Tiny toys

This weekend I was working on little toys for my little room, to put on my little bed. I drew a couple of ideas, but then had to stop myself from a couple reminding myself that it is going to be a room for a girl of about ten years of age. So dolls, bears, rabbits galore it is. I wanted to try a couple of different things: a doll is made from polymer and viscose for hair, a bear is made from wool felt and sewn like a big toy, even jointed, and a rabbit is made from miniature cotton and sewn as one piece (well sort of, because i wasn't able to turn the ears right side out after they were sewn, so i had to add them after the rest was done), and last but not least a doll bed from toothpicks and a tiny piece of carton board - yep I'm proud of that one. I plan to make more dolls and maybe even bears and of course a doll house (you can't have a miniature girl's room without a miniature doll house).

Mixed feelings and happy photos...

For the past week I have been thinking a lot about friendship and marriage and relationships overall. Things happen around me that are good and bad - friends get married, other friends are in pre-divorce stage... I have such mixed feelings. I realize now that I really don't know life at all. I don't have too many friends that are married or divorced... For some reason I really feel for both of them - I am so happy for one and am hurting inside from another. Well to be happy for newly weds is normal, but what about people who messed up and are now hurting... Why am I hurting with them?.. And the feelings are so strong. Is that normal? I am happy with my own life and infinitely blessed with my own little family and the love God gave my husband and I for each other. So why do I bother about what is going on in somebody else's life? Why do I have such strong feeling and they are so mixed - anger, hurt, disappointment, fear for their future. Add to that confusion and jealousy because my friend is not living up to what I thought our friendship is... Not a pretty mix, right?
At our Friday crafting club today my mom and I were working on my wedding album again, and I was looking at out guests. As I moved from photo to photo, from friend to friend, from happy face to happy face, I began to count the couples that are not together any more - it was 90% of them! I was astonished! I think it shook my little world. I know how fragile the union of two hearts is, but somehow I never thought it would affect people of my age, my friends... I am very confused... Should I be feeling all those feelings? What to do when you really care about your friend who doesn't need you at this moment, or is scared of you because your marriage is not falling apart when theirs is and in their mind you are going to judge them... Am I judging? Maybe if I am very honest with myself, I am judging, although I very well know that everything I have is thanks to God only!
So here is what I will do... Put all those mixed feelings on the table in front of God and let Him take care of them. How easy it is sometimes to have our almighty, all-forgiving, merciful, all-powerful God!

And the things that made me happy this week...

Done!

I love freshly squeezed blogging. The kind that you do as soon as something happens, while the feelings are still fresh! So here is one... I just finished my summer semester of dental hygiene school - two more to go! Aaaand I just took my anesthesia injection test, where I had to administer 11 injections without any help or tips from instructors - and I nailed it! I am so proud of myself and my girls and boys! We came in just three weeks ago shaking and dreading every moment of it and look at us now! We officially know everything we need to clean anybodies teeth! Now we just need to polish our skills! And the greatest part - no more poking in MY mouth! In these three weeks I got 66 injections done on me! Oh my gosh! Is that real? Yes it is! And I am so proud of myself for overcoming this obstacle as well. I am ready to jump in! Bring it on!
Now I get two week break from school starting now! I think working on my projects and making my first chicken curry sounds like an agenda for today! So exciting! Thank You God for such an amazing day, for not letting my hands shake, for keeping my mind straight - what would I do without You!

What happens when I have a weekend all to myself

Pies get made... This one is potato, mushroom, and chicken...

House gets cleaned...
And some of the projects get finished!
I started making this little doll house bed for a little girl last weekend. It is made out of jewelry wire of two thicknesses 20 and 25 gauge I think. I just drew what I liked in the size I liked and then bent all the parts.

My sweet man helped me weld it and painted it for me, but super glue can be used instead of welding...

Then my first quilt ever was made! It's not very straight, I know, but I am quite proud of it! It is about 5 3/4" long and 4 1/2" wide. The bed turned out 4"W x 3 3/4"H x 5 3/4" D.

I got to say, things happen that upset me sometimes... Friends neglect my friendship, people around me ruin their lives with their own hands and you can't help, school gets tougher and tougher choking me - God sands me these trials... But my sweet husband and my mom are my best friends, and they are always there for me, and I am blessed through them every day!
Anyways, here is what it looks like in the little girl's room. I think it's pretty sweet! There is a lot to do here, even just in this room...

Baby knitting

So this is how it all began... about half a year ago my grandma sent me a magazine with knitted baby clothes and I fell in love. I always wanted to learn how to knit clothes but was afraid to do a big project without knowing what to expect. This began my journey of discovery of endless possibilities! This also began my making of baby things, which maybe is a bit weird but as I said before, it helps me wait till I finish school so we can have somebody to put these pretties on... Makes sense to me. It was funny though, because when I started showing my grandma the results of her inspiration on skype, she whispered to me: "are you pregnant". Nah I wish, but that doesn't mean I can't begin getting ready, right?
So here they are...
#1, my first project... I used cotton and it turned out pretty thick. Like a jacket... But I liked the outcome. Oh, I forgot to say, all of these are meant to be for a boy or a girl, so I picked the colors that would work for either. Plus to be honest, I am not big on hot pink and baby blue... This pattern is from a little book that I got shortly after... This piece is for a newborn to 3 months or something like that...

#2. After my first project turned out surprisingly decent, I decided to buy more expansive yarn. Plus my birth day just passed so I got some money to spend. I really wanted to make this cocoon and the hat, but I needed to find perfect yarn for it - soft to the skin, natural (I want all of my yarn to be natural - always), and in a pretty color. So when I saw this yarn at purlsoho (oh, I love this store!), I was immedeatly sold. I mean, look at the color! It is amazing, and the photo doesn't do it justice! Plus it is super soft merino, I can pat it all day! I found the pattern for the cocoon as well as the matching hat over at ravelry - what a great place!
This piece is also for a newborn.

So then I saw this little jacket and this diaper cover and fell in love! This lady has many many pretty patterns for a very good price! I also bought a little booties pattern from her, but I didn't get to it yet...
So I bought pure bamboo yarn at a local specialty yarns store and jumped in. I think I talked about this one a little before, anyways, I just finished the last stitch on this ensemble two weeks ago! So exciting! Now this one is for a 6 months old.

That is it for now. I am now taking a little break from knitting and am going back to crocheting... I decided to abandon my summer project because the piece that I made was too heavy and took forever! It is always trial and error, so I am ok with it. One thing every crafter should learn is letting go... the second thing would be to say it is good enough. haha. So now I am using the same yarn, but am making one piece blanket with a little bubbly texture to it. So fare I love it! And the progress is reassuring, I do about an inch a day of about 3.5ft length. For this one I purchased my yarn in Russia and is pure bamboo - very soft!

So that is it for now... These projects are really good for a beginner, I think. I have a pinterest board with many more ideas, which I am sure will try and get to some day - one by one, patience is vital in this case.

On the side note, my best friend is getting married today. I am  very happy for you both! And sad that I can't be there! I would love to see you in your happiest moment and take pictures. :) Can't wait to see how it went!

Friday's crafting club on Thursday

I say it's a tradition now! It  is the second time I attended weekly crafting club that consists of my mom, my mom's friend Sonya and her daughter Mila and now me. Most of us did scrap booking, and Mila made stamps. She is about to open her own Etsy store, how exciting!
I am often reminded how hard it is to find a good group of people with similar interests. Goes to show that there is time for every activity. I mean, I have been invited to this so many times, and only now found it relevant and I am so glad I did!
They made yummy pastries and brownies and my mom helped me with my wedding album. I'm ashamed to say that it has been almost two years and I still have very little progress with it. Note to self: scrap booking is not my thing... I now want to try digital. We'll see.

A photograph that captures feelings

So many times I wish I could just blink and take a photo of what I am seeing. Better yet if there would be a way to capture feelings and make an image...
When I am exhausted, it feels amazing to take a deep breath to my favorite music and do a row of neat stitches that some day might become a blanket for my babies... To have a peaceful heart is a great gift from God and it saves me from insanity of every day life. I forget to be thankful for that.

Discovery of the week: I figured since I have to get all these injections and there is no way to avoid it, I might as well use this opportunity to learn to control my anxiety. So I did! It worked too! I was a lot calmer, didn't shake, clench my fingers together, or cry. So it IS sort of a choice weather we are frightened or not, upset or angry or offended or happy. I will choose to be courageous and be happy!

"Why so terrified? Of what lies ahead of you? Terrified of the night and its creatures. Terrified of the day and its light? You know you can't go on like this. Get dressed and wash your face. Wash away your dismay... Wash away all the lines that doubt has scrawled all over your face..."
Good night!