WTH???

I have no idea what happened to all the pics on my blog...and I no longer have most of them on my laptop, so I guess I'll just leave it as is and start over...

2011 International Craft Swap - Parcel Received

I joined this craft swap half a year ago, and it's now time to send and receive.  Participants were partnered up with crafters from different countries.  Amanda, the person who sent to me, is from Western Australia.  The following are pictures of all the wonderful things she made and sent to me, which I just received a couple days ago...

 Above: All Handmade by Amanda...necklace, pin, hair clips, earrings, fridge magnets & figures.
Below: Also handmade by Amanda...a couple of rings.

 Above: Handmade by Amanda...decorative jar lid and snail figure.
Below: Hand knitted by Amanda...hat and matching fingerless mitts, as well as the necklace,
pin and hair clips she made for me.

I love everything and greatly appreciate all Amanda's time and effort into putting together a fun and useful parcel of goodies.

THANK YOU AMANDA!

Hand Chain Scarf

Recently I came across some really neat yarn at a local Ben Franklin Crafts store.  It's called Boutique Doodle by Red Heart.  I haven't been doing a lot of crocheting lately because of carpal tunnel.  But while out fabric shopping, I saw this yarn and was fascinated by it.  There's a pattern on the back side of the label for making a Hand Chain Scarf from one skein, so I decided to buy a skein and give it a try.  It was extremely easy and quick to make!  It's literally "crocheting" with your hand rather than a hook.  I was able to make one adult sized scarf and one child sized scarf from one skein of this yarn.

Easy, fun and quick...I highly recommend to anyone looking for something quick and easy to make as a gift or for yourself!

Queensrÿche 30-yr Tour...A concert revisited...

May 18, 1991 I went to Green Bay, WI to see Queensrÿche perform at Brown County Arena.  I was with my high school sweetheart and a couple of his friends.  They normally tried to get as close to the stage as possible, but with me along they respected my fear of getting trampled or squished, so we sat in the bleachers, which was not so crowded, however the band members appeared small and hard to see. 

20 years later...

(Above: My concert ticket, just before heading into The Rave/Eagles Club)

...I find myself going to the...

Queensrÿche 30th Anniversary Tour Concert
with one of my best friends, Rich.

(Above: Me & Rich;  Photo taken by The Rave/Eagles Club Photographer)

Rich and I have been friends for over 15 years...done a lot of partying together in our younger years, but this was the first concert we ever went to together. And it was a blast!!!

Queensrÿche put on one heck of a concert!

This time around, however, I made sure I was close to the stage.  We were only 2 people back from the gate that separated the crowd from the stage.  It was phenominal being able to actually see Geoff Tate's expressions as he performed!  And he still has that one-of-a-kind, one hell of a voice!
(If you've never heard Queensrÿche before, go to YouTube and listen to some of their songs...especially Silent Lucidity and Empire).

Queensrÿche performed at The Rave/Eagles Club in Milwaukee, WI on Sunday, August 21st, 2011.
I took a few pictures with my phone, but they all turned out too blurry.  If you click on The Rave/Eagles Club, which I've attached a link to, it will take you to the concert pictures taken by a professional photographer, which were taken at this specific concert.

Here's a couple of the pictures I took...please forgive the blurriness of them...cell phones don't take the best pictures when it's dark and a lot of movement is going on!

(Below: A couple of short video clips I took with my phone...sound quality is horrid unfortunately!)

To see more and better quality photos of this concert, go here:

Queensrÿche at The Rave/Eagles Club

Opening band for Queensrÿche was

The Voodoos, a band from Ireland.

They put on a fantastic opening performance!

April Showers Brought Some May Flowers...

I love flowers...all kinds of flowers...so I thought I'd share some pictures of some of my flowers that have bloomed in the last week...

My Pink Hibiscus...

 Can't remember the name of the one below!!...

And below are some of my Dahlias...
(Taken w/cell phone cameras so the clarity isn't the best)

 

Portraits of the Past (Wisconsin)

My parents have a book titled "Portraits of the Past: A Photographic Journey Through Wisconsin".  I was looking through it not too long ago when I came across a neat photo and description...  Just wanted to share this with you...

 

Here's what the description reads under the photo...

"...in the early 1900's was this kind of feminine gathering.  Charles Van Schaick photographed his wife, Ida (standing), entertaining the members of the DMC club in her wind-protected backyard.  Nettie Lake had named the group after a brand of French crochet cotton used in fancy patterns, and though the ladies insisted the letters stood for "Damn Mean Crowd," no one watching them daintily sipping tea and lemonade and nibbling cookies would believe it."

"Monkey Business" for Valentine's Day

My attempt at crocheting a monkey from the Annie's Hook & Needle Kit Club.  I don't usually crochet things like this, but a friend asked if I could make it for him to give to his wife for Valentine's Day.  So, here it is...

...I guess he didn't turn out too bad!  Just couldn't seem to get him to smile more!  LOL!

The pattern for this, as well as the knitted version, can be found in the

Annie's Hook & Needle Kit Club pamphlet

"Monkey Business" (HNK019).

Below is the monkey with the other gifts I put together for my friend to give his wife for Valentine's Day...

(Valentine Pillow details can be found here: GinasCustomCreations )

Crocheted Mesh Bag w/Sewn Polka-Dot Liner

It's been awhile!  I have to admit I just don't crochet as much as I used to.  Since learning how to sew I find myself spending more time sewing than crocheting.  Well, I finally buckled down and worked on another crochet project.
Here I made a crocheted mesh bag...however, I couldn't just leave it plain & simple...I sewed a polka-dot liner for it and added button embellishments.  I found some really cute pink & purple polka-dot ribbon at Hobby Lobby, so I used the ribbon for ties at the top of the bag.
I used Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn in "swimming pool" color.  The pattern I used for making this bag was found on the back of the Lily yarn label.

Halloween Swap Package Received...

Friday of Halloween weekend I got a notification from our post office that I had a parcel I had to sign for, but I couldn’t get it until Monday of this week because our post office isn’t open on Saturday’s for some reason. I went to sign for my package on Monday and it was from my swap partner on Ravelry: rdodo!
I couldn’t wait to open it, but I was on my way out of town and had to set it on the back seat of the car until I had a chance to open it. This was torment! LOL!
Well, I finally had the chance to open it Monday night late, after getting home, and I took pictures just yesterday to get posted, so here’s what I got…

• A handmade tote/treat bag made out of the cutest ever Halloween fabric (both sides look different so I took pictures of both sides for you all to see).
• A couple of crochet magazines from the UK that have some fantastic crochet patterns in them
• A couple of Cadbury Caramel Chocolates and a couple other Halloween themed chocolates
• Some awesome smelling rosemary and bergamot soap
• Some absolutely GORGEOUS hand painted/dyed yarn in my favorite colors of greens
• The cutest ever little felted pumpkin that will double as a decoration and a pin cushion
• An Owl Tape Measure/Pin Cushion…OH MY IS THIS EVER ADORABLE! (The perfect addition to my collection of figural tape measures!)
• A ball of King Cole Riot yarn in some gorgeous jewel tone colors…I can imagine a scarf made from this!
• A pumpkin tea lite holder…so very cute!
• A Clover Double Ended Tunisian Crochet Hook w/Project Sheet & Instructions Included
• And last but not least, some really pretty stitch markers

Halloween Swap Package Sent...

One of my favorite holidays is Halloween.  And this is an update to a post I published on here on my blog back on October 5th, Halloween Is Coming! ...  I was recently involved in a Halloween swap on Ravelry and couldn't share more information about this until after my swap partner received what I had made for her.  

I frequent the Lily Sugar'n Cream website for patterns, since I love to crochet quick and easy projects for swaps.  I found these awesome patterns on the website and made them for my swap partner...

Bat Dishcloth by Lily / Sugar'n Cream

Ghost Dishcloth by Lily / Sugar'n Cream

Skull Trick or Treat Bag by Lily / Sugar'n Cream

I filled the Skull Treat Bag full of goodies and sent it overseas to my swap partner in Somerset, England. 

I chose not to put eyes and mouth on the bat as indicated in the original pattern.  I just didn't care for them, and figured they'd be problematic if using the bat as a dishcloth anyways.

~ ~ ~

Here are pictures my swap partner posted on Ravelry after receiving her parcel from me...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Wishing you a
Safe and Happy Halloween!

Ravelry's Flat Rate Box Swap - Received...

Here's what I received from my swap partner, jackiemania (her Ravelry name)...

Ravelry's Flat Rate Box Swap - Shipped to Alaska...

My swap partner that I sent to for this round was to a wonderful lady in Alaska!  Here's what I sent her...

Aqua and Avocado Vintage Swap - Package Received!

I was recently involved in a swap where things sent to our swap partners had to include vintage items, as well as items in aqua and avocado colors.  The amazing thing is this...  Last year I was involved in a Secret Angel Swap where we all sent to a different person than we received from, and our identity remained a secret until our swap partner would receive his or her package in the mail.  Well, last year the person I was assigned to send to was Wendy over at Stitchduchess' Crazy & Sane Quilting World 

The coincidence in all of this is that Wendy and I were paired up, all by chance, in this Aqua and Avocado Vintage Swap!  We had already learned quite a bit about each other because of the swap last year, and we had also stayed in touch here and there, as well as following each others' blogs.  So this was amazingly fun to swap w/Wendy!

Anyways...to get to the really exciting part, here's what Wendy sent to me:

 The above picture is an AMAZING hand knitted shawl Wendy made for me...

It was her first knitting project, and it turned out gorgeous!

I am wearing it over my shoulders to keep myself warm & cozy as I type this post!

The below picture shows a vintage avocado colored glass bowl (exactly like one I used to have that was my Great Grandmother's, but either broke or got lost in a move a few years ago); a Ball Jar pin cushion that Wendy made using some of the fabric I had sent to her in her swap package; some very pretty stationery cards in a green see-through bag; a book called Creating Crochet Fabric by

Dora Ohrenstein (this book has some amazing patterns in it that I am excited to try making); and last but certainly not least...TWO vintage figural tape measures!!!  One is a gnome (pull out the nose for the tape measure) and the other is a dog (pull out the tail for the tape measure).  Wendy knows I collect vintage tape measures...these two are an awesome addition to my collection!
Wendy...thank you so very much for making this swap so fabulous!  You're an amazing woman...someone I'm grateful to have "met" and gotten to know...even if it has only been through cyber space!

~To see Wendy's post on her blog in regards to what she sent me, just go here:

Swap Package Arrived at Destination

To see Wendy's post about what I sent to her in this swap, just go here:

Good Mail Day

I have pictures somewhere that I took before shipping off her package, but can't find them at the moment.  I will try to post them when I do find them.  Thanks for your patience!