Valentines

Seems all my time right now is spent on knitting for Ravelympic projects, but I did make a few Valentines. Filled the boxes up with chocolates and gave some to Sydnee to give to friends. The rest I kept with the best intentions to give them away to church teachers, but - surprise - I forgot them at home this Sunday. I did give a couple of them away.

Ravelympics, Here I come!

So I heard about the Ravelympics from Sydnee (see her blog here). I had no clue what they were until I looked them up on Ravelry. Something I've been missing in the land of fiber, it seems. Sydnee and I are both going to join. It appears you have to join under a group, then post under that group which "events" you are entering. Events are things like Cable cross country (making things with cables), charity curling (making things for charity), sock hockey (making socks) - you get the picture. The Ravelympics start when the 2010 Winter Olympics start and end when they end. I'll be posting what I'm going to make once I've decided and posted my entry on Ravelry. I've decided to join under the Over 40 Team. That decides that Syd and I can't be on the same team. Wanna join? C'mon over to Ravelry!

Catching Up

Happy New Year! Ok, so January is already half over, but hey, I am known to be a procrastinator!

I am on a crochet kick right now. Don't ask me why. Wait, I know. I was given a trash bag - and I mean those big dark green leaf trash bags - full of yarn. My mom went to visit my aunt and she was getting rid of it. I'm very sentimental about things - too sentimental - and I have a hard time getting rid of anything that was given to me by someone I know. That is why I had to go to Target and buy a few big plastic bins to put all this yarn in. After all, it looks so much better in a plastic bin that it does in a garbage bag. So good in fact, that I don't feel so guilty about hoarding my stash of yarn, even if it is acrylic!

These projects are all from free patterns on Ravelry. You can view them and the patterns on my Ravelry profile, stitchnscrap.

This is a scarf I'm making for my daughter. It is double-knit so that there isn't a purl side. It's the first time I've tried double knitting, and although it is time-consuming I love the end result.

A baby blanket I'm crocheting. Very easy pattern. Great use of stash yarn.

Quick and easy crocheted purse.

These three hats are all made using the same pattern.

Not quite done with this one. Am planning on making an edge in a different color and not adding the ear flaps.

So, I want to blog about my favorite scrapbook store. Since I'm a visual kind of person, I check my pictures to see if I have any of the store. Nothing there. That's ok, I think, I'm a Little computer savvy (with a Capital L), I'll just surf the web for a picture. Hmmmm, nothing there, either. Looks like today there is just the written word for this post. However, if you're reading this, you have probably either been to Treasured Memories, or at least heard about it.

I went there today and let me tell 'ya, there is a SALE going on! I found items for .10, lots for .25 and even more for $1. They are selling products at sidewalk sale prices to make room for the new products soon to be coming in. My reason for telling you this has two purposes: One, this kind of sale doesn't happen very often, and I'm all for sharing the love - and discounts! Two, I WANT TO SEE THE

NEW PRODUCTS!

I'll admit I'm a big sucker for new stuff, and I am chomping at the bit to see it, touch it, feel it. So, go on, get yourself to Treasured Memories, 1510 S. Wells Ave., Reno. You can find their website here.

Comment on this post, let me know what you think and/or what great deals you got. I'm going on my scrapbook retreat next week, and when I return I will pick a random winner from the comments and they will win a fun goodie bag, full of wonderful scrapbook or card making items. So comment away!

First There Were Three

It really started out at Cropapalooza last October. I had heard of Stickles, kinda knew what they were, but never really played with them. Then one of the croppers embellished a card with them and I was wowed. Ok, so it's just a glitter glue, but I fell in love. I bought three - Burgundy, Copper and Platinum. These three colors went on my Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas projects. Then...

More was added to my collection. What to do with them? Cards, page layouts, you get the picture. Shortly thereafter...

even more was added to my collection. Luckily, these bottles are small and don't take up much room. I spent a weekend just making cards and adding Stickles to some to make them sparkle. Love them!

A simple card with Stickles added over the patterned paper.

Thank you cards made using Fiskars border punches.

Stickles around the flowers of the card on the right.

I went Stickle crazy on these Fall cards.

I love using up scraps to make cards.

Yep, my dining room table really is under all that.

We've graduated from Cake Decorating 101

Erin and I finished our basic cake decorating course. Still don't think I've got the knack for decorating, but Erin does. We decorated a cake together. I love making the roses but I really need to practice.

Erin signed up for another cake decorating class. This one is going to be learning about fondant.

See those confetti-looking squiggles? Yep, that's caused by a hole in the bag of frosting.

Erin and I are taking a cake decorating class at Michael's. What fun, I thought. I'm a kinda creative person, I should take to cake decorating like I've taken to other crafts, right? Oh, noooooooo. After three classes I have decided that I am definitely not a cake decorator. I didn't even take pictures of the first cake I made. Looks like I'll just have to stick to scrapbooking. And knitting. And card making. And crocheting. And...

I made two cakes - one for each of us. We had to frost them before the second class. Our first class the teacher gave us a lot of information and went over what we would be doing.

I landed up having to make four batches of frosting - that's 16 cups of powdered sugar! My kitchen was a disaster and I never could get the frosting smooth.

Class #3's results. I now have a lot more respect for cake decorators. This takes a strong, steady hand, and other things which I obviously don't have.