Captain America Shield & Pattern Tester

About a week ago, I was showing Ambitious Love a crochet pattern I found that had to do with Captain America. Lisa is someone I love talking too because she shares her love of comics and video games with me. We both were looking forward to seeing the new Captain America movie so when I came across the pattern I had to show her! After claiming she wished she could crochet, I then volunteered myself to make it for her.

What did I make? What every girl that loves comics needs! A Captain America Shield Headband! I did modify the pattern a bit and loved how it came out. Lisa over at Ambitious Love seemed to love the outcome. I can't wait for her to get it in the mail! Pattern can be found here at Colliding Universe.Now I need to figure out how to create a Batman version for me.

I also have been working on my pattern for Sara atThe Split Stitch. There should be a update sometime next week of everyone's progress. I did not transfer the pattern on a towel as I originally wanted. It was not working well for me and after a hour of trying I finally gave in. Here is what I have so far.

Judging Time!

On Monday morning this week I took my entries down to the Shippensburg Community Fair to submit for judging. I never noticed how many fairs go on in Pennsylvania during the summer. I swear there is one every week. I could have submitted my work to a bunch of fairs if I wanted too.

When I arrived at the fair Monday morning a older lady in her 70s was accepting the pieces for cross-stitch and embroidery. She loved my Super Mario cross-stitch! I wanted to adopt her and take her home. I didn't know what kind of reaction my work would bring so it was encouraging she was excited over my work.

One of the ladies I work with was kind enough to send me a email and let me know she saw my work on display and ribbons attached. I can't wait to see how I placed. I'm still not sure yet if I will make it down before next week when I have to pick up my work. We will see.

Here are pictures of the work I submitted to the fair:

Unicorn Birthday Gift

My best friend B's birthday is in another week. I already had created her a Strawberry Tissue Cozy but decided to make something else for her. B loves unicorns as much as I do. So Lancer was created for her. B's favorite color is red.

This is the first time I have ever done amigurumi and this was rather interesting for me. I more then likely will do more but not as often. Working on one of these patterns and trying not to lose my place is rather annoying at times. I won't go into how many times I wonder, "What stitch am I on!?"If you ever have watched My Little Pony Tales, one of the male ponies is named Lancer. Why did I pick a name from that show? B and me while we were in high school, meet for the first time in chorus class. Our first conversation was over My Little Pony.I'm not even sure who brought it up but we talked through out chorus class about it. I think we even set up a date to get together and show one another the ponies we had from our childhood. Yes, being 28 I can honestly say that I still own My Little Ponies from when I was a kid.

A Vistor This Morning

Just wanted to say a quick "Hello!" to my new followers. Glad to have you here!

Usually in the mornings I am just getting off work. I work 3rd shift so the end of the day for me is mornings for most people. I then head to the gym after work and by the end of the week I'm exhausted. This morning when I returned home from the gym I spotted something large and green on my door step. I had to stop for a little bit and let it register in my mind what I was looking at. I quickly came closer because I thought of what it was and was hoping it was true!Can you guess by the legs what my visitor was!? A praying mantis! I was so excited that I quickly rushed in making sure not to harm my new visitor and grabbed my camera. I then proceeded to sweat in the heat and take tons of photos. They are such beautiful insects and I was even considering moving this one to my porch with my plants. I have a army of crickets that seem to be multiplying every night. I could use this lovely mantis to fight them off.After I was done taking photos I did watch my visitor for awhile. I was amazed at how graceful it was. I decided to not pick it up just in case my clumsiness would bring the demise of this insect. I have been wanting to use my new lens and macro filter on a praying mantis for awhile now. It was my luck to actually have one show up on my front door step.

Stitching Angels

The lovely Sara that runs the blog The Split Stitch was asking for volunteers to help stitch up her patterns. I have never done this before but I said, "Why not?" and sent my email off. I was shocked and happy to hear back from Sara that I could join and she also told me about her Stitching Angels series she wanted to put together.

This week was introductions of each stitcher and how we got into embriodery and cross-stitching. We could also show off pictures of our work and talk about our blogs.
Here is a link: Stitching Angels Introduction. She has them in alphabetical order and I'm under the name 'Jessica' of course.

Next week is progress of our work provided with pictures. Also, information on how we did the transfer of the embriodery design to whatever material we picked to stitch on. I'm having a lot of fun with this and see other ladies that do wonderful work.

Swap & Birthday Gift For My Mom

Another awesome crafty swap through Swap-Bot came in the mail last week! All the way from Finland too. This package came from IiPuska. I love the fabric buttons and strawberry brooch. The other awesome item was a clutch purse which I love! I have a collection of purses so you can never go wrong giving one to me.I love that she included pockets on the inside. I am all about pockets and making things easier to find.
My Mom's Birthday is at the end of the month. She is always a pain to buy a present for because she always insist that she doesn't need anything. Just cards in the mail and phone calls are fine for her. She doesn't like if you spend "too much" on her or a lot of time creating a present. Yet at 28, my mom still insists on getting me a present when I tell her she has given me enough.

This year I created her a cozy for her iPad. Her favorite color is blue and the first initial of her name is 'C'. I'm hoping she likes it and it's a complete surprise to her. The pattern I came up with and had to pull a few stitches out at times. At least this time I wrote everything down as I went a long.

Just wanted to show off some more photos from my garden. I am amazed at how everything is growing. My mom is the green thumb in my family and has plants that are over 15 years old. It's always amazing to me she has kept them alive for that long. I usually end up killing any plants I have but this year I have been putting more effort into my garden. Checking on everything at least twice a day and making sure there is always water. I can't wait to get more of my veggies in. The cucumbers and squash are starting to grow and I'm excited to munch on them.

I also did have a little visitor which I suspected a rabbit. My tomato plant sits on a stand since the first year I moved to PA. I came out on my porch one night and found a bunny rear end sticking out of my pot. The bunny saw me within seconds and high tailed it out of there. The stand I got after that episode seemed to keep them out of the tomatoes since they couldn't reach anymore. This visitor actually got up on the stand to munch on the sweet tomatoes. I have only had one encounter of this but I do have a organic spray I can mix together to keep the visitor from not liking the taste anymore.

I was given a small watermelon plant that is growing so fast on me! Every time I check on it I swear the veins have grown another inch. I wasn't sure if it would do well in a pot but it is so far! I haven't taken a photo of it yet but I will when watermelons start to grow.

A Surprise and More Art

I'm finally done with Christmas present #2!! Created for my Best Friend B since her favorite fruit is strawberries and kiwis. I actually came up with this pattern all by myself without writing it down the first time....then starting over to write it down a 2nd time. I was happy to be finally done and the leaves on the strawberries were the most annoying part for me.

Also, wanted to finish showing off the rest of the new art in my home. I hate bare walls in my home so I am always looking for art to fill it. I feel rather horrible because I don't remember who I got these from! They were a purchase from the Art Star Craft Bazaar in Philly one year. When I first saw this piece on Etsy, I knew I had to have it! It would go perfect in my guinea pig/craft room. Etsy Shop is called When Guinea Pigs Fly.

Other Crafters In My Family

With my parents visit last week my mom brought me a surprise!! She had acquired a few items that women in our family made. My mom then brought them along thinking they should be passed to me and I was so happy to get them!One was a crocheted afghan that I have been told my grandmother made. My dad doubts this and insists my grandmother would not have the patience to crochet the afghan. Also, that maybe one of my grandfather's sister made it. I'm happy to have it either way!I love the colors and how bright they are! It goes well with my pillows on my couch.


The other item is a quilt that I'm in love with too. We are not sure who made it in my family but again my dad thinks it was one of my grandfather's sisters. I'm currently searching for a way to get a couple of stains out the quilt has acquired over the years. The stains aren't noticeable till you turn the quilt over. I would love any ideas on how to get them out!It makes me proud and happy to know that other women in my family created items like this. I am very honored to now have them and I'll cherish them. Completely corny I know but I love created items. It comes from the heart and is completely personal. I just wish I knew the back stories on why both blankets were made. For a special event or just a necessity? They were given to my grandfather so it makes me wonder if both items were created for my grandfather and grandmother's wedding? Maybe one day I'll be told the story.

What's In My Kitchen?

My kitchen theme is pretty much desserts. I think that sums it up nicely. I have been slowly collecting items to add for decoration and so has my awesome mom. This visit my mom helped me to find frames for some new art I had and my dad helped to hang them.

These are the new pieces that went up. I sadly do not know who I got them from. I know a lady from swap-bot sent them to me but I don't remember who/etc. I do feel bad about not remembering but maybe she will get lost on the internet and end up on my blog one day to let me know.


These lovely ladies are done by the lovely and talented artist Miss KiKa. My mom's first comment to me about these art pieces was I have "naked women in my kitchen." That only made me love the art even more.


The first art piece which is of The Golden Girls, was done by elloh. I actually got to meet her at the Philly Art Star Craft Bazaar a couple of years ago. I ended up getting two of the same prints as my mom now has one hanging in her kitchen too. Next is artwork by Pinkytoast. Her artwork is inspired by the dolls, Blythe. After that is a pink coo-coo clock purchased from Urban Outfitters. Finally a limited art piece by Julie West.


My mom actually put the wreath together for me and I have been adding to it you could say. Any kind of dessert inspired plush I can easily hang goes there now.


Last is a giant cupcake cookie jar, salt & pepper shaker, and sugar container. You can also see the ice cream pot holder and ice cream themed spoons.

That's pretty much it for now. I have a few other things in my kitchen I did not include. I'll get around to that some day. I have other new art pieces in my home now. Pictures to come later.

It's Been Awhile

It feels like forever since I have posted! The past two weeks have been really crazy and not with just my parents visiting. Other things that happened in my life that I could have honestly did without. My parents was a great time like it always is. The crazy part was I got about 4 hours of sleep each day that they were here. Working night shift has draw backs and I felt bad sleeping during the day while they were up.

I'm still trying to figure out which post to start with. I think I'll go ahead with my pictures from last week when I took my parents up to Gettysburg, PA. *I heard about the American Civil War Wax Museum and that was our first stop.My confession for this month is I have NEVER been inside of a wax museum. Whenever I went on vacation as a kid with my family, my parents would say it was too much money. Having to pay for 5 kids and then them, I can only imagine how much that would cost! Growing up with two best friends that saved every penny the thought of going never came up either.

After my trip through this one I doubt I will ever go again. It didn't help the area with all the wax figures was completely dark with small lights here and there. It didn't help that a couple of scenes were on a ship so the museum had the whole scene moving and cracking, making ship sounds. It made my skin crawl. I am not one for haunted houses/etc. The only haunted house I will enter is at Disneyland. I kept expecting a wax figure to move and scare the crap out of me the whole time through.At the end was a movie about the battle in the Gettysburg area during the civil war. It was interesting and of course the wax figures were involved. My parents rather enjoyed the museum.

After that we went to a few battlefields that few people go too. My mom asked me so I was happy to show her. I took some pictures along the way. It was my first time seeing cows grazing on the battlefields. I never knew farmers were allowed to do this. There are signs all over about people not wandering around on the battlefields. You are suppose to look from the roads and that's it.