Yarn feast

I tell you, it's either feast or famine as far as yarn related sales go. For so long I've been sitting around doing other things instead of crocheting and out of the blue my husband says he got me a sale. A woman ordered a 'Fisherman sweater in pink'....alrighty then. After looking at many different patterns I decided on this one for a size 4 girl. The woman (who bought it for her grand daughter) loved it so much she wants one of her own. Phew, ok. (The sweater for the little girl is pictured)
Then he comes home and says he has an order for 3 penis pillows (he just thinks they're the funniest thing I've ever made) from another woman at work. Wow, ok. Then I get an order from my Etsy store. Then....catch my breath....I get a recurring order for beanies. I'm up to my neck in yarn activities right now......and I like it.
My daughter has been telling me for a while that I need to get back into crocheting because I loved it and because I could make money at it. I guess I should have listened to her.

Trying to get it back

It's been so long since I've sat down and crocheted something for the fun of it. The only thing I've done lately is the few orders I get from Etsy. You know how life is, it takes over sometimes and leaves you in the dust unless you keep up. So many things have changed in my life the last time I posted.
Last night my husband came home with 2 orders for me from people he works with. One was for 2 penis pillows and one was for a Fisherman's sweater for a child. He said "you have such a talent and you've been wasting it. You have to get back into it". That really surprised me. That he thought of things that way.... So, he's right. Time to get my blog going again and back into the crochet world....where I belong!

Crochet Dude's Crochet Tools now available online!

And here it is! Finally! The new line of crochet tools by The Crochet Dude. I'll take one of each, please. I haven't been able to find them close to me yet so the fact that they're available online is awesome (or not, depending which side of the wallet my hubby is on...lol). But, now I have some things to put on my Christmas list. Go here to check out all the cool things you just MUST buy!! By the way, congrats Drew. You deserve all the success you are achieving. You've hard for it and you certainly deserve it.

Getting published. Me, that's who.

I've been gone for a long time and am trying to get more active in many areas of my life, including crochet and posting on this blog. This is just a quick 'catch up' post to let you know that I have had some things happening to me since I've been away, including being published 2 more times, with my own designs! I've also been doing some work for The Crochet Dude, which is always an honor.
So...for starters, this pretty afghan in this months issue of Crochet! magazine called Chaco Canyon Afghan & Pillows. This is so comfy and warm, I need to make one for myself.

Then there are two publications that I had things published in. One is called 1, 2, 3 Skein Crochet. In there you will find a lot of really nice things to crochet including this Apple Tea Cozy that I designed.

 

And this is the one I just got the other day. It's called Scrap Crochet . It has another one of my designs in it, another tea cozy. This one is the Daffodil Tea Cozy.

       

So, my goal is to get more things published, create more designs and be more 'crochet active'. 

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you've been up to.

Also, I'm on Facebook........ Lisa Marchand Harris

and Twitter....... @etxsaver

Stop by and say 'hey'.

Missing in action....me

Well, no, I'm not really missing in action but I have been very absent from this blog. I apologize.

I've been busy with weight loss and busy with money saving. The weight loss was going fantastic and I'd lost 60lbs but then I kind of fell off the wagon and have gained at least half of it back. An ongoing struggle that, I'm sure, a lot of you can relate with.

As I said, I've also been busy saving money, which means couponing! I follow a lot blogs to find the best deals and best coupons and use that info for saving in my home. Since January I've calculated that we've been able to save at least $5600 through my 'hard work'. It's amazing actually.

I've started my own blog to correspond with the money saving but it's not nearly as big as the other 'mom blogs'.

Just thought I'd stop by and say 'hey'. Leave me a comment and let me know how you're doing. If you feel like it, stop by my new blog and say 'hey'. Would love to hear from you.

New blog: East Texas Saver

A New Year, a New Outlook

OK, here we go. Nope, no resolutions from me this year, they don't stick. I started to change my life last April when I decided to finally get rid of some extra lb's and have reached the 60 lbs gone mark, which I'm very proud of. I'm actually shopping in the 'normal' sized clothing area..it's awesome. My secret? Cutting calories, increasing movement (I walk at least 2 miles a day) and SparkPeople.com.

On a crochet note, I'm back into it again. I had heard that some people get crochet burnout and I thought that was crazy...that is until it happened to me. Luckily I got quite a few orders at Christmas time on my Etsy store so I had to start doing it again. It got me back in the swing of things again and I've been crocheting daily again for over a month now. Lookout world!! *smile*

I've never made many baby things in the past but my husband's best friend and his wife are expecting their first child in May and he asked me to crochet a few things for them. Alrighty then! I started looking and getting ideas and now I may not be able to stop! She may have a whole wardrobe by the time I'm done. Know any really cute patterns? Let me know where to find them.

I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year and that 2009 is the best year ever. I know I'm looking forward to it!!!

By the way, when my parents were here in November we took some pictures and here is one with me and my mom and one with me and my dad.

Just had to share....

I got these in an email and just thought they were too cute....


What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
Mothers don't do spare time.

What's the difference between moms & dads??
Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be??
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Enjoy.............

Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys has dropped!!

At long last, here it is!! I got my pre-order in the mail yesterday from Amazon.com and let's just say I was not disappointed. Ok, I've seen many designs by Drew (aka TheCrochetDude) so I was expecting great things but that was even an underestimation of this book.
Would it sound condescending to say I'm so proud of Drew for this book and the patterns that are in it? I hope not, because I don't mean for it to be. He has just so outdone himself, you'll be surprised too.
There are a number of things in here that I have plans to make. There's even a hoodie that I just L.O.V.E. so much that I'm going to make it for myself.



If you click on the picture of the book it will take you right to the page on Amazon where you can buy this book.
I highly recommend it.

By the way, the book has a lot of Drew's humorous personality in it as well, but there is a spot in there where he talks about his mother and dedicates the book to her. It will touch your heart.

I'm officially published!!

Ok, ok, I do know how long it's been, trust me. I've been so busy doing a crochet dress for a yarn company that I let everything else go. I just finished that dress on Monday and am getting things back in order again. Then yesterday I got this by UPS (dontchya just love UPS??). I was so surprised. Well, I knew it was coming at some point but did not know when exactly.

And here it is....drumroll please...
Blings & Things for Dogs



My designs are as follows.....
Top row middle
Blue & White 81 jersey
Colorful sweater to the right of that
Bottom right pink outfit.

There are some very cute designs in here. Just click on the link above if you are interested.

Oh yeah, something else happened while I was away......I've lost 50 lbs. Please don't try to find it, as I'm not looking for them. I don't want them back! I'm feeling so much better in my own skin now, even though I still have another 50 to go. Heck, if I can do the first 50, the second half should be a breeze!!

I promise I won't wait so long next time to make an entry. I'll get on here at least once a week, if it kills me!!!

Inspiration

It's been a while

Yes, I guess I've been slacking but I have a good reason...well, really I don't but it's an excuse. It's summer! Howdyalikethatone? With the kids home I've barely had more than 5 minutes in a row on the computer...and even then I always here "mom are you done yet"? I swear!

I haven't been doing a lot of crochet for the past month or so, just been so much going on with the kids at home.

We went to the Dallas Zoo a couple of weeks ago and that was a lot of fun. The kids are going with our neighbor to Hurricane Harbor (HUGE waterpark) this coming week, which works out great because dh has this week off. It'll be nice for it to be just the two of us alone all day...what a concept!

I've lost a little over 30 lbs now...and counting. SparkPeople has really been a blessing for me. If you are wanting to lose some weight I highly suggest it. I love it!! It's been making this so much easier for me....really!

On that note, I'll let you go for now. As usual, I have a child over my shoulder asking when I'm going to be done...I swear!!!

I hope y'all are having a great summer so far!!...................

Woman Challenge

This is great for anyone who wants to 'walk across America'. I've joined it. I've become much more active as of late and am hoping to walk as far across America as I can!!

Not a lot has been going on around home. The kids are home from school for the summer so of course it's more hectic around here. I don't get a lot of computer time because they monopolize the computer the entire time I'm awake pretty much. I know I could kick them off, but to be honest with you, it's much quieter when at least one of them are doing something on the computer.

I've lost 25 lbs so far so I'm feeling pretty good about how things are going as far as that goes. I'm still working on crochet stuff too, it just doesn't take up my whole entire day anymore like it used to, which is good and bad.

I hope everyone is having a great summer so far. If you need any heat sent your way, just let me know. We've had our extreme fair share around here (Texas) for over a month now. It's not been out of the mid to high 90's (or higher) since mid May. I am not looking forward to July and August, I can tell you that much.

K, have a great weekend everyone. Don't forget to leave a comment to let me know how you are doing. Have a good one.

Samantha has graduated

My baby girl is no longer a baby girl. She graduated high school today. The ceremony was relatively quick and at times, emotional. I got through it without crying though..Imagine that!!!





Sam walking down the aisle to get her diploma

Me and Sam after the ceremony

Jamie, Sam and me after the ceremony

Austin and Sam after the ceremony

Congratulations baby girl....momma loves you!!

Been a while, my bad

Wow, hard to believe it's been 3 weeks since I've posted here. Sorry 'bout that. I have lots of pictures to show you.

On May 12 was Austin's 9th birthday. Here he is just before blowing out the candles.

This past weekend we went to Tyler State park. It was so much fun!

Here are Samantha and Austin having watery fun!

Sam, with the lake in the background, and Austin looking cute!

You know it was a good day when...........

And some bird pics.......
Inca Doves doing, I don't know what and a Scissor Tailed Flycatcher

I'm fascinated by this beautiful bird. It's a Painted Bunting. So pretty!!

I promise I won't wait to make my next post. With Samantha's graduation next weekend it will have a lot more pictures, I'm sure.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

To all of us out there that are mothers and that have mothers, I hope you have a fantastic day!! My children spoiled me with breakfast in bed and a lovely card...I feel loved....and to be honest, with them being teens I actually get a great breakfast now, not just a overflowing bowl of cereal!!

So HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM!!


My mom and my daughter

Life Adjustment

I know I have talked about losing weight before on my blog, don't know when know but just know I must have. I seem to acquire the resolve and then after a week or so I putter out. This time I've started something different that I'm hoping will stick.

First of all, it feels different this time. I feel like I'm ready to put the demons away that have contributed to my weight gain and get on with my life....never had that before.

The Biggest Loser....yes, a tv show is helping my resolve this time as well. I watched it all the time when it was on and kept saying 'if only I could get on that show, I know I could lose weight'. Ok, so why do I need to use that as an excuse? Good question!! I don't...that was silly. Instead I bought The Biggest Loser workout dvd and I've been using it....nearly every day for the last 2 weeks. I've also just bought The Biggest Loser Power Sculpt and am just waiting for it to come in. Let me tell ya, the workout dvd sure gets your blood going. I even walked a 15 minute mile last night...first time EVER...so I'm proud of myself!!

Also I found this great website (thank to DogwoodKari) that helps you track EVERYTHING. It's awesome. It's called SparkPeople and it fantastic! It really helps when you can see everything in front of you...it's sure helped me. I plan all my meals the day before now, that way it's a no brainer and I can make smarter decisions. Oh, by the way, if you decide to take a look at SparkPeople and you decide to join, look me up. My user name on there is...surprise...jchllm!

Anyway, I've lost a few pounds already and I feel like I'm finally getting things under control. It's about time!!

I hope y'all have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping by!

The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys

Just a little advertisement here. Our favorite Crochet Dude, aka Drew Emborsky, has his very first solo crochet book coming out in the fall. You can preorder it now from Amazon by clicking on the picture...I know I did already.



I helped him out a bit with the book by crocheting something for him so I'm excited to see how it looks in print.
Congrats Drew! And I hope this book makes you rich rich rich!!! ;)

Doggie Sweaters going to be published....

With permission, I can show you the doggy sweaters I'm having published. I'm very proud of them, if I do say so myself. These will all be published in a book of Dog Clothing coming out in the fall 2008 by Annie's Attic.

First, here is what I called a 'Pet Pillow' and as you can see, it passed the test. I barely had enough time to get my camera and Romo was sleeping on it when I got back.


Here is the 'Doggy Football Jersey'. Of course it is in Dallas Cowboys colors and I just had to put my favorite player (Terrell Owens) number on the back of it!


Next is a sweater called 'Handy Dog Sweater'. It is handy because it has a detachable hood and pockets with velcro on the inside to carry those dog biscuits.


And last, but not least, is my favorite.... 'Dreamy Dog Sweater'. It has a detachable hood, booties and rhinestones galore. I just think it's so darned cute. I know I shouldn't toot my own horn, but hey, what the heck?




I will keep you posted and let you know when the book is coming out. Let me tell ya, to be just starting out like I am, to have these accepted has given me confidence to keep going. I'm excited!

Crochet to the rescue

Yup, it's storm season in Texas. There are 4 seasons here.....Summer, Fall, Winter and Storm Season. Right now, it's storm season.

The last few days we've been getting a lot of storms, but this morning we had a 'whopper'! As soon as it passed through, then the power went out. It was 6am. Time for dh to get ready for work and the kids to get ready for school. And when 2 of your kids are teenagers...mirror time is important.

No problem, I'll just get the candles. Ok, where are the candles? I found 1 candle. ONE stinkin' candle!!

So the boys go to the bus, fussing because they couldn't see anything but then 'the girl' gets up (dh drives her to school) and all H-E-double hockey sticks, breaks loose. NO LIGHTS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO LIGHTS? HOW AM I GOING TO GET READY?? All of a sudden a crochet hook popped into my head. Trish got me a lighted crochet hook for a swap a while back so I got it and gave it to my daughter. The little sucker actually lit things up quite well. When placed in front of a mirror it really lit things up. Whodathunkit? A crochet hook saved the day!

Of course, she more or less opened the door to leave and the power came back on. Too funny.

It's official!!

Well, I feel like I can actually clarify it.....dh says it's official....I'm a crochet designer!

I just got a call from my 'person' at Annie's Attic and they want 4 out of the 5 patterns I submitted for dogs. I'm so thrilled, you just can't imagine.

I would post pics but I haven't made them yet, just the schematics.

So, if you don't hear from me in a while, you'll know why. I'm crocheting my fingers off. I have until April 20th to get it ALL done.............. can you say 'overwhelmed'?

YAY ME!!!!!!