flash your stash (one day early!)

I apologize for the early post of my stash...but I realized two days ago that since i will be going home to visit my mom & grandma (& do a little knitting/crocheting!), I won't be back until later tomorrow evening and would not necessarily be able to flash said stash at that time. so last night, i gathered everything together and snapped away. pardon the IKEA bedspread in the background. my bed was the only place large enough to display all my things and the mister & pup were in the living room, [im]patiently waiting on me to be finished with my sillyness.

in my quest to display my stash...I realized I have accumulated quite a large haul in the past couple of months. and am now seriously contemplating this whole use what you have idea. although i highly doubt i could go a whole month w/o one single purchase! we shall see..

enough of my ramblings...where's the stash? here ya go, ladies & gents (if there are any gents that read this)..


my small collection of knitting/crocheting/crafting magazines


the books I have collected thus far
(plus a couple kits)


to show the books that are on loan to my mom..
(last minute knitted gifts, weekend knitting & the happy hooker)


assorted felt colors


fat quarter shop fabric
(amy butler, robert kaufman & a grab bag)
I couldn't bear to open the kaufman just yet, so this is
the only photo of it thus far!


the grab bag fabric


amy butler fat quarter bundle


a peek @ my button stash


my bead stash
(also embroidery floss, sewing thread, assorted tools, etc.)



Yarnbee yarn
(yes, I have some acrylic...deal)


tlc essentials - surf n' turf
love these colors! note: the bedspread


tlc essentials (assorted)
liked the orange, yellow & green to
add to my stash for PS..April!


knit picks - andean treasure & shine


knit picks - assorted
all of my sock yarn/lighter weight yarn


knit picks - shine sport (color: river)
for my Orangina


my cascade 220!!
purchased from my LYS - Threaded Bliss!



vintage yarn from my mom!!
I raider her stash a few weeks ago and
came away with these goodies! note: the granny
squares afghan she was making years ago..
how neat!



and there you have it...I've flashed my stash! I hope everyone has a great weekend (and has beautiful weather like we are having here in Tennessee!)!

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in other, non-flashing news...I've joined quite a few things in the last few weeks...here's a rundown:

project: colorswap I missed out on April, so I'll be joining in for May!
music swap music is my true first love...so how exciting I get to share it with others!
secret pal 8 umm...way too excited about this one...yay!

plus, I'm already participating in project spectrum's postcard swap and my first-ever KAL!(I'm doing Orangina). I'm gonna be a busy, busy bee...and that's how I like it! especially when I get to be busy doing things I enjoy!

all righty, now the post is officially over. thanks so much to anyone who made it this far! ;)

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etsy shop - open!!

ok, so it's not quite as spiffy as I'd like just yet, but I have listed the bunnies on etsy!!!! lol. am I too excited about this? probably. :)


and now for the photos I promised yesterday..


my cascade purchase


fat quarter shop fabric


orangina pattern, needles & yarn
(yarn still in bag. color = river)


sock pattern & yarn
(color = s'mores)



that's really all I have time for right now. wanted to make sure and let ya'll know about my shop!! :)

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pre-post post

I have a large photo post coming up (hopefully this evening!), but I couldn't wait to post till then!! I am at work right now & have spent a better portion of the morning (as I'm waiting for information on a project here and have some downtime) catching up on all the weekend's blogs.. and boy, am I inspired!

the more and more I kept seeing about Japanese craft books, the more I had to have some! following crafting japanese's "online bookstores" links I have sufficiently placed $85 worth of books in my cart on Amazon - Japan. I cannot bring myself to purchase them just yet, as I would have no time to use them anytime soon, but oh boy, do I want them!!

I got many a package in the mail this weekend...yay!

I got my vintage buttons!!! they came in the mail on Friday, I do believe and I was so excited to see how cute and pretty they all were! and how speedy a delivery! I've already coveted 2 of them for my surf 'n turf clutch (I think I'm beginning to love it again). I can't even say enough words for how much I have enjoyed sorting through them all! ***and thank you to all those who commented about them...nice to know ya'll were as excited as I was!!

on Saturday, I got TWO...TWO packages in the mail! however, I could not pick them up until yesterday, as we got home late on Saturday evening. my Fat Quarter Shop purchase came in and holy moly...I got such cute fabrics (my first fabric purchases)!! I ordered a bundle of Amy Butler fat quarters (on sale!) and a bundle of Kaufman's "Happy Days", which has to be some of the cutest prints I've ever seen. :) I also got a grab bag of fabric scraps and oh my goodness, I got so many cute fabric pieces (some of which I had wanted to purchase anyway! wee!). this order also came in ridiculously fast (priority mail) and I am utterly impressed.

the other package I got was my latest Knit Picks order! I ordered yarn for my Sexy Knitters Club KAL (my first KAL!). I'm doing the Orangina in Shine Sport color River. I would have done Orange (perfect for Project Spectrum), but well...let's just say that is not my color! I also got my size 3 24" circular needles (my first circulars!), two balls of Shine in Cream, two skeins of Memories in S'mores (the yummiest of sock colors ever!) to knit my first-ever pair of socks! lot of firsts in this post.

not a bad haul, I say. Aaron still does not get my fascination with all things crafty. sigh.. how do I convert him to appreciate my love...how? lol. oh well...in time.

yesterday was also my first time in visiting one of my local yarn shops!! Aaron & I headed down the road a ways to visit Threaded Bliss. I was really nervous at first, but they all put me right @ ease. I still have to make some more visits before I totally figure out the setup there, but I did spy many a lovely yarn! the purchases I made were... Cascade 220!! holy cow, she has 160-some odd colors of the 300 colors. it was a tough, tough choice deciding, but I had to have some. I got two tweeds.. a grey and a blue and then 4 other solid yarns...2 greens, a yellow and an orange (project spectrum time!). and i got a row counter (finally!).

had a really nice week/weekend with Aaron's family and yesterday was such a fun day with just Aaron & I. OH, i almost forgot one of my purchases! last night, we headed to Borders and I picked up One Skein!! I have been wanting it for a while and there was ONE copy left. The back cover had been bent to crap, so they knocked off 10% for me! lol. I had to buy it.

the bunnies are nearing completion.. *would be amazing if I could finish them tonight* I feel lame to keep posting about them and not have them finished. but i'll keep you posted!

okey doke...photo post soon with all these goodies!! sorry there weren't any in this one, but I wanted to post so much about all my great finds!!

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my first eBay bid (and win!)

I have recently become obsessed with a couple things...one being the hunt for vintage/unique buttons. this led me to the ever-popular eBay. now, I've bought from eBay many a time. but I'd always gotten things that were "buy now"...never bid (at least that I recall). mainly due to the instant gratification and not wanting to be disappointed if someone outbid me. I hop on over to the store and search for buttons...and boy did I find sooo many i liked! I was on a certain budget so I couldn't go hog wild. but nonetheless... I searched and searched and was really in love with a certain lot of vintage buttons. 150 buttons and the going bid @ the time was about $18. so I bid..with about an hour left to go and patiently waited...and i won!! :) very pleased with myself here. lol. without further ado, a few snippets of my soon-to-be-new stash!




the bunnies are coming along quite nicely...I will post photos of all of them when they are finished (hopefully this weekend!). I'm also running around the ideas for new clutches/wallets. oh yeah, my surf 'n turf one has been put aside for the moment. one, because I didn't really like the way it looked all sewn up and two, because I've been busy with the bunnies and was busy with the Cheli. heh.. perhaps I'll come back to it.

omg...also, do you know about these Blythe dolls? umm...hello. how cute are they? and I am NOT a doll person, but I really want a couple of these cuties! my eye is very concentrated @ the moment on Mademoiselle Rose Bud, but I can't make myself pay the 80 bucks to get her! lol. I've seen these dolls around for a while but only recently started looking into them. I understand the obsession now, b/c I'm part of it! :)

let's see...other news...oh, I should be getting Interweave Knits soon...I hope. It was supposed to be mailed sometime this month, I thought. but I have yet to see it in my mailbox.

that's all for now...I'm working on getting my etsy shop going this weekend..or at least by next week! wish me luck!

***another obsession: knitpicks.com.. I just ordered more yarn (and my first circular needle!) from there this weekend...yippee! lol. I'm also eyeing the "dye your own" yarn. I've been contemplating attempting this (with the kool-aid dye first) for a bit now. we shall see.

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super secret secrets...revealed.

intrigued? yeah, I don't blame you.. ;)
so...I gave miss Rachel the ever-popular coin purse/girly wallet this evening...and she loved it! or she said she did, anyway. lol. works for me! I don't have too much time to post because well, it's almost midnight and my bedtime was 2 hours ago.. ha. but it's worth it, having Aaron's family in town for the week (we're even going honky-tonking thursday night and to the Country Music Hall of Fame on Friday...it's amazing the things you miss out on when you live in a town all your life). hehe. and I know he's excited to have them here for so long! anyway...back to the purse thingy..I think i'm gonna name it "cheli" b/c I always call Rach, Racheli. without further ado..








I realize it's not the "best of the best" and it has its little quirks here & there..but I like it, darn it. you have to start somewhere, after all.

happy monday/tuesday!!

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st. patty's, crazy pup & my accomplishments!

last night was a very, very productive evening. and, i must say...I'm quite pleased with myself. :)
the main thing I wanted to accomplish was my super secret project for my friend, rachel. shh.. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this...or at least doesnt' read it regularly, but nonetheless. moving on...I got it finished!! her b-day is today (st. patty's day!!), but I won't be seeing her until Monday for dinner. and Aaron's mom & stepdad are coming in today, so I knew I'd have to get it accomplished before the weekend. and I did... yay!

here is another sneak peek. I took full photos of it, but I'll save those for after Monday. I'm so super impressed with myself on this one! haha. it's my first, for real ...totally finished knitting/crafting big project!! woo!


I also made some more bunnies and then weaved in all the long yarn tails. unfortunately, the photo I took was before this and also only a sampling of bunnies. but nonetheless...you get the idea. there's still much more work to be done on them, but I'm hoping to be finished by next weekend on a batch so I can put them up on esty! :) with aaron's parents being here, it is going to be hard, but I'm gonna try!


today is going to be more bunny making and then...I'll begin on the details. yay! I'm soo excited about these little fellows. then, I think once rach gets her goodie, I'm gonna put that up for sale on etsy, too...b/c I still have way more than enough yarn to make a handful or so more.

in totally unrelated news...my dog is the cutest dog on earth. we were attempting to take photos last night to show my mom how big she's gotten. she was not in a photo taking kind of mood. lol. but we got some cute ones anyway!! :)


this was my favorite of the two of us, cause well...she was attacking me @ this point. soon after, I almost dropped the wiggle worm and she proceeded to go bananas.. case in point:


thanks so much for the sweet comments you've been leaving me and e-mails I've been getting. it's so nice to know even I can inspire others when I get inspired by you girls every day!! hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day!! and weekend, if I don't get a chance to catch up before then!

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target obsession, a few WIP

I begin with my love for all things target. we literally live right down the road from one and there's hardly a visit there where I walk away empty-handed (even if it's just with a starbucks goodie). perhaps my favorite thing there, the place I almost uncontrollably find myself stopping every time I walk in the store...the $1 spot. who else is as crazy about it as I am? while it does tend to be hit or miss, I definitely hit it this weekend. it's crazy full of magnets right now...and all month I've picked them up, mulled over them, picked out my favorites and in the end...put them all back. not really knowing what I would do with them or convincing myself I didn't need them. of course I don't need them. but I want them..and so, I came up with this brilliant idea..a magnet collage! I know, amazing, right? haha.

anyway, so we have one of those IKEA magnet boards already...well, I hit the magnets and didn't look back this time...and this is what I came up with: (some of them were old magnets I already had, but most are new!)


also I have photos of my clutch purse all knitted up (sorry, not together yet!) with it's handle to the side (it will go on the back, so you can slide your hand in), a couple tries in making my crocheted button, a sneak peak at my secret project, and the pom-pom I made yesterday @ work during lunch!! (a little wonky, but a pom-pom nonetheless) I also crocheted a little bunny (pin/magnet/etc) last night but didn't have time to take a photo! hope you guys enjoy!





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fabrics, fabrics...

so I did a little wishful fabric shopping this morning...first i was looking for some lining for my clutch (yes, it's now a clutch again...and yes, it's finished being knit and I even knitted a handle for it yesterday, as well. plus, knit part of my secret project. whew! it was a productive day! I also figured out how to crochet my own buttons! unfortunately, they were too big to fit through the holes for my purse..but they are very nice nonetheless!

back to the fabric...I shopped all over, but didn't start saving pics till I got to repro depot. here are just a few of the goodies I found. after looking for potential lining (the browns & blues), I spied some gorgeous project spectrum fabrics!







speaking of project spectrum colors (and cute things), pancake meow has both!! if you haven't checked out her shop, please do! I have ordered one of the donut necklaces with vanilla frosting and sprinkles, pink wire, mocha expresso her feelings scent! I can't wait to get it! seriously cute stuff there...I want at least a handful more of the cuteness!


and finally...a totally adorable project spectrum photo. this is my little puppy named ashes and this is when we first got her (about 2 months ago)... she's proudly sporting the red color for march! ;)


that is all for now...I'll try to get photos up of my finished pieces and maybe some old navy action tonight when I get home!

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so many ideas...

I just spent a bit of time over @ etsy and well...it gave me such an itch to get started on about a million different projects I've been wanting to do. I even have my own etsy shop all ready to go...just no products yet! in time..

in other news, I did not finish my clutch as planned the other evening. if I remember correctly, I never even got a chance to work on it...what with puppy time and sleepy time. lol. and actually haven't gotten too many opportunities since then, except a few moments here & there. I did get a good amount of time last night so it's very close to being finished knitting...but then I have to find lining, buttons, sew it up, add a handle or something. oh yeah and I think it might be turning into a wristlet instead of a clutch. it's a bit smaller than I was planning on!

one of my knitting distractions this weekend was a trip to old navy yesterday. holy moley...I got too many cute things! including...very much pink cute things!! I'll have to post photos of all of that soon.

I'm also beginning a secret project for a friend of mine...more details later, but I'm very excited about it. :)

I believe now it's time for me to be off! I must create cute things today..I must! ;)

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seeing red...(& pink)

time for a little project spectrum action on my blog. I walked around our living room/kitchen in search for red & pink...and it was not hard to find! fyi...our kitchen colors are red & white. ha..yeah. I didn't capture everything red & pink or I would have never gotten anything accomplished, but I hope you enjoy what I did find! I also took some photos of my latest projects...a few FO a few WIP..



the dish drainer/kitchen towel


my "love-themed" magnetic poetry
on the fridge


the top of the fridge
(that's my brother in the photo!)


a b-day card from my friend christie
on the bulletin board collage


our no smoking sign
(from target!)


the coldplay collage aaron & i made
before the concert last year!


a peek inside my (for now) red project bag
...notice those books?
...and pink page markers? :)


a grouping of some of
my knitting & crochet accomplishments


the first flowers I crocheted!
3 different tries & sizes!


the grey andean treasure flowers
I just made this week!
(have I mentioned how soft this yarn is?)


on the needles!
the surf n' turf yarn
making a clutch purse
(not the counterpane just yet!)


and there you are...how was that for a photo tour? I was going to head into my closet and search for the pink & red in there...but perhaps I'll save that for another post! :)

off to finish the clutch purse I go..! can you see the buttonholes in it? I made two for a little added flair.

"good night...and good luck"

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