Gifting again and again and again....

I've been fortunate enough to get involved in some awesome Frugal swaps lately. My partner in crime, kaz814, has helped open my eyes to so many ways that we can be frugal for both our pocket book as well as our resources on this planet. Throwing away useful items is no longer something I do. I squirrel it away for future use or swap it with someone else who can use it.

One of the items high on many frugal lists lately is reusable holiday gift bags! These were simple to make and easy on the wallet. I used 3/4 yard of fabric and one roll of gross grain ribbon to make these reusable bags. The largest is 16" square and the 2 smaller are 8" square. I even folded down the top hem so that it is not visible once the gift is tied. :)

Stencilious!

I've been a stenciling fool these last couple of days. I've made a batch of shirts for my STS shop on Craftster and one for myself. Here's a pic of my son's shirt. I hope he likes it! :)

I'll update shortly with my daughter's shirt!

Getting in the Holiday mood

I was working on a swap package for a fellow Craftster mod when I came up with this idea. These are simple alligator hair clips with a bit of holiday flair. :D

Keeping warm!

Now that I'm a bit more comfortable with my crochet skills. I have been making lots of warm, snugly things to help keep the winter cold at bay. Here are a couple of pieces that I've made recently...

Arm warmers for when it's cool out, but not enough to warrant wearing a long sleeve shirt or sweater.



Wrist warmers...for that awkward area between the shirt sleeve and the hand but gloves or mittens are too cumbersome.



And finally, a cowl! For years, I've never understood the attraction of a cowl, until I realized that it's a heck of a lot easier to wear than a scarf which can slide off at the drop (literally!) a hat. :D

More buttons!

This is the stocking that I made for my partner in the Stocking swap on Craftster. The design work came easy. However, putting the lining in was a pain in the patookus! I'm happy with how it turned and the best part, she loves it. :D

Left or right?

Imagine me standing at that crossroads. Make that guy a gal. Lose the hat. Make me shorter. Ok, that's better...

Anywho, this where I feel that I am in a couple of aspects of my life. Not fun, but for once, I can say that I'm not barreling towards a direction simply to have one. I'm not jumping feet first so that I'm moving forward, not standing still to pay attention to what's around me. I've done that enough in my life. Now is the time for me to make calculated steps because every one that I take not only effects me, but my family as well.

Personally, there are some changes coming. They are good ones but still they are changes. There is one major pot hole looming about a year and a half out, but I see it on the map of Life before me. Forewarned is forearmed. ;)

Professionally, I'm in a quandary. I love working with my students. They give me a daily dose of energy and creativity. It's my coworkers who are more like emotional vampires and the rapid decline of the quality of education (across the board, not just at the school that I'm working at) that have me concerned. I'm beginning to question if obtaining that daily dose is worth the constant stress and concern coming at me from admins and the Federal Govt. I want to teach. I want to make a difference. I feel like I have made a positive impact of some of my students. (I'm too humble to think that I've been a good influence on all of them. I know that some kids just don't get me so I'm happy if I can help one or two a year. Anything else is icing on the cake.) However, I'm watching my kids as they are starting to go through the public school system and frankly, I'm worried. I just spent 3 hours doing math homework with my son. I'm an educated, concerned and helpful parent who wants to see her child succeed and it took me that long to help him complete a single worksheet. What is happening with those kids who don't have involved parents? This along with the dropping of the "standards" bar has made me start thinking about homeschooling my kids. Am I ready to step out of one classroom and into another one that I can never leave once I start? I'm confident in my ability to teach my kids. It's maintaining my sanity that has me worried.

GAH! So much to think about! Thankfully, there's no flaming comet about to hit me if I don't make this decision right now. The World will not stop spinning and I'm willing to bet good money that the sun will rise tomorrow regardless of my state of decision or indecision. Therefore, I take this one step by step, day by day. I'll throw in some extra crafting time so that my hands can stay busy while my brain can wander through this maze of "Should I?" and "What if...".

I'll figure it out. I'm positive of that. Something will have to give somewhere and most likely, a chapter of my life will close leaving me free to explore the next few pages. :)

dreaming of knots

Now, being a needleworker, knots are the bane of my stitching but every once in a while, I get the Celtic urge...the urge for knotwork. The type of design that makes me crazy but that's one of the very things that I love about it, the challenge.

I made this t-shirt for a swap. The color is off in the photo. It's a beautiful royal purple. Yes, I would have preferred green, but the store was out of my favorite color. Oh the horror!

I tried a new technique with this current round of stenciling and I'm thinking it's way superior to what I was doing. I was using the fabric spray in pump bottles. (The aerosol paint bottles are horrible!)This round, I tried the sponge technique. It covered with more precision and had less line leakage. I almost think that it dried faster because I cranked out 3 shirts from cutting stencil to finished product in about 8 hours allowing for dry time as I worked and doing 2 coats of paint on each.

Now, my daughter wants me to make her a shirt. Just how am I going to accomplish that and keep it a surprise with little Ms Nosy Pants? If I could find a pre-cut stencil so that I could just place, paint and allow to dry over night, maybe....we'll see what Santa Mom can come up with. ;)

Craft Fair Crazy

EEEP!

I just realized that I have less than a month until my annual craft fair. I'm co-organizing again this year. Last year's fair was a smashing success for our first year and I'm hoping this one goes as well. We're actually putting limitations on what can be sold because we had a glut of food items. While munchies are great, we had at least 6 different vendors with food. We're also doing a better job at advertising so hopefully between that and the tri-county wrestling tournament taking place on campus at the same time, we might have an even better customer attendance. :)

I decided to dial back a bit what I'm offering. I'm only going to do ornaments and jams/jellies. Last year, I tried to do too much and I worked myself into exhaustion. Not this time, my jellies are done. I have a decent stock of ornaments but I can always add a few more.

Ok, breathe woman...things will be fine. ;)

Whooo you lookin' at?

I know that owl ornaments aren't anything new, but I've never made one up until now. I think they're just adorable! :)