Mini Scrapbook Album

Last October when I went to the scrapbook expo, I saw the cutest mini albums displayed at almost every booth. I bought all the stuff for this project and then didn't do anything with it.

I took a bunch of pictures this morning and uploaded them to snapfish and then picked them up at Walgreens across the street. They were ready in about 20 minutes. I am so excited about the way this turned out. I plan on taking it to work and hanging it on my wall.



Here are a couple of close ups:




And here are the scrapbook pages I did this week:

Scrapbooking

Ever since I found this site, I have spent all my free time scrapbooking and buying stamps. They are currently having a contest everyday until the 14th. This is the card I entered for today's prize:



Last night we went to my cousin's birthday party. It has been so long since we've gotten dressed up and gone somewhere. It was a lot of fun. This was one of the things I added to her gift:



And here are a couple of scrapbook pages I made this week:




I am also finishing my second sweater for the year, so hopefully I'll have completed pictures next week.

Card Contest

Wow! Three posts in one week. I am on a roll. I found a card contest on this site with an amazing prize. Here is the card that I am entering:



If you want to send hand made cards for this cause, send them to:

Dallas Baptist University
Attn: Julie Carlisle
3000 Mountain Creek Pkwy
Dallas, TX 75211

Rusted Root

My first sweater of the year. I actually started this last summer but had some sizing issues so I took the whole thing apart and started over. After all the problems and learning new techniques, I am very happy with the way it turned out.

Cards and Organizers

I've been doing a lot of crafting latey, but not much is actually finished. I am soaking my first finished sweater of 2009, so you will get to see pictures soon!

I saw the cutest little birthday organizer here and since I have such a hard time remembering to send birthday cards, I knew I had to make one. I don't know if this will actually help me, but it sure is cute.




I also made my first card to put in my organizer:

Resolution Time

It's the beginning of a new year wich means it's resolution time, and I love making resolutions. I didn't do too well on last year's list. Of the ten items on my list, I only stuck with two. I managed to read 29 books last year (my goal was 20) and I started working early on my November boutique items so I wasn't too stressed out during the month of November. The new list has a lot of the same things, but a few new ones, too.

1. Buy another house by the end of the year. Or, at the very least, be able to start the search. Which leads right into #2.
2. Have enough money saved for a 20% deposit.
3. Read 30 books this year.
4. Run/Walk 1,000 miles and complete two 1/2 marathons (my first one is in March and I'm already signed up).
5. Have more items for my November boutique and have more of a variety.
6. Learn to sew using my sewing machine.
7. Knit 4 sweaters (that fit and that are nice enough to be worn out of the house) for me.
8. Use up my yarn/scrapbook supplies before I start buying more.
9. Update my blog more often!
10. Venture out from my normal routine (which generally includes staying home, crafting and watching TV, or running, alone) and make new friends.
11. Cook more often and try new things.
12. Try a little bit harder to be "green."

And here is a picture of Madison, Jackson and Bryce at the park after Christmas.

Clapotis Scarf

Scarves are my favorite thing to knit. They are fast, inexpensive and I can make a ton of them and wear a different one every day. I love this scarf because it is light and can be wrapped around several times or worn like a shawl.

Half Marathon and Scrapbooking

Last weekend was a great weekend for me. I took Friday off from work and went to the Scrapbook Expo here in Sacramento. I spent the morning shopping, took some classes and the scrapped all night.

Saturday I drove home and my mom and I went to San Francisco to pick up our race packets for the Nike Women's Marathon. We both did the 1/2 and Lisa and her friend did the full marathon. On the front of the Nike store they had every participant's name on the window.



Here I am.



I finished in 2:51 (2 minutes faster than the race two weeks before), and no pain. The weather was perfect and it was a lot of fun. At the finish line, SF firemen handed us our Tiffany's necklace.



I will definitely be signing up for this race again next year.

Twilight Gloves

Lately I have become obsessed with the Twilight books. I spent every free moment reading these books and when I read the last book I was a little sad that it had ended. So, being the geek that I am, I have made a pair of fingerless gloves with the ribbon on the cover of Eclipse.

Flashback Friday

Last month we had a terrible leak that ended up destroying several things in Madison's closet. I had a box of old photo albums sitting on the floor of the closet and I came very close to losing all the pictures. These pictures go all the way back to the 8th grade. Luckily, only the album covers were destroyed. So I started thinking about how upset I would be if I had lost all the pictues. I started calling around to find out how much it would cost to have all my pictures scanned and put onto a disk. Well, it would be a couple thousand dollars!! I ended up buying a scanner and have started scanning all the pictures myself. The quality is not great, but since it is only a backup, it will do. Here is a picture from the first set of scanned pictures, a trip to Lake Tahoe for Fourth of July in 1998(?).

I Made a Sweater

I have finally completed my first adult sweater and it is wearable and the right size! I am very proud of the fact that I started and completed the entire sweater in a short amount of time. I also learned the mattress stitch which amazes me. It looks like I've been making sweaters for a long time.

Pictures

When we were in Seattle we had some pictures taken by a photographer and we got the pictures over the weekend. They turned out so great. Here are a few of my favorites:






I think we are finally done traveling for the year, but there is still no time to relax. Last week I started training for a bunch of runs this fall. I will be running 2 half marathons and a full marathon. I'm very excited and so far, totally committed to all the running I will have to do.

Saturday I will be starting my first sewing class at the local junior college. I've had a sewing machine sitting in my closet for almost a year and I just don't know how to work the thing. I have big dreams of new curtains, duvet covers, purses and clothes for Madison. I'm not sure how it will go, but I will keep you posted.

In Seattle Again

We were back in Seattle again last week and we packed in so much! The three of us drove, which really wasn't that bad, and it took us 14 hours. I've listened to more Sesame Street cd's than any person should ever have to listen to! We did a ton of shopping, spent a lot of time with Lisa and hit some of the big touristy spots.

Here is a picture of Madison at Pike's Market.


Madison running around Gas Works Park.


Lisa also set an appointment for us to have our pictures taken with a photographer (Tacoma Baby Photo) one morning. You can see some of the pictures on her blog.

Mandy: Next time we come I'll give you a call. I saw your email about moving so I figured you were pretty busy. Hope everything went well.

Busy Busy Busy

I can't believe it's already April! March was a crazy month and the time just flew right by. We all came down with the flu (lucky me got it twice) and we took a trip to Seattle to visit John, Lisa, Jackson and Brycie. It was a very hectic weekend but we had a great time. We took lots of walks and most of them were in the rain. Our first day in Seattle was the worst. We walked to Lisa's new neighborhood to take a look at the model homes and halfway there (about 3/4 of a mile), it started pouring rain. I was pushing Madison and Jackson in the stroller and Lisa had Bryce in the carrier. People that drove by looked at us like we were terrible mothers. We got several dirty looks, but there wasn't really anything we could do at that point.



We also ran the Shamrockin' 5K and I learned that my mom has never ever had beer! I couldn't believe it. We tried to get some of the green beer that was being served after the race but there were just too many people.



On our trip home Madison screamed during the entire flight (about 1 1/2). As soon as the plane landed she stopped crying, smiled and waved to everyone as they got off the plane. We got more dirty looks that day.

Even though we got many dirty looks during our trip, I must say that Seattle has the nicest people EVER! I have never had so many people willing to help open doors, carry my stroller or pick things up that Madison threw on the floor.

With everything we had going on in March, I got very little knitting done. However, I have done a lot of scrapbooking. Here are a few that I've done.

I have internet again!!

I have survived more than two weeks without internet and I hope I don't have to do that again. We have finally settled into our new place and I can finally start knitting again. It has been a crazy two weeks. Our van broke down after the first trip of moving boxes, so we had to use the little Honda. Then Madison got pneumonia and an ear infection in both ears, our garage sale got rained out, and a bunch of other stuff. But we have finally made it, all of our things are out of the old house and everything has been put away. I hope to finish my Deep V Sweater within the next week or so, so pictures coming soon!

Resolution Update

Here's how I've been doing on my new year's resolutions.

1. Save xxx amount of money. Off to a great start.
2. Read 20 books. On my fourth book.
3. Get rid of the clutter hiding in closets, under the bed, etc. This has been going very well, but only by default. I am moving next Friday, so cleaning/downsizing is more of a necessity rather than just trying to stay organized.
4. Take care of things when they need to be done, not at the last minute. I think I've done this. I can't think of anything I've been putting off.
5. Remember everyone's birthday. First four were remembered on time. A first for me.
6. Learn to sew with the new sewing machine I got for Christmas. Haven't even tried with all the packing going on.
7. Watch less TV. Not doing too well on this one. I love TV.
8. Update my blog more often. Better than last year, but hopefully will still be updated more often.
9. Begin crafting now for end of the year craft shows and Christmas. I will not be stressed out this year! Haven't started this one.
10. This is a big one: Run 1,000 miles in 2008. Terrible with this! I've only run three miles.

Finally, because I hate posts without pictures, here is one of Madison as she's learning how to walk.

Striped Noro Scarf

After seeing Brooklyn Tweed's striped scarf, I knew I had to have one of my own.



It was a very simple scarf to make. Knit in 1x1 rib, alternating the different colors every other row. The nice this about this scarf is that the yarn is hidden behind the slip stitched ends so there isn't a lot of weaving in yarn at the end.

Lady Eleanor Scarf

Way back when I posted this teaser and I am happy to say it is finally finished. I started this scarf last summer as a full Lady Eleanor with Paton's SWS. After I had done about 2/3 of the scarf I decided it would be much too heavy and too thick to wear as a scarf. So I frogged the entire thing and started all over again. It was a pain in the butt, but it was worth it. I wore the scarf for the first time today and I got so many compliments.





I am also very excited because I have gone back to school this semester. While it's not really a "real" class, I still like to say I'm going to school. I am taking a boot camp fitness class and yesterday was our first workout. Most of the class showed up in jeans (didn't they know what they were signing up for?) so the instructor only made us work out for 10 minutes. I'm a little (a lot) embarrassed to say that I thought I was going to die in that short time. I like to think that I'm in pretty good shape since I can run and run and not feel winded. However, I cannot do a push up to save my life. It also didn't help that the instructor asked me why I decided to take this class. I foolishly answered "I thought it would be fun." His response was "You think pain is fun?" Great. Now I've got a target on my back and I'm in for one long semester.

I Made Socks

I finally got around to knitting socks and now I'm hooked. When I ordered this yarn it was advertised as self striping. To me, these are not stripes. I expected thicker blocks of color, so I was very disappointed with the yarn. I used this pattern which was easy to follow, but I don't like the way the toe and heel "seeming" turned out. It looks a little messy. Still, I love the way they turned out since it was my first time making socks.





I've already started my next pair of socks, Snicket Socks. I'm using Socks that Rock yarn in Rose Quartz. Now, I always read blogs where people write entire posts about yarn. I think to myself, "Really? You're going to write an entire post about yarn?" Now I understand. I LOVE THIS YARN! The way it knits up: perfect; the color: perfect; everything about this yarn: perfect. Here is a progress shot of my pink Snicket Socks.

New Year's Resolutions

I think I may be the only person that loves making New Year's Resolutions. It's a chance to decide what type of person you want to be, how you want to live your life, an attempt to be a better person. And then, hoping that unlike the 20ish previous years, this will be the year you stick to it. I also might be the only person that does not put "work out more often" on the list since that is something I am constantly saying to myself. So, here is a start to this year's list:

1. Save xxx amount of money.
2. Read 20 books.
3. Get rid of the clutter hiding in closets, under the bed, etc.
4. Take care of things when they need to be done, not at the last minute.
5. Remember everyone's birthday.
6. Learn to sew with the new sewing machine I got for Christmas.
7. Watch less TV.
8. Update my blog more often.
9. Begin crafting now for end of the year craft shows and Christmas. I will not be stressed out this year!
10. This is a big one: Run 1,000 miles in 2008.

Final projects of 2007

I needed something easy and quick to do this weekend so I made a couple scarves. The first is my mom's birthday present she requested when she saw me wear this scarf a few months ago. It's hard to tell, but there are beads worked into the scarf.





The second is a scarf I'm sending to someone from a Craftster swap.



I have a bunch of projects already planned for 2008 and I hope you'll stick around to check them out. Have a great new year!

Christmas Knitting

Christmas is over and that means, no more midnight knitting, no more lunch break knitting, and no more car knitting. For awhile, anyway. Here are this year's homemade gifts:
An Anthropologie hat for the cold Seattle winter.


Gloves Lisa gave to Wendy.


And hats for Brycie and Michael.


We had a great Christmas this year and Madison had a lot of fun opening presents. She tried very hard to open all the presents under the tree. Here is a pictures of Madison and Jackson in the new Red Ryder wagon.