My Creative Daughter

My daughter, Adriana, has been making felt dolls and other items this past year. I gave her some felt that I had in my craft stash as well as some different color threads and sewing supplies. She's getting so good at it that soon, she can show me a thing or two. I'm very proud of her.

Here are just some of the things she has done:

Jake and Finn from Cartoon Network's cartoon:  Adventure Time

Beemo from Cartoon Network's cartoon:  Adventure Time

A Felt outfit she designed for one of her dolls                           

A pillow she made for Halloween with a Zombie holding a brain and 3 tombstones showing R.I.P.

Happy New Year!

This year has gone by so fast. So many things have happened. I have come to realize who my true friends and family are. I am truly grateful for all the moral support everyone has given me throughout this past year. I couldn't have come as far as I have without it. Most of all, I am greateful to my Mom who has been the strongest supporter telling me no matter what your surroundings are like, don't give up on your dreams, even if it looks like you don't have any way to continue on your path, things always work out.

I hope everyone has a very Happy New year and may it bring lots of wonderful things! Here's to another great year.

Crocheter's Granny Square Swap on Ravelry

I recently joined a club on Ravelry called Crocheter's Granny Square Swap. Last swap, we were supposed to exchange 4 (6 inch) squares with our partner and send 2 (6 inch) squares to our moderator if it was our first swap as well as a postcard and some extra surprise goodies of our choice. We were also given a deadline to have everything done and sent to our swap partner. Since I was a newbie, I ended up making a total of 6 sqares.  The theme was up to each person involved in the swap. My partner wanted her squares in a daisy theme in the colors yellow, green and white. I , on the other hand, decided to have her surprise me since I really didn't have a theme in mind.

Here's what I sent to my swap partner: 
5 individual tea packet assortment
2 chocolate mixes - individual packets (1 hazelnut Swiss Miss and 1 Hershey's Bliss Chocolate Raspberry)
1 crochet red rose ring
1 post card from Marisol Spoon on Etsy (www.marisolspoon.etsy.com)
1 Christmas card
4 daisy themed crocheted granny squares














The squares I sent to the moderator were a daisy themed as the ones above on the left, except the colors were orange, brown and green.

Below is what I received from my swap partner:

1 Bag of Sour gummy worms
1 small journal
1 Christmas card
2 Lollypops (1 bear, 1 daisy flower)
1 pink Rhinestone decorated ruler
6 granny squares (since she had been a swapper in this group for some time, she opted to send two extra squares to me. )

I love swapping. To see what the other person's reaction to your squares and goodies will be as well as the excitement of seeing the goodies that were sent to you. I definitely recommend everyone try swapping granny squares at least once. You don't know what you are missing. You get to meet lots of great people as well as get a chance to learn lots of great things. if you are on Ravelry, Crocheter's granny square swap is a great group to join. If you aren't a member, joining is free. 

Owls made for my Etsy shop

Neon
 http://www.etsy.com/listing/79704460/neon-the-crochet-owlet

Hoot 2
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79703520/hoot-2-crochet-owl?ref=v1_other_1

 Copper

Peepers the owl
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79704617/peepers-the-owl

Speckles

Owler the felt owl
http://www.etsy.com/listing/85360903/owler-the-felted-wool-owl

Violet












The only owls above not in my shop are the ones listed without a link. They have already been sold.

Crocheted LALApop doll I crocheted for My Daughter for Christmas 2011

I originally purchased a pattern from someone who made a similar crocheted doll, but was wxtremely disappointed after I purchased the pattern. The original pattern was so difficult to understand because of major errors in the pattern, not to mention, one of the features of the pattern was a dowel that was inserted in order to keep the doll from falling over due to her oversized head and skinny legs.  The body also was nothing like the plastic version of this doll.  After wasting more than one day figuring out the pattern, and finding numerous errors, I decided to make a pattern myself. The body and legs are made to be just like the plastic one, allowing the doll to sit rather than keep in a fixed standing position like the original pattern. The head is sewn in a manner that doesn't require a dowel to need to be inserted into the doll ( a hazard for children since they would most likely be sleeping with the doll) . The shoes were also made to be separate and be removable unlike the original pattern where the shoes were crocheted as part of the dolls legs. My version allows for multiple styles to be made and used interchangeably with the doll.  The dress, is actually the original, although I have a dress I made later to better fit the doll. This dress had a wide neck, and her sleeves start much lower than the arms in the original doll began. In order to fix the dress, I folded up the sleeve and inserted a ribbon tied at the top of the sleeve. For the neck, I single crocheted a row decreasing every two stitches and folded the neck down twice and had to sew it in place. The dress has a single button in back and is removable. I added a ribbon around her waist to pull the dress closer to the doll since the original dress had a wider waist. Due to time restriction and having to finish the doll in time for Christmas, I kept the original head. It too was not shaped as It should. the head was tear drop in shape rather than the more rounded look of the plastic version. As far as the hair, that too, had a problem. the original pattern required only 14 curls. After making the exact number per the pattern, I found it would only cover the bottom neck line of the dolls head. I had to make an additional 20 or so curls to give her a fuller head of hair. the only thing I kept as original was the wig (cap) and a hair 'puff' in the front. I opted to add an additional hair 'puff' to save on having to make even more curls for the LaLa pop doll's head.  The bow, was my own design. I used a La La Loopsy pencil topper and glued it to a hair bow I made with coordinating ribbon purchased online as well as some ribbon I had in my craft stash. The hair bow is removable and can be used as a pin due to the pin back being added behind the bow.  This doll took quite a bit of time to finish. I started the re-do for this doll on Dec 23rd and I ended up completing her at exactly 10pm on Christmas Eve. This was a real challenge, but well worth it in the end.

New happenings

It's been a while since I last posted. Ages to be exact. So much has happened as far as my crafting.

First, I haven't sold many owls, but I am working to change that. I have been working on new designs as well as items that have nothing to do with owls. There aren't many items listed for sale in my shop at the moment. There are a few new items I am working to finish so I can put up for sale.

I have also been on a Hand painted, Hand spun yarn, fiber kick. I was introduced to the world of Phat Fiber by a hand painted yarn vendor, Light Brown Hare on Etsy. From there, I have realized and discovered a new amazing world. I even joined the group on Ravelry as well as am following the blog here on Blogspot. I have literally spent hundreds on yarn and recently fiber in the last two months.

I am planning on posting the items I have purchased here on my blog so I can share the wonderful yarns and fiber for anyone who may not be aware of this amazing world.

Happy New Year everyone! So looking forward to 2012!

I'm a Raveler!

I'm finally getting much more active with Ravelry! Although I joined November of 2010, I am only now getting into the site. I am so addicted! What have I been doing all this time?? They have so many great things to offer. Patterns, forums, groups, the choices are endless of all the things you can get involved with. I definitely recommend joining Ravelry to EVERYONE! Joining is free. Once you join, I'm sure you will become addicted as well.

My Ravelry user id: svnv73

Inspiration

I love searching online for inspiration for my projects. I have come accross so many vintage patterns just this afternoon!. I never imagined how many vintage patterns are available online.  They look so adorable! I have been thinking of making baby apparel to sell in my store on storenvy.com. Hopefully, I'll be able to do at least one project from the vintage patterns and post the pics on this blog and on Faceook.

It's Official!

I finally have a blog to go along with the crafts I make to sell on Etsy and Storenvy (Facebook)! I've been going crazy trying to put everything tohether and finally did it. I found a great website that offers free Blog templates and backgrounds. The link for the site is  http://leelou-freelayouts.blogspot.com . I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to make a professional looking blog without spending the big bucks. They also feature printables, desktop themes, Twitter backgrounds and more great things.