fancy flowers

I love Heather Bailey's blog and have been eyeing this project for quite some time now! It looked like a great way to use some of those fabric scraps in that ever-growing stash of mine. To make your own check out the pattern here. The flowers are so fun...you can do almost anything with them. I will definitly be making more of these!

cozy cowl neck

The weather here in Nebraska had been so cold for a while there...so I started knitting a warm cowl neck scarf to wear with my winter coat. But of course not that I've finished it...the weather has warmed back up. (not that I'm complaining or anything!)

It was so easy to make. Using a chunky yarn and size 15 needles (10mm), I cast on about 30 stiches and continued to knit until I was happy with the length. I wanted the cowl neck to fit over my head without being too snug but at the same time keep my neck warm while walking to class. Then I simply stiched the two edges together. For a seamless look you could whip this up circular needles.

harriet, welcome!

Remember that dress form I purchased not too long ago?!? Well we've gotten better aquainted through a few projects...and now she has a name. Harriet. I wanted something a little old fashioned, and it was a tough decision...but that's it...Harriet

ppst

I took my PRAXIS PPST today! I didn't really realize how long the test would be... 3 hours, but it went as well as I could have hoped. I passed both the reading and mathematics sections. Now all I can do is wait a few weeks to see how I did on my essay! Wish me Luck!

freaky flowers

Last night in hort lab we made Halloween foam designs. I love the sparkly black tree fern...it adds that special touch! The green, orange and purple really makes a great holiday color scheme. Another fun element is the wire spiral and "boo". The was the first foam design we have made in class. This will dress up my dorm room for Halloween :)

fall break

Fall break will be here tomorrow! Because I work at the front desk and it's my weekend to work I'll be stuck in the dorm :( But Sarah will be here too! And we have lots of plans...I'm sure you'll here more about those later.

"oh! i can make that!"

My mom came to town for the weekend to accompany me to my initiation into Phi Upsilon Omicron (an academic and service honorary for the family and consumer sciences). While here we did what any mother daughter duo would do...hit the shopping mall!

We browsed stores and sifted through racks of clothes...every once in a while saying to ourselves "oh! I can make that!" Both a blessing and a curse! It's wonderful to be able to make something and exactly the way you want it, but other times it really would just be easier to buy it off the rack! But alas we think to ourselves..."why would I spend that much on that...when I could just make it myself?"

As you can guess...neither of us bought anything that afternoon. The next day what did we do but head to exactly the place where "oh! I can make that!" becomes a reality: the fabric store! :) (and when I say the fabric store, I mean two or three fabric stores) My mom ended up buying some fabric for an already planned project. My keen eyes immediately noticed the sale signs of the patterns. Flipping through the book I found and bought up eight new patterns to add to my to do list!

I also bought some yarn for a cowl neck scarf to quickly knit up...(also on a "oh! I can make that!" whim) We saw a similar scarf like this at the mall for $40! I purchased my yarn for $8 and in no time will have it knit up. With a savings of $32, I call that "oh! I can make that!" at its finest!

busy as a bee

Oh man! School has been keeping me very busy lately. I haven't really had a chance to be my crafty self. Sadly, I haven't made any progress on my dress or finished my flower scarf. I have, however, started to make a cowboy themed quilt for my boyfriend Jake and knit a warm hat for his mom.

My goal to hand-make all my gifts this year is still in the back of my mind...I know I should be starting soon! I'll try post my goings-on more often!

dress form

My timing was perfect! I have been eyeing a dress form for quite some time now. I found one on sale this week and new I had to have it...so I ordered it. To my surprise the package was waiting for me in the dorm office when I returned from class yesterday! Of course I took it out of the box and set it up in my room...but I had to work downstairs at the desk last night, but I test it out this weekend! I think she might need a name...! hehe!

corsage and boutonniere

I just returned from my floral design lab and have some projects to show you! Tonight we made basic corsages and boutonnieres...exciting!

The first one I made using one large orange and two small yellow button pom-pom chrysanthemums. Also incorporated were seeded eucalyptus and tree fern.

I had enough time to make a second using two white novelty, two green and one lavender button pom-pom chrysanthemums as well as saphora and old fashioned misty blue filler. The foliage in the back is eucalyptus and leather leaf.

I didn't realize how much work actually goes into these! Every element in the corsage/boutonniere must first be fixed to its own wire before being put in the bunch...and there are several ways to attached to wire to the elements! For finishing touches we put our bow making skills to good use and learned to make curly q's! How cute! This will be a useful skill to master...they'll make great gifts :)