Sunday Sanity

I should be further with these projects by now, but I guess I just did a little more messing around yesterday than I should have. We went to the Farmer's Market and Licorice International along with going on a job interview for a part time job and renting a couple dollar movies. By the time I actually sat to get those needles flying, I was more drained from the week than I'd anticipated. But anyway, here are the projects on hand for this final week in July:

1. The gorgeous fern green skeins are for a special order I received from a virtual Canadian friend to work up my Wishbone Cable Bag for her! YEAH for Etsy!

2. An idea POPPED into my head for a design while we were waiting for the little folk to get picked up by their dad and this is the beginnings of a new design of handbag. I think it will be a really fun one when finished. This color with bamboo handles is going to be very eye catching I believe.

Friday evening we got another shot of adrenaline going around here when an e-mail came in from the Lux Center for the Arts. The director is interested in seeing my handbags up close and personal for possibly, I repeat POSSIBLY having them for sale at the gallery! If that falls through, I will still be pumped just because they inquired!!! That in itself is an honor that I'll never forget.

Another blessing came Friday morning when going into a meeting at a local cafe/coffee house and who do I run into? Tyler's old basketball coach!! And even though he is getting up there in age, he still remembered who I was. And then I got to run into another parent of old LCS students who I hadn't seen in over 4 years, and HE even remembered who I was. So it just goes to show me that I haven't fallen off the edge of the world as it had been feeling!!!!!!!! :)

It also shows that there are some prayer warriors out there who have been praying overtime on our behalf.

I JUST WANNA KNIT!!!!

Duh

Updated 7-26-08: Yes, I am knitting and designing when I should be doing more beneficial things for the family. But I'm being CALLED to do it. Only hoping for the better. :)

Make Or Break

Romans 8:26-28:
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

I was incredibly blessed that this was the reading for today, because we don't know what today will hold with the meetings that are happening and whether they will end up good, or not so good. We just don't know what is in store for us. It makes it hard to know HOW to pray, and this verse reminded me (as it did after Ty's death) that the Holy Spirit is taking over for us today. We just know that God has a plan and we can only hope for the best.

Calling ALL Knitters! Is This Not True?

In catching up on my fave blogs tonight, I ran across Jane's post with a YouTube link that is great!!!!

Kris - this one's for you.

Click to get to "Never Not Knitting" song!!!!

Open for Business

The new Etsy store is open for business!!! Check it out and think CHRISTMAS! OK? :) I've been incredibly pleased and shocked that we have had the number of hits in the store that we've had, and as of right now it's not been live with product for even 24 hours.

You can click on the mini-banner at the top of the blog, or click on the store name in the left hand column. Would love your feedback everyone.

Prayers for Family

We are babysitting two of the grands today and we are trying to find something to do, which isn't easy now that our house is so bare. Here we are messing around the pond and Raegan loves flowers and is modeling an Oriental Lily. This little family is under a great deal of stress right now, so please offer up a prayer for them that peace and serenity will surround them. God has a plan, we just don't know what it is yet. :)

"I Made It Myself" Saturday

Here it is Saturday already and was afraid I wouldn't have anything completed to show this week. But somehow I pulled it off and here are two baby blankets that came off the hook and ready to place in the store.........

Make sure to check out Christy's blog to see what everyone who is participating in "I Made It Myself" has been up to this week!

Last Weekend's Eagle Fun Days

I totally forgot to post some cute photos of the grands from the Eagle Fun Days event last Saturday.

Dylan loved the boxer pups that were running around and Raegan adored the kittens that someone brought.

These two definitely LOVE animals!

Etsy Treasury - Mary Poppins

I don't make it into the Etsy Treasuries very often, rarely in fact. But I got notice this morning that JewelsOfLuxury did a Mary Poppins theme Treasury and the carpet bag I designed was one of the 12 items listed. If you want to see it, you'll have to look quick as this grouping expires tomorrow evening. And while you're in Etsy, take a look around at all the neat things people think of to make!

New Etsy Store in My Life

I've been toying with this idea for awhile and just decided it was time. There are way too many ideas in my head to just keep them there so I've opened another store on Etsy called ThePaperTyger! There's nothing in the store yet, but please keep a watch out for some interesting things to pop up.

Now all I need is a banner for the store and I have no ideas for it. None, nada, nil, empty, totally blank. I could sure use some feedback from anyone who wants to throw an idea my way. Or even design it!?!? Come on you computer gurus - throw me a bone!

Mosaic Meme

I found this on Grammieknits blog this noon and thought it was a rather neat idea. This is what you do:

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image for each question.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

1. Roses for Karen/Teyacapan! Happy Birthday!, 2. Tuna Steak, 3. 08 01 12_0413, 4. Soft purple, 5. Barechested Glory, 6. coffee & the city, 7. Fraser Island sunset, 8. Super Bowl SUNDAE Cake, 9. one with the sea, 10. Cherry Blossom Way, 11. celebrating the last minute of singleness, 12. Aqua Cables & Lace Baby Blankie

Side Note: I picked the first pic in the group, not one pic from the first pages of photos.

Reflective Sunday

After having one of the most incredible visits with my Sister-Sister this week, and seeing the peace, love and acceptance in her - - - it only makes sense that THIS particular story was put in front of me this morning. What an inspiring little tidbit of history.

Taken from Our Daily Bread for 8-8-08 (yes, that's where the booklet opened up to today)

As the Olympic Games open in Beijing, my thoughts go back to Eric Liddell, a former champion immortalized for his surprising gold medal victory in the 400 meters during the 1924 Games in Paris. A year after his triumph, Liddell went to China, where he spent the last 20 years of his life as a missionary teacher and rural pastor. There he ran the greatest race of his life against opponents we all know - difficult circumstances, war, uncertainty, and disease.

Crowded into a Japanese internment camp with 1,500 other people, Eric lived out the words he had paraphrased from 1 Corinthians 13:6-8 - "Love is never glad when others go wrong. Love finds no pleasure in injustice, but rejoices in the truth. Love is always slow to expose, it knows how to be silent. Love is always eager to believe the best about a person. Love is full of hope, full of patient endurance; love never fails."

Eric served the others in camp, whether carrying water for the elderly or refereeing games for the teens. When he died of a brain tumor in February 1945, one internee described him as a man "who lived better than he preached."

In life's most difficult race, Eric Liddell crossed the finish line victorious through love.

- David McCasland

"I Made It Myself" Saturday

Thanks to Christy over at the Crafty Conservative, Saturday will get to be a day where I can show off something I've made. (I didn't make this THIS week tho, I was blessed with my sister who was visiting.)

I've been trying to push the journals that have original design knitted covers lately. Here is one of my favorites......

.........and you can have this or one like it in my Etsy shop. Want a special color or size? Let me know!!! I make these all by myself. giggle

Ta DAAAAAAAAAA

It was SO cool to sit down at lunch today and see that someone purchased the bridal bible I was so proud of. Extra dollars are always nice to have, like for gas and stuff. :)Then it was time to finish up the project to ship off for my hopeful inclusion in an upcoming publication. The first photo is bad color, the second photo is more realistic. Thought I'd send a little mini-notebook in with it as a thanks for looking at my design. I absolutely ADORE this lining!!! It was so incredibly perfect for the bag. Was able to fit about 4 pockets in this one, including a pocket for a pen which I always seem to never have with me. :)
It was a great weekend all the way around. Super display of fireworks at our daughter's house which outdid our neighborhood by a LONG shot on Friday night. Saturday we went and got our Guitar Hero Aerosmith and that kept us busy most of the evening. Oh MY this one is FUN FUN FUN!!!! (and very very difficult, but I play expert just because it's more fun that way. I'm so mean to Bill.)

LATER EDIT: Watch out everyone for "Back In The Saddle" - OUCH!!! It's a wrist wrecker! But what fun. :) We believe this to be the most difficult of ALL Guitar Hero games released so far and that makes it all the more fun.

Long Time No See

I know, I know. It's been a long time since I've written anything on here. But life is just that, LIFE! Since I've last talked here a few things have happened, some not so great, but some good stuff happened, too.

#1 - Had to reduce the price of the house already. That's a bummer, but we gotta unload it.

#2 - DD#1 got the pool table out of our house and into theirs.

#3 - Dartboard went to DD#1's house, too.

#4 - Went fishing for the first time this year last Sunday. I was on the phone most the time, but DH caught a teenie bullhead. We had a good laugh about that.

#5. ALL the materials are now in my possession to get the project done and shipped to New York for hopeful publication.

#6. Joined a local group of artisans to push our products and creations locally. New blog, nothing there yet, but keep an eye on it! http://www.lincolnhandmadeteam.blogspot.com/ We are gunna push and push ourselves into the public eye around here, one way or the other.

#7. It's the Fourth of July this weekend and boy, do we need a BREAK! Do you?

#8. My Sister Sister is coming to visit next week for a couple of days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!

Enjoy the 4th, be safe, be thankful for where you live, and just plain HAVE A GREAT TIME!

Silliness

Wanted to share a couple cutie patootie photos with you. This first one Raegan took of herself with my cell phone and this one actually worked, so had to download it. This was in the morning while we were fishing and of course, she was bored. Nice gum, kiddo. LOL

Second photo is of the girls swimming together - and had a WONDERFUL time together! Yep, this time I took the pic by myself on the cell phone. They aren't the best quality, but it still shows a lot of fun being had.

Side Note: The man in brown brought me the 2nd of the three parts coming to complete my 'project' for future publication. And OOOOOOOOOOOOO, was this the BEST package so far.

Prayers and a Messy House

No knitting. No cleaning. Grandkids here since Saturday but they are going home this morning. No time for an immaculate house right now.

Asking for prayers for DD#2 and for her to have a clear head in making decisions on her family situation.

Just pray. God knows the situation.

Just Dancin'

These two nuts will find any excuse to dance! Even at the zoo by the seal pool where they were playing some fun summer type music. :) I just can't take these two anywhere, can I? LOL

The Supplies Are Coming! The Supplies Are Coming!

I feel like Steve Martin in "The Jerk" when I read back the the title to this post, but I'm so excited! I received confirmations on shipments of supplies for the project I'll get to be doing for this publication deal that's been offered. Not only is the yarn high quality stuff, but they even agreed to send me my fave fabric for the lining!! OOOO, I can't wait for the man in brown to come next week and bring me these goodies!

Look at this incredible water lily fabric they are sending!!! Isn't it the best? And so fun! It will look awesome with the bamboo.

New Knitted Items

It's been a fairly productive week for me and Etsy since DH has been down with a serious cold. Total listed this week for sale is FIVE!!! I can't believe it! My sewing machine is getting cleared off slowly but surely of knitted pieces needing finishing. Think I'm down to two items and one about an inch from being off the needles and onto the sewing table.

So since the poor hub will probably be down with this cold all weekend, here's what I'd love to accomplish since I'll be on my own:

1. FARMER'S MARKET!!! YES!!!! I need to get down there and meet some local artisans I've met the past couple of weeks on the internet through the Lincoln Handmade Team.

2. Get a washcloth or two done for an employee who is moving into Lincoln as a house warming gift.

3. Finish the two items on sewing table and list in the store.

4. Find a good outlet for 7" zippers for new idea to put in the store. Any ideas for where I could find zippers at wholesale?

5. Actually do a proto-type (if not the real deal) for new idea. OK, that means I'll have to purchase at least one zipper at retail.

6. AND NOT CLEAN!!!!!! (I think that's the best one yet) giggle

Have a SUPER weekend, y'all!

Abandonment :)

I know, it's a bad title to this post, but one of my sisters is going on an extended RV trip with her hubby and pup and I won't get to see her as much on-line as normal. It will be a summer of withdrawal for me and I'm just TOTALLY jealous. (I learned the art of "laying guilt" from my mom) giggle You can all keep up with their eastern US travels on her blog, which she says she will update as often as possible. I know it's hard to fit that in when there is so much to see and experience, but we hope she keeps us up to the moment in their adventure. We only wish them safety, fun and a summer full of new memories.


With DH being sick, he pretty much stays to himself which leaves me to get some Etsy store items actually completed and listed. I got three more items up last night and hope to get a couple more done this evening. Actually fairly pleased with the outcome of some of the new things up for sale, and my mind is in overdrive once again with another new product to offer along with possible gift sets. Oh good grief, does my mind stop ever? Anyway, onward and upward we hope and pray. :)

Chillin' Sunday

Father's Day was pretty relaxed this year! After getting the house as immaculate as possible for the open house the realtor planned (and no one showed up for) we shoved off to our oldest daughter's home for some fun, sun, golf, and even some Guitar Hero! Here is DGD#1 who was showing off in their neighbor's pool. If you make the picture bigger by clicking on it, you can see the monster smile she has on her face!
DGS#1 played hard, but knows when a chaise lounge looks like a better plan. His neighbors have a Wii and he was really just biting at the bit to go in and play instead of being with us. I sure don't blame him!
Since the WWKiP day kinda was a bust for me this year I brought along my knitting knowing we'd probably be sitting outside most the afternoon. I gave it a shot, but to be honest it just felt weird and almost kind of rude with the little kids around. So there were 2 rows completed and then put away. Abby grabbed my camera and got the shot that Bill must see me sitting in 90% of the time - needles, yarn and a cable needle in my mouth. Precious, huh. Sheesh

You can probably see that there were no 'dads' to be found in these photos. That's because the men went golfing and got home just in time to see Tiger Woods' last shot of the day. Golfing is quite a challenge for DH yet, but was so grateful he was invited to go. Just doesn't know if the eyes are good enough to get back into really playing the game anymore. And we're talking about a guy here who golfed as much as possible back in the day. SO glad he gave it shot, and so is he.

After realizing how tired we REALLY were on the way home, we didn't even stop for dinner or pick anything up to eat. But we did watch the movie we'd rented and both made it through the whole thing without falling asleep. That just shows how good "The Bucket List" was. It would be a good one to actually own.

New Stuff

Check out the store - there's three new items to look at. Didn't get near where I wanted to be at by this time today, but three is WAY better than none. :)

This last blankie was inspired by the one I made for my niece Kate's new baby, Diana.

A Hurried Update!

OK, tomorrow is huge, can't blog. Shouldn't blog. No time for REAL to blog. So this is what, in a nutshell, is hopefully going to be completed this weekend for the store. Or maybe not. But anyway, Friday is absolutely chuck full of things to do. (I don't like not blogging) Here's a peek..... remember, things aren't completed so it's still a guessing game.

But first.......... THIS.........

..........the beauty after the storm last night. Incredible. OK, back to the store.....

This lace piece is from a pattern I dug up that is almost 100 years old! WOW! OK, at least this old gal was super excited. :)

OK, any guesses what all this will turn out to be?

No Worries

Even though I posted such horrid flooding photos last night, within an hour of the photos, all the water had receded and all was fine. No water in basement OR shop! Last time the shop flooded and now carpets need to be shampooed. Any volunteers? LOL

Off to the store this noon (lunch break) to find yarn that will suit the needs of Australia. I've demo-ed too many bright colors, so back to the drawing board with subtle tweeds. Keep your fingers crossed that I can find something suitable in the incredibly SMALL market we have locally. But who knows what I'll find - could be fun and interesting.

Any guesses on who this gal is? Yeah, not the blondie that we're used to seeing.

EDIT: This is what happens when your daughter's best friend is an aspiring model and they go off to other lands to experiment - drastically. She still has her daddy's eyes and heart to admire. What more could anyone want.

Storms Anyone?

With satellite out, nuttin' but radio and a camera to keep us company here are some photos we took not even 15 minutes ago out our front door. Pretty impressive, huh?

New Group - Why Not?

I was contacted yesterday by Christy, a local knitting and paper artist, who I met through the local Lincoln Knitting Guild last year. She also has a store on Etsy. Christy has come up with a marvelous idea for promoting local Etsy store owners on the home front, a way to get Lincoln's own artisans and craftsman out and in public. Extremely glad she remembered me as I did not join the LKG this year so I don't attend the meetings.

She has started rounding us up in a Flickr group which is a great start. Posting ideas, goals, photos and such right on Flickr. Now I need to sit and think about designing again and goals. Yikes to the goals, but it will be good for me.

The group is called Lincoln Handmade - so here's another group you all need to watch out for. I've looked through some of the members' items so far and talk about creative! Everything from jewelry and art to knit and crochet items.

My goals this week as posted in the Flickr group: (help keep me honest out there)

The TygerLily says:
Goals: 1. Make list of places for DH to take photos of me Saturday for WWKIP Day to post somewhere later for comic relief. :)

2. Post 3-4 items in shop - a push for me to do finishing touches.

3. Start designing process for new purse.

Eye Problem Update

I could tell many of you were praying for Bill and his eye issues. Before visiting the doctor we had to have that serious conversation I'm sure many have had about all the "WHAT IF's" and the way we would handle them if they were negative. The doctor even remembered Bill after all this time as he was rather a rare specimen of eye issues before. After a regular type exam, well, regular for Bill's issues, it came out that meds was going to be the answer this time around. No surgeries, no shots or yags yet. We were elated to say the least! Within 12 hours of starting meds he was already getting a small bit of sight back. How about that!!! He actually went and played 9 holes of golf Saturday which he hasn't done in who knows how many years. Even though he didn't golf his best (duh) one of the gals on his foursome had never even been on a golf course before! But this was a very relaxed birthday bash tourney with a BBQ to follow (which I went to). He had a great time and after all this eye scare business, he certainly deserved a little fun.

TGIS

TGIS? Yep, thank goodness it's Saturday. NO work today, NO thinking today, just a day for hopefully some fun and relaxation.

Still waiting to hear from Australia in picking some colors I've presented. Thought I'd stick a photo in of what colors I have done. Just anxious to hear if they like any of 'em. :)

The pattern deal for the book publication is working out a bit sweeter than I'd ever hoped for as they are going to provide me with some VERY cool yarn I've never afforded before and they've allowed me to select a lining. And to be honest, that was the hardest part because the store they linked me to for selection had WAY too many pretty fabrics to offer. I must have spent over an hour looking through all the fabric. I could only narrow it down to about four and asked them to pick from those. Whew!

Prayers Please

Please keep Bill in your prayers. As many of you know, there is no more fixing the one eye and it's basically been a goner for the past eight years. After so much celebration 4 years ago at the 'good' eye being a surgical success, we are back to square one - cloudy vision in the repaired eye. I am hauling him back to the doctor this morning in hopes that what little sight he still has can be repaired, medicated, whatever. As anyone can imagine, he is so very frustrated, anxious and just plain ticked off - so he hasn't been in to work this week. He can't see what he's trying to sell and is having to ask everyone what things say and having me make decisions he wants and needs to do on quality. And obviously, he's not driving. I am the designated driver when he does need to go places.

This all still stems from RA, Uveitis/Iritis, and a botched vitrectomy on one eye at Mayo.

Wishing I didn't have to post such news, but he needs prayers and lots of them. We all need him to be functional in his job as it reflects everywhere else in his life.

Knitting notes:
1) Australia has gotten the proto-type I sent and it works for their size needs. Next will be decisions on the colors she wants to offer her customers.
2) Received the contract yesterday to have one of my bag patterns published in an upcoming pattern book about cables. Once I sign on the dotted line, they will get materials to me (horray I don't have to buy them). Still not going to tell you who it is tho. I'm going to keep that top secret till the book comes out, maybe. :)
So if any of you want some of my Etsy items, you better get them now before I get famous! ROFLMAO!!!!!!

A Plain "Smile Worthy" Thought

Upon driving to work this morning, I tuned the radio to K-Love off the east coast. Jon and Sherry Rivers do a great morning show and they were talking about "Life of Faith" dolls, giving the product a super plug. It got me to remembering back in the early 80's when the kids were but wee things, and I'd designed soft sculpture dolls that we named "Prayer Pals". Having no way to market them, let alone the dollars to pattent them, they went to the wayside and eventually sold at a garage sale to pay the rent. It did my heart such good this morning to hear there is a doll out there, on the market, that encourages kids to take time and pray. Something I have removed myself from in the past few months. What a wonderful reminder that this is such a basic thing to keep in our lives.

Talk about a 'headbang' moment. But what a part of my life to remember, and the smiles it still is putting on my face this morning.

Haven't Totally Disappeared

Thank you to all you wonderful friends and family who read my blog and have expressed concern that I haven't blogged forever. I do apologize and one of these days I will get back into keeping everyone up to date. But for now, here's a recap:

1. House is getting no interest whatsoever. Quite disheartening.
2. Work is being: revamped, cleaned up in employee area, 2nd side to company finally getting designed and backed, and yes, very stressful.
3. Knitting has taken over every second of free time. An opportunity has presented itself to have one of my patterns included in an upcoming book publication. I don't feel at liberty to say who and what just in case it falls through, but I'm honored to have been approached. There are so many projects in mid-stage of knitting completion, and many are waiting to have the finishing sewing machine touches put to them. I actually sat and knitted a whole infant sweater this weekend, just not sewn together yet. Actually, I didn't feel well enough the whole weekend to do much else. The headaches have been getting a bit more frequent. You say stress, I say stress.
4. Not having the internet at home right now is good for getting other things done, but bad for listing new items in the store, let alone keeping up with all my wonderful friends and family.

I miss you all.

It's For Real

A Future Crochet Gal?

Every picture tells a story.

This sweet little blue-eyed blonde was able to spend the night at her grandma's house this weekend. Sunday morning was a tad boring for her since her grandparents have stored or gotten rid of so many pieces of junk, er a-hem, toys. So they all sat down to watch one of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies and grandma picked up her crochet hook and started to work on a scarf. One should really think about what they're doing when a 'pushing 6 years old' girl is around and quite curious. "Grandma, I wanna do that, too!" Oh, boy. LOL So together they found a little bit of leftover yarn that was to her liking, and a big fat hook. Together, her and her granny made a very long chain. They measured her head, then did a little more of the chain, and measured some more. Finally it was the right length to fit around her head. So she got mommy involved, who hates needlework of any kind, and had her cut the bright pink yarn. After the knot was tied she put it on for modeling. It fit perfectly. And OH was she PROUD!

Fwamma (Dylan's pronunciation) was also proud and asked to take a picture of the little girl and her very first project. So young miss blue-eyes picked the spot for the picture to be taken, got Tyger to hold because she loves his blue eyes (along with asking four gazillion questions about why she had blue eyes) and hence the photo of a jammie clad happy camper, or should we say CROCHETER!

The End.....

And The Winner Is.........

Drum roll please...........

The Mother's Day Contest was won by KNITTED GEMS! Congratulations, Marie!

I know this was kind of a tough one, and everyone had great ideas and guesses, but no one got it exactly correct. So ALL the names went into the hat for the prize drawing. There were a couple guesses that came in by e-mail also, and those names got put in the hat, too. Great job everyone! And I sure had fun watching the guesses come in.

Here is the prize that Marie has won, along with showing what these vintage hankies will be used for..........

Yep, it's a book cover. :)

Dancin' The Night Away.....

Thank you Haley for inviting us to your wedding and an incredible amount of fun!!!