Laughing Out Loud...All By Myself

So, the kids are at Grandma's and Hubby is at work. What's a girl supposed to do all by herself? Surf the net of course! So while I'm checking my daily blogs, I pop over to Queenly Things and see these funny racoon pictures. In the bottom of the pictures is the address for icanhascheezburger so I have to go check out the site. I started scrolling through the pictures and reading the sayings and started laughing...and laughing...and LAUGHING! I started laughing so hard, I was crying. Crying I tell you!!! I had finally lost it! I was hysterical! I guess my funny bone was seriously in need of release, because it got so bad, I had to walk away from the computer, to another room where I couldn't see the monitor! Now, alot of the pictures are of cats, so if you are not a cat person, you probably won't have the connoissers taste for these photos that I have. But seriously, you should check it out anyways!!! Here a couple to wet your appetite.

To keep with the crafting theme I'll start with this one:



AWWW...poor kitty!


This is so me in the morning!


And yes folks, this is the one that sent me over the edge into insanity:


I'm so pathetic! But hey, we had a great time this morning...me, myself and I! Have a hysterical day!!

Fashion show???

I am trying out different blog backgrounds. I have been inspired by the beautiful blogs I have been to recently. I'm trying out a lot of the freebies at The Cutest Blog on the Block. When I find something I really like, I am going to try to design my own banner. So, sit back and enjoy the fashion show!!

Cheating Slippers

Okay, so I'm cheating on the blog entry. This one is a blast from the past and a past blog. I love these slippers by the way! Unfortunately (don't tell my Son I said that!), I don't get to wear them anymore because my darling #3 Son got me fuzzy slippers for Christmas and as I would never dream of disappointing him, I only wear his slippers around the house now. Enjoy!

Comfy Ballet Slippers

Supplies:
K & I hook
Lion Brand Baby Homespun (any homespun would work)
Caron Simply Soft ww
Stitch abbreviations:
Ch – chain
hdc – half double crochet
sc – single crochet
st/s – stitch/es
sl st – slip stitch
fo – finish off

Start with a magic circle or ch2 and work in 2nd ch from hook – ch2 at end of row does not count as 1st hdc of each row.

1. 6hdc in circle (or 2nd ch) join, ch2 (6sts)
2. 2hdc in each stitch around, join, ch2 (12sts) – weave in end now as it will be harder later
3. 1hdc in next st, 2hdc in next st, repeat around, join, ch2 (18sts)
4-5. hdc around, join ch 2 at end of each round
6. 1hdc in next st, 2hdc in next st, repeat around, join, ch2 (27)
7-8. 1 hdc in each st around, join, ch2
9. hdc in next 15sts, ch2, turn
10-21. 1hdc in each st across ch2 turn

Test fit before finishing off, you may need to increase or decrease rows for a custom fit. Remember you want a snug fit.
22. 1 hdc in each st across, fo leaving a long tail

With right sides held together and using tail from last row, fold heal in half and whip st heel seam. Weave in ends.

Using ww yarn and starting at the halfway point in the heel, sc evenly around to corner st where toe meets side. Do a hdc in the corner st. Sc over toe area with a hdc in the other corner. Finish sc around to where you started join.

Switch to I hook
Ch2, hdc in first 3sts sc to 1st toe corner, sl st across toe to corner, sc down side to last 3 st. Hdc in last 3sts, join.
Ch1, sc to corner of toe doing 3 decreases spaced evenly along the side, sl st across toe, sc back to beginning doing 3 decreases evenly on this side too. Join, fo.

Note: For me, because I have such a narrow heel, I re-attached the ww yarn about 2 1/2” away from the center of the heel and worked a row of sl st around the back, across the heel to 2 ½” down the other side.

I also whip stitched some felt into the area where the ball of the foot goes as I don’t like the feel of the “bumps” from the stitches.

You can embellish or not, whatever is your preference!

If you find any errors, please drop me an email. I am the only one who has made these and they have not been tested. Enjoy!

An Art Quilt and a Pincushion

So...I was supposed to post something on Tuesday...oops! I have been very busy. I do have a project to share with you though. I have been working on it diligently. I am very pleased with how it turned out. Yes my quilting lines are a little off. No it isn't perfect. As was working on it, I got more and more excited with how it was looking. So without further ado, here is my first mini art quilt:

and a close up:

Also I am very excited to tell you that I won the wonderful blog giveaway over at All in my Cottage here is the darling tea cup pincushion that I won:

Isn't it sweet!! Check out Debbi's etsy shop Marionberry Cottage. She has some of the prettiest, vintagey, feminine things I have seen in a long time.

High School Antics

Okay, so this blog has mostly been about crafting...but the title does include the words "my so called life." So I thought I would share one of my "bad girl" high school stories with you. Why you say? Well, I was inspired by this post by Cindy over at Cindy is crafty...and she makes things too.

Today I'll share a snippet from my Senior year.

I had a Psychology class. I had a love/hate relationship with the teacher. Mrs. Smith. At the time I felt she was a close minded, old, battle ax! Maybe it wasn't fair to the other students, but I sort of hijacked the class. We (Mrs. Smith & I...the class never managed to get a word in edge-wise!) would be discussing one thing or another from the book and Mrs. Smith, while looking directly at me, would make some black & white statement about it (the psychosis or whatever) being only one way. Me, being very "shades of gray" would start to argue with her about her "diagnosis."

I would actually (on my own time) go to the library to bone up on whatever the subjects were that we would be working on next. I wanted to have more information than the text book the school gave us could tell me. Mrs. Smith and I used the hour as a time to debate sort of like a Freud/Jung conversation!

Anyways, that's the set up!

The last day of school before Christmas break was traditionally a day that, last hour, (when I had Psychology) the Seniors would go Christmas Caroling in the halls. This was an accepted and much looked forward to tradition in my High School. On this day, I respectfully raised my hand and patiently waited for Mrs. Smith to call on me. (see what a good girl I was!) She eventually did (she had to make me wait to assert her superiority) call on me. I oh-so-respectfully asked if we (the Seniors) could be dismissed to go carolling. No response. I asked again... again no response, she just opened her book and started flipping pages. Me, being the only bold one in the class stood up and said to the class at large: "Who's with me? She didn't say we COULDN'T leave and go caroling!" All this time she just looked at her book, no response what-so-ever!

I managed to take half the class with me.

When we came back after Christmas break, Mrs. Smith was waiting by her desk with detention slips for us. I took mine, smiled sweetly and told her it was the most fun I ever had earning detention! (my only detention by the way, I really was a pretty good kid...no really).

I found out after graduation that Mrs. Smith took my Mother aside and told her how much she enjoyed having me in her class. That for the first time in years she felt challenged to do and learn more for her class. She told my Mother that if I chose, I would be a great leader.

The cool thing is, that was Mrs. Smith's last year of teaching. She decided to retire after that year. At our graduation ceremonies, she said she was pleased to be going out on such a good year with so many memories. I'd like to think I was part of those good memories - she is certainly one of the big positives that I remember!

Lapghan progress and a Christmas project to come...

So I have been working on my lapghan alot! I have made almost half of the granny's daughters that I need to make the larger squares. I get bored though... so I have started sewing some of them together.

It's a lot slower going than I thought it would be. I only have until they extinguish the Olympic flame to get it done...well...for credit anyways. I will finish it no matter what!

Have any of you seen the new (to me) Holiday Crafts magazine? I have found a project in it that my fingers are just itching to make! It's the "12 day's of Christmas" quilted and embroidered banner. I'll add a picture as soon as I can, it's absolutely darling! Of course, I want to count down from December 1st, so I will add 6 little...somethings...on each side. Probably stars but I'm not sure yet. I'm going to try to use only materials from my stash...really I am...honestly...although it couldn't hurt to just look at the christmas fabrics...and some patterned felt...no really...from my stash...maybe...

Updates, Giveaways and Projects!

Well, as I alluded to in an earlier post, I am going to try to make an entry AT LEAST every Tuesday and Thursday. This may not seem like alot to many, but for me, being the bad blogger that I am, I am going to try!

First up, I wanted to share this biscornu that I made:

Instead of the traditional crosstitch, I embroidered on wool felt. I embellished it with beads and a couple buttons from my stash. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Not all of my stitching is the greatest, but I was "freehanding" it. I will definately make another one of these, a little smaller I think, in the future to be a scissors fob.

Right now I am working on a crocheted lapghan. I am participating in the crochet games at Crochetville that is running concurrently with the Olympic Games. It's coming along, although a little slower than I thought it would. I have a percentage bar in my side bar that I am keeping updated.

There are so many giveaways out there right now, you could go crazy checking them all out! I have added a few in my sidebar, just click on the picture. Here are a few more for you: Wraggedypatches is giving away a mystery "quilty" item for her 100th post; Lises Hobbyblogg is giving away a mystery crafty item for her 100th post; and over at Polka Dots & Rick Rack she is giving away a darling little hand crafted doll, material, needles and pins! Check them out!

Home Again, Home Again, Jigiddy, Jig!

Well, the wandering traveler (me) is back home again! We visited Dollywood and had a mostly relaxed time at the park. There are a couple of good rides there, Mine Ride & Tennessee Tornado. They are both definitely worth riding. On our second day there we went to Dolly’s Splash Country. It was hotter than blue blazes!!! We found out later that it got to 101 degrees that day! On our third (and last – boo hoo!) day we had a leisurely day driving and sightseeing on the way to Cherokee, NC. On the way back from Cherokee, we saw a moose out in the field, so, being the tourists we were, I waded my way through the wildflowers to get a picture. Come to find out, I was also wading through poison ivy!! I cleaned my legs with hand sanitizer and we stopped along the route to rinse off in the river. All in all, a really nice time! Here are a few really bad pictures from my phone:

On Friday we took the family to Michigan Adventure. The amusement park was fun, but the waterpark was COLD!! It was the nicest day we have had in a long time as a family. The kids all got along. It was nice to build some happy vacation memories with the older kids! Here are a few really awful pictures (again from my phone). Mind you, these were taken after we spent a lot of time in the waterpark, so we aren't exactly at our best! lol

Vintage Apron Giveaway Among Others

You should all pop over to Mercede's World to find out about the great apron giveaway that is being hosted by The Apron Queen from Rick Rack Attack! I have my eye on this cute little number on the left.

I can totally see myself wearing this while baking cookies or muffins! The only thing that would make this better is if I could get it in a "little" size so my Daughter and I could match!

There are a lot of other wonderful bloggy giveaways out there right now! Here are a few more: Farmyard Crafts in celebration of her 50th post, Quilty Threads in NSW is having a winter giveaway, Lila Tueller Designs is giving away a beautiful purse and over at Kate Quilts you can get in on a drawing for a stitched verse book.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

On Vacation

As I compose this blog entry, I am on the road in the mountains just north of Knoxville Tennessee. Hubby and I are away from the kiddies for a short holiday. Our 23th anniversary will be in two weeks, but because of marching band practice, our #3 Son’s birthday and other obligations we had to take the trip now. We are on our way to Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. I would have really loved to go to Disney World, but we only have 5 days including travel time and can’t afford to fly (with the new surcharges and luggage costs can anyone other than business people?!?).


Of course, I couldn’t go somewhere and not take along a project or two! I already completed one, a little purse that I modified slightly to suit my tastes. When I get home I will post a picture of it.

I also brought a little embroidery project (really only an hour or two worth of work on it), but have discovered that bumpy roads and very sharp needles don’t really mix too well…ouch! I am sure I will have pictures of that to post too when I get home.
So in the mean time, here are a couple of pictures for you to enjoy that I pulled off the net (well, as soon as we get to our hotel and I can get online that is!!). Hope everyone is having a wonderful week and I will be back soon…better than I was before at both blogging (I am going to set myself a challenge of posting on Tuesdays and Fridays since I am such a bad blogger) and reconnected with Hubby!