Birthday Gifts for a Friend...

I think I showed you the fingerless gloves around Christmas time, but I decided to hold off giving them to my friend until her birthday, which is today.

I took another picture of them to show you the buttons I finally added this afternoon. (talk about waiting until the last minute~sheesh)

Then recently I came across this post on  Sew Ritzy Titzy and thought it was SO adorable I had to try it. Bonus for me, I had the book that has the pattern already in my stash! Yay! When I looked through my crochet thread, I had the same color, too. Double yay! Here's my version:

It's not very big, not quite two inches square, so it didn't take long at all to crochet. I used a scrap of the fabric I used on the heart I shared earlier to make the "pillow" and I whipstitched the two sides together. I just love that flower!

I wasn't quite sure how she could use this, but after I gave it to her she said she'd love for it to be a pin. So, after she shares it with her family, I told her to give it back to me and I'd add a pin back to it. 

She was thrilled with her little gifts, which tickles me tremendously. 

Jessica is ready to read her book, so I will close for now. Oh, by the way, the "glue" finally fell off yesterday! Yay! Now she can swim again. *Ü*

Thanks for stopping by. I'll get to fixing my sidebar soon. Have a great Thursday!

Playing With The Blog

I decided I was tired of the way the blog was looking, so I have spent entirely too much time on messing around with it. Some items may appear out of place, but I'm tired of trying to get it to work correctly on my sidebar. I'll come back and fix it, but for now I've got a few things to get done before this day is over!

So, please pardon the mess for a bit!

Amigurumi Heart Critters

Just in time for Valentine's Day! When I saw this pattern on Fave Crafts here, I knew they'd be a fun (and fat free) gift for the girls' teachers. What got me was that hair! I changed up the eyes and added a little mouth, too and think they are pretty dang cute.

I made this one first and followed the pattern for the legs, but after I was done, I decided they looked a little too much like chicken legs with those extra stitches on the top two rounds. It's cute, but I didn't do those rounds on the second one and I do like it much better.

I wasn't going to have enough yarn to do the second one in the same colors and when I found the skein of yarn with the bright colors, I could picture the hair being a little more wild and crazy. I love how it came out.

I hope the teachers like them.

I don't know if I've mentioned Fave Crafts before. I discovered it via one of my thrifty type blogs and I signed up to get the newsletters. I get one a day and once a week I get one for crochet. They also offer free e-books full of craft ideas. I'm tickled to have discovered the site (but now I have way more ideas  than I can ever hope to create in this lifetime~LOL).

Hope you have had a happy Wednesday! Thanks so much for stopping by. It sure felt good to crochet again. *Ü*

You're Invited to Hop(e) for Haiti

(edited to reflect necessary changes)

On Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 we will launch a very special blog hop...

During Hop(e) for Haiti we can all work together to help raise money. The money will be donated to the Red Cross to help those still struggling to get basic needs met after surviving the devastating January earthquake in Haiti.

On February 16th we will start our blog hop at Skipping Stones Design and visit the blogs of our Stamp Tramps Design Team and MANY specially invited guest bloggers. You are in for a treat with our special guests!

During the week following Feb 16th you will have a chance at winning fabulous prizes including pre-released stamp sets, as well as bidding on some of your favorite artists' work on our special Ebay auctions. (Links will be provided.) 

100% of the proceeds of the Ebay auction and $2.00 from every stamp set purchased from February 16 - 22 will be donated to the Red Cross. Please check back at Skipping Stones Design for updates.

I hope to see you hopping along with us next week!

Feel free to save this image to your computers and post on your blogs to let your friends know about this very special blog hop.

Been Creating Again...LOL

Although I hope you won't be too disappointed that it's not a card. This is something I've been working on for several days. Not that it was so very hard, but time consuming. I didn't want to work on it while the girls were home, so they'd be surprised.

I got the triple heart decoration at Joann's the same day I got the other stuff I posted earlier. I really liked the hearts, but it was a teensy bit small for the area where it's hung. I saw this idea. I just tried to find the link that led me to this blog, but I can't. I'm sure I clicked on a link from another blog, then I bookmarked the blog where she shows how to create this.  It's supposed to be a heart and I hope you can sorta see it. I cut three different fabrics into squares and hot glued them to a styrofoam heart. Then I added some tulle glued to the back for hanging. Anyway, I thought it sure added a nice touch to the wooden hearts.

And, I found this cute little angel at the thrift store this weekend. I've had my eye on it, and it went on sale this past weekend, so when I saw it again, I figured I was supposed to have it. *Ü*

Oh and I was able to find where I got the inspiration for the candy hearts topiary. Here you go!

Normally, I'm not so "into" decorating for the holidays, but lately I've had a strong urge to spruce things up a bit. I've been reading several crafty type blogs and some of the crafts they show are just too fun to resist. It helps that the girls really like seeing what I come up with. *Ü*

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a great week.

Hop(e) for Haiti Blog Hop Coming Soon

On Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 Skipping Stones Design will launch a very special blog hop...

Hop(e) for Haiti

During Hop(e) for Haiti we can all work together to help raise money. The money will be donated to the Red Cross to help those still struggling to get basic needs met after surviving the devastating January earthquake in Haiti.

On February 16th we will start our blog hop at Skipping Stones Design and visit the blogs of our Stamp Tramps Design Team and MANY specially invited guest bloggers. You are in for a treat with our special guests!

During the week following Feb 16th you will have a chance at winning fabulous prizes including pre-released stamp sets, as well as bidding on some of your favorite artists' work on our special Ebay auctions. (Links will be provided)

100% of the proceeds of the Ebay auction will go to the Red Cross. Please check back at Skipping Stones Design for updates."

I was honored to be asked by my good friend, Erin of Inky Smiles, to participate in this worthy cause. Hope you can join us for the hop!

Meet Jamie Giraffe!

Well, I didn't actually finish until about 9pm or so last night. Whew! Amy made me promise to put the giraffe next to her in bed after I was done and so I did. This is how I found them this morning while she was eating her breakfast.  I think this gives you a pretty good perspective on just how big this giraffe is! Even I didn't realize just how big she'd become. Amy has decided (for now) that her name is Jamie (the first name of her beloved kindergarten teacher). She may even call her Miss Paul.

Amy also asked if I was going to blog about these pictures. But, of course! Hee, hee! *Ü* Amy took Jamie into the van on the way to school, too. And made me promise to bring her when I picked her up from school.

There are 11 pom-poms and 11 spots. The horns have short pieces of straw in them to keep them upright (very clever idea and not one I thought of). I actually had to make another horn because one of the original ones wouldn't fit the straw no matter what I did. Let me just say, trying to knit on double pointed needles with just TWO stitches per needle was an exercise in patience. I ended up putting covers on the points so the needles would stop slipping through the TWO stitches and falling onto my lap. LOL

All in all, I think she came out pretty cute. But I think I'm putting down the knitting needles for a bit. Amy said, FINALLY! when she saw her giraffe. She told me, it took you FOREVER to get her done. Maybe not forever, but believe me, I'm just as excited to be done as Amy is! I have some crochet projects I want to work on, and that always goes faster for me. I'm sure glad though, that I've figured out double pointed needles. It opens up possibilities for future projects. Yay!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by. Your encouraging comments mean more to me than I can ever express!