Cards

My friend Sharon has a "MUG PARTY" at Christmas-time every year and this year I made the invites; which was so much fun. Its like a XMAS gift exchange but the rule is the gift has to be a coffee mug stuffed with stuff. Its a blast.

Anyone who knows me knows I love making cards - in fact I have been known to give a bundle of assorted cards as a gift. I am sometimes a bit unsure about giving them as gifts - but so far they are a hit. Everyone loves them! Its a good tip if you are a scrapper with lots of materials but low on funds (who isn't) at Christmas or B-day time - whip up some cards, or a small album for a gift. Those kinds of thoughtful gifts go a long way :)

No-Knit Scarf

Tessah and I are working on Christmas presents for some of our loved ones this year, its a tradition for us to give handmade gifts. She is a great little "crochet-er" so we crocheted long (140 inches) strings of funky yarn and then tie together in these cool scarves. This is our first one - We were both pretty happy with the finished product. And I am teaching her to be ever the bargain shopper - the yarn was on sale at JoAnn's for $1 per skein - regularly $5.99. I bought 5 skeins - but it only took 4 skeins to make it - not too shabby $4.00 for a scarf. And its made with LOVE - plus we had fun :) She also thought it was pretty cool that she had to teach me to crochet AND she was WAY faster than me! Hopefully the loved one for which this gift is intended will forget to check my blog until after the holidays :) XOXOX

For my Little Princess

I promised my niece, Indiya, a trick-or-treat bag - and she came with me to pick out the fabrics - so its Halloween on one side and her favorite thing on the other...princesses for a princess. And she SO is! (See picture below for proof!!!!)

Happy Halloween!!!!

The kids love it when we decorate for the holidays.
Halloween is one of my faves! Here's a peek.

Adding more color to my life....

As I mentioned before - my bud Rachel gave me some free paint... One was a pint of green (used under the bar) The other -a pint of orange (I haven't used it yet) And finally a whole gallon of "Ripe Banana." I held onto this a while until I finally just dove in and took the gamble with such a bright color. I chose to only paint one wall...because that's all the paint I had :) I think it works. And I think it will be great during our dark winters.

The living room wall before.....BLAH!



And after.....Wa -Lah! I love it. The clock by the way was crafted by me.. the kit that makes up the motor and hands, broke, so I have to order another one...can't get it anywhere in Alaska. The scarf was a gift, again from my friend Rachel - she picked it up while in Ethiopia. The rod I used was a bathroom towel rack I got on clearance at Fred Meyer for 4 bucks. All in all a pretty cheap "lift" to an otherwise boring room.

A view out my window

This is the view I had out the computer room window this morning! I really do love Alaska.

Another Schlep Bag

I made another schlep bag. This one for my friend, Candy, in her sorority colors. I added the patches of the sorority's letters and symbol...I thought it came out pretty cool. What do you think?