New Year, New You – Resolution #4

Did you know that a resoulution does not have to be something hard or something you feel you need to fix, it can be something fun.  Let’s have some fun with this month’s resolution.  This month lets start a journal.  It is not a Diary type journal that many of us kept as children, but instead a more reflective, creative or organized journal.  

     
I had started a Crochet Journal a while back to keep track of all the crochet alongs I wanted to partake in but never added my completed projects or continued adding projects.  Michelle of the blog Gifted Goodies not only takes photos of the completed projects, she also adds notes, yarn samples, and the yarn band when available.  All awesome ideas and an inspiration to me to revamp my journal.

In addition to this journal,  I am playing around with a more creative journal.  I searched Pinterest and they have many resources for Journaling Prompts.  Some prompts are for art journals, or for telling your life story, prayer journals, travel journals, etc. 

Just start where you are!  Don’t stress about making it perfect.  Don’t over think this – remember this is to be your fun resolution.  So grab some supplies …

whether you start with a blank page and find journaling prompts to inspire you,

or find a book that provides prompts –

just start where you are and enjoy the journey.  Here is a sample of one of my pages.

Hope you enjoy this months resoulution.  No matter what form your journal or journals take: art, food journal, excercise tracker, motivational quotes, poetry, life, travels, etc.  Enjoy your journey!

Margareta

                        

Idyllwild California – Craft and Gab Trip 2017 (aka: Stitch and Bitch)

I am back from my weekend getaway to the Creekstone Inn in Idyllwild California.  This is the 9th year for this Craft and Gab retreat.  My Mom and I have gone for the past 5 years.  At first we had more crafters, now more gabbers, but great ladies and great fun always!  

We are a group of around 12-15 ladies and rent out the entire bed and breakfast.  Each room comes with its own bathroom and has a different theme.  My Mom and I have been staying in the Fall Theme room which is beautiful.  There is a full kitchen and we share in the meal prep and clean up.

We usually hang out in the common area where there are multiple couches and a fire place.  This year the weather was warm and we never needed the fire place.  Here are some photos of us crafting, gabbing, reading or just hanging out.

Here is a selfie of Mom and I!

I worked on my Little Box of Crochet.  It was the perfect craft to take as everythong you need is included in the box.  I put the mug cozy to the test right away. Isn’t it lovely?

This weekend was also my Birthday. My Mom treated me to a fabulous lunch and the retreat ladies sang Happy Birthday and presented me a very large chocolate cake. (Thank you Joe’d for the cake – so sorry you couldn’t make it.  You were missed!) Being the tricky bunch that they are, the candles kept relighting themselves.  This old girl was running out of breath and finally just snuffed them out with my fingers – ha ha! I also received the best smelling soap I think I have ever smelled from 2 very special ladies. (Thank you Teddi and Ashley)

It was a wonderful getaway! We are all looking forward to next year!!!!

Thanks for stopping by.  Until next time –

Margareta

New Year, New Habits, New You – resolution #2 – Movement

Greetings all!!! We are now well on our way into February and I just wanted to check in with you to see how your “resolutions” were coming.  Have you incorporated a new habit in the month of January?

My new habit was to drink more water.  I am happy to report that I have kept up with this and pretty much – except for 1 or 2 days drank my entire mason jar full of water.  I am at the point now that if I don’t have my water, I really do miss it.  I am also surprised that at times I reach for more water only to find that I am already finished with  my jar of water – and so I just make more!  Give your body what it needs and you will feel much better.

For February I am incorporating the habit of movement.  We all know we need more exercise in our lives, but labeling it exercise makes it sound so much like work.  Did you know that gardening and housework count as movement?  Even dancing is movement.  If you find something you truly enjoy it is much easier to stick with the movement.

I really enjoyed the Hot Yoga studio when I first joined last year.  Then life gets busy, we get lazy, and you know the rest…  I went back to the Yoga studio and plan on attending at least one day a week.  I go on Mondays for sure and if time allows on Friday as well.  During the week, I do a little housework daily = movement, and now that it is staying light a wee bit longer – will add a mid week walk after dinner.

My movement entails – something I enjoy (Hot Yoga), something I do anyway (housework -maybe a little dancing as I flit around doing my cleaning) and an after dinner walk with my hubby (smile – a time for us to catch up and chat).  I can do this!!!

Are you with me?  What moves you?  How can you incorporate more movement in your day?

Let me know your plans – and I will check back in with you next month!

Margareta

 

 

 

New Year, New Habits, New You – 2017!

Welcome to 2017!!!!  We all start the year with good intentions; we will eat healthier, we will excercise more, we will lose weight, we will finally get organized, (aka: New Years Resolutions) the list goes on and on.  By about the end of the month we start to slip back into old routines and old habits creep back in.  We are then left with a feeling of failure and negative self talk.  You see we are by nature creatures of habit.  A dramatic change is hard to maintain.  It would be like trying to quickly make a direction change in the Titanic – a ship that size needs time to change course – and so do we.

Did you know that it takes about three months for a new habit to start to take root and even longer for it to become automatic?  This is just one habit – when we start with such a long list of resolutions then it is no wonder we set ourselves up for failure.  Negative self talk can often snowball into the all or nothing effect.  “If I can’t manage to stick to my diet today then why even bother excercising or for that matter trying to diet at all.”  Does this sound familiar?  Instead of starting off the New Year with a list of resolutions – pick one.  One that is attainable.  Success breeds success.  Start with something easy.  

I know I need to drink more water.  I also know I don’t particularly like plain water.  I do not want to add any artificial flavorings – such as Crystal Light.  I have decided to try “infused” waters – but not the expensive store variety, self made instead.  There are so many options available; lemon and cucumber, lemon and mint, berries, apples and a cinammon stick, sliced orange and vanilla, to name a few.  Pinterest is a great source for inspirations.  I fill a large 2 quart mason jar at night and put it in the refrigerator and drink it the next day.  My goal is to drink one of these jars per day.  Drinking water has many healthy beneifts – it keeps us hydrated, aids in digestion, helps the body to eliminate toxins, etc.  This goal is attainable for me and a great start.  At the end of January I will be well on my way to solidifying this new habit and will be ready to start thinking of my next goal.

If I can keep up this pace by the end of 2017 I will have developed 12 new habits.  Not to bad!  If I wrote 12 resolutions on a list I can guarantee I would not have achieved even one.  If at the end of 2017 I only manage 6 or even 3 new changes – I would still be very pleased.  

I do hope this post provides you with some food for thought and guide you to rethink your “all or nothing” mentality.  Remember that you do not need to wait until a new year to start making small changes.  Each month has a new beginning, as does each week and each day.  Embrace each new beginning and celebrate your milestones and successes along the way.  Love yourself where you are – turn off the negative self talk (if you wouldn’t say it to a friend, don’t say it to yourself). 

Hope you join me on the way to new beginnings, new habits, new you!

Happy New Year!!!!

Margareta

Sweet Surprise

I would like to congratulate fellow blogger Tracy from Its a T-Sweets Day on reaching 100 followers!  To celebrate her milestone she is giving away one of her fabulous quilts.  You can find info on her giveaway here.

If you have not yet visited her site, you definitely should!  Her quilts are gorgeous.  Quilts tell a story about their creation or who they are created for.  Tracy always gives such great detail on how she makes her quilts and the story that goes with them.

I have of course entered the giveaway.  Wish me luck!

Do You Sign Your Work?

A while back I ordered labels to add to clothing that I have sewn.  Then I knit a sweater for my Father and wanted a label so he could hang it if he wanted, but also so he would be reminded of me.  That is when it struck me…I should attach such labels to all my creations.  The photo above is the Owl Blanket I just finished.  I stiched the label to one of the underside corners.  I think it gives it a bit of a designer look.  There are so many online sites to order labels from.  Once these are used up I will definitly purchase more.

So the question remains…Do you sign your work?  You most definitely should!

My Crochet Journal

In follow up to my recent post regarding my addiction to CALs I am writing about my Crochet Journal.  With so many projects underway, I needed to find a way to keep them all straight…where did I order the yarn from, which site contains the pattern updates, which group was the one I was to posts my updates to, etc.

Since I have been spending so much money on yarn, I decided to not purchase an “official” crochet journal but instead create my own.  I used an old binder of my son’s and plastic sheet protectors.  I printed out a nice image and slid it into the cover of the binder.

I found the perfect filler page online as well.  It is a free printable from A Nerdy Crocheter. Here is a sample of what her page looks like:

and this is how I incorporated them into my projects:

Of course I will need to add more info as I start some of the projects and finish up others.

I love the fact that I can add as many pages as I like and can keep track of everything in one place.  Do you  have a project journal?  If so what do you use?

 

 

 

First Day Of Kindergarten August 15 2016

My granddaughter started school yesterday!  She was so excited. She came home and said I love my teacher!  A good sign for sure.

In Germany children are given a Schultuete to celebrate this milestone.  The schultuete is a cone that is filled with school supplies and goodies.  These are readily available for purchase in Germany but not so much in California.  I had to put my creative “Oma” (Grandma) juices to work.  Here are some photos of the end result and her reaction to the loot she received.  

Yosemite Camping Trip 2016 – relaxation continues

After a morning of bike riding and an awesome lunch we are again cooling off at the river. 

Yosemite Camping 2016 –

I just had to share a few more photos. The beauty of this place and the tranquility never cease to amaze me. Hope you enjoy a glimpse of this majestic beauty through the photos my hubby took.