This, That, and a Winner!

This week has been great so far.  I know it is only Tuesday, but every "good day" is such a blessing, why not celebrate it?

I have just been really thankful for the small things this week because I have been having terrible migraines.  When you don't feel your best, it's easy to be negative and whiney.  I am actually the opposite.  When I don't feel well, I really try to focus on good and beauty and fun.

I have found the most delight in the random places this week...

I found these beautiful organic yellow/orange beets while grocery shopping.  I have only just begun to cook and eat beets.  I never thought to eat them before, and then one day, I had them at a friend's house.  They were soooooooo good.  Unfortunately, they are also really high in sugar.  We don't eat them often, but these were so pretty, organic, and on sale!  I just *had* to!  I know, I am a HUGE FOODIE!  I love beautiful food almost as much as I love tasty food.

 

I also went and did my walking at a neighborhood this week for the first time.  Usually, when I walk for the day, I go to either a near by track or a local park.  That way I know exactly how far I have walked.  Well, yesterday was the first time I have gone out to walk in about a week and I wanted to ease my way back into it.  I just went for an early morning stroll through a neighborhood.

 

The neighborhoods closest to where I live don't take gardening as seriously as other parts of town, but I was still able to find some moments, where nature was beautiful.  I needed that walk in the morning to reset my mind.

 

I am glad that I went out today again for walking.  I still have a terrible headache, and just when I was about to give up and go inside, I got a phone call from a friend, *M*.  Thanks to him, I was able to walk an additional mile and a half without realizing!!!  LOL.  That's always wonderful :-)  Talking to someone is fun and exciting and so I was able to walk faster and for longer, without even noticing.  I need someone to call me every day!

 

Luckily, I got back inside in time because this is what it looks like right now...

 

 

My garden could really use some rain, so I am not complaining at all about the showers we have gotten today.  It makes a for a beautiful sky :-)

 

It also means that I will be stuck indoors getting some work done on my little project for my friend's baby boy...

 

 

I have finished another two rows.  I was beginning to get a bit discouraged because I ran out of the brown I was using and then I found out the colors isn't made anymore.  I hate it when that happens!  That has happened to two other colors that I was so in love with!  And it happened the other two times in the middle of a project as well.

 

I have another, darker brown, that I will use.  I am happy with the results, so I will keep going.  I am hoping to be done by this weekend, with a couple of other small matching items to accompany this blanket!  I really can't wait to be done and to show you.  I am really excited for EVERYTHING that will be in this package actually.... but you will have to wait a little while, won't you?

 

Something you will NOT have to wait for is the WINNER of my first Giveaway.

 

 

I found a random number generator in the app store, and here is the winner, #2...

 

 

Congrats to Shea :-) You will be getting all this in the mail, coming your way Friday!!!

 

 

I hope you enjoy your goodies, Beautiful.

 

As of right now, I have about 4-5 more giveaways planned out and several items are in the makes for those.  Stay tuned. My next give away will be in about 2 weeks or so, as I am planning to FINALLY open my personal shop and I want to do a nice-sized give away for that.

 

Until then, stay tuned!

 

Thanks so much for reading, and I wanted to give SPECIAL thank yous to these ladies.  Your comments warm my heart, and give me something to look forward to, whenever I blog :-)  Check out BrokeGirlMakeup and Loving Crochet

 

 

 Until next time... Keep Smiling and Keep searching for Beauty in everyday happenings!

 

I "HEART" Pinterest !

How is everyone this Happy Tuesday?  Everything is getting back to normal in this household.  This past weekend, The Hubs and our Little Darling went to a family reunion out of town.  Kiki is with her family on vacation for the next two weeks, leaving me all alone.  I wish I could complain, but it was the most terrific time!  I love getting an entire weekend to myself, after spending months and months drowning in domestic daily tasks.  I will share my weekend with you some other day.

Today is all about crochet hearts! I am so excited to announce that today is MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!  Yay!!!  I have been wanting to host a giveaway for....  Uhm.... Only about the past THREE YEARS!  I am so happy that the moment is finally here, where I have had the time to complete all the items and present them.

About a month ago, I was doing a small post and I showed this picture...

I shared this with the promise that I would come back and share more about the crochet hearts.

Today is that day!  I made those hearts quickly above to take a break from the hexagons....which were to take a break from sewing....which was to take a break from crochet....  Suddenly, I am beginning to finally understand exactly why it took me three years to finally make a Giveaway post!

How about this, Bri, maybe you should just Finish What You Start?  LOL!  I am happy that I was able to practice making more crochet hearts this past weekend, but what happened was I completely didn't know what to do with all of them when I was finished.



Mini Crochet Heart// Felt Cloud: my own pattern// Tags: from stationery booklet// Envelopes:  my own template

I practiced making three of each heart until I felt fairly confident with the end results.  And also until I memorized each pattern.  I started with a really simple, one round heart and then progressed into something more difficult.


Crochet Butterfly // Crochet Heart // Felt flower: my own pattern // Felt Cloud:  my own pattern

Crochet Heart // Crochet Rosette // Crochet Collar // Felt Cloud: my own pattern

 Things were actually going so well with the crochet hearts that I chose to try my luck with crochet butterflies, which were similar in pattern to the hearts and even a crochet collar.  I have been seeing them everywhere lately, and I thought to myself, "This can't be too hard to make".  When I zoomed in on several pictures, I could tell that it was extremely similar to the pattern used for making the rosettes.  I am always so intimidate to make new things from patterns.  I just never seem to understand how to read them, and it makes me completely crazy!  I got lucky to find a "new" pattern that uses an "old" favorite technique :-)  And so I made, not only this one, but THREE crochet collars.  I even sort of created my own pattern to make some the way *I* want them to look.  Again, that will get its own post later too.  I love the collars I made and I really can't wait to show them off.

All of the crochet items in this post are found on my Pinterest Board, which you can check out and/or follow.

Now, I have a pile of cute things that I have made, and in my extreme excitement over being able to read, understand, and Complete these patterns, I want to GIVE THIS ALL AWAY!

So, without further ado, here are all the giveaway items:

1- crochet collar (adult/teenager sized), 1- crochet rosette, 9- crochet hearts, 2- crochet butterflies, 3- felt flowers, 4- gift tags, 4- envelopes, 3- embellished felt cloud magnets.

The Rules:

1- You MUST comment on this initial blog post here, and tell me what you would do with any of the items you win... make a bunting? decorate clothing? create some hair pins?

2- You MUST follow my blog.

3- You MUST share this giveaway somewhere: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Your Blog... Pick your social media poison.  Please leave me a link to your share in the comments, so that I can count the entry. 

4- If you want extra entries......  You will get an additional entry per share on a social media. 
((Example: Sara comments here and shares a link to this post on her blog (1).  Then she also shares on her FB timeline, her IG page, and on Twitter--  That is 4 entries for Sara total.))

Please leave an email address so that I can contact you, in the event that you win.

The Winner will be chosen next Monday, June 23, 2014.

I look forward to this giveaway and I am super excited because I actually have many more giveaways to do before this year is over, so watch out!!!  I will be spoiling people, and I couldn't be happier! 

Good Luck !

 

Working....In Progress...

You know, I have no idea where motivation comes from or where mine goes from time to time.  Sometimes, I get these phenomenal ideas, and I throw a lot of energy and time into collecting information (patterns, pictures, etc.) and resources or supplies to create this "Thing", whatever it is, and then, BOOM!  No more motivation. So, I will set those items and my "Do It" list associated with that project to the side with some sketches of what I wanted to accomplish.  Or maybe it's a project that will take lots and lots of small parts to create a whole.  I will get so pumped and really put a lot into getting all the parts made, and once I am done, BOOM!  No more motivation. Suddenly, I have yet another bag of crochet motifs that are stored for whenever my motivation for the project might .resurface

Finishing what I start has never been my strength.  I was never forced to finish what I started when I was young, so I never found the value in it until I was an adult.  Now, I always admire those who stay the course from start to finish. Those who had a plan and saw it all the way through.  On the other hand, however, I have also accepted the fact that I am definitely a carefree individual.  I just have to do what makes me happy, even if that changes from moment to moment.  I am just not the kind of girl who can suffer through difficult moments only to say that, "At least I stuck with my guns and finished what I started".  Yes, I always wonder what sort of person that will make me, when I am old and looking back on my life.  For the record, The Hubs and I make sure our Little Darling finishes every single thing that she starts.  We are both passionate about instilling that trait into our kiddo.

A prime example would be my issue with maintaining a fitness plan.  I am healthy overall...  I mean, I enjoy being active. I could totally stand to lose about 30-50lbs, but hey, who's counting?!  I have never stuck with a specific regimen for more than 3-5 days.  Making it to the 5 day mark warrants a "Happy Dance".

So my goal this morning was to walk 5 miles...  Reasons why I lost motivation:
1.  It was hot.....Super fucking hot.  Each lap seemed to be double the distance and my vagina gut and "under titty" were seating profusely.  I felt unattractive, and that matters when I am working out.

2.  There was an unusual abundance of creeps walking about, some on bikes, some with dogs. My Little Darling was taking a break from walking laps.  Although I could see her, I doubted that if a creep decided to abduct my one and only child that I would be able to catch that person, if I were too far away from her......  Ok.  Maybe I am just crazy, and these were all nice, elderly people who were just taking a stroll from the assisted living program that's right next to my apartment complex.  But still!  I was on high alert.

3. Weird shit was falling from all trees.  There are trees everywhere.  I am highly allergic to all trees and the shit that falls from them, lives in them, IS them...whatever.  Tree = Puffy eyes & Dermatitis.

4.  I can't do simple math, so I thought 12 laps was 4 miles... And then reality hit, and I realized that, not only am I a lazy moron, but I can't count.  Awesome.

5. My Little Darling decided to play behind a huge rock.  I couldn't see her and she couldn't hear me screaming for her.  I ran, which is, like, "Aw hell naw!  Make it stop!  The agony!" for anyone who witnessed.  By the time I found her, or she found me, I collapsed to the ground in tears.  My stomach was in my chest, my knee was to the point of giving out, my eyes were burning from pollen mixed with salty tears, and I was wheezing like someone with emphysema.  All in all, I was fucking DONE.

So I held my kid nice and tight as we walked home, her little 60-pound body supporting my 200-pound, nearly 6 foot body all the way home.  I have never been so terrified!  While caught up in my emotions, I almost (for just the briefest of seconds) thought that I needed to have more children.  I mean, what would I do if something happened to the ONLY ONE I have?!

So yea.  I am a quitter.  And I always have a great story to tell about why I started down one path, quit half way, and hopped on over to a new path.

Relevance??

I have a HUGE give away planned, but it's not complete.  More on that some other day.  I will tell you now, though, that my procrastination was medically induced!

As part of my procrastination, I have been eating lots of pastries:

Don't fret.  I always accompany the pastry with coffee or tea...and a fruit or vegetable to balance things out.  Today, it was blueberries.

And I have also been working on this "side project" for my daughter's room.  Let me just PAUSE and say that I have been trying to remodel/redecorate her bedroom for over a year!  Yes! It has been something like 18 months!  I still haven't even painted a single wall.  I need to get moving before she turns 18 and all my ideas are completely  useless...

To my surprise, I am making lots of progress on this pillow cover.  I am pretty shocked.  I just don't do well with 5,000 small parts.  But I haven't lost any.  I have continued to work on it.  And I have also started to assemble the hexies.  I chose the random assembly rather than the one that fades from one color into another.  I like random.  It's fun.

I am a little less than half way done with enough hexies to cover a small pillow.  I am REALLY excited about the progress I am making.  I have never made a pillow cover before, so this is pretty special.

At this point, I just need to decide if I want to do hexies for the front and back or if I want to cover the back with fabric.  I have some options below...

I haven't decided anything just yet.  Honestly, I have no idea how attach crochet motifs to fabric. LOL.  This is all one big learning process for me.  For example:  If I had known that stitching 500 thousand hexagons would take hours, I would have totally used a pattern or plan to connect them as I was going along.  It's all good.  You Live and you Learn. 

If you are curious about the crochet hearts... I will tell you more about those on another day.  I have a bunch of hearts made, using different patterns. I'll share them all with you as soon as I figure out what to do with them!