The Promised Fingerless Gloves

I promised last week that I'd show you another knitted creation for my craft fair.  These are ruffled fingerless gloves.

I picked up the pattern in Victoria, BC at a fabulous little yarn store called "Buttoned Up".  It was a  darling shop and I found so very many, many things I wanted.  Yet, being on a budget I just grabbed the pattern and some Berroco Vintage Yarn.

OMGosh - this yarn is so yummy.  It is incredibly soft and comes in the most beautiful colors!  Unfortunately I checked 10 of the closest yarn stores in my area and NONE of them carry it!  ARGH...  Then when I checked online, it was sold out in most stores!  Double argh.  Finally I found yarnmarket.com and they had it in stock and less than anyone else to boot!  I ordered 12 different colors and have made gloves and headwarmer bands (see this previous post) with three of them now.  Gotta get busy!  Only 2 more weeks until my fair!

By the way, I won't be posting again until next week.  I'm leaving this morning for Portland, OR for Close To My Heart's Regional Celebration event.  I'm so excited to get to see my CTMH friends, and spend some time learning how to expand and improve my business.  :)  I'll be back Sunday, and will need a day or two to recover.  At that time I'll post pictures of my contest entries, and any cool news I hear about at the conference.

Have a wonderful weekend!

How do you get so much done?

"How do you get so much done?"

This is a question I hear all the time, and it makes me chuckle because honestly, for every thing on my list that gets done, there's about a hundred things that I didn't have time for.  But, since you guys keep asking, I suppose I can share a few of my secrets.  Don't be too disappointed though.  I'm just a regular ol' mom and wife!  :)

Nona's Tricks to Productivity

1. Make a list.
I like to have an ongoing to do list.  My gmail even has a task list built in, so I can add to it and cross things off while I'm on my computer.  I try to put everything on there - even the cheesy things like laundry - because it feels good to have things crossed off.

2. Prioritize.
Do the most urgent or the most difficult things on your list first.  That way you have the quick, easy and fun things left over.  I try to do one or two hard things in the morning so that I have the afternoon to do fun things.

3.  Say No.
This is really difficult for me, but I've gotten better at it.  And it amazes me that people understand when I do say no.  I have to choose to put my family activities first.  But this has allowed to me spend time doing the things I really want to do, versus doing things I don't want to but feel obligated to do.

4.  Time Wasting/Procrastination
I don't read the CTMH bulletin boards, and usually only spend 20-30 min a day reading blogs or messing around on facebook.  Otherwise it becomes a vortex of time wasting, sucking me in and keeping me from my family and to do list.  :)  Similarly, I try and get projects done well ahead of their "due date".  It just feels better than rushing at the last minute.  This is funny to me, however, because in high school I was the one up until 4 am writing midterms and the queen of procrastination.

5. Working Quickly
I really try hard not to dawdle.  If I'm folding laundry, I turn on some music and blow through it as fast as possible.  Same thing with my other chores, and even some artsy projects.  If the house is a mess, I'll set the timer for 15 minutes and see how much cleaning I can get done in that time frame.  I even time myself when typing up my monthly newsletters, and try and beat the clock.

6.  TV is not just for watching.
Dave and I enjoy quite a few TV shows, but I never just sit and watch.  I always have some kind of project going because it bothers me to no end to just sit there.  So my TV time is also my knitting time, or card assembly time, or folding laundry time.  That probably doesn't sound very relaxing, but it is for me.  There's nothing better than knitting to calm the mind and body while still being productive.  Shhhh, don't tell, but it's my favorite hobby.  :)

7.  Sleep or lack there of.
This is an area that will likely not work for everyone.  I'm a total night owl, and I don't need much sleep to function.  I can get by on 5-6 hours of sleep just fine.  We put our girls to bed at 7:30, and I usually don't go to bed until midnight or one AM, so I have between 4 and 5 hours every night without small children underfoot.  If you aren't a night owl, perhaps think about getting up an hour or two early so you can have some alone time.  I get more done in one hour without children, than 6 hours with them awake.

Hopefully that was helpful!  Like I said, it's pretty basic stuff.

Now I need to go and get to my list!  :)

November's Card Class Cards

So you saw a sneak peek at the first card we'll be making in class yesterday.  Today, I'll reveal the other 2 cards we'll make!

First is this elegant Fall themed thank you card.  It is a gate card - meaning that the card opens from the middle and the two side panels fold out.  I used the Flourished Blessings stamps (did you know you can get this set in French and Spanish as well?) and the Damask Tiles stamps.  Ink/paper colors are Goldrush, Pansy Purple, and Vineyard Berry.  I also used a large photo clip from the Pewter Mini-Medleys Collection and ribbon from the Colonial White Ribbon Rounds.

Next, I wanted to showcase how quick and easy it is to use CTMH's fabulous card kits.  These cards are from the Around the Holidays kit.  Everyone will get to make one of the four cards shown, and we'll jazz them up with gold glitter glue (not CTMH), 3d foam and brown chocolate ribbon.

Would you like to attend my card class?  I teach out of my home in Lynnwood, WA.  Class is just $7 or FREE with a $20 order.  This month's classes are on the 15th, 16th and 17th (but spaces are filling up quickly!).  Contact me for more info, or to reserve your seat!

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for November!

All artwork on the hop will feature November's SOTM, "Around the Block"  a set of 26 stamps! If you have come here from {Laurie's blog} you are on the right path!

This month we have over 60 CTMH Consultants sharing their SOTM creations, and other great CTMH artwork. Hopping along is fun and simple to do - just click the link at the end of each blogger's post to move to the next one! If you get lost or a link doesn't work just go back to {Jena's blog} and click on the links in her post. Here we go!

My creation was inspired by CTMH Consultant Karen Pedersen's fantastic gingerbread cards and knew I had to follow suit.  I made my card a little more simple, because I'll be teaching it to my customers at November card classes.  Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the other 2 cards I'll be teaching in November.  :)

Anyway - back to my card...  I embossed the house image with white embossing powder on brown bag cardstock.  To be honest, that was the first time in 5 years I've used brown bag paper!  The sentiment was stamped in black ink and comes from the set Festive Thoughts (now retired) and it says "...from our home to yours" inside the card.  I swiped the edges of the sentiments in crystal blue ink.  I embellished the card with paper from the Jingle Paper Packet,  fun new Twinkle Brads, and colonial white organdy ribbon.  The card measures 3.5" x 8" and fits perfectly in a business sized envelope.

I hope you enjoyed my preview of the November Stamp of the Month!  Remember, the SOTM is only available until Nov. 30th (my birthday!), so contact your CTMH Consultant (or Me!) to order this stamp set for $22.95, or get it at a discount with qualifying orders, or for FREE with a $100 order!

Thanks for stopping by! Now "hop" on over to {Tanya's blog} to check out her SOTM creations and continue the hop.

Catching Up...

So apparently, I've not been blogging about what's going on in my life.  :)  Hopefully you all aren't TOO confused.

The facts are these: (side note - did anyone else *love* Pushing Daisies as much as me?  I so miss that show)
1. Dave has now finished school (YAY).
2. We have Ruby now (Double YAY).
3. My business is growing.
4. Our house is shrinking.
5. The market for buying a home is FANTASTIC - assuming, that is, that you can sell your house.

Long ago, Dave and I discussed that once he finished school and we had our baby, that we would like to upgrade to a bigger house.  Those things came to pass this summer, and we started browsing real-estate sites on the web.  While doing that, we found that we could double our square footage for very little money.  We called some close friends whose mom is a Realtor and dad a mortgage broker, and got the ball rolling two weeks ago.

While it isn't the best time to sell, our house has good equity and unlike almost every other house for sale right now, it isn't bank owned or a short sale - meaning we could potentially close in 30 days versus several months.  Also, the first home buyer tax credit has possibly been extended a few more months, so someone looking for a house this size could take advantage of that by buying our place.  :)

Last week we found a home that would be *perfect* for our family.  It's over 2700 sq ft, has 4 bedrooms, beautiful kitchen, AND a 550 sq ft bonus room (with a separate entrance, bathroom, and counter with sink) that would be just the thing for my classes.  Best of all - it's only 3 minutes away from our current home!  We placed an offer on it (with the contingency that our house sells) on Tuesday.  So now we just need to get lender approval (it was a short sale), and we need to sell our house.

Just like any other situation we've gone through, Dave and I are prayerful that things work out.  We know God has good plans for us!  So we figure that if this new house is where He wants us, our house will sell.  If he has other plans, then we are just going to wait (as patiently as we can) for Him to show us.

:)  So now you're all caught up!

Our House!

So all this week we've been getting our house ready to show.  We've been cleaning, and packing, and scrubbing, and painting, and well... you get the idea.  We're exhausted, but our house is gorgeous!  Now we're just praying for a buyer.  :)

Our Realtor dislikes making flyers, so I offered to make them for her.  It was really fun, and I even offered to make them for her other clients too.  Who knows - this might turn into something!  LOL... for now I'm just excited to get back to crafting and knitting.  This week has been a killer.

I've blurred out the personal info, but if you are in Lynnwood, WA and want to come see it let me know!

Ear Warmers for Craft Fair

I've been doing a ton of knitting lately (been inspired by the cold weather - and looming craft fair deadlines).  Here is another creation I'll be selling at my upcoming fairs.  They are ear warming headbands.  :)  I also have fingerless gloves in a matching pattern that I'll show off later this week.  I have a ton of colors in this soft yarn - Vintage by Berroco.  This one is a rich caramel color.