You can all stop holding your collective breath now. I know you were. I finally decided that all work and no play was a very boring way to live and so, today I played a bit. I blew bubbles with my kids and I finally put the buttons on the BSJ. Just as I figured, it was a lot more fun that surgical treatment for hemorrhoids. Not that I’ve had that, but I’ve heard it kinda sucks. So. There ya go.

Here’s my sweater and hat:

And the wee hat:

And a close-up of the “falling leaves”. Hey, what else was I supposed to do with the leftover buttons?

So, when I bought the buttons the other day, I also picked up yarn for a couple of requested hats. No, the buttons aren’t on the sweater yet. Sorry. But here’s the yarn:

Yay. Big fat yarn. Fuzzy hairy yarn. Totally plastic yarn. All of which you now I hate to work with if you have been reading here for very long at all. If I am holding this kind of stuff in my hands, I am motivated purely by love. Thank God it’s fat, as well as plastic and fuzzy. At least it won’t take long. I shall do them while watching a movie to ease the pain. And once I start each one, I will work it until the bitter end and just deal with the dark circles under my eyes with concealer.

Ok, so I mentioned that I went to JoAnn yesterday for buttons. While I was there, I had to browse. Of course. That goes without saying, right? Well, I wandered onto the scrapbooking stuff, and I had a marvelous idea for a Christmas present. Well, actually I had a massive collision of several idea seeds. See, when I was with my family this weekend, I was snapping pictures of hands to go with a project on my life list and mentioned that I was going to put them all in an album. My cousin popped up with, “that would make a neat Christmas present!”, and I thought, “oh yeah, it really would.”

And then in JoAnn, I decided I’d probably make another friend of mine a scrapbook full of images of her son. And then I realized I would have a hard time parting with that, so I’d have to make 2.

And then, today, I saw an article on DVD Duplication, and I thought to myself, VIOLA! Because I could make one digital scrapbook of each of those projects and then have someone like Precision Disc duplicate however many copies I needed. Boom, Merry Christmas to you, you, you, you and also ME. DVDs are more durable than paper, not prone to fading, take up less room and can be paused when you want more coffee and also enjoyed over and over again. Yeah, speaking of coffee, I would never look at a paper scrapbook with coffee in my hand, but I would sure sit down on the couch with a pepsi and a sandwich and thumb through a digital version. That’s a win!

I do! Muhahahahahaha! While a couple of my friends were enjoying their Disney vacations, I was out shopping for buttons for the BSJ. I went to ACMoore first, but they have quit selling fancy button packs. I’m not sure why, because the place where they used to be is empty except for the pegs that used to hold them. Even the prices are still up. Weird, right?

Luckily for me, there is a JoAnn right across the street, and I was able to pick up these leaves. These are the same as the ones I thought I already had here.

With any luck, we should have an FO to report in the next few days!

Umm, ya’ll, forget the bubble gum. Apparently, I am unable to walk and *talk* at the same time. I sprained my ankle today gabbing with my 6 year old as we headed to the car! Times like this, I wish I had one of those new electronic cigarettes. Since I never smoke inside, it’s a hobbly habit for me!

On the bright side, I can’t do much standing, so perhaps there will be knitting in my immediate future! I’m still enjoying the clapotis, and if I sit directly over the air conditioning vent, I may just be able to work on it awhile. Good grief, it’s HOT!

Sometimes, you have to step back a little bit from personal experience and evaluate a book on it’s own merits. I have in front of me just such a book in Chic and Simple Sewing by Christine Haynes.

This book is a great introduction to basic sewing techniques. The garments are trendy and sassy without being overly complicated. There is plenty of discussion about choosing prints and textures to make harmonious garments that flatter almost every body type. There are great explanations of basic tools and tips on setting up a sewing are. And there is a little envelope in the front to hold all the patterns. You could, by using a few of the variation tips, build a pretty complete wardrobe using this book, and the purchase price is well below what it would cost to buy so many patterns in the fabric store. In short, I would be very comfortable handing this book to one of my teenage daughters and saying, “Let me know if you need any help.”

That said, there’s not a whole lot in here that I would make for myself. The patterns are young and breezy, and while that’s not a bad thing, it’s also not necessarily my basic style. And at this point in my crafting career, I am generally looking for something at least marginally challenging. If you’ve put together several Daisy Kingdom designs, as I have, then this book is liable to leave you asking “and?” as it does me.

OTOH, since few of my clothes fit properly anymore since I’ve lost weight, I might press the book into service just so I can clothe myself quickly and easily. Efficient does have it’s place, after all!

And that wraps another book review. It’s a craft blog, were you expecting acne treatment reviews?

Here is another guest post on storing your digital photos. This author recommends FaceBook for storage. Have you used it that way? I’ve lifted photos of friends from there, but never really considered for storage of my own pics.

This is a guest post by Eryn Vaun

Photos are very important keepsakes that I don’t want to lose if my computer goes down. I take a lot of pictures of my daughters. I then use my hughesnet Clinton LA to post them to facebook. I also post a few on snapfish to order copies of them for myself. Snapfish saves them on the site and then I can order them as pictures. You can also order the pictures on a mug or similar item if you want for a gift.

Facebook is where I keep most of my pictures. By posting them on here, I can keep track of them and look at them anytime I want to see them again. It is also a great way to keep them in case my computer ever crashes. They will be saved there and I can download them again for myself.

I love having the pictures up on social networks because my family can see them. My parents are able to save copies for themselves and see new pictures of the girls that I take with the camera. It is a great way to share them with the other important people in our lives.

Today, I am drooling over Dessert FourPlay Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Just the cover, with it’s lucious delicacies and that handsome face could do a girl in, before she ever opened the book. Just sayin’ Dare to open it, though, and the problem just gets worse!!

So here’s the premise: instead of one large dessert, Johnny gives you recipes for four complementary desserts which are meant to be served together in smaller portions. Now, I am going to tell you straight, the play on words in this book’s title is well earned. For a foodie, looking at the array of possibilities here is gastro-orgasmic. Let me give you an example–he has a section on strawberry and rhubarb and it includes strawberry-rhubarb consomme, fromage blanc panna cotta, pink peppercorn meringues with white chocolate ice cream and rhubarb sorbet, and rhubarb flan tarts.

And, uh, did you know you can make dessert from tomatoes? Yeah, you can, combined with figs and and cherries!

The book is broken down into five chapters: one for each season and then chocolate. Each chapter contains three fourplays. In the back is an extensive section of recipes for sorbets and cakes and cookies and such, which can be served with the recipes in the fourplays, or stand alone, or be used as he suggests for garnishes and extras and such.

The thing that makes this book so very dangerous, though, is the pictures. I mean, if were just a pictureless book of recipes, I’d be safe, but the pictures, they are all so luscious looking and the presentations are so lovely that I have invited a friend over to cook with me. That could be interesting indeed!