Lookie What I Won!

My pal and old co-worker Miss Aubre had a giveaway on her site, and thanks to Google Reader, I won! I just started using Google Reader a few weeks ago, and it has made blog reading so much more fun! If you're unfamiliar with it, you can subscribe to the blogs you like (such as, oh, I don't know--my blog?) and then when that blog is updated, a link to the post shows up in your Google Reader. To win Aubre's contest prize of the cutest and sweetest mini-harmonica necklace (of which I'm wearing now) ever, you had to be the first commenter. Google Reader let me know immediately of her post, and I went right in for the win!

Above is a pic of the necklaces (from Aubre's site). One was for Aubre, and now one is for me. I have multiple meetings today, so I have to tame my urge to break out in harmonic song. We'll see how that goes. Thanks, Aubre!!

More Flowers Friday

If you haven't already, it's a must--no, a moral imperative!--that you head over to LollyChops and check out her Wallflowers Week, which I think is wrapping up today. It was amazing, and not something my crafty friends should forego. She'll teach you how to make all of the following, and so much more! Now go have some flower fun!

Lookie Up There!

My partner-in-craft Miss Jessica and I are doing a bit of a craft swap. I asked her to make me a new banner (look up) and in exchange, I'm sewing up some throw pillows for her (I think...unless she changed her mind). She gave me lots of good choices to pick from, but the owl was my favorite. And, she said she could switch the owl's pattern and colors according to the season. So cute! Yay for Jess! (Thanks, J!)

Here were the two color options she gave me. I love the green...but I like the brown, too. Versatility is so nice!

Name That Serger!

Miss Tiffany over at Peanut Blossom was the lucky birthday recipient of a brand new serger! Now her serger needs a name. Head on over and you just might win these fabulous prizes:

Lolly's Back!

Lolly of LollyChops took the summer off (and yay for her!), but now she's back with her bad crafting self. Head on over and say hi!

I Need a Treat

I don't have children, but I am familiar with needing a little extra incentive do things every now and again. Babalisme created these sweet treat coupons for those times when kids need a good kick in the....I mean, need a little oomph. I'm in a funky mood today, so maybe I'll send these to Shane and he can give me one for ice cream, or a free ride to the knitting store (plus money for yarn), or a massage, or a drink, or maybe just all of the above. =)

Miss Tiffany, You're Tops!

It's amazing how something can turn your whole morning around. This has been a long week for me: I've been running around busy at work, I got randomly sick in the middle of it all (feeling better now though), I've been stressed out about moving to our new house in two weeks while not having our apartment sublet yet, and I still need to start packing. All of that...plus having to come to work today...makes for a very hazy morning.

And then...a happy ray of sunshine comes beaming from my work mailbox. A completely unexpected package from Miss Tiffany over at Peanut Blossom. (Quick backstory: Tiffany knows my work address because she used to work at the same place before I started here. She left to move back to my hometown--two hours away. We met because I did some freelance work for the company she was working from home for. It was kind of like meeting in the middle. Crazy little world we live in.)


Wait...is that...no, it couldn't be a digital camera? But, alas, it is! Miss Tiff sent me the cutest little digital camera to tide me over until I get a real one. I'm completely blown away by this random act of kindness!

Tiffany, you're simply awesome! And I promise, one of these days, I'm coming down to take Lil' Peanut out for the day so that you can have your full day on the couch with Audrey Hepburn! Thank you immensely! You truly brightened my day! xoxo

Baby Moose's Church Outfit

Knowing how to knit really comes in handy when you have umpteen-million friends having babies. However, when those babies are primarily being born in the summer, knowing what to knit is not very easy. It's usually then complicated further when the parents wait to find out the sex. So I thank Miss Shelley immensely for finding out she's having a boy! It made knitting for her July baby SO much easier! Plus, she goes to church, so I knew I could dress that baby up a bit.

A sweet little cabled vest and bow tie. The buttons at the top are functional.

Daddy Reed is a lawyer and wears bow ties all the time. It seemed fitting that his first born son should have a baby version. I didn't have a pattern for this, and really had no clue either. So I basically just sewed a rectangle and then a little strip to go around the middle. I fastened a clip-on earring to the back, because I didn't want to be held responsible for anything being too tight around the baby's neck!

The code name for Baby Boy Cornia is "Moose." I found a little moose button and sewed it to the bottom much like Abercrombie does with their appliques.

A baby tweet card to go along with the gift.

Beautiful Buttons from Britain

While she should've been swooning over her new hubby during their London honeymoon, Jessica instead was buying a gift for me. OK, I'm sure it was a few minutes shopping for me and then back to her man....but still, how sweet of her to think of me on her honeymoon. Below are the gorgeous buttons she got for me. I just love them and can't wait to use them on something. Now I just have to figure out what kind of project warrants the use of such beautiful British buttons. Hmmm...

Come Fly Away

Four days til I fly away, so today's post is about the birds. I've made these birds before, but this batch is extra special because they're for Jess's wedding! As an unofficial member of the Bridal Brigade, I offered to lend a helping hand by sewing some birds she needed for her ceremony. I just love all the colors together. So springy!

All sewn and ready to go.

Open noses, ready to be hand sewn.

Machine stitched and ready to be flipped and stuffed.

And speaking of birds, I'm on Twitter now. Come tweet with me!

Live...from the Art Auction

Well...let me correct myself, the United Way Art Auction lost it's "Art" from the title this year. So while it's still an auction filled with great arts and craft made by co-workers (as it was in the past), it now has the added...and dare I say "dreaded" bonus of "stuff." I'm talking world record number of theme baskets. But the best: "crap" from people's attics. No kidding. Don't get me started.

On a brighter note, I'm dedicating this week's posts (well, as many days as I can) to the ART in UW Auction. First up: arts and crafts from my peeps. I have such talented pals! Way to go, girls (and guy)!

Jess's sock monkeys really need no introduction! Here's Janine.

Annie and Justin made this. Justin drew the design and Annie (a coworker friend) brought it to life.

Shelley's beautiful beret and matching mittens.

A triple bunny quilt from Miss Mandy. Gorgeous!

And last...but not least...are pet portraits from Shelley. The auction is for a portrait of your pet. She auctioned twolast year, and then was commissioned to make more from the "losers."

Beret for Shelley!

(get it...like Hooray for Shelley...somehow it's less funny when I have to explain my humor)

I'm still working on my blackberry sweater (the body is done...yay!), which means I have nothing crafty to share at this moment. Plus, I seem to be the only known human to get an allergy attack in single-digit weather, so I haven't been feeling all that great. So I interrupt MY regularly scheduled crafting to bring you a new project from my pal Shelley. She just finished knitting a beret using the same pattern I used on Lisa's beret. Didn't it turn out simply lovely? Nice job, Shelley!

Ning is So Nice!

Back when I did my Birthday Giveaway, I never thought I'd meet so many nice people and hear so many wonderful stories. That was really a great birthday gift in and of itself. And as a bonus, the winner turned out to be a real gem! To thank me for the prize package I sent (of which you can visit in its new home here), Ning, writer of babalisme, made me an awesome set of tags that I can print off and use with all my handmade goodies. Not only are these about the cutest thing I ever did see, but they're also something I really needed! So awesomely wonderful! Thanks, Ning...you're the best!

A Good Sunday

This past weekend was a good one. I learned that I won earrings on Saturday morning. I finished a project for Etsy (stay tuned for pics this week). I went to yoga. I got a free new mattress (thank you warranty!). I spend some quality time with the hubby. And that was all just on Saturday...phew!

On Sunday, I woke up early, did some knitting and TV watching. Then I made a yummy new chicken and rice dish from Kraft for lunch. Here's me caught in the cooking act:



And to end my great weekend I went to my pal Shelley's house. We had a crafternoon and Sunday gumbo dinner. YUM!! (Thanks for the leftovers, Shel!)

I did a little bit of knitting, but the highlights were two needled-felted items. It was rainy and gloomy out, but knitting and crafting with friends can make the day feel bright and sunny.

Sock Monkey Central

Jessica, the designwaitress, just opened her own Etsy shop where she will be selling her wonderfully cute and creative sock monkeys. She brings such a unique look to each one of them, that they really seem to have their own personalities. Great job, Jess!

Some Local Sights and Sounds

Shane and I spent the weekend doing local things: Farmers' Market, a parade, and our town's festival. I thought I'd share some of the fun things we saw. Makes me sad that summer is so quickly coming to an end!

No PhotoShop tricks here. This guy was really playing the guitar while standing on his head. It earned my dollar!

At the festival, B's son Sam was the first to volunteer to break a board with his own fist. He busted it up on the first try!

This mask was handed out at the parade to advertise for the Cow Chip Contest coming up at the end of August. Moo to you!

This lady was tearing it up at the Farmer's Market. She cracks me up...but not as much as she does Shane. This is sure to keep him busy at work this week. =)

For more Farmer's Market fun, check out the pics Jess took here.

Birds by Carol

My pal Carol has added more awesome artwork to her online studio, and I just had to share. I'm so impressed by her watercolor. You can buy some of her other pieces here.

blue bird of happiness

black bird of destruction

My Favorites Mosaic

Shelley's pal Kristin posted the following on her blog, which Shelley sent to a bunch of friends that included me. Basically, it's like all of the emails that go around asking for your favorites, but this adds a twist by using Flickr photos. Here's the exact rules:

If you want to play too, type your answer to each of the questions below into a Flickr search. Using only the first page, choose your favorite image, then copy and paste each of the URL's into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows). Leave a comment if you play, so I can see your results. The questions: 1. What is your first name? 2. What is your favorite food? 3. What high school did you attend? 4. What is your favorite color? 5. Who is your celebrity crush? 6. Favorite drink? 7. Dream vacation? 8. Favorite dessert? 9. What do you want to be when you grow up? 10. What do you love most in life? 11. One word to describe you. 12. Your Flickr name (or something close--I don't have a flickr account, and usernames I use elsewhere turned up no results).

You can play along, too. Here's mine:

And here are my answers:
1. What is your first name? Carrie
2. What is your favorite food? Enchiladas
3. What high school did you attend? Round Lake
4. What is your favorite color? Orange
5. Who is your celebrity crush? James McAvoy (currently)
6. Favorite drink? Margaritas...lime, on the rocks.
7. Dream vacation? France
8. Favorite dessert? Cherry pie (but gluten free if possible)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Free
10. What do you love most in life? My husband
11. One word to describe you. Creative
12. Your Flickr name (or something close--I don't have a flickr account, and usernames I use elsewhere turned up no results). Little Ruffled Feathers

Check out Shelley's, Jessica's and Barbara's mosaics, too. Then make one and leave a link in the comments.

A Custom Wordle...Just For Me

Therese made me my very own Wordle last week, filled with words that are all about me. Ah shucks, Therese! I'm so lucky to have such an awesome friend!