Happy Birthday to me!

I had the most wonderful Birthday weekend!

It started on Thursday. My mom came up after work and babysat Hazel for the evening, so Owen and I could go to dinner! We went to the Melting Pot, my most favorite restaurant. When they seated us at our table, the gave me a birthday card and there were roses from Owen already on the table. We had a lovely California salad, Wisonconsin cheese trio fondue and a flaming dark turtle dessert fondue. With dessert they brought out a little plate that had my name written in chocolate, I thought that was a nice touch. I indulged and got a cocktail, it was so yummy, it didn't taste like alcohol (the kind of drink I like), it was a "Love Martini" (Love at first sip! Malibu rum, peach schnapps, cranberry juice and fresh strawberries). After all that we still had a little time before we had to be home, so we went to Voodoo. I ordered my first voodoo doll and it had a unicorn on it! How did they know???? It was delicious for the eyes and tummy!

On Friday the 24th (my real bday) I woke up and had to get over to the chiropracter. Owen and I were in a small car accident that left the front of the car slightly damaged and my back in a little bit of pain from the impact. So after being adjusted I went to my Friday knitting group to knit and chat! Hazel and Owen showed up after an hour or so and we had lunch, then they went back home and I knitted some more! After Hazel's afternoon nap the three of us went out to dinner to La Hacienda (my favorite Mexican restaurant). We next went to the mall to buy Hazel new shoes and we went to build a bear. Hazel picked out the pink bear and I picked out the outfit. It's name is "rainbow bear", yeah, original I know :) They had a balloon guy out front and he made me a turtle :) Hazel spent some time playing in the play area while we watched from the side.

On Saturday I was up early for Oregon Flock and Fiber! That will be a separate post, with pix later (when I get more time to write), but Owen and Hazel showed up in the afternoon and we had a yummy sheep cake (not sheet cake) that Owen and I made so that I could celebrate with my knitting friends!

On Sunday was OFFF again and I had dinner at Red Robin with my friends from college! It was fun seeing them, but it went so fast, so I don't feel like we got to talk too much :( Hazel loved it because my mom was there doting on her. Outside she showed me the flower she would pick for me if I'd let her.

I am pretty tired from that long weekend and all the celebrating! I will post more pix soon :)

Seattle Extras

So, my last post had nothing crafty in it, and I did want to share a few things.

Here I am, working on a test knit shawl for Michelle (of PDX Knitterati). I found a few moments on our trail hike to sit and enjoy the nice weather and the negative ions from the water. I'm wearing my Travelling Woman shawl (in case you were wondering)


Something I've been making for people lately - Crochet Bracelets. I made them for bday presents and for a spinning swap that I recently participated in. They are really simple to make - I used 26 gauge colored wire, beads, a size J metal crochet hook and a magnetic clasp. You can check out in Debbie Stoller's "The Happy Hooker" for the pattern I used :) I am sorry to say that I have not been photographing them, because I make them and the next day give them away, and then say, "DARN! I should have taken a picture!" So, here you go, I took one with my cell phone just to say I have a picture of one! This one may end up being gifted as well, because I think I may be allergic to the metal. I was wearing it for a little while and my arm started to itch where the bracelet was. Grr :(



Bead purchases from Shipwreck! I bought the 6/0 beads for the above mentioned shawl, some swarovski crystals, blue-green stars, two boxes of mixed beads in turquoise and purple, a few turtle charms and some Bails (for a project coming soon! well for Christmas, so probably wont post about that for a long time yet).  You can click on the picture to see the beads in better detail.

Secret Sewing!

I can finally blog about the secret sewing projects I was working on! They were gifts for my friends and did not want to chance it having them read my blog (highly unlikely though). All three projects I had made 2, one for me and one as a gift, and I forgot to get pictures of the recipients' present, so mine will have to do.

First off, a yarn swift bag. I saw an add on ravelry for one of these, and they were kind of expensive, so I decided to make it myself! The tricky part was figuring out how to make it! I googled for wine bags, and yoga mat bags and came up with these instructions that I liked, and used them as guidelines to make it fit my swift. Mine are padded with fleece to give cushion it. The inside is a white fabric. I did not add the webbing hanging loop like I had wanted, but on my friend's bag I used a rope for the drawstring and that seemed strong enough she could use it to hang it if she wanted.



Knitting project bags - don't let the picture fool you, they are approx 20" long, long enough to accomodate long metal needles if I chose to use them. The same friend who I gave the swift bag to, got the pink bag. Actually, she gave me the materials to make the knitting bag for my birthday, but there was enough to make two bags so I made it to give to her for her birthday. That reads very confusingly, but you get the jist. These were made using a Honeybun Jelly Roll - long strips of fabric rolled into a roll, then you sew the strips together to make a larger fabric. It was a pain, but the end results were cool!


Lastly, I'm pretty sure I did not mention this, but for our anniversary Owen gave me a camera! It's a Canon Rebel T-2i DSLR. When we first started dating, I took pictures of everything! I loved going out on walks and taking my camera along. Over the years when digital started getting popular and then the standard, we bought a string of point and shoots. They were ok and took decent pictures, but really not the quality that I wanted. Also, they do poorly in low light or trying to snap pictures of a toddler running around! This new camera is awesome, and I had all but forgotten that I liked taking pictures of stuff other than Hazel. Anyway, the strap that comes with the camera is adequate, but not glamorous. I found a tutorial online from Made by Petchy and followed it for my camera's strap. The first one I made was too small, so I made the second one a little bigger and it fit perfectly! I also made one for my sister-in-law's camera (our cameras are one version different, hers is a T1i) out of a pretty blue fabric with a white "pottery barn" style print. She loves it!



That's all on the sewing front for a while. I have some things that are on the back burner, like a coin purse, but nothing major. Phew!

Hoppy Easter

Hazel loves her new bun-bun and the shrug that matches her Easter dress!

Christmas in a nutshell

Handprint Ornaments

A last minute gift idea for the grandparents. Hazel helped us make these totally adorable handprint ornaments!

I rolled out some Crayola air dry clay and used Hazel's hand to make an impression in the clay. I used a can to cut out a perfect circle, then waited a few days for them to dry. I painted the handprint with watered down pink acrylic paint, then some glitter glue to seal the handprint. Owen helped out by making the paper piece that we spray glued onto the back of it. After it all dried we used clear acrylic sealant to preserve the whole thing! I think they turned out really cute.



I'm not lyrically talented, so we found the poem on this site!