Mother's Day gifts

The real gifts of Mother's day are of course spending time with our children and grandchildren.  Every year my one daughter and her family take me out to a wonderful brunch that's on a riverfront and near a park.  After stuffing ourselves we amble on over to the park and walk off the food while the kids play on the playgrounds.  I love that! I look forward to it every year.  And it's a two-fer for her husband since he's giving her a Mother's Day gift while she's giving me mine.  Win-win! 

Don't worry.  My other children stop by during the day and drop off a little gift and sit and have coffee or a little treat with me.  Sometimes we watch a show together or play board games. 

I wanted to share some gift ideas for your Grandmothers for Mother's day.  Just a little something the kids can give Grammy. 

     Journals are fun and these are designed just for Grandmothers.  It has day and weekly planner, note, and to-do list pages among others.  A  gift grandkids can give that special Mom-Mom

Or Grammy

  

Or Gran

 So she can keep track of her play dates and movie nights with her grandkids.










Hope whatever you do you have a Happy Mother's Day!

It's Been Awhile

It's Been Awhile since I posted on this blog.  I've been dabbling.  Making Coloring books and Journals and putting them up on Amazon.

I put a coloring fitness journal  and a Snowflake Coloring book on Etsy.  I'm trying to get into publishing more printables as I can make them once and sell forever. Just a little diversifying.  

I still make top hat and baby shower items to well in my Etsy shop.  Soon I'll be putting printable baby shower games there too.

This is a cover for my  Snowflake Coloring book, available in my Etsy shop.

Check it out.

Make you Own Coloring books

Did you ever wish you could learn to make your own coloring book?  But it has to be easy peasy.  No complicated Photoshop or similar programs.

Well now there is a solution for you.  It's called Super Simple Coloring Books.

Let's face it, lot's of people say that
coloring books are a low content book.

But when you look at the time and money
it takes...
- to find images
- buy PLR image packs
- work with image software
- hire and wait for outsourcers
to deliver your work

...I'm sure you'll see it's far
from low content.
But wouldn't it be great if you
could speed up the process?

Not have to buy expensive image
software, or PLR packs?

And most importantly....speed up
the whole process?

Well, here's the solution to
all of those low content problems.
Super Simple Coloring Books

Barry J McDonald has just come
up with the easiest way to do it.
I know you'll be amazed by what
he found and how you can create
images faster than ever before.

He's just come up with an amazingly
easy way of creating coloring book
images.

And when he says easy....I mean 'real' easy.
He even showed his 7 year old son how to do
it, and here's what he created.
Super Simple Coloring Books.

I loved this course.  It's a series of videos that are only 5-15 mins long each. He shows you where to get free content and how to use it.  He even shows how to put the books together and get them up on Createspace or Amazon.  Sometimes that right there is another whole course in itself.  But it's included in this one so it's like getting two courses for the price of one.
Don't miss this opportunity to get into the profitable Adult coloring book market.  You won't be sorry.

Brush Lettering Obsession

My new obsession is brush lettering.    I LOVE IT!

I'm not very good at it yet, but I love it. 
  Here's some examples of my practice: 

I learned about Brush Lettering from Random Olive.  She has a Brush lettering guide that teaches you the basics.  She is also on Periscope a couple of times a week to
demonstrate how she brush letters and what supplies she uses.

 If you are interested you can buy a copy of her Brush Letter guide .  This link takes you to her page explaining what it is. (affiliate link).  Or click the Buy now button on the right sidebar to GET IT NOW, no waiting.  It's a digital file and worth every penny.  She gives you Capital letters, small letters and numbers and lined practice sheets in two sizes.  You start with the larger  size to learn the strokes and then graduate to the smaller size. 

 Once you've learned the basics, you may be interested in my   Halloween Themed Practice Guide.  It an e-book of 31 Halloween words and phrases.  It does not teach the brush lettering basics.  It's a lined practice guide to advance your practice.

Hope you join me in learning this new skill.

10 Stitich Afghan Samples

 

Ten Stitch Blanket Swatches

 

 

 



     I've been swatching  the 10 stitch blanket that I found the pattern for on Ravelry.  I Love this pattern!  It's so simple;  just plain garter stitch and only 10 stitches on your needle at one time.   And if you keep going apparently it makes a blanket.  Fabulous mindless easy knitting.
     Number one was made with Red Heart variegated yarn; Heartfelt .  I was looking for a design for my grandson who wants me to make him a blanket.  I didn't like it for this pattern.
     Then I discovered Vanna's Tapestry yarn.  It's dyed perfectly for this blanket.  Number 2 is the Scandanavia colorway and number 3 is the Peru colorway which I'm really loving.  I like the interplay of the solid strips and  the variegated parts.  I think as the blanket grows you could add other striped yarns and it would flow right together.
     The last swatch is my favorite though.  I'm using Red Heart Zebra for the straight parts and Cherry Red for the corners.  I think this blanket will come out looking fabulous.  
     The ten stitch blanket pattern can be found here and it's free!

On another note I just learned how to make a collage for the blog and this post was to test it out.  I think it looks pretty good.  And that's what I've been up to lately.

Happy New Year!!

I love New Years.  I always feel so hopeful.  Like it's a new beginning.  Leave all the things behind that didn't go so well last year, wipe the slate clean and start again.

I was looking over last year's resolutions and this year's will be about the same.  I don't feel like that means I failed because I 've made progress or rethought most of them:

My Goals for 2014 were:

 

1. Blog at least once a week and maybe more.
2. Get those patterns on Ravelry.  I have lots of good ideas like a bunting (or garland) a month pattern and a blankie a month pattern.
3. I'd like to figure out Google +
4. Continue growing my Etsy business.
5. And that diet and Exercise.

 

 

1.  I didn't blog once a week but I blame that on the whirlwind the year became after my son proposed to his girlfriend and we spent the first 7 months of the year preparing for and having a wedding. 

 So I still want to try and blog at least once every two weeks.  Maybe that's a more reasonable time frame for me.

 

2.  I still want to put patterns on Ravelry.  I think I got two on there this year.  Not bad, but I can do better.

 

3.  I've decided I don't care about Google +.  People were predicting it was going to be so big, but I don't think so.  I'm concentrating my media output on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram now.  Especially the last two as they are photography based.

 

4.  My Etsy business grew quite a lot this year.  I had almost 300 sales in 2014.  I'd like to continue growing my business.

 

5.  Sigh!!  Diet and exercise.  I lost some weight but gained it back over the holidays.  This is still an important goal for me though. 

 

6.  I'm doing some creative things for me.  I joined Lifebook 2015  which is doing mixed media art once a week.  Hope I can keep up.  Here's the link if anyone is interested in joining.  Life Book 2015.

It's not free but the price is really reasonable and you can break it into three payments.

 

Those are my resolutions for the year.  What's yours?

 

 

 

Why I want to learn how to create and sell digital products

 “Are you ready to make your creative work more lucrative, stable, and sustainable in the long-term? Join April Bowles-Olin for an introduction to digital products and how they can enhance your creative business. This course will show you how to produce and position viable products for generating multiple revenue streams and passive income. RSVP right here to watch it live and get access to the workbook for FREE. This post is part of the Create Digital Products blog tour.”

I Love digital products.  I have bought several over the years and also taken advantage of free ones.  I have always learned something and I often go back to them to study them some more.  I'm a reader and a visual learner so I appreciate having business manuals, patterns  and articles about entrepreneurship  at my fingertips to peruse when I have a question.
I will often sign up for someone's mailing list just to get their free e-book or report.
I like knitting and crocheting items to sell in my Etsy shop, but they have to be made over and over. 
I want to learn to make great digital products because you produce it once and can sell it over and over.  Plus I like the idea of someone using MY report as there go-to info product.
April Bowles is getting ready to teach a course on creating and selling digital products and I personally can't wait.  I took a course from her a few years ago on "Blogging for your Creative Business" and I learned SO MUCH.  I believe a lot of success of my Etsy shop is due to all the fabulous information I learned in her course.
And she gives you a lot of bang for your buck.  I still have all the interviews she did with various successful entrepreneurs downloaded  on my I-phone to listen to.  She always includes a LOT of bonuses.
So if your thinking of taking a course about digital products I would definitely recommend hers.
This post is part of a blog tour.  Otherwise I received no compensation for my post and all my opinions are my own.  I just love April's stuff!

 

Halloween CAL

I'm participating in Fresh Stitches Halloween CAL  She has a sweet prize too; yarn from GnomeAcres.

  I'm going to make her new mummy pattern.  I really like the amigurumi patterns she designs.  They are fairly easy to do and so cute when done.

Charlie Brown Sweater

I love Charlie Brown.

   As a child growing up  I looked forward to "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"  and "A Charlie Brown Christmas. " 
When my son was born he looked like Charlie Brown for a couple of years until his hair grew in.  And as he got older , he would rent Charlie Brown books from the library and bring them home to read to me.

So I felt inspired to create a Charlie Brown sweater to sell in my Etsy shop.  It would make such a cute baby shower gift.  Or pair  it with black shorts and a Snoopy toy and it would be a great Halloween costume.

Charlie Brown Sweater What do you think?  Did I get it right?
 

Harry Potter Gryffindor Scarf

In honor of Harry Potter's birthday which was July 31, I designed a Gryffindor scarf inspired by his first year at Hogwart's . 

The Pattern is for a toddler and measures 3inches by 4 feet including fringe.  It can easily be made in to an adult skinny scarf  if you  just keep on crocheting until you get the length you need. ( about 6 feet)

It's available in my Ravelry  shop.  Harry Potter Scarf. 
Enjoy!

Photo challenge for August

Here's a challenge for August I'll be participating in.  It's a photo a day for Instagram. based on the graphic below.  The "rules" are at Create and Thrive.  Should be fun.
Feel free to join in.

Noro Purse - WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday.
This is the Flower Blossom Purse from the Crochet Noro book.  I love the squares.  They were quick to make and join as you go.  It takes 4 skeins of the Noro Kureyon but I only had three.  Three skeins were enough to make the 25 squares for the body of the bag.  For the edging and handles I'm using Patons wool in a matching olive green.  I can't wait to finish this purse, It came out so pretty.  I plan on lining it  also.
WIP Wednesday
 

Spider Web Lace Christening Blanket

I finally got the pattern up in my Ravelry shop for the Spider Web  Lace Christening Blanket

 

buy now

I remember the first time I gave this blanket as a shower gift.  I wasn't sure if the recipient would like it so I put  it in the bottom of the gift bag along with some super cute outfits on top.  She opened the bag , glanced at the little outfits and brought out the blanket. 
Holding it up, she exclaimed; "Now that's what I was looking for!  Beautiful"  And all the guests at the party agreed. 
It is such a pretty, lacy, girly blanket and just looks fabulous in person.

If you are looking for something special to make for your next baby gift, let me recommend this blanket.  And it's not hard to make.

Where I Get My Ideas

 Today I'm going to share how something totally unrelated results in a fantastic idea for something else. 

This morning I was Pinteresting and looking at embroidery boards.  I was pinning like a mad thing when I came across some tiny embroidery. 
It was on a board called Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny.  Now I wanted to look at that board but didn't want to leave the board I was currently looking at.

 So when I got done pinning I went looking again for the Itsy Bitsy board.  When I typed that in search up came board upon board of Bikinis! 

And Bad-a-Bing!  I got the idea to crochet a baby bikini with a bow for the top and star buttons on the diaper cover.  It will soon make it's appearance in my Etsy shop.

And that's how something totally random like embroidery gave me the idea for my next crochet project.

Where's the oddest place you've ever gotten ideas?
 

Gang of Four

This is what I've been working on lately.  The "Gang of Four" : Bobby and Belinda Bunny, Percival Duck and Ginger Tom. 

I wanted to see if I could make some cute amigurumi and I think I succeeded.  I've put them up for sale in my Etsy shop.  I'm going to try and get the patterns for them up on Ravelry soon. 

My son is getting married in 6 weeks and we've been going crazy  as he's getting married in a local church and having the reception at the VFW.  My daughter and I are in charge of the Bridal shower and decorating the hall so I hardly have any time to blog or crochet or even think. LOL

I can't believe half the year is gone already.  I feel like it's been a whirlwind lately.  What has everyone else been up to?

WIP Wednesday

I'm working on the Beehive quilt

 

 

 

 

Beekeeper's Quilt pattern

 

This is a fun pattern and a great way to use up  leftover yarn from my shawl projects which I'm still working on.

 

WIP Wednesday

 

What are you working on?

 

Thursday Tip of the Week - Kitty Litter

Thursday tip of the week – Kitty Litter

 

Snow, snow and more snow!  That’s what we’ve been enduring in the northeast this winter especially in NJ.    We get snow here every winter but usually just a few inches and maybe one or two storms.  But this year has been relentless.  Every week it’s snowing, or sleeting or icing.  UGH!  I’m home again today writing this blog post because our office is closed. 

Last week, I’m trying to get to work and the roads were snow covered but not bad.  I get to the top of an incline at the end of my block and wait to make a left turn.  Cars are behind me. I step on the gas and my wheels start spinning.   I can’t  get any traction and my car is threatening to slip backwards.  All the “nice” people around me start turning around and leaving or going around me to get on their way.

Thank  goodness for kitty litter!  (Words I never thought I’d say)  I happened to have a bag in the back of the car I hadn’t taken into the house yet from my last shopping trip.  I got out, threw some litter under each tire, slipped and fell (at least none of the cars going around me ran me over, that was polite of them) and got back in the car.  Stepped on the gas and away I went.

So, today’s tip is keep a bag of kitty litter in your trunk.  You never know when it will get you out of a slippery situation.  And it works!

Thursday Tip of the Week - G Hooks

Thursday Tip of the Week

 

I thought I would start a “tip of the week” post.  Sometimes it will be about crafts, sometimes about business, sometimes about photography; whatever little hints and life hacks I’ve picked up to make things easier or just to make you say aha.

 

Today’s tip is about G crochet hooks.  It turns out there are THREE sizes when it comes to G hooks.  I just realized that myself a couple of years ago.

 

There is 4.0 mm

 

There is 4.25 mm

 

And there is 4.5 mm

 

When your working a pattern that calls for a G hook, if you use the wrong one it can make a big difference in the size  of your item as these three swatches show.  The top one is made with the 4.0mm, the middle with the 4.25mm and the bottom with the 4.5.  As you can see in the second picture there is a Big difference between the smallest and largest G hook.

 

 

So next time you crochet a pattern that calls for a G hook check the mm. size that was used, if available.  Otherwise you’ll have to swatch, swatch, swatch until you get the correct gauge.

2013 Wrap Up and New Goals for 2014

 

2013 Wrap up

 

These were my 2013 goals:

1.  Build on last year's success with Etsy and increase sales and do some real world craft shows.

                  - I had a really successful year on Etsy thanks to the many interpretations of my top hats and the love people still have for Harry Potter .  I didn't do any craft shows because I can never seem to get enough stock made up to have on hand.

 2.  Concentrate on my blog. -  

                   I did do a lot more blog posts especially in the beginning but once September rolled around I slacked off

 3.  Figure out Facebook for my business. 

                  - This didn't happen.
4.  Write some patterns and e-books and  figure out how that whole deal works.

                - I wrote the patterns now I have to get them up on Ravelery.  This is MY BIG GOAL for this year.

 5. And on a personal note, get back to exercising and lose some weight.

               - sigh.  This is on my list again.  But being a cardiac nurse I know the importance of a proper weight so I'm determined to lose at least 30 pounds.  Our office moved to a new location and at the last building I was running up and down the stairs all day.  Here we're on one floor and I sit in front of a computer most of the day.  What a difference!  I put on 30 pounds since that move last March!  Yikes!

 

My Goals for 2014:

 

1. Blog at least once a week and maybe more.
2. Get those patterns on Ravelry.  I have lots of good ideas like a bunting (or garland) a month pattern and a blankie a month pattern.
3. I'd like to figure out Google +
4. Continue growing my Etsy business.
5. And that diet and Exercise.

Those are my goals.  What are yours?

 

Have a very Happy and Healthy New year!

 



Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Everyone