Yarn Along ~ Cowl Love

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}

I'm a little late getting my yarn along posted this week but I couldn't pass up sharing how the cowl I was working on for my daughter turned out :)

This was seriously the easiest project to complete. It took me two evenings while watching tv to knit it up and I probably could have done it in one but I wanted to stretch it out a wee bit. If you can knit and yarn over then you've got this pattern licked with your eyes closed *grin*.

My daughter just loves it :)

The soft acrylic yarn I chose is perfect for snuggling her nose into without any itchies and it matches her winter coat perfectly. You can find that pattern and all the yarn details on my ravelry page here. I did not block it like the pattern indicates so it kept its wavy appearance and also definitely kept it tighter for fitting her small neck. I think I'm going to have to make one in turquoise for myself!

I forgot to snap a photo of the book we are reading right now so I just have links to share but we have just finished up the Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan for our homeschool book club and we all loved it. There is so much action and if your kids are into Egyptology they will thoroughly enjoy this book. This is the first book in the Kane Chronicles so we are looking forward to getting a copy of the second book from the library to find out what happens next :)

Hope you had fun knitting up a storm this week and I hope to get over to see just what you've got on your needles!

Hugs,
Rosina

Wet Felting Mice

That scrumptious box of wool rovings I received the other day couldn't have come at a better time! Last night I stood at the sink with the brightest of the colors and worked at felting them into little mice shaped bodies for the mouse eating snake I've been knitting for my little guys 5th birthday :)

I love wet felting :)

It's such a simple and relaxing task as you gently rub the wool round and round. I think the wool must have acted like a bit of an exfoliator to because my hands are as soft as a babies bottom today *grin*.

One by one the little mice bodies took form...

and just before bed I stitched on little tucked ears and long tails :) Oh my goodness are they so stinking cute! Hubby thought I was a little strange as I perfected each little ear and giggled at their cute little bodies but I know they are going to be a HUGE hit when he opens them up today :)

There's five little plump mice... perfect for a little boy who's turning five :)

I'll share more on the snake this week for the yarn along to! I'm off to work on his special birthday meal :)

Hugs,
Rosina

right now, I AM

.... smitten with my new wool rovings :)

A splendid array of rainbow colors awaited me as I opened the large box full of wool. I've been dying to spoil myself and buy some rovings but it always seemed like by the time I picked out all the colors I wanted and tacked on shipping from far away places it was more than I wanted to spend. So when I met Natalie from Bear Dance Crafts through the yarn along and realized that she was right here in BC I could have done the happy dance *grin*.

I can see some wet felting and gnome making in my future :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Click the frog to learn more!

Mail Day

I received a wonderful surprise in the mail today :)

A little packet of these gorgeous handmade cards that I won from Amy over at During Quiet Time. During the Potholder Pass swap I participated in she very generously offered them as a giveaway as incentive to get everyone to mail their packages on time and I was the lucky winner :) I never win anything so this is a real treat!

Each one is created from one of her original lino block prints and I can't wait to used them as my Christmas cards. I have an uncle in Austria that paints and I know he will just love one of these :) You really must check out her Etsy shop! She makes the cutest little ornaments, mug rugs, quilts and more of these lovely cards.

Thanks so much Amy. I just LOVE them :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Loving My Wool Dryer Ball

Last week I bought my very first wool dryer ball and I'm LOVING it :) I stopped purchasing dryer sheets a while ago but I'm not to fond of static cling and frizzy hair *grin* so I knew I was going to have to replace them with something! I had heard about a nearby shop that was selling them so I thought that I would check them out and see what all the buzz is about.

There were two choices to pick from. There were ones that were made of tightly wound wool yarn that had been washed to felt it and there were the fancier ones like mine above that had a wound yarn inner core and then had a solid needle felted cover with different motifs on them. Longevity wise the needle felted one like the one I purchased is thought to last longer over the years and I do a ton of laundry so I opted for it, plus I'm a sucker for owls *grin*.



They work by bouncing around in your dryer and helping to move your clothing more and incorporate the warm air throughout the wet clothing thus cutting your drying time considerably. It is suggested that you use anywhere from 3 - 6 dryer balls in your load to increase their efficiency. With all of that bouncing around in there it also helps to soften your clothing taking out wrinkles and any stiffness thus taking the place of your dryer sheet!

So far I only have 1 and I'm going to pick up another 2 or 3 of them in the next couple of weeks but so far I've noticed that the static electricity is not as bad. So with more of them I should be static free and using less electricity. That's a big plus in my books *grin*. Most of them come unscented and you can drop a few drops of your favorite essential oils onto them and they will infuse your laundry with lovely floral scents without all of the harsh chemicals. I've scented mine with lavender essential oil right now and when the scent disappears I can either put more lavender or switch it up :)

1. ElasIdea 2. BuddhaBunz 3. BuddhaBunz
4. FiberOptions 5. LittleFriendsbySarah
6. DomesticallyGreen


You've got to love Etsy! Here are some of my favorites that I came across while searching for the dryer balls. They come in a varying range of sizes, prices and materials that they are made with and I thought this would give you a start on finding some that you love to :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Acorn Goodness

My little stumpwork acorn turned out fabulous!! I was a little worried that the threads I wrapped the felt core with were looking a little disheveled but I think it turned out pretty good for a first go at this kind of needle work *grin*.

The pattern called for hand stitching around the top of the thread acorn to create the cap but as it happens I have a cup full of dried acorns from last fall :) So I pried apart a few of them taking the nuts out of their caps until I found one that was a perfect fit. With my trusty rusty glue gun I glued the cap on.

LOVE it!! My mom is working on some leaf collages that she's framing and we were playing around tonight with them and my little acorn fit in just perfectly. You know what that means though... yup, she wants one to *grin*.

I think I'm going to have to make LOTS more *grin*. I'm a little nutty for acorns LOL.
Hugs,
Rosina

Linky Love

So much for the rainy forecast that was mentioned earlier this week... it was a stunning day today!! Of course I spent most of the day in the city doing banking, grocery shopping and other mundane tasks but to not be rained on was a lovely bonus *grin*.

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite craft projects, recipes and photos that I came across this week and hopefully you haven't already seen them all :)

LollyChops shares a fabulous printable tree silhouette and some great ways to customize it for different holidays or themes. I am in LOVE with the swirled yarn background!

I am so making some of these wool leaf coasters I found on Design*Sponge with the kids!!! This is such a great project for fall :)

{Photo via Dalboz17}

Wouldn't you know it I just had my very first Pumpkin Spice Latte today in town and with this great recipe from Delicious Noise I can save myself some serious coin and enjoy one anytime I want!

Oh my word, I want this!! *swoon*
This amazing bath mat is made with real live moss that lives in your bathroom through the humidity and water from your feet as you step out of the bath onto it.

I am crazy about moss and if you have never stepped barefoot on a plushy carpet of moss before stop what you are doing right now and run straight to the nearest wooded area and let you inner fairy run free as you caress some moss with your tootsies! LOL.

Hope you enjoyed my linky love and have a fantabulous weekend :)
Hugs,
Rosina

Potholder Progress

I am seriously falling in love with this potholder!

The little birdies turned out even cuter than I thought and I can't wait to get stitching tomorrow :) I think that I'm going to replace the one tear dropped shape on the bottom left that has the multi colored stripes as it sort of looks out of place with the rest but hindsight is always 20/2o right?

I was thinking that when I'm finished this I'm going to turn the pattern into a lino block print and use it for my Christmas cards this year to *grin*. I haven't made a new print in quite some time and I'm just itching to put all of the great info I learned from Richard to more use!!

How about you, have you started any of your Christmas projects or cards yet? Yes I said cards to! I'm already starting to write my holiday letter because I know that if I don't finish it by the end of this month it will never reach everyone before Christmas LOL.

Hugs,
Rosina

Victoria Bliss

Look what came in the mail today!! My new copy of Victoria :)
I just love this magazine. My mother started buying it when it first became available in 1987 and I remember pouring over the beautiful photos of ladies and children dressed so perfectly, garden scenery, poetry, a step back in time so to speak... a portal to another world.

When it was discontinued in 2003 it was terribly missed by many people, especially my mom so when I heard that they were bringing it back in 2007 I purchased her a secret subscription for Christmas and one for myself to *grin*. Now when it comes every couple of months we can loose ourselves in its pages once again and I thought that I would share some images with you from my new one :)

Wishing you all a day filled with much beauty :)

~ Rosina

Valentine Paper Bag Books

We're seriously obsessed with Valentine crafts this year! Today we made super easy paper bag books and filled them with little love notes :)

If you have never made a paper bag book you've got to try it and they can be used for scrapbooking, homeschool projects, personalized for special gifts like our Valentine's book and so much more. Basically all you need is standard paper bag lunch bags and a stapler. After that it's up to you as to how fancy or simple you want to make them.



We took 3 paper bags, stacked them all on top of each other with the open ends all at the same end and then folded them in half like one giant paper from top to bottom creating a little booklet. To secure them together I used my stapler and put 3 staples parallel to the fold down the length of the book.



I really cheated for the front of the book *grin*. The pretty red heart paper that it is covered with is actually a napkin! We picked them up at the dollar store for our upcoming Valentine's party and I opened one fully and cut off a square, gluing it on for the background. Worked out fabulously layered with the little red & white heart for the title of the book!!!

Gotta love cheap crafting *wink*.

Making heart templates using one of our cookie cutters we traced 5 hearts in white cardstock and 5 hearts in the red cardstock. I made sure to cut the red heart out about a 1/4 of an inch larger than the tracing line so that it would create a nice color contrast behind the white heart.

We glued in each of the layered hearts only on the left hand side of each set of open pages so that it created fun little spaces to draw happy pictures :)

A paper bag book made with 3 bags will create 3 little pockets on the edge of your book for hiding little notes or trinkets inside. Since ours is a Valentine booklet we decided to use the little pockets for love notes *grin*. Taking a sheet of white cardstock I cut it up into 3.5" x 4" rectangles and then we stapled on bright colored ribbons to the narrow end of the rectangle creating a little pull tab for our notes.

I just love how cute it turned out with the staggered ribbons hanging out the side of the book. And if I think it's cute then you know my 6 year old is over the moon with how it's coming together! LOL

The final touches were for her to actually write her little love notes to be tucked inside :) I helped her by writing down the sentences she wanted to write and then she copied them herself onto the card stock.

You'll have to wait to see her finished drawings on the little heart frames inside as they are 'top secret' and mama is not allowed to see them until Valentine's Day *grin*. Have fun making a little booklet of your own!

~ Rosina

Polka Dots of Happiness

Doesn't this treasury just scream 'Love Me'! *grin*.

I just got an email letting me know that my polka dot market bag had been included in this awesome mix of red. With Valentine's Day right around the corner this seems to be the perfect color. I love it, so bright and cheery :)

If you are viewing this and the treasury has now expired you can click the photo for a larger view of it and all of the shop names are there so you can search on Etsy to find any of these great items!

~ Rosina