Sick

I've been sick since Sunday. This is just the most awful feeling. I stamped a couple of cards but was so out of it I gave them away before taking pictures of them. I finally broke down and went to the doctor today and was diagnosed with a severe sinus infection was given a scrip for some meds. I've missed two of work so far and I can't stand being behind, which I now am, of course! I will not bore you with any of the sad, pitiful details of how miserable I am, so when I come back tomorrow I will have some very good news to share. It certainly won't be about my health, lol!!

So Sad

For three reasons I am bummed out to today. The first, and least serious, is that the Spurs lost to the Rockets (yea for you Houstonians, bad for us San Antonians). The second is that I started a knitting pattern only to discover (after close scrutiny) that it was written incorrectly. I wouldn't mind so much if I didn't have to cut the yarn periodically throughout the pattern. Now I have to work with "broken" yarn after I frog it all!

The third, and definitely most important, is that someone who was very dear professionally and personally to the company I work for has passed away. I did not know him as well as others, but he was always very nice to me and I feel just awful for his loved ones. Rest in peace RDB.

Love Matters

I made these two cards for my RAK (random act of kindness) exchange using the Love Matters stamp set:

I colored in "Friend" using Pure Color pencils,
which washed out a bit with the camera flash.

















Please don't forget to vote on the cards below (or e-mail me personally) so one of my stamp clubbers can win a FREE stamp set! Thanks a bunch!

Contest Fun

Soooo, at Saturday's Stamp Club meeting we did a mystery project. I teased the ladies, saying that it wouldn't be bad like the mystery meat from the old school days! Instead, I whipped out the Love Matters set from the Winter mini, along with Loves Me designer paper, and all the coordinating ribbon, ink, and paper I had to go with it. I told my clubbers that it was a free-for-all design session and that I would post their cards on my blog for everyone to vote for their favorite. Whoever has the most votes by midnight January 31st wins a free SAB set!! Here are the entries:

Rachael










Enna

Liz











Melissa

Please post votes via the comments section--thanks a bunch!!

Gift Envelope

We made these at the stamp club meeting on Saturday night. It's a whisper white envelope folded in half with the flap cut in half. One of the halves is then sealed, leaving the other half of the envelope to hold money, a gift card, etc. We made this one using a Sell-A-Bration set called Happy Harmony. After adding a little ribbon, some Simply Scrappin' paper, and a few sprinkles of glitter, this is how it turned out:

I made it into the stamp room!

Okay, so when I wasn't out taking pics of the iced over garden decorations I made a big decision. Not a Chips Ahoy-versus-Oreo-after-dessert kind of big decision, but a decision that would ultimately cause me great suffering. I decided to clean my stamp room. Now this may seem like a bunch of blibber-blabber, but if you've ever seen my stamp room then you would know just how big of an undertaking this is. Let's just say that I normally tiptoe into the room like I'm trying to avoid landmines--if I can open the door all the way! Now a normal person might ask why cleaning this room would cause pain. The short answer is that I like clutter.

Usually it's a small pile of mail here, a chair full of towels there. When it comes to that room though, it's like Stampin' Up! and Michael's have exploded in there and the survivors are all in critical condition. Ribbon spills from the embossing box, adhesive peeks out from under the stamp bookcase, and paper covers everything--including the floor! In order to put it all away where it belongs would take hours upon hours. So I decided to bite the bullet and get to work, because I could only find one of my three (maybe four) pairs of cutterbees, and I know I have unmounted sets that need to see some action. I'm almost done organizing, but still have more time to put in before it's where I want it to be. However, I can make it from the door to the back wall without having to step over anything, so hooray for me!!

So that brings us to the good stuff. While I was stuck indoors I made the following items for a fellow stamper who did me a big favor:











The front, inside, and the paper clips up close.

By the by, I used my new Cuttlebug for the paper clips, which are totally CASE-d from Val at SCS. This is the only die-cut set I have so far, so this is what I used. However, I definitely have been bitten by the 'bug and can't wait to get more dies!

Well, better get to bed since I'll have to get up at the crack to de-ice my car and try to get to work. I'm supposed to give blood at our drive in the morning too, so my iron better be up or else...like I can really beat myself up anyway, lol.

Ice Day! (and lots of pics)

The weather is just awful here--for driving anyway. I personally love this type of weather since we rarely get it here in San Antonio. My car was totally iced over so that it wouldn't open this morning. Although I finally got the car open, after 30 minutes of defrosting the windshield was still completely iced over. I evaluated the road in my neighborhood and decided to stay home. So here some pics of my frozen rain chain and fountain:














I was also very busy last week as far as knitting goes. I made five scarves in 2 evenings and got a Jordana Paige knitting purse! The scarves are out of Lion brand boucle in various colors and I wish I could get to the post office to mail them to my friends, who could probably use them right about now. As for the bag, I originally wanted the graphite color, but model on-hand at the store was damaged. I was very bummed out, but F-bomb said to go ahead and get the ocean blue (blue is my favorite color) and he would buy me the other one next month. Hooray for February and new handbags! I also made a scarf for my sister Saturday evening while watching The Illusionist (excellent film). She is a very fun, funky, sparkly type of girl so I made it out of Yarn Bee's "Tempting Girl" eyelash yarn. I forgot to photograph it, so I took one of the yarn instead. I apologize if the layout looks weird, but I cannot get my pictures to line up properly!

We won!

It was not the best b-ball played by the Spurs, but at least they won. I got a pink hoodie from the gift shop out of the deal, so I was happy with that. I must say though, the first half was so pathetic that I was wishing I'd brought my knitting in with me!

Anyway, I did finish this super-quick scarf today. I used Lion boucle yarn, and it is so much prettier in person. I spent maybe, maybe 1.5 hours on it (hard to gauge since I did it here and there). That's because I used size 35 needles! I find them very entertaining to use--my friend Margaret said they look like hand rockets. I find that to be pretty accurate, and hilarious!

Guess I should get to sleep. I am *considering* hot-rolling my hair tomorrow morning, but to do that I would have to get up early, and that would mean missing out on some sleep, which I don't like too much. So we'll see about that one...

I can't seem to remember...

...if I posted this pic or not. Sorry about the glare--I hate trying to photograph into mirrors. This is one of the items I was commissioned to make for a Christmas gift. If you haven't seen it, it's new to you! If you have, then deepest apologies. Either way, you get to see the new watermark I made for my non-SU photos. It only took me a disgusting amount of time to figure out how to do it. Anyway, I'm off to bed because I am going to the Spurs game tonight. I really hope we beat the Trailblazers because F-bomb scored us some really good seats so I want to see a really good game! Sweet dreams blogland.


P.S. I used Lion Brand Jiffy Thick & Quick yarn in Ozarks

Wrapping the Weekend up with Wool

Another busy weekend draws to an end. Yesterday I visited a new yarn store in town, Yarnivore, and dropped a few bucks on some great yarn. The owner has a beautiful selection, but she needs to work on her sales technique just a touch--she could have easily squeezed $30 more dollars out of me by enticing me with a special she's running. I didn't notice the small sign behind the register until after the transaction was done, and although I expressed regret at not having known about the special, she made no effort to try to get me to buy more or to try to redo the sale.

She only said maybe "she should've mentioned it." I asked her to call me when she got in a specific item this week, so we'll see if she does or if I have to call an inquire about it. I don't mean to sound like a hard-nose, but I spent 10 years in "traditional" retail, and now as a SU demonstrator, I guess I still expect to receive what I'm accustomed to giving. I do feel for the owner though, because it's hard to start your own business, and she's probably just overwhelmed right now.

I made this scarf last night/this morning with some navy/turquoise Monet yarn I bought there. I really need to branch out and make other things, but it's so easy to stick with the "mindless" projects. I snuggled the scarf around a bottle of pinot noir I found at World Market. It's called Dyed-in-the-Wool, so I couldn't resist it, even though I'm not a huge fan of red wine. However, since I'm trying to learn to appreciate it, I figured this was as good a time as any to start!

Fiber Arts Corner

As promised, here are a couple of photos of the space I carved out for my sewing machine and yarn storage. I like having the yarn in glass jars so I can see how pretty it all is and keep it dust-free at the same time. I have the majority of my needles in a roll-up case, but decided to stick a few of my thinner pairs in the lady-vase on the top shelf. I think it puts her to good use!

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone is sober by now! I had a great evening filled with food, family, and beverages (the good kind, if you kwim). I didn't drink too much though, since I had a workshop scheduled for today. I think it went well, and most importantly, the hostess was happy. I will post pics of the projects tomorrow after I've had a chance to photograph them with my new toy (I'll get to that in a minute).

It's been a busy week since Christmas! Went back to work exhausted, but happy to have a short week. Finished knitting a scarf for my sister who was complaining that I hadn't made one for her yet. Started knitting up some Lion homespun in a dark charcoal color and I'm going to see where that takes me. I decided to create a fiber arts corner in my bedroom so I could sew to my heart's content without disturbing the rest of the house by doing it at the dinner table late at night. Sooo, I started re-arranging furniture and putting my yarn into glass jars so they couldn't collect dust and other "things." Another pic I need to take and post!

Oh! I almost forgot--I bought some material and a couple of patterns so I could practice my sewing. Who knew those little tissue-filled envelopes were so expensive??? I've finished one pocket and need to add the trim to the main body of the apron. I'm using Christmas material since it was on sale and then I won't feel bad about ruining expensive fabric if the sewing doesn't go well.

Then, on Friday F-bomb (he knows it's his nickname on here too, lol) became obsessed with getting this cute Sony 10.1 megapixel camera. Went to 4 stores that were sold out, asking for PS3s along the way, which were also sold out. Saturday we finally found the camera clear across town. I also found some cute things in the $1 spot at Target, so yay for me. I don't remember the rest of the day because I've blocked out all the cleaning and organizing!

Sunday morning Best Buy had PS3s in the ad, so F went to wait in line for his--until I came to relieve him so he could make his tee time! Just for that I picked up a CD for myself on his tab! Then had to come home and get ready for the NYE festivities.

Which brings me to today. Got up and got ready for my workshop, already addressed all that stuff above. After leaving the hostess' house I hauled it the nearest Michael's to use my 50% off coupon. I barely made it in before they locked the doors! As I was making my way to the register, I noticed another customer wearing a beautiful hat knitted with beads. Naturally, I had to stop and ask her about it and to compliment her on the great handiwork. Well, I ended up behind her in line and we got to talking about yarn, when the cashier at the register next to us chimed in too. That is the most fun I've had waiting in line at M's, let me tell you! She said there's a new place in town to get some cool stash, so I'm going to have to check it out soon. And get myself into trouble no doubt...Anyway, my line buddy Kris was also very helpful in telling me how to achieve the free form stitch for quilting on my new sewing machine. If I recall correctly, I need to lower the dogs and add the darning plate, and I have to move the fabric in whatever odd pattern I want to make. The directions just didn't say that!

WHEW--I told you it's been a busy week! I was so glad to do some pressure-free stamping and knitting this weekend. Now to get those photos up...but in the meantime I will leave you with a photo of F-bomb holding two of his Christmas presents. The beer mug was definitely a prelude to last night!