Finished an old crochet project

I started this giant granny square afghan back in April, using JoAnn's Sensations Rainbow Boucle yarn. It's worked with 2 strands, one each of orange and green. The green is a variegated yarn ranging from lime green to a deep sage, which resulted in a nice variation in the rounds.

Now, it didn't take me all this time to work on it ... no, really! What happened is that I had only bought one skein of each (they're big skeins with 853 yards each) ... I figured that'd be enough, wouldn't you? When I got to the end of the orange (for some reason, either the orange was shorted a bit, or the green had more), the afghan was not as big as I wanted (would've been a great baby blanket, though). So I went back to JoAnn's to get another orange and kept going ... then when I got further and finished the green skein, it still wasn't big enough. But could I find another skein of the green? Nope! I checked the JoAnn's down the street, several other JoAnn's in surrounding towns (only when I was in the area ... I'm not that nuts ... well, maybe just a little ...), but no more of the green to be found. So for months it's been sitting in a tote bag, unfinished. (Yes, I know I could've bought it online, but I did not want to pay shipping that would cost more than the skein itself ... though I was thinking it would come to that soon.)

But, finally, a skein was found! My good friend and crochet-buddy, Dana, had also been keeping an eye out for the elusive skein whenever she visited a JoAnn's and she found one for me a couple weeks ago at a JoAnn's near her mom's house. So, it's finally finished ... yay! I call it my Tigerlily afghan, because the colors make me think of them. Sorry I can't get a really good picture of it ... there's no good place to lay it out where I can get a decent angle on it. It's roughly 55" square. But you can see that my youngest is happy with it LOL! I'm going to have to finish the ripple afghan soon (yes, I was able to get a replacement hook) so that my girls each have one to curl up in ... don't want no fightin'!!

It's time to get moving

My latest journal page:This page has a paint scraped background, Pitt pens for border and journaling, Sharpie paint pen for white title and doodling, and collaged elements that include a catalog image, a tea bag packet and a torn napkin. It fits with Blissfully_Art_Journaling's prompt #10, time. Well, it's time for me to get moving ....

Oh, no! My poor crochet hook!!

I've been working on my newest project ... and loving it to pieces, literally! Last night I was going to town on it while the kids were at Awana, and my darn crochet hook snapped in half, yikes! I still had about 20 minutes before the kids were done, so I limped along with my little 2 inch hook and got through almost a whole row's worth. Not easy LOL! So a trip to Hobby Lobby is in my near future. This crochet hook was part of a set of 5 hooks, so I'm hoping they also sell them individually ... I do NOT want to have to buy a whole set if I can help it (but, just in case, I've got this week's coupon printed out and ready to go). In the meantime, here's how far I've gotten:

Uh oh, a new crochet project ...

Yup, started another project ... I know I shouldn't, but I just couldn't resist! I bought some yummy yarn in a variety of colors when it was on sale at Hobby Lobby a few months back, but had yet to pick a project for them. After seeing all kinds of ripple afghans all over the net, I just had to start one ... Hanna's yummy pics were the last straw LOL! I've got 11 different colorways of this yarn (hey, it was an awesome deal!) and, after much deliberation, I settled on an orange and blue combo. Here's a pic of the four yarns I'm going to use, as well as my gauge sample:Now that I've set my gauge, I can pull it out and get started. This yarn is so soft, I love it! Can't wait to see the colors ripple along ....

Tonight's art journal pages

Tonight, while waiting to pick up my girls from Awana, I journaled. The first page is about a visit to the Shedd Aquarium back in August (I actually did the background a couple days after we visited, but never got around to jotting down the details). This is also my answer to Blissfully_Art_Journaling's theme #1, favorite animal.The next page is just some random thoughts.
And the final page is the side opposite the blackberry page ... just some journaling about how this journal is almost finished and about the backgrounds I've been working on for my next journal. I've got over 30 backgrounds prepped and ready to go! Yay, me!In addition to these, I've done about a dozen more pages, including a handful using the crayon/colored pencil technique like I did on this page. Maybe tomorrow I'll post a pic of these more recent backgrounds. I've got eight more pages to do and all the cardstock I bought will be ready for journaling ... just need to decide whether to go have it bound first, or wait until the pages are totally finished.

Where flowers bloom, so does hope

Blissfully_Art_Journaling's theme #16 ("What Flower are You?") was the prompt for this page ... I had done the collage awhile ago, and when I read the theme, knew this was the page for it. The quote is by Lady Bird Johnson and it ended up guiding the journaling, which turned into a prayer to be a flower that brings hope to my family.