New Year, Same Ol' Me

Well, Hola Amigos! Hope you're having a wonderful year so far. - Ok, so we're a little over a week into the new year, but a girl can be optimistic, right?! 


I've been trying to come down off of the holiday high. You know, the world draped in lights and the smell of scotch tape; Christmas trees and endless baked goods. We all got sick after Christmas, so that hasn't been a whole lot of fun. All the coughing , runny noses, tissues blanketing every available surface ... makes me wonder why we even got flu shots! At least I now have that cool lounge singer sexy voice. Look out, Kathleen Turner! 

  December 31st, we did have to take a trip to the emergency room because we thought one of the boys broke his foot. Ended up being a bad sprain. He wore a plaster splint for a little less than a week. He's fine now. Wouldn't know a thing is wrong with him. Kids are crazy resilient. I would still be milking that injury.

So, I know resolutions are cliche, and a lot of people think "What's the point?", but I'm going to make a few anyway.

This year, these are just some of the things I would like to accomplish:

•  publish at least one original pattern. 
• Become more organized 
• De-Clutter my house 
• Finish projects I start - or have started in the past that need completing.
• be more optimistic
• make and post items in my Etsy shop 

Whew ! Just tying that out took a lot out of me. Lol  -- Also, I want to get my lato fixed because I have no working letter "p" on my keyboard and the top row with all my numbers and symbols don't work , so I constantly have to copy and paste everything - or wait for spell check to catch it. That can get very annoying, very fast.

What are your thoughts on resolutions? Did you make any?
 

Fail Whale

Leave it to me to be the queen of inconsistent blogging. Hooray ! 

Even harder for me now because my backspace doesn't work and no working letter 'p' on my keyboard . So I have to copy and paste it, or wait for my spell check to catch it and fix it for me. 
Oh !  and my numbers and symbols above all the letters don't work either >.<  Thank goodness for 10 key or I wouldn't have any numbers at all. Even then, the four isn't working and I don't feel like copy and pasting that right now lol 

 Hope you  have been well.  Life has been getting weird here at my house. The boys are a few weeks away from turning 5, and I have no clue where the last 5 years have gone. They're these constantly changing little people and sometimes it is really hard to wrap my brain around all this.

Working on a lot of things right now. Christmas knitting/crocheting/sewing is in full swing, and I am determined to get things done early this year. Have product for my Etsy shop that needs to be listed - stitch markers -Yay!

Speaking of my Etsy shop, several months ago - I started making Blythe doll clothes. Now, I am by no means a professional seamstress - in fact, I've only been sewing for the last four years or so. I think the clothes are pretty cute. Need to list a new dress soon :D Check them out here if you get a chance [even if you aren't a doll person, chances are you know someone who is ;) ] 

Well, I must be heading off. Lots of crafting to do. Time to make the coffee. 

Happy Valentine's Day, Blog friends!

I know loads of people look down on this day with  hatred, deeming it as nothing more than holiday of consumerism. While I totally agree that too many stores want to push over-priced & useless crap in your face, I think that it is fine and dandy to be a sappy human being and embrace a "no cash value" part  Valentines Day.

I challenge you to embrace today. Not as a day of grossly inappropriate sex-crazed couples , but as a day love for your fellow man. Love is great because it comes in all levels, and taking a moment to recognize that you love another person should not have to be looked down upon -- even if the love exchanged is purely platonic. It reminds us that even in this big universe of confusion and constant change, we are not alone; We have each other. There's no shame in that. I love my family. I love my friends. I love my dog. I love yarn. I love crafting!

So, there it is. I love you reader, and I hope you have a wonderful day!


 P.S - Stay tuned because I am making a cake today, and in the next few days I will be posting a recipe for a S U P E R  easy home made butter cream frosting. So easy, it will make your head spin! (Not really, no one wants a spinning head. I've had the spins before, and all it lead to was puking, and no one wants that either. Why am I rambling about puke? Wasn't this supposed to be a nice post? I think I need to stop now before I make us both grossed out.)

Clean up, Clean up

Did a little re-vamp on the blog? Do you like? *waves arms around*

Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da Funk (Emo Wednesday Edition)

I don't know if it's this cloudy weather (I doubt it, it just started raining today) , but I am having one hell of a time getting craftually motivated. Yes... Craftually.

Waiting on an invite from Pinterest (I finally caved) in hopes that I will get inspired. I'm just not feeling it, and it's frustrating. I tried working on new stitch markers, and almost ended up in tears because the stuff I made looked awful.

I'll do what I can and blame the heat. Maybe getting out of the house tomorrow will help. I need to find it, but I was reading this article online that was talking about ways to stay creative and inspired. One of the main points they touched on was to get unplugged from time to time: Step away from the laptop, cell phone, the tv and just get yourself outside (weather permitting). I know that around here, it's a lot easier to talk walks in Spring and Fall. The heat of the summer and those cold winds of the winter months can make being outside a grueling task. Point being: Get yourself outside and be inspired by nature.

This is a quick post andI must be off, but I will leave you with this song. It popped in my head earlier today, and I haven't been able to get it out. Back in the day, I used to listen to Portishead.. A lot. I know they're not considered "emo", but the tone of the song feels about right for today.

Hope you all are doing well! Let me know what you do to stay creative. :)

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

Serious. Gratitude .

I was just reading my last post about being an inconsistent blogger. NO KIDDING! I wrote that back in May. That's just sad. Seriously.

 Quite a bit has been going on around here. Went to my first craft night over at HipStitch a few weeks ago, and caught one hell of a sewing bug. I did a little knitting and crocheting that night, while everyone else was sewing. A big thank you goes out to moxiemandie for inviting me. Really hoping to make that a regular thing.
Decided to try a project that made me a little nervous (Sewing with a zipper? Me?! Never!). Did some YouTube research, and off I went. Ended up with this.

Hook and Notions Bag

 Not too shabby, right? Of course, it occurs to me that I probably should have used interfacing - but it was my first attempt so I'm not going to beat myself up over that. I'm still happy with it. I wanted to try making a zippered bag, because my goal was to make a nice one for my bestie (aka @defysocietyarts). I love making things for her, because she truly appreciates handmade gifts. Of course, everything I make her she very well could make herself (She's very talented), but it's always nice to make things for the people you love.

Hook and Notions bag for my bestie :)

 I did this one the right way! Used interfacing, and even pressed the fabric (Which I never do!) She loves it, and that makes me very happy :)

I would like to end this post by taking a moment to thank a few people. I have been the recipient of some amazing generosity from several of my Twitter friends. I'm not going to get into specifics of the gifts, because it would just feel like bragging, but I am sincerely grateful for awesome people.

Many, many, many thanks to @atknitsend , @sillygirlsarah and @moxiemandie

“Why did you do all this for me?" he asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.'
You have been my friend,' replied Charlotte. 'That in itself is a tremendous thing.”
― E.B. White, Charlotte's Web

Long time gone

I have a bad habit of not being consistent. Especially when it comes to blogging. It's horrible, too, because I really do love to blog. To make matters worse, I'm constantly coming up with ideas, and think "This would be GREAT to blog about."

Yeah.

I fail.

Anyhow, I've been on a crafty bender as of late. Doing some painting, got into making mexican pop art magnets (which the boys destroyed). Doing my research on craft resin. Thinking about giving that a whirl.

Very proud of the piece I made for my Mom for Mother's Day :

'Reina del Cielo' / 'Queen of Heaven'

I'd been wanting to do a project that involved embroidery and felt. After giving her the gift, I found out that May is the month of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Makes sense now, since Mother's Day is in May and all >.<

Until next time!

Happy Crafting! 
- fal00la