I love you Mom.

I've been on a nice little vacation for the past few days so I decided to get back to basics and work up some crochet projects. Here's a pic of a few water bottle holders I made for me and the kids :)

Well I know it seems like its been forever since I've posted and that's because it has been! I've been uber busy with all kinds of stuff. But not to let anyone down, here's a few projects I worked on the past few months.

This first pic is of a tank top I made for a friend/co-worker for her anniversary. She and he hubby were getting remarried in Vegas and she wanted a little something special to wear while sight seeing.



This next pic is a baby set I made for another friend/co-worker who's sister was having a baby.



I have to admit, making the baby set was much easier than the tank top. I had to resize the top a few times to get it to fit properly but Robin was a good sport in understanding that although I followed the pattern exactly, it just wasn't gonna fly. I won't get into too much detail about why it wasn't fitting right other than to say there was too much up top to cover that it needed a few more rows across the back to button properly. I'm just glad that in the end she was happy with it and that with all my crocheting experience I was able to ditch the pattern and make it fit!

I have a few smaller projects in the works atm but being that the weather is getting warmer here and most of them are for Christmas, I'm being a little lazy and have been doing more reading than crocheting lately. Well, I'm off to start some chores and hopefully I won't be away from here as long as I was last time. Thanks for reading!

Just the other day I received my reveal package from my Spring Secret Pal - losingmymind2 from Crochetville. Her are pics of the great stuff that was inside:





Not shown in the pics are some great things she sent along for my two younger children - giant crayons and a coloring book for my daughter and a wooden toolbox kit that my son can build for himself. I received so many great things during the course of this swap. My partner was totally awesome, and was a great pen pal to correspond with. She was also very sneaky in that she had a few of her C'ville friends keep me off her track by having them send me a couple of packages during the swap. Now that's a "crafty" lady if I ever met one! Thank you so much for your generosity and kindness. It was a pleasure getting to know you better. I loved everything I received so much.

Today I got another great package from my Spring Secret pal at the 'Ville. Here's a bunch of pics of what was inside...








I can't wait to find out who you are! Thanks so much for spoiling me and I love everything you've sent so far!

Just wanted to say Hoppy Easter to all my friends and family. Hope you all have a great day and get lots of chocolate!!!!!

Last week I started a new job as a bank teller. Now that I've been fingerprinted and cleared by the Feds I feel a bit "over qualified" for crocheting! lol naw just teasing. Anyhoo, in the midst of starting the job and doing training and orientation and blah blah blah, I received two lovely packages from my Secret Leapling. Here's the goodies she sent.



The first was a nice card with handmade stitch markers inside. Did you notice the frog? It's a leapling thing....

The second package totally blew me away....



Now I have to admit, I've only been through the book about half a dozen times and each time I find more things in it I want to make! I have the best Secret Pal ever! Thank you so much!

I finally received my Kitchen Swap package from Chrissyf at C'ville today. Here are pics of all the great stuff I received:


Caramel filled chocolates (yum), 2 skeins of cotton yarn, an angel dishcloth and a scrubbie...


Two reversible potholders/hotpads (side one view)...


Two reversible potholders/hotpads (side two view)...


A large square trivet and a small star shaped hotpad...


Two oven mitts (way cool!)...


Three dishtowels. The flowered ones are completely crocheted! I think they are just the coolest! Yup, another pattern I'd love to have...

Thanks so much Chrissyf for your generosity. I had a great time swapping with you.

I joined the C'ville Spring Secret Pal Swap last month which is really kinda neat. I have a "known" pal I send to and then an "unknown" pal who sends to me. After lunch there came a knocking on the door and to my suprise I received a lovely poncho from my unknown. Here are some pics:





I love the colors and am completely baffled as to the stitching pattern! Maybe when the swap is over I can ask my pal how it was done...

Today's Headliner....

Doodles of a Mad Man and Easter Present From Awesome Gram!

So I'm talking to my friend Silver this morning about the usual retarded crap we tend to waste our time discussing when he asks me if I've receieved a silver envelope in the mail yet and if I liked my present. And of course I'm like wtf are you talking about??? So after a brief discussion I find that I should be expecting said envelope in the mail as well as one he sent awhile ago for Valentine's Day. We're hoping the V-Day one is taking a tad longer because its an unusual sized envelope. Anyhoo I went to go get the mail today and lo and behold there's a silver package! To my suprise what was inside you ask???? Well a beautifully hand written note (he has the most awesome handwriting for a guy imo) with oodles of mindless doodles - here, take a peek...





Now tucked in along with this note I find a lil sumpin sumpin from his Gram who's simply the most awesome and giving lady you could imagine. Gram and I share a fondness for crocheting and crafts and I'm constantly sending off pictures to Sil to show off my latest creation to both him and Gram to get their feedback. Well wasn't I suprised to find this made by Gram for lil 'ole me...





So today was like a mini Christmas for me and I greatly appreciate what both Sil and Gram have done to make this day a bit more special for me. Thank you both so very much. /big hugs

My Kitchen swap partner Chrissyf finally got her package the other day and I've been slacking in posting the pics. Hopefully she doesn't mind but I'm using the pics she posted since they're much nicer than the ones I took with my crappy digicam.





Here's what I sent in list form:

Notebook
Notepad
recipe box with two recipes and a bag of candy
a great breast cancer ribbon soap
a peaches and cream candle
cherry coasters
6 dishcloths
a dish sponge
a scrubbie
2 towels with toppers
3 hot pads
1 oven mitt
2 balls of kitchen cotton

I'm so glad she and her family liked everything. I had a great time with this swap.

OK This is just too funny (imho) to pass up posting.....

Introducing Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terrorist

Well here's another one of those silly surveys. This one is also about Valentine's Day. I ended up as:

You are Chocolate-Covered Strawberries!

You are one of the sweetest dishes of the Romantic Food World, a favorite for wedding feasts (and honeymoon suites)! You would travel back in time if possible to relive your favorite sentimental moments, and you can experience pure bliss just holding hands with your beloved. But you're also a little sassy — so for this Valentine's Day, consider unusual places to serve the strawberries.

Don't ya' just love the silly little things on the net that people create/find that enable us to amuse ourselves for a good 5-10 minutes? Here's the latest from my friends at C'ville:




Ooh, your Valentine is in for a treat. You're crazy in love, and you're prepared to show it. You seem like the kind of person who goes all out when you fall for someone. You'll plan romantic surprises, spend way too much on gifts, and shower your honey-bun in hugs and kisses. Your friends might think you've gone overboard, but we think it's cute that you're "mad 4" someone. We hope that person is just as "mad 4 U" in return.

Take the test here.

Well last night I somehow managed to clear out the entire house - well almost. The soon to be ex-MIL was taken to the airport for a flight to FL (she won't be back until Sunday), the soon to be ex-hub went to work his afternoon shift, the 18yo does whatever he can think of doing just to not be home, and the 3yo slept at her aunt's house. So was just me, my 9yo - Dawson, and the dog. So in our fun night together, we made banana muffins, playing some games and worked on his computer. Sadly he has Vista and not all the internet games he likes to play are compatible with it yet. We finished off the evening with a Mom's Room sleepover which he thought was great. Anyway, during his bedtime routine, I managed to snip all the loose threads on my latest creation - Chocolate Covered Cherry. Sorry these pics aren't the greatest even though I managed to get an exact replica of my stolen digicam it doesn't take pics as nicely as the one I used to have.




My "new" cam seems to make everything yellowish so I figured you might like to know the colors I used which are: Red Heart cherry chip, chocolate, magenta, and buff then Caron Pounder in white. I have enough scraps left over that I've started making some 6" granny squares which I'll put together to make another afghan at some point. Been thinking of doing some more threadwork lately just haven't found a pattern I want to make yet. That just sounds so silly considering I must have thousands of patterns between my own library and what's available on the net these days! Well I'm off to make some more squares. Have a great day!

Now that I'm feeling a wee bit better, I ran over to Dawn's site and "hacked" at the pics she took of the things I sent her. :D Sadly I had several pics I took of them before I sent her package but my 18yo son decided this year he wanted to give everyone Christmas presents and resorted to stealing and selling my digital camera (along with numerous other items out of my room). So here are the pics:




I really had a great time making things for Dawn. While getting to know more about her during this swap, she told me how she lost alot of things in a housefire awhile back - many ornaments, dolls her Grandmother made for her, etc. I tried to not replace those things she lost because no matter how hard I would have tried, I could never have accomplished such a feat, but I did try to create new loves and fondness for those things she lost and solidify her fantastic memories of those items. Sometimes memories are wonderful and meaning and sentimental and soothing for the soul. But when you can look at something that sparks one of those memories, sometimes its simply more magical. I hope I managed to make Dawn some magical strolls down memory lane with the things I sent. Either way, I had a really fun time making them. I hope you all enjoy seeing them as much.

Even though I'm fighting a small bout of bronchitis at the moment, I finally managed to snap a few pics of the great stuff I received from my C'ville Christmas Swap partner, Dawn. She sent so much stuff I could hardly believe my eyes! So without further ado let's get to the pics.....









So here's a partial list of some of the great things I received:

a gorgeous afghan in great Christmas colors
french vanilla color changing candle
nail polish, nail stickers, manicure set
vanilla rose bath set
cinnamon bun candles
hand towels
handmade dish clothes
collectible kitchen fairy (egg nog pose)
stuffed snowman and reindeer baby
handmade tree shaped ornie
necklace and earrings
crochet thread and yarn
sewing patterns
crochet hooks, patterns, magazines and leaflets
porcelain fairy/angel doll (totally gorgeous!)
candies, cocoa, coffee and assorted goodies
frosty returns movie for the family
a bunch of goodies and gifts for my kiddies
and soooooo much more.....

I was totally spoiled by Dawn this year and even though she spent some of her time in the hospital during the swap, I simply can't believe how much she managed to do! Thank you so much to my new friend Dawn for your generosity. I truly loved everything! But now I must get back to bed since I believe my Nyquil is finally kicking in....

Found this today and just had to share:

Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE coffee. Nothing special just plain old Maxwell House with a little sugar and milk, half n' half, or cream and I'm good to go all day and night. Oddly enough NOTHING in my kitchen is coffee themed! Go figure!! However, while taking a stroll through Wally World (aka Walmart) the other day, I found the neatest dishtowels that were coffee themed so I just had to give towel topping a whirl. Here's my first attempt:



I don't think it turned out too bad. How about you? Close up: