Gym Time!

Ok, so I have decided that I have sat on my butt enough with all that fabulous knee stuff and decided that it was time to get into the gym and begin to shape a better body. The one I have right now is not too flattering. Anyway, I had been meeting with a trainer for the past 4 weeks and today, being the last of the free sessions, was torture day. I have to admit...I pushed myself harder on the elliptical machines than usual. But the weights! Oh the weights. I hate weight training. I would much rather be running on the elliptical machines, doing yoga or in the pool. I have to admit though, if I don't want that flabby arm situation that I have going on right now, weights is the way to go.

I was at the gym for about an hour and half; just going over all the machines we had used and what she expects of me when we're not meeting. Man, brutal. But I need brutal. I don't want a BMI of 28 which falls in between the "Fair" and "Poor" columns. Sad. I didn't know that you could be thin and have a bit of fat at the same time. Crazy! Well I want an excellent BMI reading by the time we go to Italy. Lets face it...the swim suit season is out until September. I am not going to kill myself like I did today. I got home, showered and a monster head ache showed up. You know the kind...the kind where not even Extra Strength Excedrin don't even touch. I love it! Can you feel the sarcasm yet?

Well, my problem with the whole gym thing is motivation. I want to go and work out and be thin and toned and all that...I just don't want to have to leave my nice warm house and do the work. Yeah, I am lazy when it comes to the gym. Well, Cal Fit has just built a brand spankin new gym not 5 minutes from my house. Now I have no excuse. That is where I have been going for the past month. It's going slow, but I don't want to injure anything...like my knee. If that goes, then the whole gym thing goes out the window. Don't want that.

Well, I figure that is enough griping about the gym. Other than the headache...I really like how I feel about an hour afterwards. Pretty good, minus headache. Well, that is all for me for now. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and a safe one too.

Christmas day is approaching fast!

With Christmas day approaching at what feels like record speeds, I am starting to feel that holiday stress. Between work, a crafting business and Christmas gifting...a girl could go grey in a hurry. Well, thank God for hair dye.

The marathon weekend of open houses and trunk shows behind me, I look at the last Christmas gift that I am working on...sitting there on the couch, beckoning me to finish it. Argh! And the knitting...going so slow. I hate the yarn I am using. It's too thick for the needles, but it will make a fabulously warm pair of slippers. I still have two orders to fill from the trunk show. Thank goodness they are easy things that make up fast.

I have discovered something though...if one crochets for too long, one starts to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Yikes! That awful feeling in your arm, right above your wrist. It feels like your tendons are screaming out "Stop the madness!" Well, that is where I am at this moment. Thank goodness that knitting doesn't use the same motions. I sold out of a lot of items at both events that now I have a bunch of catching up to do. Well, I have the warmer months for catch up. But still, that is a lot of crocheting and knitting. I feel very blessed to have sold a lot of items between public shows and Etsy. I made over $300 between the two shows. That should do nicely for our trip to Italy. Yeah, I decided that all my proceeds from these events will go into savings for our trip in September.

BEBPA, one of the other organizations I work for, is hosting it's second conference in Rome! I am so excited. Dennis and I will be spending three weeks over there. Exploring, attending Formula 1 races, shopping. Can't forget about shopping. See why I need to save every penny I can? I am really hoping and praying that I can get us some tickets to the F1 race. Pray for us and cross your fingers.

Well, I hope that this hectic season finds you all well. Take care and God bless!

Christmas Time is here and so is all the shopping

I can't believe that Christmas time is here again. So fast too. All the stores are decorated and Christmas music is playing in the background, while we shoppers dig through mountains of sales to find that one perfect gift. That is why I make most of my gifts every year. For the people who don't get handmade gifts...that is why God invented the Internet. Hello online shopping. I love the beauty of it...point, click, pay and it's on its way. Don't get me wrong, I love going to the malls and shopping with everyone, but there comes a time when I don't want to have to be with all those people.

Anyway, here is a great idea for all those people who live near the Sacramento area. On Friday, December 12, from 6-9pm, there will be a holiday open house at the Design Well Live Well Eco-boutique in Auburn. I and a few other vendors will be up there selling unique and handmade gifts. Come on up and find that perfect gift for that special someone.

I hope that this fast approaching holiday season finds you all well. Don't forget to check out Daisy Girl Creations or A La Main for that perfect gift or holiday decoration. Take care and good luck finding gifts for everyone on your list.

A Great New Store on Etsy

So my friend Michelle has started her new on line store at Etsy.com. And let me tell you, she has been making some awesome things. First, there are these amazing frosted glass vases with snowflakes on them. The picture I have included in this post is of the vase I just purchased. Each vase is also a candle holder or what ever you can think of to put in it. Also, each vase is hand designed. Each snowflake has been hand punched and placed to give it that unique look. So each vase is unique in it's design. How awesome is that? Michelle will also be adding some hand made stationery that is classy in appearance. I have gotten a sneak peak of these and let me tell you they are fabulous.

With Christmas coming up, Michelle's store, A la Main (by the hand in French) is a great place to find unique Holiday decor. Like Michelle said, "Bring some Christmas cheer into your home without letting the cold air in with it!" I have already ordered my first vase. Get these unique creations as a gift for yourself or someone else.

Ok, where is this great store you ask? Here is the address: www.alamain.etsy.com. Go there, check out all the great items. She is still working on the store and adding new items, so be sure to check back frequently to see new stuff.

November is here!

I can't believe that November is here! It seems like only yesterday that it was August. Now with an overcast sky coming out of really wet weekend, I believe that fall is here and Christmas is on the way fast. Yikes! I have a few more things to finish making and then I need to buy a few things. Argh. I don't want to spend any money right now. Especially with the way things are going in the government. Scary times lay ahead. I am thankful that I am a Christian and know that God is behind this. So while I am not thrilled that Obama is president, nor that the Democrats control all three branches, I will pray for their hearts and minds to change and that God will impact them and this country in a huge way. It's either that or move to Scotland and be under parliamentary rule. Which at the moment appears to be a good thing. At least one thing good came out of the election, Prop 8 passed. I am sorry for those who read this and don't agree with me, but I am a Christian and believe in traditional marriage. I don't hate, but I cling tightly to the word of God.

Ok, enough of politics...Christmas is on the way. Sadly, I won't be buying a tree this year. We will be celebrating Christmas in Vancouver, Wa this year, so no tree for us. Sadly Daisy will be spending the Holiday in the doggy hotel. Sad. I wish we could take her with, but we are flying up north and on Christmas Eve no less!

I guess I should try to get my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving to avoid the mass craziness of the malls. I think I might order a lot on line. That would make it way easier.
Other news, my parents sold their house, moved into their new one and disconnected their old number. I can't believe how fast this all went. I am happy for them and some what sad. Maybe it's the clouds that are adding to it...who knows. But, I will be preparing Thanksgiving dinner at their new place this year. That should be fun. Daisy just all of the sudden jumped up here to say hello.

Well, that about sums up everything right now. Not a whole lot going on right now since I am trying to recover from my cold. I had it two weeks ago and then it came back on me with such a force. Now I am just trying to get over it so I can attend the Causeway Classic and cheer for Davis to crush Sac State.

I hope that this fall season finds you all well. Take care and I shall right again.

Great Items added Daisy Girl Creations

This Sunday I kept busy with the continous updating of Daisy Girl Creations. I am excited to say that I have posted 6 new hats for sale and one really awesome scarf. I had 3 sales in 3-4 days, so I was inspired to update.

With fall weather coming closer and closer each day and Christmas too for that matter, I have been diligent about posting new items for sale that will hopefully catch the eye of some buyer either for themselves or for someone they know.

With each item I put up, I think that it will be popular and a great item. Yet what I think would be a great hit and what the public thinks are two totally different ideas. Like my flower pins for example. Affordable and cute, yet I only sold two at the flea market and haven't moved one on Etsy. Interesting. Oh well, I still really like them and will continue to sell them and make them.

I have three pairs of fabulous mittens up. Here is the interesting thing...the orange mittens have had more hits then the fuschia ones. I have more yarn for mittens, so I will be adding more colors as soon as I finish two orders for Christmas. I will be adding cranberry, pink, grey, teal and lime.

I know that with Christmas creeping up on us and with the economy the way that is, I am hoping that people will be shopping for their friends and loved ones on my site. It's fashionable, heart felt and affordable. So we shall see. I have posted some pictures on here of some of the recent additions to Daisy Girl Creations.

More items to be posted to Daisy Girl Creations shortly. Next, I will be adding some more felted bucket hats. Wonderfully soft and wonderfully warm!

Crocheted Beanie with flower in Burnt Orange.

Crocheted Beanie with flower in Avocado

Crocheted Beanie with flower in BlackNewsboy hat in CreamNewsboy hat in GreyNewsboy hat in BrownCrocheted Flower Scarf

Fabulous Fall Mittens

Greetings!

I have just posted on Daisy Girl Creations, a pair of fabulously fall mittens. These mittens are perfect for cool mornings and frosty nights. Knitted in orange wool yarn, these mittens will keep your fingers toasty warm. These mittens have been knitted.

With Christmas well on the way, you may want to visit Daisy Girl Creations and other Etsy sites for unique gifts. There are tons and tons of things to choose from. You can easily spend hours on Etsy without realizing it.

I have a new pattern for mittens that are crocheted. They are simply fabulous as well. I need to make some to test out the pattern. Wish me luck!

New Fall Hats on Etsy

I love fall and all the great colors the season brings to our area. I know that there are areas that have a lot more fall color, but that's a 6 hour plane ride from here. So, I must work with what I have available. I was inspired to create some hats for fall. We are now having cooler mornings and nights, so I figured a nice open work hat would be perfect. I then added a fall leaf of some sort to give it that last touch. The hat above, is crocheted in soft brown yarn with a red maple leaf stitched on.

The hat below here, is cream colored and crocheted in wool yarn with multiple leaves stitched on. I thought it would be fun to photograph these hats with my new pumpkins. I suppose it helps to convey that it is fall.

I hope that you enjoy these hats. I hope that they find a good home. I can make these hats in other colors and the leaves too. The leaves in the above picture here, I made. You can see these hats and more at Daisy Girl Creations.

This is a pumpkin that I had hot glued grosgain ribbon on.

This pumpkins have been turned into tea light holders.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed my fall hats and a few of my favorite fall decorations. Thanks for reading!

Fall is Here!

I love fall weather. It means cooler weather, beautiful color, pumpkins and flea markets. I love this time of year. It could be a little cooler here in Sacramento, but we got rain this weekend! At least it rained this weekend and not last weekend when the Tattered House hosted it's fall flea market. It was a warm day, but that didn't stop the shoppers. Daisy Girl Creations hit the streets for the first time ever!

Yes, that is a picture of me after I made my first sale at the flea market. I have sold items on my Etsy page before, but this was the first sale to take place in the physical world. I am excited and look forward to updating my Etsy page and updating my blog.