The Weekend

This weekend is the big bazaar at the local high school....the one I was going to be prepared for this year.  Yeah right!  I may have about 6 books, 3 necklaces and a dozen hair clip bows.  Why is it that something always comes up when I am trying to achieve this goal.  I really want to make crafting a small source of income for myself, but somehow it always gets pushed to the waste side because life happens. 

Luckily, the friend I shared a booth with last year doesn't mind if she has the booth all to herself this year, but has offered if I have a few things to put in, I am welcome to.  Unfortunately, these days I go to bed at around 9pm.  Just enough time to get home, relax for a few, make dinner, eat dinner, clean up after dinner, play with my dog Kane, relax for a little while and then to bed...no time for crafting.

Maybe someone is trying to tell me to give up?

Hello! Hello!

Where o where have I been?  Sleeping and working.  That seems to be life these days.  I have been so exhausted the past month that I haven't done a whole lot of anything.  It is really frustrating, since I am the type of person that always has my hands busy.  Even when lounging on the couch, I will have a crochet hook in my hand.

Big changes are coming in my life.  Although I am keeping it a secret for now, I assure you everything is good, and this change is wonderful. 

Jelly

The Salmonberries were not as abundant this year, as they have been. It seems that the effects of the non-existent summer, two years ago, when we barely reached 50 degrees and hardly saw the sun, is still showing. I miss seeing berries the size of walnuts, over taking the bushes. At least there were some berries, compared to the non-existent summer, where there were no berries, no flowers, and no sun.


Yesterday I took the day off, a much needed 3 day weekend.  (The last tax deadline, October 15th, has past and I have survived...barely)  Sunday I pulled out my three small bags of berries to de-thaw.  I was able to get about 2 gallons of berries, a small amount for me.

Thru smashing and adding a small amount of water I was able to squeeze enough juice for two batches.  Not a lot but at least some. 

One Month To Go

 With one month till the holiday bazaars begin, I am furiously working on increasing my inventory.  I am bound and determined that this year will be better.  I will be more prepared with a better focus.  Not sure if I have enough time to pull it off but I am going to give it my best effort.  My only worry right now is having enough variety as well as product.

Here is my newest item:
The Mushroom Stash Necklace
Will fit a lighter or lipstick, a roll of cash or whatever you wish.

And here are some new earrings.....

Tell me what you think.  I welcome all and any comments!!

Come on now I know you want to order some..wink wink.

Beach Treasures

I received a phone call mid afternoon yesterday asking if I would like to go beach combing.  I LOVE BEACH COMBING!  So of course I went.  I packed the necessities, my camera and a Ziploc bag, and traveled to a beach I haven't explored before not knowing what I would find.

After about a 15 minute walk, we approached the beach. I was at first amazed with the view (I never get tired of pretty landscapes), then I looked down....

Look closely at the beach, (click on the picture to enlarge) yes that is beach glass!  And lots of it.  Most were fairly small pieces, but I was able to find some big pieces.  There were lots of Amber, Clear and Green.  I also found some blue, yellow, a small red and some other neat things out there.

Here is all my loot...

I'd say it was a good day at the beach!

End of Road 1000 Feet

The island is receiving some beautiful fall days and I am trying to take advantage of each and every one of them.  Winter will be here soon and with that comes lots of rain, some snow, cold days and little daylight.  I always giggle on these nice days because it seems like everyone ventures outside to enjoy them.  We all get so couped up staying out of the bad weather that any amount of good weather brings out the masses.

My red nose pitt bull, Kane, and I drove all the way out the road, literally to the end of the road.  We were lucky to find only a few people out there and no other dogs.  (Kane is not too friendly towards other dogs)  We spent our time walking the beach, playing Frisbee, collecting fossils and just relaxing.

Crafting:

In crafting news, I am working on a couple skirt designs.  I have become obsessed with the show Project Runway and it has really sparked some great ideas for me.  Even as a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer and if that dream never comes true, I can at least design some really great clothes for myself, right?

Long Weekends

With one deadline behind me and another one steering closer, I decided to take last Friday off from work.  With a "To Do" list the size of the Titanic I was surprisingly feeling really energetic about the day.  Unfortunately, I was not as productive as I wanted to be...but I did finished this....

This lovely rug was crocheted using 7 different sheets and a size Q hook. 

You'll Have to Excuse Me

It is that time...AGAIN!  Taxes are due.  If you or your accountant, filed an extension for 2009 taxes, the time is upon you.  Corporate Return's deadline is September 15th and Personal Return's are October 15th.  Get them done!

Please forgive my absence, I will have an exciting new post after September15th.

Adventures in Crochet

The hooks are hot, my hands are sore and some great things are starting to come together.  I started a rag rug a long time ago and put it down because I wasn't getting the increases correct in the corners.  The rug just would not lay flat.  While looking around in the craft room for a project to work on, I came across this so called half complete wavy rug and the strips of fabric already cut for more torture of fighting this thing and thought...."I really should just crochet the rug."  So I put the wavy thing aside, grabbed the strips and the largest crochet hook I have and went to work.

I am very happy with the difference between the crochet and "rag rug" knots.  The crochet rug is soft and airy.  I am only about a third finished with the rug, if that.  I would like it to be large enough to fill the floor to the craft room.  I would also like there to be at least 4 or 5 more colors.

Craft Fair Item.

Hair accessories never go out of style, right?  Below is the first, of many, crochet head bands.  It is crocheted with cotton yarn so it is soft and won't be too hot.  It has a crochet button to join the ends at the back of the neck, making it easy to put on.  A great way to get your hair out of your face.

Something New.

A good friend gave me a crochet book a while back with all sorts of different stitches, motifs and techniques.  I am learning everything from Irish Lace to Broomstick Lace to three dimensional crochet and everything in between.  One thing that caught my eye was a "woven" flat pattern.  Used mainly for place mats and table runners, for its flat, even surface.  I can see many possibilities with this...a skirt maybe, or scarf, or maybe a bag....hmmm...

The Review

The Gnome House and Gnome Family made it to their new home with my niece last week.  And does she like them???  SHE LOVES THEM!!  I am happy to report that she is having lots of fun playing with them.  The other night, on her way to bed she grabbed them suddenly and held on tight, so my sister would let her take them with her.  How sweet is that?

Up on top of my to do list....make more Gnome Families!

Afraid? Me?

"I think you are afraid to finish anything", my husband tells me regarding all of my unfinished projects.
"No I am not!"

Now I think he may be right.  The Gnome house for my niece was 95% done a week and a half ago.  I just needed to make one more little kid, and give the first kid arms.  That is only an hour (or two) worth's of work.  An hour, and it took me a week and a half.  I did finish it and mailed it off last Saturday.

I finally started taking in some of my pants, which are all to big now.  Total weight lost so far? 23 pounds.  (The last 10 is hanging on.)  BUT I just couldn't finish all of them.  It is really easy and I have all of them marked, which is the time consuming part of the job.  So why did I leave pants undone?

The vest/shirt I picked back up, sitting on the bottom shelf of the coffee table.  Little progress has been made.  I would love to make an inventory of all my unfinished projects, maybe seeing them lined out on paper would give me incentive to either finish them or scrap them.

So, am I afraid to finish things?  Or is my attention span really that short?

Can I live in there?

What little girl would not want her very own Gnome family and house? 

As soon as I saw these little Gnome people I knew I had to make my niece her own little family to play with.  This has been a really fun project and unlike anything I have knitted or crocheted before.  The Gnome people I used a pattern I found online and the home...well I just winged it.

Don't you just want to curl up in there?  Maybe get a bean bag...and a bottle of wine...peanut butter and crackers.........

Kids these days...no respect!

I get up Saturday morning, make coffee and turn on the TV.  My husband opens the front window curtains and....we were egged.  Just one, but you would be amazed at the amount of goo an egg produces when splattered on your window.  The husband was in quite the fit over this, although I was the one who cleaned up the mess.

Why did they decide to throw an egg at my house?  Well, my poor kitty was sitting in the window, taking in the night.  It was about 2 or 3 in the morning.  Some kids walking by see him sitting there and aim their egg at his poor little head!  This scares the geebies out of him, and wakes the husband sleeping on the couch.  (The couch is right next to the window, which was open.)  He assumes the cat just had a normal cat freak out moment and falls back asleep.

I understand kids don't have any respect for other's property, but a poor little kitty, minding his own business...uncalled for!

I Can Count

When working on knitting projects, I always have a hard time keeping count of my rows.  Someone will start talking to me, and my multi-tasking goes to the waste side...I will almost always forget my count.  I am sure more experienced knitters have no problem looking at their work and are able to just count the rows.  Not me.

I now present to you....the counting stick...(or very simple Abacus)

Every fifth bead is the same, so I can count in fives.  After each row, I slide one bead from one side to the next.  Simple, right?  The charm is to mark my place, when I need to put the project down.

Here is how I made it:

Materials:

Metal Hanger

Wire Cutters

Pliers

Beads

Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks

Yarn

Directions:

The straight bottom of the hanger is your "stick".  Using the wire cutters cut where indicated in the picture below.

"String" beads on the wire.  You can make a pattern, or make it random like I did.  I would suggest every 5th bead using the same beads to make it easy to keep your count.  Also, leave enough room to be able to slide the beads over from one side to the next, and have the definition to see the division between the two.

Using the pliers, bend the ends into a circle.  The main purpose is to create a stopper at each end so the beads don't fall off.  At this point you could call it done.  I decided that the ends needed a little more decoration so I crocheted around the wire, and added a couple beads.  I also used hot glue to adhere the sharp end of the wire to where it meets to form the circle. 

I Think I Can...I Think I Can

Remember this post... "Now What" ...I picked it up again!  I found the yarn by looking around online and now have enough yarn to finish the project.  The shirt/vest I am making is completely an "on the fly" design.  I am just making it up as I go along and so far it is looking great.  I am noticing that with my weight loss it may be a little big, but plan to adjust when it is complete.  Maybe with a little sewing I can take it in a little...but I will just have to wait and see when the piece is complete.

How sweet it will be to finish something!

Pyro-maniacs!

Happy Fourth of July!  (a little late)  While everyone else was wishing their family and friends a happy 4th of July, in all their Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, I was busy setting up a firework show for the city.  You would not believe all that it takes to put on a big firework show.  It is a ton of work, but oh so worth it...

The day started off with scattered showers, just as you were getting use to the patch of blue sky above you a grey cloud would cover it up, laugh at you and start raining.  Up until two o'clock, I seriously did not think that we were going to have good enough weather to shoot the fireworks off.  Water and electrical equipment are not good together.  To my surprise, the weather broke and we had good clear skies through the show.

Camping or Crafting?

Well that is a hard question!?! 

OK, not really...

Losing and Being Lazy

In the past 3 weeks, there has been very little exercising.  In order to reach my goal, I need to make sure to stick to my routine...watch my calorie intake and exercise!  Watching my calories is surprisingly easy.  I watch them on my plate and then I watch them get shoved into my mouth.  Kidding aside, I have done pretty well with the calories, slipping up just a little.  I am ok with slipping up though.  I don't believe in denying yourself of stuff you crave, because when you deny you binge.  It's all in moderation and being aware of what you are eating.

Where am I at towards my goal?  I am down a total of 16 pounds, in two months, and still 10 pounds to reach my first goal.  The last month has been slow and not very motivational, but at least I seem to still be losing and not gaining.

Back to the treadmill....

New Product

I have wanted to come up with a cute crochet journal, and a few weeks ago my mother helped me come up with this great idea.

This pocket sized journal is about 3"x3" square and 3/4" thick.  I used a nice drawing paper for the inside pages and cotton yarn for the cover.  Record your thoughts, draw pictures, use as a phone book...it's up to you, be creative!

Here is another view of the journal...

I am making them in varying sizes, colors and paper.  For sale soon!  Inquire via email.

I made nothing Monday.

Last Friday, a crazy storm hit the island.  It was raining so hard you were soaked the minute you walked out into it, the wind was blowing in all directions, and at one point during the day the rain was pelting my office window so much I couldn't even see out them.  It felt like a hurricane and we don't get hurricanes here.  Needless to say, I was planning on a stay at home weekend full of rain, dark clouds and crafting.  If anything I needed to make something for "I made it Monday", right?

I woke up Saturday morning to an amazing sight....blue skies and SUNSHINE!  So Saturday was spent at the Races (a local race club has weekend races during the summer and you can go to watch, dirt bikes, four wheelers and stock cars race) and Sunday was spent sitting in front of a camp fire next to a calm river with my hubby and dogs.  No crafting, but lots of vitamin D! 

Doesn't this look relaxing?

"I Made It" Monday!

There has not been massive amounts of work getting completed.  I blame it on the fact that I am hungry!  Ever since I started cutting calories I am always hungry, and even if I am not hungry, I am still thinking about food....I AM ALWAYS HUNGRY! 

Back to something better than my whining...

Crochet earrings are definitely on my inventory for the bazaars this coming holiday season.  I may even start putting them on my Etsy for sale or do a giveaway on this blog.  I am absolutely in love with the way they look and feel.  I may have to invest in a magnifying glass after making too many pairs, but for now my glasses are doing their job.

Pigging Out

There are two things everyone here looks forward to when they leave the island....Food and Shopping.  With only a handful of restaurants to choose from, (same goes for shopping) we tend to go crazy when we enter a big city with so many choices.  Even my 34 year old husband drooled like a toddler that was just sat in front of a huge pile of lolly pops.  "I want to go here...and there....oooo and over there".  "You will only be here for three days, pick wisely", I kept telling him.  "You can't eat everything."  (Maybe he could of if I would of let him)

Needless to say, when you live where I do you don't even try to stick to diets on vacation, and I did not.

Belly Fat

Losing weight.  I am sure most women have a story.  Its hard to maintain a healthy weight, when it is so easy to pack on the pounds, right?  If you knew me in High School, and saw me now you would probably want to ask, "what happened?"  Starting in junior high and all through High School I was between 100 and 105 pounds.  Skinny!  Now I am...well numbers don't matter...we'll just say I am far from 105.

So the journey begins...or continues...

With the inspiration a good friend, a month ago, after swearing off diets I decided to try counting my calories.  Research on the Internet informed me to lose weight I needed to eat only 1200 calories a day.  So I tried it....the first week, with only counting calories I lost 2.9 pounds. Yippee!

The second week, nothing.  Nothing gained and nothing lost.  A little discouraged, but not defeated (yet), the third week, I decided to start walking while still counting my calories.  4.2 pounds lost.  This last week, 3 pounds.  I think I am on a roll now.

The goal right now is to lose a total of 27 pounds.  Each day is till a fight to stick to the plan.  Write down all calories, walk everyday, and drink lots of water.  One day at a time, but hopefully I will get there.

Must.....finish.....something!

The weekend was very productive.  Saturday was filled with sunshine so I spent a good part of the day, walking around the trails of one of the islands famous WWII Parks.  It was just a good friend of mine, my red nose Pitt bull, Kane and I.  We just walked around exploring new trails and bunkers I haven't see before, chatting about life and it was wonderful.

Sunday was not filled with sunshine but rain and lots and lots of rain.  For some reason I woke up at 8:30am and couldn't get back to sleep, so on the coffee went and after about an hour of waking up, I dug through my yarn stash and found some tweed yarn.  I only had 2 balls of this tweed yarn, because it was given to me by a friend, who bought them for me while on vacation in Florida.  So the mission was to make something that only called for these 2 balls.  This is what I came up with.....

I did have to go to the store and purchase the yarn for the border, but I was ok with that.  I am very happy with the way it turned out.

As promised here....."Did I Actually Finish Something", a picture of the Cullotes.

Put Some Sunscreen On

The weather has been fantastic lately.  Full sun, slight breeze and between 50-60 degrees.  Summer is on it's way, which means time to get the some projects done outside.  Last Saturday, it took me all day, but I managed to prune, and clean up the raspberries bushes, and the entire side yard where they live.  In their lifetime, they have probably never been looked after. 

Do you have raspberry bushes on your property?  Do you know what you need to do to produce great bushes each year?  I didn't till a week ago, now that I do, I feel I need to share with the whole world!  A raspberry "cane" (basically a stick growing out of the ground), produces fruit the second year of it's life.  Meaning one raspberry bush, or whatever you want to call it, will grow two canes...the first year cane #1 will produce fruit and it will grow a second cane that will not.  The following year, cane #1 dies and cane #2 will produce fruit and so on and so on.  All you have to do, each year around this time, is break off the "dead" cane.  You will be able to spot these as they will not have any buds on them and they should break off fairly easy.  If you live in a place that gets cold winters, I suggest clipping off the tops of the canes that will produce fruit (about 5 to 6 inches), as the tips are probably burned by frost.

That's it really simple.  Now what to make with your raspberries when they come in??

• Raspberry Muffins
• Raspberry Jelly
• Raspberry Butter
• Raspberry Pancakes
• Throw them in your salads
• Raspberry Cheeses Cake

There's really so much you can do with them...it's endless!

Daily Movements

Each day could very well blend into one great big long day sometimes.  Monday thru Friday, wake up...make coffee, take dogs outside, get ready for work...work...lunch...work...go home...make dinner, watch a little TV...go to bed....do it all over again.  It can be so hard to break up the monotony of daily life.  But trust me you have to find some way to break that.

Crafts:
It only took me 2 months to finish a hat for a co-worker of mine, but I finally finished it.  It was a simple crochet hat with a brim.  I had to re-do the brim 5 times before I could get it the right shape...talk about frustrating!  The hat turned out great and she loves it.  I was so glad to finish it and get it out of my house that I didn't even take a photo of it.  Now on to the numerous other unfinished projects.

Life:
Walking.  I am finally into a routine!  It only took a couple months to get a schedule down to actually walk everyday, but I have finally done it.......till the next time I decide "I just don't want to walk today".

Peace

We're Going Global!

Every Friday night I am invaded by "Man Night".  My Hubby and his buddies get together in the man room and play cards till all hours of the night.  This Monday, the hubby comes to me and asks if I can make a Tee Shirt with his Poker Room Sign on it.  Hmmmm, I thought....been wanting to try a technique?!?!

 

Why?  Well, for the past several months, every Thursday night a local bar in town has been holding Texas Hold'em tournaments.  The winner each week won a seat at the final table...tonight.  The winner tonight wins round trip tickets to Vegas to play in a tournament.  If one of my hubby's buddies win, he is going to give them the "Bob's Poker Room" shirt to wear when they are down there.

What I did was very simple, and I plan to experiment with a few things, with a couple other projects.  How it was made.......

Materials:

• 
  
  Tee Shirt
• 
  
  Gel Bleach Pen
• 
  
  Cardboard
• 
  
  Chalk

1. Start by putting the cardboard inside the shirt to separate the back and front, so you don't get any bleed through.
2. Using the Chalk, draw the design you want.  I would make it fairly simple, too intricate would be hard to draw with a Gel Bleach Pen.
3. Next, with the Gel Bleach Pen, carefully "trace" over your chalk.
4. Let the Bleach do its job.  I left the bleach on till the gel was practically dried out. (About 45 min)
5. Rinse off the Gel.
6. Wash in washer.
7. Enjoy!

Loving the Great Outdoors

The best way to refresh and relax is to take advantage of a beautiful day.  It is one of the biggest reasons I love where I live...the "wilderness" is anywhere from an hour to only 5 minutes away and just look at that view.

 Last Saturday, the hubby hopped on his bike and I loaded the dogs in the van.  I packed burgers for my Hubby and a Garden Burger for myself, my mini charcoal grill, seats, trail mix, chips, toys for the dogs...you name it I probably packed it.  We started off without a destination, just out the road.  We found a quiet, sunny spot next to Kalsin River, a river usually packed full of fishermen. We all unloaded and just.........played and played and played.

Hard Working

Taxes Taxes and more Taxes!  That is what my life has looked like the last couple weeks.  Amazing enough, I have been working on lots of projects.  I made a pair of crochet earrings for my mother in law for easter, a pair for a friend for her birthday and since have had two orders for them.

They are fun to make and I plan to start making more of them to sell at the bazaars come holiday season.  Crochet is my focus, mainly because it is the craft that I most enjoy.

For The Ladies

For Easter this year, the hubby and I went to a family friends house for dinner. The plan is always to go to his parents house for holidays but we all decided to change things up and let someone else host. The food was good, at least that is what they told me, being a vegetarian I only ate side dishes, and three of them were potatoes. So it was mashed potatoes and carrots for me.

And now for the craft...you know there was going to be some kind of craft right?

All the ladies received a crochet flower brooch, made by yours truly. They are really simple to make and a great way to use up scraps of yarn.

Ta Da!

Here she is in all her glory.....

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby Right Round!

Today I am going to be blessed with a Spinning Wheel! Now I have never spun wool before and I have never used a spinning wheel...I don't even know what this wheel looks like. But I am very excited to try and hopefully succeed. How wonderful to be able to spin the yarn I use to crochet with.

This has been just an idea in my head since Christmas and I almost gave up on the idea.

Rewind to the beginning. My good friend calls me up and tells me she has a Christmas present for me, but there is a stipulation...this spinning wheel has been donated to the High School Drama Club for a stage prop. The Drama teacher is worried that the wheel will just be destroyed by the students and appears to be in very good shape. It can be mine as long as if they ever need it as a prop for a play, I would be willing to let them use it. Hmmmm a free spinning wheel and all I have to do is agree that IF they ever preform a play that needs a spinning wheel I have to let them borrow it. No, I can't do that!

Are you kidding me, of course!

Old

I am no longer a spring chicken.  I have stepped past the twenties and am now the big 30.  It is not really as scary as everyone makes it out to be...just a number. 

Did I actually finish something?

Yes!!! I actually finished a split skirt this weekend.


I am bringing the 80's back and going to wear with pride my "Culottes". They are much more fashionable than the one's I wore when I was eight years old and frankly, I can't believe I ever stopped wearing them. I hardly ever wear skirts anymore, the weather where I live is just too unpredictable. The wind will pick up without warning and so will your skirt....right over your head.

(Picture coming soon)

Job...Work...Career...?

Lately I feel as though all I do is work...work...work...work. As I type this I am working, scanning tax workpapers and daydreaming about crafting. When I was young that is what I thought you do...you finish school and "go get yourself a career!" Careers are very much overrated. I work to live, and support my family, nothing more.

Though this job requires so much of my time and attention sometimes. The balance between work and play can be so hard to find when you are exhausted from work to play. As things are going it is taking me a week to finish a split skirt. It is only 4 straight seams and two curved, a hem and casting for the elastic waist band. How do you balance your work and play?

A whole month!

I can't believe I let an entire month go by without posting. Actually in a way I can....the last month has been dampened by rain. And although I don't mind rain...."whomever said happiness came with sunshine, has never danced in the rain"....it does get old after weeks of non stop rain and dark skies.

Today the sky is not grey and rainy, but white and snowing and blowing. Oh joy winter has finally hit.

As far as crafts go, not much has been happening. Hopefully soon I will have some new things to show off. Three weeks ago I did a Matryoshka Doll painting class (Russian Nesting Dolls), they are almost complete, just having a tough time with the faces....I hate faces! I am also trying to finish up my nieces Christmas present that I didn't finish in time for Christmas (I know bad auntie). I have also been working on some new skirts for work. Unfortunately all these things are unfinished, where o where did my motivation go??

Nothing

That is what everyone has missed in my lack of posting...nothing. Unless you want to hear about the long hours I have been putting in at the office, or about my new haircut.

In an attempt to spark my creativity I have started an art journal, and up to this point there is about as many entries there as there was blog post in January. I really need to get myself out of this funk.....I just don't know how.

How do you spark your creativity?

Keeping Busy

Ever go looking for coasters at the store.....they can be expensive, or not fit in with your decor, or if you live somewhere remote or small (like me) where stores don't carry them. Here is a quick and easy way to make your own personalized coasters.

You will need:

• One 12" x 12" square of cork material.


• One sheet of 100% wool felt (craft felt will work as well, just may not hold up as well).


• e-6000 adhesive.


• Dimensional fabric paint.


• Tools to cut and measure.


• Your imagination!!

Directions:

Start by cutting your 12" x 12" Cork into nine 4" squares, and cut the felt into 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" squares (one sheet will make 6 squares).

Using the E-6000 adhesive, glue your felt to the cork. For best results spread the glue in an even layer. It is also easier to apply the glue to the cork instead of the felt. One more thing...you can use lots of adhesive. I chose the E-6000 because it is water proof and very strong.

You now have the base for your coasters. At this point it is up to you to be as creative as you feel like.

Using Dimensional Fabric Paint, I decided to go simple with three dots in each corner. Feel free to go crazy, just remember you want your glass to sit on an even surface.

A Look Back

Happy New Year.....it's Twenty-Ten, shouldn't we be riding in hover cars by now? I love watching old movies and giggling about how we envisioned the way the future would be.

2009 was a good year!

1. Bought my first home.


2. My husband and I celebrated our one year marriage anniversary.


3. Met my adorable niece in September, she turned one this October.


4. Did two craft shows...they weren't the greatest, but I did them.


5. Tried Woodburning and Reverse Print making for the first time. Love Woodburning, not so much into print making but fun regardless.


6. Started learning bookkeeping, I am now the Receptionist/IT/Internal Bookkeeper for the company I work for.

And many more ups and downs, but all in all a great year! Cheers to 2009 and on to 2010!