Simply Ande

Computer/Camera Headache!

2011-08-27T14:08:00.000-04:00

I have so many blog posts and items I wish I could share with you. I've been so inspired by fellow artists in the last few weeks that I have been drawing & painting more than I have in such a long time. The communities I have joined are so encouraging and friendly. I love how non-judgmental everyone is. You see, it doesn't matter if your creations are not perfect, or that you are not that great at drawing or painting, just as long as you open up your heart and try. That's something special to me. I highly recommend anyone who loves to be creative, draw/ doodle, paint, journal etc to visit Wild Precious Studios. I promise you, you will be welcomed with open arms and encouraged beyond belief.

Which leaves me to my headache/frustration.... Because I have been so inspired & encouraged I have many sketches and journal entries that I want to share. Along with a few crochet projects that I have been working on as well. Unfortunately my computer and camera have decided to disagree, apparently they no longer see eye to eye. Every time I plug in my digital camera, or web camera into my usb's of my computer, the computer pops up a message saying that the usb drive can not be recognized. I have restored the computer, googled for troubleshooting, and re-install the software but still no changes. I am losing patience and seriously have no idea what to do to get them to work again :( Crazy as it sounds the only real answer I have been able to find with googling is unplugging my laptop and shutting it down for a few hours, then plugging it back in.. apparently this is a solution. For me however, no such luck. If anyone happens to have a real solution to this problem, please please please let me know. I would really love to share my creations, and create a few videos. I also need my camera to cooperate with my computer so I can list new items in my shop.

I also want to say that today I am saying a prayer and holding my breath for those in the direct path of Hurricane Irene. Luckily she is losing gusto but she is still a massive storm hell bent on making her presence known and leaving her mark of destruction behind. Not that it's much but as a person who has been in these types of storms before I can say that after she leaves, the skies will clear, and it will be one of the most beautiful days you can experience. There may be damage and things to clean up, but for some reason the calm after the storm is so peaceful & beautiful in its own way... not really helpful but hopefully something to lift the spirits of those riding out the winds and rain.

Eco-Friendly Plarn Dish Scrubbies

2011-08-23T21:24:00.000-04:00

Today I listed a new item in the shop! These are large dish scrubbies made from a mix of recycled plastic grocery bags (or plarn) and yarn. The center and the outer rim of the scrubby is made from plarn and is excellent for scrubby tough stains & stuck on food off of dishes. In between the plarn is a nice soft yarn perfect for washing and soft on the hands. The best part about these scrubbies are that they are reusable and washer/dryer safe, so they wont sour like icky bacteria ridden sponges and they help the environment by recycling those bags that clog our landfills!

These particular scrubbies are made from brown bags and natural/earthy patterned yarn but they can be made in any colors!

Set of 2 for $3.00

As always thanks for taking a peek!

Daily Junk: Love Birds

2011-08-14T17:04:00.001-04:00

My computer and webcam have decided not to get along so I couldn't record making this page like I had initially planned... I spent almost 2 hours trying to figure out what the problem was but unfortunately I had no luck. :( I did want to share the entries I have done however. This entry is for our anniversary which was August 2nd. I'll tell a little about what I did to the page but I won't bore you with all of the details. Both pages are painted using acrylics. The birds were traced onto newspaper from a chipboard diecut and then painted with acrylics. After they were attached I just outlined them with white. The Forever heart is a stamp, stamped in stazon and then outlined in white. I added the white lines for something extra with white paint and then a black sharpie pen. The "Just My Type" phrase came from a magazine.. I just tore it out and inked the edges. On the right side I completely altered the envelope my anniversary card came in that my hubby gave me. The envelope was purple, not anymore! It was painted with acrylics as well and I did a little sponging with white acrylic and sequin waste along one side. The quote is from a vellum quote stack and I drew out the brackets with a black sharpee. I then stamped LOVE above and below the quote with StazOn ink and I used bubble wrap and black paint for the designs in corners as well. I painted the flap white, and used a border punch on the edge. Then I drew a little checkered design with my sharpee, journaled and then attached the envy to the page. I placed my card in the envy along with a few other love related items and will add stuff as I come across it. I really love how this page turned out though. It was fun!!

Another angle of the first page

Close up of the 'Love Birds'

The envelope & card inside

Close up of the envy

Thanks for taking a peek!

Daily Junk: Stress!

2011-08-14T14:23:00.000-04:00

On this day I was seriously stressing out about things going on in my life. I wanted to keep this page more for journaling because I had a good bit to say and I had decorated the previous page a good bit. I want to make sure to break up the book a little and not have a ton of the same types of pages together. I inked the edges of this page with teals and blues. I used dark blue ink and stamped the word stress. I took my handy crayola markers and drew the brackets and colored in the letters. I did an enormous amount of complaining, then made several labels with my dymo of some of the words in my journaling, just to break it up a little.

Luckily things are starting to calm down in the area's that I had talked about, and are slowly getting back to normal (whatever normal is ha!) It was good to be able to vent and be a little creative as well. I am really liking this whole art journal, junk journal experience! :)

Thanks for taking a peek!

Daily Junk: See ya Later

2011-08-14T14:04:00.000-04:00

Just sharing another entry into my journal. I made this page because we found awesome homes for 3 of the dogs we rescued and on this particular day we said goodbye to them. It was a bittersweet moment and I am seriously missing them! I have always considered animals as part of my family, and no matter what you tell yourself about getting close to an animal, no matter how much you try to hold back, it will never happen. These guys are awesome dogs and will make wonderful pets to the families they went too but I do miss them so much!

For this page I used an 8x8 sheet of decorative paper and because the page was larger than 8x8 I edged the outside with black duct tape. On the top and bottom I used some polka dot trim and on the sides I used matching buttons to embellish and break up the harsh black. I later found a cute little saying from a magazine and I cut it out and paper clipped it to the page. In the center of the page I created a small flip book, and embellished it with a bone that I drew & cut out and some alphabet stickers. On the inside flap of the flip book I wrote a little about saying goodbye and I intend on putting a photo of each of the dogs on their own page (when I get ink for my printer, or print them at the store! LOL) Until then they remain blank. On the last page of the book I just stamped the date and a little message that I wrote out. That's pretty much the gist of it :)

Showing the first page of flip book & my journaling.

The last page of the flip book, and my journaling.

Thanks for taking a peek!

1001 books to read before you die (revisited)

2011-08-14T00:27:00.000-04:00

I found this list on Shelfari.com...and actually posted it about a year ago and thought I would revisit the list and update any that I may have read. The list was actually from a book called 1001 Books you must read before you die, by Peter Boxall and Peter Ackroyd. I love to read so I am going to challenge myself to start on this list and read as many of these books as I can. I have highlighted the ones I have already read (which arent that many) in red and I will continue to update the list as I read them.... This should be fun and I'm sure very interesting! Have any of you read any of the books listed, if so do share, I would love to hear about them!

The List:

written in 2000s

Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Saturday – Ian McEwan
On Beauty – Zadie Smith
Slow Man – J.M. Coetzee
Adjunct: An Undigest – Peter Manson
The Sea – John Banville
The Red Queen – Margaret Drabble
The Plot Against America – Philip Roth
The Master – Colm Tóibín
Vanishing Point – David Markson
The Lambs of London – Peter Ackroyd
Dining on Stones – Iain Sinclair
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
Drop City – T. Coraghessan Boyle
The Colour – Rose Tremain
Thursbitch – Alan Garner
The Light of Day – Graham Swift
What I Loved – Siri Hustvedt
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Islands – Dan Sleigh
Elizabeth Costello – J.M. Coetzee
London Orbital – Iain Sinclair
Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
Fingersmith – Sarah Waters
The Double – José Saramago
Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
Unless – Carol Shields
Kafka on the Shore – Haruki Murakami
The Story of Lucy Gault – William Trevor
That They May Face the Rising Sun – John McGahern
In the Forest – Edna O'Brien
Shroud – John Banville
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Youth – J.M. Coetzee
Dead Air – Iain Banks
Nowhere Man – Aleksandar Hemon
The Book of Illusions – Paul Auster
Gabriel's Gift – Hanif Kureishi
Austerlitz – W.G. Sebald
Platform – Michael Houellebecq
Schooling – Heather McGowan
Atonement – Ian McEwan
The Corrections – Jonathan Franzen
Don't Move – Margaret Mazzantini
The Body Artist – Don DeLillo
Fury – Salman Rushdie
At Swim, Two Boys – Jamie O'Neill
Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
The Feast of the Goat – Mario Vargos Llosa
An Obedient Father – Akhil Sharma
The Devil and Miss Prym – Paulo Coelho
Spring Flowers, Spring Frost – Ismail Kadare
White Teeth – Zadie Smith
The Heart of Redness – Zakes Mda
Under the Skin – Michel Faber
Ignorance – Milan Kundera
Nineteen Seventy Seven – David Peace
Celestial Harmonies – Péter Esterházy
City of God – E.L. Doctorow
How the Dead Live – Will Self
The Human Stain – Philip Roth
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
After the Quake – Haruki Murakami
Small Remedies – Shashi Deshpande
Super-Cannes – J.G. Ballard
House of Leaves – Mark Z. Danielewski
Blonde – Joyce Carol Oates
Pastoralia – George Saunders

Written in 1900s

Timbuktu – Paul Auster
The Romantics – Pankaj Mishra
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
As If I Am Not There – Slavenka Drakuli?
Everything You Need – A.L. Kennedy
Fear and Trembling – Amélie Nothomb
The Ground Beneath Her Feet – Salman Rushdie
Disgrace – J.M. Coetzee
Sputnik Sweetheart – Haruki Murakami
Elementary Particles – Michel Houellebecq
Intimacy – Hanif Kureishi
Amsterdam – Ian McEwan
Cloudsplitter – Russell Banks
All Souls Day – Cees Nooteboom
The Talk of the Town – Ardal O'Hanlon
Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Glamorama – Bret Easton Ellis
Another World – Pat Barker
The Hours – Michael Cunningham
Veronika Decides to Die – Paulo Coelho
Mason & Dixon – Thomas Pynchon
The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Great Apes – Will Self
Enduring Love – Ian McEwan
Underworld – Don DeLillo
Jack Maggs – Peter Carey
The Life of Insects – Victor Pelevin
American Pastoral – Philip Roth
The Untouchable – John Banville
Silk – Alessandro Baricco
Cocaine Nights – J.G. Ballard
Hallucinating Foucault – Patricia Duncker
Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
The Ghost Road – Pat Barker
Forever a Stranger – Hella Haasse
Infinite Jest – David Foster Wallace
The Clay Machine-Gun – Victor Pelevin
Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
The Unconsoled – Kazuo Ishiguro
Morvern Callar – Alan Warner
The Information – Martin Amis
The Moor's Last Sigh – Salman Rushdie
Sabbath's Theater – Philip Roth
The Rings of Saturn – W.G. Sebald
The Reader – Bernhard Schlink
A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
Love's Work – Gillian Rose
The End of the Story – Lydia Davis
Mr. Vertigo – Paul Auster
The Folding Star – Alan Hollinghurst
Whatever – Michel Houellebecq
Land – Park Kyong-ni
The Master of Petersburg – J.M. Coetzee
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
Pereira Declares: A Testimony – Antonio Tabucchi
City Sister Silver – Jàchym Topol
How Late It Was, How Late – James Kelman
Captain Corelli's Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
Felicia's Journey – William Trevor
Disappearance – David Dabydeen
The Invention of Curried Sausage – Uwe Timm
The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx
Trainspotting – Irvine Welsh
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
Looking for the Possible Dance – A.L. Kennedy
Operation Shylock – Philip Roth
Complicity – Iain Banks
On Love – Alain de Botton
What a Carve Up! – Jonathan Coe
A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields
The Virgin Suicides – Jeffrey Eugenides
The House of Doctor Dee – Peter Ackroyd
The Robber Bride – Margaret Atwood
The Emigrants – W.G. Sebald
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Life is a Caravanserai – Emine Özdamar
The Discovery of Heaven – Harry Mulisch
A Heart So White – Javier Marias
Possessing the Secret of Joy – Alice Walker
Indigo – Marina Warner
The Crow Road – Iain Banks
Written on the Body – Jeanette Winterson
Jazz – Toni Morrison
The English Patient – Michael Ondaatje
Smilla's Sense of Snow – Peter Høeg
The Butcher Boy – Patrick McCabe
Black Water – Joyce Carol Oates
The Heather Blazing – Colm Tóibín
Asphodel – H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)
Black Dogs – Ian McEwan
Hideous Kinky – Esther Freud
Arcadia – Jim Crace
Wild Swans – Jung Chang
American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
Time's Arrow – Martin Amis
Mao II – Don DeLillo
Typical – Padgett Powell
Regeneration – Pat Barker
Downriver – Iain Sinclair
Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord – Louis de Bernieres
Wise Children – Angela Carter
Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard
Amongst Women – John McGahern
Vineland – Thomas Pynchon
Vertigo – W.G. Sebald
Stone Junction – Jim Dodge
The Music of Chance – Paul Auster
The Things They Carried – Tim O'Brien
A Home at the End of the World – Michael Cunningham
Like Life – Lorrie Moore
Possession – A.S. Byatt
The Buddha of Suburbia – Hanif Kureishi
The Midnight Examiner – William Kotzwinkle
A Disaffection – James Kelman
Sexing the Cherry – Jeanette Winterson
Moon Palace – Paul Auster
Billy Bathgate – E.L. Doctorow
Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Melancholy of Resistance – László Krasznahorkai
The Temple of My Familiar – Alice Walker
The Trick is to Keep Breathing – Janice Galloway
The History of the Siege of Lisbon – José Saramago
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
London Fields – Martin Amis
The Book of Evidence – John Banville
Cat's Eye – Margaret Atwood
Foucault's Pendulum – Umberto Eco
The Beautiful Room is Empty – Edmund White
Wittgenstein's Mistress – David Markson
The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie
The Swimming-Pool Library – Alan Hollinghurst
Oscar and Lucinda – Peter Carey
Libra – Don DeLillo
The Player of Games – Iain M. Banks
Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul – Douglas Adams
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams
The Radiant Way – Margaret Drabble
The Afternoon of a Writer – Peter Handke
The Black Dahlia – James Ellroy
The Passion – Jeanette Winterson
The Pigeon – Patrick Süskind
The Child in Time – Ian McEwan
Cigarettes – Harry Mathews
The Bonfire of the Vanities – Tom Wolfe
The New York Trilogy – Paul Auster
World's End – T. Coraghessan Boyle
Enigma of Arrival – V.S. Naipaul
The Taebek Mountains – Jo Jung-rae
Beloved – Toni Morrison
Anagrams – Lorrie Moore
Matigari – Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Marya – Joyce Carol Oates
Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons
The Old Devils – Kingsley Amis
Lost Language of Cranes – David Leavitt
An Artist of the Floating World – Kazuo Ishiguro
Extinction – Thomas Bernhard
Foe – J.M. Coetzee
The Drowned and the Saved – Primo Levi
Reasons to Live – Amy Hempel
The Parable of the Blind – Gert Hofmann
Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit – Jeanette Winterson
The Cider House Rules – John Irving
A Maggot – John Fowles
Less Than Zero – Bret Easton Ellis
Contact – Carl Sagan
The Handmaid's Tale – Margaret Atwood
Perfume – Patrick Süskind
Old Masters – Thomas Bernhard
White Noise – Don DeLillo
Queer – William Burroughs
Hawksmoor – Peter Ackroyd
Legend – David Gemmell
Dictionary of the Khazars – Milorad Pavi?
The Bus Conductor Hines – James Kelman
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis – José Saramago
The Lover – Marguerite Duras
Empire of the Sun – J.G. Ballard
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Nights at the Circus – Angela Carter
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
Blood and Guts in High School – Kathy Acker
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Flaubert's Parrot – Julian Barnes
Money: A Suicide Note – Martin Amis
Shame – Salman Rushdie
Worstward Ho – Samuel Beckett
Fools of Fortune – William Trevor
La Brava – Elmore Leonard
Waterland – Graham Swift
The Life and Times of Michael K – J.M. Coetzee
The Diary of Jane Somers – Doris Lessing
The Piano Teacher – Elfriede Jelinek
The Sorrow of Belgium – Hugo Claus
If Not Now, When? – Primo Levi
A Boy's Own Story – Edmund White
The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Wittgenstein's Nephew – Thomas Bernhard
A Pale View of Hills – Kazuo Ishiguro
Schindler's Ark – Thomas Keneally
The House of the Spirits – Isabel Allende
The Newton Letter – John Banville
On the Black Hill – Bruce Chatwin
Concrete – Thomas Bernhard
The Names – Don DeLillo
Rabbit is Rich – John Updike
Lanark: A Life in Four Books – Alasdair Gray
The Comfort of Strangers – Ian McEwan
July's People – Nadine Gordimer
Summer in Baden-Baden – Leonid Tsypkin
Broken April – Ismail Kadare
Waiting for the Barbarians – J.M. Coetzee
Midnight's Children – Salman Rushdie
Rites of Passage – William Golding
Rituals – Cees Nooteboom
Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
City Primeval – Elmore Leonard
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting – Milan Kundera
Smiley's People – John Le Carré
Shikasta – Doris Lessing
A Bend in the River – V.S. Naipaul
Burger's Daughter - Nadine Gordimer
The Safety Net – Heinrich Böll
If On a Winter's Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
The Cement Garden – Ian McEwan
The World According to Garp – John Irving
Life: A User's Manual – Georges Perec
The Sea, The Sea – Iris Murdoch
The Singapore Grip – J.G. Farrell
Yes – Thomas Bernhard
The Virgin in the Garden – A.S. Byatt
In the Heart of the Country – J.M. Coetzee
The Passion of New Eve – Angela Carter
Delta of Venus – Anaïs Nin
The Shining – Stephen King
Dispatches – Michael Herr
Petals of Blood – Ngugi Wa Thiong'o
Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
The Hour of the Star – Clarice Lispector
The Left-Handed Woman – Peter Handke
Ratner's Star – Don DeLillo
The Public Burning – Robert Coover
Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice
Cutter and Bone – Newton Thornburg
Amateurs – Donald Barthelme
Patterns of Childhood – Christa Wolf
Autumn of the Patriarch – Gabriel García Márquez
W, or the Memory of Childhood – Georges Perec
A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
Grimus – Salman Rushdie
The Dead Father – Donald Barthelme
Fateless – Imre Kertész
Willard and His Bowling Trophies – Richard Brautigan
High Rise – J.G. Ballard
Humboldt's Gift – Saul Bellow
Dead Babies – Martin Amis
Correction – Thomas Bernhard
Ragtime – E.L. Doctorow
The Fan Man – William Kotzwinkle
Dusklands – J.M. Coetzee
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum – Heinrich Böll
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – John Le Carré
Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Fear of Flying – Erica Jong
A Question of Power – Bessie Head
The Siege of Krishnapur – J.G. Farrell
The Castle of Crossed Destinies – Italo Calvino
Crash – J.G. Ballard
The Honorary Consul – Graham Greene
Gravity's Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
The Black Prince – Iris Murdoch
Sula – Toni Morrison
Invisible Cities – Italo Calvino
The Breast – Philip Roth
The Summer Book – Tove Jansson
G – John Berger
Surfacing – Margaret Atwood
House Mother Normal – B.S. Johnson
In A Free State – V.S. Naipaul
The Book of Daniel – E.L. Doctorow
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – Hunter S. Thompson
Group Portrait With Lady – Heinrich Böll
The Wild Boys – William Burroughs
Rabbit Redux – John Updike
The Sea of Fertility – Yukio Mishima
The Driver's Seat – Muriel Spark
The Ogre – Michael Tournier
The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
Goalie's Anxiety at the Penalty Kick – Peter Handke
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou
Mercier et Camier – Samuel Beckett
Troubles – J.G. Farrell
Jahrestage – Uwe Johnson
The Atrocity Exhibition – J.G. Ballard
Tent of Miracles – Jorge Amado
Pricksongs and Descants – Robert Coover
Blind Man With a Pistol – Chester Hines
Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
The French Lieutenant's Woman – John Fowles
The Green Man – Kingsley Amis
Portnoy's Complaint – Philip Roth
The Godfather – Mario Puzo
Ada – Vladimir Nabokov
Them – Joyce Carol Oates
A Void/Avoid – Georges Perec
Eva Trout – Elizabeth Bowen
Myra Breckinridge – Gore Vidal
The Nice and the Good – Iris Murdoch
Belle du Seigneur – Albert Cohen
Cancer Ward – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The First Circle – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid – Malcolm Lowry
The German Lesson – Siegfried Lenz
In Watermelon Sugar – Richard Brautigan
A Kestrel for a Knave – Barry Hines
The Quest for Christa T. – Christa Wolf
Chocky – John Wyndham
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test – Tom Wolfe
The Cubs and Other Stories – Mario Vargas Llosa
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
Pilgrimage – Dorothy Richardson
The Joke – Milan Kundera
No Laughing Matter – Angus Wilson
The Third Policeman – Flann O'Brien
A Man Asleep – Georges Perec
The Birds Fall Down – Rebecca West
Trawl – B.S. Johnson
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
The Magus – John Fowles
The Vice-Consul – Marguerite Duras
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
Giles Goat-Boy – John Barth
The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
Things – Georges Perec
The River Between – Ngugi wa Thiong'o
August is a Wicked Month – Edna O'Brien
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater – Kurt Vonnegut
Everything That Rises Must Converge – Flannery O'Connor
The Passion According to G.H. – Clarice Lispector
Sometimes a Great Notion – Ken Kesey
Come Back, Dr. Caligari – Donald Bartholme
Albert Angelo – B.S. Johnson
Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe
The Ravishing of Lol V. Stein – Marguerite Duras
Herzog – Saul Bellow
V. – Thomas Pynchon
Cat's Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
The Graduate – Charles Webb
Manon des Sources – Marcel Pagnol
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold – John Le Carré
The Girls of Slender Means – Muriel Spark
Inside Mr. Enderby – Anthony Burgess
The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
The Collector – John Fowles
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – Ken Kesey
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov
The Drowned World – J.G. Ballard
The Golden Notebook – Doris Lessing
Labyrinths – Jorg Luis Borges
Girl With Green Eyes – Edna O'Brien
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis – Giorgio Bassani
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger
A Severed Head – Iris Murdoch
Faces in the Water – Janet Frame
Solaris – Stanislaw Lem
Cat and Mouse – Günter Grass
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Violent Bear it Away – Flannery O'Connor
How It Is – Samuel Beckett
Our Ancestors – Italo Calvino
The Country Girls – Edna O'Brien
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper LeeRabbit, Run – John Updike
Promise at Dawn – Romain Gary
Cider With Rosie – Laurie Lee
Billy Liar – Keith Waterhouse
Naked Lunch – William Burroughs
The Tin Drum – Günter Grass
Absolute Beginners – Colin MacInnes
Henderson the Rain King – Saul Bellow
Memento Mori – Muriel Spark
Billiards at Half-Past Nine – Heinrich Böll
Breakfast at Tiffany's – Truman Capote
The Leopard – Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
Pluck the Bud and Destroy the Offspring – Kenzaburo Oe
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Bitter Glass – Eilís Dillon
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Alan Sillitoe
Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris – Paul Gallico
Borstal Boy – Brendan Behan
The End of the Road – John Barth
The Once and Future King – T.H. White
The Bell – Iris Murdoch
Jealousy – Alain Robbe-Grillet
Voss – Patrick White
The Midwich Cuckoos – John Wyndham
Blue Noon – Georges Bataille
Homo Faber – Max Frisch
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Pnin – Vladimir Nabokov
Doctor Zhivago – Boris Pasternak
The Wonderful "O" – James Thurber
Justine – Lawrence Durrell
Giovanni's Room – James Baldwin
The Lonely Londoners – Sam Selvon
The Roots of Heaven – Romain Gary
Seize the Day – Saul Bellow
The Floating Opera – John Barth
The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Talented Mr. Ripley – Patricia Highsmith
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
A World of Love – Elizabeth Bowen
The Trusting and the Maimed – James Plunkett
The Quiet American – Graham Greene
The Last Temptation of Christ – Nikos Kazantzákis
The Recognitions – William Gaddis
The Ragazzi – Pier Paulo Pasolini
Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan
I'm Not Stiller – Max Frisch
Self Condemned – Wyndham Lewis
The Story of O – Pauline Réage
A Ghost at Noon – Alberto Moravia
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
The Go-Between – L.P. Hartley
The Long Goodbye – Raymond Chandler
The Unnamable – Samuel Beckett
Watt – Samuel Beckett
Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
Junkie – William Burroughs
The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow
Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin
Casino Royale – Ian Fleming
The Judge and His Hangman – Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
Wise Blood – Flannery O'Connor
The Killer Inside Me – Jim Thompson
Memoirs of Hadrian – Marguerite Yourcenar
Malone Dies – Samuel Beckett
Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham
Foundation – Isaac Asimov
The Opposing Shore – Julien Gracq
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Rebel – Albert Camus
Molloy – Samuel Beckett
The End of the Affair – Graham Greene
The Abbot C – Georges Bataille
The Labyrinth of Solitude – Octavio Paz
The Third Man – Graham Greene
The 13 Clocks – James Thurber
Gormenghast – Mervyn Peake
The Grass is Singing – Doris Lessing
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
The Moon and the Bonfires – Cesare Pavese
The Garden Where the Brass Band Played – Simon Vestdijk
Love in a Cold Climate – Nancy Mitford
The Case of Comrade Tulayev – Victor Serge
The Heat of the Day – Elizabeth Bowen
Kingdom of This World – Alejo Carpentier
The Man With the Golden Arm – Nelson Algren
Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
All About H. Hatterr – G.V. Desani
Disobedience – Alberto Moravia
Death Sentence – Maurice Blanchot
The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
Cry, the Beloved Country – Alan Paton
Doctor Faustus – Thomas Mann
The Victim – Saul Bellow
Exercises in Style – Raymond Queneau
If This Is a Man – Primo Levi
Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
The Path to the Nest of Spiders – Italo Calvino
The Plague – Albert Camus
Back – Henry Green
Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake
The Bridge on the Drina – Ivo Andri?
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
Animal Farm – George Orwell
Cannery Row – John Steinbeck
The Pursuit of Love – Nancy Mitford
Loving – Henry Green
Arcanum 17 – André Breton
Christ Stopped at Eboli – Carlo Levi
The Razor's Edge – William Somerset Maugham
Transit – Anna Seghers
Ficciones – Jorge Luis Borges
Dangling Man – Saul Bellow
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Caught – Henry Green
The Glass Bead Game – Herman Hesse
Embers – Sandor Marai
Go Down, Moses – William Faulkner
The Outsider – Albert Camus
In Sicily – Elio Vittorini
The Poor Mouth – Flann O'Brien
The Living and the Dead – Patrick White
Hangover Square – Patrick Hamilton
Between the Acts – Virginia Woolf
The Hamlet – William Faulkner
Farewell My Lovely – Raymond Chandler
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
Native Son – Richard Wright
The Power and the Glory – Graham Greene
The Tartar Steppe – Dino Buzzati
Party Going – Henry Green
The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Finnegans Wake – James Joyce
At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O'Brien
Coming Up for Air – George Orwell
Goodbye to Berlin – Christopher Isherwood
Tropic of Capricorn – Henry Miller
Good Morning, Midnight – Jean Rhys
The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
After the Death of Don Juan – Sylvie Townsend Warner
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
Nausea – Jean-Paul Sartre
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Cause for Alarm – Eric Ambler
Brighton Rock – Graham Greene
U.S.A. – John Dos Passos
Murphy – Samuel Beckett
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
The Years – Virginia Woolf
In Parenthesis – David Jones
The Revenge for Love – Wyndham Lewis
Out of Africa – Isak Dineson (Karen Blixen)
To Have and Have Not – Ernest Hemingway
Summer Will Show – Sylvia Townsend Warner
Eyeless in Gaza – Aldous Huxley
The Thinking Reed – Rebecca West
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Keep the Aspidistra Flying – George Orwell
Wild Harbour – Ian MacPherson
Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner
At the Mountains of Madness – H.P. Lovecraft
Nightwood – Djuna Barnes
Independent People – Halldór Laxness
Auto-da-Fé – Elias Canetti
The Last of Mr. Norris – Christopher Isherwood
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? – Horace McCoy
The House in Paris – Elizabeth Bowen
England Made Me – Graham Greene
Burmese Days – George Orwell
The Nine Tailors – Dorothy L. Sayers
Threepenny Novel – Bertolt Brecht
Novel With Cocaine – M. Ageyev
The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain
Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Thank You, Jeeves – P.G. Wodehouse
Call it Sleep – Henry Roth
Miss Lonelyhearts – Nathanael West
Murder Must Advertise – Dorothy L. Sayers
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas – Gertrude Stein
Testament of Youth – Vera Brittain
A Day Off – Storm Jameson
The Man Without Qualities – Robert Musil
A Scots Quair (Sunset Song) – Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Journey to the End of the Night – Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
To the North – Elizabeth Bowen
The Thin Man – Dashiell Hammett
The Radetzky March – Joseph Roth
The Waves – Virginia Woolf
The Glass Key – Dashiell Hammett
Cakes and Ale – W. Somerset Maugham
The Apes of God – Wyndham Lewis
Her Privates We – Frederic Manning
Vile Bodies – Evelyn Waugh
The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett
Hebdomeros – Giorgio de Chirico
Passing – Nella Larsen
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
Red Harvest – Dashiell Hammett
Living – Henry Green
The Time of Indifference – Alberto Moravia
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
Berlin Alexanderplatz – Alfred Döblin
The Last September – Elizabeth Bowen
Harriet Hume – Rebecca West
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
Les Enfants Terribles – Jean Cocteau
Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe
Story of the Eye – Georges Bataille
Orlando – Virginia Woolf
Lady Chatterley's Lover – D.H. Lawrence
The Well of Loneliness – Radclyffe Hall
The Childermass – Wyndham Lewis
Quartet – Jean Rhys
Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh
Quicksand – Nella Larsen
Parade's End – Ford Madox Ford
Nadja – André Breton
Steppenwolf – Herman Hesse
Remembrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust
To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
Tarka the Otter – Henry Williamson
Amerika – Franz Kafka
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Blindness – Henry Green
The Castle – Franz Kafka
The Good Soldier Švejk – Jaroslav Hašek
The Plumed Serpent – D.H. Lawrence
One, None and a Hundred Thousand – Luigi Pirandello
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie
The Making of Americans – Gertrude Stein
Manhattan Transfer – John Dos Passos
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Counterfeiters – André Gide
The Trial – Franz Kafka
The Artamonov Business – Maxim Gorky
The Professor's House – Willa Cather
Billy Budd, Foretopman – Herman Melville
The Green Hat – Michael Arlen
The Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann
We – Yevgeny Zamyatin
A Passage to India – E.M. Forster
The Devil in the Flesh – Raymond Radiguet
Zeno's Conscience – Italo Svevo
Cane – Jean Toomer
Antic Hay – Aldous Huxley
Amok – Stefan Zweig
The Garden Party – Katherine Mansfield
The Enormous Room – E.E. Cummings
Jacob's Room – Virginia Woolf
Siddhartha – Herman HesseThe Glimpses of the Moon – Edith Wharton
Life and Death of Harriett Frean – May Sinclair
The Last Days of Humanity – Karl Kraus
Aaron's Rod – D.H. Lawrence
Babbitt – Sinclair Lewis
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Fox – D.H. Lawrence
Crome Yellow – Aldous Huxley
The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton
Main Street – Sinclair Lewis
Women in Love – D.H. Lawrence
Night and Day – Virginia Woolf
Tarr – Wyndham Lewis
The Return of the Soldier – Rebecca West
The Shadow Line – Joseph Conrad
Summer – Edith Wharton
Growth of the Soil – Knut Hamsen
Bunner Sisters – Edith Wharton
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man – James Joyce
Under Fire – Henri Barbusse
Rashomon – Akutagawa Ryunosuke
The Good Soldier – Ford Madox Ford
The Voyage Out – Virginia Woolf
Of Human Bondage – William Somerset Maugham
The Rainbow – D.H. Lawrence
The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan
Kokoro – Natsume Soseki
Locus Solus – Raymond Roussel
Rosshalde – Herman Hesse
Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Robert Tressell
Sons and Lovers – D.H. Lawrence
Death in Venice – Thomas Mann
The Charwoman's Daughter – James Stephens
Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
Fantômas – Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
Howards End – E.M. Forster
Impressions of Africa – Raymond Roussel
Three Lives – Gertrude Stein
Martin Eden – Jack London
Strait is the Gate – André Gide
Tono-Bungay – H.G. Wells
The Inferno – Henri Barbusse
A Room With a View – E.M. Forster
The Iron Heel – Jack London
The Old Wives' Tale – Arnold Bennett
The House on the Borderland – William Hope Hodgson
Mother – Maxim Gorky
The Secret Agent – Joseph Conrad
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
Young Törless – Robert Musil
The Forsyte Sage – John Galsworthy
The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
Professor Unrat – Heinrich Mann
Where Angels Fear to Tread – E.M. Forster
Nostromo – Joseph Conrad
Hadrian the Seventh – Frederick Rolfe
The Golden Bowl – Henry James
The Ambassadors – Henry James
The Riddle of the Sands – Erskine Childers
The Immoralist – André Gide
The Wings of the Dove – Henry James
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Buddenbrooks – Thomas Mann
Kim – Rudyard Kipling
Sister Carrie – Theodore Dreiser
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad

Written in 1800s

Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. – Somerville and Ross
The Stechlin – Theodore Fontane
The Awakening – Kate Chopin
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man – H.G. Wells
What Maisie Knew – Henry James
Fruits of the Earth – André Gide
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Quo Vadis – Henryk Sienkiewicz
The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
Effi Briest – Theodore Fontane
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
The Real Charlotte – Somerville and Ross
The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Born in Exile – George Gissing
Diary of a Nobody – George & Weedon Grossmith
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
News from Nowhere – William Morris
New Grub Street – George Gissing
Gösta Berling's Saga – Selma Lagerlöf
Tess of the D'Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
The Kreutzer Sonata – Leo Tolstoy
La Bête Humaine – Émile Zola
By the Open Sea – August Strindberg
Hunger – Knut Hamsun
The Master of Ballantrae – Robert Louis Stevenson
Pierre and Jean – Guy de Maupassant
Fortunata and Jacinta – Benito Pérez Galdés
The People of Hemsö – August Strindberg
The Woodlanders – Thomas Hardy
She – H. Rider Haggard
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy
Kidnapped – Robert Louis Stevenson
King Solomon's Mines – H. Rider Haggard
Germinal – Émile Zola
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark TwainBel-Ami – Guy de Maupassant
Marius the Epicurean – Walter Pater
Against the Grain – Joris-Karl Huysmans
The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
A Woman's Life – Guy de Maupassant
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The House by the Medlar Tree – Giovanni Verga
The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James
Bouvard and Pécuchet – Gustave Flaubert
Ben-Hur – Lew Wallace
Nana – Émile Zola
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Red Room – August Strindberg
Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
Drunkard – Émile Zola
Virgin Soil – Ivan Turgenev
Daniel Deronda – George Eliot
The Hand of Ethelberta – Thomas Hardy
The Temptation of Saint Anthony – Gustave Flaubert
Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
The Enchanted Wanderer – Nicolai Leskov
Around the World in Eighty Days – Jules Verne
In a Glass Darkly – Sheridan Le Fanu
The Devils – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Erewhon – Samuel Butler
Spring Torrents – Ivan Turgenev
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There – Lewis CarrollKing Lear of the Steppes – Ivan Turgenev
He Knew He Was Right – Anthony Trollope
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Sentimental Education – Gustave Flaubert
Phineas Finn – Anthony Trollope
Maldoror – Comte de Lautréaumont
The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Moonstone – Wilkie Collins
Little Women – Louisa May AlcottThérèse Raquin – Émile Zola
The Last Chronicle of Barset – Anthony Trollope
Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Our Mutual Friend – Charles Dickens
Uncle Silas – Sheridan Le Fanu
Notes from the Underground – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Water-Babies – Charles Kingsley
Les Misérables – Victor Hugo
Fathers and Sons – Ivan Turgenev
Silas Marner – George Eliot
Great Expectations – Charles DickensOn the Eve – Ivan Turgenev
Castle Richmond – Anthony Trollope
The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
The Marble Faun – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Max Havelaar – Multatuli
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
Oblomovka – Ivan Goncharov
Adam Bede – George Eliot
Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
Hard Times – Charles Dickens
Walden – Henry David Thoreau
Bleak House – Charles Dickens
Villette – Charlotte Brontë
Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lonely – Harriet Beecher Stowe
The Blithedale Romance – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The House of the Seven Gables – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel HawthorneDavid Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Shirley – Charlotte Brontë
Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall – Anne Brontë
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
La Reine Margot – Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
The Purloined Letter – Edgar Allan Poe
Martin Chuzzlewit – Charles Dickens
The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
Lost Illusions – Honoré de Balzac
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Dead Souls – Nikolay Gogol
The Charterhouse of Parma – Stendhal
The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist – Charles DickensThe Nose – Nikolay Gogol
Le Père Goriot – Honoré de Balzac
Eugénie Grandet – Honoré de Balzac
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo
The Red and the Black – Stendhal
The Betrothed – Alessandro Manzoni
Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner – James Hogg
The Albigenses – Charles Robert Maturin
Melmoth the Wanderer – Charles Robert Maturin
The Monastery – Sir Walter Scott
Ivanhoe – Sir Walter Scott
Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Persuasion – Jane Austen
Ormond – Maria Edgeworth
Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott
Emma – Jane Austen
Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
The Absentee – Maria Edgeworth
Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
Elective Affinities – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth

Written in 1700s

Hyperion – Friedrich Hölderlin
The Nun – Denis Diderot
Camilla – Fanny Burney
The Monk – M.G. Lewis
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
The Interesting Narrative – Olaudah Equiano
The Adventures of Caleb Williams – William Godwin
Justine – Marquis de Sade
Vathek – William Beckford
The 120 Days of Sodom – Marquis de Sade
Cecilia – Fanny Burney
Confessions – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Reveries of a Solitary Walker – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Evelina – Fanny Burney
The Sorrows of Young Werther – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Humphrey Clinker – Tobias George Smollett
The Man of Feeling – Henry Mackenzie
A Sentimental Journey – Laurence Sterne
Tristram Shandy – Laurence Sterne
The Vicar of Wakefield – Oliver Goldsmith
The Castle of Otranto – Horace Walpole
Émile; or, On Education – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rameau's Nephew – Denis Diderot
Julie; or, the New Eloise – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rasselas – Samuel Johnson
Candide – Voltaire
The Female Quixote – Charlotte Lennox
Amelia – Henry Fielding
Peregrine Pickle – Tobias George Smollett
Fanny Hill – John Cleland
Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
Roderick Random – Tobias George Smollett
Clarissa – Samuel Richardson
Pamela – Samuel Richardson
Jacques the Fatalist – Denis Diderot
Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus – J. Arbuthnot, J. Gay, T. Parnell, A. Pope, J. Swift
Joseph Andrews – Henry Fielding
A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
Gulliver's Travels – Jonathan Swift
Roxana – Daniel Defoe
Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
Love in Excess – Eliza Haywood
Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
A Tale of a Tub – Jonathan Swift

written in Pre-1700

Oroonoko – Aphra Behn
The Princess of Clèves – Marie-Madelaine Pioche de Lavergne, Comtesse de La Fayette
The Pilgrim's Progress – John Bunyan
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
The Unfortunate Traveller – Thomas Nashe
Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit – John Lyly
Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais
The Thousand and One Nights – Anonymous
The Golden Ass – Lucius Apuleius
Aithiopika – Heliodorus
Chaireas and Kallirhoe – Chariton
Metamorphoses – Ovid
Aesop's Fables – Aesopus

Ferris Wheel Slouchy

2011-08-09T00:07:00.001-04:00

Today I finished this awesome Slouchy, and had to share a photo. This pattern also came from Ravelry's Julie King. I love her patterns! It was super easy to follow and came out just how it should have. I had no problems understanding the instructions, tension, sizing or anything. It only took a few hours to make too! I used this super soft, vintage Caron Dazzleaire yarn. The color is Silver Sparkle. I really love the soft but light feel of it. I love the outcome so much that I think I'm keeping this particular hat for myself, especially since I used the vintage yarn! I love the stripe design as well. I was excited so I thought I would share. Thanks for taking a peek as always!

50 Random Questions.. about Me!

2011-08-07T22:21:00.002-04:00

1. What is your best friend's Mom's name? Carolyn

2. Where is the weirdest place you have a mole? I don't really have a lot of moles at all.. actually the only place I do have a mole is under my right arm.

3. Who was the hottest teacher you ever had? I had a crush on my science teacher in high school Mr. Maser, he was a total yankee but he was so funny, laid back, and really hot too :)

4. Have you ever made out in a cinema? Yes when I was in high school. LOL.

5. What body part do you wash first? Arms

6. Do you hover over the toilet in public bathrooms? Heck yeah!

7. What's the strangest talent you have? I dont really have any strange talents that I can think of.... I'm a really good whistler (but thats from band training)

8. Do you have an innie or an outtie? innie

9. What's your favorite flavored Pringles? Sour Cream, or Cheddar

10. Have you ever been tied up? No I cant say that I have.

11. What was the last thing you ever got grounded for? I think I'm too old to answer these questions lol. Hmmm I never really got grounded, probably when I ran up a majorly huge phone bill making international calls (dont ask! LOL)

12. Do you parallel park or drive around the block? Never really had the reason to do these things, but I think I would drive around, driving in tight spaces freak me out lol

13. Have you ever had two dates in one night? no never.

14. How many times have you been cussed out? Too many times to count! LOL.

15. Which shoe do you put on first? My right

17. Have you ever been to a gay bar? Bo, I've actually never been to a bar at all.

18. Girls-- love one, hate mosts of the others. I don't follow but I assume you mean do I get along with girls? I have a few choice female friends, generally they can be catty, and not trustworthy so I get along with men better... however I am blessed to have a handful of girl Friends that I love very much.

19. Is there one thing all of your love interests have had in common? They are all tall LOL.

20. Did you French kiss before you were 16? Yes.

21. Have you ever been cow-tipping or snipe-hunting? No

22. Who is the last person you usually think about before you fall asleep? Usually my husband because he's still working and I worry about him.

23. Have you ever had a poem or a song written about you? No lol.

24. If you had to choose to not ever wash your bed sheets again or not wash your bath towel ever again, which would you rather not wash? I would not wash the towel because I could air dry if need be and deal with out a towel, rather than sleep in a nasty, smelly, & possibly bed bug infested bed for hours. Kinda gross!

25. Have you ever found anything in your parents' bedroom that was questionable? No

26. What was your childhood nickname? Ande

27. When is the last time you played the air guitar? I've never played the air guitar, I always thought that was weird lol.

28. Have you ever peeked in the opposite sexes locker room? No, our school was smart and they were on total opposite sides of the building so there was no way (unless you just walked in on your own lol)

29. What's the weirdest thing you have done while driving? I've changed my shoes while driving before... not safe folks, I wouldn't recommend it! LOL

30. Have you ever bitten your toenails? ewwww NO!!!

31. How do you eat your cookie? Dunked in milk for sure!

32. When working out at the gym, do you wear a belt? No I've never been to a gym to work out.

33. Name something you do when you're alone that you wouldn't do in front of others.... hmmm I think that would be singing.

36. How many drinks does it take before you get drunk? too many to count because I've never been drunk.

37. Have you ever sniffed an animal's butt? ok this is gross! NO!

38. How often do you clean out your ears? Once a day after showering

39. Do you scrunch or fold your toilet paper? fold

40. About how many times a day do you pick a wedgie? rarely ever.

41. Do you have any strange phobias? Im afraid of boats & deep water, flying/heights, snakes, spiders, terrified of moths...

42. Have you ever stuck a foreign object up your nose? When I was little I stuffed those foam peanut things up my nose and my mother had to take me to the e.r. They had to use some sort of balloon thing to remove them. I've also swallowed change in kindergarten on a dare.

43. What is the stupidest thing you've ever done at a bar? Again, I've never been to a bar :(

44. Have you ever been dared to do something you totally regretted? Not really

45. Have you ever called your love interest by an ex's name? No, never

46. Have you caught a guy/girl farting while on a date? Nope.

47. Have you ever played naked Twister? Can't say that I have.

48. Have you ever been drunk at work? No, I've never been drunk.

49. Have you ever found your date's/lover's brother or sister more attractive? No.

50. Do you want to bring sexy back? I have no idea what this even means LOL.

Charcoal Slouchy...

2011-08-04T17:55:00.002-04:00

Last night I stayed up until 4 am finishing this slouchy. I spent 2 days crocheting a similar hat with a similar pattern just to figure out by the end that the pattern was written incorrectly! Eesh, talk about a pain! I'm good at following patterns but I am terrible at figuring things (especially hats) out by myself. So, I had to frog the entire thing and start over. Luckily I found this awesome and easy pattern from Gleeful Things on Ravelry! I was bound and determined to complete this project! Once you get going it really is a quick project, I finished this hat in about 4 hours and that was after taking several breaks. I used a vintage Bernat Berella 4 ply worsted yarn in Charcoal, I honestly couldn't even find a similar skein online. I do love the color, and the yarn almost feels like wool, but its not. The hat is smaller than I had initially wanted because of the yarn, and my tension when crocheting. I tend to crochet rather tightly, and with the yarn being 4 ply and rather thin it didn't help matters. I did attempt to use a larger hook to make up for it but it didn't work that well. I do think that it helped a little, I'm sure if I wouldn't have changed my hook size the hat would have been small enough for a teen. LOL. This hat is available for purchase on my shop for anyone interested. My next project will be another slouchy, using a different pattern. I'm looking forward to getting started.

Thanks for taking a peek!

P.S Just incase you are wondering what 'FROG' means well...

Frog can be used as a verb. In this sense, "to frog" means "to rip out stitches."
When used this way, the word is slang, and it is also a play on words. It pays tribute to our amphibious friends, the frogs, and their choruses of "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit". When you discover a mistake in your crochet work, you rip it, rip it, rip it – hence, you frog it.

It also stands for: Fully Rely on God ;)

Crochet Colorful Streamer Beanie

2011-07-30T01:49:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to share my recent beanie. I love this pattern. I used the youtube tutorial from the ever talented tjw1963. You can view the tutorial [HERE].

It was a really simple, very well taught tutorial and it made a wonderful hat. I actually added the white at the bottom instead of continuing with the color all the way down. I like the solid color with the color peaking out in the back. I used scraps of yarn that I had lying around, which was great to use up! All the yarn used is Red Heart Super Saver. This is an excellent pattern to use for all those scraps of yarn you may have lying around!

The side view

The other side view

The back view

Thanks for taking a peek!! :)

Daily Junk: LEAST favorite song!

2011-07-29T05:43:00.000-04:00

Thanks for taking a peak!

Happy Blogiversary to me!

2011-07-26T01:34:00.003-04:00

Today my blog is officially

4 years old!

Wow, the time sure does fly!!! :) It doesn't seem like its been that long but if I sit and think about it, I can remember when I decided to create my blog. Man, A LOT sure has happened since that day 4 years ago :) Thank you to all of my wonderful followers to sticking with me for so long! At least I know I'm not just talking to myself (most of the time) lol!

~ Thanks again everyone!

My Top Tens

2011-07-26T01:25:00.001-04:00

Current Fave TV Shows:

Grey's Anatomy
America's Got Talent
Operation Repo
Ghost Adventures
Teen Mom
Criminal Minds
King of Queens
Steve Wilkos Show
Pawn Stars
Melissa and Joey

Current Favorite Songs:

I Smile by Kirk Franklin
Nobody Knows by The Tony Rich Project
Realize by Colbie Caillat
Moving On by Rascal Flatts
Acoustic #3 by Goo Goo Dolls
What are Words by Chris Medina
You & Me by Dave Matthews Band
Permanent by David Cook
Hello World by Lady Antebellum
Crazy by Gnarls Barkley

Current Daily Must Haves:

A hug & kiss from my hubby followed by the words 'I Love You'
Pandora
a chat with my bestie: Ginger
Sweet Tea, Coke, or Dr. Pepper
facebook (of course)
crocheting
Cleanliness brought to you by a nice hot shower.
makeup & a hair brush lol
food of some sort
My journal

Current Words/Phrases I (over)USE:

I Know, Right?!
Seriously?
What the Hell?
Its too damn hot!
LOL
NIICE!
I cant wait!
I dont know what to do
LIKE
UGH!

Current Worries or Things on My Mind:

How to get the rent paid in an (un)timely manner/short notice because we have a landlord who is very insensitive & really hard to work with! And worrying if we are going to get evicted b/c she is so horrible!
Saving and getting packed for our move.
How to find homes for these animals.
Tim's, Uncle Dale's health... he's in the CCI because he had a massive heart attack and is on life support.
My besties Mom's health because she's in the hospital for testing do to circulation in her legs :(
Losing weight and getting healthy (a constant struggle)
If my hubby is having a decent first day back to work, and if his back is bothering him anymore.
How we are going to make it these next few weeks until Tim gets paid again (thanks to the dragon bitch)
How much I really hate it here and want to be near my family and friends again w/ a new fresh start.
How I need to be getting the motivation to get this dern custom order finished for a customer.

Current Chores / Tasks I Need to Get Done:

I need to start packing
I need to finish this order
I need to vacuum.
I need to journal.
I need to wash the dishes.
I need to finish reading '2nd Chance' by James Patterson
I need to take the dogs out before bed.
I need to finish the crochet afghan I've been working on forever
I need to get the yard mowed.
I need to give the dogs a bath.

Current Topics I'm Sick of Hearing about on News / Reading about Online:

Casey Anthony Trial/Verdict
Amy Winehouse
Recession
Weight Loss & how its so great to be thin!
Whether football will be around this season or not
This horrible heat wave/ summer we are in the middle of!
How terrible coal mining is and how its so destruction.
How broke we all are!
How the end is near... 2012 (tired of everyone's crazy predictions, only the Good Lord knows!)
The Norway Attacks

Daily Junk: Fav's A-Z

2011-07-24T22:07:00.001-04:00

Today I pulled 'List your favorite things from A-Z' from my bag of journaling prompts and here is what I came up with...

This is the spread, the 1st page is just a card...

And this is showing my full list

Thanks for taking a peek!

Daily Junk (Journal) so far...

2011-07-24T03:34:00.001-04:00

I created my junk journal/smash book from an ordinary composition notebook from walmart. I used tips and idea's from TangieBaxter (on Youtube) who did a few tutorials on this. :) I thought I would share how my journal is looking so far.

This is the front of my journal.

Just showing the thickness so far...

Just another view...

A close up of the charms on the band closure.

This is the inside cover, and first page.

Entries 2 and 3

Entries 4 & 5


Entry 6


Entry 7

Remember the nifty prompts I shared yesterday? Well I put them all down on paper today, folded them up all teeny tiny, and placed them in this ziplock baggy that is now attached to the inside back cover of my book.

Journaling prompts

I used a grommet in the ziploc baggy, and ball chain through one of the grommets already holding the elastic band closure in.

Then I added these keychains that I have had since high school. :)

And that pretty much does it for now. I actually did a page tonight HOWEVER I'm not happy with it, so I'm going to sleep on it and start again tomorrow to hopefully improve it :) Its really annoying me tonight! Like usual thanks for taking a peek :)

Journaling Prompts

2011-07-22T23:27:00.005-04:00

I am really addicted to junk/art journaling or some may call them smash books.. What ever you call it. I'm officially hooked! LOL. So sometimes I really get into a rut on how to be creative with my journaling and I feel like I've ran out of things to write about... sort of a creators block/writers block. So I thought I would keep this running list of prompts here on my blog, and my friends (you guys) can help me add idea's to it, and I will add ideas when ever they come to me or I am inspired by someone else. I also got a great idea from bcdoula (on youtube) to write the prompts on paper and put them in a bowl or box and when I'm in a rut, just shake up the box and pull a few out! Excellent idea!!! She shared the art prompts below and I came up with a few more, plus a ton of journaling prompt idea's... sooo I think I'll put them all in a box or baggy and somehow attach it in my journal :) I'll share a vid with what I've done as soon as I have this accomplished heehee! I still need to make a vid of my journal so far... eesh. So behind! I hope this will be helpful to someone :) Feel free to share idea's you may have!

Art Prompts

Use bubble wrap
Use water color paints
draw oil pastel lines and paint in between them with acrylics
choose your paint with your eyes closed.
paint with crumpled tissue paper
Drag paint across the page w/ a credit card or cardboard, dry then sand
apply tape randomly to the page
Use stencils
Use brayer with paint
Put string or elastic bands on a brayer or toilet paper roll and paint
Journal in a circle
apply gesso and then remove some of the gesso
random paint splatters
Uuse dimensionals on page
Apply charcoal
Apply cardboard
Collage letters
Use any of your ephemera
Use a mask
Use rubberstamps
Draw black wavy lines for journalling
Use a pallet knife
Scratch surface with stylus
Dip end of toilet paper roll in paint and paint circles on the page
Line Walk- Draw a line down the center of the paper and doodle, all lines and shapes must be connected. Then create images with paint out of your doodles..
Use magazine images and alter them
Paint the page in your favorite color(s) then list all the things you can think of that are that color(s)
Use Crackle
emboss your page
use metal
use alcohol inks
use an envelope

Journaling Prompts

Things from or seen in your yard/neighborhood
Things you currently are listening to , drinking, eating, wearing, feeling, weather, wanting, needing, thinking, enjoying
Guilty pleasures
Favorite candy
Favorite song lyrics
Put each day of the week on the page and write 'today I laughed at' for each day
Write about a recent dream.
What seemed unusual to you today?
Write about memories of an old friend you lost touch with
What actor/actress would you hire to play you in a movie and what would your theme song be? & why?
What did you eat as a child that you will not eat now, or what do you eat now that you wouldn't as a child?
Who is the one relative you miss the most?
Talk about your first kiss
Where would you travel if you could go anywhere?
Write a letter to your younger self or to your future self.
Would you be a different person today if your childhood was different? How would you be different and why?
If you could change one thing about your spouse/lover what would it be?
What was your first pet?
List all of the cars you've owned.
List all of the places you've worked.
List all of the places you've lived.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
If you had to sacrifice one of your senses which would it be?
Have you ever encountered a ghost?
Where is the first place you went when you got your drivers license?
Describe your favorite memory of an amusement park, or fair.
Describe your favorite sound.
What is your favorite memory of high school?
What is your worst memory of high school?
Talk about your graduation.
Which friend has the greatest impact in your life and why?
What is your favorite season?
Tell a secret.
Talk about something you struggle with.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Whats the best and worst thing that happened to you this week?
What is your favorite book at the moment, and what is it that you like about it most?
List your favorite tv shows.
What do you wish to accomplish by years end?
List your fears
What is your least favorite chore, and why?
List your pet peeves
Talk about your first job
Have you ever swallowed anything strange?
Least favorite foods
Favorite odd foods
Tell a joke
List your favorite things w/ each letter of the alphabet
List your celebrity guy and gal crushes
Share a poem
What bugs you?
What is your favorite trait of yourself?
Nobody knows that you...
Do you have reoccuring dreams? What are they about?
Where were you on 9/11? Where were you when you heard about Bin Laden?
10 foods you have never eaten but would like to try.
10 foods that you would NEVER eat
Write a letter to someone you need to forgive.
List your top favorite songs right now.
Share the lyrics to a current song that you can not stand.
Make a list of the 5 changes you think you have made in the last five years.
what things do you expect in a good friend
What did you do BEFORE we had the internet?
What superpower would you choose to have?
A continuous bucket list
10 unforgettable moments in your life
10 things you really like about yourself
what book are you reading right now? what is it about?
List of most commonly used words
Name 5 things in your refrigerator
5 adjectives to describe yourself
List some of your favorite smells
What monopoly figure do you use?
words you hate, words you love
celebrities you are sick of or dislike
What do you like on your pizza?
What do you love to buy, what do you hate to buy?
Whats the worst thing you have ever done to your hair?
Talk about an embarrassing moment.
What gives you the creeps?
Can you play an instrument?
What are your nicknames? (How did you get them, & from who?)
List your bad habits...
Talk about growing up with your siblings, share a favorite memory.
Tell about your favorite childhood christmas
List your halloween costumes as a child, tell about them...
Take the last line of your favorite poem, and make it the first line of your own poem.
List the names of 5-10 relatives/friends and write a small profile about each of them.
Mad Libs :)
Share a recipe & how it turned out when you made it :)
That was then, this is now (pics growing up, and pics now)

Its been a while since...

2011-07-17T17:15:00.002-04:00

I actually posted an entry other than videos so I thought I would sit down a do so. I went a while there only doing crafts for swapping in groups that I belonged to and it got a wee bit overwhelming so I have decided to do a little less swapping and a little more crafting for fun (and for my shop that I have been neglecting like crazy!)

Today I created a group on yahoo for crafting called Creative-Crafts.

I want this group to be a nice chatty, successful group of crafty friends. I had a ning site that I was really excited about but its A LOT of work and cost money that at the moment I do not have. Sadly that site is closing.

We have also decided that by the end of September/beginning of October we are relocating back to my home town (Concord). I want to be closer to our family and friends. Country life is great, but there are a lot of negatives to living this far away from family and friends, as well as not being able to get out and do things, or even work. We live about 30 minutes from even a grocery store, and if you don't coal mine, well the job selection is slim to none (unless you want to travel at least an hour one way.) It will be good for us to be close to everyone, for us to be able to get out more, and especially for me to find a job. Its been 4 years since I actually worked somewhere outside of the home! Not cool.

Our cat Stormy had 3 adorable kittens a few days ago! I'm not sure their sex yet but they are healthy and Stormy is an excellent mother! I need to get some really good pictures to share :)

Tomorrow PeeWee and Zoey will be going to their new forever home! TOGETHER TOO! We are super excited about that because those two are really close, they've grown up together. I hate to see them go but I know they will be loved and thats all that matters to me!

I've been crocheting and working on my junk journal a lot lately. I've done a few entries but I want to finish up a couple of entries I have been working on before I take photos or make a vid about it. I'm really enjoying it though. I finished a crochet purse on Thursday that I still need to take photos of as well. I will be posting those soon too!

Other than that, not much has been going on. Its the same old stuff, just a different day! Oh and our garden is doing fantastic! I'll share some pictures of that in an upcoming post as well! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

(ps saying a little prayer and sending big get well hugs to my bestie Ginger, she has bronchitis this week :( Feel better soon girlie!)

Visit with our nephew Michael

2011-07-08T19:25:00.001-04:00

My first junk journal...

2011-07-01T02:30:00.003-04:00

Red, White & Blue Recipe Cards

2011-06-30T23:47:00.002-04:00

My Summer Mini

2011-06-24T17:23:00.001-04:00

Granny Square Frenzy

2011-06-14T17:01:00.001-04:00

I've been hooked on crocheting granny squares this week :) I'm having a good time with it too! We are doing a 6x6 granny square swap each month in Craft Basics and I'm also working on a few different patterns for blankets and such I am working on so I wanted to share what I've made this week so far :)


I made this square for my friend Brandy and I also made me one for the friendship blanket I am making out of the 6x6 squares that I am exchanging with everyone :)


This was a beautiful pattern I found on ravelry HERE... I wanted to try it for my 6x6 square exchange but when I was finished making it, it was 12 inches LOL! So I'll probably end up making it into a pillow or something, but I do love the pattern there's so many color scheme possibilities with it & its so simple!

I crocheted this double layered flower
from some Sugar n Cream Cotton yarn

Then crocheted this 6x6 square using THIS
pattern and the same yarn as the flower.


Then attached them for one really awesome square! The colors make me think of the desert w/ a sort of Native American or Mexican feel....

I will most likely be starting a granny square messenger bag tonight that me and Brandy are crocheting-a-long with. I think it'll be fun to share our progress and help each other too, plus we are doing the same bag but with different colors and things so it'll be interesting to see how each of our's turns out in the end. I'll be sure to share :) I have so many projects I want to work on... I need to actually finish one LOL. Maybe just maybe I can start and finish the messenger bag :) I'm just trying to have fun and take my time with the granny square afghans doing a little here and a little there.

As always thanks so much for taking a peek! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

With just a typewriter

2011-06-11T15:25:00.001-04:00

I received this email today and it was very inspiring to me, so I wanted to share it as well in hopes that it may inspire all of my crafty friends....

He lived at Rose Haven Nursing Home ( Roseburg , OR ) for years. Paul Smith, the man with extraordinary talent was born on September 21, 1921, with severe cerebral palsy. Not only had Paul beaten the odds of a life with spastic cerebral palsy, a disability that impeded his speech and mobility but also taught himself to become a master artist as well as a terrific chess player even after being devoid of a formal education as a child.
"When typing, Paul used his left hand to steady his right one. Since he couldn't press two keys at the same time, he almost always locked the shift key down and made his pictures using the symbols at the top of the number keys. In other words, his pictures were based on these characters ..... @ # $ % ^ & * ( )_ . Across seven decades, Paul created hundreds of pictures. He often gave the originals away. Sometimes, but not always, he kept or received a copy for his own records. As his mastery of the typewriter grew, he developed techniques to create shadings, colors, and textures that made his work resemble pencil or charcoal drawings."

This great man passed away on June 25, 2009, but left behind a collection of his amazing artwork that will be an inspiration for many.

Typewriter Art
Can you believe that this art was created using a typewriter?

(click the images for larger view)

"I Shall Look At The World Through Tears. Perhaps I Shall See Things That, Dry-Eyed, I Could Not See".---Nicholas Wolterstorff

Venting + Happy Mail

2011-06-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

My Michaels Memorial Day Haul

2011-06-04T11:22:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to share the goodies that I got at Michaels on Memorial Weekend... even if it is a week late LOL.

Craft Basics Ustream Class this Saturday!

2011-06-02T12:59:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to share a video that Brandy made for details on this weekends Ustream class she is teaching in the group Craft Basics. We are going to have classes as often as we can and this Saturday at 7pm eastern, Brandy will be teaching how to make a lovely mini album using 3 sheets of double sided design paper. Its really cool, and in this video she shares her example & details on the class & swap that goes along with it. Join us this Saturday for the class by going to our Ustream Channel HERE. And if you are interested in what you see head over to our group Craft Basics and sign up to join! We could really use some more paper crafty friends there!

Thanks for stopping by (& watching!)

My Crochet Buddy & new creations....

2011-06-02T00:19:00.002-04:00

Lucky is my new crochet buddy! LOL. He sits and guards my yarn ball for me while I work on my projects and hubby snapped this picture today. He's just too cute! We have gotten so attached to one another in just a few weeks! He follows me around like a shadow and when I come home he dances with excitement to see me. I'm sooo glad that he finally came to me and that we were happy to doctor him up, clean him, and give him the love and attention that he totally deserves! He's such a wonderful addition to my family, and I couldn't imagine him not being here now. Its so weird how attached to an animal you can get, and how loyal they really are. I just had to share this adorable picture. Now on to the crafty goodness.. hee hee!

Last night I completed and listed this new addition to my shop. Its a crocheted reusable swiffer pad! Those refills from the store are so pricey and annoying. They hardly last any time, especially with kids or pets! So I made this reusable pad that is 100% durable, and washable. A simple solution to help save the environment and the wallet! Just slip it on, clean your floors like usual and when you are finished pull it off and pop it in your wash. Easy Peasy! The grooves crocheted in these pads are great for picking up dirt and grim, so you're sure to come out with super clean floors! If you're interested in purchasing please visit my shop.

I also created this crocheted bookmark, kind of as a mistake lol. I was teaching a ustream class on simple crochet for beginners and the pieces I created in the class created this super cute bookmark! It was pretty ironic actually. I taught how to crochet simple stitches for the swatch and then I taught how to crochet a simple flower. When the class was over I had the two pieces left and thought 'heck why not' and just attached them together with a cute button and wa-lah! I love the color combo, don't you? One of my favorites! I will be posting this bookmark for sale in my shop this evening as well for anyone interested. And you can check out the class by clicking here!

As always thanks so much for taking a peek! Have a great night!

Flower Frenzy

2011-06-02T00:02:00.001-04:00

I have been on a flower frenzy!!! And I'm having fun being creative and using all these fantastic fibers! All of these flowers are for sell in my shop. I will be adding more as the weeks go on. These flowers are a great addition to paper craft projects, hair clips, pins and buttons and the list goes on and on. Most of the flowers here are from 4 inches to 2 inches. I have used buttons and pearls as centers for most of them as well. I hope you enjoy!! I just thought I would share! If you're interested in purchasing these or would like to make a request please visit my shop blog. Thanks so much!

Lucky Goldfish

Natural

Blue Velvet

Patriotic

Natural Fleck

Thanks for taking a peek!

New at Beeing Creative

2011-05-31T17:06:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share the newest additions to my shop:

Thoughts on becoming a mother...

2011-05-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be good too if given the chance..

I will be a good mother not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books, but because I have struggled and toiled for this child. I have longed and waited. I have cried and prayed. I have endured and planned over and over again.

Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams. I will notice everything about my child. I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life. I will be happy when I wake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself lucky in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see. Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love. I will be a better mother for all that I have endured. I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain. I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body, I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall.

I have prevailed.

I have succeeded.

I have won.

So now, when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs.

I listen.

And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immerse power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard. I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes.

I have learned to appreciate life.

Yes I will be a wonderful mother!

A Couple of Cards...

2011-05-29T20:45:00.001-04:00

I finished these two cards for friends that are going through loss's in their families. I wanted to let them know that we were thinking of them. I am sort of happy with the vintage feel of this card but a little disappointed in how much the two patterned papers blend into one another. I thought because the patterns were so different but similar colors that it wouldn't matter as much.I'm not sure what the name of this paper is though (sorry ya'll!) I'm glad that I did ink the edges of the tea cup though! Unfortunately I do not have a die cutting machine or dies so I drew the tea cup out and cut it with my handy dandy scissors :) I then drew out a small tag shape in brown cardstock, stamped "Love" on it with brown in and inked the edges. I took a brown pen and drew an outline around the tag as well. Then I just attached a piece of twine and tucked it under the cup to make it look like it was a teabag coming out of the cup. For the bottom of the card, I tore the decorative paper and the base of the card across the bottom. Then I took some pretty lace trim and tucked it between the two layers and adhered it all together. The flowers are Prima and I just added some pink pearls to the centers of each flower. I'm not sure where I got the leaves. I left the inside blank except for my handwritten message.

For this card I used the same layout. The flowers are Prima with white pearl centers, and the same leaves (wish I knew where I got them.) The background paper is from my favorite paper stack.. the Mariposa stack by DCWV. I stamped a large Martha Stewart butterfly stamp twice using StazOn ink in black. Then I used my handy colored pencils and colored both butterflies to look the same. Then I fussy cut them out. I scored one of the butterflies on each side of its body and bent the wings up, then adhered the body of that butterfly to the second image so that it would look like a 3-d flying butterfly. Then I glued the base butterfly down to the card. I cut out another small tag shape in white and stamped "love" then outlined the tag and tied twine around the butterflies wing. I did the same technique as the first card with the bottom of the this card, but I used a different lace trim in white. I also left the inside of this card blank except for my handwritten message.

That pretty much sums up those cards. I need to make the card for CB's Card Sketch Challenge this month too! I keep forgetting, haha! I hope to get that finished tomorrow and posted as well! Thanks so much for taking a peek! I hope everyone is having a fun and safe weekend! Happy Memorial Day! Click here for some interesting info on Memorial Day. (and don't forget to say a prayer for those we are remembering this holiday!)

Hiking & Weight loss update....

2011-05-26T19:57:00.000-04:00

Me and my furball Lucky have been going hiking the last few days, since the weather has been nice. He follows me around and I genuinely enjoy his company. Not that I don't enjoy the other furballs and their company but Honey has to be on a leash, and the other one's do not walk with me and stick around. They tend to run off and do their own things. Lucky stays by my side and is so relaxed. He's not as hyper like the rest of them are. Anyway... I did a video of us taking a walk where we usually do. We typically walk in our yard and then up and down our insanely steep driveway a few times. Trust me, its a work out lol. I've lost 13 lbs to date and I have 52 lbs to lose to reach my initial goal. I have a ticker at the bottom of this page that I plain on updating often. I hope that by summer's end I can reach my initial goal, and then I will set a new goal after that. I just hope to weather cooperates with me. It rains here so much I feel like we live in Forks, Washington! LOL!

So I just wanted to share that little update, and also the vid that I posted on youtube about it....

I also want to say that I am praying for all those who have been dealing with the terrible tornado's and storms this season! You are all in our thoughts and prayers. And I also want to say to my friends who have been dealing with loss in their families, I'm also keeping you in our prayers as well! God bless you all!

Explosion Box + Tutorial

2011-05-26T19:42:00.000-04:00

I made this explosion box for my mother in law for Mother's Day a few weeks ago and a few friends that saw the pictures on facebook asked if I would make a video on how to make one. It took me a while to get the video made and posted but its finally up (in 2 parts lol)... I guess I blabber too much so I always go over the time allotment. Bleh! Below are the videos, you can watch them on my youtube channel as well. Either way please let me know what you think and if you try out the tutorial! I would love to see what you can come up with it as well! I am going to be working on the box I made in the tutorial and will hopefully have it finished soon to share. I'm adding some new things to it that I didn't do in the original box (like pockets!) So that will be fun!

Each layer was distressed a ton to give it that vintage vibe.
I used alot of embellies and larger photos of her and her sons
to make it special for her as a mom =)

Here are the vid's:

Started a Starburst Throw...

2011-05-19T18:46:00.001-04:00

Last night I started a new throw in a Starflower pattern (thats my name for it lol). I am really liking the simplicity of the pattern but the sophistication of the look when its crocheted up. I am making this one in purple, black and white for my niece Clair's room since her entire room is in this color scheme. I really really hope she likes it! I haven't gotten that much completed but its a good start and its so quick and easy that I think this will be finished rather soon. This would be a beautiful throw in so many different color schemes. I am really really considering selling these throws in my shop. If anyone is interested please let me know. I will be posting pictures of this one when it is completed but I was so excited with the way it is turning out so I had to share now! :)

In other news we found out this afternoon that my husbands workmans compensation for his injury was accepted so we will be getting some sort of income until his doctors appointment June 9th for his work release. The Lord is good thats all I can say!

I also want to mention that my friend Annette (CharmfulDelights on Youtube) is going through a really tough time right now. Her hubby was laid off because of serious medical issues and they are really struggling financially. She has been selling all of her craft supplies just to get by, and the poor dear just got slammed with property tax! I feel so badly for her so if anyone of you is interested in helping her out in anyway please visit her youtube channel and leave her some love. Or visit Laurel's blog where you can donate to her Spare Change Effort for Annette. You can also send her a message on your youtube channel and see what she may have up for sell that might interest you. I know that she is selling a really nice camera, and scrapping supplies. Thanks so much everyone...

I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Thursday with Homemade Spaghetti (yummers!) and my favorite shows... Vampire Diaries, American Idol, and GREYS ANATOMY! yay!!!

Wishing everyone a blessed Thursday!

More Baby Frustrations

2011-05-19T00:42:00.002-04:00

I'm not really sure how much I have talked about our troubles conceiving and the trouble we have had trying to have a family of our own... but I want to take the time to tell everyone what has been going on with us and vent a little about things. This is MY blog and MY life... at this moment its a VERY important part of my life so I want to share with you and hopefully I wont share anything that is too uncomfortable for anyone, and if I do I greatly apologize.

My husband and I have been together 11 years this September. We have been married since August 2nd 2003. I have only been with 1 man, my husband in my life, and my husband has only been with me. I have not been on birth control since I was 18 years old and he has never used protection. (Stupid and something I definitely DO NOT condone) But when we were married we decided what ever happens, happens, and welcomed the opportunity of a family. For us it didn't happen that way. I have never conceived... and we have been trying for so long now. Last year we decided that maybe Adoption was our only option. So we went through an ordeal where we thought we were going to adopt and the parents decided before the child was born that they wanted to keep the child. That was pretty difficult for me because I jumped the gun and really thought it was going to work out. So I had all the stuff for the baby and everything. Now I know that I should have waited until the very last moment so that I knew that it was definite or not, and then maybe I wouldn't have went through such a huge emotional heartbreak. I told myself that I would never go through a situation like that again. I wouldn't open myself up for that kind of let down..... low and behold I didn't keep to my word at all and ended up being a sucker again.

My friend from high school found me on facebook and we were talking about kids and things and I mentioned that we have none and was telling her about the troubles we have been having etc. During all of our conversations she mentioned that she thought she could be pregnant and knew that she would not be able to take care of the child if she was. She asked me if Tim and I would be interested in adopting the child if she were pregnant. I blatantly told her that I did not want to set myself up for heartbreak again and that I was really skeptical of the situation only because I don't want to be hurt again. She told me that she understood and ASSURED me that it would never be like that because she couldn't hurt me that way. Let me say that this is not just some girl I went to school with. I grew up with her. I have known her since before Kindergarten and we practically grew up together. So I trusted her. After have many talks with her and a ton of serious conversations with Tim we told her that we would be honored. On Mother's Day night at around 11 or 12 she called me crying her eyes out and told me that she needed a place to stay and that she was kicked out of her home because her boyfriend broke up with her. So we got the money together to get her a bus ticket from NC to here and we went and picked her up Monday night. I wanted to help her but I let her know that I was also concerned for the child and if she was pregnant I wanted her to be here so that we could be there to help her during the pregnancy. Monday afternoon we talked seriously about the entire situation and I told her that I was VERY VERY worried about getting hurt. She again assured me that I wouldn't get hurt and that she was serious.. That night when Tim came home from work I told him about our talks and we were super excited about everything. On Tuesday morning we were sitting in our living room and I mentioned something regarding the adoption/pregnancy so that she could verify with Tim and she said that she was not pregnant that she had started her period. That really upset me but I shook it off and she mentioned that she still wanted to give us a family and that she would be interested in being a surrogate. So we looked up all the necessary information that morning. Tuesday night I asked her something else about it and she said... 'I just don't know this is all moving too fast.' So I left things alone and figured that she might be a bit overwhelmed. No problem. Nothing was mentioned or talked about further. However she spent most of the night on my computer and phone talking to her 'ex' boyfriend and some guy she knows in Colorado. I found it a bit odd that she was talking to her 'ex' that just booted her out the door... I know I wouldn't be talking to him! On Tuesday night when Tim got home from work I talked to him and told him that I felt that something was wrong and that she was changing her mind. I got that from her vibe, the things she was telling me in her convos with these guys, and just the over all atmosphere of our talks. I started to worry.. so we agreed to sit her down Wednesday and talk about it. Wednesday morning I said 'We have been talking and we really need to know where you are with all of this and if you are going to change your mind.'... Her statement was 'Well honestly I think this is all moving too fast. I have been thinking and I just want time for myself. I want to focus on me and I don't think this is what I want right now. I have been talking to ____ and he wants me to come to Colorado to visit so he got me a bus ticket and I will be leaving Saturday night.' So she basically turned 360 on us. I told her that I honestly was letting her stay with me because I thought she needed the help and we were helping her because she was helping us. I told her how important this was to us and then I had to leave the room. I cried all day and all night over it. I couldn't stop crying because she did just what she said she would NOT do to me. She ended up changing her ticket for Friday evening and that is when she left. My father in law took her to the bus station and I was under the impression that she was going to Colorado. However my father in law over heard her talking to someone on the phone and saw her ticket that said she was going to North Carolina. She claims that she went to NC and that the guy from Colorado flew to NC to get her luggage and stuff and drive her back to Colorado, but it doesn't add up to me. I don't believe it, I really think she went back to the fellow she was with in NC and just didn't know how to tell me. She lied to us. I found out after she left that she borrowed money from my in-laws and I really think she used us for a vacation to get away and money. I think she lied to us knowing she was never pregnant and never intended to help us in any way.

I can't see myself trusting another person in a situation like this. I'm hurt... and it really makes me lose hope on having a family.

To add to the stress my mother in law tells me that my sister in law is late and that upsets me because if she's pregnant she is able to give them another grandchild and I can't even give them one. I can't give my husband what we both want so much and I feel the pressure every single day from it. I find myself being envious of everyone who has children or who is pregnant... I feel myself feeling bitter and sad all at the same time. Its hard, and I'm sad... thats all I can say about it to be honest. She hurt me in the worst way, she pretended to give me something that means more to me than anything in this world, something I want soooo badly that I would practically do anything for it... and she just took it away with a snap of the finger. She teased me.... and for her to be such a 'good friend' is what hurts me the most. If I can't trust someone I grew up with from practically a baby.. who can I trust?

Happy Birthday to Bob!

2011-05-19T00:00:00.001-04:00

Today is my father-in-laws birthday so I made him this card and just had to share!

Happy Birthday Pop!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

A pretty good weekend

2011-05-18T23:59:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was my nephew Michaels first birthday and he lives in North Carolina (where most of our family resides.) So we took a trip there so we could #1 celebrate Michaels 1st birthday at his party and #2 meet our niece Lexi for the first time!

Unfortunately my poor hubby had an accident at work on Thursday night resulting in a hospital stay and 5 bulging discs in his back! :( He was a trooper and didn't want to let his nephew down so we still took the trip. The drive down was ok until we hit the Virginia/North Carolina line and hit some CRAZY weather! It had me pretty freaked out! I hate heavy rain and not being able to see where we are going!

Just check out these crazy storm clouds!

The party was Sunday morning and it was small but really fun. Michael was in a wonderful mood, and I was so happy to see him and spend time with him. He had a fascination with my locket and tried to make a snack of it a few times. LOL.

I was laughing at him because he wanted the camera.

Tim's Parents with their grandson

My hubby with Michael

His totally cute cake!

He tried to get messy but he was more interested in the toys than
the actual cake lol.

This guy was wandering around the park..

And Michael really enjoyed meeting him!

After the party we said goodbye to everyone there and headed to see my brother, sister in law, and baby niece Lexi. I was so excited to meet her for the first time! We didn't get the best pictures and folks I was looking rough by the time we got there! LOL. It was hot and I was tired, so please forgive my funkiness! ;)

Uncle Tim and Lexi

She's such a beautiful little girl, and her smile really makes the trip worth it!

I made Lexi a baby blanket shaped like a star in her nursery colors of pink, cream, and brown and her parents seemed to really like it. Our trip home was looong and tiring but I was sooo happily surprised when I was settled at home and sat down to check my email to find a beautiful picture of Lexi with her blanket! It really made me happy and surprised me in the best of ways!

I'm so glad everyone liked it :) I'm kinda proud of it!

I finished a hat that I made for her and am working on a male version for my nephew. I will be selling these in my shop as well if anyone is interested!

Minnie Mouse Beanie

Today I started a purple, white and black throw for my niece Clair and actually got a good bit of it finished... I will post pictures and everything soon. I need to work on a tutorial for the Exploding box I made for my mil for Mother's Day as well. My husband has been dealing with workman's comp and getting a work release from the doctors. Thats a big headache! The hospital referred him to a Neurologist and we called today for an appointment and they said they can't see him until June 9th. So now we are trying to find another doctor that can hopefully see him sooner and release him so he can go back to work, otherwise we are going to be in a BIG ko-ink-e-denk! Why do they always make things sooo difficult?! Other than that there's nothing much going on... I do have an important personal blog to post in a few about a situation that we recently went through, but thats another blog and I don't want to bring this one down much. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!

All my love,

Lucky

2011-05-16T22:18:00.001-04:00

Meet Lucky!

This little fellow is the newest rescue and addition to our family. He has been living in our woods behind the house and for weeks he would come around to visit with our other dogs but as soon as he saw or heard a human he would run away, scared for his life. We left out food for him and I never gave up trying to urge him to me. In a way Tim thought I was insane and was concerned for my safety. He was worried that the dog could be rabid or be too scared/nervous and turn on me.... but I never want to think of the negative when it comes to animals and I always give them the benefit of the doubt. Foolish, maybe... but I can't help it! A few days ago, Tim was leaving for work and the dog was sunning on our front porch, but this time instead of high tailing it to the woods he stayed shivering in fear. It was odd to both of us that he didn't run away like he normally does. We slowly approached him and I showed him that I was friendly and gained his trust so that he would come to me instead of me going to him. I think thats a lot of peoples mistakes when it comes to wild or stray animals. You can't forcefully approach a scared animal and pin it in a corner then expect it to remain calm. If you were trapped in a corner and scared for your life how would you react? Wouldn't you be defensive and fight for your life? I know that I would! Thats typically how animals react as well. Once he did come to me, I then let him smell me and then I slowly pet him on his head. Tim had to leave for work and he told me later that he knew seeing me with the dog when he was driving away that he would come home to a new roomie lol. Once Tim did leave I sat on the porch with the dog for several minutes just petting his head and then eventually he crawled into my lap and curled up. That was all it took for me really! I knew then that he was just scared, harmless, hungry and sort of "waving the white flag" to ask for help. He was sooo thin, and had pretty deep scarring on his ears and feet from injuries he must have gotten in the woods. I can only imagine what the poor guy has lived through!!! I immediately brought him in and bathed him, then I gave him wormer medicine as well as frontline to make sure he was pest free. Then I fed him a nice big bowl of food. Once he ate, he curled up on the couch and he's been my shadow ever since LOL! He's such a sweetheart and catches on soo quickly. Tim suggested that we call him Lucky and I agreed that it was a very suitable name for his situation and everything. I guess I'm a sucker guys, and its a really good thing that we have a big yard and lots of running room!! LOL. If I never have a child of my own, one things for certain, I will always have my furbabies!

Lucky sunning on the porch

Pink & Teal Paper Bag Mini {& metal roses}

2011-05-07T02:36:00.002-04:00

A beautiful day...

2011-05-06T22:46:00.000-04:00

It was a gorgeous day today. I am sooo glad to see the sun shining and it was sooo beautiful. Has anyone ever noticed that the sky is so much bluer and everythings so much more brilliant after a storm or rain? It seems like it rains all the time lately and today was the first day in a week that we have not had a cloud in the sky. YAY! I just wanted to share some photos and a small video I made of the views from my front porch.

Everyone in our community and us call our home the house on the hill... because we are the only house on the hill overlooking all of the other homes. Our home is set in the woods and we have a long driveway that goes up the hillside through the woods. Its beautiful in the spring, summer, and fall... but a pain in the winter. Especially this past winter! We had so much snow and our driveway is so steep that its treacherous to try and drive up it in the snow. Soo we have to park at the bottom of the drive and hike up. NOT fun! Especially when we have groceries etc. Talk about a work out. On the bright side... 3/4's of the year its beautiful and so peaceful. I love the solitude, the views, and most of all nature! I just wanted to share!

This is the view from our front porch. Its absolutely beautiful. I love seeing the
mountains out of our living room windows. I love the way the colors are so vibrant. :)

Love this picture of the leaves :)

I hope everyone has a beautiful weekend! =)

Teaching a class tomorrow...

2011-04-24T13:28:00.003-04:00

I will be teaching a class tomorrow in the group Craft Basics. The group is small and we are looking for more members and I would love to have more folks in the class. Craft Basics is a group for all types of crafters with any experience. If you would like to learn a new craft or are an experienced crafter who would like to meet others, teach, and share. All are welcome! We have monthly swaps, play games for crafty prizes, chit chat, share, and more. All the ladies are super sweet, encouraging, and helpful! The crafts we have discussed have been everything from quilting, card making, scrapbooking, and cooking to gardening, jewelry making, knitting & crocheting. The sky is the limit honestly! The link to the group is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/craftbasics

The class I will be teaching is a simple paperbag mini-scrapbook album. I learned this method from the awesome Kathy Orta through her show Paper Phenomenon on UStream. The books will have a chipboard cover, an awesome binding method and many pockets and area's for photos. I will be teaching the basic ways I put the main book together (using Kathy's techniques), and then later on we can have classes on how to make embellishments and other cool pockets and things for the book!

Also a fellow member, Donna (our resident Knitter) will be teaching classes in the month of May on how to knit in a combined continental method. It will be a great chance for us who would like to learn how to knit to learn in a nice atmosphere with fellow newbie knitters :)

If you are interested in joining in on the fun please check out and join the group at the link above. We would love to see you there! You can also click the button below to join. Thanks so much! Happy Easter everyone! God Bless!!

Click to join CraftBasics

Happy Easter!!!!!

2011-04-24T00:00:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter with their family and friends! I hate that my entire family and all of my friends are scattered around the country so I don't get to see them this Easter. =( Below is a special Happy Easter video I put together for my adorable nephews and niece: Adam, Michael, and Lexi! (and everyone else too) I hope you all have a special day and remember Aunt Ande, and Uncle Tim love you and miss you soooo much!!!!

Everyone else we love you all too! (hee hee)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

God Bless!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Alcohol Inked Paper Rose

2011-04-16T14:28:00.003-04:00

I have to say that I think I am addicted to making paper roses. Recently I had my very first UStream Live class where I taught how to create this Alcohol Inked Paper Rose. It was odd for my first class. I'm not used to being live on webcam and I think it was a bit awkward and hard to get used to for my first time. I think that I need to get a better camera or perhaps rearrange where I have my webcam to have a better view of things. My husband created a stand for my webcam and set it up where we thought it would work well, and I guess it did ok for my first video. I just wish I didn't feel so put off by it all. lol. You can view the class HERE....and feel free to laugh. LOL. It is in 2 parts... kept having phone calls and things that interupted me. I've now officially learned to NOT have the phone in the room with me, and to let EVERYONE know that I'm teaching a class prior to going live! LOL.

I am considering creating these flowers and selling them in my shop. They would be an AWESOME addition to scrapbook pages, and other art creations. Would anyone be interested in these? I was thinking a set of 3. I could create a large (that would be the one shown), medium, and small. Of course each flower would be uniquely different but the same in concept. This large rose shown is the size of my palm so it is a good size and the back is flat for easy attachment. If this would interest anyone please let me know! Thanks so very much! I hope to get more creations up soon, we've been going through a rough patch here at home with a lot of personal things going on so I haven't been able to create like I would like. *sighs* I have however been working on a new baby blanket that I will be selling in the shop very soon. It's a little over half finished so far and I work on it every day so I hope to complete it fairly soon.

I had a 50 fan giveaway this week for my shop's page on facebook. Now my goal is to reach 100 fans and of course I will be having a giveaway as soon as the page reaches 100! If you haven't already you can visit by clicking HERE. Anyone is eligible to win and all you have to do is 'like' the page. =) I'll have more details on the giveaway in the coming days so please stay tuned for that!

I hope everyone is enjoying spring FINALLY being here, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

50 fan Giveaway Winner

2011-04-15T19:39:00.001-04:00

Crocheted "Girly Girl" Laptop Sweater

2011-04-14T18:18:00.002-04:00

Spice up your laptop with a functional yet stylish sweater! These sweaters are a great way to keep your laptop safe and scratch free! The sleeve pictured is crocheted from redheart acrylic yarns in hot pink, purple, and white. It has a button enclosure so that your laptop will never slide out of its case.

The measurements of this sweater are 16 in x 10.5 in & they ARE machine washable!

Order your laptop sweater in school colors, team colors, or your favorite colors! Any color combination is available! Please visit my shop, Beeing Creative for more information! Thanks So much!

Price: $22.00

Cricut Cake Giveaway

2011-04-09T12:37:00.001-04:00

There is a Cricut Cake Machine Giveaway over at Sweet Magnolia Rose's Blog! Check it out and follow her wonderfully creative Blog!!! I promise you won't be disappointed! =)

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

(& visit her blog)

Bird Nest Cakes

2011-04-03T23:53:00.002-04:00

I saw this really cute recipe with printable card, on TipJunkie and HAD to share it!! I thought it was super cute and fun! Just click below to go directly to the PDF where you can save or print yours! ENJOY!!!

CLICK HERE TO GET IT!

Would you rather Wed...Pliers or Needles?

2011-03-30T01:57:00.002-04:00

It's that time again over at my bestie Ginger's Blog she is having the Would you Rather Wednesday Blog Hop!!! Remember NEITHER is not an option! Jump on the BLOG HOP and post your answer if you dare! :)

Just post your answer on your blog then click the Click to Enter link at the bottom of this post to add yourself to the Blog Hop... its that simple!

Today's catergory is pain!

Todays Question:

Would You Rather... have to give yourself 15 stitches with a regular sewing needle - OR - have to pull your own tooth with a regular pair of pliers?!

My Answer:

I think I am going with pulling my tooth out with pliers. Crazy? Yeah I know... lol... the way I see it, as long as I am the one controlling the instrument I can handle the pain a little better. I'm not really sure why that is. If I get a splinter or something I can't handle someone else trying to remove it, but I can do it and it doesn't hurt as bad. I think I can take the pliers and yank out 1 tooth and deal with that pain for a few minutes a lot better than I could sticking myself with a needle and thread 15 times in an obviously already injured place. Its one thing to poke yourself with a needle but its another to have to poke through an already painful injury 15 more times. Makes me shudder... honestly both situations make me shudder lol. These questions are insane haha. But its still fun! Join in guy!!!

Thursday Treasure Hunt: Spring

2011-03-24T00:00:00.001-04:00

Each week RealLifeReslers will be having a blog hop to show off the coolest *handmade* treasures we've found on the internet. They can be from etsy, your favorite blog, or a forum--your choice!

Just copy the blog hop code here... and paste it to the bottom of your blog post when you participate... Once your blog is created click the red 'CLICK HERE TO ENTER' link below and add your blog information... Your info will then be added to the blog hop and to everyone's blog that participates so we will be able to see and we all can blog hop along!! SOOO FUN! Pretty simple too! =D

This week's theme is : Spring

My item's come from a few random Etsy shops..

Bunny Hat & Diaper Cover
From Mad Hatter Knits Co on Etsy

Click here for listing & purchasing info!

Angelique Dusty Pink Rose Earrings
From Seven Blueberries on Etsy

Click here for listing & purchasing info!

Vintage Blue Bird Scrabble Tile Pendant
From Pretty Whimsical on Etsy

Click here for listing & purchasing info!

A few Etsy Treasuries to share... click the image to view each item individually.

Magnolia Bloom

Spring in Pink Yellow & White

And as always a cute crochet pattern:

Sweet and Colorful Spring Flowers
These would be perfect for sooo many things! Scrapbook pages, cards, headbands, etc etc etc!

Please click here for the pattern

Three Words Wed.

2011-03-23T16:22:00.000-04:00

Upload the picture of your choice BUT remember, you only get 3 words to describe it! Then go over to http://www.reallifereslers.comto share with everyone what you used. :)

Here's Mine:

EWWW THATS GROSS!

Would you rather Wed... Serial Killer's?

2011-03-23T00:39:00.001-04:00

It's that time again over at my bestie Ginger's Blog she is having the Would you Rather Wednesday Blog Hop!!! Remember NEITHER is not an option! Jump on the BLOG HOP and post your answer if you dare! :)

Just post your answer on your blog then click the Click to Enter link at the bottom of this post to add yourself to the Blog Hop... its that simple!

Today's catergory is Ethics & Intellect!

Today's Question:

Would You Rather: BE the parent of a serial killer - OR - BE the parent of a victim of a serial killer?

My Answer:

I think that I would rather be parent of a victim of a serial killer. I know this may sound horrible but to be honest I think I could live with the fact that my child is in a better place than to think that my child is out there killing so many innocent people. That would be torture in a way. I think its because I would feel so guilty for all of those that my child had hurt and their families... and in a way those people would blame me too. Maybe not intentionally but if you think about it... the first thought when a kid doesnt something bad is 'how on earth were they raised? or that kids parents must have been horrible examples to that child.' You know what I mean. It would be such a hard thing to deal with no matter which way it would happen. I wouldn't wish either situation on anyone!

Rose Tag

2011-03-22T22:56:00.000-04:00

Here's the tag that I just finished for the swap on The Scrap Beach =) I really hope she likes it. I wanted to do some sort of collage type thing and use my stamps and this is what I came up with lol. The tag measures 3x6 inches! Its a big'un! lol.

I used my giant mounted Rose stamp by Rubber Stampede, and stamped
in a maroon color.The leaves are from an unmounted set I bought from Time
to Stamp, and the lady is also from A Time to Stamp.The leaves were stamped
in greens, browns, and also black. The swirls and the lady were stamped using brown.

I colored the Rose stamp with colored pencils and popped it up
with pop dots. I stamped some of the leaves on cardstock, colored
them in with colored pencils and cut them out, then popped them up
with pop dots as well. I thought it would give it a neat effect with all
of the shadowed leave silhouettes underneath!

Here's a close up of the lady. I also lightly colored her in with colored pencils.
I added stickles to her eyes for a highlight (cant see in this pic though) and I added this
really pretty pearl and lace trim to the top. The final step was adding all of the fibers =)
You cant really see the fibers that well in these photos but there's some silver crochet
thread, some pinks, greens, and whites.

As always thanks so much for stopping by and taking a gander at my creations! Have a great night!

"Cherish" Teal & Brown Bookmark

2011-03-22T20:24:00.001-04:00

This is another creation by muah today.. and yes... I had to include some Twilight love lol. Its a book mark so why not show my favorite series while I'm at it!?! =) I love how it turned out, and sort of sad that I am parting with it, but I did make it for someone else. LOL. Don't you hate that feeling of 'but its so pretty can't I keep it?!?' I get those feelings sooo often! I loved how this turned out so much that I think I'm going to make a few more in other color combo's and some special ones for my girls at O.W. =D I think these would go perfectly in my little books I'm making everyone! I may even sell these in my shop but I haven't quite decided on that one just yet. I guess it depends on the feedback I get from everyone lol. Anyway... I guess we'll see...

The flower is made from teal & brown scrapbook paper by My Minds Eye (I believe, I need to keep better track of the names of things lol) and measures a whopping 4 inches! It is embellished with a white button, some shiny silver crochet thread tied in a pretty bow, and a stamped tag that says 'Cherish'... It is attached to a 15' satin ribbon to mark your place in your book. The flower is meant to go on the outside for display because if you put it inside your book it would A. get squished beyond recognition and b. your book would never close lol.

Here is one more view of the bookmark before I close. This one shows it in all of its 3d glory =) I really love the teal and brown color combo, this paper is gorgeous by the way! I think its called Bohemian, and I don't think this particular pattern is available anymore, which sux because I think I'm out of it LOL. Oh well, there's plenty of other beautiful paper out there for me to snatch up! Ha! Please let me know what you guys think! I would love to hear some feedback so that I can decide whether or not to offer these in Beeing Creative! Is anyone else getting impatient for Breaking Dawn?!? I know I am! LOL! Its really going to suck to have to wait for part 2 BUT in a way its a good thing because we will have 1 more movie, so the series won't be completely over for us and the excitement will last for another year! Yay! Come on November!!!!

Once again thanks so much for stopping by and taking a look-see!

"Memories" Greeting Card

2011-03-22T19:55:00.000-04:00

Today I have been working on a few things for a swap I am participating in over at The Scrap Beach. One of the items is a Thank you card. It doesn't have to be handmade but I thought, why the heck not since everything else in the swap is handmade and my partner took the time to make me a GORGEOUS thank you card. So this is what I came up with for the swap. I actually used some of the prima flowers that she sent to me =) It added that 3d something to the card that I thought it needed. Don't you love that quote? I have nooo clue where I got that stamp (darn it!) Thats what happens when you don't keep the packaging (or are smart enough to write it on the stamp lol!)... It's an unmounted rubber stamp, that's pretty much all I can tell ya! =( I know its not exactly a THANK YOU card, but I said my thank you's on the inside of the card lol. I really hope that she's enjoys it when it arrives, as much as I absolutely loooved hers. I'm also working on the handmade tag that is part of this swap but its a work in progress... I'll post it in a few (when I'm finished) it'll be up tonight sometime because I need to finish her items and package everything for shipping tomorrow because its due! YIKES! I don't want to be late lol. So keep an eye out for that one, and as always thank you SOOOO much for stopping by and taking a look-see! =)

Bella's Eclipse Hat

2011-03-22T15:55:00.003-04:00

Bella's Beanie has now been added to my shop for purchase! This hat comes in Aran Fleck, and Frost Green Fleck stripes and can be custom ordered in any color choices. This beanie is pretty much a duplicate of the hat Bella wore in Eclipse during the scene where they were camping in the mountains, hiding from Victoria . This beanie is PERFECT for those Twihards out there! Below are photo's of my hat, and then scenes from the movie to show the resemblance! This hat is available for purchase and can be ordered in any colors for $10. Visit Beeing Creative for more information! This beanie can also be purchased directly from the Beeing Creative facebook page! Thanks so much for visiting!

My beanie:

Front view

Side View

Another Side View

Back View

Scenes from the movie:

I Should have the choice!

2011-03-21T18:17:00.002-04:00

Today I was quite offended by a member of a Animal Rescue group that I was a member of that made a few comments that pretty much insinuated that I am a bad person that neglects my pets. Where did this come from you may ask? The debate of whether Spay & Neutering & Microchipping should be mandatory and not the owners choice. I will not mention names etc but I will share her comments and then also my response to this so that you can see both sides of the discussion and why it annoys me so.

Here are her comments in order of posting (note this conversation started because someone was talking about a neighbor who has a dog that just had a 3rd litter of pups and was chained outside...I AM TOTALLY AGAINST THIS!)

Post #1:

"I have been interested in creating an Animal Abuse Task Force and an extension of a group in Ohio that advocates against BSL and shuts down dog wardens who are malicious in their euthanizations. That group
has really changed the face of sheltering in Ohio, one community at a time. I have tons of plans for the long-term, so I would love to start a conversation."

Post #2:

"The Kanawha Humane society, when you adopt a pet that is unaltered, they tell you to come back in a few days. They have that pet fixed BEFORE it leaves the shelter. That is the way to enforce the mandatory. Can you FORCE everyone? No. But you can make it illegal to have unregistered litters, and then you can create a huge fine for violators. Will you still have violators? Of course. People disregard the rules and the law all the time. A guy like this neighbor, by letting his dog have multiple litters, clearly disregards animal welfare. You cannot change him. But you can hurt him financially, and you can hurt his legal record and possibly his credit record."

Post #3:

"I have not had a chance to get dog food to you because there were just 2-3 days between your request and your visit to the shelter. I do buy 2 bags of dog food every week and put out around Huntington for strays. I also have helped to start a magazine in which we provide FREE space for the shelter to showcase their adoptables: we put out 7000 copies, print editions. This covers a lot of area. We could use more volunteers getting the magazine out, but... we were able to get 23 of the 30 from Huntington shelter adopted in our first month-- we can improve but we are new, so I'm okay with that. We think you are really talented taking photos and getting the 'story' of the pet: we are hoping you might let us use some of your pictures but that is not for me to arrange. I love what you are doing with the internet. Frankly, the internet is awesome but unless a person is logged in, and unless they find your site, or unless they have facebook accounts, they are not going to see that we are trying to move animals. When my dog disappeared, I realized WV has very little activity on the net compared to Ohio and KY. The major reason for the magazine too, is the online lost and found for LOCAL pets. We are trying to build that up because these 'stray' animals are lost pets. The shelter may take them in and they seem unwanted, meanwhile some family is frantically searching and has no uniform way to locate all the shelters and see all the dogs/cats for months. I know because I've been looking for more than 15 months now for my dog. It took forever to figure out how to contact all the shelters. What you are doing is awesome because the lady at the shelter who does Petfinder, can only take enough time to do some of the animals. She cannot get them all up there. If someone is searching for a lost dog/cat, your site may help find them and bring them home."

Post #4:

"I am also for mandatory microchipping. If you dont' want to do that, then you don't own a pet. I hope the goverment requires a data base where you register your pet -- dog and cat-- and you supply their medical records-- vets can supply the info-- and when an animal comes through animal control, there is a history established about that pet. I will quit writing now except one more thing: don't hate all people. Look for the good ones and hang your hopes on them."

My response to her postings:

" I personally disagree with making it mandatory for microchipping and spay/neuter if you choose not to do so. I have 4 dogs and 2 cats all of which I have rescued and only 1 of all of them are spayed. Are you saying that because of I haven't had the funds to get all of them fixed & microchipped that I do not care about my pets? I do not think this is a fair judgement. I love these animals to bits and would do anything for them that is in my power.. I am also responsible with my pets enough not to let them around other animals to get pregnant. Things happen that are sometimes out of your control,yes, however if you pay attention to your pets and are responsible enough you can make sure that they do not become pregnant. I disagree with puppy mills 100% and think its the worst possible thing. However not everyone is that way, and just because they can not get their animals fixed, or choose not too does not mean they are bad people. I'm sorry but I disagree and I think it is totally unfair to take someone's choices from them and pass judgement so harshly."

This post led to her response which was simply:

"If you can not afford to get your pets spayed or neutered and microchipped then you can not afford to properly take care of them and you should not have them."

Do my animals look mistreated to you?

Once I received that comment I decided to leave the group without further comment because I am not going to be judged so harshly for sharing my opinion on a topic. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I did not speak my mind further there, but I still have my blog where I can say what ever I choose. So... with that said.... Here are my thoughts on this matter in full. Feel free to comment with your thoughts and opinions on this matter as long as they are respectful and non judgmental. I would like to have a proper conversation/debate on this, not judging, throwing insults, or hurting anyone's feelings.

Here are my thoughts:

I am highly in favor of spaying or neutering your pets. However I have 3 female dogs, and 1 male dog that are not spayed/neutered as well as 1 cat that is spayed and 1 cat that is not. Sheeba was spayed prior to us adopting her. If we were in a better financial status and the cost of this surgery was much lower then we would be able to have our animals spayed/neutered but at this time we have come to the decision that until then they will remain unaltered, and we will be as responsible as we possibly can with what ever may happen. I'm in favor of requiring shelters to neuter all adult animals prior to adoption. I think this would help in cutting down the population of unwanted animals.

That being said, however, I do not support mandatory spay and neuter ordinances, or mandatory micro-chipping. I think there's merit in many of the reasons such ordinances are opposed, but for me the main reason comes down to personal choice. Do we really need more regulations that will need government/law enforcement attention? Do we really want to be removing pets from families that, through lack or knowledge or resources, do not or cannot comply with the law? Do we want to punish the hobby breeder for producing a litter while most ordinances explicitly exempt high-volume breeders (which can include puppy mills) from having to comply with the regulations?

I'd like to see communities that have low-cost spay/neuter clinics expand them. And wouldn't it make sense to subsidize spay/neuter costs for low-income families so that they can afford to have their pets fixed? Or even give a discount or something for multiple pets (like in our case.) In fact, If there were more free clinics and vets willing to do these surgeries for free to help in the community, I very well believe that more people would be willing to have this done.

But you really cant mandate people to do the “right thing.” You can educate, cajole, bribe—what have you, but there will always be irresponsible people, who do not care. When you think about all the laws currently on the books that aren't enforced, do we really want to add another set of rules that have to be enforced, especially when the failure to follow the rules results in comparatively little harm? Do we really want regulations that, when enforced, can result in the confiscation and possibly the euthanization of the animal?

How much sense does it make that if you do not spay or neuter your pet you could be fined severely, and/or your pet could be removed from your care? Where would they go? Back to a shelter to add even more population to the already maxed out population of the horrible animal shelters? Where they will be in cages, forgotten, and mistreated until someone happens across them, or they are euthanized for the next group of pets to come in and take their place? Does that really make any sense? To me that is more heartless than a person loving an animal unconditionally but is unable to afford the cost of a surgery, or a chip. Does our government really need another thing to add to the list of things that add on to our already outrageous taxes?Should those tax payers who are allergic or do not like animals in the first place pay and be responsible for taxes that have nothing to do with them? I'm sorry but I think not. There are SOOOOO Many more important things in this world right now to worry about then whether or not an animal is fixed or has a microchip. For instance, homelessness, child abuse, the adoption and foster system... I could go on and on.

This could almost certainly go into the much larger debate of pro-life or pro-choice. No matter if we are talking about animals or not. Lets leave that debate for another day however....

It comes down to a personal choice here. I am responsible enough to know how to take care of my pets and make sure that they do not become pregnant, or lost.They are my pets and I should have the choice of whether they are capable of producing or not. I love my animals. I think of them as an extension of my family. I will do anything in my power for them that is within my ability. I make sure they are fed, bathed, sheltered, and spoiled rotten... I have been an animal rights advocate since I was in middle school and have supported Peta, The Humane Society, and the ASPCA for that long. I have rescued so many animals and found them good forever homes that I can't even keep count any longer.I'm not a bad person, I love animals and feel very strongly about their protection.. they have no voice, so they need someone to be that voice for them. I have always felt that way. I do not appreciate being judged so harshly, when you really don't know my situation or anything about me.. now you know my opinions and a little more about me and where I stand.

Do you have thoughts/concerns or something to add to this discussion? Feel free to comment and share!

Bella's La Push Hat from Twilight (in blue!)

2011-03-17T13:15:00.001-04:00

Bella's Beanie has now been added to my shop for purchase in a new color... BLUE! This beanie is pretty much a duplicate of the hat Bella wore in Twilight during the scene where she visited La Push for the first time. This beanie is PERFECT for those Twihards out there! Below are photo's of my hat, and then scenes from the movie to show the resemblance! This hat is available for purchase and can be ordered in any color for $10. You can visit my shop site HERE for more information! If you would like to this hat in a different color please visit HERE. This beanie can also be purchased directly from the Beeing Creative facebook page! Thanks so much for visiting!

My beanie:

Scenes from the Movie:

Thanks so much for stoppin' by!!! =)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-17T00:00:00.000-04:00