tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57389754604901228182024-03-20T11:07:28.781-04:00Strings Away!Julie Daelhousen's yarntastic blog.Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-3323248922265726032020-08-07T14:31:00.006-04:002020-08-07T14:31:44.861-04:00Haunted House Tissue Box Cover<p> Happy August, everyone! Are you all doing well? I'm unfortunately still too busy to blog, but I have at least been working on some patterns for my shop. Here's a cool one for Halloween!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/851188069/pattern-haunted-house-tissue-box-cover?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1596824746305" imageanchor="1" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1017" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0OocU-uSXHrz3cQlVVyasAhowmkxtJhn2lgnGl0n45BQnBYIliJEldlr_zq6Rokko_BH9OTOpt_Sc09tgmDrIrZXWX7f6bxwOC8zmsINQmNP2DwIDRGWpd8o4HRq32tF0un8WZe3_uBQ/w400-h297/DSC_1754.jpg" title="Haunted House TBC pattern, $4 on Etsy" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/851188069/pattern-haunted-house-tissue-box-cover?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1596824746305">Haunted House TBC pattern, $6 on Etsy<br /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p> It's been a real challenge to get this one finished. As you can see, it's really complicated! I've actually been working on it off and on for about a year, and I'm glad to have it finally finished. </p><p><br /></p><p>Well guys, I really hope you're all doing ok out there. Stay safe and sane and have a lovely rest of the summer!</p>Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-65633003444501417072020-07-01T14:35:00.002-04:002020-07-01T14:35:25.836-04:00Summer Welcome Wall HangingHappy Summer, everyone! I finally got around to finishing the Seasonal Wall Hanging series, woo! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/832612705/pattern-summer-welcome-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_2" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="601" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV9X8otSc1AHU9yJtu4hqnHjUYEBUBYx9AyhMWHSiw2v6_6v0tmlOYSALMKNwtHhYD7txGEQ2EgIluRVNKltdIzjle5RG_6vKELdbF6Q0o-TpNVSaRSkAM4tOo8NwAcivC_4odhxpRa1fA/s400/DSC_1741.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/832612705/pattern-summer-welcome-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_2">Summer Welcome Wall Hanging pattern, $4 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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I also posted the whole set as a pattern package, which saves a couple of dollars.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/832625749/pattern-four-seasons-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1600" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-6_zarF0iYljULxfFyO6r7xnu4tviudfNkvfyjlnYqhrQjB81lsUZnPqvobNRhXIN-7IehYttPUNBO74nU47vmZM__JGhv-17I3XVWfdWgRCra6EpS7q2vAKEP4ut3E9x5NFxK7B88iz/s400/all_hangings.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/832625749/pattern-four-seasons-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_1">Seasonal Welcome Wall Hanging patterns, $14 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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I'm sorry I haven't said much lately, but when I haven't been busy with my garden, I've been incapacitated by stress from Covid-19. However, I'm beginning to feel better and hopefully I'll at the very least begin making more patterns for my shop! <br />
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I hope you're all doing well and enjoying summer!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-20638996215495969592020-01-17T15:40:00.001-05:002020-01-17T15:40:12.139-05:00Valentine Star Happy Friday, everyone! Well, I don't have a free pattern for you today, but I do have a new pattern up in my Etsy shop, which is almost as good, right? It at least means I'm getting back into the swing of making patterns!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/757278396/pattern-valentine-star-tissue-box-cover?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1579293480442" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="883" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Te0c4VKkbIa5T_OhJoiaYUyOzIFWFyh3FevWns8JN8EqwBRKSXHO8ZNXsUqGBZqbqVIUvsO3g1Cb0hAelQhmQlLxG_3PoKLx0RLdd1kKgJSAeMXxli5jYgKiaLGMV9wcUMhD8qCClsrX/s400/DSC_1724.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/757278396/pattern-valentine-star-tissue-box-cover?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1579293480442">Valentine Star Tissue Box Cover, Plastic Canvas Pattern, $4 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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Here's hoping you all have a great weekend!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-85606663890459166272020-01-09T11:08:00.004-05:002020-01-09T11:08:32.215-05:00Winter Welcome Wall HangingI did it! I finally got the Winter Wall Hanging pattern all finished and posted onto Etsy! I've been working on this thing for... maybe two months? That's ridiculous, considering the <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/508989955/pattern-spring-welcome-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_14">Spring </a>and <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/484431379/pattern-fall-welcome-wall-hanging-in?ref=shop_home_active_8">Fall</a> versions took me about two weeks to finish. I guess I'm getting slow in my old age.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/768869417/pattern-winter-welcome-wall-hanging-in?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1578585465563" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="606" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuHMV1aIN9d6PsjWtcRfQNyIgfGtdH4kSr2tcHZ1qoOnZx3_5xGfJk58vumr63C6l8-xmRZzglaE5eCVh5YbOubou6G4FbroKUDIYyLq8Vwv0wVYhocHeK3rT-4fUcyflgCTwqUYaTzrhl/s400/DSC_1713.jpg" width="268" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/768869417/pattern-winter-welcome-wall-hanging-in?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1578585465563">Winter Wall Hanging Plastic Canvas Pattern, $4 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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Now that that is out of the way, I plan on doing some smaller, easier patterns to get myself back into the swing of pattern making! No promises, but I may even get back into making free patterns for the blog!<br />
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Have a great rest of the week, everyone, and a fun weekend!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-38412673984731010592020-01-08T15:53:00.002-05:002020-01-08T15:53:53.229-05:00What's Up WednesdayHere we are in the first week of 2020, and what do I have to show for it? Honestly we've done a LOT, but if certainly doesn't feel or look like it at my house. We've been doing or fixing something every day this year, it seems, but the house is still a huge mess. Check out my living room. Kind of looks like I've got some dead bodies laying in the middle of the floor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDcApPHPbFzyOtKwP0uVYIyaPQsxEXb7bScJcBhG9sCpG1B52TH5ejgdIXLevigapcTG96nHhsOLDI-lvw6azRi-8KwOC_8hKFLkFhr_fuRhyphenhyphenBqn21vXnv-CtfHqbjwRxuztjENR-qwJI/s1600/IMG_20200108_152758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgDcApPHPbFzyOtKwP0uVYIyaPQsxEXb7bScJcBhG9sCpG1B52TH5ejgdIXLevigapcTG96nHhsOLDI-lvw6azRi-8KwOC_8hKFLkFhr_fuRhyphenhyphenBqn21vXnv-CtfHqbjwRxuztjENR-qwJI/s400/IMG_20200108_152758.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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That's just my Christmas tree though, no dead bodies this time! I managed to get all of our decor down and put away except for the tree, which I JUST got taken apart and put into the bags yesterday. I was dead tired last night, though, so there they sit.<br />
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The reason I was so tired was because of this:<br />
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Or rather, these:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjY4Vmuylx5YZxE8BM3v1T0vEEPzbOSD1UInE0kUjuhKYnEuytzrzQ3mc5Uteetj4rM5mK08uQW9Cv50I3rpJWfN3JjpjAY84TkpTnWBEC3I4FZH7eR0AAfE02TQCH4LGFP_rRE2JK8Dg/s1600/IMG_20200107_141003_754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjY4Vmuylx5YZxE8BM3v1T0vEEPzbOSD1UInE0kUjuhKYnEuytzrzQ3mc5Uteetj4rM5mK08uQW9Cv50I3rpJWfN3JjpjAY84TkpTnWBEC3I4FZH7eR0AAfE02TQCH4LGFP_rRE2JK8Dg/s400/IMG_20200107_141003_754.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We dropped by the Amish bulk store on the way home from Chad's parents' house to pick up a gallon of molasses (for $10! Can you believe that!), and they had bushels of apples for <b><u>$5</u></b>. Five dollars! How could I resist? Yes, I know I already have about 20 quart jars of applesauce in my basement, and yes I know we just finished eating the apples I bought in October, and yes I know we're kind of tired of eating apples by this point. But Five Dollars. Besides, they were my two of my favorite kinds of apples, Macouns and Empires. <br />
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And anyway, my mom never got any applesauce this year because I was too busy taking care of her in October/November/December to make her any. Now she's got 6 quarts of sauce to get her through the winter.<br />
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The top picture is a new recipe I tried. It's apple pie filling. We don't eat a lot of sugar, but I was getting pretty tired of applesauce and wanted to try something different. It only calls for 1/2 cup sugar per quart, and I figure I can find a way to decrease that in the future. We also don't eat a lot of pies, but I figure I can make crisps or muffins or something with the pie filling. If nothing else, we can crack one open and make Hobo pies in the summer around the campfire!<br />
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Why else am I so tired? Well, on New Year's Day, we went over to Chad's folks' and had our traditional pork and sauerkraut (except it was ham this year, and actually come to think of it, his mom forgot to get out the sauerkraut. Oh well). Except Chad was helping his dad reattach their cupboards that were falling off the wall. Meanwhile, I realized I had left my bag (wallet, money, credit cards, and phone included) at the coffee shop earlier in the day. We spent the entire day worried sick out of our minds about it, but thankfully it was unmolested and I got it back the next morning. That made me feel better about humanity! <br />
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Chad and his dad didn't finish with their project on New Year's, so we had to go back on Saturday to finish up. We wanted to get that done because we had our own problem! Our freezer was leaking water, and suffice it to say that it needed a new part. Since we're trying to save money to buy a home in the country, we've been trying to do all of our own repairs when possible, so Chad ordered the $18 part and he got to work on it.<br />
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It took him about 4 hours, but he got it done! Yay! Also, the freezer is cleaner than it's been in years. <br />
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In other news, I've got two week old lettuce babies in my Aerogarden, happily growing away.<br />
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I've decided that, with all of the outbreaks of salmonella and e-coli in lettuce (especially romaine, which is my favorite), I'm no longer buying lettuce in the store. I'll only eat lettuce that we grow ourselves, which works pretty well in the summer but is a little harder to do when it looks like this outside.<br />
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But it's closing in on 4pm, and I need to get some laundry in the drying and get dinner going, so I'd better wrap this up! I hope you're all having a wonderful week and a blessed 2020 so far! Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-36097328161113089662020-01-02T10:49:00.004-05:002020-01-02T10:49:48.712-05:00What's Up WednesdayGood morning everyone! Welcome to this beautiful new year, full of 365 shiny new days and 52 brilliant new weeks, not to mention 12 new months, all ready for us to make the very most of them all. Is that how you feel when the new year comes around? I didn't used to feel that way; I used to feel kind of defeated before the new year even started, having just spent the last month eating more sugar and spending more money than anyone really should. One thing I really like about getting older is that I'm beginning to realize that the past doesn't matter as much as the present, and that to live a happy life, you need to live in the here and now. I'm trying!<br />
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It's not Wednesday, but I feel like giving an update on my life. It's been a hectic fall/winter, and it feels like everything is starting to calm down a little bit again and maybe I have some space to breathe (and blog!). In October, my mom had her hip replaced, and I was her sole caregiver for three weeks, at the same time that my hubby was on a business trip (for the first week), and my grandpa kitty was very sick. So I had to make tough choices about who and what was important in my life. I only got to see my poor sick kitty for a couple of hours a day, and I got to see my hubby even less, but thankfully we all made it though. Kitty is feeling better now, I got to come back home and sleep in my own bed, and my mom is recovering so quickly! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbm7BKDxotG5hsbuSKY21dMz8Cu2LRrU5mTNP5gvZ47uYs1O288zoIF7Hz7eXKKHITDxrbvmHQc9bQF0jvRFk_hN5TKr72xxe0oNPm8z_pnhE6WwjaFcFQCBgLEulNKlkFMZ7ltwJHbdAK/s1600/IMG_20191028_141951_603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbm7BKDxotG5hsbuSKY21dMz8Cu2LRrU5mTNP5gvZ47uYs1O288zoIF7Hz7eXKKHITDxrbvmHQc9bQF0jvRFk_hN5TKr72xxe0oNPm8z_pnhE6WwjaFcFQCBgLEulNKlkFMZ7ltwJHbdAK/s320/IMG_20191028_141951_603.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunshine, on one of the few occasions I got to see him when I was caring for my mom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Being so focused on my mom, I didn't have a lot of time to take care of my garden at the end of the year. It was pretty impressive that I managed to get out in mid-November to dig up my carrots before they totally froze. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg886HJMbP-X68xQ7lpZFEee2MKT02-FMXRnNzhI5WWuixHrfjCK88bjejgcgoa7uRb9YeDZiUrvUkcUko0NpP8TWvAgArYUETF5xvjXe52381cHMepDPARUMHOW_Zp9Lz_FDuy5FU5Xmqd/s1600/IMG_20190903_144531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg886HJMbP-X68xQ7lpZFEee2MKT02-FMXRnNzhI5WWuixHrfjCK88bjejgcgoa7uRb9YeDZiUrvUkcUko0NpP8TWvAgArYUETF5xvjXe52381cHMepDPARUMHOW_Zp9Lz_FDuy5FU5Xmqd/s320/IMG_20190903_144531.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is just one carrot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I also didn't have any time to do any crafting, which made me pretty sad. There's something in my soul that makes me want to always be creating in one way or another, and I get really down when I can't do that. I didn't even get a chance to cook for a long time because my mom and dad get Meals on Wheels that just need to be heated up! I have to admit that I was feeling really sorry for myself during this whole ordeal, and unfortunately I did some emotional shopping. I'm not proud of myself for doing that, after all, we're trying to save for a new home. But at least what I bought will be a lifetime companion.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0dfa3a1tHoB_asn6zTr5mLeSYeSi11RrYUAWK2ZEubcZOThQE2BdqUvPFKdRmvD3jlVcbktCzNKGYjH3NYhI7IOjIIyClNfkgpE7UcbRLNLYJFl5lKw-42DFPJsVH7LtKVdbXDfRAqSf/s1600/IMG_20191103_155823_875.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0dfa3a1tHoB_asn6zTr5mLeSYeSi11RrYUAWK2ZEubcZOThQE2BdqUvPFKdRmvD3jlVcbktCzNKGYjH3NYhI7IOjIIyClNfkgpE7UcbRLNLYJFl5lKw-42DFPJsVH7LtKVdbXDfRAqSf/s320/IMG_20191103_155823_875.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My precious.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yep, I bought a dutch oven. I'm not happy with how much I paid for it, but it is a very nice piece of equipment, and I do love to cook! <br />
<br />
I have gotten myself back under control now. We went on to have a very frugal Christmas, maybe even more so than last year. We used the rewards from my credit card to pay for the presents for the kids, and then my side of the family did a Secret Santa exchange with a $20 limit. For Chad's side, we tried to make as many gifts ourselves as possible, including lots of jam and homemade bread. In the end, I think we spent less than $100 on Christmas for 13 people, and the best part is that it was a beautiful Christmas. Less focused on presents, more focused on family. That's what it's all about.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYtM2g62mmIMaBx-SNJwV9PJxNe8u__mRASLTfuwnrOr8Ey5scE6VvxbOWPAx_YzE1EBa_fyhd5APF3wECmyr2oGJ0FVtdme-thvThUmdHLZB7cp5THecbaIzxu41_zNWzUGlRBn1TKUi/s1600/IMG_20191214_221732_700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinYtM2g62mmIMaBx-SNJwV9PJxNe8u__mRASLTfuwnrOr8Ey5scE6VvxbOWPAx_YzE1EBa_fyhd5APF3wECmyr2oGJ0FVtdme-thvThUmdHLZB7cp5THecbaIzxu41_zNWzUGlRBn1TKUi/s320/IMG_20191214_221732_700.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best present</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We did buy two small additions to our Christmas decor this year. In honor of Chad's Swedish heritage, we started to collect Tomtes, or Christmas gnomes. I also got the tiniest Dala horse cookie cutter to use to cut out pepparkakors! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR1p0mnnkqVQIIKDo5FtOXf6T1kn66ttrKeTWNsOGTYicn2AzgffTrmg6uTSTai7Lhd0QL3MB952Cq1UCaMKkJKSg7TEPrT3iohDJqPMj4Q3nG9QpKJlUa0cfXS-NAWJ0EpLrhvzldPoC/s1600/IMG_20191207_131347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR1p0mnnkqVQIIKDo5FtOXf6T1kn66ttrKeTWNsOGTYicn2AzgffTrmg6uTSTai7Lhd0QL3MB952Cq1UCaMKkJKSg7TEPrT3iohDJqPMj4Q3nG9QpKJlUa0cfXS-NAWJ0EpLrhvzldPoC/s320/IMG_20191207_131347.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large gnome, small horse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I am finally getting back into my designs, too! I've been working on a new project for the last month, and I'm happy to say that it's almost finished. This is an addition to the seasonal wall hanging collection, and now all I have to do is finish Summer and it's all done!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjSavvmtZpqT30kuBhgNNmxzlSegkPUgwUYMCClwmNBdWlkCXTErGkAzJmcMrEG8csq-VDBtH1GPorRdSSz7pBEVYcNY5UkBuiISEIFNDDTu33b7JT1-YJZDUvC8SN6D9tEumicO5QlRS/s1600/IMG_20200102_101212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjSavvmtZpqT30kuBhgNNmxzlSegkPUgwUYMCClwmNBdWlkCXTErGkAzJmcMrEG8csq-VDBtH1GPorRdSSz7pBEVYcNY5UkBuiISEIFNDDTu33b7JT1-YJZDUvC8SN6D9tEumicO5QlRS/s320/IMG_20200102_101212.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost done!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I also started a new quilt, but it's just in the cutting out stage currently. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEbbPGcFXUVY0ayZifPv_cFyi0PenuYgMe4qKpP2bQ9BWicp9WyOZSaZwoPms5PLePKLHZXo3dvFBsDTx0iHi5m9fpJtFn5CUCr3YorhNSAnCcPSZxZEn9WCG-WBeah4ID5fMFSG7m7tr/s1600/IMG_20200102_101307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEEbbPGcFXUVY0ayZifPv_cFyi0PenuYgMe4qKpP2bQ9BWicp9WyOZSaZwoPms5PLePKLHZXo3dvFBsDTx0iHi5m9fpJtFn5CUCr3YorhNSAnCcPSZxZEn9WCG-WBeah4ID5fMFSG7m7tr/s320/IMG_20200102_101307.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's lots more to cut out still.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm going to make 2020 a great year. Another thing I've come to realize as I've gotten older is that <i>you </i>make life what it is. You can't change a lot of things in your life, but you can change how you respond to them, how you think, how you feel, how you react, and if you're positive with a hopeful outlook on life, you can make it a good one. That's what I'm aiming for this year, hope and happiness in my life as it is right now. <br />
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Happy new year from us!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqFDwANrO3pVcNxN8PdwB-uS5EqgRiQR0OiRJ0_lNcZMXjaaRGTaNPFuKH6xFU7Gxg-mfhCnIK2D8IyF-JjjuxddEsLYknuAYNPZnVlEXguljwgHLti4BVBwUY_1RKuU4AUftamEZ6Ut8/s1600/IMG_20191222_131002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqFDwANrO3pVcNxN8PdwB-uS5EqgRiQR0OiRJ0_lNcZMXjaaRGTaNPFuKH6xFU7Gxg-mfhCnIK2D8IyF-JjjuxddEsLYknuAYNPZnVlEXguljwgHLti4BVBwUY_1RKuU4AUftamEZ6Ut8/s320/IMG_20191222_131002.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out on a wintry hike</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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And may you see nothing but possibilities in the days to come!<br />
<br />
<br />Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-2334869575165569252019-07-11T10:38:00.002-04:002019-07-11T10:38:16.467-04:00Jar AlphabetHi there, everyone! I got my act together today and got the Jar Alphabet all finished and listed up on Etsy this morning.<br />
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<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/720582901/pattern-seasonal-jar-alphabet-in-plastic?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1562855510436" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="1123" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEianWy9NrkWyw1AZCRaI6WA8NnRp37lgxBke9Nn7_dhdMDXRf3CKZgxl-HI3_oyisE8hWNbkEOP7lsWRgNJ1qPPXos_EGWJZOX3h_ASIIbMbNrgJWeSCmUzA_nzQ1C2ni6I_o2QkR4-31Fx/s400/DSC_17122.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/720582901/pattern-seasonal-jar-alphabet-in-plastic?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1562855510436">Jar Alphabet pattern, $4 at Etsy</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now if you want to make a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/713586989/pattern-four-jar-seasons-wall-hangings?ref=shop_home_active_4&crt=1">seasonal jars wall hanging</a> with your own words or names, you can! <br />
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Ok, I'm off to go work on my cool new Halloween pattern! Have a great rest of the week!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-75737670297587208712019-07-10T13:41:00.001-04:002019-07-10T13:41:08.553-04:00What's Up WednesdayHappy Wednesday, everyone! I bet you're surprised to hear from me! Well, I'm surprised, too, to be honest. After the crazy spring we had, I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to get back into blogger or even designing, but here I am! <br />
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Actually, now that it's summer, it's getting into the heat of summer, there's not a lot I can do through the afternoon. It's 88° today with tons of humidity, so I closed my windows at 9am and now I have to find something to entertain myself for a few hours! We have a couple of window AC units, but here in the north most people don't have central AC. Our way of coping is just to sit in front of the fan and read a book, or in my case, start stitching! <br />
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Well, I guess it's time to stop rambling and get onto the pictures. I'll let them speak for themselves!<br />
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Here's my veggie garden:<br />
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And my flower garden:<br />
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I also take care of my mom's gardens, and here's how hers are doing:<br />
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A very nice customer reminded me a few weeks ago that I was going to finish the mason jar alphabet, and I should have that pattern available in my shop in a few days! And of course, you leave a bunch of letters sitting around with an oversized kid in the house (hubby), and this is what happens:<br />
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Finally, something that's really exciting for me, I started working on a new design for Halloween. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but here's my sketches!<br />
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I hope you're all having a lovely summer and a wonderful Wednesday!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-31279744854912760952019-05-17T09:00:00.000-04:002019-05-17T09:00:02.105-04:00Updated Life ChoicesHi everyone! I hope you're all having a lovely May so far. It's usually such a lovely month here in western NY, though very wet! We live very near the top of a hill, so you would think the water would run down to a lower level. But no, in the spring, our back yard is so wet that I need to wear knee high muck boots, and even then I usually splash mud up on my pants. It gets so bad in the back near my apple trees that I sink in an inch or two, slip and slide all over the place, and sometimes very nearly lose a boot! Hubby and I joke that we have to attach pontoons to our lawn mower.<br />
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I love spring though, none the less. It's a chance to get outside again after a very long, cold winter, a chance to get back in touch with nature, to put my hands in the soil, hear the birds, see the little green things growing. It's lovely and magical. <br />
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I have found myself wanting to spend more time on my home, my garden, and my family this spring, and less time on my designs. It's not that I have lost interest in designing, but that I want to make the other parts of my life a higher priority right now. <br />
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I was beginning to wonder when I should start getting back into designing when I got an email from Annie's. Annie's is the one big company that showed interest in my designs, and I actually sold very well on their website. They're kind of the reason why I pushed myself so hard there for a while, because they were actively seeking new designs. Isn't that how it is with big companies, always searching for the big new thing? Well, Annie's emailed to let me know that they discontinued about 3/4 of the patterns they were selling for me. <br />
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At first I was kind of upset about it. I mean, I worked really hard on those patterns and I also worked really hard to get those patterns on Annie's website... but then I decided that maybe it was an opportunity to reevaluate my life and where I'm going. The truth is, I wasn't very happy with where my design business was going and it was a good time to change things.<br />
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Working with Annie's really made me proud, but it was also really hard. When I was working the hardest on my designs, it was a part time job, 4 hours a day and roughly 20 hours a week, but I'm only getting paid about 1/3 the price of even a minimum wage part time job. And because they wanted new patterns frequently, I found myself sacrificing what I wanted to design for what was easy to design.<br />
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So in light of all of this, plus the fact that I want to spend more time focusing on my home and family and garden, I decided that I'm going to shift gears a bit. I do still want to design, but I want it to be on my own terms this time. That will mean fewer new designs, but hopefully more interesting ones that I can really get into. More complicated, interesting patterns. Maybe I'll branch out into quilting? We'll see. Right now I feel like I'm trying to find my way, and I'm just trusting God to lead me down the path I'm meant to be on. So I hope you'll all bear with me! <br />
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I don't know what this means for my blog. I do want to continue to post about my life, and I probably will post free patterns, but I don't think I can promise weekly patterns like I was doing before. That's too much of a grind for me right now. I have a very good library of free patterns though, so make sure to look through it!<br />
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I also want to let you all know that all of my patterns are still available in my Etsy shop. I'm still waiting to see what's happening over at Craftsy (or Blueprint is their new name I think). I may post my patterns there when they reopen their pattern section, but for now my patterns are only really available on Etsy. If anyone has any suggestions of where else I can sell my designs, let me know! <br />
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I guess that's all for now. I wish I could say more about what I plan on doing, but right now I just don't know! Except to say that I definitely will be working in my garden every day that I can! Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-58396515021267674092019-05-15T19:06:00.001-04:002019-05-15T19:06:47.341-04:00What's Up WednesdaysHappy Wednesday, everyone! It's been a while, hasn't it? I was technically supposed to get back into blogging and designing a month ago after taking a short hiatus, but it just stretched out and kept going. I was kind of waiting for life to slow down a bit so that I had a little breathing room to work, but I think it ended up going faster rather than slower.<br />
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So what's keeping me so busy? It's finally spring here in western NY! Gardening in a cold northern area has its special challenges, chiefly that in order to have a productive gardening season, we need to get things in the ground as soon as we can. So I end up having precious few days when it's both early enough and warm enough to get my garden prepped for the year to come, and I end up working my rear off for a frantic month or so getting ready for warmer weather. <br />
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The good news is that the frantic part of gardening season is pretty much over for me! The bad news is that it's finally warm enough to get some home improvement projects done, so now I'm out there working on that as well as whatever gardening things need done. Sometimes it feels like it's a ridiculous cycle of work, but it also feels rewarding to see my home and my garden looking so neat and well kept, not to mention eating those lovely home grown veggies!<br />
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There's not a lot growing in the garden yet, just some tiny seedlings and a few small cabbage plants. In a couple of months it will look like a jungle though!<br />
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The peppers and tomatoes I started from seed are so big and bushy! I think I planted a record number of both of them this year; 21 tomatoes and 12 peppers. <br />
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My mom and I went to an Amish greenhouse today and I picked up the impatiens and coleus for my shady porch pots.<br />
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My front porch is the perfect place to harden off my plants because it's nice and shady with just a little sun on the south side.<br />
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My flower garden doesn't look like much at the moment. Everything is just waking up and getting growing big lovely leaves, but it will be full of blooms in a couple of weeks. <br />
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My strawberry bed is just starting to get some open flowers!<br />
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And my apple tree is starting to bloom, too!<br />
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The forget-me-nots are beautiful, as always. They may be a nuisance sometimes, but they're so cheery and such a sweet little flower.<br />
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This is the front on the house about a week ago, when the rhododendron was still in bloom and I still had a couple of daffodils out. <br />
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I hope you enjoyed looking through my spring garden. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to show soon. I hope you all have a great week, and look for some updates on my design business in the next couple of days.Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-32335403028452702432019-03-18T11:50:00.001-04:002019-03-18T11:50:06.643-04:00Summer Jars and a HiatusGood Monday morning, everyone! I hope you're all having a lovely March so far! It's so bright and sunny out today, it makes me want to just sing. It also gave me the boost I needed to finally finish the last of the seasonal jars pattern! <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/677734958/pattern-summer-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1552923902937" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="939" data-original-width="1462" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifE_CzmpX9Zcy7ZqWEX5GFo-x5WBsOcAJT-yJlMpH5ZTorf1wxL8j3IIzfwEMkHozs4kuHFxz7Hz8ekTHGvahIlB_Kd-F1LwG8fPp0DNSZR0b5pw4WNa6dhmY1YFhxGasxXRthgNlAQp7t/s400/DSC_1706.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/677734958/pattern-summer-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1552923902937">Summer Jars Pattern, $6 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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Yep, it's finally all finished now! I'm pretty happy with the series and I'm even more happy that I'm all done with them! I guess it took me 6 months to get them all done, holy cow! Phew. <br />
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With that said, I decided that I need a little time off from designing to regroup and to get some real life things done. It's going to be gardening season soon and I need to get some important garden tasks done, like replacing the wood around my gardens and getting seeds starting and so forth. It's also time to start canning (yes, already!) so I need to get working on that took. I'll get back to work on my designs about mid-April, so keep your eyes peeled for fun new patterns showing up then!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-32216008140697864622019-02-13T15:03:00.003-05:002019-02-13T15:03:32.183-05:00Spring JarsHappy Wednesday, everyone! It's a cold snowy day here today, the perfect kind of day to work on a crafty project. And what better project to work on but one that makes you think of spring!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/682947585/pattern-spring-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1550087891976" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="962" data-original-width="1498" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCoJetS-e_F8yT6zGmk-WfNX_fkJwhKJH-EzbyWUvUkEHixMtPrhoND6Z8MMouR0CERqivDGl9a6ieG_-8YlqA0CaApHzmwW2535pVvB3TpqdpY2Z5PwlB_hut2L0V-4HIScbcOl4R2Qe/s400/DSC_1703.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/682947585/pattern-spring-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1550087891976">Spring Jars Pattern, $6 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
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I'm almost done with the seasonal jar patterns! Just Summer to go, and I'm going to get to work on that pronto. <br />
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I know I haven't been posting anything in my blog lately and I'm sorry about that, but it's what I need right now to feel sane with all the craziness going on in my life. So bear with me, I'm sure someday I'll be able to get back to blogging. Until then, have a wonderful February and happy early Valentine's day!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-4304078543668591922019-01-23T12:38:00.001-05:002019-01-23T12:38:10.595-05:00What's Up WednesdayHappy Wednesday, everyone! I did all of my laundry yesterday, so I'm free today, freeeee! I can't be the only person who despises laundry, right? I'm sure you understand that feeling.<br />
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How is life treating you all this lovely January Wednesday? And by lovely I mean terrible and yucky. I don't know what the weather looks like in your neck of the woods, but here it's 37 degrees and raining. Which doesn't sound too bad, right? Except this past weekend it snowed 18 inches, and tomorrow it's going back down below freezing. I may end up making hubby stay home from work. That sounds like a great recipe for a broken leg. Actually, it was weather like this that made my sister slip and break a leg several years ago, so I'm not just being paranoid!<br />
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Well, I've had an interesting week. We had a 3-day weekend because my hubby gets (some) bank holidays off and didn't have to work for MLK day. However, like I said, it snowed 18 inches this weekend and we mostly spent the weekend shoveling and recovering from said shoveling. The neighbor across the street got stuck in the snow early Sunday morning, and my hubby and two other neighbors went out to help her. It was a really heart warming sight.<br />
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It feels really good to have nice neighbors. I often fantasize about living way out in the country with my closest neighbors miles away, but then I remember stuff like this, or sitting on the Petersons' porch in the summer, or petting Heather's cats, or chatting with Charlotte. It's good to have these people in my life, especially since I'm a hardcore introvert and can go days without seeing another person (sans my hubby).<br />
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The crazy thing about the snow is that it wasn't even that much for us. It's a big storm, for sure, but not out of the ordinary. I can vividly remember the day we got three feet of snow in one day and we spent almost all day shoveling. The whole town was essentially shout down simply because nobody could get anywhere. Now that was a big storm!<br />
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So what else have I been up to? Let's see! It looks like the lettuce in my Aerogarden is getting almost big enough to start picking. With all of the news about contaminated lettuce making people sick, I decided to stop buying it in the store (plus it's expensive for something so low in nutrition and calories, and hard on the environment to ship a bunch of leaves across the entire country just so I can have a leafy salad). The garden cost me an initial investment of $80, but I figure it grows $5 worth of lettuce every week, and lasts about 20 weeks before I need to pull out the lettuce and start again. So that's $100 every time I plant lettuce in it. Not bad! <br />
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Speaking of being frugal, I've gotten out my favorite book on saving money and I'm working my way through it for a third time. It's just a fun read, and it inspires me to try a little harder at saving money and being less wasteful.<br />
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One of my goals this year is to reduce the amount of waste we generate in our home, including garbage and recyclables. My plan of action to accomplish that goal is to: purchase fewer items in general, stop shopping online so much, make do with what I have, fix things as much as possible, buy used if I really need something, cook from scratch, buy in bulk, and grow my own veggies. I already do a lot of those things, but I'm sure I could be better at them. <br />
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On the list of things to be fixed instead of replaced is our kitchen drawers. Our house is 100+ years old and from what I can tell, it's gone through quite a few transformations. One upgrade previous owners made was to put in new cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. However, it was a weird time in history when they did this, because the drawers they installed are plastic? And instead of working like a normal drawer with rails on the side to slide on, the drawer glides on a central monorail? It's such an odd system. And even though the drawers are cracked and some are downright broken, we've never done anything about it because we didn't know how to fix it and we didn't want to replace the entire cabinet system. <br />
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So I was poking around the internet last fall, looking at how I could possible fix these beasts, when I saw that there's a company that sells replacement drawer inserts. Yay! I bought them a few weeks ago and we started working on them this weekend. It's turning out harder to do that I thought it would be, but Chad said that's just how all home improvement jobs go, lol. He's probably right.<br />
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I've been really getting into my sewing in 2019. I need, NEED to work on my fabric stash. I actually ran out of room to store it, and now I have a bunch of fabric just sitting in a box in my studio. I gotta get this done. The good news is that I have plenty of projects I want to do! Now I just need to make sure I use the fabric I have on hand instead of buying new stuff to finish them.<br />
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My latest project is this pretty table runner that I made for my MIL's birthday (shhh, don't tell her).<br />
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I ended up using almost all of my purple scraps, and a big piece for the backing! I had to buy the white and greens though. Hopefully I used more than I bought. <br />
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I'm gathering up some fabrics to start a quilt for my niece, too. Her birthday is January 17th, so I figure if I start now, I can have it done for her next birthday.<br />
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I pulled out a cool book I got at a quilt show. Some lady was selling it for $1 and I grabbed it. The book wasn't complete though (it was one of those block of the month books from the 90s, and whoever had it before me only bought 1/3 of the blocks), so I went on Ebay and bought a complete book for $20. It's such a cool design, and I'm sure I can use the pattern to use up tons of scraps.<br />
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Now that my MIL's table runner is all done, I'm going to get back to work on the hexie quilt. This thing is just taking so long! I just started quilting it, and decided that the flowers take 5-10 minutes to quilt, and with 25 stars to quilt, that will take me 125-250 minutes, or 2 hours and 5 minutes to 4 hours and 10 minutes. For a tiny piece! Sigh. That's ok. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. I quilt because I like it, right?<br />
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I have a PC project in the works too, but I forgot to take a picture of it. But I did take this picture:<br />
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Now I'm off to work on my 2019 garden plan. Have a good week, everyone!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-30703908618936694292019-01-18T13:19:00.000-05:002019-01-18T13:19:04.672-05:002019: Goals, Anxiety, and Finding BalanceCan you believe that we're standing here at January 18th, half way through the first month of 2019? That first month always seems to zip right by, doesn't it? Or is that just me? Have you set any resolutions or goals for the new year? If so, how are they doing? <br />
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Mine seem to be on the back burner at the moment, but I'd like to change that, and I guess that's the reason why I'm writing today.<br />
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A new year is such a cool idea, isn't it? Technically, there's not much difference between December 31st and January 1st. The weather is probably the same, your house is the same, you probably are going to have pretty similar routines. But mentally, it's a fresh start, a chance to put a book end on one part of your life and start a brand new part. <br />
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When I look back to the year that's behind us, I see all the missed opportunities to do more in my life. I wonder, am I working hard enough? I probably could be taking my business to another level if I tried harder, worked longer, stopped being so lazy. So I set a bunch of goals at the beginning of this month with that in mind, goals to design more, blog more, and to become over all more successful. <br />
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And that's about the time when I started having anxiety attacks. Early in the morning, my heart would start racing and my stomach would churn, thinking about all of the goals I had laid out for myself and my ever expanding to-do list. I'm grateful that I'm a homemaker and stay home anyway, because it was debilitating. I spent three or four days sitting on the floor of my living room, trying to chill out, doing nothing on my to-do lists whatsoever. <br />
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Then of course I got sick, and I spent several days huddled on the couch and in bed. My body is much wiser than I am. It knows when I need a real rest, and makes me take it whether I want to or not. <br />
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I'm feeling better now thank goodness, and with my better health comes all this ambition to jump back onto the wagon and start working on all of those goals and long to-do lists again. Except, I can feel it. In the pit of my stomach, I can feel the inner resistance. I know that if I jump back in like I did before and try to give myself a nonstop 16 hour work day, I'm going to end up with anxiety attacks again and become completely useless. Is it worth it? <br />
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I have so many aspects of my life pulling me in all different directions, and being a perfectionist at heart, I want to put all of myself into each thing. I want to be a full time designer, I want to be the best homemaker, I want to have a big veggie garden, I want to take care of my mom full time, I want to be the best wife, I want to have a real social life and good friends, I want to be there for my niece and nephews, I want to be ultra frugal and DIY everything to save money, I want to have a sparklingly clean home. I want to sew, I want to travel, I want to buy a home in the country and have chickens, I want to volunteer, I want to exercise more, I want to read more. <br />
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But I'm just one person, and not even a very efficient or energetic one. I can never do all of the things I want to do as perfectly as I'd like to do them. Some things I'll never get to do. I have to admit these things to myself because holding onto the false notion that I can do everything if I just try harder is clearly hurting me.<br />
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So how do you find balance in this world? I guess it's a matter of setting priorities, but I think it's more complicated than that. If I only do what seems like is most important, I end up feeling hollow inside because I almost always leave out the activities that make me full of joy. I could spend my day homemaking and caring for my mom and my garden and my husband, but at the end of the day I feel like I've lost myself. I need to include those things that make me happy, like sewing or designing. <br />
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On the other hand, as much as I'd like to spend all day sewing or designing, if I don't include my daily routines of cleaning and cooking and taking care of my loved ones, I end up feeling disconnected from my life. Balance is so important. I just wish I knew how to reach it. <br />
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Now you all know where I am mentally and why I haven't been posting much on this blog lately. The truth is, I don't know what to do with myself now. I guess I'll keep muddling through life the best I can. One thing I read a while back does give me hope and makes me feel better; goals don't matter nearly as much as making progress every single day. So I guess that's my motto for 2019.<br />
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What does that mean for this blog? I don't know, honestly. I like blogging, and I enjoy designing small free patterns for the world. I just need some time to figure out my life and hopefully I'll get back into it soon. Thanks for sticking around while I work my way through!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-21810457207567282302019-01-11T10:47:00.002-05:002019-01-11T10:47:22.098-05:00Winter JarsHi everyone! I finally got to work today and finished up the winter jars pattern! Can you believe how much I procrastinate? <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/674150405/pattern-winter-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1547221607630" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="1247" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FAdPN_dIEkNLNl8KnmL2YKmNBC0Gk19UJ28v5_KZkwg1W1sj0M7wYtkwN4hDipP-vsRYB5cltXHo_8ovzkPkqGbJ7D7ZDY0Z6lfmVO9qM3o5LVrllOENMo-ikcm5U1cxN09xrgBSLMV-/s400/DSC_17002.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/674150405/pattern-winter-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1547221607630">Winter Jars pattern, $4 on Etsy</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I'll probably move on to another project before I get back to work on finishing the jar series. But if you like this one, make sure to go check out my <a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/620819873/pattern-fall-jars-in-plastic-canvas?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1547221582404">Fall Jars</a> pattern too, and keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Spring and Summer jars too!<br />
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Have a great weekend!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-40849737716296538092019-01-03T14:45:00.002-05:002019-01-03T14:45:53.217-05:00Craftsy Heads UpHi everyone. I wanted to give you all a heads up that almost all of my patterns on Craftsy have disappeared. In case you haven't heard (and they didn't really make much of an announcement or even warned anybody about it), Craftsy is overhauling its pattern section and has essentially wiped their slate clean with the exception of highly popular patterns. They promised that their pattern section would return "later in 2019", but who knows when that will be? You can<a href="https://www.craftsyhelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020912032"> read more about the update here</a> if you're interested.<br />
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So for me, that means I lost all but one of my 80+ patterns that I had on Craftsy. If you had bought any of my patterns on Craftsy, they are still available to you, this just means you can't buy any more. Craftsy is also where I stored all of my free patterns in PDF form. You can still access all of my free patterns here on my blog though, they're just in blog post form instead of PDF.<br />
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I guess I need to start looking for another place to host my free PDF patterns. Does anyone have any good suggestions? I'll let you know when I figure something out! Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-87454542480650708412019-01-02T14:36:00.000-05:002019-01-02T14:36:07.669-05:00What's Up WednesdayHappy New Year! Happy very first Wednesday of 2019! Oh, a brand new year, what a precious gift that is. A new beginning, a whole year of possibilities. It's like Monday morning, only a whole lot better! <br />
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I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations. If you're anything like me, though, I bet you're really glad that it's all behind us and we can get back to our normal lives. Or is that just me? I love the celebrations and getting together with family and such, but it's so exhausting. After six family get together, stuffing myself silly more times than I can count, and eleven days of my husband being off from work (he took a few vacation days), I'm ready for a rest! I almost didn't write this blog post because all I really want to do now is sew!<br />
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But here I am! Since I have holiday hangover, how about I just show pictures this week? I promise to be more alive next Wednesday :)<br />
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Decorating all the cookies we made this year (I made a few Dala horse sugar cookies for my Swedish MIL).<br />
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Sunshine is helping me wrap presents. <br />
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My nephew Gabe giving his best Christmas face. <br />
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My fur-brother Gary (my mom's cat). <br />
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My adorable hubby with my equally adorable nephew Maliki. <br />
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My mom's Christmas tree. <br />
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My nephew Benji, actively throwing toys out of the playpen. <br />
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My nephew Joey and his mom (plus Benji in the back). <br />
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Maliki and his grandpa. <br />
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Maliki playing with the present we gave him. <br />
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Hubby and my FIL chilling on the couch on Christmas day. <br />
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The lovely jello mold I made for Christmas dinner. <br />
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My MIL's Christmas tree. <br />
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The most amazing new (to me) retro cook book.<br />
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Our traditional New Year's Eve nachos and a movie! <br />
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My fancy New Year's jello mold! Yes, yes, I do love a good jello mold. <br />
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And Sunshine chilling in bed with me.<br />
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Happy 2019 everyone! I hope this year brings you blessings overflowing!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-70334346392297204912018-12-19T13:31:00.001-05:002018-12-19T13:31:11.177-05:00What's Up WednesdayHappy Wednesday, everyone! I know I said I wouldn't be blogging for a while, but I had a cup of tea that made me feel kind of peppy, and I'm between loads of laundry, so here I am! Sometimes I just need a creative outlet.<br />
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It's the 19th of December which means we have just 6 days left before Christmas. Are you excited? Are you ready? Are you pulling out your hair yet? Over the years, I've crafted a plan of slowly building up to Christmas by making gifts and writing lists and generally planning far in advance, so that by the time mid-December gets here, I'm all set for the big day. I highly recommend this path for everyone who finds themselves frantic this time of year. It's much less stressful, but requires more planning of course. Which I understand for some people is half the effort! <br />
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Chad and I started baking around Thanksgiving, one or two recipes a weekend. We managed to get four kinds of quick bread made to give away as presents (gingerbread, orange nut bread, chocolate tea bread, and banana bread), plus three kinds of cookies so far (pepparkakor, spritz, and cinnamon bun cookies). We have one more baking weekend to go! We're doing my grandma's sugar cookies, and we're making a pumpkin roll too. Have you ever had pumpkin roll? It's a bit of work, but oh goodness, so good! For me, it's very nostalgic. The older ladies in my family would make up several pumpkin rolls and give them away for Christmas. They're a spicy pumpkin sponge cake smeared with what is essentially cream cheese frosting, and then rolled up into log form and chilled until firm. Then you slice it and eat a small piece of heaven.<br />
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We decided to cut back on Christmas gifts this year for several reasons. I'm not really sure which of these reasons are first or most important, honestly. One reason is because this year we started seriously saving money, for our future country home. We set aside $600 for Christmas every year, which is actually less than the American average (which is $800), but I felt like we could spend less than that. Which brings us to our second reason, which is that spending so much money on Christmas gifts ends up feeling hollow to me. I don't want Christmas to be about commercialism and consumerism. I don't want to try to prove my love of someone by buying them stuff. I want Christmas to be about family, tradition, and spiritual celebrations. We're trying to cut down on our daily consumption of commercial goods, so it only makes sense to do that at Christmas.<br />
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By talking to my family about my ideas and by carefully planning homemade gifts, we were able to cut our Christmas spending down to around $250 for 13 people. STILL.... even though we spent very little and got very few gifts this year, THIS is what our Christmas tree looks like:<br />
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(I realize that was a long story for one picture, but I didn't want you to think that we spent a ton of money when we didn't!)<br />
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The bulk of the presents under the tree are canned goods; I made tons of jelly and pickles to gift this year, plus I canned a half a bushel of apples in the form of apple sauce for my dad. Yay canning!<br />
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For comparison, here's what the tree looked like last year. Yes, I do take this picture every year. <br />
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The blue packages are homemade bread, which hasn't showed up under the tree yet this year, but it will be there!<br />
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So I have some other things going on other than Christmas this week. Between loads of laundry, I'm working on my hexie quilt. This is taking so long to complete! But it's getting there, slowly but surely.<br />
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I'm working on it in sections so that it feels like less work. Eventially, it's going to be this size:<br />
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That's the backing for it behind it. I'm going to turn it into a cover for one of my sewing machines. Next time I make a hexie quilt, I'm going to do half hexies and sew them on the machine :P This is tedious work!<br />
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I'm starting to get that itch that I get this time of year... no, not eczema (which actually I do have right now, but never mind that). I mean I'm starting to get the desire to start organizing! That lovely urge to sort my life into neat little boxes. I'm probably feeling that way because my crafting spaces look like this at the moment.<br />
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Yikes. My studio (the top picture) is especially bad right now. I've probably done 10 projects without fully putting all of the supplies away! Once Christmas is over, I'm going to dive into that mess. <br />
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Chad and I went to a cool indoor flea market last weekend, on a futile search for a cassette player. Do you know how hard those are to come by these days? I thought flea markets and thrift shops would be overflowing with them, but nope, not a one. Well, there was one massive one from the 80s, but I want something a tad smaller than an economy car. <br />
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I may not have found what I was looking for, but that doesn't mean I didn't find something worth getting. I love looking at cool junk from yesteryear, and that place has so much of it. I usually start feeling cross eyed before I get through the whole store. My favorite things to hunt down are copper jello molds (I have quite the collection), and mid-century recipe books. I only found one ugly looking rooster copper mold, which I left behind, but I came out with these:<br />
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So charmingly cheesy! Especially the milk book.<br />
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I think my favorite is the Spry book, though. Mmmm-mmm, partially hydrogenated cotton seed oil...<br />
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I don't use vegetable shortening at all, but I love how quirky this book is anyway. I also got four new additions to my collection of Pillsbury bake-off books. It's an odd collection, and I already have probably hundreds of books, but at least it's a small and easy to store collection! (And unlike my sewing machine collection, I don't get any worried looks from Chad when I pick up a new cook book.)<br />
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On the request of a fan, I have been working on an addition to my seasonal jar patterns. She asked if I would make any more seasons like my Fall Jar pattern:<br />
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It's a very popular pattern in my shop, so I decided that yes, I would continue making the rest of the seasons. I have the winter jars all stitched, and now I'm just working on the pattern. Here's a sneak peak!<br />
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She also asked if I would make the alphabet available, which I probably will do as well. Keep your eyes peeled for these patterns to show up in the future!<br />
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And on closing, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And so does my mom's cat, Maui.<br />
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<br />Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-55004731081942244272018-12-14T10:29:00.001-05:002018-12-14T10:29:17.458-05:00Free Friday: Christmas Collection<br />
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Happy Friday, everyone! We're speeding right through December, aren't we? It's just 11 more days until Christmas and I feel like it's going to be here before we blink twice. <br />
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That's why today I'm bringing you a different kind of Free Friday post. Instead of posting a new pattern, I'm putting all of my Christmas patterns all together in one place. These are quick and easy patterns that you can whip up between now and Christmas in case you need an extra present or just want to make your gift a little extra special!<br />
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<b><a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2016/12/free-friday-charming-christmas-tag.html">Charming Christmas Tag</a></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xJfvMCgOCVBPhswfcgrIp0LcJQnd9DEaDCQNVtrOg-cG_6UIypbsiiYsAEFinhwtqfXEZIb56IL2boYuAu-_FfJ_zWhYdJ2bIgC-S4hWzYFym4udP_AapzqJc5LxcWU7tm3JUAtKTf6s/s1600/DSC_0831.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="817" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xJfvMCgOCVBPhswfcgrIp0LcJQnd9DEaDCQNVtrOg-cG_6UIypbsiiYsAEFinhwtqfXEZIb56IL2boYuAu-_FfJ_zWhYdJ2bIgC-S4hWzYFym4udP_AapzqJc5LxcWU7tm3JUAtKTf6s/s200/DSC_0831.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2016/12/free-friday-candy-cane-ornament.html"><b>Candy Cane Ornament</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2017/09/free-friday-small-box.html"><b>Small Box</b></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_y-2o6g7bCAokCFKKWFHaR7mFqD7bmrffd3sJ-QlO5_6Ey48i-ySYL3tqVmbVNl9c0dbBiaMrgl8urrWbGVSOzgAEZu-qLHGz7A011zSvzeRZKcEZ-WDWT0oHDlpOKiuKEuQum1awfby/s1600/IMG_20171110_143425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="742" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_y-2o6g7bCAokCFKKWFHaR7mFqD7bmrffd3sJ-QlO5_6Ey48i-ySYL3tqVmbVNl9c0dbBiaMrgl8urrWbGVSOzgAEZu-qLHGz7A011zSvzeRZKcEZ-WDWT0oHDlpOKiuKEuQum1awfby/s200/IMG_20171110_143425.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2017/11/free-friday-poinsettia-basket.html"><b>Poinsettia Basket</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2017/11/free-friday-poinsettia-ornament.html"><b>Poinsettia Ornament</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2017/12/free-friday-christmas-present-coaster.html"><b>Christmas Present Coaster</b></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69n7sJJ_NJGrLrHwQtIrhTmexR_geGy4oiSiCsShhesXgShKOxks3ej_qba8e3-DNARGBB9P7rBKCcjaeeclGQZgB3o4-ErbEl08L35Wkoh4jFfWI3fuLY3tXRTPan3lwPr6An5R-Y8H4/s1600/winter_coaster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="618" data-original-width="618" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69n7sJJ_NJGrLrHwQtIrhTmexR_geGy4oiSiCsShhesXgShKOxks3ej_qba8e3-DNARGBB9P7rBKCcjaeeclGQZgB3o4-ErbEl08L35Wkoh4jFfWI3fuLY3tXRTPan3lwPr6An5R-Y8H4/s200/winter_coaster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://stringsaway.blogspot.com/2017/12/free-friday-winter-coaster.html"><b>Winter Coaster</b></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/12/cheery-snowman-wall-hanging-pdf.html"><b>Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging</b></a><br />
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My life is going to be pretty busy between here and New Years, so I'm going to bow out of blogging for the next two weeks so I can focus on my family and our celebrations. I'll be back in 2019 though! I hope you all have a beautiful Christmas and a blessed New Year!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-68923304986227429762018-12-11T12:59:00.002-05:002018-12-11T12:59:32.356-05:00Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging PDFHappy Tuesday everyone! I'm gonna make this quick because I have quite the to-do list today! <br />
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I wanted to let you all know that I added the Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging to <a href="https://www.craftsy.com/profile/littlesapphire-s-pattern-store">my Craftsy shop</a> in PDF form! In case you forgot or haven't seen it yet, I held a <a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-join-our-stitch-along.html">4-week plastic canvas stitch-along</a> and this adorable wall hanging was the result!<br />
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If you want to make him yourself, you can go back and check out the stitch-along posts, or you can go <a href="https://www.craftsy.com/other/patterns/plastic-canvas-cheery-snowman-wall-hanging/666231">grab the PDF over in my Craftsy shop</a>! <br />
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Have a great week everyone!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-86091195246911826952018-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:002018-12-07T08:00:00.527-05:00Free Friday: Cheery Snowman Stitch-Along #4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s1600/join_us.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1129" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s320/join_us.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Happy Friday to you all today! And it is a happy day here. There's a gentle fluffy snow falling outside and the sun is shining a little bit. It's warm and cheery in my house now that it's all decorated for Christmas and we're starting our winter celebrations. Don't you love this time of year and how cozy and joyous it is? <br />
<br />
It's once again time for our stitch-along, and this is the last one! In case you missed it, <a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-join-our-stitch-along.html">I announced four weeks ago that we would be doing a Christmasy plastic canvas stitch alon</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">g</a>!
It will be a pattern given out in four parts, one a week for four
weeks. All of the required materials for the entire project are posted
on that announcement page I linked to, so if you want to join us, click
on that to see what you'll need to finish the entire project. If you
can't get started right away, I'll post the pattern in its entirety at
the end of the stitch-along so that you can do it at your leisure!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along.html">Week #1: Snowman Body</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along_23.html">Week #2: Hat and Carrot</a><br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along_30.html">Week #3: Scarf and Holly Leaves </a><br />
<br />
<h4>
Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging Week #4</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNp6M-MYelXfyDlliMlmvl4HPLST95DTsUwavaCjbyfEcOFbCpBARy8q5EnMZdpo6mVI3SxmoQzJbhgw2oQl8odzhAEfX3sROfnIhQFqL-eoe6cgWOI0KXzvU1NxuaAN5L8ZyanMj_-eM/s1600/IMG_20181206_1152372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVNp6M-MYelXfyDlliMlmvl4HPLST95DTsUwavaCjbyfEcOFbCpBARy8q5EnMZdpo6mVI3SxmoQzJbhgw2oQl8odzhAEfX3sROfnIhQFqL-eoe6cgWOI0KXzvU1NxuaAN5L8ZyanMj_-eM/s400/IMG_20181206_1152372.jpg" width="363" /></a></div>
<br />
<h4>
Skill Level: </h4>
Beginner<br />
<br />
<h4>
Materials:</h4>
<ul>
<li>All stitched pieces from previous weeks</li>
<li>Hot glue</li>
<li>18 Gauge black craft wire</li>
<li>Wire cutters</li>
<li>Two sets of needle nose pliers </li>
<li>Six 7mm red pompoms</li>
<li>Eleven 8mm black beads</li>
<li>Black sewing thread</li>
<li>Sewing needle </li>
<li>Black craft cord </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Instructions:</h4>
1. To make the arms, cut six 7-inch pieces of black craft wire. Use three pieces of wire per arm. Use one pair of pliers to hold three wires 1/2 inch from the end, as shown:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJWsm5TbntFJqs2wfQdyK6xyFIVAb5BAtkKvZhRYQLs5KASiFbEtWht4Nd6mpqNIp7meLcK0EhsVj8tXX1VArBIiLWN3-6_7vtb1jIqYRgcHY8ZJ66D9kwZypJuUiWKPc8D7hLBM_oP0g/s1600/IMG_20181206_112030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJWsm5TbntFJqs2wfQdyK6xyFIVAb5BAtkKvZhRYQLs5KASiFbEtWht4Nd6mpqNIp7meLcK0EhsVj8tXX1VArBIiLWN3-6_7vtb1jIqYRgcHY8ZJ66D9kwZypJuUiWKPc8D7hLBM_oP0g/s400/IMG_20181206_112030.jpg" width="363" /></a></div>
<br />
2. Use the second set of pliers to begin twisting the wires, as below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwFZw6BkN30yeHzWJmM46WtdDewe4O1_SPHmhx343egtYOkAv8xVjQGBa1TbS8OnsiioYya1aXavE0LUAP9TDUYjDNwjmM1MaT21jwNZBqBead0fcuEyQW8nNxbCsgfeI1QgBV8UqSlpK/s1600/IMG_20181206_112202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="993" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLwFZw6BkN30yeHzWJmM46WtdDewe4O1_SPHmhx343egtYOkAv8xVjQGBa1TbS8OnsiioYya1aXavE0LUAP9TDUYjDNwjmM1MaT21jwNZBqBead0fcuEyQW8nNxbCsgfeI1QgBV8UqSlpK/s400/IMG_20181206_112202.jpg" width="363" /></a></div>
<br />
3. Continue twisting until you are left with 1/2 inch of untwisted wire on both ends, like in the picture below:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNWhWipepQ4w-UJzLRFw7AKcXmqC6Zh_T7mUILR1ZZpk2lIRglC4klAEMNhi1MyFqTQRGPC1lN_0VXnd-Sq7m4nTu1uQkdScgM-8CDLhshlbCnwplMELoMnq0CyxyeVLBbg0YtAl0oDnK/s1600/IMG_20181206_112612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="613" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNWhWipepQ4w-UJzLRFw7AKcXmqC6Zh_T7mUILR1ZZpk2lIRglC4klAEMNhi1MyFqTQRGPC1lN_0VXnd-Sq7m4nTu1uQkdScgM-8CDLhshlbCnwplMELoMnq0CyxyeVLBbg0YtAl0oDnK/s400/IMG_20181206_112612.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
<br />
4. Repeat for second arm; set arms aside.<br />
5. Attach the black beads to the snowman body using the black sewing thread and sewing needle according to the graph at the end of the instructions.<br />
6. Using the hot glue, attach the scarf, hat, carrot nose, holly leaves, and red pompoms. Use the picture above and the close up shot below as a guide.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYak9nXrcbbFVXnhQB2s0qCY4zausxiBWjgCi70XulmPc0Xxb3HHcDJIY767y71R8EXqsuQoCkCqgqSNnLqGTJEKdKS0daRM-npx_ok_DenegmiikyWxWp5qlKiFBNRxs8JZA1q_3Uols/s1600/IMG_20181206_112650.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="996" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYak9nXrcbbFVXnhQB2s0qCY4zausxiBWjgCi70XulmPc0Xxb3HHcDJIY767y71R8EXqsuQoCkCqgqSNnLqGTJEKdKS0daRM-npx_ok_DenegmiikyWxWp5qlKiFBNRxs8JZA1q_3Uols/s400/IMG_20181206_112650.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
7. Bend the arms to form the shapes in the picture below, and attach as shown using hot glue. To make sure arms don't detach in the future, be sure that the hot glue goes all the way around the wire by adding a little on top and smearing it to the sides.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9QxxhfN3A6hSNTiiEmJ-L4KQ_4mjAGESogaRTcxUoC_G-dm6eQK6JUlzf9rsSMi9htq4i926D4tbB-poymoH7riO54-QBBDnw7klMh_z8eZNMiflMHqQLMlB_r4JQdwJa0T-bcWmO4wt/s1600/IMG_20181206_112633.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1331" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh9QxxhfN3A6hSNTiiEmJ-L4KQ_4mjAGESogaRTcxUoC_G-dm6eQK6JUlzf9rsSMi9htq4i926D4tbB-poymoH7riO54-QBBDnw7klMh_z8eZNMiflMHqQLMlB_r4JQdwJa0T-bcWmO4wt/s400/IMG_20181206_112633.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
8. Cut a 4 inch piece of craft cord. Use hot glue to attach the cord to the back of the snowman, using the graph below as a guide. ♥<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXC8tXKvr-eua4xK0lk26OrPY1O0HsTX2ELQwltvrxbVNLlvld7y_fQXEQ25qoFHQg-3NqX79eQWUtKBfSakflFA6g7gbwHm_cQM-NHA21fXZaIhIGXwsNGZrUBeC23Es89V2S1WAkvH9/s1600/Image1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1056" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXC8tXKvr-eua4xK0lk26OrPY1O0HsTX2ELQwltvrxbVNLlvld7y_fQXEQ25qoFHQg-3NqX79eQWUtKBfSakflFA6g7gbwHm_cQM-NHA21fXZaIhIGXwsNGZrUBeC23Es89V2S1WAkvH9/s400/Image1.png" width="263" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clic<span style="font-family: inherit;">k the images above to see them larger. <span style="color: #999999;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #999999;">You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or <span style="font-family: inherit;">claim it as your own. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Please link back if you<span style="font-family: inherit;"> share this pattern. </span></span>You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y sell item<span style="font-family: inherit;">s made from this pattern. However<span style="font-family: inherit;">, you <b>may not</b> sell this pattern.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
Congrats! You now have a finished snowman wall hanging to decorate your home with or to give away as a fun Christmas present! I hope you enjoyed our Cheery Snowman Stitch-Along as much as I did! Check back next week if you want the whole pattern put together as a PDF. Have a great weekend everyone!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-60293279448171336912018-12-03T14:23:00.002-05:002018-12-03T14:23:26.405-05:00Holly Leaf TBCHappy Monday, everyone! Oh how I love Monday. Am I the only one? I love that it's a fresh new start, that there's a whole week ahead where so many good things can happen. And I love that I can get back to work on my designs, too, which is exactly what I did today!<br />
<br />
I finally got my new pattern finished this morning. It's simple but elegant, and I thought it would be the perfect addition to anyone's Christmas decor (including mine).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/664197371/pattern-holly-leaf-tissue-box-cover-in?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1543864937784" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://www.etsy.com/littlesapphire/listing/664197371/pattern-holly-leaf-tissue-box-cover-in?utm_source=Copy&utm_medium=ListingManager&utm_campaign=Share&utm_term=so.lmsm&share_time=1543864937784" border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="839" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQXhkkQZQxaH0pCuShW71GODkTcbicd2CGm9Q8t4MBMik2sPQOe70bNuFqIT8Ub3m3tLQCIcSUJtdLSM-6g6lHDDrzLOKdU76vsLu3LQz371iYlquoD9kDahFQSKFDrJ7EvugzIecmto2/s400/DSC_1689.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holly Leaf Tissue Box Cover pattern, $4 on Etsy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I hope you had a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead! Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-92087232913897148892018-11-30T08:00:00.000-05:002018-12-11T11:51:48.748-05:00Free Friday: Cheery Snowman Stitch-along #3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s1600/join_us.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1129" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s320/join_us.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Happy Friday, everyone! Isn't Friday a wonderful day? It's the end of the week, you can relax knowing the weekend is coming (assuming you don't work weekends that is), life takes on a more chill feeling. At least that's how it is for me. The weekend is when I get to really spend time with Chad, my beloved hubby.<br />
<br />
Well, I guess I should stop rambling and get on with the stitch-along pattern! In case you missed it, <a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-join-our-stitch-along.html">I announced three weeks ago that we would be doing a Christmasy plastic canvas stitch alon</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">g</a>!
It will be a pattern given out in four parts, one a week for four
weeks. All of the required materials for the entire project are posted
on that announcement page I linked to, so if you want to join us, click
on that to see what you'll need to finish the entire project. If you
can't get started right away, I'll post the pattern in its entirety at
the end of the stitch-along so that you can do it at your leisure!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along.html">Week #1: Snowman Body</a><br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along_23.html">Week #2: Hat and Carrot</a><br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/12/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along.html">Week #4: Putting it all together </a><br />
<br />
<h4>
Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging Week #3</h4>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqq9KGt8QfLsUKKeB2a7QgXmc1GI8XaX5MwpR7zAHQrwxuEfzpcQk_3-5ngr1Mt2wIOm6gXVPd0L2Vlzm2Xh8yWIcf3rA9KNODhqLd-8_ddC0yDA0BdO3SMbzsSem8srzf8qicRENjR7I/s1600/sketch2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="375" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhqq9KGt8QfLsUKKeB2a7QgXmc1GI8XaX5MwpR7zAHQrwxuEfzpcQk_3-5ngr1Mt2wIOm6gXVPd0L2Vlzm2Xh8yWIcf3rA9KNODhqLd-8_ddC0yDA0BdO3SMbzsSem8srzf8qicRENjR7I/s320/sketch2.jpg" width="193" /></a></div>
<h4>
Skill Level:</h4>
Beginner<br />
<br />
<h4>
Materials:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Scrap 7-count plastic canvas</li>
<li>Red Heart yarn in colors listed in key</li>
<li>Plastic canvas needle</li>
<li>Hot glue </li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Instructions:</h4>
<ol>
<li>Cut and stitch plastic canvas according to graphs. *</li>
<li>Overcast holly leaves with Paddy Green yarn.</li>
<li>Overcast scarf with Paddy Green and Hunter Green yarns, matching yarn to nearby stitches.</li>
<li>Trim fringe to 1 inch long. To keep fringe from unraveling, put small dabs of hot glue on the back side of the knots. </li>
</ol>
* If you need instructions on how to do a fringe stitch, <a href="https://kraftykatsblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/plastic-canvas-quick-and-easy-fringe/">Krafty Kat has a very nice tutorial</a>.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9VXFHFs5yoEPigFln02ChTdBuRJH5VggeZY1fGk-ygBgDKFyhFewZxXaBLBXD7Xb9uo4BzAcwtPPdDCi7z3aHgMucpFiZVy0vix_eKR3GIXls5ms56AC-dWjuA7Jb5gJcjD2jgkDuKl_/s1600/scarf_holly.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1024" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9VXFHFs5yoEPigFln02ChTdBuRJH5VggeZY1fGk-ygBgDKFyhFewZxXaBLBXD7Xb9uo4BzAcwtPPdDCi7z3aHgMucpFiZVy0vix_eKR3GIXls5ms56AC-dWjuA7Jb5gJcjD2jgkDuKl_/s400/scarf_holly.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clic<span style="font-family: inherit;">k the image above to see it larger. <span style="color: #999999;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #999999;">You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or <span style="font-family: inherit;">claim it as your own. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Please link back if you<span style="font-family: inherit;"> share this pattern. </span></span>You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y sell item<span style="font-family: inherit;">s made from this pattern. However<span style="font-family: inherit;">, you <b>may not</b> sell this pattern.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now you should have the snowman body, hat, carrot, scarf, and holly leaves made. Next week, we'll be making his arms and putting it all together. Are you excited! Make sure to check back next week for our final week of the stitch along. Have a great weekend!</span>Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-48646449117098857072018-11-28T09:39:00.001-05:002018-11-28T09:39:36.278-05:00What's Up WednesdayHappy Wednesday, everyone! We're officially into Christmas territory now that Thanksgiving is happily behind us. How exciting! So how did all of you Americans enjoy your Thanksgiving? Mine was really nice for a change. My hubby and I decided to try to make the very best of our holiday despite my crazy family, and we had a wonderful time. On Friday, we went over to his mom and dad's house for our not-Thanksgiving dinner, which is basically just a frozen lasagna and some leftover rolls. It was also nice! <br />
<br />
So what have I been up to this past week? Well, mostly getting ready for and recovering from Thanksgiving. I don't host any get-togethers at my house anymore. I used to and I kind of wish I could again, but my dad is in a wheelchair and he wouldn't be able to make it up my stairs into the house and certainly couldn't get up the stairs to the bathroom. Instead, my family has dinner at my mom's house on Thursday, and we have dinner with Chad's family on Friday. <br />
<br />
That said, I do some cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. This year, I made the rolls, the Turkey, and the gravy. The bird came out really nice this year! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPxfIAxfzc87SZ6_ahQ8bQdwIjPLbW0GoiaByor6NsUi-KD9T7H-LR4M7EoZaa59wmidINjMXLdrtClL6mR8DLJCD_LIjv3mMczkqClC9sJOECRZAhNKAFI9zXJpzPKuJFk96WUXXjJIh/s1600/IMG_20181122_131947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPxfIAxfzc87SZ6_ahQ8bQdwIjPLbW0GoiaByor6NsUi-KD9T7H-LR4M7EoZaa59wmidINjMXLdrtClL6mR8DLJCD_LIjv3mMczkqClC9sJOECRZAhNKAFI9zXJpzPKuJFk96WUXXjJIh/s400/IMG_20181122_131947.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I wet brined it and it was amazingly moist and flavorful. We're still enjoying the leftovers! I also learned how to properly truss a turkey this year, too, yay! <br />
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I have a couple of crafty projects in the works at the moment, too, though I haven't been able to work on them as much as I'd like to. I have a PC project in the works that I forgot to take a picture of, and I also have a cute Christmas table runner being put together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYGb3H_1TInCcmYMiddXZEKzZHeITZcGLXsIdaAUa8QVML6WMzfmUX5gjpomTIBCZVlxUW74EplCkEtEjYRJ6sveMl46LgP5V6P_7Ps8i-1UINXJbBtkf-qP9TaKePMsDO8jxumppPXnt/s1600/IMG_20181128_091843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYGb3H_1TInCcmYMiddXZEKzZHeITZcGLXsIdaAUa8QVML6WMzfmUX5gjpomTIBCZVlxUW74EplCkEtEjYRJ6sveMl46LgP5V6P_7Ps8i-1UINXJbBtkf-qP9TaKePMsDO8jxumppPXnt/s400/IMG_20181128_091843.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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We also got our Christmas tree up this weekend! We don't like to decorate it right away though. We want to kind of draw out the joy of Christmas, so we do a little bit of decorating and celebrating at a time.<br />
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The theme for the runner is perfect for the mood of the day. When I woke up, I saw this out the window:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecfzSxTN0b1n4RXxrEQgMiigq30SD5pMIzL8n6iamelkfwajqoG5LSwWhZi7IsuE2xba_hcepZ16xxMFdS0X78KoazCiPNBJ46rTf_7OzFBjaLn49-tSrlqgzsU5IuoBAwX-OlzQFMkEN/s1600/IMG_20181128_082858.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhecfzSxTN0b1n4RXxrEQgMiigq30SD5pMIzL8n6iamelkfwajqoG5LSwWhZi7IsuE2xba_hcepZ16xxMFdS0X78KoazCiPNBJ46rTf_7OzFBjaLn49-tSrlqgzsU5IuoBAwX-OlzQFMkEN/s400/IMG_20181128_082858.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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It's a little hard to see in the picture, but what that is, is about a foot of snow on the roof outside my window. When I saw that I knew I had to get up because we'd have to shovel the snow. This is what the front looked like (after shoveling the porch):<br />
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We've being hammered with snow today. It was literally up to my knees at my mom's house and it's still coming down. Thankfully Chad can work from home (he's a programmer). That's really handy on days like today because we shovel not one, not two, but three houses (ours, our elderly neighbors', and my mom's), and it takes us 1-2 hours to get it all done. Phew! I'm grateful I have him to help me. I'm also grateful that we bought a couple of snowblowers a couple years back. It used to be a lot harder and take a lot longer when we did it all by hand. <br />
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Had to get the drying rack up because shoveling creates a bunch of wet clothing!</div>
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Anyway, we're snuggled up inside today. We'll probably have to go shovel again after lunch because the snow is coming down heavily. I'm going to continue working on my PC project, work on the laundry, and do some baking. What else can I do on day like this, right? <br />
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Remember to check back on Friday when I'll be posting the third installment of the Snowman stitch-along! Stay warm!Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738975460490122818.post-2918681632245937462018-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:002018-12-11T11:52:08.919-05:00Free Friday: Cheery Snowman Stitch-along #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s1600/join_us.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1129" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKUpunHFVXhb58rWByh-Zbzq0HgL5qy24SRtwjpQ1MBFwkKs9bpUBuiyEVn6bZZZNSWSGVn_xYBzAOxjQIHNmnSrBOXPkmCIh7genEsLsZsleW0xY1FQMLix9wsmlzVxehfkV_EtWthCa/s320/join_us.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Happy Black Friday, everyone! I hope your Thanksgiving was full of love and good food this year. Have you gone out Black Friday shopping yet? Not me! I'm warm and safe at home, shopping on my phone like a sane person! I haven't gone Black Friday shopping since I was about 6 years old and that's probably the last time too. Big crowds make me anxious!<br />
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So here we are again, another Friday Stitch-along! In case you missed it, <a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-join-our-stitch-along.html">I announced two weeks ago that we would be doing a Christmasy plastic canvas stitch alon</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">g</a>!
It will be a pattern given out in four parts, one a week for four
weeks. All of the required materials for the entire project are posted
on that announcement page I linked to, so if you want to join us, click
on that to see what you'll need to finish the entire project. If you
can't get started right away, I'll post the pattern in its entirety at
the end of the stitch-along so that you can do it at your leisure!<br />
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<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along.html">Week #1: Snowman Body </a><br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/11/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along_30.html">Week #3: Scarf and holly </a><br />
<a href="http://www.strings-away.com/2018/12/free-friday-cheery-snowman-stitch-along.html">Week #4: Putting it all together </a><br />
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<h4>
Cheery Snowman Wall Hanging: Week #2</h4>
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Skill Level:</h4>
Beginner<br />
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Materials:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Scrap 7-cound plastic canvas pieces</li>
<li>Red Heart yarn listed in key</li>
<li>Plastic canvas needle</li>
</ul>
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Instructions:</h4>
<ol>
<li>Cut and stitch plastic canvas according to graphs.</li>
<li>Overcast carrot piece with Carrot yarn.</li>
<li>Overcast hat piece with Black and Burgundy yarn, matching yarn to nearby stitches.</li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clic<span style="font-family: inherit;">k the image above to see it larger. <span style="color: #999999;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "liberation" serif , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #999999;">You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y share this pattern however you please as long as you don't alter it or <span style="font-family: inherit;">claim it as your own. <span style="font-family: inherit;">Please link back if you<span style="font-family: inherit;"> share this pattern. </span></span>You ma<span style="font-family: inherit;">y sell item<span style="font-family: inherit;">s made from this pattern. However<span style="font-family: inherit;">, you <b>may not</b> sell this pattern.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Now you should have the snowman body, the hat, and his carrot made. Next week, we'll make his scarf. We're half way done. Make sure to tune in next week to get the next part of the pattern.</span>Julie Dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11296944897635969271noreply@blogger.com1