Finally!

I know, where I have been all this month? Well, it's been hectic! I spent the first week trying to get over my illness (still have a lingering cough), the second week was Valentine's Day week and we had guests come to stay with us, last week was crazy with work and going to the Stampin' Up! Regional seminar (fantastic, btw), and here we are to this week!

Forget the first week, I was a lame duck.

Second week, we went to a great dinner at Kona Grill, an island-infused restaurant here in town. We had such a nice evening and then went home to relax with the pups. Friday, two of F-bomb's friends came to visit, one for a conference, one for pleasure. Boy was it a frat house! I stayed up remarkably late with them most of the nights they were here. Talk about an exhausting week! I also had a stamp club meeting that went very well and we had a guest decide to join the club, which was very exciting too.

Last week I started taking a yarn-spinning class. First we learned about drafting and learned how to use a hand spindle. Then we started spinning! I was just awful for a while, but sort of got the hang of it after a while.

This week we took the wool we'd spun and "reverse" spun it into yarn. Now that was exciting! (And so much more rewarding than spinning the fiber, for me anyway). So, here's a couple of pics of my very first yarn:
















Please be nice with the comments--I know it's not the best yarn ever spun! But I did it, so I'm very proud of it anyway. It's also a darker shade of royal blue than it appears in the photos. I still have some of the wool left over, so I'm going to try again this weekend.

Ready to get Lost!

I have been waiting and waiting an Lost is finally back on the air tonight! I'm so stoked! I just wish my eyes didn't feel so heavy---I could sleep right now. Today was a long day and I wouldn't mind unwinding with a glass of wine, but I'm sill taking those pesky antibiotics. Oh well...

I've been working on a pair of fingerless gloves in baby alpaca. This is only the first hand and my first "real" project on dpns (double-pointed needles). It's interesting to say the least! The yarn feels so wonderful as I'm knitting it up that it totally makes up for the freak factor of using so many needles.








I also found a mini version of my travel mug at Target.
It fits perfectly in the cupholder of my MINI! I also did
it in a Valentine's Day theme, using Wild About You. Those animals are just too cute!

"Love" my Caffeine Cup

So here's the Starbucks mug I mentioned yesterday. I decided to do a Valentine theme using the Love Matters set and Loves Me designer paper from SU, so what better word to use than Love? What I love about this cup is that I can change the design to suit the season, any holiday, or just my fancy! The only drawback to it design-wise is that it does not allow for too much embellishing, or else the insert will not fit back into its space. However, since I made it while I was trapped here in my sickhouse, I wasn't in the mood to see how much I could fit in there. If you look closely, there's one sure sign that I was out of it while designing the cup. See it? The hearts in the background are upside down!! I had to laugh when I finally realized it--the next day of course!

I'm still sick, but at least I have a "love-ly" cup to drink my mint-infused green tea from, lol. I wish these came in MINI sizes, so I could use it while driving. The model I purchased has two cup holders in front of the gear shift, but they are just big enough to hold Ozarka bottles. The cup holder that is large enough to hold this cup is to the rear of the hand brake, behind and between the front seats, so not the most convenient place for reaching my morning java! However, it does give me the perfect excuse for buying that cute little floral mug I saw the other day...

And the car goes to...

MEEEEEE! I am the proud owner of a MINI Cooper in a beautiful shade of electric blue! He has a bright white top with racing stripes too. I am still trying to decide on a name for him, so please feel free to drop me a suggestion or two! I took this picture of him sleeping right before my camera battery died:


The color really pops in the daytime, but I think he looks great in any light, lol. I'm in love, can you tell? I got a really good deal on the price (because I'm a master negotiator, thank you very much) so my payments will be pretty low. I don't think that poor salesman knew what he was in for when I walked through the door!

Anyway, since my battery died I couldn't take a photo of my Starbucks travel mug I decorated, so I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.

And the free stamp set goes to...

Melissa! You are the winner of a Sell-A-Bration set of your choice! Please let me know which one you'd like and I'll make sure you get it. Congratulations!