I'm a Picker

I know all of ya'll has been wondering where I've been.  I've been pickin'.  I have been buying stuff to repaint or rework.  I've bought picture frames, mirrors and candle holders to repaint for my sewing room and other parts of the house.  I had my sewing room painted and my living room, kitchen, hall and dining room.  I painted my sewing room a lime green and I'm gonna use red and black accents.  The rest of the house I painted a golden color and it just makes the house look brighter.  It's definitely cleaner looking.  

I really enjoy hunting for stuff.  I'm gonna have to get where I enjoy redoing stuff too.  Every time my husband comes home on the weekend I know he's not surprised to see something else piled in the basement.  Jennifer, a good friend, and myself do yard sales almost every Saturday.  Sometimes I do Fridays too.  I was in Nashville, TN, this weekend and couldn't wait to go yard saleing(I know that's not a word), but it rained.  Talk about being pissed.  I was.  I did stop at a couple in the rain and bought a lamp shade and a pillow.

I only paid $2 for this one and

I paid $1 for this pillow at the same yard sale.  I think I did pretty good.

The pillow I'm gonna put on my bed.  It's brown and blue.  I thought it would be pretty and add some lighter colors to the bed.  The lamp shade I'm gonna put on my $2.50 lamp. I'm painting it and it's not completely finished.  I will be sure and let you see the lamp when I get finished.  

I have also been looking at some great websites and I will put them up and let you see them and tell me what you think about their decorating techniques.  I'll assure you it will be better than mine, but I'm getting better.  If you stay up with my blog I hope you can see me "mature" in my designs.

Knitting Up a Storm

Hey ya'll. I've got to tell all of you that I'm sorry for not blogging lately.  Don't get me wrong I love to blog, but I think my new passion is knittng.  I've always wanted to learn how and I've tried several times before.  For some reason it just never clicked.  I found this great store and this great teacher in Tuscumbia, AL.  It's actually just a hop, skip and a jump from where I live.  To look at the outside of the store it's not your average knitting shop. 

In the south her shop is called  a variety store.  They sell a little bit of everything and the owner is a great knitter.  When you walk in the door about half of the store is filled with this beautiful yarn and lots finished projects.

The day I walked in I was met with a big "HI! How are you''?  Pat and her husband are the owners and  Pat is a wonderful knitter.  She has beautiful sweaters, scarves and hats decorating the store.  When I touched the yarn it felt like butter.  I'm a sewer and a quilter and I love to touch fabrics.  I'm a visual person too.

You can see why I fell in love with her shop.  You can just see and feel every skein of yarn. 

Once I told Pat that I was interested in learning to knit she immediately asked if I could stay and start on a project.  I didn't start that day, but I did make an appt. and came back the next week.  With Pat's help and help from other knitters that come to her shop I have knitted several scarves and I am now working on a purse.

This is one of the scarves that I've finished.  It's called the Potato Chip Scarf.  You will need 200-250 yards of medium or worsted weight yarn  and size 9 or 10 needles.  I used size 8 though.

Here are the directions:

Cast on 20 stitches
Knit 1 row

Work following pattern for the length of the scarf:

Row 1: Knit 8, turn

Row 2: Knit 8, to beg of row

Row 3: Knit 6, turn

Row 4: Knit 6, to beg of row

Row 5: Knit 4, turn

Row 6: Knit 4, to beg of row

Row 7: Knit 20

As soon as I get my purse finished I will post some more pictures.

If you are able to visit the store you must stop in and say hi.  Be sure and let Pat know that you found her shop on my blog.  She'll really appreciate it.

Camera 101

I've been really busy the last few days trying to learn how to use my new camera.  It's a Canon Power Shot XS30IS.

 It's a whole lot better than the one I had.  My old one was about 5 yrs. old and you really couldn't do anything but point and shoot.  I've been practicing taking pictures of alot of different stuff.  I really wanted the camera so that when the grandkids started coming along I'd have a really good camera.  I also wanted one to take better pictures for my Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/Deedeesew?ref=pr_shop_more) and for stuff I sell on Ebay.  I've taken some pictures that really suck.  Take a look at the pictures I've posted and you'll see.



See, I told you they sucked.  Believe it or not I think I actually put these on my Etsy site.  I really have sold some necklaces with the sucky pictures. 

I started looking for some instuctions on taking better pictures.  I found this one it's a really good link for learning about photography(http://www.digital-photography-school.com/11-tips-for-better-candid-photography). If you want to take more good pictures this may be the site for you too. I know that I've learned alot about using my camera.  Hopefully, I will be able to show you some good pictures later on.

While surfing the internet I decided that I need a camera bag, tripod and a light box,.  The tripod is gonna come in handy for shooting photos of my family and our dogs and stuff like that. I found this one on Amazon for about $20.

 The camera bag is so that I don't get my camera scratched up.  They're kinda expensive, but I want one anyway.  I found a bunch of sites for really cute bags and I found this one on Etsy. I thought it was really cute.  I'm about cute. I like bling too, but I couldn't find one with any bling.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/gypsyrosehandbags

 

The light box is something that you use so that you don't get alot of shadows and you get brighter pictures.  I've made one before and it worked o.k.  They have them for sale on line.  I found this one on Amazon and it's only $35.

I'm gonna look around and see what I can find before I buy these on line.

I've learned alot about using my camera and I know that this could be a great hobby for me.  I'm gonna keep learning things and I'll pass them along. 

Happy picture taking!!