Being Lazy and Happy Holidays

I had a wonderful Christmas, and I hope everyone out there did as well. I was actually able to take the entire week off, and not a single person called me from work all week. I went out to lunch, cleaned house, crafted and did some last minute shopping. It was wonderful!

My husband bought me for Christmas a Drimmel tool, which I am very stoked about. There are so many possibilities. From carving wood to cutting tile...well, you name it and the Drimmel can probably get the job done.

My first project was a tree house for The Beatles. I bought these Beatles figurines when I was 14 or 15 years old and they have traveled with me to each and every place I have ever lived. I have been planning this shelf for months now and very excited to have it complete and up in the my craft room. I plan to make a rope ladder that will hang down from the shelf, and add some drift wood decoration. As always a work in progress.

Busy Little Elf

Each night I diligently work on Christmas presents. It is always a big undertaking to hand make most of the gifts but the final projects are well worth it. Above is my "Soups in a Jar" gifts. I plan to make some more, just need to buy the ingredients.

These are very simple gifts to make. All you need is a jar, ingredients, small amount of fabric, and ribbon. I used a recipe book specific to Soups and Chilies in a Jar, but I am sure you could do the same with your favorite recipe. Measure, layer, seal and decorate with fabric on the lid and Ta Da, your done! I hope the receivers of these love them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Not My Cup of Tea

A good friend of mine invited me out the other night to attend a Reverse Print Making class. We were told to draw a design that would include three colors. You start by drawing your design on the rubber thingy...(she didn't tell us what any of the tools or materials were so thingy is what I will call it) and carve out only the parts that you want to stay white. You then apply the first color of ink, which will be your lightest color, mine was the pink and "stamp" as many prints as you'd like. Once you have made enough prints of the first color, the thingy is washed off and you carve more away from your design, anything that you want to stay the first color is now taken away. You repeat this process till all three colors have been applied. My first color was pink, then green, and then black.

I had a very hard time carving away at my design. The whole time I kept thinking why can't I just create three of the same design, each with a different part carved out. The teacher also in my opinion did not teach the process very well. She just kept saying you'll just have to see, I can't explain it you will see when you do it. Print making reminds me of stamping and I will say, I prefer stamping to print making...print making is just not my cup of tea, but learning a new skill and spending time with friends is alway fun.

I Heart Crochet

Every time I try other crafts (which I love to do), I always come back to crochet. I am so glad that my mother taught me at the age of nine this wonderful craft. Granted she only was able to show me the chain and double crochet stitch, but that is where my love affair with crochet began.

In only two nights this lovely hat was born.....


The pattern is, Swirls Cap by by Sophia Kessinger. I found the pattern on Raverly. It was easy to follow and the pattern was written perfectly. I added one row to the increase rows and one row to the decrease rows. I really like how it turned out...a great new addition to my hat collection.

27 Days

There are 27 days for me to get all my handmade Christmas presents done. I have decided to do mostly handmade gifts this year. Some will be very simple...a jar of jelly, crocheted snowflake ornament and handmade card. Others will be more take a little time, but I hope by starting and planning early, I can get it all done and mailed off in time.

Here is my start, decoration for my jelly jars...

Another One Bites the Dust...

Craft Show #2.....I definitely won't be quitting my day job anytime soon. Although this bazaar was much better than the first one, it still wasn't what I am used to. The ladies running the bazaar did a great job. They advertised in the newspaper, on the radio and put out sandwich board signs along the roads. The layout was very shopper friendly. They went around and talked with each vendor. And they played Christmas music the whole show. It was very well put together.

Dissapointment

My first craft bazaar was anything but successful.

All last week I worked myself to the max, crocheting, cutting, tie dyeing and sewing...and all this happened after long 8 hour workdays at the office. The night before the show, I stayed up till 3:00am to get the final touches on some of the product. Like I said I worked myself to the max! My alarm clock screamed at 6:30am the morning of the show. I got ready, packed the van, and picked up my friend I was sharing the booth with. We arrive at the show with an hour and a half to set up...plenty of time. We both were very excited.

Within an hour of the show opening up to the public, the place started to get packed. Looking good I thought, should be a good show....then....no sells. Lots of people but no bags in their arms. What is going on I thought?

The 6 hour show went on forever! Our booth wasn't a total bust, we did have a total of 8 customers buy. But 8 customers in 6 hours is just not enough. For the biggest bazaar of the season, it was just not what I expected, and quite frankly not worth it.

After asking around to a couple vendors, we weren't the only ones. Most people said that they were down from last year. We both went home feeling very much defeated. All that work for practically nothing in return and for our first show, very disappointing......

Working thru the Pain

I am signed up with a friend for the Annual Holiday Bazaar at the local high school. I was too indecisive toward the beginning of planning for this that I don't have as much product as I would like. My mother has been selling her crafts for over 20 years and has always taught me you need lots of product! So needless to say each night is spent working my fingers to the bone. Up until now I haven't realized how bad my arthritis and carpal tunnel is...but I will force myself to work through the pain because I have to get out there. It was my fault for not planning better and that is why they make pain killers, right?

I am really excited, but then again really nervous about the bazaar. Maybe because I am a shy person, don't like being judged...I am not sure. I think that is where the indecision and procrastination came from. I am pushing thru it though, especially since this is what I really want to do, sell my crafts.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Pattern is from Knitty.com....the hallow wig.

The Spirt of Halloween

My favorite holiday to decorate for is halloween, not sure why though. Maybe it was because growing up halloween was always celebrated to the fullest. My mom decorated the house, dad helped make costumes, we as a family carved the pumpkins and rosted the seeds and my sisther and I trick or treated until we were way to old to be trick or treating. It's fun to dress up, get a crazy sugar high, carve pumpkins, roast seeds and decorate.

Untangled

Most of my jewelry ends up in my jewelry box in a tangled mess at the bottom, which means I don't wear any of it. I always mean to, but when it comes down to it at 7:30 in the morning it is not a priority. In the attempts to organize and decorate my bedroom I made two simple racks.

They were very simple to make. And I am very happy with the way they turned out.

Supplies:

• One 4' x 4" piece of wood, cut in half
• Craft Paint
• 14 nails

I wanted the racks to go with the theme of the room, "Starry Night". The white dots were created using the eraser end of a pencil. The rest is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions please feel free to ask.

Working my Fingers to the Bone

Things have been insane at work. October 15th was a tough deadline with 150 returns to finish and get out the door. Which has meant this past week has been met with long hours and non-stop work. I got through it though, exhausting yes, but done with a smile non the less.

I was even able to relax a little at home and get some crocheting done. I am working on getting my inventory up for the annual High School craft bazaar.

I have definitely come to the conclusion, even though I love doing all different kinds of crafts my favorite by far is crochet.

Craft Shows

When you are walking thru a craft fair what items catch your eye?

The holiday season is approaching and that means holiday craft fairs by the dozen. I am ready to jump in with both feet and have ideas as to what I want to sell but need input from my fellow readers.

What crochet items are you more likely to buy?
Would you spend $15 - $20 on a handmade journal?

Email or leave a comment here.....all will be appreciated. Peace.

New Tattoo Warmers

Because Tattoos need to stay warm too....

I am slowly building my collection of handmade Wrist Warmers for my professional dress code. BLOGGED HERE.

Ooooo So Good! And I made it all by myself!

I am not sure I could pin point what I love most about Salmonberry Jelly.

Gathering is so much fun. I usually try to go in the evening when it isn't so hot and it tends to be quieter. Tromping thru the bushes, dodging spiders, filling up buckets with berries and even munching on a few. I have found the last two years the best place to go is the same place I got married, which makes the picking of the berries that much more special.

Making the Jelly....the kitchen turns into a huge production line. All the berries get smooshed, and smashed until there is nothing left of them except seeds and juice. I never quite know how much juice I will get. Measure this, measure that, boil then add that, it's like a science experiment, that your not sure you did it right till the end.

The final product....all I can say is........mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Who Wants Cake?

I truly believe that a person should eat a piece of cake everyday of their life, because no matter what kind of cake it is, it gives you a sense of celebration...and in life everyday should be a celebration! And of course cake is just yummy! For my hubby's birthday I wanted to make the cake. I had in my mind an idea for a cake that was two playing cards, since he was playing a game of cards with his buddies during his party.



The cake.....
Two boxes of vanilla cake mix.
Two Cream Cheese frosting.
One Red frosting for decorating.
One Black frosting for decorating.
Candles.

Nothing to it...a piece of cake!

I Know I'm a Slacker

So it's been over a week which means I should have tons of projects to post right? Wrong. It is that time of year again where work is busy busy busy (corporate tax deadline).

This is our new gate for the dogs. Why do we have a gate you may ask...well last Monday when I got home after work, I let the dogs out in the backyard to go potty. I then left them alone so I could put my stuff down and go potty myself. In that two minutes Spade (the one on the left) disappeared.

Some may say oh no big deal, my dog gets out all the time and comes back a little while later. For Spade, it is a big deal. She never travels far from her chair and even needs coxing to go outside to go potty. When we travel to the beach she keeps a small distance between me and her, about 3 feet. She is 11 years old and doesn't move that fast. So for her to run away, it is a big deal. As soon as I noticed she wasn't in the back yard, I circled the house...no Spade, I looked under the porch...no Spade, I looked up and down the street...no Spade. At this time my husband got home and I told him what was going on. For the next 5 hours I walked and walked and drove around the neighborhood. She didn't come home that night and I did not find her anywhere.

The next morning I got ready for work with 3 hours sleep and holding tears back thinking we weren't going to find her. I couldn't stop thinking about her and decided to call in to work. The search began again....Animal Shelter, Animal Control, Vets office, radio station, newspaper and every stop sign I could get to got a poster. At 3 pm while I am walking around the neighborhood knocking on doors, Animal control calls.....

"Someone called about a black dog in their back yard since last night. I think it may be Spade. Go check it out and let me know if it is her."

I ran to that house, and the owner was out front. "Do you have a dark brown dog around here?" We walked to the back of the house and she opened her entry way...no Spade. My heart sank. Another dead end. Then there was movement to my left in the yard...it was Spade!!!

We now have a gate! Built out of some frames and fencing left by the old owner.

A Break From Crafts...or not!

The hubby and I took a drive out the road to one of the State Parks on the island. We wanted to let the dogs run around and I wanted to pick Salmonberries and Russian Berries.

After a while searching for something else, I found some yarn in the van and decided to search the forest for "knitting needles" aka sticks that were the same size. I used my husbands knife to trim down the nubs and create a point at the tip and a rock to smooth things out. Piece of cake and they work great too!



Spade didn't do much running around, mainly just slept in the van. Her age is really showing these days.

Of course crazy man Kane ran around the entire time we were there. He had so much fun, that his muscles were actually sore the next day.

All Dressed Up...And Can't Go Anywhere

There she is...Sexy Sadie in her very first handmade piece of clothing! It is not done, not even close, but I am so giddy over being able to work with a dress form. I can't even explain how it feels. I can pin the fabric directly on the model, nip here...tuck there.

The flowers on the fabric are my pounded flowers. I decided that if I hand wash in cold with mild detergent, it shouldn't fade that much.

Is that really me?

I have finally made my very own dress form, using the duct tape method. Now I didn't go as far down as they did mainly because I did it myself. After asking my husband to help me for the last decade, ok maybe not that long, I decided to just try and do it myself.


I grabbed my rolls of duct tape, put on an old t-shirt and stood in front of my sliding mirror closet doors. All by myself I wrapped the duct tape around my midsection and up my torso. I flung the tape over my shoulders, reached and grabbed and wrapped and taped myself up. This was no easy task, I highly recommend getting someone to help you with the duct taping of yourself!

The finished product...I cut off my duct tape mold, reinforced everywhere it needed it and stuffed it with shredded paper I grabbed from work, and ta da....Sexy Sadie is born.

Now looking at Sexy Sadie, she is not sexy, but magnificent none the less, (I definitely need to start working out), and she will make designing and sewing my clothes much easier.

How dare you steal my bed!

Chevy (the cat) has had a bed of his own next to my side of the bed for a long time. During the move his "Kitty Cube" aka bed, turned into a dog toy box. Their old toy box was the bottom of his kennel and I needed that to move him from trailer to house. Unfortunately for Chevy, I like the "Kitty Cube" as a Dog toy box...they can't dump all their toys out easily, it is foam so they can't hurt it and it is the perfect size. Don't worry about Chevy though, because he is well taken care of. Instead of his "Kitty Cube", he now has a deluxe Chevy Bed........

Here is Chevy checking it out, before I put the final reinforcements and cushion on it...

Looks like he approved.

Steps:

1) Cut Cardboard to form a cube.

2) Cut fabric to cover Cardboard.

3) Hot glue fabric to cardboard.

4) Hot glue cube pieces together.

5) Reinforce corners...drill some holes and use yarn to tie them together.

Cushion was made with an old tee shirt and stuffed will scrap fabric and old batting.

Final product...approved by Chevy. (I think he likes it, although I did rub fresh Cat Nip on the cushion)

Make it Fabulous

The old owners of our house left two old ugly matching seventies looking lamps. I generally love old vintage style, but these look like they wouldn't of been in style even back then. Here's the lamp...
I like the shape of these lamps and the holes. Also they are big lamps, they sit about 3 feet tall. I decided to give them an updated makeover. All I needed was some spray paint, foil and masking tape.

My first step was masking off the area for the green. I used foil, because it molds to the surface which makes it easier to block off the area. The blue tape is just painter edging tape. Then spray away!

For the black, I did not mask off the area. Instead I wanted the black to blend into the green.

And here is the final product!!!!!!

Sitting in "MY" Craft Room

The craft room open for business. All boxes have been emptied and placed on shelves or in drawers. Organizing all the supplies is the next step, which may not be for a little while. This last Monday, for the first time since the move, I finally sat down in the craft room, gathered supplies and started crafting. It felt great!!

This is just a quick project to announce to family and friends our new address. The picture isn't the greatest, doesn't show the texture or dimension of the paper. Hooray for Craft Rooms!

A Photo Safari

Last Saturday, two good friends and I woke up early, guzzled down espresso and with cameras in toe, headed off on a "Photo Safari". All of us will be working on a craft project called "Photograph your City/Town". We traveled around town, hiked up trails and even saw things we haven't seen before. Here are a few photos of our trip...

We will be doing this again!!

Just Couldn't Resist

The weather for the past week has been in the low 70's. You must believe me when I say that 70 degrees in Alaska is like 90 degrees elsewhere. The reason, well could be a combination of a few things...being in the Northern Hemisphere means we are closer to the sun...our sky is very clear...who knows the exact reason but the sun is defiantly hotter!

So the other night I am sitting with my husband watching TV, talking and trying to cool down when I hear the most beautiful music, the ice cream lady. "Do you have any cash? Where is she? I hear her!" We paused the TV, sat very quiet, and tried to figure out what street she was on. I step out on the porch to look for her. Unfortunately the sound disappeared. She went down a different street. I grabbed $10 and sat it on the coffee table just in case she came back.

About 5 minutes later I hear her, in the time it takes me to grab my money and open my front door there she is. I ran out and flagged her down! She stops, gets out, looks at me and giggles to herself (and continues to giggle at me). She laughs at me for wanting ice cream!

I get inside the house with my two $4.50 (each) ice cream cookie sandwiches. Look at my husband and start laughing uncontrollably. "She was laughing at me....I feel so ashamed." Is it wrong for a 29 year old to run after the ice cream lady on a hot day??

Don't Judge Me

So the June art show is over, summer solstice has come and gone and we are losing a little daylight each and every day. A friend of mine picked up my art and delivered ALL of my art pieces to me...you guessed it I sold nothing! I shouldn't care, art is subjective, not everyone will like what you make, but I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I worked very hard on my pieces and thought they were unique, interesting and cool. I even kept the price reasonable. Some of the other art pieces were priced up to $75 or more. I feel a little set back and this will surely not help with my crafting self esteem.

The goal is to start making money selling crafts, but at this rate I will never get up off the ground.

What the....?

It is sad times for the crafters on my island of paradise. WalMart is taking away the fabric department! Most of the fabric is already gone and just an empty space remains. I was told that they are expanding the electronics department.

The craft department is already fairly scarce. They are only carrying two brands of yarn, the fake flower section is made up of a few leaves and two or three different flowers, and everything else seems to only give you a few selections. The fabric section wasn't' the greatest, but was a nice alternative when you didn't want to spend $10.00 a yard for fabric at the locally owned fabric store. (yes I typed that price correctly) When I think about sewing, I think of making my own clothes, curtains, bags, blankets, and doing all of this for less money than I could buy these things. If I am going to spend $30 (or more) and my time to make one shirt, is it worth it when I can buy something already made for less? I still believe it may be for the uniqueness, but other than that I am not sure.

WalMart what have you done to me!!

Maddness

It only took four days, but we are moved in!!!


I took off Friday and Monday to finish up and get settled, so I had a full four day weekend. (too bad it wasn't lounging drinking margaritas in the sun). All day Friday was spend packing and moving out every last bit of our stuff we could. We left our mattress, TV, kennel, clean clothes, vacuum, cleaning supplies and bathroom stuff in the master bedroom, since they are remodeling it they told us we didn't need to shampoo that carpet. This would be our place to sleep and unwind till we moved. Saturday was spent cleaning every last inch of the place....window and window sills, carpet, fridge, freezer, washer, dryer, oven (we even pulled it out to clean around it)...the place looked as it did the first day we moved in. We did such a good job that we treated ourselves to a couple "liquor" drinks and Taco Bell that night.

The plan for the big move-in day......my husband would meet "the landlord" at 10:00am at the house, to help haul things in his pickup truck. I would stay at the trailer consolidate our stuff and finish cleaning the bedroom and bathroom since we've been using it. Swap houses!

20 minutes till 10:00am Saturday morning there is a knock on our front door, I am in my pj's, my husband is getting in the shower. It's "the landlords" wife.

"You need to move your vehicles! I have people here with pickup trucks full of stuff and your in the way!" *picture mega witch voice*

So we move the vehicles, explain that her husband told us to meet at the house at 10am so we were unprepared for her to be there so early. She didn't care! While I drive to McDonald's to get breakfast, my husband hops into the shower. In the time I am gone, "the landlords" wife yells at my husband for being there....

"Why is there stuff in the fridge and freezer, you guys were suppose to be gone, why are you here? You still have stuff here, why aren't you gone!!! I have stuff to move in and my cat is in the car, and you guys just need to get your stuff out!"

My husband takes everything out of the fridge and freezer and puts it in a box (which sits in the bedroom for an hour and a half). We load up what we can which include our animals. He takes off to the house while I stay and clean. When he gets to the house, there is no place to put the food in the refrigerator, and my poor animals get stuck in a bedroom by themselves. It will take us only one more truckload to move the last little bit of stuff out of the trailer, time 12:30pm. "The landlord" tells us he need till 6pm to finish moving out and cleaning, so we go to the parents house and hang out......

6:30pm we show up at our house...everything is out! It is our house!

Unfortunately cleaning was not a priority, the fridge was so gross I had to scrape things off of the shelve to clean it, the toilet hadn't been wiped down after he used it last, the tub was dirty, the stove top was dirty, the pantry had crumbs on the shelves, there was cat hair embedded in the curtains...and I could go on, but I won't bore you with that, it was just gross. Why did I spend 14 hours cleaning the trailer if this is what I was left with here?

The positive...it is just dirt and I know how to clean.

Monday we settled in, unpacked the kitchen, master bedroom and living room. Still lots to do but for now we are happy home owners. Next project....CRAFT ROOM!!!

Almost at the Finish Line

The big news came in on Friday....the loan went through and we can close on the house this Thursday and Friday. I spent much of my time this weekend packing and cleaning and feeling very very overwhelmed. I can't seem to finish a room, because there is always something I have to keep unpacked. I find it very bothersome that most of my craft supplies are in boxes, yet I don't have time to craft anyway, so it shouldn't matter. After 2 months of waiting this last week seems to not be enough time to get everything accomplished. Somehow I know it will get done.

Taking Out Frustrations

I love finding craft ideas that can help take out frustrations. On Wednesdays episode of Creative Juice they showed a technique of "hammering flowers". The project was Pounded Pansy Napkins. With a little research on the internet I found some other Pounded Flower tutorials and instructions, which gave me some good technique ideas. Now to find the flowers. A lady at work received flowers from a friend of hers and they were at their last little bit of life. They still looked good but in a day or two they would be in the trash. I told her about the project and without asking she offered the flowers to me. They were beautiful orange/red Lillie's. Much bigger than a Pansy, but hey its a flower why not try it.

When I got home I immediately started digging through my fabric looking for anything that was white and a cotton blend. I found soft jersey cotton and went to work...placing ever so carefully, taping the pedals down and hammering the juices out of the flowers. It was a little tedious of a project, and my arm started getting very tired from the pounding, but it was well worth it!

I pounded five flowers into the fabric, and also used some of the leaves. I didn't try to create any kind of pattern, because I wanted the final result to look very organic. I am also not sure what I will do with the fabric, maybe a table runner...maybe a scarf...maybe it will sit in my craft room and collect dust, who cares it was fun to do and I will definitely do this craft again.

Art Show News!

The art show is up! Last Friday was the Artist Reception and I went with two of my lady friends, whom also entered art into the show. With it being summer there wasn't as many entries as I would of hoped. For some reason the people in my town, shut down their hobbies for fishing season and outdoor activities. I disagree with this practice because I find the outdoors as well as the indoors a great place to knit and crochet....and the outdoors is a great place to gather shells, driftwood, and other stuff to use in my crafts. Also the outdoor activities rejuvenate me and spark my creativity. Why should one only craft or create art 9 months of the year?


So, what you have been waiting for....my art hung up proudly on the walls!

Mine is the the fourth one from the left, circular sun, with a black border...

Mine is the second one from the left, circular sun made out of a crushed cd...Mine is the second one from the left, needle felted sun....

Procrastination

"Procrastination; the art of waiting till the last minute, making yourself stressed out of your mind and sleep deprived because you couldn't get your behind in gear 3 weeks prior to your deadline."

I have know about the Solstice Art show for a month now and today is the deadline, although she said Saturday would be ok as well. I finally finished up the needle felted sun last night and started (almost finished) a sun Mosaic. The sun Mosaic just needs a clear coat over the entire piece, then I will call it finished.

I believe I intentionally procrastinated, so I wouldn't have to go forward with entering my art into the show. I hate the judging eyes on my work and know that is something I have to get over if I want to be successful in the crafting/art business.

And now here is the Needle Felted Sun....

I am going back and forth as to whether or not I like the Needle Felted Sun. It certainly did not turn out the way I thought it would, but I still kind of like it.

And here is the Mosaic......

I am really happy with the way this one turned out. I was going to use the silver side of the Cd's but when I saw how the colors looked I just had to use them this way. The picture doesn't show the light glitter background on the yellow as well.

And by the way it is a cat nip plant in case you were wondering!

Did I Not Speak Clearly?

*WARNING.....THIS POST CONTAINS WHINING AND RANTING*

Last Sunday I decided I was too tired or unmotivated to cook dinner so off to KFC/Taco Bell I went. I pulled into the drive thru and made my order....

"6 piece grilled chicken family meal, with mash potatoes...."
"2 Chalupa supreme's, no meat, sub beans...."
"1 Mexican pizza, no meat, sub beans..."
I look at the screen to confirm he got my order correct and drive forward.

I get home with my quick and easy dinner, put my PJ's on and then hear my husband complain that only 2 of the pieces of chicken is grilled....but will eat the extra crispy anyway. Which was nice because I really did not want to go back out. I sat down with my yummy Taco Bell, opened the Mexican Pizza box and checked to make sure there wasn't any meat on it (habit)...and low and behold, ALL meat no beans. What's wrong with that you may ask...I am a Vegetarian. So I go change my clothes, hop in the van, drive back to KFC/Taco Bell, go inside wait in a long line and re-order my food.....

"I asked for no meat, sub beans on this Mexican Pizza, and all that's on it is meat. I am a Vegetarian, I only want beans.....they leave me standing there in mid thought, because of course my bucket of chicken is wrong as well. They finally come back to me and I explain the next item..."I asked for grilled chicken and this box of chicken only had two grilled pieces of chicken......".

Then I wait.....and wait......and wait.....oh and wait some more. Finally a guy waves me over with a bucket of chicken, all grilled! But my Mexican pizza is no where to be found, and at this point I have two Chalupa Supreme's sitting at home going cold and soggy. I ask about my Mexican Pizza and it is still not made, "No meat, Sub Beans" I tell them again and I wait...and wait some more.

After about 20 minutes I am on my way home, hungry and ready for my "easy" dinner. I sit down again on my couch in my PJ's, open the box to the Mexican Pizza and peek in between the two crunchy tortillas........MEAT!!!! I did not go back, just sat and ate my luke warm, going soggy Chalupa's, way to frustrated to wait again.

This is a small town, with only one taco bell, and I order from there at least once every two weeks, the same thing, the same way every time...and it is wrong 4 out of 5 times.

"Art" Show

For the month of June, Summer Solstice art will grace the walls of a local coffee shop. Usually one artist is featured and displays their work. June is special because it will be a multi artist showing. Anyone can enter up to 3 pieces, they will all be 6" x 6", some for sale, some not and all will be in the theme of Summer Solstice. I decided to enter some artwork about 3 weeks ago and last night, 2 weeks before deadline, started work on my first piece.


The theme of the my first entry is "Summer of Love 1967". You can find a description HERE! And here is the starting of the piece......

Yes there is still a lot to do but the most time consuming part is complete. The background is going to be tie dye, possibly the material it is sitting on now and the lyrics to "Here Comes the Sun" (the beatles), maybe. All I know for sure is this sun is the focal point.

A Crafting Getaway

We have signed the purchase agreement for the house, met with the home mortgage loan officer, and now just waiting for the appraiser to do his work. We only have one appraiser in town and I have heard he is taking up to four weeks to turn the appraisal in. Our closing date is June 30th and if you ask me too far away.

The thing I am the most excited about is my new craft room. Not a craft storage room, closet or shelves...an actual room completely dedicated to me and my crafts. Some things I plan to do with my craft room.....

• The bean bag will definitely occupy one corner.
• I want to create a cork board border on one or two walls.
• There will be a large sturdy work table with the sewing machine and rotary mat always set up.
• To Do board.

That is just a few things I have thought of. I am getting so very excited, yet very scared at the same time. This will be the first time I will live in a place where I can do with it what I please, if I decide to take an ax to the side of the house, well I can because it will be mine. It's so weird growing up, and then again I may be 29, but I still feel 14.

Recycled T-Shirts

My weekend was spent cleaning house, grocery shopping and making yarn. I believe this may be the best use for old T-shirts I have found. Of course there are many ways to recycle old T-shirts, but this is MY favorite.

I would love to tell you that I was the one who came up with this...but I am not. I am not even sure who thought of this but whom ever they are, thank you. And to all of you who think you were the first and no one can duplicate with out your permission, you probably weren't so get over it.

Here are my beauties......

1) Cut the t-shirt into a very long 1/2" strip of material

2) Tug on the strip so that the material curls onto itself creating a tube. I pass the yarn thru this second process twice to make sure I get the maximum length out of the yarn.

DONE!!!!

I did decide that the solid colors don't suit my style so I decide to use bleach and make a tie-dye yarn with all the colors. Now I just need more T-Shirts and to decide what I will knit up with all this fabulous yarn.

Testing My Patience

We have put an offer on the house we like and the sellers have accepted. They are drawing up the contract and will have it ready this coming Tuesday. This may be the most stressful point in the process, because without the contract there is no deal. At this point I am just trying to stay patient and positive, and call out to the universe for good vibes...no snags.

As far as crafting goes, I seem to be stuck. I pulled out the knitting basket last night, grabbed the self striping Supersock yarn, casted on and knit one row...then realized I didn't want to make what I was starting to make...out came the stitches. So I picked up a ball of green variegated cotton yarn and started a leaf dish cloth...which wasn't coming out the way I wanted it to so again I pulled out the stitches....I sat there looking at my basket full of yarn and couldn't think of anything to do with any of it. The basket went back in it's place and I sat twiddling my thumbs.

Bright Skies

Since finding out I have to move from my gorgeous place, my days have been spent packing, cleaning and house hunting. All of my favorite things...ok not really, but someone has to do them.

My husband and I spent a grueling day last Saturday driving around looking at homes, all of which we can't afford. Who can afford a $745,000 home these days?? We saw everything from a run down 3 bedroom that smelled like cat pee to a nice three bed room with an integrated Television system...the TV's came with the home. We then looked at the home our landlord is selling.....it is perfect!! It is just the right size for us, a corner lot so it's a little more private, nice shop with stainless steel sink and peg board throughout, big kitchen, a little yard for the dogs and much more.

We plan to buy this house!!!!!

First Steps

We completed our first step in home ownership...pre-qualifying for a loan. That part was much easier than I thought, and they will loan us way more money than I think we can afford right now. There is other things besides a mortgage that one has to spend money on each month...utilities, food and Jack Daniels Whiskey! I am feeling a little more at ease these days but still getting little sleep at night. We are at the hard part of the process, finding a home we like that is in our price range. I am seeing that some things I want in a home are just too out of reach, one can still dream though.

One good thing that is coming out of this is the push in myself to start making a little extra money selling my crafts. It is what I really want to do and I am just going to have to make the leap.

Bad News...or maybe good?

The husband and I were sitting in the livingroom, enjoying our nice relaxed Sunday afternoon playing "Guitar Hero: Metallica", when our landlord knocks on our door.

"Bad news guys, we are selling our home and going to move in here!"...... *insert long pause here* ......

That's right, we are getting evicted. They will be putting their house up for sale at the end of May, in case you need me to do the math, that is a month away! They are offering us the home they are selling for a good price, and the home is nice....it is just in a bad location. Definately not a location I would ever choose to live.

The plan of attack....get approved for a home loan, start looking for a new place to live, work as many hours as we can, pray and hope everything will turn out for the best.....

Till then I will look out my window everyday so I can remember this view forever, because I will miss this view!

Another Bull@$#^ Post

I have been trying each day to think of something to write about. Obviously with no luck. I haven't gone out on an adventure, haven't crafted much, and pretty much been a boring lump of a human being. This will pass, I hope.

I have enjoyed some nice sunny days sitting at work. I am very hopeful for a hot summer. This years project...Cold Boxes...

In this picture they are using the Cold Boxes to start or harden their plants. I will use the Cold Box as a greenhouse. My place gets too much wind and rain...and well the weather is just too unpredictable for plants to grow. (and I am too poor to invest in a greenhouse) I tried to grow plants last year only to have their growth stunted by a cold spell. Not this year!!!