There has to be a better way!!

...To track all the *AWESOME* comments on my blog. 

I'm still really new to blogging so I'm just going to throw out a big S.O.S. into the blogosphere and hope that someone can help me! 

What is the best/easiest/quickest way to see my *NEW* comments? 

Right now I am going to the 'Edit Post' page in Blogger and scrolling down the list of all my posts trying to remember if the post on how to make a Monogrammed Wine Cork Wall Hanging had 36 comments yesterday or 35?

  If there are new comments (or if I think there are because I can't keep track of 20+ posts in my head anymore) I click on the link to the comments and scroll to the bottom to see if I recognize the last one on there. 

And if I have linked up to a Meme for a certain project it gets even harder to keep track of the new comments.  I'll get a dozen in one day, but I'll have to reply directly from my posts' comment stream...not fun!

I love all the comments and I want them to keep coming, but I know I'm slacking on replying to them all because I have no idea what's new and what's old. 

So if anyone is out there reading this and laughing at my ignorance please throw me a line and share your infinite wisdom!

HELP!

I Can Find The Time is now on Facebook!

Hello to all my lovely readers out there...I have an exciting announcement to make!

I Can Find The Time is now on Facebook!

I have had a personal FB page for a while now, but I'm really liking the great possibilities for feedback and comments for having a page dedicated to my blog.  I will also post some pictures of my works-in-progress...and maybe even a few of my projects that crash and burn. 

(I hope I'm not the only one who has projects that just don't turn out right and end up going right back to goodwill!)

If you are on Facebook I would love it if you'd stop by the new page HERE (or you can find the link in the sidebar) and tell me what you think!

Tour de Thrift and 100 Followers!

What a crazy week this has been!  We moved to a new rental house, and my MIL is in town visiting for 10 days because we have no day care.  And I have to train for my next triathlon in 2 weeks.  Oh, and that full time job won't go away...and the husband and kid keep insisting on eating every day and living in a clean safe house.  Crazy, I know!  But I had to get on Blogger and post something...I miss it!  Sadly I don't have anything crafty or creative to share.  Boooooooo!

I did want to share with everyone the awesome event I attended yesterday:

hosted by Aly and Ash and Cute as a Fox. 

Jax and Ashley did a great job putting together this event and scoring some great swag for all of use who attended.  (I'm ashamed to admit that their goody bag contains my first ever bottles of Mod Podge and Gorilla Glue...shocking I know!)

We all met up at Mimi's Cafe in Ahwatukee, AZ (yes that's how it's spelled and yes it's awesome) which was great because I just moved here 4 days ago. 

Side note: the move went crazy fast and my office/craft room is in complete disarray!  We got the computer up, but I am sitting on a step stool right now writing this because the chair is buried under boxes.  I need to get this room in order so I can get back to my crazy long to-do list of crafts/projects!  Which, by the way, has gotten a heck of a lot longer since we moved into this "all white walls" house.  It really needs come TLC and style...I hope I can get it looking good ASAP!

Anyways, after a great breakfast at Mimi's we headed to the local Goodwill.  We got a $5 gift card as part of our registration for the event, and it went even further than you'd expect because we showed up on their everything in the store is half off "Super Sale Saturday".  I was able to score a few items that will be re-finished or re-purposed in the near future:

Two large candlesticks in need of some paint and glaze, and a coffee mug tree that is going to become my sisters new jewelry holder:

I also found four pillowcases in fun fabrics that I'm sure can be used for something super cute in the near future.  Maybe a valance in my daughter's room for the pink striped one? 

Plus at 50% off $1.49...who could resist?

I am so glad that I found this Goodwill near the new house...it is huge!  The furniture section had some promising items, but I just couldn't fathom bring home furniture when the house is so crazy. 

I'm not kidding about the mess...I feel like I'm living in an episode of Hoarders! 

 The Arizona Blogger's Tour de Thrift continued on to more great Goodwill stores, but I had to head home at this point to get some unpacking and organizing done.  I wish I could have caravaned on with the other ladies, but maybe next time.  It was such a great experience, and I got to meet some really fun ladies.  I hope that Jax and Ashley plan another event soon!

I just have one more thing to add to my random post...

I hit 100 Followers!!

Of course, it happens when I'm not able to get on the computer for almost 2 days!  But I'm so happy for all of you who take the time to read my blog and comment on my projects.  I hope you like what I've done so far and that I am able to keep making projects that interest you! 

I just need to find the time!

Trendy Treehouse Photography Contest - Smiles

This weeks theme over at The Trendy Treehouse's Photography contest is "Smiles"...and boy do I have some great pictures of baby-girl smiling! 

 I chose to enter this picture because it's from Christmas morning and I love that you can see the Christmas tree lights in the background.  So cute!

If you want to check out all the other great pictures in this weeks link party click HERE.

I Heart Faces Contest - All About Babies

This week's photography contest on I Heart Faces is titled "All About Babies"...so I just had to enter. The hard part is picking which photo of baby-girl to enter.  I have thousands!

I decided to go with this picture of my Mother in Law and Meredith because it's not blurry (like so many of the pictures I have from my daughter's first few months on this Earth before I got the Canon Rebel)...and it's very sweet.  I really miss her being this small!

If you want to check out all the other AMAZING baby pictures cruise on over to the I Heart Faces weekly competition HERE.

Ribbon Socks featured on Craft Gossip

I just found out that my Ribbon Socks tutorial has been featured on

Craft Gossip

This is an amazing website with so many projects from all over the blogger world.  I have already added a few to my "When I Find The Time" to-do list! 

And, I am so in love with these ribbon socks and I'm so glad that lots of other crafters are getting the chance to make them!

Yea!

Baseball String Bracelet

I've got a great idea to share with all of you for a super easy and cute way to make a bracelet out of the strings of a baseball.  My college girl friends and I all made these to wear when we went to games...and I still wear mine to the Diamondback's games every chance I get. 

It's a great way to show your love for baseball!

Supplies you'll need:

Baseball (you can get 2 bracelets from each baseball)

Xacto knife

First you will need to cut out the stitches all the way around the baseball.  It's hard to see in the picture below, but there is a tiny line tracing the stitches from where I cut the leather.  Try to get your cuts as close to the stitches as possible without cutting them.  But don't worry, you can always trim off any uneven parts when you're all done.  You will have to apply a fair amount of pressure, and maybe even got over each line twice to cut all the way through the leather.

Once you have cut all the way around the stitches you'll need to remove the leather pieces.  The leather is stuck onto the ball inside with some adhesive, so it could take a little elbow grease to get it off.

Once you take both leather pieces off you'll need to remove the strings.  They will still be in once piece and should be easy to pull off.

Here's is what your baseball should look like at this point:

You won't need the ball or leather any more for this project.  Locate the point on the seam where the stitching begins/ends, this is where you should cut the remaining leather.  Be careful not to cut off the excess string, you'll need every inch!  What you should have now is one long seam with two ends that look like this:

Find the middle of the seam and cut it in half.  Each piece should be around 8 inches long.  Begin unraveling the stitching at each end of the bracelet until you have about 4 inches of string unwound.  This should leave about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of leather sticking out.

Cut off the excess leather without cutting the strings.  You should now have two ends that look like this about about 5 inches of seam in the middle.

The best closure I found for this bracelet is simply tying the two ends into a knot each time I wear it.  To do this you will need to braid each of the loose strings and secure with a knot.  The strings will be gummy in the beginning from the adhesive used to attach the leather to the ball, but this will go away after you wear the bracelet a few times.  You might prefer to make a loop and bead closure, or come up with something else unique.

If you notice that the leather is twisted from it's shape on the ball, don't worry.  You can stretch the bracelet and gradually force it to hold a straighter shape.  And as the adhesive wears off it should loosen up a bit.

You can also trim the leather at this point if they are uneven from your cuts with the Xacto knife. 

And that's all there is to it!  In only a few minutes you have two authentic baseball string bracelets!  I love wearing mine and I hope you can find the time to make one!

My First Photography Contest

Now that I'm getting into photography I seem to keep finding all these photography contests out there for non professionals to enter.  Of course some are WAY out of my league...

...oh, how I dream of being in National Geographic

or Smithsonian magazine...

But I did find one contest that I just had to enter.  The great company where I have my 9-5 "Day Job" puts on a yearly photography contest for all employees.  And since all of us are professionals in something other than photography I figured I might even have a chance at winning!  The winners in each category (there are 12 total categories) make it onto the yearly company calendar that is given out to all 1000+ employees.

 Here are my entries (I did some last minute photoshop work and cropping before they were submitted that is no shown below):

Category: Children

This is my daughter on Christmas morning...need I say more?

Category:  Still Life

This is a shot from the World War II American Cemetery in Normandy, France.  There are over 9000 soldiers buried here.

Category: Landscape

This is a shot from a trip to the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru.  To explain the scale of these awesome ruins...the 'steps' you see are actually agriculture fields for crops and are each about 6 feet tall. 

(and yes, we climbed all the way to the small house at the top!)

Category: Animals

This is a shot from the St. Louis zoo...it was so hard to get one of these guys to stand still!  But when they did it made for a great shot.

Wish me luck! 

Girl's T-Shirt Dress

We are in for a treat! I have another guest tutorial from my super talented mom! She made my daughter about 5 of these super cute (and super easy) t-shirt dresses, and I just had to get her to write this tutorial so you all can make one!

This tutorial is for these super cute t-shirt dresses I recently made for my granddaughter. I bought some t-shirts off the clearance rack (these were all $3.00 each at Kohl's) and matched each one with some cotton fabric I already had. I used the overall measurement of 17” for all the dresses I made (we measured from my granddaughter's shoulder to her knee). You can use the size of the fabric scrap as the main deciding factor for how much of the dress was t-shirt and how much was skirt, but I also let the design on the t-shirt guide me. Most of the skirts are placed 1/2 to 1 inch below the design (remember to add seam allowance before you cut the t-shirt).

Once you have the general layout in mind, use a rotary cutter to trim of the bottom of the t-shirt to the desired length. When cutting the skirt fabric, be sure to add allowance for both the seam and the hem before you cut. For the desired fullness of the skirt consider cutting your fabric so that it is 1.5 to 2 times the bottom width of the t-shirt when not stretched.

Next, I hemmed the fabric for the skirt by folding the fabric under 1/4 inch and then another 1/2". You can hem it with just a straight stitch.

I then used a gathering stitch to finish the top of the skirt.

Putting the rights sides together, I then gathered the skirt to fit the size of the t-shirt and pinned it on. Using a stretch stitch, I attached the t-shirt to the skirt. I practiced on the t-shirt scrap to ensure it would stretch enough to make it comfortable to put on a squirming one-year old!

(We actually found out the hard way that you will need more stretch than you’d think in this seam. Also, as nice as it looks, do not top stitch this seam because it will take away the stretch and make the dress near impossible to put on!)

And for a second variation on this project use a onesie instead of a t-shirt.   I figured out this variation on the second set of dresses I made that using onesies for the top of the dress allowed me to make a pair of panties that are perfectly coordinated. After you cut the onesie in half just fold down the top edge of the lower half and sew a casing (again use a stretch stitch). Next, measure a piece of elastic to fit your little one’s waist and feed it through the top of the onesie. Secure with some quick stitches over the seam and you’re all done.

I hope you all have fun with this project! They are so easy and quick and make a wonderful personalized gift without much expense.

Well there you go...another great project we can all find the time for!