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Friday, December 31, 2010

Too Long!

It really has been too long since I've updated my blog! This is just going to be a quick post until I can actually post more when I'm not so tired.
Also, my Etsy shop is open again! AND, February 27th is my one year anniversary of my shop! Exciting, right?!
My holiday was wonderful. However, the traveling was NOT. I don't even want to go into all of the details of it, but I ended up in Denver, where I was never supposed to stop. However, Seth was there, which made it MUCH better. And then, we were stuck there for 2 days. We can definitely say that we're happy to be home.
We spent today unpacking, which reminded me of all of my awesome gifts. Here's a few of my favorites. :)

I mentioned to my Mom a long time ago that I really like this purse! And I got it! Definitely one of my new favorite purses!

Found here
And originally seen on Crafty Awesomeness. She totally gets credit for pointing it out on her blog. :)

Seth and I decided that we weren't going to give gifts because we spent a lot of money on tickets down to Florida. However, Seth actually surprised me (which was ok, because I surprised him too. ha!) and got me this! And he got me the pink one. :)

Found here.

This was another thing that I asked my parents for. I have had SO MUCH FUN with this camera! I can't wait to get all the pictures developed! It's a fisheye camera. It takes normal 35mm film so it'll be easy to be developed here.

Found here.

That's all I'm going to share for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and a wonderful new year!
I'm glad to be home, so I'm going to relax some more. Did anyone else have travel issues this holiday season?
I feel that I can never fly without issues. lol!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Almost time!!

So, the wonderful Jamie over at Crafty Awesomeness was having a giveaway. Funnily enough, it not only ended on my birthday, but I won! Score!! It was for this SUPER awesome bunting that she made in all kinds of super awesome Christmas fabrics.
I really love it! I have ZERO Christmas decorations up, and even though I only have a couple days left here, I can at least still have the wonderful bunting up for my very late decoration. :)
It also gave me a great place to hang a couple ornaments that I got from Alexz, plus a really fun snowflake that Jamie also sent me!

Thanks so much Jamie!! And I really think I'm going to break out my white glittery yarn and make some snowflakes myself for some Christmas gifts!

And, I got an email the other day from a great Craftster. She told me that she had a Christmas emergency for a bearded hat. Not only have I ALWAYS wanted to make one of these, but they're even funnier in person than in pictures! lol!


That's all for now. I've been keeping myself busy for getting things ready for Christmas. I leave in 2 days for Florida, and I can't even explain how excited I am to see my family. :)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

A Very Merry Un-Birthday to ME!

Today is a great day.
Last night Seth took me out to dinner, and then we had a Doctor Who marathon. Honestly, it was the perfect way to spend my birthday. He also made me a cake! It had cowboy boot candles on it. :)


And today, I got pretty much the coolest package ever. Alexz sent me a birthday package, pretty much because she's awesome. :)
The whole theme of the package is a cupcake monster, because, well, I'm totally a cupcake monster. haha!
I got all these extra goodies of Christmas potholders and some Christmas ornaments, and cupcakes!



I had told Alexz that I wanted a jewelry box, and I was expecting something awesome, but this most definitely surpassed my expectations! It's huge, and awesome!




And isn't that little cupcake monster just adorable?! WAIT! He gets even cuter! Want to see?!



That's all I have for now, really. Alexz, thank you SOOOO much for everything. The package made my day. You're an amazing artist, and I'm so glad we've become friends through Craftster. :)
I'm working on a couple projects now, but I will be able to post them shortly.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

It's my birthday!!

Yep! The big 'ol 2-7. After this year, I don't plan on celebrating anymore. lol. I'm just getting too close to 30 and I'm not going to do well during that time! haha

This year, we didn't do very much. Seth bought me my Keurig coffee maker a couple months ago. He did come home about an hour early from work, and he took me out to a wonderful dinner! We came home, he made me a cake, and we watched Doctor Who. :)
I decided to be lazy most of the day. I'll have to make up for it tomorrow, but at least I got a day to just relax. I've just been crazy busy with all of my Christmas crafts. So, I decided today that I was going to just take care of me! I started staring at my yarn collection and thinking of things to make for MYSELF! Last night I made a hat, and I really liked it. Well, I've had this yarn for quite a while, and it's been a yarn that I've really just hoarded, waiting for the PERFECT project. So, today I finally decided that I would use it for myself, and might as well make something for ME to enjoy!
I really love the result! For some reason, I've never been a huge fan of the slouchy beanie, but now I love them! And it's thick enough so that it'll keep my ears warm too! Yay!



The colors aren't great in the picture, I'll have to get a better one tomorrow. :)
Well, I will hopefully be back tomorrow. Now, it's officially time to get ready to go home for Christmas. :)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Things are really coming along!

I notice that we have quite a few new followers, so, WELCOME! It's always fun to have new faces around. :)

I'm almost done with all of my Christmas presents! I only have 1 that I can actually think of. In the meantime I've been able to work on some little side projects, and even make something for myself!

Also, I want everyone to stay tuned because after the new year I definitely plan on doing a giveaway! And, speaking of giveaways, there's one right now on this awesome blog called Wonderland Contraband. Go check it out and sign up!

So, this is my newest project, just made for myself! Seth and I have become addicted to Doctor Who lately. It's been so much fun. So, I had to make my own Tardis, of course. :)





I hope that everyone is having fun crafting for Christmas! I'm excited to almost be done. And next week I will be heading down to Florida for 2 weeks. I doubt that I'll be blogging at that time, but I will try. :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Christmas!!

Christmas is my very favorite time of the year. It's always been HUGE in my family. In addition to the presents and the food, it's also my sister's birthday!!

This year I made most of my gifts. It's been a bit hectic, and I'm still not done, but it's been a lot of fun! I decided to take a break and make myself this hat. I found this on Craftster and had to immediately buy the pattern. It's a replica of a hat from The Big Bang Theory. :)

If any of you have been eyeing the pattern, but not sure, DO IT! It was a TON of fun to make and I plan on working on another one today. :)

Also, The Dainty Squid is having a giveaway! Go check it out because it's pretty awesome this time. :)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

LOTS!

I'm so glad that today I have LOTS to share with you! I feel like all of this hard work that I've been putting out lately has really paid off. I still have things on my list to make, but I have done SO MUCH the past few days.

First up, is a collection of headbands that I made for my niece, Helen. I was told that now that her hair is getting long, she's really into hair accessories. These were A LOT of fun to make, and I do plan on making more for myself!



A bunch of little flowers!

I think this little bow one might be my favorite. I can see a whole bunch of these entering into my wardrobe very soon! A different color on each, one to match every outfit!

I do love this little cupcake too!

Picture is kind of dark, but it's a little bird.

Next is what I made for Helen's brother, Simon. It's a Bombomb from Mario! His pattern can be found here, but I made him bigger, using a bigger hook and bigger yarn. He's also slightly weighted just a little bit so that he can sit up.



This, might be the cutest pattern that I've ever found. You know those little booklets by the yarn section in the craft store that have just a few patterns? Well, my favorite yarn ever, Impecciable Loops and Threads, put out a Christmas book! This pattern was in it. It's a wine bottle topper called "Santa's Stuck". LOL! It might be a little hard to see, but those are boots coming out of the chimney.
This is also pictured on a bottle of wine that my father-in-law brought me. It's a blackberry wine that he made. :)


I've only made 1 of them so far, but I plan on making a few more to give people before Christmas.

AND....last, but CERTAINLY not least, my snowman is complete! Sadly, he's not mine, but is going to my Etsy customer. I was told yesterday by her that her boss is a big hunter, and so she thought it would be funny to put this on her office door! How funny is that?! I completed his top hat this morning, and he is currently drying and then will be sent off to his new home. :)




And as you can see from yesterdays post, he is massive. The plaque that he is on is 11x17 inches. He's huge, and, if I do say so myself, pretty awesome. :)
I hope everyone else is having a blast as well making all of their Christmas gifts! My dining room table is a M-E-S-S from everything I have made and supplies. It's been a lot of fun though, and I think next year I will start a bit earlier in the year. haha!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Ahhh.....

It's nighttime, so it's time for me to relax just a little bit for today.

The past 2 days I have been working NON-STOP on Christmas gifts and the last 2 orders that I had. Yes, HAD! I finished one yesterday! I can't post it on here, but if you know who I am on Craftster, then you can find it there. ;)

This is the order that has been my MAJOR project.
A customer of mine on Etsy ordered the mini snowman mounted head. Well, she got it in the mail, and really loves it, however, she asked me if I could make a GIANT one! Well, I'm always up for a challenge! This has been a BLAST to make, and I definitely plan on fine tuning my pattern to make more of them as well. The plaque that he's on is 11x17 inches. He just needs his hat, and he'll be complete. :)



And in case you didn't believe me about the size, here he is again, with not as much done on him.



It feels really good to have him almost done. :)
And, this is another present that I can post on here. I have the best niece in the world. She's 3-years-old and I can't wait to see her in 2 weeks! She has the best sense of humor, too! Well, she watched some of the South Park Christmas special, and my sister told me that she threw herself on the ground from laughing so hard at Mr. Hankey. So, of course I had to make one for her for Christmas! haha!
He's big too, probably about 12 inches.



And now, my last order of business. There's an amazing blog and store that you should check out! They're currently having a giveaway over at their blog! You can check it all out here. :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Look it!

Guess who was lucky enough to catch the elusive Chupacabra?! It was me!



Now, I need to find a goat so I can feed him. Any ideas where I can find one? ;)
Working on even more stuff today, and I'm quickly getting craft A.D.D. because in the middle of a project, I decide to start another one. I'm going to try my hardest to not do that right now and to just finish one thing at a time. Wish me luck!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Amazing Lanikins

So, in case you don't remember, I shall refresh your memory. :)
I was contacted a couple months ago from a fellow Craftster wanting to do a personal swap. Of course when I get messages like that, I have to check them out and see what kinds of projects they do. Well, Lanikins, just like SpookyPooky, are VERY well known Craftsters. I was honored to even get a message from her, considering she does some of the best work I've seen on Craftster.
So, after talking to Lani about things that she might like me to make her, she immediately requested a Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, and then I decided to make all of the main characters from Star Wars.

So, after all of that, I got her package the other day in the mail. Not only did she SPOIL ME ROTTEN, but her stuff is some of the most amazing quality that I've seen. It's all sewn together beautifully. It's just amazing.

She told me that she wanted to make me a Chupacabra. There are so many different interpretations of the Chupacabra, but this one, by far, is the cutest! I will get better pictures of him, and there's some good ones here on Craftster that you can check out as well. :)


And then, this A-M-A-Z-I-N-G clay zombie head. I promise I'll get better pictures with it tomorrow as well. Pictures don't do it justice. When I first opened him I thought that he would make a great candle holder, but I can't do that for fear of ruining him. So, instead, he will sit proudly on my shelf. :)



And I saw this on her Facebook page and fell in love, and she told me that she would include it in my package! I had no idea how big he was, though! He's really tall, and just so adorable.


It's my very own Balloon Boy!!! You can see the original Tim Burton one here.
This is all hand painted by her, and again, pictures don't do it justice.



And then I got some little Lanikins plushies! I even got a little sasquatch and yeti one! These things are teeny tiny, too!


And the one thing I didn't get a picture of was some stitch markers, and there's a Jack Skellington charm on one, and a mustached Cthulhu on another one!
I also got a new camera this weekend! It's a nice upgrade from my old point-and-shoot one. I love it! It was a nice early birthday present from my in-laws. :)

I'm back!

Just briefly, though.
The next 2 weeks that I'm actually here at home, I will be found working...constantly...on Christmas gifts and orders. I'm feeling overwhelmed, but I know that I can do it!

My wonderful, long Thanksgiving weekend was accompanied by my in-laws coming up to visit. It was such a great visit, and they got to not only see snow, but feel the very bitter cold that is Montana in the winter. :)
I actually thought it would be a good idea to make them some things to keep them warm while they were here. For Seth's dad, I made him a cabled scarf. The pattern is found here. If you've wanted to work with cabled, I would highly recommend using the pattern. I used an amazing washable wool that my friend sent to me. Seth's dad wore it the entire time he was here, and said that it kept him VERY warm! :)

And I decided to venture into a knitted project for Seth's mom. I made her a moebius! I can't find the pattern right now, but if someone needs it, just comment and I'll make sure to find it. This is also made out of a washable wool.


I had a lot of fun knitting it, and I learned all kinds of new things when I was making it!

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Craft Closet

While Seth was gone last week, and with Seth's parents coming to visit this week, I kept myself very busy.

I had a small list of things that I really wanted to get done, and spent pretty much all day cleaning and re-organizing stuff around the apartment. The first 2 nights he was gone I spent ALL NIGHT re-winding all of my yarn.
This was my life saver in doing that. Honestly, this is the only yarn winder that I've ever used, but I love it. It's all electric, doesn't take batteries, and you don't have to crank it. Because really, if I had to crank it, it would have taken me FOREVER!
You can buy it here on Amazon. I would also recommend checking your local craft store. I got mine at a Joann's, and I had a 50% off coupon that made it CHEAP!



Near the top of my list of things to do while Seth was gone, was to clean out and organize my craft closet. I did A LOT of it. Like I said, the first 2 nights were used just winding yarn. I spent the next day organizing it all into my closet. This brought me to a very sad realization: I have too much yarn.
Most of this yarn is stacked 2 deep, so what you see in the picture, there's about twice that. I have now made a solemn vow to not buy anymore yarn unless I REALLY need it for a commission piece or something. Otherwise, no more yarn for me at the moment!



I did organize it pretty well, though. The top shelf is all of my nice yarns, used for wearables like hats and cowls and such. The next 2 shelves are all for my ami's, which are much rougher yarns, in a WIDE VARIETY of colors! haha! The shelf under that is all of my bulky yarns, which can be used for both wearables and medium/large ami's.
After doing my yarn closet, I didn't even want to think about my other craft closet, full of books and fabric and doo-dads. So, with about a day left until Seth was to return home, I finally tacked the closet. It took a while, and involved A LOT of destashing, but it's finally done!



And now, I feel quite accomplished. :)
Today, I'm returning to cleaning up some things because Seth's parents will arrive in town tomorrow morning. I also have a HUGE commission piece that I'm working on. Literally, HUUUUUGE! I can't wait to finish it, though, and I really can't wait to share it with everyone! It's going to be epic, and I"m hoping I can make more.
I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!
This year, I'm thankful for my family, who I've been thinking about a lot lately. I'm thankful for my amazing husband, and for all the rest of my amazing family that I'll see in just a couple of weeks down in Florida. I'm also thankful for my handful of wonderful people that I can happily call friends.
What are you thankful for?

Oh, and P.S.!
I found this SUPER AWESOME shop on Etsy, and found their blog. They're doing a giveaway on their blog! And check out their store, too, because it's really all awesome!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Shawl for Jackie!

This week has been a blur to me.
Seth was gone all week, and was actually home a day later than planned because of plane issues. In addition to that, our snow storm dumped tons of snow all over the city, all week. It doesn't look like it's going to warm up soon, either.
And, next week the in-laws are coming to visit.

However, I do have a project that I can share with you!
This is a shawl that I made for my good friend, Jackie.
Jackie and I have bonded over the past year. Neither of us are very mushy or sentimental people, but I feel that I will be, just for this post. :)
Jackie started knitting about a year ago. It was something we definitely bonded over. Since we've become close, we talk pretty much every day on the phone, usually for hours at a time. It has become my way to break up the day, and to sit and laugh and relate to a great friend that lives across the country.
She's just an amazing person, and probably one of the funniest people I've ever met. We've both moved to different parts of the country due to our husbands jobs, and both of us are lacking in the friendship department. It's great that we can talk on the phone and online all the time, and fill that void.
And so, Jackie, thank you so much for your friendship. I truly appreciate the time I talk to you almost every day, and I really love that we've become so close. Oh, and happy birthday, too! :)

So, I made this for Jackie's birthday. :)
The pattern is called the Sidewalk Shawl from the Stitch Nation website. I also used the Alpaca Love yarn for it.
And I don't block many things that I make (mostly because it's amigurumi) but this one I definitely had to block. I'm so incredibly happy with how it turned out, and the color just reminded me so much of Jackie. Oh, and if you fold it over, and then roll it up, it looks like a head of lettuce! haha!




Hopefully, I will be back next week, but no promises. We're going to have a busy Thanksgiving with Seth's parents visiting, and I'm CRAZY busy with projects. I'm working on Christmas presents, and now I'm getting emails from people on Etsy for things that they want before Christmas. I'm really excited to work on them, just a little bit overwhelmed. :)
If I don't come back before then, I wish everyone a very happy and wonderful Thanksgiving!