P.S. OK – I FINALLY fixed the comments. For real this time!!! (fingers crossed)

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I finally finished the scrapbook! Well, to tell you the truth, it’s not really a scrapbook, but a compilation of advice and bits and pieces from friends for an upcoming bride (with no pictures). Well, OK that was another half-lie. She’s no longer an “upcoming” bride. She’s been married nearly a year and a half. But hey, better late than never, right? The book itself was given to me by a friend, and it was just too cute to pass up, so I used it for this project. Here are a couple shots of the very late Bridal Guidebook:

Cover + Ribbon:

Recipes page layout:

Words of wisdom page layout:

I think this scrapbook/guidebook project has shown me that I am NOT a scrapbooker. I admire my friends who do it, but I just can’t get into it. And that’s OK. I have plenty of other crafts I’m trying to juggle anyways. =)

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In other news, Hubby and I spent a weekend out-of-town to celebrate our 7th anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been 7 years! I am incredibly happy with where we are at, and can’t imagine spending my life with anyone else. We had great weather on our weekend excursion, and I even got to squeeze in some relaxing knitting in the beautiful scenery!

So I’m knitting a green basil blanket (is it a coincidence that my blanket color looks identical to my handbags’ shade of green?). I’ve done a bunch of basil blankets for friends, not to mention lots of baby items for everyone else, but nothing for myself. Is that strange? It was hard to find inspiration. For some reason it’s easier to find inspiration for gifts for others, rather than for myself. I felt a little guilty (after all, shouldn’t I not deprive my own child of lovely homemade things as well?), and plus I needed a mindless (but not terribly boring) knit to pass the time in doctor’s offices and other places. I figured the Basil Blanket was perfect – it’s a mindless lace, but not boring stockinette/garter stitch that would make me want to shoot myself. And plus, it’s practical – I can definitely use it.

The only catch – and I openly admit that I am terrible with colors – I can’t seem to figure out what color the edging ought to be. Here are the three options presented to me:

Blue - I really like this shade of blue. Not sure if I like it enough against the green, but by itself, it is such a pretty shade.

Orange - My husband’s vote. (He thinks orange is underrated.) A friend mentioned that if the orange was a bit darker and more “burnt”, it could work. But this orange is a bit on the sherbert type… not really my style… =P

Brown - The safest choice. Something dark and neutral, and it “grounds” the blanket look a bit.

And I couldn’t find a darker green fitting enough to go well with the current green I’m using, so that’s out.

What do you think?

Wow where did April go?? Time is going scary fast right now. And yes, I’ve been busy with a couple things as of late ~

In the kitchen:
Apple squares! (Recipe here) They are sort of a cross between apple cake but denser… sort of like brownies, but instead of chocolate, apples + walnuts instead. They tasted GREAT straight from the oven, hot and moist and soft and dense!

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On the needles:

Yes, getting my butt in gear to finish up my Owls Sweater. All I have left is to seam the armholes, block it, and contemplate whether or not to put the “eyes” buttons or not.

I don’t know if I’ll fit into this sweater, as I am already 6 months along with a tummy to match, but even if I don’t, that’s OK. Maybe I’ll fit into it in the fall, when things (hopefully) shrink back..? We’ll see.

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An attempt at a new craft:
OK so this project I’m a little embarrassed about. This is a scrapbook that I attempted almost 2 years ago, and it was intended for a friend as a bridal shower gift. Well, this friend is now married a year a half already. Yes, embarrassing. But better late than never, right?

But I do have to admit, from this experience, I learned that I am NOT a scrapbooker. This craft is not my style. It’s too open-ended for me. An empty page scares me a bit. I’m more comfortable with crafts that give me guidance and instruction, rather than just an open canvas.

I’m among the last to jump on this very addicting bandwagon, and I have to agree with everyone else. This is so much fun. I can’t wait to do more. A friend had a baby shower, and I pounced at the chance to do them.

So I purchased freezer paper at my local grocery store and downloaded some clipart/images online. I traced those images onto the freezer paper, and with my x-acto knife, I cut them out. Here are some of them:

So here’s the lowdown on how to put them together:

1. Prewash your fabric. Do not use fabric softener!

2. Set your iron to the setting that corresponds with your fabric of choice. For the onesies, since they were cotton, I had it on the cotton setting.

3. Iron the freezer paper stencils onto your fabric, shiny side down (for me, this took no more than 10 seconds). Don’t make the mistake of ironing them on shiny side UP, or then you risk ruining your iron (and melting the wax/plastic side all over your iron plates).

4. Using foam/stencil brushes, apply fabric paint onto your stencil in an up/down motion (as if you were stabbing the fabric with your brush). You want to be dabbing the paint on, not brushing it side to side. If you brush it side to side, you risk having paint accumulate on the sides of the stencils, and having paint bleed underneath the stencil. It’s best to apply a couple of thin coats of paint, and do them evenly, rather than just gob it all on at once.

5. Wait for the paint to dry, then carefully peel the stencil off the fabric. With this particular fabric paint (I used Tulip Soft Fabric Paint from Joanns), the instructions say to let the paint dry flat for 4 hours. I didn’t wait the entire 4 hours to peel the stencil off – I just waited until it wasn’t completely wet. Probably 5 minutes or so is good enough for peeling off the stencil, then let it dry completely for the remainder of the time.

6. After that, I would recommend sticking them in the dryer on medium/high for 10 minutes (with no fabric softener), to heat-set the paint.

Washing instructions: When you want to wash them, turn them inside out and wash in warm water, tumble low/medium.

Easy huh? Here were some of my samples:

Here are some of the girls working on their onesies at the shower:

Some of their work:

Nice huh? I would post more pictures, but the rest of my pictures ended up dark and/or blurry. (I’m still a newbie with the camera manual controls.) So instead, I’ll leave you with some REALLY GOOD cupcakes we had at the shower from Sibby’s Cupcakery.

(If you couldn’t tell earlier, the shower was ocean-themed.) =)