Happy Valentines day, part 2

and for more happenings... here's the dessert I made for Steve this evening :)















I had so much fun making the hearts and the X's and O's. I made them out of two sheets of cardstock, watercolors, glitter and toothpicks. for the hearts, I used the same amount of cardstock and sewed fabric along the edges. Oh it was messy and fun!
And I made a cherry pie to hold the X's and O's! Yummy!!

Steve bought me flowers and chocolate covered strawberries from Isgro's. And he's making me dinner tonight (not that him making dinner for me is out the ordinary, but it's always appreciated!) Here are my flowers:















and finally, I've become obsessed with the colors ivory, red and light blue/teal. (see: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTMwMTc4NTZ8MjEwMzg2MTI5NQ/light-fresh-fabulous?index=0 and see: http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/228848/perfect-wedding-color-palette-red-and-aqua/@center/272434/plan-your-wedding-color). All the kitchen items in Martha Stewart's collection at Macy's are red and teal and I want EVERYTHING!! I thought today would be a great time to rock the red and teal colors! Using that new vintage Vera scarf, I coordinated everything else around it. I wore a simple ivory lace dress, black tights, black shoes, the Vera scarf, and red and blue nails. Alas, I needed a red belt and to my surprise, I didn't have one! So I made a belt really, really quick. We're talking 15 minutes here. Just a strip of fabric, a button, and a button hole. I can add more button holes later if I decide to wear it lower on my hips.




And for my nails, I painted them red with blue accents - hearts on my thumbs and a diagonal stripe on the side!












and finally, my outfit together, with my flowers!

Happy Valentines day, part 1

Happy Valentine's Day! I never really celebrated or cared to celebrate, but this year, it's been fun! I made some Valentines for special people.. my mom (valentine not pictured) and Steve and my nephew Adam. and one leftover valentine cause I like it too much :)

I used images from magazines, pasted them on thick cardstock, punched some holes along the edges, and double crochet & chain 3 along the edges. they were super simple and really fun to make.

more silk scarves!

I just spent hours photographing and updating my etsy store with a bunch of silk scarves I just acquired. Wow, it will be hard to let go of these scarves... they are all so beautiful and in such grat condition!

Here are a few...
Givenchy Silk Scarf in Bull Pattern



















Vera Vintage Silk Polka Dot Scarf



















Echo Vintage Silk Pink and Grey Scarf

Recent finds...

I have been obsessed with chiffon and silk for a while now. I'm just now admitting it, though. I have about 5 chiffon blouses and 3 silk blouses I wear all week, every week. I can't get away from the silkly, flowy feel! and I'm quite alright with that.

I recently bought this Vera scarf from eBay. It's an aqua color with gold painted hearts on the border (Happy Valentine's day to me!). I knew it wasn't in great condition when I bought it, but I didn't expect it to have so many tears :( After doing some research, I realized it's one of the first scarves Vera made from the late 1940's. So, now it's more understandable that it has this many tears, since it's almost 65 years old! It's a bit too small to wear as a headband, but fits nicely around my neck. I am eyeing it up as "something blue" for my wedding. A hankie since I will probably be crying all my makeup off?

How do you like the vintage Vera scarf?







I also found this vintage Chanel scarf among about 60+ scarves I recently purchased. There's something in my blood (or the fact I love these silk and chiffon materials) that knows something is authentic when touching it. If you could only feel this Chanel scarf! It is SO soft, and has that imperfect quality or bumps that silk has. (when I found this (http://www.etsy.com/transaction/58569563) Cartier scarf, I couldn't stop touching the silk, it was so amazing!). But this scarf is such a beauty, I would love to keep it and wear it, but I know someone else who has been trying to find a scarf like this one will be happy when I post it for sale!









On a much sadder note, Jason Wu's collection for Target came to stores on Sunday. So, I went in Monday afternoon to buy a shirt I have been eyeing up, and there were about 5 shirts left of the whole collection in the store (I bet there were over 200 items stocked on Sunday), and 1 of those happened to be the last of the shirt I wanted, and in my size! I snatched it off the rack and bought it right away. Once I got home, I was about to put it over my head when I realized there was a huge tear in the chiffon underneath one of the flaps. I screamed (Steve thought something serious happened, which it WAS serious in my book), and then had a frown on my face up until I returned it (no wait, who am I kidding, I'm still frowning). There is something about this blouse I just must have... a pink color I never wear/own, the subtle polka dots, the chiffon, the 1950's mod feel.... I snapped this photo before I parted ways... (by the way... just read the reviews online for the shirt, and half the ladies reviewing said they wore it once and when they took it off at the end of the day, there was a big rip on the back part, just where I found the rip... so not worth the $35... but now I know what I'm looking for style wise with my next blouse!)

Seriously, where is the warm weather?

I guess I can't complain too much about the weather - there has been less than a half of an inch for the city. Which is great for still getting around the city with a car, parking in a space that hasn't been occupied by someone's lawn chair (if you move the chair, your car will be keyed), and wearing nice shoes without getting them salty.

I've recently posted these two scarves for sale on my Etsy store. As I was taking photos and writing their description for my shop, I was imagining myself on a beach with the warm sun shining. Then, I immediately told Steve I want to go on vacation by the end of February and it must be a beach with a warm 80 degree sun, or it would be worthless. I spent about an hour and a half looking up flights and vacation deals, only to realize I don't have that kind of money, especially with our wedding in October of this year.

So until I get that beach, I will live vicariously though the lives of these scarves, which I picture as a sarong for beach goers, or accessory on a floppy beach hat. Sigh.

Vintage Oscar de la Renta silk scarf (it's huge - approx 33"x35"). Great to wear around your waist or shoulders walking to and from the beach. The design is so gorgeous, looks like watercolors printed on silk.

Vintage tropical chiffon scarf, no label. This scarf is so light and airy, would be great to shield your hair from the sun while still keeping your head cool. Oh the pattern is lovely - Black and lime green with coral red tropical flowers. Can you feel the sun now?

Chevron baby blanket

Many times, I look up a pattern with full anticipation that my finished product will turn out so much better with a real pattern with real results. Wrong. Usually after round 2 of crocheting a project, I realize the pattern is not right (or I'm not right) and I have to alter it to suit what I need it to be. Take this blanket I made for my nephew, Adam. I looked up a basic chevron blanket pattern from lion brand. While the general pattern worked well, the gauge was not right (when I was using the proper hook size) and the blanket was to be the width of half my arm. Good for a baby doll maybe, not a human. Anywho, I altered it to suit my needs, and it worked well (I think).
The yarn is Caron's super soft yarn (and it is super soft!) and the colors go so well together. It took me a lot longer than I anticipated, probably 16-18 hours total. I was working on it on the 5 hour car ride home for Christmas (until the sun set and I couldn't see anymore) and I worked on it for about 30 minutes on Christmas eve night seconds before I wrapped it. SO MUCH CROCHETING TO DO! (I'm now taking a bit of a break...)

I made this blanket with full intentions of this being Adam's security blankie.. who didn't have one?? Since we live so far apart I wanted Adam to know that every time he hugs his blanket, he is hugging his Auntie :)

keeping secrets!

I couldn't post about the progression of this afghan because it was a Christmas present for my mom! (and she's the only one who reads my blog!).


I started this afghan in november and decided to piece it together like an assembly line. I made 30 squares of the pattern "Willow" from 200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws, and afghans by Jan Eaton. So, I made 30 of the first round of colors (5 different colors, six of each), 30 of the second round of colors, and so on and so forth. It made the squares piece together quicker (since I only had to reference the pattern for the first two of each round, I could remember it from memory for the last 28. I set a goal of doing at least 3 parts a day (ie. the first round i would do 3 a day). But I would slack off, or be too tired (or be working on crocheted coasters since my mom asked for those for Christmas - little did she know I was making this beast!). I brought it to my 3 day trip to Atlanta in November, brought it for small road trips, and worked almost non-stop until I went to bed each night. When I finally attached all the squares together, I didn't finish til the border was on! It was so much fun to make, but I'm happy to take a break and read for a bit (5 books for Christmas!!!)




















the squares finished, sans border.




















squares attached, without border





and finally, my mom enjoying her new afghan! it's not a full blanket, but more of a lap blanket!