Make These For Valentine's Day

I love these felt roses from Spending Less Living More.  They were linked on this post of crafty Valentine ideas from Craft Gossip.

I also love these Valentine marshmallows from The Decorated Cookie.  They were linked here on Craft Gossip.

And, nothing to do with Valentine's Day but also on Craft Gossip is Denise's latest free embroidery pattern round-up.

I love Craft Gossip.

Make A Cute Valentine Pillow

I love this cute little love heart pillow from Lynn B [link via Craft Gossip].

Another Reason To Get Off My Butt And Make Something

Well, I'm still sitting at my computer, trying to get caught up with some blog reading.

Over at The Inkling Network is a tutorial to make a cute little baby owl brooch link via The Owl Barn.

And, now it's time for a rant:  Why can't Blogger set it up so that each link opens in a new window?!?!  God, this annoys me.

Also for Blogger:  why won't links work in preview mode anymore?  Maybe I'm the exception but I like to check my links before hitting Publish to make sure they work AND open in a new window and now I can't do that.

Ok, I feel better now.

UPDATE 9/24/15:  I can't believe I am doing this.  I'm updating this post from January 2011 because the link for the tutorial for the cute owl brooch no longer works.  THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD ALWAYS PRINT EVERYTHING OUT!!

You can find the link to the owl brooch tutorial as of 9/24/2015 here.

Get Off Your Butt, Patty

I just read over at Craft Gossip that Aimee Ray is doing an embroidery stitch-a-long over at Lark Crafts and thought if only I could transfer some patterns using the stick-your-design-in-the-window-and-trace-it-with-a-pencil method right now and then I realized it wasn't 2 AM like it usually is when I'm online but only 2:30 PM and really sunny out (and 79 degrees!) so I should get up from this chair and go trace some patterns on to my fabric.

OMG, the free patterns are so cute!  You can read more about the SAL on this post.

Lucy Video

This has nothing to do with embroidery or anything I made. I just needed a place to post a video of Lucy doing her scary tail thing so I can share it with some people.

My January TUSAL Update

Today in the New Moon so here's a picture of my 2011 ORTs jar for the Totally UselessStitch-A-Long.  The jar is on the left.  The dog on the right is Lucy.  It's Lucy's and Pumpkin's fault that my jar is empty because I haven't embroidered or cross stitched since these two were adopted about a month ago.  I've showered a few times and once I cut my toenails but other than babysitting the two little darlings, there isn't much else going on with me right now.

If you're my Facebook friend, you may have thought I was close to a breakdown over these dogs last night because of what I posted on my wall.  I had reached my limit with Lucy going after Pumpkin.  One minute they're playing and everybody is happy with tails wagging and the next minute Lucy growls and snarls at Pumpkin because Pumpkin walked by Lucy's blanket.  I actually uttered the words "maybe Lucy needs a new home" to my mom because I was thinking she might need to be in an only dog household.  The fact that I even said that out loud really shocked me.  I suddenly felt like one of those loser pet owners who I've complained about or rolled my eyes at because they decided to get rid of their dog for some stupid reason.  Like the ones who were now empty nesters and wanted to travel the world so poor 11 yr old Fido was dumped at a shelter.  Or because they were moving on Saturday and if the rescue group didn't help them find a new home for their dog on Friday, well, it was going to the pound.  Last night I actually saw a classified ad for an 8 month old Shih Tzu who was being given up because "we got her after being told she was house trained but she isn't and no one here has the time to do it."[insert scream here]

 I spent a few hours reading up on dog behavior online and also emailed a bunch of my dog-rescue friends and those that have adopted shelter dogs to ask for advice.  I'm convinced that Lucy & Pumpkin hacked into AOL last night and read that email because today was practically perfect with them.  They played as much as usual but it didn't get too rough that often, and when it did, they took breaks and had little cat naps.  I don't think I heard anything other than a play grow all day.  Pumpkin even pooped in the garage and didn't even try to snack on it.  Yay, Pumpkin! 

I know we still have a ways to go until things are how they should be and we will work with a trainer as soon as I find the right one but today really was a good day.  I think my frustration is born out of a lack of sleep and not being able to make anything for over a month.  Seriously.  Laugh if you want but sticking a needle and thread through fabric calms me and relaxes me and makes me happy.  It's like your Prozac.  And, her pot.  And you over there passed out in a drunken stupor, your vodka.  Crafting and Maggie are pretty much what kept me sane the past few years and now I don't have either one.  But I can start crafting again and now instead of Maggie, I have Lucy and Ethel Pumpkin to keep me from sticking my head in the oven.  (I just wanted to use the strike key in Blogger's new editor.  And somebody PLEASE tell me they fixed it so you can set your links to open in new windows without manually adding the code yourself, which is a major pain in the ass and one reason I don't post as many links as I used to.) 

In related news, I have a $15 gift card to blow on iTunes which ranks right up there with dogs and crafting on the things-that-make-me-happy scale so I am off to do that.

If you'd like to join the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long yourself, please check Sharon's blog.

And, in honor of the TUSAL here's the New Moon on Monday video from Duran Duran.

It's Two, Two Posts In One Day

Wow, my second post of the day. And year. How unlike me.

Remember the Totally Useless Stitch A Long aka TUSAL? I started it last year and then abandoned it at some point. (It was February. How sad is that?) Which makes no sense because it's fun and brainless. (Just like I like my men. Har, har.) You don't even have to stitch anything. All you need to do is save your floss ends or ORTs, stick them in a jar and share a picture of it once a month, on the day of the new moon.

Yoyo, who used to organize it, has disappeared from Blog Land (I hope she's ok, she was a nice lady) but the wonderful Sharon over at It's Daffycat has stepped in to be the official keeper of the TUSAL. If you want to join in, go leave some Sharon comments on this post. Make sure you do it before the 4th of January because that's not only the first day to post a picture of your jar, but you will also qualify to win fabulous prizes at the end of the year if you post every month.

Here's a picture of my TUSAL jar as of last February. It's now full so I plan to start a new one and share a photo of it on every New Moon, even if it's always empty because I have two canine toddlers who never let me do anything but supervise them.



And, now I am off to make minestrone soup. And babysit the devil dogs.

Shhh, The Dogs Are Sleeping

I started on this last night and didn't get to finish because I had to put two dogs to bed. I swear, this is like having toddlers.

Happy New Year to my three faithful readers!! I hope your holidays were merry and bright, and your New Year's Eve hangover is gone by the time you read this. I figured I'd get in a little blogging while the dogs are napping at my feet. (Yes, Virginia, Ambien does work on dogs.)

Little Miss Shabby is doing a cute embroidery block-of-the-month called Birdie Stitches. You can see the layout for the quilt here and the supply list here. The first block is up on this post.
I love this embroidery freebie of Lulu and her dog, Bear, from Gina at Spot Colors.

That reminds me: I have one little dog who you take out and tell her to "go potty" and she does exactly that. I have another little dog who likes to poop on the pile of pattern printouts on my bedroom floor and then eat it. Lovely. Maybe she's telling me to put those patterns away. Actually, she has only done this once. The pooping on my papers part, not the eating part. She hasn't eaten her last two poops though so maybe she is getting over it.

I'd like to thank anyone who has continued to read this post up until this post.

Over at Tipnut, is a list of links to tutorials to make 24 softies. If I ever get a chance, I will actually go through that list. And, then pigs will fly.

Did anyone watch the Rose Parade? I had it on earlier and realized we (my sister, her friend and I) went to see it in person 31 years ago when I was 16. Frank Sinatra was the Grand Marshal. It amazes me how it never seems to rain during the parade. According to Bob Eubanks, it has rained twice for the parade (I honestly don't remember that) and both times they had a Supreme Court Justice as the Grand Marshal. Interesting.