Bull's Eye Heart Mandalas to color

Actually, one mandala, one tile, and the same mandala on the same tiled background. Because I wanted to use the tiled background on my example, so I'm giving you lots of options. Click on the images for the larger versions. Transparent PNG format!

Hearts bull's eye pattern boxes in 5 colors!

I really need to either get ink or switch out printers so I can do some more heart clasp top boxes and print examples. Since that hasn't been done yet, these are simple 2x2x2 cube boxes in 5 different colors with a bull's eye effect heart pattern. I hope you enjoy them! Click on the images for larger versions.

Book Review- Build Your Own Free-To-Air Satellite TV System

So, this is different than my usual reviews right? So why a book on FTA satellite TV systems? Because this is one of my husband's two favorite books from 2011. The other one was fiction.


First a quick definition- Free-to-air satellite transmissions are transmissions that you don't have to pay a subscriber fee. The satellites transmit the stations, sometimes encoded, but frequently not, so if you have a dish that's positioned correctly, you can pick up those stations. You pick up those stations with a satellite dish. While you can certainly have a dish system installed that you pay a monthly fee for, this book is about building your own system to pick up free signals. 


My husband is a tinkerer who has been messing with building antennas for years. FTA satellite antennas were the obvious next step.

This well written manual is written for non-experts and hobbyists who are just getting interested in building home satellite television systems. The language is very clear and defines the technical jargon in easily understandable ways.

You learn how to set up anything from a small dish or if your budget and area zoning allows, a 6 foot dish. 

A resource list allows you to find the materials needed to build your dish, and sites that will help you position your dish according to location.

The book also explains about how satellite transmissions work, going into the science in a clear way.

There is also information on setting up surround sound for the best satellite television experience possible.

I'm really impressed with how well it covers the subject matter without becoming too dry to read. It's laid out in such a way that it's easy to find what you need to go back over while your building your system. 

In a world where a lot of people think they have to have cable or a paid satellite service just to get basic channels, this opens up a lot of possibilities in finding free transmissions for a one time cost. If you're in an area where cable is not an option, or you don't need premium cable stations, this is a great alternative.

My husband was completely inspired by it. Our neighborhood will NOT allow a 6 ft dish, despite how much he wants one now. 


If you're like my husband, or you know someone who is as interested in such projects, I really recommend this book.

We don't have cable, at first, it wasn't an option for our neighborhood. Now that it is, it's something we've found we can live without. So this is a good, less expensive option for us. It costs less to set up a basic system than cable does for a year. 


You can get this book directly from the publisher, McGraw Hill Professional, 

My reviews are always my personal and honest opinion. You can read more about my review policy here.

Friendship pins and ice sculptures

First- I posted instructions for these cute little square stitch pins at Beadwork at BellaOnline. You can find the article *here*.

 The rest of the photos can be clicked for larger versions.

Ice ice ice! Recently I was sent a game to review. It's a very complicated and interesting game, so I asked a friend for help with the review. We decided to meet at a friendly locally owned coffee shop that has a big enough table for playing. When we got downtown, I stopped to take some photos of a few of the ice sculptures in town square.

I only took photos of a few sculptures. Because it was COLD! The other reason is that like a lot of places, our town square has a fountain, lots of trees, steps, path, a paved area for shows and other events. During the summer there is occasionally roller derby there. As well as lots of fairs and other things. In the winter? That paved area, with it's small curb all around is an ice rink. Not figuratively. Literally. There are skating nights there. TG crossed it to look at the rest of the sculptures happily. I looked at it, and decided that I wanted to stay on my feet.
The peacock above has a puntastic name.

I told my friend Sam, who occasionally writes on Tuesday Afternoon (not a craft blog!) that I was going to take some close up photos for all of you.

He said, and I agreed, the peacock should have more colored lights!

It was an ice sculpture that inspired yesterday's triple trinity knot.

See that bit of ice on the left hand side? It was part of the same sculpture and set perpendicular to the knot.

I love mandalas!

The close up shows the tool work.
Also on that side, were a pair of Mickey and Minnie sculptures, with holes in the faces for photographs. I tried to talk him into posing, and he said he was absolutely NOT going to put his face in the ice. At that point, TG rejoined us, and did so happily.

My husband, quite sensibly, was in the coffee shop, happily enjoying a nice hot mocha while we were looking at ice and freezing. The game play was fun. We didn't finish a game but had the chance to at least start learning the rules.
Today it's below 0 here in Anchorage. Hopefully you are all staying warm!