Year of Projects Week 02

I did manage to finish 2 full squares on the afghan this week. That means a total of 8 done and #9 is almost halfway there already. The old black an white film of 'Anne Of Green Gables' was on TV. Perfect for a Sunday evening's knitting by the wood stove!
I figured I would need at least 15 blocks to get a nice size (these block at 12" square) and with adding a border it should be just right.

I also started on the aqua/blue/green scarf. I tried to use the markers, but they kept getting in my way.

Besides, the pattern is pretty easy so I put those away and continued on. I actually got more done on this. This picture was taken on the 7th. I hope the longer circular needles I ordered come soon or I shall have to put this project on the ice until it does!

I'm really liking the yarn. The colours are gorgeous and it is so deliciously soft. I'm sure it will wear wonderfully warm and comfortable. I'm using Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable and the colour is 'Dragonfly'

Maybe by next week I'll have longer needles and can post updated pictures.

Yearbook December 1994

Yes, you read the date right! I'm constantly looking back at picture from earlier years that still need scrapping. I hope to one day leave most of the pictures scrapped so that our sons will have an annotated visual story of the family. They enjoy looking at the albums...the books will be in good hands.

This one takes us back just over 20 years. We were visiting with friends in The Netherlands and for both sons it was their first experience of falling snow. It did not take them long to figure out what to do with it though,,,hahahaha

December 1994

I used the 'Snowy Days Bundle' by Cathy Krenek for this "retro" page

It will be so nice to have these books all finished and printed up. What fun we will have remembering together!

Leaving A Legacy

Hand work is just one of those things that seems to be in the fiber of the women in my family. Both grandma's did it and we still have items made by my great grandma. Such heirloom treasures!
Small wonder then that you will always find 'needles clicking' at our homes. It is just a part of who we are!

Leaving A Legacy

I used Lonetta Avelar's beautiful "Aught Missed" Collection for my page.

You can also buy just the kit and selected add-ons in Lonetta's Store HERE

Impromptu Family Picture

This is such a neat picture! I'm sure there was no special occasion for this picture to be taken, but we were clearly going to go somewhere (I know because I have shoes on LOL) It is unfortunate that my oldest sister is not in here as she was taking the picture...what memories it brings back!

I used a Collab by Cathy Krenek and Luv Ewe called 'Little Miss' for my LO.

I seldom use such a bold and busy paper immediately behind the picture, but I do think it works well here. I may have to try this again some time!

Birthday Card

It’s a new year and that means another round of birthday cards are needed! That is quite fine by me as I get to experiment more and try more techniques and products while (hopefully) bringing a smile and a hug to the recipients!
First for this year : this birthday card.



I started with a white card base which I sprayed lightly with 2 shades of green alcohol inks to provide a fitting backdrop for the roses. I added a border to the card set with a file from Betsy’s Borders. All the cut files are by Designs on Cloud 9
The roses I found in this cut set called Tattoo Art
The sentiment is from Card Sentiments also by Designs on Cloud 9

Thanks for stopping by and happy card making for this year!

Year of Projects - Ravelry

I joined Ravelry at the end of last year. Wow so much to see, so many patterns. Quite overwhelming actually. But oh so nice too! Like walking into a candy store....

I joined a few of their members groups, just to check things out...and decided to definitely go with the 'Year of Projects' idea. The year actually starts in July, but I'm joining halfway through and then I will reschedule in the summer!

So this is my first post for YoP and this will be a weekly Sunday feature on the blog here. To share what I did during the last week. On the "Year of Projects" page here on the blog I will add my planned list as well as links to my weekly updates for those interested to see the progress.

So this is what I worked on this past week : the afghan that I started early December. I was looking for something easy to knit, that takes no thinking, no counting and is easy to pick up and put down at any point. This one surely first the bill. I don't have a recipint in mind (yet) and no time frame for finishing it in....unless the end of the YoP timeline is considered.

I have 6 blocks completed, 4 are blocked and dry while 2 are drying at the moment. I have not yet decided how to join these, there's lots of time for that yet!
The pattern is from 'All Season Throws'

This collection has such beautiful throws and blankets in, it was hard to choose one only, to make.
Ps.
 I'm using the same list for the 12 Projects in 12 Months group at Ravelry, although I will be adding more goodies to that list soon. I reserve the right to change the lists without prior notification LOL

Recycle - Coasters

I was looking for something in my closet the other day when I found several disk (CD and DVD) that I no longer need. These contained rather dated digital scrapbooking supplies. I decided to turn them into something useful : coasters.

Here's what I did :

First I made digital images to cover/decorate the tops with. This image is the 5x7" jpeg that I had printed at a local store. I added extra flowers and labels onto these files so I would have extras for decorating tags/cards/boxes. (No need to waste that extra printing space!)

I used Cathy Krenek's "Rustic Christmas" digital scrapbooking kit for my project

After picking the printed images up, I cut them all out using scissors, there is no need to be absolutely accurate at this point.

Next step is to glue the print to one (the top side) of the disk and fill in the hole with punched circles. This is to prevent the paper from sagging and making a hollow in the hole.

And now I can trim the little extra bit off around the disk.

Next I draw a line around the disk onto a piece of felt. I had wanted to use green, but did not have enough, so the red got used instead!

...and I cut the circle out just inside the ink line.

More glue on the disk (I used Aleene's Tacky Glue) and onto the felt it goes. The disks have a slight edge or rim on the under side. This can leave a ridge when covered by paper, but the felt hides it well. That is why I stick the paper to the top and the felt to the bottom)

A quick trim gives me nice flush edges.

The final step is to add some sort of sealer to make the coaster water proof. In the past I've used a spray sealer, but this time I used an acrylic floor wax. I tested a sample with drops of water left on overnight and there was no damage. Hopefully that means it will last well! We used ours over Christmas and had no 'problems' It looks a little streaky here on the picture, but I wanted to show you the nice gloss it gives them!

I left the disks to dry overnight and then set them aside for a few days to 'harden' I don't think that is necessary but I did it anyway!

And here they are, all 8 of them.

In the end I'm happy with the red 'bottoms', they look festive!

They make handy little gifts for the holidays. I tried not to make them so Christmassy that one cannot use them the rest of the year.

Now I'm thinking how nice it would be to have a stack for every season...and even for special occasions! I'm going to have to find more disks.