The Unfinished Tales of Paradiddle Puddles

This week, very early on, I came up with an opening for a poem:

I know a gleeful, little goat

Called Paradiddle Puddles -

A leaper and a laugher

And a getter-into-muddles.

I thought it was an excellent beginning. I felt like I was meeting a wonderful character in Pardiddle Puddles. I wanted very much to know more about him. But he wouldn't tell me. He just wouldn't tell me a single thing about his adventures and antics and muddles.

Help!

Can someone tell me what Paradiddle has been up to? Any scenario at all. More than one, even. I suspect someone like Pardiddle has had a whole series of adventures. But I need to know what they are before I can write them into a poem.

Do you know?

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Introducing Retrouve Vintage Magazine

Dear Twilight Tree: I'm sorry, but I have been unfaithful. I have started another blog. Only it's not a blog, exactly—it's an online magazine. And it wasn't my idea—my teacher made me. It's an assignment, you see. Three classmates and I have to maintain an online magazine and update it regularly with wonderful content. The strain is a bit much, but I promise I will manage to keep both of you going.

And I think you will get along well. The magazine is called Retrouvé and it is all about everything vintage. We have articles in four main areas: In the Kitchen, From the Closet, Around the House, and On the Town. There will be DIY articles and neat business profiles and old-fashioned recipes and wonderful, old books. And buttons, of course.

Want to see our first post? It's online now. And a granny square tutorial will be going up Friday. You'll like it, I promise. Go ahead. Check it out.

And remember: I love you very much. Magazines may come and go, but you will always be my blog.

Love,
Erin

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Mary Speaks

The truth about the little lamb is not what you've all heard.

I wanted an iguana, but my Dad said, "That's absurd."

I didn't want to have a dog. I said a cat's a bore.

I wanted something no one else at school had seen before.

My father thinks he's funny and he said that money's dear.
He said a sheep's a perfect pet to cuddle and to shear.
So now I have this stupid lamb with fleece worth more than me,
And I must keep it white so we can get a higher fee.

And look - the thing's imprinted on me. Thinks that I'm its dam.
And all the kids at school will laugh at me. I hate this lamb!
I hate its floppy, little tail. I hate its little nose.
Its baby voice, its wobbly legs, its eyes - I hate all those.

The eyes for sure. Those great, big, trusting eyes, the cuddling,

The fuzzy, little - teeny, precious - cute - oh, drat this thing!

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This project is part of Tea Rose Home's 77th link party! Check it out.

Call me

from The Unpublished Writings of the Wicked, Wicked Witch

Call me ugly. Call me old.

Call me heartless. Call me cold.

Call me wicked, evil, mean.

Call me pallid, warty, green.

Call me what what you want, guys. Only - 

Call me sometime? Please... I'm lonely.

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Call me by Erin Woods is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

A little bit of gushing

Okay, so I've always been in love with Ruffles and Stuff, the craft and inspiration blog of the supremely creative Disney Powless. She always has the most clever ideas and the cutest tutorials, not to mention a personality that makes sunshine seep out through the keyboard. Tonight, though, was the first time she made me laugh out loud and run off to share with everyone else. If you are crafty, if you are female, and if you like a laugh, go check out this post. And pass it on. I did. Disney did. Everybody should.

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Over-the-door pocket organizer tutorial

Materials:

• Fabric for the backing that is twice as big as the finished product
• Fabric for the pockets that is, collectively, also twice as big as the finished product. This need not be the same fabric as you use for the backing, but it can be.
• Scissors
• Tape Measure
• Pins
• Thread
• Needle or sewing machine
• Iron

Notes:

• I have not included measurements in my tutorial. For my own organizer, I simply held my fabric up to my door and decided by eye how big I wanted it to be.
• The clever idea to use straps and a counterweight instead of hooks over the door is not my own. However, I don't know the name of the woman who suggested it on a web forum. Whoever you are, thank you.
• The pictures I took are few and poorly lit, so I tried my hand at making a tutorial in Adobe Illustrator.

Instructions:

Once you hang your organizer over your door, fill the counterweight with something heavy. Rice could be used if you simply want weight. I wanted weight and extra storage, so I made it big enough to hold some of my magazines. The open top of the counterweight pocket ensures that while it's a bit awkward, I can access the magazines when I want them.

Since this whole structure is only made of fabric, the top corners flop inward. I suggest mounting a dowel at the top to solve this. Since I had no dowel on hand, I hand-stitched two strips of fabric to the back and slid my large quilting ruler beneath them. It's not ideal, but it will do for now.

I have to say, now that I can stash all of my sewing bits and pieces in here, my room is so much cleaner!

What are YOUR clever storage solutions?

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A poem for someone special

Lady Megan met a dragon on a summer's day.

Said the dragon, "Lady Megan, won't you run away?"

Lady Megan to the dragon said, "I don't intend to."

The dragon said, "But Megan, you have no man to defend you!"

Lady Megan said, "O dragon, I need no defender."

Lady Megan said, "And dragon, don't insult my gender!

"Dragon!" Megan said, "it will be YOU who flies away,

"And never more will we two meet upon a summer's day."

"Haughty Megan!" roared the dragon, "see my shining claws!

"Foolish Megan! I am dragon! Fear my mighty jaws!

"Megan," dragon said, "my strength will break you clean in half!"

"Dragon, dragon," Megan smiled - and she began to laugh.

Lady Megan laughed. The dragon growled, "I am no joke!"

Lady Megan laughed. The dragon's breath began to smoke.

Lady Megan laughed. The dragon shuddered at the sound.

Lady Megan laughed. The dragon, anxious, glanced around.

Megan laughed. The dragon snapped, "Don't! Don't you laugh at me!"

Megan laughed. The dragon shrank away and turned to flee.

"Vain, vain dragon," muttered Megan as he winged away,

And never more did they two meet upon a summer's day.

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Ahh, Pockets!

I made a pocket organizer!

Just look at how tidy all those spools are!

I'll tell you how I made it soon. Hope you've all made a great start to your January!

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