Ready or Not, Here it Comes...

New Years.
I'm ready, but not so willing to leave 2008 behind. At least, not with a nice looong look at the year that has passed:

January: Spent New Years Eve with my Costa Rican exchange student and fourteen other host families.
February: Valentine's Day.
March: Spend Spring Break on a road trip to Indiana with my cousins, aunt, uncle, Bubba, Dad, and Tara
April: Art Class Trip to the Art Institute of Chicago.
May: Finally get my Driver's License. Done with school!
June: My spanish club leaves for Costa Rica, I see them off tearfully. June 6th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs goes live on Etsy. June 7th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs goes live on Blogger.com
July: The annual Aldersgate UM Church Corn Boil
August: Back to School
September: Audition for the High School Play, rehersals begin
October: Performance of Oklahoma! on Halloween weekend. My second-to-last High School Play EVER. *sadsadsad*
November: November 14th, Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs sells it's first item!! I turn 17
December: Second and third sales at Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs. Christmas, joy, love, and New Years Eve-Eve (today)

It's crazy how it feels like just last night I was in a house crowded with Costa Rican exchange students, counting down to the new year, dancing to salsa music and snowmobiling across an opened field. Time really does fly. Oh, how it flies.

I have a few tradtitional New Years Resolutions I want to make before I wrap up this post.

1. Take Luck, Love and Hedgehogs to it's first events. Really get the name out there more. In conjunction with that, host more Fiber Freaks Gatherings. Being with Crafty people really makes me more creative and feeds my soul.

2. Be more opened with my faith and more passionate in my relationship with God.

3. Bring more positive people into my life. I have a ton of them but you can never have enough.

And finally:
4. Tell more people that I love them.


That's all I got, people. Have a super-wonderful new year. I'll be talking to you soon with the update about Fiber Freaks.

Love,
Carolyn Michelle

Christmas wonderment

Christmas was full of wonder this year. It was such a joy seeing new members of my family get to participate in the traditions I have grown up with. My favorite being the annual sharing of the cheesy tates. You really can't beat something like Grandma's cheesy tates. yumyumyum. I have some cheese tate leftovers in the fridge right now. I'm thinking lunch.

I really hate to go off and list what I got for Christmas (because that's really not interesting or even polite) but I would like to tell you about one key gift: a sewing machine.

I GOT A NEW SEWING MACHINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is the best gift ever ever ever on the face of the earth ever. EVER.

You get it.

It's a Brother brand machine, Project Runway Limited Edition spiff-tacular beast of computerized stitch selection glory. Yes, glory. It even automatically adjusts the stitch length, width, and tension for me when I change the stitch. Thank God above who created such clever sewing machine engineers! I am really really stoaked about this.

Thank you bubba, Tara, and Daddy...if you guys read this. <3>

In other news, we are one day away from one HUGE explosion of creativity in the Hedgehog household. Fiber Freaks!!! I can't believe it's already here...

In case, somehow, you missed the e-mail and previous posts and would still love to join us, here's the 411:

Where: My house (directions through e-mail)

When: 11am-10pm come as you please

What: FIBER FREAKS!!! Crocheting, knitting, and sewing like madwomen (and men)

Bring: fiber of any sort, an opened mind and FOOD!

See you there?

Hope you guys are feeling as blessed and fuffilled as I am. May God guide you throught this crazy weather safely!! Have a wonderful day, enjoy your gifts :D

All my love,

Carolyn Michelle

Winter, as I know it

On December 20th, I completed my secret mission: the Toy Society Christmas Toy Drop. Read all bout it on their blog here and see if my toy has been posted/found yet! I'm really excited about this, I actually cannot wait to see if I hear from anybody.(:

The Christmas season in officially in full swing here in Hedgehog land. The 20th was my first "Christmas" celebration of the year. I partied with my dad's side of the family at the famous Grandma Kay's house. Sadly, Tara and Bubba were sick and stayed home to rest. The snow is really drifting and blowing here, making life crazy. More crazy...I suppose...





Also, my cousins Alicia and Joel are back. Visiting and such. I really miss seeing them with more regularity, even if it was only ever once a year. I haven't see Alicia since 2002. That's a loooong time when you think about it. In five years I've gone from middle school to high school, from riding to driving, from single to...wait, no, I'm still single. Okay so some things never change.






One thing that I wouldn't mind a change from is this super-deep-crazy-lunatic cold weather. Ug. It is so cold here that my pipes froze! Yup. You know the water pipes leading to the washing machine? Yeah. Frozen. My poor father is working on them right now. I have no idea where this winter season thinks it's headed with this sadistic weather. Definatly not winning any points with ME. And just when I was getting into the whole snow thing.





Hope you guys are warm, safe, and festive.





And crafty. Very very crafty. :D

Today I:

Today I already:
rejoiced about the snow day!
did the dishes.
shipped a cuttlefish (and it only costs $5 for priority shipping, who knew??).
got stuck in the driveway (twice) with my dad driving the truck.
wrapped all the gifts for the kids at Saturday Kid's Club.

Later today I will:
decorate the tree with Tara.
wrap MORE presents.
not be going to ring bells for the Salvation Army ):
play in the snow.
clean.

This weekend:
is the Toy Society Christmas Toy Drop! Check their blog to see what I drop!
is the Christmas Party for Saturday Kid's Club, I'm excited.
is my family Christmas party with my dad's side of the family. :D
I get to see my cousins that I haven't seen in...forever.
is going to be cold.
is going to be spiffy.

To those in Northern Illinois, enjoy the snow!!! It's very pretty. I'm finally getting in to this whole winter thing again.

More Information About Fiber Freaks:

What: The first ever meeting of the Fiber Freaks Group
When: Saturday December 27, 2008
From: 11am-10pm open house style
Where: My house (directions when you rsvp)
Rsvp: ASAP

So, as you know, the Fiber Freaks are just a group of freaks like me getting together to learn and teach crocheting, knitting, sewing and what not. Now I have more information as to what the Fiber Freaks will be doing at our first ever meeting-thingy...

Got some extra yarn that you'll never use? Bring it along for a yarn swap! If somebody else has some yarn that you like perhaps you can convince them to trade with you. You never know! So bring along some yarn and swap to your hearts content! Other things you could bring to swap: old clothes, fabric, felt, hooks/needles, misc. craft supplies, sewing machines (like I said, you never know!), pretty much anything...

Also, what's a crafty party without food? When you come be sure to bring some snack-type food or dish to pass to share with the group. That makes it easier on me and Bubba, preparation wise. I'd rather be teaching you guys how to crochet than slaving over a hot stove.

Know how to crochet, knit, sew, or what not? You might be called upon to teach some newbies. It's no big deal, I'll make sure they play nice.

Remember to bring you latest project! I can hardly wait for this EPIC event...it's gonna be good.

Good things that I have failed to mention...

Good Thing Number 1:

I'm participating in my first ever toy drop with The Toy Society this Christmas. *points to button on the right sidebar below the mini shop* You'll have to check it out on the weekend right before Christmas.

I'm super excited about this. I love doing random acts of kindness and what better way of doing it than leaving a cute little hand made toy for somebody to take home? This is such a great project, I plan on participating in more toy drops after the crazy-time ends.

Good Thing Number 2:

Guess who is back? Thar't riiiiiiiiggggggghhhhtttt...
The cuttlefish is coming back to the Luck, Love, and Hedgehogs Design Shop. I got a request for on earlier this week and that request go me thinking, why haven't I made more cuttlefish? Hmmmmm, I don't know. So I have another project! Yay! Seriously, no sarcasm whatsoever was intended there. I love making stuff for people.

Good Thing Number 3:

As you can see from my Etsy-mini over there to the right *pokes sidebar*, I finally updated the shop!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! It's only two more items, but hey, I'm making progress...

Good Thing Number 4:

It's a SNOW DAY TODAY!!!!! YAY!!!!! I've gotten so much stuff done already. My room is all decorated for Christmas, I vacuumed, I did the dishes, and I updated the shop. Later Tara and I are going to make sugar cookies :3 I love the holiday season so much...

Good Thing Number 5:

I'm going to the Art Institute of Chicago tomorrow with my art class. Which means I'm not going to be at school, which means I'm not going to stress too much which means I can seriously enjoy the day in my favorite city. I do love winter in Chicago: The snow, the bell ringers in front of every shop, the cheeryness, the sales, the decorations, did I mention the snow? I mean, honestly, the flakes are GIMONGOUS there. Must be the Lake Effect...or something...

Hope you guys have tons of good things to list. Enjoy the snow, but stay safe. The roads are super super bad (hence the snow day, I suppose). Just stay home, put on your pjs, sip some cocoa, and get crafty.

All my love,

Carolyn Michelle

Luck, Love and Hedgehogs Design (and Bubba) are hosting...

...The first ever meeting of the Fiber Freaks group. What are the Fiber Freaks? I'll tell you! The Fiber Freaks are people who are obsessed with the art of manipulating fibers into wonderful creations. (Aka, people who crochet, knit, sew, embroyder, tat, felt etc etc etc).

Basically, the story goes something like this, there are a ton of people at my school and in my family who are interested in learning to crochet (or knit or sew or what-have-you) so I have contrived this sort of...club thingy called the Fiber Freaks. There are at this point no "meetings" or "memberships" for the Fiber Freaks, just a group of wierdos getting together to get crafty. Care to join us?

Saturday, December 27th
At my house (I'll give you directions when you RSVP) near Durand
From 11am-10pm, open house style
Rsvp asap by e-mailing me for more details...

Luckloveandhedgehogs@hotmail.com

There will be people to help you with the basics of crocheting (or knitting or sewing or what-have-you) as well as plenty of opened electrical outlets if you care to bring your sewing machine. All ages and experience levels are welcome.

What better way to spend the Saturday after Christmas than crafting with your favorite silly people?

In other news, I got my car stuck on my road last night after babysitting (yeah, I'm fine Jen, it was no big deal). The road was really drifted over and stuff so my dad had to come and plow me out. Praise God for trucks! Hope you guys are liking this cold weather...I'm not enjoying it too much. Coldcoldcold. Perhaps I need a coffee...

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle

Oh, December!

It's cold here. Very very cold. I'm fairly certain that I'm one hundred percent NOT a polar bear.

Anyways.

Last night was quite an adventure since I went on my first ever college-type visit. Bubba picked me up after school and we drove to Northbrook (outside of Chicago) for the School of the Art Institute Chicago's (SAIC) Information day thingy at the Renaissance Hotel. It was splendid. Splendid, I say, splendid. I've been seriously considering going to an Art school for a while now and after this visit it seems like this actually could happen. I actually could go to school for the thing I love, get a job doing what I love, and make a living (you guessed it) doing what I love. Does this happen in real life?

I got some information on Summer Courses that SAIC offers. I think...I hope...I'm goint to be taking a course in fashion design this summer....

I am beside myself with giddy joy. School girl-like joy. Summer...in Chicago...studying fashion...and getting college credit...as a junior in high school. Like I said, does this really happen in real life???

In other news, tomorrow Tara and I are going to do a fun sister-bonding-and-shopping-for-Christmas-stuff day. I'm pretty pumped. We just have to babysit from 10:30 am- Noon for Eliana and Dylan. Not bad. We sat for them again tonight..and now I'm sitting for Riley and Shelby and Avery. Not going to lie, I love using Jen's laptop. (if you are reading this Jen, thanks!!!)

In other other news, I have my whole Spain/France 2009 trip paid for. THANK YOU MRS. WEBB FOR YOUR AMAZING FUNDRAISING POWERS!!! Seriously, my art teacher is brilliant. My whole trip, totally paid for, thanks to fundraising. Wow. Lot's of work, but oh so worht it. I can't wait for the moment I see the eiffel tower all lit up in all it's glory in the Paris night air. Oh, poetic.

Crafting has been s.l.o.w. thanks to the ever-time-consuming skeleton project for Anatomy and Physiology. It's due on Monday so hopefully that'll clear up my schedule a great deal. What a shame I am. Not updating my shop and such. Lame child I am. Mhmhmh.

Okay, that's all the stuff I've got for now. Stay warm guys, drive safely and avoid telephone poles. Please.

All my love,
Carolyn

Busy...

....is an understatement. Happy December, everybody! And to all those with snow outside, enjoy it. It sure does make my lawn look pretty, although it makes my house COOOOLLLLDD.

Hopefully they'll cancel school tommorow, the roads are bad out here.

Upcoming events (I actually have one to list!!):
The First Meeting of the Fiber Freaks Crocheting and Knitting Group
On December 27th
More details later if I get some free time. Ha ha ha...funny. Free time?? In December? Hahaha! Get it?!

Okay.

I'm crazy.

And loving it.

Happy December, again.

All my love,
Carolyn Michelle