We're in the Pacific Northwest visiting Tiger Daddy's family. So far it's been a wonderful trip: we saw lots of Rainbows - even huge double rainbow, we got to play with some cool kids, eat some good food, and have good visits with family. And the icing: I was offered a job that I interviewed for a few weeks ago!! Super good vacation.

Also if anyone ever visits Portland, OR, two must sees: Oregon zoo and OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry).

National Craft Month Coming to a Close

There's a week left to March, but for me National Craft Month is coming to a close.  Tomorrow we will be heading to the Northwest to visit Tiger Daddy's family.  I will be bringing some crochet projects with me, but as Tiger Daddy is vehemently opposed to me crocheting the car, I don't know how much crafting I'll get to do.  On the flip side, I'll probably get to finish The Wizard's First Rule (Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth Series Book 1) and at least start the 2nd book. 

This month has been pretty successful considering how sick I was at the beginning of the month.  My goals of the month (revised due to the illness) were pretty low key:
*Complete shamrock keychains for Nana Bear's class - found a cute pattern at Lion's Brand Yarn used Sarahndipities' shamrock bunting pattern and modified to be a fourleaf clover (see my post here with the modifications)
*Finish Dare's blanket
*Finish diaper pouches
*Finish make-up bags
*Blog at least once or twice a week.

Then as the month went on I added:
*Finish Nana Bear's blanket
*Make blanket for Tiger Daddy's grandma
*Make 1st b-day gifts for friend's twins

Of the above the only two goals I didn't meet were finishing the diaper pouches and the birthday gifts.  Also, I had to "fix" my sewing machine - a pin got stuck inside and I had to open it up and find the pin (not really a fix, but I was a little apprehensive about opening up the machine for the first time... I also cleaned it for the first time too) - and worked up enough courage to try the pressure foot to sew the zippers for the make-up bag.  So, I'm growing my crafting skills.

I found a wonderful crochet Easter Egg pattern at Easy Makes Me Happy (click here to see the awesome embellishments she added to her eggs) and hope to finish crochet flower ponytail holders (Crochet flower pattern from Measured By the Heart) for our friends' daughters, who we will be visiting on our trip.  So all in all, National Craft Month has been very crafty for me.  I hope to continue at this pace - I would like to make Easter Eggs for Nana Bear's class and for others and I still need to finish the diaper pouches and the birthday gifts (we missed the party due to scheduling conflict).  Ideally I would like to make some more blankets, some child size, some adult size, and a scarf to sell.  Just need to remind myself not to rush.

Happy Crafting!

Rushing is the Root of All Evil

I finished Nana Bear's blanket (far left) and Tiger Daddy's Grandma's blanket (middle) tonight.  I am happy to have finished, but was reminded that rushing can ruin a project.  When I compare tonight's blanket's with Dare Bear's blanket (far right), I could really see a difference in precision.  I rushed when I was cutting the pink blankets, was imprecise with my cutting, and I rushed tonight when sewing, so my seams are not straight, etc.  Not at all saleable.  Whereas Dare Bear's blanket, seams look even and top stitch is pretty even (at least 3 sides around) - much more professional looking.

The blankets are by no means ruined - Nana Bear will love hers and I hope Grandma will appreciate her's too.  Just not as close to perfect as I would like.  Cause of rushing: worried about all the other things that need to get done before we leave for our trip on Friday.  Wanted to make our friends' daughters some pony tail holders, need to pack my clothes and finish a couple more loads of laundry, but I don't want to stay up too late tomorrow and don't want to rush around stressing that I will forget something.  Of course, I'm somewhat stressing already.

Must remind myself: Just breathe and the rest will come...

Happy Crafting everyone!

My Creative Space: Easter Eggs

This week I have two creative spaces.  First is Easy Makes Me Happy's Easter Eggs:
Saw a link for these Easter Eggs at Easy Makes me Happy and liked them so much I just had to try it at lunch today. My results:

The lighting was not so good on this picture and I haven't had to time to weave in the ends, but I was so happy with the pattern from Easy Makes Me Happy that I had to share.  Per Easy's instructions, I used an F hook and I chose Red Heart Classic Worsted Weight Tropical Fruits yarn.  It's acylic, but the hardware store where I picked up the yarn only carries Red Heart and personally, I don't have a problem with acrylic yarn for my crafts... Now if it was for clothes, I'd probably be pickier, but I'm not that brave. I love how the yarn colors ended up being separated, which you can see in the above picture, - very Spring-y.  Thank you Easy for such a easy pattern.  I can't wait to keep making these. 

My two eggs: One with the Red Heart Tropic Fruits and the other with Rainbow Brights.

For more Creative Spaces, go to Kootoyoo.

Weekend Crafting w/ Pictures

My (Weekend) Creative Space:  I'm cheating this week and posting twice to Kootoyoo. Sorry, but while the week has been consumed with crocheting Easter Eggs, my weekend was a whole different animal, but probably much more satisfying crafting.  I got to tick off another goal and make progress on another goal. Yippee!
We were pelted with rain and hail and lots of wind this weekend, but it was a fun, productive and ultimately beautiful weekend for us.  We were busy bees with a lunch with my grandmother for her birthday, Nana Bear's school had a fundraising Auction, and lots of errands and chores to get ready for our upcoming vacation starting this Friday. 

Saturday morning I hurriedly sewed a silk/fleece scarf for my grandmother.  She is currently living in an assisted living facility for Alzheimers.  This was the first birthday since she moved. I did visit her on Friday, her actual birthday, and brought mini cupcakes (store bought) for her, the other residents, and the staff.  But on Saturday morning, while Tiger Daddy changed the oil on the car, I decided I would make the scarf for her to wear when she goes for walks to help keep her warm.  It's been quite brisk here even though it's now officially Spring.  It was not my best work by any stretch, but the fabric is beautiful and suites my grandmother well. It is a pink kimono silk printed with cherry blossoms. Typically, kimono fabric comes in 14-15" widths, so I got two yards and cut the fabric into two 7" strips.  I have one more strip and was thinking that I might embroider beads onto the fabric on the printed blossoms.  We'll see.

After lunch, while the Bears napped, I finally finished these make-up bags from Sew Like My Mom.  I had intended to give them as gifts at Christmas but lost the iron vinyl and really ran out of time.  Of course, a week after Christmas I find the vinyl, but not the time to finish them.  These bags are truly simple to make and come out looking quite nice. Some notes about the tutorial: 1) Iron-Vinyl is not really my thing - it is very light weight and doesn't feel durable to me, so next time I think I may try regular vinyl. 2) The vinyl is slippery, so you do have to be aware when sewing. 3) When cutting the corners, cut 2.5" from the end with the seam and 2.25" from the folded end to get an even line when sewing the corners. 4) Being such a rudimentary sewer, I did use my zipper/pressure foot.  5) I added a handle.  I think that I will try these for x-mas again, but this time for the guys as they look like dop kits.  I will use heavier weight material, possibly oilcloth and vinyl combo depending on the patterns available.  This is a great tutorial - very easy to follow.

My first attempt w/o a handle.

My second attempt with handle.

Saturday night was Nana Bear's elementary school fundraiser.  She is part of a special program through the public school system that teaches the children about Japanese culture and language in addition to the normal school cirriculum.  I went through the program when I was in elementary school as well.  The program has evolved into an even better experience and I have been extremely happy with our experience.  While the program gets some extra funding, each year it seems that the public school budet gets slashed, and in order to keep the unique properties of this program intact, there is an auction.  In addition to items familes donate, each class does an "art" project to auction off to the parents.  Each child goes home and tells their parents they must have the project and begs them to get it for them. Well, Nana Bear's class project went for $650!!!  Tiger Daddy and I agreed that one year we would set aside bucco bucks to bid on one of her class projects in earnest, but it wasn't going to happen this year.

Japanese Relief: In addition to raising money for the school, we also raised money for the relief effort in Japan by holding a Jan Ken Po (Rock, Paper, Scissor) contest at the Auction.  I've never seen a more lively game of Jan Ken Po in my life.  It was quite fun.  Combined with individual donations for the relief effort, the school raised over $3,000 to send to Japan. 

Sunday: This Friday we leave to visit Tiger Daddy's family in the Northwest.  His grandmother was recently diagnosed with cancer AND had a stroke during surgery.  She is on the mend and her prognosis is good, but a visit to her home and to see the rest of his family is long over due.  I was going to make a photobook for her on Shutterfly, but now there is no time to get it shipped before we leave.  So I have been wracking my brains to figure out what to bring her.  I finally decided that I would make one of my fleece/brocade blankets.  So off to Joann's we went, found beautiful sari material (a poly blend, but beautiful and soft) on sale.  I pinned her blanket and Nana Bear's blanket, which for me is the hardest/ most time consuming part.  Next, will have to find time during the laundering and packing to sew both blankets before we leave.  Pictures also forthcoming.

The wrong side of the sari fabric for Grandma's blanket.
If the wrong side looks that good...

Meanwhile, I hope everyone else is enjoying the first days of spring and celebrating with a little crafting.

From my iPhone

Went to Joann's to buy brocade for a special blanket for Tiger Daddy's grandma and found all brocade was $4 off! Bought this beautiful brocade and pinned it to raspberry fleece today. Must finish it by Thursday.

Trying out the posting feature using the SMS feature on my phone. Tried to send a photo, but that didn't work.

Keyboard Mishap

On Friday night, the Dare Bear spilled the last bit of my drink onto the keyboard, which makes posting a little difficult (at this moment I am at my parents' computer).  While we do use a laptop, we have it plugged into an external screen and keyboard and it is quite awkward to type on the laptop keyboard in this configuration.  Combine this with our upcoming vacation to the Northwest at the end of next week (and the needed prep this week), posting will be quite intermittent.

But, crafting has been in high gear this weekend.  Will post more of my activities at a more convenient time.

Creative Space: Happy St. Patrick's Day

Finished!  Get to cross off another goal for March.  My four leaf clover key chains turned out well.  However, they aren't really key chains as I used book rings because they are easier and cheaper (on short notice) than key rings.  They are for Nana Bear's class so I thought that it would be easier for the kids to open these than prying the other key rings open.

So far the luck of the Irish has been with me this week.  In addition to these faux key chains, I cut the fabric for two placements for my college roommate's twins who just turned one.



I used the yellow chick from the above (Scribble  Panel Pink from Fabric. com) and will applique it to a pink background for their little girl.


And the Puppy in the boat (One The Move Panel also from Fabric.com) and will use a yellow background for their little boy.

At first, when I saw these panels, I wondered what people could make from them.  And then a few weeks ago the light went on and eureka! I got it.  There are so many applications for these panels. The individual squares can be used in a variety of functions, including to decorate placemats and t-shirts.  I'm a little slow and unoriginal, but I get it now.  So I'm very excited to use these panels in other crafts.

On a personal note, interviewed for a very interesting, higher level position yesterday and today.  The interviews went really well and more importantly, I find the position very exciting.  It would utilize my administrative skills while allowing me to stretch my social work/counseling skills again.  And since it would be a higher level position, I should also be bringing home more money too.  EXCITING!!  Even if I don't get this position, it's great to know that there are these types of jobs available - I just have to find them.  All-in-all a much better week than last.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all - hope you are blessed with the luck of the Irish as well.

For more Creative Spaces, visit kootoyoo

Alzheimer’s disease on the rise - Chicago Sun-Times

Alzheimer’s disease on the rise - Chicago Sun-Times

My grandmother has Alzheimer's. And there is no truer statement than, “The toll on families is devastating.” (Beth Kallmyer, senior director of constituent services of the Alzheimer's Association) For years my mother (her daughter-in-law) and my grandfather took care of my greandmother at home - toileting, bathing, feeding. My mom took early retirement to take care of her. My mom is 4'7" and weighs 80-ish pounds. My grandmother was a tad bit over 5' tall and weighs about 125 pounds. It would take both my mother and grandfather to get my grandmother to walk to and from the car and up the stairs.

My grandfather passed away a little over a year ago and mom finally said she could not take care of her mother-in-law by herself. My Aunts and father stepped in to help, but still it wasn't enough. My grandmother would fall off the toilet (a caregiver was always present) and spoke less and less, slept more and more.

At the end of last year, my family finally agreed (or did not fight) that assisted living would be best action. The first time I visited was difficult to see her there. While the staff were nice and friendly, the overall decor was inpersonal, which really is what one would expect at a facility like this, and not like home. But I did see my grandmother was more alert and recently, she began speaking again.

As much as we would like to take care of our loved ones at home, sometimes it is better for everyone not to. When we visit my grandmother now, we are going with the intent to see and interact with her. Before, we were going home for dinner and we would say hi and talk to her a little, but there was always something else to be done too - dinner to cook, laundry to do, kids to watch. Now the focus is entirely on her when we see her.

It's still difficult to see her living at the assisted living facility, but when I look at the overall benefits to everyone in the family, I know that this is the best solution.

Today's Inspiration: homework's papermache Eggs

I'm pretty much giving up Facebook during the days. So to fill those long, never ending holds that I am inevitably placed on during the work day will be filled by perusing my craft sites. Today's inspiration comes from Carolyn at homework: papermache eggs. I can't wait to try this with Nana Bear for Easter. I think it will be great fun for her to pick out the paper and make the eggs and I think the family will be happy not to have a dozen hard boiled eggs to eat. Not that there's anything wrong with hard boiled eggs, but, um, a dozen is a lot for us.

More Progress: Shamrock Pattern

So I am slowly but surely working on this month's goals.  Nothing to completely cross off tonight, but progress as been made on two fronts: Nana Bear's blanket and Four Leaf Clover Key chains.

Tiger Daddy took the kids food shopping this evening, giving me unfettered access to the nice clean floor in the kids room.  At the moment, it's the only clean space, large enough for me to lay out the fabric for the blankets.  I am using a double sided, pink ultra cuddly fleece (from Fabric.com) and a make-up, girly pink flannel.  I do have a single-sided rose fleece, but this time I opted for the double-sided since Nana Bear runs cold (as do most women vs. men).  So got the pieces cut and now I just need to pin them together and sew.  Looks like I'll get it done before our trip.

For the key chains, I was going to use the pattern I found on the Lion's Brand Yarn site, but it calls for making the leaves individually and then chaining them together and, well, I just don't like having to fasten off so much.  So I remembered that Sarah at Sarahndipities had a pattern for a shamrock garland, which worked much better for me and my laziness.

The major changes to my pattern was 1) to chain 5 initially instead of 3 because I was having a hard time finding the center of the ring with just a chain 3 (pathetic, yeah?), 2) I wanted four leaf clovers, so I added a leaf, and 3) I lengthened the stem and single crocheted back towards the center and the slipped stitched to the center ring.  I made the stem thicker since I will be attaching the key ring to the end of the stem and wanted it to be stronger.

My Pattern:

Abbreviations:
Chain - Ch                              
Slip stitch -sl
Single crochet -sc
Double crochet - dc
Treble crochet - trc

Ch 5, sl to first ch to form a ring.
1 Leaf: Sl into ring, ch 3, trc, dc,  trc, ch 3, sl into ring *repeat to make as many leaves as you like - shamrocks have 3 leaves, and, of course, the mythical Four Leaf Clovers have 4

Stem: After last leaf is made, chain 10, sc into 3rd ch from hook and into each chain all the way back down the stem, sl to ring. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Thanks Sarahndipities for the pattern to work off of.

Goal Completed: Dare Bear's Blanket

Finally, some real crafting done this month.  Tonight I finished Dare Bear's Flannel and fleece blanket.  Rather simple, but he will like it.

I have been buying different fleece to get an idea of texture and weight.  I used a cuddly, one-sided fleece.  I didn't realize that it was one-sided when I purchased online and was a little disappointed when I received it.  However, upon completion, I see the advantages of one-sided fleece.  Since the blanket is flannel on one side, there is no need for the fleece to be double sided unless  I wanted a much heavier blanket.  The one-sided fleece is much lighter than the super cuddly, double-sided fleece.  It makes this blanket a little more versatile, since now I can use it pretty much year round either on his bed or on trips.

Next blanket will be Nana Bear's flannel/fleece blanket.  Hopefully I will get it done in time for our trip Northwest at the end of the month.  But, next on the to do list will be the shamrock key chains or pins, not sure which yet.  First, I need to turn some out so I can see what would look best.  St. Paddy's Day is just around the corner, so I better hop to it.

For more Creative Spaces, pop over to Kirsty's kootoyoo.

So Much for the Good Intentions

So much for my goals for the month of March.  My ickies went from bad to worse last week and I was ko'd for the week with a triple whammy: virus, strep, pink eye.  Even after a few days of antibiotics, I was still hobbling on Saturday and Sunday.  So crafting was light.  I did start sewing Dare Bear's flannel/fleece blanket, which I hope to finish this week. 

Modified goals for March: complete shamrock keychains for Nana Bear's class - found a cute pattern at Lion's Brand Yarn, finish Dare's blanket, finish diaper pouches and make-up bags, blog at least once or twice a week. 

National Craft Month

Apparently March is National Craft Month, so I'm going to try to post every day this month, save for our spring break vacation at the end of the month (during which time internet accessibility will be sporadic).  I hope to craft a little bit everyday this month too, which maybe a tall order since I'm starting this month out with a bout of the flu.  My crafting goals for this month are to make shamrock pins for St. Patrick's Day, layout and order photobooks from Shutterfly, and finish my sewing WIPs.