I have inspiration collected for almost every aspect of my life; cooking, decorating, wearing, organizing, dog stuff, cleaning, did I mention cooking? But, my most prolific collecting happens in the craft area. Of course. :) 

    This idea was used a while ago (and of course I kept forgetting to ask for a picture & then to share it with you), before Christmas. It wasn't a surprise gift because I had to have some help getting hand outlines of the family it was for. It's a simple idea, a simple design, with lovely results. There is plenty of veriety that can take place in how you arrange your hands; stacked, fanned out, in a circle, etc. And also lots of variety as to how you stitch it; color on white, white on black, any combo of patterned fabric & thread, you could even applique each hand. I love how a single simple pin can spark lots of creative thoughts and ideas for a project. I'm thinking of using this idea again in a wreath design next time. I haven't decided yet if the next time will be for gifting or keeping though! :)

Here's the Inspired To Create original from Feeling Stitchy!

EDIT: This post was formerly 'Using a Pin' & linked to Pinterest. But, now...I've decided to delete myself from Pinterest & go back and post a link the original sites where the ideas I used were found. I love the idea of Pinterst, but all the legalities of photo ownership & lack of good credit for all the people with these great ideas bothers me. Plus, do I really need another thing to do online? No. I need to spend more time in real life creating rather than endless hours gathering millions of ideas I'll never use. I already get lots of photo inspiration over at Flickr, which I have used for a long while & can continue to do that.  If you happen to know of a different or variation on the source I use please let me know!

    We've been at it again!
Mom & I have been quilting up a storm!

    When a mismatch of the original fabric choices became obvious after some blocks were made, the original plan of one twin-sized quilt quickly became two. So, we made one for Mom & one for me! Mom's is called Walk About Imperial Garden...

    It came out so stunning! We didn't want to fold it up to take it to the longarm quilter. We just wanted to stand and stare and pat ourselves on the back!

    Mine is called Walk About Home...

    I don't they could be farther apart in style! I'm not sure that I'd have picked out those fabrics had I gone into the project with the original intent to make this pattern for myself, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. I'll be even happier to snuggle up underneath this pretty little thing and take a nap on the couch! :)

    
    As you've probably guessed the pattern is called Walk About. It's a super easy, super quick pattern. 2 Quilts in 3 Days kind of easy! We enjoyed the pattern so much we're considering making a third one as a gift. Do you have a quilting partner? I totally recommend finding one! I cut, she sews, we take turns ironing & pinning, we whip up a quilt top with suprising speed.
Love this!
    
    I'll be sure to shoot some quilt eye candy when they come back from the quilter and are all bound and washed and awesome. (If I do say so myself.)  :) 
    Unitl then, Happy Crafting!

{Our Creative Spaces}

    As I've been working on my current charity project (that last Knit For Kids sweater) I've been keeping my eyes open for what I might take up next. But when I came across the current Craft Hope project I knew I couldn't wait to finish that sweater before I picked my next project. The deadline is coming up fast & I don't want to miss out on participating!
    
    Craft Hope's Project 16: The Littlest Warriors is about making beanies & bags for some super awesome kiddos. Kids fighting cancer. Since I'm not really a hat maker at the moment bags are on my agenda! I dunno how many I'll make yet, as many as I can before the March 12th deadline. I'll want to ship the a week before that just to make sure they arrive in time. I have a couple plain canvas bags that I think I bought intending to decorate but never did. I'm using those blank canvases for my first two bags, and am stash busting with my fabric & supply choices for all the bags I make. I'm super excited to make some cute totes for these superhero kids to take with them to the hospital!

{Our Creative Spaces}
{Stash Bash}

    I'm not sure where I found her, I think it was on Flickr. I think I might have done a kntting search there and stumbled on her mass o' blanket love. However that first-finding happened, I'm so glad it did! Well...most days I'm glad it did. ;) You ever meet one of those people that has skills you so desperately want to cultivate in yourself but the thought of all the work to just be that good is mind blowing? Yeah, well, Chawne is kinda like that for me. I love her work, her art, her thoughts on art - especially when they're a little controversial. Confidence in your own voice is awesome! 

    Her quilts, her crochet & knit blankets...I want want want. When I saw Syncopation and Blankety-Blank! I knew I had to make one. So, I am! :)

    It's been slow going, this blanket of mine. (My first.) Part of the issue is that I was so new to knitting when I began it that I had to buy yarn for it. (I'm not entirely sure I have enough, but there's plenty of time for more!) I also have a hard time keeping up the enthusiasm for miles upon miles of garter stitch. If only I could knit in my sleep like Chawne too!

    I do love that it's all impromptu, no plan, no need to do anything but knit. I'm doing very little thinking about the end result & thinking only about knitting a section or a strip at a time. I'm gonna trust that however all these little stitched up scarves all seamed together look in the end - I'll enjoy it. Some are wide, some are narrow, some are more soilid, some super stripe-y. I've been adding to it as I house sit this week and feel like maybe it's around 20% complete. I think I'll make it square, but haven't actually measured the long side yet to know what it's final measurements might be. For know guesstimating & lots of knitting are enough. 

    Happy {knitty} Valentine's Day!

That's where I am this week.
I'm house sitting...cat sitting...knitting while sitting...and sometimes while standing. :)

Soon there will be a photo of what I'm working on - the computer ate the one I had planned for this post. In the mean time you can see that I have plenty of knitting help from little Niko. Who thinks he can smack the yarn into submission...

He thinks he needs to be in my lap as soon as I pick up the needles. He thinks he needs to nibble the aluminum points and lay on the yarn and try to figure out why he can't pick up a ball and run away with it. The sudden yank when he finds it's attached at the other end to those dang needles drives him crazy. He thinks the little patch of knit cloth in my lap is just too cozy, and that maybe the blanket it's meant for is really already finished, kitten size.

While Niko is interested in all things yarny this week, his brother Max is all about dumping out the toy box so he can snuggle and wrestle with his stuffed frog...

There's just something about that plastic bin he can't get over. The whole being inside and yet seeing outside is so intriguing. I put his toys away at night, but he knows how to stand on the side and flip it over to dump them out. He crawls in and over it falls, there he is again in his tub. I brought over a wicker basket and put the toys in that to corral them, he layed ontop of everything for a while then dumped them out of that too. This little man knows how he likes things - toys on the floor, cat in the bin, pleaseandthankyou!

    The third Knit For Kids Sweater is almost half-way done! It takes me quite a while to get these worked up just because about half-way I lose my enthusiasm with that darn stockinette stitching. I'm combatting that this time by working on it at my craft group twice a month. It stays in my car and only comes out for those occasions. Which doesn't help with speed, but keeps me from tucking it in a drawer and forgetting it. If it's all I've got with me to work on for four hours than it will get worked on. Or that's the idea anyway. :)

    The first Knit For Kids sweater was blue, the second was pink, after this green one I think it'll be time to ship them off to find their way to their new homes. And guess what happens after that?! Yep! I get to pick a new charity to create projects for! Whoo hoo! So far all the projects I've done have been knitting. These sweaters and some scarves for Handmade Especially For You. Maybe this next project will be a sewing one...hmmm. Any recommendations for me?

Be sure to hop over and see what's happening in so many other creative spaces!

Actually I try to always be real, but this is gonna be real in real sorta way, ya know? :)
Today I'm having a hard time.
I'm sitting down this morning to write a blog post that is going to get personal.
Since I've begun blogging about Compasssion I've gotten a great deal of joy talking about the things I love about them. The reason I enjoy being a sponsor so, so much. Easy things for me to share, uplifting things for me to share...
Today, I'm gonna tell you about one of the reasons Compassion means alot to me that has a root in something that hurts.

If you're here today hoping for a crafty little something, don't give up on me yet. We are gonna talk about something crafty, just hang in here with me for a minute.

This is a story of a memory, one I have shared with several people in my life because it has been profound. This is not about blame or hurting anyone, it's about truth. It's about how one moment can impact a child for a lifetime.

I'm a little girl, maybe six or seven, and my dad and I have gone to visit my grandpa. He lives alone in a little house he used to share with a grandma I don't really remember. Dad and I go to visit him often. I can't remember now if it was once a week or once a month, I just remember that we pick grandpa up to go to Long John Silver's for lunch and grandpa puts 6 sugars in his sweet tea. I know that I don't mind visiting grandpa's house, I like it there - I like the orange trees in the back yard, I like the porch swing that bumps the window when I push off too hard. I don't know grandpa too well. He doesn't talk to me, he just sits in his chair and talks to dad. We don't touch, we move around each other without any involvement.

That is until I hear him say, "She's built like a keg."
This to my little girl ears does involve me. What is this word? What does it mean? What is he saying about me?
I wait until dad and I are headed home. Too shy to ask questions infront of grandpa. But wanting to know. "What's a keg?"
And then my dad laughs. "You don't know what a keg is?" (Now as an adult I just wanna say - Really? Keg is a common childhood term? I think not. But this is not important.) He tells me, "It's a little barrel." There is laughter in his voice, a teasing that I know I do not like.
And this I understand. Grandpa says I look like a barrel.
And my dad thinks it's funny.
I get that icky prickly feeling on my skin, a feeling I would now call Shame. Barrels aren't pretty, barrels aren't cute, barrels are fat and round and ugly.
Guess what six year old me takes away from this conversation? It's not good.

I tell you this story because I want you to know that there are some very personal reasons why I sponsor a little girl in India through Compassion. In India fathers have very little to do with their children. It's a cultural thing. They have even less to do with daughters. Buni will probably never hear her father say she is beautiful, it just isn't done. He might never say 'I love you.', it would never cross his mind, it's just how it is.
This breaks my heart. I know how much it would mean to hear him say it.

I'm not saying that I can make up for words I think a father should say. But, if I can leave a memory in the woman Buni is becoming I want it to be something important. I want her to know that she has a Father who is lavish in His praise. I want her to know that God made her, she is beautiful, cherished, loved beyond measure, and deeply known. In every letter I write I address it 'Beautiful, Buni' and when I close I say 'We love you, darling girl.' I fill my letters with praise, I fill them with things the Bible says about who we are - both of us, all of us - we are His, we are loved. This is so important to me. Just as important as the privilege of sponsoring her with money, I advocate for her with my heart.

What is so crafty about this post you ask?
Can you think of a more worthy craft than raising up a child? We're creating and molding people here in this world of ours. It could be your own children, a friend's children, neighbors, or a kiddo from halfway around the world you get to know through photos and letters. You impact a child's life a moment at a time. You change who they are, what they think about themselves and the world around them one moment at a time. These moments are so very important. You never know the one that will take root and grow into the strongest memory. Be conscious of what you say and do, craft good ones.

Before I leave you thinking that only bad memories take root like that let me remind you about another grandparent of mine. Don't forget Martha. She planted memories in me that are just as strong as that single hurtful one. She planted memories of unconditional love, of joy, of feeling important, of smiles, and laughter, and creating! She inspired me in ways that have continued to touch my life, & will be apart of me until the day I leave this Earth. I can imagine myself back in her home,  can picture 'my room', I can hear a train whistle & I can know I am safe and loved in a way that no one can take from me.

Please remember, she didn't build those memories all at once. They happened a little at a time, a moment, a day, just a week or two a year for far too few of my life. She didn't live within driving distance like my grandpa, she lived two days by car or a plane ride away. She sent me notes in the mail, she loved me as much as she could when I got to visit. Every moment wasn't focused on me either, there were doctor visits, discipline, and life happening around us, but every hug she gave me left an imprint. Every smile, every gentle teaching touch was important. So don't  think that you need lots of time and contact for your choices to make a difference. Even the smallest of kindnesses can spark a lifetime of love. This is one thing I know for sure. And, I'm not the only one. Maybe you know it too. Maybe you've got such a story in your own life. If you'd like to share your story with me I would love to read it, write me a note and drop it in the mail. :)

Thank you so much for sticking with me through my story and I pray you found encouragement here. Encouragement to be crafty with those little people in your life, it could mean so much!
Blessings.