Snow Day #3 in a row--making cards today

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!  Luckily, the snow stopped more than 24 hours ago but the temperatures are frigid here on the Great Plains.  School was cancelled again in the Kansas City area so I took advantage of the opportunity to make some cards with Close To My Heart's February stamp of the month--Wild About Love.  What adorable little foxes!  I decided to use the Lollydoodle paper packet because the colors and designs just make me happy.

Here are a few cards I've made so far.  I hope you like them.  Happy stamping!

Have a cowl!

Today is our second snow day in a row and I am taking advantage of my free time to make awesome cowls. I used Amazing yarn by Lion Brand, following the 45-minute cowl pattern on Lion Brand's site.  I did change one thing, however.  The pattern says to use one ball and hold both ends of the ball together, but I found I didn't have enough yarn to finish my project.  Plus, getting both ends of the strand was harder than it seemed. So I just used two balls, holding a strand from each together to make the cowl.  I had a little bit of yarn left over from each ball, but I would rather have too much yarn than not enough.

Here is a sampling of the cowls I've made so far:

Rainforest

Glacier Bay

Aurora

Strawberry Fields

Mauna Loa

Wildflowers

All of them together.

I think my favorite is Glacier Bay.  I hope Lion Brand comes out with more colors.  I love how the yarn feels and I love how the colors gradually change from one shade to another.  

Do you have a favorite color?  Let me know what you think!  

Oh, and one more pic.  I sat down to grade with my pumpkin bread, coffee, iPad, and Nutella (today is World Nutella Day), and my cat Storm came to join me.  It appears she prefers Glacier Bay as well!  

Happy February!

Ah, February:  it's my birth month, The Walking Dead returns, Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we celebrate American presidents by taking another day off school and work.  Close To My Heart's spring/summer idea book and catalog just went live and the Groundhog saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter.

I fully intend to enjoy this month even though I am turning another year older.  I had an injury last week that I am still reeling from but I am getting better.  I have resolved to exercise more and take daily walks once my leg heals and the weather turns warmer.  Of course, it looks like a big winter storm is on its way starting Tuesday and the weather will be frigid after that so outdoor time looks doubtful for a while.  But I will start being more active, despite the fact that I love to crochet, scrapbook, make cards, and participate in other sedentary activities.  Can anyone relate to that?

Anyway, I have been busy making soap this past week.  Here are a few of the soaps that are either curing on the rack in the basement or still forming in the mold:

Dragon's Blood soap

Lime Mint soap (my all-time favorite scent)

Sunflower soap

Verbena soap

Very Sexy for Men soap

I have also done some knitting:

And some crocheting:

Some cardmaking:

And even some sewing:

So seriously, who has time to exercise, right?  Well, I will need to make more time because my health depends on it.  My age isn't getting smaller and I really need to start taking better care of myself.  

Happy February, everyone!  Enjoy the days getting longer, the second half of season 4 of The Walking Dead, your loved ones, and all the U.S. presidents.  

Anyone want to join me for a walk, say right around February 23?  Let me know!

--Jenn

P.S.  I just found out about Phillip Seymour Hoffman's passing.  My heart goes out to his family and friends.  I loved him in everything I saw him in and I will miss seeing him in movies.  Here he is in one of my favorites:

Rest in peace, Mr. Hoffman.

New Year, New Bag--Charm Pack Bag

I FINALLY finished this bag I started several weeks ago.  My new love of fabric and quilting is wonderful but I am not sure about making and finishing large quilts, both because of the expense and because of my inability to finish large projects.  So I have decided to use my wonderfully colorful fabric to make bags for the time being.  I don't think one can ever have too many bags!  :)

I used the lovely orangey fabric called Wrens & Friends by Gina Martin from Moda.  I bought the charm pack through Missouri Star Quilt Company and fabric by the yard at Harper's Fabrics and Quilt Co. in Overland Park, KS.  I decided on the orange fabric for the base and handles because I don't have many orange things and the color called out to me.  The oranges together with the browns make me think of Fall, which is when I started this bag!  We are currently in the grips of  a frigid Winter so these colors warm me up nicely.  I used Jenny Doan's tutorials on Craftsy and YouTube to help me make this bag.  This is my third bag made with her assistance.  She is awesome and so easy to follow!

Light side

Dark side

{ P.S.  I messed up the handles but I'm OK with that.  It makes the bag more endearing! :)}

HAPPY SEWING!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's already the 3rd of January and I haven't blogged this year yet.  I guess I could blame it on the pink eye I came down with yesterday.  Ick.  Not a good day for me but I have meds to make it all better.

Normally, I don't like making new year's resolutions; rather I prefer to write down goals that I would like to accomplish in the coming year.  I suppose that's just semantics but it works for me.  Here is a list of a few goals I would like to work on in 2014:

1.  Make walking one of my hobbies. and get outside more.  My hobbies are typically sedentary and I am aware that I need to get off my derrière more!  I want to be more active so I can get into better shape and feel better in general.

2.  Finish projects.  I have so many crocheting projects and scrapbook pages started but several are just sitting around waiting to be finished.  I need to concentrate on finishing one project before beginning another.

3.  Declutter.  I have way too much junk in my basement and elsewhere.  I need to let it go so I can gain peace of mind and of space.   

4.  Be nicer.  Usually it is because I am lacking sleep but I find myself cranky and annoyed more often than I should.  I want to try to be nicer to people.  If you find me being mean, please call me out on it!

5.  Look on the bright side of life.  I try to be upbeat most of the time but I sometimes find myself concentrating on all that is wrong with the world and neglecting to see the wonderful things that exist.  The glass is half full, dang nabbit!

6.  Laugh more. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and John Fugelsang rock!  I need to have more laughter in my everyday life.  

I'm certain there are many more things I will work on this year.  But I need to go finish some projects, declutter my home, be nicer to my kids, look on the bright side, and laugh a little bit.  Although my area of the country missed the latest huge snow storm, it is only 27 degrees Fahrenheit out there and there is some snow on the ground.  So walking outside is not an option today.  :)  

Ikea in Kansas City later this year!  Yes!

Just binge watched The Walking Dead and I love me some Andrew Lincoln!

Love Norman Reedus too!  

Cyber Tuesday Sale at Prairie Sunshine Soaps!

Hi, folks!

It looks like Cyber Monday is winding down just in time for Cyber Tuesday!  Yes, I made up this sale at our Prairie Sunshine Soaps shop on Etsy because I was too busy getting back into the swing of teaching today to pay attention to Cyber Monday.  But never let it be known that this woman's procrastination might let you down.

You can save 15% on your entire order by using coupon code CYBERTUESDAY now through  December 3, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Of course, I am still offering free shipping on a minimum purchase of $15.00 or more through December 21 by using coupon code FALLFREESHIP.  I am not sure if you can use both codes at the same time but you might as well give it a try.

For your perusal, here are a few of the soaps in our shop:

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, lavender and fir needle soap, and Fifty Shades of Jamie Dornan

The kids and I usually put up the Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving.  We were too busy getting ready for Chris' birthday parties, which were Friday evening and Saturday all day.  So today was our day.   Unfortunately, at least 1/3 of our tree's pre-lit branches did not illuminate, and this tree is only a year old.  Bummer.  So I had to venture off to the store to find some lights (and behold, Jo-Ann had a 60% off coupon as well!) and we finally got down to decorating the old Tannenbaum.

Here is a before picture:

And a few after pictures:

I love these kids!

I made some new soap this afternoon as well:

It's organic lavender and fir needle soap made with shea butter and avocado oil.  I can't wait to use this!  It should be ready around December 29.  

And lastly, I found out that Fifty Shades of Grey has begun filming in Vancouver!  Here is a pic from fiftyshadesofgreyfans Tumblr page:

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades of Grey
http://fiftyshadesofgreyfans.tumblr.com/

I was disappointed that Charlie Hunnam won't be in the movie, but I do love the choice of Jamie Dornan.  Who can resist a dreamy Irishman?  Oh, and the rest of the cast looks pretty good too.  I am not one of those people who just HAS to have certain actors in certain roles.  I mean really, I'm not a casting agent nor a director so who am I to say who should play a particular part?  I do need to get back to work on my novel so I can do what E L James is doing, hobnobbing with dashing stars, galivanting around Seattle and Vancouver, and enjoying life as a bestselling author.  Of course, my dashing hottie will be Michael Fassbender!  LOL!

Now it's the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Only three more weeks until winter break.  I can't wait!

Tschüß!