Drive-by post!

I've had a few people ask me to teach them how to crochet but they're not all close by....so....it makes it kinda hard.  :)  Luckily, one of my favorite bloggers is running a crochet school online during the month of October!  I know the basics but I'm still going to follow along as well!  Head over to CraftyMinx's Blog to see what you need to get started!  (btw - it is totally freeeeeee!)

I'm still alive!

I am out at the farm....and that means limited internet time & cell service.  Sorry!  We should be back regularly scheduled programming at some point.

In other news, it is icky cold & rainy here, which means rolled up jeans and skimmer shoes (and a peek of a tattoo....)

Insomnia = Tote Makin'

My momma and I are supposed to have a yard sale this weekend (hey, Mother Nature, I need that 40% chance of rain to go down a bit....).  In addition to selling stuff I've literally moved four times and not unpacked among other stuff, I'm going to be selling some of my crafty bits.  I'm taking my cozies of course (even some that haven't made their way to Etsy at all yet...) but I'm also taking my pillow case totes.  These are the two that I made tonight.  If they don't sell and get posted to Etsy then the yellow one will be named Bloomin' Sunshine and the white one with flowers (probably my favorite....) will be Posey Shopper.  Do you like them?  I'm interested in hearing what you all think!

New obsession?

Fabric scrap packs from Etsy.  Now what should I make? 

City life.

I really love downtown's skyline and stuff.....

Random driving pictures.....

I took all of these on a road by my parent's farm...so pretty, right?  I can't believe fall is just around the corner and these trees will be bare soon!  (Ps- ignore my dirty jeep windows, mmmmk? ;) )

My love.

Score!

It is no surprise that I'm a fabric whore.  I'm also a yarn whore.  I love it all.  :)  Well here are a couple of pics of what I've picked up this weekend....

1. Fabric Jelly Rolls.  Have you heard of them?  They're kinda awesome for girls like me that don't have a large cutting area.  They usually come in widths of 2.5 inches and lengths of anywhere from 22 inches to 44 inches.  I found these at JoAnn's on clearance for like $7 each.  I'm so in love with the tangerine and blue combination!  I've been wanting to do a Rail Fence top for the longest time and these are too perfect! 

2. As a fabric whore, I have a few designers that I just love....Amy Butler, Riley Blake, Michael Miller....and Alexander Henry.  This is AH!  I've been obsessing over LARGE flower prints lately.  I love the colors in this print!  Do I have any idea what to do with it?  Nope, but I walked around the store for over an hour & came back to this print probably five times, then when I took it to the cutting counter this piece was tucked into the bolt like it was meant for me.  I had to get it. 

3. I've been told to go thrifting by a handful of people....well, I finally went to the Goodwill with my momma.  I was slightly....um, underwhelmed?  I did pick up these pillowcases....at $1 a piece.  At that price & lack of selection, I will probably stick with yard sales & estate sales for my pillow case/sheet purchases.  These will become some totes for Etsy this weekend :)

Bookworm Wednesday (v.15)

So I totally forgot yesterday was Wednesday.  Oops!  That's what I get when I ignore my my planner for a few days.....

Anywhoooo my momma & I have been on the lookout for the book The Help because we both wanted to read it but neither of us spend too much on paperbacks.  Yes, we are kinda cheap sometimes, but I can't see spending like $16 on a single *paperback* fiction book.  Well, dad finally found it for $10 and bought it for us (I know, my dad is kinda way awesome....).  Well, I haven't read it because my mom wanted to read it first so I just got it yesterday but I've heard great things about it!  Have you read it?  What did you think?

Adult Eyes.

Yesterday was definitely a day of reflection.  Unfortunately it was reflecting on a hugely tragic event that has unequivocally changed our country.  I tried to avoid the mass amounts coverage of the whole situation, I tried to not read the multiple blog posts about it, but I'm drawn to them more than the news stories.  I'm not sure why, but most likely because had those events not happened, a large number of the people that I care about would not be involved in a war that has so severely divided my beloved country.

Ten years ago, I was a young teenager in my junior year of high school.  That morning, I had no clue what happened.  Not a single clue, none of my teachers even mentioned that something happened.  The first time I even heard an inkling of it all was when my friend Ashley came to our lunch table and said that her mom called and told her that there had been some major things going on and that we should all go straight home after school.  All of us.  Then we all pushed it out of our minds and it wasn't mentioned again for the rest of the school day.  That afternoon, my boyfriend at the time, Jacob, picked me up like always and we headed out for our usual afternoon activities of me doing my homework, going to dinner, etc.  He filled me in on what he knew but it wasn't much as he worked nights and had been asleep nearly all morning/early afternoon.  We headed back to my house and he turned on the news while I worked on a homework assignment for my chem class, I think.  I wasn't paying attention to the news, chem was my hardest class ever, I had to focus.  What I saw was disturbing, but hell, I was in middle of nowhere Ohio and was so....unaffected...by it all.  To a teenager, if it wasn't happening to me, it wasn't really happening.  I could put it out of my mind.  That is until we met Jacob's dad for dinner.  He quickly brought the situation home when he started talking about local army bases and airfields coming together in case this terrorist attack got worse and came farther into the country.  He mentioned how close we were to Rickenbacker and other such places, how we could easily be on the list for an attack as well.   These things made me think, but I was still far enough away from the situation that it was hard for me to comprehend how I should react, how I should deal with what was going on.  I didn't understand how this would change this country, how it would ultimately change me.  That night when I got home, I sat with my dad and watched the news, watched how he reacted.  This man, my father, a soldier himself in what felt like a whole other life, how would he react to such a brazen attack on this nation?  He reacted with anger, sadness, and so many other complex emotions that I felt tinges of, but didn't really know what to do with at the time. 

Cut to today.  I recorded the 102 Minutes documentary thing that aired on a bunch of networks yesterday morning.  It took me well over 24 hours to get the nerve to watch it.  A lot of it is quite similar to the news stories I remember watching in the days after 9/11, but now I watch it with adult eyes.  Eyes that know the outcome - an outcome that includes seeing a soldier's funeral for a friend and frightening phone calls about another soldier friend hit by a bomb in a sandy country so very far away from home.  Eyes that know the majority of those firemen you see going in, aren't going to come out - a fact that absolutely breaks my heart because I know my brother the fireman would absolutely be in those buildings trying to get people out just as it would come down around him.  Eyes that know that there are people jumping from 100 stories up because they thought that was better than where they were - a fact that will haunt me and will undoubtedly change how I decide things in my life.  I am, without a doubt, a different person now than I was then.  A person changed by a situation that happened so many miles away that I thought wouldn't affect me anywhere near as much as it did. 

My heart will always break each and every time I hear about September 11th.  It breaks for everyone on the planes, frightened and trying to figure out what to do.  For everyone in the buildings, watching and unable to change their fate.  For every single EMT and fire fighter and police officer that responded, the ones that never got to say goodbye and the ones that were missing for days and the ones that finally made it home, scarred and broken forever.  For every single person in the streets watching what what was happening, not understanding or knowing how to help or where to find safety in such chaos.  For every single 911 operator that told people to stay in their offices and wait for people to come to them only to find out that their instructions were not the right ones.  For every single news person that had to bring such horrendous news to us.  My heart breaks and weeps for people I will never meet, people that are more broken and hurt than me, people that I will never forget. 

Crafting. Again.

So, I printed out a bunch of embroidery patterns a few days ago (and bookmarked a TON today!) that I've been itching to work up.  Some of them are listed as embroidery patterns....some aren't.  I can usually do up just about any line drawing provided there doesn't have to be shading involved.  For instance, today I bookmarked an old dress pattern design, quite a few henna designs, some tattoo flash, and so much more!  I love this design that I just started tonight.  It reminds me of my business cards for Scarlett Key so at some point it may turn into part of my banner on Etsy.

Hope everyone had a delightful weekend!

Leaving on a jet plane.....

.....or in a Jeep.  :)
I'm reorganizing/cleaning/packing.  Again.  Yep.  Super pumped, can't ya tell?  I think I'd be more excited if I had something to look forward to this time.  The hardest thing to decide though?  Which crafts to take with me.  This time I'm taking: my project for Haley (hoping to finish it asap!), some more cozies for Etsy, and some embroidery.  I'm planning on sewing once I get back to town, so I will finally be posting the pillowcase totes on Scarlett Key.  They sew up pretty quick so that's a plus.  Oh!  That reminds me!  I need help rewriting my Scarlett Key descriptions and all that jazz, wanna help? 

Another hard part?  I'm leaving El at the farm.  I know I rant and rave about the beast, but it totally makes me sad & throws me off completely to be away from him.  Yes, we do have a very unnatural relationship.  But, really, how could I not when he has these cute moments?

Bookworm Wednesday! (V.15)

Sometimes I like small books.  As in size - little, short, fat books that I can throw in a purse for whatever waiting time I might have that day (I think this is why I'm drawn to the Nook but I just can't give up my paper & ink quite yet.)

Morgan's Run is written by the same person that wrote The Thorn Birds and The Touch.  If you love romance & a bit of adventure then all of these are for you.  Did you know that Australia was originally populated via British prisoners?  Well, Morgan is just such a guy & gets sent down there.  From her descriptions of the boat trip to the way she explains the plight of the men there, Colleen proves she has a way with words.  And they're words you want to get lost in.

Atonement is all about forgiveness, giving it & not giving it.  I generally don't forgive people for major things,but the characters here have to to move on with their lives....they just don't realize that until after a World War.  Sounds intense?  It kinda is. 

Seducing an Angel is part of a series but the great thing about Mary's series books are that they can all stand alone.  This series is about a family of three (?) girls and a boy that have lost their parents & are struggling to make it until they find they are to inherit a *large* sum of money & titles.  Each book takes on the story of one of the kids....this one is Stephen's story & how he goes after someone that his sisters aren't sure is the right one.  I must admit that when I had my knee surgery a few years ago, I was literally reading one romance novel a day because I couldn't get out of bed, this is how I found this author & I just love her, she's my got-to for quick, trashy romance novels.

Selfish.

Yep.  That's me right now & it isn't a good color on me at all.  But, I don't know how to change it.  How do you deal with situations that you want to be selfish but know you shouldn't?