Finished products and such

Warning! There are a ton of pictures on this post!

I finally bought the right type of rechargable batteries for my camera so I can share picts again :) And these are really OLD pictures! Well, since February. Okay, first up is what I received from the Vintage Pink Christmas Swap, I got it right before Valentine's day. Better late than never, right? My partner was Heidi (aka: Spiritual Knitter). She knitted the angel dishcloth for me, and I LOVE it! There were all kinds of stuff in there, fun to look through!

The next swap I did was a Valentine's day swap, and I received my package first. There was one of those cardboard jointed signs, and a couple paper vday decorations. She took one of those heart shaped candy boxes and dumped out the chocolate and filled the little wrappers with plastic beads, feathers, lace, and plastic rings.

And this is what I sent her - a ton of scrapbooking paper, embelishments, brads. A little notebook, a journal, embroidered dishtowels and some Ghiridelli chocolate. I put it all in a big pink box that could be reused. Sorry for the glare on the pic :)

I found this blue vase at Goodwill and thought it was pretty :)

Okay, onto finished projects!

So, I have this picture frame that I took the glass out of and make like a scrapbook page for each season, this is what Valentine's day was :) I also crocheted a couple of red hearts and they were also sitting next to the frame. I had already put them up before I took the picture.

I mentioned before that I had started crocheting again, and this is one of the things that I have finished. It an amigurumi lamb. It is the first amigurumi that I have made, and I think it turned out cute. It is from this book that I found at the libary. What I learned from it was that my stitches were not quite tight enough once I stuffed it.

Then, I stumbled across an amigurumi Hello Kitty! Argh! I just HAD to make one! The only problem being that the directions found were in Japanese. But, after a diligent search I did find a comparable pattern in English :) on Ravelry, which is one of my new favorite sites. So, here is the first one - I like everything except the dress. I didn't have a pattern so I made this pink thing, only to discover that I really should use a thinner yarn.

This one I made for Jan's daughter for her birthday, I put it on the outside of the gift bag. I put little beads in the center of the flowers. It's funny because I used the same pattern as the first but since I was holding the yarn so tightly it came out a lot smaller. I just didn't want the stuffing to show through since it was a gift. I made a little teensy bit larger version of the same dress for the first doll.

Okay, so I know this is a random photo, but I just really liked how my kitchen window looked the other night :) Fridays I get off work at noon, so I had time to grocery shop before going home and I stopped at Thunderbird which is where I pretty much always go. So, walking up to the produce aisle there was a lady dressed as a tomato (?) I think. I was a big round red costume and she had a hat on with all sort of fruit. So, she could have been an apple also. I wish I had a picture of that to put on here! But, the point was that they had a free sample table. She said if you like the salad then they would give you a bag with all the ingredients and recipe for free. Not one to pass up free stuff I took it! The recipe was called "Cowboy Salad" and it was black beans, kidney beans, green onion, cilantro, 3 tomatoes, corn and a dressing. The dressing was just a mix of the juice squeezed from half a lime, salt, pepper, canola oil, and a little vinegar. I don't usually measure those things but I think it was like a teaspoon of all the liquids and then dashes of the s & p. It turned out really yummy :)t

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17 Again

This will just be super quick. I went to see 17 Again last night and I have to say I was cracking up!!! The friend in the movie, Ned, was absolutely hilarious!! I would have been laughing out loud a little bit more, except that I had gone by myself and there were not many people in the theater and I didn't want to be the weirdo laughing by herself!

Last weekend while I was driving down to Redding I was listening to Bob and Tom (which is rare ) and they were talking about the difference between nerds and geeks and had referenced the friend in the movie. Ned is definitely a geek - and that is what made him so stinkin funny! What they were talking about on the Bob and Tom was how you can be a geek or a nerd about anything, not just like Trekkie kind of stuff. So, I would say I am definitely a craft geek :) LOL

Memory verse

Here is my memory verse for the 1st, this is a good one! Proverbs 18:21 -The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

I almost did another one out of Ephesians, 4:25 - "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

I really love both of them, but the Ephesians verse might be too long for my brain to hold onto right now, you know? I haven't been as diligent as I had hoped with my memorizing, so I picked the Proverbs verse since it is pretty close to the same message but a little shorter.

lofty goal

I am making a goal - and for me it's a big one. I don't want want to jinx myself but I don't know truly how good I will do with it! Okay, here goes: I don't want to buy any more books until I've read all the books I already have that I have not read yet. AND - here's the part that might not be possible - no new yarn until I have finished all of my projects in line. Basically, no new projects until I finish what I've started. The only teensy exclusion would be if I happen to be at a yard sale and find a book or a fabulous find and can't pass it up. Because in those situations you can't just go back and buy it later.
This whole thing came about because last week was Spring Break and I was lamenting my lack of Spring Break. And Summer vacation (the 3 month kind). I would really looooooove to have an undetermined amount of time off to just read as much as I can, sew, knit, craft, scrapbook, crochet, garden, do bible studies, ride my bike.....you get the picture! So, I'm going to make a concentrated effort to take the time I do have off (evenings and weekends) and do the things I want to. I usually end up running around on the weekends - and I'd like that to stop. I'm thinking maybe I can grocery shop after work or some such thing to save weekends for cool stuff.

Memory Verse

So, I have not been keeping up with my scripture memory, and thought I'd better get back to it. I have found it sooooo helpful to be able to focus my mind on the scriptures to bring myself back to clarity with God. I have a tendency to get overwhelmed but negative things, thoughts, etc and by bringing these verses back into my mind by memory truly helps to refocus. So, here it is:

3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself withought comparing himself to somebody else.
Galatians 6:3-4 NIV

I think verse 4 is really going to be the kicker for me since I find myself continually comparing myself to others.

Crochet crazy

I have to say, ever since I picket up the crochet hook again, I've gone a little crochet crazy. It's all I can think about! My new thing I love right now is Amigurumi! Love it. It's cute little stuffed crocheted animals. Did I mention they are cute? I'm working on a little lamb right now. I have no idea what I will do with them (?) but who cares. Next up is this cute little bunny, which will be right in time for Easter!
So, also I stumbled upon another thing by accident that I had to make. The pattern calls for stitch markers, which I did not have. So, over to Joann's I went and bought some with my 40% coupon. Two things annoyed me about that purchase. #1 I bought them and while waiting for Jan to checkout I was looking at the magazines and attached to one of the knitting mags were free stitch markers! Cute ones with little hanging beads! So, I realized they would be super easy to make! And so had to make some. Now I have lots of stitch markers. Then, and this is probably the worst - I had a gift card in my purse for Joann's!!!! Bah. I didn't even remember until this morning! And, I had specifically gone in thinking "I have a gift card to use". Oh well. I'll try and remember next time and use it one something super fabulous!
In my flower bed I noticed yesterday that my tulips and daffodils are just starting to come back up. Spring is so hopeful, isn't it? Even though it's still FREEZING cold and snow flurries still coming down ~ Spring is going to come and bring beauty with it. It happens every year, and so far it still amazes me. I hope it always does.

Waiting for Spring

Sorry, still no pics! I need to get new batteries for my camera I believe, but actually remembering that in the store? Not so much.
I started my new job this past Monday, and I think it's going to be good :) I'm getting my desk organized and situated the way I like things - everything easy to find and grab quickly when I need it. All the ladies and the Doctor seem very cool so far, and I hope it stays that way.
I have been knitting and also a little crochet, and embroidery (!). I was in the big resale store, it's one of those places you can have a booth and sell whatever, and there's a giant booth that has glassware. I was perusing the aisles and happened upon some older magazines, books, etc. What caught my eye was an old knitting pattern book. Of course it was in a plastic thing where you had to buy it all and truly I did not want it all. I copied down a pattern for a neat short scarf and that's the knitting project (among like 2 others) that I've been working on at lunch time. I think it may take awhile b/c the yarn is super skinny.
I kind of want to make a crochet animal or something to that effect - or knit? They just are so dern cute! What would I possibly do with it though??? hmm.
In other news, we started our new bible study last week and this one may be a doozy! It's another Beth Moore one, Esther. Already I think it's been good.
Also, it's still snowing. I'm just hoping for now that at least by July it will stop. Maybe? Or at least be warm some day. Although, this year really has been better than last year so I should not complain.