March Goals

Quick peek at my goals for March.

* Make this cinnamon pull bread for book club Sunday.
* Make these guiness/bailey cupcakes for work the Friday before St. Patrick's Day.
* Read this month's book club book.
* Read a book club book from the past that I never actually read (haven't decided which one yet.)
* Take pictures to do an "Apartment Tour" for the blog. This is also for myself to look back on in the future.
* FIND AN APARTMENT and PACK!!!
* Work on the scrap chevron afghan for Jeremy. (More deets to come on that soon.)

Things I am looking forward to...

* Seeing The Black Keys on the 10th!!!!!
* Looking for and finding an apartment <3
* Daylight Savings Time...longer days!

Here's to a spectacular March

Jamie

February's Goals

Here's a quick recap on how I did with February's Goals.

* Send the package of crafts I am making for my Valentine's Day Swap partner.
Sent...see here.

* Finish one of the books Liz gave me for Christmas, The Mystery of Grace. Finished. I didn't LOVE it but it was a fast read and the core story was good. It was just full of a lot of unneccesary fluff.

* Start and Finish the Book Club book, The Heretic's Daughter.
Started and I am 3/4 through it. I will finish it by Sunday for our meeting.

* Finish Shannon's Birthday Gift.
I guess I was going to make her something?! I decided against it apparently because I ended up giving her a WLD board and markers of her own. Also, a really pretty picture frame.

* Figure out Jeremy's Birthday Presents.
I gave him a tshirt, a flannel, boxers that I painted little things on and a Clutch cd.

* Figure out what I am going to make/give Shannon for her baby shower.
I made her this baby afghan.

Woohoo!! I did pretty awesome!!

Jamie

Happy Leap Year!

Happy Leap Year (do people say that?!)

Either way, I thought it would be kind of cool to reflect on where I'd like my life to be by time the next Leap Year comes around.

1. I hope I'm much more content with my life. Right now I feel so restless all the time. I flip back and forth between wanting a "career" and being totally fine with having just some job. This way the rest of my outside life will be what satisfies me, crafts, friends, family, extracurriculars, etc. I can't really decide what direction to go in. It drives me crazy some nights!

2. I hope I'm more stable as far as money is concerned. Right now I live paycheck to paycheck and can only pay any extra bills I have (doctors mostly) little by little. If I want something big, like finishing this tattoo, a new pair of jeans, a concert ticket, etc. I have to plan ahead and save for a while before I can get it. Part of me is happy about that, I know I appreciate things a lot. I have to really work for it, I can't just run out and buy a new pair of boots on a whim. However, it sucks when things happen that you don't plan. If I get a flat tire, need to go to the doctor, etc. That's not good, I need to have money in savings for when things go wrong.

3. I hope to be married and have a kid. Wow! That's kind of huge and sometimes it scares the shit out of me to think about. I still feel like I'm 16 inside. Really though, I think about how much I want a family with Jeremy. I think of all the fun crafts I can do with the kids to surprise him when he gets home. I think about what kind of dinners I would make for us. I think about a house I hope we one day have and how we would decorate it. I think about how I need to learn to clean better, etc. You know...all that super domestic girl stuff. I totally imagine things as if I'm Lucy and he's Ricky. I stay home with the baby and he goes to work. When he comes home it's all clean and dinner is ready but there's some crazy antics I've gotten into! LOL! Ridiculous I realize but still...I guess I'm just at that point in my life where I think about that stuff.

4. I really want to be able to write my own crochet patterns one day. It seems so complicated to me. I've figured out how to alter patterns to make something I want but I can't create something from scratch. It's definitely on my to do list!

Also, apparently today a woman can propose to a man. Obviously that can literally happen on any day now. I guess there's an old tradition thought that the only time a woman could propose to a man would be on Feb. 29th. I found this out because Sunday Jeremy and I were at his mother's house having a birthday dinner for him. She informed me that I can propose to him since it's leap year. (She likes to ask when we're going to get married and have a baby...OFTEN). So...that was nice and awkward!

Anyway, have an awesome extra day friends!!

Jamie

Baby Afghan

In September one of my dearest friends, Shannon announced that she's pregnant!!! She's the first one in our group of friends to have a baby and it has been so exciting. I knew instantly that I would have to make something awesome for her. I flipped back and forth between a baby blanket and an item of clothing. However, after making the dress I made my niece and seeing how babies grow SO FAST and you don't even really know what size they'll be when they're born, I went with a blanket. Now I didn't want to make just an ordinary pink baby blanket. Oh she's having a girl... I searched around on ravelry, pinterest, etc. looking for some inspiration. I decided on this chevron pattern but wanted some nice colors, not just some lame soft, dusty, baby colors. I went to Joann's and found this beautiful pink. It's Caron Simply Soft in Watermelon. It's so bright but not neon, I just loved it! I opted for an off white, also Caron Simply Soft and Vanna's Baby Yarn in Duckie. I really think they all compliment each other so well.
I'm not very happy with the pictures I got of the blanket so I hope you can at least kind of appreciate how pretty it is. I finished it the night before the shower (procraftination at it's finest) and it was so cloudy the morning of. The yellow isn't as velveeta cheesy looking in real life, I swear!! It's a very soft, baby yellow.
Anyway, Shannon loved it of course!





It was kind of funny too at the shower. These two older ladies were sitting at a table with the book club girls and I (sans Shannon since she had to be shmoozing with the other guests). We were all chatting and somehow it was mentioned that I had made the blanket before the gifts were actually opened. The ladies both started talking about how you don't see many young girls these days knitting, crocheting, quilting, etc. I immediately informed them that there is a craft revolution happening, they just don't know about it! They kind of laughed it off but the other girls backed me up. We told them how much I craft and talked about swaps I've done with other people, etsy, etc. Then after Shannon opened the afghan, her mother in law came over and asked me if it was knit or crochet and where did I learn to do that. I let her know that it was crochet and that my Nana taught me when I was little. I didn't stick with it but I started again about 2 1/2 years ago and haven't been able to stop. She was really impressed as well which really...never gets old! I kind of love that people get this first impression of me (the two ladies were kind of appaled to find out I have a giant skull and graveyard tattoo on my ribs...they asked if I had other ones after seeing the one on my wrist. I don't randomly tell people about it!) and then when they find out that I make things, it all changes.
It just goes to show you, you can't judge a book by it's cover!

Anyways...sorry I've been MIA the last week or so. I'm still adjusting to my new work schedule and was feeling a bit blaaaahh about blogging. If that makes sense?

I hope you love the baby afghan and have an awesome day!


Jamie

Tea Wallet for Mom

My mom saw the little felt heart ornaments I made and she asked if I could make one for her. Of course I would! She asked me last Thursday so after work I went home and while I was rooting through my fabrics I realized that I should make her a tea wallet too. I mean, she's the whole reason I love tea!! I wanted everything to get to her before Valentine's Day though so I had some planning to do...how the hell could I make the heart ornament AND the tea wallet in time to get them to the post office the next day?

Do any of you do this? Make ridiculously unattainable goals for yourself?!?

Anyway, I decided that I would send her one of the ornaments that I had already made to keep for myself and make the tea wallet. It wouldn't take too long and I had a few hours Thursday night after work and a couple hours before work Friday. If you look at the tutorial, I sent her the red heart with the white and pink gingham fabric.

Here's a lil' look at the tea wallet. I like this color combo together, light blue and white flowers with navy blue and white stripes. They both remind me of my mom and look good together so it was win, win. She didn't know I was mailing them to her though. I seriously love randomly mailing things to people when they don't expect it. There is nothing quite like getting a package in the mail!



She received the package on Monday and said it made her day!
I hope you have a great weekend!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday #7

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When was the first time you were hurt?

Now I realize this question can be interperutted different ways. I am going to describe the first time I was physically hurt...that I remember anyway.

I don't know my exact age, I was under 5 though. We (Mom, Dad, sister Jessie and I) were living in the Double A apartment. To you that means nothing. When I was little we lived in an apartment complex called Kings Village. The apartments were addressed with letters and numbers. The first apartment was AA something...I don't remember the number. The second apartment was V270. See...so we always refer to the first one as the Double A apartment.

Anyway, I was in the back yard on my white and purple big wheel by myself. I have no idea where my mom or Jessie were, I imagine in the apartment. I was just riding along the sidewalk by myself. To my left were the rows of apartments and to my right was the woods. There was a step down in the middle of the side walk. The back yard was on a slight incline so there were steps randomly. I don't know if I conciously decided to or it was by accident by I rode my big wheel down the step. As you can imagine when the front wheel went down and the back wheels were still on the step, my little face smashed into the center of the handle bars. I could taste blood and see a little bit of it on my handle bars. I started crying. I looked to my left and saw a neighbor who I didn't know sitting in her living room looking outside at me. I know she knew I was hurt because she had her sliding glass door open and must have heard me crying and was looking RIGHT at me. I remember thinking that any moment she would get up and come running out to see if I was ok. Instead she turned back to the television. In my little mind I thought "What a bitch!" Well not those words I'm sure, but I definitely remember thinking that it was so mean that she wasn't going to come out to see if I was ok!!!

I don't know if my mom came out to get me or I just went inside. The next part of my memory is that I had one of the little ice packs that my dad used in his lunch box wrapped in a washcloth held on my lip.

When my dad got home, I was laying on the couch and he sat next to me and said that he heard I got hurt today and to let him see my lip. I stuck it out and he said that I would be ok, I would just have even bigger lips for a few days. (I don't know if you've ever noticed from my pictures but I have kind of big lips, my dad does too.) He laughed and I must have looked mad because he said was "just joking kiddo" and kissed me on the head.

It's a little choppy but that's the first time I remember getting hurt.

What about you?!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday Disclaimer:
I found The Imagination Prompt Generator and loved the idea of writing posts based on its random prompts. Every Friday I will share a lil' something about myself based on these prompts. I see it as a means of sharing a bit more about myself with you! It will be a random topic or question and my responses will be pretty free form and random as well. I'll of course edit for spelling and punctuation but I want to just let it flow for the most part. I hope you enjoy and maybe even join in!

I'm Mad

As you may or may not remember, I participated in the Oh Strumpets Valentine's Day Craft swap. I showed you last week that I sent my partner a few stuffed heart ornaments and bunting, you can see it all here in case you missed them.



Saturday I got an envelope in the mail with a card that had an image smaller than the card itself taped to the front, with two stickers stuck on either side and a bunch stuck to the inside with a random Far Side comic. I can't even use these stickers if I wanted to because they are already used now. The Love pennant is cute. On the post-it-note included my partner said she is "not a crafty person" but hopes I will enjoy the stickers. I guess they are nice to look at. My main issue here...WHY WOULD YOU JOIN A CRAFT SWAP IF YOU ARE NOT A CRAFTY PERSON?!?!?!?!?

Now for the most part I try to keep things positive on this little blog o' mine. I find that in blogland everyone is generally happy and positive...or I should say that's generally the part everyone blogs about. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. There's tons of shit in life that sucks so why put even more energy into writing and posting about it? Just to drag it out...I get it, it's not always a great idea. Today however, I am mad and I am going to talk about it.

I am mad that I spent time, money, my coupons and energy to make those felt heart ornaments. I spent time at Joann's looking for the felt and coordinating fabric, cutting out the stencil, cutting the felt and fabric pieces out, embroidering the back and sewing them together...3 times. I am mad that I spent time in Joann's looking for cute Valentine's Day fabric to make the bunting. I cut out all those triangles, sewed them together, attached them to the bias tape, cut out the felt hearts and stuck them on. I am mad that a few times I even second guessed myself whether I had put enough effort into these crafts for my partner. I'm mad I spent time writing a letter to my partner to include in the package. I'm mad that I looked forward to going to the mailbox every day waiting for my swap package. I am mad that I am now jealous when I look in the Flickr group and see what everyone else got, instead of being happy for them.

I know that when joining swaps there is a risk that you may not get something you like, well made or even anything at all. Of all the swaps I've participated in through other blogs, private and organized ones on Craftster and Swap-bot that's never happened to me though. I always appreciate when someone gives me something hand made. This sucks though. I even feel bad saying that like I'm not allowed to be mad or something. After thinking about it and talking to Jeremy and some twitter pals, I think I'm justified. I got screwed and it sucks. I made some awesome things for someone and she gave me something that looks like it was thrown together 20 minutes before she put it in the mail box.

So...I'm mad and even a little hurt about the whole thing.

Thanks for listening.


Jamie

Happy Valentine's Day!

I saw this print over on Pinterest not too long ago and instantly had to pin it. Jeremy and I are always joking about how we're the most awesome couple we know so it seemed perfect for us! I don't make prints or anything but I decided this would be a cute little embroidery to give him for Valentine's Day.


I stitched it up Sunday while watching some Disney movies. I have no idea where I got this little square frame but isn't it so cute?! It's about 3" x 3", I thought it was the perfect size, not too overwhelming or anything. I will be giving this to him this afternoon. We are having a Valentine's Day lunch together.

Side Note:
Why we had lunch instead of dinner...
I just started working second shift last week. I work from 3pm -11pm and he works from 5am - 5pm (you read that correct, he works 12 hour days and then Saturdays too...he's a lunatic.) He is fast asleep before I even get out of work. At first I was really upset when my boss asked me to switch shifts. I mean it still sucks because I don't see Jeremy as much anymore. I was also upset because I figured I'd be like a vampire and didn't know when the hell I would be able to do some of the things I love. Like go to Joann's, the library, not grocery shop or do laundry at midnight, etc. I figured out a different kind of sleeping pattern though, not the normal wake up, work, then do other life stuff that I've been so used to. I get up around 11am and have a few hours to do whatever I want before work. I can crochet, do laundry, go to the library or shopping all before going to work. Then I get out at 11pm, go home and watch a movie, eat a little something, read and go to sleep. I like being able to get up before work to do stuff and not feel like my whole day is JUST for going to work anymore.

Anyway...
Jeremy had to take a half day off work today to go to the dentist. This all happened yesterday so it fell together nicely. We will be getting lunch after his appointment! I'm stoked because I didn't even think I'd see him.

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and get to spend it with the ones you love!

Jamie

Movie Monday: The Grey on Date Night

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! My Saturday was pretty busy and Sunday I did a whole lot of nothing which I always love.

I volunteered to work some overtime on Saturday. This meant I had to be at work by 6AM so I could drive around a little golf cart in the warehouse and count pallets. Yup...count pallets. You know those plain whitewood pallets (I'm sure you've seen some awesome things people can do with them on Pinterest). The ones we had to count are different, they are painted blue and they can hold more weight. Every quarter there is an audit to see how many are in the warehouse vs. paid for...or something. It wasn't bad, easy work and I got free lunch out of it. Plus 6 hours of overtime pay.

While at work I texted Jeremy to ask what he wanted to do that night and his response was "Wanna go on a date?" Which of course I said yes to! Isn't he so cute?!

He always works 6-12 on Saturdays so after we both were out, we met at my apartment and napped. Once we woke up and showered we headed out for dinner. We went to Liu's Sushi House which has the most aaahhhmazing sushi!! Seriously, all I talk about the whole time I'm eating is how delicious it is!
We were going to the 9:50pm movie of The Grey but after we ate dinner we had almost 2hours to kill. (We were orignally going to get Hibachi which always takes a while so we gave ourselves lots of time between dinner and the movie. However, the Hibachi place was packed and we didn't want to wait that long to be seated.)

The movie theater we were going to is right next to Cottage Crafters which I convinced Jeremy we could kill lots of time in. Now I don't know if you have one of these near you, there's one in Allentown and then one a few towns over in Easton so I don't know if it's a chain thing or what. If you don't, you are missing out! There are so many awesome things in there. Local people can rent little booths to sell their handmade items in. There is also an entire area of antiques and things on sale. Some of them you can buy right away while others are part of a silent auction that runs for the whole month. If you want to bid on an item that is on silent auction, you are assigned a number and then you write down on the cards attached to each item how much you want to pay for it. At the end of the month, the winner is notified. I've never actually done that but it sure seems like fun! Anyway, they were closed =( There's a hardware store right near there too so Jeremy wanted to go in there and look around. Since I had planned on forcing him to mill around crafts and old crap for an hour, I figured it was only fair that I mill around and look at tools with him for an hour. After we were done there we still had some time so we just sat in the car and talked and watched you tube videos. Have you heard of these Epic Meal Time guys? Someone just told Jeremy about it so we watched some of their videos. He thought it was hilarious, after the 3rd one I was pretty much over it!
Eventually it was time for the movie!


In case you don't know, the movie stars Liam Neeson and the premise is that a bunch of guys who work on an oil rig in Alaska are on a plane headed back to Anchorage when it crashes! Only a handful of them survive the crash but that isn't the end of their problems. A pack of wolves sees them as intruders and are hunting them, trying to pick the men off one by one! Liam Neeson's chracter, Ottway quickly becomes the leader because A. his job on the oil rig was to watch for and kill wolves so he knows a lot about their behavior. And B. he just doesn't give a shit! He's going to do what he needs to do to survive, he is able to keep his calm and focus on what they need like shelter, fire, food, etc. while the others are all in the midst of freaking out. The men realize after a day and one of them being killed by a wolf in the night that they need to start walking. They have no real protection in the hull of the crashed plane and no one is going to find them. They head for the tree line they can see hoping it will give them more protection from the wolves. Well it was one hell of a walk in a freaking blizzard and not all of them even survive that. There is a terrifying wolf chase and once they are in the forrest you can hear the wolves howling all around! Ottway has them start fires around the area they are going to camp in for the night. They also carve big sticks into spears and then tape shotgun shells on the end aka A Wolf Stick haha! Apparently if you are able to jam the stick into the wolf, it will explode? I don't know if that would really work but it was very MacGyver of him! There are some tensions between the men but this night they talk to each other. You know, that touching "we're all probably gonna die" kind of talk; about their families, lives, etc.
The next day they keep walking and they even have to basically tight rope off this giant cliff across a ravine into another part of the forrest. There are more wolf attacks, more fights between the men, more injuries, and a hell of a lot more walking. There was also a theme throughout the movie that the survivors carry the wallets of the dead back to their families. They took them off those who died in the crash and then from each one who died on the journey. At the very, very end Ottway is looking through all the wallets. I got all teary eyed at this part. I mean you just saw these men as big burly, assholes who work on an oil rig. Then you see pictures of them with their kids, kissing their wives, loving their life, etc. and now they're all dead. I won't tell you the very end because I totally recommend this movie but Ottway is faced one on one with the alpha wolf and he does not plan to go down without a fight! He tapes a knife to one hand and some broken bottles to the other one. Baadasss!

It was such a good movie! I was on the edge of my seat almost the whole time. There were even a few times I yelped out loud and grabbed on to Jeremy. I totally recommend it, it was a perfect date!

PS...this couple brought their two kids...and by kids I mean an infant and a little boy who looked about 4 years old!! Who does that?!

Have a great Monday!

Jamie

Vintage Book Garland

A few weeks ago I entered to win this super cute vintage book garland from Yellow Bird, Yellow Beard (shop) over on Whimsical Poppysmic. I was so stoked to find out that I won!


It is sooo long, there are about 100 of those little paper circles. I know because I counted to make sure when I hung them that each loop would be nice and even. The picture in my apartment makes it seem like they blend right into the walls. My walls aren't white, they're more of this off white/very, very pale yellow color. They don't blend in at all though. They look so cute hanging up and they replaced my Christmas bunting perfectly!!


Also...look how cute the return address stamp is!


Thanks so much Chrissy and Janee for this awesome giveaway!

Everyone have an awesome weekend!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday #6

Describe your spouse (significant other).

I thought this would be a pretty perfect prompt to do what with all this Valentine's Day stuff flying around!

Jeremy
aka Jermish, Lover Face, Lover Lips, Lovey and Babe. Besides Jermish, how sappy are those pet names?! LOL! They all started as jokes. Like we were joking around being overly, annoyingly in love but they eventually just stuck. Oh and "babe" totally came from The Office Dinner Party episode!
He's 25 years old and his birthday is at the end of this month.

Jeremy is hands down the hardest worker I know. The only person I can think of that works harder than him is my dad. He truley loves his job. He is a machinist and has been since I think he was 16. He started in Vo-Tech at his high school and kept going with it. He's told me a few times how funny it is that he's a machinist. He wanted to take masonry (laying bricks, UGH!) but the class was full. They told him he had to pick something else and on a whim just picked machining. I actually didn't even know what machining was until I moved to PA. I never knew a machinist other than that Christian Bale movie. But out here I know a TON of machinists. My sisters ex boyfriend is a machinist. One of his friends is a machinst, he worked with Jeremy and that is how we met actually. Basically he takes big hunks of plastic (he can also work with metal but his shop manufactures plastic) and using different machines and tools he forms that plastic into a part. He makes all different kinds of parts. The two I remember the most are parts for the pulleys on cranes, those ginormous cranes that build bridges and sky scrapers and crap. Also, he makes parts for submarines. He's the group leader for the turning center (the department he works in) and I know that in a very short time he is going to be a supervisor. He loves that place, he gives 110% everyday and they love him. It's just a matter of time before he's running shit, hehe!

To go along with the hard worker thing, anything he does he likes to be THE BEST at. He started bowling a few years ago. His dad used to bowl all the time until he injured his bicep this past year so Jeremy joined the team as well. Just last month he had his first 500 series, TWICE! He also had his two highest scoring games. He bowls every Wednesday. I don't go anymore because it can be a little boring to watch. Plus it's time for him to hang out with his buddies. I sit at home crafting away and wait for him to tell me how he's doing so I can cheer him on, hehe! He also golfs. That was a new thing last year. He actually even went down to Florida with his best friend, Justin on a "Mancation" this past summer! He golfed for a few days with Justin and Justin's step dad. I only went to the driving range with him once and holy moses! My ribs were so sore the next day from all that twisting while swinging! He really wants me to golf for real, like 18 holes this year...we'll see!

He also went hunting for the first time this year. I'm not exactly a fan of that but I also can't tell him what to do. He's been hunting birds, pheasants and grouse to be exact. He knows I don't like it so I'm hoping once hunting season is over that he'll kind of forget about it. I don't know though, he works with one of the guys he goes with so...bleh!

He's extremely funny and laid back. I'm pretty sure everyone who meets him instantly likes him. He just has this way of making people laugh, he's just so big and loveable and says inappropriate shit all the time. It's one of the main reasons I love him. No matter how I'm feeling, he can make me laugh. I wish I could get a video of him doing his satchsquatch impression in the woods...oh it's priceless!

Jeremy is what I call "a fixer". Whenever something is wrong or someone needs something, he is the first one to be there. Whether it be just with some advice, an actual solution or literally fixing that broken chair, he's there. It's so reassuring to know he'll always be there for whatever I need!

Oh and he's one of the best dancers I know!!

Ok so I could literally keep going!! I'm sure you're the same way once you get on a role about your loved one.

Have an awesome Friday!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday Disclaimer:
I found The Imagination Prompt Generator and loved the idea of writing posts based on its random prompts. Every Friday I will share a lil' something about myself based on these prompts. I see it as a means of sharing a bit more about myself with you! It will be a random topic or question and my responses will be pretty free form and random as well. I'll of course edit for spelling and punctuation but I want to just let it flow for the most part. I hope you enjoy and maybe even join in!

Valentine's Day Swap...Sent

Last month I signed up for the Oh Strumpets Valentine's Day Swap. I'm so glad I did because I really branched out with the type of crafts I usually do. I'm not really a hearts and pink kind of girl. This gave me the perfect excuse to look for fun heart fabric and all kinds of pink and red felt.

I knew right away that I wanted to make a bunting for my partner, Erin. Not for any particular reason other than, who the hell doesn't love a good bunting?! While at Joann's I found these two coordinating glittery heart fabrics. Although the fabrics themselves are kind of busy, I felt just the fabric by itself would be a little boring. I decided to cut out some hearts from that sticky backed felt to add. I originally went a little far and added white hearts with red X's and O's on the other flags but it was WAY too much so I got rid of those! I also used some pink thread and a zigzag stitch to attach it all together.




Also, while I was at Joann's I milled around in the area with Valentine's Day decorations to find some other fun tidbits to send my partner. I saw some cute little heart ornaments. They were a bit on the country clutter side though. You know what I mean? With the burlap, red gingham fabric and twine? It wasn't my taste but it gave me an idea...I could make my own stuffed heart ornaments!! I did a tutorial yesterday if you want to make some of your own! These are the three I sent Erin, I hope she likes them!



This was such a fun swap. Like I said, I branched out of my so called "comfort zone" and used different types of fabrics and themes than I normally would have. It was nice and refereshing. Plus now I have a few of the heart ornaments of my own!
I can't wait to see what Erin made for me!!

A special thanks to Becky and Olivia for organzing this awesome swap together over on Oh Strumpets!


Jamie

How to Make a Valentine's Day Heart Ornament

For today I present you with my first tutorial!! I am super duper excited and I really hope you try and make some of these on your own. They aren't hard at all and make the cutest Valentine's Day decorations. You could also hang them up whenever you want to bring a bit of love into your home anytime of year!

So let's get started!


1. Supplies:
Felt in any color you want
Fabric to compliment the felt
Embroidery Floss also to compliment your felt and fabric choices
Ribbon
Scissors and an Embroidery needle
(Not Pictured) A scrap piece of cardboard and some sort of stuffing - fiber fill, scrap pieces of fabric or yarn, etc.


2. Stencil
You will want to draw a heart onto your cardboard. Also draw a smaller heart to cut out of the center.
Cut out your stencil.
I drew this by hand but I have a feeling some heart cookie cutters would be the perfect template!


3. Felt
You will want to fold your felt in half and pin together.
Trace your heart stencil, the outside and the center.
Cut the largest heart out from both pieces of felt.
***Now if you kept your felt pinned together while cutting out the large heart UNPIN NOW!!!!***
Cut the center heart out of only ONE piece of felt.
(in a sleepy, crafty stooper I cut the center out of both sides of felt twice! You read that right, TWICE!! I'm a genius kids, a pure genius!)


4. Fabric
Trace the large heart onto your pretty fabric.
Trim around the outside a bit so that it is smaller than the big heart but still larger than the center.


5. Sew Fabric to Felt
Pin your fabric to the felt heart with the center cut out.
Stich around the center heart to attach your fabric.


6. Add detail
If you want, now would be the time to add any cute little details to the back heart. Make sure you embroider on the side that will face out.
I did this so that if the heart spins around, it will still look super cute!


7. Sew Felt Together
You will want to cut a piece of ribbon long enough to hang wherever you choose.
Pin this ribbon to the front piece of felt.
Pin the two sides together and embroider about 3/4 of the way around.
Make sure you stitch over the ribbon so it is nice and secure.
*Tip* Start your embroidery on the inside so that the knot does not show on the back of the ornament.


8. Stuff your ornament
Once you get to about the 3/4 mark you will want to stuff the ornament.
Don't overstuff or it might get kind of puckered looking (unless this is the look you are going for then by all means, stuff away!)
Once stuffed, continue stitching your ornament closed.
*Tip* Tie your knot on the inside so it doesn't show on your ornament either.


Now you can admire your adorable new heart ornament!!



I love all the different felt and fabric combos I came up with. All the emboidered details were just off the top of my head too.

I hope you try to make some of these for yourself or as a gift. If you do, leave me a link so I can see it too!

Have a lovely day friends!



Jamie

Movie Monday: Strangers on a Train

Last week I got "Strangers on a Train" in the mail from Netflix. I liked it so much I watched it twice!


This is another Hitchcock thriller and made in 1951. The story is about a semi-pro tennis player, Guy Haines and a man he meets on a train, Bruno Anthony. Bruno recognizes Guy from the gossip columns in the paper detailing his troubled marriage. Bruno is very forward and during lunch he explains his idea for the perfect "criss-cross" murder. Bruno will kill Guy's wife so he can marry his girlfriend Anne in exchange for Guy killing Bruno's father. Clearly Guy thinks the whole thing is a joke...but Bruno doesn't.

A few nights later Bruno follows Guy's wife, Miriam to an amusement park and strangles her! Everyone instantly believes Guy is the murderer and his only alibi is a drunk guy he sat near on the train who doesn't even remember him. Bruno convinces Guy that he can't go to the police because why would anyone believe that Bruno, a seemingly random guy would follow Miriam and kill her?

Bruno starts pestering Guy about his part of the bargain. He sends him a key to his house, a map to his father's bedroom and a gun! Guy tries his hardest to avoid Bruno but he just keeps popping up places!! Once Bruno realizes that Guy really isn't going to kill his father he decides he is going to frame Guy for Miriam's murder. And boy oh boy that is when it gets suspenseful!

I really liked this movie because you know that Bruno is a crazy person and really does have Guy between a rock and a hard place. While watching it, you have no idea how it's going to end and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time! Also, completely random but the actor who plays Bruno, Robert Walker totally reminds me of a young Bill Murray! Also another fun fact, Hitchcock's real life daughter has a part in the movie. She plays Guy's girlfriend's little sister.

I hope you're all having a lovely Monday!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday #5

Make a list of five ways you've changed in the last five years. What changes do you wish to make in the next five years?

First let me set the scene, five years ago was February of 2007, I was 23. I was living with my sister in the West End Apartment and I was going out with Mike (for the second time).

Five ways that I have changed...
1. I no longer get fall down drunk EVERY weekend. I would drive from PA an hour back to Jersey every Friday night and stay at Mike's house. There were two main bars that we frequented and that's pretty much exactly what we did every Friday and Saturday night. Occasionally going to a different bar or a friends house...still drinking too much. Then I would drive home Sunday, work all week and repeat. I don't regeret it or anything, it's just all we did!
2. I am FAAAAARRR more responsible than I used to be. I pay my bills on time, I actually have a budget so I know what I have to pay or save for, I call my parents on a regular basis, I grocery shop on Mondays, I do laundry Tuesday or Wednesday (half priced double loaders!). You know, just more grown up shit!
3. I cook. I never used to cook and no one ever expected me to either. When I was younger my mom always cooked, then my step mom always cooked, then my boyfriend's always cooked...I just never had to and got away with it. Once Jessie and I got a place together...she wasn't too keen on cooking for me all the time. So unless I wanted to live on scrambled eggs and pasta, I had to learn to cook. (funny story...I set the stove on fire making box mashed potatoes...hilarious!) Now I love to cook and I am dreaming of a bigger kitchen when Jeremy and I move in a few months so I can cook EVEN more!
4. I am thankful for what I have, my family and my friends. I don't think I ever took anybody or anything for granted. I just never really thought about how lucky I am. I have the most amazingly supported family and group of friends. I mean of course some of 'em are screwy and there's drama but..that's what makes life interesting, right? I'm more aware of each person as an individual and the relationships I have and I appreciate each one. I have a roof over my head, a car, a job and my health. Pretty much everything's awesome!
5. I am restless. I used to be totally fine just having a crappy office job, making money and literally just working for the weekend. Now not so much. I want to have a job I love...or at least even like! I want to wake up excited to go to work and not trying to think of a valid reason for calling out the instant I wake up. This mostly comes from Jeremy. He loves his job and he loves what he does everyday. He is the only human being I have ever heard utter the words "I can't wait for work tomorrow." I mean, WHO SAYS THAT?! I don't think I want to be the kind of person who LIVES for their job but I would really love to love what I do. I'm trying to work on that.


Changes for the next five years...
1. I would like to be satisified with my daily job. Whether I work for myself, someone else or no one at all (being a mama...although I guess that means working for the kids right?). I would like to enjoy the majority of my day!
2. I would like to be a mom. Do any of you ladies have a timeline for yourself? Like you always just had in your head since you can remember a specific age that you want to have kids by, be married by, etc.? Please tell me I'm not the only one! I've always had it in my head that I have to have my first kid by time I'm 30. I don't really know where that number came from but I suspect it is because my mother turned 30 the month before she had me. Anyway...that's one of 'em and I'm gonna be 30 in two years so...queue Marissa Tomei stomping out her biological clock on the cabin porch LOL (my cousin vinny anyone?!)
3. I would like to be selling my crafts. Have a nice little business, nothing massive and over the top. Just something to keep me busy and help pay some bills. An online business as well as selling at some of the local handmade shops too. IT WILL HAPPEN.
4. I would like to be in a cute little home all our own! Jeremy and I are getting an apartment together by the end of March. My hope is that we can save some money now that we will be living together and we could eventually get a house. I kind of already know exactly what I want it to look like! Of course it'll never be exact but it's fun to think about every once in a while.
5. I hope that this lil' bloggity blog is still alive and kickin'!!


Thanks for poppin' by, I hope you have a great Friday!

Jamie

Tea Swap

Erin organized a Tea Swap last month that I just had to join. I love tea! Ever since I was in middle school I have loved tea. It's definitely my mom's fault, she's a huuuge tea drinker. The quintisential image I have of my mother is her snuggled up on the couch with a book and cup of tea. One of the most comforting things my mom used to yell from the kitchen was "Want me to make you some tea?" Whether I was sick, cold or just being lazy, I loved it. To this day I drink tea all the time. Mostly at night after dinner I'll have a big ol' mug. I kind of use it as a way of keeping myself from eating snacks and crap for dessert too.


I was partnered up with the lovely Tids. She's from England which automatically had me pretty stoked, I'd be getting tea from England!! I mean HELLO, what better place?! Then I thought about the fact that was I going to be sending her tea from freaking Pennsylvania?! Lame! So I was determined to find something good for her! I had her list of likes and dislikes in hand (well really in my notebook) and headed out on a tea hunt. I'm pretty satisified with what I got for her! There was a girl reorganizing the tea aisle while I was there and I'm pretty sure she must think I'm some kind of tea nut. I spent at least half an hour going back and forth between the two aisles talking to myself trying to decide what to get!




I also wanted to make her a little tea wallet. It's so perfect, you can carry four teabags around with you and you don't have to worry about them getting lost or all crummied up in your purse. Mine always end up getting crumpled and torn in the bottom of my purse! (the tea in this wallet is my own just for show, I didn't want to open the new boxes I got for her)
I definitely have to make one for myself, it's so cute and I found the perfect tutorial. I hope Tids enjoys what I sent her and I can't wait to find out what she sends me!

Cheers!

Jamie

February Goals

Happy February! I have a few goals set for the month and I wanted to share them with you. It's motivation for me to stick to these goals if I share 'em with you lovies!

* Send the package of crafts I am making for my Valentine's Day Swap partner.

* Finish one of the books Liz gave me for Christmas, The Mystery of Grace.

* Start and Finish the Book Club book (my pick!).

* Finish Shannon's Birthday gift.

* Figure out Jeremy's Birthday presents. I'm pretty sure I have it figured out, I just need to write it down and get it finalized.

* Figure out what I am going to make/give Shannon for her baby shower.

HELP: Shannon is my first friend to have a baby. Besides my step sister, Shannon is the first person I've known while pregnant. I just got the invitation to her baby shower and I am debating on what to make/give her. Should I just get something off the registery? Should I make something?! What do I make?! I don't want to be all presumtuous and give her a baby blanket which is my first instinct. I mean what if she has a family member who makes a baby blanket for her?! Can you have too many baby blankets?! I know that Shannon and her husband JP both really appreciate one of a kind, hand made gifts so that's not an issue. Is it rude to get something not on the registry? AHH!! I need your help friends!!

Thank you and here's to an Awesome February!!

Jamie

Grati - Tuesday

Today I would like to take a minute and say thank you to a few different people.

First, a thank you to my local post office workers. I think I go to the post office often. Not ALL the time but with the different swaps I participate in, I'm there mailing more random shaped and sized packages than others probably. It's a tiny little post office down the street from where I work in. They know who I am, they like to chat and are always so nice about tapping up my packages when I've run out of my own =P

I am thankful for my Aunt Donna. She recently joined Facebook and has seen all the different crafts I make. I saw her on Thanksgiving, Christmas and a couple weeks ago at my niece's first birthday (she's my Dad's sister). She is repeatedly telling me how talented I am and that I need to "do something with this gift". It really means a lot to me and I love her so much for the encouragement. I really am exceptionally lucky for the family that I have.

I am grateful for Jeremy. I am always so thankful for the things he does for me but it's the little things that I really need. The things he knows I need and won't ask for but he does anyway. He brings me food sometimes when I don't have any (I pay all my bills and then use what's left for food...sometimes it ain't much. He puts gas in my car when I'm almost on empty and pay day isn't near. (Especially after the holidays and all my spare cash has been spent.) Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without him!

And last but certainly not least, I am grateful for my beautiful, little, sweet niece Lindsay!! Look at her in the little dress I made her, isn't she just too stinkin' cute!?!



I hope you are having an amazing day and be sure to say thank you to those who deserve it!

Jamie

Movie Monday: Dark Passage

Last night I watched 1947's "Dark Passage" starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. They are such a great couple!


I was really surprised by this movie and the style it was shot in. Almost the entire first hour is shot from the first person perspective. The story is about Vincent Parry who just escaped San Quentin prison where he was serving a life sentence for murdering his wife. He ends up being picked up by Irene Jansen who heard the news report of his escape. Turns out she was always at his trial and wrote letters to the newspaper expressing her concern for what she thought was an unfair trial. We find out that her father died in prison while also serving a sentence for murdering his wife, which she thinks he was wrongly accussed of.

Vincent realizes that his face is plastered all over the newspapers and there is no way he can escape the city without being recognized. Luckily on the way to visit a friend who was going to give him a place to stay, he is picked up by a taxi driver who has a friend who can "help" him. He goes to this doctor in a back alley and gets a whole new face...guess whose face...Humphrey Bogart's!! The movie switches to the normal third person (is that right?) once he has the bandages all over his face. Eventually they are removed and he looks older but unrecognizable.

Over this time a relationship has been building between Irene and Vincent. I mean obviously there would be a relationship, she's helping him escape for crying out loud! During the movie Vincent is framed for the murder of the friend who was giving him a place to stay. It is very clear that Vincent didn't commit this murder either and he is determined to find out who did! I was pretty surprised who the murderer actually is but they explain it pretty well.

In all I really enjoyed this movie. It was a thriller but kind of a quiet thriller, nobody's jumping out at you or anything. You're just kind of on the edge of your seat hoping Vincent doesn't get caught and gets away!

As you've notice...I'm an old movie kick!
Got any suggestions?!

I hope you're having a great day!

Jamie

Movie Monday Disclaimer:
I live on Netflix and thought it would be fun to share reviews of some things I watch. I do not stream movies as I don't have internet or any kind of gaming console at home. I am on the 3 dvds at a time plan and love it since I don't have cable either. I watch TV shows this way too but mostly movies. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share!

Fun Fact Friday #4

When I'm depressed...

I want to be alone.

I want someone to just listen to me and let me be sad and just talk it out.

I don't want advice or someone to try and cheer me up or fix it. Just let me vent.

I need to write things down. I used to write A LOT when I was in high school and up until I was about 21 or so. I have a box full of either 13 or 16 journals, I can't remember exactly how many. They are numbered though. The first notebook I ever wrote in my boyfriend at the time gave me, I was about 16 or 17. I was really depressed and mad all the time (went to doctors and was on meds, the whole 9 yards. I was your typical pissed off, gothy teenager.) He suggested I try writing what was on my mind to get it out of my head. It helped immensly.

I also want to do nothing. Like just lay on the couch or stay in bed watching movies.

I go through cycles of being super duper happy and content with my life. Then at other times I will be really sad and depressed and just feel hopeless. It's a pretty normal cycle and I think it's kind of natural. It's the ebb and flow of life, sometimes shit sucks and really brings me down. Then there are times that everything is awesome and I am happy as can be. I think because I went to all those shrinks and write things out I am more aware of my moods. I know when I am sad. I am fully aware that I am depressed and that I need to just push through it, take in and try to fix or leave alone whatever is bothering me. There will be an end to it. I will be happy again.

What about you?!

Jamie

Fun Fact Friday Disclaimer:
I found The Imagination Prompt Generator and loved the idea of writing posts based on its random prompts. Every Friday I will share a lil' something about myself based on these prompts. I see it as a means of sharing a bit more about myself with you! It will be a random topic or question and my responses will be pretty free form and random as well. I'll of course edit for spelling and punctuation but I want to just let it flow for the most part. I hope you enjoy and maybe even join in!

A Hat and a Whale

Liz told me that she had wanted a hat for Christmas but her mom got her a pair of earmuffs instead. When I posted something on facebook about not having any crafts to work on now that Christmas was over she jokingly said I could make her a hat. I told her I would and asked what kind she wanted. She searched around a bit and posted two things for me to look at. One was a hat with cat ears and the other was the Rheatheylia Divine Hat. I asked her what color she wanted and she said either a dark purple, black or grey. I have made so much stuff with black and grey lately that I decided I wanted to work with a nice purple instead. I also decided on the Divine Hat, it's just so pretty!

This is Red Heart Soft in Grape, it is such a pretty yarn and very nice to work with. Now that I see pictures of it outside it's not AS dark as it could be but I think it's very pretty! I read a bunch of the reviews on Ravelry and people said that the hat came out really big and that they had to use a smaller hook. I started with a smaller hook but after the 15th round I realized that the thing was just waaay too small. I guess those people must crochet pretty loosely. So I frogged the damn thing and started it again with the hook the pattern actually calls for (what a concept?!) I ended up adding two more rounds of the shell pattern as well as two more rounds of the ribbed band. This way it comes down over the ears, I mean the whole point of a hat is to keep your head and ears warm, isn't it? It fits me perfectly so I hope it fits her too.




While at the store looking for this yarn I also had to get some fabric for a Tea Wallet I made my swap partner for a Tea Swap I participated in (more to come on that later). I had picked up 3 different fat quarters but ended up only using two in the end. The one fabric I had left was totally asking to be made into a whale stuffie! Liz loves whales so I decided to whip this little guy up and mail him away with the hat as an extra surprise for her. I drew the pattern up, cut out the fabric, sewed him, glued on some felt eyes and a little heart for some added cuteness. After he was done I realized I forgot the freaking spout of water!! Luckily I had some blue felt left from my Mom's flowers that worked perfectly. Normally I would have sewn the spout in but since it was after the fact I was able to finnagle it with the glue gun. He doesn't stand as well on his own as I would have liked but you can mess with him a bit and he will or just prop him again something.



I also figured that Liz would think I'd just give her the hat next time I saw her. I thought it'd be more fun to mail it because seriously...who doesn't love getting mail?!

Stay crafty kids!

Jamie