Cozy Crochet Scarf

I finally got to my most awesome Christmas gift from last year - the Cozy Crochet Kit...uh after a beginner crochet class at a local yarn shop. I think I could have taught myself, but:
1. The first crochet row was really messing me up - I couldn't figure out which loops to pull up!
2. Classes are more fun and you get to meet a lot of cool people. Like my teacher, who (whom?) I see every time I'm in the yarn shop and who always helps me so much for FREE...just because she's nice. Aww



This is the first crochet project I decided to tackle. It was a level 2, but I like a good challenge and I ended up really liking this scarf. I think I'm gonna make me a couple more...for Christmas gifts, of course.

Anywho, I highly recommend this kit to anyone just learning to crochet. I think I first fell in love with the name (how could a cozy crochet kit go wrong, right?) first, but the patterns inside are super fun. Especially this scarf! Can't wait to try some others out, though.

Knitting for Christmas

I meant to post this yesterday, but I was sick sick sick with food poisoning...ick! Today, I still feel very weak and I haven't been able to eat solid foods yet, but yesterday was just not pretty one bit! I faded in and out of sleep all day and just felt so...uncomfortable! I wanted to knit or crochet something b/c I find that so very relaxing and comforting, but it was all I could do yesterday to sit upright.

Anywho, on to happier things...like knitting!


I've been working on this simple stockinette scarf for awhile now, and finally finished it this past weekend.



I've seen people pin their knit items down, but I never knew why...until my stockinette stitched scarf started curling up and my friend at the yarn store told me to pin the scarf flat and spray it with water. I patiently waited all day for my scarf to dry and when I pulled it up...it curled right back. boo! I guess the trick only works when you work with natural materials, like wool or alpaca. Oh well, it's still pretty cute and will make a great Christmas gift...I hope!

I've got lots of other great knitting ideas for Christmas presents, but I suppose I'm really running out of time, aren't I? I need to get knitting!

Chicken Vesuvio and Tree Trimming

Thanks to the wonderful Sarah of Misadventures of Mama and Jack, I decided to take a trip to Kmart to check out the Martha Stewart holiday decoration collection. You have to understand, going to Kmart isn't a simple 10 minute drive down the street, it's more like a 30 minute drive to the other side of town...and it's near a mall, which is always "fun" this time of year. Martha is usually so dependable for chic decorations, but you never know just what a store will be sold out of or not carry. The whole way over, I was keeping my fingers crossed that my trip would not be a lost cause. I have to say, the Kmart was not the most organized place I'd ever been. I couldn't figure out where the holiday decorations were and couldn't find anyone working there to help me. I just walked in circles in complete confusion. Can you tell I don't frequent the Kmart much? Nothing wrong w/ Kmart...I'm just too lazy and too busy to go so far for stuff I can get closer to home. I finally had to ask someone at the checkout (while they're were checking someone else out) where the holiday decorations were. Turns out they were in the Garden section...no wonder I didn't see them when I was circling the store. Anywho, by the time I finally made it to the decorations, I was slightly irritated, but that all just melted away when I took one look at the beautiful Martha Stewart ornaments and trim. Every doubt I'd had when I was driving over, fighting the mall traffic, and feeling completely lost in Kmart instantly disappeared as I started oohing and ahing over all the lovely decorations. I found way too many things I liked and bought far too many ornaments for my tree. By the time I got back from my shopping spree, it was nearly time for dinner. I made one of my favorite Everyday Italian recipes - Chicken Vesuvio


This is a super yummy dish with a light yet tasty flavor. The dish contains chicken, potatoes, artichoke hearts and the sauce is made with white wine, chicken broth, and butter



I've made this dish a couple times and must offer up that I usually only make this with two bone-in chicken breasts, though I keep the liquid ingrediants the same. Also, be sure to watch this dish as it's cooking because the high heat usually burns my chicken and 10 minutes for both the chicken and potato cooking times is too long.



Anywho, I had a lovely evening of enjoying delicious food, sipping wine, and trimming my tree. I think these new ormanents will go great with my sparkly snowomen



And look! My Christmas present came early this year and already unwrapped!

First Time for Indian

Can you believe I've never had Indian food before? Well, I guess that's not true...at least, it's not true any more! I tried Indian food for the first time last week and it was soooo yummy! I went with a few of my co-workers and some of them were Indian...thank goodness b/c they were able to help me pick out what to order. I ended up getting Morgh Tikka Masala (sp?), which is chunks of chicken in a creamy tomato sauce...but not like Campbells creamy tomato - it's like Campbell's with a kick (it's actually not at all like Campbells, but I have to compare it to something "familiar"). You must try it! I think trying new foods can be so amazing sometimes. When you try a new spice or herb or dish or food or flavor, the sensation of that new taste hitting your tongue can be so exhilarating! I mean look at that color! Something so beautiful must be delicious! I'm here to tell you it is...and I wouldn't lie to you...would I? :)


We all started with a tomato based soup that was slightly sweet and slightly spicy...an interesting combo



Here's my vibrant Tikka Masala - the sauce has cream and tomato and cilantro and tikka, which is a spice, and lots of other good stuff.



Steamy basmati rice



All served with some warm flatbread...I can't wait to go back! Hmm...maybe I can talk someone into going tomorrow?

Oh Where, Oh Where Can My Ornaments Be?

I am so disappointed with ornament options...why are there no light turquoise ornaments anywhere? WHY? I don't want light blue, I don't want bright turquoise...I want a light turquoise, almost "robin's egg blue" color ornament, in a simple, glass ball. Is that so much to ask for? Apparently, it is...because I haven't seen any anywhere! I guess I will continue to make my own in the meantime...they're super fun to create and craft, but would be much more enjoyable if there were only more hours in the day. I enjoy making my ornaments either way, but it would be so much more enjoyable to work on them without worrying about what I should work on...ah well...such is life, no?

Here are, I think, my fave ornaments so far - they are sparkly snowmen...although, perhaps the little flowers make them snow-women. snowomen? sno-women? I think you catch my drift (get it? drift? snow drift? yea...it's a knee slapper)


I actually came up with the idea to put the "carrot" nose on the pins...cute, no? I figured they would stay on better if I could attach them to the styrofoam bases with pins. I made the flowers and leaves with craft store felt.



Hey ladies! Ready to pretty up my tree?

...And the Winner of the Handmade Gift Tags Is...

..."Sarah and Jack" of Misadventures of Mama and Jack! She won the contest to get these festive gift tags I made a week-ish ago:

Congrats Sweetie (email me your shipping addy at shopaholicd at gmail dot com)! And thanks to everyone who played! I'm hoping to have one more giveaway before Christmas so stay tuned.

Happy holidays!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

Although I don't have a house yet (though I desperately want one), I am so thankful to have my own little apartment and the money to be able to get my own Christmas tree. I got a tree a couple years ago, but I feel like I'm in this transition phase of life, between living and home and living on my own, where my home is where my parents live, but it's also where I live. It's kinda tough spreading out like this and being unsure about what is what, but what I do know is that both places are my home, so I should be happy to have them both! Anywho, there's this weird period of time between graduating high school and getting a few years into your career (maybe it's just me) where you are so extremely broke, you're living in whatever is cheapest and eating whatever is cheapest and you don't have the time, space or money to worry about things like Christmas trees because you can barely take care of yourself and furnish your tiny space. Now, a few years into my career, I think I'm worrying too much about my Christmas tree...but I suppose that is just the way of the perfectionist.

My SO and I went Christmas tree shopping Tuesday night...after much bugging on my end. I think I asked for nearly a straight week, every night, to go Christmas tree shopping, but see! It worked!


We hit up a local Christmas tree vendor who has been selling at this same spot for nearly 50 years!



They were so prepared, with tons of wreaths and bows and even Christmas tree stands (thank goodness b/c we tried Tar-jay first and they were sold out!)



See! I told you they had tons of wreaths and bows



A nice man (possibly the owner, but we didn't ask) helped us pick out our tree. He walked us around to a few of the many spots of their setup with the mini trees (we don't have space for much else), and he helped pull out this tree for us to check out. We decided it would be ours and asked him to help take the temp wooden stand off the bottom, which is what he's doing in this photo. He was really so kind and helpful...I love supporting these types of businesses - local (I think they're local) businesses comprised of hard-working every day people with genuine hearts. I only met this man for 15ish minutes, but sometimes people have a look in their face and a way that lets you know...you know? I hope we can visit them again next year...hopefully for a tree for a house!

Glittering Bailey

I've had quite the glitter production going on on my dining room table lately. Good thing we don't usually eat on it! I've been creating all kinds of sparkly creations to hang on our Christmas tree, but I swear, it's like I'm not working hard enough or something. I feel like I've been crafting ornaments for hours and hours and I only have a few creations to show for it. Oh well, at least I've been having fun and I'll have custom-made ornaments when I'm done! Yay! But, seriously, I think Christmas just snuck up on me this year. It was like, one minute, it's spring and the next minute...it's Christmas! What the hay!? Anywhosier, here's my next batch of ready-to-hang ornaments, straight from the craft room dining room table:


I paired Martha Stewart glitter with red ribbon and added a little metal hoop on top



As you can imagine, with this much glittering going on, I've basically got glitter everywhere! Even on Bailey! Poor little guy. I accidentally sprinkled some on him when I was walking past him with some ornaments. Oopsie! Mommy will try to be more careful!

I'm Dreaming of a Sparkly Christmas

I've always loved sparkly things. I remember a kid's movie I fell in love with a looooong time ago, called, "The Secret of Nimh" (the book was waaaay better, and if I remember correctly, pretty deep for a kids' book). The movie had a goofy crow character who always said, "Oooh...a sparkly!" I say that sometimes when I see sparkly stuff...yea...it's silly, but I can't help it. I think my love for things that glitter helped influence me to start my jewelry business. At least, it helps influence the materials I select and the ones I put in my designs. I always like to add a little sparkle to each design. Anywho, with Christmas coming up and my nesting kicking in (and me finally having more space for decorations), it was a no-brainer that there would be a lot of glittering going on in my home. I've got quite a few things in the works, but glitters and glues and paints can take some time to dry, so here's the first set that's ready:

They're little embroidery hoops - I sparkled the edges in red (Garnet, if you want to get technical) Martha Stewart glitter and added some light turquoise fabric stretched across the hoops. Not quite the right fabric color, but it's really hard to find the kinds of Christmas colors I'm looking for. Oh well...I'll wait to see how they look in the tree with my other ornaments. I can switch the fabric out pretty easily later. Now, back to sparkling!

Don't forget to enter into the contest!

Gift Tag Giveaway

I've really been getting into making the smaller things in life extra-special, especially now that the holidays are here. I remember in college, if I had time to gift wrap (because I was an over-achieving workaholic with little time), I was usually throwing something in a decorative bag with tissue paper or throwing whatever holiday gift wrap was closest to me on any boxes I needed to wrap. Not that simple gift wrap doesn't say special...it just wasn't saying "special" for me. I've been getting into adding little details to my gift wrap and thinking through my gift wrap color themes and stuff, and one of the things I've been wanting to add to my packages are decorative gift tags. My family has always gotten those cutesy sticker tags with images of snowmen or Santa, but I've really been having fun creating gift tags for some recent swaps and want to make some for myself.

I made these gift tags yesterday with the traditional Christmas color scheme, but I'm not going for "traditional" with my Christmas color scheme. I'm going for traditional with a twist. Anywho, that means that I need to give these babies away. One set will be for a swap (those aren't pictured), one set will be for a Christmas gift, and one set will be given away to one of my dear readers (or guests).


I am giving away this set, with the glittery gift tags including: red rectangle on holiday print, red swirly circle on green striped print, a hand-drawn holly berry bit, off white rectangle on green print, hand drawn/glittered swirl on red swirl print with off white paper print, poinsettia on cream/red rectangles on holiday print



This set (with the Santa gift tag) will be showing up in someone's Christmas gift (only the first set pictured will be given away)

CONTEST INFO

Two Ways to Enter (and you can do both if you want to enter twice!):
1. Leave a comment on this post (only one comment per person, unless you do #2, too) and say which tag is your fave
2. Do a post about the contest on your blog and leave a comment with a link to your post (if you do a post about the contest, you may use the first image of the gift tags in your contest post)

All entries must be received by Friday night (12/7/07), as the winner will be selected Saturday morning.

Happy Contesting!

Happy Handmade Holidays

I know I mentioned wanted to make all my presents this year, but I've been getting into making my decorations, too. I've really been working on brainstorming the perfect color scheme and found some great inspiration in my Martha Stewart books...only problem is...where does she find all those amazing colors for such regular items as gift wrap, ribbon, etc. Thank goodness she opened her own aisle in Michael's so I can finally access some of her pretty colors in scrapbook paper and tissue paper colors! I think my fave color of her collection is her "Feldspar" - it's like a pale blue-green...not quite "robin's egg blue" - I think "Feldspar" has a bit more green to it...but any-hoosier.

I found these cute and cheap ornaments at Michael's the other day when I "went in for one thing." I'm sure you guys know how that goes. Anywho, I figured they'd be a simple project to paint up and sparkle up...and they were! The little crevices were a bit difficult, and you can see I painted the light turquoise color on the snowflakes a tad, but I figured they'd be covered with glitter. There were also a few black marks on some of the ornaments, but again, I figured they'd be covered with glitter, so who'd ever know...except you guys now.


Painting the background light turquoise



All done! The tops were painted white to accent the snowflakes and I added Martha's White Gold glitter to the tops.

Now I just need a tree!

Bailey Playing

I know he's not supposed to be on the bed and all...

...but I mistook him for one of my cuddly stuffed animals and he just accidentally ended up here...yeaaaa...that's right...

Shabby Chic Gift Tags

I finally carved some time out of my evening to make time for a long-awaited project: handmade gift tags. Sure, I had laundry to do, clothes to fold, a dog to take care of (wait, I still did that one), emails to type, but I'm usually one who does what she feels she should do. Tonight, I decided to do what I want to do. I don't get these opportunities often (when what I have to do in a night absolutely must be done by the next day), but I think that helps me enjoy my time better when I finally have it.


After searching for nearly thirty minutes for a pad of Amy Butler scrapbook paper (which, of course, I didn't end up using), I set up our dining room table, sipped some chocolate soy milk and just crafted and crafted and crafted to my heart's content.



I used some random scrapbook paper, craft punches, ink pads, stamps, ribbon, and one of my new fave craft supplies - Martha Stewart glitter! It's fab - so delicate! I also got to try a new crafting trick - the inkpad edging effect that makes the paper looked aged. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and turned out great! Now I know why everyone does it so much!



Not sure if these would officially be considered "shabby chic", but I didn't know what else to call the gift tag style.

I had a great brainstorm today for a winter craft project, but as I've already been to Michael's nearly five times this month (and JoAnn's twice), I need to:
1. Use the craft supplies I already have
2. Stop spending too much money on craft supplies! I suppose I truly am a shopaholic

Butterfly Scarf in Green

I've decided to try to handmade all my presents this year. What else am I supposed to do with all of these gorgeous yarns, fabrics, and other crafy goodies, but make something that I can share with those I love? I think there's something extra special to handmade gifts...the heart that goes into each creation is something you can't buy with all the money in the world. Only problem is...I've distributed the link to this blog to nearly all my friends and family, so they'll be able to see their presents before they get them. Oopsie! My saving grace? The fact that they won't know which of the many creations are theirs until they open that box on Christmas Day.

Now that I've completed my first "butterfly" scarf project, I've decided to make more in the same style, but different colors, yarns, and textures. The yarn shop I've been frequenting (too much by the way) has these nifty grab bags in the front of the store, allowing me to afford all the yarns I've been collecting lately. Too bad they never put any of the oh-so-lovely alpaca or cashmerino yarns in those...I'm dying to work with that stuff, but I'm trying to buy yarns for gifts for others...not gifts for me. I think after the holidays are over, I'm going to head straight to the yarn store and get me some of the chunky alpaca yarn and some of the uber-cuddly cashmerino in black or off-white and make myself a shrug. I don't know how to make one, nor do I have any patterns, but with all the practice I'll get from these Christmas-gift-scarves, I should be able to figure it out. Yea baby!

Worms? No Thanks...I'm a Vegetarian.

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful one and for everyone else, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I spent Thanksgiving with my fiance's family this year...one of several beautiful family get-togethers I've been fortunate enough to participate in. Don't get me wrong...I love my quiet, simple dinners with my immediate family, but with my mom from the Philippines and my dad from the north, we don't have a lot of "other family" near-by. We used to celebrate with some cousins of ours but haven't been able to connect as of late, but hopefully, we'll all get together soon. Anywho, every once in awhile, (maybe it's just me) but, I look forward to one of those big family celebrations with lots of friends and family everywhere. Very holiday-esque, no? My family has always celebrated traditional American holidays, but the older I get, the more I want to celebrate the holidays. The more I want to decorate, to bake, to cook, to gift wrap. I can't wait till my SO and I get a house so I can really get started decorating and maybe even host a holiday dinner. I'm taking notes from my Martha Stewart library...just in case.


We celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving with Turkey, dressing, gravy, dry dressing (a secret family recipe), macaroni & cheese, green been casserole, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls...am I forgetting anything? I mean, obviously, we had dessert (my fave part of any meal): pumpkin gooey-butter cake, brownies, ice cream, and apple pie. If you can't tell from the photo, I celebrated Thanksgiving with quite a few of my SO's family - his aunt & uncle (the hosts) and their two sons, his mom, his brother & his son, his sister & her husband & their son & daughter.

I had a funny conversation with one of my SO's nephews, Alex, while he was playing with this fish toy that had a worm on a pully that when you pulled made the fish's tail swim while the worm moved closer towards the fish's mouth. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What's that in the fish's mouth?
Alex: A worm.
Me: What's the fish doing with the worm?
Alex: He's eating it.
Me: Do you eat worms?
Alex: NOOOO! I'm a veg-e-TAR-ian! I don't eat meat!

It wasn't the answer I was expecting, but it was really too cute.



The weather was a bit chilly, but beautiful. The fire-colored leaves looked so brilliant against the blue-blue sky.



Bailey is really loving all the leaves. He loves to eat them...or pick them up in his mouth at least...



...even leaves waaaay bigger than his head, which is pretty cute.



Oh yea...and he likes sticks, too.



When we got back home from visiting my SO's family, we had a simple soup...gotta eat healthy after chowing down on all that turkey, right? This is the Chicken Provencal "Stoup" by Rachael Ray (click here for recipe). I thought the recipe was pretty good, but if you try it, be sure to get the olive tapenade. I was hesitant to buy it because I don't like olives, but a teaspoon-full stirred into my soup added a lot of flavor, and it didn't really make the soup taste too much like olives. It just added depth to the flavor overall.

Oh, and did I mention that we also got to celebrate my SO's mom's b-day? Happy birthday, you-know-who!

Happy Turkey Day!

Bailey says...

Happy Thanksgiving, ya'll!

Caterpillar to Butterfly

My little caterpillar has finally grown into a butterfly! Ok, not really, but wow! How satisfying is the completion of your first project in a new medium? After two beginner knitting classes, and many hours silently & happily knitting, I've got a beautiful scarf that I can actually use. I'm so excited!


It's funky and fun...but, mainly, I picked it out for it's casual style, so I could more esaily hide my mistakes...heehee



Even Bailey wanted to help me model my new scarf!

Quilt Kit - An Update

As you can imagine, I've been pretty swamped with potty training and house-breaking the puppy...uh...and I may have spent just an hour or so on play time...yea, there may have been an hour-ish spent on play time *hee hee*

But, I did manage to make some progress on the quilt kit.



I laid out all the pieces and figured out how I wanted them to look and I got all the squares sewed into rows.



Of course, by some sort of not-so-much-stroke-of-genius, I managed to sew the first two rows together upside down, which threw off my entire layout, so I had to re-arrange a bit...oopsie!

I'm also not sure on how to machine quilt this bad boy yet, either...I was thinking stich-in-the-ditch would be easy, but now I'm hearing I should just stitch some loose waves...I'm leaning towards the waves...especially since these squares aren't lining up the way I want them to. Not bad for my first try, though...I mean, so far, so good. Now, I just need to finish it up. Too bad I'm starting to get addicted to this.

Pretty Puppy Tarts

We took Bailey to a local canine cafe today to get him a special treat. This place has the cutest gourmet doggie sorbets, puppy petit fours, puppy tarts, and more.



Bailey picks his treat out...



...and we take it home so he can enjoy it

We also got some puppy training treats that the cafe bakes on site. They have a bakery downstairs of the shop and bake healthy dog treats with organic goods and other special ingrediants. The puppy training treats are especially healthy b/c they're so tiny, we'll be able to give Bailey lots of them while potty training him and working on other training tricks.

Something tells me we'll be back there soon!

Knit Caterpillar...Update

My knit caterpillar is growing and growing every day.

I'm hoping it will turn into a butterfly one day soon. What do you think?

Handmade Doggie Bed

I thought it would be a good idea to make Bailey a dog bed...even though we got one w/ the puppy kit we bought when we picked him up from the pet store. I figured it'd be a cinch...I could do a big square and stuff it with poly fill. No, even better, I could use a foam padding I have and do a poly-filled tube to sew on the padding. Well, my "simple" project kept me up past midnight sometime mid last week and then we decided not to use it that night. What?! Why did I work so hard to complete the project that night? Oh well. He seems to like it pretty well either way.



I started by sewing a rectangle a couple inches larger than the width/height. Then, I stuffed it with a foam piece I had in my stash.



I finished the rectangle part by sewing up the edge.



Next, I made a big tube and stuffed it with polyfill.



Then, I just had to sew the tube part onto the rectangle. I'm sure it looks nice from this not-too-up-close photo, but it's actually a bit of a mess. It was really hard to get the tube part under the sewing foot to be able to sew them together, and I'm sure I could have done something better to get the corners down, but I just kind folded and scrunched it and sewed over it. Hey, it works. lol.



Someone sure seems to be enjoying it and that's all that matters. :)

Bailey Visits the Vet

We took our little trooper to his first vet visit today, and he did great! Luckily, I got a good recommendation on the vet clinic and everyone who worked there was super sweet to Bailey. They definitely did a great job of making him as comfortable as possibly while do his vaccines and other checkups. Thanks guys!



Waiting for the vet



Uh-oh...check-up time! I'm scared!



All done! Yay! Do I get a treat now?