Happy New Year and a Little Creative Project

Well, hello there to any of you who may still be stopping by to see if I am still alive and kicking. I am indeed.  Happy New Year to you and I hope 2012 brings you much joy and happiness as well as a little creativity. I’ve been reading blogs, but not commenting and certainly not writing any.

I didn’t intend to drop off the face of the blogosphere, but after my brother died, (still so hard  to have to say that) any niggling of desire to blog that I had, disappeared. Thank you so much for the kind thoughts you left on that post and the sweet cards I received in the mail. My time in Minnesota was very difficult, but I’m glad I was able to help my dad and two of my other brothers  out in some small way. The service that for Jim was well attended and for a guy who was in no way religious, my dad selected the perfect priest for officiating the memorial. Jim loved to fish(the act of fishing was relaxing to him), but didn’t eat fish. The priest (named Jim as well, if I remember correctly) loved to eat fish, but despised fishing and even went so far as to jump off a boat and swim ashore to avoid it. His manner was very laid back and personable and he did an excellent job. Jim’s lifelong friend also flew in from Las Vegas to attend. I hadn’t seen him since I moved out of my parents home back in 198….well, let’s just say it was a long time ago, shall we?

I was able to do a little crafting for Christmas presents, but didn’t take any photos. I made a crocheted frog for Jessica’s teacher and a crocheted flapper hat for Amy’s. I started a lion for Amy’s teacher, but it was too big to be able to finish in time. Oh and a few days before Christmas, Jessica told me she wanted a new teddy bear for Christmas,  with a blue dress. I told her it wouldn’t be done in time, and she was content to wait. I finished the bear by Christmas, but not the dress. The pattern included a basket and flowers. I just finished those the other night. Did I mention this project was a knitted one? Yeah, I’m much slower at knitting than crocheting, but the change of pace was nice.

Steve took the week between Christmas and New Year’s off and one of the days he and his buddy took the girls to the mountains. I didn’t feel like going…the thought of a quiet day to myself was too appealing (mom of the year, I admit, I am not…I do enjoy time away from my kiddos). Anyway, I took some time to work on a project and I thought I’d share it today in an effort to ease back into posting.

 

I saw the idea on a Cricut newsletter called The Chirp and I followed the project to this blog post. I finagled my way through the project and am pretty pleased with the final result. The flower was made with the Flower Shoppe cartridge, but I cannot remember which cart I used to make the swirlys. I know I cut two and trimmed them…shoot, if I figure it out, I’ll let you know.

Thought this might be a fun winter project for decor. Only, it doesn’t feel like winter right now. It was in the upper 60s yesterday! Thank goodness this guy is paper, or he’d have melted away by now.

Okay, I’ve got to scoot for now. I hope to see you again, soon. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jeanne