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!!!

Just Breathe....

Right now I am in the middle of the a huge tornado called "Tax Season". I have been working lots of overtime, trying to stay out of the way of cranky accountants, and making sure there is plenty of coffee in the office, all while trying to maintain my sanity and keep a smile on my face. On the upside...I am getting lots of overtime, which is a blessing considering there are lots of people without jobs these days. On the downside...I am so exhausted by the end of the day, that I haven't been crafting much, I have neglected this blog, the dogs haven't gone on any trips to the beach or anywhere, I am not exercising and I pass out on the couch at 9:30pm most nights.

Although I love my job, and deal with the stress 100% better than anyone in the office, long hours and cranky people wear on me.

Craft Room Organization

This is one of the projects I finished last Thursday. I think it will be the perfect addition to my craft room.

Other news...it's my birthday today and I have been granted the day off. It started snowing yesterday and continued throughout the day and into the night. A friend stopped by last night with the intentions of only staying for an hour. In that hour snow blew under his SUV and high centered it. This means that the only way to get it moving is to yank it out with another vehicle. He stayed the night on the couch last night! I woke up to the local radio station DJ announcing all the places closed today and announcing that the Department of Transportation has suggested to everyone, only head out if absolutely necessary. I look out at the drive way to find 4 to 6 foot snow drifts surrounding everything. I turn on our porch light to see our friends SUV.....

He is parked behind my van....I don't think I am going to get to work today.

A Night of Creativity

A four day craft hiatus has ended. Since last Sunday, after coming home from work, cooking dinner, grocery shopping and cleaning, I would sit on the couch to relax but just couldn't. I needed to do something...craft something...be creative! Unfortunately nothing sparked my interest. I couldn't think of a new project and none of my works in progress appealed to me.

That is until last night.

My husband went bowling and with the house to myself (and the dogs), I went into the craft room and...well went crazy!! I set up the sewing machine to finally finish a shirt I started months ago. Then I plugged in the glue gun, brought out the paint, canvas and cork board squares and set up shop in the kitchen.

I started by squirting green paint on the canvas and with quick paint strokes, the canvas was covered. During the drying time I laid out the fabric, pinned on the pattern and cut out the extra pieces needed to finish the shirt. By the time all the pieces of fabric was ready to sew, the canvas was dry. So I placed the cork board on the canvas and marked where I wanted it. Using 3 glue sticks I secured the cork board to the canvas. Back to the shirt....I assembled and hemmed every last piece and tried it on. Everything looked great except for the sleeves, I looked like a football player and had to go back to the drawing board.

Instead, I went back to the cork board and decided to jazz it up with some paint details. Some green on the edges and Daisy's on two of the corners. By then I had a solution to the sleeves, I would run cotton thread through the hem and bunch it up into a cute puff sleeve...no more Jettson's space sleeves. In two hours two projects complete!!!

You would think that would be the end to my madness, but no I stayed up till 1am crocheting a poncho with a ball of yarn I purchased 2 summers ago.

My creativity is back and I feel great!!!






Pictures of the finished projects will be posted as soon as I can see straight and the dark circles under my eyes have disappeared.

Now What?

In trying to be better with my spending I have decided to adopt some of my neglected works in progress. One project in particular is a tank or vest or....well I haven't quite figured out what I want the end project to be. I started this project almost two years ago. Since then my knitting has improved and I have become quicker producing the stitches. When I started the project each row was taking me some time to complete and in turn I got bored. Today I am whipping thru each row in no time flat that I can't seem to put the project down....I AM OBSESSED. I will complete 3 or 4 rows and decide to let my aching hands rest (arthritis stinks), only to pick it back up after only a minute or two.

On to the bad news..........

The Walmart here is no longer carrying the yarn! And I don't have the label for the yarn so I have no clue as to what brand. I have such great momentum with this project. I don't want to put it down again. I can't rip it out. I have almost two years invested in this little project. It has been on the same circular needle for the entire two years. Where do I go from here??

Stylin'

I have finally taken pictures of my newly knit hat, finished it about 2 weeks ago. The pattern came from Woolly Wormhead, it is the Meret pattern, although since I used a variegated yarn you can't see the pattern in it very well. I still really like the way it came out, although the true test will be if I wear it.

A Losing Battle

I have always tried to keep my dogs (mainly Kane) off the furniture. Even with my old beat up couch I was very strict. My husband on the other hand is a huge push over. With our old couch he started by just letting Kane up when I wasn't home, then when I went to bed and eventually even if I was sitting on the recliner next to him. Poor Kane...no you can't, yes you can, no you can't. How confusing!


We recently bought a brand new couch after the recliner's frame broke. It's a beautiful five piece sectional and my very first piece of NEW furniture. With the new couch, comes new rules...or old one's that keep getting broken. NO DOGS ON THE COUCH! I don't think I would have a huge problem with them on the couch if they wouldn't dig into it with their claws to get themselves comfortable. Heck if it were about their hair and smell, I would have to kick the husbands friends off the couch as well.


So when we are home we have been reinforcing the no dogs on the couch rule, but when we leave it's a very different story. Each time I come home the evidence is there. Pillows on the floor, blanket pulled down from the back and balled up into a nice warm oval, and the wonderful dog slobber spot. He knows he is not supposed to be up there, yet he does it anyway. How do I keep the dogs off my furniture??

Un-Events

One thing I have always questioned when it comes to blogging is..."is quality better than quality?", "Do people want more posts even if they are filled with absolutely nothing?" They say the more you post the more traffic you will have on your blog, and as I agree with that I often wonder will people come back if you write about nothing? Do my readers want more posts?

This year for crafting has been a good one so far. I have finished the crochet skirt I have been working on for quite some time. It still needs a slip, but the time consuming part is over. It is made with a cotton variegated yarn in cheerful spring colors. I am gonna call it my "Strawberry Fields" Skirt, because.....well just because!

Organize in Style

A goal of mine this year (and future) is to pay close attention to birthdays, special holidays and at the very least send a card. To help me do this I created a Special Date/Address Book.

The calendar in the book isn't for everyday tasks, instead just important dates I want to keep track of...birthdays, anniversary's, holidays. I find this to be much more helpful as I don't need the every day schedule, that's what post it notes are for. Also in the book I have addresses and phone numbers. Inside the front cover I put an elastic band to hold cards, a notepad, photos...anything I want. There is also blank pages for me to fill up later.

Setting up Shop

Yesterday while trying to work, and not succeeding, I decided to bite the bullet and set up an Etsy Shop...everyone else has one, shouldn't I? I did this in hopes that it will motivate me to start selling my crafts. I WANT to start selling, but for some reason I always hit a road block (get to busy at work, don't know what to sell, rejection of no one buying my creations, etc) Right now the "store" is empty but after the weekend I hope to have some items posted.

The big push to do this started when I brought in my breakfast one day last week...an apple with it's little sweater, sitting nice and snug on my desk. "Is that a cozy for your Apple?" "That is so cute!". This was followed by more co-workers gathering around to giggle and smile at the Apple Sweater. Then one of my co-workers asked if I would make two of them, for her grand-children....then another co-worker asked if I would make her one, purple....and another co-worker asked if I would make her one too. (And they want to pay)

I think my fear for rejection has hindered me somewhat in selling my crafts. The thought that I would go to a craft fair, pay the booth space and have nothing sell. I need to just put myself out there!!

Stepping out from the day to day...

Last weekend I was in the mood for adventure, or just getting out of the house. It is so easy to get lost in the day to day routines, and find yourself stuck in a rut. I have been in a rut!

Last Saturday after asking the husband a million times if he wanted to do anything, with the response of "I don't know", I loaded the dogs in the van and headed an hour out of town. The road was anything but pleasant. The frost this winter has bent and bowed the road in all sorts of wonderful ways. If I wasn't paying attention to my speed I would hit one of these "ramps" and send the van flying.

I finally made it to the beach, with everyone in one piece, and just in time for this......

The vans' thermometer said 43 degrees, the beach was empty and the sky was filled with an amazing gold hue. The dogs and I walked along the beach absorbing up every ray of sunshine and enjoying the calming peace and quiet. I find the going to the beaches around the island is my therapy, and this trip was even more than therapeutic then I imagined it would be. At the end of this day I was refreshed, happy and energized.

Learning to be Resourceful

With gas prices high ($2.84 here), the price of food increasing ($9 for a block of cheese, are you serious?) and just over all high prices everywhere, I keep trying to come up with ways to save money, spend less, and be resourceful. I spend the time to plan a two week dinner menu and make a grocery list based on that...when offered hand me down clothes I jump on the offer...mend things instead of buying new...and stuff of that nature.

So since I am trying to be economical, I thought to myself one day, "Why pay $40 for a bra or $3-5 each for underwear when I could make my own??" Sounds crazy I know, but the only way for me to purchase a bra that will fit is to order on line. The problem with this is it may not fit right when I get it, so I have to return it, and most vendors do not make my size in pretty colors, fabrics etc. I usually just find something that kind of works at Walmart and then hardly ever wear it. You have no clue how many of those I have in my dresser. Now I haven't tried it yet, just bought the pattern, but can't wait start!!

What things do you do to save on money??

A Project Done to Start the New Year

As promised the other day....here is the finished shrug!! I really need to come up with some kind of mannequin. Self portraits are so hard to take, when you are trying to be the model as well.

Warm, cozy, and fashionable too!

Not New Year Resolutions, Just a Plan

I DO NOT make new years resolutions. I used to as a kid and found it fun to write down goals for the year. The unfortunate and disappointing thing is I hardly ever keep to any of my resolutions. So instead I thought I would just mention (out loud), some things I would like to do this year (or next).

I would like to....

• Start writing my own knitting/crochet patterns.
• Set up an Etsy shop (which also means coming up with what I want to sell).
• Complete at least one project a month.
• Start a local craft swap group.
• Join the Saturday knitting group at the local fiber shop.

Ask me how I am going to do any of that?! I can't tell you. I always have a problem of wanting to do too much and end up doing nothing. I have finally managed to finish the shrug I have been working on the other night, I will post pictures soon. It has been sitting around in the knitting bag for quite sometime, so maybe, just maybe I have stepped into the right direction this year.

GET TO WORK!!

The holidays have come and quickly flown by, and believe it or not we are already six days into the new year. The lack of posting on this blog is the result of two four day weekends in a row.

Looking back to last year, I got married and found a great job. Looking forward to the year ahead........I guess we'll see........