Friday Finds - 6.29.12

It's that time of the week again...

Urban Threads' Tutorials

I'm a fan of tutorials. I'm a visual learner so having videos or pictures definitely helps me understand the concepts and techniques used while crafting. I stumbled across Urban Threads a while ago while looking for free embroidery patterns. They have the coolest designs. I love all their steampunk patterns and all the tutorials on how to make some cool stuff. Here's a link to Urban Threads' tutorial section and to their Hand Embroidery tutorials.

I love braids and Lauren Conrad's Tutorials

I've been braiding since I was 7 years old. It was during a long car ride to Florida that I got bored and started playing with my hair. Through trial and error I learned to braid on my own. A few years later I learned how to french braid by just trying it out. I always wanted to learn how to do the fishtail braid, but never took the time to learn. While on Pinterest the other day I a pin about fishtail braids. I eventually found my way onto YouTube, specifically Lauren Conrad's beauty channel. Hope you enjoy this video!

Pixel of Ink

Do you like to read? I do. Do you own a Kindle? You should. I love my Kindle Touch and I love getting free books. As of today, I own over 2,000 free Kindle books. I rarely buy books unless it's something that's on sale and I really would like to have it in my collection. I usually get a daily e-mail about the latest free Kindle book through www.pixelofink.com. It's a great place to start. There are definitely other ways. You can go directly to the Amazon Kindle website and view their best selling free Kindle books.

Books, Trip, and Ice Cream Truck

Whew! It's been a while... Let's catch up on the past week. First, my books arrived last Friday! They contain pretty pictures. Makes my hands itch to make something right now. They were from Interweave's Hurt Book Sale. From the looks of them, there's nothing wrong at all. What a bargain!

Color on Color, New England Knits, I <3 Patchwork, and French Girl Knits

On Tuesday I had a last minute business trip to Bath, Maine. Good thing I kept my bag packed and ready for this trip. It was still in limbo on Monday. We were supposed to leave Monday night, but it was delayed. We got the go ahead on Tuesday and left work at 9:30 am and arrived in Bath at 1 pm. Bath is a little town that's known for their ship building, specifically U.S. Navy ships like the DDG-51 and the DDG-1000, Zumwalt class destroyers.

My co-worker, Stephanie, and I were there to replace some parts on the ship. It was cool to walk through it, but we picked one of the hottest days to be on the ship. We had to wear long sleeves and long pants along with a hard hat and safety glasses. Don't know how those guys do it everyday. After running back and forth between the shipyard and the warehouse, we finally finished around 3 pm on Wednesday. We got home later that evening and I was glad to take a nice cold shower at home. I miss being home with Chris and our boys.

This restaurant was attached to the Holiday Inn.
It had a maritime theme, quite appropriate for Bath.
The Bounty.

Thursday was Ice Cream Truck Day at my company. The Fun Team arranged for an ice cream truck to come for two hours. You can pick whatever you like. I had one of those chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches. Yummy!

Let's gather around the ice cream truck!

Today, I just did a lot of laundry. While I'm waiting for Chris to come home, I'll probably start a new craft project. It's been so busy and I've been slacking on the craft front. The hard part is picking out a project...

Friday Finds - 6.8.12

TGIF! I love Fridays. It always signals the beginning of my weekends. I want to start sharing links to awesome articles and interesting things I stumble across on the internet. It'll be aptly called "Friday Finds."

Loyal Pup Waits for Trucker's Return

I love this story! The first part details how the pup went missing. The second part is about their joyful reunion! It brought a smile to my face. I doubt our pups would be that patient and wait for us to find them after two days. Lucky man and his lucky pup!

Insanity

No, I'm not going insane. Chris wanted us to try a new exercise program and decided that we should do the Insanity workout. I'm clearly out of shape - I didn't get through the entire fit test. Ugh. Maybe I'll give it a try later today and this time I will eat a light snack before and dinner after the workout. This is a link to their website... Insanity Workout.

Interweave's Hurt Book Sale

First, I have to say I'm excited. I collect a lot of books, but I usually buy them on sale. Haven't bought them used yet (I have this weird thing - I like my books brand spanking new). Interweave is having a Hurt Book Sale to get rid of craft books in their inventory with slight imperfections. You can get a lot of different craft books for 30-70% off. Don't wait - it all ends on June 12 and it's first come, first serve! I just got myself four new books for under $10 each.

• Color on Color: Elegant Designs to Stitch
• I Love Patchwork! 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew
• French Girl Knits: Innovative Techniques, Romantic Details, and Feminine Designs
• New England Knits: Timeless Knitwear with a Modern Twist

According to Interweave:

More than 400 art and craft resources will be deeply discounted for five days and sold online on a first-come basis beginning today through 11:59 p.m. MDT on Tuesday, June 12. This is Interweave’s largest online book sale ever, with deep discounts on new and recently published books on the topics of drawing, painting, quilting, beading, jewelry making, knitting, crocheting, felting, spinning, weaving, needlework, sewing, mixed-media and other popular arts and crafts. 

What are hurt books?
Hurt books are still in good condition but may have slight imperfections, like minor dings, a scratch on the cover, or a bent page. In addition to the huge discounts on hurt books, Interweave will be offering exclusive discounts on overstock books, eBooks, and book-related DVDs and video downloads during the sale.

 Enjoy!

Keeping Track of Books

Okay, I have a confession to make. I used to have a spreadsheet of all the books I own. I was keeping up with it until May when I went to Thailand. It seems that after Thailand I pretty much stopped doing everything that I used to do for better or worse. I'm not on facebook 24/7 anymore and I barely update my photos. I still tweet, but less often. I used to crochet like a fiend, but now I can't find the energy to do so. I used to blog all the time, now I update maybe once a month.

Part of it has something to do with starting a full-time job and getting a puppy. I can't blame Kujo for my laziness. It's just me. I got sick of the internet after experiencing Thailand for a month essentially without it. Maybe I have less to say? Nah, I doubt it. I just don't feel like typing it all out right now.

About that spreadsheet... I need to find it and update it soon. I have way too many books that I haven't kept track of.

I Need Sleep

I'm not sure how I managed to stay awake until 6 am, but I'm about to do it. I fell asleep at Sean's around 9 pm until midnight. I left and came home to read Outlander until 3 am. Then I was on Facebook and updating this blog until now. I'm not sure how the time just fast forwarded. Oh wait. It's the beginning of daylight savings. Okay, now it somewhat makes sense. Now I'm going to take myself to bed. Don't forget to set your clocks forward today, otherwise you'll be an hour early for everything. =)

Fridays, I love them so

It is Friday, the day of the week that I look forward to the most. The reason? My art class meets today. Unfortunately we are not meeting this week since my instructor is sick. =( I woke up this morning at 6:45 am to get ready for work at 7:45 am. I worked until 12:40 pm and made a couple of purchases before leaving. I had a sweatshirt on hold for my sister for the past two weeks and my co-worker Meredith recommended a book to me: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I've seen it before, but never made an effort to actually read it. But now I will. I'm always looking for book recommendations by my peers. It's always interesting to see other people's interests.

My interview with UTC Fire & Security, Fire Safety Division went really well. I got there early so I sat in the car for the next 10 minutes reviewing notes I made about the company. I met with HR, the engineering manager, the program manager, and the director of engineering. I also received a tour of the facility. Very nice. I'm pretty excited and also in awe. The engineering manager has two Masters degrees and the director of engineering has three. Wow. That's dedication. I would like to do that one day too. For now I would like to get more experience in industry before I decide if I should get an advance degree in any field.

That's all for now. I'm going to go lay down and maybe play Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia. =)