My Collection of Pocket Dragons

I joined an e-swap for showing off our collections. I am emailing these to my partners, but posting them as well. Both incase the pics do not show in the email, and so that if anyone else wants to see then they can.

THE WHOLE COLLECTION

Overview of the entire collection.

---

A Very Good Sign

Figure that is also the display sign.

---

MY FAVORITE TWO

These are my favorite two.
Lollipop is the first one I ever saw that made me want them. I was finally able to buy it this past year.
Purple is very self explanatory.

---

My Favorite Set

I love this set.
They remind me of the "no evil" monkeys. They were actually designed as three separate pieces & sold in different years.

---

Hope you enjoyed a peak into my stuff.....

As to other things I collect that are not pictured:
Menus - yes real ones from going out to eat.
Shot Glasses - my grandpa built me a cabinet for them, I am still trying to fill it.
Fabric - what good little quilter girl does not try to build a huge stash.

Basket of Biscornu

So I have found a NEW challenge - just what I needed, right??

Through a link from another blog I was reading I found this challenge blog: Basket of Biscornu on Tuesday Jan 27th.

Since I have been thinking of doing one of these little "pillows" for about a month, I decided "What the heck... I can do that." and I sent in my request for an invite.

The challence is to do one biscornu a month & have yourself a nice "basket" full of them by the end of the year. So.... that left me until Saturday to get one made, take the pic & post the pic... Well I made it.

Bought the floss on Tuesday - Started designing the pattern that night & started the main outline stitching that night.
I finished it today!!
My pic is also posted over there already.

Here it is...
My January Biscornu

I decided against a button for now. If it starts screaming for one, I'll go find it one. (well two, really)

I decided to take the pic of it on a mirror, so that more of the back could be seen. I am not too happy with the back, as the hearts are too far under & I messed up on my plan. The front and back hearts were to have opposed, not been the same. The quarter is there for a size comparison.

funny thing

I was searching thru the swaps today & found this swap here

I followed the link to the quiz & here is my score:
How quirkyalone are you?
Your score was 83. Somewhat quirkyalone (otherwise known as quirkytogether):
You are probably part of a mysterious group of people, the quirkytogethers. You share many of our quirky qualities, but you manage to find yourself, on a regular basis, in a coupled situation. Interesting.

--- So now my suspicions are confirmed.... I am a loner at heart, even though I am happily married....

crafty update

So over the past few weeks I have been working away on my swaps.
Made a few amis, made a couple of stuffies, made a Poo & Toilet Paper - yep REALLY!!
I also made three or four Dotee dolls.

Most of the items are up on my Flickr so they are imortalized (for now) online.

Today I created a Crochet Hook Roll for a swap - I got the one partner I really wanted to get, so I was overly happy about that. I really hope she likes what I made.

Big kids 7th B-Day is next Friday - however, we are NOT having a party. I know.... we are scaring her for life by not letting her have a mass of kids here, but we are NOT going to pay for all that crap. She is going to have ONE kid here for a sleep over. It will be the first full over-night sleep over she has EVER had with another kid, so we are kind of worried about how it will go. She can get bossy, and that is one of my biggest concerns.

I have to do cupcakes for her at school, 23 kids (plus teacher or two & any parents that might be there) I'll just propbably take thirty & extras can go to the office ladies.

Well.... as it is a quarter til 12 now - It is about time for me to wonder off to bed.... wish I could get some sleep while I was there. Hopefully I will make it to bed soon.

We love Cheryl

one of the awesome people on Swap-Bot has a stage IV cancer that we have recently found out is spreading worse. CherylLaVon is amazing with her strength & I finally found the words to tell her.
I posted this in one of the threads in the public forums here.

*********

Cheryl.
I wanted to say thank you for helping me enjoy my swap-bot time. - I love that I've gotten to meet someone as wonderful as you.
I was not able to go back to Texas earlier this month for my grandfather's service and you helped me be strong by just being strong yourself.
My heart got added to my hand last night, thanks to one of the random swapbot tagged flicker pics. I had not found this thread yet. I have now read thru all of it & you have made me cry twice with your lovely posts.
I am glad for you that you get to have Polly come, though sad that it was needed for you to have a hospice nurse at all. - I always wish everyone could have as good an outcome as I did.
I do not really pray, but you have reminded me to be strong when I need to & reminded me that laughter is the best medicine. It definitely helped me get thru my Crap when I was younger.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING A PART OF SWAP-BOT FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN!

copy to be posted on my blog - because I want to be able to find it later. :) -- Amanda

List to Inspire or Admire

There is a swap I joined at swap-bot. It was about the following list. I would rather post my list than just email it to my one partner. It makes the list feel more real that way.

---

The goal was to Bold if DONE then it was suggested to use two other colors as accents - one for NEVER GONNA HAPPEN - one for COOL - I'D LIKE TO TRY THAT.


01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (Mommy to two, so this is a given)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne (can not stand champagne so this will never happen - gotten drunk on a few other alcoholic drinks though)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run (I don't play, so this is not possible)
36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (I just can not keep it going for a whole day - I've done a few hours, but that was my limit)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states (this is one of the things on my "life list" so I am working on it all the time)
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater (got to find one first)
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken (Don't plan on falling in love again & I have had issues with this love, so no plans for this one) - I am glad to have found that broken hearts CAN be mended.
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (I've actually never played it)
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced (I've since re-married too)
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo (actually, I have five)
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason (someone telling you they loved you is a reason... now I have GIVEN them for no reason, to my Mom)
84. Performed on stage (I think we all had some performance in elementary school, right?)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark (too bad it is a seasonal item - cause it is DANG GOOD)
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house (and had it foreclosed on too)
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror (performed AT Rocky Horrer.... audience participation is a MUST!)
96. Raised children (working on it RIGHT NOW)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (That is how we came to be in Colorado now)
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery (I want a tummy tuck - but need to be done having kids first)
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds (I'm not sure if cumulative counts... but I have not consecutively done it)
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback (and had someone hold me while I had one)
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (sick with Mono as a child - slept almost all 48 of the 48)
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper (at the age of 14)
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school (too bad it did not last that time either)
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (when someone tells you that the thought of you being hurt by their death kept them from ending it - I say that counts)

Awesome Pic I found

I am hoping that the way I am posting this will link back to the Webshots where I found it..
Purple Coolness

Christmas

We had a great time & now I feel behind on everything else.
I hope to be caught up in the next few days.

Carfty-ness

Yes -- I know it is not really a word.
I've been a little busy this week at work (and at home) on my crafts.
At work this week:
I finished the snowman for the Winter Amigurumi swap that will be assigned partners next week.
I made the bunny for the swap I am angeling.
I started some strawberries for the private food swap I am doing. I need to do more than just the strawberries, so I am searching for other food items that I have the correct colors for - I might end up with an eggplant, because I DO have purple.
At home:
I finally made the crochet hook roll I have been thinking about for over a few weeks. I made room for all the hooks I have, the 1" x 6" ruler and all of my hook markers as well as SEVERAL stitch markers. - I will post some picks to flickr as soon as I actually TAKE the pictures of it.

---

On a side note at home:
We have put the tree up - FINALLY - this week. With the baby running around, any ornament not up at least three feet on the tree gets taken off on a regular basis. I am hoping that we are able to FIND all of the ornaments that we hung on the lower part of the tree when it is time take down the tree and out the ornaments away. Luckily it was only the M&M ornaments that came on M&M tubes in years past.

I am currently looking to complete the set of fisher price & milton bradly ornaments that I found over the past few years. These are the ones where the raindeer play twister & operation. There are the monopoly train pieces. The little people have a santa's workshop & a nativity scene. As well as the "old school style" little people on a sled.

I believe there were a few different sets, and I did photo the back of the boxes that I have, where is says "collect them all" so that I can mark the ones I DO HAVE. Hopefully I will be able to locate the rest at some point. These are the main ornaments we put on the tree this year.

another crappy swap coordinator

I had joined this swap. Signup deadline was November 30th. Partners had not been assigned yet today & the coordinator has not been on swap-bot since November 25th.
The swap was based on the Six Word Memoirs at Smith Magazine.

Since I have dropped the swap due to lack of coordinator participation... I am just going to post them here. The swap guidelines were to "write ten six-word memoirs pertaining to yourself, your life, fears, lost loves, whatever you want and feel like."

So here are my 10x6:
1. Texas born and raised. Colorado confined.
2. Only child. Married third of six.
3. Insomnia. Sleep is an elusive thing.
4. Two beautiful girls. want a boy....
5. Family of nuts. We don't mind.
6. Craft! Craft! I like to craft!
7. Yarn and hook, I crochet away.
8. Thanksgiving dinner cook. Dish washer too.
9. Ramen Noodles.... Hamburger Helper.... Cheap food.
10. Don't blame me. I voted McCain.

Soup is ON!

SO, the recipe below is going to be dinner tonight. At about 9:45 this morning, I put the turkey carcass in the pot with 1/2 an onion (left as whole as possible, so I could pull it out easier. This was to get both the stock and the meat for dinner.
At noon, I strained the liquid into a smaller pot and went thru the turkey to remove all the bones. The liquid was left to boil so it would concentrate.
At four I put in the carrots, so they can cook and the diced celery. We are out of onion, so no more of that is going in.
It is now ready for the noodles.
TTFN.

Thanksgiving Success

Well dinner went well. It was just us four & the downstairs guy.
We even had all the food I planned with the exception of the gravy. No one missed it.
Now we just have to get all the dishes finished.


I sat down after dinner & worked on the blob... the I decided that it was not working right - after like 50 rows - so... I frogged it.
I have now gotten it back to two separate pieces & am working on how the two legs join.

Amigurimi Madness

I am now working on Amigurumi. I made one last week with no pattern, just to make sure that I could work with a hook that small & that I could get the stitches close enough together. After the pattern that I linked below, I integrated the buttons as I went along.
My first Amigurumi.
It is my little bowling pin with eyes!!

I also made a turtle, but I need to finish sewing his head on.
I have started on a second un-patterned piece that I am calling a "A2's Blob" - I will get pictures posted as soon as it has some form to it.

Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe Swap

I am sending out a recipe to two partners in postcard format.
As I do not 100% trust the USPS to not make my recipe unreadable, I am going to post it here too. Besides then anyone who visits my blog can see it too.

Leftover Turkey SOUP

2 c. Chicken Broth or Stock
1 c. shredded leftover turkey
1/2 to 1 c. carrots (raw or pre-cooked)
1/4 c. DICED onion
1/4 c. DICED celery
1 package Ramen Noodles, chicken flavor

Saute onion & celery in bottom of a large stock pot.
Add broth (and carrots if raw) - Bring to a boil. Once carrots are tender (if pre-cooked, they are tender before going in.) - -
Add remaining items (including carrots if they are not already in.)
Boil for 5 minutes after putting in the noodles.
You can use the seasoning packet from the noodles if desired, otherwise season to taste with herbs & spices, such as: garlic, basil, thyme, rosemary, salt & pepper.
Enjoy!

The recipe can be increased in size depending on family size. If you are one of those people who do not like thin soup, add some of the leftover gravy to the stock. I also have added diced potatoes on occasion.

If you shred & then freeze your turkey, you can have this anytime, just add the turkey at the same time as the broth & it will heat as you bring the pot to a boil.

The optional items did not fit on my postcard.

Cute little thing

On swap-bot today, I found a swap for a crocheted lip gloss holder. It looks like lots of fun, but I am not sure if I can join the swap.
The page with the instructions is HERE.
I am going to try one, so I can see what it weighs, because the cost of mailing it is what is stopping me right now from just automatically joining.
But I wanted to share the link to the cute little thing.

A Place in Cyberspace

So - it is apparently time that I actually start a blog that I might continue to write in & that I can share with my family... since I have yet to join the MySpace craze (or Facebook) that is sweeping the nation.
I have been told by several people that I need to join My Space, but I have not seen the point to it yet.

Anyway, this is the beginning. I will share the address now... and I'll try to post some of the relevant things that I had posted elsewhere in the past.

I can be found under Purple TX at:
NeoPets
CafeMom
Swap-Bot

had to take another test

Amanda, you're an '80s expert when it comes to Headlines

Was the U.S. Olympic hockey team's miracle on ice the highlight of your 1980? Do you remember what you were doing when Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court? Were you up at four in the morning to watch Charles and Diana's wedding? For a newshound like you, big events like these are what shape your life whether you were around to see them or not.

Curious and clever, you like to know what's going on in the world around you. From politics to entertainment to sports, you've got a wide variety of interests and always keep your finger on the pulse. Sounds like a smart idea to us!

James Patterson

I have finished the Alex Cross series through book five, and I have six through nine on the TBR shelf now.
I have also read the first two Woman's Murder Club books. I thought I had the third, but it is NOT on my TBR shelf for some reason.
Of his non-series books I have read most. The Thomas Berryman Number, See How They Run (previously titles The Jericho Commandment), Black Friday (Also titled Black Market), Hide & Seek, The Midnight Club, When The Wind Blows, Cradle & All (Previously titled Vergin), The Jester and The Lake House.
I am only missing four books at this time. (That is until he releases another.)

Patricia Cornwell

I have only read one so far... and I caught the second of a three part series.
Listing her books & bolding as I finish seemed like a good idea, til I started to do it.
Maybe at some point I can do that with ALL my authors, but I know it will be time consuming.

My Authors

I aspire to read every book by the authors I really like.
Among them are: Laurell K Hamilton, James Patterson, Tami Hoag, Dean Koontz, Iris Johansen, John Sanford, John Grisham, John Saul, Anne Rice, Stephen King, Richard North Patterson, Michael Palmer, Ridley Pearson, Thomas Harris, Robert Ludlum, Michael Connelly, Patricia Cornwell and Larry Bond.
I have read the majority of some of these, but I still havbe LOTS to go.