Booties!

My husband and I have been in the process of trying to adopt for over two years now.  You can read about our journey on our adoption blog.  We've recently decided that we need to do some more fundraising.  As my contribution, I am continuing to make and sell knit, crochet, and scrapbooked items.  All of the proceeds of any sales will go towards the "Future Ford Fund" in helping us finance this adoption. 

These crocheted boots were made using a pattern by The Lovely Crow for my niece and future nephew.  These boots come in sizes newborn, 0-3 months, 3-6 months, or 6-12 months.  Just let me know the size you need and colors you desire! Each pair of boots is $20 and all of the money will go towards the "Future Ford Fund," in helping finance our adoption. 

Star of the Show

I began crocheting about a year ago.  It's something that I really enjoy, especially as I watch TV with my husband.  I must admit, I'm not very good with just sitting and watching TV...I have to be doing something, so crocheting and knitting have become my answer.  I think I like crocheting so much because I feel that if I make a mistake, it's easy to tear and try again without worrying about picking up stitches (like in knitting).  

My goal in my last several projects has been to use some of the yarn that's been accumulating, without buying more. I chose to try Chromium Star Blanket pattern to try and use some of my cotton skeins.  About six months ago, I tried to use this pattern and failed, so this time I was determined to figure it out! With a little help from the author's blog, I was able to figure out how to do some of the trickier, new stitches.

Used Lily Sugar n Cream Tangerine with In Motion variegated cotton.

After finishing the crocheting, I went on the hunt to find some flannel to back the blanket with.  I was in luck when I ran into this cute polka dotted fabric at Hancock Fabrics.  I was even happier to learn that my fairly new sewing machine is capable of sewing through the fabric and the crocheted blanket. 

Flannel fabric from Hancock Fabrics

 

I am so pleased with the final product and even have someone is mind to give it to!  Thank you to Laura Lynn Hanks for the beautiful pattern...I plan to make many more in lots of different color combinations!

October Card Chain Challenge

Once again, I'm joining the ladies at Lily Pad Cards for the October Card Chain Challenge.  This month, I've decided to use the theme 'balloons' for my card.  I'm waiting on an order of hot air balloon stamps that I wanted to use for the challenge, but they didn't arrive in time, so I made my own! Both balloons are made with scrap paper and oval punches.  Then some string was added to attach the baskets.  My Lawn Fawn stamp set with 'enjoy the ride' seemed like the perfect sentiment for this fun loving card!

If you'd like to join up with the Card Chain Challenge, simply go over to Lily Pad Cards and sign up...so fun to receive a beautiful handmade card in the mail every month!

Guess Whooo?

For Cricut Cardz Challenge #92, we were to make a Halloween card using an owl from any cartridge.  Obviously I would take on this challenge...you know my love of owls!  While Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays to craft, I do like a lot of the color combinations that work well for this time of year.  For this card, I used bright orange, green and purple!  The owl is cut from the cartridge Hoot 'n' Holler, and the paper is from my stash.  I used the sentiment, "guess whooo?" from a Hampton Arts set (Autumn is in the Air).

Generations of Crafters

First baby sweater made for a family friend.

Second sweater...love the green!  Pattern by

nadia crétin-léchenne.  

I just finished putting together my second knitted baby sweater! It was a lot of fun to make and turned out really cute.  As I was taking photos of my sweater, I began to think of the legacy of crafters that make up my family.  One of my grandmothers is a knitter and the other is a crocheter.  Both of them will actually be visiting me next weekend, and I can't wait to show them my latest project! Thankfully they have passed their "craft" down to the next two generations, as my mom and one of my sisters also knit.  

In the mail yesterday, I received a quilted bag from my husband's aunt.  Along with the bag is a framed piece of a quilt from Derrick's family.  It is my pleasure to be able to hang that piece of quilt in my house, as a legacy of Derrick's family and their craft...quilting.  My quilted bag will be used with pride as Shelley continues to create for the Ford family. 

 Here are some photos of the products of my family's creativity!

A washcloth crocheted by Derrick's mom.

Blanket crocheted by Derrick's Aunt Marilyn.

Framed quilt square made by Derrick's grandmother and great grandmother.

The green blanket knit by my sister, Nancy. The yellow blanket crocheted by my Nana.

Hat, sweater and blanket knit by my grandma.

Bag quilted by Derrick's Aunt Shelley.

Little girl bear knit by my mom, little boy bear knit by me.

The next generation, my niece playing with a monkey I crocheted for her last Christmas.

So happy crafting...enjoy the crafts of previous generations and make sure to pass them along to the next!

Pumpkins

So, I am definitely ready for the fall season to be here...but, with the 88 degree temperature today, I think we've got a little ways to go! For the September Card Chain Challenge by Lily Pad Cards, I chose to make a harvest card with my new stamps by Lawn Fawn.  I also chose to do some embossing in order to enter this in the current Lawnscaping Challenge.  In order to make my pumpkin pop off of the page, I paper pieced the various pieces at varying heights. 

If you love to receive beautiful cards in the mail, then the Card Chain Challenge is for you.  Just click on the link above for more details!

Lawnscaping Blog Hop

Welcome to the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!  So glad you’re here!  You should have come to me by way of Ashley.  This month's theme is magical...holiday projects! The hop runs from Friday, September 9th - Sunday, September 11th! Make sure to comment on all of the blogs because there are LOTS of prizes to be won! All the details can be found on the Lawnscaping home page (http://lawnscaping.blogspot.com).

This year, I've decided to mail out Thanksgiving cards instead of Christmas cards.  With my love of the season, the colors and the pumpkins...I thought it would be fun to do something out of the box! It was a lot of fun making my first Thanksgiving card using the Lawn Fawn set, "Harvest Season." 

 After making the card base from brown craft card stock, I stamped the leaves using my Ranger Distress Ink in antique linen.  Next, I stamped the "Happy Thanksgiving" sentiment.  You can see that in order to fit it on my card, I stamped each word separately in two lines. Next, I worked on my pumpkin, stamping it on some off white card stock and also stamping it on the plaid paper from my stash.  I used my Stampin' Up markers to color the pumpkin, and after cutting it out, I used pop dots to adhere the pumpkin over the image stamped on the plaid.  I distressed the bottom of the plaid paper and used my sewing machine to stitch the zig-zag pattern in a chocolate brown.  I used some yarn and off white string near the top of the card to add some dimension.  A Martha Stewart punch was used for the top in a gold-orange card stock and for the bottom of the inside of the card.  

To finish off my card, I stamped the sentiment, "You are a blessing to me," and some more leaves in the Distress Ink on the inside of the card.  Now I just need to pull out that Christmas card list and get to making a lot of Thanksgiving cards!

Next head on to Cathy's blog. If you've gotten off track, don't worry! Head on back to Lawnscaping to see the complete list of designers and prize information!