What I have been up to lately.....

Hello Ya'll *waves*

Are ya asking what I have been up to lately since I have been so silent? Well, Here Ya go have a looksy....

Ben and Karen Roth

This is the best pic he has taken to date and he has taken numerous gorgeous ones, let me tell you! This was taken on my last hike I was able to do, Silver Falls up near Entitat, Washington.

What I have been into :o)

Let me walk ya through it.....

Top Left: Spray painted a paper bell from our wedding. Then I hot glued the ribbons in the middle after I tied the ornaments onto the end of the ribbon.

Top Middle: is moi wearing my Christmas Corsage I made. 

Top Right:  Is the Hair Barrette I made.

Middle Left: Is a Dollar Tree Picture Frame I painted. The artwork is actually one of a few cards I received as I gift for Christmas.

Left 3/4 and Left Bottom: Is one of two Keepsake boxes I made that are now holding my paper clips and my binder clips on my desk :o) I am rather proud of them as they turned out better than I expected :oD. 

Top Middle Bottom:  Was the sweetest gift I had gotten for  any Christmas ever! I just love them as they came from my Wonderful sweet hubby after we had a fight on Christmas Eve due to my physical pain overriding my sweet heart because he was able to go to the family dinner and I was not able to ....Stupid reason to fight but that is how Chronic Illness is sometimes... You feel like you are being left out of life while all your family and friends keep living life like you were never ill and hold expectations that you can never meet even on your best day. So this is a gift I hold most dear to my heart. My sweet hubby found my sweet spot and the verse holds true...."A soft answer turneth away wrath..." 

Middle Bottom:  Are a complete set of booties I made for my sweet companion, Pepper Paws....Oh, My, I do not think I have laughed so hard as I did when I first put them on her and she first tried to walk in them...Oh, My! I kept telling her I was laughing with her and not at her but I don't think she believed me, lol.  She would take a step then shake her leg, take a step then shake another leg, it was so funny! While actually taking the evening stroll she would take a few steps then immediately lay on the ground on her tummy and lick her paws from where she had kicked snow up into the booties.

Bottom Right:  Is my Butterfly wreath I am in the process of making for our Vow Renewal. I still have to make flowers out of embroidery floss to add to it in between my blue Butterflies. When I am finished with them I may try to write up a tut for them as it is my own pattern :o)

Sorry if the pics are a bit blurry, I have hands that shake and my dear hubby was still asleep when I took them...He is an amazing Photographer....but then I am a bit biased ^.^ I do love him so!

Get Your Craft on!

Until Next Time,
Karen

Oh, My ! Crochet Love.....

It does not get any better than this ya'll.......

Without further ado......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Crochet-Love

Or How about.......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Crochet-Red-Jimmy-Beans-Wool-Yarn-Bouquet

OR......Maybe this one......http://www.allfreecrochet.com/sweeps/Lion-Brand-Hometown-USA?


Whaddya say, are ya game to get your game on?

Come on I dare ya to enter to win the chance to be the Champion! or Champette!

Well, whaddya still sitting here for? Go enter ya'll!

Booya!

Until Next Time,
Karen

tillie tulip - a handmade mishmosh: Photo tutorial of how to create the daisy

tillie tulip - a handmade mishmosh: Photo tutorial of how to create the daisy: To beg - chain (ch) 5 and join to form a circle Round 1: ch 2, 11 double crochet (dc) into ring Round 2: change to ...

This is such a lovely project..... I have yet to do it because I have been so busy working on my Keepsake boxes, Christmas Ornaments, a lace angel, a lovely butterfly and pearl wreath, Also trying to finish my Crochet hook case...I have also started a jean purse I am making out of a pair of shorts I can no longer fit into. I am hoping to get on it and finish it tomorrow. I want to add one of +Tillie Tulips gorgeous flowers but I am thinking of using embroidery floss for it that way I can maybe have 2 on it :o).

I also have a tree skirt I want to do but I am lacking the burlap :o(.  Anyone just happen to have some I can have? I will give you my address by email if you would be willing to mail it to moi *crosses fingers and prays real hard* Please, oh,  please?!

I have a plethora of Crocheting projects backed up to yang yang and now I have a bug to learn how to knit (needing size 8 & 10 aluminum needles and cannot afford them at the moment and .....a very big AND... I wanna learn how to Even Count Peyote Stitch......

Wooo! There I told you my New Years Resolutions :oD Whaddya think? I am trying desperately to keep attainable resolutions this year that is if my body would just stop fighting my spirit.....*sigh*

God please shine your face upon all of my followers and bless them richly and abundantly in this new year....

Until Next Time,
Love,

 Karen 

For now, I will leave you with my sweetest dream...... Renewing My Wedding Vows wearing this dress with tweaking of course ;o)

My New Look

Hello All,

I just upgraded my look to one that to me looks more Artsy/Craftsy. So Holler and let me know what you think.

I have a pair of blue leather ballerina slippers being handmade for me complete with blue satin ribbons. An Etsy friend Just Plain Flats of mine is making them for my birthday. I am so excited that I can hardly wait to see them. I just know that they will be beautiful!

I managed to get just one square crocheted on my French Provincial Afghan, Woohoo!

Seriously, my health is bugging out at the moment so it is really hard to get much of anything done.

I did manage to clean my dainty antique Victorian detailed necklace and earrings today. The best cleaner for Costume Jewelry is Colgate toothpaste, my friend, in just plain white with a soft bristled toothbrush. Then just rinse under a tiny stream of lukewarm water until the toothpaste is completely rinsed off. Then set onto a couple of paper towels to air dry.

Anyone have a pet rock that they prefer over any other natural made rock?

I do, Mine is Quartz! All clarities of it. I am partial to rose quartz but alas do not own any. I would dearly love a piece to set on my desk in front of my computer monitor.

Well, I hate to cut this short but it is my nap time--I take three hour naps to rest up to be able to make it through the evening most days, not all, in Summer, it is so light I manage to grab just about an hour. But then I usually feel better in the Summer except for my new found allergies and the major painful Concentric Bulging Disc in my L4-L5 region. When that flares up I am down for the count with my friend the Ice Pack.

Happy Creating!

Head Pain Finally Figured Out!

Hey there Everyone,

I finally figured out my head pain on my own on Mother's Day when it finally came to a massively severe pain-wracking full blown Migraine. Now it is just down to a Allergy Headache. SO No Tumor as originally thought!!!

My sweet hubby surprised me with a Orchid corsage and a dozen Carnation Pink Carnations for Mother's Day! I love them Darlin'! Thank you so much and I love you dearly!

I am working on a French Provincial Afghan pattern I found in an 1986 Afghan book I bought at the Goodwill here. I have changed the color scheme a bit to adjust to my tastes. I will try to do a tutorial on it as I go. It may be after I finish it completely that I post it though. As it takes quite some time and money to make at least 55 squares, then to single crochet two different colors to each square, make 55 flowers, attach the flowers then to join all the squares and to finish it with a Picot edging. But then I am taking a Lap Robe project and turning it into a full blown afghan for a queen sized bed :O).

I have been getting quite the crafting bug here lately but my poor thumb is so sore I cannot do much other than to crochet. I may have to talk to my doctor again about it as it has been really sore at rest and I have not sprained it. I think it is an inflammation in my ligaments. Very painful. Nonetheless, I have been perusing other crafting blogs for inspiration and to see creativity at its finest as a Do-it-yourself kind of person.
I just may show you my ugly dining room slipcovers and afghan if I can ever feel well enough to finish them...actually they are not that bad.

I am sitting here wishing I had a craft room all my own...but I am crammed into the bedroom with a meeting table with a table skirt I made. I just wished I could afford the right kind of chair to use for my sewing and quilting, Right now I am using a dining room chair which causes my lower back to really hurt after an hour of sitting at the machine.

Ah well, tis the life story of one who is extremely poor and disabled and cannot work.

Anyhoo, back to designing more crafts to do when I am able to do so!

Happy Creativity and Crafting Y'all!

What's Happening Lately

    Well, for starters, I finally finished that cute little hat I was crocheting along with the lap afghan I had been working on for the past few months.

Hand crocheted hat based on a child's pattern by Red Heart.

Lap Afghan hand crocheted.

Shell stitch made up of 5 Double Crochet.

   In the hat picture you can see what my next project will be. It will be new pillows for my sofa. I just have to wait for my sewing machine to get looked at if the machine oil does not do the trick.  That is why I have a month's worth of mending left to do. My sewing machine went wonky on me. I am trying to fix it on my own. But if it needs to go to the shop I am pretty much out of luck as I do not have that kind of money. I am operating off of a $20 a month allowance. I am disabled and cannot work at all. Due to my disabilities but I cannot seem to get that Administrative Law Judge to see it. So we are appealing again from a different angle. So wish me well in my endeavor.


   Right now I am working on a secret project that cannot be discussed for a few more months. At the right time I will post pictures of my project. I cannot let my little secret out ahead of time or it would ruin the surprise factor. It is a grand little surprise I have!


Here is a picture of the very first Ripple afghan I ever made.

Me and my first ever Ripple afghan taken on April 4, 2007.

 

 

 

 

  I really must make another sometime. Only this time in blues.

  Well, I guess that's it for now until I get my machine working right again.
  Have fun creating and please do share your crafts with me!

Day One of a New Journey

            I am beginning a new journey to rediscover my inner crafter. I call myself the 'Masquerading Crafter' due to the fact that I have Fibromyalgia. There are many days I can barely crawl or often times fall out of bed. But on the days I can do my crafts, I do! Right now I am experimenting with different modes and types of crafts. I have been a very crafty person from the beginning until tragedy struck ( whole other story) and my health took a turn for the worse.....I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia at the age of 31 yrs. although I had carried the symptoms for many years before I could never afford proper medical care. That is until I met my wonderful hubby! He has been my saviour in many ways. Thank you, Darlin', I love you!

            My mother-in-law keeps telling me I can write a novel about the way I have survived life during my troubled years of growing up and away from my biological family. It was the best move I have ever made in my life! I'm not a heroine I am just an average person who has just refused to let Satan win one more battle in my life, anyone can do that. It does not take a hero, just takes determination and some bruises that do heal after time with the right kind of attitude and love. It's all a matter of the right kind of attitude. Even I falter at that at times :-) . I'm human and prone to err!

            Anyway, back to my new journey, I have been interested in learning to scrapbook for a while now. There are just so many diverse ways to express yourself with scrapbooking, whether it be with albums, journals or making cards. It amazes me that you can take 10 women and put them in a room with each having the exact same supplies and you will end up with 10 different outcomes! Each one unique to the creator herself. Many times I think we, women, craft with our emotions more often than not and each of us is just as likely to be too critical of our own work thinking that someone else's work is better than our own. It's not that it is any better, it is just different. Each is to be treasured!! I have come many years before that saying to finally sink into my hard head.

           I am just sitting here playing with a design for my "Renewing Our Vows" Album and the color blue keeps coming back to mind as it resembles the old saying of one being "true blue". The fact that it is my hubby and my  favorite color isn't being considered, honestly !  I am planning a Victorian ceremony on my part complete with the ballgown and the hubby gets to wear his blue jeans and sneakers as that is his true self. I am so excited about it! I am eagerly making the crafts needed for the ceremony myself at a lesser cost than it would cost to just buy them ready made. In fact as I write this, I am eagerly awaiting my Antique Victorian silver bridal bouquet holder! Should be here tomorrow....*does little happy dance*

              I am just beginning my journey and I hope that you will join me and we can travel together.......


              Until next time Happy Crafting! Celebrate Life, Focus on what you do have even if it is not much, it may be more than the person next to you has.