The Cutest Snowmen On the Planet

Once upon, say, two years ago or so, I happened upon these adorable snowmen on the Dapper Toad blog. I made some immediately, more last year, and even more this week. Why do I keep making more of them? Because they are the cutest snowmen ever to exist, and they are ridiculously easy to whip up in a pinch. 

There are several blogs I love to read, including Skip to My Lou. Cindy Hopper has some of the best crafting ideas, and her series on teaching children to sew is what first caught my attention. My eleven-year-old daughter wants to learn to sew, which makes me so happy and proud, and Cindy's tutorials and photos really encouraged my eldest daughter to learn. Now, my other three girls are anxiously awaiting their turns to learn.

Recently, Cindy posted a request to her Facebook fan page concerning a large project involving crocheted items. I happily volunteered my information when she asked for anyone in her following that could crochet, and I received a lovely email about a truly creative and massive undertaking: designing a Christmas tree decorated with only crocheted items. The catch: those of us participating (about 35 or so ladies all across the globe) only had about 1.5 weeks to craft our items and ship them to her. Guess what I made? You got it! Snowmen! Twelve, in fact, but I only grabbed a quick iPhone snap of one of each color. I ran out of time to embroider the faces and arms, but they are still so adorable.  I cannot wait to see the finished project.

A New Baby Afghan

My eldest daughter's teacher recently welcomed a lovely little girl into her family, and I am making her a beautiful afghan from hexagonal crochet motifs. This is the center, as of now. I may make more of these depending on how the design comes together. I am making it up as I go along.

Upcycling a Rug

I saw an interesting article on Pinterest about upcycling, so I thought I'd give it a try. This particular rug was crocheted from a full sheet I bought at Goodwill for $2. I will add more photos as I continue to embellish this rug with a colored border and flowers for my big girls, per their request. I have two more sheets, so I think a larger, perhaps rectangular, rug is also in the works.

Tragedy

The hearts and prayers of my family go out to anyone affected by the Connecticut school shooting and scared parents all over the country. We will pray for these beautiful children, their families, their friends, their teachers, their administrators, and their community. We will also pray for an end to the most despicable type of violence: that against children. Please pray for our country and these families and hug your own family a little tighter today.

Big Things Are Coming

It's time for a blog makeover, I think.

Since I have been so busy with my girls and moving and all that goes with it, I have been horribly remiss in updating anything anywhere.  Well, other than Facebook.  It is my guilty pleasure.

Please be on the look-out for all sorts of knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, and paper-crafting updates.  I love to craft, and I am so excited to finally be back at it and sharing it with others.  In addition, I am trying to sort out how to sell my digital cutting files and knitting patterns here on the blog.

Have a blessed and enjoyable day!

My Poor, Neglected Craft Blog

Life has decided that my crafting days are altered from times past.  For now, my scrapbooking stash and beloved Pazzles are safely tucked away in boxes in our walk-in closet in our tiny apartment.  Until we get into a new house here in Maryland, after that long move from Minnesota, that is perhaps where my scrapping gear will stay, sadly.  I promise not to neglect my beloveds for too long, though, because I miss them terribly.

For now, I guess I will just have to share my knitting and crochet designs and products.  I have been knitting up a storm since moving here.  There is a delightful yarn store nearby that I love, and I got to attend the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May.  What an experience!

In addition to my knitting and crocheting, I have continued to sew and do photography.  In fact, I am in the process of cutting out all the pieces to make my two eldest daughters the coolest big girl quilts in big girl fabric. My photography is going quite well, and I even have my very own website: Noyes Photography.  As long as I get the opportunity to be creative in some fashion on a regular basis, I will be content.

My Crafting Life Has A Pulse

Currently, that pulse is found in knitting, but I have a crafting pulse again.  Wow, when God throws transition at us, He throws us a curve ball.  At least we are relocated now, my family is reunited, and we can move forward again.

I have not gotten the opportunity to scrapbook in months, and it is starting to take its toll.  I did buy some new paper for my birthday, though, and I have been cooking up new ideas for diecut designs.  With TSI not selling files now, I guess I will have to sort out a way to sell my own files and custom-made machine covers.  Perhaps an Etsy store will suffice.  I could even add some of my knitted creations for those people who have requested them.  Oh, the possibilities.  Stay tuned.

So Much Life, So Little Crafting

Man, this whole single mom shindig is really vexing.  I have not had the time to craft at all since June, and it is absolutely killing me.  For now, I am sticking to knitting and photography in my tiny bits of time when the girls are all four asleep or I have hired a sitter.  At least there is an end in sight: we are moving in six weeks!

First Layout

This was the first layout I got done this weekend:

Two New Files

These are the two files I have made so far this weekend, and I am sure there will be more to come.

I'm crafting again! Woo hoo!

I cannot wait to make some cute new files to share, because I am finally getting in a little time to craft this weekend.  Yay for my in-laws' help! 

June N'Titled Files

UPDATE: My files are available through my Etsy store. Thank you!

It sounds like June is our last month for the N'Titled program, so I guess it is finally time for me to get the rest of my files converted and actually uploaded to the store. Please be patient with me on this, as I am currently a single mother of four girls under nine and trying to sell our house.  I am hoping to have a little more file-making time once school is out for the summer.

Until I get the rest of my files posted, here are my contributions for the June N'Titled collection:

I made, at the very least, forty of the dinosaur files for my girls' valentines in February, and the "The Road..." has been used in several scrapbooks of my own and those of friends.  I have plans for "My Girl," as well.  As always, my files are available as jpg, svg, eps, wpc, ai, and gsd.  These files can be used on a Pazzles, Cricut Expression with SCAL, Black Cat, KNK, CraftROBO, Silhouette, Wishblade, etc.

May N'Titled Has Been Released

May N'Titled files are up in the store now!  There was a late start to this month, so there was a slight delay in the posting and delivery of the set this month.  There are a lot of fun files in there:

I have two files included in this month's set:

So Much Happening

I have been so busy packing that I haven't had the chance to post for several days.  All my scrapping stuff is packed away in a storage unit except for the necessities to work on my book about our trip to England and France.  It might be a bit of a struggle to hide my Pazzles and its accessories while I'm showing the house, but I think I can manage.  :)

Thanks to two dear friends, I have an upstairs that is almost completely packed and a great start on the downstairs.  It won't be long before I get the house on the market!  If nothing else, I invited a few friends over to hang out on Saturday night, so I'll have plenty of motivation to get the house presentable by then.  I wish I could have everyone over at once, but I just don't have the room for them.  I have to host in shifts.  lol

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend and has a gloriously blessed week!

Afternoon Funnies

My husband and I could not stop laughing today, because our six year-old daughter was watching Cars and singing along with the songs.  Our two favorite phrases were, "Float like a Cadillac, sting like a beaver," and "Get your chicks on Route 66."  I am still laughing right now.  I love my kids!

April N'Titled is Ready

I tried to vary my designs a bit more this month, so they may not seem like they go together.  We have had a tradition of buying the girls new dresses on Easter (or digging out the ones that are new to them in whichever size they're wearing), so I knew I had to include a title which reflects this common practice.

Since I was trying to stay a little more universal, I opted for a really useful yet unique version of a common title for my second file:

Finally, my last file truly reflects the craziness in our home right now:

Here is a preview of the entire collection for April:

As always, the N'Titled files are available in the following formats: ai, wpc, svg, eps, jpg, gsd, knk.  Not all files include each format, but there will always be a compatible version (usually ai or eps) that can just as easily be imported.

Contemplating April's Designs

There is a lot going on in my house right now.  My husband lost his job, got a new one in 5.5 days, and now he's moving to Baltimore, Maryland without us.  I have to remain in Minnesota to sell the house and let our girls finish out the school year.  We're most likely here for another six months without him. 

That being said, I have several hats to add to my collection once my husband leaves: cook, bather, handywoman, etc.  I don't know how single mothers manage, because I'm already worried about everything, and he hasn't even left yet.  Yikes!  I have a feeling my April files will reflect the work to be done in his absence.

Guess What I Saw

Last night, I was scrapbooking with some girlfriends at our local scrapbook store, and I came across something very interesting hanging in the die cut area...

Do these designs look familiar?  That limited commercial license is coming in handy for my friend Patti.  She bought a used Pazzles Inspiration, I taught her how to get it going, and now she is a die-cutting queen.  Patti has taught card classes at this store for quite a while, so I'm not surprised to see her selling die cuts, and I'm quite pleased that mine are the first ones she chose.  Thanks Patti!

It's here! March N'Titled is here!

Here is the preview of March's N'Titled files at That's Scrap Inc.:

As always, each file contains versions for all cutters.  You will find gsd, svg, wpc, ai, knk, eps, and jpg versions of most files.  I believe I am the only one who does not included knk files, as I don't own their software, but I do include eps and ai versions that are easily imported into the knk software.  The current month is available fro $10, and any previous month is available for $15.  There are membership deals offered, as well, where you can pay ahead for a few months and download the new files as soon as they're ready.

Sidelined and Sidetracked

So, my newest project has gotten sidelined for a little while. I've gotten distracted by the pile of pictures from our trip to England and France in June 2009. Yes, I just got them printed. On the plus side, I had a handful of scrapbook pages ready and waiting for the printed photos.

As it is, I got sidetracked from both projects this evening. Instead of cutting out my new file or scrapping more of our European vacation, I sat down and designed my contributions for the March N'Titled membership at That's Scrap Inc. Have a look:

 As always, my files are available in jpg, eps, WPC, AI, GSD, and svg.