Snapshot Friday!

Well, I'm back.  Finally.  

The month of July has been crazy.  

There were good times and there were bad times.  

And then there was just a whole lot of traveling.  I would say that we easily spent 21 hours traveling in a car, not counting the just riding around day to day, errand stuff.  Then there was the 15 hours by plane, not including layovers.  Oh, and I should mention it was actually 6 planes.  During this entire month, I've slept in my own bed a grand total of 7 times.

I've also been forced to spend a whole lot of time with my new friends, Benadryl and Aveeno Hydrocortisone Cream due to a freakish reaction to Mosquitoes.  And to be quite honest those two aren't very much fun, I really wish I didn't have to see them so often.  I've been around Mosquitoes my whole life and never really had a problem, but these Michigan ones had it out for me.

Don't get me wrong,  I'm not complaining.  It had to be done and it was all worth it in the end.  We've even managed to make it fun, for the most part.  

I just think that I feel the way that this guy looks, a little bit frazzled.  Perhaps even a bit on edge. 

I guess, what I'm trying to say is- it feels good to be home.  We've been back for a little more than a day now and I have no intention of going anywhere for a while.  I have so much to share with you guys.  Projects I've been working on and lots of happy mail that I found waiting for me when I got home.  I'm such a lucky girl.

Things are still settling down, so please be patient with me.  

Pictures also might be a bit slow.  Oh, and I'm in the market for a new camera, if anyone has any suggestions.  Nothing too fancy, that's Dillon's department as our resident photographer.  My old one is no where to be found.  We suspect it was sacrificed in Davy Jones's Locker during a momentary lapse in proper judgment.  No one knows for sure, but chances are good. 

Thanks for sticking around, guys.  You're great.  See you soon.  Have a craftastic day!

Helllllloooooooooo!!!!

Howdy, folks!  Long time, no post.  Truely sorry about that- I've missed you guys very much.  I'm checking in with you from lovely Free Soil, Michigan, my boy's hometown.

Between quality time getting acquainted with my new family, melting in the humidity, and taking in the scenery, I've been doing a lot of stitching.  So, get ready for new projects very soon.

In the meantime, did I tell you the good news?!  I've been selected for the July Project and Interview in the Needlework section on Craftster!

 
As most of you guys already know, I love Craftster- with a passion.  In fact, it's how I got back into crafting after many years and I "met" a lot of my online crafty friends.  It's full of talented people with nothing but nice things to say.  There are tons of great projects that will amuse and inspire you.  If it's not already a part of your daily online routine, change that right away.

Be sure to check out my silly interview with Pam aka Kittykill.  You'll get to find out what inspires me and the kind of stuff I'm stitching lately.

Read the awesomeness HERE!!!!  

Snapshot Friday!

Hello, folks!  Happy Friday to everyone out there.  

Besides stitchy stuff, I've also been working on a few kids projects the last few days.  I'm absolutely loving the way they're turning out and can't wait to share!  In honor of all the fun I've been having with this stuff, I thought I'd makes this week's photo a little guy. 

What a cutie, huh?

What have you been working on this week?

Thriftacular Thursday!

A recent acquisition.

With it's scare tactic title and it's lovely green, I knew it had to be mine.

Check out the inside!

I'm happy to report that on the previous page Dusty had exclaimed, "Listen, punk..." before he knocked Rosey out.

Yes, definitely a wise purchase.  Ahhh, I wish I lived back then...

I picked up a few more books that day.  I've decided to acquire the whole series for both Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.  Both Dillon and I read them, so we thought they would make a nice addition to our household library.  I want the old versions though, like the ones from my grandparent's house when I was a kid.  None of this shiny cover re-print stuff.

Yep, I see the ones that are out of order.  Don't worry, it drives me crazy too.  I've since corrected the problem on the shelf.  Unfortunately, I've been to lazy to take another photo.  You'll just have to take my word for it.

Another childhood favorite.

My last name starts with an E and Cookie Monster was my fav, so I read this one a lot when I was young.

This last one will be making an appearance in several upcycling projects that I've been working on.  I would never have it in my heart to destroy one of my favorite books, so rest assured that this one was pretty well thrashed.

In fact, I had to collect up all of it's innards from the shelf at the thrift store to even buy it.

I'm making sure that this little gem will live on through other stuff.

Thanks for looking and have a craftastic day!

p.s.  Speaking of books, read anything good lately?  I'm reading a bit of Tom Wolfe...

One Sad Stitcher :(

I know nothing lasts forever but I was still a little saddened by the demise of one of my trusty embroidery hoops, Fatty.

RIP Fatty Hoop Hoop.

Playing Catch-Up.

So, there have been a few swaps that I've completed that I haven't had a chance to share with you.  Want to see?  By the way, I freaking love Swap-bot!

I made this for the "Embroidery Me a Fairy Tale" Swap.  This was a freebie pattern from doe-c-doe.

 I branched out a bit with this gem.  I was happy to find out that it survived the journey to South Africa.  Thank you, E6000, I love you!

On to the "Embroidery in Red" Swap.  Using a pattern available in the Space Case set from Sew Lovely Embroidery.  My partner hated pink, so it was a nice challenge to use only dark reds to pull this one off.  Love the way it turned out though.

Then there is this lovely lady, for the "Non-Cutesy Mermaid ATC" Swap.  Her tail is on a brad, so it swings inward to fit the dimensions of a true ATC.  Yeah, her arm hangs off but I didn't have the heart to cut it off a Sailor Jerry girl, so I told the future owner to do it with out telling me...if it bothered her.  I found out it doesn't...yay!

Most recently I completed the "Embroider Anything" Swap.  I made this patch, again with another Sew Lovely Embroidery pattern.  I love those gal's stuff...sew much!  The second pic is a truer representation of color, I don't know what happened with the first photo.

Well, that's everything so far, expect a lot more though.  I'm currently signed up for 3 embroidery swaps on Swap-bot alone.  Then there is the other crafty swaps and another stitchy one on Flickr...I'm going to be a busy girl!

Sorry about the late posts, an unseasonably cool day created a hankering for baked pasta and that stuff takes some time.  Oh, and hopefully I'll be done with the remodel soon so you guys don't have to second guess whether or not you're on the right blog.

Thanks for looking, I hope everyone had a craftastic day.

Pardon Me!

BEEP BEEP BEEP

 WARNING- YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A CONSTRUCTION ZONE.  

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THINGS WILL BE SHIFTING AROUND.  THIS SUDDEN CHANGE MAY CONFUSE AND ANNOY YOU*.  PLEASE BEAR WITH ME WHILE I GET THINGS UNDER CONTROL.

THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE!

*  Hopefully, side effects such as confusion and annoyance will subside once the dust has settled.

More of the Journal Challenge

These are a few of the pages that I've worked on since the last ones.

Day 4- What does your heart look like?

I have two for that day because my heart flip-flops.

Day 6- What is it time for?

Day 7- How are you feeling?

Day 8- Illustrate in inside joke.

Think like an elementary aged school boy while looking at both of your hands.  I'm sure you can figure it out.  Crass, I know.

Day 9- Completely fill a page up with adjectives about a special person.

Where's Day 5? you ask...well, that's coming.  I'm not going in order since I'm behind anyway.  I'll get to that one though.  Anyone else doing this?  Would love to hear how it's going.

Gonna double up today, so be sure to check back later for some swap updates!  Thanks for looking.

Official Footwear.

Besides barbecues and fireworks, I think that flip-flops should also be an official requirement for the 4th of July holiday.  I whipped up these two pairs before my vacation using a really easy tutorial from Alisa Burke.  I changed it a little for the green ones because I can't just follow directions.

These poor guys ended up getting a bit thrashed with all of the ashy soil up in the Sierras.  You can see it starting in the picture, thankfully I remember to get a shot of them in fairly new condition.

Based on the condition of the green ones after one day I had the good sense not to break out the orange ones for the rest of the trip.  These ones are beyond comfortable.  I used flannel on these ones....sooooo soft.

Everything I used came from my stash.  So besides the $5 I spent for both pairs of flip flops, I've got some custom footwear for mere pennies.  Yeah for being thrifty!  Go make yourself some, you'll smile every time you look down at your feet.

I hope that everyone has a creative and productive day.  For those of you enjoying the holiday weekend, be safe in you celebration.

Snapshot Friday!

I'm back!  After a week in the fresh mountain air my head is clear and I'm feeling recharged.  Instead of a vintage photo today, I thought I would share a few snapshots from my vacation.  Wanna see where I've been all of this time?  They aren't so great but unfortunately they are the only ones I took this time around.  I spent all of my time just taking in the scenery, the grandeur left me dumbstruck.  I was in such awe that I stood and stared, not reaching for the camera once after we had settled in.  Ever had a moment like that?

We got to drive on lots of scary roads, like this one.

After what felt like forever we reached the Mono Lake Basin.  After visiting this area many times, I can honestly say this is the best I've ever seen the lake.  It looked so much healthier than in years past.  It certainly was a gloomy day though.

So, yep.  This is what the High Sierra looks like.

Isn't it gorgeous?  We love it there.

Well, that's why I've been gone so long.  I hope you didn't think that I forgot about you guys.  I've got lots of stuff to share with you, I'll be checking back in often.  I'm also going to be moving some stuff around and changing the look of this here blog, so please excuse the dust that's about to get stirred up.  I'm ready for change.

See you again soon!