Marble Nails

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! This post is out of the ordinary crochet talk, but I thought it was interesting enough to post here and tell you about it. I found this crackle nail polish as I was doing some last minute Christmas shopping and thought I'd give it a try. I was looking online to see how other crackled nails had turned out and came across this video for making marble nail designs. It's actually pretty easy to do. All you need is a cup of room temperature water, some nail polish, toothpicks or a pin, and a q-tip. The design is made on the surface of the water with the polish. You can see the video that I saw here, and there are many more tutorials and designs out there. Here is my first try at it, I think it came out really neat and I will probably try different colors sometime. I only had a few colors since I don't do my nails regularly, but after I did it I bought these tiny bottles of polish to try called Bon bons. Has anyone tried this technique before? It's new to me, but I'm sure it's not new. I really like how it looks.

Show n Tell, Headwarmer

Here is Shelly's headwarmer made from my free pattern found here. It looks great! Thanks for sending me pics!

Crochet Christmas Trees

  I found this great pattern for crochet Christmas trees by Teresa on her blog.  I used Hobby Lobby's "I Love this Yarn." Isn't that the perfect name for great yarn? I love it! I used all the same color since it had the sparkly ribbon already in it. I also had to make my chain longer since I wanted a bit fuller tree. I think it came out great. I'm still contemplating if I want to decorate them any further.

Lizzy's Blanket Final Update

Home Gift Show

  I only got a few pictures of my booth at the Home Gift Show in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, the battery in my camera wasn't charged. It was a fun time but I didn't sell much. There wasn't that many people that showed up either. At least, I learned a few lessons. For one, I need a table cloth. I also need to have customers prepay when they order something. I need to come up with new designs, and I need to market my stuff for the season. I'm sure there is much more I need to learn.

Handmade Gift Exchange

  I just joined the Handmade Gift Exchange on http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/! This is my second time signing up. I had a lot of fun the first time and I'm sure this will be just as fun. There's still time to sign up and join in the fun!

Touch Phone Cozy

   I had previously made a cell phone case, but being that my phone has a touch screen meant that I hardly ever used it, because I would be constantly pulling it out of the case. So I decided to try to make something that would still give my phone some kind of protection, but keep the screen accessible. I ran with the idea and this is what I came up with.



Back view




Front view

   I used "I Love this Yarn" by Hobby Lobby, sport weight. I don't really have a pattern, but I can give you an idea of what I did. Using a size G hook, I chained about 20 then worked back up the chain with hdc stitches. I worked in the round, using the back loops, and increasing only on the ends to keep an oval shape. Then when it was a little bigger than the phone, I weaved in some round cord elastic into the last round. Then it fit on the phone like a short sock. If I make another one, I would cover the elastic better, and maybe make it a little smaller. This is just the prototype. I also want to add a pocket to the back and some kind of handle that won't make the phone fall out.

  The only con that I've found with this cozy so far, is that it just covers the sensor at the top, left corner. It senses when you have your ear to the phone which makes the screen go black so you're not pressing any buttons on the touch screen with your cheek. So when I'm done with a call, I have to uncover the sensor so my screen comes back. I can deal with that.

Lizzy's Blanket Update

Before I start this post, I would like to thank the requester for this challenging project. I definitely learned a lot along the way. I'd also like to  apologize for taking forever! This is my first huge project so hopefully I will be faster in my new experiences with future projects.

Someone had asked me to make a 5 by 7 feet blanket for her daughter a while back. She's probably wondering about it. I didn't think it would take this long and it's way more difficult than I thought it would be. She wanted a lacy flower pattern lined with fleece. I started with this flower.

I thought I could make a bunch of flowers and put them together somehow. That didn't work out so well. They didn't seem to fit right any way I tried to put them together, so I had to start over. (Gotta figure out what to do with all those flowers later.)

  I searched for a pattern that I could follow so I didn't have to think so much. I finally found one online and got to work. I made a bunch of panels over a couple months. When I was ready to put it all together, somehow the panels were all different sizes! It was very frustrating. Apparently, I used different hooks which caused them to be different lengths. So, I had to start over again. This time (learning from my mistakes) I was sure to document what I did so that I could pick up where I left off with the right hook and implement whatever changes I made to the pattern. I also put the panels together as they were completed instead of waiting until I had them all finished.

I've been so preoccupied with this blanket project. Every time I think I'm close to being finished, I get excited then I find something else wrong.  This is the blanket on a queen size bed. I measured the blanket and it looks like I need one more panel. Ugh.. Well, at least I don't have to start all over again. I'm so close! One more panel and then the lining...  Oh, the satisfaction of finishing will be sweet. 

Work or Crochet

  Sometimes I wish I could quit my job and just stay at home all day and crochet. Ok, maybe I wish that more than sometimes. Unfortunately, if that were to happen I wouldn't have any money to support my habit. (We're still talking crochet here.) So I have to squeeze in crochet time whenever I can in between my full time job and my other full time job of being mom. (Too bad I can't get money for that one.)

  Here is another floppy sun hat I made with cotton yarn. I like it much better with the cotton. I bought 2 skeins of Sugar and Cream Yarn from Walmart. One wasn't enough, but I didn't use all of the second one.

Flower Pattern from 150 Knit & Crochet Motifs

East Coast Earthquake

image from http://www.nytimes.com/

 

     I have lived on the east coast in the US for most of my life and have never felt an earthquake. We had a small one a couple years back in Maryland. I was on the road, on my way to work, and didn't feel a thing. This one that hit us yesterday was pretty huge as it was felt from Georgia up to New England! The epicenter was in central Virginia and it was a 5.8 magnitude quake.

     I still have never felt an earthquake, not that I'm complaining! I was driving on the road again on my way home from work this time. The quake hit around 1:50pm EST. I left work around 1:40pm. I didn't even know we were having an earthquake until I heard it on the radio! When I got to the baby sitter's house to pick up my kids they were all shook up. Literally! When we got home, I assessed the damage. The only noticeable things were two broken picture frames that had fallen to the floor, drawers that were shaken open, and a bottle of conditioner that had fallen in my shower.

     As for damage in other places, some buildings were hit pretty hard. I'm sure there was more significant damage at the epicenter in Mineral, VA. In DC, specifically the National Cathedral had damage, and they found a crack near the top of the Washington Monument. Power was lost in some places and traffic was a hot mess after all that. 

     Did you feel it?

image from http://www.virtueonline.org/



image from http://www.kjct8.com/



image from http://www.globalpost.com/

Sunshine Award!

   I received the Sunshine Award from Lovestitch from Stitch of Love!  She is such a beautiful person. Always so sweet, kind, and leaves positive, motivating comments on my blog. Thank you so much! For this award I must tell some things about myself and pass it along to 10 other awesome bloggers.

   Hmm... Lets see what don't you know about me? Well, you already know that I'm an addicted to crochet. Maybe you don't know....

• I love peanut butter! (Especiallly Hershey's Reese's. I used to work in Chocolate World in Hershey, PA)
• Music is a necessity in my life. (I love singing and played several instruments in high school)
• I have fired a semi-automatic weapon.. and liked it! (I was in the Army for 8 years)
• I like going swimming, but I'm not a good swimmer. (I almost drowned as a child which caused my mom to get me swimming lessons. I love the beach but, I'm a little scared of the ocean... is that weird?)
• I am shy and very quiet in person (unless I've known you for a while or I've been drinking. I'd rather email than talk. I've gotten better and not as shy as I used to be. I actually looked up the term for fear of people and it's Anthropophobia... I know, useless knowledge..)

   I will be passing the Sunshine Award to the lovely bloggers below. Be sure to check out their blogs and don't forget to stop by Stitch of Love too! 

1. In the Loop
2. Seven Alive
3. Me Like Stuff
4. CraftFro
5. CreativeMe
6. Fabulously Flawed Crochet Creations
7. Handmade by Lilacanglia
8. Just Be
9. My Life...Crocheting & All
10. Double Equis

I Won a Book!

  Can you believe it? Crochet and Other Stuff had a giveaway on her blog and I actually won! It's a great book and has a lot of good info in it. So far I've only skimmed through it and tried a couple new stitches that I haven't seen before. I plan to sit down with it more this week.

Giveaway Alert!

   Do you have any photos you'd like to see blown up on canvas? Lamb at LambAround.blogspot.com is having a giveaway on her blog for a 16"x20" rolled photo canvas from Uprinting.com! Join in the giveaway and while you're there check out the rest of her blog!

Hooked

  What is it about crochet that's got us so hooked? Maybe it's the satisfaction of transforming a single strand of yarn into something beautiful, wearable, or useful. When I first learned how to crochet as a child from my mother, I couldn't see the potential that the yarn had. I thought my only option was to turn it into a boring doily. I didn't want to put in all that work for an unappreciated doily to be thrown to the side somewhere. If I only knew what I had given up so long ago, I could be an amazing crocheter with decades of practice under my belt. Well, you can't dwell on the "what ifs" because it will only drive you crazy, right?

   Even though I don't have years and years of experience I think I'm doing well in my crochetability. (I think I just made up a word, it has a nice ring to it.) I didn't get hooked when I first learned, but boy am I hooked now! I started when my youngest was born. I had to stay home with him for a while. I saw some videos on youtube and said hey, I can do that! So I did. I researched the internet and found craft blogs. I thought, I can do that too! And I did. I kept doing it and here I am. I even have a few patterns of my own. I hope to get better, design some more and get better at this blogging thing too.

   When did you get hooked?

image from http://www.crochetspot.com

Laila's Gift Update

Laila's Gift

  My husband's family is visiting this week and his niece's birthday is today! Happy Birthday Laila! My sister-in-law showed me a small notebook where Laila had drawn out some design sketches for clothes. They are pretty fabulous for a 7 year old! I decided to get her a real sketch book for more of her fashion designs. I found a basic sketch book at Michael's and planned to make it more girly and unique to match the birthday girl herself. I forgot to take a before picture, but it was just a basic plain black book. I got some pretty scrapbook paper and cut some fancy vinyl letters with my Cricut. I think fabric would've been better for the background, but this came out great too. The paper has great texture and is very colorful. I used ModPodge to glue it to the book. So here's what I came up with.

Front Cover

Back Cover

 

Inside cover

  

Another Show and Tell

I love when I get emails from people who've made beautiful things from my patterns! It makes me feel like my work is not in vain. Thanks so much! Here is another floppy sun hat made by Drea. She used 2 strands of Vanna's Glamour yarn. Doesn't she look fabulous? I love the way this yarn looks. Thanks for the pic Drea!

Camera Update

A couple posts ago I mentioned that I was getting myself a new camera. Well, I ended up getting the Sony A390 Digital SLR Camera from Amazon.

   I still have much to learn in my photography skills, so a review from me would not be much help to someone who knows what they're doing. I will say that I'm liking it so far. The only downside is that I want to get a new lens so I can zoom in from a farther distance. The camera came with a 18-55mm lens which is not much of a zoom. Lenses for these type of cameras are expensive! I think it will be worth it, once I can afford it..

   Here are a few pics from our 4th of July celebration in our neighborhood. Some of them came out blurry because I was either moving too much or I couldn't get the settings right for the night pictures.

Good action shot!

It's hard to get a good pic of five kids at once!

Giveaway Winner!

It's that time to announce the winner of my birthday giveaway! It's too bad I can't give everyone a prize. To choose the winner, I went to www.random.org. I input the number of comments, and the generator picked number 5. So the prize goes to Kadie! Congratulations!!  This is only my first giveaway, so you will have other chances to win something here on my blog. As always, thanks for visiting and come back soon!

New Camera

I decided to get myself a little something for my 32nd birthday. Wow, 32... Let's not dwell on that. Anyway, I want to order a new digital SLR camera!  I'm trying to look for a good buy, but I'm not too keen on all the tech specs. If anyone has any input about a really good model, please enlighten me. I was looking at the Canon Rebel XS, but someone said that it's an overpriced camera that's not any better than the one I have. Currently I have a 6 year old Panasonic Lumix. Not sure on the model (too lazy to look). I get these errors sometimes when I turn it on. It says to turn it back off and on again which almost never works so I get mad at it and hit it and that works. The abuse must stop. What about this one? It's a Sony Alpha A230Y. It looks like it could do some cool things and capture my crochet stitches in all it's beauty. Help...

image from amazon.com