These January Days


B in a box!

Cozying up by the heater vent 

Dumpster diving in the recycling bin for treasures 

Holes in the knees, mixed up prints, roller skates, and princess shoes 

Happy B 

Yummy 

She is getting to be such a big girl!

My mornings:  I love love love to get up early in the morning (for me, this is around 6:00) before anyone else.  I turn on the radiator heater, make a cup of tea, push the clutter on the table to one side, and do a morning Bible study.  I have been getting so much out of this time!  It is the perfect way to start my day.

A month or so back, I decided to switch the way I do my study.  I still read through the Bible book by book   but this time I do a ton of writing - I write scripture, I clarify with dictionary definitions, I write out my thoughts and responses.  I started being very intentional about how I read scripture and how I can apply it to my life.  I read with this perspective in mind: that I am a wife, a homeschooling mom, a mother of many small children, one who believes that training my children means I keep them with me (or with Daddy) at all times "in the shadow of my wings", a keeper of my home/worker at home.  I cling to the scriptures as I try my best to navigate through these tasks...taking encouragement, direction, application, and confidence from God's word.  It really has been very sustaining, especially through times of discouragement.


Saturday, Phil gifted me with a day.  Yes, a whole day, to just be creative!  He took the children up to the classroom in the morning and went up into the woods to sight in his new scope in the afternoon leaving with a minimal amount of work and a quiet house for most of the day.  It was delightful and it went by so quickly!


I spent the day playing with beads and vintage buttons. 

My necklace....I can't believe this took an entire day to do! I appreciate designers so much when I have an opportunity to design something myself.  It takes a lot of thought process and trial and error to come up with an aesthetic creation.  It is the element of design and the coming together of a project that I so enjoy about jewelry making (well, that and wearing it!).  The wire twisting and linking is actually quite tedious and after a few hours of it, I am ready for it to be done! I only do jewelry making when I know I have a good chunk of time, maybe a couple times a month.

Adventures in rick rack.  I am putting the finishing touches on a market basket that I designed myself.  Eventually I will blog a "tada" post with the finished project and instructions.  I have been working on it for over a month now and the decorative elements are taking forever!  I often take 15-20 minutes during rest for this project. 

Crochet flowers and fabric yo-yo's.

Bobble blanket (also called Blackberry salad...I don't know why).  I started this project probably a year and a half ago.  It will be a small lap blanket when I am done.  I pick it up sometimes in the evening when I need a transition before bedtime and crochet a row all snuggly and cozy in bed.  I also take it in the car.  I love to crochet in the car and take my project bag on all family outings and errands!  The pattern is memorized and takes very little thought at this point.  Just hooking away (yes, this is how crocheting is described in the crochet world) is so very therapeutic!
 


The only thing I haven't quite managed to fit in....jewelry making for big chunks of time, current project for here and there's whenever I can, and a back-up project with a soothing rhythm...is to fit in wool carding and spinning.  I am very pleased with how I am currently able to get my creative fix even though I don't actually clock many hours except that I can't figure out how to make yarn making a part of it.  Oh, the problems of life!!!  Ha ha!
Posted by Picasa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Boots

Image
Last week, was snowy and cold cold cold, then rainy.  I continued to work on getting the yard cleaned up.  I dug out the ponds and refilled the holes with dirt.  I loaded up rocks, pavers, and bricks.  I cleaned out the water features.  I collected the strawberry runners so I would have starts to plant.  I unloaded 2 loads of bark dust.  The children were a tremendous help.  They loaded an entire trailer of firewood all by themselves and then helped with another load of rocks and bricks.  I am amazed at how much there is to load and fix just in the yard alone.  It is a lot of work for the simple concept of "curb" appeal.   Waiting for the snow to melt so I can put down the bark dust. Even with two pairs of socks, my feet were freezing so I broke down and bought a pair of Muck Boots.  The funny thing is, 2 years ago, I really wanted to have a new pair of winter boots but I just couldn't justify paying so much money just to have ...
Read more

Then Came Dense Fog and the Thunderstorm

Image
Sunday, I woke up to a dense fog and smoke cover combination.  I think this is probably the densest fog I have ever been in. Before the sun came up, it was white.  Once it got lighter outside the smoke color showed through. On the porch, looking toward the swimming pool (North) but unable to see it or the goat barn or the walnut trees. On the porch, looking toward the barn, only able to see the garden before the parking area. Outside the window looking at the tree block, barely 30 feet away. I am not sure how I let Phil talk me into (trying) going to the store...but the fog was supposed to lift by 11:00 and we were scheduled to gather at the Rawie's for church and I needed ingredients to put together something for the potluck.  (We ended up having to cancel our homechurch.) Our mailbox, we couldn't see any cars, so we had to roll down the windows and listen.  I was already terrified at this point and didn't want to continue. After having to slam on his brakes multipl...
Read more

More Hats

Image
The Etsy shop is still a work in progress and unfortunately the name Over the Top is already taken.  I have been tossing around the names Tip Top and Whimsy.  I managed to get 7 hats made during the month of November.  I have a couple that I can put on Etsy when we are ready to list them and several Christmas hats made for the children.  I have been timing how long it takes me to make a hat and I am surprised (and not in a good way LOL) at the number of hours I spend.  A baby hat takes over 5-6 hours, a child's hat takes about 7-8 hours, and an adult hat 10 plus hours.  It takes even longer if I decide to tear out the stitching because it isn't looking the way I had imagined.  The more yarn variety I use, the longer it takes me to weave in the ends.  I usually spend over an hour just with a tapestry needle making all the ends secure.  Minimum wage plus materials puts the hats in the 50-80 dollar range.  Yikes!  I would never pay th...
Read more