Hearts to You!

Finishing this bracelet has helped ease my guilt of not making 'product' to sell. Now I have 3 new bracelets to offer, and I can get back to playing a little bit.


I've been knitting along on my socks (second pair !) and enjoying the coziness of these winter days. I have three dinner dates with girlfriends coming up in the next few days and am so looking forward to re-connecting with them and hear what everyone has been up to. I am still riding the wave of patriotism that President Obama has sparked and every time I see him or his family, I just smile. I don't know what it is about them, but they just make me smile.


Little Twigs is smiling too -- I've made some more progress on his beautification! Now that I am further down his neck, he seems to be getting more stable. I'm thinking that after I get the other side of his neck done, I may not even have to reinforce his neck with the wooden dowel. I've decided his feet are going to be covered in sequins. He needs party shoes.

Icy Visions

A bracelet to commemorate the coldest week of the winter.

Here's hoping the temperatures never get this low again in 2009!

Now for something in honor of St. Valentine

Safari Bracelet - mission accomplished

I decided to make a ruffly kind of edge. It was fun and I like it so much I think I will use it more often. The frigid weather must be seeping into my brain - my next bracelet looks icy:

Getting closer

The Safari Bracelet front is all finished. Now I just have to back it with ultrasuede, do the edging, button and closure loop. Hmmm, just a mere few hours more to go!!!








I must admit between working on this and Twigs, I'm a little bored with this color story. Time to move onto something bright and fun, although I'm not sure what exactly. Stay tuned!

Wow

Just happen to have the TV on while I was puttering, and was able to catch the President's speech. Wow. Finally a leader for our Country! He's got the right attitude and the toughest job on earth. I don't envy him or his family. There's a lot of work to be done.

Beginnings of a Safari Bracelet

Must be Twig's influence; I'm starting a bracelet in safari colors.

I decided to start with a center cab and work my way out. There was too much white showing through my 'volcano' (you may know them as a 'barnacle'), so I used a dark brown sharpie marker to color in the open space.





I did have all intentions to get up and out of the house early and get some errands done. One look outside, and I decided to rethink that. It's one of those blustery dustery days that make me want to just stay inside and putter around.

Golf Visor Finished

Well that was fun. Now I just need to wait for the snows to melt and the greens to green and I'll be back on the course!











I am happy to say I have kept my promise to myself and actually worked on Twigs for a bit yesterday. I'm thinking Monday will be Twigs day and I will work on him first thing in the a.m. before I head to the office.




I was puttering along quite nicely and then I heard something drop and I couldn't figure out what it was since I only had seed beads out at the time. Oh no! It was his mane. The tiger eye beads I used must be pretty sharp and I think because I was beading down his neck in the back I must have just been pressing them this way and that way as I was beading and the thread was cut. Bummer. So I re-sewed them on and will pay closer attention to them as I work. Here's a pic of his mane that I took over the summer.

I will set him aside for the week, and start working on a bracelet or two to sell. I don't have any left :) and since I have recently 'lost' my second part-time job, I need to at least put the effort into some income-generating projects.

I must admit that I am starting to personally feel the affects of this crashing economy. I work as a real estate paralegal and (used to) work for another local attorney from my home preparing title insurance policies for lenders. It's the at-home job that I lost and although I didn't rely on that paycheck to pay the bills, it was always a nice cushion to help pay for the extras that always seem to come along. It wasn't unexpected by any means, I could see the work load getting lighter and lighter and I know at the other firm I work for there really is not enough work to keep the real estate department busy. I'm already part-time there, and I cannot afford to shorten my hours any more, so I am hoping things will pick up. I hate having that feeling of 'being stuck' at the office with nothing to do and knowing that if I was at home, I could be kept busy 24/7. I guess I just don't feel good without being productive. Although I'm far from a workaholic! Maybe I could bring my knitting to the office -- nah, probably not.....too bad.

Winter Reflection

I used to dread Winter.

Really.

My whole being would go into a funk and I just plodded through the days waiting for Spring. I don't know exactly when or why my attitude changed, but I'm so glad I have found my way out of those doldrums.

We took the dogs back into the woods today.

It was so quiet and refreshing.

The sun was barely emerging from the clouds, but there was no wind.

I have come to appreciate the

shape of the tree branches,

the outline of the lands,

and tracks that aren't

visible in summer.

The ice formations in the creek

were fascinating to me.

And isn't this a riot?

The rocks have made a face!

At the bottom of the ravine is a swinging bridge.

It's great fun to bounce along on your

way to the other side!

Exploring

What a great way to spend a Saturday. I just got back (it's about 10 pm on Saturday) from spending the day with my best friend Diane. She recently moved into the City of Buffalo, so we spent some time today exploring the shops around her new neighborhood and then went to see The Reader (amazing movie - highly recommend it) at this cool local theater and then had a delicious meal. I didn't have my camera with me, but will return soon just for the purpose of sharing a great antique lamp shop - The Antique Lamp and Gift Emporium Co. - the lampshades were spectacular. So much eye candy in that store, I just want everyone to see it! I love their 'slogan' they put on their business cards. It reads "because nice matters" - how true.





I've worked a bit more on my golf visor project. Here's an updated pic.






The monkey hasn't gotten his necklace yet, but I put a leaf over him and now I just have to fill in the background. I'll edge it once I stitch it on to the visor.