Not So Random Thoughts

Sharing Some Love For the Crafty People

2012-01-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

What I was inspired by today: "Red gown with beading" by Chibirinoa on Craftster.

"I just completed a new gown for the Red Dress Fashion show at my college to benefit World Aids Day...The bulk of the work went into the big beaded motif in the center panel, it's made up of lots of bugle and seed beads in a couple of different colors. I had a really fun time with it since it was the first time I used different colors in a beaded motif. The rest of the gown was pretty straight forward except I needed so much of the chiffon that I had to buy out three JoAnn'ss worth of their stock and one ended up a slightly different dye lot!"

It's such a beautiful dress! I would love to have one just like it!

Another Night of Cooking

2012-01-27T20:00:00.030-05:00

I love meatloaf. It's easy to make and there's enough variations to it that's hard to get bored with it. I usually stick with a meatloaf recipe I came across several years ago, back when I was in college and writing a "Kitchen Korner" column for a monthly agency on aging newsletter. :) But a couple weeks ago, I got my usual mailing from Kroger, with coupons and recipes, and I saw this meatloaf version and knew it was time to try something new.

Mini Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaves

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Serves: 6

--Kroger Canola Oil Cooking Spray
--1 egg, beaten
--3/4 cup milk
--Kroger Quick 1 Minute 100% Whole Grain Oats, uncooked (I actually used Saltine cracker crumbs here)
--1 tsp salt (left this out but added some garlic powder instead)
--1 lb lean Kroger ground beef, or ground turkey
--12 cubes Kroger Mild Cheddar Cheese Cubes
--2/3 cup Kroger Tomato Ketchup
--1/4 cup Kroger Light Brown Sugar, packed

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 12 muffin tins with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the beaten egg, milk, uncooked oats, and salt. Add the ground beef, mixing well. Divide mixture into 12 equal portions. Insert one cheese cube into center of meat and roll in hands to form the meat around the cheese into a ball. Place into muffin tin and continue with remaining meat and cheese.

In a separate small bowl, combine the ketchup and brown sugar. Stir thoroughly and spread over each mini meatloaf. Bake uncovered on center oven rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate any leftovers.

I had just gotten a set of silicone cupcake liners from my mom about a week before so it was time to try them out. I was a little skeptical because I hadn't had much success with those silicone baking things whenever I'd try them out. But the Wilton ones that Mom sent were great! The meatloaves baked perfectly and came out of the liners without any problems at all.

We actually had a friend over for supper that night, another meatloaf fan, so I made more than what the recipe called for, so we would have leftover for ourselves and for Bob, if wanted some. I made more meatloaves than I had liners for, so I popped some out onto some cookie cooling racks so I could use the liners again, which worked ou

I Need To Stop Watching Man v. Food

2012-01-27T06:41:00.029-05:00

Seriously, Adam Richman and his show are going to turn me into a fat ass without even trying! I was flipping channel the other day and realized when I stopped at Man v. Food on the Travel Channel, it was a new episode and he was in Hawaii in a restaurant called the Loco Moco.

The restaurant's owner is a family member, a grandson, I believe, of the woman that opened the restaurant originally. Their signature dish, that Adam was getting ready to try, was called the Loco Moco, just like the restaurant's name.

The story behind the dish is pretty much the same no matter where you look it up online, but here's Wikipedia's version (so take it for what it's worth): "James Kelly, a University of Hawaii-Hilo professor, wrote that the dish was created in 1949 by the Inouye family, who owned the Lincoln Grill in Hilo, Hawaii. A group of boys from the Lincoln Wreckers sports club contributed to the creation of the name 'loco moco'. The actual dish had likely been served in various forms in many restaurants, but the name loco moco was created at the Lincoln Grill.The boys did not have a lot of spending money, so they asked Nancy Inouye to put some rice in a saimin bowl, a hamburger patty atop the rice and brown gravy over both. She charged twenty-five cents for this, much less than a hamburger steak entree. The egg was added later. One of the boys, George Okimoto, was nicknamed "Crazy" because of the wild way he played football. Several of the Wreckers were enrolled in a Spanish class at the local high school and knew that "crazy" in Spanish language is loco, so the boys named the dish loco moco. Moco had no special meaning except it rhymed with loco. In fact, moco in Spanish means mucus, or more commonly, "snot", which may actually have been a reference to the fried egg, when served "runny". It is possible that the boys intended to call the dish "crazy snot"."

So Adam is helping the chef make this monstrosity up to try.

My God, it sounded wonderful! I knew I just had to try it for supper one night. And my husband, being my willing culinary guinea pig as he always is, was up for it.

16 ounces ground beef and 2 eggs, turned into 4-5 hamburger patties (I can't form decent patties without the egg added in)
Minced onion
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Soy sauce
1 cup cooked rice (Don't do Minute rice here. Go get a bag of good white rice from the international food aisle at your local grocery store.)
4-5 eggs, cooked, fried (keep them slightly runny)
Brown beef gravy

Season the patties with the minced onion, garlic powder, pepper, and some soy sauce. (Shane asked me to season two of the patties with taco seasoning instead, so to those I didn't add the soy sauce.) Grill or broil patties to desired doneness, about 5 minutes on each side. Divide rice between 4 plates and top each with a patty, gravy, 1 or 2 eggs, and more gravy.

Oh Lord, it was sooooooooooo good! It sounds like an odd combination of stuff but it was GOOD! The gravy and the runny egg yolk mix together really tastily (is that even a word?), and brown gravy on white rice is also really good (which is something I hadn't tried before). I made a large batch of this so we had it for supper the next night as well.

Made a Blanket to Use as a Curtain

2012-01-26T06:54:00.002-05:00

Not actually my crafting room.

My crafting room is upstairs in our house, which is actually the finished off room in our attic. I love it. It has floor and ceiling paneling, great storage, and the walls and ceiling follow the peak of our house's roof (kind of like this, but not as high).

That being said, the stairs going up to the room are narrow and steep. I've tripped going up and down them so many times. It's not even a big enough doorway for a door. I used to have two plaid paneled curtains in the door frame, because when I'm wrapping gifts up there, I like a little privacy from any wandering eyes.

Last summer, I started to crochet this blanket from Maria Merlino, which was a pattern I found on Crafster. When I did a little cleaning last summer, I decided to move those curtains to the dining room and get something new to hang over the open doorway. I originally thought I could make this to be a curtain for the window upstairs in my room, but I misjudged the finished size, so that's why it's my doorway curtain instead.

I started working on it in June 2011 and worked on it here and there, whenever I had some time and wasn't working on something else for someone else. I just finished the actual blanket last night. Tonight, I'm going to add some extra (removeable) loops to the top edge to I can slide a tension rod through it and use it as my new curtain.

It's almost 6 feet long and about 4 feet wide, and I actually left out some rows towards the top, making the chopsticks a little shorter (and a little wonky looking, in my opinion), because I really was starting to think that if I didn't cut this shorter, it...was..never...going..to...end. I also think I made my blanket different than what Maria designed, but I'm not sure. I think her white sections are supposed to have SC chains in them to make it more of an open pattern. Mine is all DC's.

I used a J sized crochet hook. It's made with Caron white and scarlet (100% acrylic), but I've forgotten how much I used. I started out with the one pound skeins of each color but I think I had to buy one more of each but hardly used any of the extra skeins. It's just been so long. The edging is 1 1/2 skeins of Moda Dea yarn in Jai Alai (#6532), a 100% polyester yarn that I believe has been discontinued. I know it totally doesn't match in color to the blanket, but I love this stuff so much.

My husband has been a little crazy over it. As a Hawkeyes fan, he would have preferred a different color scheme. In his opinion, I should have finished this and give it to his friend Crystal, who is a Nebraska fan, and then make one for our house in yellow and white instead. I said no way, I've spent too much time working on this one to give away! :) Then I told him to be nice or I'd crochet us a Patriots blanket for our bed. :)

Inspiration from Another Blog

2012-01-18T17:48:00.000-05:00

I was trolling around Craftster today and through a posting there, I stumbled across this blog, Red Fork State of Mind. I liked her January 15th entry and I decided to swipe the idea of it and have my own version of it here, since I'm feeling dried up, mentally speaking.

For today…
Outside my window… looking down on the neighbor's house and yard in the dark, although the window is blocked for the time being by Jason Vorhees.
I am thinking… I'm really looking forward to spring, even though our Virginia winter has been extremely mild so far, because Mother Nature can't make up her mind as to what to do. My fall sinuses have been killing me but I know that will stop when spring comes.
From the workplace… It's still going to be a busy week for work so I can't scoot the rest of this week. I'll have to drive.
I am thankful for…Our two new kitchen cabinets above the refrigerator. We bought them at Home Depot and my husband hung them for us. Extra storage space! And they match the stock cabinets we already have.
From the kitchen… The leftover ham from Christmas that I took out of the freezer this morning before work, and some kind of veggies for supper.
I am wearing… long black moleskin skirt from my mom from years ago, an orange and burgundy striped sweater from the clearance rack at Kohl's from my birthday, and the boots I wore with my Jedi costume.
I am reading… I just finished the graphic novel of N by Stephen King. I've got a John Grisham Christmas novel in my backpack to start next.
I am hoping… to finish the second part of my 80's Cartoon Swap project on Craftster this week to get it sent out no later than Saturday morning.
I am creating… I've got 2 crochet blanket projects I'm working on: 1 that I need more yarn for and am feeling lazy about, and 1 that was supposed to be for my mom for her birthday in March. I'm liking the color combination so much that I might keep it for myself! :)

Around the house… I still have a bunch of my laundry hanging up in the laundry room that needs to be out away from last weekend!
One of my favorite things… sleeping in on the weekends when my dog lets me.
A few plans for the rest of the week… going to see a couple of patients in our hospice this week, and seeing the Sherlock Holmes sequel, getting some Skinny Dip frozen yogurt over the weekend.

A Failed Afghan Pattern

2012-01-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

I had this pattern in my "Cozy Crochet Kit" from Barnes & Noble a while back: The Cuddly Afghan. It's rated as being a level 3 on a difficulty scale and it's comprised of the most common stitches, so I thought this would be an easy pattern to work up.

Nope.

The pattern reads, "To make triange: Ch 5, sc into second ch from hook, hdc into next ch, dc into next ch, tr into next ch. Beg and end each colour with 6" tails; for ease in finishing, these tails will be worked into fringe later."
---------------------
Foundation Row (WS): Sc into second ch from hook, *make triangle, skip next 4 ch, sc into next ch. Repeat from * across. Change colour, ch 4, turn

Row 1: Sc into top of triangle * working into next 4 ch along side of triangle, work sc into first ch, hdc into next ch, dc into next ch, tr into next ch, sc into top of next triangle. Repeat from * across to last triangle, ending row with working into next 4 ch along side of triangle, work sc into first ch, hdc into next ch, dc into next ch, yarn over twice, insert hook into last ch of triangle and pull up a loop, (yarn over and draw it through 2 loops on hook) twice, yarn over twice, insert hook into last sc and pull up a loop, (yarn over and raw it through 2 loops on hook) twice, yarn over and draw it through all 3 loops on hook. Change colour, ch 1, turn

Row 2: Sc into first st, *make triangle, skip next 4 sts, sc into next tr. Repat from * across, ending row with triangle, skp next 4 sts, sc into top of turning-ch-4. Change colour, ch 4, turn

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 in Stripe Patt until piece measures approx 48" from beg, ending after Row 1 of patt. DO NOT CHANGE COLOUR. Ch1, turn. Sc into first st, *ch 4, skip next 4 sts, sc into next tr. Repeat from * across, ending row with ch 4, skip next 4 sts, sc into top of turning-ch-4. Fasten off.
---------------------
Now, that all sounds simple enough, right?

It actually reads like there's something missing from the pattern, once you start working on it. I worked on that so many times last night and just couldn't get it. I really believe that this pattern is missing some instructions in the creation of the foundation row and no one caught it. Or maybe it just wasn't double checked before the pattern was published.

Either way, this is a pattern I'm not going to spend any more time trying to decipher. There are plenty of other (free) afghan patterns out there that I know to be good and complete.

Showing Some Love for the Crafty People

2012-01-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

I came across this listing somewhere online the other day: a TARDIS purse in poly leather, made in Spain. Of course, something this awesome has been sold.

But that's not stopping me. Like other people, I'm sure, I've emailed the person that made it to see if she would give me a quote on how much it would cost to make one and ship it to me here.

"I make them to order, so please, contact me before buying, because it may take a while to arrive if there are none on stock.

Measures: 28 x 16 x16 cm

In blue poly leather and rigid cardboard, rain resistant . Also some details can be custom made.

Sent in a beautiful box DW themed."

I feel like Wayne Campbell in the "Wayne's World" movie when he sees the guitar he wants in the music store: "It will be mine. Oh yes. It will me mine," with maybe just a touch of Gollum thrown in, caressing my new precious.

Help With A Stitch?

2012-01-07T19:12:00.002-05:00

Does anyone know what this stitch is, or how to make it into a blanket? I have this posted over at Craftster, in the crochet forums, but I thought I'd ask here too.

UPDATE
Thanks to the crafty people that frequent Craftster, someone was able to identify this as a waffle stitch. And, of course, Lion Brand has a free pattern that uses this stitch!

Another Steelers Blanket Has Been Completed!

2012-01-07T13:21:00.003-05:00

The Steelers blanket entry has been the most popular thing on my blog. I've gotten a lot of requests for Donna's pattern. Just a few days ago, I got this email from Margo Moseley.

"So this is how my blanket turned out...a few mistakes, but I'm happy I got through with it and the hubby loves it. "

And she included a photo of her blanket!

For privacy's sake, I pixelated out the face of her child.

I love how her blanket turned out! The colored parts of the logo are so nice and sharp!

Sunset in Norfolk

2012-01-05T21:12:00.003-05:00

Looking across Military Highway from the Kangroo Mart while getting gas tonight.

Free Crochet Pattern: South Beach Washcloth Set

2012-01-04T23:23:00.001-05:00

I had some Sugar'n Cream yarn (100% cotton yarn) and decided to make a couple of the South Beach Washcloths from Lion Brand (you will need a user name and password to look at Lion Brand's free patterns).

One yarn looks like something the 70s may have thrown up. It's variegated red, yellow, orange and green, and very bright. The other looks like something from the early 90's. That being said, although it's ugly, it's a good sturdy yarn for a washcloth.

The funky neon looking one on the right is how they are sized from the Lion Brand pattern. It's as big as my hand, fingers opened up wide. I didn't think it was big enough to be a good washcloth, so I made a second one (on the left) with the same weight yarn and same size hook, just different alternating stitches.

This is a super quick and easy little pattern to work up, however, I realized, there's nothing really fancy about this pattern. "Sl st in 2nd ch from hook, hdc in next ch, *sl st in next ch, hdc in next ch; rep from * across – 34 sts at end of this row." That's what you do for about 35 rows, along with a couple color changes. I'm sure the alternating stitches probably help to create a better textured surface for a washcloth, but you could make any size square with alternating stitches and come up with something just as user friendly. The user reviews on this were good for the pattern, but it actually reminded me of a crocheted swatch you'd do before a new pattern to determine gauge.

But that being said, I'll make one more, just to use up these funky cotton yarns.

How Do You Know When You Have a Problem?

2011-12-26T22:43:00.000-05:00

I think I realized that I might have crafting/hoarding problem. For Christmas, my husband got me some parts from ScooterWest for my Vino 125 scooter. They are located in California.

The parts he ordered for me were in their original packaging from the company, wrapped in newspapers and plastic, inside cardboard boxes. The newspapers were Asian, of some nationality unknown to me, possibly from New York. Just about everything is in the character type alphabet, so I have no idea where they are from.

My problem? I thought the newspapers were interesting looking, so I saved them all for future craftiness. Most likely for card making. I also saved two stamps from a friend's package to us, as well as four decorative little soapboxes because I could cut those apart. I also thought one of the stamps matched one of the soapboxes.

I may need help. :)

Another Fun Movie I'd Like To See

2011-12-26T12:22:00.002-05:00

Another Movie I'd Like To See

2011-12-25T12:18:00.004-05:00

A Movie I'd Like to See

2011-12-24T12:18:00.002-05:00

Music Monday (A Few Days Late)

2011-12-23T20:08:00.000-05:00

I'm tired of Christmas carols. How about you? Let's hear an under-rated Bangles song!

Having a Crafty Day

2011-12-18T22:14:00.001-05:00

Today was a good crafty day, which made up for my migraine day yesterday. I finished up a crocheted Hobbes for a friend of mine. This won't be a surprise or anything, since Doreen asked me to make him for her.

He's made out of Red Heart super saver yarns and an H sized hook. I used Sukigirl's great free pattern, because Doreen had this one all picked out. Obviously, this is Hobbes in toy form because an adult (myself) is looking at him. Hobbes only came to life for Calvin when there were no adults around.

The stuffing came from an upcycled throw pillow from a local CHKD Thrift Store in Virginia Beach. The eyes, nose and two head stripes are actually iron on patches. I could have sworn that I still had black fleece, leftover from some drawstring pouches I made for my husband earlier this fall, but nope...it was all gone. I wanted to buy a little section of black felt for Hobbes, but when I got to the closest Wal-Mart, I realized that one didn't sell fabric, so I had to improvise because Hobbes was definitely getting done tonight!

The only things I wish I had done differently would be to not stuff his head quite so much, and then to position his white tummy a little more to one side, to better cover the beginning of my rows.

Tonight's selection of Christmas kitchen towels were actually a last minute gift. My husband mentioned finding out that we had a package on the way from some friends back home, so we need to get cracking on something for them!

The fabric came from Hancock's and is called "Christmas Traditions." It's small alternating squares of Christmas designs. The towels came from The Dollar Tree. I did buy some Christmas ribbon for the bottom edge, but it was kind of wide and I just wasn't feeling it for these towels. They were done the same way I did the towels for IHeartsTheArts in the Jim Henson Swap.

Wash the fabric and towels first on cold and then dry. You don't want anything to shrink once they are used and washed the first time after they are gifted to the recipient!

If you wanted to attach a length of ribbon, I would do that part first. Pick a ribbon that is fabric in design. Foil or satin ribbon will not last as well as fabric ribbon will on a kitchen towel. Cut off the length of ribbon you need for the width of the towel and add 1/2" to each edge so you can fold it over and have a clean edge. Pin the ribbon at least 1" from the bottom edge. Pick a short stitch on your sewing machine and sew the ribbon on, both along the top and bottom edges.

Cut out what parts of the fabric you want to be on the towels, and then cut out some Heat & Bond Lite in the same shape as the fabric. Then, iron on the Heat & Bond to the backside of your fabric. Once it's cooled, peel off the paper.

I used two separate squares of fabric for each towel, so I positioned the bottom-most piece first. Since most kitchen towels are sold folded in thirds the long way and in half the other way, it makes it easy to have guides to help position your fabric within the middle third of the towel, if you use the fold lines. If you have ribbon on the bottom, place the fabric piece at least 1" above it. If there is no ribbon, then place it at least 1" above the bottom hem.

I ironed it to the towel first, and then used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine to embroider the edges and trimmed the loose ends. Then I repeated the embroidery on the second piece of fabric, by overlapping it over the bottom-most piece. You might not be able to tell from the photos, but the stitch I used is tiny triangles.

Hanging Bed Organizer

2011-12-17T21:02:00.005-05:00

Just a quick posting tonight. Nicole the knitter asked me to make a hanging bed organizer for her bedroom to protect her glasses from Odin. He likes to play with the stuff on her dresser. Even though I knew what she wanted would be fairly easy to make, I checked online to see if anyone else already had directions for it. SewMamaSew had one that was exactly what I was looking for.

No picture of it to post here, but Nicole's was made out of felt and had three pockets. I took some non-slip pad from our laundry room that I wasn't using for the mattress portion of the hanger. She said it's working just like she needed but Odin is still trying to play with it.

All Done Now With the Jim Henson Swap

2011-12-14T16:02:00.000-05:00

Just earlier this month, I got my goodies from IHeartsTheArts in the Jim Henson Swap on Craftster. A few days later, I sent my package to her and it has been received.

The towels came from the Dollar Tree, the fabric came from eBay, and the ribbon came from A.C. Moore.

The towels and oven mitt came from the Dollar Tree, the fabric came from Hancock Fabrics, and the ribbon came from A.C. Moore.

This is actually a mini Altoids tin. When you open it up, the cast of the show is on stage in the upper lid, and Statler and Waldorf are sitting in their balcony in the lower section. They have really tiny curtains behind them, and the critics were placed in such a way to make them kind of look 3-D.

The rest of the white fabric here is actually leftover from my Jedi dickey.

A dotee-type Christmas ornament: Miss Piggy. This was based on info I got first from Craftster and then Wikipedia: A dotee is a type of small handmade fabric doll ranging in size from 3-7 inches. They have a face, tail and hanger with no arms or legs. The tail and body of the doll may be decorated with various items like ribbons and beads. Dotee dolls were originally created by Dorothy Christian.

Another dotee-type Christmas ornament: Kermit's eye!

Music Monday

2011-12-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

Fa la la la la, la la la BLRT!!!!!

2011-12-10T13:06:00.001-05:00

That BLRT above is supposed to be me blowing a raspberry.

I think I'm finally starting to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I'm almost done with my shopping and crafting for my friends and family, and I have a few more little things to make for Back-Up, Inc., but the big stuff is done or on it's way. I've actually been shopping and crafting since September, give or take. I hate letting that kind of shopping go until the last minute, sales be damned.

I've even decided what my New Year's Resolution will be: no more buying crochet patterns. If I can't find it for free online, then it means I have to create it myself. I've done a pretty damn good job with what already this year. I've only bought one pattern.

The reason I'm thinking about my resolution already this year because of this hat: Penny's double tail Santa hat from The Big Bang Theory. April Draven at Craftster came up with a crochet pattern for that hat and I meant to buy it earlier this year but I never got around to it. And as I lurked around the internet for a crochet pattern, I realized this is a damn popular hat!

I wonder if it's because of the show or the hat's design. Either way, I'm a fan of both now that the show's had some time to grow on me. It's programmed in our DV-R for the new episodes on CBS and some of the older episodes on TBS.

Last week, I decided I needed a new Santa hat for myself since I altered the one I had from the Dollar Tree earlier this year. I wanted Penny's hat, but I didn't want a typical red and white hat. And then I started to wonder why, if Santa uses chimneys to get into people's homes (if there is one), why does he have white trim on his hat and suit? All that soot and ash will just make a mess of the trim. So, I decided to take a crack at my own hat but with black trim and pom poms, to disguise that imaginary soot and ash.

I couldn't get a decent picture of myself wearing this to save my life!

Because there are so many people selling their patterns of this hat online, I didn't write down what I did to make this hat. I also didn't make cables on the sides of this hat because when I got to that point where the cables would start, I started getting frustrated and I had a headache to begin with. So instead of cables, I did front post half double crochets from the hat band all the way up: 3 FPHDC on the outsides and 1 FPHDC on the insides of the tails.

This was made on an H sized hook out of some ooooooooooooooooold black worsted weight yarn from my grandma and 1.25 skeins of Premier Yarns Mega Brushed in Wild Berry Sorbet (#51-205). To me, it looks more like a red cammo print than anything else, but it's super soft and very warm, with great shades of red throughout it.

Wibbly Wobbley Timey Wimey Stuff

2011-12-09T20:01:00.001-05:00

As if the other hats I've made for myself in the past don't show what I giant geek I am. But no, I went and made myself a TARDIS beret. I used Cathy Wood's beret pattern from Ravelry for the overall hat design and just winged the details as I went.

It's made with Lion Brand blue heather of some sort, glow in the dark yellow (for the top where the light was), unknown white and and unknown black, on an H sized hook.

There was a lot of swearing involved in this and unfortunately, I didn't count my stitches as I got down to the black signs or the windows, so they are not even in length. The rectangles' different sizes aren't enough to be real obvious to anyone other than me, I think. I looked for some small iron on adhesive letters to spell out POLICE in the black sign areas, but I didn't see any that I thought would be small enough, so I'm going for a "less is more" approach to this hat's design.

If it actually got colder out here, this would be an excellent hat for the winter. It's snug around the ears and has plenty of room up top for my hair,which is nice because if I have my hair in a pony tail, then it would still fit comfortably.

I would like to point out that I almost had a heart attack when I saw this on Geek Crafts the other day. I guess the bloggers of Geek Crafts saw my posing on Craftster about my hat and carried it over to their site.

Results of the Jim Henson Swap

2011-12-09T19:31:00.001-05:00

I just got my goodies the other day in the Jim Henson Swap I signed up for on Craftster. My partner was IHeartsTheArts (aka Gretchen) of Springfield, MA. This was such a fun first swap and actually kind of stressful because I'm guessing what will be enjoyed by someone I've never met before (but am friends with on FB now).

Too funny! I mentioned that I always liked Ernie, although he was a part of "Sesame Street" and I always preferred "The Muppet Show," Gretchen sent this activity book and crayons. I should break this out at work sometime and see what kind of reaction I get. :)

Googley eyes! What an awesome idea! These bad boys are going to bet a lot of use! I never even thought about buying them before, and every great Muppet has to have good eyes (a la Cookie Monster). And two Pez dispensers: Yoda and R2-D2 (There were multiple puppets in the Star Wars Trilogy, but Yoda was the only one Jim Henson was involved with).

Now, they guard my desk at work when I'm not around. The candy was quite nice too. :)

A great appliqued Kermit reusable bag!!! I love this!!!!

And the best for last: a Shrinky Dink bracelet of Beaker, Professor Bunson Honeydew, Gonzo, Janice, Miss Piggy, Kermit and Animal! The colors are so great and bright! Gretchen got a lot of detail in this bracelet. I wore it to work today to show it off.

I sent Gretchen's package today. Once I know that she received it, I'll post pictures of what I made for her. I can see how these swaps are so popular!

A Little Late on the Autumn Crafting

2011-12-04T17:36:00.001-05:00

I actually did get this idea for this last fall but I didn't get a chance to even start it until right around Thanksgiving. I saw this wreath, the Simple Statement Wreath, on Craftster first and followed it over to it's original pattern at GoodKnits.

I think the inside of the wreath is about 8" across. I used Red Heart Super Saver orange and Marrakesh (#0947). The pine cones were picked up while I was walking my dog one night. The feathers were decorative picks from Michael's (where the wreath form came from), and the little bow and green leaves were leftover from my stash. In the picture (from my cell phone because my camera battery was charging), it looks like the feathers are black. They aren't. They are actually deep purple.

It's too late to hang it for this year, but at least I'll have it for next fall.

Shouldn't It Be "Transformers: More Than Meets the Ears"?

2011-11-30T19:14:00.000-05:00

I had a bit of a Bumblebee/Transformers moment this evening on my way home from work.

This morning, my "check engine soon" light came on in my Blazer. I just got it inspected yesterday and it passed so I didn't know why the light came on today. It was bugging me because it was going to piss off my husband, who considers it a piece of shit vehicle now anyway, and I'm envisioning more time and money spent on it to get the light to go off.

Before I left work tonight, I checked the gas cap. If it gets loose, it can cause that light to come on. I took it off, put it back on and made sure it was tight before I left work. Then, I started it up, saw the light stay on and I left for home. Well, that didn't do any good.

While I was driving, I had the radio on the oldies channel and "Some Kind of Wonderful" by Grand Funk Railroad came on.

"Don't you know that she's
She's some kind'a wonderful
She's some kind'a wonderful
Yes she is, she's a
She's some kind'a wonderful
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

I looked down at the dashboard and the "check engine soon" light was off! It was like the Blazer was telling me that everything was alright. Corny but it made my night.