Floppy Dog and Just a Sliver

Hello!  I haven't been doing very much, due to the sinus infection and preparing for my upcoming surgery, but I have a few projects to share.

First is the Floppy Dog.  Found the pattern online and thought it would be a perfect birthday gift for my nephew who is waiting for his real dog. :)  I made some changes, of course, mainly cuz I wanted to knit everything in the round.  I hate sewing seams.  Pry would go down a needle size if I did it again- some of the stuffing wanted to show thru, luckily it is lightly stuffed for the floppy look.
  

When I was going thru the card rack I realized I mostly had man birthday cards, so I made a few generic type cards.   I love this set- the inside says "this is no day for just a sliver!"

HA!

   


Hope your week is going well!

Anne

books and more books

I haven't had the energy to do much work lately, with all the physical therapy, so no new posts with stuff I have made, sorry. I did, however, get to the big library, that actually has a new books section, and got a lot of library books.  :)  And some are worth recommending!

Made by hand : searching for meaning in a throwaway world 

by Frauenfelder, Mark

I really liked this book.  It is the story of one man's journey away from America's throw-away society to becoming a DIY person.  He starts keeping animals, making things by hand, and trying to figure out how to actually fix things, which is a skill many Americans sorely lack.

American wasteland : how America throws away nearly half of its food (and what we can do about it)

by Bloom, Jonathan

This book is really... scary.  So much food is wasted in America!  I especially liked how the author actually got jobs at McDonalds and a grocery store to see how things worked in real life.  He also includes what you can do to make a difference.

Deadly choices : how the anti-vaccine movement threatens us all

by Offit, Paul A

Okay, this book was even scarier.  The people telling you that vaccines cause autism and other diseases are lying.  Or wrong, if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but because of the science they are ignoring, I don't want to do that.  :)  There have been measles outbreaks in Minnesota lately... and the only reason is that people aren't vaccinated.  Isn't it their choice? I say no.  If they don't get vaccinated, they are condemning people who can't, like my nephew who is allergic to eggs.  Of course, you also have to condemn the vaccine companies who could make vaccines with out eggs. 

When the first vaccine was invented/discovered, people thought it would turn them into cows.  Literally.  Well, this idiocy hasn't changed over the years- they just have different demons to hang on the vaccines.

The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks 

by Rebecca Skloot

This was another great book.  I don't recommend it if you are having surgery soon tho- it freaks you out a bit.  I will for sure be closely reading any consent forms I have to sign for my surgery!

I also like this book because it shows you peoples' lives.  I love seeing how people live, what they believe.  Pry why I like reality tv shows so much!

Have a good weekend,

Anne

I take it back.

Since I moved to Minnesota, my favorite craft store has been Crafts Direct in St. Cloud.  They have a huge selection, and they always let you use any competitor's coupons.  I loved when I had a doctor appt. in Cloud and looked forward to wandering the aisles in search of things that I never knew I needed.  A few months back I even found out that you could use as many coupons as you wanted on any transaction, as long as they had different UPC codes.  One visit I used two joann's and one micheal's coupon... and the only other item I bought was on sale.  I loved it!  I also told everyone about the policy.

Well, now I take it back.  I HATE Crafts Direct right now.  I went yesterday, and was mildly annoyed that they didn't have the two items I wanted the most, but I knew that the items were fairly new and pry would show up there at some point.   I still found things to purchase.  BUT... when I went to the checkout, I saw BIG signs proclaiming the new coupon policy.  You can use as many coupons as you want on each transaction, but you have to PAY A DOLLAR FOR EACH COUPON YOU USE.   They say it is a "donation" and it will go to the charity they choose.  EVEN if you use a Crafts Direct coupon.

Is it legal to charge someone if they want to use a coupon? 

The only time this would make sense was if you were buying some big-ticket item.  Then you still have to watch out because they have two prices on those- one is the price you pay, and another is much higher (higher than even the MSRP) that they use if you want to use a coupon.

I tried to google if the practice of forcing someone to donate money to use a coupon is legal, but I couldn't find anything about it online.

However, I am going to let the MN Attorney General decide. 

Have a good week,

Anne

Community Ed Card Class

Jodi and I went to a card class offered by Community Ed this week.  I have had another long sinus infection, so I haven't done much card making myself, mostly sleeping, so I decided to share the cards we made in the class.  The leader was a CTMH demo, and we got a complete stamp set to bring home.

     

This card used the Cuttlebug and an embossing folder for the background.

  

    

 For this one, the flourish and frame were precut.  I love the little purple gem flowers. 

    

This one was supposed to be colored with waterbrushes.  Sadly, the first group was still working on theirs TWO AND A HALF HOURS after the class started, so Jodi and I just used markers.  HA!
    We also folded the card the wrong way and now it doesn't fit the envelope so I have to make some envelopes for both of us....

   

We loved the spring colors, and had a great time.

Oh, there was a fourth card but somehow it got deleted from my camera and I am too weak to go take a picture.  Whatever.  Same stamp set, same colors, but had additional flourish stamps that weren't in the set we got.

Happy Weekend,

Anne

two quick cards and a neat surprise

My nephew spend the past week in Children's Hospital, so I made a quick card to send him.  I used my fave get well set, from The Cat's Pajamas, and added one of the iron-on metal studs Jodi gave me.  They work great with my I-rock!  I went with a black and white theme.

  

My sister called this morning and told me that friends of hers had lost their five month old baby yesterday.  After giving my sympathies, I assured her I had a set of "loss of a child" sympathy verses.  She was a bit stunned, then remembered I have pretty much all occasions covered with stamps.  I told her that I had purchased a lovely sympathy set from Papertrey Ink, and added the "loss of a child" and "loss of a pet" sets to go along with it.  

     



This is a surprise for Olli, who has his first hockey tournament this weekend.  I knew the Penquins were his fave team, so I called and asked his fave player's number, skin tone and hair color.  I got the basic pattern from Knits With Sticks.  I think the head is a bit floppy and pry would adapt with the other doll pattern I have to make the head knit with the body.  I did it all in the round except the head... couldn't figure out how to do the hair that way!

   

Here is the back view.  I did a few less rows on the head, I was running out of the yarn for the hair.  I think it is a LOT shorter than the pattern called for- I cut out at least ten rows on the head.

  

Have a great weekend!

Anne