A random thought.

After Forcing myself to get in the mood to clean, (but before actually doing it)- i ran dish water.
we don't have a dishwasher, so we've got to bust suds by hand here.

anyway, after squirting a little dish soap into the running water, i thought-
Isn't it amazing how one little drop of something can result in so many bubbles!
a smile can make friends, lighter moods, brighter days.
An act of kindness can result in more and more suds, inspiration,a renewal of faith, and good fortune.
One random thought can turn into 2,3 and 100! and who knows what else...

♥
ca..ca..can i bee your sud?

One Way Ticket

I've been wanting to take my son to see some of his family in california for a little while now. We've decided on going to see the beach for sure, but i was hanging between some where parallel to fresno, where his grandparents and aunts live, or just taking him to see his dad in san diego.
a trip to san diego is shorter, and i think the beach would be fun, so i'm leaning towards going there.

after the recent plane crashes, (which all seem to be the small ones similar to what we'd be flying on) and which all have taken place close to landing...

I'm not wanting to get on a plane.

here's what i'm lookin at..

a greyhound bus ride for 2, one way:
8 hours with one transfer
$64 before tax
overnight

ON A PLANE:
about an hour nonstop
$160 with tax and fees
during the morning

Now, call me a scaredy cat or whatever, but i've never really flown while the sun was out, so that's scary for me, BUT that one hour thing is looking good.

If we take the bus, we'll sleep through the trip and it's cheaper (but i'm also afraid to do this because ppl are crazy!)

Please take my poll and let me know what you think i should do, your input may help!

♥

What i'm doing lately

The other day, a friend asked if i could make a spiral scarf for her daughter, which she wanted in blue and this is what i've come up with.
I had used the spiraling technique in one of my scarves before, but had never put it to use for making a whole scarf. I think I may have spiraled this one a bit too tight because it literally looks like a tube or some kind of icing piping. Perhaps i'm just like, "eh" on this one because it's not something that i would have thought to make any other day. that's not a complaint. things outside my box are cool too.

☺

Look at my babies! I took these pictures yesterday. Inside of the flower ones, there are more, pointier leaves sprouting out. (are they true leaves yet??) I'm so excited by their growth. they're actually like tiny stalks! lol
I think i may just move them to a rectangular planter and sit them on the porch.
I'm only just thinking about it, because that would just make all the effort of the carton and eggshells pretty pointless.
But, with the temperature being some where near 95° yesterday, and very close to that today- i don't think they will survive out there in the front.

The other picture is of the watermelon sprouts- LOOK AT THAT LEAF!
i honestly can't imagine getting any watermelons from seeds, but i'm going to stay hopeful and nurturing to these puppies until they pass or fail.

-

I love this Bag!
I've had it for a little while now, and have completely fallen in love with it. so much so that i carry it like a purse, even tho i may only have my keys and chap stick to carry. I used to use it soley for trips to the store, in an effort to not use those plastic bags from the store, but u always would up taking a few anyway.
Because i love this bag so much, i've decided to make one inspired by it. So far, i've started out with a hot pink yarn and am complimenting it with the earth and sky, like the one i used for this cap, along with a bit of white.

Naturally, i started the bag in rows, but i'm starting to feel like iwant to do something else, like free form circles or perhaps a few hexagonal patches, similar to a granny square bag. the only issue with those ideas is how to get them to be a long rectangle in the end, so that i can attatch a strap and line the bag.
This is going to be on on-going WIP for sure, but i can't wait to see what i'll come up with. i may just surprise myself! =-)
☺

On a side note, a fellow Artfire Artisan, RiskyBeads used my pink rave handbag, along with a good seletion of other pretty pink things in a spotlight she calls 'If Your Mother's Favorite Color is...Pink'. You can check out it on her blog HERE

more on my sprouts

Before they get any bigger- i wanted to post pictures of my little sprouts. a few are over 3 inches now, but weren't when i took this picture. i'm afraid that if i do plant them,they'll die, even though the packages say that i should be doing that now.

After GlassIdentities' mention of coffee for plants, i tried it and they sure enough sprouted even more the next day! the watermelon ones have a real looking leaf- the carrots have things on them that look like the tops of celery, and the flowers have about 6 leaves (not sure how many of them are "true") .


I did have them in the window, but i'm thinking about moving them to the back porch for some air and less harsh sunlight. some of the leaves on the flowers are showing signs of sun damage, even though i've been watering them every day. I'm going to hate thinning these babies, because i'd like to see all of them grow....

A few caps and Featherstone.

Last week, I was asked about making a cap or two. Now, I know that that's wouldn't be anything too exciting to most, but the request came from a lady who had bought from me before- yep, my second [tentative] repeat customer.

She brought to my attention the fact that I didn't have much to choose from when it came to kids hats and such, so, I came up with a few for her, and a couple extra for my studio.
The fact that i have a 5 year old running around totally slipped my mind- I hecka should be taking advantage of my little model while i can still get him to stand still with out a bribe!
I've got a pink camo one (for a 1-4 yr old) in the works that will be listed tomorrow as well.
Yay for actually making stuff! lol
________________________

I've actually picked up and started reading a new book, called Featherstone, too. So far, the way the sentences are structured seems a little odd to me- for example, the first character to be introduced, Sonny, is talking or thinking about having seen a figure, having to look up towards the sun at it-

"Only the sun, printing gold into black into gold against his eyes, only a dark shape against the sky, like a dear shape cut clean out of the light and laid against it..."

but i'm hoping that reading the story will be worth it, and that i'll soon get used to reading in it's strange to me dialect. (Even though a few who have reviewed it on amazon have complained about the beaten to a pulp usage of prose).

I'm looking at this one in an optimistic way- if i am ever to write my own story, which i hope will be read and read, i guess i've got to see how to NOT do it, too.

If this one doesn't work out, i'll be on to the next and won't feel like my time was so wasted- as it was on that Blond Roots garbage because I have been making hats =-P

That book wasn't bad!

After finally getting to the last page of Broken, by Martina Cole, i have to say that i was pleasantly surprised by this novel. It was well written (of course, I could have told you this early on, as it was a best seller) and had me feeling like i knew the characters and wondering what they'd do next. At first, i thought that this mystery was too complicated for the likes of me. I'm used to nice little books like Sister North by Jim Kokoris, Sara's Song by Fern Michaels, and other books in which a happy ending is obvious from the start.

This book began with one complicated scene and went on to the next and the next, but the frequent page breaks- often used to focus from one going on to the other made this read pretty easy. I didn't have to try and force myself to make it to the end of the chapter for fear of waking up and not remembering what was going on when i left off.

I so enjoyed this book. Martina Cole isn't an author that I'm going to easily find in my local library- i think I've only found one of her other books listed, but, i really did enjoy reading enough to be willing to actually buy her books and keep them on my own shelf.

What to do with it?

I smashed out this little baby hat while waiting for 200 numbers before mine to be called.
Now i'm unsure of what i'll make to go with it. originally, i was going to make a pixie like hat for a new baby boy that i know of, but the pink speckles in it stand out more than i thought they would, so, this one may wind up in my studio along with a coordinating blankie or vest.

I have attempted to make this cardigan with the yarn i used to make the baby beanie, but it always came out doll sized. there is no guage for the pattern, so i found myself just working it over and over again until i got to a point wher it was obviously way wrong.
(to finally find that i need a K hook to get the size right)

So, i'm pondering- a sort of granny sqaure blanket with the speckled yarn as the centers and a baby blue yarn for the main color; or a baby cardigan to go with this hat?

Another give away!

Not My personal give away, but a give away none the less =-)

(give away isn't for these particular cuties, but you can find something like them in her shop)

Laura, of MadeByLaura on Etsy is having a give away. She's giving us a chance to win a $20.00 Shopping spree in her shop which is filled with needle felted cuteness.

Check out the details on her blog and her etsy shop.

It's awesome ♥

More Sprouts!

I wanted to show these sprouts before even more cute things happen with my little planters-



I'm not sure what they are- either zinnias or larkspur. i love how a few of the sprouts on the left have the seeds still attached...
come to think of it, those are larkspur seeds, i think the zinnia seeds were way smaller. so i guess i've got both growing!

I'm starting to think that keeping them in the window is about to be not such a good idea. they're growing rapidly, and with the sun, drinking water like no one's business.
now i have to research if having such a fast start will effect the quality of the plant later- or if it's normal for them to grow within a blink of an eye.


one did wither away, but, it's alright- 10 out of about 14 planted is pretty good!

The MDC Etsy Team is Giving Away Some Good Stuff!

And i want to win!

Here are a couple of pictures showing some of the prizes...

(I took these images right off the blog- hope ya don't mine, MDC)

Being given away is stuff for mama and kid, so it's good timesd two!

I'm telling you about it, so you can enter too-

You can check out the giveaway blog here.

♥