News!

I am excited to announce that I’ve been invited to write with a WONDERFUL group of women at Craft Critique.  I met the Editor-in-Chief Sarah Moore and Executive Editor Simone Collins while chitchatting with fellow crafters at past Chicago Craft Socials.  They’re the funniest, quirkiest, more talented ladies I have met in a long time.  I’m just giddy and so honored that they asked me to join the group. 

Craft Critique is a collaborative effort that reviews/showcases just about every aspect of the craft world.  Want to know more about that expensive pair of scissors before you buy them?  Check the site and you’ll see a real hands-on review providing the pros and cons of each item.  The reviews are honest and written by ladies who really took the time to try them and put them to the test.  I am a big fan of the clear pictures and consistent reporting format.

I’ll be almost like the resident “Fabric/Needlearts” girl, as that’s where my talents lie.  I’m hoping to include other topics as well, such as social media, photography, event reports, book reviews and home DIY.

I’ve got some great topics already drafted, and once they post I will tease them right here at FuzzySheep Crafts. If anyone has ideas they’d like covered or a product they’d like reviewed, please send me an email and I’ll help!  I think this would be a great opportunity for some of my fellow “yarnies” to help get their name out there (spinners, dyers, Etsy shops!)

So, what products or topics are you interested in reading about?

Tweakin’

Just a little note to let you know that I will be tweaking the blog here and there.  I never really load my own blog, but did so today and noticed that it’s running super slow.  I am taking off alot of the tweaks and little enhancements and hopefully that will help it.  I know it’s my coding that is the culprit, so I am going to work on them to run more efficiently. 

Have any suggestions, comments, thoughts for me?  Things you’d like to see?

Major Award

Okay, so I am totally tooting my own horn here:  I have been crowned by those "in the know" over at Blue Sky Alpacas as the BEST TOY TEST KNITTER!!!

I didn't know it was a contest - but I WON!

Apparently, I have a real knack for making the little beings come to life with facial expressions and my attention to detail.

Pretty awesome, right?

*I was just told this in passing, it's nothing seriously official, but it is so super nice to be recognized and to have some acknowledgment!

Happy Valenine’s Day

This week is the Chaos Twins’ Valentines parties at preschool.  I have to send 32 valentines cards with each kid, plus some sort of little treat for my little monkies to toss into paperbags at school and then let them bring more of the crap home and get sugared up.  This bugs me to no end.  Seriously.  I think I will join the League of Evil Moms after this.  At the very least, I will join the Society of Cheap-Ass Moms.  I spent a whopping EIGHTY CENTS on this lovely box of Valentine’s schmoozy crap at the party supply depot.  Wait.  What?  Did you catch that?  Let me zoom in on that for ya…Yeah, you saw that right.  Happy VALENINE’S Day.  A new holiday for me to buy crap for?  Maybe they meant to do that, and are trying to imply that the poor little monkey has a speech impediment of some kind?  I’m all for typos, but typos on finished products that make it to the shelves bug me.  And the asshats even put it as the largest image on the back of the box as the “here’s the actual size” shot.

I got what I paid for, didn’t I?

Fun in the Snow

Blizzard of Feb. 2011

 While we were trying to shovel ourselves out, LittleMiss wanted to have some fun in the snow.

Snow Angel!

Of course, Daddy had to get in on the fun too! 

Yarn Wrangling!

Whoa!

Remember this Monstrous pile of Spud-n-Chloe yarn still in the hanks?Well, I have spent the last 3 days or so winding those hanks into useable balls every time I had a free moment.  Then I ran into a problem.  You see, there are 17 (or maybe more!) colors there and I need to use them in little increments at a time.  And this is crochet project, and I crochet at lightning speeds.  So that means I have to have all the colors close at hand and not be a tangled mess.

Monster Tamed!

I thought of using my old standby of sandwhich baggies – but, honestly, it’s kind of wasteful.  Besides, all I had in the house were the expensive ZipLoc ones rather than the cheap-o dollar sections ones, and we’re snowed in so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.  The solution came to me in the form of a stackable Sterlite organization basket I had laying around.  It’s totally genius, effective, simple and useable.   

I feel like a genius for this, but I fear y'all are laughing at me!

I simply have the balls of yarn stacked in there with the ends coming through the holes.  My little clip on LED light snaps right onto the handle, and when I am done with the project for a little bit, I just flip the loose ends coming from the holes up and over into the basket, toss my WIP on top and move it aside.  My husband likes this too, because if I leave a project out on the couch for any amount of time (even just a few minutes) he inevitable *HAS* to sit in that *EXACT* spot at just that *PRECISE* moment and wants to move my stuff.  Usually this results in a few huffs and puffs of annoyance on both our parts (mine because I don’t want the project disturbed/tangled and because he’s a guy and just isn’t gentle with things sometimes; his because he hates things out and cluttery.)

So my Super Secret Monstrous project is on it’s way, and any potential monster-like snarls have been tamed.  YAY!

What do you think?