Its so pretty.  I love the colors.  (my favorite colors) I've tried to make a ripple before but I guess my head doesn't get it I admire anyone who can.

The first time I tried this pattern, it just didn't work.  I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong, and it looked terrible.  The pattern here, though, does a really good job of simplifying it: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html

About 2 years ago, I made myself an afghan for my dorm room (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=281114.msg3183081#msg3183081).  I ended up taking a year off from school starting this past January, so I needed to make myself a nice warm blanket for home.  I used Red Heart super saver (cause I'm cheap) in black, white, heather (which was a mutli and came in annoyingly smaller skeins), dark orchid, and medium purple and an H hook.  It's sized to fit my full size bed with length to spare.  Unfortunately, I didn't measure too well so the width is the teensyest bit too small.  I didn't block it, mainly because I didn't need to.  The pattern was from Attic24, the neat ripple pattern.  It took me just over a month to finish, which is much shorter than I expected.

On my bed:


Close up for color:


Once more for good measure:

I was broke on valentine's day, but wanted to get awesome presents for my boyf.  I ended up making fudge (that I ate more of than him), a 52 reasons book (that no one needs pictures of because there are so many here), and robots!  I'm especially proud of how they came out.  The pattern is not mine, but I can't find the link I got it from originally, sorry.  They're supposed to look like us, only in adorable robot form.

the boy


the boy robot


the boy with robot


the girl


the girl robot


the girl with robot


boy and girl with robots


from the back


from the front


they can kind of stand up too! had I been more careful making them they'd easily stand on their own.

I just finished my biggest collage yet, using up almost all of my supply of magazine images.  I've still got a few left, though, and I'm planning on starting another collage soon.  What have you found to be the best storage meathod for small magazine images and the like?  I've been using shoe boxes, but I feel like there's a better way.

A long time ago, I made myself a collaged shoe box to hold my journals.  I was really pleased with how it turned out, but somewhat confused as to what to do with the leftover images I had collected.  I decided to make a full on, poster sized collage: which was actually a dumb idea.  Do you have any idea how many images it takes to fill up a full sized piece of foam board.  A million-ish.  I tore up magazines, catalogs, basically anything with an image on it that I liked, and kept them until I thought I finally had enough.  It's finally done, none too soon (I was about to give up).  In case anyone is silly enough to want to try this (and for me when I undoubtedly try to make another one) I have some tips:
- don't be too picky with images.  not every image you cut out and save will be entirely visible in the finished project.  it's totally okay to choose something you're not necessarily in love with, because it won't be the focal point anyway.
- sort out your items into a couple of different groups.  my groups were basically small, medium, large, straight edges, and forefront. 
- try and work from the outside in.  i started in the middle, then realized very quickly that if I wanted the edges to look right i'd need to deal with them first.  that's what the straight edges group was for.
- it's not easier, but i think it looks much better to glue your larger pieces down first.  especially if the larger piece is mostly one color, you'll be able to accent it with smaller pieces instead of having it in the forefront being kind of boring.
- lay out all of your images, if possible.  i used just about every available flat surface, it was nice to be able to see everything i could choose from instead of having to sort through different piles.
- i found that it was easier to do all (or rather most) of my gluing in one day.  it not only got it done faster, but the styling was more uniform, if that makes sense.
- make sure to have plenty of small images!  when i was nearing the end, i had tons of little spots that you couldn't really tell weren't filled but that still annoyed me.  smaller images are great for filling up those little spaces.

and on to the pictures!

here are some of my smaller images, along with some stickers, all laid out.

medium sized images laid out on the couch

large and forefront images on my coffee table

beginning to fill in the edges (unfortunately the only progress shot I can find)

all finished after 2 coats of mod podge!

the lower left corner

the upper left corner

the upper right corner

the lower right corner

some close ups of my favorite parts:

i posted pictures from the beginning of the fall semester in the show off your dorm thread, but i'm greedy and like attention.  also, my room's changed a lot since the fall.  also, mid march is around the time that i started looking for dorm ideas, so maybe i'll be able to help someone out.
there were some problems with my room:
01.
 i bought a chair from target because i figured some extra seating would do my room good.  it didn't.  the chair was more in the way than anything, because the only place for it was right in front of my bureau, which means it was in the way all the time.  it also became a hamper instead of a chair, so i lent it to 2 of my friends who are living in a quad with only 2 people.
02.
my bed wasn't warm or comfortable.  so i added the afghan i made (see thread in crochet board) and a body pillow.  much better.


03.
dorm floors are ugly.  i had a little rug that i'd made, but it didn't do much.  so i wound up buying a 5x8 rug on sale from pbteen, which is currently shedding like crazy but it bright and subdued at the same time, so it goes with both my and my roommate's side.

04. i always lost my key, most of the time in the mess on my chair.  this would lead to me being late for class, calling my roommate to let me in, or sleeping in other people's rooms because i couldn't get into mine.  i picked up a hook from urban outfitters and hung it right by my door so i'd remember to hang the key up as soon as i got in.  i've only lost my key once since.

05.
dorm lights are awful.  i had a pentapus lamp, but the dorm lights were still necessary sometimes.  so i used the boa from my halloween costume (see halloween board) to hang over the light.  now the light is kind of pink tinted and much happier.


not problems, but more pictures:

mirror + bunnies

bunnies close up

close up of robot (crafted) and stuffed animals because i'm clearly 4

closet

desk

this picture gives the impression that i do work at my desk.  i don't.  all my work gets done in bed.

shelves

shelves.

tattoos 2 and 3, little hearts on each foot.  i've wanted these babies for years, and now i've got them!  they're a little distracting, though, i keep looking at my feet while i walk.

this is pretty sweet. i just bought one of the wheeled hampers from bed bath about 2 months ago and it's already dying.  maybe i should try this while i'm home for break.

You have gorgeous curls!

thanks.  those puppies are thanks to a 1/2 inch curling iron and an hour and a half of my life.

i posted thursday about how i was dyeing my hair, but knew it wasn't going to come out bright enough.  it didn't.  it doesn't even warrant a picture because my hair looked exactly the same as it did in the before pics.  so i bought a pot of manic panic (despite despising the brand for years because that was all i could get my hands on) in pillarbox red, then caked the whole pot on my hair, using a tooth brush to get up in my hairline.  i wrapped it up in a plastic bag, blasted it with a blow dryer for about 5 minutes, then took a 5 hour nap.  after washing it out with cold water, bam, red hair.  i'm excited about it.  i'm getting ready to go out, so these pictures are what my hair looks like when i put effort into it, both are pretty color accurate: