Saturday, May 31, 2008

Crochet Bag



I just finished this bag with really nice yarns that I had in my stash.
It is a bit furry on the bottom pink half. The top yarn was a silk blend yarn with sequence in it. I just have to line it now.

Fishy in his kerchief


I took this while I was sewing last weekend. Fisher was on the little table with me pawing at my apron I was making. There was a scrap near by and ta da Fishy has a kerchief. He was a bit cranky with it on, but he did not take it off. Definitely a photo opportunity.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Surprise Dotee Swap-bot Swap




My Dotee doll came in today's mail. I love her she is adorable.
I will write more about her and where she came from. She came from Francis in the Netherlands from a girl with the nickname of Alphenstamp. http://frivolousart.blogspot.com/ She even has decorations on her back. She is very cute I love her!


Monday, May 26, 2008

Our Garden


Our Garden
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Here is our garden. Everyone plants in front of their townhomes here. I put in 3 yellow cherry tomato plants just below the window. There are 2 cucumber plants to the left. (I thought they were zuchinni when I picked them out)
I also planted a few flowers. The egg is still behind the A/C unit I haven't the heart to dispose of it.
Notice our cats in the window. They have to be part of all the excitement. I thought I would take a photo of the garden mid summer to see the difference.

Herbs for summer cooking!


Herbs
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Jeremiah took me to a large plant farm near our house on Saturday.
Where we picked out some plants for the garden. I picked out these herbs. I wanted to keep them portable and bring them inside if I want to.

Rainbow in the spray


Rainbow in the spray
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Jeremiah took this pick at the other pond. We weren't sure if the rainbow would show up in the photo.

The Family


The Family
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

This family is very hard to get a photo of. They do not like people around them at all. We had been trying to get a photo for awhile. This is the best I could do with some cropping.
They live in the pond by hole #14 on the golf course.
We love to see the babies out swimming around.
The next photo to get is the crain that visits. I have only seen him a few times.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Surprise Dotee Swap-Bot Swap


Surprise Dotee Swap-Bot Swap
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

This is the other swap I am working on. This one is called the surprise Dotee swap. The girl I am sending to said she always wanted Mother-daughter dotee's or twin dotee dolls. I also included two fabrics and a bag of beads for the trim and some yarns for hair or loops to hang them with. So she can make more Dotee dolls.
What fun! I can't wait to see the first Dotee I get in the mail from my partner. I will post the picture as soon as it arrives.

Who loves pink swap


Who loves pink swap
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

This is a swap I am sending out tomorrow to Karoline. She loves pink and Hello Kitty. This swap should be interesting. To see what I get back and who sends to me. Sometime the person who sends to me is different than who I send to. I will post pictures of what I get back.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Dotee


Dotee
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

I made this Dotee with some recycled fabric from a dress. I had to shorten the dress and I had this fabric left over from the project.
It's nifty to see part of my dress made into a Dotee.

Dotee made last night


dotee
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Some of the Dotee's I have seen have a head shaped like this.
I am not sure if I like this shape or the flat on top ones best.

Dotee doll


dotee
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

My first attempt at making a Dotee doll.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Librivox

I am have been listening to podcasts on my ipod lately. One of the podcasts I listen to was talking about Librivox, something I know nothing about.
It seems this is a free book on tape website. Here is the book I am listening to currently.
They have several options to download listen. Or you could just go to the site and listen if you like.
http://librivox.org/lady-audleys-secret-by-mary-elizabeth-braddon/
I had no idea this sort of thing was out there on the web for free.
Once again I am amazed at the free things out there on the web.
Marie :)

Personality Quiz

I took this personality test this morning. It was interesting so I thought I would post it.
I thought it was pretty well correct with who I am at the end of it.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/

This is what the quiz said about me

The Nurturer
You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal.A good listener,
you excel at helping others in practical ways.In your spare time,
you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music.
You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for.
In love, you express your emotions through actions.
Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well!
At work, you do well in a structured environment.
You complete tasks well and on time.
You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.
How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented
When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Things around here on Saturday

Today I went out and ran some errands this morning. I went to a meeting in the morning and then stopped by the Dayton Mall. It was rather far from our house but I wanted to check out a store in it. I came home and made a brunch of some cinnamon swirl bread for Jeremiah.
I was off at 4:30 yesterday (yea! me) to go to a going away party for a man in my office. We all met at a pub in the Beaver Creek mall area. I stayed just a bit and sipped on some lemon water as I am not a big drinker. When I left there I came home and Jeremiah took me on a long walk around our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods. There is two ponds in another housing development down the street so we walked over there an took a look around. Last night we checked out the moon with the new telescope. I planted some flowers in the front yard while Jeremiah was bringing out the telescope and setting it up.
I made some potato soup for Jeremiah's supper with breadsticks. His jaw was hurting from getting dental work done so we stuck with soft foods for supper for him.
I need to get some grocery shopping done today. I think I will run out to the commissary in a bit. It is the closest place to purchase groceries to where we are living now.
The pool is officially open today. No one is out there but a duck at the moment. I am wanting to get a picture of the duck in the pool. Tomorrow is a wine and cheese party out at the pool given by the development. I am hoping it is rather quiet as J is currently working nights and trying to sleep in the day.
I just got a message that a new swap I signed up has now started. It is another pink swap. My partner is named Ckaroline and lives in Denmark. http://www.flickr.com/photos/karolines_retro/ This should be interesting. It is funny I keep getting partners from far away places.
I will post more about that later on.
Marie :)

Pink swap - Israel - Shulysa



Here are the pink swap items unwrapped. How sweet this package was. There is a tag that was on the kitty saying -Meow! Meow!
I guess cat noises are universal. I walked around saying Meow! Meow! once I saw the little tag. She sent some socks and a hand made bag some pretty yarn. Well you can see everything here.
It was a nice trade, I loved everything. http://www.flickr.com/photos/shulysa/page4/ Here is her flicker pics incase you wanted to check out what Israel looks like.

Pink Swap-bots from Shulysa


Pink Swap-bots from Shulysa
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

My pink swap arrived from Israel. It just so happens she is the same partner that messaged me for a private swap earlier. So she sent me two swaps. The package arrived opened up, I am assuming by customs. The yarn was wrapped in the white tissue below it loosley. I guess that was the only thing they unwapped to check out the package. How nice it was to receive a swap all wrapped up with cute papers. I will post the items unwapped in the next post. So you can see my treasures.
Marie :)

Private swap - Israel


Private swap - Israel
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

This was a swap from the lady who contacted me that lives in Israel. She sent me lots of fabric, trims and notions. Now I can make more treasures with my new notions.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Jermiah's Sunday morning brunch


Jermiah's Sunday morning brunch
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

I thought I would take a photo. I just love making blueberry items. They are always so moist. I made the usual sugar free items. Because who needs sugar in the morning. Who really wants to crash later on. Sometimes I do make cinnamon rolls or something with sugar. Normally I try to stay away from it so everyone has happy weekends. I used a low fat biscuit mix you add water to. I added some splenda and vanilla and blueberries. We never eat real bacon around here. We always have turkey bacon. No one really likes the fat on real bacon at our house. I did find a super yummy turkey bacon at Sam's last week. I purchased this big package and cut it up and put small packages in the freezer.

It has been a bit rainy for the last week. Currently there are children out side in the rain in this giant puddle playing. They must be freezing. As I saw 3 of them swimming in it. They are completely soaked, someone is going to be in trouble shortly.

I have been putting together this swap for Tawashi (kitchen scrubbers) in Ravelry. I have done many swaps but I have never been in charge of putting one together. So far I have 14 people from various countries that have signed up. I will have to let you know how many people end up signing up for the swap. This should be interesting. It is my job to match them all up and make sure everyone knows who is sending to who.
Hopefully all goes well with this. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Mystery Egg


Mystery Egg
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Just a close up of the Mystery egg.

Mystery Egg


Mystery Egg
Originally uploaded by whirledpeas00

Jeremiah and I went on a walk this evening. It was a walk in the rain for fun. When we walked up our walkway J pointed out the little egg. We did not touch it. We suspect it might belong to these two ducks that hang out in front of our townhouse. A little boy and girl are always around our front yard for some reason. Jeremiah was off today and he mentioned he saw them out there earlier today.
I wonder if this is what a duck egg looks like. If you know let me know.
Thanks
Marie

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tawashi Town Group on Ravelry

I belong to a knitting and crochet community called Ravelry. In this community I am a moderator of a group called tawashi town. http://www.ravelry.com/groups/tawashi-town
We are just starting up our next exchange. It should be loads of fun.

In order to look in Ravelry you have to sign up and wait for an invitation in the email. It is free and so worth taking a look around the community. I believe when I signed up originally it took about 2 months to get my invitation. I think it is faster now. The interesting thing is going in the patterns and typing a pattern you are thinking about making and being able to see what everyone has made from the pattern.

I have been listening to several podcasts at work. The Webs one has been talking about making Babbette. Which is a really cool blanket pattern. I just downloaded it here. http://shop.interweave.com/store/Babette-Blanket-P235C0.aspx?src=BP080117
They are actually doing a crochet along on the podcast. I decided to make a cat blanket out of some scraps before committing to a full size Babette. I wanted to do something relaxing and easy. I will post a picture of my scrappy Babette cat blanket when I get it done.

I also sent off a few packages to some partners in Swap-bot on Monday. Along with the Mothers
Day gifts and a graduation gift to a fellow in my husbands family. One of the packages was even going to Israel. It was a private bag swap with the lady who contacted me.
Hopefully they all arrive safely. :)

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Swaps, Swaps, Swaps

Today I went to the fabric store to pick up a few extras for my latest swap I am doing.
I am doing something called
PINKALICIOUS and Divine Girly Girl Swap!
http://www.swap-bot.com/swap/show/14903

Listed below is the call to join the swap. I read it and it sounded like fun.

I ADORE the color Pink and I'm so girly-girl to boot that I wanted to celebrate it. Just bask in the PINKALICIOUS-ness of it. So, why not do a swap for it? So, here it is! This Swap will be for you to put together a package of Pink and girly girl items for your partner. Please spend at least $15 not counting shipping. I'm sorry, but I'm keeping this closed to U.S. only, not international on this round.

My partners nick name is Toothfarie here is her wish list

WISHLIST
FABRIC (novelty, mod, sugar skull patterns, japanese fabric...anything), ribbon for hairbows, anything Kawaii, patterns for baby/toddler simple clothes and bonnets, hats...toys. See favorites also (-: any handmade item. Seasonal/holiday things. Handmade tote bags, dotties . Childrens books, esp. international! Any craft supplies/embellishments. Felt Inchies!!!! Seed beads..Those tiny embellished hair pins and bows...and USED MATERNITY CLOTHES (M or L)! WE ARE TRYING FOR #2. Wish us luck!!!

So in reading about her I noted some new things I have never heard of so I had to check them out, Felt Inchies??? or Dotties???(I wonder to my self what are these)
I did a search on flicker to check out some pictures.
Inchies http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=inchies&m=text
Dotties http://dotslifeandart.blogspot.com/2007/02/art-doll-tutorial.html
So this morning I got up and made my partner a few pink felt inchies along with all her other pink things going out to her in this trade. I made a package up with fabric, trims and ribbons. I put some seed beads in also. I figured she wanted the beads and the fabric to make the Dotties.
How much fun is all this.
I also got a message last week from a lady living in Israel. She saw my bags I crocheted in my flicker or blog. She fell in love with the pink one. So we are doing a private trade on Swap-bots and I am sending her the pink bag she loves. I also put a few more things in the bag to make it extra special. I think it will be interesting awaiting the package from Israel to see what she sends me in trade. I asked for fabric or some trims. I wonder what kinds of fabrics and trims are made in Israel. Well I will post the pictures of what I get as soon as I get them.
I thought I would keep you up to date with all that is going on in my crafting world. I have been working quite a bit of overtime and have not had tons of time to make things. Next week will be a bit better. I am working on this wonderful bag that is knit for shopping. I will post it when I get it done.
Marie :)