Wear Red Day - Finished Projects - Tangles - And a Treat

I know it's Groundhog Day but it's also Wear Red Day for Heart Health Month and we're wearing red for this little Heart Warrior who will be 9 mos. old in a couple of weeks.  He's pretty much always in motion these days as you can see it was hard to get him to stay still for his photo.  He had his 6 mo. heart check-up and is holding his own on that front.  He is a little joy!

And it was a joy to receive as a gift from my friend Sabrina this needle felting kit to make these little blue tits last Christmas (2022).  I was half-way through with them last spring and then misplaced the box for a while.  Luckily I was able to put my hands on it earlier in January and got them done.  I've never done needle felting but it really was fun.  You really have to be careful with those needles though.  I might have to do a little more work on those masks and eyes.

Sabrina sent me this beautiful little wooden puzzle this year.  I love the birds - we share that love.  The pieces to this puzzle are very distinctively shaped making it a little more challenging than it may look, but I totally enjoyed the challenge.  It was fun to do during this gray month.

I gave myself two other challenges to participate in.  One lasting just for the month, and the second one is going to go on for 100 days (but it's not the 100 Day Project - that will be starting on 2/18 this year and I'm still trying to come up with a plan for that). 

Last year I had done the 7F5R Fragment of Your Imagination Challenge with similar substrate in pink.  I used the blue tags this time.  

It's good to have these handy when doing original tiles to get some ideas for patterns.

This 100 Days of Tangles is run by a FB group and involves a different tangle for each day.  What's the difference you might ask?  Fragments are the little pieces of tangles that when put together create a larger form.  So you may see, in the small tiles below, fragments that come together in a grid to make a larger tangle.  In any case, I'm doing these on a slightly larger square base of 2 3/4".  I have purchased these tags on the rings through Temu.  I know some people have had bad experiences with them, but so far, I have not, but I have mostly ordered craft-related items and little gadget type things.  I also only use my laptop for ordering things from online sources and only use Paypal for payments hoping that there won't be any issues.  

I have bought a couple of their Lego-like kits, both for GS1 and myself.  This is one that I put together during January - a little cockatiel with wings that move.  Let me tell you that they are a bit challenging with all those little pieces, but fun nonetheless.

And one last thing to share tonight - there's a place nearby called Paris Bistro that has baked goods as well as sandwiches and salads.  Each season they have some specialties and I had to try this one - the Cookie Butter Latte Creme Filled Donut.  It was delicious!

So tomorrow - February 3rd - is Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day and we'll be visiting the little ice cream shop we did last year but it will be for the last time as they're retiring soon.  I'm looking forward to the apple crisp again!