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Life is full of ups and downs. Most people learn this from a young age. I look at it as chapters in our life. Everything comes and goes like the seasons of the year. I love each season for what it is; for what we can learn from it. If you compare it to the gardening you have a planting season, a watering and fertilizing season, and a harvesting season. You also have weed pulling and burning. Enjoying the fruits and waiting for things to grow!

Perspective is sometimes more important. You can see the weeds or you can see the potential in the plants that are growing! When we look at our children this way as well, it is wonderful when we see the growth. When we see the things we have tried so hard to teach them finally come to fruition. It is wonderful to see this. Some are late bloomers. Sometimes, it doesn’t come in our lifetime, but sometimes it does.

I love watching children learn. It is always exciting to see them grasp something for the first time, and this for me never gets old.

Learning happens in chapters and seasons as well. We have spells where we are learning so much we barely have time to think, and other times we have so much time to think because life is slow. Learning happens continuously but learning happens with different things and in different ways. Sometimes it takes more than one lesson for us to truly learn that lesson.

Friends are the same. We have seasons of friendship. We grow and changhe and our needs change. True friends stick it out but sometimes the friendshiup changes so much you don’t have much in common anymore and life takes you on different paths. You still love one another but life changes direction for one or both of ou and you end up far apart. That is okay. It is the same with family sometimes. You are close at heart, but at a distance in time and space.

I truly believe life is beautiful with all the diversity. Sometimes it is difficult to just get by and other times it is slow and easy. But the diversity gives us excitement. Curiosity.

Live a little! Take risks! Don’t be afraid to live this beautiful life! With its joys and hardships it makes it quite like a buffet. Some things are sour, some sweet, some necessary to survive and some just there to distract us. Seriously though, go out and live your beautiful life!

Januarys Big Project!

So, this month January 2023 has been exciting already!  I was watching youtube and saw a few videos on crochet scrappy yarn sweaters!  Well, you know me, I fell in love with the idea of using all the yarn that is left with no place to go!  All the yarn left over from making hats or anything else. This is such an easy project even a beginner could make this, so I decided to also make  a video series on how to make this sweater.

There is no actual pattern for it. You just figure out how many inches around you want it. I took my hip measurement and basically cut that in half. So the measurement on the width of the front was half and the width for the back panel was half. I made 2 rectangular panels. Then you attach them at the shoulders and then at the armpit down to the waist.

 

I love how the colors are just random and in no specific order! You can use ANY color scheme you like. It can be all one color if you want a specific color or use a varigated yarn.  The options are limitless. All you need to know is single crochet and double crochet.

The second thing you need is determination to keep going! Pick your favorite shirt length or if you already have a favorite sweater. OR if you have nothing to work with, just hold it up to your shoulders and see.

If you aren’t sure you can baste it together before making it permanent. To do that you would use very large stitches or just crochet without tying it in and use a contrasting color that you can easily see to make it easy to remove when you are done.

You baste it how you would choose, try it on, and if you want it longer you would keep going, and if it is too long you can determine how many rows you’d like to take out.

It is actually a perfect project for the winter months! And once you get it done you have a wonderfully colorful warm and toasty sweater!

Details: I used ALL 4 ply Red Heart Yarn.  And a G hook.  You can use any yarn and use the hook size to go along with that yarn. The number of rows will be determined as to what thickness of yarn you have.

 

To see the videos: Follow this link and check out the Sweater Vlog videos. As of right now there are three. But I have plans to add sleeves to this! So there will be a fourth one on the way soon.

https://youtu.be/uqBnZqwP95Y

Please be sure if you have any questions for this project, just ask. I’ll be happy to answer. So, thanks for following along. And I truly hope you make a beautiful scrappy sweater of your own!

 

May you have a blessed day.

SVG.

Working today on the yard. Just a lot of little jobs since the summer is nearly past. It is almost officially fall. The leaves are falling and the temperature has dropped enough to really enjoy the yard work again!~

This truly is my favorite place. Today, I was working on some odds and ends and ended up in my favorite sitting place as of late. I haven’t had the chance to take a book and go read there, just because it has been so hot this summer. My husband made these very unique and interesting viking chairs, and I love them! I still need to seal them so they don’t weather so bad. but they are my favorite.

Our yard, our little “creek”, our garden, our little piece of earth. This is my favorite spot in the world. There are a million more beautiful places I know, but this is where I have invested in growing things, clearing things, playing with children, having friends come and sit or walk or play or watch. Where family comes to hang out. Where I have had my hands in the dirt as much in the dishwater.

We have finished raising all our girls here. We had grands come and play. We have taken pictures from a very young age with all of our girls here. On this beautiful little piece of land. We have had chickens, a horse, dogs, now pigs. 3 great danes to be exact when I say dogs. And a couple cats.

Today, my artistic side is working in the yard, clearing the creek. Getting ready for the rains. Moving plants and enjoying this lovely weather. I love my small rock collection, and some of my favorite stumps. Life is straight up hard sometimes, but we are more than blessed. And sometimes I think our perception of what is hard isn’t really as hard as we think it is.

I hope you can get artistic in your space today. Be that a plant on your porch or in your office. A drawing of your favorite place. A small outside job that helps you remember the sun shines and the wind blows. God has surely blessed us beyond measure. And days like this help me to remember that. So no matter what is going on in your life today, look for something beautiful.

Have a blessed day! ❤

I love hat season! It’s not quite time to wear them but every extra ball of yarn has a chance to be a head warmer! I love making hats! I love having a personal variety in styles and colors! I love wearing hats!

Also, hats are a great beginner project! It can be as simple as a few stitches learned and you can make hats! This particular hat is a simple pattern.

You start with a chain 5, slip stitch together. Then work 11 half double stitches in that circle. Slip together and that is your first row. Second row is work 2 half doubles in each stich around for a total of 25. For the third row you repeat that of 2 half doubles in each stitch. Ending with 48 and a small circle.

Which could be a coaster if you made a set of these! But we are making a hat! So row 4 and the rest of the rows are one half double stich in each. Don’t add to or take away any, just one stitch in each place.

When you get most of the length you want, you them switch to back loop only single stitch. One in each stitch. Do about 5 rows of this. This section makes thw band.

This size hat is for a child or small teen. I will do another for adult size with the same band soon.

I love these paintings! The ones I call zero waste. The reason I call these zero waste is I use the paint when I am done with another painting. Instead of wasting the paint I like to use it.

Used to, I would just let it dry in the pallet. Peel it out and throw it away the next day.

When I started doing this I ended up with a few new beautiful pieces. A few of these have even sold. This is the first one I’ve used a stencil on, and I love the way it turned out!

If you have started painting and want to have zero waste, you can do this too. If you are not trying to sell these you can use them in a sketch book for you own enjoyment.

A lot of my extra paint has ended up in my sketch book. These are some of my favorite pieces in my sketch book. Art is for enjoying the process. Remember your art book is your unique expression. This one could have gone without the stencil. I could have put a verse or some inspiring words in the black area at the top or through the arc.

The possibilities are endless for these zerro waste paintings. And You only use what you have. If you don’t have enough to finish a painting with your waste paint, then you just do part of it. Then when you paint again another day, you use that waste paint and paint a little more.

Painting this is just as relaxing and enjoyable as painting something intended. Never forget to enjoy something crafty every day that you are able. Take these projects one at a time, and make the most of it. Use it for a gift, or just decorate your home.

Happy Crafting!

Well, todays post is about patching your jeans. Or you kids or spouses jeans. I know this works with other material as well, but I have only had experience with denim with this style of patch.

In this day and age it is important to save money where you can and mending clothes is one way to do that. We live in a disposable society, but if we would learn to take care of what we have, our things would last longer, we would save money and have money to spend on things that are more of a priority than new clothing.

Starting out, find an item to mend. Second cut out your patch with a similar OR a very contrasted fabric!

We’ve all had experience with holes in the knees of our kids jeans or in the infamous thigh rubbed bare jeans. Cut the patch to go beyond the edge of the worn out part. Then pin it on inside, with the front facing away from you.

Next, you need needle and thread of similar color OR contrasting color if you want it to stand out and be unique and a pair of scissors. A darning egg is vey helpful here, and if you do not have one, you can hold it carefully to sew.

First you will make an edge stitch all the way around the patch working on the inside of the pants.

Next, you will turn the jeans to right side out and work on the outside. Do not use knots in your thread. If you have to use a knot, just sew over several times before you get started so you will be able to cut the knot off when you are done with the project.

I like to put an elastic on the egg darner around the fabric to keep it tight on the darner. This makes it easier to work with. This is actually an egg darner my husband woodturned for me. It works beautifully.

This cute paper weight is another option to use for a darner. I have used this one several times.

Lastly, you will go around the patch with as small of stitches as you are able. Circling around and around or back and forth. This is purely personal preference. You can make a design with many colors to be creative. You can blend it in as plainly as you like.

When you are done, remove the elastic, and the darner. You will then have a piece of clothing with a patch. This is not the only way to patch your clothing, but just one I use on denim. It is fairly simple for anyone who knows how to use a needle and thread. It may take some getting used to, but with practice it can have the look you are going for.

It does not make your item look like it did when you purchased it, but it does reduce the chance of your skin making an appearance where you don’t want it to!

I hope this has been a helpful little bit of information. Thank you, and happy sewing!

I started this painting about 2 years ago. I had it mostly done. I think I even posted it. I liked it, but it was just missing something. So this week I worked on it and finally made the progress it needed!

It is a reminder that sometimes things don’t come in the time we desire. It takes time for things to process and move forward.

A friend loved this as soon as she saw it and wanted to purchase it, so basically it was sold before it was even complete.

If you are a painter, just paint. Paint what you love. Paint what you feel. And if it doesn’t look right to you put it aside and come back to it another time. It isn’t hopeless. It is just needing to “brew”.

Wow. This month has been completely insane! First of all our daughters dog (who is staying with us right now) had puppies. Kelsey (our daughter) was here to help birth them. But now she is on the road with her trucker husband and we are enjoying these babies, their mama and their uncle! Soon the two adult dogs will go with their parents and one of the puppies will go to his adoptive family and of course, I fell in love with the first born girl! Daisy. So, she will stay here!

Anyway, you can see all about them in videos on my YouTube playlist PUPPIES

ALSO! During this month we bought some meat pigs. 2 to be exact. My husband built the pen, the gate, the feeder, and got everything ready. We named them Rock Steady and Bebop! The first day Bebop escaped twice so we were chasing him, then had to add extra wire to the fence we had. It was an adventure!

I also have some Piggy Tales Videos on YouTube! They are fun to watch as well. I’ll be adding more videos to their story as they grow!

Today in the craft department, I finished 2 aprons, made a video on how to sew a strawberry! And got a celtic tree ready for my next walking stick. A video on that process will be in the making.

My husband Randell has been also working so busy lately! Besides the pigs he has made a couple of raised garden beds and some planter boxes.

There is probably more to tell about! Lol. But these are the highlights. There were other challenges and things we have had to deal with, but I try to focus on the positive. There are so many blessings in our life right now, that looking at the challenges is just a reminder that we are so small. God is sovereign and has our life and future planned out. We can’t know what the future holds but we do our best to keep steady.

Life brings storms. And yet Beauty. The skies are exquisite nomatter what we are going through.

For God so loved the world, He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Have a beautiful day friends. God bless you and keep you.

I am SO excited!! I’ve got my first two paperback books published! Both are in the How To category. With a twist. A DARE. These books are inspired by life lessons and experience and just the state of the world these days.

We need to get back to what’s important. Focus on the truly valuable things in life. Marriage is the first one and being truly dedicated to your spouse in a “disposable ” world. Sometimes in this “me” society it is easy to fall into prideful traps in our thinking and this book addresses those things. Just click on the picture to see the book in Amazon.

The second is slowing down in this fast paced, never stop society we seem to be entranced by. We put off breathing until something takes our breath away. And I’m not talking in a good way. We need to change these habits! We need to learn techniques to truly slow down, the reasons behind them and the benefits. This is so important. We can accomplish a lot and live a very full life even with these techniques implemented into our lives. Check them out by clicking on the picture.

If you have Kindle Unlimited these are free for you and I ask that you’ll leave an honest review. I feel these subjects are for everyone, although my books are written towards women. Forgive me guys. Anyway. Take a look! Save for later. Or try it now! Whatever you do, thanks for reading!

I do have several more DARE books in the works! It’s just a debate as to which one I will finish first.

Also. Cover art is original digital art.

Have a beautiful day! May God bless you and keep you. Thank you 💜

Wow! This years garden has been nice. Randell has been working the ground with the tiller and getting the majority planted when I wasn’t able to. Then he has also been helping with watering and now some with harvesting what we do have.

So far, I got last years harvest of garlic in. Then this week we got some radishes. We have also pulled about 5 cute little tomatoes so far.

Nothing much to speak of yet, but it is large and we are expecting a wonderful crop! I am excited to see what all it will do. I am hoping to take some of it to market and be able to barter and trade and give some away also.

My cabbage is my most surprising and exciting crop I think! I’ve never grown cabbage and it looks wonderful! It is starting to head. It is getting so hot I wasn’t sure it would. So we will see!

I am so excited to see all of this cabbage! and everything else!

We are so blessed to have God growing our garden so well. He is blessing our little spot of land. I am thankful to have all these groceries. Most of it hasn’t shown yet, but I will hopefully remember to post about it here. I love sharing pics of our garden and any nature really. I love the beauty in nature!

What have you got growing?! I’d love to see. Or just tell me about it. What is your favorite plant to grow? Or favorite flower?

Have a blessed day! Stay hydrated! Don’t get too hot out there! and use something to keep the ticks off!

Sarah Virginia.