Welcome to Creative Breathing. A place where Cute As Can Be characters tell the stories of my life. While this is no longer an active blog, I do hope you will enjoy sifting through the many crafts and tutorials that can be found here. I am thankful to the many inspiring women who took this creative journey with me, and I know you will feel the same lightness of heart they gifted to me.
Elizabeth Andrus

Dorothy Hamill

I am not one easily to anger and am someone quick to forgive, but I must confess there is one grudge I have held against my husband all the years I have known him. Dorothy Hamill is the reason for this grudge.

Dorothy Hamill meant the world to me. She was the reason my parents spent countless dollars and endless hours in support of my love of ice skating. Figures in the stillness of pre-dawn hours, lessons for jumps and spins, practice for perfection long after the sun had set. Olympic glory for one young girl, a person to emulate for another.

Wedged hair and over-sized glasses, white mittens and boots to match. The fastest skater, the highest jumper, I strove to skate like Dorothy. The freedom of movement gliding across the ice to beautiful music let others observe a confidence I couldn't see in myself.

It was this revealed confidence that one special hockey player saw in me, planting the seeds for True Love to bloom. That love found me on the ice I owe to Dorothy Hamill and for sheltered immaturity, I owe to her as well.

Hours dedicated to skating didn't allow for time with peers. Overly sensitive to words not understood or looks that seemed disapproving made navigating First Love so difficult for me. Break-ups and make-ups seemed to fill my days.

How could my heart possibly forgive my boyfriend for taking another to watch Dorothy Hamill on ice during one of our break-ups. She meant everything to me.

In the days leading up to my surgery, I distracted myself by reading a memoir penned by Dorothy Hamill, "A Skater's Life". I was so surprised to learn that she too found relief from crippling shyness through the freedom of movement on ice, but as well found her heart isolated from maturity.  There is so much about our life's stories that are the same.

When the time came to be released from the hospital, I refused the nurses help to dress but found I couldn't put on my own shoes. I motioned my husband close and whispered in his ear, "Will you help me with my shoes?" As he kneeled on the floor before me, his hair now silver with age, the knowledge that he knows of my confidence not always seen by others, washed over my heart and forever erased my one and only grudge. Dorothy Hamill, you remain my hero!


                  

Here I Go!

 

Well, I guess I am as ready as I can be for my surgery tomorrow morning. My house is spic and span, the refrigerator full, laundry folded and put away, the pets bathed and groomed. Never mind I should be home by 10 in the morning, I like to be prepared!

Already I miss the goings on in our community. If you miss just one day here, you miss a whole lot of cuteness! I will have lots to catch up on by next week. I already can't wait.

I have spent this past week preparing projects to motivate me to wellness.  No gold star needed here, a craft desk filled with characters to paint is just the incentive I need to bend that knee, climb those stairs, paint that smile.

May I tell you this surgery is such a small thing, but my worry about the silliest of things brings me near to tears. Will I have to ask my husband to help me dress and tie my shoes? Of course he gladly would, but it is hard for me to ask.

And so I have distracted myself by making Laura's Teacup Couple. I fell madly for her adorable creation, found here. I don't think I have ever seen anything cuter!

I have had such fun with my State Fair theme, and I hope you have enjoyed it as well. When I return it will be to Rodeo Days. Oh how I love a cute cowboy!

I guess that's it for now, 5am is nearly here. The roller coaster is nearing it's crest, there's no turning back. Did I ever tell you how flexible I am and that I can touch my toes and will surely be able to tie my shoes myself..... Here I go!

Blue Ribbon Nightgown

Before there were the Bobwhites, there was Sherry. She was the daughter of my mother's best friend, Virginia. Auburn hair worn in ringlets behind her ears, freckles across her nose, brown eyes lit by a smile that was always present. We were Halfway Woods friends and Spend the Night Friends and friends who couldn't bare to do anything without the other.

Our mothers purchased matching outfits of stretch pants with heel straps and matching striped shirts that we wore every opportunity we had to be together. Library trips to fill our arms full, pizza parlor trips, a table to ourselves, and 4-H sewing lessons we begged to take.

Plastic raffia sewing baskets filled with supplies, patterns and material tucked under our arms, our mothers dropped us off at an ordinary looking brick house not far from our own homes. We were met at the door by the tiniest and oldest women we had ever seen clothed all in black, a babushka revealing whips of grey hair. She ushered us down her basement stairs where other young girls were huddled together, their baskets and materials clutched close to their sides.

It was then as she assigned us each to our own long table and peddle driven sewing machines that we realized she spoke not a word of English. She communicated by the waving of enormously large sewing sheers, and the flinging about of a yellow tape measure longer than she was tall!

She was all smiles as she patted Sherry's half yard of floral fabric for the elasticized shorts she had chosen to make.

She had nothing but "Mama Mia's" for me as I struggled in vain with the slippery fabric I had chosen to make a slippery nightgown. My fabric simply would not stay put for me to lay out my pattern or stay puddled alongside my sewing machine for me to take a beginning stitch.

  
Week after week I sat hunched over my assigned machine, the teacher always hovering near determined not to let me give up. "Nastro Azzurro" she would cheer as she helped me manage my slippery fabric. I had no idea what she was saying.

4-H registration forms carefully filled out our last evening of sewing class, our garments turned over to our teacher, we didn't hold much hope for any success at the fair. But there was our teacher standing by our class display, her arms spreading first to one side and then to another. "Nastro Azzuro!" she greeted our astonished faces at seeing each of has had won a Blue Ribbon.

Please do not Pin pattern to Pinterest.

HAVE A JOYOUS EASTER! Elizabeth

Junk in the Trunk Banner

The sunshine is so bright today through my craft room window. The snow is turning to fat drops of water that I can hear dripping from the eaves of my roof. Not yet a day to venture outside, a Junk in the Trunk Banner to make a perfect solution!

The crafts you will find here on my blog are as simple as can possibly be. I want anyone to feel they can give something a go even though they may have very few materials on hand. This is the sum lot of paper I have in my craft room, but I am determined to wiggle a banner out of it.

Don't you always have those certain paper you aren't the craziest about? Those are the ones Perfectly Perfect for this project. I have cut my banner shape as many times as I could from my papers. There will be a front, a back, and any others can be deconstructed to use as a contrast.

THE BEST TRICK I KNOW! Anytime you want to back a printed piece of paper, glue it directly to your background paper AND THEN cut your edge border. LOL! It took me ages to figure out this trick for myself, and I get so mad when I forget it.

PLEASE don't forget to sandwich cardboard between your front and back layers of printed paper. It makes all the difference in your finished project.

With just a basic triangle in front of you, it can be perplexing how to fill all the space. My rule of thumb is to divide the triangle's space once with a portion of the triangle itself (blue strip on top), and once with a different shape all together. I had just enough paper to trace a circle from. Now for the fun part, the junk!

I have backed my circle piece in white and offset it's placement to create movement. Greeting card images I like best are what I call "scenery" cards. Not that they are a landscape, but that a scene of everyday life from a past era unfolds itself for you.  Sigh! I love vintage.  I have used flowers from my State Fair projects that were of a larger size and have mimicked the curve of my circle for my Scrabble tile placement.

Remember not to "float" your elements, but rather let them "waterfall" by connecting them to each other. Using a black and white image of this cute couple learning to knit (what a Peach of a fella) makes my banner cute but not cutesy.

I love my Junk in the Trunk Banner! It has turned out wonderfully homespun and makes me long for warm summer days and the coming of my town's County Fair.

"It Might As Well Be Spring"

I often hope that I am not alone in having my personality traits greatly influenced by ritualistic viewing of the Golden Age of Motion Pictures. I speak of the two-hour matinee absorbed through every molecule of my being while perched on the furthermost corner of our living room sofa closest to our fireplace mantle that held our tiny Black and White.

With after-school parents away providing for the "roof over our heads", a brother once noticed and immediately forgotten, a house blissfully silent but for melodic tones of dialogue, I was left to catalog the person I wanted to become. (Holly's wonderful shaker patterns found here!)

I wanted to become Jeanne Crain. I wanted to be plucky like her Ernestine in "Cheaper By the Dozen", and in love with William Holden just as her Margie would be, and most of all I wanted to be beautifully melancholy as her Margy in "State Fair", hopeful that spring would bring with it True Love.

Musical scores known by heart, I would dance my way around our furniture as graceful as any movie actress only to quickly reclaim my place when Jeanne Crain would speak her next line. I didn't want to miss a moment that I hadn't noticed before.

The thought never occurred to me that Jeanne Crain might be anything other than the characters she portrayed in my favorite films or that I would be setting myself apart from my peers by taking on her demeanor. I just knew that I wanted to be wholesome and kind and someone who was plucky enough to end up with the handsome leading man.

And I am happy to say, I am all of these things; and I did end up with someone who was looking for just those qualities.

 Thank you, Jeanne Crain!

Pattern for ant. Please do not Pin pattern on Pinterest

STATE FAIR

My husband is on a trip this week to Santa Barbara, California. He is lodged at The Fess Parker Hilton, a stone's throw from the Pacific Ocean. He called me poolside to tell me he wished I was there.

He also called to tell me that his pilot, who is female, just had the same knee surgery I will be having, one week ago. As I listened to him tell me this, my mind shifted from my Last Supper preparation mentality to an image of flying a jet plane. I said to my husband, "But I live in a two story house, she doesn't have to use her knees to fly the plane!"

With this new found revelation of mobility, I dressed, donned my makeup, curled my hair, and headed to the one place that minimizes the pain in my knee to joy in my heart, Michaels. I felt like I was going to the State Fair. (Thank you Susan for my Cute As Can Be duck!)

May I tell you that Sandy's Easter Swap has created quite the stir in our community. A conversation with her on the phone led to brainstorming about a future swap inspired by the wonderful Susan who was my partner.

The supplies she sent me both in her Valentine's Day Box and her Easter basket have inspired so many of my recent projects. Wouldn't it be wonderful to receive a box filled with fabulous supplies yourself! The lovely quilt blocks Susan sent me have set the color pallet for a new cast of characters.

I tell you I will Bite the Bullet leading up to my surgery day as I craft my State Fair characters and gather together my VERY BEST SUPPLIES I would like to swap with the person Sandy will match me up with. (after Easter) OH MY Goodness! This little ladybug has been assigned to the Agriculture Exhibit.

"This way please." to the homegrown offerings. Aren't these crocheted flowers absolutely fabulous? They are also presently in Michaels $1.00 bin.

So as I await the dreaded day, I will hold close the well wishes you have left for me and take them with me into the surgery suite along with excited anticipation of Sandy's swap in MAY. Find a cigar sized box to decorate and start collecting YOUR VERY BEST NEW AND VINTAGE CRAFTING SUPPLIES. This swap will be like a day at the State Fair for sure!