Inspiring Photographer

My inspiration for the day is this photographer: http://wildflowersphotos.com/blog/ I wish we had found them earlier for our wedding last summer. Truly beautiful photos. Maybe sometime in the future....

The World of Tea

Yesterday I went to the mall with my mom and we discovered this amazing tea store called Teavana. It's like a whole other world in there. I felt like a kid in a candy store. There were walls full of loose leaf tea canisters that you can smell and try. It was pure bliss! I've always liked tea, but I had no idea there were so many different kinds. I have a lot to learn. I bought two different kinds yesterday. One was a blend of two teas that they had as an iced tea sample (yum!): Tarocco Ruby Orange and a Pomegranate Berry Tea, and the other one was Raspberry Black Tea. They are so so so SO good! I'm drinking the black tea at my desk right now as I type. Simply heavenly...

Great Birthday!

Yesterday was fabulous, today I'm back to the grind. But hey, two days of work isn't bad! We had such a great time at Disneyland. It was actually really nice that it was only the two of us because we did what WE wanted. Whenever I used to go with my family we had to cram in everyones' plans and rushed from ride to ride. Yesterday we took our time, did some people watching, went on the rides we wanted etc. It was a great day! Oh, and the water bottle carrier was totally clutch!

So, my husband is as big of a video/computer game geek as I am a crochet nerd (if not more so). Any game we've ever played together, he usually wins. We went on the Toy Story ride which is interactive and you shoot at the targets to destroy the evil Zurg =-) and..... I won! woot! Check out the scores:

I should be posting some more Disneyland pics within the next few days when I have a chance to sit down at my home computer (i post most of my blogs from work). We tried to stay at the park until the fireworks at 9:30, but we were both way too tired and really hungry. We weren't feel the junk food that they had in the park so we went out into Downtown Disney and ate at a place called Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, it was delicious! I had this amazing beer battered pork which was mallotted into a very wide and thin piece of meat, candied sweet potatoes and green beans. Brandon had a spicy jambalaya with shrimp, chicken, sausage, peppers etc. over fettuccine. Finished off with a bread pudding dessert - yum! Everything was so so good! My husband and his father went to the Westlake Culinary Institute when he was 14 and still in high school. Needless to say, we are a couple of foodies, especially with his parents. We would definitely recommend this restaurant.

Ciao for now!

Question For All You Crafters...

Lately I've had a really creaky and sore pointer finger on the hand I use to hold my crochet hook. Is this like tennis elbow but crochet finger?? It's aweful painful and hurts when I do everyday things like type and write. Do any of you ever experience this? Any tips?

Ashley

Memorial Day Weekend!

This weekend was great. I spent these past three days off work finishing a few projects, cruising in the topless jeep to the beach, playing some ping pong, BBQs, laughing at Izzie, cleaning the house, hanging out with my husband, meeting my in-laws' new English bulldog, and having fun in the sun with some amazing friends. (had to throw that headband picture in there because i think it looks great in the sunshine =-) )

My husband and I are going to Disneyland on Wednesday for my birthday! Yay!! I made this tonight because I thought this would be perfect for bringing our own water (since everything is so expensive there!) and carrying it around the park.

This will be a great 3 day work work week for me =-) Hope you all had a great weekend!

Recent Projects

So, I'm pretty much obsessed with making these scrubbies lately. I've even started asking people at work what colors they have in their kitchens so I can make them one =-) Here are the ones I made last night during Criminal Minds and So You Think You Can Dance! (have I mentioned how much I love SYTYCD?? I'm glad the season started back up again)

I also made this caplet last Saturday out of the yarn I got in my swap package. It is so soft and fuzzy!! I just can't believe how fast I made it. I made this same pattern a few months back when I first started crocheting and it took me a couple weeks, now I whipped it out in a day! I finally got around to taking pictures of it last night:

Scrubbie Kick!

I was on a roll making scrubbies the other night. Here's the finished product:

They're really quick and fun to make!

I gave Izzie a bone the other night, and the way she acts with this bone just cracks me up!! She spends more time hiding it than she does chewing it! She picks it up in her mouth and runs full blast around the house with it. Then spends 5 minutes hiding it in the perfect spot. Only to repeat the process 2 minutes later. She is just too funny!

Can you tell I'm really diggin this mosaic site today?

Can't wait till the long weekend!! What do you have planned?

Shaken...

I was sitting on the couch, watching a recorded episode of CSI NY, Izzie was next to me sound asleep and I was crocheting a caplet sweater.... then there was a rumble through the house... another earthquake! There seems to have been one a week for the past month now! This one was a 4.7 and the epicenter was about 40 miles from my house, but I felt it pretty strongly! I wonder if these are all leading up to another big one?? Maybe I'll work on earthquake proofing our house this week...

This weekend has been so great, and so relaxing! If only the weekends were longer and the house wasn't still a mess. I just can't seem to find motivation for cleaning when its this stinkin hot! 85 degrees at 8pm is just not okay for May. I think I'll go pour myself a tall glass of ice water and get back to my crocheting now. Good night!

Giveaway links!!

Milk Weed Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

What a beautiful skirt!!

The Brass Hussy GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Very cute jewelry!

TGIF!

It's been a stressful morning so far, even though I've only been out of bed for a whole whopping hour! Thank God its Friday! Possible weekend plans include: BBQ, Star Trek at the Imax, dog park, birthday parties, crochet, get some sun and RELAX! I have my last final on Monday and then it's smooth sailing for a while!

Finished my CAL last night. I really like it! These are the colors of my kitchen, brown and green:

Have a great weekend!

Oh happy day!

Yesterday was fun and full of surprises!! I received my swap package!! Yay! It contained some beautiful fluffy purple mohair yarn, grey yarn and a cute purple crochet hook case. I've already put all my hooks in it. This case is a lot better than one the I attempted to make months ago, my hooks would always fall out and I didn't make enough slots in it. SO glad I got a new one! Thanks Brie! I'm putting my swap in the mail today. Hope you like it!

After work yesterday, my mom and I took our dogs for an hour and a half walk. She has a large German Shepard Tilly (alpha female), who isn't very friendly with other dogs, especially small ones. We'd like to break her of those behaviors, so we tried what Cesar Milan always suggests. We took them on a walk together and never let them touch or greet each other. We just kept walking them at the same pace and kept moving forward. You know what, that dog whisperer might actually know something after all. By the end of the walk Tilly had stopped pulling to get near Izzie and didn't snarl or show aggression! That is huge for her! We're going to try it again after work today. Hopefully they can learn to be friends! All Izzie wanted to do was play with her =-)

I started my CAL last night from the group Friends with Yarn. So far so good! I think it will look great once it's done. Shouldn't take me much longer to finish. I had some downtime at work yesterday and whipped out another small project. Its totally impractical and pointless, but cute nonetheless. An apple cozy:

Ciao!

PS. do you think these dogs are a little spoiled??

My Headband Pattern

I improvised this design over the weekend and thought I'd share it. I think it turned out really cute! My pictures don't do it justice. This should fit most head sizes, but measure the base chain around your head to make sure.

Headband:
Use a G hook, 4.0 or 4.25 (both would work), gauge is not important for this project. I just used acrylic worsted weight yarn.

Row 1: Chain 81

Row 2: SC in second CH from hook and in the next 19 CH stitches. (Should be 20 SC total) CH 40. Skip 40 chain stitches on the base chain and SC in the next 20 stitches. This should bring you to the end of the base chain. CH 1 and turn.

Row 3-5: Repeat Row 2. You should now have 5 straps. At the end of row 5, Chain 4 and single crochet in the first stitch of row 1 creating a button hole at one end of the headband. (May need more or less CH depending on the size of your button.)

Finishing:

Sew a button on the other end of the headband. The headband is cute as is with just the straps, or you can make a flower to add on it. The flower gets sewn on either side where the SC & CH stitches meet. The flower will sit on the side of your head and the button closure will sit at the base of your neck.

OR to make it really versatile, stitch the flower (or bow) onto a snappy hair clip! That way it can be worn with or without the flower.

Flower:

You can use any flower you like. Personally, I like the button-flower from creativeyarn's flower necklace

Hope you like it! I'd love to see how yours turn out too!

Dreadful Monday Morning...

It was just so hard to get up today! The 4 of us; Brandon(my hubby), Izzie (our pug), Misty (our cat) and myself, were all cuddled up in bed when the dreaded alarm clock went off at 6:45. Once again, I slept right through it until 7:40 (have I mentioned that I work at 8!?!). Needless to say, this morning was a bit stressful. It might've been because I was up late crocheting last night :)

I improvised my own design this weekend!! Its a super cute flower headband. I've already made a ton for friends and gifts. I will post the pattern in a seperate blog post if anyone is interested.

Overall it was a pretty good weekend, just too short(as always). Saturday was really fun. Brandon and I took Izzie to the beach for the first time. She loved it!! She didn't care for the waves too much, but she just loved the sand. Her little legs moved so fast as she ran and ran in the sand! She was sound asleep the whole way home. There was a group of tourists from Japan there playing dodgeball and relay races. That was really entertaining to watch.

Sunday, Mother's Day, we had my mom, brother and stepdad over for a breakfast/brunch. Brandon made delicious steaks and eggs in a hole, hashbrowns, and fruit salad. I had a few too many mimosas and slept for a good hour on the couch after they left! I gave my mom a bowl (the one from my previous post), a hat, and a headband. All handmade gifts. I love to be able to make my gifts, I think it's a lot more personal that way. After my nap, we went to my in-laws for dinner. Izzie came along and met their dogs too. My father in law, Jeff, made an amazing dinner! He always goes above and beyond. Last night he made juicy steaks, delicious clams, double stuffed potatoes (to die for!!), artichokes, salad, and his famous garlic bread! Everything was excellent. We got Brandon's mom a digital picture frame that she seemed to really like.

I ended my weekend doing something I love, crocheting as Izzie slept right next to me on the couch.

Ciao!

Today is a scorcher!

So, I didn't end up going on the hike yesterday, it was WAY too hot!! Today Izzie has a doggie play date with Robin's dog Cooper. Should be fun!

At lunch today I went over to school to see if I had any fired pieces to pick up - and I did! I love how the colors turned out on this one. When I had made the bowl, I didn't like it so much (when it was just in the clay form) but after glazing, I think its beautiful!

Stay cool!

Ashley

My first giveaway!

So I had my first giveaway today on Facebook! I would've done it on here too, but I don't have any blog followers yet. I love how other bloggers have giveaways and decided to have one of my own! I have 17 participants so far for a crochet flower headband in the color of their choice. It's such a fun idea! I've seriously been checking the comments every hour to see if there's anyone else. (Pattern by Creativeyarn)

Anyways... The weather is beautiful and it's hard to be inside. I'm taking Izzie for a hike in the hills by our home with Kelly and her dogs. I can't wait!! Just have to finish out the work day...

ciao!

Sunshine and Puppy love

Usually, I am not a morning person. I'm the one who sleeps right through my alarm or hits it 5 times in my sleep. This morning however, was the complete opposite. My alarm was set for 630 (usually giving myself a while before I really need to be out of bed) but I woke up at 6am, wide awake and ready for the day! On my right was my wonderful husband, at my feet was my my cat Misty and right by my left side was my new cuddle bug Izzie! All in a queen bed! Maybe its time to get a bigger one, but for now, its one big cuddle fest! I woke up happy and in such a great mood! Even though I had a lovely present to pick up after I got out of the shower, it didn't put a damper on my day!

I think its the weather... This week has been absolutely beautiful! The temperature has been up in the high 70s - 80s and will be up to the 90s by Thursday/Friday. I just want to play hookie from work and go to the beach with Izzie! I want to see how she'd do with the waves. Maybe I'll go on Saturday...

Izzie has definitely attached herself to me already. Wherever I go, she's right behind me! There's no mistaking that she's my dog =-) Last night I took her to see Yiayia and Papou at their retirement home. They just LOVED her! They even called my mom after our visit to tell her how much they enjoyed that we stopped by. I was really great to put a smile on their faces. It was about a 25-30 minute car ride and Izzie cuddled up and slept the whole way! She is so good in the car, it was really precious: 

Today is Cinco de Mayo! I need a margarita! =-)

Tonight I'm going to make another Raku-fire bowl. I hope it turns out as neat as the other one did! 

New Doggie!! =-)

Hi!

Meet Izzie! We adopted her on Saturday! She is a pug around 18-24 months old (according to ARV), but acts like a puppy. She is full of energy and loves to play! She already seems very attached to me and is like my little shadow. She tries to get the cat to play with her (does a little pouncy step) but the cat could care less and goes right back to sleep. They're about the same size, Misty may actually be slightly larger. I'm sure they'll get along just fine and will be friends soon. She just loves her squeaky toys and is so funny to watch while she plays with them! Needless to say, I am VERY happy with my birthday present!

Raku Bowl

I LOOOOOOVE this bowl! Doing the Raku firing last night was a lot of fun! I was such a little kid while waiting to see the bowl (had a huge cheesy grin on my face). It was such a neat process, I really wish I had had my camera with me. When we opened the kiln the pots were glowing this awesome orange/red, probably one of the coolest things I've seen! Then the teacher pulled them out with tongs and threw them into the trash cans filled with newspaper and pine needles. The cans then lit on fire and we threw the lids on top to seal out anymore oxygen (so that reduction could take place). After about 20 minutes of antsy pacing (after the trash cans stopped smoking) I reached in with the tongs and pulled out my bowl. Then to cool it down, I dunked it into a bucket of cold water *sizzle sizzle*. I think it's one of my favorites for sure! I liked it so much that I glazed another one to Raku next tuesday =-) 

The other one pictured below is one I got back from the kiln last night. Its my first attempt at making a chopstick rest. 

Whatya think?? (the pictues don't do them justice as all I have is my iphone to take photos with)

Have a great weekend! I hope tomorrow is nice so I can go to Neptunes Net in Malibu!