Awwwwww....

Just snapped these photos of Jessica reading out loud to Grandpa...so sweet!

They need to be edited a bit, but just couldn't resist capturing the moment.

Dad and I have been having fun during the day doing some shopping while the girls are in school. Yesterday we also stopped at Gunther Toody's for lunch. After Steve gets home from work tonight, we'll be heading out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Yum!

While the girls were entertaining Grandpa yesterday afternoon, I popped onto the computer to catch up on emails. I started chatting with my good friend Erin and got her advice on something I wanted to do.

This past weekend I found the most beautiful cardigan/sweater that I will give to my friend Kelly for Christmas. 

The detail in the sleeve and at the bottom of the piece thrills me to pieces.

I also picked up a sleeveless top to go with it.

It's hard to see, but there is a striped texture in the black sweater. 

So, I wanted to add to this ensemble by making a necklace. But I couldn't figure out what to do. So, I asked Erin, who has made some really pretty jewelry, what she thought. She immediately came up with beaded crochet, but not the ropes that I have done before. She crochets with beads and wire! She referred me to her blog here and to Auntie's Beads for the how to video. She's so right, it was easy peasy to do! Thanks Erin.

Here's the result of my efforts (after a quick trip to Joann's this morning with my dad)

I still need to add the clasp/closure but I think this goes well with the set.

Thanks again for the inspiration, Erin!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope your week is going well.

*Ü*

Crocheted Jewelry!

Hi there!

Nope, I didn't fall off the face of the planet, although it might seem like it. I've been busy with the girls (of course) and working on the projects I am sharing today. These are a gift for a friend who doesn't check my blog with any regularity (that I am aware of) so I think it is safe to show them off.

My friend has a birthday coming up and I've had the idea to create this set for awhile. (it's from the leaflet called Beauties to Crochet 2) In fact, I had some of the supplies already purchased a month or so ago. (go, me!) But, I haven't really had a chance to sit down and actually work on the project until the middle of last week. Technically, this wasn't hard to create, although it ended up taking me a lot longer than I had anticipated. Take a look at the finished project. 

 And here is a picture of the project from the booklet if you want to see what inspired me:

I have the necklace hanging over the back of my chair and the earrings stuck into the back of the chair.

Here they are sitting on the seat of the chair.

And here is the necklace by itself.

Didn't it come out neat? That necklace strand is 28 inches long!

I first intended to use some wooden discs to give it more dimension (the project that inspired me had them). I strung the pattern I thought I would use and tried to get started. It turns out I would have been using 3 different sizes of beads and after a frustrating evening, I realized it wasn't going to work the way I originally envisioned. So, I took all the beads off and restrung them minus one of the different sized beads(remember, the strand needed to be 28 inches when I was done-that's a lot of beads), but keeping the wooden discs. Um, when I finally got that one going, I didn't like the look I was getting with the discs! They stuck out way too far. 

So I had to take all the beads off and start again.

Sigh.

But the strand without the discs and small wooden balls looked great, so I kept at it.

Only to find out I didn't string enough beads to get the length I needed. 

Sigh.

So, I added what I needed on a new string and attempted to join the new string.

THAT took a while before I finally got it last night. LOL

But, I finished the rope and loved it!

There's something to be said (but I don't know what) for being persistent.

Today I strung the beads around the large wooden disc and made the dangle.

Then it was onto the earrings.

I had to modify those, too.

It took a few attempts (and another quick trip to the store) and I got those to work.

Yay! 

The girls think they are pretty nifty.

I picked up the current issue of Crochet magazine because it had this super neat looking bracelet in it. Click on this link and scroll down to Dress it Up-Sweet and Simple Bracelets. If you click on the image, you can see it a bit better.

The project in the magazine was blue, but I thought this variegated pearl cotton would look really neat.

I couldn't find the beads the magazine used, so I improvised.

Here's the result:

And how it looks on my wrist.

This is the same color that I used on the earrings for Mrs. Wilson, but instead of using DMC floss, I used a skein of Size 5 pearl cotton-which you can find in the same area as the floss.

The circles are 1/2 inch plastic rings.

The beads are glass beads that I thought looked great with the pearl cotton.

THIS project took about an hour, and that is only because the thread kept getting tangled and I had to undo the knots. Otherwise, it probably would have taken half an hour, tops.

The clasp is a magnetic one. Way easy to put on and take off.

*Ü* 

So, that's what's been keeping me busy the past several days.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

I hope you have a great week!

Crochet Bead Earrings

Back again!

*Ü*

Ever since I got the idea to crochet on the hoops, I've been interested in making some jewelry with crochet. I have a book called Hooked on Jewelry that shows how to crochet a bead cover with some stunning examples. I originally was going to make them for the girls' teachers, but was having a bit of difficulty getting the size of the crochet piece that covers the bead to fit properly.

Of course, after I finished the hoops, I tried again and it worked perfectly.

Go figure.

I covered the beads last week and needed to make the rest of the earring. I just finished these today.

Mind you, I'm pretty clueless as to how to put an earring together, so what I came up with may not be correct in terms of jewelry making, but it'll do. I like how they came out, anyway.

I took two pictures and figured why not share them both. In the one above you get a better look at the bead cap on the top and on the second picture you can see it better on the bottom.

I found out last week that Amy's former second grade teacher will not be at our school next year. While I won't go into details, it's not something she initiated and I'm not thrilled to hear that she is leaving. Jessica is going to be bummed to know she doesn't get a chance to have her as a teacher.

I wrote her a letter of recommendation and thought she might like these as a small gift to thank her for all the love and care she has shown Amy and to wish her well in her future endeavors.

Hope you are having a great day!

I Need a Respite From the Weekend!

Because, boy, am I tired! LOL

Jessica's field trip came off without a hitch. There is always the possibility that they'll get sent out on a call, but it worked out great. The girls were there partially to give the firefighters boxes of cookies that were donated to our "hometown heroes."

I've never actually toured a firehouse before and found it quite fascinating. My batteries in my camera died as the guy was suiting up to show the girls what they look like with all their gear on. Usually I take spare batteries, but completely spaced it off. Darn. I still got some neat (to me) shots.

This was something I never even thought about. The girls were led up these stairs to the top of the tower (the parents didn't go up, not sure why, except maybe because it was a small space. Do you see that pole that is going up, up, up? The guys hang the hose from that so it can dry out. It makes perfect sense, now that I see it, but it never occurred to me that they would have to dry out the hose. 

I asked if they had a GPS device in the trucks to help them find the locations they are going to. Wanna see their GPS system?

I guess only the police have units in their cars. The firefighters have to do it the old fashioned way. I thought that was pretty funny.

Here the lieutenant is telling the girls how they use purified air, not oxygen (like I assumed) in their tanks. 

They also showed all the tools they keep in the firetrucks. Lots of hoses and adapters for sure, and all kinds of devices to lift heavy items/cars, etc. One was a rubberized balloon that is a flat square when deflated. Very interesting! I didn't get too many shots as my camera batteries were dying at this point. Jessica had a great time.

After this field trip we (Jess, Amy and I) headed out to a pirate themed birthday party given by my friend Susi. It was a lot of fun. She sure knows how to throw a great party! (no pictures, though)

Today the was shining and it was a perfect opportunity to tackle the weeds in the back yard. This is what I was facing. Arghhhhh...all the rain we've been having allowed these to have a real growth spurt!

All of those are what I call "runners" from the tree right behind the fence there. The dead woody stuff is the grape vine.

This is what it looks like now:

Buster loves it when I work outside...he enjoys the grass (which has since been mowed).

I also worked on removing all the dead stuff from my honeysuckles and clematis along the fence. I pulled up more smaller runners, too. But really, it's too big a job to get it all done in one afternoon. I finished the afternoon by planting a new Shasta Daisy plant (perennial) and an interesting looking Dahlia, which is an annual. I will have to take a picture of it tomorrow (if the one bloom is still good). Steve picked up the veggies he's going to plant at the nursery and that's where I found these two plants (it's a family event to get the veggies). I've been looking for a common purple lilac, the kind that I see every where I go around here, but no one seems to have it. They have a bunch of fancy named ones, but not the one I'm looking for (of course).

And just to let you know, it wasn't a totally craft-less weekend. I did find some time to crochet these:

Aren't they neat? I used DMC embroidery floss in a variegated color. I made them to give to Jessica's teacher (she looks really good in these types of colors). I'm going to stick them on the bear's ears. Tonight I'll work on the pair I will make for Amy's teacher to go on the frog. I thought it would be a neat surprise. I'd have Amy's done, except I needed to get another pair of hoops.

Anyway, that's probably way more than you wanted to know, but it is what I was up to this busy weekend! 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great start to your week!

She's Home AND Another New to Me Project....LOL

Look who made it home safe and sound about 3pm this afternoon. Look at that grin, too! She had a blast. And claims she didn't even miss us because she was "too distracted." LOL She's not been too forthcoming with information just yet, but she's also a bit subdued. I'm sure she's wiped out. I don't want to press her too much for information and be that annoying mom who asks a million questions. I guess one girl in her troop ended up having to go home early because she missed her mom too much. I hear she pretty much kept everyone up on Friday night, managed to last the day on Saturday, but come Saturday night was too upset to stay any longer. The leaders told me Amy did great and had a lot of fun. Yay! It sure is good to see her again, though.

Today Steve took Jessica for a bike ride to our "big" park. That gave me the time to work on another new to me project. hee, hee! There's not much I won't attempt if it looks easy enough and the supplies are inexpensive enough. When I saw this idea on a blog not too long ago, I knew I wanted to try it!

For your viewing pleasure...hardy har har...

I made TWO necklaces and two flowers. The neat thing is...I can change out the flowers on the necklaces and put other embellishments on them. The flowers attach with lobster claws.  I made two because I had enough of the chain left to create a second slightly different one. I found the idea on the Polka Dot Chair blog here. If you check it out, you can see how the flowers get attached. I had some fabric that my friend Heidi gave me and I decided to create a couple of Kanzashi flowers that I could use. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I took them myself in my bathroom mirror and the lighting just isn't that great. I edited as best I could in PSE. This was honest to goodness pretty darn easy to put together. Now I think I need some more solid color tops so I can make more flowers. Wheee!

And while I was taking pictures, I took a shot of one of my new tops from the thrift store. This one isn't crocheted or knit, but it is neat, nonetheless. And the fact that it was only $3 made it fly into my cart. 

I just have to fix one teensy part that you may not see unless I point it out. That blanket stitch is done on the ends of the 3/4 length sleeves and the bottom hem. Guess who wants to stitch on all her clothes now. LOL This was definitely a very happy find for me!

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments on the various projects I've been sharing. I know they aren't papercrafts or digi scrapping and hopefully that's not too disappointing, but I must confess dabbling in other crafts is immensely satisfying these days.

Have a great start to your week!

She's Off and A New To Me Project Completed! *Ü*

Not the greatest picture in the world, but this is how Amy looked when it was finally time for me to drive her over to the drop off location for her to go on her first ever sleep away Girl Scout Camp. One cannot discount that huge grin! Jess and I dropped her off yesterday afternoon and we go to pick her up tomorrow afternoon. We've not gotten any phone calls, so we are assuming she is having a fabulous time! She was a teensy weensy bit nervous when the moment came for me to leave her, but she bounced back quickly. It feels strange not having her around, but Jess and I are having fun playing games and watching movies together. The little scamp keeps beating me. LOL

I did go out thrift store shopping first thing this morning, though, minus Jessica because, quite honestly after a week of constant togetherness, Mommy needed just a bit of a break from her kidlet. I went to a thrift store I haven't been to before and got some neato things. Not the least of which are some more crochet/knit tops! Whooohooo! I also got a board game, one of the ones that Jess soundly beat me at. It's all good though.

Now for the new to me project. When Erin G. was here recently, she picked up a booklet on how to do jump ring jewelry, called Chain Maille. I really liked the book, but there was only one copy at the store. I found a copy at another store later and bought some jump rings. But, for the project I wanted to try, you do need to have specific sizes in the rings and I didn't have them. So, I haven't made anything from that book...yet. However, on another trip to Hobby Lobby, I saw they had a kit to make a necklace in the same style, so I bought it. And yesterday I started the project....

I probably don't have the exact right tools, but I have some that worked for me. Here you can see the pattern I'm creating.

Just a few minutes ago I finished the piece.

And I got a super cute girl to model it for me.

Oh heck, I'll show you her cute face, dirt and all...

She pulled out her second tooth a week ago, and the adult tooth had already broken through. No losing that tooth, she was so excited.

And the top she's wearing? She went out with Daddy to a thrift store and found it herself. I love it on her!

And for the record, the necklace that I thought I was making for me actually is a little too short, so guess who owns it now? Yeah, now you know why she's grinning so hugely!

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

I've got other projects I'm working on, so I'd best get to them if I want to be able to share them with you.