Scenes from our Christmas

Dad, Adam, Holly, Solomon and I went to Harper's Ferry for a few hours on Christmas day. It's such a beautiful place!From the bridge looking toward the town.

Jefferson Rock

(Pardon the sappy picture of the dog...it's a weakness with me.)

One of my favorite places to walk around and just be. It's very relaxing and although whenever we go none of the shops or even restaurants are open, that is just fine with me because my favorite thing to do is just walk around and snap bunches of pictures. And that's exactly what I did. It was a fun thing to do on Christmas with my family (or some of my family, the other half stayed home and missed out!).

What started as this:
Ended up as this:Lots of 'homemade' cookies for my co-workers and a whole bunch of extras to take to the other office I worked at and a Christmas party. Yep, I made tons of cookies this year, and it's showing. Unfortunately. So no more for awhile. I was going to make a bunch of danishes for Christmas too. I usually make them at Thanksgiving, but it didn't happen this year. I'm thinking of making them for my sister's baby shower in a couple of months. I'm so excited for that! Other than card-making and cookie-baking I didn't really do very much crafting. Not nearly as much as I would have liked to do. I've been so exhausted this year. I've been getting up at 9:30 and am ready to fall asleep by about 10. I need to take more vitamins or something because I have very low stamina these days.

But back to Christmas preparations: I had a lot of fun putting together the cards and cookies and hopefully next year I will plan better and have more handmade items to give away.

Well lookee here...

I did a leetle tiny bit of crafting on my break after all. The first batch of Christmas cards I made for this season. Holly and Mom made a few too, but these are just the ones I made. Special thanks goes to glittery foam stickers from Walmart (these stickers stuck really well, I worry about stickers falling off, but these weren't going to go anywhere.) and to rub-on transfers from Target. Allow me to say a few words about rub-on transfers: I LOVE THEM! Seriously, they are addictive and are really good on homemade cards. I also got a chance to use the embossing kit I got at the craft fair a few weeks ago. It was a little more complicated for me than it was for the guy at the fair who was demonstrating how to use them. I guess I need a little more practice. :)
I made a whole bunch more, but I didn't take any pictures of those. Maybe next year...

From the back door...

To the blog...

I took this picture out the back door at work a couple of weeks ago just as it was getting dark. Something about it kind of speaks to me...I like how it is kind of foggy and dark, but it was very calm and peaceful. And it was just before I was about to leave for the day which is one of my favorite times of the day!I don't think it's very noticeable, but during the daytime you can see a whole bunch of houses in the back that are part of a subdivision. I think the fog and the light helps to mask this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just wanted to wish everyone a beautiful day. I hope you all had a beautiful day and got to spend it with those you love! Today was so great. I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends who I consider to be family. And of course I ate more than I needed to, although I think I did better than I do most years. Definitely something to be thankful for. ;)

Things will be great when you're downtown...

I like this downtown. It's Old Town in Winchester, VA. I love walking down here and visiting the library. It's a pretty spot. I got these pictures before all the leaves fell...it's not this pretty anymore. :(
This is one of our Newfoundlands, Solomon. Notice the drool...he has a problem with that. It really hinders our relationship.


I like to think about what it would be like to have lived back when this town was young and bustling. It still gets busy down here, but on the particular Sunday afternoon when I was down there it was almost completely empty. It made taking pictures a lot easier.

Django

This is my sister and brother-in-law's dog. One of them. They have two, but this one came first. He's a rescued mutt, but he is beautiful. And smart! Too smart actually.
I like my sister's dogs. :)

My 'New' Sewing Machine!

This is my Janome. My birthday gift. I haven't used it yet (I don't know where the instruction manual is), but I love it all the same. I think we're going to get along really well. It was my Grandma's but she gave it to my mom. When my mom asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I said I wanted Grandma's sewing machine. So she gave it to me a month and 25 days early for my 2oth birthday. Thanks, Mom!
My grandma is one of the most interesting and wonderful people I know. She is getting close to 90. She had 11 kids, raised 10 to adulthood and has about 25 grandkids and is expecting her second great-grandchild (my niece!!!). My earliest memories of my grandma include her crocheting doll clothes and aphgans and sewing quilts (we each have a quilt and an aphgan from her) and knitting baby booties for new cousins or babies that she knew of.
I remember one time she was visiting she decided to make herself a quilt. She went to the store and bought her fabric and brought it home and started cutting. I was watching her and was in the way. So I said, "sorry, I'm kind of in the way," and started to move and she put up her hand and said in her very New England accent, "you're never in my way." Somehow, when she said that it made me feel like a million bucks. :)
She helped teach me to crochet and I always wanted to be able to make things the way she could make them. I have a letter from her that she sent me when I was probably 9 or 10 telling me about this Swedish embroidered blanket she was working on. I finally got to see it a few years ago and it was pretty remarkable. Yes, my grandma did all kinds of textile arts: sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, quilting, cross-stitch, and all kinds of stuff. She also loved to bake and make candy. I want to be like her. She not only raised a large family, but she came from a large family so she always had nieces and nephews at her house along with her own kids and then their friends were over too. She certainly had her hands and heart full. I can't wait to use her machine to make things for my family and friends.It can do all kinds of stitches that my current machine can't do. I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

patchwork scarves with fleece backs!

These were fun to make and pretty quick too. I made them for a craft fair my coworker was participating in. None of them sold so now I can take pictures of them for all to see. Real exciting, right? ;)

(I am keeping this polka dotty one! It's nice and warm in this freezing weather!)

It was really nice to do some sewing again! I'm going to try to sew a dress before Christmas. As usual, I have good intentions, but they don't always pan out the way they're supposed to. My goal is to make a dent in it during Thanksgiving week. Other goals this week include:
1. plan a Christmas event for my Campus Crusade for Christ group at school.
2. finally get my room cleaned and organized (hoping for a miracle here...organization isn't exactly my forte...)
3. get a head start on my final projects.
4. start planning Christmas gifts.
5. do some baking for Thanksgiving and enjoy my family and friends!

There, that's not such a big list is it? I have to work on Tuesday, but I have the whole rest of the week off. It's going to be beautiful!

So...

I've taken a very long break from crafting and blogging, but this past week I did do some sewing. :) I sent it off with a friend for a craft fair she was participating in and since the weather was so bad I didn't photograph any of it. I talked to her this morning though and she said she didn't really sell anything though, so perhaps I will still be able to take some pictures and post them here, which is a small compensation for not making any sales. I did sell a baby blanket to my doctor and she has asked me to make another for a friend of hers! So even though nothing has really sold this weekend (my friend thinks this is largely due to the state of the economy) it was still fun though to work on some stuff and hopefully will put me back in the mood for crafting. Especially with the holidays coming up.

I got a sewing machine for my birthday (photos and story of that to come as well) that I can't wait to use. I haven't figured out how to load the bobbin (it is a front loader instead of a top loader and I don't know if that is actual sewing jargon hee hee) yet so I'm still using my old machine which is slowly but surely falling apart. I am really excited to start using my 'new' Janome soon!

In the meantime, happy Sunday. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and ready to face a new week!

Fall Fest

The weather around here lately has been absolutely gorgeous! Yesterday's weather was practically made to order. It was cool and the sun was shining. It really was a perfect fall day.We went to a local farm for a Fall Fest yesterday. The farm was just beautiful! You could tell that whoever owned it took very good care of it.
There was a corn maze and pumpkin patch and apple picking and hayrides and if you felt like going late at night you could do the corn maze in the dark and then go to the House of Panic afterwards. We didn't stay for that. The farm had beautiful buildings and flowers and orchards and they had also set up a sort of store near the house. They sold gourds and pumpkins and apples and apple butter and soap and all kinds of stuff including lots of products from India (not sure what that was all about, but there was a lot of beautiful stuff there!).

The corn maze was fun and in certain places the corn was really tall! We've had a lot of rain here this year so the crops have done very well.

Here are some pictures of the little store they had set up. This was the outdoor part.



This was the indoor part.These guys were so cute! These little alpacas are just a year old. The darker one was named Sterling and the lighter one is Cleave. I loved their faces and the expressions they had. It made me want one.
They look like they're talking to each other or something.
I couldn't resist getting a picture here. My godmother was a good sport and got her picture taken with me. I love those things where you can put your face on a funny body or into a sign.

I just love fall!

How time flies...

Is it really October? Already? Are you sure? Okay, I was just checking. Where did the time go? I obviously have been slacking as far as crafting goes. Fortunately, I've been doing a quite a bit of homework and am trying to keep my grades up.

Our internet at the house is out for awhile. My feelings toward this are two-fold: on the one hand, it is very inconvenient because now I have to do all my homework for 3 internet classes at school. However, since the school is closed on the weekends and I really don't want to spend Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at school all day trying to finish homework, I am being more proactive about getting my homework finished as soon as possible. This means I have more time for sewing and crafting. :) Which is great since it's already October and I would like to get started on some Christmas gifts.

I have been doing some knitting and crocheting and hopefully I will have some finished projects to show soon. If I can get enough stuff made I will hopefully be updating my Etsy shop!

It is beautiful outside today! It's cool and the sun is shining. It's perfect autumn weather. I absolutely love it. The leaves are just beginning to change colors and I can't wait till everything is red and orange and gold outside...there is something about this time of year that makes me feel so excited. I know spring is the time for beginnings, but somehow fall always signals a time of change and perhaps beginnings for me. Maybe it's because of a new semester and all the changes and opportunities that present themselves with it.

Ready or not, here fall comes!

My name was drawn...

And this lovely came in the mail for me today! It is a vision journal. African Kelli had a giveaway on her blog where she made and gave away 10 of these and I was one of the lucky ones whose name was drawn.It came with a very sweet and encouraging note too. The folks in blogland are very kind people! I am so happy to get a chance to 'meet' them.

Thanks Kelli! I love it and I can't wait to use it!

Etsy Shop!

I finally figured out how to put a link to my Etsy shop on my blog! I've had an Etsy shop since the end of June, but I haven't done much with it. Now if I could just start filling it up with stuff. I may have to start making time to do that!

New blog finds~

I guess I am taking a hiatus from crafting while I am trying to get my new school and work schedule balanced out. Add in seasonal allergies (I get spring and fall allergies...wahhh) and this week wasn't very productive. I am knitting a new scarf that I will hopefully have pictures of soon to show that I haven't been totally lazy!

In the meantime, check out these blogs I added to my blog list!

I've been visiting Christy's blog Made for Adventure for a while now and just got around to updating my blog list and now you can view her blog from there. She not only sews, she weaves! Something I have wanted to learn to do for awhile now. She does beautiful work.

And here is one I just found and am really excited about! Check out One Pretty Thing. It's a really cool blog with lots of tutorials and ideas. There is pretty much something for everyone there depending on what you like. There are some baking ideas, party ideas, home decor ideas, sewing, knitting, crocheting...I haven't even finished looking at all the ideas for August yet and I spent about an hour on there this morning.

They links are all in my blog list where there are a lot of other inspiring blogs to look at.

Have a nice weekend!

A Lovely Labor Day~

I hope everyone had as beautiful a day as I did. It started off with an outdoor breakfast with friends and my sister, and ended with a potluck at another family's house. I realize that I am blessed with good friends. God is so good to us.

Here is my attempt at a dress form. My friend helped me make it this morning after our breakfast get-together while my sister sat on the couch and laughed at us and photographed it. I won't post the pictures of me on here because I look awful. This is the semi-finished product though. We ran out of the turquoise duct tape. I think I may try to cover it with fabric since I've got a ton that I need to use up. I am so excited about this. I hope it will make it easier to sew things. I just need to stuff it and figure out how to mount it.

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day!

Photos

We took a trip to the park today and I got these pictures while I was there.


It was kind of hot today. It's been so beautiful this past week and unseasonally cool. I'd say low 80s and it's the middle of August. Someone at work told me that we are in for a hard winter.

I am moving to the equator.

The stamping continues...

This one is my favorite I think. :)

Not so sure I like this Thank You card...

You probably can't see it very well, but I loved the little corner pieces you could stick on the ends. They're for photos, but I'm using them for the frames on the cards.

I was at Borders last night

And I brought these books home with me. I really am excited about the Printing by Hand book. I'd love to be able to print my own fabric. And I've been stamping cards so much lately it would be fun to use some of the stencil and stamping ideas from the book for cards too.Simple Sewing with a French Twist...I don't have any attachment to French fashion or anything, but I did like some of the projects in here. Particularly the screen. I've always wanted a screen. You know, like a changing screen that you'd find in a dressing room or something. They give directions on how to make them in the book. Along with a beret that I really liked.

I'll have to get back to you when I get a chance to print with the printing book.