Planet Nice Crafts

I hope everyone is well and ready for some HEAT. Temperatures are soaring. Which means tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons will just burst forth in growth. We had a nice Spring in the Chicago area – a little coolish so it’ll be good to get things growing. With the warming temperatures come allergies, my nose has been sore for about a month now or I don’t know maybe longer. It’s not too horrible and I am able to sleep well at night with NyQuil Cold and Flu – powerful stuff and only one dose is required. Warm weather had brought on seasonal cleaning activities. The winter coats, hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, comforters, and other blankets are laundered and stored. The garage is partially swept. The bike is slowly coming together. Condo association meetings are occurring regularly. Review of contracts and other documents to bring change are progressing as fast as my bandwidth can manage. Good thing is that a few hours were carved out to finish sewing the purple top. The finis...

There are flowers blooming, birds chirping, and quite a bit of craft time.  Each of the snowmen and the battle gnome had their wash paint completed and glaze (Woodland Scenics’ Scenic Cement ™ ) and glitter applied. Here are the final project photos, no more words required. Another project has been re-started. This purple linen top was originally sewn by me to go with the purple linen pants that were altered in Consistency! (November 12, 2021 – I can’t believe it has been that long).  The Before Photo The pants went from unused to being a wardrobe staple. I was trying to do a repeat with this top. I don’t remember the origin of the idea to try to make it into a wrap top (the bad thing about infrequent blog posts) – perhaps the voluminous material available? This New Look pattern, N6700, has been my inspiration.  The color is a challenge, its not the best for me and my pale skin but the pants have been a great neutral. Because I wanted a top that is less blah, I have used...

Hello Everyone! Three months have passed but after reviewing August's post, the conclusion is activity here at Planet Nice Crafts has been incredibly consistent. The precious free time has been dominated by garden activities. The garden will be the focus today along with bird and sewing updates.  Here is the 2021 harvest report: Watermelons: five (3 medium, 2 small) were ready late August through mid-September and they were fantastic. This was the first time growing and the plants were low maintenance because of more resistance to cucumber beetle havoc. Cucumbers: better than 2020, but could have used more! I lost the plants late August due to the beetles. Tomatoes, peppers, ground cherries, and tomatillos: very good. All did well until the bugs and cooler temperatures got them in late October. Beans: disappointing, affected by aphids and both crops (Spring and late Summer planted) died too early. Pumpkins: three (1 medium and 2 small) harvested on Halloween. Kale: too much a...