Thirty Days of Thankful - Knitting

By now, you've all figured out that I'm a creative type of person who, despite being painfully shy, likes to express myself.  What better way to do it than in a form that is totally reusable?!

I was lucky enough to learn to knit under the tutelage of my mom, aunt and grandmother.  My cousin Kristin and I learned early; I'm going to say somewhere around kindergarten age.  While we all had projects going most of the time, it's the holidays where we were all together and knitting that are most meaningful to me.  Over the years, our particular knitting specialties ebbed and flowed... mom and my grandmother (until alzheimers took away her ability to knit) love the large less intricate projects, while Kristin and I seem to excel with the smaller, very detailed work.

Found a nice variegated yarn at the #cromer yarn shop (stop in and say hi to Lola the spaniel!) and think someone will get this beauty when it's done. Who needs a scarf?! #knitting #leafpattern #uk #vacation #ilovetoknit

A photo posted by Nicole Fowler (@cole711) on Oct 22, 2015 at 2:58pm PDT

While I was on vacation last month in England I started this project.  Life has been a bit busy, but I'm hoping to get some quality knitting time this weekend so I can either give it to a friend - or maybe one of you - for Christmas!

An Intro to "Adult Coloring"

I don't know about you, but I absolutely loved coloring as a child.  Some of my best memories are of coloring with cousins and my aunt, who I thought was just magical at making the pages she colored look pretty.

I admit, when I heard that coloring was the new thing for adults, I laughed.  But then, I sat, thought about how much I'm already into arts and crafts, and how much fun it used to be...and headed over to Amazon to start my search for the perfect coloring book.  Which then turned into a lengthy debate over the best coloring medium.  Do I go with crayons?  Colored pencils?  Markers?

I picked out two coloring books to start Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns and Detailed Designs and Beautiful Patterns (Volume 28).  They both had nice thick paper so nothing bled through from one page to the other.  If you have a heavy hand, I'd err on the side of caution and just put a regular piece of paper between the page you're coloring and the next page.

Picking what you're going to color with is where things get fun. My mom decide to delve into this new little hobby with me and went straight for the standard 64 count Crayola crayons.  That's a teacher for you, ha!  She quickly figured out that some of the designs are rather intricate and had to join me in my pursuit for the best coloring medium.  Ultimately, she went with the Prismacolor premium 72 color pencil set and I bought the Raffine 72 color pencil set, which are essentially the Japanese knock-offs.  I love them, and mom is thrilled with her colored pencils too.  By the way, I'm super jealous.  Her pencils hold up just a touch longer and are a little easier to blend colors.

My friends who are into card making, drawing or are otherwise truly artistically gifted swear that I should buy Copic markers and that they are the best. thing. ever.  But I about fell out of my seat when I saw the price...so that's just not happening!

Think coloring would be fun but don't want to invest yet?  Coloring apps to the rescue!

There are a few good ones out there.  I'm partial to Colorfy.  If you're following me on Instagram, you've seen a bit of my artwork (and if you haven't - behold a few of my fabulous images above!). Colorfy has a handful of categories of pictures (flowers, animals, mandalas, etc) but the number of pictures in each level that are available to you increase based on how many of your completed pictures you share on social media.  I'm all for sharing, but I'm not sure you want to see some of these things!

If the ability to express yourself creatively doesn't convince you to buy a coloring book, there are health benefits to coloring too!  Coloring is a stress free (and stress relieving) activity, which allows your brain the rest it needs and over time, might even help train your amygdala to respond better to stress. Add in the prospect of a coloring night with your friends (I see a girl's night in coming!), and the fine motor skills that are used while coloring - which helps delay/prevent brain atrophy - and I think coloring is a no-lose prospect!

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Five on Friday - Birthday Weekend

It's Friday again.  How did that happen?  Somehow the week has flown by, and I'm looking forward to my birthday weekend! I'm linking up with the lovely April again this week.

Happy Birthday to this guy.  Thank you for telling me every year that I'm your favorite birthday present, for helping me foster a love of animals at an early age, and for bestowing nicknames on me that no one else understands.  :-)  I hope this is a wonderful birthday for you and the start of an amazing year!

 



I'm hoping to get a little sewing time this weekend.  A trip to JoAnn Fabric yielded a few good sized remnants for a really good deal!  I think the dachshund fabric (SO CUTE!!) will turn into no-tie bandanas for the rescue and the lattice print will be a dress for Paisley.

Part of my dad's birthday present is an outing to the movies.  There are a few that I want to see.  As much as I really want to the Minions, I don't think that's exactly on my dad's wish list.  Have you seen either Jurassic World of Terminator Genisys?

Don't look now, but I joined a gym.  Pray for me, people!  It's been a while and I'm a klutz, so I'm hedging my bets and starting with water aerobics.  You know...AFTER I enjoy my birthday weekend!

My Jamberry giveaway ends Friday at midnight EST.  Move quick and get entered!  Another "birthday month" giveaway is coming next week!

What's on your agenda this weekend?

Eight Photos of Happiness

I have been nominated for the ‘8 Photos of Happiness Tag’ by Bridget over at Expat BS.  I followed Bridget back when she was an Atlanta blogger.  Now she's "crossed the pond" and started a whole new blog.  :-)  I'm really enjoying reading as she and her hubby-to-be get settled into their new life!

Here are the guidelines for the tag:
1.Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
2. Link the creator Ariel's Little Corner of the Internet
3. Post your 8 photos of happiness
4. Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it, or let the photos do the talking!
5. Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

This is my cousin Kristin and I at a wedding earlier this year. (The wedding story will be another post soon.)  She is one of my best friends and I'm so lucky to get to have her in my life. 

This little one is baby Vivie!  She's Kristin's little girl and will turn a year old just days after my birthday.  She has such a big, happy personality and I just adore her!

From my gram's 90th birthday party.  She was adamant that she get a big party when she turned 90 and so she that's what she got!  Gram was thrilled! This picture is bittersweet, as it's the last picture of gram with all four of her children.

It's not the best picture in the world, but I have such great memories of my first trip to the UK the summer I turned 16.  Here are my brother Josh and I getting chased by sheep...it was a recurring theme during that trip!  I can't wait to be in England again this fall.

As a little kid, my grandparent's had a summer home on the lake in New Hampshire.  So many awesome family summers!  Here's a picture of my dad and I when I was really little.

My herd.  They bring me such joy every single day.  So much personality, love, silliness and utter devotion in such TINY bodies!

These girls!  They are all absolutely beautiful inside and out.  We do a yearly group picture at Christmas and here's our 2014 picture.

Ok...so this isn't a picture of me, but it is a picture of the rag quilt I made for baby Vivie.  I love to craft and take such pleasure from it.  That counts, right?!

Now it's my turn to nominate some bloggers to take on this challenge. I'm still getting into the swing of blogging again so I don't have 10 bloggers to tag, but if you read this post and would like to join in  please do!

• Sara at Running from the Law - I've loved Sara's blog for years.  Even during my blog hiatus, I kept up with her and her adorable kiddos on Instagram.  :-)
• Karen at A Peek at Karen's World  - Another awesome blogger that I've followed for YEARS!  She just moved her blog from blogger to Wordpress on her own, which makes her my technology hero.
• Rachel from Countdowns and Cupcakes - I've only recently found Rachel.  Her blog is super cute and she's a fellow dachshund mom!
• Carolyn from Life, Love and Puppy Prints - Carolyn is another recent find.  I love her sense of humor.  She just might be one of blogville's cutest pregnant girls too.  :-)
• Jennifer from Crazy Shenanigans - Jen is another blogger that I've been following for quite a while.  Like Christmas or Elvis?  She's your girl!
• Dory and her mom at Dory's Backyard - Dory and her siblings are Lhasa Apsos and ShiTzus respectively.  They (with their mom's help) have lots of adventures and share life from a dog's perspective!
• Puddles and her mom at We 3 Doxies - Think dogs don't have a sense of humor?  You haven't met Puddles yet!  We know dachshunds are a huge part of my life - and Puddles (with her mom's help) shows all the personality in their little bodies!

Five on Friday

Happy Friday!!!  I hope everyone has had a good week and has some fun (or relaxing) plans for the weekend.

This week I'm linking up with the lovely ladies that host Five on Friday.  Because, really...what better way to put together all the topics that you've been thinking about, but aren't quite a post of their own.  :-)

One...

Since I started blogging consistently again, so many of my old friends are gone.  I need to find new bloggy friends! It seems that comments are a rare commodity these days too.  So I've decided that I'll be visiting everyone that links up this week to leave them a little comment love. I blog because I love it - but a little comment love is always makes me feel good.  I want to share that feeling!


Two...

Have you seen the trailer for "The Secret Life of Pets" yet?  Take a few minutes and indulge your inner Pixar junkie and watch it!


Three...

I come from a military family and have such respect for the Wounded Warrior Project.  I've decided that I'll make a donation of $2 per sheet of patriotic wraps listed above purchased through my site...and I'll add a few more options too! Visit my site HERE and buy any of the following wraps: Ka Boom, Patriot, Navy Stripe, Star Spangled, Poppy & White Polka, White Stripe, Blue Jeans, Fountain of Youth, Whiteout, Little Patriot or True Love.  I want to make a HUGE donation to Wounded Warrior Project!


Four...

I need new sandals.  Which do you like better?  Or better yet, what are your go-to sandals?  Ideally, I'm looking for work appropriate (our office is very casual) and fun!

Five...

I want to get some bandanas sewn for the rescue this weekend.  Wish me luck!

I Work In An Office Where....

My office is far from normal.  And I mean that in the BEST possible way!  After all, where else could you work in an office where:

• Flip-flops, tubetops and just about anything else are fine to wear on a daily basis.
• We occasionally indulge in an alcoholic drink "on the clock". 
• You laughingly tell others to "watch the goose poop" if they're eating outside...and mean it!
• National Pie Day, Derby Day, and many others are not only acknowledged, but CELEBRATED with treats.
• Arts and crafts time is a reality.
• We tease, yell at, and laugh with everyone more like a (highly dysfunctional) family than co-workers. :-)

Anyone else have a unique office environment?  Stay tuned for pictures of my hat from office Derby Day!  Oh, and cross your fingers that Normandy Invasion wins the Kentucky Derby!  That's who I pulled in the office pool.

DIY Lemon Coconut Body Scrub

I'm crafty (duh)!  I like the idea of giving homemade gifts to my friends!  So naturally, when I stumbled across some body scrub recipes on Pinterest, I just had to make one.

Lemon Coconut Body Scrub

1 cup Sugar
1/4 to 1/3 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
lemon zest

This recipe is per person.


First find small airtight containers.  I used the half-pint size Ball mason jars.  (Hint: they were on sale at Target this week.) 

If you haven't seen coconut oil before - you can find it in the beauty department (REALLY expensive) or in the organic aisle (much cheaper) and have found that it's the same grade product regardless of what aisle you pick it up in, and usually shipped from the same facility.

Place your jar of coconut oil in a small sauce pan filled with water, over very low heat.  It takes a while for the oil to go from solid to liquid form.

In a bowl, combine your sugar, lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest.  Add in your coconut oil and stir well.  The sugar scrub should be of a sand-like texture.  Scoop your scrub into jars and they're ready to gift!

Newpaper Wreath

Craft time!

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I got to be all craft-tastic at my temp job last week.  Who doesn't love a little DIY?!?!  This project was even more fun because the newspapers were already on-hand (my temp job is at a real estate journal) and it was an honor that they let the "new girl" in on the fun.  :-)

You need:
1 foam wreath
Newspaper
Straight pins
A mug/glass/cookie cutter to use as your circular template
A bow, ornaments, etc (optional)


1. Decide how you're going to hang your wreath.  Seriously.  Plan the hook, ribbon, etc that you're going to use before it's too late and you end up considering hanging up your wreath with a glue gun straight to your front door.

2. Start tracing and cutting circles.  For this 13" wreath, we used 4" circles.  The bigger the wreath - the bigger the circles.  It's all about scale. :-)

3. Fold until your hands cramp.  You need the body that paper that has been folded and unfolded creates.  I folded each circle in half, then turned some of those half moons into 1/6 pie pieces and some into 1/8 pie pieces.  You will have black hands.  Don't say I didn't warn you!

4. Start pinning.  I suggest covered straight pins because they don't hurt your fingers.  Don't get anything fancy though - you won't see the pins once you get all your circles pinned in tight.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you have a nice full wreath.

6. Add any decorations you want - Kathi (the mastermind of this project) chose a few ornaments, and attached them using fishing wire.

7. Hang your wreath.

8. Step back and admire!

*Thanks to Kristin for being Vanna White!

 

More fun with newspaper coming soon!!