Crafts on the coldest evening and hungriest day of my life so far

 Now time for a better post.  This weekend, I experienced the coldest weather I have ever been in, in my whole life!  I loved it!  It snowed lightly all day Friday and we got down to like 5 degrees on Friday night.  I had to make a mad dash to Hobby Lobby because I needed one 0more skein to finish that shawl I was working on and didn't want to deal with the weather on Saturday, which was supposed to be pretty bad.  

On Saturday, I  think we started at about 5 degrees when I woke up and it stayed in the teens all day.  I only ventured out for ice cream later in the night and we had a snow squall, which I had never seen or heard of before.  Basically, there were bursts of intense snowfall and it was SUPER windy.  It was really cool!  I made these pretties on Saturday and then started on a diamond painting later in the evening.  I love making those faces, and I am especially in love with the little Frida Kahlo.  I'm going to make a pin from that one.  I also love the little ghost in a bottle, although someone in the Perler Bead facebook group I'm in pointed out that the cork looks like the caterpillar is taking a poop.  LOL!  

I finished these and started on a new diamond painting.  This one is on a canvas, and I have gotten pretty far since starting on Saturday because... well, maybe TMI but I had to do a colonoscopy prep on Sunday which meant NO food so I had to find a way to keep myself occupied, so I got a lot of it done since I took this pic.  I love this one!  

Diamond Painting Album!

 I wanted to share this cool little album I got on Amazon.  It's from a company called Forever Young, which appears to be an up-and-coming diamond painting company.  It's a great way to store my mini paintings!

The description says it's 80 pages, but I don't know if they mean it holds 80 paintings or that there are 80 pages in the book.  I haven't counted.  Regardless, it's a nice way to store my mini paintings!  That is all. 

Pennsylvania Dutch and a Small Ramble

I finished this one this past weekend!  I just ordered a little hanger for it and I will trim the edges and hang it on my office door!  I love it. It's a kit from Hobby Lobby, and I got it for cheap!  It was $5.49 and then 40% off so... come on.  How could I not?? (OH god, please disregard the lottery ticket in the pic lol!) 

So, let's clear the air about Hobby Lobby.  Yes, they are an crap corporation who donates to crap causes.  However, when they are all you have in the area, you sort of have to pick your battles.  I fight many others, and my philosophy is that you must protect your peace at all costs, and it's not peace-protecting to fight every battle with every shitty company.  It limits your choices, and it's stressful.  Approaching menopause, being in tears almost daily over the tiniest thing, and having an anxious personality that therapy and medication has not been able to control, I do not need unnecessary stress in my life.  So, yes, I do shop at Hobby Lobby, but only when it is absolutely necessary. 

I picked this one up when I was back home over the holidays and decided I needed a project to work on for the last day I was out there for the holidays, because heavens forbid I don't have a project I'm working on (I am my father's daughter, afterall).   I think this took me about a week and a half to finish, because I was doing other things in between working on this.  I don't have an ideal set-up for diamond painting, and it hurts my back after a while, so I have to take breaks, because I am a middle-aged woman.  It's a 12"x16" canvas, I think. 

Someone on one of the diamond painting groups on Facebook suggested this is a Pennsylvania Dutch style of art.  I can see that.  

Things in Pixels

 I may or may not have undiagnosed ADHD... maybe not but I am the poster child for hyperfocus.  

Right now I am hyperfocused on making perler bead sprites and on diamond painting.  When I am hyperfocused on stuff, I like to watch YouTube videos about what I'm doing, even if I know how to do it, but I haven't really been able to find one about perler beads that I like.  

Diamond Painting Action Shot

 I finished my diamond painting today!  So, it took me a little less than two weeks, not even working on it daily. 

Happy 2026!

 Happy New Year!  I am back at work today, getting caught up, but have found some time to make a post.  

I had two weeks off work and it was fantastic! 

We went to my parents' in Coldspring and spent the week from the 21st-27th.  I ate a bunch of good food and spent some time with my family.  I finished my first Bargello project.  I LOVE Bargello but have some challenges with it.  First off, a lot of the patterns I see online aren't really easy for me personally to follow because I can't tell how many squares to stitch over.  I tried a pattern I downloaded for free and just couldn't get it to work.  Hello Bargello has lovely kits with really clear instructions and patterns, but they are a bit expensive for my budget.  I did get this one on sale, though, and I love it.  It's a sunglasses kit.