So - It has been awhile . . .

Much longer than I realized! So much has been going on I quite literally did not have a moment to post an update until just now!  Since February, Spring arrived and with it much house and yard work to do.  I taught 10 Cake Decorating Classes, and attended a training seminar for Wilton instructors in the area.  Worked my regular 8-5 job each week, with several hours of overtime thrown in there.  Participated and performed in my local Church's production of "Women at the Well".  Decorated many cakes (some of which were for hire!) and welcomed my parents home after a four year stint in the Mission Field.  Since their return in July, the house has been turned inside out with redecorating and remodeling, moving things about and settling in, planning for a "Homecoming" party that included over a hundred guests and a week long trip to the Pacific Northwest.


I'm working on posts with photos from these activities and will hopefully be able to post them soon.  Until then here's a little taste of what is to come.

One of my Patriotic Cakes

PARADISE!!!!

The end of Christmas

The following two were done for my siblings and their spouses. They are very different and challenged me in different ways. The first was for the Murris. It's called Blackwork (for obviously reasons) but I cheated a bit and added burgundy colored beads instead of black. They're room is white, black and red so that's why I decided to do this one for them.

This was for the Westergards. It's inspired from a Thomas Kincade original, who they really enjoy. It used some metallic threads that made the lights look sparkly.

Ornaments Galore

I made an ornament for each of my family members from Parents to still in-utero (at the time) nieces.
For Papa #1

For Mama #1

For Brother #1

For Brother-in-Law #1

For Sister-in-Law #1

For Sister #1



For Nephew #1

For Niece #1

For Nephew #2

For Niece #2

For Nephew #3

For Niece #3

For Niece #4

Christmas Day Collection

This year I spent the holiday with the Borg Family - Dad, Mom, 4 Children, 2 Children-In-Law, and new Puppy. I was able to create and finish them all with supplies I mostly already had, I just had to get a couple of small things.

First up are the Parents. A Christmas tree of snowflakes, different types of fibers and beads. Fun and quite pretty I think.

Next up is Child #4. The hat and scarf are made from granny squares, an experiment that could not have turned out better. I had no idea about size and was worried it would be too big or too small, it was neither, it was perfect! Also and little cross-stitch ornament.



Child #1's gift can be seen in my previous post.

What's this, you ask? Another successful experiment.


A crochet Checkerboard and Checkers :)

This one was for Child #2 and spouse, red and blue being the favorite colors. I also made one for Child #3 and spouse, this time green and purple. It got away before I remembered to take a photo. Understandable since I was pretty much working on it up until it was unwrapped. I also made an ornament for each of the the couples.

Long Over Due Update

In August/September 2010 I moved back to Logan, mainly to become the care taker of the family home while my Parents finish their mission. It took a couple of months, but I finally procured full time employment the week of Thanksgiving. I'm now working for a company called Conservice, they are a third party utility billing company, I'm a member of the Transition Team. It's kind of hard explaining what we do, but you can find more about them here. As mention is a previous post I'm also teaching cake decorating classes. So far I've just taught one, which went really well. I hope to teach more in the future as well.

Besides a continual job search, and going to several interviews, I found other ways to entertain myself during my unemployment stage. First off my ward asked me to participate in several activities/callings. I am the pianist for the Ward Choir, teaching Relief Society, and a Visiting Teaching Supervisor. I was also asked to help plan the Relief Society Christmas party. At home I kept myself busy puttering around the house and yard, and doing oodles and oodles of projects, most of which ended up as Christmas Gifts. One of my claims to fame in 2010 is that every project I had previous begun and started in 2010 I finished by the end of the year! Now that the holidays have past and gifts have been given I can share some of those projects that kept me busy.

First up is one for me. I found this pattern years ago and wanted to make it immediately, the specialty beads are fairly pricey so I didn't get around to it until this year. The pattern called for far more than the few birds and snowflake I got, but I'm happy with the results. I procured the supplies in early 2010 and worked on it through the year. It's not an awesome framing job, just done by me, and all the beading made it quite bumpy, later on I plan to smooth it out and make the finished look better.



Next up is an afghan I made for my friend Katie. When I first started this project I was knitting, but as I got into it I basically detested it and just left it idle for a couple of years. I decided I still wanted to do it, just differently, so I pulled apart all the knitting, and started anew with a crochet hook. The undoing doing a while since I'd already knit through a couple of skeins of yarn, but it was actually quite enjoyable! Once I was finished I started making granny squares. I enjoyed working on the reinvented project and am happy with the results. First up is a photo of an overall view, then a close up of the granny squares (I did three different ones), and last is a close up of the edging.





A few straggler projects have not yet reached their recipients, once they have I'll share more details. I don't want to spoil the surprise even though I am quite tardy in getting them delivered.

A Labor of Love

This year I was able to go to California for my Mother's birthday and this is what I made for her. I just so happens that the day I did the decorating was one of the hottest days in Ventura ever. Since the weather is usually mild and lovely most of the mission home doesn't have air conditioning (including the kitchen). It made the experience quite an adventure - luckily it didn't all melt! It tasted good and we all enjoyed it.

New Job

I am the newest Wilton Method Instructor at the Logan Hobby Lobby! The first class started this week as is so far going great. It's just very part time so I'm still working on getting something full-time. I am grateful to at least have this do in the mean time. The schedule is fairly flexible so I should easily be able to work something full-time in addition to this.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy around house cleaning, organizing, cooking, and finishing projects like crazy! Most of them are for the holidays so photos won't turn up for a little while . . .