Bookmark this post.....

That's right, yinz guys....bookmark this post cause I'm cooking from scratch!!!! I don't like to cook (or do laundry). When I make dinner it usually consists of scrambled eggs and hot dogs...grilled cheese and soup....or anything that a "George Foreman" will cook. What do I like to do, you ask? I love to do dishes! Sweetie Man wants to get a dishwasher but I don't want one! I enjoy baking also. This is why he and I make such a good team....He cooks, I clean up and get dessert (heck, someone has to open the bag of cookies and pour the milk!)
Anyway, I thought I would make (at my son's suggestion)...MANACOTTI....from scratch! I thought about doing the frozen stuff but I figured the fresh would probably take just as much time so I opted to bake it....FOR REAL! (Had to google a recipe tho)
I stuffed those noodles and everything...okay, the bread was frozen but not bad for a non-cook! (oh, that's wine flavored kool-aid in the upper left..) My mom was a really good cook and she loved to bake. I sorta left the kitchen when she was cooking and didn't pay any attention...but come Sunday afternoon, I wanted to bake and she taught me. I'm not the best baker but I do enjoy it. Go figure!
Also, I've been working on something that I can't show you right now......but it's been my project all week. I promise I'll show you when it's done. (pretend you see a WIP here!)
I did manage to finish an edging on a blanket for Sweetie Man's daughter in Afghanastan. It did need to be army colors so it's rifle green fleece with cami yarn.
Now I'm working on some crocheted slippers...I'm half way through the 3 pairs.
There are just so many projects I want to do....just not enough time in the day!
Well, that's about it for tonight. Not much, I know, but remember...I WAS cooking tonight! So, enjoy the evening....till tomorrow, yinz crazy guys....

No.......

.....I didn't drop off the face of the earth!!! I was just crafting (and doing laundry....remember, you have to add that after everything I do...."and doing laundry"!) Anyway, I'm still crocheting and cross stitching and knitting and I will have pics to follow in the next few days. In the mean time....I'm in a Magic Ball swap and I got my ball! Check this out!!!

I got all sorts of goodies from Amy (tho I have to find her blog as I'm a newby to this group and I'm still learning my way around...and this was a secret swap) BUT Amy did a wonderful job in exploring my blog and gave me all sorts of things that I love....beads, buttons, charms, chocolate (tho there was more chcolate before this picture was taken) stickers, tatoos, LIP BALM (woo-hoo...my fav), awesome floss, and tea (hope I didn't forget to mention something) all wrapped in this YUMMY SOCK YARN!!!!!
AND...to top that off, this incredible scarf that I LOVE!!!!!! I've already worn it a few times and didn't want to take it off cause it is so pretty......THANK YOU...THANK YOU!!!!

How AWESOME was all that!!!! My Magic Ball is going out this week.....I only hope my receiver enjoys her's as much as I do mine!!!!

Last but not least....The second in my Britty Christmas Ornament (plan on making 4)....this is Britty Kitty from the JCS 2005 Ornament Mag. I plan on finishing them basically all the same so each of my little babies have one for next Christmas (they'll probably try to eat them!)

So that's about it....I'll try to not make my absences so far apart....but ya know with my love of crafting (and doing laundry...UGH!)....I'll do my best! So, till tomorrow, yinz crazy guys.....
PS....I found Amy's Blog...check it out!

Addendum to "Happy Heart Day"!

I just had to share this with you. After my last post, I spoke with the Sweetie Man who kept asking me if we had gotten our newspaper at work yet. I said I wasn't sure and kept on talking. Well, it finally hit me that the Sweetie Man just may have put a little something in the newspaper for me...and sure enough, he did....


Isn't that the best......and unlike chocolates....it's non-fattening!!!
The story behind it is that I wear Windsong cologne and he wears Royal Copenhagen....I guess we sorta associate those scents with each other. The verse in the heart is different song titles familiar to us and the last verse is a phrase from the movie "Fools Rush In"....a romantic comedy that we both enjoyed.
I guess the most romantic part of this is that in 2000 when we were first together, he did the same sort of thing in the newspaper but with songs that were meaningful to us back then......so to see the heart in the newspaper again after all these years really was something special to me. The first heart I made into a pillow and gave it to him on our second Valentine's Day together.....

So, just in case yinz guys were feeling sorry for me cause I was spending my Valentine's Day with 3 dogs and a pot pie.....DON'T....I wouldn't trade my SWEETIE MAN for anything......and even tho he thinks I mention him too much in this blog....too bad......Happy Valentine's Day, Sweetie Man...."Till This Weekend, YOU CRAZY GUY" (wink!)

Happy Heart Day!

Well, unfortunately, Valentines Day has been slightly overshadowed by the incredibly bad weather (snow, sleet, rain, ice, and more snow) we've been having, so Sweetie Man and I will just have to wait till the weekend to celebrate..(wink!)
In the mean time, enjoy your day with someone who loves you....mine will be with my three puppies!(Eros already gave me my gift this morning and ate part of a cook book....I'll have to have a serious talk with that boy!). Oh, yeah...and take this here quiz.....till next time, yinz crazy valentines.....

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

I like this better than the dog quiz...

You scored as Remus Lupin. You're a calm, cool, optimistic person who doesn't dwell on the bad but looks more deeply into the good. You're wise and know much about the world, and though you teach your lessons to others, react humbly when complimented on your intelligence. You've suffered a lot in your life but are extremely accepting and suffer inwardly. You're a great friend to have as you're gentle but strong-minded. Remus Lupin 53% Albus Dumbledore 47% Luna Lovegood 41% Bellatrix Lestrange 38% Ron Weasley 34% Oliver Wood 34% Hermione Granger 31% Sirius Black 31% Severus Snape 28% Percy Weasley 25% Neville Longbottom 22% Lord Voldemort 9% Harry Potter 6% Draco Malfoy 0% Harry Potter Character Combatibility Test created with QuizFarm.com

Pretty neat quiz I found on Jen's blog. I'm not to sure about the "wise" and that I "suffered alot"....but that's all debatable on who you talk to. Good quiz to take.

On another subject...."HOUSTON....WE HAVE SNOW.....!!!"

And the dogs LOVE IT as you can see...well the puppies do anyway!


It's supposed to keep on going through Wednesday...very very pretty, just so long as everyone, including ME, stays safe on the roads. I don't have far to go to work and back so it's not that bad. All the schools were closed including all the satellite campuses of Penn State...so needless to say, my son was happy. I don't think this will be the case when he goes to Main Campus next year tho....snow or no snow, class will be on! Enjoy it now, kiddo!

Also on my list to show you is the bookmark that I made for Briana on The Great Bookmark Exchange.

Briana likes Scottish things so I found some Celtic letters and did her name in cross stitch with the Celtic knot....I wanted to do one of those on each side but they were difficult and I thought one looked good. Onto my next partner for this swap now...anxious to see what she likes.

And last on my list, and far from least, is the mouse count (actually one more has been added since this pic)...

Now the slashes next to Katey's name are vague as we think she caught two of them herself and devoured them....I'm not going to tell you how we found this out....okay, I'll tell you...there were traces of mouse blood DNA on the fridge door....UGH!!!! I figured that we caught the parents first and now the babies are running wild and free....basically I'm feeding them to fatten them up for the kill. They aren't setting off the traps....just eating the bait. Tho I did put down some of those sticky mouse traps and caught one...semi-alive in it. Double UGH!!!! Would you believe the men in the family haven't disposed of one yet....mmmmmmmm, what's up with that???? Don't get me wrong....I love all animals....even mice...if they are caged and not house rodent run wild and free that poop everywhere and jump out at you......basically I'm not fond of anything that can run/fly faster than me. (which is why I like spiders)

Well, I think I've grossed you out enough, so,enjoy the snow if you have it.....and if you don't (you know who you are) enjoy the sunshine....till next time, yinz crazy snow-guys......

Definition of LAP DOG...

Noun
1. a dog small and tame enough to be held in the lap

What part of "LAP DOG" does this 6-month old not understand? Obviously he was standing in the "Milk Bone Lane" when the "Man Upstairs" was defining this one!
GO FIGURE.....
Enough said....till next time,yinz crazy guys!

I love Swaps!!!

Okay, I'm in this swap called The Great Bookmark Exchange. It quieted down for the Holidays but now it's back in full force with new members! I love books and I love to see what others are reading. When I'm in a restaurant, in a book store, or on the beach, I'm always looking to see what book someone is reading. I resist the urge to sit down with them and say, "what ya reading there?' or "why do you like this author?" ....I guess I just want to see what's out there book-wise and try different things. Anyway, the Bookmark Exchange is always taking in more members, so go check it out. You just exchange a book you have read with a homemade bookmark and maybe some other little goodies...no deadlines, no amounts you need to spend....I've done a few of them already!
Anyway, my point being is that Briana from Alaska, sent me this great package.

The best part is that she sent a book about these Alaskan women....something I probably would have never thought to pick up myself. It's next on my reading list now. I can't show you yet what I sent her as it's in the mail as we speak. So, thanks, Briana.....great swapping with you and I hope you enjoy what I sent.

Next, I must make a confession here. I'm an organizer...I get some sort of "high" when I organzie things. (aka "redder-upper") I love to buy containers and such to put things in or folders to file things. Anyway, JoAnn's has a 50% off coupon which was burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought this cool organizer (I already have my crochet and knitting projects organized in containers for the most part) for my cross stitch threads.


It was $10 with the coupon and has all sorts of cool little pockets and it came with these 5 containers for my threads. I love it!!!
So, my next problem will be......how to organize all my organizational containers???? Any ideas?
Well, till next time, yinz crazy guys...........

If you ever remember anything....

....remember this.....BIG DOGS MAKE BIG POOP!!! I was just saying to the Sweetie Man yesterday, "knock on wood (apparently it was formica) but our puppies have not made a mess in the house for awhile now!" WRONG THING TO SAY!!!! Big Dogs have big ears and he must have thought that I said I "missed" him pooping in the house.....WRONG!!!! Needless to say he left me a "projectile" present in his huge huge crate! And quite a bit I may add! He was all proud and strutting his 90 pounds when he walked out of the crate this morning....."oh, yeah, mom's gonna love this!!!!" NOT...I just spent a Saturday morning ......well, I don't need to give you the gruesome details.....but all is clean and fresh and smelling sweet!
With that said I plan on hanging around the house today, cause it's only going to be something like ten degrees (it's two now....heat wave!) and doing some cross stitching and crocheting...definately more calorimetry headbands. So, I'll leave you with something that's been going around on blogs about the City we live in....so far I've seen New York and California. I must tell you tho....the first one is MY personal favorite. So, till next time, YINZ CRAZY GUYS.........

You Know You're From Pittsburgh When...

"Hey Yuz Guyz" is your traditional greeting. You know the time and location of every Wing Night in a 10 mile radius. You know the location of the following towns, know someone from them and have spent time there: Monongahela, Altoona, Bethlehem, Ligonier, Harmony, and Wilmerding. You've memorized lines from the movie "Flashdance". If you're a guy, your biggest fear is seeing your best friend drive into the "fruit loop". You're second biggest fear is seeing him drive out with Kordel Stewart. If you're a girl, you're biggest fear is getting hit on by a hairy-chested man, heavily weighted in gold chains, who refers to his friends as "junior" at Chauncey's. Your latest cultural experience: On your way to partying at Slippery Rock University, having to stop your car to let the Amish buggy cross the street. As your out-of-town friends brag about their latest trips to Europe, you think to yourself, "Polish Hill will suffice." You eat out at least once a week at a mafia-owned Italian pizza parlor. Your father has worked for the same company for over 20 years. You don't see what all the hype is about Disney World when Kennywood is just around the corner. You're having a hard time on where to take your date out for dinner and a night on the town: - "meat on a stick" in the south side and the guzzling IC Light at Jack's... Or splitting an order of "O fries" and guzzling IC Light at Peter's Pub. " N at' " is eloquently added to the end of every sentence. You've taken deliberate field trips to the Andy Warhol museum. You water ski on the Youghiogheny River Lake. You feel the only good bands out there are Donny Iris, Joe Grushecky, The Blue Oyster Cult, and of course.... Rusted Root. You're more worried about Jerome Bettis's health than your own. You own more than one original Terrible Towel. You don't understand what all the hype is about for Rolling Rock beer. You've been drinking it for years, although Penn Pilsner is better. You consider a great vacation a trip to Conneaut Lake or Lake Erie. For something a little more exotic, a trip to the Jersey shore. You're 35 years old, have never been outside of Allegheny County, and don't see the need to leave. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, Heinz ketchup, and the bottle of Trappey's Red Devil you swiped from Primanti's. For the life of you, you can't understand why your all your out-of-town friends don't get the "fries and cole slaw" thing... You have 101 favorite recipes for kolbasi and sauerkraut. Words like: hoagie; chipped ham; pop; and gumband actually mean something to you. You can use the phrase "Firehall Wedding" and not even bat an eye. You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside. You often go down to the "crick". You have to "red up", before company comes over. You've ever gotten hurt by falling into a "jaggerbush". You know that Ahia is a river, a boulevard, and a state. You've ever "warshed" or "wershed" the laundry. You know you can't drive too fast on back roads,cause-udda-deer. You've drank an "Arn" . You've told someone to "quit jaggin around". You know that Clinton, Monaca, and Beaver, are actually names of towns. You've called someone a 'jaggoff'. You hear "you guyses", or "yins" and don't think twice. You hate Cleveland, although you've never been there. You drink "pop", eat "hoagies", pierogies, and gyros(jy-rows). You know what a still mill is. You can find Zillionopal on a map. You go 'food shoppin' at 'Jine Iggle'. You believe that "Ize" is the abbreviaton for "I was. You know someone from 'Sliberty, E-sliberty, or Wesliberty. You know the Pittsburgh Zoo is in 'Hilinpark' and have been there for school field trips. You know what is meant by "The Point". Chipped ham was always in your refrigerator when you were growing up. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Pittsburgh.

Get Your Own "You Know You're From" Meme Here



More cool things for your blog at
Blogthings

Happy Groundhog's Day....

(blogger is being weird today....hope all the pics below show up for you...sorry 'bout that!)
Starting off of course with the prediction of an EARLY SPRING by our own Phil in Pennsylvania!!!! Woo-hoo!!!! You go, PHIL! (just wanted to note that to yinz, guys!)

And, keeping with a animal theme here...you all agree with me that I'm not a Chihuahua....but dang if I didn't take that test again and came up the same. Maybe I'm a Chihuahua trapped in another breed body....hey, it could happen!!!
Anyone, yinz guys know how I like Maxine.....well I made it my mission to find out the name of Maxine's dog. It's Floyd! I LOVE that dog....probably more than Maxine!!! That dog is so much my Chloe in personality.....I mean look at those ears then check the sidebar for Chloe! If Chloe did human things, she would do exactly as Floyd does. When you look at a Maxine cartoon, always check out Floyd...he's hilarious!!! If I could change Chloe's name to Floyd, I would! (I don't want to give HER a complex, tho, Kare would kill me....so, don't worry, I won't)
Anyway, remember that cross stitch I was working on with the Kitty List? Well I finished it doing a flat fold with the help of some really nice ladies who cross stitch. I think it turned out pretty nice....and doing the flat fold was sooooo easy!

I also finished up my first of four ornaments for my babies....I love Brittercup Designs...I think I told you that already though. This one is just mounted on a piece of cardboard and padded underneath. I did the same on the backside only I used a little christmas fabric. The cording was handmade using floss....and boy was that ever easy and nice. I added a little bell for decoration.

I've started the Britty Kitty from the JCS 2005 ornament mag...I'll let you know how that works out too.

I've also crocheted calorimetry headband that I found over at Bron's blog....I really like this. I'm going to give it to my son's gal pal (the model shown) as they will be going snowboarding this weekend (see the pic of the two lovebirds on my sidebar....arent' they sweet!)

So, you see I'm doing a little bit of everything. I've also started another fleece edging with the rifle green fleece and the cami yarn....pics to follow soon, I promise
That's about it for now...getting ready for a chilly Super Bowl weekend....So, till next time, yinz crazy guys.....

Woof-Woof....

You Are a Chihuahua Puppy

Small, high strung, and loyal. You do best in the city with a adults - young kids could crush you!

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Found this one on Michelle's blog at Ozark's Sew 'n Sews
Here's the kicker....right after I took the quiz, I said to Sweetie Man, "Guess what puppy I am?" And before I could even get the words out of my mouth he said, "Chihuahua!" Well let me tell you, I was stunned he guessed it. So of course I asked him why, and you know what he said, "Well, they're yappy and high-strung." Do you believe that...ME...Yappy and High Strung!!! Well, I never...... But you must admit, it is a cute little puppy...so I'll forgive him!
Anyway, for all you book lovers, I found this site called Library Thing. (and it's free unless you want to pay and go crazy) Click on my books on my side bar and it will take you there too. They help you make a link (widget) also for your blog. I decided to do my own 50 book challenge for this year, as I noticed some people were doing, (there is a site for the 50 book challenge if you google it too, I think) and I'm going to record them at Library Thing. I think this site is really great for that. I haven't explored the whole site but it seems that there is alot you can do on it. It will also tell you books similar to the book you're reading, give you the picture, what others thought of the book, etc... Really a great site...check it out.

And last, but not least, thank you for all your kind words on my Blogiversary....you are all AWESOME!!!!! I look forward to spending another exciting year learning more about all of you and your hobbies and lives! And congrats again to all the winners!! So, till next time, yinz crazy guys......

HAPPY BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!!!

A little something to all of you, whether I've known you for the past year, or met you recently, I consider you all my friends. I think this little poem just about says it all.....

MY BLOG-I-VERSE TO YOU

Today's my Blogiversary
And this I know is true
I've never met as wonderful
Fantastic friends as you

I haven't seen your faces
And never shook your hand
But somehow on the internet
I feel as though I can

You've laughed when I was happy
You've cried when I was sad
You've told me I could do it
When times were going bad

I value every friendship
I knew right from the start
You never thought to judge me
You know me from "my heart"

You come from many countries
And many states stop by
Sometimes it's all with complements
Sometimes you just say "hi"

So on this celebration
To great friends near and far
Let's raise a glass and "cyber toast"
Each one of YOU a STAR!!!!!

Before I reveal the winner of the First Folk-N-Fancy Blogiversary Comment Contest, let me thank you for ALL of your comments this month. There were 51 people who commented with a total of 145 comments! Not bad!!

And with that said....the GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS........ DONNA FROM SQUITCHINGLADY
WOO-HOO!!!!!!! YEAH, DONNA....YOU GO GIRL!!!!! (ok, I'm done!) Donna commented 6 times by the way.
And because I'm feeling particularly generous, I'm going to send a little something to the top "commenters", namely, Sue at Good Yarns and Sue at Stitching & Life in the Company of Pets who both commented 9 times. So if all you wonderful ladies could email me your addresses at gfigure@yahoo.com, we'll get your surprises out next week.

So with that, I'm gonna start another year here enjoying all of your friendships and maybe making some new ones!!!! Thanks again for a wonderful year at Folk-n-Fancy...till next time, yinz crazy guys......

I've been Tagged....

Kari from Dogwood Dreams tagged me.

Each play of this games starts with 6 weird things about themselves. I will then tag 6 people who will do the same as well as let them know they are tagged in their comments and tell them to read mine. Okay....There are so many weird things about me, it was really difficult to choose, but here goes:
1. It bugs the heck out of me to leave dirty dishes in the sink (or very few) when I leave the house or go to bed at night.

2. I can't stand to have papers, books, mail, etc...piled on tables unless they are neatly piled or better yet, not there at all. I will just make a nice pile then I feel better. Weird, eh?

3. Must go through the mail ASAP, sort, and file it. (do the same with my emails)

4. I always check the stove top and oven to be sure it's turned off before leaving the house or going to bed whether I've used it or not.

5. Must make my bed ASAP after getting up....even in a hotel room on vacation.

6. Have an uncanny knack of remembering where things have been put or filed at home or at work. (aka "finder of all lost things"). I cannot remember numbers (phone numbers, etc..) to the point of frustration sometimes.....I'm talking from one minute to the next.

The funny part about all these weird things is that I pretty much know what has caused each of them. There are some other weird things about me....but I'm only allowed six, so I'll save them for next time.

I think I'm gonna take the route of Sue at Good Yarns and tell yinz guys that if you wanna do this one, go for it! No pressure! I've seen this on alot of blogs so I'm not sure who has done it already and who hasn't....I don't think I had done it unless I did it long time ago.

Okay...next on the agenda another Project Linus blanket....


I used TLC Amore on this one. Gave it a different look on the edge but it was difficult to see the stitches as I was doing them so I sorta guessed. But it turned out okay. My coordinator for Project Linus asked me to do 12 fleece blanket edgings. She would supply the fleece and I would the yarn. I said heck yeah!!! She dropped off a huge bag for me yesterday. I haven't gone through it all yet, but I'm anxious to see what yarn I have to match it. Definately will show pics as I finish them up. These are so easy to do with the skip stitch tool for a 45mm rotary cutter. If you want one of your own, just email skipstitch@alltel.net for more info. I think they are about $10 plus shipping. (don't quote me on that).

Next, a little more progress on my Britty Dog ornament. And "NO" that isn't a little poopy coming out of his butt....it's the beginning of the Christmas Stocking that will hang on his tail...but you knew that already...right?????
I know I said it works up fast but I've been working on about three things at one time, so that's why it's not done yet. Been thinking about how I want to finish it now. I would like to try and make my own cording with floss to surround it and maybe a tassel. We'll see. I wanted to make stockings for everyone for next Christmas including the animals. I found the Britty Kitty Stocking and loved it and so I emailed Brittercup Designs to see if there was a Britty Puppy Stocking. They said as a matter of fact one will be available for sale in stores or online after February. So I ordered the Kitty one from my favorite Cross Stitch store in town (remember the one next to the bank....on pay day) and I'll wait for the Puppy after that. Those designs are so easy and so cute!!!

Okay, yinz guys...this is the last chance to comment, cause tomorrow is my BLOGIVERSARY!
I'll have the Sweetie Man draw a name tomorrow evening to give all you late readers a chance to comment on today's blog. So keep an eye out for the winner tomorrow evening! I still don't know the prize cause I want to sorta customize it to the winner!

So, till tomorrow, yinz crazy guys......stay warm!!!

HELP.....

......I'm SUDOKU-ING AND I CAN'T STOP!!!!! Okay, I've fallen victim to the latest craze....I swore I would not.....said I could not! But then Sweetie Man gets me hooked....line and sinker!!
I really didn't think I could do it but I did. I got frustrated at first, but then I googled strategies for sudoku so I had a plan rather then just willy-nilly placing numbers and getting frustrated. Once I got that down, it was all over. But ya gotta remember, my brain is getting older and I need to keep it active. I told my son that I'm going to stay alert so that when I'm 105 he cannot swindle me out of all of my millions...yeah right!
I must say tho, when I purchase this T-shirt, I may be taking things a little too far.....

Tho you must admit, wearing it could be interesting (okay...get your minds out of the gutter!)

I started another cross stitch.....sorry! It's just a little one and it goes with the forum I'm in also....so it's okay! I have been wanting to try a Brittercup Design ever since I saw them. I love working this....


I would like to make three Brittercup ornaments for my dogs and one for my cat. Something about the simple design I just love. I just started this one and it's working up so fast.

Last, I think I'll leave you with a little quiz I found on Anne's blog. (if this didn't link for you before...try it again...I fixed it...sorry!)

You Should Paint Your Room Blue

Peaceful and soothing, blue rooms have been known to reduce blood pressure. Your blue room will encourage deep rest and great sleep. A blue room is the perfect oasis for a stressful life.

What Color Should You Paint Your Room?

So, till next time, yinz guys.....(keep those comments coming...5 days to go!)

Lots to show yinz guys!

Okay, we all can agree that pay day is a good thing.....but you want to know what is even better? When the bank you take your check to is two doors down from the cross stitch shop. (if there was a yarn shop across the street also, I'd be in BIG trouble) Anyway, the magnetic forces that control the universe, pulled me into the shop after I cashed my check....I tried to stop them but it was useless. So reluctantly I entered.....Donna, the shop owner, knows me by name (of course) so I looked for something to buy....just felt like buying something. So I came up with this....

The two magazines were only $ .25 each and there was at least one pattern in each I liked.
The reason for the fireman's prayer was that I would like to do two cross stitches for some wonderful people (whose name I shall not mention in case they read this). One would be this prayer and the other would be this truck.......

A lady at work gave me a copy of this one. Now I'm not needing to finish either till like next Christmas, but it never hurts to be prepared, right?
Today, I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got this nice stash. (thought I didn't crochet or knit anymore didn't ya....WRONG!!)

Sweetie Man's daughter will be leaving for Afghanastan next week and when asked what she would like us to send her homemade, she said slippers and blankets. I got one slipper done.

I plan on making about three pairs in different shades she requested. This pattern is so easy....it's Bev's Quick and Easy Slippers. I love them and have made a few pairs already for myself and others. She requested certain colors as you can see. The fleece will be made into a blanket somewhat like I did when I crocheted this one for Project Linus....
Going back to cross stitch, did you ever look for anything in your house and became obsessed with finding it just cause you know it's somewhere in the house whether you need it or not right now? I did with this pattern book...

I knew I had it and I truly could not find it on the internet except for one lady on ebay. It has these cute little egg ornaments that are cross stitched. The book is dated from 1990 and I think there was another one also, but I never saw it.
In the process of looking for the egg book I came across this cross stitch I started 14 or 15 years ago.

Isn't precious.....especially now since my son is 19 years old. I will finish it someday just cause it's so sweet.
Oh, and I also got the backing for the Kitty List flat fold finishing.

Thank you so much to all of you who hooked me up with a site on the "how to's"! Can't wait to do it. I'll post the pics of the finished product.

This next cross stitch wasn't on my to do list, but I got it last year and I've always wanted to finish it. I don't know about you but I usually like to have a few projects going at one time that way I don't get bored. I felt like working on something small last night so I picked this up and stitched a bit.

And look what I got in the mail from Paperback Swap. (see sidebar) I forgot I had this on my wish list over there and it came up. Just a bunch of feel-good stories.

Oh, and not to completely freak you out...BUT we caught another mouse. This one wasn't so full of blood and guts.....I think the trap broke his butt!

Well, I think I've bored you enough so I'm going go do something crafty and wait for the chili and corn bread to be done that the Sweetie Man is cooking up now (the house smells delish!) Hoped you enjoyed all my stuff......so till next time, yinz guys.....(don't forget those comments....not too much time left for the Blogiversary Contest!)

EEEEEK....A MOUSE!!!!!!

Ok, I know all you CYBER-ADDICTS are thinking this....

BUT IT WASN'T!!!!! IT WAS THIS.............................

A true honest to goodness bonafide HOUSE MOUSE.....IN MY HOUSE!!!!!! But thanks to the bravery of my older dog Katey (who everyone in my house makes fun of cause she licks walls) this mouse is now in MOUSY HEAVEN!! You Go Katey....that's my Girl (gave her 2 pieces of jumbo aka bologna for finding it)!!!
It seems that my son claimed he saw a mouse one night in the kitchen of which I've never seen one in the kitchen. Many years ago before animals roamed my yard, there were a few in the cellar (aka basement). We have a very old house and there are little crevises and such were one such rodent might enter. Anyway, this one was in the kitchen. Needless to say, I was not going to be a part of any rodent scaring the beegeebers out of me when I least expected it. I love animals of all kinds......but mice running rampant in my house are not part of "kinds"! I promptly went to Walmart and purchased as many of these as I could....

Okay...I'm kidding, I actually purchase 6 of this little ditties that I've use with much success in the past.
Sweetie Man wanted to buy the poisoning stuff....I thought to myself, "this isn't a mouse picnic....I don't want to feed them.....I WANT THEM DEAD AND I WANT TO SEE THEM DEAD, not find them dead somewhere three years down the road." But I kindly said, "No, Sweetie, this will work much better and it is reusable provided there isn't much blood and guts on it!"

So I positioned six of these in my kitchen. The next day....nothing.....I did find mouse poop of which I promptly took out my strongest kitchen cleaning agent and scrubbed my kitchen down cause that really freaked me out...ugh!!! I repositioned the traps and also put a couple in the basement. Nothing! Then yesterday while washing clothes I heard a tiny, "squeek....squeek." I started to sing thinking it would scare it into hiding till I managed to run to the upstairs. I asked my son and his gal pal to assist me in checking out the basement for the squeek and they agreed...actually my son was excited cause it gave him the opportunity to scare us girls of which he did on the way to the cellar and we screamed (to make him feel good). Anyway, to make an even longer story short, I thought I would bring down my elder dog, Katey, just for the heck of it.....Well, sure enough she found the trap within seconds, which the mouse dragged about a yard away from where it was set and pulled it out for us!!! At that point I was standing on top of something to be sure my feet did not touch the floor. (actually I put snow boots on when I went down the cellar) Anyway, the bottom line is, we caught the mouse (my son said that it wasn't the one he saw ...I think he was just trying to freak me out again)...but the traps will remain in place either way for awhile. The trap unfortunately will not be reused as there was too much blood and guts on it (see previous paragraph)....I think he struggled for awhile on it....YUCKY!!!!! So, with that little story under my belt, I'll let you get on with your day.....till next time, yinz guys........

First 2007 Cross Stitch finish...

Well, I finished a cross stitch which is my first for 2007....

I used three strands on this and I wish I hadn't cause I really hate working with three strands of thread...I much prefer two strands. Anyway I had sent away for the threads on the cat.....Needle Necessities #147 terracotta. I think it gave kitty a nice little coat. I don't know how I'm going to finish it yet....I'm gonna investigate that. I did see where some people finished little pictures like this in a sorta tent form. I don't know the name of it or how they did it...but it wasn't in a frame and was free standing. If anyone knows, I'll listen. Last time a cross stitched I wasn't blogging or in any forums, so I'm learning all sorts of things.

I'm still working on my mastif and with the suggestions from other cross stitchers, I'm not continuing in the manner I was where I was doing ALL of one color then going to the next. I think that is what was messing me up. I'm going to work on one section at a time starting with the ear and working down.....I lose stitches the other way. Here's a pic of my progress.....

Obviously Christmas has passed so my neighbor won't get it then....but I'm sure I'll come up with some other date to give it to them.

And my JoAnn Fabrics gift card that was given to me by Santa Sweetie Man was burning a hole in my pocket so I splurged on some cross stitch stuff since that is what I've been doing more of with my crochet and knitting thrown inbetween. First I got some floss to fill in the spaces of my five boxes of floss I have now...

Then I bought some scrolls and a stand to hold my projects....I like this alot better than hoops.

With using coupons, I still have a wonderful $22.00 left over!! I think I done good!

So on this rainy rainy rainy (did I say it was raining!!!) weekend, I mostly cross stitched, played games with my son, the new gal pal, and Sweetie Man, cleaned up my cellar (aka basement to you non-Pittsburgh folks) and tonight I plan on finishing up my first crochet project for 2007....tho it isn't really that big of a project. Oh, and watching a new Wife Swap.....and tomorrow.....AMERICAN IDOL!!! WOO-HOO! The puppies are driving me a little bonkers being holed up in the house so much with all the rain....they are definately stir crazy! Hopefully things will get a little dryer in the next couple of days!

So, ladies (and gents) that's about it from Rainy Craft Central......till next time, yinz crazy guys...... (don't forget those comments for the Blogiversary surprise drawing!)

New year...new look!

As you can see I'm currently "under construction"! I wasn't really happy with my last look so I opted to change. It took alot of playing around but I came up with this RED HAT theme (ya know, wild and crazy gals 50 and over?) I'm also going to throw a little Maxine in the mix....she's hilarious! I was messing with my template and then decided to give the New Blogger stuff a try. I had switched to the New Blogger but never used their new Layout. I do have to tell you that once you get the idea as to what is going on, it's a heck of alot easier to make changes and add things. No more searching on your HTML template for the exact location of where to put things. And you can upload pics right to the sidebar rather than finding the url from Photobucket or whatever. Pretty slick! But whatever you do, "select, copy, and paste" your old blog to a disk or your documents in case things don't work out for you. I actually just took one of the already made templates from blogger and put in the colors I wanted and came up with this look. I'm pretty pleased with the results. You first need to go to your template and I think it's "customize design" or something like that. Then change your template (blogger said they will save your old one, but I still did a back up)....pick anyone really because you can change colors and fonts after you do. A screen will come up letting you do this. Then once all that is done your template will look like squares that you can drop and drag and edit individually. You will have to put back in things from your sidebar that's extra....blogs you read, pictures, etc.... JUST SAVE THAT OLD TEMPLATE SOMEWHERE IN CASE YOU MESS UP SOMETHING OR NEED TO FIND A URL FOR AN AVATAR OR WHATEVER. And preview before you save. So be patient as I add things and figure out where things go for now. And try it yourself....figuring out things like that is good for the brain cells...helps ya live longer! So, till next time, yinz crazy guys!

Have an obsession?

Anyone watch Good Morning America? Anyway, they posed this question which I thought was pretty good. Seems this lady had an obsession with makeup and was trying to go a week without using it...she did it but had alot of trouble. The question they posed was, "What could you NOT go without for one week?" Now I don't think they meant people or food items, tho they did mention coffee, but I'm gonna narrow it down and say NOT including food items or cigarettes. (cause no coffee with probably send me to the looney bin!) In my case I would have to say, CHAPSTICK....or lip balm or anything to make your lips moist. I happen to have it on me all the time plus in practically every room of the house. I do not leave the house without it in my pocket or purse. Have a couple sticks at work. Goes on first thing in the morning and last thing at night...sometimes even in the middle of the night if I get up for whatever reason. Even vaseline will do. I cannot stand to have dry feeling lips that you have to constantly lick. I probably swipe them every hour or so! With that said, tell me what you cannot go without for a week, be it a watch, earrings, makeup, brush, whatever.....this should be interesting. So, till next time, yinz crazy guys! (excuse me while I go moisten my lips)

A New Fangled Thingy Majig....

You're gonna love this. It's called Skip Stitch! It's a new little devise that puts holes where you want them, slick as a whistle! Bridgette, my coordinator from Project Linus sent it to me awhile back and I never really got the chance to mess with it till now. I love it.

It attaches to your rotary cutter and using your rotary mat, of course, it cuts these little slits in anything....in my case its fleece blankets so I can easily crochet around them for my Project Linus blankets.


I used a G hook and some worsted weight yarn and just did some single crochets around it. I love this thing.....heck of alot easier than hole punching like I used to. Now, I don't know who has them now but if you just google skip stitch I'm sure you'll find one if you are interested.

Next on my agenda, Tina from Timeless Creations saw that I was doing some cross stitching lately and was so nice to send me these books she didn't want anymore....thank you, TINA!
They are right up my alley. She also sent me a couple of skeins of floss and a nice piece of 16 ct. brown aida. I didn't show that cause I already started using it for this....


It's supposed to be a scissor fob but I'm going to use it as an ornament for Christmas. It's from the JCS 2006 Ornament book. I'm sorta liking the Quaker ornaments alot and this was one of them....tho it doesn't look exactly like the picture in the mag, I sorta gave my own twist to it. I need to know how to make my own cording with floss cause I really like the look of that around the ornaments too.
So, in addition to taking down outside decorations and watching football with the Sweetie Man this weekend, I was a busy crafty beaver. We were supposed to have a game night with my son's new gal pal, but that sorta fell through and we're gonna reschedule. But that's cool.
So, till next time, yinz crazy guys.....(leave those comments!)