Hubby prepping the cake with strawberries on an amazing! 8 layered chocolate mouse cake with whip cream frosting…mmm.

Waiting for the pizza to arrive, still not sure we’re allowed to eat that at our ages.

Not a great picture but I didn’t get very many during the party. Mostly we ate pizza, cake, veggies, homemade coconut and blueberry marshmallows, played Dominion, joked about my crafting obsessions and generally had a good time. My brother was the only family to make it but I did have family well wishes from afar. Mom even felt well enough to talk for a few minutes before she got tired.

Birthday music did happen.

I almost forgot to get a picture of me so here I am at 30 in a crummy pic but it was better than nothing. I look a bit tired. What do you think of my new hair style? I thought 30 deserved a new look. After a week I’m still loving it. A hair straightener does the trick on this thing pretty quick….not that it shows in this pic after a long day of partying.

The necklace is new too, thanks hubby!

Friends treated me to a manicure and pedicure.

I just have to share the funny gift from hubby.

Yes, that’s a peg board….and yes I put it on my wishlist…..and no I didn’t think he’d buy it for my birthday. I laughed and laughed over this one! Hopefully it doesn’t take another year to get it installed to organize our tools.

All of that celebrating got me in the mood for some crafting fun. I managed some very comfy felted slippers and the hot weather dried them out quickly so I’m already able to wear them.

These were so much fun that it got me researching Youtube for other felting ideas and came up with this really quick and fun project. I’m not sure what it will end up as but since I had the warped loom with alpaca sitting since last year I thought merino pencil roving would make for a quick weave. Already I’m loving how soft this is. I’ll need to felt it at least a little so it stays together but hopefully it will keep it’s softness.

I can’t claim this is warped right but it looks ok to me.

Time for bed now before I waffle face my keyboard. Onward and upward…..bring it!

I’ve had my eye open for a turkish spindle and finally caved to this little  cutie

Compared to my learning spindle this new one is amazing! It is very well balanced with awesome spin and weighs 0.5oz in black and white ebony. I bought it from Thomas Creations Thread thru Time Etsy store. They have new spindles all the time but don’t wait to buy  if you see one you can’t live without. They seem to sell out really fast.

Another item that came in the mail today was a free sample lip balm from MMS that came with my order. It has orange butter in the ingredients so I was really interested to try the lip balm. On the whole I prefer my lip balms constancy to theirs but the orange butter smells edible like a smoothie shop and it seems to moisturize well.

The last thing, I promise, was the best candy EVER. Have it Sweet’s Fleur de Sel Caramel has got to be the most buttery and creamy caramel I’ve ever had. This is the second time I’ve ordered from them. The first time I ordered Spring Is In The Air Pink Vanilla and Dark Chocolate Caramel Bars, Belgian Dark Chocolate Caramel Bars, French Pistachio Nougat Bars. The Pistachio went so fast there wasn’t time for pictures and the samples of the Fleur de Sel were soooo good I ordered a batch along with Pink Peppermint Swirl Marshmallows and French Hazelnut Nougat Bars. The Pistachio Nougat to me was better that the Hazelnut but I always tend to like the first one I try best.

They also included a yummy sample of their pecan caramel. It has just a little bit of crunch in that amazing buttery caramel.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my spunky kitty boy

My aunt actually sparked my interest last Thanksgiving when she gave my mother one of her Fun Fur combo scarves that she makes for people at her hospital. Per my usual “I could make it better” attitude, that had already sucked me into jewelry making, I dove into a fun filled year of yarn hording. Here is how it went.

In January I picked up some yarn and knitting needles and went to work on my first scarf.

About half way through I got excited about scarves, blankets and socks when I started searching the internet for knitting blogs so it was back to the store for more needles and yarn.

Jarrods Hemlock blanket, pictures 2 and 3 above, was just so pretty that I had to find the pattern and those lovely blogs led me to Ravelry.com. Depending on how you look at it this is a fiber freaks heaven or hell. There is a whole community dedicated to crazy knitters and crocheters.  By the end of February my yarn stash had grown from a few balls of yarn to bags boxes and bags that were taking over the dinning room and desperately needed a more organized storage system. So I bought a three drawer rolling storage bin thinking that would hold me but my yarn packed the three drawers and I still had a box of supplies. Then came the crazed spring months when I discovered the wonders of Etsy.com and joined a knitting group from work.

By the time I went to my first knitters meeting I had 2 scarves, socks, and 3 blankets started. Our group leader was surprised at how many projects I had going but to be fair I had a lot of happy energy fueling my efforts and no kids at home….except the husband. I think he enjoyed the free time to play more video games on his new ipod. All spring I horded fancy hand made yarns and then discovered another facet of this fiber world, felting AND spinning. Now I was collecting roving too! and lusting after fiber fairs with spinning classes. Shortly after this another fiber craft surfaced in the form of weaving. Unfortunately, I have to work for a living and don’t have near enough time in my day to do all the fiber and jewelry crafting I would like. Instead I sit at work and day dream about projects that I MUST do TODAY! and that leads to more yarn purchases that are relatively easy with that Oh So Helpful internet. Ravelry was not helpful with a zillion fun swaps that I had to mail all over the country. In May my obsession was de-railed with 8 wonderful days in Hawaii where I just couldn’t bring myself to knit even though I was crazy and signed up for Sock Wars III even though I had never completed even one sock. Back at home I completed my last swap for the year with a hand knit dish cloth that proved to me that small projects were probably a better idea at this early stage. All three of my above blankets ended up on hold and my sock

was frogged. I did start a new sock but that didn’t turn out well either

so for now I’ll wait for more skills before attempting another sock. In July two wonderful aspects of my life changed. The office that was used for studying and wasn’t being used now that both James and I were finished with classes so we decided to turn it into

a craft room. We removed all the carpet, painted the walls blue, yes blue, and added wood flooring. The room is still a work in progress but I am looking forward to spending time there. The second was the discovery of how much I enjoy crocheting.

To date I’ve started about 9 shell pattern crocheted scarves/wraps three of which I’ve finished and two were gifts to friends. I also discovered that I love to start things but have trouble finishing things.

In September James and I headed to an Alpaca Farm Fair

where we enjoyed seeing the animals and I got to watch someone spin in person.

and they had pretty yarn that I had to take home.

The next weekend I got up nice to attend my very first spinning class. It was horribly unorganized and at someones home but I learned a little. Around that time I also wraped my own table loom after much grumbling and a lot of help from James. It’s really fun to weave but I now understand why people hate to warp a loom. IT IS A PAIN!!! My first project turned into a mouse pad for my dad and I’m sure he will never use it. Oh well. The second warp I did by myself with a lot of cursing and an emergency run for more yarn. It took about 6 hours while watching movies and I still haven’t started weaving.

Instead I’m working on another shell pattern wrap and a hemp pattern dish cloth both of which are so easy and I recommend to new knitters and crocheters.

So there is my year of fiber but I also started two other projects. The first is my own online stores at http://masoncj.etsy.com and http://indenturedmason.etsy.com for kitchen goods and jewelry.

The other was sewing, specifically for Halloween costumes but also for quilting. The craft room is really expanding!

Thankfully this year has been deemed The Year of Junk Removal and Organization.

out of the box

warping the loom

a warped loom

my first rows

several rows and first advances

more pictures here