Yarn Drapery and Flowers

After showing you the Curli-Q Flowery Scarf I finally finished, I mentioned I had thought of another idea for the little beauty besides having it all wrapped up around my lovely pink tulips!

Aren't these sooo beautiful?!  Absolutely spectacular!  And I LOVE to see them every time I walk through the house. 

These were actually a Valentine gift from all my sweeties.  I love flowers, but the kind that can grow and bloom and I can keep around for ages are the BEST!

So, on to my idea....  I'm sure it's been done many times before, but....

It just occurred to me how sweet it would be as a window topper!  So here is my very crude, rough trial of such idea.

I think it's lovely and WonDerFul!  Except that I would need to fashion it in a way to cover hardware and maybe make something fuller to give better coverage.  Oh my poor brain!  It's on yarny-flower overload with more ideas.

But you can see the simplicity of the idea and how it could work.  It's enough to get me excited anyway.

So then I felt the need for some spring slippers.  Well, actually I have had the need for some slippers as my old ones had expired and the floors are still cold here in the Hearthroom...  But I felt the need to make them spring-y.

I had this great spring green colored yarn to use.  Nothing says spring better than green, right?

And nothing says spring flowers better than a vivid pink, well, except hyacinth purple, but pink is what I had on hand.

The pattern that these are based on is Crochet Loafer Slippers in Vanna's Choice Heartfelt Gifts, but if you know me, I added and changed and embellished until my heart was content!

I added two rows of bobbles across the top of the foot and the scalloped edging around the sides.

And made little flowers in a deeper green with button centers to embellish my ties... 

So now if only wearing all this green on my feet will eventually reach my thumb!  Then maybe I will have a frilly and fabulous garden full of blooms this year!

Do you ever have those days when you just feel down or low?   When you're just kind of worn out from the everyday.  It's the everyday stuff of life that I truly love, my mundane tasks of keeping and loving this home and nurturing my littles and playing with pets...  I could go on...  But some weeks seem to go on and on without a break and tend to wear me down.  It seems I can go and go and take a lot and then run out of steam all at once.  It's inevitable.  I had a few of those low days and realized that is when I turn to my actual paper journal... Pen and paper journaling really help to get it out there and over with.  Well, it sorts things out at least.

So it just occurred to me that I wasn't posting here while I was feeling low.  I guess I have a tendency to believe that no one wants to hear me whine, lol!  So I keep it to myself in my paper place.  It's better off there, truly, but it just seemed that it wasn't very transparent of me not to put it here.  But oh I do have those days.

While I was doing the pen and paper journaling I was feeling very lifted up by the prettiness of these papers.  And I was realizing that as much as I am totally aware that one needs breaks from the routine and needs rest occasionally, I'm still not very good at requiring it of myself until I'm already over-done.

I found these papers while Young Man had a VERY important hiking/birthday event to attend last weekend.   Hubby and I went for a stroll in downtown Roanoke.  I happened to find this Cath Kidston stationery in one of the shops there called Chocolate Paper.  It's fabulously cheery stationery and it's from a superbly delicious shop!  Oh, the change of scenery was so good, as was the time with Hubby and Sweet P.  Well, Sweet P. made it a bit of a challenge to be in a shop named Chocolate Paper, if you can imagine, but over all it was WonDerFul.

So, I'm all sorted out for now, lol!  And I'm excited to say I have this lovely, uplifting paper to share with the family and friends I write to.  But for now I just continue to look at it and feel inspired by it.  I'm thinking of  covering a journal with some of it. 

And on to other hooky projects, of course.  I need to go check my Hooky Inspiration Journal and see what grabs me next!  I really do need to make some curtains, but am thinking about making some valances for Young Man's room.  I just need to make sure they look very guy-ish... 

I'll go work on that!

Happy Yarn Time!

xoxo



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. 



A Few Things Done...

Hey Friends!  What's up with you today?  Happy Friday to ya from the Hearthroom!

It's been a fairly good week here, although it seems to have sped by so quickly, whew!  In all the flurry of activity that has taken place here I have somehow managed to get a few things done so pardon me while I celebrate...

Done thing(s) #1:

Yay!  Aren't they cute?  Yep, Sweet P still hates them...  She's obsessed with headbands at the mo, so I'll hold out hope, but I tell ya, I'm done trying to accessorize that girl.  I'm going back to making her clothes instead.  She does enough accessorizing on her own anyway.  Hubby loves it when she's found in my closet...  Wearing my shoes and handbags that are way too big for her, but she thinks she's larger than life!

Pardon my lack of light.  If you've been to the Hearthroom before, you know...

 

In the process of reorganizing things I have dug up something of a collection of buttons and beads from various jewelry making and sewing endeavors, so they came in handy here.

I do love those ladybugs!  What is it about ladybugs and little girls?  They just seem to go together.

So on to Done thing #2:

You know the little baby 'giant' granny I mentioned?  All done.  Check!

Sorry, I can't show it in all it's glory since it's supposed to be a surprise.  So I really hope a certain someone isn't spending too much time in blog land...

Done thing #3:

Honey Oat Bread...  Aahhh.  I do love fresh bread.  Way too much in fact.  Especially since I'm trying to be good (sort of ) and running and all, this is really the last thing I needed to make.  Oh well.  It's wonderful.  Lovin' from the oven.  We ran our second mile last night with Young Man.  Headed out right after this post for mile 3!

This is not something that's 'done' but I've been needing to make some lists and organize various things so I pulled out some of the notebooks and journals I've had tucked away.  I've always had such a thing for stationery.  I just love it.  So I'm thinking the above notebooks need a little crochet action.  What do you think?

And then I have this beauty:  Made by a lovely, talented crafty friend, I've kept this stashed away because I haven't wanted to ruin it, lol.  I've got to use this one for something special.

And this fabulous journal, will you believe it if I told you this cover is actually removable?  So I can write and doodle until my heart's content and then I can take this great cover off and place it onto another journal.  This was another gift from a very talented, (very), crafty friend.  

So as I organize my thoughts into lists and plans and make use of some of these lovely journals I was thinking I may need to make some covered journals, or journal covers, of my own....  My brain is chock full of ideas!  It's funny too that I came across a blog post the other day all about journals and lists over at HearthandmadeUK with some great ideas. 

And then if you actually want to make your very own journal out of a vintage book, you MUST see this tutorial at Homespun Living.   

And then for all you stationery and letter writing lovers out there, guess what I came across yesterday?  A letter writing challenge.  Well it doesn't have to be a letter.  It could be a postcard or a note, etc. 

Just click on the image for the link.  You'll enjoy it!  Come trade some good old fashioned snail mail with us.  In fact, if you would like to receive a little note from the Hearthroom, just leave me a comment with a way to get something to you!  I have about 20 spots or so left.

I had to show you some kitty love on the way out.  Meet Fritz and Ginger.  Fritz is just a love lump and Ginger is just one of the best girls.

So you will NOT believe the CRAZY idea that has popped into my head about what I have to try and crochet.  Yes, the Ripple will be restarted first and then the bright pink yarn, but then I have to try something that is probably fairly ridiculous, but hey, it will be worth it if I can do it!  I've got to go jot down my idea(s) while they are fresh.  I feel like I'm forgetting to tell ya something, but this post is long enough as is!   Gotta go!

Love, love!