Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Sweet Sixteen!

Well, I now have 16 followers. 2 more lovelies just snuck up on me. One of them is my lovely sister (she's the little girl in the funky glasses) so she's been sneaking up on me my whole life.. right? I think it's been the other way around, me following her around my whole life. I blame her though, she was just cooler than I was :)
I was going to blog about my Esty buy, which is the first time I've ever ordered anything off of Etsy, but since she has decided to read my blog again I can't because it will ruin Christmas! So poo on that, I'll show you all after Christmas :) Really that's all I have for now, I have to work tomorrow night and then I'm off till Tuesday so I'm hoping to get some crafting done. I really feel like a post is naked with out a picture so I'm going to find one..maybe...Guess not, sorry!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Giveaway Day craziness!

Are you guys in on the action over at Sew Mama Sew? Holy cow! This is only the second time I've tried my hand at winning something.. This spring was a no -go. Let me just say that this time around the set up is much better, more like a linky party. You can even see little thumbnails of what is being given away! Sweet, right? I'm not sure how many I've entered.. I'm trying to only enter ones that I really would like to win and not just doing them all.. I can't handle them all!!
I have made a few things but they were gifts that I didn't take pictures of .. The first one was a pillowcase. I made it burrito style. Do you guys know about this method? You basically sew the body (main) fabric of the pillow case up inside the cuff (contrasting) fabric and then when you pull it out the cuff is totally finished on both sides. I thought it was the neatest thing. I don't have a pic of the case but these are the fabrics I used.

Yep, another after dark in the dining room pic.. These are the fabrics I scored on the cheap at Joann's :)
The other project I worked on was another ornament (yes, I'm obsessed) this time it's a tree made with glittery felt. I didn't even know they made felt with glitter in it! This is the practice one I made. I made another one and gave it to my sister. I "decorated" hers with french knots and the ribbon sticks out the bottom with a bead on it.
I made it using this tutorial. It is one I put in my last post. I think I need to be done making ornaments. I need to get to making the gifts. I am going to make a camera case for my nephew so I'd like to start that. I think I mentioned that I won a $25 credit to As Hue Wish on Etsy..  I ordered up my stuff on Sunday and Pamela shipped them out right away on Monday, so USPS says my package should be here tomorrow so I'll blog about that when I get it :) That's all for now! Happy hump day tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Fun Christmas Ornaments and other stuff!

I kind of like Christmas. The snow, the getting together, the tree, the pretty wrapped presents.. Not so much the actual presents I mean the ones that are wrapped up all pretty.. Did you guys realize that Christmas is only 18 days away? Crap, how did that happen? I like to say 3 weeks, that way I am able to trick myself into thinking it's longer (anyone else do that). I decided this year that I wanted to make some ornaments. This was mostly because I kept seeing such awesome ones around in blog land (and started with the Sculpey birds)!  So here they are. First up, this cool.. ahh. ball? I made it using this tutorial from Zakka Life.


 
Kinda cool right? I wouldn't normally pick yellow but I had 2 pieces of felt so I used them up. I think it looks pretty cool from the top. If I have time I might make a smaller one, I was lazy and just used the circle pattern from the ear bud pouch!
The next one I made is from A Spoonful of Sugar. You can find the tutorial here. That's a link to the tutorial page. There is some other cute stuff there!


Here are the other ones I want to make:
Cool 3D felt trees
These Quilt as you go patchwork trees
One of these cool trees

But I have a few other things that I want to make for gifts so I'm going to have to balance that out...somehow.. The constant battle between the "want" to make list and the "need" to make list.. I added to that list today by going to Joann's. I went to look for one thing, which I actually completely forgot about until after I left! And then decided I needed some Christmas fabric to make an early Christmas present. But I got a good deal. Did you guys know that you can buy the remnant amounts for 50% off the price, even if it's on sale? So if you see some cute fabric that you want and there is like a yard left on the bolt, ask for 1/2 yard and then what is left will be 1/2 the price. So if it's $2/yard you'd spend $1 for the 1/2 yard and then 50 cents for the other 1/2 yard, getting it all for $1.50. Just something to think about, it isn't very often though that you find the bolts with less than a yard on them.

Have you ladies heard of Mollie Makes Magazine? The first I ever saw or heard about it was on Jenna's Blog. I decided that I "needed' to have it. I looked for it at Joann's (because you can use a coupon on magazines there) but they didn't have it. I found the last copy at Barnes and Noble. It isn't cheap either, cost me $12. But I got a little kit to make covered buttons, don't know what the heck I'm going to do with those, but apparently I needed to have them. I also don't know if the 3 buttons made it worth the $12....
I'm starting up my "other" job again tomorrow. That's going to cut into the crafting time but I'll manage. It's 2 hours a day 2 days a week, so it isn't that bad. I don't know if I've mentioned before what I'll be doing but I'll be tutoring 3rd and 4th grade kids in reading. I did it in the spring and it was 7 hours on Saturday, so 2 hours after school will be like a cake walk. I do have some prep time and phone time but I get paid for all of that too. So, I hope you all have a great rest of the week and do some damage to your "lists"!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Soapy Goodness!

I meant to do this yesterday but I ended up not being home in the afternoon to take pictures, so I did it today. I read about Spotted Owl Soap on another blog, and big surprise I'm not sure which. I'm sure I could look it up but I don't feel like it. There was a time when my Mom made soap, I remember it being a somewhat putzy process, but I was young then so I don't really remember. That soap was made with lye, I have no clue how this soap is made, just that it has oils and such in it. I did get a few books from the library about it though because I'm always on a quest to expand my crafting knowledge. I also have to put out there that this is just my experience/ thoughts about this soap, I have no affiliation with the soap maker.
But enough with the talk and on to the pictures!

We ordered a gift package (it was cheaper) and so this was the box that all the soap came in (not the shipping box). It was also tied up with a chunkier type of twine/rope.. not sure what to call it. 
We ordered 5 bars but got 6, how cool is that. Plus it was one that was on my "try" list. Yay! 
First up, we have 2 bars of Cherry Amaretto. The green one is Green Tea and Mint.


 The next three are (from left to right) Fresh Citrus, Fresh Fallen Snow, and Bergamot and Chamomile.
 These bars a little smaller than the other 3.
So far my Mom has tried the Fresh Fallen Snow, it smells good but it has glitter in it, which she said was scratchy, so that is kind of a bummer. I haven't tried any of them yet but they all smell great. The shipping was a flat $7, which isn't bad. It came quickly, we ordered it over the weekend (I think) and it came on Wednesday. It was in a nice sturdy and well taped box, the presentation was nice, could have just gifted it with no extra prepping. We got the free bar and a little pumpkin shaped soap. The soap was $14.99, shipping was $7, total cost $21.99, that works out to $3.67/ bar. More expensive than going to a big box store and buying some soap, but I can pronounce and identify every ingredient in this soap so I'm cool with that :) They also have lotion, body butter and lip balm. They have gift sets that range from $4.99-$24.99. Go check them out if you want! I hope everyone has a great weekend! It was supposed to start snowing here at around noon, it hasn't started yet so I'm a little skeptical that we are going to get much, either that or we will get dumped on overnight..

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thursday finish!

Hey everyone! How's it going? Are you all having a great week? Can you believe that Thanksgiving was a whole week ago? Seems like it was just the other day.. I'm happy to report that the sketchbook cover is done!
I'm sorry that the pictures are so terrible but when it gets dark at 4pm it's hard for me to get pics. I'm going to try and take some more tomorrow, but these will have to do for now..

Front with elastic strap.

 Pocket in the back.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Do you guys ever have a project where you are just kind of winging it and you aren't sure if it will work out or if it does work out if it will turn out? This was one of those projects.. I'm not always so great at making things where you have to measure and be totally spot on so it will fit (that's why I make bags/pouches) plus, I don't always have confidence in myself. I found a few great tutorials out there, I used this one the most. I liked the fact that it wasn't two full layers just one piece to cover up the wrong side of the outside fabric, plus it was pretty slick. I finished it all up and put it on there and was like "holy crap, it actually fits and it looks cool". 

Stats:  
sketchbook measures 6.25 x 8.5 inches. 
Fabrics: Dark grey is Kona Charcoal, light grey is Kona Medium Grey, Skull fabric is from Hancock that I got for 80% off before Halloween (ended up being like less than $2/yd), and the blue is also from Hancock but I don't know what it is.

I did have to glue a piece of cardboard to the front because it was just heavy paper on the front and I didn't think that would be rigid enough. If anyone has a burning desire to make one and you want any other details just leave me a comment and I will get you any information you want :)
Tomorrow I'm going to show you all some beautiful handmade soap that we ordered up! That way I can take some better pictures when it isn't dark out. I'm pretty excited to share it with you guys :)



Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Here I am!!

Hello everyone! I'm still here. Just as a side note, anyone else having issues with blogger tonight? Took me a couple of tries to get to dashboard and a few more tries to get to a new post page.. I better make it worth it huh?
First up, last week I didn't get squat done. Oh well! I've gotten one thing done so far this week and I'm very close to getting a Christmas present finished (whoo hoo). I made the circle pouch from Erin's tutorial.


It turned out pretty good I think. The only thing was that the whole circle ended up being smaller than the half circles... even though I measured.. Oh well. It wasn't terribly hard other than sewing a circle, which I've never done before. The other thing I'm working on is a sketchbook cover for my nephew, he's really been into drawing lately so I thought it would be cool. I'll show that tomorrow, when it's all done.
Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving?? My eating schedule was all messed up for like 2 days, plus I felt like I was eating all day on Thursday. And ever since then I feel like I've been eating like crap.. leftover pie and ice cream, brownies, cookies..plus if I don't have that sweet I just keep thinking about it.. I really hate that, and I don't usually eat that  much junk.. tonight I buckled down and had an apple instead of the junk
(1 me- Junk 0). After Thanksgiving I needed to use up some leftover turkey so I made up some little pot pies.

It's it cute? Does it make you think, I'd love to make some but I bet it's hard..Nope! Easy! Here's what I did!
1. Get some cooked turkey or chicken, cut it up.
2. One can of cream of chicken soup, put it in a pan and add some milk. I added maybe 1/2 cup, just enough to make it more like what's in a pot pie but not soupy (I didn't measure). Cook it for a bit.
3. Add the meat.
4. Add some veggies, I used what we had in the fridge, carrots and peas. I cooked fresh carrots but you could use canned (drained) or cooked frozen.
5. A tube of dough, I used the croissants but you could use the biscuits too. I separated it into 4 pieces, this would be two triangles smooshed together.  Flatten them out, maybe like 1/4 inch thick. Make it big enough to line the tin and have some hanging over .
6. Get out your giant muffin tin (or regular one if you don't have the biggie). Oil it up with something so they don't stick. Put your dough into the muffins.
7. Once your soup/meat/veggies are all heated up, scoop it into the muffins. This made 4 because there were 8 triangles and I paired them up so that makes 4. I had no left over pie mix. Then you just flop the corners over the top and make sure there is a little hole there for the hotness to come out.
8. Bake them according to your dough. Since everything else is cooked you don't have to worry about the other stuff..
9. Then eat them up. These went into the freezer so I don't know if they are yummy but I mean you can really make them taste bad. I'm not sure how I'm going to cook them after taking them out of the freezer, but I'll figure it out.

Last up for tonight, I found (again) a lovely blog called Pink Stitches. I'm not sure even how I found her, maybe from another blog (remember how I said I hop and then can't remember who/what/when etc.). She was having a great little giveaway for a $25 credit to a lovely little Etsy shop called As Hue Wish. Guess what?? I won it. I'm pretty excited because those wrist warmers are super cute!! She has a blog too, you can find it here. I had fun checking out these blogs the other night. I'm thinking about a necklace and some wristers or maybe two necklaces.. Yippee!!


Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 It's not Thanksgiving until you draw a chalk turkey on the patio !!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Lots'a waiting and not much to show..

Finally.. right? It seems that my desire to blog about stuff has also left with my crafting mojo, but here goes. This week has been a lot of thinking and not a lot of doin'. I've planned out the notebook cover so I guess all I need to do it get to cutting and making. I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. I did manage to get the other slipper done, so I have a pair. They were a little small for me so my Mom adopted them.

The one looks bigger but I think it's because the elastic is looser on that one.. They are just two layers of fleece, so they are pretty fluffy. Pretty nice around here, as you can see we have wood floors, in the whole house except for one room we don't use, and the kitchen. so we have cold feet in the winter.

The other thing I've managed to get done in the past few weeks were these scrubbies/round washcloths. I decided I needed some. You can't really tell but they are a super light pink cotton that I scored at the Goodwill for a whopping 99 cents!

The little one about 4 inches and the bigger ones are about 5 inches.

After I finished those guys I thought I would make a square washcloth but I got two rows into it and I though, "hey, that would make a cute bracelet" so that is what I made. I had a great button that I knew would be perfect! It worked out pretty good because there are two spaces to put the button through so if it needs to be tighter. Happy accident!


I kind of like it. Don't have a clue when I'd wear it but it's cute. I have some sparkly yarn that I got for my birthday so I might make a few with that, just for fun :)  I'm really going to try and get some stuff done by the end of this week, my goal is two things. That seems doable. We are not going anywhere for Thanksgiving so I don't even have to put on regular clothes if I don't want, and I only have to work tonight for a bit so I should be able to get two things done in the next three days. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, unless you live somewhere that doesn't celebrate or already did, have a great rest of the week.. And here is a turkey picture. I mean I have to put one up right?? The one with her head up is Momma turkey and her baby who is not a baby anymore. I took this last week. Have a good one!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Totally random but in list form...

Today I am going random. I have nothing crafty to post about. I did make a slipper but haven't taken any pictures. I kind of hate making anything for the feet, because you have to make 2 of them..I sometimes don't have the attention span to do both. I digress.. here are the random things, I will try to at least keep them crafty.

1. I've decided I need a hooded cape. The backstory here is that I was really in love with the "Scoodie". Have you guys seen these? It's basically a hooded scarf, hence Scoodie I saw it on Happy Zombie, there is a tutorial and everything there. So anyways, I never made one. Today I was checking out Sew Liberated and she was doing a giveaway for an e-class. And the lady that hosts it was wearing this little capelette and I was like "I need to have one of those!!". So I might make one. It isn't very practical for MN mostly because I think I would freeze but I still love it a lot :)

2. I have so many things I'd like to get done for Christmas gifts. I had planned to start very early, about a month ago. But then my mojo flew off and now I'm thinking about things but just never doing them. I knew that I would be starting work again coming up after Thanksgiving so I was trying to get stuff going before then because I'm not sure when I'll be working. I guess I still have a week and a half to get some stuff done..

3. I made pizza in a frying pan tonight. Never done it? Try it, it's fast and tasty. I saw it on a local show, this guy used pre-made pizza dough and just fried it up. I didn't do it that way. Here's what I did.
-Get some Betty Crocker pizza dough, you just add water. You could homemade too.
-This stuff is sticky, so I floured it a bit and split it in 1/2 while in the bowl.
-Put some butter or oil in the frying pan and put it at medium heat ( I used butter but next time I will use oil because it handles the heat better), put your hunk of dough in there and press it out.
-Cover it and cook it for a few minutes, I flipped mine when it was brown on the bottom, also the crust will look kind of done on the up side, dry, like how a pancake gets.
-Flip it over, admire it. Then put the cheese on (it needs the heat to melt), cover it again till the cheese melts, then put the sauce and toppings on and cover it again till it's hot. I'd say you could get away with doing it regular style with the sauce first because it gets hot enough to melt the cheese. I kept checking my crust during this part because I didn't want to burn it, I don't so much love burnt food.
-Then eat it. It was so good.

4. I have no clue why I numbered my random things, does that make them less random? Or more randome because I felt the need to give it a number and add it to my list??

5. I really love Thanksgiving. I don't eat myself into a coma though, I hate that really full feeling. Makes me feel like I'll never eat again or that I might get sick.. Not cool. It also makes me miss my Grandma and Grampa, I loved going to the farm for holiday. I probably griped about going when I had to go but I wish that I could do it now. sigh..

6. I need some new blogs to check out. So leave me some links, they don't have to be crafty, just ones you enjoy.

7. I had to take a writing break to see if  "Steal the Bacon" was a real playground game. Yes, it is. Kind of like capture the flag. They had to have a debate about it on the news.. Apparently nothing else important happened today that they had to talk about some Canadian school banning "hard balls" on the playground.

Last but not least I'm going to post some links of the things I want to make.
*Ear bud holder, or just plain cute little zip pouch - Tutorial Here @ Dog Under My Desk
*Notebook covers from V and Co.
*Awesome pillow from Maybe Matilda over at Little Lovelies
I'd love to make that pillow but I probably never will, but I thought it was cool so I had to share..
If you're still reading after all this THANKS!! maybe some other day I will have some pictures to post, or at least something more entertaining.

Friday, November 11, 2011

A letter..

Dear Universe,
I'm writing to you today to ask where my Crafting mojo has gone? It seems as thought I have completely lost it! Have you seen it? Last week I had so much that I did a project everyday. This week I have managed to start (yes, start) one thing. I tried making a scarf (4 different ones actually), but I just wasn't feeling it. I have so many things I'd like to get done. Did I abuse the wonderful gift you allowed me to have? Do you sometimes take it from some and gift it to others so that they can get things done? I have one simple request. Please allow me to have some (only some, I'm not greedy) of my mojo back. Just enough to get me through.

Thank You,
Miranda

Bah! you guys ever just loose it? I've lost it. Here's hoping you haven't and that I get it back. Have a great weekend. I might go ice skating, outside even! We have an awesome outdoor refrigerated rink, it's something like the biggest in the nation (I think). Hope you all have the chance to do something fun! 

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

A scarf....

That I don't really like...


 Reason #1: It's really short!
 Reason #2: It's kinda wavy, where I want it to be not wavy..
I like the look of the scarf, I like the yarn, I like the stitch. But I haven't "cut the cord" yet so I think I might take it out and start it over or start something new.. I used this tutorial to make it. It's not hard and it works up pretty fast. I made the mistake of starting with a foundation row of just single crochet. I should have just started it according to the pattern and then added a single crochet border after I was all done.  I used a smaller yarn and a smaller hook and it came out very short (even though I added some extra chains). My chain was originally a lot longer but the increases and decreases that you use to make the stitch really ate up the length. Oh well, I only wasted a few hours on it and since I can't really do anything the way the tutorial/pattern is written it's always a crap shoot if something will work or not.
Is anyone else still totally messed up from this sham called daylight savings time? I mean really, I'd rather go to work (if I had to actually go to work in the a.m.) in the dark and have it be light out when I got home then have it be light at 7 in the morning and dark at 5pm. I was really messed up for about 2 and 1/2 days.
Speaking of jobs I found out when I have training (or re-training) for my other job, it will be about a week and a 1/2. It's a good thing too because I need some money, especially since I had to spend $300 to be some new glasses and sun glasses. Any one else out there have to buy glasses, man I hate shopping for glasses! You would think that after 20 years of wearing glasses it would get better, but it doesn't (not for me anyways).

Monday, November 7, 2011

Wowwee!

So what I have to share for right now is the fact that I won something from Sew Mama Sew! I don't know if you all go there at all but it's a great place to find all kinds of tutorials. This month they are doing a bunch of tutorials each day for things you can make for Christmas Gifts. You can comment on the posts and be entered to win stuff EVERY day. I don't even really remember commenting on anything :) When I checked my blog stats this morning I saw  that some of my traffic was coming from SMS. I clicked the link and it was to the winners page. I won a book all about machine and hand sewing, how cool is that? I love books so I'm cool with it. I also learned how to "tag" something on Facebook so that I could be entered to win a $20 gift certificate to Sew Mama Sew (yeah, they have a shop too). And in case anyone wants to find me on FB (I don't use it much) leave it in your comment and we can be "friends".  I'll be back later on to show you the scarf I've been working on.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A little birdie told me...

That today's post would include birds! So here they are! I made these little guys last week and haven't gotten around to posting them until now.
Yellow and says "JOY" on one said and "2011" on the other

Pink and says "2011"

 
 Turquoise and says "LOVE" on both sides

These little birds are Christmas ornaments, they don't have hangers because I haven't decided what to use.. any suggestions? I used this great tutorial to make them. I used some Sculpey that was at least 12 years ago..That stuff hold up. It's been sitting around for that long and it was a little hard to get it conditioned (I had to use two hands) but after a few minutes it was all ready to go. They were simple to make, took me maybe 10 minutes per bird. Strangely enough the first one took me about 5 minutes but the second and third ones were harder!

The project that I finished today are two small (3x4 inches) handwarmers. They are filled with rice. Last year I made a rice heating pack thingy (I dunno what else to call it!!) and it's really great. I don't know how long these will stay warm but it gets freakin' cold here so anything will be better than nothing.

I thought (stupidly) that I would make them with channels so that the rice would stay in place instead of just settling to one side or another. This made it hard to fill, it took me longer to fill one little pack than to cut and sew both of them.. I would have made the stitching shorter so that it would be easier to fill.. Then I made the little envelopes they go in.

In other news, today I actually went out and did something today! I know, right? I went bowling with my sister and nephew. It was pretty fun. Today is my sister's birthday and she invited me. Happy Birthday Sissy!

I'm trying to think of a project to do tomorrow, I feel like I need to do one more to complete the week. I think that I will make some of the small fabric organizers that Pink Penguin put up for 12 Gifts of Christmas. They seem like they are pretty quick and easy.
I also have to mention that I now have 13 followers! I say that on the dashboard and I was like "holy crap, 13, when did that happen??" So I'm off to go check out those two blogs! I'll be back tomorrow and I'll have stuff to link up for Finished Friday :) Waa hoo!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Project Roundup!

Ok, here we go ya'll this is what I've gotten done this week (starting Monday thru today)
First up: This little thing. I used this tutorial to make it. I found it while following the 12 gifts of Christmas blog hop. Which was full of great things by the way. I'd encourage everyone to check out all 12! You can find the links to them all on the tutorial page.

Ok, the green is a sold green, it looks pretty weird in this picture. I took it after dark and had to adjust it so, it looks wonky. And the left side IS straight, not wonky.. I'm not that great at taking pictures of stuff.. so..it is what it is :)
I really love this white fabric with the flowers! I bought it at Joann's like 2 years ago and haven't used any of it until now. I'm not sure what it is, but they had it in purple when I was there last month so I snatched some up. It's expensive though $8.99/'yard. I realize that there are fabrics out there that are A LOT more but to me it's expensive.

Next up: A new and improved iPod case! I'm pretty excited about it, it has velcro and a button hole on the bottom for the headphones. I made the buttonhole a little small but it works, I just have to work it to get the jack in.

The blue fabric is from Hancock, I don't know what it is because I only bought a little and there is no name, the grey is more of my Kona scraps.

Last up: I made this little guy.



Now there is a story here so if you don't want to hear it you can just skip past this part :) Cheree over at The Morning Latte has been doing giveaways of some great owl pincushions, you can see them in a bunch of posts over there. I enjoy her blog she has crafty stuff, food stuff, decorating stuff..all kinds of goodies..So anyways, I decided that I needed to have an owl pincushion (you know I love my owls) so last night I decided to draw it out and get at it! Cheree used a pattern she bought, and since I don't have any extra money right now, I couldn't justify buying the pattern, even though it was only $6.
All of these projects used up scraps and stuff I already had, so it worked out pretty well. I have a few other things I'm going to get done this week, while I have all kinds of craft mojo! I'm feeling pretty good because I've made three things in three days, I'm not sure that has ever happened. Tomorrow I'm going to post some cool bird ornaments I made and what ever I manage to get done tonight!! I'm linking up to Freshly Pieced!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Tomorrow, there will be a real post!

Last week disappeared somewhere into outer space..I managed to get nothing done last week. It's kind of sad really.. that I couldn't manage to get even one thing done.... Well, I've made up for it already by starting and completing 2 projects and starting and hoping to finish a third tomorrow. Since I'm being lazy I'm not going to get the SD card from the camera in the other room. Tomorrow will be a picture filled post-o-rama! Rocket back over then and check out what I've been up to.

Friday, October 21, 2011

One more thing to add to "The LiSt"

You guys ever check out the Purl Bee? I know not everyone knits and like yarn..I do:) I think I found this one through Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day. Anyways. They have this great hat that I might have to make. I kind of like it. I like it even more because it's pointy!
Two posts in 1 day. Am I on a roll or what!
Peace out!

Finish it up Friday..

Hey everyone, it's Friday! Man did this week go fast, I'm not sure why but it seems like it was just Monday. I really like linking up with Finish It Up Friday last week so I'm doing it again. I managed to get one thing done this week. I used the great fabric basket tutorial to make this little basket. I didn't follow the sizing on the tutorial because I didn't want it to be teeny tiny. It is still small but not super small. It is 5 inches deep (tall) and 9 inches across and the boxed corners are 3 inches wide. I used up some of my jelly roll scraps and some left over grey.


I kinda like it. It was super simple to make and it didn't take much time..  I think I'm going to make some of these for Christmas. I'm also thinking about linking up to this linky over at FairyFace Designs. It's a winter list of the projects you want to get done. So yeah, that's about all I have for now. There are something like 47 other links over at Crazy Mom Quilts so I have to get busy checking them out!
Have a great weekend!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Third times a charm!

This is the third post that I have written this week. I am actually going to post this one..I think..
I really don't have anything super exciting to post about..kind of sad when you think about, so I'm not going to think about it!
Here's what I've been working on this week. On Monday I cut up what was left of my jelly roll into 2.5x2.5 squares and then since I didn't really want to waste any of it, I have some that are smaller 2x2.5 and 1.5x2.5. I'm going to use these to make a few of these fabric baskets. She has another great tutorial for some smaller utensil type baskets that I might make also. I want to have some stuff done so that I can link up with Amanda Jean on Friday.
I finished the iPod case but I wasn't really happy with it. I don't have a pic of it either because I finished it up at night and then the next day I gave it to my B/F. There wasn't anything wrong with it, I just didn't love it. So of course I'll have to make a second one just to prove to myself that I can make something better! I also unearthed a pattern from my basement for a hooded sweatshirt thingy that I'd like to make. Now that I'm not afraid of the serger I want to start using it to make stuff. So we'll see how for I get with that whole idea. I know this is a boring post and there are no pictures so if you've gotten this far I applaud you!!  
If you guys want you can leave a link or name of a blog you visit all the time, I'm looking for some new ones to check out! Thanks!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Where am I???

Hello my lovelies! Today I am guest posting over at SewHappyGeek. Over there you will be able to see my coin quilt that I just finished. I think it's kind of cool because I used the jelly roll that I won from Jenna! You can get most of the details about it over there. So go check me out :) I'm also linking this up to
Crazy Mom Quilts Finish it up Friday! I'll probably do a longer more involved post about this quilt this weekend or next week!


The front!

The pieced back!

As a side note I tried the "add caption" thing in blogger and it totally hosed up my formatting.. Not going to use that again!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A pretty scarf!!

I really like to blog hop..sometimes I can sit here for hours and look at blogs and all kinds of other crap. Last week while I was feverishly working on my quilt. I needed a craft break. Meaning I wanted to work on something but not that freakin' quilt. I found a neat blog called Maybe Matilda. She was having a crochet along, I found it the day that it was wrapping up but I looked at the pattern and decided that it would make a cute scarf. The idea of a cowl intrigued me but I just couldn't do it. If you didn't notice I love my scarves.. I really didn't need another one..I have enough that I won't need a new one for about..oh.. I'd say 15 years. That is not the point though! I really wish that I would have know about this when it started up, it was a contest and people could vote for the winner, and everyone who participated got to pick a free pattern from her shop, how fun! Since it was a CAL she broke down the pattern and explained everything and put up pictures, she did a great job. I would suggest checking it out if you'd like to learn to crochet something.

 **Ignore the pajama pants (which I don't wear as pajamas) and my armpit..really just ignore them!**
As a side note to the side note, I "dressed up" for this photo shoot by putting on a clean shirt, not thinking that ya"ll'd be able to see my "sitting around" pants :) And I learned that it helps to look off into the distance when taking your own pic then you don't make yourself look like you have 3 chins!

I used a medium weight yarn, Caron Simply Soft in a color called "blue mint". I got this done in one afternoon. I paid for that though because it tweaked something in my back that gave me a headache for about 3 days... But I digress, I used a size H hook, which is the size it says to use on the label. I made it skinnier because the original was way to wide for my taste in scarves (I like them skinny). I chained 24 instead of 30. I guess I should mention that this pattern comes from the Lion Brand website. It is called the "Time Out Cowl". I think you need to sign up for in order to see the patterns. It is totally worth it though! They have so many great patterns. That is where I got all of my little crocheted animal patterns. By the way, I'm still wearing the scarf!!

It finally rained here this week, we haven't had any rain since the middle of August. And it was in the 80's for 8 days in a row, that is almost unheard of in MN. We have a great red maple in our front yard and this is the first year I remember where it didn't turn red. Pretty sad, usually the tree is beautiful, not this year. It went from green with a few red leaves, then the red ones dried up and were dark brown then the rest turned yellowish green and then started falling off..

That's all I have for now. If you make one of these scarves let me know!  

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Can you help me?

Here is a glimpse at my quilt. And here is where I need some help. I bought 5 yards (yep 5) of the grey. I have enough to make the back but I will need to piece it, which I had planned on doing before I even started working on it. I just don't really know what to do with it. I have 44 coins left over so I'm going to use those but I'm debating whether I should cut them in half and then do one horizontal and one vertical. Any ideas or links to cool pieced backs would be great.. Guess I just need to think about it for a bit...

That's all I have for now, tomorrow I'm going to try and get the t shirt rung how to posted. 

Monday, October 3, 2011

A week? Where did that time go??

It's been a whole week since I blogged last, I'm not Catholic but that feels like what you say when you go into confession.. Anyways, in my last post I wrote about a tutorial that I couldn't remember. Well, lo and behold I found it. And it was a total accident! Ha! It was at Ginger Cake. There is some cute stuff over there. I'm a little in love with the Owl pillows. I wanted to make an owl pillow earlier in the year so I kind of scoped out the web, and drew up my own. I didn't even find the one over at Ginger Cake, but my little drawing looks similar, so I just want to put it out there that when I make one I am not ripping off her design. And I'm only making it for myself and not to sell or sell a pattern so I don't see it as an issue. But it bring up something. We as crafters sometimes (ok really, a lot of the time) think that when we see something we like, either handmade or mass made, that we can make it. See a cute shirt, I can make that. Cute jammies or something like that. I mean I see all these cute bags and things on blogs and I think "Oh, I could make something like that" but I almost feel like I'm ripping off someone else's idea.. Even though I'm really not. How do you guys feel about that?
I love all the free patterns that are out there, and think it's really great that people make all of that stuff available to anyone willing to look for it, and I would never make anything with out linking to it or saying where it came from...
It is just one of those things that I think about.
In other crafty news with out pictures..yet.. I have my coin quilt top all done. I have to admit that it turned out better than I thought and I'm a little in love with it. I am going to be blogging about it but I am saving it for a guest post over at SewHappyGeek. Yep, you read right. Jenna is having surgery next week and she put out a call for guest bloggers, and I volunteered myself... I'm hoping to get it all taken care of by this weekend (finger crossed). The twist of it is that I won the jelly roll, that I used for the quilt, from Jenna. So I want it to be really great, I don't want to send her some crap to put up on her blog. I had one other thing that I thought I might send to Jenna, but I'm not totally happy with it so I'm going to just post about it here. It will be a semi tutorial more of a general how to rather than a full blown tutorial. It's for making t shirt yarn and then crocheting a rug. 
"Do something vivid, then stop for a moment and think about it" William Shatner
He's on Nightline right now, and he was on a horse and was talking about something. I wasn't paying attention except for that line but I like it. Do something great, and then stop and think about it, appreciate it, enjoy it! That's my advice for the day (or in this case, night).

Monday, September 26, 2011

I hate it when...

I can't remember stuff! I don't read to many blogs only about 25 and a lot of times I read the comments and I click and check out other people's blogs. I really hate it when I find something that I should have bookmarked and didn't, then I can never remember when I was there or what the blog was. I can usually remember what it's about, which is why I'm trying to find it.. Last week I was trying to find a cool slipper pattern that had a velcro flap thing. It took me forever to find it! This week it's a tutorial on using the backing of a quilt to make the binding. It was a pretty good one. All I remember is that she had made two charity quilts, one was pink. Can't find it anywhere. If that sounds familiar to anyone, please let me know. There are other tutorials out there, but mostly I want to find it so that it will stop bugging me! Okay, now that it's out of the way.
On to the scarves, which really I'd like to call scarfs, only because it sounds funny :)



The first one is just a knit one purl on to make it ribbed, and it's stretchy. Made from Lion Brand Homespun, don't know the color. The bottom two are a knit one purl on rib with a ruffle at the bottom. I don't know what kind of yarn the pink is ,might be Red Heart Soft Yarn. The blue is Lion Brand Thick and Quick (I think?). The pattern is in a book called Designer One Skein Wonders. I have a bunch more I could show but I would of had to get them out of the box in the closet. Maybe tomorrow I'll do hats. I love to make hats, they might be the best thing to make, they are quick and easy most of the time ! 
I've started working on my quilt. I honestly can't remember if I mentioned that I decided to make a coin quilt. I've got all the "coins" cut and sewn together. That's all for now! Thanks for stopping!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Check it out!

Friday of last week Kari from The Purple Quiltapotamus awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award! How cool is that! I'm pretty excited about it! Thanks so much Kari for thinking I deserved an award :)
 
There are rules to this award... 
1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2. Share seven things about yourself on the post.
3. Pass the award to fifteen bloggers that you think deserve it.
** EDIT this to say at least 2 blogs, 15 is great but it's a crap ton of work and makes a crap ton of work for everyone else.
4. Contact all of the bloggers that you've picked for the award.

Alrighty, here are 7 things about me.
- I like to eat cottage cheese sandwiches, sounds gross but they are yummy!
- I've known my B/F since the summer before I turned 13, that's more than 17 years.. 
- I have a reverse birthmark, it is white instead of brown. It only come out when I get a tan and it's the same shape as my Mom's and my Grandma's.
- I love to read!
- I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in psychology (that is going to waste...)
- I really love animals.
- I very rarely drink soda (and yes that is what I call it, not pop). This is mostly because when I got laid off I stopped buying things I didn't need. Drinking none means no caffeine. I used to love Dr. Pepper and Cherry Coke..sigh.. I miss it sometimes...
Not very exciting things but there you have it. Now I have to pass it along to 15 other bloggers.  Here they are, in no particular order (of course).


Ok, just so you all know, that was a lot of work! Putting in links for 15 blogs. But they deserve it so if there is one you've never heard of go check it out! Now I have to go let all of these lovelies that they've received an award. I think I'll do that in the morning. I'll be honest with you, when I read Kari's post, I didn't even see myself on the list... 
And if any of you don't want the award or don't want to do the work, but want the award or don't want to follow the rules, that's fine with me, I'll still like you! Hehe! I don't think it's like a chain letter where something bad happens if you don't do it.. those bad things really happen..right??
Tomorrow I'm going to try and take some pics of some of the stuff I've done and post some here and then I think I'll put the rest on my Flickr page. Plus, I have some other stuff to share but I've spent all this time hooking up the links so It'll wait till tomorrow.  Hope you all check back for that exciting stuff!