i haven't dropped off the face of the earth...

I'm just buried in crafty projects & yarn!

I've been busy making cards:

And...

I've been crocheting! I'm addicted... it's literally all I want to do! Dana's (Crafty Minx) Crochet School is so thorough and easy to follow, & it gets you up and hooking quickly! I've made wrist warmers (aka. fingerless gloves), dish cloths, scarves, hats... and my yarn stash is quickly growing! I've warned Shawn that he may come back and have to unearth me from under my piles of wonderfully soft yarns!

baby bunting... I will be making this in adjustable size (and different colours!) and die cutting felt letters like "sweet" and "precious" to use this as a photo prop... I can't wait! I found it here on Amanda's blog!

my first attempt at a cabled scarf... it was remarkably easy and, of course it's in my favourite colour!

dishcloths... I've been making dishcloths and pot holders - the cotton yarn is so inexpensive and one ball makes 2 cloths! If you're getting presents from me this Christmas, you know what you're getting...

I found a super easy pattern for this cute hat and flower... I know a couple of little girls that will be getting hats!

more dishcloths... this time with a matching towel with a hanger so it can hang off of your oven door handle

a burnt orange neck warmer - just have to find the right buttons for this & it's done!

another cute little hat and (gigantic) flower... I <3 Ravelry!

I took my knowledge of cables from making the previous scarf and made one for myself that is slightly skinnier since I have a very short neck...

some of my latest cards...

crochet school...

is going very well! Dana @ Crafty Minx is a great teacher - very thorough with her explanations, and the videos are great! I have tried (and failed) to teach myself from books before, and never was able to get past the chain stitch, but I've progressed this time!

This is my single crochet stitch swatch (it's much farther along now, as we have covered the half double crochet, the double crochet, the treble crochet and the double treble crochet, but I have yet to upload the photos!) after the first week - not too shabby, eh? And here is my very first completed 'project' - a dishcloth:

because I don't think I have enough to do...

I've decided to take an online crochet class! I've wanted to learn crochet and knitting for some time now - I bought a couple of books and gave it a go on my own last year - I stumbled upon Dana's blog, Craftyminx, and there was a post for Crochet School! Can't wait to give it another try!

FRED...

Let me introduce you to 'Fred', a progressive card that my crafty Tweeps & I made for Sue. If you have just happened upon this post (perhaps because my feed came up in your reader and showed that I posted for the first time in months?!?!?), start back over here at Lydia's blog for the back story & hop along with us 

1) Lydia Fiedler -  2) Dana Keith 3) Mary Dawn Quirindongo 4) Leslie Hanna 5) Lisa Adametz 6) Michelle Hanway 7) Dreena Guptil 8) Tara Liddicoat (you are here)

See how he came together (below) just before he went to Sue:

This was a bit of a tough project for me... if you've followed the hop then you've see Fred in his various stages... what one thing to add? I thought of flowers because of the pretty butterfly, but the combinations I tried all seemed to overwhelm. I loved the lace and pearls in the middle, and I didn't really want to cover up much more of the pretty patterned papers by stamping another image, so I tried tying a pretty bow in some taffeta ribbon, but that was also a little too 'much', if you know what I mean? I settled for a little ruffled ribbon... I think it added a pretty, soft touch - a nice way to send off Fred.