21 Days of Thankful Giveaway Day 4

a Rafflecopter giveaway


I am very thankful that I learned how to crochet.  My mom taught me when I was about 10 yrs old.  I have made over 100 afghans and have photos of most of them.  Some were sold, others were made for humanitarian projects for my church, a few were given as a service to some families who were in a pinch during the holidays (they don't know where they came from since I personally don't know them).  Every member of my family has at least 1 of my blankets and it is comforting to me that they can wrap up in it and it's like getting a hug from me if needed. 

I have only been designing baby dresses for the last year and to be honest, it's hard to work on afghans now...lol.  The dresses are so quick and fun to do!  It warms my heart when I see a little baby wearing something I have designed and my toddlers are my biggest support.  They are constantly telling me how cute everything is and what colors to use for their next dresses.  I love that they are so happy to wear something I have made :) 

The pattern for today's giveaway is the Shell Brook Toddler size.  All you have to do is click on the giveaway tab at the top of the page to enter.  Only 1 prize/person and no exchanges.  Patterns will be automatically sent to the winner chosen.  Good luck to everyone and I hope you are having a great weekend!

21 Days of Thankful Giveaway Day 3

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I LOVE music!!!  I was born into a family full of musical talent.  My grandpa (dad's dad) would always sing a song to us when we were little with our name in it...It always made us feel special.  3 of my sisters and I were all in our High School choirs and have sung at funerals. I love that this talent has been passed on to all 3 of my girls!  Madtie sings in her High School choir and has been asked many times to sing solos for church.  My 2 toddlers love to try and sing along with the radio and recently have started making up their own songs (very entertaining).
Along with the singing,  I love to play the piano.  I have been extremely blessed in this.  I took 1 year of piano lessons when I was around 6-7 yrs old and then the teacher quit to go back to work.  I wanted so badly to be able to play as well as my sisters, so I practiced all the time and started teaching myself how to play.  With practice, I was able to play for 2 of my choir classes in school and also for many church callings.  I can't imagine life with out it :)

Today's giveaway pattern is the Shell Brook Infant size.  Just click on the giveaway tab at the top of the page to enter.  Only 1 prize per person and exchanges are not allowed. Pattern will automatically be sent to the winner through their email listed on the entry page.

Have a fantastic Saturday my friends!

21 Days of Thankful Giveaway Day 2

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Day 2

Today, I am so thankful I had the opportunity to know my grandparents! (my mom's parents) This is my Grandpa who passed away last month. He was a wonderful man who served in the Navy and was a teacher at our High School for many, many years. My Grandma was a nurse when she was younger and raised 3 boys and 3 girls. She is why I crochet :) She taught my mom...

, and I learned from my mom...BUT She is the one who always amazed me because she will just sit down and crochet her own little designs. She would raffle off an afghan at our famil reunions and I won one of them and asked her how she made it and she didn't have a pattern - just came up with it. She gave me the conifidence I needed to start designing my own things. I LOVE them both!!!

The pattern for today's giveaway is the Baby Tay Toddler size.

 

 

 All you have to do is click on the giveaway tab and be a fan of this page on FaceBook :)
Once again, only 1 prize per person and no exchanges. If you already have this pattern, please let others have the opportunity to win.

 

Happy Friday!!!

Kate
 

Thankful Giveaway Day 1

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good morning my friends!  I hope you all had a Happy Halloween.  I am hosting 21 Days of Thankful Giveaway.  Each day I will post something I am thankful for and will giveaway 1 pattern a day through Thanksgiving.  All you have to do to enter is click on the link above and be a fan of Crafting Friends on Facebook.  I thought this would be a fun way for you to get to know me a little better and also to give everyone a chance to win 1 of my patterns.  Exchanges will not be given, so if you already have the pattern for the day, I ask that you please give others the chance to win it. 

Day 1:

I am extremely thankful for my family!!! This is a photo of my family a couple of years ago (we are due for a new one, but baby needs to be here first) I have the most amazing parents who have been married for over 40 years. They are a great example to me of how a marriage should be and how to serve others. My siblings and I all have a very strong connection and I know I can lean on any of them in a time of need. We all live within 2 hours of each other and I love spending time with them! This is what life is all about :)

 

 

Today's pattern giveaway is for the Baby Tay Infant pattern.

Happy Thursday!

Kate
 

Glade Expressions Bzz Campaign

As many of you may remember, I am a BzzAgent and from time to time, I recieve samples of products to test and review.  The latest campaign I have been able to join is for the Glade Expressions Collections.  I had already tried the Fragrence Mists and I do like them.  I love to change scents with the seasons and was happy to find the Fuji Apple & Cardamom Spice scent.  This scent reminds me of Fall and I really like it.  The only downfall to the sprays (any brand) to me is that the scent doesn't last long, but it is a nice burst of freshness when needed.

For the Diffuser, I was hoping to also get a fall scent, but when I went to get my sample at the store, the only scent they had left was the Pineapple Mangosteen.  I figured that since it was free, I would give it a try.  I was a little worried about what it would smell like as Pineapple would not have been my first choice.  As I opened the package and set up the diffuser, I was pleasantly surprised and how refreshing it was! I was also pleased with the looks of the diffuser also.  I didn't want just a bottle of something sitting out for everyone to see and if you try and hide diffusers, you usually can't smell them very well.  My other concern was if it would be to strong and how long it would actually last.  It actually is quite refreshing without being overpowering and after stepping outside the house for a bit and coming back in, you get that little burst of freshness again.  Great for guests!  I also LOVE that you DO NOT have to plug it in.  I would recommend this to anyone and will be purchasing more in the future.  To find out what other scents and options are available, you can visit Glade.com  





<img src="https://img.bzzagent.com/image/gladeExpressions.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=9365102339&Campaign=5855213675&Uid=1212185&token=ccc61b58387d974e4c4c61b2ba59e37b" alt=""/>

Happy Fall Everyone!

Wow - I have neglected this blog for the last month :(  I am so sorry!  It has been a wild ride around here.  A lot has been going on. 

First, I want to share some fantastic news with you all...... We will be welcoming a new little one into our family in April of next year.  Since we have 3 girls already, it would be fun to have a tiny boy to cuddle with, but as long as everything goes well and the baby is healthy we will be happy!

Second,  with football season back in full swing - so is the sports hats I make.  I have been working on an order for 9 Oregon Ducks Mohawk hats....It has taken longer than I had hoped ( I've had a few dental/medical issues - but all is well now.  It just wore me out for a bit)

This is my work in progress (WIP).  I just need to add a few more logos and then all the mohawk and they will be ready to go. 

Another friend of mine asked if I would make her a couple of baby things to put away for her daughter.  She is a Packers fan and her husband is a Red Sox fan.  I think they turned out cute!

And another friend asked if I would be able to make a hat to look like a mascot from our local college and this is what I came up with for her.  She requested the buttons for eyes, but to offer an actual pattern, I made another one with eyes and now have the pattern up and running for Free on Craftsy Mr. Bull Features Patter . The pattern is only for the features and does not include the hat info.  I figures there are enough beanie patterns out there, there was not a need for me to make another one.  This was made for a toddler, but you could easily adjust the sizing up or down by using different hooks. 

NFL Hats

I am officially back to selling the NFL hats.  I thought I would take a short break from writing patterns to get caught up on some orders and get some hats ready to ship.  While working on 2 hats last night - a fantastic thought came to mind for some new patterns...so much for taking a break - lol!    So, I will be trying to do both for the next little while.  It shouldn't be to hard.  I just need to set a schedule and make myself stick with it. 

This is the most recent addition to the logo set.  I had it last year, but never got around to actually making the hat - better late than never  - right?  BUT - since it's not quite Fall yet - maybe I'm just ahead of the game instead of behind??? - Yep - I like that thought better!

These sell for $20 + shipping and I offer free shipping for orders of 2 or more. 

I was about to post this Lions hat for sale this afternoon and my husband stopped me because it might already be sold.  (not bad!)

These 2 hats are for a custom order.  As soon as I get everything I need for the logos - they will be "Duck" hats! 

Free Emerald City Flower pattern

I was able to upload the Emerald City Flower patterns to Craftsy and Ravelry tonight.  They are not "unique" to other flowers by look, but they do use the same stitch as the Emerald City dress so I thought they should be free.  

 Emerald City Flower

 Stitches:

SC – Single Crochet                                       HDC – Half Double Crochet

DC – Double Crochet                                    TR – Treble Crochet

Sl St – Slip Stitch                                           Ch - Chain

Small Brick Stitch – SC, Ch 2, 3DC in the same stitch

Med. Brick Stitch – SC, Ch 3, 3 TR in the same stitch

Lg Brick Stitch – SC, Ch 3, 5 TR in the same stitch

Small Flower:

Emerald City Small Flower Pattern

Ch 3, Sl St in 1^st Ch to from a loop

Ch 1, 12 HDC in loop, Sl St to Ch 1 to connect

R1: Ch 1, Small Brick Stitch in 1^st HDC, 

       Sk 1 HDC,

      *Small Brick Stitch in next HDC,
       Skip 1 HDC* 

       repeat from *to* around,

      Sl St in Ch 1 from beginning of round 
      to connect.(6 Brick Stitches total)

R2: Ch 1, Working behind the Brick stitches 
       in row 1,work 1 Large Brick Stitch in each 
      of the skipped stitches of round 1.   
      Sl St in Ch 1 of beginning of row to connect. 

      Fasten off leaving a tail long enough for stitching.

Emerald City Large Flower Pattern

      Large Flower:  
Make a 47 HDC Chainless Foundation

Small Brick Stitch in 1^st HDC, Skip 1 HDC

*Small Brick Stitch in the next HDC, Skip 1 HDC* Repeat from *to* 3x

**Med. Brick Stitch in the next HDC, Skip 1 HDC** Repeat from **to** 5x

***Lg Brick Stitch in the next HDC, Skip 2 HDC*** Repeat from ***to*** 7x

SC in final space.  Fasten off leaving a tail long enough for stitching.  Twist into a flower by wrapping the large petals

around the smaller petals and securing them to the center.

         

Final Release for the Emerald City pattern

How is everyone doing today?  I hope you had a fabulous weekend!  The seasons are starting to change where I live.  The days are cooling off a bit and it's time to bottle peaches and pasta sauce.  Hopefully my peppers will grow a bit more so I can freeze them along with my carrots and onions we have in our garden.  It's a lot of work, but I love being able to grab a bag of veggies that I have done myself and just toss them into whatever I'm making for dinner.  It saves a bunch of time in preperation :)

This week, I will be releasing the Child size pattern for the Emerald City dress.  I have a few photos of finished dresses back from testers in these sizes and they are looking pretty cute! 

I will be teaming up with Jonna from Frayed Knot to offer a pkg deal on our patterns.  It will include her "Addie" hat pattern and a choice of 1 size (infant, toddler or child) Emerald City pattern for $6. 

Together, they make a beautiful set!  This weekend, I was able to do a quick pkg deal with Lisa from Loops of Love.  She designed an infant bonnet called the "Cora Couture bonnet" wich is fantastic with the infant size dress!  Her pattern is available here: Cora Couture on Craftsy.

Infant Emerald City with Cora Couture Bonnet

Toddler Emerald City with The Addie Hat

Child Emerald City with The Addie Hat

The flower on the yellow dress and hat is from Bonita Patterns and can be found here: http://bonitapatterns.tumblr.com/page/2

The flower on the pink dress is my pattern and I will be offering it for free later this week.  I will post a link to it as soon as it is available.

With fall and winter nearing, I will soon be starting to stock up on my hats for the boutique in town and to have ready to ship for my online shops.  If you would like to order any of the NFL hats, you can email me at craftingfriends4you@yahoo.com

Emerald City Toddler pattern Release

Can I just tell you now - I LOVE what I do!  It has been stressful at times.  It is NOT by any means fun or easy to deal with people who offer to test patterns and then do not actually produce the product.  It is also not easy to try and work with some testers who get defensive and "KNOW" that they are right and I am wrong about my own pattern.  BUT - When I get to see photos of some adorable little girls wearing something that I designed - It makes my day everytime!  The look on their faces is priceless.  This pattern has been a huge hit with the testers and the little models.  I wish I could show you the photos, but I don't have permission at this time.  I can link you to a few pages of the women who did test for me.  There are a few photos of their work posted there. 

Instead of running a Pre-Sale, I have put the pattern on sale for $3 only running through Sunday the 20th.  You may purchase this pattern on Craftsy here: Emerald-City-Toddler-Dress on Craftsy or a discount will be given at checkout if using Ravelry: Emerald City Toddler on Ravelry

Jonna from Frayed Knot designed a hat to match this pattern and it is darling.

Pattern by Frayed Knot.  Made by Loops of Love

 I was able to test it for her and it works up easily!  It is available here The Addie Hat by Frayed Knot on Craftsy

I am in love with this pattern and it is going to be hard to beat!  The child size pattern is being tested as we speak and should be released next week.  As always...I hope you are off to a wonderful weekend!  Have fun my friends and keep safe :)
Kate