Just had to share....

.....love this "personality" test. FYI - I'm a "Logical Knitter." (No surprise there ;) )

Knitting Personality Test

POD Design Team

Purple Onion Designs put out a design team call - finally!! I've been a POD fan for quite some time, so it was a given that I would at least try out for this DT. Wish me luck! Here are the cards I am submitting:


I think my favorite is the birthday card with the sparkly red frame. It just makes me smile!

Not another Christmas card...

....but another challenge card! I don't know how I would ever stamp if it wasn't for challenges! This is the card I created for the Color Inspiration challenge on Kristina Werner's blog. She comes up with the loveliest color combos for her inspirations.

I had some troubles with this color combo. The colors are just gorgeous, but it was tricky for me to work the Chocolate Chip in. Then I remembered the fabulous Chocolate satin ribbon I got from Ribbons and Bows Oh My a while back. I paired it with the very elegant Damask stamp from Purple Onion Designs. A little scallop punch, a few half-back pearls and everything just fell into place! Whew - crisis averted!

Here is my card for the color combo:

I love how it all came together!

On the knitting front, I ended up frogging the Jaywalker sock I started. I re-knit it using the smaller size. It's fitting MUCH better and the first one is almost done. I'm not sure if I'm going to have time to finish the second one just yet since my birthday/holiday knitting is started to be neglected! But here is a quick picture of the current sock....and I promise it won't end up being a one-sock-wonder! And no, don't adjust your monitor, they really are this bright!!


Knit on!!

Another Sketch Card

I love to read Amy R's blog. She has great ideas and sometimes even a sketch!! Here is my take on her sketch:



I've been making a lot of Christmas cards lately. I do make all of our Christmas cards, but I usually make 5-6 designs and about 8-10 of each design. But this year I've been making a lot of single designs. I love the cards, but they would be too much work to mass produce. Right now I have about 25 cards made - about 1/2 done - and only 3 designs have been repeated. And I have only made 4 of each of those designs!

Supplies:
Stamps: Snowflake Spot from SU
Paper: White, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean (retired) and Basic Grey all from SU; Patterned paper from Basic Grey Figgy Pudding line
Accessories: Sakura Stardust pen (to add a little sparkle!), pop dots, sponge, CM circle cutting system and Nestabilities circle dies

On the knitting front, I've had to frog the socks I started for my dad's birthday. I was making them in acrylic and they were just coming out awful. I have since restarted using some Lion Brand Wool-Ease. The colors are not perfect, but they will be fine - I just need to let it go!

Knit on!

Umbrellie Card

I decided to try the sketch challenge on the All That Scraps blog. It was just too cute to pass up! Here's my card:


I used the cute Umbrella bug from the Bitzy Bugs line. I just love the paper piece this umbrella. It just looks so darn cute. And what girl doesn't need a pair of pink rain boots?

Supplies:
Stamps - CC Designs from All that Scraps, sentiment from Great Greetings from the Angel Company (retired)
Ink: Black Staz-on, Misc markers from SU blended to the shade I needed ;)
Paper - Sweet Blush from Papertrey Ink, Cool Caribbean from SU (retired), Blue Hill patterned paper from Crate Paper, Green Paper from The Paper company
Accessories - Half Back pearls, Prima flowers, clear glaze pen (to make her boots shiny!!), Oval punch to make the mask to create her "puddle", sponge

That's it for now. Have a great day!!

First of the gifts

It's gift knitting time of the year for me! I make hats for my niece/nephews for their birthdays, my DH's and dad's birthdays are in the fall, DS's birthday is in November and then there is all the holiday knitting! Well I'm happy to report that I've finished the first of the gifts!!

This hat is for my nephew Jason. My sister told me that his coat is royal blue, gray and white. I think this hat will look perfect! (My DS liked it so much he told me I could make one for him too!) I'm enjoying knitting for teenage boys, but I have to admit that it's a bit tough. They don't really want bold colors or crazy patterns, but my sister thought this would be a great hat for Jason. And I *love* this pattern. It looks fabulous and it knits up pretty darn quick - both great attributes of a good pattern.

(I should mention that this is the first year I've knit hats for my sisters boys. It started with my niece. She has a December birthday. I've always felt that she gets a bit screwed with the Christmas/birthday thing, so I started knitting her things. The first few years it was just a scarf, then I added hats. Then I decided that her brother had been a bit left out, so I knit him a hat for his birthday. Now I've decided I need to be fair and knit my sisters boys hats too. Shucks - another reason to buy more yarn!!)


It's another of the Fake Isle hats (I've made three so far.) Now I just hope it fits! I knit it in Harmony wool - which was a "house brand" wool for a LYS that has since gone out of business. It knits much like Cascade and I got it on a 2 for 1 sale, so it was a great deal.

Next up, a pair of socks for my dad for his birthday. I'm knitting them in acrylic (YUCK!) in the University of Minnesota colors. Dad wore out the last pair of socks I knit him fairly quickly so I'm going to try acrylic socks. I'm already hating it, but I think they might last longer. And besides, I had the yarn in my stash!

Knit on!

Finito!!

After three attempts, my Leafy T is finally done! Please excuse these rather horrid photos. There are still a few ends to weave in, but I wanted to document that I finally completed this thing. AND I LOVE IT!! So often I'm displeased with a garment after I finish it, but not this time.

Even though it was a complete pain to re-knit this, it was so worth it!! I'm hoping my hubby will take a picture of me wearing it tomorrow, but for now, may I present my Leafy T:



And now to get started on my birthday/holiday knitting....it's a long list!

Knit on!

Fun new rubber!!

I ordered some fun new stamps from starvingartiststamps a while back but hadn't had much time to play with them. Today - we got inky!! I ordered some great images to fill the 6-15 year old boy needs. It's harder to make masculine cards usually, and mid-range boys are the most difficult (at least to me!)

I made this one on Saturday while I was at Archivers cropping with my friend Danielle (Hi Danielle!) I think this image is absolutely perfect with the Cosmo Cricket Cogsmo line.

The second one I made for todays challenge on SCS. The technique was Stained Glass. I love how it looks, but the technique needs a little tweaking for me. Or maybe I just have a large learning curve on this one. Either way, here's what I came up with.


I think the reason boy cards are hard for me is embellishments. I never feel like I should be putting ribbon or flowers on boy cards. That really tends to limit what I can do.

I also got some stamps and sentiments from the Urban line. I haven't had enough time to play with them yet, but I think they will be perfect for creating birthday cards for the older boys in my life. (Yikes - my nephews are teenagers!!)

Gorgeous Stitch Markers

I had knit night for the Ravelry group last night. Only a small group made it, but we had lots of fun comparing notes and seeing what everyone was working on. And Kate brought me the most beautiful stitch markers ever. (Or prettyful as my son called them :) )

And Deb asked quite a few questions about how I sized my version of the Leaf T. I put it on waste yarn and she was able to try my version on - very convenient. I only hope she doesn't have to knit it THREE TIMES!! But it did help to get me re-energized about this project. So along with my fabulous new stitch markers, here is an updated picture of my Leaf T:

I've done the arm band for one of the sleeves. I knit it on size 6 DPN's, but I think I want it to fit a bit tighter so I plan on ripping that out and re-knitting it on size 5's. I mean - since I've knit this three times already, whats another arm band??

And a close up of the stitch markers:

See, I told you they were prettyful!!!

Knit on!

Card Making with 10 year olds

I had my niece and her friend over yesterday for a MARATHON stamping/card making session. They had an absolute blast! I didn't get much done, but they needed help with cutting paper and choosing colors and it was fun just watching them work. My niece ended up with 9 cards made and her friend made 10. And they were asking "When can we do this again Aunt Barb?" I think that might just be the ultimate compliment from a 10 year old girl!!

The Jaywalker socks are coming along nicely, but I had to rip back the heel and re-knit it. It was just too baggy around the ankle. I had knit the flap a bit too long and I'm concerned about running out of yarn (remind you of the Monkey socks anyone??) I'm hoping this is the only re-knit this pair of socks needs!! (And that I have enough yarn!!)

Knit on!!

Remember this....

cute little sweater?

Well, it's heading to it's new home today. No, Mayume hasn't had her baby yet, but DH decided it was time to present the gift. So I whipped up a matching gift bag and card. Here's the whole ensemble:

I hope she likes it!!

In other news, my first Jaywalker sock is coming along nicely. I started knitting the heel flap yesterday. I hope to finish turning the heel today. I'll try to take another picture of it soon. I just LOVE this pair of socks!!

Knit on!