Planet Nice Crafts

Hello Everyone! I hope you have thrived in at least one way during this hot summer. The summer that had kick in it until yesterday?  Now on to Fall or Autumn. All is well here; some extra self-care was required because allergies were worse than in previous years. But there is nothing wrong with more self-care. Not much free time devoted to crafts except for a session on repair work that had been stacking up. What has been happening and this is the big REVEAL is the development of PLANET NICE ODYSSEY (PNO) on Etsy. YES! Okay this is not official yet as I haven't signed up, but I'm getting there. What is this new adventure? I haven’t exactly drafted a mission statement but in macro terms I would say it is a presentation of craft materials, goods, and experiences/services by the practitioner of Planet Nice Crafts, me. The purpose of this blog and PNO is to share my adventures in crafts with some baking, gardening, jigsaw puzzles, reading, and other hobbies of necessity (plumbi...

Hello Everyone! Welcome to Summer. I have already experienced a variety of weather conditions from cooler temperatures with smoky haze to full on summer heat and humidity.  Chocolate Mint Geranium The picture above is one of two plants that I am maintaining for this garden season (remember the years I had the 20’ x 20’ garden plot? I cannot believe I did that). Now, I am down to this lone geranium survivor and some struggling kale. Today, I am thinking about goals. At work, I had my mid point review this week and my manager mentioned that I should start thinking about where I want to be at the end of 2024 to start developing goals or resolutions for next January. I have transferred the conversation to my personal life and started it by re-assessing the 2023 goals. One of my personal 2023 goals was to take Drawing 1 and 2 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, drawing is difficult and I had been wanting to take a class for a long time. I budgeted and planned my vacation time because in my...

Hello Everyone! Well, the theme so far for 2023 is Tying Up Loose Ends. Projects ranging from home repair to tree trimming to sewing are being completed - some have lingered since 2021. How do I feel about this? I'm glad progress has been made and there is so much left to do. First up, sewing. Two promised Christmas presents from 2021 were completed and sent off in January. The first was a coaster set made with fabric already in possession but a fancy variegated polyester thread was purchased new along with a tear away stabilizer. I had never used stabilizer before - it was suggested for the zig-zag stitch edge. There is water soluble stabilizer too - the tear away was the only available at the brick-and-mortar store. If you look real close you may see bits of remaining stabilizer but I let it go. The coasters are reversible so that is pretty neat. And the great thing about the zig-zag stitch, you can go over previous stitching no problem if for example, an edge was missed. The imp...

  Christmas Tree, 2022 Happy Holiday Season and New Year! I am so happy that I found some time during the last 12 Days of Christmas to post. Baking has been in the forefront. With Thanksgiving so early in the month in 2022, the preparation of my traditional fruitcakes started mid-November, November 12 th to be exact! And to be honest, I haven’t even tasted my portion yet but the reviews so far have been good, more citrusy than in previous years. This holiday season’s baking has also included rose scented geranium pound cake, breakfast bakes, three types of cookies (rosemary alfajores cookies, chocolate-dipped matcha shortbread cookies, and vanilla meringue cookies), and pumpkin pies. Some of the time, I followed the recipe perfectly; other times, I didn’t. The breakfast bakes were new and easy recipes that were served for Christmas brunch; one was a crab croissant gruyere, the other sausage bread cheddar. That is all I am going to say about the breakfast bakes and instead, present...

Hello Everyone. 2022 has been JAM packed - from one challenge to the next, I have been on my toes! Recently, there has been a welcome lull so I have made it back to Planet Nice Crafts. 😊 Reading has been a steady solace throughout and here are this year's finished books: 1. A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin - I finished this book in January 2022, and writing this in September, I miss my favorite dysfunctional families. There is the prequel series to satisfy appetites but the books are so much better (and less gory and violent). An almost 20 year effort for me to read it but it was worth it. 2. This is How it Always is by Laurie Frankel - Winter 2022's One Community Read, a fantastic public library program. 3. Under a White Sky, The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert - I learned of this book from a Chicago Tribune article. 4. Thrawn Ascendancy Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn. 5. Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique. 6. Prairie Fires the American Dreams of La...

Happy 2022! Hello Everyone. Has it been a good start to the year for you and your families? With the holiday season and the garden tapering off to be officially deemed frozen on January 1, my main activity since I last wrote has been cleaning. The holiday season was plenty full for me and since its close on Twelfth Night, I have been doing a little of this, a little of that. So, in chronological order... I do a whole home clean before any holiday decorating occurs. It is an intense goal requiring precious weekend hours but there are benefits: I take a general inventory of my belongings and supplies (a sort of "state of affairs") and once this major clean is finished, I can focus on the holidays and later, creativity, which results in brain yoga. Food and drink had big roles during the holiday season and I really wanted to try new things. Drink included an exploration of the mocktail craze with the mixers Ghia and Pentire Adrift , both being well regarded. At this time, my pr...