Emerald City Infant Dress

Happy Thursday everyone!  It has been a good week here.  Monday, I watched my 2 nephews and received a cute little call from 1 of my nieces asking if she could have a sleep over...How could I resist?  I love my family!  When my niece went home, they took my oldest daughter with them for the week. Brodie had the day off today, so we took the girls to a local park/small zoo that they like.  They get excited to see each new animal and feed the fish.  Brook just informed me that I'm "the bestist mom"  It all makes life worth it - doesn't it? 

So, on to some crochet news :)  I am so happy to say that I  was able to pick back up the Emerald City dress pattern.  Sometimes setting a project down for a while is not a bad thing.  I made a few small changes to what I had previously written and love it even more!  The infant sizes are almost through the testing phase and I will be releasing the pattern on Craftsy and Ravelry this Saturday. 

Right now, I have a Pre-Sale running.  You can get the pattern for only $3 during this sale.  Once the pattern is released, it will be $5.  It is slightly more difficult than the Basic dress patterns, but not as difficult as the Angelique.  If you know the basics of crochet and how to read a pattern, you should still be able to work this one up.  Also, for the first time, I decided to try the pattern in Cotton along with Simply Soft.  To my surprise, Peaches & Creme cotton worked up the same and with beautiful results also.
To Pre-Order the pattern, just email me at craftingfriends4you@yahoo.com and I will send you an invoice...OR, you can comment on my FaceBook page Crafting Friendswith your email address and I can track your order that way.  Which ever works best for you.

Here are the 8 dresses I have been able to complete over the last week and a few others are by testers.

made by Emma from Graceful Whims

This was made by Jennifer from LittleLuvies

Princess Britt Child Pattern Release

I actually am starting to feel like I am accomplishing something :)  I am able to release all of the patterns I have been working on and feel caught up at the moment.  Today, I released the Princess Britt Child size pattern on Craftsy and Ravelry.  They will be on Sale until Wednesday.  You can get the instant download from Craftsy here : http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/Clothing/Princess-Britt-Child-Pattern/22958

I'm thrilled to be able to move on to another pattern that was set aside while I worked up the larger sizes of the basics.  Hopefully it will all come together the way it is working in my mind :)

Swirly Whirly Childs Sundress Pre-Release Giveaway

I am so excited to be able to release the first Child size pattern I've made.  To celebrate the occasion, let's do a giveaway before it is available for purchase. 
1. Leave your name and email in 1 comment below (if you prefer not to leave your email in the comments, please email me at craftingfriends4you@yahoo.com so I have it listed and have a way to contact you if by chance you win)
2.Tell me what colors you would use to make this dress
3. And how you would photograph it - How you would make it a fun photo. 

I will only add 1 entry per person and only if all of the above are mentioned. Winner will be chosen through Random.org tomorrow morning at 8am MST.

Here are a few more dresses from the wonderful women who have tested this pattern for me :)

Dress made by Chelsea (worn by her daugher)

Dress made by Lori (worn by her daugher)

Dress made by Amber from CraftyBunkerCreations

(worn by her daughter)

Child Size Patterns

I have started getting results back from testers for the Child size Princess Britt and Swirly Whirly Sundress patterns.  I should be able to release them this weekend.  Here are a few of the dresses from testers so far with links to their shops.

The first one is my Swirly Whirly Sundress.  My camera died, so I still need to get better photos for the pattern, but I love how it turned out.

This Princess Britt was made by Marilyn from Nana's Crochet Creations

This one was made by Amanda from AC (Arts&Crafts)

And this one was made by Rachel from TheCountryHooker

I love seeing the different colors everyone chooses and little personal touches on the dresses they make.  It makes it all worth it. This is only 4 of the 12 dresses that are being made, so I will have more to show this week.

Chance to win a free pattern
Right now through the end of the month, I would love to have you post photos of any dress you have made from my patterns on Craftsy or Ravelry and link them to my patterns.  At the end of July, I will add all the names of those who did to a list and draw at least 1 winner through Random.org for a free pattern of choice.  It's great to have all the photos in 1 place and it helps others who are looking to buy the patterns to see more photos than just mine.  And, I would REALLY appreciate it!
Wishing you all a great week
Kate

Winner of 7-7-12 Random Giveaway

Thank you all so much for sharing your talents/stories with me.  It is fun to see everyone's comments.
The winner of this giveaway is Ronda

List Randomizer

There were 24 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Ronda
2. Francie
3. Candice
4. Brenda
5. Sarah
6. Carmel
7. Dyanna
8. Melissa
9. April
10. Martha
11. Penny
12. Debbie
13. Jen
14. Jonna
15. Krista
16. Dian
17. Bev
18. Angela
19. Becky
20. Detra
21. Nancy
22. Lauren
23. Cara
24. Leanne

Timestamp: 2012-07-08 13:33:25 UTC

As I mentioned before, I will be holding more random giveaways here on the blog instead of FaceBook to abide by their rules.  I will still be joining in on a few multi-vendor giveaways, but less than I had been and holding more of my own to focus on the Friends who stick around.  So, Thank you for supporting me!

Music

Along with Crocheting and Gardening,  I was blessed to be in a musical family.  I was able to take 1 year of piano lessons when I was quite young and then the teacher quit to go back to work.  I was very sad!  My 2 older sisters had taken lessons for a while and could play quite well and I wanted to be able to also.  So, I started to teach myself.  I learned to play by ear - which drove them crazy at the time and I had some not so nice comments on many occasions...BUT, I never gave up.  Although they remain better at piano playing than I ever will be, I was able to teach myself enough that I played for our choir concerts in High School and I play for the Young Women in our church now.  We were all blessed with the ability to sing also. We were all in choirs in school and sang at funerals and in church.  I LOVE music!  It is comforting to sit down and play the piano to sing.  I also am excited that this love has been passed down to all 3 of my girls.  Madtie has also been in choirs in school and sang in church and usually has a solo in each concert and I am proud of her.  The 2 little ones are into making up their own songs and singing along to the radio in the car.  It's amazing how many words they actually catch on to while listening to the radio. 

My questions for today's giveaway is this:  Do you play any musical instruments?  Are you good at singing, or should you only sing in the shower or car when nobody else is around?

Leave your answer along with your name and email address so I can contact you if you win.  Please tell me if you are a fan of Crafting Friends or Shop Around Baby on FaceBook or both.  I will tally the comments and choose a winner through Random.org at 9pm tonight (7-7-12).  This is just for fun to show thanks to those of you who interact with my page :)

1/2 Way through the months of the year SALE

Good Evening my Friends!  I hope you all have had a Fabulous weekend and have some Fantastic plans for the 4th of July :)  I was able to spend yesterday with my family at a cookout and enjoyed every minute of it.  The strongest childhood memories I have are from all of the cookouts we had next door to us at our grandparents house....Oh, the good ole days!  I have been so blessed to have the family I do.

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by!  I decided today that since we are 1/2 way through the months of the year, it would be fun to have a 1/2 off Sale.  Every pattern in my Craftsy Shop here: Crafting Friends on Craftsy and also in my Ravelry Shop here: Crafting Friends on Ravelry are now 1/2 off.  The prices on Craftsy have already been changed and the prices on Ravelry will automatically change at check-out.

For those of you who do not crochet, but would love to purchase a Ready To Ship dress, I have adjusted the prices to 1/2 off of most of my dresses in my Etsy shop here: Crafting Friends Etsy Shop
I have not listed all of the dresses on Etsy since some of them are in a Boutique in town, so if there is one you know I have that you would like, please email me and I will let you know if it is still available.  This is a great way to get handmade gifts for baby showers or even your own babies.

Wishing you all the best
Kate

Fancy Yarn / Quick Giveaway

To enter the Spot Giveaway, you must be a fan of Crafting Friends on FaceBook (I will be checking)
Leave a comment with your email address, # of my patterns you already have and which pattern you would like to win.  Giveaway will end in 24hours (6/30/12 at 4:30pm MST)


 In trying to find the best mesh yarn to use for the Princess Britt dresses, I ordered some "Fancy Yarn" from Ebay.  I loved the colors, but was slightly disappointed with the width of it when it came.  It is about 1/2 the width of the Red Heart Sashay yarn.  I decided to try it on a Newborn size dress first since it was smaller. Here is the result :)

It was slower/harder to work up than the Sashay, but I think it turned out beautiful!  I wanted the pink around her ankles, so I used measurements from Heidi's Hoook Miss Priss baby leg pattern found here: Miss Priss Pattern  and just made anlkets.  The baby is having pictures done today and it is around 90*, so I didn't want the whole legging for right now.  Loved that idea and will be doning more :)

I did learn a lesson though....DO NOT start a pattern really late at night when extremely tired!!!  I started a dress and was not paying attention to the actual pattern since I have most of it memorized and  was more than 1/2 way finished before I realized I had grabbed the Toddler pattern and was working the 18mo size instead of the Infant pattern Newborn size.  Sooooo, I ended up with 2 dresses.
This is the 18month complete.

Since this yarn was smaller, I had to do shorter stitches for the skirt on this one so it would still look full.  It made it slightly heavier, but not a huge difference.  I have 2 more skeins to use that are a deep pink and brown verigated that is REALLY pretty.  Those will have to wait until I finish the 2 other dresses that have already been started. 

I hope everyone has started a wonderful weekend.  My heart goes out to those who are effected by the fires across the country!  Stay safe and keep cool.

Kate

Camo Pattern Sale

Do you ever look at your stash of crafting/hobby supplies and think..."I really should use this before I buy more" ?  Last night, I was looking under the bed for some pictures for my husband.  I have a bunch of yarn stashed in a box with 2 Camo afghans started.  One is Pink and one is Blue.  They really are easy to make, but I have been so busy with baby dresses (which only take a few hours to make).  I find it hard to work on afghans now since they take so long to work up.

Here is the one I finished while writing the pattern

The beauty of this pattern though, is that it can be made in any size you want...SO, the time it will take is completely up to me.  I need to finish both of them and have them ready for Christmas.  Whether I use them as Christmas gifts or not, at least I have put a deadline on finishing them and they will be ready no matter what :)
To give myself a little push, I have the pattern on sale right now for $.99.  I think it will help to see others working on it also.  Here is the link to the pattern: Camo Afghan Pattern on Craftsy

If you ever make an item using any of my patterns, I would LOVE to see photos!  You can either email them to me at craftingfriends4you@yahoo.com or post them on my FaceBook page Crafting Friends on FaceBook.

Just in time for July 4th

Jennifer from Little Luvies Shop and I have teamed up to offer this set of patterns together 1x only.  She designed the Hat and Barefoot Sandals and I loved the pattern!  It is available to purchase alone here: Swirly-Whirly-Combo-Pack for $5.
I designed a dress and diaper cover to go with it (with a little help on the diaper cover from Ronda of  Yarning4More )  I think the set turned out Perfect!  I can't wait to see photos of babies decked out from head to toe in this fun little outfit :)

The Set of patterns is available on PreSale for $6 until Sunday night at 8pm MST.  Once all the PreSale orders are sent out on Monday, I will release the Dress and Diaper patterns on Craftsy on sale for 1 day only for $4 and then it will be $6. 

The Dress pattern is for Newborn - 4T and there are 4 Diaper Cover sizes.  The Hat and Barefoot Sandals include instructions for NB-Adult.  To order, you can either leave your name and email address in the comments below or msg me on Face Book here: Crafting Friends.  I will send you an invoice and it must be paid by Sunday night in order to receive the Sale price.  All invoices unpaid will be deleted after that unless prior arrangements have been made with me. 

I would love to hear your feedback and any ideas you would like to see :)
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
Kate