Gettin' A Little Organized

I've been MIA for a little while, sorry. My 2012 promise to myself was to blog more and have more projects (I figure, if I don't call it a resolution it will get done haha). I have a couple of things to post a bout and I'm working on a crochet project I am very excited about that I hope to have done soon.

Going through my daily news feed everybody is getting organized for 2012, I'm hoping to hop on that bandwagon too. I have already started with a new way to get rid of my many notebooks of randomness where I write down creative ideas and such. I had a few spiral notebooks where I wrote down stuff, nothing was in order, there were notes on random pages and I had to flip through everything and each book if I needed to locate something. The sad thing is, I never realized it was a problem until I was looking for a sewing pattern that I had wrote down a few months back to make more flags for church.

The first idea I had to this problem was to go to staples and get the ARC system notebooks. I LOVE this system. The paper is nice and thick, you can remove it and place it back, there are lots of accessories such as dividers and folders and pockets. I liked that if I wrote something on the first available page (like I always do) I can move it to where it belongs and stay ORGANIZED. But alas, it was out of my budget. There was no actual blank paper (just graph paper) so I would need the 30 dollar punch to insert my own.

So what did I get instead? A simple binder! I know right, why didn't I think of that first. I got the half letter sized (5.5 x 8.5), some filler paper and folder dividers all from Staples. The binder was like 7 bucks and both the paper and the folders for a few dollars each. I've only had it for a few days and I love it. Everything has its own place. I have a section for my crochet and my sewing. I printed out some PDF patterns to size and rigged my regular 3 hole punch to size also. It fits in my bag with my yarn (and my new yarn holder I will tell you about later) and other purse stuff nicely. I really like this size, I think I want to buy binders in this size for everything.

It does look a little plain. I hate the "pretty paper" in the front look, so I'm thinking of sewing up a binder cover for it. Maybe a tute to come in the near future too?

Crochet - One Skein Wrap

First off I wanted to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!! So excited for 2012 it's going to be great

Moving on with my "what everybody got for christmas series". I made my aunt this beautiful crochet shawl. The pattern for it I got from the Caron International Yarns website, you can get it here. This wrap only takes one pound of yarn, with a little to spare. I made my wrap a little longer, and left off the frindge and still had a decent amount left over to do something else with.

Sorry about the pic, I forgot to take one, the "Christmas Day" pic was the only one I had.

I don't know if this makes a difference though but I used Lion Brand's Pound of Love because that was all they had at Wal-Mart at the time.

My picture really does not show the drape well so here is the picture from the pattern to give you the idea

Last Minute Gifts - Crochet Cowel

Today I wanted to show you one of my (very) last minute Christmas gifts that I made. Last Thursday my husband comes home and asks me to make something for his supervisor at work to give to her tomorrow. Freaking out on what to make with only having one skein of yarn and only a few hours I browsed raverly on a good and quick pattern. This cowl is super cute and only took about 5 hours of continuous work to complete ( I went to bed about 2am that night). I was super exhausted when I was done but was so proud I had created something so cute in such little time. You can find the pattern for this here and create one for yourself or as a last minute gift for someone else.

Lady A's Knits

Today I wanted to share with you a wonderful website called Lady A's Knits. This site is owned by my friend Andrea who makes WONDERFUL crochet scarves.

Everything is made by her from her original designs which are totally fab, and an even bigger plus is that each creation is a one of a kind so you will be the only one wearing it.

Here is just a sample of some of her creations

See that super cute dress on the mannequin.....it's made of wrapping paper....yeah, she's that amazing.

Check out her page now, place an order for a scarf or two (or a dozen). She also does custom work so she can supply all your warm and cozy crochet needs.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

Today I thought I would share with you the hub's Christmas gift from last year. This adorable little crochet Christmas tree with matching tree skirt and even little yarn covered presents to put under.

This was such an easy project to do, it was my first "amigurumi" type project that wasn't a hat or a scarf, and although a very last minute idea (made on Christmas eve) I was very pleased with the outcome. Honestly it took only a couple hours for the tree itself, would have been shorter if I didn't have to keep pulling it out and starting over.

I found the pattern for it online, you can see it here, for my tree, however, I used a regular green worsted weight yarn (Lion Brand's Vanna's Choice) and the size hook it said on the label. Also I used some brown yarn and made a circle the same diameter as the bottom, stuffed, and sewed it on. This is stuffed with an old t-shirt because at the time its all I had, but I'm sure you would get a much fuller tree with some poly-fill.

For the skirt I just made a circle with a double crochet stitch until I liked the size,then added a scalloped edge. The yarn I used for this was Lion Brand's Homespun. I don't know if this is the correct way to do the edging, but the way I did it was: {single crochet in first double crochet, chain 4, skip next double crochet, single crochet in next}repeat around.

The boxes are just paper origami boxes. Here is the tute I used. I'm not quite sure how I made the smaller box, but it was made with paper also, after that I just used glue to wrap with yarn, used some yarn scraps to make a bow, and sat under the tree.

I have been wanting to make little ornaments to go on the tree, or at least a tree topper but I'm not quite sure how I wanted to make it. I felt that a topper should be made with yarn too, so if you have any ideas please leave them in a comment below ( I love stars, so if you know a pattern for a little 3D star that would be nice). I was thinking that for ornaments I would do pretty round beads on ear ring findings as bulbs, but I wasn't quite sure if it would look right since the tree "branches" are so close together. For right now, the simplistic look is just perfect.

I may make some garland from embroidery thread and beads.....when I ever find them in my boxes of stuff haha.

Going Through a Dry Spell

I know you guys have noticed that I haven't posted any projects lately, and there is a very good reason for that.... I don't have one. {giant gasp}

I know, I know, it breaks my heart too. So much has been going on lately I haven't been able to craft anything post able, but that does not mean that I haven't been working on anything. Lately I have been working on a crochet dolly for my princess which is now a trial and error type thing with random colored scrap yarn. I'm at sort of a stand still with that because of the face. I now have a new respect for softie doll makers, the face done wrong can make the cutest of dolly's look evil. If anybody has a good idea of how to add eyes and a mouth without using doll eyes(because I want to give it to her on her 1st birthday) leave it in a comment below, I REALLY need help.

Because of Border's going out of business my cousin and I took a little trip there and she bought me a book that I wanted to read and review. I will be doing that shortly, but finding time to sit and read with a 6month and a 3 year old is kind of tough, I've attempted, but just can not focus.

My other reason for not taking the time to post (although I shouldn't make excuses) is a good one atleast, its my newest addiction. Pintrest. In case you are like I was and had no clue what that is. I like to describe it as a visual favorites list meets social media, or the greatest thing ever. You can take any picture you find on the Internet and 'pin' it to a board on your pinterest account. Not only does it save the picture but the link too. For that reason I am in the process of transferring my Internet Explorer favorites to pinterest so I can see the crafts instead of a link title. You can also re pin things that other people have pined. The pinterest community is great because these people find the greatest things. But don't take my word for it, Go on over there and join, when you do, go ahead and use the link below to follow me.

6 Things I Love

Amy over at Mod Podge Rocks did a post like this and I liked it so much I wanted to steal borrow the idea too. Check out her 5 here. I did six because I couldn't narrow it down to just five.

[Photo]

1. Strawberry Banana smoothies from McDonald's. My love of this flavor of smoothie started a long time ago from the frozen yogurt place in our local mall. Once Mickey D's got these, which was a lot easier to get then driving 30mins to the mall, I fell in love with them all over again. In my opinion, greatest things ever!

[Photo]

2. Let's Make a Deal. This comes on CBS at 10am (eastern). I absolutely love this show, I watch it everyday and I'm dying to be on it. Yesterday I finally thought of what costume I wanted to wear: A cute cow costume, it will consist of a cow print dress and a headband with cow ears, and a cowbell necklace. When I get the money to go to California and go, I will definitely post on my diy costume.

[photo]

3. Google Reader. Since I am new to the blogosphere, I love following all of the crafty blogs that brought me the inspiration to blog myself, and the new ones I find everyday. I love reading my blogs through google reader so I can have all my favorites in one place and I never miss a good post. To see all the blogs I love, just check out the list on my sidebar.

4. Ravelry. I have been a member of this website for a long time and never really used it. Lately I've been wanting to crochet since I'm limited space for now. I love all of the free patterns I can find here, they have a little bit of everything. Lately I've been working on a doll for Naomi. I'm using different elements from different patterns to get it right, I'll show you guys when its done.

5. My Tervis tumbler. I got the  24oz Cherry Blossom one from Bed Bath & Beyond. Mine has a light pink top because I switched it from another cup. I use this for everything, hot or cold it keeps its temp for a long time. Since its microwaveable I can make my tea right in it. The fact that it's a clear insulated mug made me had to have it, although I thought it was a little expensive at first, with a 20% off coupon it was worth the extra few bucks. I'm going to go back to get the handle that goes to it soon.

6. Ben & Jerry's Banana Split pint. Eating ice cream straight out of the pint to be is pure bliss. If you have not tried this flavor before, you got to. I used to be addicted to their Strawberry Banana FroYo, sadly they discontinued it, and tried this one as a request by one of the customer service reps and love it. I eat ice cream with a baby/toddler spoon. I don't know why, but it makes it better. My spoon + a pint = my guilty pleasure

I know this will change soon and that my "it" things will switch up, don't worry, I'll keep you posted if it does.

What are you into? leave a comment telling me your 5 favorite things of the moment.

Happy (belated) Birthday to ME!!!!

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and it was wonderful! I got to spend time with my family which was much needed. I pre-wrote a post to put up yesterday but with everything I totally forgot. Even though I forgot I still wanted to post because the Etsy find that I found was extremely adorable! 



See, I told 'ya. Don't you feel like you have to have it now? I know I do.You can find it at MissRuby's Etsy shop here.

Book Review: Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet

Many people have asked me where I learned to crochet. My answer? I taught myself. No really, I did, all with this wonderful book that I found called Stitch ’N  Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller.

This book is amazing. When I tell people I learned from a book they always say I can never learn anything like that just by reading. This book makes it easy; the instructions are very detailed and have pictures to help. The pictures are actually helpful, not those pictures where you look at them and wonder what’s going on.

This book is more than just a how-to book. It starts with a little history of the art of crochet explaining where it came from, and then it teaches you about everything you about the tools and different types of yarn. It starts you off teaching the basics and the basic stitches and then some of the more decorative stitches and techniques. Everything is written in a fun to read easy going dialog which keeps you entertained unlike other how to books.

The best part is that it includes 40 patterns of the most amazing clothing and accessories from sweaters to bikinis to handbags. Yes, I did say a crocheted bikini. Never followed a crochet pattern before? That’s ok; it gives an explanation on how to read a pattern before you start. I wish I had a picture of something I made from this book but everything I did were gifts and I never thought to take one. It has this super adorable pattern for fuzzy bunny slippers which I’m dying to try so hopefully I will soon.

In my opinion every crocheter needs this book in their crafting library. Not a crocheter? Buy it anyway and try. Trust me, it’s addictive. Knitter? Debbie Stoller has other books in her Stitch ’N Bitch series: The Knitter’s Handbook, Superstar Knitting, Stitch ’N Bitch Nation, and Son of Stitch ’N Bitch. I have not read any of the other books. Tried knitting many times and it has not worked for me, I'll stick to crocheting for now. Maybe if I read The Knitter's Handbook it will be my breakthrough to knitting success!