And the Winner Is....

Congratulations to SuZeQ, the winner of the GYOB giveaway! 

Many thanks to Vicki at 2 bags full for arranging another great blog party. I visited many blogs and found some new friends, beautiful and creative blogs, and have signed up to follow many as well.

Thank you to all who took time to stop by and visit.  I hope to continue visiting more blogs and add to my list of those I follow in the future.

It's been fun!


                       Until next time....
                          Terri

Grow Your Blog Party & Giveaway!

Thank you for visiting!  And a big thank you to Vicki for again organizing this event!!

My name is Terri and I am a basket maker, knitter and photographer with a travel habit.

My blog is mostly about my creations with needles, both pine and knitting. I love texture. The softest yarns and silks and the smoothness of a finished basket are some of what I live for. And although these crafts seem to be opposites, I've found that my creativity blooms during the in-between times of working on one or the other. 

I love designing and creating unique baskets and jewelry out of long leaf pine needles. As you can imagine, baskets take a remarkably long time to make, and most I keep or use as gifts. But some are also sold.  I went to China a few years ago on a mission trip and that inspired me to turn my basket making into a ministry. When an item sells, the money is used to help support missionaries in China. 

I also make jewelry out of pine needles.  Using semi-precious cabachon stones with pine needles wrapped around and sewn, creating unique, one-of-a-kind pendants.

Another favorite hobby is knitting and crochet and, like many of my fellow knitters, I always have a few projects in process. I am blessed to have three beautiful grandchildren and enjoy spoiling them with handmade treasures. 

My church has a knitting group and we make items to sell and then donate the proceeds to missions. This has been a great way to learn new patterns and techniques and to make things for a purpose.  Fringe scarves and fingerless gloves were a big hit this year!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As I mentioned, I have a bit of a travel habit.  My husband, the Captain, and I enjoy traveling and are always looking for new places to explore. When we travel I enjoy sharing our journey with anyone interested or will sit still for a few minutes.  

This past year we went to Alaska.  We saw spectacular scenery, wildlife, and what can only be described as raw nature.  

Mt. McKinley was behind us but the clouds kept coming and going.

We finally got to see the mountain!

The sunsets were fabulous!

And the leaves were turning at just the right time.

The glaciers were awe inspiring.

You can read about our entire trip in previous posts on this blog.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now for the giveaway....

 This year's giveaway is a handmade designer fringe scarf! 

Lilac and lavenders, shades of green, hues of blue and some pink and purple sari silk.

This scarf is made with lightweight, multicolored, and multi-textured yarns and ribbons and several pieces of recycled sari. The sari silk is hand cut by women in India who recycle their beautiful saris (the traditional clothing of Indian women) by cutting them into strips. My purchase of their product gives them an opportunity to enhance their lives.

The scarf is lightweight--almost like wearing a necklace, which doesn't limit it to cold-weather apparel. In fact, it were designed especially for springtime, full of the colors of everything in bloom.   Each scarf has about 20 strands of the softest, silkiest yarns you can imagine! Keeping the number of strands less for the spring scarf also keeps it from being too warm as the temperatures rise.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post!

***The winner does not have to have a blog -- anyone can enter -- anyone can win - regardless of where you live.***

The winner will be drawn on February 15, 2015 and will be announced here! 

 

THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

 

CONGRATULATIONS  TO SuZeQ Creations!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~  

So that's all about me :-) 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will leave a comment so I'll know who you are and can visit you too!

Until next time ~

     Terri

Travels to Talkeetna

Our journey continued with a train ride to Talkeetna.

 

Along the way the scenery continued to be spectacular!

We stayed at the Mt. McKinley Lodge.

If the clouds would have lifted we could have seen

Mt. McKinley from this point.

 

So lucky we got to see it in the park!

 



In Talkeetna we visited a dog sled camp.

This was the real thing.  The owner has run the Iditarod a dozen times

and these are his dogs.

Because there's no snow they got to pull us on wheels.

 



But yours truly got to stand up in the back,

kinda like what it would be like on a sled.

 



And the visit wouldn't be complete without seeing the puppies!

 



Tomorrow we board the Alaskan Railroad and head to

Whittier to board our ship.

 

Until next time ~

 

Terri

 





Denali National Park & Mount McKinley

We left the lodge at 7:00 a.m. in fog and rain.

Our hopes of seeing Mt. McKinley or even any wildlife were slim.

 

Eight hours on a bumpy road in an old school bus in the rain

ndid not seem like a lot of fun.

 

 

But we were in Alaska

where anything can happen.

 

So we put on a smile and headed out.

 

 

As usual the scenery was magnificent.

 

 We had barely entered the park

and were greeted by some moose.

 

Further down the road we found a

grizzly bear and her cubs.



 

 

Dahl sheep were on the hilltops.

 

And the sky was clearing!

 



And we got to see ptarmagin

and Ground Squirrel

 

Reindeer

 



 

and best of all....

 

Mt. McKinley!

 

We made the 30% Club!

 

and could not have been happier.

What had begun as a depressing, dismal day

turned into one of the most exciting and

beautiful days of a lifetime.

 

So glad to share this adventure with you :-)

 

Until next time ~

Terri



Next Stop - Denali

So the question continues....

What's so special about Alaska?

 

Our expectations were pretty simple when we planned this trip.

 

We love nature and scenery and so wanted to see as much as possible.

The captain wanted to see wildlife.

 

 

We were not disappointed.

 

 

 

The one unexpected treat we did not plan on was that our arrival coincided with

the changing of leaves and fall colors.

 

We stayed at the Denali Princess Lodge

 

and were again treated to a room with a view

 

complete with mountains,

 

a river,

 

 

and awesome sunsets.

 

 

In my next post I will take you to Denali National Park

 to look for wildlife and to hopefully

catcha glimpse of Mt. McKinley.

 

 

Until next time ~

 

Terri

 



Alaska - The Journey Begins

A trip to Alaska has been on our bucket list for a while now. So with some of our travel buddies from previous adventures we picked a tour and set out to discover what is so special about Alaska.

This is what we found.

Our tour was through Princess and the first half was the land portion. 

We arrived in Fairbanks on a relatively warm, sunny evening in September. 

This was the view from our room.  So peaceful.

 

As expected, the scenery is the main attraction and there is more than enough to enjoy.

 

The Princess Lodge is located along a river which ran through downtown Fairbanks.

It was so pleasant.  Hard to imagine what it would be like at 70 below.

 

 

During our time there we toured downtown Fairbanks

 



 

then off to see the pipeline

 

did some good, old fashioned, salmon riding

 

and panned for gold!

 

The captain and I panned $20 of gold flakes which

my friend Sandra and I promptly had made into necklaces.

 

 

 Our days ended with crystal clear skies and a full moon with a hint of northern lights.

 

   

Seems we were only a few miles from the North Pole

We took a riverboat and saw a very nice dog sled camp

and a seaplane taking off and landing.

 We spent three days touring in and around Fairbanks.

It was great but we are really looking forward to our next stop...

Denali!

 

 

until next time ~

Terri