National Craft Month: Projects In Progress

I've been working on MULTIPLE projects the past couple of weeks. One being our master bathroom! Hooray! Here are links to some of the things that I have been working on, in case you feel like giving it a try too! I am sure you have seen them around on craftgawker or Pinterest if you are a daily browser like me :)
NOTE: Click on image OR the link above the image for the source of all these amazing creations!

Tissue Rosette Kissing Balls from Amy Huntley of 'The Idea Room'

When I first spotted this crafty idea, I immediately said "oh this is easy, I can do that!" It's easy, until you start to over-obsess about the perfection of the rosettes..... That was my problem and I had to keep am reassuring myself that "it doesn't NEED to be perfect." Amy created an excellent tutorial and a VERY helpful video to go along with it!

Below, is my results of her tutorial and my rosette skills. I think my rosettes are smaller and more squished than Amy's, but I am liking how it is turning out. I am also using a light blue crepe paper to add it as a decorative piece for our new bathroom!



The beginning.........



Half-way through and not too shabby, if I say so myself......

 Makes you want to try it, doesn't it?



 Envelope Pillow Case from Marissa of 'Rae Gun Ramblings'

I absolutely CANNOT wait to try this out! I have written down all the instructions and know just the pillows that need a good cover. This tutorial is seriously the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making pillow cases. Once I figured out how simple this project really was, SOOOOO many ideas came into my mind. The case is just the beginning, you can add embellishments, appliques, fabric rosettes, or even use some freezer paper to create a stencil and paint on your design with fabric paint...... Like I said, SOOOOO many ideas!

Easy Strawberry Fields Bricks Quilt as seen on Moda Bake Shop.

Designed by Amy Smith of Diary Of A Quilter

Tell me you don't love this? I sure do! When I couldn't find any shower curtains for our shower stall that really called to me, I decided that I was crafty enough to try sewing a quilt-like one of my own. This could end up being a complete fail, but I am keeping faith! Anywho.... I went on a Google mission for easy quilt patterns and this one was the winner.

I am using different fabric choices than the ones above, except I am keeping the white squares. I also plan on adjusting the width and most likely the length to accommodate my need for it to be a shower curtain. I'll keep you posted!

P.S. Moda Bake Shop is a GREAT website to check out, if you already haven't, for fabric and patterns!

Crocheted Wool-Eater Blanket from Sarah London

You're running to get your hook and yarn aren't you? I don't think I have used "love" (or air quotes) enough in this post, so here it is one more time.... I LOVE this pattern from Sarah London! There are two patterns, square and oblong. This is a great way to use up scraps, but also a great reason to get more yarn if you are set on a color scheme. I am doing a rainbow-ish blanket to brighten up the couch in the library/second living room.

SIDE NOTE: Sarah's instructions are in UK terms. If you use US terms, make sure you translate her instructions before you get started. 

 

I am only partially done with it (maybe halfway?), and get excited with each new color I add. Would you believe that I already had every single one of those colors? I think it will be a perfect addition, especially with spring around the corner!



Crochet: Marianne's Granny Stripes

It's been awhile, I know. But, you just might forgive me after I share this bit of crochet with you.

It's a Granny!

I started this throw/blanket around the end of December and JUST now finished it...edging and all. Keep in mind, I get side-tracked often and tend to wander off to other projects. You know how it is, you find that mind-blowing idea and have to try it, RIGHT NOW!
Anyways, I made this specifically for a special person in my little family's life, she is my uncles mother-in-law, Marianne. She is an all around great person to be around and we love her dearly. I've always wanted to do something nice for her and for some reason, when I found a Granny Stripe tutorial from Lucy at Attic 24, it screamed for me to make it just for Marianne. I absolutely LOVE the colors in Lucy's blanket and am definitely putting it on my "Must Do For Self" project list. I think the earth tones are nice too though :)

Sooooooo many stripes! I think I counted 90?



Love this picture!

 For the edging of the blanket, I did a round of granny (same as Lucy), a round of single crochet (white), a round of half-double crochet (blue), and finished it off with a round of double crochet through the BACK LOOPS ONLY (brown). Easy-peasy...due to my attempt at a scallop edge failing.

Yay for another project being completed! Now to get to those etsy openers..........................



Free Inspiration On A Cloudy Day

During a little break, I was browsing through Pinterest and came across a pin with free patterns from Amy Butler design! Don't let the eye-catching quilt below upset you if you are not a quilter, there's more than just quilts!



(click picture for link)



Once I have some "free-time," (if that's even safe to say anymore), I am digging in to my pile of scraps and attempting to create a couple of the patterns .....with my own little twist, of course. Seriously, look through the site and be inspired!

Learning Embroidery

The past few days around here have been snowy and cold, so I decided to mess around with something new, embroidery! Inspiration to learn the technique came from a piece of fabric that I picked out for a present that my friend, Liz requested. She adores my scrap fabric embroidery rings on my wall :)

I started by searching for tutorials on basic stitches and found an excellent one that I was able to print out here from DMC. Now, the nice thing that I learned from my venture in to the embroidery world, is that you can stitch free-hand, and since I like to doodle, this kind of got me a little pumped. However, there are patterns out there in case "doodling" isn't your thing. I found a bunch that I am excited to try from Andrea Zuill of 'Badbird's'. Below is one of her designs that I used to practice a few different stitches.

Since I was in the learning process, I just used scrap fabric and leftover burlap from the wedding that I had on hand. Although, I noticed that the majority of people use a muslin canvas for their work and the large gaps in the burlap make it a little tricky to work with. I think it turned out pretty neat though!



Special Olympics 2012

As you recall, in my 'Getting Involved!!' post, I started working on scarves for the Washington State Special Olympics 2012 program. Well, with the holidays and our wedding out of the way, I have FINALLY finished both scarves and am ready to share them with you!

I took the opportunity to try new patterns and enjoyed making both of them! The yarn I used for both was the required Red Heart Super Saver Soft Navy & Cherry Red. For the scarf below, I chose the 'Brilliant Ripple Scarf' pattern from Lion Brand. However, as usual, I changed the pattern, I used a single strand and NOT double to create the 'tweed' effect as the pattern states.

The husband likes the ripples...........



For the second scarf, I chose the 'Be Proud Scarf' pattern from Red Heart. It was one of the four provided options for this year. However, I ended up having to shorten the amount of rows in the pattern due to my width getting close to the 6" max limit. 

 I like this one :)

I am sure these two happy scarves are going to find their way to an even happier home! While doing this project, I was inspired to keep the contributions/donations going and participate with as many organizations as I can. I am also creating a goal of doing at least double the amount of scarves for NEXT years Special Olympics!

New Year = New Resolutions

Considering that I have not been the faithful blogger lately, I should fire myself. Unfortunately, one of my resolutions for this new year is to be a consistent blogger. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves.....

Since my last post, MANY things have happened. Some are super exciting and some... not so much. As you know, I was planning my wedding. Well, a couple of weeks before the big day, my sweet little kitty (the one in the picture to the left), had to be put to sleep. Her old age finally got to her and it was her time. I will miss her very much.

On the brighter side of life, we are officially married!! The whole day was an amazing experience and went by SO fast! None of it could have been possible without all the friends and family involved. I do have to say, that is A LOT of work for the shortest day in your entire life...... completely worth it though!



Smile! We're married!


Next, came Christmas!! I seriously attempted to make as many gifts as I could and can't wait for this year to try all the projects that I just didn't have time for. I failed at taking pictures of most of the gifts (bad me!), but here are a couple that I DID take.



My first attempt at a marble style ornament!



My White Elephant gift!



 Surprisingly, to me anyways, is that my crocheted blanket was a big hit at the family white elephant gift exchange. The pattern is 'Wavy Stripes Beach Blanket' from 'crochet today!' July/August 2011 issue. If you are familiar with the issue/pattern, I obviously changed the colors and instead of using the suggested yarn, I used Caron Simply Soft.

Finally, we are at the New Year and with every new year comes new resolutions! So, here they are:

1. Organize the ENTIRE house - this is ambitious, but I would LOVE to know where everything is! 2 years in to our new house and I feel like we are still moving in....
2. Keep up with blog - see, I can't "fire" myself!
3. Create an Etsy account - another ambitious item on my list! I've been intimidated to create one (still am), but you will never know unless you try, right?

Let's not forget, with the new year came a new......... PUPPY!!!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, a great start to the New Year. Here's to 2012 and whatever it has to offer us!

Breaking The Habit!

I have become so consumed with wedding, wedding, Carson's big 2nd birthday, more wedding and Halloween that I have lost my focus on being a fabulous blogger and sharing my projects! Although, I have been doing nothing but crocheting the same table doily, that there really isn't much that is new. How boring am I?!?

It's ok, I am about to knock your socks of with the cutest Luigi you have ever seen and a couple of great birthday party shots!

My little Luigi!



          



Carson and Clara, (too cute!) This is probably my favorite and DEFINITELY getting framed!



Gotta love these! And kids parties! They are the best (and the most exhausting)! In the end, it was a great weekend and another milestone. It's still hard for me to believe that my sweet, precious little baby boy is now 2! I enjoy the little moments every day blesses me with because everyone was right, they DO grow up fast!