Bits and Pieces

What is it??




It is my 3 1/2 year old LG dryer that isn't under warranty anymore! DD#2's clothes weren't drying and I had my sheets in the wash when we realized it. So we called where we bought it and apparently we didn't get an extended warranty on the dryer ( I do believe the sales guy said that dryers rarely break down LOL!!). So without a warranty, my electrician hubby took it apart to see what was wrong. It turns out it was just a fuse, but of course we figured this out late Saturday afternoon on a long weekend. We couldn't get the part until Tuesday!! Oh, by the way, Sears is a great place to find parts for appliances! We didn't even buy it there! So DH and DD#2 took the wet laundry and travel Yahtzee to the laundry mat to dry. DH put the new fuse and a sensor in yesterday and all is well!! It was only $50 in parts. The place where we bought the dryer from wanted $100 just to come look at it!! My DH is definitely my hero!


In other breaking news.....the world is being taken over by aphids! Who knew!! There are millions of them out there!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!


The good news from this weekend is that Michael's had a 50% off coupon!! I know, I don't really need more craft supplies, but I just had to feed my addiction! I got this...



It is a Xyron 510!!! It makes anything into a sticker!!!!!!! This one is 5" wide. You can also get refils for laminating and for making magnets!! This is going to be so much fun!

I put a new Coffee Condom up in the shoppe.



I finally got outside to take pictures yesterday morning. The aphids lightened up a bit so I rushed out and got some done... just before my camera battery died!! LOL!! I feel like a comedy of errors lately LOL!! But I did get some done, so check out the shoppe for some new stuff. I really love this new soy/wool yarn from Patons! The colourways are just so nice and the yarn is really soft!

Off to do laundry! Have a creative, bug free day!!

Butterflies

Just popping in quick to say that I caught a butterfly!!




Oh... I mean I bought a butterfly!! LOL!! It is actually a Cutterfly by Cutter Bee. Here it is open:



It is a multi-tool for crafters!! It has a rotary blade, needle nose pliers, a distress tool (a file) that can be used as a screwdriver and a Rub-On tool as well, tweezers, a paper piercer, an embossing stylus, scissors and a 13" tape measure. They are all attached to a handy keychain! I was humming and hawing about it and DH looked at it and said "hey, it's a tool, you have to have it!" LOL!! I will let you know how it works!

Well, off to read my new book! I haven't been posting the last couple of days because I am lost in Diana Gabaldon's newest book! It is called Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. I get so absorbed in her books!!

Have a great evening!

Don't Cry over Broken Casein

Ok, I'm trying not to :( I love my casein knitting needles! They are so smooth and warm up in your hands while you are knitting. The yarn moves so nicely on these needles. But they are getting harder to find. I heard that they may stop making them! I broke my 3.25mm one yesterday, they come in sets of 5, but this is the second one that I have broken. Now I don't have enough to knit with. :( Next time I am at my lys, I will see if she has more, but I know her stock was getting slim. I think I will try to find some online. I had to get some new 3.25mm needles so that I can knit my Coffee Condoms. I found these at The Store Upstairs in Airdrie. They are so cute and look like drinking straws.



They are nice, but the yarn doesn't move as smoothly as on my casein needles.

I did cheer up a bit after my visit to VV Boutique! They have been moving things around and sections are a bit mixed up right now. I happened to go down the sheets and blankets aisle and found some more craft supplies. I opened up the black binder on the shelf and found this!!



A binder full of wrapped DMC floss!! I was so excited, I quickly put the binder in my basket. As I moved down the shelf a bit I saw some more black under some towels. I move them out of my way to find another binder!! Full as well!! I was just so excited. There are 360 different colours all wrapped on these very cute teddy bears! And there was only one "naked" (as DD#2 put it) bear in the lot!! This makes me itch to get back to my stitching!!!

Thrifting is so much fun!!!

Gocco

Yesterday was a good thrifting day. We took DD#2 to the naturopath who happens to be right beside Good Will. (Lucky, I know!) I was wandering around and picked up a couple of coffee mugs. Then I turned down one aisle and there it was!!!!



I was so excited! It was open, but it looks like it wasn't used. Two of the light bulbs are missing, but all of the inks are still sealed. The pen is missing though, but that is alright! There were also 3 tubes of pearl ink! All of this for only $35!! I was just beside myself. When I got it to the car and showed DS the original price of $139 he looked at me and said "Start the car! Start the car!!" LOL!! That is exactly how I felt!!

I love thrifting!!

We Have Cukes and Zukes!

Good morning!

I wanted to share some exciting pictures this morning. Ok, exciting for me LOL!!! Out in the garden, the cucumbers and zucchinis are finally showing their faces!! This year the garden didn't get nearly enough attention, so we have just had radishes and lettuces mostly. We did have a whopping 5 carrots and 3 beets though LOL!! But now the cucumbers and zucchinis are out!! I have to remember to pick the zukes before the get as big as DD#2's head this year! Here are some gratuitous garden shots!





Speaking of DD#2, she has been drawing a lot lately. Her newest thing is to just use black markers. She has drawn some amazing things in the last few days and has been really experimenting with this new medium. What do you think? She made this for a friend of hers.



I have actually been making new things for the shoppe!! They are almost ready to put up. I have to just work out the logistics for them and have a sunny day to take some pictures and then I will add them. I am hoping to do a few craft fairs in November and I think I need more on my table than just my Coffee Condoms. I also need some variety in my shoppe. I have realized that the block that is bothering me so much is that I feel that even when I am just trying something out, it has to be perfect because it will go up for sale. I have finally convinced myself that I can just try new things - just for me! They don't have to go into the shoppe until I am pleased with the result. For some reason that was a hard thing for me to get past, but now I am finally having fun making new things again!! Yay me!!

Thank you to everyone who is reading my blog and for all the great comments! Even if you are just passing through, please feel free to say "Hi!"

Have a beautiful and creative day!

Is it Spring?

So, what have I been up to??
I keep asking myself that too!
I have been knitting away, making up a bunch of Coffee Condoms that I will be putting up in my shop soon. I have also been hibernating quite a bit with all the snow we have been having on and off. I find it a bit depressing when we have 12C to 16C for a few days and then the next we wake up to snow and -10C. But alas, that is spring in Calgary. You would think that I would be used to it by now. This next week is supposed to be nice, though so hopefully that will bring my spirits back up!!!!

Michael's had a coupon for 50%off this past weekend! We picked up a starter kit for screen printing! I have succeeded in getting DH interested in it!! He is soooo creative and I hope this will give him an outlet for his creativity! I think it would be so great to put some of his art up in my shop or maybe one day for him to open his own Etsy shop!!! He is also a bit of a techie! We always say he is hardware and I am software. He likes to take the computers apart and add things and I enjoy the programming and such. You can find a link to the blog he is trying to get going up at the top right of my page. Say "hey" to him if you go take a look. He doesn't think anyone is looking at it. Of course, if he had more time, I am sure there would be more on his blog. It is a work in progress though!!!!

I am going to leave you today with some spring life from my garden! This makes me feel so good and gives me hope that the beautiful weather is on its way!!!

Happy Spring!!!!

Spring is finally here!! I am so happy!!! I love spring. The morning started off with winter giving us a brief snowfall. Then it warmed up to a beautiful day this afternoon when spring officially began. What a wonderful sign that it is going to be a beautiful season.

Even my Coffee Condoms are looking bright and colourful!



I sold 2 yesterday at my Etsy shop! Yeah!! It makes me so happy that more people are finding these and are saving a small bit of the environment! I think I have knitted about a hundred by now. I love using mine and dh uses his all the time. We always get great comments when we take them out at the coffee shops.

We have been organizing like crazy here (yet another sign of spring!). DH organized his work room and put up some shelves to organize his tools. He actually got rid of some old hard drives!! That is a big step LOL!! My craft area is almost done! I will take some pictures of it in a couple of days! It is going to be so nice to be able to leave my projects out until they are done!!

Well, back to knitting!!

Oh no another craft...

Yesterday we were at "The Store Upstairs" in Airdrie, I went just to get some more fluffy trim yarn. Well, they had a few things on sale that I just couldn't pass up.



I got the 2007 Knitting and Crochet Pattern-a-Day calendars for just $9.99 each!! Wow there are a lot of patterns in these calendars! I was really good and passed the Beading and Cross-stitch versions. The store also had their Klutz Press books on for half-price!! I have a weakness for Klutz Press! I picked up the Simple Embroidery book!!



Now I am hooked! I have been thinking of trying some embroidery and had picked up Classic Inspirations magazine the other day. Wow what an amazing magazine! This book by Klutz really did a great job explaining the basic stitches. DD#2 and I each picked out a design from the book and ironed them on to hankies and away we went. I picked this cute cupcake.


What do you think? I knew most of the stitches, but this is the first time I have done a chain stitch. Loads of fun!!! I am going to do a bit more practicing and then it is on to big and better things!!