It's next week my friends! Starting on Monday and going through Friday, the Pinterest challenge will be attempted once more!
After last month's challenge was completed there were several people who left comments lamenting on the fact that they had missed it by several days, or the entire week through no fault of their own! In fact, I am perfectly willing to lay the blame on myself, because I simply jumped into it and didn't give anyone any time to think.
Now you still have time to think about it, plan ahead, and get excited! If you don't know what the Pinterest Challenge is be sure to check out the introductory post.
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One other thing before you go. I started following this adorable blog, Wild Olive, a few weeks ago. I have to say that I'm hooked on this girl's designs. They are cute, fun, whimsical, and can be on anything from Valentines Day cards to embroidery patterns. What's not to love about cute little smiley faces that adorify anything? (Yes, it's possible I made up that word, adorify.)
Speaking of embroidery patterns, she's starting up an stitch swap! Sign up, and you will have a month to complete and send a little project that should fit into a 4" hoop. I'm really excited about this idea, and am seriously considering participation! One thing to remember though is that this swap is including all of our International neighbors as well (Yay!), so be prepared to possibly pay a little extra shipping.
So, Pinterest Challenge and Stitch Swap. Are you as excited as I am?
This is a collection of posts that date from the middle of January to this last week. Each of them resonated with me in some way, and I hope they will for you too! If you're looking to be inspired, something lovely to read, or even some new blogs to follow, definitely peruse the links below.
Comment Replying and Blog Tips ~ YES. I didn't know about the replying by email bit, but I agree with the blog tips 100%.
Whatever You Do ~ A good reminder for myself, as well as an encouragement for you as well!
Thoughts for the Lord's Day ~ Are we wasting our days in selfishness, or are redeeming the time by obeying the commands that God has given us?
What is {True} Love? ~ Is love hopping from relationship to relationship? How is love really defined?
The Hound and the Hart ~ Seeking God's will is all well and good (if you go about it the right way!), but wouldn't it be better to seek the heard of God instead?
If you read any of those posts, what were your thoughts?
Today's the first day! This is really exciting, isn't it? I know that I'm eager to see what will be accomplished this week. If you're new here and aren't sure what this is, please read Problems with Pintereset Part 2ish.
As for today, my contribution for the challenge is slightly different than what was probably expected. Thanks to Pinterest I discovered this workout plan and for the last twenty days I've been working hard in order to simply finish it. Well today was the last day.
All of those jumping jacks, crunches, and leg lifts have really motivated me to keep going! If you're at all interested in trying this workout for yourself, please check out the original site, Downtownn.tumblr.com.
It's been great fun, and I'm looking forward to attempting the Level One Exercise Plan.
So tomorrow I will definitely post something a little more on the crafty side, but now it's time for me to see the wonderful things that you have made today! I'm looking forward to reading all of your posts about your Pinterest Challenge adventures. Make sure to link back to this post so that visitors can see what it's all about!
The beginning of this year has been pretty good so far. My family has leapt into the life we left of last year and we're going at it with pretty much all sails flying. I was especially touched by these posts that specifically talk about newness, determination, and faith. Why don't you take a look?
New slate, anyone? Are we really wiping our slate clean and starting fresh in the new year, or are we building upon the foundations we've laid in previous years?
>>I finished reading Sense & Sensibility. It was so good to discuss it with friends and to look at it a whole lot more deeply than ever before! If you have never been a part of a book club or class of some kind, I definitely recommend it. As for Sense and Sensibility, it has grown a little dearer, and a little more understood.
>>For the same British Literature class that I mentioned above, I have just started reading Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I'm only on chapter fourteen, but already I'm truly enjoying it! There has been much walking about in the streets of London, and discovering of people in darkish, hidden alleys. For some reason that is one point of the novel that is greatly intriguing me at this moment.
>>Prayers would be appreciated for my dear friend Hannah and her family. Her little brother, Noah is quite sick and in the hospital right now. Updates can be found at the blog by clicking the button below.
>>Turris, my NaNo novel just hit 15,000 words yesterday. I'm slowly making my way up the word count ladder, excitedly reaching each new point in the plot. It's interesting to note that a video game is playing a major part! Playing solitaire on my computer when I'm supposed to be writing is also playing a major part.
>>I have seen this artists work before, but I just found her Etsy shop and have fallen in absolute love! Theaterclouds takes gorgeous and whimsical 3D photographs using her own artwork. Stunning! Definitely go check out her shop. Oh, and you have to see my favorite print in her shop, "Take me where I want to go".
>>Service to others has been a topic that has been popping up in my mind all year long, but especially right now, as I'm doing my best to help serve some of my family members with a project. Being a servant is not something I'm particularly good at, but I'm learning a lot, and trying to practice more every day.
I feel like I've got a lot of new books lately, and I'd love to share how, because it is such a fun and easy way. I'm not paying a thing!
I use Swagbucks, the search engine that randomly rewards you with their virtual "currency" Swagbucks. You never know when you will get them, or how much you will get when you do, but slowly they will all add up...
After I save 450 swagbucks, I turn them in for a $5 Amazon gift card, and look for used books that are under a dollar. When I check out and use the gift card credit, I get the book absolutely free, including shipping!
Needless to say, I love getting books for free, I love getting things in the mail, and I love adding to my library!
Oh, and one last thing. If you don't have Swagbucks, and decide you want to get it and start getting your own free books, just click on that banner up there. It would be nice because...I would get a referral reward, which means more Swagbucks, which means more books!
Wow. Just last week I discovered a new feature on one of my new favorite websites, Pintrest. In case you're unfamiliar with this site, Pintrest is a kind of a bookmarking/catch-all for inspiring photos, tutorials, or just about anything else that has pictures on the web. When you see something amazing, you pin it in it's proper category, and then it can be seen by all of your friends who can then "repin" it.
Perhaps the description doesn't sound any different than any other social networking, or bookmarking tool that you can find on the web, but for some reason, when I see many of the pictures on Pintrest, I get completely and instantly inspired.
Anyway, the new feature that I was talking about is that now you can kind of subcategorize your boards, but not only that, you can have multiple people pinning to the same board!
Wow! Just new features on the website inspire me! I'm coming up with all kinds of crazy ideas on a collaborative pin boards for a million different subjects. You could have a group of your friends get together, and share a board dedicated to knitting patterns, DIY home decor, inspirational messages such as the one below, or missions related articles, websites, and shops.
You could even start a supportive photography group this way, and have members pin articles, tutorials, and tips to help improve your skill!
All in all, I think it's an awesome new feature, and I encourage you to test it out and let me know what you think! What kind of group board will you create? Who did you invite? And by the way, you can find me on Pintrest by searching for Eyebright!
Irene ~ At the bottom of this post is a very interesting bit about how disasters like hurricanes draw Americans out to be the neighbors that we should be, instead of the withdrawn, don't-talk-to-strangers people that we so often seem to be.
Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that today you can find me over at Laura's blog, Walk! I'll be showing how I made a cute pillowcase, so make sure to go and peruse at least the pictures!
It's a well known fact that soda tastes better out of a glass bottle than out of plastic or aluminum. Just sayin'.
This video is downright adorable. I defy you not to roar. Ok, it's not that funny, but it is pretty darling.
3. It makes me sad to think of things and friendships that have changed so drastically. Thankfully I have a Heavenly Father who will always be my friend, and will never change.
4. Does your heart have vacancies? I know that I am sadly full of them. Let's fill them up with Christ!
5. Need help coming up with some great ideas to serve others this summer? Kristen Welch over at Weare THAT Family compiled a list of 100 ways for Your Family to Make a Difference. It's a great list!
I just wanted to share with you a few tidbits. Links, thoughts, and one or two updates to amuse you with. I hope.
Words in Time ~ A fun and intriguing look at research for your writing. Another good reason to read this post is because you'll want to look up what a certain word means. Who knows? Maybe beets will shoot to the top of Google search results! Ha, now you have to go read it to figure out what I'm talking about.
Yellow is the Color of Happiness ~ You can now find me on Tumblr. From what I've seen so far, it's a great place to look for inspiration! However, for some reason Pintrest seems to appeal to me more. I don't know why. If you want to follow me on Pintrest (since that's where I'll be most often!) go ahead!
Do you have a moment...for pure genius? ~ Honestly, when I first clicked on this link, I had no idea what I was in for, but the article that follows is simply amazing. Also, here's a video of the event that the article talks about. Only one woman recognizes him in a whole 45 minutes of playing. (I know that *I* wouldn't have recognized him.) It is slightly depressing, yet inspiring at the same time. Do we really miss so much? I know that this makes me want to start noticing the little things that I usually pass by. Maybe it would be a good time to try a macro project like Olivia, just to start training ourselves to notice things that we usually pass by.
Everyone's heard of Tangled I know, but I just wanted to share one of my favorite scenes from the movie. Actually, I love a lot of scenes from the movie, but the warmer weather has me thinking of this one in particular.
I love her hair, the colors, the joy, the dancing, and pretty much everything.
As far as what is going on in my life right now, I am still looking for a job in this "little" town. It's not really little, but when your only options are grocery stores and restaurants, it sure feels little. I'll probably wind up working at the Fred Meyer, which isn't bad.
I've also been exercising a lot more than usual, and Mommy and I planned out our dinners for the next week. We've really been needing to do this for a while, because actually having a plan helps us stick to it better! I'm really excited to be trying out some great sounding recipes. I think tonight I'm going to be making this Chicken Parmesan recipe. Hopefully it turns out, because this is one of my favorite dishes!
I was reading the Chronicles of Prydain series that I bought at the thrift store, until I misplaced one the other day. It's a little hard to keep reading them when the one you were reading is no longer around. I'm hoping it's either at my Grammy's house, or in the car somewhere. It's rather annoying, where ever it is! So now I think I'm reading Black Horses for the King by Anne McCaffrey. I have read it once before, but don't remember it.
Les Miserables has definitely grown on me. I'm eager to read the book, (the rather LARGE book!), and when I watched the musical the second time, things made a little more sense, because I had looked up the plot on Wikipedia. That was helpful in filling in the holes that I was struggling to jump over. For instance, neither Georgie or I had any idea that Fantine was dying of a disease. In fact, we had no idea that Fantine was dying at all, so when Jean Valjean takes her to the hospital, we were a little confused.
So for now, I'll leave it at that. Not too much has been keeping me truly busy, but I look forward to what this next week will bring!
I just posted a collection of polaroid for you to use in your blog. Run over to The Graphic Girls to check them out! Here's a fun fact...I took all of those pictures myself. Isn't it great to be able to work with images you took yourself?
Check out the post on The Graphic Girls, but come back and tell me which of the polaroid graphics is your favorite!
Convince myself that learning a new skill, or way of doing things, is just as important as whatever it was I was supposed to be doing in the first place.
Everyone, I would like to introduce you to what has been filling my days these last week. I have thought about, pondered upon, and dreamed for this for longer than that, and now I am finally (hopefully!) putting some of those ideas into action.
I would like to present to you, Classic Kniterature. My shop and blog where I plan on selling some of my handknits, as well as my own handknit designs. The link goes to the blog, which you can find at http://www.classickniterature.com. There is not a link to the shop just yet, since there is nothing for sale in the shop, but whenever there are updates, and such, you can find them over at the blog.
Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, quotes, or anything awesome to put in this post to help advertise. I'm slowly working on that, but these things take time.
So basically, I just wanted to make you guys aware of what I was up to, so you can follow the updates over at Classic Kniterature, and start getting excited for things to come!
I was going to post a treasury that I spent all day working on, only to discover (isn't 'discover' such a cool word?) that I either don't know how, or it's not possible. Bummer. Instead, I can give you a link to the list of Really Cool Things to Buy Dad. This treasury is based off of all the items that I thought were kind of cool, but probably would never buy my own father. Sad, but true! I'm sure someone else's Dad would enjoy things of this sort, so definitely go take a look!
Also, to make up for a lack of the fabulous treasury linked to above, I'll show you some of my most recent favorites on that smorgasbord of homemade items, Etsy.
Sometimes (when I keep up on reading blogs, or looking for patterns), I come across so many nifty and darling tutorials that I want to share! A blog post containing links to such patterns? It's a no-brainer! Here is the very first episode of crafty loveliness that caught my eye.
I didn't mention it before, but this is also a great way for me to keep track of patterns I love, without loosing them in my bookmarks. Shhh! It's our secret!
