Special Valentines

When you're home sick (with a mutant sinus infection) a few days before Valentine's Day, what do you do? Well, if you're me, you look for a small project that doesn't require lots of energy.  Inspired by a craft I found through Pinterest, I made my own "Hearts Stitched Together" cards.  Since the template link from the source blog was broken, I made my own in Excel, printed it, then used push pins on a cork board to make the holes I needed on the blank card.  When I was finished stitching, I had three beautiful cards to send out, made at no cost to me (except postage) since I had everything I needed in my stash already!

The first card I made (top right) was stitched with a dark maroon thread and mailed to my west coast best friend with the inside message: Friend are God's way of giving us hugs on special days.  Consider yourself hugged this Valentine's Day!  As of right now, it's still en route to California (so Heather, you better not be reading my blog till after it arrives!)

I made the card in portrait for my second try and ended up adding a third heart because it looked so blank at the bottom.  The first thread is a deep red for the top two hearts and a medium purple for the third one.  I sent this to my grandmother with the message: You're sew special to me!  Happy Valentine's Day, Grandma!  Mom told me that Grandma was very tickled by her homemade card (despite the really bad pun).

The third and final card (bottom right) has one burnt orange heart and one navy blue heart with the saying inside: Happy Valentine's Day to my favorite Bears fan!  Of course, this was stitched especially for my dear husband, and it was very appropriate since we had Valentine's dinner at Bobby G's Chicago Eatery.  Please don't think less of my husband for not taking me out for a fancy dinner--this is the third year we've had Bobby's at my request because I love their Italian beef sandwiches.  The past two years, Dave brought it home, and I pulled out our china for the special occasion!

Benefits of Tea

The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013

Thank you, Robin, for pointing out another Austen challenge to me.  Fortunately, it fits right in with my 2013 reading goal to clear of my shelf of (mostly Austen) sequels.  I've chosen the Disciple Level of 5-8 reading selections since that's all I have on my self that is related to P&P, plus the two movies I own.  I'm not going to do the commenting back to the original post to win prizes (because my prize is getting a shelf back for all of my other books), but you're more than welcome to join up at The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge!  Here are my selections:

• Pride & Prejudice on DVD (2005 Kiera Knightly version)
• Pride & Prejudice on Blu-ray (1995 Colin Firth version--such an awesome Christmas present from my sister!)
• The Pemberley Chronicles: A Companion Volume to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: Book 1 by Rebecca Ann Collins
• Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues by Linda Berdoll
• Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley by Sharon Lathan
• Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
• Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen by Sybil Brinton

Reading Resolution 2013

My reading resolution for 2012 wasn't quite the smashing success I hoped it would be. At the end of the year, there are still five of the original titles unfinished on my shelf, but at least any books I borrowed during the year were read and returned!  I'm also five short of my yearly goal on Goodreads to finish 50 books... coincidence?

This year I'll again set my Goodreads goal to 50 books, but I'll try a different resolution.  My goal is to clear out half of my shelf of prequels and sequels--mostly Austen spin-offs.  There are 27 books on the shelf, so I would be thrilled to get it down to a dozen by the end of the year!

Last Minute Finishes

I did manage to finish a few knitting projects in time for Christmas this year!

This fuzzy green and white scarf made me think of Ireland...

...so it went to a work friend who made her dream trip to Ireland this year!

Knit during Bears football games at Bobby G's Chicago Eatery...

...this dishcloth was an impromptu Christmas gift to Bobby's daughter!

Kristine's been hinting that she wants a Weasley sweater...

...so I figured out how to make one for her tea mug!

Best Etsy Finds of 2012

Most of my lovely readers know that my BFF Heather lives across the country in California. I found the perfect present for her on Etsy a few months back and ordered it just in time for Christmas!

All incoming boxes are subject to kitty inspection...

Aren't these just too sweet?

Goodbye, Georgia mug, and safe journey to California!

Check out more cute stuff from GreySkiesBlue on Etsy!

The other awesome find on Etsy this past year--a baby black hole (with birth certificate) that shipped across the pond from the UK!

Perfect to cheer up my Georgia BFF after eye surgery!

Holiday Santa-tizer

Last year I got all ambitious for my co-worker's Christmas gifts.  This year... not so much.  But I had to be at least a little bit crafty, so with the inspiration of the "Hand Stanta-tizer" idea found through Pinterest, I came up with my own low-budget gift that kept the wonderfully lame Santa pun.

This is an oddly appropriate gift for work right now since the crud has been going around campus for the past few weeks!