BEARS! BEARS! BEARS!

Just a super quick post before I head out to work for the day! Here are some of the bears I made a few weeks ago for a craft show that my mom and I did. I finally managed to write down my pattern, which made crocheting these puppies go fairly quickly. The part that always ends up taking me forever is dressing them, anyway. There was felt and ribbon allll over our living room floor. I'm a really really messy worker. 

All but one of these little ladies (the very last, coral colored one) still need homes! You can find them in the shop!

Have a good Saturday, everyone! And if you're out Christmas shopping today- please please please, be kind and patient with us retail workers!

Lil' Rug

It's DONE! I recently finished the little rug I was working on and I'm really happy with how it came out.

I wrote a post about making it over at Counting By 12s, as it was part of my Make Instead of Buy challenge! Go read it!

Happy All The Holidays A Few Weeks Late

Did you all have a good holiday season? I sure hope so. It feels like it all flew by in such a flurry of family and food. We spent Christmas Eve with Adam's family at his parent's house and we welcomed our new little nephew, Apollo. He was so tiny and beautiful and I can't wait to see all the ways he'll have changed the next time we see him.

We did secret Santa for all the adults in Adam's family. I got his sister and made her a little "spa kit" of sorts. I made her two scrubs and a bath tea, crocheted her a few facecloths and a basket, which ended up not being heavy enough to hold the jars (duh!), but I just gave it to her alongside the other stuff.

(L to R: Lemon & Thyme Salt Scrub, Lavender-Lemon-Mint Bath Tea, Vanilla & Olive Oil Sugar Scrub)

Oh! And I was finally able to give her the baby blanket that I made for Apollo, since I wasn't able to make it the baby shower. 

We spent Christmas day at my mom's and had lots of tasty snacks and listened to metal and soul music. It was really great and relaxing. I made my mom a table runner of sorts. I just realized that I didn't take a picture of it all stitched together, but here is one of it all laid out before I started:

I'll just have to make sure that I get a picture of it on her table sometime. 

And well, just like that it's a new year. Crazy how time flies, isn't it? I'm very excited to see what this year will bring. I have a good feeling about it.

Tis the season (for now at least)

The past few nights have been cool and we've been able to turn off our fans, which, to me, means that it's cool enough to pick up some yarn and crochet.

So I've gotten started on a project that doesn't need to be finished until December but it's going quickly and I'm taking advantage of any cool nights and days. Especially since this is Maine and for all I know the next couple weeks could be hot!

And actually, by "gotten started" I  mean giving up entirely on another project and crocheting because apparently my ability to knit lies in the same part of my brain as my ability to do math - which is nowhere. WTF, knitting?

Oh and can we talk for a moment about my nail polish. Those of you who know me in real life and spend any time with me have probably been in a store with me when I'm on a gold glitter polish hunt. I wanted the tackiest, most glitteriest yellowy gold and I was starting to think I'd never find it! So, thank you, good people of Sally Hansen and Prabal Gurung for making Gilded Lily. 

Shop Re-Opening & Ada Little Bear

Well, after being closed for what seemed like an eternity, the S. Jane Etsy shop is back open! There are only a few items in there right now while I sort though some things and take new photos and all that jazz...but it's back!

One new item in the shop is this little cutie:

Don't you just want to love her and have her live in your house? I thought you might, so just click on the shop link at the top left of the page!

Little Bear for Iris

This past Friday one of the managers where I work gave birth to her first child, a little girl named Iris. I had started this little bear for her many months ago, funnily enough, in purple-y colors before I knew what she was going to name her. I finished her up today thanks to some cooler weather. Or well, at least not humid weather. Does anyone else totally cringe at the thought of touching yarn in the summer time? No? Ok, well anyway, here she is!

I really hope that Michelle (the moma) likes her and that someday when Iris is bigger she will like her too!

# 16

I got this book a few weeks ago and now I'm back on the doily train - which I like to imagine is really fancy. This pattern is number 16 in the book and was stitched in Martha Stewart Crafts cotton hemp yarn in picnic green.

A handmade wedding - some decor

As a lot of you know, Adam and I got married six months ago. We received a disc of the wedding photos from our lovely photographer, Erin, on Friday. Since then I have been anxious to make a post about the handmade elements of our wedding and a few tips for those of you doing the same. So! Let's do this!

Like I already mentioned, all photos were taken by Erin of a love supreme. If you need photos for your special day, engagement, portraits, whatever - I super mega totally recommend her! I'm lucky to be currently working with her on a project and she is just the greatest! She is based in Maine but is looking to travel.

The first thing I have to say about having a lot of handmade things in your wedding is: enlist as much help as possible. It's really easy to think that you can do it all yourself, but trust me, you probably can't without losing your mind. Plus your friends and family will most likely be excited that you've asked them to help with such a special day.



The little birds in the glasses were all sewn by me using this pattern from Spool. I designed the fabric and had it printed on a cotton/linen blend through Spoonflower . The patterns matched the patterns used on our save the dates and invites. The birds were wedding favors and had little tags around their necks to let people know where to sit.



The napkins, oooh the napkins! My mom sewed all of them! After months of sending me swatches of fabrics she was collecting I picked three that I really liked and she got to work. I'm not sure how many she ended up making, but I think she is going to make Adam and I a quilt with them.

We spent months collecting pieces of milk glass and other glass pieces in the wedding colors for the tables. Big discovery - milk glass vases cost about $2-$3 less at Goodwill/Salvation Army per vase here in Eugene than they did in Maine. Weird, huh?

The lanterns were purchased from Luna Bazaar. Some of the colors were kind of off from what they were supposed to be, but in the end, it really didn't matter at all. My brothers hung all of them and they did such an amazing and creative job. I think I suggested how they hang one set of them and the rest was all them and perfect! Thing I have to say #2: you don't need to be in control of everything. Trust your helpers and remember, if something doesn't get done - your guests totally aren't going to notice unless you tell them!



Remember all those crochet pieces I was making in the spring? I crocheted about 100 pieces in different shapes and sizes. That is, and isn't a lot of pieces. This brings me to the third thing I have to say: be flexible with your design ideas. You'll more than likely have to change or completely throw out some of your ideas. And I promise you, it won't ruin your day! My initial idea for the crochet pieces was completely different than what we used them for but in the end, I think they looked great and some people even took some home with them.




These garlands were my mom's idea and what a great one! She sneakily started collecting paint swatches in the wedding colors, which is really not hard for her. The woman L-O-V-E-S paint chips. We sat my dad down with a glass of wine and some paper punches and set him to work punching out shapes. Then my mom, dad and brothers took turns sewing the pieces together and creating the garlands.



My brothers also made these tissue paper garlands. (I can't remember the site we got the pattern from right now!) They hung them from the trees outside of the hall where we had the reception. They looked so pretty! They also made flowers for the tables and my friend and bridesmaid DeAnne and I made some fabric ones.



The last thing I am going to share in this post is the drink stirrers that we enlisted my dad to put together. I don't think he hated this project, but I'm also not sure he loved it. We made them from crepe streamers, bamboo skewers and floral tape. Oh, and we also made the delicious sangria!

I'm going to do another post after the holiday about a few more wedding things. I hope that for those of you planning your own wedding my little suggestions are helpful. I know it can be stressful! And if anyone needs any ideas, I still have SO many!

Oh, and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Fall Bear

I made this bear last week for a swap. She came out so cute that I almost didn't want to send her! Maybe I will make some more soon. 

One of my best friends from Maine came to visit the west coast for a week. She spent a few days in PDX with another friend and then a few days here in Eugene. It was so fun having her around and I miss her lots already.

Granny squares, a little hike and motion sickness.

Yesterday was a great day. We got up, had some breakfast and then went for a little hike on one of the Fox Hollow Trails. It was great weather and the trail was so pretty. The forest here is so magical and green and mossy and not buggy.

When we got home I decided to try crocheting in the hammock. Just a heads up. Crocheting while sitting in a hammock can make you motion sick! Or, well, can make me motion sick. Looking down while swinging slightly side to side = NO GOOD.

I hadn't actually made any small granny squares before, only started an afghan that is like one giant one. I've made eight different squares and today decided on a layout. 

It looks pretty crazy like that, but it's not reaaaally going to look like that anyway. It kind of gives me a headache to look at for too long. Well I must get back to my granny squares and watching Nip/Tuck with my bro-in-law.

Well.

I'm not so sure about this knitting thing. I think that I like it but I also think that the last thing I need is another craft to get all excited about right now.

I started this sampler scarf from the Lion Brand website on Sunday. It was a lazy day, even more so than hammock party 2k10 on Saturday. Adam, Paul and I watched Terminator 2, which I had never seen and then I got Paul sucked into watching Nip/Tuck with me. The show is so ridiculous that I feel like it's a small victory that someone is willing to sit through it with me. Anyway, back to scarf/knitting... I like how it's looking, but I'm already losing a bit of interest because, uh, I don't wear scarves. I do love the yarn I'm using though. It's left over Berroco Comfort that I had left over from all the crocheting I did for our wedding.

In other exciting news! My all time favorite Casie has a video up on the Mutual of Omaha site about her aha moment. Check it out here!

All dyeing all the time.

I got to learn something new on Friday! My friend Morgan came over to hang out and decided to bring over supplies to dye some yarn. I had no idea she was bringing it over so it was an awesome surprise. It's something I have been thinking about a lot lately and had been meaning to ask her about so yeah, like I said, awesome surprise!

Those are the skeins we dyed. It was a lot of fun and my fingers turned the blackest black ever. I'm so excited I learned how to do this and I really want to try it again soon!

Ok, now Adam and I are off to finally look at wedding rings!