Adventures in Crocheting a Purse

I found the cutest pattern a few weeks ago on Pinterest (if you have not been to Pinterest yet, check it out...... awesome!)  The pattern can be found on Ravelry (another awesome site).  Anyways, I usually just stick with afghans and hats, easy to make and not hard to screw up.  The first thing I thought of when I saw this purse was my older sister.  She got me turned on to purses and this is just something I could see her using.  The main body of the purse turned out great (well it is a little smaller than the pattern called for.....whoops).  It was when I decided to add the handles that it didn't turn out too well.  I'm not sure if I underestimated the size of the handles I would need (I don't think so), but I think I needed to make the purse bigger in general and possibly rework the opening and handles.  Also I didn't realize that I put one of the handles on backwards until I got it all sewed on :(  I think this will be a chalk it up to experience piece.  I have a few of those!

Catching up on Four Months

Well, it's been 4 months since I posted and I really have no good excuse except for life and of course Facebook and Pinterest have taken over my life.  Back in July Eric's parents came up for a visit and we did alot of the touristy Alaska things.  We went halibut fishing, went to Denali National Park, took a trip on the river and went gold panning at El Dorado.  In August I went home to visit the family for a couple of weeks.  Always love those trips.  Got to see my 3 cute nephews and the bestest friend in the whole wide world.  September wasn't really eventful, but I didn't enjoy the little bit of fall that we received.  I think I missed most of it though!  It seems like one day we were having gorgeous days and now it's snow!  I will admit that it is looking beautiful outside with the snow covered trees.

Anyways enough chit chat.  The real reason I'm updating is for posting some of my crafty creativeness.  I have been participating in a card swap on Facebook with a friend and a few of her friends.  It's been a blast.  Here are the contributions I made to the previous months swap!

All paper, stamps and punches are Stampin' Up. The next swap is due Nov. 15 and I have 1 card done already and have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing with the other.

Enjoy the cards!

Some pictures of Flowers and a suprise guest

Here are a few pictures from around the house of different flowers.  

I've also included a couple of pictures of a surprise guest that Eric found visiting our yard.  Said surprise guest ended up going to the Animal Shelter because we didn't find the owner and we were both going to be out of town for a few days.

We have had other visitors that have somehow figured out how the climb the siding of the house to get to the bird feeders.  They also make a huge mess tossing out the seeds they don't want!

Knock, Knock.......Is anyone still reading this?

Don't know if anyone is still reading this or not, but thought I would update it anyway. Since the last time I updated I have been working a few cards.  There's a wedding card for some friends, a Father's Day card for my dad, and then 2 cards for my facebook stamp group.

Crafting......yes I still do that!

Well, since we have officially moved into the new house, I have been slowly getting my craft room back in working condition.  And it's about time.  I was going through some serious withdrawls!  I have been able to get back to stamping and crocheting.  A friend of mine on facebook decided to get a group of people together to do a card swap, so I am actively stamping for that.  I just finished the two cards that will go out in the mail this week for the ladies.  I had alot of fun making these.  If anyone wants directions let me know!

I have also been spending some time with a hook in my hand.  Actually quite a bit!  Eric asked me if I would make a thank you afghan for the gentleman he stay's with out in Mekoryuk when he goes Musk Ox hunting.  Since widlife in general is in all of the Native's blood, we decided to go with something I've never done before.  Behold a walrus on an iceberg!  This is the "before".  I use this type of graph as a pattern and work from there.  I was a little skeptical of the design at first because I had a hard time finding a piece of clipart that would work and capture the being of the walrus.  Most of my afghans are for kids/babies so I can usually just go with something cute and baby-like.  Not this one.  I don't think a 6o-something guy would appreciate or use something like that. Anyways, I was thinking I had at least 3 weeks to work on it, but nope!  Eric decides that he is going to go out a week earlier than planned, so I have been hooking my butt off trying to get this bad-boy done.  And finally it has come to an end.  I'm really excited in how this turned out.  I'm hoping that the gift is well receive, which I'm sure it will be.  Turns out he was more than appreciative.  He immediately went and put the afghan on his bed!

Next up was a baby afghan (yay!).  I love doing these because they are so much fun.  A friend of mine asked me to make a blanket for a fellow co-worker of hers who just recently had a baby girl.  They live in Nome, so wildlife is once again people (they work for the Alaska Division of Fish and Game).  I originally found a clipart drawing of a penguin, moose, bear and fish totem pole, but I knew that wouldn't work considering penguins DO NOT live up here.  I decided to rework it a little and get rid of the penguin.  Design turned out great, but I was informed that they REALLY wanted a Musk Ox in the design.  I had fun re-creating the design by hand drawing (okay, light table coping) of the Musk Ox and the bear and fish from the totem pole.  Here is what I came up with!

alive and kickin'

Has it really been two months since I last posted?  I really don't have an excuse.  It's just easier to keep up with life on Facebook than here.

So much has happened recently.  One month ago, we became the brand new owners of a 7.5 acreage.  We have a decent house, a great shop for the hubby, a few little sheds/outbuildings so we can raise some animals and a greenhouse.  You know sometimes when you move into a new places it takes a while to get use to how things are set up, etc.  Not this place!  Since we moved in, the house has felt like home.  Even on the first couple of days before our belongings got delivered.  This house wasn't the "oh wow, I have to have it!", house when we first looked at it, but apparently it was "the one".  We love the feeling of being able to get outside and not having to worry about if the neighbors are watching you.  We are surrounded by lots of trees......too many actually :(  Well only too many to get Direct TV or Dish Network.  Guess we will just have to work with the pre-attached antenna that is on the house.  Luckily with the digital flat screens we are able to get the local stations.  Nothing like 4 PBS stations to get your daily fix of public broadcasting!!!!

 

That "box" you see just off the left side of the house is actually a hottub, which is currently full and running.   I've been too chicken to give it a try though because our daytime temperatures haven't gotten over 10 since we've moved in and have been more like -5 to -10.  Maybe once March hits and temps start to warm up I'll brave the conditions and give it a try.  Anybody is more than welcome to come visit and give it a try if they like though!!!!!  We have a spare bedroom that we are willing to put you up in!  Once we get a little more settled (or at least a few more boxes out of the way and picked up off the floor) I'll go around and take a few more pictures to show you all what the inside of the house looks like and some of the renovations that we are planning on trying to do!

Along with the property, we have been honored with the presences of a few moose.  The first moose that graced our humble abode woke us up at 5:30 AM as they trampled by the house.  This was a mom and last years' calf.  Scared the living daylights out of our cat Chubbs!  Our big, bad, not afraid of anything cat is afraid of moose.  The cat that stares down dogs and traps them in a corner.  A few days later, Chubbs started acting all weird.  He didn't know what to do and then took off to hide.  I had a feeling that there was something close by and I was right!  This gal was within feet of the house.  The table and tiki torches are only about 4-6 feet from the house.

Where Have I Been?!?!?!?

I've been working from home in Fairbanks, that's were I have been.  Let me catch you all up a little since I last posted back in August.  The months of August and September were spent house hunting.  We did not have any luck finding something that we thought we could work with.  There was plenty out there, but nothing screamed "buy me I'm your new home"!  We had the opportunity to hear Amy Roloff speak about the Americans with Disabilities Act.  For those of you who don't know who Amy is, she and her family are the stars of TLC's Little People, Big World.  Eric went out on a solo moose hunt towards the end of September and was rewarded with an awesome moose.  The antlers measure 76", that's 6 ft, 4 in.

In October, I was able to get back to SD and MN for a few days since I missed out on my annual trip in August because of the move/house hunting.  My aunts put together a 90th birthday party for my grandma.  She doesn't turn 90 until the end of December, but they wanted to get as many of the grandkids home as the could before the weather got wintery.  I've seen more cousins that I have not seen in years, a few probably in a decade or more!  The rest of October seems to have passed without much excitement.

Here is a picture of all of the grandkids and great-grandkids that showed up for my grandma's party.  The sweet, adorable little vikings boy is my youngest nephew.  He's such a sweetie!

November started to get a little more exciting.  Early in the month the local PBS station brought Red Green to town.  Of course we had to take the opportunity to see the hilarious Red Green.  Since it was an early gift for Eric's birthday, we did the whole VIP thing and got to meet Red Green and get our picture taken with him.  Towards the middle of the month, we took a huge step and put an offer in on a 7.5 acreage (with house, shop and greenhouse) about 10 miles from town.  After a counter back from the sellers, we are in the process of inspections of all sorts.  I'll keep you all posted.  We had a simple, quiet Thanksgiving with the upstairs neighbors.

Here's a picture of Eric and I with Red Green.  If you don't know who he is, look him up!

Hello From the Interior

Well we are finally (as well as one can be living in a hotel) settle in Fairbanks.  The good thing is that the hotel has a little fitness center and a small pool.  I've been able to work out almost every day since we got here.  Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks.  First off, the weather for the most part has been gorgeous!  We have had temperatures in the high 60s for most of that 2 weeks.  Today is a little chilly because it's partly cloudy, but it is still 65.  I haven't taken any pictures, but I will have plenty of time for that.

We went on our first official house hunting trip on Friday and took a look at 5 different houses.  Didn't really see anything that looked promising.  One of them had a gorgeous kitchen that I would love, but there were really close neighbors and the garage was way to small for the truck to fit.  The first one we saw was really dated, I don't think the current owners spent any money to update anything in it from when it was built in the 70s!  Plus, it smelled like dog really bad!  Another one had potential, but a bachelor lived there and it was completely a bachelor house.  I just couldn't picture myself in that house at all.  We have another trip planned on Tuesday afternoon with 4-5 more viewings.  We are looking for something with a little land, so I think that might limit us.

I've been enjoying having some downtime, but I am definitely missing not being back in SD/ND/MN like usually am during August.  Come September, I will be working again for the university, but it will be from home, er hotel.  There is only a year left on the grant that I was working on while in Bethel, so I was able to convince the director to let me stay on.  I will have to make a few trips back to Bethel throughout the year and I will be back in Bethel next summer for the final season of summer camps.  It is going to be so sad next summer.  I started to let the kids know this year that next summer would be the last year and I had so many students ask me why and said they didn't want the camps to be over with! I even had a few of the high school kids tell me that they would write letters of support for us.  So sweet!  I'm hoping we will be able to go out with a big bang!

Well, I will try to post some more after the house hunting tomorrow.  Later!