Sunday Showcase

I happened upon this blog feature that runs each Sunday and features six different Etsy shops. You can check it out here on her blog or in the Etsy Etc forum. She's also in the Promos forum but I think it's easier to find her in the Etc one.

It's a neat idea -- she asks for participation from shops and posts a theme each week. The upcoming theme for the first showcase for January is "items inspired by the month of January. These items can be for New Years, be zodiac themed/birthstone themed, be calendars or organizational/resolution themed. There is no color specification." (Quoted from her forum)

Be sure to go to her blog because you must comment both there and in the forum to be featured.

This is a recent showcase from December -- the theme was Traditional Christmas.

1.kippyssomature
2.PlumpFairy
3.glamasaurus
4.Gilliauna
5.Littletwinklestar
6.CrownBindery

Pretty neat! And a good promo for your shop. I hope to participate another time -- didn't have anything that fit with the theme this time.

Warming Her Ears

Earflap Hat
Originally uploaded by Magnolia Surprise

I just finished this earflap hat to go with Noli's handwarmers. I think it came out pretty cute!

A Pattern for Warming Her Hands

Can you tell these are handwarmers? -- They look funny without a hand in them!
I was making them for Noli for Christmas -- while she was here! I measured her hand and every now and then asked her to try them on. She asked "are they for me?" I crossed my fingers and said, "well, we'll see but I think they're for the shop" We went thru this ritual about three times. So I think she'll be surprised! Three year olds don't remember so well so I think I've got a chance.

I'm going to crochet her an earflap hat to go along with them -- a fuzzy brown with the trim in the pink. Nothing like the last minute.

If you'd like the pattern for the handwarmers, here's what I did:

Child's Handwarmers

Materials:
Worsted Weight yarn (I used Paton's Classic Wool)
G hook
F hook

Measurements:
4" long before edging ( 4 1/2" with edging)
5 1/2" wide before sewing
(fits about a 3 to 5 year old)

Both width and length can be easily adjusted for your child's measurements. Simply add chains or rows to your measurements.

Make two:

With G hook, ch 19.
Row 1: dc in 4th ch and each ch across (17 dc); turn.
Row 2: ch 3, dc in each dc across; turn. (Ch 3 always counts as dc) (17 dc)
Row 3-12: repeat Row 2.

Finish off. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing the sides.

Fold in half and sew the foundation chain and last row together for 9 dc. Take an extra stitch or two in 9th dc to reinforce the beginning of the thumb opening. Skip 4 dc to leave open for thumb opening (weave your yarn along the 4 dc) and take an extra stitch or two as before. Sew the remaining 4 dc.

Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Scalloped Edge: (Use F hook)

Attach yarn at seam and working evenly around:
Ch 1, sc in same st, *5 dc in next space, sc in next space.*

Repeat from * to * around. End with sl st in the first sc.

Cut yarn and weave in ends.

(Basically, if you just do the dc scallops and the sc evenly around, you're OK)

You can put the scallops on either end -- they can go toward the arm or toward the fingers, whatever you prefer! Or even on both ends!

For a boy, you could do a simple sc around for a neat finish.

Enjoy! (You can use this pattern however you'd like, but if you blog or sell items made from it, I'd appreciate a link back here. Thanks!)

My Creative Space

Actually, this is *our* creative space! Noli loves to "needle" while I crochet so today she's needling her sewing cards. As you can see, she's very adept at it (grin). (She's also very dirty from playing outside!)

And, the backside -- this one goes waaaay over there!

In the meantime, I'm sneaking some crochet time on one of her Christmas presents -- a market basket full of fruits and veggies. I've got a bit more left to do on the basket and a handle to add. I love it that I can work on it while she sits beside me and she never suspects a thing!! I've kept the veggies out of her sight though.

My favorite is the corn on the cob -- isn't it hysterical? Next will be an avocado since she loves quacomole. Potatoes would be good too.

I also had made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich some time ago.

So, that's my creative space for this week. For more neat spaces, go here and add yours.

See ya'll next year!!

Flickr-ing

I finally got my Flickr badge going! I'm lovin' Flickr - I find myself playing around in there WAY too much...but it's so much fun! My photos are mostly my crafty stuff and kitty stuff. I'm trying to decide if I want to put Noli on there. My daughter doesn't mind but, I don't know, it seems so public... Maybe a few.

Well, gosh, I really don't have any pics to put here! They're all over there on the side!

Yummy Food...and a Hat

Thought I'd "show off" some things I recently listed in my Etsy shop...

Milk and Cookies for Santa -- he won't gain an ounce!
Glass of milk based on a pattern from Beansprout Creations.
Baby Santa hat for newborn thru 3 months.

Yummy Mini-Burger with lettuce, cheese and tomato.

Oreo-style cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I've gotta make more of the cookies -- they were only up a day when they sold! Yea! (Wish everything was like that!)

Cross Stitch Love

Cross stitch is one of my favorite things to do -- I just never have time to devote to it. I mostly stitch for the charity group Love Quilts (button over there on the side bar). They assemble cross-stitch blocks into beautiful quilts for children with life-long or life threatening diseases. The stitchers are from all over the world. There are also Love Quilt groups in other countries.

Unfortunately, due to a computer melt-down, I lost all of my pictures and so only have a few of the most recent ones to post. But here those are, and apologies for the tiny size -- these 3 came from the Love Quilt site and I can't seem to resize them. The Smile one actually came from my camera!

But, you get the idea!

I'm starting one now for a little boy in Texas (I try to always stitch for the Texans since that's where I live...) whose theme is the great outdoors. My design is of four different types of ducks. I haven't gotten far along enough to take pics, but will when you can tell what it is!

And, please, if you have any interest in cross-stitch, visit their site. You'll fall in love with the kids and maybe decide to stitch some blocks!

A Snowy Day in Texas :p

We don't get much snow here but this is typically what it looks like when we do!! Maybe once every few years we get a pretty good snow that sticks around for maybe a day, but usually it's too wet to stick, like this morning.

But there is snow on the windshield of my daughter's car! And across the street are the typical Texas vehicles -- trucks, trucks and more trucks!

This is in the backyard -- I was trying to get a picture of the actual snow coming down. It looks like icicles!This is a clearer shot of the same area but you can't see the snow as well.

And this is a tree in our front yard. Just a day or two ago it was green!

And so, finally, this is the beginning of winter here.

I have lived most of my life in the south, so never got to really experience winter -- only a few days of coat wearing for me! We lived in Colorado (in Avon, near Vail, in what is now (but was not then) Beaver Creek. But one day the owner of the apt building gave everyone a choice: stay for basically another year at higher rent and then move when the conversion was complete, or move. So we moved... (Ah, the love for the year-round resident.) :)

Really loved it and the beauty while I was there! (and if you can imagine winter on the back of a motorcycle -- on the mountains -- well, let me just say I'm glad I was young and invulnerable!)

Knit and Crochet Graffiti!!

Ever seen a crocheted/knitted bus?
Or how about parking meters?

Aren't these cool? It's from a site called Knittaplease and you can scroll through their gallery to see more. Motor scooter, car antennas, statues with leg warmers!

I wanna ride on that bus...

No-Gauge Custom Cloche Tutorial

I came across a wonderful tutorial for a no-gauge custom crochet cloche over at TimaryArt's blog. You must check it out!

I'm really excited about this tutorial because it makes finding the right size to make the crown of the hat so very easy. And that was what always gave me trouble. A hat would end up too big or too little and I'd have to start all over again.

Who knew that we'd actually USE that algebra we learned back in school!!

Pretty flower too, but you'll have to supply your own pattern for that! : )

Makin' a Collage

Noli was gathering leaves. And wanted to make a picture.

So out comes the glue stick and a lovely collage was made.

The bottom one sticking out is the trunk 'cause, of course, it's a tree. Made especially for her Daddy.

I love this little child.

Warm and Toasty Cowl

I finally got something new listed in my Etsy shop! This cowl is made of doubled 100% wool yarn in a winter white color. Isn't my daughter lovely in it?

And check out Noli -- even the little ones could wear it!

A Most Excellent Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

This is my family's favorite whole wheat bread recipe -- for a bread machine. It's from "The Bread Machine Cookbook II" published by Nitty Gritty Cookbooks/Bristol Publishing. There are five in this series, as far as I know, and I have all of them. Great little books! I got mine at a used book store.

All the ingredients gathered.

This recipe is for a large loaf made in a machine taking a 4 cup flour measure. (Mine is an older model Zojirushi)

Put into machine in this order (or as your machine instructs)

1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 tbs. vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey (raw honey is especially good but regular clover is fine)

1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups whole wheat flour (see note below)
6 tbs gluten

yeast 1 packet (or 3 tsp. if you use the jar kind)

Note: you may also use whole wheat bread flour (4 cups) but leave out the gluten. Gluten, when combined with the yeast, helps to give a higher rise so is used with flours with low gluten content.

Bake on a regular white cycle according to your machine instructions. (If you have a whole grain setting, use that. I use the white cycle and it comes out perfect!)

And approximately 4 hours later:

Mmmmm -- enjoy! Nothing better than freshly baked bread!

Litter Box Nap

Excuse me? How dare you interrupt my litter box nap?

Cats are nuts! Granted, it's a cleaned litter box with brand new litter, but PUH-LEEZE, wouldn't the soft, nicely folded, newly washed towel on the window sill be that much more comfy?

Maybe because it's in a different, temporary location while I'm cleaning the laundry room?

Of course, nobody ever said Sam was the bright one...

Eye Spy - Shoes!

In the darkness of early morning recently, I banged my toe on the very heavy ottoman leg and just about practically lost my toenail.

Soooo, socks are now my shoes!
Or, the very nerdy slip-on sandals (don't they just remind you of a little old man dressed in plaid shorts and socks and sandals, running into the post office or somewhere?)

If I have to go out, I can get my trusty Crocs on since they are really wide at the toe.

This, however, is a pair that I really like when I can actually wear shoes.

I know they're open at the toe, but I do have some style about me -- I'm not about to wear a sock, or a bandaged toe, with those shoes!

So, there you have it. Busted toe and all.

For some real shoes, check out BugandPop -- and add yours.

Scrambled Eggs

My hubbie makes the best scrambled eggs. They are light and fluffy and buttery and cheesy. Yumminess.

These are the ingredients -- you gotta use REAL butter! No substitutes for us.


Here's all that yummy butteriness melting in our (his) new skillet. ("free" from the grocery store :)

OK, confession: he's chief cook; I'm chief bottle
washer (and kitchenhand, in charge of chopping and peeling!)






Next, mix it all up and add MORE butter.

Add the cheese (that's the dreaded sausages in the little skillet -- a love of my hubbies and not at all of mine.)

Just about ready to enjoy!

Oh, the buttery, cheesy goodness! Perfect with hash browns and an English muffin.

Definitely not for the dieters, but marvelous on a Sunday morning!

Flower and Sunshine Bibs

Just added two sweet little baby bibs in my Etsy shop!



One is a flower and the other is sunshine!

My Creative Space

When Noli is here, we share a creative space -- it's my office/library/computer room/guest bedroom and now, Noli's space too! She's now calling it "my room." Uh-oh. But this is where I work on my stuff while she plays with toys or watches something on Sprout or plays a "peter" game (computer in Noli-eese). I can interact with her and still get a little done. (Emphasis on "little") :)

This yarn is from a project that I had to frog (wasn't working right at all) and rewound on my handy dandy yarn winder. Love it!!

So now it's becoming a lacy scarf. I can't work on it when Miss N. is around since I have to really follow the instructions.

OK this picture just moved and I don't know why. But this is something I can work on when she's around -- a kid's granny square scarf and hat. The stripes part is the hat -- it has four grannies around the top and four pom-poms! (for which I will just HAVE to get a pom-pom maker because I can't make them to my satisfaction using cardboard...) The scarf will have fringe on the ends.

I made this set for Noli for Christmas before last and it's still looking good. I thought I would make another for my little Etsy shop.

Whoops! Gotta go! The ever energetic Miss N. is here!

More Creative Spaces here.