Swap Ornament Love 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who doesn't love a little airmail?  I have to admit it is so exciting to receive something special from far away!  I was so happy to open this little package, knowing a handmade goodie was waiting inside.

 

I'm talking about the ornament I received from Ornament Swap 2012, of course. 

 

This amazing ornament was made by Peta from Just Crafting My Day Away.  You can see more about how she made this on her blog.  And once you are there looking at her gorgeous stars you will definitely want to stay and visit around her other posts.  She has a wonderful blog full of happy colors and good things.  I can't wait to go visit again myself!

 

So, I'm absolutely in LOVE with this beauty of an ornament and and it seems very happy hanging on the Hearth Room's Christmas tree. 

 

Now I need to make a little note to attach to it so I will always remember whose hands made this and  from where it came. 

 

Handmade is special.  And I'm so thankful for this neat blogging community that shares their goodies with the world.  It's such a fun and amazing way to connect with others.  And that's what made it possible for me to have this sweet star from Australia sitting in my Hearth Room. 

 

I'm grateful.

 

Thanks, Peta...  And thanks, Christina, for making this swap possible!

 

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Blogtoberfest Attempt

 

Well, do I really think I will find the time to post daily for this month?

 

I certainly look forward to the challenge.

 

 

Of course I'm a day late.  I just read about this last night as I was already crawling towards bed.  I had a crazy thought that I'd crawl back out to the Hearth Room and do a quick post to be 'official' and everything, but the thought left as quickly as it came.

 

Thank goodness I had some sense about me last night.

 

Now it seems all good sense is gone, as this morning I think I'm going to find time to post in a somewhat gracious manner each day this month...

 

Well, they may be quick, short posts, but I will try.  I'm hoping to find that I can post more often in my normal daily life by taking just a few minutes to journal about my day or what I've been working on.  And I really look forward to reading and supporting some of the other bloggy folks who are participating.

 

Hey, maybe I'll come back later for an actual October 2nd post, as this one should have happened yesterday!

 

See you soon!



Thank You for You!

I thought these bright, sunshine-y faces were perfect for celebrating YOU dear ifriends.

It seems recently there have been a number of things that have been hard emotionally.  Family and friends are a tremendous blessing, but those relationships can also hurt the most because they are the closest to you.  And then there are the acquaintances, you know...  The folks you're really not close to, but end up in close proximity with. 

 I could say I've been learning a lot about myself recently, but in truth, it's not that I've learned anything new, but how much I have confirmed about myself.  Yep, even at this 'I-ought-to-know-better-age' of 40-something, the things that I have always found to be hurtful and have gone through life self-protecting from haven't changed. 

I must say that I have a few dear friends that I treasure and I look forward to taking on with me through life's adventures.  You know who you are!   I have known you for years now through work and play and even through our internet connections.  Yep, I said it:  Internet.  I have met some of the most genuine and caring friends online.  Also, some of my internet 'acquaintances' have been so very kind and supportive and these are folks I really don't 'know' at all. 

I really, truly appreciate genuine people, courtesy for others, the value of a kind word, the act of taking just a minute to respond to someone you may barely know... Folks who are connected to life deeply enough to recognize that people need community and that the minute you take to smile or just say hi may change someone's day.  I hope I can always include myself in that category.

In contrast, there are people you may see face to face each day that you cannot connect with, some of the most insincere people.  No matter what dose of courtesy you pour out to them, it goes unrecognized or unappreciated.  It's not my intention to dwell on the negative, but to show the contrast between the two.  My Dear Readers and Friends, YOU SHINE! 

Providing common courtesy and reaching out in friendship to those that don't want it has made me tremendously sad recently, (just ask Hubby).  So I will continue on with protecting myself from some situations.  I will continue to look forward to making new genuine friends, both in person and online.  And I will continue to appreciate the kindness I have found in you, my reader friends, the bloggers I visit often, and so many of the creative and inspirational folks whose paths I cross. 

You Rock! 

And you are always welcome to come here and chat and know that I appreciate you.

xoxo



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



A Hearthroom Anniversary Weekend

Yep, Saturday marked my first year of blogging.  I've enjoyed having this little space.  It may not be chock full of brilliance, but I've enjoyed writing about some of my days and making memories in a place we can look back and enjoy later.  I enjoy being here so friends, old and new,(you know how old you are!), can stop by and see what's happening here.  I so look forward to seeing how this little blog space will change and grow.  And I'm so excited about the new friends I'll meet, too!

This sweet little donut came from one of our FAVorite shops called Blue Collar Joes.  We love to pop over there and indulge our cravings whenever we find a little something to celebrate!  And we will celebrate almost anything here in the Hearthroom!   Check out their website and you'll see why! 

So, since Saturday was my Bloggy Anniversary you would think I would have written some elaborate post, but instead I was out enjoying a much needed 'girls day' with my dear Elite Runner Friend.  Did we run?  No, silly, of course NOT!  She had her lovely little bistro table set with cups AND SAUCERS...  She had the best quiche and muffins and rich coffee.  Aahhhh.  Have I mentioned that she also announced to me that she wants to LEARN TO CROCHET!!!!  That is me up there dancing on the tables, celebrating!  Wooo Hoooo!  Just kidding.   And what do you think inspired her?  Me, you say?  Nope...  It was Austentacious Crochet.  Have you seen this book?  It is absolutely beautiful and I can totally see why that got to her.  She wants to make everything in that book, I think.  Well, I do too, so it's going to work out perfectly.  Another Aaahhhh...  So it looks like we will be having some very wonderful Crochet Camp days here in the Hearthroom very soon.  Yay!  So after our brunch we had plans to drive up to a local mountain resort for a bit of a change of scenery and some relaxation - girl style.

Yes we did....  We had our toes done.  Now we are not extravagant people by any means and it does feel a bit selfish to enjoy such a thing as having one's feet pampered and painted, but it's kind of nice once in a while.  Actually, my favorite part is that each time I look down and see pretty colored toes I remember our day together.  Yes, those would be my chubby toes, lol. 

Speaking of crochet, I have vowed to finish the Curli-Q flowery scarf which has been sitting close by, feeling very neglected.  I do love it.  You know what happened?  I wasn't loving the colors.  Yep, that's how I am...  I know, it's a sad thing, but there you go. 

  But even worse is seeing that little basket of yarn sitting there feeling so neglected and unloved.   I can't have that, not at all! So I have been making flowers and will be finishing this very soon, I hope... Depending on my Little People, you see.

I think it's also a daunting task to imagine having to pin and block all those little leafy parts.  Isn't that the funniest thing about lots of us yarn lovers?  That we create and work along loving the process right up until the point when we have to actually finish the thing we have so loved creating.  Working in ends, blocking, snipping...  Time to put on my big girl panties and deal!  So hopefully I'll have a finished flowery scarf to post here and even better to WEAR!  Or gift... Hmmmm....

 

So just as we were embracing the thought of spring approaching and were beginning to plan on moving bulbs and tilling the garden, we finally received the gift of winter.  We LOVE winter and snow here in the Hearthroom.  We love to see the snow falling.  We love to be out in it and we love to sit snug and warm and watch it falling with great anticipation.  Ooooo... the excitement!

Little hyacinths with a frosty layer of new snow - probably not as excited.

Sweet, cold daffies getting a sugar coating, too.  It's ok...  It's supposed to 60 degrees in two days!

 

Even Woody Woodson likes a little snow action!  Yes, he does.  He jumps very high in the air to catch a snowball if you'll take the time to toss one to him.  He's such a good boy.  Have you met Woody before? What a special guy.  So much so that our dog-sitter kind of doesn't want to give him back after we travel.  We try to share the Woody love best we can.  Without losing a pet of course!

I know all too well that many folks do not love this wintry stuff as much as we do, so I hope you had a good weekend where you are, snowy or not. 

I've got to go get crackin' on those little flowers now before the motivation wears off!  Not to mention, I'm really trying to get to some other yarny goodness!  I can't have a little flowery scarf come in the way of that!

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.