A New Perspective

So...I haven't posted in a while- a long while. I went to China to teach for 3 weeks this summer and the experience was AMAZING! Then I spent the rest of the summer visiting family, back to work, and here we are!

I read the Happiness Project over the summer and it was really enlightening. I have made a commitment to myself to live the best life I can. My craft goal is to make one sewing project every month (my wonderful husband made me a spectacular craft table and room that I absolutely love!) Here is the project I made in September:

This is the front of the quilt. It is just a panel that I picked up, but I love the colours.

The back is a green checked flannel. It is very soft and cuddly.

Cheers!

Monkey Business

Well, I am three quarters of the way finished the sock monkey I am making (just for fun). I just need o finish the arms tail and ears. I wanted to finish this before I left for China, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen!








This is the body and muzzle.

Cheers!
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The Small Things

While I was tucking my eldest daughter into bed tonight, I noticed some thoughtful 'coupons' on her door - some for physical activity as a family, some for her to make us dinner, and some for doing extra chores - just ask! How thoughtful! It is times like these that I am so proud of he young lady she is growing up to be, and especially grateful she is in my life!






And finally, I added to my garden this year!





























Cheers!

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Baby Afghan

Well, the other day I finished an afghan for my nephew (he's only three months old!) but it is finally done! Each niece, nephew and my dad's children received one (as well as my own!) My grandma taught me how to crochet these before she passed away (20 years ago). The technique is called hairpin lace, and you need a loom to make it on.



I just love the way it looks.

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Knitting Bag

School is out, summer has started! Life is grand! One of my colleagues retired this year and she is an avid knitter. We decided that a knitting bag full of a few supplies would be a nice gift, so I went to find a pattern and material. I rummaged through my supply of patterns I purchased but had not used and came across one from Whistlepig Creek Productions #1145 Charming Totes.
I used a Moda Charm pack for the squares and handles and some scrap material for the inside pockets, lining and cuff. It turned out fabulously! I made a cute little tag for the inside so she would know where the bag came from following this tutorial.

Valentine's Day

Phew! It has been a busy couple of weeks. I was out of town for a few days, then back home, made a bunch of Valentine's Day treats for the girls to take to school, then off to Fort Frances for a hockey tournament and swim meet!

Hannah's team came in first! Lauren swam personal best times in all of her events! It was a great weekend!

Here are the treats the girls and I made for Valentine's Day for their classes. Hannah's was a stamp that was a picture frame with two little hearts in the inside. I coloured the stamp in using Copic markers. We wrote a little message in the inside and she wrote her name. So cute!

Lauren's Valentines were stamped with a cupcake stamp from our stash. She stamped each one herself! I coloured in the stamp, and she wrote her own messages to each of her friends.

Then we filled the bags (from the dollar store) with cinnamon hearts, heart ju jubes, and heart chocolates. We sealed the bags with Valentine's stickers!

The girls were very excited to hand them out to all of their friends!

Craft Crazy

Last weekend, I went to Winnipeg with a girlfriend, and while I was gone, Adam put in pot lights over my craft bench! It has been a very busy week running around to various activities, and I wasn't able to craft, but I made up for it today!

First, I decided to cover some clipboards to pretty them up for work (a girl always has to have pretty organizing tools!)

I made a large standard sized clipboard, and a smaller one that I can slip into my school bag when I travel from school to school!

Then, I made a card for a friend who just had a baby (but I attached it upside down and had to get creative with the inside!)

And finally, I am working on a project for teachers I work with, sticky note holders! I got the idea from a web video and thought that it was the perfect year end gift from me. Aren't they adorable!

Cup a' Cake

So it was just Hannah and I today hanging around the house. We were craving something sweet and I remembered a gift my secret santa gave me at work (thanks Gerrie) - Cup a' Cake.

It came with a cup, cake mix, and icing. It was super easy to make, all we did was dump in the cake mix, add water and oil and microwave! Once it cooled, we made the icing (added water) and poured it over and voila!

It was French Vanilla and it was delicious! We decided to be very bad (because no one else was home), we shared it on the couch!

Birthday Parties

Phew, we made it through two birthday parties! We are good for another year! Hannah had a rock band/sliding party - and did they rock out! Lauren had a craft and scrapbook party!

First, we made flower pens - have a look at some of the bouqets.

I made a few extras to have on hand, and they make a lovely addition to my craft room!

These are super easy to make, all you need are a few pens, some glue, artificial flowers, and floral tape. First, you take the end off of the pen, and dab a bit of glue. Next, you cut most of the stem off of the flower and put it in the end of the pen. Finally, you use the floral tape and begin taping at the bottom of the pen where you write. Tape all the way to the top, including a bit of the flower and you are finished!

Here are the paperbag scrapbooks we made! The first one is Lauren's that she made last spring.

Here is Hannah's:

These are also quite easy to make. We made them using 5 paper bags!

Finally, I made this cute card for a friend. I have discovered Stickles, which I love!

This card was created using the Create a Critter cartridge. I used Stickles on the cheeks of the duck and sun, and on the wings of the duck, outline of the sun, and the brackets!

Cheers!

Picturesque

This was the picture of the harbour front as we drove back from Hannah's hockey game last night. It was so cold and such a pretty view with all of the chimney stacks going. We had to stop and take a picture.

Hannah went to her first sock hop last night with all of the girls in the hockey tournament. Her coach was so kind and gave all of the girls a pair of funky socks.  Here are hers:

And finally, her team won fourth place medals! I am so proud of her! She was a superstar!

 

Owl Thinking of You Card

I made this card yesterday.  Here is the recipe:

• The background is Basicgrey Aged & Confused Phresh & Phunky Phinesse.
• I used the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge and cut the owl, branch and leaves at 2 1/2".
• The background for the letters is just some green dot paper I had (as are the leaves and green in the owl) and was cut at 2" using the phrase for the racoon in the Create a Critter cartridge.
• The lettering was from the Alphalicious Cricut cartridge and was cut at 1".
• The dark pink on the own is Basicgrey Lollipop Shoppe Raspberry. The light pink and orange cardstock is just from my scraps.
• I cut the corners of the background and card using the We R Memory Keepers corner punch at 1/4".
• I inked around the border of the card using Martha Stewart inks in Brownstone.
• I used the Cuttlebug Spots and Dots embossing folder for the tree branch.
• I used pop dots on the owl and branch.

Hope you have a great day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I am looking forward to an exciting 2011. I love fresh flowers. My lovely husband brought these home yesterday. Can you believe the stores were actually open!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!