Sunday Showcase

I happened upon this blog feature that runs each Sunday and features six different Etsy shops. You can check it out here on her blog or in the Etsy Etc forum. She's also in the Promos forum but I think it's easier to find her in the Etc one.

It's a neat idea -- she asks for participation from shops and posts a theme each week. The upcoming theme for the first showcase for January is "items inspired by the month of January. These items can be for New Years, be zodiac themed/birthstone themed, be calendars or organizational/resolution themed. There is no color specification." (Quoted from her forum)

Be sure to go to her blog because you must comment both there and in the forum to be featured.

This is a recent showcase from December -- the theme was Traditional Christmas.

1.kippyssomature
2.PlumpFairy
3.glamasaurus
4.Gilliauna
5.Littletwinklestar
6.CrownBindery

Pretty neat! And a good promo for your shop. I hope to participate another time -- didn't have anything that fit with the theme this time.

Warming Her Ears

Earflap Hat
Originally uploaded by Magnolia Surprise

I just finished this earflap hat to go with Noli's handwarmers. I think it came out pretty cute!

A Pattern for Warming Her Hands

Can you tell these are handwarmers? -- They look funny without a hand in them!
I was making them for Noli for Christmas -- while she was here! I measured her hand and every now and then asked her to try them on. She asked "are they for me?" I crossed my fingers and said, "well, we'll see but I think they're for the shop" We went thru this ritual about three times. So I think she'll be surprised! Three year olds don't remember so well so I think I've got a chance.

I'm going to crochet her an earflap hat to go along with them -- a fuzzy brown with the trim in the pink. Nothing like the last minute.

If you'd like the pattern for the handwarmers, here's what I did:

Child's Handwarmers

Materials:
Worsted Weight yarn (I used Paton's Classic Wool)
G hook
F hook

Measurements:
4" long before edging ( 4 1/2" with edging)
5 1/2" wide before sewing
(fits about a 3 to 5 year old)

Both width and length can be easily adjusted for your child's measurements. Simply add chains or rows to your measurements.

Make two:

With G hook, ch 19.
Row 1: dc in 4th ch and each ch across (17 dc); turn.
Row 2: ch 3, dc in each dc across; turn. (Ch 3 always counts as dc) (17 dc)
Row 3-12: repeat Row 2.

Finish off. Cut yarn, leaving a long tail for sewing the sides.

Fold in half and sew the foundation chain and last row together for 9 dc. Take an extra stitch or two in 9th dc to reinforce the beginning of the thumb opening. Skip 4 dc to leave open for thumb opening (weave your yarn along the 4 dc) and take an extra stitch or two as before. Sew the remaining 4 dc.

Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Scalloped Edge: (Use F hook)

Attach yarn at seam and working evenly around:
Ch 1, sc in same st, *5 dc in next space, sc in next space.*

Repeat from * to * around. End with sl st in the first sc.

Cut yarn and weave in ends.

(Basically, if you just do the dc scallops and the sc evenly around, you're OK)

You can put the scallops on either end -- they can go toward the arm or toward the fingers, whatever you prefer! Or even on both ends!

For a boy, you could do a simple sc around for a neat finish.

Enjoy! (You can use this pattern however you'd like, but if you blog or sell items made from it, I'd appreciate a link back here. Thanks!)

My Creative Space

Actually, this is *our* creative space! Noli loves to "needle" while I crochet so today she's needling her sewing cards. As you can see, she's very adept at it (grin). (She's also very dirty from playing outside!)

And, the backside -- this one goes waaaay over there!

In the meantime, I'm sneaking some crochet time on one of her Christmas presents -- a market basket full of fruits and veggies. I've got a bit more left to do on the basket and a handle to add. I love it that I can work on it while she sits beside me and she never suspects a thing!! I've kept the veggies out of her sight though.

My favorite is the corn on the cob -- isn't it hysterical? Next will be an avocado since she loves quacomole. Potatoes would be good too.

I also had made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich some time ago.

So, that's my creative space for this week. For more neat spaces, go here and add yours.

See ya'll next year!!

Flickr-ing

I finally got my Flickr badge going! I'm lovin' Flickr - I find myself playing around in there WAY too much...but it's so much fun! My photos are mostly my crafty stuff and kitty stuff. I'm trying to decide if I want to put Noli on there. My daughter doesn't mind but, I don't know, it seems so public... Maybe a few.

Well, gosh, I really don't have any pics to put here! They're all over there on the side!

Yummy Food...and a Hat

Thought I'd "show off" some things I recently listed in my Etsy shop...

Milk and Cookies for Santa -- he won't gain an ounce!
Glass of milk based on a pattern from Beansprout Creations.
Baby Santa hat for newborn thru 3 months.

Yummy Mini-Burger with lettuce, cheese and tomato.

Oreo-style cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I've gotta make more of the cookies -- they were only up a day when they sold! Yea! (Wish everything was like that!)

Cross Stitch Love

Cross stitch is one of my favorite things to do -- I just never have time to devote to it. I mostly stitch for the charity group Love Quilts (button over there on the side bar). They assemble cross-stitch blocks into beautiful quilts for children with life-long or life threatening diseases. The stitchers are from all over the world. There are also Love Quilt groups in other countries.

Unfortunately, due to a computer melt-down, I lost all of my pictures and so only have a few of the most recent ones to post. But here those are, and apologies for the tiny size -- these 3 came from the Love Quilt site and I can't seem to resize them. The Smile one actually came from my camera!

But, you get the idea!

I'm starting one now for a little boy in Texas (I try to always stitch for the Texans since that's where I live...) whose theme is the great outdoors. My design is of four different types of ducks. I haven't gotten far along enough to take pics, but will when you can tell what it is!

And, please, if you have any interest in cross-stitch, visit their site. You'll fall in love with the kids and maybe decide to stitch some blocks!

A Snowy Day in Texas :p

We don't get much snow here but this is typically what it looks like when we do!! Maybe once every few years we get a pretty good snow that sticks around for maybe a day, but usually it's too wet to stick, like this morning.

But there is snow on the windshield of my daughter's car! And across the street are the typical Texas vehicles -- trucks, trucks and more trucks!

This is in the backyard -- I was trying to get a picture of the actual snow coming down. It looks like icicles!This is a clearer shot of the same area but you can't see the snow as well.

And this is a tree in our front yard. Just a day or two ago it was green!

And so, finally, this is the beginning of winter here.

I have lived most of my life in the south, so never got to really experience winter -- only a few days of coat wearing for me! We lived in Colorado (in Avon, near Vail, in what is now (but was not then) Beaver Creek. But one day the owner of the apt building gave everyone a choice: stay for basically another year at higher rent and then move when the conversion was complete, or move. So we moved... (Ah, the love for the year-round resident.) :)

Really loved it and the beauty while I was there! (and if you can imagine winter on the back of a motorcycle -- on the mountains -- well, let me just say I'm glad I was young and invulnerable!)