Awards!

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing good! I'm a little bit sick over here, which means lots of tea and hours to just read, sew, knit, and that I will actually post. Anyway, I have to awards (woohoo!) that I've been hanging on to for much to long. So here we go!

Thank you Clare for this wonderful award! Sorry it's taken me this long to post it.

I'm going to pass this award on to the dear Melee who always leaves wonderful, fun, comments!

Now, for this fantastic award from Tywo (thank you so much!) is a bit more involved. I have to state seven things I love. So number one is:

1. Life

What I mean by life is not my life (though my life is good), what I mean is what life is. The life that starts the moment a child is conceived. I love how we breathe and move and can make our own choices. Life is so precious, it's one of the only things, when you think about it, that we really have, that's only ours.
I also love the life that is in animals and growing things.
That too is something to marvel over.

2. My Family
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, caring family. And while I often feel like I just need out, I love them. So, so, much.

3. Reading
Just about anything! However, this summer I've mostly stuck with fantasy and poetry. Both of those are the kind of writing I can always fall back to and be at home. Where I understand and feel understood.
Do you know what I mean by that? What kind of writing makes you feel that way?
However, I did just read Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and that was wonderful. It left me in this great summer in the south sort of mood. Lots of fun.


4. God
If this list were in order he would be first. It's not religion. It's a relationship, a dance, a poem, a song. And I owe him everything.


5. The Earth
Oh, the wonder of it! I just LOVE the earth, it's so vast and beautiful, so raw and perfect and imperfect all that the same time.

6. Making things

Now of course you already know this. But I couldn't very well leave it out either, for I'm happiest when making something.

7.Romance

I am such a hopeless romantic, though you already know that too!

So I pass this award on to the wonderful Sarah, Francesca, Ellie Grace, and Sara. Hope everyone has a wonderful afternoon, night or whatever your at right now!

with ice tea and tissues,

Clara

PS: all the photos can be found here

Update! So sorry, some how my settings got switched around so now you can comment! Thank you so much for letting me know Melee! Love, Clara

I got tagged by the ever so gifted Sarah, off in Wonderland, and I'm ever so thankful and excited about it. Thank you Sarah!

So I get to answer these questions and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

What is your mood? I'd say it's something like this, comfortable clothes, and a dreamy heart that is ready to either be swept away in a book or my own stories

Where did you grow up? I grew up here in Alaska for the most part, but when I was three we moved to Missouri (which I still can't spell) and lived there for five years. I'm so glad that we moved back though, for while I'll always love the farming parts down there, but it was the first place where my imaginative little soul was attacked. I still have to fight off the ghosts of those days. My mom says she's finally seeing the little girl she lost fourteen years ago come back.

What was your dream last night? Prepare yourself for something very strange. I was driving past the university, (only it didn't look like the university, but it was) and part of it was on fire. One of my friends who joined the Air Gard was there and he said that someone (a bad guy) had shot a flaming arrow at the roof, after dropping a baby down the chimney. (don't ask) anyway, my friend had saved the baby and it was really the most beautiful little boy I have ever seen, he had golden eyes and the sweetest smile. So I took the baby and ran away with him because the bad guy, which was now a dragon, wanted the baby dead and was chasing us. I ran into a house and we went down and down all different stairs and trap doors and the dragon kept fallowing us. Finally we got down to a grating that lead to the water system under the road, which we went into. And then I woke up, fell asleep again and had another dream, but I won't bore you with that one too.

What is your favorite store? The Antique Shop! I've spent hours upon hours there and hardly noticed.

What is your hobby? oh goodness, I have so many, there's knitting, ballet, writing, drawing, acting (on occasion), reading, researching, baking. Maybe these aren't all hobbies, they're just things I love to do. Does that count?

What is your fear? A cage. To not be able to be impulsive or wild or free. To be stuck in some dull grey office doing things I hate, unmarried, and never loved.

What is on your wish list? A typewriter, wouldn't it be wonderful to curl up with tea and a blanket in my room and type out my story? I would stack up each page as it was finished and then, when I took a break, I would put them in one of my suit cases to be read later after the dust had settled on it for a while.

And a carpet bag, this one here isn't exactly what I'm wanting, I imagine one larger, like the one Mary Poppins has.

Your friends? Are books mostly, I have one extremely treasured friend at dance and I feel so blessed to have her, we've been though some hard things this semester, but our friendship has stayed strong, she is my bosom friend. All so all of my dear and wonderful friends here, you are all so sweet and encouraging you have no idea how much you mean to me. I appreciate you all very much.

Where do you want to be in six years? Here. Or some where like it, my own nice little cottage in the woods, either married or alone, but writing every day and making all sorts of beautiful things. I'd like to make my own clothing line, kind of, but it be where I gather up used clothes and remake them, vintage, and maybe new clothes I've designed, all with a common theme and sell them in my own little shop, either real or on etsy. But mostly I want to happy, where ever I am and what ever I'm doing I want to be happy and content.

Your life? Is good. I'm satisfied with it for now, things have been very hard this year, but I'm convinced they'll get better, and I've been working my hardest to focus on all of the blessings I have. There are so many, I have a wonderful family, and while many aspects of dance have been hard, I'm going on pointe in January. The list is very tedious and long, so I won't bore you with it, just believe me I'm grateful for what I have and I plan to enjoy it to it's absolute fullest.

Okay, now I get to pass this on,

I'm going to give it to Sara of we are dreamers for being so sweet and a very good friend and leaving such wonderful comments. :)

Marisa or the little Miss Thumbelina who always leaves such deliciously long comments that are so fun to read, not to mention she's a fairy.

If any one else wants to do this tag please go a head, I just wasn't sure who else to give it too, sorry! I'd say more, but I'm a bit sickly this weekend, so I'm going to go rest some. I love you all!

glitter snow,

Clara

Wow, I'm actually posting about something I said I'd try to post about! These are the costumes my brother and sister wore this year. Timothy was Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he's been planning his costume since sometime last year, finding just the right jacket and so on. He made the hat himself, out of cardboard, which is pretty impressive for a ten year old if you ask me. Yes, I'm a proud big sister.
Chana, at the last minute, decided to be a dwarf. The tunic and belt were mine, and she made the shoes, beard, and hat just a few hours before she had to be at the carnival. Pretty big preparation differences, but the finished products turned out good for both, I think.


I got this lovely blog award from the wonderful Anji Jane thank you so much dear! I'm going to pass it on to Katherine, Vera, Mermaid, and Ellie Grace.

I want to post again very soon, but I'm not quite sure what about, is there anything you would like to hear?
love, to you all
Clara

PS: 20 followers! thank you, thank you, thank you!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments, I did have a nice weekend and though parts of it were non-stop I did get to end it curled up on the couch with scones (I did make some!), tea, and one of my favorite movies, Penelope (Pride and Prejudice didn't happen). The only other thing I actually did on my list, besides the scones, was go thrift shopping. I went on Monday because that's when they had the 50% off sale at Value Village, and I did pretty well if I do say so myself. Every time I go shopping I end up with more skirts than anything else, this time I got two and a slip, which I'm not sure counts as one or not. The blue plaid is a lovely Pendleton wool that reaches past my knees, I've begun to really get into longer skirts, they're easier to live in and they have a sort of sophisticated air that I love. The other skirt is shorter and thin and flirty/floaty I can hardly wait to wear it.

Words can not express how exciting it was for me to find this belt, I have been wanting a wide braided belt for a long time and this one surpassed my expectations. Plus, I got it for only five dollars!

Also I found a bunch of crocheted lace, I thought it a bit over priced, but I decided to get it anyway. I'll definitely use it.

This isn't a very good picture. Am I the only one that finds photographing shoes very difficult?
These are sadly a bit too small, but they were just so beautiful I had to get them! I'm hoping to start an etsy shop soon so they'll probably end up there.

I got the awesome girl award again this time from Jemima and Maddy thank you so much girls!

I love you both! So the one from Jemima was a slight bit different than before, I'm supposed to state ten things about myself that are useless/interesting so here we go,

1. I collect some of my thoughts on scraps of paper and keep them in a big mason jar on a shelf.

2. I haven't painted my fingernails in almost two years.

3. I've never seen The Little Mermaid, which is absolutely ridiculous, I know, but some how it just hasn't happened.

4. I love musicals, I'll enjoy almost everyone but my favorites are the completely crazy and impossible ones like Hello Dolly and The Music Man.

5. I hate making little decisions such as what I want at a restaurant, big decisions however HAVE to be made by me.

6. I want to be an artist, a gypsy, a writer, a collector, a lover, a costume designer, and a gardener.

7. I love feet. Bare feet, stockinged feet, and feet in shoes. Guess what my favorite Dr. Seuss book was?

8. I believe in Miracles.

9. I go through phases with baking. For a long time all I'd bake was different kinds of biscotti, now I think it's going to be scones.

10. I'm such a slow blogger, it's taken me three days to complete this list.

Whew, I did it. Jemima also gave me this little award. Thank you darling!

I really love her idea of giving it to people who fallow her blog, so I'm going to steal it. :) Thank you so, so, much you guys, I feel so blessed by you all. It was only a few months ago that I didn't have any followers at all and now I have six. wow.

I'm not going to say much else because I want to get this posted, but I was wondering if any of you might have suggestions of books or movies I might like. I'm always looking for new books to read and good movies, so I'm open to almost anything. You can look on my profile to see what kinds I love best. I hope you all have wonderful weekends and I hope I can be back soon. Thanks to everyone again.

with Peppermint and Pine cones,

Clara

more knitting and a birthday tag

Well, here's some more birthday news. My birthday was on the last day of the fair, at which I actually won Jr. Grand Champion in both knitting and sewing! With that honor came all of these goodies from the local sponsors. And Oh. My. Goodness. That's two complete projects, a case for straight needles, and hand dyed fingering weight yarn. And look, the girl on the needle case looks like me, (kind of) isn't that crazy?

So now, I get to make my first pair of socks, I've already gotten started, the yarn is such a yummy apricot color and the pattern is lovely. The only part of the pattern that I'm nervous about is the grafting at the toe, Kitchener stitch is definitely a weak point for me. Sadly, I don't know where the pattern is from, but the yarn is Debbie Bliss.

It also came with a note book for knitting projects and Brittany DP needles, my hands down favorite kind, unless there's a better wood brand that I haven't tried.

This is what I need to make a lovely cowl, the pattern is from blue sky alpaca so you could probably find it on their website if you're interested. I think the yarn is Aslan trends, I could be wrong, but I know it has Aslan in it.



Now this is really interesting, it's called a "flat" I think, and it's hand dyed, you then knit from it and it makes a cool pattern. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out, it's the perfect weight for socks, but we'll see, I might go for something else.

(I found a heart in it!)

As I said before, I started knitting the socks and they're turning out so beautiful, I'm actually done with the first one, (I feel bad for it having come out so quickly) except for the grafting.



And guess what else? I got tagged!!!





Yes, the lovely Katherine tagged me for my birthday, thank you so much! Okay I need to cut back on the exclamation points.

SO, I need to state ten things about myself and then tag ten people

1. I used to want to be an actress in Hollywood, but last year I went to an acting camp in LA and I quickly changed my mind. I still love acting, but I just wasn't willing to live in southern California, too me it was one of the ugliest places I've ever seen (no offence meant). Now, if I decide to act it will be strictly theater.

2. Ballet is a huge passion for me, I'm not very good,(I'm not even on point yet) but this semester I'm taking three ballet classes, two pre-point, and two other classes, a long with the company rehearsal, so I'm hoping that will help me improve a lot.

3. I have this weird thing where I fall for men in old movies, like Gregory Peck and Jimmy Stewart, I also frequently fall in love with the men in the books I read, they're all just so perfect.

4. I've been journaling (apparently that's not a word) for a long time now, I think at least seven years, anyway, I'm currently working on my eleventh. Once, I finished my journal before I had a chance to get my next one and I had to wait over a week, I was a wreck the entire time.

5. Almost every time I read a book, I pick a character to be and I read everything they say out loud. And with fairy tales and other dreamy kind of stories I read the whole thing out loud to myself.

6. I've been home schooled my whole life and I'm really glad of it. I feel like it has really helped me to become my own person and enjoy being myself instead of trying to look and be like everyone else.

7. As far as music goes I can enjoy almost anything as long as it has good lyrics. My favorites though are ones with good lyrics and cute/pretty music like Eisley, Regina Spector, Avett Brothers, and then soundtracks of course give me thrills.

8. The place I want to visit most in the world is Ireland, it's so beautiful and green. I've never been there, but I'm hoping I'll be able to live there someday.

9. I've always lived in town, but I'm sure there's a drop of dryad blood in me because the woods is where I feel the most at home. Someday, I'm going to have my own little cabin in the woods and I'll have goats, chickens, and geese, and a big beautiful garden. I want to keep bees two. I plan to have two big dogs and name them Merit and Ash. (after the hounds in Deerskin and The Princess and the Hound)

10. When my mother first told be about Narnia, (I don't remember how old I was, three or four) I desperately wanted to go there. I asked her what a wardrobe was and she said it was like a closet. I remember (I really do!) hiding in our coat closet (because it was cold there) and waiting for me to get in. I didn't quite, but sitting there in the dark I had the most wonderful imaginings, and I think, in a not quite literal sense, I did find my way into Narnia.

And now I tag:

Un Bella Vita A Beautiful Life (my first blogging friend)

Acrylic and Old Lace (I miss you Rebecca!)

peculiar tallulah (a doll)

Thumbelina (fellow Alaskan blogger, hehe)

Raindrops and Rosepetals (I just found this blog and I love it, also happy birthday Sara!)

A Book of Blair (same as above, and a late happy birthday to this sweet girl too)

So that's only six, but I wasn't sure who else to tag. If anyone else wants to do it feel free, it's a lot of fun. I have a very busy schedule but I'm going to try to do a post every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. I have so much to share so I hope it works out. I must fly now, but I'll be back as soon as I can!

Love, Clara