Cowls, cowls and more cowls

I am still on a crocheting binge. This is another cowl using my favorite scarf pattern ever. I never get tired of this stitch and the finished cowl if so pretty and wonderful to wear. I can crochet these up in under 3 hours now. This one was crocheted and donated to a convalescent hospital. (Eek, sorry for the crappy phone pic. I didn't realize how bad it was and the scarf is gone now, so no retakes possible.)

I used Lion Brand Homespun yarn in Wisteria, it is beautiful pinks and purples with a hint of blues and browns.

Here is Ang modeling another cowl she commissioned.

It's crocheted from the same pattern, but has a very different feel and look due to the heavier weight yarn. This is Loops and Threads Charisma in Mulberry Bush. I reduced the original chain stitches down from 19 as the pattern states to 13 to reduce the bulk a little bit. It's a good thing I did too, because it is shorter than I like to make my cowls. I blame it on the density of the stitch pattern, it might be a bit much for this bulky weight yarn. 

For these next two scarves I switched back to another favorite pattern. This pattern is fast to work up and feels so soft and comfortable to wear.

This is made using Loops & Threads Country Loom in Landscape, a beautiful combination of browns and blues.

And the final finished cowl.

Another Loops & Threads Country Loom in Rich Granite. These were both made for another friend, Dana, but she is even more camera shy than I am, so I am modeling her cowls.

It's time to try some new patterns. Some new stitches. I have a couple of works in progress, another bag and another shawl. Both are different patterns that I found on Pinterest of course. When I finish them, I'll post some pics.


Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Card class

It's that time of year. Time for me to start prepping for my annual Christmas card class. Two years ago I was invited to start co-hosting this wonderful event. It's a lot of work but it is a lot of fun and full of friends and holiday cheer. So here I am designing cards for the attendees to make.

I found the cute idea for the snowman silhouette here, on Pinterest of course. I changed it up a bit and designed it on my Cricut Design Studio Software. The above background paper is some retired CTMH Christmas paper that I still have plenty for a card class. The buttons are from a SU! embosslit.

This is just changing up the background papers for a slightly newer but still retired CTMH Christmas paper design and coordinating ribbon and buttons. 

This one is was inspired by this beautiful design, I mimicked it by using CTMH All The Best and CTMH Merry & Bright stamp sets in CTMH Cranberry, Ruby, Pear and Topiary inks on the left and CTMH Lagoon, Juniper, Indian Corn Blue and Twilight  inks on the right. I used the new glitter trim layered on a strip of decorative paper, this stuff is awesome! Sticky backed and uber glittery but it doesn't rub off. Strings drawn with a fine tip Sharpie and a ruler and some CTMH Glitz in Silver and Red added to the ornament tops, finishes off this card.

After last year we had a request to throw in some all occasion selections with our Christmas designs. This is mine. It's my interpretation of this card design I found on Pinterest. I will have a selection of different sentiment stamps so the attendees can make each card for a different occasion.

I had designed a few extras and let my friends help me choose. This was one that was not chosen. I used the card layout from this inspiring piece and CTMH A Holiday stamp set in CTMH Cranberry and Topiary inks. I did add some CTMH Glitz in Red again.

This was a Christmas take on this card inspiration again. This photo is off a bit because under normal lighting the ribbon and ink match and the snowflake punches are very similar in color. I used SU! snowflake die on their Silver glitter paper. and a few extras punched with a variety of my snowflake punches. I really love how this turned out but it also will not be among the selections for the class. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Crocheted bags and another cowl

I was playing around with a tote bag idea with some pretty Deborah Norville yarn but didn't love the finished feel of it. It was too soft and floppy. I didn't think it would hold up as a tote bag. Until....I got the idea to line it in denim. Then I thought why not use some of my kids old toddler sized jeans so that I could have all the pockets too. So that's what I did. The bag fit around some size 12 slims from long ago.

Here is the inside all loaded up with stuff I carry to work. My Ipod, my headphones and charger, my badge and lanyard, my calendar and Joanns ad, a sudoko puzzle book. Everything you need when you are away from home.

Here is a market bag I crocheted using Bernat cotton yarn and this pattern.. I crocheted it exactly as the pattern, minus the color change for the top rows and straps. But I felt it was too long and the strap was way too long. So I pulled out my work back to a point 5 rows less than her pattern stated and I finished it with about 5 inches less of strap length. Then I was happy. 

I also made another mindless two skein cowl from this scarf pattern, for my dear friend and coworker Ang. That's her modeling her pretty cowl. Of course it's 90's here right now, so she wont get to wear if for real for a while unfortunately. 

Ang had bought this beautiful yarn during a trip to visit her mother in law, out of state. I was happy to crochet with such nice yarn. I had never seen this brand before, but it was a dream to work with and I love the finished product. 

That's what I have been up to. I will be posting some cards soon, I am prepping for the annual card class that I co-host with 3 other crafty ladies. So I am starting to work on my card selections. Time to get back to some paper crafting. It has been far too long. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy! 

Mini composition books covered in washi tape

It's back to school time. That means the stores are full of wonderful things just waiting to be altered. I found these little composition books at Walmart, 3 for under a dollar. I couldn't resist. Mostly because I had just seen this awesome Pin on Pinterest. I have a serious washi tape addiction. This is a super fun way to make some little gifts using my pretty tapes as the star of the show.

I followed her awesome picture tutorial for the front of the little notebook. I didn't do the backs or insides with this same technique mostly because I only had one sheet of sticker paper in my stash and I needed to make 3 of these for gifts.....and 1 for myself too. :)

I covered the backs and the insides of the covers with paper scraps. I used the awesome glue sticks I stocked up on in the back to school aisle. Elmers X-treme is my favorite for mini album covers and the like. It really holds tight all the way to the edges, I have been using it for 3 years now and not a single cover has failed yet.

I decided to keep with the composition book look and I used black duct tape, trimmed to about 1 inch wide, to wrap the spine of the book.  I figured it would also help prevent the washi tape from lifting along the outer edge. I had wrapped the tape around the other edges into the inside and then secured them under the paper I used to line the insides. The paper had two purposes, decoration and making sure the washi tape did not lift.

It's hard to tell here, but what I am attempting to show you is that I decorated the edges of lots of pages of the composition book with a variety of washi tapes to make the inside as pretty as the outside.

Every lady should have a pretty little notebook in their purse for jotting notes and lists and such. Why carry around an ugly notebook?

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!

Serenity cotton candy cowl

Oh my, sorry for the poor lighting. No natural light today, overcast and drizzly. Great for crocheting but not so great for taking photos of crocheting. I tried the flash but that washed out the details and colors.

For this cowl I went back to a favorite pattern, the Pavement Infinity Scarf at the wonderful Fiber Flux blog. I must have made a half dozen of these now. Several for myself and many, as this one was, as a gift I wanted to complete quickly. This is the first time I have used this yarn. Premier Yarns Deborah Norville Collection Serenity in Cotton Candy color. It is so soft and yummy, fairly easy to crochet with and it is excellent for this cowl. It's a new favorite. 

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun & fabulous. Enjoy!