My CampNaNo Writing Project

Well, my LitRPG project has been coming along well, although I'm still in the very beginning stages of the story. After talking with my cabin mates, I realize that I need to focus on sketching out the world map and focus on figuring out the "main" quest line of the main character's story.

This is not the project that I had planned on working on this July. I actually have a much larger project that I was supposed to start working on, but I've had a hard time getting into the mood for that one at the current moment. It's probably because I'm reading a LitRPG story right now on my Kindle, so I'm in the mood for that sort of story.

I have so much to do.... My mind is racing with all of the projects that I'm needing to work on.

I need to find a good (and easy) crochet pattern for a shawl to teach the Young Women at church how to crochet. I also need to work on my own Personal Progress as well. The original story project that I was supposed to work on (we'll call it "Project X") that I couldn't get in the mood to work on is actually a part of my Personal Progress. One of my Value Projects that I had chosen to do. *sigh* Maybe I should switch over to that project for this month and finish the LitRPG story for November....

Or maybe I should just continue the LitRPG story for now, since that's what I'm currently motivated for and work on Project X in November. That would give me more time to do the research for Project X that I actually need. Plus, it's a more important project (in my opinion) so additional time would benefit me to get it done right.

Or maybe I need to quit putting it off and just switch back to Project X and get it finished like I had planned.

I really hate when I'm indecisive like this.

I think what I really need is a good night's sleep. My husband was very sick (we think it's the flu) Friday night and I was very worried. So much that I actually stayed awake all night to take care of him, getting him water, a cold compress, etc. (You have to realize, he never gets sick, but when he does, it's a doozy!) I finally got to sleep at 5am Saturday morning, and now I'm trying to play catch up with sleep. It's a losing battle. He's still sick, but he's better than he was, thank goodness! My anxiety level was through the roof!

So, I'm going to pray about which project to work on and get some much needed sleep. Good night everyone!

Creative Crochet Jewelry Giveaway

AllFreeCrochet.com is giving away a copy of Creative Crochet Jewelry. The deadline to enter is July 11, 2012 at midnight EST.  They’ll send an email to the winner.  Just click here to enter.

"Creative Crochet JewelryGifted By: Sixth&Spring BooksReviewed By: Jeanette Benoit, Editor for AllFreeCrochet.com  Creative Crochet Jewelry by Esther Zadock is an amazing book that will help you make gorgeous crocheted jewelry. These stunning pieces will add the perfect finishing touch to any outfit."

Check it out and good luck!  Be sure to let me know if you won because of signing up from seeing the info about the contest here on my blog.

National Yo-Yo Day

Today is National Yo-Yo Day... who knew?!

Strangely enough, I found a pattern for crocheted yo-yo's.  Go figure.  You can find anything on the internet!  (secretly, I can't wait to make a few of these!  but don't tell anyone!)

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=307721.0

Stuffed Crocheted Frog

Went to a birthday party for a friend's beautiful little girl.  The theme was The Princess and the Frog, so I decided to crochet a stuffed frog.  It actually came out pretty well for my first time making one. 

The birthday girl seemed to like it... she didn't want to let go of it.  :o)  Hope it holds up for her and hope she enjoys it. 

It's so soft and smooshy, my hubby and our oldest both said they want one!  Guess I'll be making more!

On a personal note...

Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's been so long since I posted anything!  Life has gotten so ridiculously busy lately and I've not been feeling very well either.  This is definitely the LAST baby we have!  I forgot how exhausting pregnancy can be!  UGH.  And last time, I hardly had any nausea at all... this time around, however, is making up for all that.  And, of course, with "Baby Brain" I've been even more distracted than usual.  And don't even talk to me about St. Patrick's Day or Easter... holidays are just way overwhelming at the moment.  I'd love to decorate (omg I think we still have some random Christmas decorations up!) but it just takes too much energy.  Although, we might do Easter eggs.  I found some really cute ideas from one of my adventures on Pinterest!  And, just so you know, hard boiled cooked eggs come out better if you steam them!  Just ask Alton Brown of Good Eats.  (love his show!)  And check out his video here.

My laptop is still down and out, so I'm still using our son's laptop.  I can't wait to get mine up and running again.  Repair sessions have been sporadic.

I have been doing some more crocheting, though.  Hopefully I can get some pics up here soon.

 It's hard enough to try to get time to do anything these days, though, with an 18 month old running around like crazy!  He's so adorable, curious, smart, funny, and totally obstinate and exasperating!  LOL  He's definitely hit the "Terrible Twos" already.  He'll wake from a nap and just cry and scream like crazy and I have no idea why.  Usually he wants to eat immediately, so that might be part of it.  And the temper tantrums!  OMG! 

But then he does a complete 180 and is just so darned cute!  He asked the UPS guy yesterday, "How you doin'?"  Then told him "Bye" when he was walking away.  Now, how cute is that?!  And he loves to give fishy kisses and hugs all the time.  So, it makes all the temper tantrums and crying and screaming (mostly) worth it.  I'm amazed at how much I love that little guy.

And can you believe, we're doing it all over again?!?!  Yep, the little peanut is due Sept. 12th, 2012.  Hence, why I've not been feeling very well.  And that's also why I'm up in the middle of the night as well.  I've not been sleeping well at all. 

But something that I've noticed lately in the mornings are the sunrises.  They have been just beautiful lately.  And the birds singing in the morning.  For some reason, I've been noticing them more.  It's been a very nostalgic and very nature oriented pregnancy this time.  I think it was with the first baby, but this time around, my senses and emotions seem to be even more heightened.  It's definitely different this time around, that's for sure!

Anyway, I'm getting excited about Spring Cleaning that we're going to be doing next month.  We're hoping to have some yard sales as well, once we clear out a few ton of items.  Let's just say that we have a two-car garage and there's barely an open pathway from the door to the washer & dryer!  But I've got an idea for a system of getting stuff organized.  I'll let you know if it works or not.

As for all my projects, well.... they're still going, just going a lot slower than I'd like them to, due to the exhaustion from the pregnancy. 

Speaking of exhaustion......... Good night!

Blue!

Well, as you can see, I went all blue on my blog.  I know the pink was very pretty and uplifting, but blue is my favorite color.  We'll see how I like it.

I've been MIA for a bit because my laptop died.  I'm still trying to fix it, but until then, I've had to confiscate borrow our son's laptop indefinitely temporarily.

I've been overly busy and overly exhausted as well, so that doesn't help the issue.  I have come to the realitization that I was spending waaaaaay too much time on the computer and that my whole life was wrapped up in that thing.  There are so many documents saved on that hard drive that I was devastated to the point of tears.  I'm still not happy, but I'm trying to spend less time on the computer and a little more time with family.  (Although Castleville on Facebook has gotten a bit of a grip on me.)

Anyway, this was just a little note to keep up with my blog and my viewers.  Thank you for your patience. 

My current projects are:
Make a drop spindle (to be able to spin the plarn better)
To crochet a scarf (currently looking through my tons of yarn for colors)
Planning a Gatehouse Scrapbook

Stay tuned....



Gnomeo & Juliet is a constant in our house and I just love the color Blue!



Inspiration knows no time

I have bouts of inspiration, energy and motivation at the most inopportune times.  I always get these bouts when I'm on the way out the door for whatever appointment I have, or in the middle of the night such as this particular episode...

It is now 3:07am and I've just been spinning plarn on a make-shift spindle (note to self, take pics for posting) because I was trying out the new plarn, but it's a bit hard to tell where you're at when it's doubled over.  I then had the idea of spinning it kind of like you spin yarn on a spindle.  But how to do that?  Well, I decided to look up plarn again and see if anyone had any ideas on that.  Yes, they did!  (gee, what a surprise... not!  I swear, you can find anything on the internet these days.  I remember when you actually had to go to the library to look up stuff, but I digress...)

So, I found a few people who had the same idea of spinning plarn and one used a Navajo Spindle.  Well, she said it costs about $25 bucks, but it looks like a dow stick with a round doohickey on it to hold the ball of plarn... quite simple, really.  So, to save a few pennies (the wallet's tight these days) I'm going to see about making one.  I already have a dow stick around here somewhere... then I'll just have to figure out what to use for the doohickey (yes, I'm sure that's the technical term for it :-P)

In the meantime, I'm using a pen with a clip on it to help hold the plarn.  It's working out quite well, actually. 

I've also come across a different way of making the plarn, which might even be a bit easier, so I'll try that as well and let you all know how each one turns out.

Stay tuned....

Creativity Blooms and Flourishes!

Wow, what a day!  My Muse has returned in full force and she is nothing less than Brilliant!

As I said in a previous post, I'm working on a very cute little craft that also goes along with gardening... I've now begun the first stages (last minute epiphany as I was working on a different project) so that really is coming as I had said.

In the meantime, I've also begun a project for a Gatefold Scrapbook.  The first little section turned out decent, so I'll take some pics as I create the second one.

I've also begun to make "plarn" or plastic yarn.  We've got waaaayyy too many plastice bags and although we use some for garbage and whatnot, we've got an overabundance.  I try to remember to take the cloth bags to the grocery stores, but I usually remember them when I've already made it all the way to the front doors of the store.  :-P  Now, if we have a few extra bucks (which is rare these days) I'll buy one or two of the cloth ones, but the rest of the groceries go in the plastic bags.  Ugh!  I've just become so self conscious about all that land fill stuff and the eco-nuts are starting to really brainwash... er... get their message through to me, so I've decided that I want to do something more than my family and I are already doing.  I can't wait to crochet a tote bag using the plarn!  (pics and links to come.)

Hence, "plarn" has been discovered... well, I think it's been around for a bit, but I just recently discovered it during one of my many many many distracted internet surfing sessions.  So, I've got a small ball of plarn going and will be taking pics and sharing that project as it goes along too.

I also did a smidge of writing (which I need to get back to after this post) and during that, I was inspired to do some sketching for the book, which turned out kind of cool... at least in my mind's eye from the book's perspective.  Of course, not reading the book or knowing what it's about, it looks like a bunch of chicken scratches, I'm sure.

So, I've been a busy bee today.  I'm going to post a sketch here, but the pics will have to wait.  Be sure to check back for them.