1" tail at end of wire.
4. Make a loop at end of wire and press loop tightly to bottom tip of bead. If wire is too long, cut a bit off before making the final loop.
5. Admire your handiwork!

NOTE:  These fabric beads are suitable for hanging on the wire binding of an altered book, art journal or scrapbook. They are NOT suitable to wear for necklaces, earrings  or bracelets because of body oils and perspiration.

Let me know if you try this technique. Send me a link to a photo of your fabric beads on your blog or website.

Thanks for stopping by - and please leave a comment.

Here are more artist desks for WOYWW if you want to take a peek!

Peace,
LuLu