yarn bombing.

So one of the books on my A to Z Reading Challenge list was Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore and Leanne Prain.

Wow.  Awesome eye candy here.  I loved flipping through the pages and taking in all of the projects.  There were a few tutorials included as well, but that's not really the primary motivation for checking this book out.  Honestly, I didn't even read it cover-to-cover...just kind of flipped through and skimmed captions of the photographs that caught my eye. 

Overall - definitely recommended, but check your local library.  I borrowed my copy, and I really don't think it's one I would purchase outright.  Worth checking out, though!

PS - Still plodding through "Last Night in Twisted River"...

Here's my updated reading list:

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practial Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - A Widow for One Year by John Irving
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

project 12 - january layout.

Davinie Fiero teams up with Becky Fleck each month to bring Project 21 to the blogging community.  Basically, you sum up the events of the past month on a double-page layout.  You can choose to use the sketch created by Becky, or not - it's up to you.

Here's my sketch for January (click on the picture to view it larger):

I am really happy with the way this came out.  There were only two major events that I was highlighting this month - the Polar Bear Plunge and the large snowstorm we received - but the pictures worked nicely together!

You can check out everyone's submissions for Project 21 here.

I can't wait to see the February sketch!

howdy, stranger.

Well, hello there.  It's been a while, huh?  Things have been a bit crazy here lately.  Let's catch up!

I am (still) reading "Last Night on Twisted River" by John Irving.   This book "L" on my A to Z Reading Challenge list. It's slow going, but not because I'm not enjoying the book.  Usually, by the time I sit down to read in the evening I am so exhausted that I fall asleep after a few pages.  The book is fantastic, though.

I am continuing my journey.  I am still participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word class, but have admittedly been slacking off a bit.  This month's assignment was to take photographs of your word in action.  I have been disappointingly unmotivated and uninspired to do so.  I know that I do not have to follow every prompt exactly, so I have been thinking about flipping through Flickr to find other people's photographs that represent my word, Renew.  Here in the dead of winter (with fresh snow on the ground at that) I'm not feeling very renewed.  I'll get there, though.  There's no time frame for this project, so I'm not worried about rushing to get it finished before the next prompt.  I'll work at my own pace.

I had oral surgery last week.  The surgeon removed six of my molars that were damaged beyond repair.  It's been quite an ordeal to recover from that surgery - worse than I thought it would be.  They were removed on Friday and I'm just now starting to feel better.  Luckily, we had a snow day today so I have one additional day to recover before I have to go back to work tomorrow. 

I've been crocheting a lot.  Mostly because it's something that I can do while crashed on the couch.  And I've been making a granny square afghan, so I can do small pieces at a time...in case the percocet interferes with my ability to concentrate, lol.  I'll share pictures soon.

I've been playing with my new phone.  Brett got me a Droid Incredible.  LOVE it.  I can't say enough good things about it.  My only complaint is the short battery life, but that's manageable.  I had contemplated getting an iphone since Verizon finally picked it up, but honestly, I like the droid so much better.  Even using my ipod touch after playing with the phone is not satisfying at all.

Well - back to working on that blanket by the fireplace.  Stay warm, everyone!

a to z reading challenge

I read about a reading challenge for 2011 here.  It's too late to participate actively on her blog, but I really like the idea of this, and thought it would be a great motivator anyway!

Here's the deal:  Make a list of 26 books you want to read in 2011...one for each letter of the alphabet (not including "the" or "a/an").  Cross them off as you go!

Since I'm starting off a bit late, I'm going to include the books I've already read this year.

A - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
B - Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin
C - Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden
D - Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
E - Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
F - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
G - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
H -The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzch
I - I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale
J - The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
K - Keeping Faith by Jodi Picoult
L - Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
M - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
N - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman
O - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
P - The Practial Guide to Patchwork by Elizabeth Hartman
Q - The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R - Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
S - The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
T - The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
U - Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi
V - The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
W - A Widow for One Year by John Irving
X - XVI by Julia Karr
Y - Yarn Bombing by Mandy Moore
Z - The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman

Will update on progress as I go!

pinterest interest.

Over the weekend I got addicted to a new organizational website called Pinterest.

You can capture images using a tab you add to your bookmarks, and place them on Pinboards (which link back to the original website). 

You can also view a feed with images all your friends are posting, and snatch them up for your pinboard as well.

I currently have Pinboards for layouts, paper crafting ideas, sewing inspiration, craft spaces, recipes, and home decor.  You can view my Pinboards here.

As of right now membership is by invitation only, so if you are interested in starting your own Pinboard, post a comment with your email address and I'll be happy to send you an invite.

Be careful, though - major time suckage is in your future if you do. ;)

a new way to scrap.

I picked up some We R Memory Keepers divided page protectors from Scrapbook.com a few weeks ago.  I've been intrigued by Becky Higgins' Project Life, but I know I'm not diligent enough to do a picture a day project.  These page protectors are similar to the ones in her kit, and I can incorporate them into my regular albums.

My first attempt at using them was with some pictures from the back-to-back blizzards we received last year.

 

I'm happy with them overall...the only challenge I foresee is making sure the next layout in the album utilizes the divided page protector as well.  

I'm looking forward to playing around with these some more!

quilt in progress.

After organizing my fabric, I was inspired to make a quilt with the fabric I have accumulated over time.  This was actually pretty challenging.  I only had limited resources, and I was determined to not purchase any new fabric for this project.  I used a pattern from the latest Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine.

In order to break up some of the business of the patterns, I used Kona White in some of the pieces.

This one really turned into a bit of a puzzle.  Using only what I had on hand, not repeating patterns too much, and dealing with situations in which I didn't have as much of a particular pattern as I would have liked.

It was really helpful to use my makeshift piecing wall to lay everything out as I decided on placement.

 

Oh, yes - it's ugly bright orange felt left over from the little one's Halloween carrot costume.  It works just fine.  One of these days I'll get around to constructing a proper felt wall for quilting. ;)

 

Here is what has been properly sewn thus far.

It looks much better without the orange backdrop, huh?  I'm happy so far.  And this particular color scheme will go nicely in our master bedroom.  It will be a small quilt, and I'll probably have to purchase some fabric for the sashing, binding, and backside, but overall I did tear into my stash quite a bit.  

groundhog day!

Not sure what I'm hoping for this year...I do enjoy the snowy weather, and as a teacher I'm fortunate in that I don't have to travel when the roads are too bad.

Six more weeks of winter or spring around the corner...doesn't matter much to me.

I'm more excited about the idea of celebrating a silly holiday that means absolutely nothing.

Oh - and watching Bill Murray relive the same day over and over again.  That's fun too. :)

regaining control.

The fabric situation was just out of control.  I have accumulated so many pieces I didn't know what to do with them.

I spent a good part of the weekend sorting by color and purging the out of date and/or atrocious patterns I have inherited.

 

I had way more than I thought, and came across some really nice patterns I forgot I had.  Now these containers sit nice and organized on the shelves in the craft room.

I decided to work on a quilt made solely from fabric that is already in my possession...it's still in progress but I'll share some pictures this week!