After Christmas

So Happy Holidays!

I have been pondering what to spend my Christmas money on. Do I want to buy the size 35 knitting needles? More yarn? Some of the history books I saw at Barnes and Noble recently? I did get a BN gift card for Christmas (funny thing; Christine Feehan has a new book coming out tomorrow; Spirit Bound-book 2 in the Sisters of the Heart Series)!

Do I buy some clothes at the amazing after Christmas sales (Old Navy!) or buy a new knitting book? Or...do I opt for a Vera Bradley purse? Or possibly a Braves jersey for the upcoming baseball season?

I know I should save, but every once in a while, you have to spoil yourself! Suggestions are appreciated, LoL!

P.S. Here's a picture of the purse I'm thinking about...

Mandy in Mocha Rouge!

Or...

I'll just go and get my book tomorrow, order Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 2 online before they disappear on Thursday (sad) and ponder some more. 

Non yarn

As much as I love yarn, I'll play with other crafting supplies. One of my favorite things to craft with is glitter! I'm someone who loves sparkle and glitter definitely achieves that! I don't recommend using it with little kids, but there are ways to get kids and glitter together without using the loose glitter (glitter glue pens).

I had a thought a couple weeks ago that I wanted to make a Christmas ornament to symbolize mine and my husband's first Christmas together as a married couple. I went to Michael's to buy some glitter and a pack of clear glass ornaments. I came home, spray-adhesived the entire inside of the ornament, put some light blue and white iridescent glitter inside along with some of the leftover sand we used at our wedding and swirled it around to coat the inside of the ball. It looked amazing! I then took a sharpie and wrote on it with our names and the year and hung it on the tree! I think altogether the supplies costed just over $10, but I am thrilled with how it turned out and am thinking this idea could be next year's gift to all the family!

Crafting Thoughts

So I thought it was only smart to list some of my favorite crafting tools and supplies since this blog is supposed to be about being creative, LoL.

My passion in the crafting world is knitting and crocheting! I guess I should have said that my passion was yarn and I love to knit and crochet with it, but it makes me happy to make things with yarn; especially when I make something for someone else! I get the greatest pleasure out of making things for other people!

I absolutely love LionBrand.com yarn! Granted, some of the yarn under the label can be a little on the pricey side, but the quality makes it worth it! I'm not a fan of the cheap, scratchy yarn so I'm willing to spend a little more on softer, nicer quality yarn because it shows you care more. Which brings me to a point: When you make a gift for someone as opposed to just buying it, I think it means more to the receiver. I just want to point out that I'm not against store bought gifts!

So here's some of my LionBrand yarn creations:

Beach Scarf

Jelly Bean Scarf

Furry Pocket Scarf

I also love the 100% cotton yarn (sugarncream.com)! It's great for making anything for the kitchen (dishcloths, hotpads, potholders, etc) and one of my favorites, purses!

Striped Tote Bag

Concert purse and Ice Cream purse

Another non-creative thing

I thought I'd share some cool things from the last few years. I love country music and in the last 5 years or so I've had the extreme pleasure of meeting some up and comers. I learned a few things about meeting singers (I haven't met an actor or an athlete so I don't know if the same rules apply) and the big thing is meeting them before they're big because once they're doing sold out shows, it's not so easy to get an autograph and a picture with them!

The first country singer I met was Keith Anderson. He was playing a show about 40 minutes from my hometown and after the show, I hung around for a bit. I followed some people to his tour bus and a while later, he came out and headed to the merchandising tent to sign and take pix with the fans who didn't have the meet-and-greet passes!

Keith Anderson 2006

I won't go into a long story about everyone I met, but listening to the radio helps! 

American Idol contestant Bucky Covington

Jason Michael Carroll-such a nice guy!

American Idol contestant Matt Giraud

Newcomer Frankie Ballard!

Newcomer Shelagh Brown

So among my concert travels, I've met a few people from 'close to home'. Frankie Ballard is from a city 20 miles from where I used to live, Shelagh Brown is from my hometown, Matt Giraud went to school in my hometown and last but not least, newcomer Brantley Gilbert is from a town a little ways away from where I'm currently living!

Newcomer Brantley Gilbert

My other passion...Reading!

As creative as I am, my other passion is reading! My favorite things to read are romance, historical, romance and historical, comical, and some fantasy. I could literally spend hours lost in a Barnes and Noble, with books scattered all around me and be happy as a lark! Even with the somewhat recent purchase of my Kindle, I can't quite let go of the hard copies of some of my books. Weird, I know, but some of my favorite books aren't in print anymore and after tracking them down (thanks to alibris.com), I couldn't get rid of those paperbacks.

I'm currently reading "Dangerous Tides" by #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Christine Feehan (christinefeehan.com). This is the 4th book in her Drake Sisters Series about 7 magical sisters. Christine is my favorite author because not only because she's a fantastic storyteller, but she writes in a way that can grab you from the first chapter! I usually tell people that it's one thing to have a great story, but if it's not written well, the story can lose it's appeal. 

My favorite book!

About 8 years ago I came across a series in the teen section at my local BN that I absolutely fell in love with. It's a 'diary' series about a girl named Georgia Nicolson who tells of the trials of being a teen girl in England and everything that comes along with it (georgianicolson.com). Granted, I'm probably beyond the age this series was intended for, but this series is HILARIOUS! Georgia talks about the 'sex god' (the hot, older guy that Georgia has a crush on), her fat cat who longs to be with the cat next door, etc. It's how Georgia chooses to tell her story that makes this series so funny (come on, we were all teenagers once)!

The first of Georgia Nicolson's books!

I also fell victom in the last few years to the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series, but I won't go into that because most people already know about those stories.

Wednesday Before Christmas (12/21/11)

I finished my last Christmas present last Friday and somehow, I can't seem to put the knitting needles or crochet hooks down. I started all my presents the day after my husband and I were married back in August to ensure I'd get done in time and obviously I did.

My niece's scarf

My sister-in-law's scarf

My mother-in-law's scarf

My mom's scarf

Roommate's scarf

My sister's scarf

My beach scarf

I'm now going through that phase where I've had the needles/hooks in my hands for so long that I don't know what to do with my hands now, LoL. I decided that my last piece for the year will be a knitted cowl for myself to wear with a cute sweater dress on Christmas day.

I was also able to squeeze in a knitted puppy sweater for our dog Neville to stay warm on those nights here in the south when the temperatures drop into the 30's and 40's. 

Neville in his new hand-knitted sweater!