Water

The past two days have been very eventful. I walked out into my back yard to take a picture of how ugly it is to send to my mom. It's just weeds, dirt and a big dead tree. Yuck. Any way, so as I am standing in the yard taking the picture I hear water. Well, I don't have sprinklers so hearing water rushing in my yard is not a good thing. After looking around I discovered where the water was coming from. There was a little hole with water spraying out of it.

Unfortunately in the picture you can't see the water, but you can see that the hole is not very big. I called the emergency maintenance line sat on hold for a while and then told them I had water in my yard. It took less time for someone to get to my house than the time I spend on hold. He pushed near the hole with his hand, it started collapsing so he went to grab a shovel. We then discovered a cave under my yard because of how long the water had been spraying out of the pipe.

They had to wait until the contractors came in the next day in order to get it fixed. Someone was supposed to come fence of the hole but never did. Thats not really a big deal to me since we don't have pets that go outside or kids that play in our yard so if someone fell in I wouldn't have felt bad since they shouldn't have been there anyway. 

Late this morning the contractors showed up. I couldn't hear most of the conversation that they were having in my back yard but I did hear "it's more than 4 feet" and many many swear words. The contractors then left, leaving their shovels in my yard. Then I hear the sound of a huge tractor. Oh joy. 

When they went to lunch my little hole was no longer little. I was told that it was the main line that supplies water to all of the houses around us. Thankfully they figured out that they could fix it with a joint and it wasn't necessary to shut off the water, which I was very happy about. He told me that the way they joined the pipes when they built our houses was probably not the best. If any dirt got in when they were joining them a leak is bound to happen.

Can I just say how happy I am that we haven't done our back yard yet. We are planning on taking care of it when we get back from vacation. A huge chunk of our grass would now be dug up. As it is that part of the yard is now weed free and closer to being ready for grass seed. 

I hope that we can get a really pretty lawn going on! I miss having grass since I haven't had it in a long time. I am starting to like the idea of living somewhere green again, that just means most likely dealing with snow. 

Well. That was my adventure for the past two days. Normally I end saying something about you enjoying the posted object like I do, but in this case I didn't enjoy it and I hope that you don't either. I will be back before to long with some craft projects to share. Talk with you soon! 

Baby Girl F

Hello all. I unfortunately haven't been able to do much crafting lately. I have been having some issues with my fingers. The doctors don't really know what it is, the easiest way to describe it is a rash. Thankfully it is almost gone now. I am over it!! I have been dealing with it for a little over 2 months now, but it seems that the most current treatment is working. I really hope that I can get rid of it, my kitchen needs help but soapy water hurts pretty bad. We washed our cars today... bad idea. It was almost completely gone and now it hurts again.

My first boss and good friend is having her baby very soon. I wanted to do something special for her so I made a blanket and little baby sandals. I used a lot of patterns for this project, I will list them all at the end of the blog rather than trying to fit them in.

I love the way this basket weave pattern turns out, I must say that I am not a fan of crocheting it though, it's slow going. But since it was for a little girl it got to be pink, we all know how much I love pink! The soft purple makes it look so cute as well. I estimate I spent about 20+ hours on the blanket. I used Caron Simply Soft in Soft Pink and Orchid.

I saw the pattern for these little baby sandals and I knew that I needed to make them. They are not very practical, but they sure are cute. The pattern had the option for two different ankle straps, I made one pair of each and asked her to get back to me on which was best. If/when she does I will let y'all know! I don't expect an answer right away, new moms are busy enough without worry about crochet sandals. This picture is also a good close up of the basket weave pattern on the blanket.

In the pictures for the pattern she embellished with flowers. She didn't give the specific pattern for the flower she used, I tried a few and didn't like the way any of them looked so I decided to go with the little butterflies.

Now I couldn't send this cute little baby set without an adorable baby card to go with it could I? I had been seeing these adorable baby dresser cards everywhere and I was so excited when I saw a tutorial on pinterest. I had to do a few things differently because I don't have the punches she used, but I will tell you how I did it as well just in case you don't have the punches either. At the foot of the dresser she used a punch to make the feet. I cut out the shape that the punch makes on my circuit (thankfully I had that shape, it is from the Accent Essentials cartridge), placed it where I wanted it on the card, traced lightly with a pencil and cut with my scissors. It's not as perfect as it would have been with the punch but I did the best I could with what I had. For the sponging I used a cotton ball and a pink ink pad. I used sticky back rhinestones for the pulls because I don't have decorative brads. The butterflies are from a punch that I have had since high school and never used and the clothing is stickers. I am obsessed with the sock hanging out of the drawer.

This card was an amazing example to show you my "signature" that I put on the back of all of my cards. I made it using Wild Card and Cricut Craft Room. I think I might try and make it all one piece, but for now I like it broken up.

As you can see I fixed my backdrop, it's no longer dirty, that is because I actually made a new one. I might show you how I photograph my cards some time. I made the backdrop so that I can put it away, no more worrying about my cats getting it dirty or it being in my way. Genius use of velcro strips if I do say so myself.

I have many card occasions coming up in the very near future, I have one completed, two half done and a few in my head so be on the look out for those. I will probably be sharing some older projects with you since my hand is holding me back at the moment. I hope to be back posting for you again soon! As always if you want to know more about what I used or how I did something please feel free to ask!

Basket Weave Baby Blanket
Five DC Shell Stitch I did two rounds of DC before the shell stitch
Barefoot Baby Sandals
Crochet Butterflies  I used Teeny Tiny
Side Step Dresser Card

Owl Punch

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted. I feel quite guilty that I haven't shared my craft projects with the world in quite some time. I have done a few craft projects and finished my craft room, so I have lots to share. The thing I am most excited about right now and what I am going to share with you today is my new Owl Punch from Stampin' Up. I made a super cute card using it but it is for our anniversary and I am not ready to share it with you yet. It will have to wait until we get home from our trip (which I am counting down the days to... 16).

I was surprised at how big the punch was when I got it so I decided to take a picture of it on my mat to show the size of it.

These are the pieces that it punches out. I think I have decided that I like the heart piece as a beak.  I have seen it as a beak and as a heart.

Since it is hard to avoid punching other shapes when you punch one I bought a little tackle box to hold all of the extra pieces that get cut. That way I am not wasting the extra pieces. 

If you know me, have read my blog, or have even just walked past me in public you know that I have a slight obsession with the color pink. All of my desk/office supplies are pink. With the exception of this cute little note pad that my MIL got for me a while ago. I love that the papers have my initial on them. Only issue, it's orange. So I decided to spruce it up with some pink owls from my punch.

If you look close I modeled them after my husband and I. I used the Air Force paper for the belly and middle eyes on the "boy" and a cute flower paper on the "girl". They turned out super cute and make my little note pad fit in a little better on my desk.

Like I said I have quite a few things to share with you in the near future. I am excited about a baby set that I made for a friend. Just waiting to hear that she received it and I will share how cute it is with you, I have a few cards, my finished craft room, an upcoming trip to Vegas, and we got new furniture for our living room that we will have in a few weeks and I am sure I will want to show you.

As always if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or any other commentary please leave it here, I will respond!