Christmas Greetings

Merry Christmas! I know it was yesterday, but anyways, I hope you all had a great one. This year has just flown by and here were are about to say Happy New Year again. My mind is still processing where all of the days have gone. November I did quite a bit of traveling. I spent weekends in Gainsville, FL; St. Peterburg, FL and Orlando, FL. I love road trips for any reason. It's a nice way to get away from reality for a day or two.

It has been an extremely warm winter so far. That is honestly nothing knew in Miami. The cold tends to come in January and February. One year it would be nice not to have an 80 degree Christmas. I know for many of you it has been a rather cold winter so far. I'm sending you warm wishes and in turn you can send your cold ones to me. :)

I have been doing a little creating. I confess I haven't done any cross stitching since I finished that model stitch two months ago. It hasn't been published yet to my knowledge. I have been planning what I want to do for 2017. It will be the year of UFO's. When I moved to my house back in April, it really opened my eyes to the number of UFO's I have. It's quite ridiculous honestly so I'm going to focus on those more next year.

These are new items I created for my Etsy store. If you click on the link above the picture, you will be taken directly to the listing in my store.

Beaded Stitch Markers for Crochet and Knitting:

Blue Stitch Markers

Pink Stitch Markers

Pink and Green Stitch Markers

Blue and Yellow Scissor FOB

Blue and Pink Scissor FOB

Blue Scissor FOB

Ladies "To the Peak" Cap

Baby Beanie

Man's Beanie

Thank you for visiting! I hope you have a wonderful New Years!

**Hugs and Love from Miami**

Jen

Crocheting Away...

Just as the title states, I've been crocheting away when my free time has allowed. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Not to mention, a yucky bug decided to visit me and ground me on my couch with a fever all day Saturday. That wasn't what I had in mind for a relaxing Thanksgiving weekend! I did manage to finish a hat and scarf set on Friday for my Etsy store. 

The scarf measures 3 1/2" wide and 65" long without the fringe.

Here's a closeup of the yarn. It is a soft bulky acrylic yarn with iridescent metallic weaved in. It gives the white such a lovely, elegant glitz. I'm sure it would just sparkle beautifully in the sunlight.

I am having so much fun crocheting scarfs that I've decided to make a couple for Christmas presents. I will post a pic of all of them once they are completed. So far I've made one out of four that I have planned. I'm trying to pace myself to get everything done before Christmas. I have some bags in mind to sew as well. I also have my nieces baby blanket to finish for Christmas also. My sister brought the baby all the way from Hong Kong and they will be in town till after New Years. The baby is so adorable!

It's going to be a busy month! There is lots to do. I have another weekend trip to Orlando planned, again to Disney! I am waiting for Winter to make its annual three day appearance, hopefully its longer than that. The rain just doesn't want to go away it seems.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have a fabulous week. Thank you for all of your lovely comments too.

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

A Vacation to Remember

Only a few more days till Christmas! Can you believe it? Are you ready for it? I'm almost there. I finally got smart about Christmas shopping. Online shopping is so awesome especially if you are like me and don't have the patience for lines and crowds. I'm just crossing my fingers that the rest of my packages get here before the big day as promised! I also have a few last minute gifts to make. I hope I can pull those off before the big day. We are having our parents over for brunch on Christmas Day again this year. I have ideas for a better one than last year. So excited!

I promised some pictures of my trip to the Grand Canyon, so here they are. These are a few of my favorites. I can not begin to explain how gorgeous the scenery was even on our drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon. We drove through Sedona on our way, and it was amazing. So much beauty to take in. The weather was perfect also. It only got really cold at nighttime.

On our way.

We made a stop to see this famous church. I can't remember the name. **Edit: This is the Chapel of the Holy Cross! I knew some sweet readers would help me with the name. :) Isn't it beautiful how it just sits in the rock like that? Just stunning!

The Beauty that is the Grand Canyon

My Boys in their Beanies I made them.

It just seems to go on forever and ever. It almost didn't seem real. It felt like I was looking at a huge painting that just went on as far as the eye could see and then some.

My son had a great time. He is 10 with a huge desire to see and experience everything. I know he will never forget this trip. We even saw Elk while driving around the park.

Gorgeous Sunset. 

We had such a wonderful time. It was a little bit of a go go kind of trip since we were only out there a few days, but we made the most of it. My Aunts made sure we had an amazing time. 

Of course, I had to make one trip to my other special happy place since it is Christmas time. Can you guess where?

But of course! Being the Disney Fanatic that I am, I just had to find a reason to go and see Christmas Disney. Although I won't lie, I like it better in the Fall. 

On the crafting side, I have been crocheting beanies lately. Since my boyfriend wore the one I made him to work, now friends and co-workers want them. A little extra cash during the holidays doesn't hurt! Some of my co-workers placed orders too.  A very exciting feeling. Here are few I've made:

For a Toddler Girl

A Green Beanie that my boyfriend's friend asked for.

This has been a popular request for ladies. It is made from a cozy, soft black yarn that has black metallic in it.

I have also been stitching. I've picked up one of my forgotten lovelies again. I haven't done too much so I will leave that for my next post.

For all who celebrate, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year.

Stay warm everyone!

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen

Crocheted Beanie Fun

We arrived home from our trip to Arizona and the Grand Canyon yesterday. Like all vacations, it did not last long enough. It was amazing though. Arizona is a beautiful state. We did a lot of driving. I took some great pictures, but I will save them for my next post. It certainly was an exciting and memorable holiday trip.

I anticipated really cold weather for this trip, at least cold by South Floridian standards. The weather forecasts kept saying 20's and 30's for the days we would be there. Wouldn't you know it, it was in the 60's and 70's at least in the day time. The night time was different, but we stayed in. So much for the new winter coats I bought! I hope we get a cold snap in Miami so we can at least wear them once this winter. 

All of this winter weather planning got me inspired to make us hats before we left.  I've never crocheted hats before, so I went on a search and found a cool pattern on Etsy right here.

These were super easy to make and came out awesome. I was really happy with the results. It also taught me how to crochet in the round. A technique that I didn't know how to do.

My son's Beanie.

My Beanie:

My Boyfriend's Beanie:

Even though it wasn't that cold, we still wore our beanies. I told the boys I wanted some family pictures with our beanies on at the Grand Canyon.

These are such a fun project. I made a second one on the plane in the same colors as my boyfriend's and listed it in my Etsy store. He actually has a few co-workers who want to buy some beanies from me too. I was very surprised. A couple of the girls asked for matching scarves too. I'm very excited about this. If you would like one for yourself or as a gift, feel free to ask.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

**Hugs and Love from Sunny Miami**

Jen