The Mail Man's here!! (sorry to be so gender-specific, but he really is a man!)

I recieved a couple of super fun things in the mail today....the first being from FOUR postcard swappers...check 'em out!

The blue one is from Bettsi and actually came from Citrus Heights which is right next door from Sacramento, where I grew up! Weird. The black n' white photo is really cool, but I'm sad to say that I can't read the print well enough to tell where its from! Blogger o' blogger who art' thou?? If this is yours, please let me know! ***UPDATE***Amy was kind enough to educate....the Black & White photo if by Ness of Australia!! Thank you Ness...I totally dig b&w photography...this is a great picture.! Thanks Amy for pointing me in the right direction.

The one on top is by Ann from North Carolina. She made her cards using blue cordory and some really cool letter stamps that she made out of wine corks!! So cool! My sister recently gave me an exacto knife (don't ask why!), so i think I'm just going to have to try this out...
The second one is from La Fee Coriandre and includes some romantical french magazine cut-out (I have no idea if it's romantical, but, hey, it's French, so it probably is!)....and a cute little blue and white dog. Thanks everyone for the gorgeous cards!!

In other news, my order from Sticky Wicket came in today with my DIY candle making kit and cool decorative class tray kit. Sticky Wicket is a really cool small company that focuses on the DIY movement as well as using environtmenally friendly and recycled products.

This past weekend was mildly producting on the crafting front. I made another decoupaged canister using Mod Podge and origami paper, this one will hold come colored pens. I also dragged my sweet poor husband to Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics for their annual open house and scored some felt, a few beautiful Japanese fabics for my leap on to the Crafting Japanese bandwagon!

Whip Up
Today I received the most exciting news! A few of the super-cool craft bloggers got together and made yet another creation...a craft blog called "whip up". Here they will chronicle news, events and stories from the crafting community. They officially go live on Feb. 1 and I cant wait! Check it out....it should be a good one!

Post Card Swap is approaching its peak! Tonight I finished up my cards and will be sending them out to fellow swappees....Thanks, Myra for putting this together!

Each card was required to have a dog (for year of the dog), blog address and "happy new year" in any language. I wrote mine in American. *b/c i'm patriotic like that* I'm not a really big "dog person", so I opted for snoop dogg, which, NO crafter can resist! The lucky (if I do say so myself!!) recipients of my postcards will be: Nicole, Amanda, Amy, Crystal, Tyn, Wenche, Tina, Raellyn, Veronica, and Kathi!

I already got 2 post cards in the mail today...and let me tell you how exciting that was!! The first one was from Debbie of Virgina, and included quilted, embroidered & colored doggies playing in the grass. It was mounted on soft brown felt and is gorgeous!

The second was from Kate of England. She sent me a close up picture of a quilted outdoor scene that she did (I think), with a little West Highland Terrior. I'm so curious to see the rest of the quilt!! Thanks Kate!

So last night was my first of 6 sewing classes at StoneMountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley. (Whats up with that name, anyway?). The fact that it was IN the fabric store, made it really hard for me to concentrate....so i scored little a scrap of gorgeous woven pink fabric which I fondled under the table.*behavior very similar to eating paste* (which I'm not above doing, by the way).

I'm taking this class because my mom hooked me up with a cool sewing machine...that has just been sitting in the corner of the room whispering at me *use me*use me* like a guy at a club. The other reason why I'm taking this class is because of AWESOME inspiration like this:







These were all made by the ever-so-talented Miss Alice Faye...and I decided that I want to be JUST like her when I grow up and make neat things for my friends. She also made a matching bag, which she made using a purse that she made using a crafters tutorial.

I'm proud to say that I'm knitting my second (ever!!) pair of socks....and I'm doin' 'em for the red hot sizzling socks group started by the lovely Becky (check out her awesome blog if you have a chance!).



I'm working the "Best Foot Forward" pattern from the Knit Socks! book that Susan sent me for SP6 using Knit Picks superfine alpaca/silk/merino wool worstered weight yarn called Andean Silk in Barn Red...it rocks!! For a breezy 3 skeins at $3.29 each...you can whip out a pair of super-luxiurious socks in no time!


Take note of the matching red robe....it's good to really get in the red-hot-knitting mood by wearing matching "clothes". (Note the time I posted...yes, it's 2 o'clock in the afternoon....and yes, I'm STILL in my robe!)

These are so much fun! I got tagged by kitkatknit ....read to the end to see if your next!!

Four Jobs You Have Had In Your Life:
1. hospital candy striper (thats Stipe..not STRIP)
2. copy center girl
3. disabilities rights advocate
4. field marketing specialist
Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. charlie & the chocolate factory (the real one)
2. the hair dressers husband
3. sound of music
4. wizard of oz
Four Places You Have Lived
1. sacramento, california
2. madrid, spain
3. east lansing, michigan
4. santa cruz, california
Four TV Shows You Love(d) to Watch
1. the apprentice
2. beverly hills 90210
3. knitty gritty
4. girls behaving badly
Four Places You Have Been on Vacation
1. indonesia
2. panama
3. belize
4. korea
Four Places You want to visit
1. the rest of europe
2. brazil
3. all of africa
4. pakistan
Four Websites You Visit Daily
1. kitkatknit
2. knitknitknitknit
3. google
4. red current
Four of your Favorite Foods
1. tortilla espanola
2. rainbow salad
3. strawberry/nutella crepes
4. wonton soup
Four things currently on the floor in your car (truck)
1. an ice-cream maker
2. my husbands swim trunks
3. one shoe
4. magazines
Four Bloggers You are Tagging:
1. knitknitknitknit
2. miss mcSpazzitron
3. mopsp (that's "my own personal secret pal"...you know who you are!!)
4.

Today my the Crafty Bi-otches came over for our first ever crafty sunday. We're getting together once a month (or more!!) and taking turns teaching eachother something new. This time it was my turn, and of course, we made...my most current obsession....Decoupage!

This is my sister, Monica, and her beautiful glass candle holder decoupaged with interesting magazine cut-outs (isn't she adorable?):


















Beth and her crazy red and white fuzzy bucket....she had a cute name for it, of which i forget...what did you call it Beth? This one will be filled with yarn in NO time!













Rachel showing off her snazzy flower pots with total sparkle power!













...and a close up of her pots...so cool!!













Last but not least....here is my homage to Japanese oragami prints. My sister was trying to hide inside of my bucket!!:

So...I went to the post office today to drop off my first secret little baggie of suprises when my post-master informed me that *I* had something waiting for me from *MY* secret pal!!!!

She sent me the coolest stuff!! A ball of my all time favorite Noro Kureyon...in a color way that I've never seen before. This will most likely turn into this cool scarf made by Becky.

She also sent me the nicest yellow silky wool yarn that I've never come across (thanks SP for exposing me to all this cool new stuff!!)...this might become apart of the above scarf...or turn into socks...not sure yet!

For good measure she threw in the sweetest knitty card....along with some matching ones of my own....some great skin spoiling stuff AND....my very first embroidery thread!! Yay for SP....This is all so great and I appreciate all the great loot!!

The best part of it all? I'm one step closer to figuring out who she is!! The return address was from Mossuri!! HA!

So today was a pretty productive day on the crafting home-front. Beth told me about the highly althletic Olympic Sweater Making Team...and I gotta tell ya...I'm really going for the gold this time! I'm going to be making my first sweater ever...and I'm doing it in 16 days flat!

Pictures to come after training camp (aka swatch making)...when we light the flame on Feb.10th!

I also finished a couple more magnets, one of which I sent to my SP7 today....


I hope she likes it, I have a feeling she will considering that she's a total sucka for the color pink!

I also finshed up my little decoupage pen holder magnet thingy...for my dry-erase pens that I keep on the fridge.

How to make Pen-Holder-Magnet-Thingy:
1. Go to the super-market and buy one of those band-aid-bubble-gum things (sounds disgusting, I know!!)
2. Eat all the gum inside...or dump it out if you don't want to embarrass yourself like I did.
3. Rip off the top...now you just have an aluminum cannister.
4. With some Mod Podge, a brush and some cool paper or fabric, glue that puppy to the cannister.
5. Seal the decoupage by painting the Mod Podge over the paper or fabric too.
6. After dried, super-glue a strong magnet to the back and throw that baby on the fridge...voi la!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Well so far SP7 is going well....yeah I know, it's only being going for like 3 minutes so far, seeing that we only received our names yesterday....but I got a really cool spoilee this time around and I'm excited to get started....

In other news...I finished my aunt-lina-birthday scarf, "branching out" from knitty. it came out pretty cool....the weirdest coink-a-dink was that knitknitknitknit brought up the pattern the other night when we were hanging out NOT knowing that I was in the process of knitting it...oooooaaahhhh weird!

Anyway...it came out really nice, and I know my aunt is going to love it....and I love it because:
1. I conqured my fear of laces
2. it served as a stash-busting session, since I didn't buy new yarn for the project.
3. the yarn was a gift from sp6, Susan.
4. I had enough yarn to make a little scarf for my SP6 bear (which was a Christmas bear, but I couldn't bring myself to putting her away until next Christmas, so I converted her to a scarfy-year-around bear).

One annoying thing that I've run into for the second time, although, much worse this time....is the wavy cast-on....but strait cast-off....grrr....how do I fix this???

1. Are you a yarn snob (do you prefer higher quality and/or natural fibers)? Do you avoid Red Heart and Lion Brand?
Yes...yarn snob...big time! Can't stand those scratchy acrylics.

2. Do you spin? Crochet?
Tried both, haven't really gotten into either.

3. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Straits are in a cloth wine gift bag...DPN's and circulars in a little case.

4. How long have you been knitting?
I say I'm a beginner because I've only been knitting for a little over a year, but I might be more like an intermediate because knitting is ALL i do....so I've scored quite a bit of practice.

5. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No....willing to start one though...might be something I'll add.

6. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products etc.)
I like fall scents like cinnomon on orange and giner.

7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes....I actually have sweet TEETH! i like sour stuff and chocolate and starbursts, stuff like that. I also like chocolate and peanut butter numbers.

8. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do?
I love making stuff with my hands. So, decoupage, painting, drawing, jewlery making, magnet making, cooking, I want to get into ceramics, japanese crafting is something I'm a little obsessed with getting into right now, and quilting eventually, along with sewing too, I want to get into embroidery....etc...

9. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s?
I like drum and bass, world music, hip hop, mellow girlie music like morcheeba, oldies. I'm really into learning about new music. I find out about a lot of cool stuff through my cd exchange club.


10. What's your favorite color? Or--do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer?
I like reds, oranges, pinks, creams, greens. I'm not really geared toward "preppy" colors that remind me of The Gap circa mid-90's like forest green and maroon and navy blue.

11. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a plant and a husband. I'm a newlywed, and I just moved to San Francisco about 6 months ago. So I'm having fun learning about my city and making new friends. I'm also really close with my parents and sisters who all live within an hour an a half of me, my plant and my husband. My friends are part of my extended family too.

12. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, sometimes, no and no. Mittens and ponchose are too constricting for me, they make me feel trapped....I can't move my fingers in mittens and with a poncho, I can't really have any sudden reactions without the whole thing flying over my head.

13. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with?
Noro. Alpaca. Fun and interesting stuff. Brown Sheep Lions Pride bulky is cool too because it knits up fast and they have an amazing color palette. But honestly, I'm kinda tapped out on yarn, I'm ready to start something new or expand on other arts and crafts. Like embroidery. Or illustration.

14. What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Cheap scratchy acrylics. They make my skin hurt.

15. What is/are your current knitting obsession/s?
I just learned how to knit socks, so I spend a lot of time thinking and scheming about my next sock knitting project. I learned with strong encouragement from SP6...thanks Susan!!
I also just got Jess Hutchisons new booklet, so I'm also into unusual toys as well. Although, I haven't knit much of that yet....it's in the plans...

16. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
Little, quick, bulky things. Scarves are always a good stand-by....and now, socks...even though I've only knit one pair so far!

17. What are you knitting right now?
I just finished the scarf from knitty "Branching Out", and I'm about to start on a cable knit scarf for my mom's birthday using Knit Picks yarn.

18. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes!! Love it!!! I actually prefer hand-made gifts because they're truely special and one-of-a-kind. I love seeing all the amazing creative stuff that people come up with. And of course, I appreciate all the time they put into making them!

19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles?
Depends on what I'm knitting. I have the Denise Interchangables, so I tend to use those a lot, but I really like DPN's which I don't have a large collection of.

20. Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Bamboo all the way baby...

21. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope. No room for one:( Ooh well....

22. How did you learn to knit?
Knitting School at the Davis Adult School in California.

23. How old is your oldest UFO?About a year. But I'm an avid and super-compulsive frogger....so if a project doesnt get done right away...it usually just gets frogged when I have time. I love frogging stuff.

24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird?
I don't have one particular favorite, but I love all the softies characters and all the unique illustrated characters on some of the crafty blogs I have links on my website to. Japanese characters like Hello Kitty are super cute too.

25. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween. Candy. Drunk people. Costumes. What more could I ask for? Plus, my husband and I live in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco which is notorious for it's halloween bashes....and it makes it really fun for us!

26. Is there anything that you collect?I don't have one particular thing that I collect, because I'm trying to reduce the amount of *stuff* in my house, so most of what I collect are consumables, like arts and crafts supplies. Not that I eat paste or anything, but things that I can turn into someting else and give away as gifts.

27. What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
Interweave.

28. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on?
Maybe some Japanese crafting books. DPN's of various sizes....of which I'll post in a bit.

29. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Quilting and sewing cute stuff. I'm really into decorating and making my little nest comfortable, so stuff related to that. Embroidery too.

30. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I am now, I guess! I wear a size 9 shoe. Is that what you mean by measurements?

31. When is your birthday? (mm/dd)
Nov. 8 - scorpio

I've officially taken the plunge...and signed up for sewing classes. This is, of course after, having my brand new sewing machine for a year without opening it! After years and years of stearing clear of what I thought to be an old ladies sport, I'm jumping in after many inspirations of fellow creatives and artists. Funny...how I can knit and knit for days and days and never think twice about how THAT may be something for certain Sarasota residents!! My class will be a traffic jam or hour long train ride away in Berkeley at Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics (thats the weirdest name ever!!)....and I can't wait to check out the digs at Britex's Fabrics in downtown SF. Equipped with my skillz...I'll have my new place decked out in no time!