Nonetheless, I've made some good progress! My goal is to made a blue border around the afghan and I finished knitting and sewing the first one on tonight! Yay!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Day 177-179: Afghan!
After these past couple of days, I can say with experience that it is not a good idea to work on an afghan while it is 90 degrees out and you don't have air conditioning. Just throwing that out there...
Nonetheless, I've made some good progress! My goal is to made a blue border around the afghan and I finished knitting and sewing the first one on tonight! Yay!
Nonetheless, I've made some good progress! My goal is to made a blue border around the afghan and I finished knitting and sewing the first one on tonight! Yay!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Day 172-176: Relapse (Vacation Edition!)
My husband and I spent some time with my family at a lake in Indiana. It was such a delightful time. It was so nice to take a break from everything and just spend time with loved ones. I did a wee bit of knitting, but not enough for me to claim it!
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the last couple of days.
Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the last couple of days.
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| My cute little nephew eating his animal crackers. |
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| Playing Golf (I came in 2nd to last...) |
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| A beautiful cloudy night. |
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| We're on a boat! |
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| Brother/Nephew--cute! |
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| Enjoying the beautiful lake! |
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| Floating |
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| Checking out the castle! |
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Day 171: Writing Letters
Time: 1/2 hour or so
Listening to: Cars driving by, walkers/runners, birds chirping
I wrote some letters today! Nothing too fancy, just pen on paper.
Listening to: Cars driving by, walkers/runners, birds chirping
I wrote some letters today! Nothing too fancy, just pen on paper.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Day 170: Hospital Survival Kit!
Time: ??
Listening to: A mix my hubby made!
My friend is going to be spending some time in the hospital waiting during a family member's surgery--so I thought I'd make her a little hospital survival kit! She is someone who stays so strong and positive during hard times that I just wanted to make sure she knew she was loved!
Included: M&Ms, trail mix, tissues, chapstick, tylenol, tums, worry dolls, a happy toy, and coloring pages & markers!
Listening to: A mix my hubby made!
My friend is going to be spending some time in the hospital waiting during a family member's surgery--so I thought I'd make her a little hospital survival kit! She is someone who stays so strong and positive during hard times that I just wanted to make sure she knew she was loved!
Included: M&Ms, trail mix, tissues, chapstick, tylenol, tums, worry dolls, a happy toy, and coloring pages & markers!
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Day 169: Sewing (new zipper!)
Listening to: A mix my hubby made
I've been lugging around this dress for four years now....a dress with a broken zipper. Finally, FINALLY tonight I put in a new one!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Day 168: Just Because (GIF style)
My husband is so tough.
My husband is so cool.
And I think I am hilarious, obviously.
gif creator at gickr.com
gif creator at gickr.com
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Day 167: Knitting
Time: 1 1/2 hours
Listening to: Nothing!
I had such a day today with my parents and husband in honor of Father's Day! We played games, ate delicious food, took a walk through their jungly/swampy/foresty backyard, and took a drive through the countryside! While we drove around, I was busy knitting away!
Here is my knitting thus far:
Listening to: Nothing!
I had such a day today with my parents and husband in honor of Father's Day! We played games, ate delicious food, took a walk through their jungly/swampy/foresty backyard, and took a drive through the countryside! While we drove around, I was busy knitting away!
Here is my knitting thus far:
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Day 166: Secret project
Time: 1 1/2 hours
Listening to: ??
I worked on another secret project today! More to come!
Listening to: ??
I worked on another secret project today! More to come!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Day 165: Baking Glazed Muffins
Time: Under an hour
Listening to: Patty Griffin
I made these bad boys today...
Listening to: Patty Griffin
I made these bad boys today...
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| Click on the picture to head over to Sweet Pea's Kitchen for the recipe! |
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Day 164: Baking
Time: 1/2 hour?
Listening to: With friends
We were having pizza night at our friend's house and we brought the dessert. We wanted to try out our new cookie bowl pan! Unfortunately, we didn't make the recipe that was provided with the pan. Thus, our first batch overflowed and ended with a flaming ball of cookie dough in the oven! Yikes!
Here is a look at our cookie bowls after the flames...
I then decided to trim off the excess and put them back in! Unfortunately, the temperamental oven didn't cooperate so much so they got a bit burnt...
But they didn't turn out TOO badly! So we popped them off, threw some ice cream and ate them up!
Have you ever had this stuff? I love it!
Listening to: With friends
We were having pizza night at our friend's house and we brought the dessert. We wanted to try out our new cookie bowl pan! Unfortunately, we didn't make the recipe that was provided with the pan. Thus, our first batch overflowed and ended with a flaming ball of cookie dough in the oven! Yikes!
Here is a look at our cookie bowls after the flames...
I then decided to trim off the excess and put them back in! Unfortunately, the temperamental oven didn't cooperate so much so they got a bit burnt...
But they didn't turn out TOO badly! So we popped them off, threw some ice cream and ate them up!
Have you ever had this stuff? I love it!
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| Plus the caps are so cool! |
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| Me! |
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| My Nathan! |
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| Ian! |
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Day 163: Sewing Envelope Pillow
Time: Just over an hour
Listening to: My Week With Marilyn Soundtrack
So I've had my little Oregon embroidery done for a couple weeks now and finally got around to making it into a pillow!
I've made a couple pillows now so I thought I'd give you a little step by step to show how to make an envelope pillow.
First off, you need to measure your pillow form. I've happened to always use square pillows so the long/short side doesn't really matter. Pick the longest side (or your favorite square side) and wrap your measuring tape around it--overlapping 4 inches. Add 3 inches to that. With my square pillow, it ended up that the length would be 30 inches.
The tricky part for my length is that my embroidery piece was not 30 inches long. I measured my little map piece and it was 11 inches. 30-11=19. I wanted my map to be in the center of my pillow so I needed two pieces to sew on each side of my map of 9.5 inches.
Whew!
Ok, now on to your width. Measure the length and add 3-4 inches to that. My width (being a square and all) ended up being roughly 15 inches.
Here is the picture of my map piece sewed together with my two 9.5 inches.
As you can see, my pillow had one more tricky part...
My map fabric piece was only about 11 inches high. And I needed it to be 15 inches! So, I cut two pieces of 30x4...and sewed that to the top and the bottom.
So now my pillow cover is finally the size that it should be at. Now you need to finish the short edges. Fold your fabric over twice and sew down the middle. I left about 1/4 seam allowance but I wasn't too picky.
Ok, now comes the fun part!
With the pertty side up, place your pillow in the middle.
Fold the sewn sides over the pillow so that they overlap by a couple inches.Then pin the two overlapped fabric pieces to secure it.
On the loose sides, draw a line to show you where you want to sew. This seems like you will be closing up your pillow, but you won't! The overlapped parts won't be sewn shut and those act as the envelope part of the pillow.
Once you mark where you want to sew, pull your pillow out and sew two straight lines across the top and bottom--following your lines.
Once you finish your sewing, trim your excess off and you should have a pillow case much closer to the size of your pillow. Here is what mine looked like:
Now flip it inside out and insert your pillow!! Here is my finished back:
Once you make a couple of them, they are so easy! Enjoy!
Listening to: My Week With Marilyn Soundtrack
So I've had my little Oregon embroidery done for a couple weeks now and finally got around to making it into a pillow!
I've made a couple pillows now so I thought I'd give you a little step by step to show how to make an envelope pillow.
First off, you need to measure your pillow form. I've happened to always use square pillows so the long/short side doesn't really matter. Pick the longest side (or your favorite square side) and wrap your measuring tape around it--overlapping 4 inches. Add 3 inches to that. With my square pillow, it ended up that the length would be 30 inches.
The tricky part for my length is that my embroidery piece was not 30 inches long. I measured my little map piece and it was 11 inches. 30-11=19. I wanted my map to be in the center of my pillow so I needed two pieces to sew on each side of my map of 9.5 inches.
Whew!
Ok, now on to your width. Measure the length and add 3-4 inches to that. My width (being a square and all) ended up being roughly 15 inches.
Here is the picture of my map piece sewed together with my two 9.5 inches.
As you can see, my pillow had one more tricky part...
My map fabric piece was only about 11 inches high. And I needed it to be 15 inches! So, I cut two pieces of 30x4...and sewed that to the top and the bottom.
So now my pillow cover is finally the size that it should be at. Now you need to finish the short edges. Fold your fabric over twice and sew down the middle. I left about 1/4 seam allowance but I wasn't too picky.
Ok, now comes the fun part!
With the pertty side up, place your pillow in the middle.
Fold the sewn sides over the pillow so that they overlap by a couple inches.Then pin the two overlapped fabric pieces to secure it.
On the loose sides, draw a line to show you where you want to sew. This seems like you will be closing up your pillow, but you won't! The overlapped parts won't be sewn shut and those act as the envelope part of the pillow.
Once you mark where you want to sew, pull your pillow out and sew two straight lines across the top and bottom--following your lines.
Once you finish your sewing, trim your excess off and you should have a pillow case much closer to the size of your pillow. Here is what mine looked like:
Now flip it inside out and insert your pillow!! Here is my finished back:
Once you make a couple of them, they are so easy! Enjoy!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Day 162: Sewing Swiffer Covers
Time: An hour
Listening to: MasterChef!
So, I made six Swiffer covers this evening. Three were too small to fit onto the Swiffer. Boo. I should probably always turn on my brain when I begin sewing...
Anyways, here are the three finished ones!
Listening to: MasterChef!
So, I made six Swiffer covers this evening. Three were too small to fit onto the Swiffer. Boo. I should probably always turn on my brain when I begin sewing...
Anyways, here are the three finished ones!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Day 161: Drawing
Time: One hour
Listening to: Duets
Just did some goofy doodling tonight! Pretty much a masterpiece, I know...
Listening to: Duets
Just did some goofy doodling tonight! Pretty much a masterpiece, I know...
Favorite Stumbled On Stuff!
I figured once a week or so I would do some JUST FOR FUN posts to show some of the beautiful, fun, and inspirational things I stumbled upon. Here are a couple things I'd like to share!
The church that the wedding we were at this weekend had some fricking beautiful stained glass! Here is a picture that shows off just a sampling!
I want to start making To Do Lists like this one.
I will be making these little caramels soon.
I SO want one of these little recycled swimming pools!
A good reminder to love yourself!
An insight into the secret lives of clouds...
Love love love this spacesuit ballet!
If only I had kept going to my yoga class....yoga breakdancing.
Until next week (or so...)
The church that the wedding we were at this weekend had some fricking beautiful stained glass! Here is a picture that shows off just a sampling!
I want to start making To Do Lists like this one.
I will be making these little caramels soon.
I SO want one of these little recycled swimming pools!
A good reminder to love yourself!
An insight into the secret lives of clouds...
Love love love this spacesuit ballet!
If only I had kept going to my yoga class....yoga breakdancing.
Until next week (or so...)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Day 157-160: Knitting
So we traveled to the greater Pittsburgh area this weekend for our friends' wedding. It was such a fun weekend full of dancing, laughter, and catching up with long lost friends! While I can't say that I knitted everyday this weekend, I did get some quality knitting done during our nice, long car rides!
Here is my knitting thus far (and my feet).
Here is my knitting thus far (and my feet).
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Secret Project Reveal: Wedding Invitations!
Anyways, I thought that this might be a good day to reveal the invitations that I made for their wedding! For privacy sake, I changed most of the info but you still get the idea!
Friday, June 8, 2012
Secret Project Reveal: Wedding Survival Kit!
My friend Molly is getting married tomorrow and I made her this little survival kit for her big day!
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| Inside! |
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| Kleenex, lip stuff, a little bottle of wine, an energy bar, bandaids, and tums! |
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Day 155: Secret Project
Time: An hour or so?
Listening to: So You Think You Can Dance
I worked on a special secret project for a friend this evening. It will be revealed in a couple days!
Listening to: So You Think You Can Dance
I worked on a special secret project for a friend this evening. It will be revealed in a couple days!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Day 154: Knitting
Time: One hour
Listening to: MSW
To help tie together my afghan I'm going to knit two blue sections to put on the sides. I'm making them about half the width of the three large pieces. Here is what I have so far:
Listening to: MSW
To help tie together my afghan I'm going to knit two blue sections to put on the sides. I'm making them about half the width of the three large pieces. Here is what I have so far:
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Day 153: Writing (Poems)
Time: A couple hours
Listening to: Quiet!
I had such a nice morning today with coffee, my sketch pad, and a pen in hand. I was busy writing down some poems that have been fluttering around in my head for a bit. They are in no ways ready to be shared but I thought I'd start sharing some poems I'd written a while ago and recently reworked. Here is one of them.
Listening to: Quiet!
I had such a nice morning today with coffee, my sketch pad, and a pen in hand. I was busy writing down some poems that have been fluttering around in my head for a bit. They are in no ways ready to be shared but I thought I'd start sharing some poems I'd written a while ago and recently reworked. Here is one of them.
urgency
the cold air strikes my face
strongly
enough to cause shivers.
it looks different here than the last time
at least
it feels different…colder.
natural
and unnatural
lights sprinkle themselves onto the black current.
dark forms of fallen Maple leaves
rush along the
river top
the faint buzz of traffic competes
with the roar of the
moving
stream in front of me.
the fear of change is in the air—
faster
the water runs as if going faster
it might be able to catch its breath.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Day 152: Knitting
Time: 2 1/2 hours
Listening to: A Man Named Pearl and Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
I finally stitched together my afghan pieces!
I think I'm going to do two more blue pieces so make it all flow together.I kind of like the lap blanket size right now but I keep picturing a large, super comfy afghan to cuddle up with...so I think I'll just keep adding to it.
I first pieced it together with safety pins. Here is it after the pinning:
Here is the back to show you how I stitched it up:
Listening to: A Man Named Pearl and Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter
I finally stitched together my afghan pieces!
I think I'm going to do two more blue pieces so make it all flow together.I kind of like the lap blanket size right now but I keep picturing a large, super comfy afghan to cuddle up with...so I think I'll just keep adding to it.
I first pieced it together with safety pins. Here is it after the pinning:
Here is the back to show you how I stitched it up:
Friday, June 1, 2012
Day 151: Cooking Chicken Topped with Avocado Salsa
So my husband and I made a delicious meal that I thought I'd share. First off, we cooked some chicken. For ease, we threw them in the oven, but next time we're going to grill them to get that nice smokey flavor. Then, we topped it off with this delicious avocado salsa. We didn't have all of the ingredients so below is my altered recipe.
Chicken Topped with Delicious Avocado Salsa (mmmm!)
1 tomato
2 avocados
1 cup of corn
1 can of black beans , drained
Pepper, Salt, Dried Parsley
1 bunch of green onion (we didn't actually have this but it would have been tasty)
Mix drained black beans, corn, and diced tomato into a large bowl. Place drained black beans and corn into a large bowl. Dice up the tomato and green onions and add them in the bowl. Season with pepper, salt, dried parsley--checking to make sure it is tasty. Add the chopped avocado--mixing gently.
Throw it over some chicken--or later we added it to scrambled eggs. So delicious!
Chicken Topped with Delicious Avocado Salsa (mmmm!)
1 tomato
2 avocados
1 cup of corn
1 can of black beans , drained
Pepper, Salt, Dried Parsley
1 bunch of green onion (we didn't actually have this but it would have been tasty)
Mix drained black beans, corn, and diced tomato into a large bowl. Place drained black beans and corn into a large bowl. Dice up the tomato and green onions and add them in the bowl. Season with pepper, salt, dried parsley--checking to make sure it is tasty. Add the chopped avocado--mixing gently.
Throw it over some chicken--or later we added it to scrambled eggs. So delicious!