Ravellenics 2012 Update

I went to the kickoff event over at the Woolpack store in Acton last Friday, so I am now officially part of their team doing my Hexagon Gone Wrong pattern for the Event Modular.  It was a great evening and I am looking forward to going back.

My biggest problem right now is wanting to jump right in and start crocheting!  I want to complete my new crochet hook bag before Friday so that is one short term goal.  I am working on the hook strip and trying to decide if I will just stick with a large mesh pocket for other items or add a separate pocket.  Ah, the joys of designing as you go.

I also just started a circular lace pattern to have something "new" to work on.  No idea of what that will be but I am hoping it will work out to be a circular scarf.

My stash is getting wound thanks to my lovely new Amish Wood yarn swift.  It is also getting organized at the same time, at least the part downstairs, so I will be able to shop my stash soon.

Okay, my current project list should be:

Hexagon Gone Wrong, 5, event modular relay, Team Woolpack
V-stitch Dishcloth, event one skein, Team Boston (Wicked Pissahs)
Frog Pink Scarf, event frogging trampoline, Team Wellesley, if I can find it to frog it

EEK - I need one for Team Crochet!  Perhaps an excuse to do a Mile a Minute strip bag?  Must go check the stash!

Preparing for the Ravellenics!

I have now joined four teams so I need to come up with four projects!

My teams are:
Team Crochet
Team Pizzah (Team Boston)
Team Woolpack
Team Wendy Wellesley

So far I am in two events:
Frogging - that dreadful pink variegated scarf if I can find it
Modular Relay - a fun new pattern that I want to try for dish scrubbies

Not yet entered, but I want to try repeating my Hexagon Gone Wrong pattern five times as a Modular Relay for Team Woolpack (where I bought the yarn.)

I also have yarn stash at least as old as last July because I can remember using some of it while they were here (I went a bit overboard ahem at a Sugar and Cream sale.)  Not to mention the yarn I just found that I don't even remember buying but based on its hiding place must hit the one year rule.  Alas, it may be too hot for July crocheting.

So what to do? What to do? I still want to finish my crochet hook bag (WIP) and my contemplative crochet piece is just getting interesting as well.  I haven't made any flowers lately even though I did join a great Ravelry group that is all about making them.  I just got some novelty yarn for scarf making which I am really loving.  (Luckily those are too expensive to get really overboard with.)

Okay, first things first:  take photos of all the WIP and the ideas.
Add them to my Ravelry projects list.
See if I can figure out how to add my Hexagon Gone Wrong pattern.
Take a photo of the completed crochet bag while I am at it.
See if I can get that mobile Ravelry app on my cell phone.

Remember to take photos of all of this - then I can scrap them after the Olympics!  Ah, the joy of combining hobbies.

Art Journal blog to follow

While I was checking out the new art journal kit at Godigital, a collaboration between OOBS and Demurgia.  (She is now Art of Scrapbooking apparently.)  Sharon, the one I did not know, has a great blog here:

http://demiurgia-mylife.blogspot.com.au/

Since I want to check this out from all of my assorted computers, etc, I am putting the link here.

Art Journal page May 22, 2012

I wanted to do an art journal page.  When I opened Picasa, I saw several otherwise unrelated items in the Recently Added section that spoke to me.  I love the way they worked out together!
(In order by layers: Noisy Pancake Jan preview, JMay The Things You Do, LM Kaleidoscope, HS Reading Room, JKneipp Rising Collection)

National Scrapbook Day

Well, Saturday was National Scrapbook Day (for all those of you who missed it lol!)  What a fun day!  I spent most of the day hanging out with all my friends at Scrapgirls, making it to seven of the chats, and even won a prize!  Better yet, I was inspired to do some scrapping.  So far, I did the Art Inspiration challenge, stretching myself a bit to make my own moon and sun.  I also managed the Taco challenge (you choose a type of taco shell and various fillings, then at the chat you find out what those mean.  My crunchy shell, for example, meant to use three papers on my layout and so on.)

 I used Durin Eberharts papers and Elisha Barnett's stitching on the top one, and Amanda Fraijo's Dreamy Canvas and Fall Foliage kits on the bottom.  (For a complete list of supplies, see the bottom of this posting.)  I have  a sketch and idea in mind for the All About Me challenge.  Kudos to all the Scrapgirls who went for the challenge and did all eight layouts.

Then I hopped over to Go Digital just to see what their chat room was like.  I received a very warm welcome there and had great fun in their trivia chat.  I managed to win three prizes and got a store coupon just for participating!

What a wonderful day, and what a great beginning to my birthday weekend!

Durin Eberhart Dyed Fabric, Elisha Barnett's Homebody kit (both layouts), Out of the Box Studio Universe in Our Eyes, Tangie Baxter, Seaside Art Dolls, Amanda Fraijo-Tobin Dreamy Canvas and Fall Foliage kits, Kerry Veale Victorian Canvas paper template, and Erica Hite's Photo Frame stitching.   The designers are (or were) from Scrapgirls, as well as Go Digital and Scrapbookgraphics.

Tomorrow is coming! Happy Easter!

The Saturday between Good Friday and Easter is traditionally a day of reflection.  Yesterday during our Good Friday service, I focused on the women who were there.  Right now the only thing they could do was wait.  Tomorrow they could go with their herbs and spices and give the final gift of a proper burial to their teacher.

But what about today?  Did they go through the motions of celebrating the Passover?  Or did they sit in formal mourning together?  I can imagine blocking the dreadful memories of Friday in the everyday actions of cooking and feeding others.  I can also imagine the need to be with others who understood my grief and shared my experience.

And what did they think?  Did they believe God abandoned Jesus, and by extension, them?  Did they cling to faith, or turn away from a God who allowed such a thing to happen?  Did they remember Jesus's words of warning about the events to come and wonder what could possibly happen next to erase the pain?

Where were they on this bleak day?  I am so blessed to know that tomorrow is coming and that love conquered death once and for all.  But the women are still in the middle of their story.  What do they believe the next day will bring?

First lesson at Digital Art Journaling class

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, as I am still working through the class materials.  But the first theme word is HEART, and I got an image in my head immediately.

The class is over at Jessica Sprague.com and I am already way behind on the class!  Luckily, the class and materials remain available to you forever - I love the lack of pressure!

Jessica Sprague and Nancie Rowe Janitz; Digital Art Journaling Class:; background; map; staircase.; Scrapgirls Splendor kit; Keri Schueller: candlestick.

Explanation:  the words are from a psalm and the smoke represents prayers rising up to heaven.   I just finished reading the story of Jacob in Genesis, so that is probably what brought the staircase to mind.

Newburyport Street Front

I have been down with my usual winter illness.  I am hoping that the fact I was able to sit up for a while and create this means the siege is almost over.  I took a photo of some rocks that I previously converted to black and white, and made it into a larger piece.  (Duplicated layers, flipped, went over all demarcation lines with smudge tool and brushes.)  Then I looked through photos till I found one that seemed to want to go with that template.  I made four copies of the stone template to make its scale even smaller.  Then I posterized a duplicate of the photo.  I also made another copy with a layer mask to just reveal the brick layer.  I played with blending modes and opacity to get the final result.