For the Love of Life

3 Kids and Us Hosts KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer Giveaway!!!

2010-11-29T09:22:00.007-05:00

3 Kids and Us and KitchenAid want to make your holiday wish come true and offer you the chance to win a brand new KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer , in your choice of over 20 colors, valued at $349.99!

Enter the KitchenAid Stand Mixer Giveaway and check out the Homemade Holiday Feast recipes that show all the ways the KitchenAid Stand Mixer and attachments can be used to create unique family dishes and save you counter space with one appliance that can be converted to meet your every need.

modeS4u Celebrates 15,000 Facebook Fans With a Huge Giveaway!!!

2010-11-21T21:42:00.003-05:00

modeS4u has reached 15,000 fans on Facebook! What a fantastic and well deserved accomplishment. They carry fabulous kawaii, japanese and hello kitty cuteness. Everything from paper and pens to bento boxes and cutlery. I could go broke spending in their store. I have been browsing their current inventory every day trying to decide on what to get my little girl for Christmas. She loves their stickers and I love their fabric. Even when I get fabric for myself, what I make ends up being hers. ^_^

To celebrate this fabulous achievement, modeS4u is having a BIG kawaii Giveaway. There is a chance to win one of twenty beautiful prizes. Their contest is open worldwide. Entries will be accepted until Monday, December 6, 2010, Midnight GMT. The winner is fairly chosen by random.org, so the more entries you have the more chances you have to win. Good luck! =^-^=

Lenovo Laptop Giveaway!!!

2010-11-18T09:42:00.004-05:00

Dear Crissy is hosting a giveaway for an IdeaPad U460 laptop computer from Lenovo. Her review of this laptop has left me nothing short of envious. :) It sounds like a great little computer. I also like that fact that they are a bit more stylish than some of the other laptops I've seen. It's great that they are finding ways to put so much power into something so small. I have had laptops in the past. The portability is fantastic, but the weight and bulk don't make it very easy to get around.

My daughter has a computer (my old one) and it is rather slow. It's a dinosaur if you will. It even has the bulky monitor to go with it. I've been hoping to be able to afford a new computer so I can give her my currenty computer so she won't have to wait on every single page as if it were connected to dial-up instead of the cable connection we have. I'm on the go quite a bit and it would be very convenient to have a laptop to tote around. I did have a laptop (Sony VIAO) and my little girl spilled water on it and fried it. It took quite a while to replace that one with this desktop. As she gets older she wants to spend more time on the computer and it would be really great if I could give her one of her own that works well.

It's unbelievable that Lenovo is just giving these away! Contest ends December 4th at 11 p.m. EST and a winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Good Luck!!!

I entered Crissy's Can't Wait til Christmas Lenovo Laptop Giveaway and hope to win a $799.00 IdeaPad!

Baby Blankets & God's Love

2008-11-18T09:46:00.004-05:00

I haven't had that much time to crochet, but I've managed to finish a couple of baby blankets recently and wanted to throw 'em up here to see what y'all think:

Rainbow Baby Blanket

Jazzy Shells

Jazzy Shells Swatch

I've always wanted to do the rainbow baby blanket ever since I saw it on Leisure Arts Library, and I finally finished it for my hope chest.

The Jazzy Shells blanket was one that appeared in an afghan book I purchased on Etsy. It's called "50 Sensational Crochet Afghans & Throws" from The Needlecraft Shop. When I saw it, I immediately fell in love with it and decided that it would have to be crocheted! However, as silly as this sounds, I started making it without first looking at the finished size. I bought MORE than enough yarn to finish it, but I originally wanted it to fit my daughter's bed. It ended up being a baby blanket!!! LOL So, now I'm in the process of whipping up another one.

This puddle appears after every rain in my front driveway. Every time I see it, it comforts me and makes me feel like I don't have to do it all on my own. It's never anything else. It's always a heart. I've affectionately named it God's Heart or say it's God showing me His love. Anyway, I thought it was a great pic and wanted to share.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look!!!

It's Been A While!!!

2008-11-18T09:13:00.007-05:00

It's been more than a while since my last post. My daughter's birthday whizzed by and I've been mad busy every since. I moved, still have four college classes, I have another child to rear besides my own and I took on a part-time job. Seems like I have about three full-time jobs. LOL

I wanted to share a few snapshots of Jasmine's birthday, so here goes...
(It was a Hello Kitty birthday!!!)

(My first shot @ making a birthday cake!!!)

(My Dad & some decorations)

("The Spread")

(The gift table!!! That's me in the blue & my niece, Whitney.)

(Jasmine & a friend)

(Opening a present)

(The Grand Finale: Hello Kitty bed sheets!!!)

The party was a blast!!! I'm a bit late in sharing, but better late than never. Thanks for looking!!! (By the way, Jasmine's birthday was in August. LOL)

Little Brown Bear

2008-09-12T22:31:00.002-04:00

Here is a bear that I made for my friend, Kim, as a prize for winning a game/contest in a group we are both a part of. It's a very large worsted weight yarn version of a magnificent little thread bear. This yarn doesn't really do it justice. I like it better in thread. Thanks for lookin' & happy hookin'!!!"

Spiders & Their Hourglass Demesne

2008-08-18T11:46:00.016-04:00

These spiders were inspired by several that I've seen on the net. When I saw them I thought they were very neat and as realistic as they could look for what they were. They are made of 24 gauge wire (which I'm sure could be 26 gauge) and seed and bugle beads. On others not pictured here, I have added what appears to be a string of web and some hangers to hang them from above. I've also added some suction cups to hang them in the window in my kitchen. I added a magnet to one so my significant other could put it up in his tool box at work. I plan on making several of them in different colors (red, green, gold, silver, blue & purple) and putting hangers on them as gifts for Christmas and giving them with a small card that has the Christmas Spider story printed on it. I wanted to put fancy hangers on them so they could be hung as ornaments on a Christmas tree. My mom has all the plans for those. I haven't come up with any good storage ideas so they won't get crushed in between displays each year, but I'm working on it.

Here are the rest of the hourglasses that I'm sure will have an eight-legged companion sometime soon:

The entire collection, which I hope will grow significantly with time:

Thanks for looking!!! *HuGz*

Better Late Than Never!!!

2008-07-08T22:42:00.004-04:00

Here is a Seraphina that I made this past Mother's Day. This is one of three I made the two weeks preceding the holiday. This particular one was for my aunt. I did one for my mother in purples and one for my Mimi (my grandmother on my mother's side) in a creme with a rose border. The only picture I could get a hold of was this one. I know Mother's Day was a couple of months ago, but better late than never right? LOL My mom's is actually here now and I will try to get a picture up in the next couple of days. Without further ado:

I love this pattern! It works up so quickly. I'm sure I'll be making a few more. Thanks so much for looking!

A Gift For My New Buddy: Rat Hammock

2008-06-16T13:03:00.008-04:00

**UPDATE**

Here's a picture of Beans on yet another rat hammock!!! I wanted to share pics of my buddy using his new cage decor. LOL Thanks for looking!!!

I recently decided that another addition to my already wonderful family would be a great thing. I brought home a rat! I purchased everything he would need to keep him comfortable in his new home, but I wanted to make him something special and something he could use. So, I came up with this rat hammock. Unfortunately, the rat pictured here had an upper respiratory infection and I returned him to the store so they could treat him and he could get better. I went to a different store and fell in love with another rat who I've named, Beans. LOL He's not tan like the one pictured. He is black on his face and somewhat down his back and the rest is white. Anyway, I made this hammock up on the fly and thought it was pretty neat and I wanted to share. Hope you like it!

Here it is again in the cage with the first rat playing:

I'm hoping to get a picture of Beans playing on it. He's up there all the time. I have been playing with him rather than taking picture though. LOL He plays up there a lot, but I think he'll sleep up there if I get him a friend. In the wild, rats live in large colonies and they should be bought in at least pairs if not more. I'll be on the lookout for a playmate for my buddy.

I'm also in the process of designing a hanging bag for him. A lot of people buy these for their sugar gliders, ferrets or other small animals. He already has a big house to sleep in, but it's transparent and I think he might be a bit more comfortable if he can't be seen.

If you can use something like this, here is the pattern:

You can increase or decrease the number of stitches and rows to accomodate cage and animal size.

Materials:

F Hook
Worsted Weight Yarn in MC (Navy) & Small Amount of CC (White)
(Cage Size: 17" Tall x 18" Wide)
(Finished Hammock Size: 15" Long x 8 1/4" Wide)

Rat Hammock

-With MC ch 36
Foundation Row: Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across (35 sc) ch 1 turn; (NOTE: ch 1 does NOT count as 1st sc!)
Row 1: Sc in 1st st and in each sc across (35 sc)
Row 2: Repeat Row 1 until desired length is reached
FO MC
(For this particular cage size and animal, I finished off with close to 60 rows)

Border

-Attach CC with a sl st in any corner, ch 1, sc, ch 2, sc in same st (corner made)
-Sc evenly down side and repeat corner twice; sc evenly down last side and sl st in beg ch 1
FO

Ties

Cut 12 strands each of MC & CC to lenth desired (I didn't measure, but I would say they were about 26" - 27" long); take 3 strands of each through each corner, pull until both ends are even with each other, wrap around and make a knot up close to the hammock. Make two braids at each corner; 3 of each color; 1 strand of each for the 3 parts of the braid. Tie knot in end of each braid. You will end up with 2 braids at each corner for ties. Trim ends. Tie up in your furry friend's cage and enjoy watching him/her play!

Thanks for taking a look! If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me @ angel_eyez20*at*msn*dot*com.

Bumble Bunz

2008-05-19T09:01:00.012-04:00

I would like to introduce Bumble Bunz!!! I was lucky enough to get to test him out for KristieMN over at Crochetville. So, without further ado:

Thanks so much for letting me test for you! I had a lot of fun!

Where It All Started

2008-04-22T00:00:00.002-04:00

I found myself in a place that I wanted to be because of one person and where I didn't want to be because of several others. I didn't know my way around, it was raining and there was not much to do. To pass the time, I decided to go to Walmart and buy myself some yarn and knitting needles. I thought it was so cool that I knew how to knit.

There was a presentation in Business Communications that I had to give along with quite a few others in which we had to explain a process of how something was done. One woman brought in knitting needles made of tapered dowels and dresser drawer knobs glued to the end and a small ball of yarn for each person. She stood up there and explained and demonstrated how to knit. Not only that, she went around to each person that was having problems and told them what they were doing wrong. I caught on very quickly and finished my ball before the class was over.

Back to my rainy day story. I brought the knitting needles and yarn back and proceeded to show my mother and my aunt what I had learned. I was very proud of myself. While I sat there, tending to my knitting, my aunt decided to crochet. My mom joined in and so did one of the children there. I thought it might be cool if I gave it a try. My aunt and mom showed me all the different basic stitches and off I went! I started exploring online and searching for different things and found out what a plethora of techniques, patterns and categories there were out there when it came to crochet. I was amazed...AND I was HOOKED!!! No pun intended of course. :)

I've only been crocheting for something like two years and I've loved every minute of it! I think it fantastic. The possibilities are limitless to the creative minds of everyone who partakes in this hobby. Although, I don't know that I would call it a hobby. It's more than that. For me, it's almost a lifestyle. I would be defunct without it. Well, maybe not to THAT extreme but it would definitely feel like it. Maybe it would be better said that I would have a very large void in my life.

This is basically me telling the world how much I appreciate the help of my mother and my aunt for bringing crochet into my life. It is a great joy. I make wonderful handmade things for family members that mean more than purchased gifts. I also make things that are functional. I have a constructive "hobby". There's that word again. We'll see what I can come up with for that.

Day One

2008-04-21T13:39:00.000-04:00

This is new. I'm sure the titles and posts will become more interesting as I get accustomed to my new blog page. I've never done this before and strolling through all the blogs posted around the 'ville inspired me to have a page of my own.

God and my daughter inspire me every day. The yarn and hook keep idle hands busy and in the meantime create beautiful results. My life seems to be getting rather hectic these days and will be more so in the near future. I'm hoping that I will still have time for all the things on my crochet list. For anyone that crochets, you know that list is stacked as high as a minivan and keeps getting longer!!! LOL

I'm going to look around and try to build my blog up a bit. Hope everyone has a great day.