It's been a while...

My recent crafting endeavors. (baby hippo, booties, a card, and my finished blanket).

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!

My love and I celebrated 2 years of happy union this week, and I just thought I would reflect on what a blessing it has been to be married to this man!

First off- marriage is a wonderful creation made by God to reflect his glory. Woman was created to complete man- to make God's creation finished and "good." It is a wonderful task to live out a reflection of the relationship God shares with himself in the Trinity as well as the relationship Jesus has with his Bride- the church.

It has been an especially edifying experience to share my life exclusively with one man- to be so vulnerable, to be so very humble in a relationship that I choose to honor their good and happiness before my own. I have learned through being married what a wretched sinner I am and how I cannot hide that fact from someone I am so close to. Marriage has taught me how wonderful grace is and how horrifying bitterness can be.

Marriage to Michael, my wonderful husband, has challenged me to grow more towards extroversion than my default mode of complete introversion. He has gently pushed me to speak more, to love lots of company, and to not be so afraid of new adventures. He encourages me to be creative and share my ideas and creations with others. Marriage to Michael means I am not ashamed to be myself, to be silly, and to play my music shamelessly. Marriage to Michael is lots of prayer, time in the word, humble correction, a life with Godly friends and their awesome wisdom, service in ministry, lots of practice and service for Worship team, and a general understanding that the direction of our life is completely in the Lord's hands.

Here is the card I made Michael for our anniversary. I think it looks very bridal

And here is the flowers my amazing husband brought home from work on our anniversary :)

And now for the story of the thank you card in my last post: We were invited over to a friends house (from church) the night of our anniversary for dessert and a little dip in the hot tub. When we got there they discovered it was our anniversary, and insisted they serve us, make us lovely cocktails and have the hot tub to ourselves that night. It was so sweet of them to do that, and we were so blessed just to have time alone that night with our drinks and lovely jets. So we simply had to thank them profusely and my husband asked me to make them a card with a ribbon for "Friends of the Year." I didn't think that would all fit very neatly into my little circle, so I just put a big 1, and told them they won 1st place for the coolest friends.

It is just so clear to me that they understand how important celebrating marriage and the milestones in it is- they clearly showed us by their service they long for God's glory in our marriage and desired that we strengthen it by an unexpectedly romantic evening to ourselves :)

And to cap off the celebrations: We're having a very fancy dinner tonight at a floating restaurant over the Couer d alene lake!

Recent crafting endeavors!

a thank you card for friends (claiming they made first place as the coolest friends ever- you'll find out why in my next post!)


birthday card for sister-in-law. (front and back view)

Hat w/flower

More flowers :)

Birthday days

Today I turned 23. It was a weird birthday in that, this is the first time I wasn't super excited thinking, "Ooo! presents, and treats, and birthday cards..." It sort of feels like this is my first real adult birthday, where it's cool that it is my birthday, but it's simply not that big of a deal.

Though it didn't feel quite that celebratory, my husband did an awesome job making me feel celebrated because he snuck into my scrapbooking supplies and made me a card! I was so proud of him, I had to post it!

On the inside he made an anagram of my name. My favorites are the Z's - the first one says, "Z is for ZAP. You zapped me with your voo-doo love and have me under your spell." and the next one is so sweet "Z is for Zero- the number of days I have loved you perfectly. Thank you for your grace!" I am so blessed.

moving...

Here are some change of address cards I have made to send out for when we move in two weeks! I can't wait!
I like this one :)
...as you can see, we've got boxes piled up to the ceiling!

Life consists of trying to clean the last two years of dirt off our apartment, packing, and sitting on our living room floor where we no longer have our couch (sold it on craigslist for some extra cash so we don't have to move with it). The good news is some friends of ours knew we needed new couches, and got us some free couches from their parents. I feel it's just that time in our lives when we will take the charity of others, fill our home with hand-me-downs and enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

I guess that's what our education is for- so we can own our own furniture some day and give our old couches to some young crazy newly-wed couple.

my trip to Michaels

When one starts having dreams about using their Michael's craft store gift cards to purchase yarn and scrap booking supplies, you get the idea they might be a little obsessed. Well that's me. The other night I had the glorious dream that a gift card I had for Michael's in real life and in my dream was worth 55$. I had to find out by making a conservative purchase...I think it was 3 skeins of yarn for 3 bucks each and check the balance left on the receipt. When I did this, I found out the value of the card and promptly freaked out realizing I also had a 40% off coupon (which I had in real life too). I went down isle after isle throwing yarn into my basket and found myself to be immensely happy.


I woke up only to realize it was a dream. However, the real part- that fact that I did have a coupon, did have a gift card (still didn't know how much was on it), and was going to Michael's with a friend- made me feel a little better.

Later that day I had asked the friend who gave me the gift card how much it was worth. I nearly died laughing when he told me 50$. I thought, my husband must have told him about my dream. So I asked, and of course, he was serious. I really had 50$ to spend at Michaels!


All this to say- my dream was very accurate! I ended up spending 54.92 and went away with a huge lute of goodies for me to craft away! Here is all I bought:



And, I've already started my next project with the yarn I bought. It's going to be a blanket for my neice. I got the pattern of Lion Brand's site.

Lion Brand® Vanna's Choice® Baby GAUGE: One Square = 4 in. (10 cm) BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR GAUGE. When you match the gauge in a pattern, your project will be the size specified in the pattern and the materials specified in the pattern will be sufficient. If it takes you fewer stitches and rows to make a 4 in. [10 cm] square, try using a smaller size hook or needles; if more stitches and rows, try a larger size hook or needles.

Square A (make 28) With A, ch 4. Join with a sl st in first ch to form a ring. Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc here and throughout), 2 dc in ring, *ch 1, 3 dc in ring, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1, join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off A. Round 2: Join B with sl st in any ch-1 sp, ch 3, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, *ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch-1 sp, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1; join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off B. Round 3: Join C with sl st in any ch-2 sp, ch 3 (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, *ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1; join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off C. Square B (make 28) With C, ch 4. Join with a sl st in first ch to form a ring. Round 1: Ch 3 (counts as first dc here and throughout), 2 dc in ring, *ch 1, 3 dc in ring, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1; join with sl st at top of beg ch. Fasten off C. Round 2: Join B with sl st in any ch-1 sp, ch 3, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, *ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch-1 sp, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1; join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off B. Round 3: Join A with sl st in any ch-2 sp, ch 3 (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in same sp, *ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch-2 sp, rep from * 2 more times, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1; join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off A. FINISHING Strip 1 (make 4) Beg and ending with Square A and alternating Squares A and B, sew 7 Squares into a strip. Strip 2 (make 4) Beg and ending with Square B and alter nating Squares B and A, sew 7 Squares into a strip. Sew strips together along long sides, alternating Strip 1 and Strip 2. Edging From right side, join C with sl st anywhere along edge of Afghan. Ch 3. Dc evenly around, working 3 dc in each corner; join with sl st in top of beg ch. Fasten off. Weave in ends.

ABBREVIATIONS / REFERENCES Click for explanation and illustration beg = begin(s)(ning) ch(s) = chain(s) dc = double crochet sl st = slip stitch sp(s) = space(s)

So here's some of my progress on it. It actually crochets up really quick!

House of cards

I'm not the kind of person that likes to run out to the store and pick up a card from an isle full of over-priced, pre-written sentiments. That is why, for several years now, I have been making my own cards for any and all occasions. It's become a wonderful way for me to "de-stress," and spend some time thinking of the person I'm making the card for and why I love them.

I think it means so much more when it's handmade and it's just fun! I got a wonderful compliment from my mother-in-law the other day when she told me her husband's mother (my husband's grandma) loves the cards she gets from me and wondered where I was finding such wonderful and unique cards. My mother-in-law told her that I make all of them from scratch, and Grandma drew back in awe :)

Now that I've built myself up to sound like something incredible...haha.



This first one is for my sister-in-law. She's going to be the lead character, Millie, in her high school's musical production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie." She always gets mad when someone says "good luck" to her before a show, because she's a theater nerd and no-one is supposed to wish you luck, or it somehow curses you. Anyways, that's why you wish theater people to "break-a-leg" before a show- like you're trying to fool the luck/fate.


My brother-in-law is a
HUGE
Seattle Seahawks fan,
so I knew he'd appreciate this design!



It's simple, masculine, and yet
still crafty!


This next card was a request of my husband- he asked that I make a thank-you card for a wonderful family from our church that had us over for lunch on Sunday after the service. It was such a blessing as they were such gracious hosts and showed us such hospitality and love. I loved the yellow paper with crazy circular designs that somewhat resembled flowers (Part of a set I received as a gift from my sister-in-law for Christmas- my FAVORITE present)
I used that as my inspiration and incorporated a lot of handstitching in the design.

Here's a closer pic of
the flowers :)










And here is the detail for the back of the card. I always try to incorporate part of the design in a little decal/logo of some sort for the back of the card. Then I initial it, and put a heart <3









This next one is pretty obvious what it is for...but I got the idea from some really cool cards on Esty. (Designers don't worry! I'm simply making them for family and friends) I just loved the idea of the mommy and baby birdie.


The top left photo includes the decal with my signature mark for my cards.




And here's the other one I made (Gotta make 2 now that I'm married!) I think this one's my favorite.
...just wish my cursive was prettier. oh well.







Well folks, I think that's all I got for you. I hope you are encouraged and inspired to make some very special cards for your family and friends. Please let me know if you do! I'd love to see pictures. And as always, you are more than welcome to steal any of the ideas I've posted- as long as I can steal some from you!