Back to it

So in the midst of our chaos, the holidays (we were both working like crazy) and the energy/motivation zapping effects of 40*below weather....I have actually been making a few things.

..though I'm telling you, that weather...is murder. I lose all ambition to do anything important after 4pm. April can't come fast enough, and that darn groundhog and I are gonna have words.

I've been searching for something to put up on our walls. And at the same time, I've had these canvases sitting on my shelf for probably a year now. Yeah, a year. What can I say, painting scares me. Notice I didn't really PAINT anything, aside from letters.

I wish I could paint. I'd still like to try, but at this point, I'm better at sticking things to other things...like above.

This fish was actually part of some dangly bit of nonsense on a pair of shorts I bought last summer. Ya know those things that don't make any sense, but they put on to look like some sort of accessory? (which means, yes, I save random tags if they're heavy, bits of cording, and charms/bits that are attached to clothes when you buy them.)

It took me 3 tries to get that yellow right. And I still can't get a picture that shows the true color. The yellow is brighter, and the blue isn't so blue. A bit more sea green. I would try to take a second set of pictures, but my camera is now broken. Mhmm....yeah. Not real happy about that.

But I am pretty happy about this. Even though I hated it all of yesterday afternoon after I'd finished it. Its not quite what I had envisioned when I started, and I'm not liking the brackets after all, and I'm pretty disgusted with my 'handwriting' after the first line. BUT...I still like it, go figure. Because its done. Because it has a some of my favorite fabric leftovers that got some use. Because of the little fish. and because I think this might be one of my favorite quotes ever.

and also because...I finally have something to put up on my wall. That's a bonus.

Hope its warm where you are! And just to be clear, anything over 35 counts as "warm" to me at this point! ;)

Finished! Falling Water Scarf

Well, first to catch up this eventually became this:

uno

dos

& tres

And then dos and tres started in on a journey together (uno was left out, while I love it, its more thick/thin than the second two) and with the use of this pattern - Falling Water PDF - and some 88 cent "size 5..and a half? ish?" circulars I bought at Hy-Vee a while back (you don't need circs, I just used them because I didn't have a size 5 straight, and I hate my LONG size 6's) We eventually came out with something very similar to this -

ok, so it WAS this. Good point.

holy heck, that's a lot of scarf!

Yeah, its a little long, but I'm a little obsessed with long scarves. Remember I live in Illinois. When its not pouring rain for a week straight and flooding the good ol' Mississippi river (which it has, I'll have to try to get some pictures today) Its 20 below and the kind of bitterly cold that makes you wear a scarf INSIDE. I need that sucker to WRAP and make layers.

Although...its pastel, and I don't really...wear...pastel. And it has some funny color sections going on that I don't LOVE. But I'll wear it regardless. Because I MADE it! ...and because I'll be freezing... and I'm not picky when I'm cold.

Random FO's...the good, the bad, and the ugly

The boys are out to breakfast, the dog is under my chair attacking a rawhide chew like its her last morsel of food. And belching, because homegirl has no manners and just wolfed down her breakfast at breakneck speed. The sad part: I keep saying "excuse you!" like the dog is somehow going to catch on and start muffling them or something.

Just thought we'd do a few of the FINISHED objects stashed in the pile of goods I call a craft room. (I also call it an office, and mommy's room, and the computer room, and the "crap, people are coming over, throw it all in there and shut the doors" room) *shrug* It works.

So first the good:

These were ATC's (artist trading cards, which makes me laugh to call them ARTIST trading cards when I made them. Now I have to start calling my craft/office/crap room my "studio". Fancy eh?) They're baseball card sized, and I'm completely blanking on the actual dimensions.

These were for a swap on 2peas.

They were a lot of fun to make, and I think I'll be making a lot more of them. For what I don't know, but they're a good way for me to sit down and play with colors/styles that I might not commit to on a larger project. And they're a good way to work through my embarrassingly ENORMOUS scrap pile. Seriously. Bad.

And a card made from the leftovers from the ATC's. I think this is going into my cards for heroes box that's been building for a few months now. (That makes it sound huge, its not, I'm just very slowly adding to it!) ;)

And now the bad...and kind of ugly...but will improve.

Ta-daaa! I've spent the last week teaching myself to spin on a spindle. "Teaching myself" equates to "knowing just enough to be doing it wrong" I'm sure of it.

Why spinning? Uh...well...ehm...because? Apparently if you put any kind of crafty-do-it-yourself idea in front of me (extra points for anything that can be categorized as yarn, string, thread, or a combination) I feel compelled to conquer it. It adds to my dork status, and I've gone up in rank now! There will be a ceremony later today. I'll be serving coffee and nature's valley granola bars. Uhm...to the first 4 of you anyway. The rest can have a peanut butter sandwich.

Don't say I never gave you anything.

So this was my very first attempt, I have 2 of these 'skeins'. (uh...all of 7 yards between the two?) They're pretty pathetic. But I love them in all their pathetic glory. The pictures are pretty pathetic too, but it was nearly impossible to photograph this roving/yarn. Its a REALLY deep dark chocolate brown/black, but is hard to get a picture of. At any rate, I spun & plied the rest, and actually 'washed' it and its hanging now drying, so we'll see how that turns out. I don't have high expectations, but hoping maybe the washing hides a few flaws.

A few.

A lot.

A great many.

Now I've run into a major problem. You see my lovely Aunty loaned me the spindle and roving....and now I'm out of roving. Its kinda like running out of heroin. Ok, that might be an exaggeration, but definitely like running out of coffee. So I'm off to browse the internets...

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! :)

FINISHED!

Huh, there's a word I don't seem to use often! ;) But turkey feathers (turkey feathers'?) "finish what you have" challenge has motivated me to finish the pile of "WIP"s. I also finished a few washcloths, and a scarf that I have no use for. (why did I make it? I liked the yarn. *shrug*)

So...at any rate, my "things to finish" pile is smaller. Which is good, because my "things to start" pile is mounting. Oh, and someone pointed out that Christmas is three months from TODAY.


I'll pause here, I know that probably made you feel a bit shaky and dizzy.











Deep breath - Better? Ok!

Yeah, scary thought! Because in my crafty brain, I can make Christmas gifts for everyone on my list!! And I can. If I start January 1st. Hm. Might be cutting it a bit close this year ;)

I've got plans for baby blankets, socks, hats, embroidery items, scrapbook stuff, you name it. And 3 months to get it all done. If nothing else it will be amusing for you all to follow along and watch me lose my mind before admitting defeat on December 20th, and making a late night dash to Old Navy for gift cards! =) Oh, it'll be great!

Having said that, I can comfort myself temporarily in the fact that I FINISHED this 'quilt'! WOOHOO! My first, finished, quilted, binded (bound) quilt! No small victory!

The downside? uh...its too small. Way too small. Not done correctly, FULL of mistakes, AND I noticed a side is already coming apart at the binding - which I feared might happen, if you saw it when I was sewing it on - but I'm a pro at denial, and hoped it would work. ...it did not.

So, what was supposed to be a baby quilt for my nephew - who I claim is due ANY day, she's due the first week of October but I'm putting money on getting a phone call by the end of next week - it came out so awful that I'm keeping it, and making him a new one.

Well, I hope. (refer to baby prediction above)

See, if I hang it on the wall, it doesn't look bad. If you stand far away, it doesn't look bad. If you held it in your hands, and showed anyone who has made a quilt, they would suffocate and die from a vicious fit of laughter that left them unable to catch their breath. And I wouldn't want that on my conscience.

But here are the pictures, because after all, from far away, its still cute! :)

So then, I realized I can't get a good 'full shot'. I asked my trusty assistant to help!

"Wait! Zach, you need to stand still!"

That's the face that leads to trouble.

See how big it looks when a 3 year old holds it? Its downright huge!

Oh. Maybe not.

And he's all for helping, but there was a game on, so don't expect him to look at you.

So there it is. all 20.5" of it. Hopefully "Kayden Quilt V. 2.0" goes better!

Contest!

Let me start by saying, electricity is a GOOD thing! Sorry for the delay in posting the contest, I had planned to have it up last night. I put the boy to bed, finished a few things, sat down to post and....thunderstorm. More importantly....lightning! *sigh* shut down, unplug. wait for later.

That was around 8. By 9:30, thunderstorm passed, now just a nice easy rain coming down. "ah! I'll finish a few rows on this scarf, finish watching nanny 911, and go post"

...Then darkness. Then the lights flickered on a second or two and, dark again. I waited a few seconds thinking "It'll kick back on" ....lights? ....hello? ....Air Conditioning? ....guys?

And then the boy CRYING upstairs....and I had to feel my way up to him without breaking my neck. Then feel my way back downstairs (you wouldn't BELIEVE how dark our house is!) to fumble for candles, and matches - which, smart mommy I am, I'd 'hidden' WAY up high. Just to make this moment that much easier. All while the boy is clenched onto me.

A few minutes later, we were on the front porch, happily eating raisins and talking about how dark it was. Go figure.

(see, I can ramble!) All that to say we didn't get power until almost 1am, after I'd set up camp in the living room (sleeping on the floor didn't always hurt did it??).

Note to self: make that stupid power outage box I'm always telling myself I'll make.

I did realize at one point, we DID have a flashlight, and retrieved it:

yeah, the doggie flashlight. It only stays on for about a minute, but it did fill the requirement in that - it makes light. Good enough!

Alright, enough about our power outage (after all, my AC works again and that's all that matters!)

--------Contest!---------

First the why? I SOLD MY FIRST ETSY ITEM YESTERDAY! ...and I'm freakishly excited about it. You have no idea. =)

So to celebrate, I'm doing a little give-away!

(minus the slightly crumpled cup, my son likes to play with it and its taken a beating)
The yellow is a bit more mellow than in the picture, but still a very cute coffee cozy if I do say so. 100% cotton, wash and wear.

So here's the deal, starting...now! and ending Sunday the 15th (let's say midnight). I've picked a number between 1 and 100. (I even wrote it down) Leave a comment with your guess. Even better? Send a new reader over and when they post, you can guess a second time (or third...or fourth...)

The good news? I don't have many readers, so your chances are pretty good ;) LOL!

Have fun!