Some Pretty Blues to Share

Well, I thought it might be time for a new post.... after all, it's been a mere 8 months since my last one! I promise.... hope.... that I'll do better in the future!

So I thought I would start back with some blue to share on Blue Monday from Backyard Neighbor....

First up is my little blue bird from my shop (you may remember him from prior posts) -- he has flown in and out a number of times and just recently flew back in!

He loves his butterfly friends and always asks them to fly with him!

Next I want to share this beauty of an Etsy treasury from my BBA teammate Margaret. It just happens to be my personal favorite shade of blue! She has included my tea and cookies set -- and in fact included it a second treasury she made the same day -- oh, my heart is aflutter!

She has titled the treasury "Summer Daydreams"

Perfect!

If you'd like to check out any of the lovelies she selected just click here or on the treasury itself.

And a bit of a pay it forward....

Newborn baby socks with bugs!

Margaret has hand painted and hand dyed these cuties!

I hope you enjoyed my blues today -- be sure to go over to Blue Monday to see more!

♥♥
Sarah Beth

Blue Skies and Fluffy White Clouds

I'm being greedy and sharing two posts on Blue Monday today!

My first one, That's a Lot of Bull! has lots of blue to see, but I think you'll agree that this post has a whole lot more!! It's a treasury that I made for one of the Etsy teams I'm on -- BBArtisans (aka Blogging Business Artisans). Just wanted to share -- I think you'll enjoy it whether you're on Etsy or not :)

If you'd like to see any of the items up close and personal, just click anywhere on the treasury and you'll be whisked away! If you're an Etsy seller and would like to leave a comment, that would be awesome!

See. What did I tell you? A mega amount of blue!

Oh, and you know what else? I know that you blog, but if you blog and are on Etsy, you might like to join up with the BBA Team -- we're small but mighty! Go here to check us out!

~ sharing on Blue Monday


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The Tale of Little Tommy Turkey

Yikes, yikes and yikes!! I totally forgot to write about my November challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans team! So I'm posting it anyway, even though it's now December and my project was a.... 

turkey!!

Edi of Memories for Life challenged us to create something with the beautiful colors of fall and to take our inspiration from nature. To me, those colors come from leaves as they turn colors from the green of summer to the yellows, oranges and reds of fall. A turkey has those beautiful colors in its feathers, and of course we all think about turkeys at Thanksgiving time!

This is Little Tommy Turkey and he's awfully glad he didn't wind up at part of somebody's Thanksgiving dinner -- he would much rather be part of the Thanksgiving decorations instead!

He's a little cutie, all round and chubby and with feathers of those beautiful fall colors. He says he's just a tiny little guy so no good for Thanksgiving dinner anyway.... 

To see some more November challenge projects, Turkey Trot over to the BBA Blog!

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Always Eat a Good Breakfast!

We are big breakfast eaters around my house -- hubby always cooks -- well, if we're having cereal, sometimes I pour it into the bowl, and I'm always in charge of cream of wheat -- or as we say, creamy wheat! He cooks a mean breakfast! 

Usually eggs of some sort -- fried, scrambled or poached -- 

with whole wheat toast for him and an English muffin for me. 

With lots. of. butter. : )

Orange juice for us both, and a glass of milk for him. He drinks it all in one gulp! Yikes! He says his Dad would say "Down the hatch with General Patch" (he was Army) and drain his glass of milk!!

Sometimes we have panny cakes -- yep, we still talk like when our kids were littles; some things just hang on! So, panny cakes with lots of syrup.... and I recently brought out our waffle maker and we made waffles for the first time in years and boy were those waffles good!

But, Thursday being Thanksgiving, we will probably eat cereal -- so that means I'm in charge of pouring into the bowls and adding the milk. Oh, so much work on Thanksgiving morning!

But, shhhh, I try to keep this a secret, but hubby cooks most of the Thanksgiving dinner! I'm in charge of the sweet potato casserole and setting the table.... oh, and putting the cranberry sauce onto the dish (we like jellied and I apparently am the only one who can make it slither out of the can without breaking apart -- there are just some things that we were born to do....)

We are having our dinner around 6ish -- both our son and daughter will be here, along with Stephanie's beau. On this Thanksgiving we are thankful that both of our grown children live close by and that we can see them at other times rather than just on holidays!

Adam will be eating a turkey leg!!

Hubby actually suggested that we get a turkey breast this year.....
we'd never hear the end of it from Adam if he didn't have his leg!

So, what is your favorite breakfast? 

The crochet foodies are, of course, handmade by me and either are or will be in my shop (just as soon as I can make storage bags for them!!)  Nothing like a bit of self promotion, you know!!

Maybe I'll try to get something crocheted for each letter of the alphabet for Alphabe-Thursday....

nah, probably will never happen! But a girl can try.... 

sharing breakfast over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter B

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Airplanes in the Clouds

Wow! It's the start of another round of Alphabe-Thursday -- it's hard to believe that Jenny has been hosting this for eight rounds! And this is my fourth round! It's like chips -- you can't have just one.... or the Energizer Bunny -- it just keeps going and going and going :)

I've been working on a special order for a new-mom-to-be who is doing her nursery in vintage airplanes -- and she asked me to crochet airplanes and clouds for a mobile. She has the wooden hanger part and is going to assemble it herself.

My first attempt at this airplane was huge! Way too big for a mobile... a kid could practically ride on the thing!!

So I began again with a smaller hook and ended up with this, and I'm well pleased with it. It will definitely make an appearance in my shop! It's still pretty big for a mobile but could be the middle one that hangs the lowest.

This is what the other airplanes will look like -- they are just over 4 inches long and just right for a mobile! I had to work with this pattern too and ended up pretty much redoing the whole thing. When I used my original pattern, they came out so tiny they looked like butterflies! Weird butterflies, but still.

The others look like this right now -- kind of alien buggy looking without their wings! (But they're big enough this time!) I've got the little pieces parts done (and I do mean little!) and ready to be sewn on. Each airplane body will have wings and tail in another color.

Since I think the big plane is too big (she said if it was she would just use it on a shelf until playtime comes around) so I'm going to do another plane for the middle of the mobile. I think a red one and the wings will be blue, the middle tail will be black and the side tails will be white -- so using all her colors! Since it will have all the colors on it, it will be different from the others and good to use as the middle airplane. She wanted five each of the airplanes and clouds and has four colors so mixing them on this plane will make everything come out even! I stressed over that for a while (OK, for days) and when I came up with this solution it put my mind at rest :)

That way she can decide what she wants to do with the big plane!

She wanted off-white clouds to go on the mobile above each airplane -- these were fun to made but I really had to keep close count to make all the little ups and downs, hills and valleys come out right!

I've enjoyed making these airplanes, once I got through all the figuring and ripping out and doing again parts! I love the way the big plane came out, and the little ones are going to be so cute! I like the one little plane that I've finished -- it helps me to see the cuties they will be instead of some buggy weird thing!!

Sharing airplanes over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter A


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I Scream, You Scream ....

We all scream for ice cream!

OK, I admit it..... I have a real problem with ice cream. I dare not let it into the house, into the freezer....

Because if it's there it calls out my name and 9:00 on the dot I'm drawn into the kitchen for a late evening ice creamy snack. I have no willpower. At all. 

Hubby and I were in the grocery store recently--Blue Bell was on sale--$3 something for what is usually $7.00. He motions to me. No, I say! He says, but we've gotta get it at this price! NO NO I say! 

But it's a new flavor, Orange Sherbet Swirl, he says. I stop. Orange Sherbet Swirl??  It surely won't have as many calories if it has sherbet in it, I think. 

Into the cart it goes. 

Remember that no willpower stuff? With both of us eating it, it's gone in three days. 

And so to commemorate the delicious, creamy yumminess of Orange Sherbet Swirl, I have crocheted a cone. In remembrance.

Because I can never let it in the house again.

Sharing my ice cream habit over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter I.




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Sunflowers ~ A Challenge

This month's challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans team is brought to us by Sharla, whose blog is usually overtaken by Oliver's kitty pals Angel and Isabella. Sharla says "April showers brought May flowers, so let's see them! Create something with flowers and let your imagination bloom!"

As I thought about that, I pictured the sunflowers that my mother planted in our backyard. Right at the very back so they would look over the vegetable garden and the flowers along the fence. Standing tall and proud.

So sunflowers became my theme for this challenge and I knew that I would dedicate them in memory of my mother.

I have a couple of crochet pattern books that are full of flowers but, truthfully, I have yet to make any! So as I was thumbing through them, I landed on a sunflower pattern that I liked but wasn't quite right for the coasters I had in mind to make.

So I worked with my idea a bit and this is what I came up with .....

I thought that my favorite mug looked pretty with the coasters, and the saying is appropriate. When we have grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, these are the mugs we use because they are so big!

As I looked at the patterns in my flower book, I discovered a great way to do the petals! I like the way they are all fluffy and curve around the base of the mug.

Here they are in a stack.

I have some more sunflower ideas to work on, but for now these sunflowers are in my shop!

Check out the team members' flower creations on our team blog.


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A Month of Flowers

The lovely Alicia has challenged herself  to write about a flower a day on her blog -- each day this month. Quite a challenge if you ask me! 

But a fun one, to be sure!

Well, today she featured my Growing Flowers!

I'm so pleased she has shared these flowers -- they were fun to make

and these days, I can offer them in my shop as a custom order.

Alicia has found some wonderful flowers to share --

real flowers, crochet flowers, painted flowers....

I really love these beautiful roses

(can you imagine a big bunch of them sitting in a pretty vase?)

and this garland! 

Oh my, my creative juices are flowing!

Alicia also has an Etsy shop where she has some of her own flowers....

like these sweet rose hair clips

and this adorable baby bib

So, thank you, Alicia, for showing us so many beautiful flowers

and especially for featuring mine!

Be sure to visit Alicia's blog, Arty and Crafty Little Things,

to see what other flowers she will find this month!

♥♥

Renewal

The signs of spring are everywhere

The beauty of  blooming flowers....

Pink flowers by the side of the road

Sweet, sweet new life....

Kittens born in the backyard

Soccer season!

A little practice before the big game

Noli's team is the "Wild Angels"

Appropriate  : )

This month's challenge for the Blogging Business Artisans team is about renewal. Margaret (Splendid Little Stars) says "In Springtime, the earth renews itself. Life bursts forth from that which seemed dead. Our challenge this month is to create a project that honors a spirit of renewal."

I thought about what I could create in crochet that would show that spirit of renewal.

I thought about birds laying their eggs and baby birds being born;

I thought of the earth being washed clean and renewed after a spring shower;

then I thought of the way the butterfly lays its egg,

and the caterpillar is born right there on its own table of food.

How after the caterpillar has satisfied its hunger, 

it spins its special home

and is born again as a beautiful butterfly.

And then the process repeats, over and over again. 

Renewal. 

This Growing Butterfly play set is a fun way for a child to learn how the caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

It's in my shop!

To see what other team members have created for this challenge go to our blog or our team discussions 

I'm also sharing over at Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

♥♥

A Red Challenge starring Fruits and Veggies

It's time for another challenge on the BBArtisans Etsy team and this time it was Edi of Memories for Life who gave us our prompt for this month. She says that February is about hearts, love, roses.... and challenged us to create any project we'd like using the color red.

I decided to make a bunch of red fruits and veggies for my shop -- after filling a large custom order before Christmas and then having the flu for the first half of January (or so it seemed!), I was tired of looking at crocheted food! But now I needed to get some made and listed, and the challenge was just the right thing to get me going again!

I thought of the various reds I could make -- apples, strawberries, tomatoes, watermelon, radish. Maybe a slice of cherry pie? Well, I got some of those made. No cherry pie -- maybe later!  I tried the watermelon but I couldn't get it to come out right and attaching the rind was making me yell and scream so.... no watermelon.

I have some strawberries in my shop but they are made of acrylic yarn and I have decided to make all my foodies with cotton yarn -- I think that it will hold up better as a toy and I like the smoothness of cotton too. These are also larger so as to be a safer toy for the little guys.

Red Delicious apple!

Then I went crazy and made a Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious (my personal favorite). I plan to offer them as a set of three and also individually using Etsy's new listing variations tool -- that way the customer can choose which flavor of apple they would like.

A cute tomato for your pretend sandwich or salad....

How do you fix a broken tomato?
Tomato paste!!

couldn't resist  :)

A radish for that salad! 

After I hassled around with that watermelon I decided I needed to turn away from the food and do something else. I decided to make a cute mushroom pot holder -- OK OK, I realize that it's food too, but not, you know, play food that your kid would pretend to eat.... Anyway, I had this pattern from Lion Brand and thought it would be a fun change.

Isn't this just the cutest?!! 

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♥  See the other red challenge projects from the BBArtisans team here on the team blog

♥  I'm linking at It's a Very Cherry World for Rednesday

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