Christmas: Advent Calendar Blues... :(

I bought a crafty advent calendar called Adventivity by Gina Carpenter (Author) and Laura Hambleton (Illustrator) a few weeks ago and was very excited for December 1st to arrive so that I (and maybe my darling son) could put together some cute paper crafts for Christmas.

However, as it turns out...  It is definitely not something my 5 year old could handle. The punch outs were a bit too intricate for his short fuse to take.Which is totally fine. Hey, more fun for me, right? :)

But what really got me was that as cute as these appeared, this calendar is turning out to be a disappointment and I don't think I will ever get it again.. For one reason and one reason only.

It CLEARLY states on the attached cover holder...

"Includes materials to make 25 projects."

When (so far) it actually doesn't. You need to provide your own materials to complete each project and make it work.

So far...

Day 1: a pop-out star for a card... they provide the paper punch out of the star and you provide the card. The star doesn't work on it's own without a card supporting it.

Day 2: (this one wasn't too bad) a candy cane mouse... they provided the paper punch out of the mouse and you provided thread for whiskers and the candy cane (of course).

Day 3: a light catcher... they provided the cut out and they EXPECT you to have coloured cellophane candy wrappers lying around to paste into it. for the stained glass effect. Wha? Even if I did eat candy with cellophane wrappers, before opening this up, I would never have known to keep them for this project.

Day 4: a paper guardian angel... they provide her head, wings and arms and you have to provide pink card stock for the body (not a problem) but also a paper doily... A PAPER DOILY. I haven't seen one of those since I lived with parents.

Day 5: (This pretty much solidified my decision not to get this again) an origami Santa. They didn't provide the origami paper. So YOU have to provide the origami paper. Specifically, origami paper that is red on one side and white on the other side.  So "technically" I cannot make this project because they DID NOT include the material to make it.

So the cover lied. So far it BARELY includes materials to make 24 projects now. I'm tempted to give up on it because so far it has only frustrated me.

The only defence I have for this book is that it was all open. Not sealed. The projects were all there, labelled and you could have (if you wanted to) looked ahead to every project to make sure you had ALL materials you needed to make everything. But for me, that totally defeated the purpose of this calendar. I wanted the wonder, excitement and surprise of having a small precious gift for the day.

When I opened that first window and saw that pretty picture of what I was going to make that day I was so excited. Then realized that I didn't have everything I needed to complete the beautiful project. And I had to scrounge around to see if I could find what I needed to make it work...

So it was no longer a gift... It felt more like a chore.

*sigh* Live and learn...

Hey There! Long Time No See!

Hello all! Long time no see! :)

I took the hiatus from knitting for what seemed like an eternity and did other things with my time...
Such as:

• Seeing my little boy fall absolutely in love with Kindergarten!
• Getting the opportunity to work on my voice over work. 
• Watching my darling husband take on the challenge of a new job... as well as biking and swimming three times a week...
• Working at honing my beginner sewing skills because... well... I NEED to craft! :)

I remember looking in the closet in the spare bedroom last week and happened to stumble upon my fabric stash. I remembered that I wanted to try a cowl pattern  I found on line. It didn't quite work out the way I liked so I started playing with the fabric a bit, found what worked and then got totally hooked. I sewed together some cowls out of my a few different types of fabrics: fleece, flannel, some coordinating "fat quarters" and some funky fabric called "missoni." I totally got addicted to making them... so er... now I've got a TON! A few went to my sister in-law's craft booth at the Christmas craft fair last weekend. And the others are just waiting around for Christmas... ~.^

Here's a few styles I tried with different fabrics...

top left: Three coordinating fat quarters
top right: Missoni fabric
bottom left: solid fleece and brushed cotton in plaid print
bottom right: Three coordinating fat quarters and solid flannel

But now...

I'm sooo super happy to be knitting again... However, I have learned my lesson and I'm taking it slowly and carefully this time! I decided to start with a project just for me...

The cooler weather is taking it's toll on my hands so I've started a fingerless mitten pattern by Jane Richmond Designs called Rathtrevor from her Island collection.

Here's the first one so far. Please pardon the double pointed needles. I'm just getting the hang of using them and wanted to see how the wrist fit.  :D


Wish me luck!

Me: The Search For Bliss...

My search for bliss begins... NOW!

It begins with me deciding where my heart truly lies and what will make me happy... But to be honest, this is turning out to be harder than I thought.

I have done a few jobs... I've been a music teacher, a retail sales worker at the mall and of a huge hardware store (working in many different departments), a grocery store employee and a fast food restaurant employee.

I've worn many different "hats." But I never really got the feeling that any of them truly "fit." (Although being a music teacher really came the closest...)

So now it's time to find my true career hat. Maybe if I try to make a list of all my favourite things (*singing* "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens"... etc. ~.^) I could narrow it down into something that would make me a happy career. 

So here goes...

• I love creating
• I love crafting (mostly knitting, bead-crafting & paper-crafting)
• I love reading
• I love voicing characters
• I love computer/video games
• I love to blog
• I love music
• I love to bake

So there you have it. The things I love to do.  Now, do they mesh together into something awe inspiring? Hmmm... I don't think so. Maybe not yet.  But at the very least it's a place to start.

Stay tuned... ^.^

Knitting: Making Stitch Markers

Springtime
(colours: lemon yellow, aqua & lilac)

So with the combination of my knitting obsession and my long hibernated beading obsession, comes a brand new obsession altogether... Beaded stitch markers!

I found a tutorial on making stitch markers from Handmade By Knottygal... then I searched my vast beading stash... and voila! 

I absolutely LOVE making these. But more than that, I like seeing them hanging from my knitting needles in a knitted project. It gives the project a little sparkle and I enjoy seeing pretties while I work on something. It makes me smile.