New Look for a new year!

Happy "20-10" Readers! I've rolled out a new look for my blog over the weekend, I hope you all like it! It's a work in progress so I'm sure you'll see little changes here and there, but the over all look is going to stay the same for a while. Is there anything that you think is missing? Any static content that you would like to see? What about the right column is everything in an easily accessible location?

I would love your feedback good and bad :)

You will be happy to know that one of my new years resolutions is to blog more, even if they are somewhat short and sweet, look for more content on a more regular basis.

Happy New Year friends!

Contest Opportunity - BlissDom 2010

Wow, lots of blog posts this week huh? I guess that's what happens when we are both home from work and school for longer than a weekend. Lots of the FUN stuff is done and not put off for another day just to be pushed further and further down the list....

Anyways, today I'm blogging about a very cool opportunity. Since starting my new adventure with Steaz as their social media coordinator, I've learned about many new opportunities in the social networking world. It's been and continues to be quite a learning experience and a fun one at that!

One opportunity that came across my desk was the BlissDom 2010 Conference in Nashville TN February 4-6. A little excerpt from their site to explain what BlissDom is:

"Blissdom is the premiere conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online. Blissdom ‘10, our third conference, is a welcoming oasis in the ever-changing blogging world. Speakers and panels featuring the best blogging, public relations and social media pros will be gathering to mentor new and old friends alike."

As it turns out, my client, Steaz, is sending me! They are also willing to send YOU too!

We have launched a contest to send one lucky blogger to BlissDom, if you are interested in entering for your chance to win you will need to blog about what you value as a blogger, after you've blogged, make sure to complete the entry form which you can find by following this link to our notes on our Facebook Fan Page, complete contest details are there too. The contest ends January 7th and we will announce the winner on the 8th. Once you have entered, let me know via the Steaz Facebook Fan Page or by sending us a Tweet! Make sure you include a link to your blog post!

New Space

One of our err Chris's big projects to accomplish over Christmas break was to rearrange the 3rd floor office space. It's been over three years since we've last organized it, probably closer to four actually. Since that last organization, a LOT has changed with our companies and our family. Read: our needs have changed. He spent two days cleaning and moving and reorganizing this space.

It was quite cramped with too much furniture and our desks were facing each other in the middle of the room. There wasn't much room to spread out and work or play. It was very unfriendly to the kids too with lots of accessible cords and plugs.

This floor is quite functional, it's where our photo editing happens and is also used for equipment storage. I also have my craft area up there.

To help us gain more usable space, we moved things to the outer walls and ditched a huge couch. We now have the creative side and the storage side. This leaves the majority of the room open. There is enough room to have two little boys run in two separate circles at the same time and not have them collide. I've seen it with my own two eyes! Another permanent fixture is the kids' easel with crayons. Also, a small square ikea end table which doubles as a perfect kid-sized table.

Tonight we decided to move 'after dinner family time' to the 3rd floor. Each kid brought up a few toys. They played, we all played, Chris had some photos processing while he built a tent, the kids played together, he blogged, I chatted with a friend, I played. And just like that, it was kiddo bedtime! It was beautiful.

We are happy to have a new space to play and live in.

Here's a view of my new ginormous working/crafting area. In this photo, I am sewing the capes I last blogged about.

Super Heros

Hello and Merry Christmas Everyone! The semester is complete! I've passed my classes and I am satisfied with the outcome! I've baked all that I can manage to bake this year, including a new cookie called Orange Slice Cookies that include little cut up pieces of orange slice candies. They are different, tasty, but quite sweet... even for a cookie. I also made my usual Reese' Peanut butter cup mini cups, Peanut Butter Cranberry Cereal Bars and two loaves of Orange Cranberry Bread that were specifically for Max's pre-school teachers. I also bought the ingredients for my Macaroon recipe with the mini chocolate chips... but I have run out of baking motivation.... I'll be baking off some of these in the near future though because upon announcing to Chris that we would not be having any for Christmas, I got quite the showing of the pouty bottom lip... and something was muttered about them being HIS favorite cookies... blah blah blah.... Guess I'll need to rectify that in a few weeks.

If I can manage to get to bed soon... (I had plans to hit the sack 2 hours ago in hopes of not seeing the clocks change to the next day AGAIN...) we will have two nights until our visit from the jolly old elf himself. I'm feeling pretty relaxed about that after axing a few things from the MUST DO list (sorry Max, no hand knit stocking this year :( But you and your brother will both have them for next year.) All that is left on my to do list is wrap gifts and I also have an early morning trip planned to Market District for some yummy anti pasta makings for Christmas Eve. Chris and I will share wrapping duties Wednesday night together with some wine. There isn't anything to assemble so it should be pretty easy.

Today, I finally found the time to sew up some adorable gifts for my little guys... I'm ashamed to admit, I've never sewn anything for them *gasp* I really do feel terrible about this... Needless to say, come Friday morning they will be the proud new owners of two ADORABLE little super hero capes! I'm very happy with how they turned out. I did a google search for cape sewing pattern and this was one of the first few links to pop up: http://pukingpastilles.com/?p=57

After looking through her post and directions I quickly realized that her pattern was basically just an enlarged baby bib. Using her measurements I drew my own cape patterns out and went to work. I cut the pieces out during nap. Drew out the letters and cut those, and began attaching the letters to the circles and the circles to the outer cape layer. I got one cape sewn together and ready to be top stitched before it was time to put all projects on hold until after bedtime again. After the boys went to bed, I think I spent another hour finishing the two capes. I want to say the total time spent on TWO capes was 3 hours. It was VERY easy and I'm more than pleased with how they came out.


Again, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year! (oh and happy birthday to me lol).

Experimenting with Color: Kool-Aid Edition

A few months ago, I was in my local St. Vincent DePaul. While there, I checked the craft section for some sewing notions but instead of finding zippers and buttons I scored a HUGE lot of undyed 100% wool, each skein was $.79 and there were seven skeins ! HUGE yarn score!  I knew right away that I would attempt to hand dye some wool and Kool-Aid would be my dye of choice.

I next had to figure out what I was going to do with this yarn, I knew I would dye it but what knitting pattern would I use?  I finally decided to knit Christmas stockings for my family. I found this pattern (http://home.howstuffworks.com/free-knitting-patterns-for-beginners11.htm#). Here's the Ravelry.com link too.

Next I needed to start thinking about color since the yarn was undyed. I did a quick google search for "how to dye yarn" and this was the first link I came to (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/FEATdyedwool.html). I'm a big fan of bright colors and I'm not going for a traditional stocking look. I want something a bit different. So I decided to use regular everyday colors instead of the usual green and red.

Based on the chart provided in the Knitty.com directions, I chose a few colors (flavors) and headed to the store in search of Kool-Aid. I came away with packets to make orange, pink, teal and red.

Tuesday night was then deemed Kool-Aid party night. A few of my knitting friends came over to see the process and to keep me company.

Before the dying started, the yarn needed to be soaked, I gave it a bath in a big bowl with a few drops of laundry detergent and let it sit for a good twenty to thirty minutes. This process rinsed the fibers and got rid of a LOT of dirt and oils.


I then rinsed the yarn with room temperature tap water and I gently squeezed the excess water from the yarn. It was now time to dye! I started with orange since Max requested that his stocking be his favorite color. Preparing the dye is quite easy, basically 1 packet of Kool-Aid to each ounce of wool. My skeins were three oz skeins. I emptied the contents of three packets into a Pyrex dish, added some water to dissolve the Kool-Aid, placed my yarn into the dish and added a bit more water to cover the yarn. Following the directions, I microwaved my yarn in the dye for two minutes, let the yarn rest, swished it around a bit and cooked it for 2 more minutes and let it cool. I let all the yarn hang out in their Pyrex dishes until the end. As you can see in the photos below, the dye is QUITE bright prior to submerging the yarn. The dye is then absorbed by the fibers leaving a semi-clear water behind.

The dye is then absorbed by the fibers leaving a semi-clear water behind.

I then rinsed and gently squeezed the excess water out again and hung them to dry in the basement.


I'm happy with how each of the colors turned out. The red is QUITE bright! It took two extra cooking sessions to secure the dye in the yarn and the water never quite cleared like the others. Overall, it was a really fun project although slightly messy... I've come away with some awesome colors of yarn and two bright red hands.

More photos of the process can be found here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cararolinson/).