One Year

One year of blogging...  My anniversary is coming up quickly.  I can't believe it's been a year really.   

 Looking back through here I see that I definitely didn't post as often as I would have liked, but I knew time would be a factor since I had a really little person in the house.  And the Hearthroom doesn't show quite as much creativity as I would like to see either, but I feel like I have a ton of creative energy to pour into this space now.  Sweet P. is getting bigger and more independent.. ahem...  Which allows for unplanned bursts of creative energy here at the Hearthroom.    Not to mention the unplanned bursts of energy required to keep up with Sweet P.

I actually started blogging because I was so inspired by a select few others who blogged about their creative projects and creative processes, as well as the tidbits of their days that make their lives their own.  What I discovered was that the very things that soooo inspired me about these others folks were largely the very same things that were present in my days.  So as much as I absolutely keep reading up on the happenings of these fellow, crafty bloggers, I found it necessary to journal my own tidbits in an attempt to be inspired by what I do.  So after my year I look back and see a slow start to this journaling journey, but it's been a very positive thing for me so far.  One of the bonuses has been that I maintain perspective throughout my days and I even catch myself looking for the positive!  Yes, the positive!  I tend to be one of those people who sees and remembers the negative things in my days.  Good golly, like the laundry that's still not done and being tired from being up in the night and just not wanting to worry about what dinner will be, etc...  But this journaling process has changed the way I see things and I definitely look at things a bit differently.  An added bonus is finding wonderful folks to chat with and buy goodies from now and then, like the above package from Homespun Living. 

And when I make a little something I get excited about it as if I actually accomplished something great...  Now I know this is just a little crochet covered bottle, but hey, It's a new love of mine and there will probably be many more of them showcased here in the near future.  I have a beautiful blue bottle I can't wait to start crocheting for!  Problem is there is gin in that blue bottle and that sort of thing just takes time.  But seriously, I have been wanting some of those SUPER cute little bottles to use for wee little flowers, so when I discovered these little bottles with labels on them I decided to recycle them into my Wee Nip, Wee Little Flower Vases.  Adorable!  I think I need them sitting on every window sill in the house, but Sweet P. and glass shall not meet, so they will decorate mantels for now.

See it there on the mantel looking so cute??   Right beside my milk bottle which is very busy holding those scrappy little ends of yarn that I snip off my projects.  I do have a natural tendency to toss my little yarny scraps outdoors in the hopes that a little birdy will come along and snatch it up as a prize to use for very colorful nest building.  Then I was reading somewhere recently (anyone else?) about someone who kept her scrappy strings in a bowl because they look so beautiful or even used them as bookmarks and would leave them in the books that she returned to the library.  Fun ideas, sharing the yarn-love.

Please pardon my fake little Wee Flowers...  I was just so excited to see my recycled bottle crochet come to fruition that I searched for any little thing to pop in there until spring does her trick here.  Which isn't far off by the looks of all the green sprouty things coming up around the house.  Did you see what I found last year during this time?

Yes I am loving that little bottle and it looks particularly nice sitting beside this framed crochet fabric I made for Sweet P,  Another new addiction of mine...  At least they all seem to center around yarn!  Sweet P. has a few hair accessories and even though she does not wear them (hopeful...) she does still need a place to stow them!  So I came across this lovely idea years ago and it's been in my Project Notebook ever since.  I believe the idea is to have a place to quickly hang one's jewelry, but hey, who needs to hang anything?  This is just so gorgeous - to frame a piece of crochet and hang it on a wall. 

I'm just so smitten with the idea that I want to make a large one to use as an inspirational board.  A very elegant place to pin my ideas and the sweet note cards I receive in the mail, etc.  Of course, this one is all dolled up for the girlie's room, flutter-by and all!

Here it is with her barrettes safely at home.  Now just to get Hubby to hang it in Sweet P.'s room.

I'm in no hurry really.  I kinda do like seeing it when I walk through the house.  Maybe when I need the space for that blue bottle we'll get to hanging it up!

So I've been scarving

And I've been Rippling....  Yes, it LIVES!  You know I ripped it ALL completely OUT.  Well, it's back and although I'm still more of a color scheme kinda girl, I decided to play nice and use the crazy stripey method I had going and just finish the thing.  Not that it's anywhere near being finished, but it's going along.  Besides, this yarn is so soft I really can't wait to cuddle up in it.

Do you see this?  Yep, she put it on...  Twice...

She's coming around to her Mama's yarny ways after all.

Axle...  Young Man's kitty who has graced this blog before and probably will again.  He is a good example of keeping perspective and finding the positive.  He's the naughtiest kitty I've ever had the pleasure of living with.  So catching him during good behavior is rare, but the important thing is that I noticed him being good.  Rather than tossing him out the backdoor or sending him to the basement for any number of offenses, I spotted him simply sunning himself.  See, this blogging is a good thing for me.  Axel is here to prove it.