Saturday, January 29, 2011

2011

Happy new year and I'm back [ok.. still] crafting! I've spent countless hours ogling over projects other bloggers have done, how nice their pages look, and how many followers they have! Thank you to my 3 [loyal] followers. Is there anything you'd like to see me make? a tutorial on anything I've done so far? Anyone who comments will be put into a drawing for something cool. what? yeah, I have no clue yet, but I'll be doing the drawing in mid-February.... so lets do this, you win.. you pick what I make and send you :)

Friday, December 31, 2010

week thirty-six



For my last hurrah...


I made another Frog hat.. I know you all have seen it before, but I made it for one of my friends that I haven't seen since I graduated High School. It was such an awesome day to go to her baby shower and catch up. I had to leave early though so I could make it for another [family] event so after we returned home, got the kids to bed my sweet hubby told me to go back and hang out... we talked [ate more of the yummy cake] until almost 4 am... ? or was it only 2 or 3? I can't seem to remember. Time flies.


See you all next year, where I'm sure I'll come up with some other crazy idea for a challenge for myself.


week 36:complete
#projects: 1
weeks to go: DONE!!!!
cumulative project count:63

Saturday, December 25, 2010

week thirty-five

THE RUSH FOR CHRISTMAS!!!
Sooooo.... all of the projects that were started weeks ago.. and some this week... are FINALLY FINISHED! whew!



So here they are:




A crocheted hat with brim for one of my older sisters. She loves hats and accessories so it was kinda an easy thing more me to make with her in mind. I know I made them from Christmas colors and she wont be able to wear it for too long this year, but next year and so on, she'll already have a hat! :) I originally was making her a hand bag, and it would have totally ROCKED!! but my 2 year old son decided to abscond with the main element [of which] the whole design was hinged on... so the hat was a last ditch effort to have a present [not an IOU ] to give to my sister.




My oldest niece likes scarves but is really a picky kind of girl. I spent hours searching for a fabric that would be perfect.... I found this flowy sheer animal print and knew right away that it was the one! I made a flower clip with beads in the center to either use in her hair or to clip onto the scarf as an accent. love it!



For a cousin [on my hubby's side] who is 12 and I'm not sure I could make anything that he is really that impressed with. But thought that a hat would be a nice warm fuzzy gift :) I made it out our fleece and added a little bit of detail to [an otherwise] boring hat.




My cousin [who I don't see very often] loves skulls and crossbones and motorcycle stuff. I saw this fleece and knew it was for him. I made him a beanie that would be warm :) his mom tried to steal it from him, as did almost everyone else at the party. I think it was a hit!



A fluffy, warm scarf for my aunt who lives in London. I have to admit though, I did not make this scarf. My hubby did!!! what a man! I was so stressed [and trying to "enjoy" the holidays] and he offered to help in any way he possibly could. Normally I asked him to play with the kids.. [a real chore, right? esp since he loves to play with them] Then I asked him to make a few things, this being one of them. I would have asked him to help with more things [making that is..] but I seem to be such a control freak when it comes to handmade gifts that I couldn't [or really didn't want to] find things for him to help with. Yeah, looks like I just gotta let go sometimes!





This small neck cowl is for one of my hubby's cousins. She live in Utah, bbrrrr, so instead of a scarf, I thought a cowl would be very appropriate and lovely. I almost kept it for myself!!


Now for the project [of which I am supremely excited about and just love love love!] I made this for my hubby's cousin's wife.. I wanted to make something classy for her and I don't know her very well [even though I helped hubby's cousin "get the girl" ] and this is what I came up with. I used left over satin [from my Christmas dress, which is going to end up a valentines day dress or mother's day or Easter..... sad, i know but somethings just get pushed of..ya know?!] and I hand painted the bird on in white, hand-sewed the glass seed beads and added my Hey Sharky! label on the bottom back corner. I hope she loves it [half] as much as I do!
{*update- she didn't show up at Christmas too bad. :( so this is her present for next year if she shows up, if not it's going to her mom-in-law !}

Last, but certainly not least.... A dress for my cousin's kid. I thought I took some other pics of this dress right after I made it, but can't seem to find them. So [for now] this is what ya git. He doesn't know the first thing about girly stuff, so I made this cute dress, with a girly skull and crossbones in the bottom corner. He loved it and I'm sure she did too :)







I made a few more gifts, a scrapbooked DVD case set with 1,000s of photos on cd for my sister in law....a BBQ set for the father in law, apron and all ......and a few more things that in the rush of things I thought I took pictures, but apparently did not. Or I just lost them.. or.. or.. or..

What an exhausting week this has been. But also so rewarding! I'm glad to be done with the sweatshop, but sad that Christmas is over and I didn't celebrate it as I really wanted to. This year was better than last, and next will surely be better as well. {esp since I am already starting on projects to put in the gift bin for next year!! Call me crazy but I love making our gifts {its not really about saving money because most of the time I don't.. it's about the from the heart touch that a homemade gift brings}



Happy crafting! And see YOU next year!

week 35: complete
# projects: 11
weeks to go: 1
cumulative project count: 62

Saturday, December 18, 2010

week thirty-four

Sweater- turned-hat

So with Christmas knocking on my door, and projects STILL not finished..... I needed soemthing for our niece. She is a true girlie girl and I wanted to make her a cute [soft] beenie with a brim. I cut up one of my sweaters that i have only worn a few times.. and turned it into a hat. I am very pleased with the result.
I really thought I made more than just this hat, maybe they were all just IN THE WORKS and not really done.. time to CRAM for the next weeks!!!!




week 34: complete
# of projects: 1
weeks to go: 2
cumulative project count: 52

Saturday, December 11, 2010

week thirty-three

The mad rush to get all the Christmas presents done!!! I seriously thought we had more than half our list left, when in reality we had WAY LESS!!! So yeah for us! I did put my hubby to work making a few of the presents and he did an awesome job. I don't think I will be adding them to my total because - well- let's be honest.. I didn't make them so it doesn't count. the projects in this entry are going to my husband's sister and her family. we hope they love them because we spent a lot of time thinking of what to do and coming up with [what we think] are the perfect gifts. :)


For their daughter: a headband, crocheted with a flower and a head/ear warmer with pom poms. These are such a cute accessory! So many of my friends have them for their daughters, I just couldn't leave our niece out!! [a special thanks to my son who modeled the headband/ear warmer for me.. he had a fun time doing it and was such a great model]


For their son Jr. I made a travel mat for him to play and store his cars. Xander wanted it so badly and I promised that I'd make one for him after Christmas. He helped me pain the "beep" . It was nice to include him in the making of the presents.




For his sister I made a beanie with a brim. I absolutely love this yarn! She's not very girlie so I left off my usual details of a flower or buttons. Simple and sweet.



For my sis-in-law's hubby: a basic beanie. Again I LOVE this yarn!




week 33: complete
# projects:4
weeks to go: 3
cumulative project count: 51

Saturday, December 4, 2010

week thirty-two

OK so i don't know how to count.....


there were 36 weeks when i started this challenge.. and so that would put me ending on 31 December 2010. So instead of going back through all my posts and changing them [very time consuming, and who really has the time?] I'm starting from this one and correcting them.. after-all, i only have a few weeks left.. I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE!!




This week I made a sock monkey hat for a friend. She wanted to give ti to her granddaughter so I added a bow. I know you are probably thinking you have seen this one before... but is as a different version of it and its what I did this week :)

week 32: complete
# projects: 1
weeks to go: 4
cumulative project count: 47

Saturday, November 27, 2010

week thirty-one

This week I focused on my photography skills. And yes, I am in need of some assistance... can anyone show me how to use my camera? The booklet it came with didn't explain anything! Oh well, it looks like trial and error is going to be my teacher.



This weekend we were able to go camping in the Anza-Borego Desert. IT WAS COLD!! Oh my gosh! We woke up one morning to the baby wipes being a solid ice brick! By the time I got up and out of bed it was close to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Whew!



We took many hikes while out there and I [of course] took a gazillion photos. I love being out in nature and capturing it on film is the best thing ! I love looking at the pictures I took later and not only remembering the amazing time I had but admiring the amazing beauty that is around us.



If you are an avid hiker you will be familiar with the subject of this week's blog entry. It is a trail marker. In some regions, piles of rocks are called "ducks" or "duckies". These are typically smaller cairns, so named because they would typically have a "beak" pointing the way of the path. An expression "to rocks don't make a duck" reminds hikers that just one rock resting upon another could be an accident or nature rather than an intentional trail marker.



I have seen so many of the cairns throughout my hiking/backpacking/rock climbing adventures. The sight of these, no matter how big or small, are a source of comfort for me. I'm not sure why except I know that I'm on the right path and I have nothing to worry about. Whenever we're out hiking I always look for them and if it is a hike we've done before I look for familiar cairns- especially the ones I have either started or added to. It's really fun to see new ones and be welcomed back by old friends.

If you haven't seen one, added to one, or started one..... go out on a hike! Your body and mind will thank you!



week 31: complete
# projects: 1
weeks to go: 5
cumulative project count: 46