Seasons Change...

I think its safe to say that summer is officially here! :)
We've had more than two sunny days in a row that were above 70 degrees! This is a good sign :). 

Speaking of seasons change...

Over the next few months you will see some changes taking place in my lil etsy shop what you will see is fewer items being renewed. Lostsentiments is not closing but scaling back on items that don't recieve many views or sales. Some items will be reduced in price to help clear out inventory as well! :) I will be posting the reductions on Lostsentiments facebook page here so feel free to tag along and follow there! :)
I always love seeing new faces! ^-^ (um-hmm, yes ;))

What will remain a constant are the patterns and items made after I've worked up a pattern so you will see a few new items cycle in from time to time. 

Custom orders are primarily received from friends and family which it great! However, trying to balance those, work, social life, the shop stuffs, house stuff, etc. has been trying at times.
And since I want to continue to fill a few requests from time to time and keep my creative juices keep a flowing, it's time for a change :).
I will continue posting on the blog and sharing with you lovely followers whatever I might be working on or getting into next or just day dreaming about. ;)
I'm looking forward to the change and hope you are too! :) 

Speaking of day dreaming... 

Vintage Winter by Jude McConkey

I stumbled upon this photo today when I saw it in my favorites! ^-^  lol Apparently I'd seen it before ;)
... seeing it today I fell in love all over again... and thought it fitting to add to this post. 

There is so much beauty in each season if we just look for it :) Times a changing! :)

 But oh how sweet the memories! :) 

Thank you for reading lovelies! ...and for following along wherever we may go! :) xox ~Dawn

Storage is Important

Why for yarn of course! :) Of course ^-^

Okay and for clothes, and shoes and other clothing things :). 

Closet renovating is something else the family helped us with while they were out to VA this year!

The hallway closet, our bedroom closet and my sisters closet all got facelifts! ;) 

The original design of each closet was okay but I felt there was a lot of space not being used quite so efficiently. So with help from the parents, my sisters helping unload the closets and in some cases painting them (the hallway closet) we were able to get the closets tended to from start to finish in two days. Dad and I painted and prepped the boards/walls before and after the shelves went up. Initially we were looking at the wire closet aide's and in the end decided wood will last longer and look sharper (and cost half of what we'd have paid for the wire shelving). We got shelving that was 1 by 12 and then however long we had measured we'd need for each closet. Dad and I painted just the shelving white and left the rods natural wood as you'll see in the photos :).

* * * * * * * 

The hallway closet BEFORE:

...and...

AFTER:

We painted the inside of this closet  to match the rest of the hallway and large sitting room, making it the last area upstairs to be painted since we moved in. 

All other walls upstairs had been painted since we've moved in. :) 

The rod was placed higher than where the prior one was. 

My husband being 6' 4" and having long coats we made sure the closet would store our longest coats with ease :). Shelving was added on top of the rod brackets and around the left side of the closet. This created a nook for the folding chairs to rest on and some camping gear to be hid away yet still readily accessible. The bottom shelf allowed for more shoe storage *yes* which helped tidy the floor up a bit! I moved a shoe caddy from my closet to the hallway closet for storage of purses, hats and gloves. I also purchased a basket for other scarf storage you'll see in the far right photo.

* * * * * * * 

Here is our closet - I neglected to take an official "before" photo but if you can envision more clothes on the right side of the closet packed in tightly then you get the picture. If you can't picture it then imagine a closet where if you pull out a shirt, the hanger stays attached to the pole but is stuck outside the clothes because there's not enough room for it to swing back into the mix, think SARDINES... yeah. I don't miss that. ^-^ 

Spacing this closet was very important to me. I wanted my mister to be able to have his shirts hang and be high enough for him to see. A custom tailored closet for sure ;). Luckily the dimensions worked out quite nicely with both his tops and mine. The top shelf of the closet allows for the misters shoes or my shoes in a shoe box, his shoes also rest on the 2nd shelf along with a small basket that he call pull out to grab dress socks when needed. All the way to the right we left space to store long dresses and pants. We made a small change to how we store our jeans. Jeans, shorts, all pants :) are on hangers now. I had to brain storm about my shoe storage because once I hung up my clothing it hid the shoes! I found an under the bed shoe caddy that has done well so far. I love that I can see all my clothes now and its not such a fight to get an item out just to see it!

Dad did an awesome job making sure the rod brackets were flush with the wall in every closet where applicable. Prior to redoing our closet on either side I just hoped the clothes wouldn't push too far to the ends... or they'd fall off. So annoying. First world problems... I know ;) 

* * * * * * *

Here again I didn't get the official "before" picture so imagine again clothes on the right side 

why did we always clear that side out first?? Curious... ;)) 

with clothes on white hangers that fit the space on the first photo.

 My sisters closet was modelled after ours only in this case we brought the top rod and shelf down further so there was more than just a shoe boxes' worth of storage. 

* * * * * * 

Reorganizing the closets proved quite helpful in the yarn arena as well - the old shoe rack went into the white room/craft room and ow holds yarn in a way that you can shove skeins together (yes! :D) and still see the colors quite readily when you open the closet door. Granted this is *not* the only place I have yarn. 

But I wanted to show off this updated part! :D

Shoe rack used for yarn storage - for the win!

OH! Oh! Also - the mister got his long awaited garage closet area - an open closet? :) 

All the motorcycle gear came out of the hallway closet and found their rightful home here - yay! :D

Can I just say I love to organize? I thoroughly appreciate when everything has its own place. 

Though yes, I still have a few "junk" drawers :). 

Birthday Daisies - Planted!

For my birthday my coworkers gave me some tea and a live daisy plant! Since the family was visiting and my mom has a bit of a green thumb ^-^ she planted them where the peonies used to be! Thank you mom! :D

Hopefully these pretties will fare better than the peonies did there. 

Quick update - the peonies transplanted about a month ago haven't grown any more :s nor have the dahlia's come up! I asked my mom about them when she visited and we cultivated the soil around it again. Maybe they'll come up next year? 

No matter - I will let you know either way! :D

Are there any plants that are struggling for you this year? 

Study Blanket - Round Two Complete!

I hope you are enjoying the photos of this blankets progress... I feel the need to document it as if part of this blogs purpose is to tell the story and share the timeline of production. I realized its been 4 months since I decided on the colors :) - and I understand why castles are not built anymore... not when people can shell out McMansions at record time. No, we live in a microwave world it seems - at times I find myself wanting to slow it down! :). I suppose that's part of the reason I crochet/knit and craft. ^-^

Alright - so onto the photos! Here they are folks! I now have 192 circles completed (33 of which are already assembled) to the 2nd row of green! :D

I received a few custom orders recently so I will be hibernating this lovely for a little while - before long  I will be adding the orange level! ^-^ This is the last level before putting them togther with the brown! 

I've been using this box to store and transport he project though it's kind of busting out at the moment! :) I may just pile the lovely circle on top just the same - for a mountain of circles! muhahahahhaaaa. ;)

How do you store your projects? 

Thank you for reading! :) ~Dawn

Lucketts Annual Spring Market 2013 Finds!

With the family visiting from Iowa we took in a few local fun things. Okay so Lucketts is a bit of a drive for us - well worth it though.

I found a few great items for our study...

Tin pieced together "P" by Faulkenberrys

And another tin ceiling piece along with a candlestick - both picked up at the Lucketts Fair.

...and a few others to share just because they were so endearing or inspiring I had to snap a pick to pass them on.

Here is a quick gallery for your viewing pleasure :)

Styrofoam Sunflowers - so poetic!

More Sunflowers! :) 

Tin Heart! 

Crocheted Basket

Another Crochet Basket 

Flamingo Hat + Flamingo Fan = One Happy Flamingo Customer :)

YAY! :D You might remember my co-worker from Christmas, or from the flamingo amigurumi she had requested last year.

We decide to showcase not just her amigurumi flamingo desk buddy but also a few of her other flamingo things that make us smile :)

Yes, yes, that's a flamingo phone cover and yes, yes it's clever :) and yes, isn't she such a good sport to take these pics and let me share them with you?! :) Yes, yes I think so! ;)

Ahh! Cuteness times infinity! O.O ^-^

And here we are stoked that the hat is adorable on her :D ;) I mean, how could it not be? ;)

I promise to have the flamingo hat pattern available *soon* my family from the Midwest is coming to visit tonight and staying for a week (yes! :D) so I've not been quite so focused on the patterns as I had hoped to be for you faithful followers - I will make it up to you somehow!  

Feel free to add any comments and ideas for how I can make it up to you - not having the pattern ready to go yet :) ;).

Thank you for reading and viewing ! :D

♥ Dawn

***UPDATE*** 6/10/13 - the hat pattern is available for your crafting pleasure! :) 

Flamingo Hat - Sneak Peek!

Happy Mothers Day to all those lovely people who put their all into raising tomorrows future! I hope you all were pampered silly today! As you well should be ;).

I'm putting the finishing touches on the flamingo hat pattern (almost ready!!) but had to share a photo with you because those are the maraschino cherry topping for the patterns (in my opinion ;)) and my sister and I had fun with this one...

SO in the off chance Mother's Day was kind of rough, I hope this playful pic will bring a smile to your face ^-^ at second glance it reminds me of an aviator hat... ooohhh... ideas for future?? ;) Maybe...

Flamingo Hat Sneak Peek

Looking forward to sharing the pattern with you lovelies soon! Thanks for peeking ;)

Also, if you had an awesome mothers day - please share what the best part about it was  - would love to hear about it!

Till next time! xox ~Dawn

**UPDATE** the PATTERN is HERE! :D

Love harnessed and bound...

...no blade can undo my quiet repose. ~lostsentiments


This is my entry for this weeks Nonteam Treasury Challenge featuring Bird of a Feather by MyAntartica. 

I'd been absent from the treasury making world recently, every time I made one I would spend all ton of time promoting them to get them to the front page of the treasury hotness on etsy. Some days that's fun to do, but I'd really rather not stress too much about how many views I get (though it is a TON of fun to read the comments, watch the views, favorites and clicks #'s change ^-^) and trust the people who like the kind of world I create in a 4 x 4 treasury will somehow, eventually find me ;). 

Anyways, when I saw the inspiration item this week I *had* to put in an entry... so I hope you enjoy the eye candy shared ;). 

Do you make treasuries on Etsy? What is your favorite part about them? 

Keep Calm and... ?

Slow, I'm feeling slow these days. Though everyone has the equal 24 hours in a day - however, lately I feel like other people are able to squeeze every last ounce of life out of those moments, go to bed and wake up earlier than me to seize the next day. I feel like I'm just trying to stay ahead of things. Does this happen to anyone else?  All these things... all these things... stay ahead of or on time with the bills, the birthday cards, the baby showers. Getting together an idea for dinner before dinner to have everything ready to mix and have it all in the cupboards when I decide to go to mix it. Can I leave the dirty dishes there? I think maybe I'll get to them tomorrow (I hope, I hope). Planning. I find I spend a lot of time in the now planning for later and I am beginning to wonder if I'm missing the now. Ya dig? Does this happen to anyone else? I mean, if we don't plan and become passive, um, lots of stuffs would fall through the cracks, or it would right? O.o The house of cards might just come falling down.... Bleh. Maybe this is suburban life, or rather, this is the life of a responsible adult? Oye vey.. ;) Someones got to do it, right?

Keep Calm and Take a Bath designed by Agadart of Etsy :)

 I pose a question - should I keep calm and take a bath? A bath with Epsom Salt? :D Is this appropriate for said times? It doesn't sound productive to me, wouldn't doing this just put a person behind on their scheduled things? :) ;) I mention the Epsom Salt because the chiropractor really wants me to do this. Baths take a while..  I really believe with all the hustle and bustle and how much women do for their family and friends there needs to be a time of decompressing and rejuvenating though. If we're in a constant state of stress our bodies start breaking down and then something gives.

A few years ago I was working as an accounts payable specialist and the work load was constant and intense. When I stress out I sweat and my stomach normally gets knotted and the last thing I tend to do is eat or drink because I would get indigestion anyways. I let it go long enough that I ended up with a sharp pain in my stomach e that would not go away. Needless to say I was concerned but not trusting a doctor in NoVa I roped my husband to taking off work to help me to the an Emergency Room. God bless him :). So yes, I landed myself in the hospital with... what would you guess? Dehydration... lovely... this visit could definitely have been avoided. This was years ago and I've learned to manage stress and my workload a bit better now.

 I don' t want this for me, or anyone for that matter. I work hard  in order to enable me to enjoy times with my family and friends...

Gah! Praying for balance and wisdom. :) It's definitely a balancing game as new challenges present themselves daily. I'd love to hear what things you do to decompress - what things rejuvenate you!? Hmm??? ^-^ How do you finish this sentence... Keep calm and ...?

Chicken & Cheese Ham Burgers! Paleo Friendly and Low Carb

 ** Pan Kissed Chicken & Cheese Ham Burgers! **

Yes - it's kind of a play on words here - I was trying ;) tee hee

Thank you to SmokedandGrilled for the base of this recipe geniusness! After making them once I decided to add a few additional items to spice it up and add more of our families favorite ingredient - cheese ;). though in some Paleo variations this is not an accepted food. Feel free to omit if you're doing Whole30! But of course ;)

****I cannot wait till it stops raining long enough for me to get these on the grill! :)****

I mean pan seared salty flavor from the meats is great - but to add a smokiness to them with the grill? YUM! And yet I wonder - liquid smoke... there is such a thing... O.O ^-^ For now - let's share the recipe as it is today shall we? :) ;)

What you'll need:

2lbs Ground Chicken
1 cup cooked ham - diced
2 cups Parmesan cheese - shredded
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp cilantro

1) Mix up the meats first
2) Add the cheese and spices - mix well.
3) Form into burger patties and cook 'em up!

I'm a bit of a condiment nut folks, so it *should* mean a lot ;) when I say these burgers don't need anything but to be eaten as is. You will still find me pulling out mayo and Paleo Ketchup though to dress this up if I am feeling especially like an otter that day ;).

Makes about a 13 burgers :) Feel free to cute the recipe in half for smaller crowds. I normally make food with leftovers for work in mind. Adjust accordingly ;)

5.9.13 UPDATE: -

LEFTOVERS FOR WORK - for the win! ;)

Fiesta Egg Bake Revisited - Low Carb & Paleo Friendly

Happy Cinco De Mayo! :) It just so happened I had most of the ingredients on hand that helped prompt me revisit a recipe I put together last August. Let's revisit this Fiesta Egg Bake shall we?

Fiesta Egg Bake

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:

- Bacon grease (or butter) to grease pan with
- 16 oz regular breakfast sausage 
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 sweet onion (chopped)
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/3 c heavy whipping cream
- 12 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 1 jalapeno minced
- Dash cayenne pepper
- 4 cups shredded cheese


1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2) Grease a 9" x 13" pan with bacon grease and set aside.  

3) Add sausage, red pepper, onion, garlic and jalapeno to a stove top pan. Cover mixture and let simmer until vegetables are tender.

4) As the vegetables and sausage are simmering, in a separate bowl mix together the eggs and spices, mix well.  Add the heavy whipping cream and whisk until its mixed well.

5) Once the sausage is browned and veggies are tender - add them to the 9" x 13" pan by spoonfuls making sure to spread the mixture out evenly.

6) Pour the egg and cream mixture on top of the sausage and veggies. Use a spatula to even out the mixture through out.

7) Sprinkle the cheese on top, using a spatula push the cheese down just until the egg mixture covers the top of the cheese.

8) Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until the top is browning.

Now pull it out the oven and allow it to cool. The cheese is normally inflated and once it deflates a bit I know it's "go" time. ;) Time to eat! :D

I hope you like the recipe! :D 

Oh! Not only did I revisit this recipe but I managed to realize my avocado's were ripe enough to cut and store in the freezer for baking adventures later! :) This idea is brought to you by pinterest lol. But I had the foresight to execute it tonight! :D 
I'm super proud! 
The last time I got avocados I let them sit *too* long... they met their doom - the trash can. Womp. Womp. 

Happy Creating Everyone! :D ~Dawn

*****

Looking for more Low Carb recipes to bake? 

Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog! 

Find more low carb BAKING RECIPES HERE.

And more CASSEROLE RECIPES HERE.

***** 

What does a Baby Cocoon, a Granny Square Blanket & a Hat have in Common?

I'm working on them ALL right now, cause I'm (crazy ;)) good like that! 

I tend to have many projects going on simultaneously (with thoughts of future projects not far behind ;)) and while I have more projects than just the 3 I'm going to share on the hooks today, I figure these are the ones worth sharing at the moment. I mean, I am working on them, so they *must* be the most interesting right now right? ;) The rest are in what we ravelry people like to call "hibernation" ( aka haven't been touched in a while).

Newest Pattern in the making here - the base of a Ruffled Bundle Baby Cocoon. (oooohhhhh ;)) I was working on it this morning over a bit o' coffee (said in a British accent). :)

Next, the Sunburst Flower Granny Square blanket that I've been working on, I've finished the first 192 brown centers and am done with 101 of the 2nd level/row (the green! :)). Not too much longer and I'll be starting on the orange saffron! :) oooh... exciting! :)

The Flamingo Hat I'll be putting together soon! 

I have the eyes ready for sewing and the threads for the ear flaps ready to braid! :) I'll also be looking for pattern testers for this hat! If you are interested let me know!

More to come friends! :D Would love to know which one you're most excited to see finished ;).

Best, Dawn

Whisper Twisters Lovely Crochet Designs

Whisper Twister Designs is a beautiful Etsy shop I discovered through Pinterest. 

I saw a picture of one of her lovely cowl designs and had to make it for myself! 

I purchased her cowl pattern and worked this up over a few days. 

Smitten with the design I went back to her shop and purchased the matching fingerless mitts pattern  

CROCHET PATTERN - Flower for the Wind Chaser Gloves photo from Whisper Twisters Shop

After swooning over the designs in her shop a time or two now, I was intrigued - where do her design ideas come from? How long has she being crocheting? Whisper Twisters graciously answered my questions and I was excited for an opportunity to share a bit of her story and her designs here. Her designs truly bring a lil bit more pretty into the world and I'm thankful for her talents :)

Here are a few of her designs I especially like: 

From left to right: 

Crochet Viking Eternity Cowl - PDF Pattern

Crochet Scarf Ice Queen - PDF Pattern

Crochet Raised Snowflakes Gloves - PDF Pattern

If you are on Ravelry - her designs can be found there as well. :)

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~♥♥♥~ Thank you again Whisper Twisters for taking the time to answer my questions! :) ~♥♥♥~

How long have you been crocheting and designing?

I learned to crochet when I was 6 years old, but I seriously took it up again few years ago when I decided to make a scarf for myself. I remember how I was sitting outside in one summer and just had to finish it.... I have been hooked ever since.

This is awesome - I can understand just having to finish an item! After I taught myself to crochet in the Air Force I was up late one night and one of the Sergeants came by to make sure our lights were off - I was up awake in bed working on a scarf, I had to quickly put it away.  lol ☺

What is your favorite part of the creative process? 

Definitely buying the yarn - there is so much promise in one skein of yarn... And nowadays there are so many wonderful yarn brands and stores around. I travel quite a lot and truly enjoy getting to know yarn brands of different countries.

When it comes to yarn I completely agree - there is SO much promise in a single skein of yarn. I love it! ☺Great minds think alike ;).

What most inspires your designs? 

I guess I just get an idea in my head and try to work it out (usually everything turns out a bit different from my idea, but that is not necessarily a bad thing).

Who taught you how to crochet? 

My first teachers were my mother and grandmother and the school teacher (in our school, everyone had to learn to crochet and knit, even the boys!).

Which of your designs is your favorite? 

I cannot really choose - I like them all. But I enjoy crocheting the Sand Light gloves the best. I think I have crocheted over hundred pairs of them already.

Over 100 pairs?!?! Awesome! ☺

Are there any designers who inspired your works? 

I get a lot of inspiration from my fellow designers in ETSY and Pinterest.

What fibers do you like to work with most? 

All Alpaca blends.

What is your favorite color?

Ivory white.

Love me some neutral colors! ♥ I love the grays you use in your shop as well!

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I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Whisper Twisters Crochet Designs! :) Until next time - happy hooking! :D ;)  ♥ ~Dawn