Wow! It's been a while.

I've definitely been away for a while. Embarrassingly so. I just signed on for the first time in months to find actual comments on my blog. In fact, Sarah of the "Misadventures of Mama & Jack" posted a comment for me in April that I completely missed. Sadly, she was asking for my e-mail address for a swap that I had asked to participate in. I wondered whatever happened to that swap! Anyway, I'll try harder to blog and respond to comments in the future.

I've really been wanting to get back into crafting lately. One of the reasons I haven't blogged in some time is that I got engaged to my sweetheart last April and I've been busy planning a wedding. The wedding is still far off, but my excitement is beyond words. I desperately want to be a DIY bride, so I've been pondering any number of wedding crafts, which I hope to document here.

On another note, I bought a new sewing machine last weekend and I'm eager to get sewing. I need to get my butt over to Jo-Ann's to get some fabric for some kind of project. I have a few ideas in mind, I just need materials.

And finally, I received my copy of Martha Stewart's Cooking School in the mail today. I had pre-ordered it about a month ago and completely forgot it had been released. I can't wait to get cooking!

Update!

I really need to get better about this craft blog thing. It seems I haven't posted in about two months. I've been working on a few projects lately, so I'll see to posting them as soon as I've completed them. Of course, one project is a ripple afghan, so don't hold your breath on that one!

I did want to share my recent acquisitions though, because I'm as pleased as can be. On Tuesday, I was surfing through a few of my favorite blogs and came across this post on Thrifty Goodness. That's right, Fiesta ware on sale at Macy's!

I've been working on collecting a set of Fiesta in turquoise since November, and was up to four sets, but would really like a nice round 8. After reading Rebecca's post, I called the nearest Macy's and had them put two sets on hold. According to the fabulous Allison in Macy's housewares, I beat the end of the sale by just a few hours, because by the next day it was over. I don't have a full set of 8 just yet, but I'm up to 6 and boy am I in love. I'm now considering hunting down a few sets of the unfortunately discontinued Rose Fiesta. I have dreams of a pink and turquoise kitchen.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the Kitchen aid mixers were on sale too. I have wanted (coveted) a Kitchen aid mixer since college, but talked myself out of an impulse purchase and headed home with my beloved turquoise Fiesta. When I got home, I told Tom all about the beautiful mixer and how much I wanted one, and how it was on sale. Tom was probably won over by my pouty little face and whiny little voice, because the next day I got this and I'm in love (with both Tom and my new Kitchen Aid Mixer, which just happens to match my lovely Fiesta ware). I will now proceed to bake dozens of cookies.

Valentine's Day Swap Time

I have been busily participating in three different Valentine's Day swaps of late. I sent off two packages last week, and I have one more that I hope to send out on Monday to Karen in California. I'm anxiously awaiting receipt of my swap packages, so that I can add a little bit of Valentine's day cheer to my apartment.

Lenna at Creative Swaps was gracious enough to host a Valentine's Day Ornament swap. Each of the participants created 3 ornaments and will receive 3 in return. These are the cute little felt numbers that I created. They're not as elaborate as I had hoped to make them, but they turned out to be very cute. This picture was taken by Lenna for her blog, and I'm borrowing it, because I neglected to take one of my own before sending my package off on it's way.

I'm also participating in a Valentine's Day swap hosted by Sarah at The Misadventures of Mama and Jack and Artsy Mama's For the Love of Supplies Valentine's Day Swap. I neglected to take pictures of my Valentine's cards before sending them off to Sarah, but I'll be sure to take pictures of my return packages.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Valentine's Day crafting as much as I am!

SOSF Christmas Exchange

At Christmas, I participated in the Society of Secret Fairies 12 Days of Christmas Exchange, and received the most fantastic package from my Secret Fairy. It has taken me a few weeks to post this thank you, because my camera has been acting up on me lately. When I did finally get the pictures taken, the lighting was bad bad bad, but I wanted to take the time to thank my secret fairy, because she sent me the most amazing gifts.

The theme was The 12 Days of Christmas and she send me the most adorable poem and package. I have to share the card, because it was so precious -

"... twelve pearly buttons, eleven hundred lavender buds (strictly and estimate!) ten vintage party pegs, nine handmade tags, eight uards of festive green eyelash yarn, seven Scottish island views, six handmade tartan paper beads, five felt hearts, four sticks of finest Edinburgh rock!, three little snowman stickers, two white star decorations and a hundred little seed beeds (yip, nother estimate!) All packaged up and send off to new crafting blogger Sara with lots of Christmas cheer and good wishes for a busy crafting year in 2008!"

Isn't that so cute?! If you're reading this Secret Fairy, thank you, and feel free to drop me a line so that I can know who you are! I didn't see find your name on the package anywhere, but your gift was so thoughtful and appreciated. And I hope your Christmas was fantastic!

Ooh, and doesn't that Edinburgh Rock look yummy. Too yummy to eat though! I want to keep it! :)

*Update, the Edinburgh Rock is delicious. Just had some of the orange flavor!*

New iPod, new craft project...

On Thursday night I got the most adorable blue iPod Nano. I'm still so very excited about it. If you were to walk up to me on the street, I'd probably pull it out and show it to you in all it's 2,000-song-holding glory.

The night I bought it, it occurred to me that it would need a cover, but the thought of spending $30 on an impersonal cover didn't appeal to me, especially when I knew I could make my own. So I pulled out some felt and fabric and got started.

I was originally going to make something simple with some felt and yarn, but then I was inspired by this adorable little cozy. An hour or so later, my iPod cozy was complete, and it's better than anything in the stores.

The Most Difficult Project to Date

I've been crafting forever. But for some reason, this barrette project has turned out to be my most difficult one. Pardon the poor picture quality. I'm having some difficulty with my camera in low-light situations.

So, after reading this post on the Angry Chicken site, I decided that these barrettes would be perfect gifts to give to my girlfriends this Christmas. As ambitious as I am, I imagined making set after set of these, and becoming the felt barrette queen. There's only one problem - my sewing machine. Admittedly, I need to upgrade my machine - it's a $19, one-stitch machine from Target, but it would NOT cooperate. After starting about ten sets, I ended up with only two that I was confident in giving away.

The sets I did give were big hits. But I think my barrette making days are over for now.

Here's a picture of my friend Mechee wearing my creation -

Wee Little Piggy

Lately, I have been reading craft blog after craft blog, looking for my next project. I found this project on the Wee Wonderfuls site and fell in love.

I made a few modifications and came up with the little piggy that you see here.

Overall, it was a success, and at my Christmas party last week, everyone was impressed. Thank you Wee Wonderfuls!

My next project may just be a guinea pig for my friends Trayton and Brenda, who have their very own guinea pig. Thankfully, one quick Google search turned up a pattern.