Friday, June 22, 2012

Etsy!

I now have an Etsy shop called GingerOutlet. Do you get the puns? I am a ginger, and the shop is sort of an outlet for my creativity. :) I know it is kind of lame to explain it, but I thought you all as my faithful readers should know all the backstory.
So, if you are ever around Esty, check me out! Right now I am selling catnip (Well, in a few hours, I will be selling catnip), so if you have a cute kitty, they absolutely love the stuff. It is fresh from our garden, dried, and packaged adorably, of course. ;)

Crewel Embroidery

Here we are! Finally, I have a picture of the embroidery I did for my mom. :) She loved it, and I love that she loved it. ;)
What do you think?

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

An Offering of Thanks-Graduation Poem

For our graduation, my friend and I volunteered to plan and play music, and give the offering of thanks at the very end. I debated about what we should do-since there were two of us speaking, most of what we spoke would need to be planned, otherwise it would probably sound cheesy and girly and pretty sentimental. ;) Plus, I felt like tag-teaming at something as huge as our graduation wasn't an option. The light-bulb flickered on and I went on a search for a graduation "thank-you" poem. I couldn't find one. Now, I will be the first to admit that I am not very internet-searching savvy, but I did not reveal any poems in my search. So I wrote one. Feel free to borrow it if you wish, but remember all the plagerism stuff they taught you in middle school. :) How would you feel if you were the author?

It is meant to be in two speaking parts since there were two of us, so I will include those, but it can also be spoken as one piece.

#1: I dream of heaven,
     At night when I close my eyes.

#2: God's given us a tiny taste of it
      In these young years of our lives.
      In happy times, in challenging
      Moments when He pulls us through,

#1: But most of all He's shown us love,
      And grace and heaven in you.
      Thank you for the time you've given-
      For sharing wisdom in your arts.
      For teaching us and helping us
      To grow with God inside our hearts.

#2: The knowledge you've imparted
      We'll take with us as we go,
      But before we say our last farewells,
      There is one thing you should know:

#1& 2: For every lesson taught,
           Our desire to learn has grown.
           We thank you for preparing us
            To set out on our own.

            We pray we'll be a light
             To all those in our path.
             Just like you are lamps and beacons
             Shining now and in our past.

             Thank you all!


Written By: Alexis Piscatello

Quirky Octagons Back on Track~"Project UFO"

I am so thankful for bloggers. :)

I undid all my work (admittedly, I did wait a couple weeks so that I wouldn't take my frustration out on the pieces...) and have restarted the stitching. It looks SO much better. I am glad I have a wise mother who "advised" me to take out the messier stitching and redo my work. I am excited for the final product. So far I have one row done-nine more to go, and my "UFO" will be complete!!!!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Jacobian Pomegranate Final Product!

The past couple weeks I have been busily finishing up high school. I have also completed my crewel embroidery piece! I took it to the dry cleaners and they did a splendid job of blocking and cleaning it. Honestly, I was a little hesitant to do all of that myself. I am so glad we have dry cleaners!

After my project, all clean and beautiful, returned home, I went to Michael's and picked out mattes and a frame with my mom. Little did she know it would be a surprise for her on Mother's Day!

We were unable to have the frame completed by Mother's Day, so I kept the piece so I could actually give her something, and today I officially bought the frame and mattes, and the final product should be finished in a few weeks! I will post pictures when it comes back in splendid glory. :)

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Crafty Bag!

Hola! Remember the crafty bag I made several months ago? At the same time I made others in different colors. I ended up giving them all away, as per usual, but I found one this week, and I think it will be an excellent addition to the county fair. ;)

I really like the colors of this one, so I am glad I was left with it. :) It is interesting working with cotton yarn again after crocheting with the acrylic yarn for my blanket. It likes to stick to the hook and pulls through with a lot of grip required. :)

Anyways, thought I would keep you updated. Does this count as a Project UFO?

Quirky Octagons~"Project UFO's"

Here is how much I have completed of my blanket! A whole row and a half. It took me such a long time to connect the pieces and change yarns for each little side.

I HAVE TO TAKE IT ALL OUT.


Let's let that sink in a little bit.

ALL OF IT. IT HAS TO BE REDONE.


Can you believe it? After all my work, I must painstakingly remove each square from its octagon and each octagon from its square. Why? Because I have never put together anything like granny squares, and the front must look like the back, but when I sewed the pieces together it left the bottom with a ridge and the top with a slight pucker. I am sure I puckered my lips into a bit of a pout when I heard this. After all, it was a lot of work. However, if I fix it, it will be an extraordinary accomplishment. :) So, here I go to take out my work. See you all in the future.