Hello! This is the tierneycreates Beastie guest blog posting (if you are new to this blog, my story is on this post – I’m A Monster!!! and you can see all my posts at this link: Beastie Adventures).

Human Tierney and Human John having been busy spending time with family this week to celebrate the holidays so I told Tierney that John Beastie and I would send out a Happy Holiday Greetings to all her blogging buddies for her!

Here are John Beastie and I in our BEAUTIFUL Christmas Sweaters:

And here is our full collection of BEAUTIFUL Christmas Sweaters (Tierney added two more sweaters to our collection this year):

I know you all are probably VERY envious that these beautiful sweaters do not come in HUMAN sizes. Nope they are just in Beastie sizes! Tierney tells me they are actually Christmas Tree Ornaments but I do not believe her – they were made for Beasties, I just know it!

Well John Beastie and I hope you have a safe holiday filled with wonderful memories and lots of smiles!

Bags Bags Bags, From the Woodshop

Last Minute Gifts

December 21, 2024December 21, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I mentioned in my one of my recent previous posts that I was working on some last minute Christmas gifts.

Well I finished the gifts last night – two tote bags for two people in my life who love the Star Wars saga:

They have roomy interiors:

And both external sides of the tote bags have pockets. I used coordinating solid fabric for the inside of the pockets for some contrast.

Now all I can do is see if the tote bag recipients like them!

Oh and John worked on a last minute gift too – a set of cutting boards make from the scraps that his friend gave him of their new wood floors. I think they will be pretty pleased when they see the offcuts/scrap wood from installing their floors turned into something useful!

Upcycled Hope

Now Hung

December 19, 2024December 18, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Oh look at me – now that I’ve caught up on all my blogging buddies’ posts (well I think I have), I’m trying to pretend that I am back to posting regularily 😉

Here’s a follow up to my mid November 2024 post – ScrapHappy November 2024: Update on Denim Quilt. The denim quilt you all are probably tired of reading about, is now hung on the wall leading up the stairway from the first to second floor of my house.

Here are photos:

John built the wooden hanger for the piece which I place through the hanging sleeve I added to the back of the quilt.

I am very pleased! We really needed something on that blank wall and the quilt seems to be what it needed!

Postscript

RECYCLED HOPE VS UPCYCLED HOPE

This quilt will become part of my “Recycled Hope” series of quilts which I describe as follows:

The Recycled Hope an ongoing series of improvisational art quilts using recycled materials to include denim as the primary fabric on many of the pieces, combined with other recycled materials. “Hope” and the interpretation of the word “hope” is the primary theme of infused into these pieces. Most of the fabrics were not reusable as clothing or home decor and were destined to end up in a landfill. Reimagining recycled clothing and other materials into art quilts satisfies my hopeful desire to honor the environment and make art that is eco-conscious. Ending up in an art quilt is a better outcome than ending up in a landfill.

One of the comments on the post ScrapHappy October 2024: Recycled Hope I wrote in October 2024 about this series, went something like this (paraphrased): “shouldn’t your series Recycled Hope be called instead Upcycled Hope?”

I thought about this and researched on line various definitions of “recycled” vs “upcycled”.

Recycled: “having been used before and then put through a process so that it can form a new product” (Cambridge Dictionary)

Upcycled: “to recycle (something) in such a way that the resulting product is of a higher value than the original item : to create an object of greater value from (a discarded object of lesser value)” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

After reviewing those two definitions and thinking a bit, I’ve decided to eventually rename my series – UPCYCLED HOPE!

I’ve added to my list of things to do to update my tierneycreates website…

A Crafter Needs to Eat, From the Woodshop

From the Woodshop: New Entertainment Console

December 17, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I’m not sure what the proper name is but I am going to call it an “entertainment console”…

John recently finished making us a new entertainment console for under the television in the basement den area. Thought I would share some photos from his build to completion:

John designed it from scratch and I continue to be impressed with his work as a self-taught woodworker! He put holes larger enough for cords at several locations in the back so we had space for the DVD player and gaming console cords!

Postscript

John got a new flat top grill this summer and even though the weather is very late Fall/early Winter-ish he is still trying to occasionally use it. He made his first attempt at shrimp friend rice on the outdoor griddle and it came it out awesome!

Oh and I got obsessed with these pumpkin muffins this season and I highly recommend them. I’ve made a couple batches of them so far and they freeze well:

Sally’s Baking Addition Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Papercrafting, Special Events

Card Making Party, Part II

December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is the second post in the two post series on the Card Making Party I had on Tuesday. The first post, Card Making Party, Part I, shows our set up and work in progress.

This post is a gallery of what everyone made.

I only made three cards as I was pretty busy hosting:

But my guests were more prolific – here is a sampling of the cards they made:

There was an art quilter in the group so you might be able to pick out some of her cards! The snowman was made by my friend who is a retired 1st grade and Kindergarten teacher – she simply looked at an image on her phone and cut out the snowman from paper scraps, and then embellishing it with paint pens!

Everyone who attended said this card making/crafting party was “Exactly what they needed”.

Papercrafting, Special Events

Card Making Party, Part I

December 11, 2024September 6, 2025 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

It’s cold out and Colorado Winter is upon us (even though it’s not officially Winter yet), so it was time for a fun crafting get together distraction!

Tuesday I hosted a card making party for three of my friends in studio. In this post I’ll share the set up and crafting in progress; in the next post I’ll share the cards we made!

I converted my studio table (putting away the cutting mats, rotary cutters, pins, etc.) into a card making supply station and the lunch buffet station:

We were not short of food options! One of my friends brought her homemade chili and I had made broccoli cheese soup! We didn’t coordinate the menu, people just brought what they wanted – and both of us were thinking we needed a hot liquid dish to warm us up!

My studio table went from this before the party:

To this (in order to accommodate 4 crafters!):

I set up a “crafting placemat” (some pretty hard-sided Rifle Paper Co. placemats I found thrifting) at each crafter’s station, along with their own light and some basic supplies (scissors, glue stick, etc.). I also included a little holiday gift for them – a mug for their coffee//tea filled with goodies.

After diving into the lunch buffet, everyone got to work making lots of cards!

Sometimes even taking to the floor for special card making techniques (small hole punching using my eyelet kit).

Knit and Crochet Away!

The Purple/Violet has Returned!

December 1, 2024 tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Here is a quick follow up on this post – Variegated Yarn Surprise – about the random ball of yarn I found in my stash with an unknown variegated color surprise since I am not sure where the ball of yarn came from (and I never saw it as an unwound skein) but I decided to knit a hat with it.

The first color I encountered was a purple or violet and then it did not seem to repeat.

I went through the purple turning into dark blue, medium blue, blue-green, chartreuse, dark lavender, teal, lavender again, chartreuse, blue-green, blue, blue-violet AND finally back to the purple/violet!

I was about to give up and thought that purple was just a one time thing in the color palette – ha!

Now that the purple has shown up again I am going to start decreasing the crown to work on finishing the hat once the purple turns into it’s next color (my guess is it will transition into blue-violet and blue again…well can look at the ball and sort of see it..).