ETSY'S HOW-TUESDAY PROJECT

I had to share this weeks Etsy's How-Tuesday Project. It is a great recycling project that transforms grocery bags into a fun crochet purse or bag.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

French Quarter, New Orleans, originally uploaded by Kyle Hammons Photography.

Photo of the week is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans because I am headed there for the first time this weekend. I believe New Orleans is a place everyone needs to visit at least once in their life and this is finally my opportunity to do so. Although now that I'm in driving distance I hope to make lots of visits in the future as well. This photo popped out to me because of the beautiful, soft color pallet of night on Bourbon street. I hope to post some of my own photos from the trip when I return next week.

To My Few Faithful Followers,

I am sorry that I am failing miserably to keep up on the blog. Blogging is still new to me and although I could talk all day about crafts and design I am not a great writer and get writers block very easily. I have however been jotting down ideas and believe I can bring the blog back into life with style. I have a couple new themes to keep me on track with my writing:

Weekend Craft Update
Thrifty Thursdays
Favorite Photo of the Week
Book Reviews
Etsy Favorites

And of course I intend to keep sharing all my projects and patterns I'm working on. Now that my moebius scarf is done I'm starting a set of knitted felted bowls. I have yet to do a felting project since I was a kid so this will be a fun learning experience I hope to share with all you other first timers.

Thank you for your patience while I've been away from the blog. I hope I can make it up to you!

FINISHED PROJECTS

I thought I'd share two projects I recently finished, my knitted mobius scarf with bamboo yarn and a mixed media painting I did with newspaper, acrylics and coffee grounds on a used canvas. I will be selling a miniature version of the bird painting at My Etsy Store soon.

SCRAPS TO TREASURE II

In continuing my research on Scraps to Treasure projects I found a bunch of great patterns, blogs and resources I’d like to share.

A lot of these patterns came from research Vicki of Simple Knits had done so please visit her site at SimplyKnits.blogspot.com and leave her a comment or two for all her hard work! She has a great blog that I now follow and am sure to read frequently.


For Fun:
Felted Fortune Cookies
Pocket Creatures
Fuzzy Lamb Toy (we raised lambs as a kid so I had to include this)

Fruits & Flowers:
Knitted Laurel Leaf
Felted Mushrooms
Knitted Strawberry

Housewares:
Crochet Cluster Flower (for larger projects)
Lavender Scented Heart Sachet
Felted Bowl
Colorful Dish Rags (saves you money!):
Dish Rag (1)
Dish Rag (2)
Oven Mitt & Pot Holder
Java Cozy (if you don’t use a to-go mug, at least save on all those paper sleeves with a stylish knitted cozy!):
Beer Cozy

Accessories:
Global Warming Mittens

GARDEN SPOONS

Still gardening, knitting my mobius scarf and coming up with more craft projects for Etsy. Just wanted to share with everyone the garden spoon markers I finished this weekend. I found old spoons at the thrift store, added text to images of vintage botanicals, printed them and sealed them on the spoons with several waterproof coats of clear acrylic. I love how they turned out! What do you think?









I'm also excited that the first of my seedlings sprouted yesterday...

Credit for Blog Header Photo....

What a great project! I was changing my blog layout today because I wasn't quite happy with it and as I was browsing for found objects with the letter 'R' I came across the photo above from Melissann at Flickr.com. Not only was I excited about the photo but the project as well. Most people, like myself, simply use printer trays to display knick-knacks but this one is artistic and personalized. I really like it - thanks Melissann!