Nothing as simple as a good snack...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A Little Help Now and Then....
I have no problem admitting I love our critters...yes, even the chickens each have their own special personalities. I also love my crafting and creating. Over the years I have taken on sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, spinning and more recently wood carving. Are you getting an idea of what my living room looks like??
I card some fleece and then pick up my spindle to spin for just a bit....and before I know it an afternoon is just about gone and I have a gorgeous full spindle to show for it. I lay my knives out on the table, grab a chunk of basswood....and .....WOW where did the evening go?? And there on my table is a cute wooden Santa and...oops a big pile of wood shavings all over the kitchen floor. Crap now who's going to clean that up???
I'm sure all of my creative pals out there would agree....what would we do without our creating? How would we lose ourselves and relieve the stress of a bad day? What would happen if, for whatever reason, we could no longer create? This brings me to an awesome little cross stitch discovery I recently made...
What is it you ask? Well, now that my eyes have, shall we say, aged a whole lot faster than the rest of me...I admit I have been frustrated with having to strain my eyes trying to count out stitches on dark coloured aida cloth. This frustration actually was winning the battle and my cross stitch projects were sitting untouched in the basket of goodies at the end of my couch. That is until the day I was flipping through a current cross stitch magazine and, once I had finished checking out the projects it had to offer, put it down on the table...and there on the back cover was an advertisement for a product that would solve my problem!
R & S Designs Inc. has this wonderful red thread (Easy-count Guideline) that you thread through your aida cloth BEFORE you start your cross stitch project. It marks out the 10 x 10 stitch guidelines that are printed on your counted cross stitch pattern. I will admit, this step takes some time, but once you've got it all done you will have no problem at all keeping track of your stitches while completing your project...no matter how dark the cloth or how detailed the project. It even allows you to stitch colour by colour throughout your entire project!!
Simply go to http://www.rseasycount.com/ and order yourself a spool. It is very reasonably priced and I am amazed just how much easier and quicker my cross stitching is going. It would, of course, go even quicker if I would actually decrease the number of projects I have in progress at any one time...
We all can use a little help now and then...
I card some fleece and then pick up my spindle to spin for just a bit....and before I know it an afternoon is just about gone and I have a gorgeous full spindle to show for it. I lay my knives out on the table, grab a chunk of basswood....and .....WOW where did the evening go?? And there on my table is a cute wooden Santa and...oops a big pile of wood shavings all over the kitchen floor. Crap now who's going to clean that up???
I'm sure all of my creative pals out there would agree....what would we do without our creating? How would we lose ourselves and relieve the stress of a bad day? What would happen if, for whatever reason, we could no longer create? This brings me to an awesome little cross stitch discovery I recently made...
EASY-COUNT GUIDELINE
What is it you ask? Well, now that my eyes have, shall we say, aged a whole lot faster than the rest of me...I admit I have been frustrated with having to strain my eyes trying to count out stitches on dark coloured aida cloth. This frustration actually was winning the battle and my cross stitch projects were sitting untouched in the basket of goodies at the end of my couch. That is until the day I was flipping through a current cross stitch magazine and, once I had finished checking out the projects it had to offer, put it down on the table...and there on the back cover was an advertisement for a product that would solve my problem!
R & S Designs Inc. has this wonderful red thread (Easy-count Guideline) that you thread through your aida cloth BEFORE you start your cross stitch project. It marks out the 10 x 10 stitch guidelines that are printed on your counted cross stitch pattern. I will admit, this step takes some time, but once you've got it all done you will have no problem at all keeping track of your stitches while completing your project...no matter how dark the cloth or how detailed the project. It even allows you to stitch colour by colour throughout your entire project!!
Simply go to http://www.rseasycount.com/ and order yourself a spool. It is very reasonably priced and I am amazed just how much easier and quicker my cross stitching is going. It would, of course, go even quicker if I would actually decrease the number of projects I have in progress at any one time...
We all can use a little help now and then...
Monday, February 21, 2011
Family Day
This weekend we are enjoying a Family Day long weekend and I put down my spinning and knitting, got out the camera and decided to journal our weekend together.
The weekend started with running kids around to sleepovers...and of course whenever someone new sleeps over at our house the girls just have to take them out to meet the critters. Logan had to show how our Wellington loves giving kisses. "Good morning Wellington".
After all the kids were picked up, dropped off or brought home I decided to take some time Sunday morning to spend with our boys.
Of course, pictures aren't always so easy to take with this big friendly goof around. "Wellington, please don't kiss the camera". We got a nicer day on Sunday and all the critters on JADA Farms were having some fun outside.
Vincent wanted to spend some time with Smokey...unfortunately all poor Smokey wanted to do was hang out on the fence in the sunshine.
My girls and I took off for a "girls' day' and went to the local arena to take in some skating. Well they skated...I took pictures. My skating was put on hold due to the mouse nest that Levi found in my skate...YUCK!!
Luckily, no mouse was actually found....YUCK...just evidence of him or her...YUCK....and my skates will be fine once they are cleaned out....YUCK!!! The girls got a good laugh out of it though and you would be amazed how many Mickey jokes two little girls can come up with. With our skating date finished, it was time to head back to the farm and have some lunch.
With the beautiful sunny day finally melting away some of the snow, our boys actually spent the entire day outside. Apparently, to an alpaca, last year's grass is better than no grass at all! I am starting to feel that need for the snow to be gone so I can spend some time sitting in the paddock with our boys. Well....time to get back to spinning and some other projects....
The weekend started with running kids around to sleepovers...and of course whenever someone new sleeps over at our house the girls just have to take them out to meet the critters. Logan had to show how our Wellington loves giving kisses. "Good morning Wellington".
After all the kids were picked up, dropped off or brought home I decided to take some time Sunday morning to spend with our boys.
Of course, pictures aren't always so easy to take with this big friendly goof around. "Wellington, please don't kiss the camera". We got a nicer day on Sunday and all the critters on JADA Farms were having some fun outside.
Vincent wanted to spend some time with Smokey...unfortunately all poor Smokey wanted to do was hang out on the fence in the sunshine.
My girls and I took off for a "girls' day' and went to the local arena to take in some skating. Well they skated...I took pictures. My skating was put on hold due to the mouse nest that Levi found in my skate...YUCK!!
Luckily, no mouse was actually found....YUCK...just evidence of him or her...YUCK....and my skates will be fine once they are cleaned out....YUCK!!! The girls got a good laugh out of it though and you would be amazed how many Mickey jokes two little girls can come up with. With our skating date finished, it was time to head back to the farm and have some lunch.
With the beautiful sunny day finally melting away some of the snow, our boys actually spent the entire day outside. Apparently, to an alpaca, last year's grass is better than no grass at all! I am starting to feel that need for the snow to be gone so I can spend some time sitting in the paddock with our boys. Well....time to get back to spinning and some other projects....
Sunday, February 13, 2011
'SIMPLY' Sunday
Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to find some amazing and inspiring blogs to follow and through those blogs I have met a couple of ladies I am lucky enough to be able to call friends.
So where did the idea of 'Simply' Sunday come from.....simple...it is my version of "Wordless Wednesday", a wonderful part of two friends' blogs that show off their photography and give me a glimpse into their little chunks of heaven. Where did the 'Simple' come from....that's easy...our aim is to have and enjoy simplicity in our lives.
So here it is....my first posting of 'SIMPLY' Sunday
So where did the idea of 'Simply' Sunday come from.....simple...it is my version of "Wordless Wednesday", a wonderful part of two friends' blogs that show off their photography and give me a glimpse into their little chunks of heaven. Where did the 'Simple' come from....that's easy...our aim is to have and enjoy simplicity in our lives.
So here it is....my first posting of 'SIMPLY' Sunday
 |
| Our Levi has 'simple' down to a science !! |
If you want to check out "Wordless Wednesday" just click to go to Sheffield Alpacas or Loco Life of Lindy
Friday, February 4, 2011
The Colour of Inspiration...
While attempting to simplify life, I have realized that there are so many sources of inspiration. Unfortunately, too many of us are too busy or too scheduled to take notice.
A perfect example....how many people who live in large cities really notice colour? I mean real colours, the blue of a lake, the different shades of green in the grass or the vibrant gold of the leaves in autumn. Since we moved to our little chunk of "country" in October, we were surrounded by those autumn colours and every shade of green you could imagine. It wasn't until our boys became part of our lives that I really started to notice the real details of colours.
At first glance, our Windsor looks white, but it wasn't until we had him on the shearing table and took a close look at that gorgeous fibre that we realized that our white boy was actually light fawn. It wasn't until I learned to spin and first saw that light fawn fleece turning into yarn that I saw that shade change yet again.
So "simple" now includes the love of creating hand dyed yarn with Kool Aid...and remember that gorgeous yarn I won a few weeks back?? Well not only have I been practicing my dying but I also have been getting a little more courageous with my knitting. I now am the proud owner of a new handknit cozy alpaca cowl.
Everyone should have a little 'colour' in their life!!!
A perfect example....how many people who live in large cities really notice colour? I mean real colours, the blue of a lake, the different shades of green in the grass or the vibrant gold of the leaves in autumn. Since we moved to our little chunk of "country" in October, we were surrounded by those autumn colours and every shade of green you could imagine. It wasn't until our boys became part of our lives that I really started to notice the real details of colours.
At first glance, our Windsor looks white, but it wasn't until we had him on the shearing table and took a close look at that gorgeous fibre that we realized that our white boy was actually light fawn. It wasn't until I learned to spin and first saw that light fawn fleece turning into yarn that I saw that shade change yet again.
This fall, I was surrounded by inspiration every time I stepped foot out my door. It didn't matter where you stood on the property, we were shown all the colours and shades autumn had to offer and thanks to my spinning classes....I noticed! And all I could think of was the colours of yarn I could someday create.
Now that all those colours are gone and everything is laying under a blanket of white, where could I find inspiration??? That's easy...right here. Since starting our blog, I have been lucky enough to 'meet' fellow spinners, fibre artists and alpaca owners....and, might I add, some of the nicest people who I now consider my friends! These ladies have encouraged me, taught me and shared their skills with me. Who says "SIMPLE" can't be "COLOURFUL"
So "simple" now includes the love of creating hand dyed yarn with Kool Aid...and remember that gorgeous yarn I won a few weeks back?? Well not only have I been practicing my dying but I also have been getting a little more courageous with my knitting. I now am the proud owner of a new handknit cozy alpaca cowl.
Everyone should have a little 'colour' in their life!!!
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