Finished for Friday: Animal Advent 12

Another cute freebie from Brooks Books Publishing.  Glad to see the little squirrel has found a festive hat to wear.

I'm stitching away madly at Christmas gifts now, so I'll have to keep them a secret from my blog for a bit.  Just in case some intended recipient gets the urge to see what I've been up to.

I've started weeding out boxes in my garage and I'm finding treasures and trash galore.  I found a whole big folder of pictures and craft instructions lovingly removed from magazines.  That's what we used to do before we could save things on Pinterest.  I barely gave all those clippings a look before I tossed them all in the recycling.  I bet Pinterest has saved me money that I used to spend on magazines.

I've collected a lot of Christmas cross stitch patterns on one of my pinterest boards.  Maybe you'll find a project you like there.  Most of the patterns I like to collect are free.

Now back to my top secret projects...

How to Block Unwanted Pins on Pinterest

I wont deny that I have been a Pinterest addict for a long time.  It's a lot of fun to follow people who have similar interests and see what new ideas they are pinning.

Lately, however, Pinterest has become a lot less fun due to the deluge of "Promoted" pins and "Picked for You" pins.  They were cluttering up my feed until I couldn't find the real pins from people I follow.

For several months, I have used a Firefox extension and it worked beautifully.  Sadly, it's failed me over the last few days despite everything I try.

A little research led me to a new solution.  Go visit The Beth Project.  She gives simple instructions to install a greasemonkey script and BOOM!  Unwanted pins are gone.

My new Pinterest feed looks like swiss cheese - there were a LOT of unwanted pins there!  The feed has blank spots where pins were removed.

 

I would rather have the blank spaces to sail past than have a lot of pins I don't want.

I hope this solution helps you.  We Pinterest addicts have to stick together!

Are you following me on Pinterest?  Just search for "Threeundertwo."

Best of Pinterest: Fall crafting

I found some wonderful pins this week to add to my Fall to-do list.  Click on the images to go to the source.

Create and Babble has a great tutorial on how to make velvet pumpkins.  Once you learn the trick you'll want to try these too. 

Someone shared this beautiful free quilt pattern called Maple Stars from RJR Fabrics.  I love these colors.

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti recipe from ShugarySweets.com.  I think I may need to test these out!

And one more quilt tutorial.  This mini-quilt was designed by Shelly Pagliai for Riley Blake Designs.  It's a great little pattern.  I love embroidery in quilts.

To see all the things I like to pin, follow me on Pinterest.

Finished for Friday: Turkey tissues

I keep myself amused.  Once again I found something on Pinterest that I just had to make.  Who doesn't need one of these?

You can find the pattern at the Lion Brand website here.  It was easy to make, but I'm not a fan of working with this particular boucle yarn.  Splits a little too easily.

I'm sure when I pull it out next Thanksgiving I'll  laugh all over again.  My crafts make me happy.

Santa's Village #9

Just three more little houses to go in Santa's Village.  I'm feeling the pressure to get this done so I can get it to a frame shop and get it on the wall before Christmas.  Only about 10 more weeks!  It's going to fly by.  The Christmas Tree lot down the street is already setting up.  No trees yet, but they're getting ready.  I've ordered my amaryllis bulbs so they'll bloom indoors in time for Christmas.  Drama Girl is talking about putting together a steampunk outfit to wear to the Dickens fair in San Francisco.  Not sure what's going to be involved with that.

I'm still working on my Jack-o-lantern quilt.  All the applique is done and now I'm stitching in the ditch.  I'm very slow at it.  I think the background quilting will be very simple.

I found this great project on Pinterest - just put some soil in an open pumpkin and watch the seeds sprout.  Very cute, isn't it?  What they failed to mention is just how mushy the bottom gets.  Yikes.  This will not be fun to move.  The kids want me to plant it in the ground but I think after a brief display on the porch I'm going to dump it.  Sorry Pinterest (and kids).

I'm enjoying the Halloween season.  I realized that after lunch I was sitting in my living room, which is all decorated for Halloween, with a big black cat named Dumbledore on my lap, reading Harry Potter.   It was a nice moment before I have to get back to reality. I have all the Harry Potter books on my Kindle so I can just dip in once in a while for some light reading.

Drama Girl is going to a special showing of the play "Dracula" on Thursday night.  It's a great book and she has bet me a batch of cookies that she can read it before then.  She started last night.  We'll see if she gets through it.  I read it a few weeks ago.  If you've only seen the movies and not read the book you're really missing the story.  I think none of the movies really gets close. 

Linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts.

Leveraging Your Pinterest Power

I make no secret that I adore Pinterest.  Do you follow any of my boards?  I have over 3000 followers now and it's become my favorite source of creative inspiration  Here are my suggestions for making the best of your Pinterest pin collection.

1. Keep your boards small and specific. If I want to look through your boards, I want to be quick. 200 pins on a "Fall Quilts" board is interesting.  6,000 pins on a "Quilts" board is a lot of noise to work through.  I will probably never make it to the bottom.  You will probably forget what you have on there.

My own rule is to try to split boards once they get much over 200 pins.  I have a Halloween board that's over 600 pins now.  Last weekend I separated all the "Halloween Crafts and DIY" pins and put them on their own board.  If I have a chance this weekend, I will probably separate out Halloween recipes or Halloween decor.  It takes a little time to move pins, but the results are worth it.

2. Review and edit your own boards.  Lots of duplicate pins are a sure sign that you're not really interested in your collection - so why should I follow you?  Pinterest now has a warning message when you've already pinned something, so this shouldn't be the problem it was in the past.  Duplicates that are spaced far apart on a board are forgivable, but if I see them at a casual glance, it tells me that the pinner never looks at their own boards or never bothers to edit.  Not worth my time.

3. Edit the comment when necessary.  Comments help you and others find the perfect pins.  Here are some examples of useless comments:

• Hey Nancy!  We should make this!
• I love this!
• flikr 38r.62sqsitl
• . (the single period used in place of a comment when you can't think of what to say.  I admit I was guilty of this in the past.)
• #using #loads #of #meaningless #hashtags.  Pinterest has an excellent search function which will find words and even strings of letters without hashtags.  They are obnoxious.  Don't use them.

Look at this beautiful board with clean and (for the most part) useful comments: http://www.pinterest.com/hadarmarom/embroidery/

4. Link back to the Source. Nothing is more annoying than clicking on a pin and finding a dead end.  If you are pinning it yourself, pin from a page, not an image.  If you are repinning a pin, check that the link works.  If you find a great recipe, don't post the whole recipe in the comments, link back to the blog or website where the recipe appears.  Give the creator of the content the credit they deserve!  If you are pinning from a blog post, pin from the specific post, not the home page of the blog.

5. Stay legal.  Copyright laws protect artists and writers.  I am particularly sensitive to creators of patterns, since that is what I deal with often.  For example, I see a lot of cross-stitch patterns which have been scanned from printed material.  The designer does not get the profit they deserve from the sale of that book or leaflet.  We want designers to stay in business and keep creating, and Pinterest can kill that.  If you suspect a pattern or work is under copyright, don't repin it. 

Pinterest is a wonderful playground if you stay organized and keep your boards focused. Leave me a link to your boards in the comments so I can follow you.

Happy Fourth!

I've had a nice break from the usual chaos for the last couple of days and managed to stitch up another little mini-sampler.

This is from an old free pattern from The Sampler Girl and I don't think it's available any more.  I have a lot of patterns I've downloaded to my computer.  I really do think that someday I'll get to all of them.  Pinterest, on the other hand, has more great ideas than I'll ever do in one lifetime.  I have a whole board full of patriotic cross stitch patterns here.

Have a great, safe holiday!

More Fall handiwork

Wasabi Girl has joined the knitting club at school.  They have taught her to knit - something I wasn't successful at.  I think it's a lot more fun to do with friends.  Here is her first finished piece, a baby blanket that she is donating to charity.  All of the kids in the club are making these small blankets.  Very sweet.  She actually got it done pretty fast.  I'm so proud of her.  She's already started on another one.

Time for some new seasonal coasters.  I found this pattern on pinterest.  You can find the instructions here.

Wasabi Girl thought it was outrageous that I didn't have an appropriate tea towel for the Thanksgiving season so I made this one:

I had the trim left over from a Halloween project last year.

This cute little guy is available as a free pattern from Bird Brain Designs. 

Finally, I finished up the top for my "Finally Fall" quilt.

It's pretty big.  Wasabi Girl is holding out her arms as far as she can.  I'm hoping to get this one quilted up before Fall is over.  Sorry about the bad lighting in the picture.  I'll get better pictures when it's daylight again.

I'm still stubbornly refusing to let Christmas sneak into the house, although I do have some Amaryllis bulbs in plain pots that are sprouting.

I get to cook Thanksgiving this year.  One of my favorite things to do.  So glad it's my turn again.  Are you cooking or traveling this year?

Halloween mantle

I've never done a Halloween-themed mantle before, but here again I was inspired by Pinterest and the "Pin it and do it" challenge for October.

My version includes a black feather tree, a transferware plate from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (thanks to a very dear friend who sent me a set!) some needlework and pumpkins.  On the small chairs below are some wool pillow I made a few years ago.

Halloween is proving to be challenging calorically.  I've made another batch of the whole wheat pumpkin spice latte muffins I mentioned in the last post.  And tragically for my waistline, I've discovered candy corn flavored m&ms.  I wish I'd never tried them because they're just ridiculously good.

While doing some stitching a few days ago I watched "Blithe Spirit."  What a great Halloween-ish movie.  Haven't seen it in years.  It's a Noel Coward play directed by David Lean, featuring a young handsome Rex Harrison.  I just love it.

I have a stack of movies waiting next to my television for us to sit down and watch.  We barely have time to sit together these days.  I might have to finish a few more Halloween movies on my own this week while I sew.  Do you have any favorites you love to watch this time of year?

Creepyville

I accomplished something for the Pin It and Do It challenge.  I call it Creepyville.  The original pin took me to this post at The 36th Avenue blog.  She has great instructions for making a spooky village out of dollar store Christmas village pieces.

Wasabi Girl and I got to work spray painting.  We are complete amateurs at the whole spray paint thing, but I think our uneven job just added to the creepy, dilapidated look.

Jungle Boy tore himself away from his latest video game long enough to join us in painting in some details.  We all started as minimalists but then just kept adding more.  It was a lot of fun.

The imperfect black paint on the people just makes them look more sketchy, in my opinion.

These guys are definitely burying something...

And here's a guy with an axe and another guy carrying something suspicious on his back.

We all love how this turned out.  Give it a try.  Great project.

A Pinteresting Challenge

Pin It and Do It is a challenge set up at "Love Laughter and a Touch of Insanity."  The goal is to complete some of the projects we pin and blog about them.  I love Pinterest and this is a great challenge for me, so I'm going to try to complete 8 of my pins this month (ha!  I'm so ambitious!).

You can see my challenge pinboard here.  I've got some Halloween crafts, some recipes, and some decorating.

First up?  Maybe this healthy, easy  Pumpkin Pie Smoothie!

And who wouldn't want this cute spooky village made from dollar store houses?

Check out the challenge and join in - even if you're only planning to do three things.  There are a lot of great pins to choose from on Pinterest.

Pinteresting: London 2012 craftiness

Are you going to watch the Olympic Games?  It seems like everywhere I look on Pinterest there are fun projects to commemorate the season.

Hooks @ The Ready! has a tutorial for a quick crochet cushion.  A good way to practice changing colors.  Or "colours" as the case may be.  I think I might do this one!

Dandelion Daydreams has a great tutorial for making a block of the Union Flag.  I watch Doctor Who so I know it's not supposed to be called a Union Jack.  This is also tempting me, especially with the fun colors (colours).

Here's a great tutorial for an Olympic Rings quilt from Solar Threads.  A fun memento for a young athlete in the house.

Our house will be all about gymnastics, since we got to go to the team trials this year.  What are your favorite events to watch? 

Catch my boards on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/threeundertwo/

Pinteresting

Lots of great finds on Pinterest this week for quilters and crafters.

Look at this beautiful quilt pattern from Laura Nownes on Etsy.  It's made from a jelly roll.  I love these colors.  I might have to get this one.  I pinned this on my "Quilt patterns and tutorials" board.

By Hook, By Hand has these adorable free doll crochet patterns:

That's pinned to my Amigurumi board.

I love pincushions.  Look at this free pattern from Join the Mood: 

It's a teapot!  In polka dots!  I love it.  This ones on my Crafty board.  Someday.

Warmer weather pulls me outside and I wish I had a porch to sit around on.  Look at this beauty I pinned from the blog "pink cottage."

I could just daydream all day looking at that picture.

There's a world of beautiful images and amazing links over on Pinterest.  Are you on it yet? 

Come and find me at pinterest.com/threeundertwo.  Let me know in the comments if you have boards for me to come visit!