Knit together...

So I wanted to learn to knit. I "kinda" taught myself several years ago. I mean "kinda" cause I only taught myself to "purl" (hey it looks like knitting from the back side) and I never learned how to "cast on." I'm going to be spending several hours at a lab every other week with my mom so I wanted something crafty to do with my hands that could also be transported easily. Thus I decided to try to finally learn to knit.

My mom knits so I thought it would be a great time to learn. Today I brought yarn and mom brought needles and she taught me to cast on :) she then helped me with my stitches knitting wise. I stiil don't "knit" I only "purl" (apparently I taught myself backwards when I "learned" several years ago.)

Anyway that was one of the things we brought to do at the lab while mom got treatment today. (it was a 5 hour day)

So as I bumbled my way through learning how to cast on, there was a lady and her care giver (might have been daughter or daugher-in-law?) that were laughing along with my clumbsy attempts. She cheered me as I finally got the hang of it, then kept encouaging me as I got better with the knitting thing. Apparently she used to knit a long time ago. Well before she left she was telling the gal she was with..."You know, I should pull out my needles, I would love to make a scarf to match my hat" (she was wearing a hat someone had made her to keep her head warm during chemo) She left planning her project.

It was fun to inspire a fellow crafter (even with my bumbling attempts)

Here are my first few rows, I hope that it will look like a scarf when it's finished :)

Altered Tile

My mom always tells me her music is her prayer. So I knew I had to create something for her that said as much. This is a plain 12 x 12 tile. After trimming the paper slightly (I wanted to actually show the tile vs. just having paper shown.) I inked the edges first with gold then with "vintage photo". Then I grabbed my mod podge a sponge brush and went to town. I Mod Podged paper and the quote onto the tile and then added a couple of extra coats of Mod Podge for good measure to seal everything. To finish everything off I found this wonderful gold book stand that really accented the gold from the paper.

Supplies used: 12 x 12 tile, Patterned paper Autumn leaves (from 2000 yes 2000 is that considered vintage in the paper crafting world?), Ink, Ranger-Vintage Photo, Stampabilities-Gold, Cricut Cartridges- Jubilee, Plantain Schoolbook, Lyrical Letters, Base Camp, and Alphalicious. Mod Podge.

Vintage Scarves

December is always busy for me. As the Childlren's Ministry Director of our church the beginning of the month is always spent getting ready for our annual Christmas Program. After that it's spent getting ready for the holidays! I made several of my gifts this year (and helped mom make some as well.) Mom and I spent a whole day (and part of another) making flower pins, ornaments, and necklaces out of vintage scarves. Here's a few photos of our day together (and a result of some of the work :) You will notice mom is busily sewing away while I in usual "craftastrophy" form got my finger stuck in the ornament and yes it is turning purple and yes I did stop to take a photo before getting the cold water to get my finger unstuck..LOL