52:6

We spent Saturday in Guelph visiting.  It was lovely, and it always makes me wonder why we don't have more days like that.  Maya took this picture of me, while I was trying to teach her how to play mario kart on the wii.  

I'll post more pictures of our visit this week. 

Currently...

... watching Rick Mercer on time shifting. (this show always makes me laugh)

... missing her tootsie since he is away at a conference until Friday afternoon.

... just finished dinner since I was working until 9.

... impressed that I even put together a healthy dinner at 9:30pm. (Chicken Cesar Salad - yum!)

... has something in her eye

... cold - its really quite snowy and slushy out.

... thinking of working on my wild thing quilt after the mercer report - maybe.

... wondering if tomorrow will be better at work then today.

... has a very messy kitchen and should probably clean it, but most likely won't tonight.

... waiting for the weekend so I can visit with my girls friends and hang out.

And just cause a think every post need a picture ...a few shots from our trip to the science center this weekend with my sis and sean.  We went to see the Body Works exhibit and it was soo great!  Long day but worth it.

January Crafty Review

Okay goal was to finish one crafty project a month - check.  Actually this month I'm an over-achiever.

Completed projects:

- 1 chunky hat for me (started in December, but finished 1st week of Jan, please ignore ridiculous looking smile on my face)

- 1 chunky ponytail hat for a friend going to the Olympics! 

- 1 fabric yarn basket for my knitting swap pal

- 1 pair of silky mitts (started eons ago, but finally finished up)

I also started a new project tonight hopefully to be finished by end of Feb, if not middle of March.  It's the Wild Thing quilt by Thimble Blossoms.  And already loving the way the blocks are going to look.  I'm using 2 charm packs of blossom by Urban Chicks for Moda.  I'm hoping the squares go together quickly. 

Alrighty, making a tea and heading to bed.

52:5

Heading home from Montreal on Friday.  Very long day of meetings and traveling.  But tasty chicken sandwich and pasta snack on the way home.

Long day

Crappy day at work (which went until 7pm) followed by:

- back massage

- eye brow waxing

- shopping for new "meeting" outfit for Friday

- getting new books from Chapters for free thanks to using a gift certificate from my best-est friend.

- dinner at mc'ds with my tootsie

- baked a cake for my assistants birthday tomorrow (chocolate with vanilla icing and coloured sprinkles!)

- quick blog update

- Cup of tea and into bed with new book

 

Overall the evening turned out to be not so bad.  Busy Busy day again tomorrow and Montreal for meetings on Friday - come on weekend!

Note to Self

Start using tags/ labels in posts to easy reference things later in the year. Also I think it will allow me to see what I've been blogging about all year.

that's it. Happy Sunday.

52:4

Floor view of our spare room my craft room.

After spending last week cleaning and putting everything in a neat and tidy order, during the week I destroyed it looking for something.  Good news I found it.  I have been contemplating cleaning it up and working on my mint green quilt but this was about as far as I got. 

Thankful for...

...the couple playing "you are my sunshine" at the subway this morning on the violin.

...receiving Better Homes and Gardens Feb issue and the Knit Picks catalog the same day.

...staying late at work on Monday to make the rest of the week more manageable.

...dollars matching on my spreadsheet (blocking chart) the first time!

...watching tiny snowflakes in the air, then walking home to see the snow covered ground :)

...for the best girlfriends ever.

...for finding a great quilt pattern on sale for a limited time. :) 

...for $15 dollar yoga pants @ Old Navy.

...for being able to afford not-necessarily-needed yoga pants while still saving for a house (even if they were only $15.00!)

...the new vinyl 95.3 radio station.

...Finally paying off the last of my OSAP student loan, then turning around and getting a bank loan over lunch in less than an hour.

...finishing my second knitted hat in one month :)

New Year, New Challenges, New Beginnings

Okay, so its been a month since my last post and its already mid way through January - that doesn't mean I still can't make some goals for the new year - right?!

First off, had a great holiday, lots of traveling, lots of great stuff, lots of sleeping in and relaxing! I even have a few photos to share.

I'm going to challenge myself like last year but this year I'm increasing the stakes. I'm going to try and set 3 challenges: 2 weekly and 1 monthly goal. 

• Blog something at least once a week (Technically I've already missed the first week, but I understand that I won't always make this goal - I'm okay with that) 

• 1 Photo of myself (or something around me) each week.  I've been reading a lot more blogs lately, and a lot of people have jumped on the 365 day photo wagon.  I've always wanted to do this, but I know I'd just never be able to commit, however I saw Hazelnuts 52 Friday's Challenge to herself, and thought I could do that!  Although, I'm just going to aim to take one a week, not necessary on a Friday. 

 

52:1 - Happy New Year

52:2 - New Hat for Tim Cronin Memorial Hockey Tourny

52:3 - Blogging

• Make 1 crafty thing a month.  This shouldn't be that hard either.  Considering I'd like to make more this year, including more quilts :) I'm going to aim for one more then 2009 - for a total of *at least* four.  Shouldn't be hard with all the babies and weddings we have!  I was going to work on this tonight, but needed some quiet time in front of the computer instead.  I'll work on my project for my knit group swap partner tomorrow/Friday.

So we'll see how 2010 turns out.  So far not so bad, on top of these goals, I've also paid off the remainder of my OSAP loans - woo hoo!  And we are meeting next week with our financial adviser regarding savings for buying a house this year! I think its going to be a good year, with lots of excitement and crafty goodness!

Real Post

Here is my real post, that i was going to right in the placeholder spot, but if I leave it, it just looks like I made an effort to post even more.  Confused yet, lets move on shall we.

What a week.  I'm glad its Friday.  It started off crappy and most of the days stayed that way. But i've been *trying* to think positively and keep my chin up in the evenings. Monday I worked on making button templates and that is always lots of fun for me.  

On Tuesday, despite leaving work later then I had hoped, it was a good night.  Met some new people, had some baked brie and made buttons.  I keep forgetting to take a picture of the finished buttons I'll do that tomorrow. Wed night we had a work dinner at the Canadian Living test kitchens, we learned how to make sponge toffee and it was soo good.

Pauly and I went for dinner and a movie tonight - we deserved it. At least that's what we told ourselves as we were leaving our messy apartment.  We say "Everything's Fine" with Robert DeNiro - it was great and I highly recommend it.  

We don't have any big plans for tomorrow. I'm hoping to get my christmas quilt done - at least pinned and quilted.  I also need to finish paul's mom's gift and my sisters.  And a few secret gifts.  Its going to be a busy day.

ps - It FINALLY snowed here this week - it was a mess on wed - its started as snow, turned to rain, back to snow and then icy.  What a mess, and the winds have been crazy! I just about got blown away.  Two pics for you, one of the snow flurries outside my office window - what a great view I have.  An another one of me, all bundled up to battle the short walk to the subway.  I kinda look like an eskimo...lol

Place Holder

This is just a placeholder for a post i'm going to write later tonight (or early Saturday morning most likely).

But i just didn't want you to think i've disappeared again.  I'm here, we just decided we'd go out for dinner and a movie. :)

See you soon.

Busy but somewhat unproductive night ...

I originally thought I'd get lots done this week, but lets face it by the time work is done, I don't feel like doing anything!  Today was a pretty crummy day - which was disappointing since it was the first "official" snow fall of the year and I really didn't even get a chance to stare out the window and take it in. :(

But the good news is tonight has made up for the crummy day. Even though I didn't really do the "important" things on my to-do list I did work on button templates so I can whip up a whole bunch at the workroom tomorrow night.  I mean I think i'll probably end up making close to a hundred - or at least 50-75. But you really can never have too many buttons! 

Want to see some of the images? I'm on paul's computer so lets see if I can post from here. 

Aren't they just the cutest ever!!!

I also had a nice chat with my sis and cousin Michelle.  And even watched a bit of the Grinch with Jim Carrey.  All in all, the buttons totally cheered me up. Looking forward to making them tomorrow!  And I even got a post in!  Yeah for me.  Now seriously time for bed!

Crafting Catch Up

Alrighty, here we go - weeks of crafty goodness rolled up into one giant post!

Okay, so 3 weeks ago pauly and I took a week off (oh how i love holidays)  We started our holiday heading to Michigan to visit with paul's uncle.  We car pooled with his brother and sister in law - we had a great 3 days filled of mostly shopping! Got some great deals, and spent over an hour in Joanne's Fabrics - it was wonderful.

Once we got home, I had many crafty projects I wanted to work on.  #1 on the list though was a quilt for Dave and Erin's Wedding for November 21st.  Problem, we were away Monday and Tuesday, which left me 3 days to finish.   Good thing I do my best work under pressure and under deadlines.

I took pictures as I went along, and created this mosaic to showcase.   From piecing to pinning, to quilting to binding and the whole thing in a very clean living room.

I was so happy with the finished project - definitely one of my best.  I kinda didn't want to give it away. Luckly i'm working on one two for myself. :) And Dave and Erin loved it (I kinda made them open it before we left the wedding, cause I really wanted to see their reaction - I think they really liked it)

Do you wanna see the ones for me? I'll just assume you are saying yes.

This is going to be a lap quilt for cuddling on the couch.  I bought it as a kit last year at the creative festival - it was called mint chocolate chip.  The back is this velor-like green with brown polkadot fabric.

And this is my Christmas quilt.  I never thought I'd make a holiday quilt - I thought its a lot of time and effort for something that's only out on display for a few weeks, maybe months.  But this was just too easy, one big panel and two boarders.  I've been hung up all week on how to actually quilt it, tomorrow night I'm going to pin it and then just go with  the flow.  I have a few ideas, I think it will come to how I'm feeling at the moment. And to be honest, whatever is fastest, cause I really want to start using it this week!

Okay, on top of these 3 quilts, I made mom a quick little santa for her birthday (we had a surprise party for her last weekend) It was really quilt project - another kit from the creative festival - I really just glued all the pieces onto a wooden brush.

I also spent last Friday and Saturday baking cakes for the party.  It was not as pretty as I had hoped, and paul did the detail work, but it was yummy.

I've also been sewing Christmas gifts, which will remain a secret until i'm finished/ they are given, as you never know who is reading your secrets. ;o)

I think that brings us up to speed. It's been a busy weekend, shopping on Friday, 2 year olds birthday and hanging out with good friends on Saturday.  Slow cooker chili, brunch with my parents, finished up almost all of my Christmas shopping, baked 4 dozen cookies (okay i actually only baked 2 dozen, but the other 2 dozen are in the fridge, ready to be baked this week), did 2 loads of laundry, and I'm wrapping up the night watch my favourite sunday night shows (and oh what a GOOD night of TV) and blogging a massive post.

I think its time to shower and go to bed!

Clearly no time for updating

Okay, I will blame my lack of blogging on the fact that I've been spending my weekends resting (still getting over this bronchitis - which i *think* is almost gone!) and in between trying to sleep and coughing I've been a crafting mad women! 

I'm in the middle of baking Christmas cookies right now (I've been doing a lot of baking/ cooking in the last few weeks too) so I'm going to come back and post tonight while I'm watching TV on the couch.  I'll be able to update with lots of pictures - so  beware - giant post with lots of good pics are on the way.

Oh and just so you know, I'm working on a blog header, since for a "very curious crafter" this blog is lacking some creativity! Its on its way!

Quick Note

Just a quick note, cause I feel like I'm letting people myself down by not keeping this blog up.   I've been super sick for the last few weeks.  Before you ask - no I didn't not have H1N1 or any type of the flu.   It started with a regular sinus infection, that because I couldn't take time off work turned into bronchitis and a mild chest infection.  

I'm starting to feel much better though - which is good, cause my holidays start in T-3 days.  I have a hopefully final check up with the doctor in the morning. And hopefully all is cleared up - i'm sick of being sick!

In other news not much crafting has been happening.  I did manage to get most of the big long cabin quilt cut out and hopefully piecing will go really quickly since the entire thing needs to be done and wrapped up by November 21st.

We are heading to Michigan on Friday with Mark and Lisa to visit uncle Barry.  Looking forward to getting away and doing LOTS of shopping.  We are visiting a huge outlet mall and joanne's fabrics - that just happens to be having a big sale! I could come home with a lot more projects if i'm not careful!

Okay, its late, and i'm in a party dress (making sure it still fit for the upcoming wedding we have - its a bit tight, but i think i can still get away with it!) time for bed.