Baby Flapper Hat

Happy Monday!! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I had this post half done on Friday, and that is where it stayed..half done in draft form. So here we go again! Maybe I will get it done this time!
A dear friend of mine just had a new grand daughter! Grace Morgin was born on March 16th. And this hat was about 2/3 finished! So that put my bee-hind in gear! As usual, I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like, in my head! Luckily, I pulled it off! Take a look at this newborn flapper hat, pure white crocheted, with double layer crocheted flowers as an accent! All hand made by yours truly! Not too bad for teaching myself how to crochet a little over a year ago!



Here is an awesome close-up of the flowers....they are made out of embroidery floss...

I hope they like it!
Have a great day.
**Keri**

New Items in THE COUNTRY LIFE Shop

I have added some new items in my Etsy Shop. Click HERE to check them out! Any feedback would be appreciated. I did have my first sale! Hooray!
I will be adding more in the weeks to come. Keep checking back!
**Keri**

Happy Valentine's Day 2009!

Happy Friday Morning, everyone! Just in case I am more sick tomorrow than I am today, I thought I would get this up and posted NOW instead of waiting! These are pics of the Valentines I made for my lovees, and the towels I made for my dear friend Judy. She drives Cody to school most days and I like to do something special for her on Holidays. I USUALLY make her chocolate covered potato chips, but since she is doing Weight Watchers, I was warned to not make her any sweets!
I made a dozen cards this year, three different designs, and several different patterns of paper. I printed the vintage photos off the internet, and cut them, and the whole card out, using Nestabilities dies in my Cuttlebug.
The postage cancellation stamp is from Purple Onion Designs, as are all the sentiment stamps that I stamped on the photos. Ink pad is Red Staz On. The rhinestones are Martha Stewart adhesive backed.
The finished size is about 4.25 x4.25"


Now, this is the grand idea I had for my friend Judy. I wanted to crochet edging on towels for Valentine's Day, for her kitchen. I got a pack of 4 towels at Walmart. 2 red and 2 white. Lisa Renea found me this fairly simple pattern for edging, and after some guidance from the gals at 2peas Leisure board, I figured out how to crochet the edging directly ON the towel's edge. I did a blanket stitch on the inside edges of the towels, then crocheted onto that. It turned out pretty good for my first time! She *LOVED* them, so that was the main thing! I also made her a pink and white dishcloth, and a red pot scrubber, to complete the set. I have been making the scrubbers for a while, but recently changed my "formula" and now they are even better. More sturdy, prettier, etc. I crochet them with one strip of nylon mesh, and one strand of plastic canvas yarn, which is VERY rough yarn. I also stuck in a box of 10 calorie Oreo Cakesters for her to munch on. They are SO GOOD!


So, there you have it! My daycare kids all leave at noon today, and Cody is gone to Vermont on a field trip til 4, so I am headed to town to find him a Valentine's Day present. I am also going to get some stuff for a Valentine's Day pizza supper tomorrow, and probably something sweet for dessert! Thanks for all the well wishes, Cody is doing much better, and only missed that one day of school. I am under the weather, but not enough to keep me down. Mamas can't be sick!!
Have a great day!!
**Keri**

The Grand Reveal!

Neil finally came to get his hat! He lives 30 minutes away, so a week wasn't too bad! He was very pleased and excited with how it came out, and I even got a hug and an I Love You when he left. Made my day! Here he is with Cody, who is always ready for a photo, as you have learned if you are a regular visitor! You can't see if from here, but there is a pom pom hanging for a string down the back. I told him that when people start asking him where he got that brilliant hat to send them my way. So far, no one is knocking down doors. Oh, well. Have a wonderful and blessed Sunday! Spring teased us yesterday and went back into hiding this morning. Bummer..
**Keri**

A Couple New Creations!

Hello! I am here, just been hibernating a bit! The weather continues to be SO COLD but the sun has been out now and again, and temps are supposed to hit the high 30's this weekend! I am so excited!
I got the grand idea to try to crochet edgings on some dish towels as a gift that I wanted to give a dear friend. I picked up some towels yesteday, red and white as this is a Valentine's Day gift. I searched the net high and low, found some good instructions, consulted the experts (Lisa Renea and 2 peas) and this is what I came up with. This is a prototype, to try to find what works and what doesn't...I used one of my own kitchen towels for this trial run. Turned out pretty good! So now, I have to take the plunge and begin the real ones! I am excited about how the example turned out. I am like a crazy woman when I decide I want to "conquer" a new project. It drove me nuts til I figured out German paper stars. I sat for HOURS watching Youtube videos on dial up to learn how to crochet. Not to mention how many times I bugged people for help! Again last night, I was OBSESSED with figuring out how to do this on a towel. I couldn't stop or do anything else til I had figured it out. Then once I got it, the high was gone, and I went to bed! How stupid is THAT??

I also made another dish cloth. I know, I know...I can't help it! The yarn is so pretty, and they are so fun to make in front of the TV by the wood stove at night! This one is fairly simple, but is a really tight crochet, and I *Think* this is gonna be a good study one for dishes. I don't like the loose ones that stretch to twice their size after a few uses. This one actually alternates between a single crochet, and a double crochet, every other one. It looks really neat! I am getting WAY better at the single crochet edging, too.

Last but certainly not least, look at what I stumbled upon in a back corner of Wal Mart yesterday?! I am not a HUGE fan of expensive scrapbook albums. I know what I like, some post bound ones are okay, but I really like D-ring ones, too. What usually happens, is, that I get so many pages ahead, that they lay around in protectors for weeks/months before I buy a new album and fill it. I am never ahead of the game with albums. None of my albums match, they are all different, goofy, colorful, and whatever I liked at the time. While I was browsing the craft section yesterday at Walmart, in the very back corner, on an endcap, by the shoe department, I saw a whole bunch of these albums! They were all covered with dust, and looked like they had been lost in storage for years! I know, they are not pricey, but for $10.00 I love them! I do not spend a whole lot on albums. They had this black one, and a brown one, too. They have the cute buckle, and a handle! They are Provo Craft, and they have the cute luggage tag, and a storage zipper on the back side. I was so excited! I know these are probably old news, usually everything I discover is old news, but I LOVED them!

So that is it from the frozen North for a frigid Thursday morning. I have my Valentine's almost complete, but am hesitant to post them, as I do not want to spoil the surprise for anyone who looks at my blog! So I will probably hold off on those until THE day.

I am off to mix up a triple batch of sugar cookies, and a double batch of spritz cookies. Sweets are needed for Cody's bake sale tomorrow, and for a dear friend's SU! workshop on Saturday!
I will post my finish product!
Have a blessed day,
*Keri**

Hats, Anyone?

So, a couple weeks back, my younger brother shows up for a visit, and tells me how much he *LOVES* the dishcloth and scrubber that I stuck in with his Target giftcard at Christmas. I think he actually liked the dishcloth and scrubber MORE than the giftcard. If you knew him, you would not question this. He is a tall, muscular, macho, hard working blue collar builder, and he keeps everything in his apartment as neat as a pin! He loves to clean, and organize, and always has. Weirdo. No, really-so I ushered him back to my Craft Cave, and showed him the STACK of dishcloths I had sitting there, just waiting for a sink to call home. I gave him one, and he promptly told me that he would "save" it. Like, to use later, when his other one wore out, or something. Weirdo. He then says--can you make hats? As many of you know, I am a lover of hats. The weirder the better. Flappers, fur, strings, pom poms, camo, you name it. Well, Neil is the same way. So I decided to go in search of a hat pattern that looked easy, and that would fit the characteristics that he laid out before me. I love the challenge of making something new that I have never made before. I found a bunch of patterns at Crochet Pattern Central- and found one that I thought would work. I had to tweek it a bit, since it was for a skull cap, and he wanted it to go over his ears, but it told how to make it longer, so I was set. I made up a practice one for me-orange, pink, and yellow-and did it as a skull cap, following the directions perfectly. Then I would know how and where to add extra rows, just kind of as a baseline. I got a bunch of yarn last weekend, and decided to make a couple more hats for practice before I get to Neil's. The camo yarn I chose was not like anything I had used before. The stitches were so hard to see. So here are Cody and Peter's matching hats-and Neil's will begin today. The pom pom was a must-and it had to cover the ears without flaps or a fold....picky, picky.


Don't they look cute? I am finding that I like to work with 100% cotton much better than the acrylic! What a difference! They are happy, and that makes mama happy.
I also made a set of friendship/thank you notes for a few of my closest friends. They should have gotten them by now, so I feel fairly safe posting a pic!


Paper is Basic Grey Ambrosia SU! Black and Going Gray Cardstock, SU! Basic Grey Ink, Staz On Jet Black Ink, Stamps are Purple Onion Designs (flowers and number run) and sentiment is $1.00 from Michael's.
Punch from SU! for notebook holes.
We are home today on a snow day. The snow hasnt' really arrived yet, but I guess they are being pro active. I hope to get some treadmill done and get to the store for milk before it gets too bad!
Happy Wednesday!
**Keri**

New Items in the Country Life Shop!

I added some new items to the Country Life Shop. Click on the link box in the right column to see what is new!
Have a great night!
Keri

What do ya do on a snow day, you say??

Well, we had snow day #2 for the 08-09 winter! I figured it was gonna be a day off, but I was off today, so it wasn't a huge deal. Slept off and on half the morning, and didn't really do too much productive work! I did however, catch up on everyone's blog, who has updated! That is a nice way to spend a morning!
So, if you ever wondered what happens at our house on a snow day, LOOK NO FURTHER!
First, you try your hardest to drag yourself out of bed and look ambitious so Mom doesn't bug you too much: (Oh yeah, and always lay ON the blanket so Dad doesn't get mad about the hair! & a pillow is always the way to go!)

Next: When trying to get BACK on Mom's good side for sleeping away the day, it is always a good idea to tickle her funny bone. Today, I opted for my Gene Simmons impersonation. Either that, or one of the heifers in the field I like to "check out" down the road during the summer!
I hope you liked my Brodie pics. She has recently been given a lot more freedom in the house, and is doing well with it! We still don't leave her unattended for any amount of time-She would eat the whole house if we did! But she usually doesn't leave our side anyway. I did manage to create something today, while sitting in front of Dr. Phil tonight, being the ever diligent wife while Peter was out cleaning the driveway for 2+hours-I made a lip balm holder!!

A friend of my Mom's gave me some crochet books, and this was in one of them. I thought it was cool, and definitely do-able for the novice (yeah, that's me). After looking and trying to figure out the pattern 3 different times in the last 3 weeks, I finally tried it, and it worked! I am sure it is not perfect, but cool nonetheless! It fits a regular sized stick of lip balm, and it will also hold one of those tubie lip gloss thingers (seen below). They are super easy to make, and would be great to hook on a key ring! Whatdya think??

Well, here's hoping for SCHOOL tomorrow! We do not need another day off. Cody's back side is going to be permanently fused to the recliner soon!

Have a great night!

**Keri**