Ripple in the Round - In progress!

So I am loving doing projects in the round. Hats, Blankets, etc. Anything that starts in the center and moves out. I think the reason is that you see a TON of progress right off the bat (not so much when the project gets bigger and it takes you FOR-EV-A to get "around", but also I have an issue with chaining, and then the first row into that chain. Mine are always too loose, or i lose count, or something like that. Doing projects in the round means less room for error.

Found this adorable pattern on Ravelry.com for a Ripple Blanket in the Round. Scoped the projects on ravely, to find a color combo I liked best, and found that the big bright contracting colors seemed to make the best impact with this pattern. So off to Joann's I went with my coupon in tow :)

Hit up the clearance section first, and came upon these awesome colors (Blue and Orange) for 1/2 price for their 100% Cotton Bernat Peace and Love skeins. Only had to buy one skein of white at full price, and I was ready to roll!

LOVE LOVE LOVE how this is coming out! This is for the unborn baby boy of one of my BFF's. Hoping to squeeze it in before Christmas (she's due in January) and get this shipped off to her. Since this pic was taken, I finished the blue round, already did another orange and white, and now doing the next Blue. I'm thinking one more round of white and orange should do it, and it'll be a great size to wrap that baby nice and snug! :)

Also - major shout-out for this 100% cotton yarn! This is only my second project using non-acrylic and I'm LOVING it! :)

Will post final pics when project is done! Enjoy!

Einstein Beanie for Baby!

So just like my stashes of scrapbook supplies and card making pieces, and PATTERNED PAPER (my obsession), I have now developed quite a stash of YARN! Random remainders of skeins here and there in random leftover colors from other projects. Started trying to kick out some ETSY projects with these. First, my first Einstein hat using Lion Brand Homespun yarn (Pattern here). LOVE working with this yarn, and thought this baby hat came out so cute! Funny part is - the pattern is ONE SIZE and shows an adult wearing it, but mine will not stretch at all beyond a baby hat - so... that's how it will be marketed :) A baby einstein hat - super cute, super soft, super blue, and next attempt, I will check my gauge better, and maybe add a few stitches to compensate for my tight hooking skillz :)

Check it out on Etsy here!

Pacman Punch Art!

Ok - this card was just too fun to make! Promised my brother an "equally cool card" to my Angry Birds Card, and I had seen several PacMan cards out on SCS and others, and took a stab. Using all Stampin' Up Punches, used the Owl Punch and cut off the legs for the ghosts, the eyes are also the Owl eyes. Also, the white pellets are also the back of the eyes from the same punch. Pacman was made with a 1 3/8" punch and then a square punch to cut out the mouth :) The hardest part was getting the pupils on the eyes- I used a pin from the Toolkit to carefully place them on. This was a blast, and I'll definitely make it again!

Thanks for looking!

Holiday Stamp Camp - 2011

Had a WONDERFUL stamp camp the other night with two very "old" friends from grammar school! Thanks to the power of social media, we have been able to stay in touch, and these girls have been really getting into our stamp get-togethers!



We made 20 holiday cards with all Stampin' Up! materials - Stamp-a-stack as they call it. I prepared all the supplies, but the girls had a choice of patterned paper, the border punch, and which images they wanted to stamp and decorate. They could also layout the design horizontal or vertical which gave them enough of a variety to make the cards different, but gave me enough uniformity that I could prep all the materials together and still have the class over in 2 hours. (we ran 2.5 mainly due to an exploding glue incident) :)





Supplies:

• Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White Cardstock
• Patterned Paper: Holly Berry Bouquet
• Swirles cuttlebug embossing folder and my Big Shot
• Rhinestone Bling
• Scallop and Scallop Trim Border punches
• Stampin' Up Watercolor pencils and Markers
• Polar Party Clear Mount Stamps from Stampin' Up!

Camo Beanie

So happy to be climbing back into my crocheting - it's been a few nights since I picked up my hook - and it's like an old friend happy to be back home!

Finished up a Camo Beanie pattern I got from ravelry.com (more info here) using stashed yarn from the big Log Cabin Afghan project and kicked this out very quickly in one night. I had made this hat before for my son last fall, and he's still wearing it a year later, after being washed several times too!

I made the adult version of the pattern, and with the Red Heart Camo yarn, had a very cool pattern arise in the rounds. I used plain black for the band which you can't tell as much here in this photo, but is obvious in real life.

I'm thinking of next making this hat in some girly colors and throw a flower on it - the brim is a really cute touch and i think can most definitely translate well to a chic girl hat :) S8er Gurl - lol :)

Hope you like! I'll keep sharing as I get more projects together! Hoping to have a busy crochet and card week, and start making some holiday gifts as well!

Happy Hooking! :)

Squiggly Stripes

Flashback to a year ago - I picked up my "Crochet for Babies" book which i had previously made 4 projects from - and saw a blanket that just jumped off the page at me. It was for this beautiful pink and purple blanket that was stunning in the photo. My original intent was to make it for a friend of mine who was expecting a baby girl the following month, and silly me thought that I could complete this blanket in time with the holidays approaching. I quickly changed the recepient to myself, well actually my 2 month old daughter, and went out to find the exact yarn used in the pattern. Much to my dismay, it was discontinued from Bernat! No!!! So i hit eBay and was able to get 3 skeins there, and got another 2 through someone's stash list on www.ravelry.com - and she was more than happy to sell to me!

So then I begin - I did the first row... and the second row, and the third. Make the first Curly-Q's, and I was on my way... but alas, the blanket was not growing! A few days later i was only about 8 rows in, and barely an inch! This was NOT going to be a fast project - 3 weight yarn along with a G hook, and a LOT of SC and DC's!

I then did something I have never done in my whole crocheting career... I put it aside to work on something else. I VOWED never to do this! I was always going to complete what I started - but this was going to take FOREVER! So I made a Purple Toddler Beanie and Matching Scarf , made another Toddler Hat for my daughter using some of the yarn FROM the "put aside" project, made a quick Baby Blanket for my co-worker, a Baby Block Blanket for my cousin's baby, another "Crochet for Babies" blanket for my friend's baby, my "Urban Jungle" Social Media Fame hat :), ANOTHER baby blanket in the round for my college friend's baby, and finally the big Log Cabin Afghan project.

Then, 11 months later... I pick up this tossed aside blanket and NOW VOW to do nothing else until it's completed...

... and it's completed. And one of the most beautiful blankets I have ever made.

The end result is about 60"x60" not counting the squiggles. :) it's so dense you can't see through it, and it is really warm and REALLY SOFT!

The squiggles ended up being SO EASY and what a great addition to the blanket!

And finally my little peanut and her new blanket. This will go on her toddler bed as her main blanket when we transition her from her crib in a few months.

Now the true question - how many of these squiggles will she put up her nose over the course of it's life :)

More about this and link to the patters on my Ravelry Page.

Embossing Birthdays!

Another card for my stamp camp - this one utilizing and showcasing the "Big Shot" embossing machine! I was never totally happy with my cuttlebug - it never did what i wanted it to do, i had to fight with it too often, i even went as far as to believe that i got a bum one, and returned and replaced it once, but no... it was the machine itself that i didn't love.

I had the big shot on my wish list for a while, and then my SIL got me a thank you present and lo and behold! My BIG SHOT! And EMBOSSING FOLDERS! (which i used on the background of this card). I have fallen in LOVE! Use this machine on almost every card and project now, and sold my Cuttlebug on eBay to get me more cash for more embossing folders!

This card uses Not Quite Navy, and the coordinating paper, ink and buttons. My favorite selling point about Stampin' up! - EVERYTHING MATCHES!!! :)

Thanks for looking!

Pink and Brown Scallops!

Another quick card for my stamp camp - I have fallen in LOVE with my scallop punches and coordinating stamp sets from Stampin' Up! I use them ALL the time, and I love the effect they give to a card. For this i went to my old faithful Pink and Brown combo. Pulled out my old Au Chocolat Patterned paper, and used some Pink Brads that i got on Stampin' Up!'s clearance rack! (Gotta love a great deal!).

Thanks for looking!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

As we approach this fun holiday in Central Jersey - we were met with 3-4 inches of SNOW! I vaguely remember on Halloween as a kid there being snow on the ground, but it's still crazy! There have been years where we haven't gotten snow until January! Anyway - still in the spirit of the holiday, pulled together this super quick and adorable card for my stamp camp last week - Basic Black, Gray, and using the Stampin' Up! Owl Punch upside down to make the Ghost and the goggly eyes! Camp LOVED this card and was super fun to put together!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Hope You Can Cling To Challenge!

JUST DISCOVERED THE "Hope you can cling to" stamping/card making challenge!

Info can be found on www.splitcoaststampers.com and I cannot WAIT to hit the craft room and start designing cards for this amazing cause (and if i happen to win some prizes in the meantime - that can't be all bad!)

Check out more details here!
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/hope-you-can-cling-challenge-forum-f299/hope-you-can-cling-master-challenge-thread-t539062.html

Hurry - Contest ends Nov 1!

Scrapbooking Camp!

I have recently resurrecting my Card and Scrapbooking Camps! I love these times to get together with new and experienced scrapbookers, share layouts, patterned papers, embellishments, and desserts!  I had my dear SIL (Sis-in-law) and a neighborhood friend over to have a scrapping night. We made a 1 page layout, and a 2 page spread. For the 1 page layout - I pulled from my trusty source - www.splitcoaststampers.com! I created these two pages for my DS (Dear Son) 1 year scrapbook. SBSC291 and SBSC290. I adore SCS and having them as a creative resource. I scrapped 5 pages on Saturday morning, and going to these challenges help "jump" my creativity!

 These pages are "simple" as they were designed for my scrapbook camp and for quick and easy replication. I did try to add some accents on each and dug out my signo white gel pen which i do NOT use enough :) Did Faux stitching on the top layout, and accented the snowflakes on the bottom layout.

Colors are all Stampin' Up!  - Ruby Red and Old Olive

Thanks for looking!

Angry Birds!

Who is NOT obsessed with angry birds - raise your hand!  (Mine is not raised as you can imagine). :) Love this game, kids LOVE this game, and when i cam across www.stampwithtami.com and her post on Angry Birds - I had a kitten! (not literally)

I had a BLAST making this card - and foresee many others like it in the future! Punch art at it's finest! Check out Tami's site for the instructions - I cannot take ANY credit for this at all - just had fun duplicating the design! ANd my kids are obsessing over the card and want me to make many more! Maybe i'll try to pig next time! :)

Go Angry Birds!

Flower Fest

Had so much fun making my first card for "Freshly Made Sketches". I've been following this blog for a while now, and happy to finally play along. Loved the simplicity of the sketch, yet how you could take it in any direction!

I coupled this card with Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge this week: CC343: More Soft Tango. Great fall colors, and not ones I would put together myself, which is why I love these challenges!

I used Stampin' Up!'s Flower Fest stamp set, my favorite toy, my Big Shot, and the large scallop punch.

Thanks for looking!

Adobo... almost like Lola's

So this Irish/German girl married into a Filipino family and her new mother-in-law is an amazing cook. She whips up these authentic dishes with ease, like I make mac-and-cheese (from the box). I asked my husband what dish he would like me to copy/learn, and he said Adobo - which is a Filipino staple. So I went to work! Over Thanksgiving one year, we were vacationing in Williamsburg, VA with my husbands whole family, and I sat by his mom "Lola" and took feverish notes. Now something to know about me. I follow recipes. I believe they are there for a reason, and especially if I try something for the first time, I typically will make 203 times before i even THINK about deviating! Well, all my notes were able to capture were which ingredients were used, but the amounts... I couldn't get every pour, dash, dab, pinch, and pour, dash, dab and pinch some more. I started to panic - how in the world was I going to make this authentic dish, if i had NO IDEA what quantities of the ingredients to add!

So I did what any girl in my shoes would do..... I hit the Internet!

I scoured Adobo recipes, until I found one that had MOST of the ingredients that Lola used, and printed it. And where do I decide to test out my recipe? Oh, at Christmas Eve at my house with over 40 Filipino's coming. (I really still don't know what I was thinking!).

Well, it was a huge success. Hubby said it was "very close" and he was proud and touched that I would take a head first dive into his culture and impressing his family. He proudly touted to everyone that I, the white Irish girl, made the Adobo! Accolades were sent from all around. I was speechless.
Here's the recipe I used, with my one addition to it. Found at FilipinoFoodRecipies.com:

Estimated cooking time: 50 minutes. Adobo is the most popular Filipino dish enjoyed by all classes. Adobo is typically served with steamed white rice.

Adobo Ingredients:

• 1/2 kilo pork cut in cubes + 1/2 kilo chicken, cut into pieces or
• choice of either 1 kilo of pork or 1 kilo of chicken
• 1 head garlic, minced
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup vinegar
• 2 cups of water
  1/2 cup of Lemon Juice (Lola's Addition!)
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 5 laurel leaves (bay leaves)
• 4 tablespoons of cooking oil or olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons water

Adobo Cooking Instructions:

• In a big sauce pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil then sauté the minced garlic and onions.
• Add the pork and chicken to the pan. Add 2 cups of water, 1/4 cup of soy sauce, vinegar, paprika and the bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or when meat is tender.
• Remove the pork and chicken from the sauce pan and on another pan, heat cooking oil and brown the pork and chicken for a few minutes.
• Mix the browned pork and chicken back to the sauce and add cornstarch dissolved in water to thicken.
• Add salt and/or pepper if desired
• Bring to a boil then simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
• Serve hot with the adobo gravy and rice.

Adobo Cooking Tips:

• You have the option to add crushed ginger to the onions and garlic when sautéing. Ginger adds a unique flavor to your pork/chicken adobo.