Another Rough Day Ahead

 My friends, your outpouring of love and support has felt like a much-needed hug and I thank you all SO MUCH.

Today us kids have to meet at the funeral home to make the arrangements...these next few days are going to be especially hard on us all. Please continue to pray for God to bless us with His strength as well as His comfort.

♥♥♥

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

Thoughts and Prayers Please....

My Mom went to her Heavenly home today.

Barbara Jean Shore
February 21, 1948 - January 26, 2011

Mommy, you are already missed.

I love you so much & will hold you forever in my heart.

♥♥♥

Though He brings grief, He will show compassion, so great is His unfailing love.

Lamentations 3:32

This week's theme is "maudlin."

maud·lin [mawd-lin] –adjective
1. tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental: a maudlin story of a little orphan and her lost dog.
2. foolishly or mawkishly sentimental because of drunkenness.

Here's my inchie representation of "maudlin"...

♥♥♥

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34

An Extremely Personal Post

Hello my friends,

This is going to be a very short, but an extremely personal post.

I'm asking you to bear with me for a few weeks.

To start, I need to let you in on a very personal little tid-bit of information: I'm bipolar. I have battled this very personal hell for so many years.  For the last year and a half I have been on a medication called Effexor (for bipolar, depression & anxiety) and for all intents and purposes, this medication has worked....however, it is about the worst medication for withdrawal symptoms if you even forget it for a few hours! This has had me dealing with a hell all its own and a hell I just can't live with anymore. With that said, I have decided to get off of Effexor and I am gradually tapering off of it because it is dangerous to quit "cold turkey." Even with the gradual tapering off (I only lower the dosage by a very minimal amount each time I adjust it), it still has me reeling from the withdrawal symptoms. Sometimes I can function fairly normal, but sometimes (today is one of those times) I do good to get out of bed because of the physical (not mental or emotional) withdrawals: my head is reeling, I am extremely disoriented, nauseous, and I have a migraine.

Now that you know my little secret and the hell that I've been dealing with, I am asking you to please keep me in your prayers and thoughts and to bear with me for a few weeks or so until I can get this out of my system and work with my doctor to get me on a medication that is better suited to me. As I said earlier, I do have days that are fairly normal, but those days I have so much catching up to do on EVERYthing that I may or may not be able to fit a blog post in....but I will try to post at least once a week, if only to say that I'm still trudgin' along and that I'm thinking about you.

Thanks in advance for your understanding.

I love you guys!

♥♥♥

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11 NIV

Family, Outgoing Art and Every Inchie Monday: Caring

I went to my sister Karen's for the weekend to help out with my great-niece Addison's very first birthday and I had a really good time. Karen is a cake-maker and really is awesome at her job! Here she is with baby Addison and the party table posing with all of the goodies we put together and the birthday cake...

Here's Addison with her mommy (my niece Casey) and her daddy...

And here she is with her Cuddly Bunny that I made her for her birthday...

I was so happy that she was so tickled with it. My other niece Shelby informed me immediately that she wanted a bunny too, LoL. Here's Shelby with Addison...

♥♥♥

This week's theme is "Caring."

A simple inchie, made with a Sharpie ultra-fine tip marker & liquid/craft acrylic paint.

♥♥♥

Finally, I'll leave you with some art eye candy that has made it to their destinations...

...made for my friend Jodie in a personal swap we did.

(acrylic painting)

...this little guy was made for Wendy in the Swap-bot Cat Postcards Galore Swap.

(watercolor painting)

♥♥♥

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1 NIV

Every Inchie Monday: Powerful

What is an inchie?

Basically, an inchie is a teeny-tiny piece of art. 

Alot of times they are traded like ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) and I've seen alot of handmade greeting cards decorated with inchies. 

To learn more about them and see some wonderful examples, peek here.

To see examples of some gorgeous cards made using inchies, check this out.

I didn't get going on the "Every Inchie Monday" project in time to post the first one, so you get a double dose of inchie eye candy this week! So without further ado, here they are...

"Ecclectic"

and

"Powerful"

Thank you my friends for all that you allow me to share with you!

Much love to you.

♥♥♥

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16 NIV

So Sweet!

I love how well my babies get along!

These two wrestle and play one minute...you'd think they were gonna chew a hole in each other...then they are cuddled up to each other the next. They'll give each other kisses and Zoe will bath Chloe...sometimes it's so sweet it's unbearable!

Since it's Sunday there's no new incoming mail to post, but I have been creating creating art and getting mail ready to go out. I'll have to wait and show those when they've reached their destination so as not to spoil any surprises. :o)

I can show you this art journal entry that I started last night though. I just finished it this morning....

I also have a doily to share with you ;o)

I first saw this one on Creative Jewish Mom's website. Her doily turned out so pretty that I couldn't wait to give it a go!

The Spider Web Doily is a free pattern on the Coats and Clark website.

I love it! I really enjoyed the pattern; it really is so super easy to work up and would be a perfect doily project for someone who would love to try a doily but has been too intimidated by them to plunge in and go for it. That was me for years!...please, don't wait years...not when there are beautiful doilies just waiting to be made and easy patterns like this to get you started!

I will leave you with a quote today that really does ring true...

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
Lewis B. Smedes

Be blessed my friends!

♥♥♥

But now be strong O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord, and work. For I am with you, declares the Lord almighty.
Haggai 2:4 (NIV)

Mail, Art & Crochet -- with free pattern link

Hello friends!

Not gonna be too wordy tonight but I wanted to share some eye candy (and a pattern link) with y'all. 

First of all, look at the pretty ATCs I got this week!

...this one was from tammybeck. I LOVE her ATCs and was so happy to have the opportunity to trade with her!

...got this one from Yuzz in a Swap-bot swap.

...and finally, this one out of the blue from a fellow IUOMA member.

Sweet huh?

:o)

I sent this out to my pen pal Linda...

 I also got to work on Pammy Sue's adorable (and free!) "On the Fly Doily" pattern...

Turned out pretty cute huh? I made it for my brother and his wife-to-be in their favorite colors (his is blue and hers is green). 

I hope y'all have had a wonderful week and that you have an even better weekend!

♥♥♥

Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.
Proverbs 17:28 NLT

ASE's Teeny-Tiny Snowflake-Free Crochet Pattern

ASE's Teeny-Tiny Snowflake Crochet Pattern
©Anita Elmore aka ASE Knits 'n' Crochets
http://aseknc.blogspot.com/
aseknc@gmail.com
♥

You may not sell or claim this pattern as your own.
You may, however, share the pattern freely & sell any items you make using this pattern, all that I ask is that you give me credit as the designer with the info above.
Thank you for respecting my copyright.

Please enjoy!
♥

 

Materials

• Size 10 Crochet Thread, teeny-tiny amount
• Hook: US 4 Steel Crochet Hook

Terms and Abbreviations

• CO = cast on
• ch = chain
• sc = single chain
• hdc = half double crochet
• sts = stitches
• sl st = slip stitch
• beg = beginning
• x = times (example 6x = 6 times)
• FO = finish off

Special Stitches

• 3-picot cluster: (ch 3, sl st in same sc)3x
  

Snowflake

Round 1: CO & ch 4 (counts as first hdc and ch 2 space)

(hdc in 4th ch from hook, ch 2)4x join with a sl st to 2nd ch in beg ch 4. (5 hdc and ch 2 spaces)

Round 2:  (Sc in next ch 2 space, 3-picot cluster, sl st in next hdc)5x; FO and weave in ends.

Creativity Update-Includes Baby Sweater From Free Crochet Pattern With Link!

Hello my friends!

It's been another stir crazy kinda day here. The sun was shining so beautifully...sun rays through my windows is like an instant dose of energy for me...Gotta love that!

One of the patterns that I told you I would share pics of & links to is this adorable little Hexagon Baby Sweater/Jacket...

I always tend to make girlie things when I work on baby projects (maybe it's because not having a girl, girlie things are a bit refreshing), so I thought this time I would make something for a boy. I'll add buttons to it when I find just the right ones.  This pattern was so very easy to follow and to work up! My very favorite kind! I don't like fold down collars much...especially on a baby...so I just worked the collar the same way I did my trim...also different, LoL, seems like I can just never work a pattern as written! For the trim I wanted to add an extra color, as these colors were how I had envisioned it from the beginning, and to do that without have a huge band I had to switch to sc instead of dc. All-in-all, I think it worked out nicely!

As if I needed another challenge to add to my plate, I joined in on Kate's Calendar Challenge over at The Kathryn Wheel. To give you a quick low-down on what it's about, each month I'll be making my own calendar...I'll be making mine in my art journal...and each day I will write or draw something that pertains to that day's square. I completed January's calendar today...my very first one....

I also wanted to share with you this beautiful mail I got from my mail art pal Nicole....

Isn't it all just gorgeous! I can't tell you how happy I am when I open my mailbox to find something Nicole has made to send me!

Here's a collage I made of some of the art that I sent out today and/or got notified that they were received today...

Being creative makes me so happy!

Before I sign off for the night, I thought I'd share a couple of pics of my babies too.

We have a new edition to the Elmore household....

Her name is Zoe. 

 Here she is playing in Mommy's yarn basket.

One of her favorite places to be is crawled up under someone's legs for a nap. I am assuming it's the warmth, or maybe it's just the way your legs wrap around her...like swaddling a baby.....

...this is her cuddled up under Blue's legs this time.

It only took a few days for her and Chloe to become the best of sisters and friends! It is so cute to watch them play and wrestle...they even play tug with each other with Chloe's bo-bo. Then when they wear each other out, the crawl up on the couch together and nap....

Ok, that's enough for one day. Thank you all so much for letting me share my creativity and my life with you. I sure do love you guys!

♥♥♥

Then David continued, 'Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the temple of the Lord is finished correctly.
1 Chronicles 28:20 (NLT)

Cuddly Bunny Free Knitting and Crochet Pattern

It felt so good to be throwin' yarn again yesterday as I knitted up this little cutie...

I made her for my great-niece's 1st birthday coming up on the 15th. I followed the free knitting pattern for the Cuddly Bunny from the Lion Brand Yarn website. It was so quick and easy to knit up! I worked it from start to finish yesterday afternoon. Because I had a hard time with the extremely fuzzy novelty yarn I was using tangling up while I was doing the double knitting for the bunny's head, I decided to switch to crochet so I could work in the round. The free crochet pattern is called Bunny Blanket Buddy and it is a free pattern from the Lion Brand Yarn website too. I've decided to make another one with smaller needles to make a denser fabric and without stuffing the head for my pup Chloe. She needs a new bo-bo. :o)

Today I have been going so stir crazy! I am so ready for winter to be over already! 

About the only thing I was able to sit still long enough to create was this ATC I made for a private trade...

 ...and now it's time for me to head to bed. 

Sweet dreams my friends!

♥♥♥

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God..
Ephesians 2:8

New Year Wishes and My Creative Update

I sure hope that you had the merriest of Christmas' and that your year is starting out abundantly blessed and that it continues to be so blessed right on through to the end of 2011!

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Elmore house!

We got Jeremy a Craftsman tool set & he's a big Chevy fan, so I designed and made this throw for him...

I think he was just about as thrilled with the throw as he was the expensive tool set! Talk about makin' a Mama feel good! :o)

Damon got a new bass guitar and I made him this Bob Marley-style rasta tam...

I do believe he slept in it for two nights in a row. LoL I sure do love that my boys enjoy things that I make for them so much. 

I have been keepin' creative since my last post too.

My internet was down for 24 hours from Wednesday morning until Thursday morning and I completed 4 crochet projects! All I was in the mood to do that day was crochet. I'll be sharing pics individually over the next few days and I'll be sharing the links to the patterns as well.

I've also been making loads of ATCs and Postcards for various Swap-bot swaps... (I am only posting pics of things that have been received by the swap-ee)

I've even had the opportunity to sit down with my art journal again--YaY!!!

And today I am spending a very relaxing day at home and I'm actually KNITTING! It's been a long time since I've picked up my knitting needles and I didn't realize how very much I missed it.

Until next time, take care my friends!

♥♥♥

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1