A little swap with a commenter

I have the best followers.  One of them, Diana, lives in Oregon.  She commented on my WOYWW crop ATC and asked about a swap, so we arranged it.  I actually got these a couple of weeks back, but hadn’t shared them.  I really don’t do a lot of ATCs.  Sometimes when I just crave doing something crafty but life is hectic (like it seems to be nowadays) I’ll carve out a little time and make a couple.  I told her I don’t have but a few and picked out what I hoped was a nice one for her.  She, on the other hand, went over and above, sending me not one but a whole pile of ATCs. Had I know I would have made more!

Look at the variety:

 

Isn’t The Dark Horse cute? And the Mad Hatter? And don’t you love the pretty butterfly (the photo doesn’t do it justice) and the real shell pieces on the “beach”? I should have taken off the little plastic protectors.  I did with this one, perhaps my favourite.  I love the look of it and the title – perfect.

I guess I have ATCs on my mind, as I am prepping a pile of them so I can have a productive day on Saturday.  I want to go to the WOYWW crop with a stockpile of swap ATCs cause there are always on-the-fly swaps arranged there, as well as people from far flung places who send ATCs you might not be expecting, that say they aren’t expecting a swapsie.  But I want to be ready with one to drop in the envelope.

Thanks Diana.

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WOYWW 308

Happy WOYWW Day!  The crop draws ever nearer.  Working on my stack of ATCs and trying to get the adhesive right.  Really, for crafters, is there anything more frustrating than trying to find the right adhesive for the job?  The one that marries form and function?

What else? Another couple of background pieces for the ATCs there in the front.  Oh yes, my washi tape phone case.  DD and I had a girlie Mom & Daughter day a week or so back (shopping, movie, lunch) and at lunch she added the googgly eyes and sticker smile to the back.

It’s on my desk because I have taken something like 200+ photos and never moved them to my Mac.  This one I took of the menu, with the macro lens, thru the ice in my water glass.  I really like it.

And this label that came on one of DHs spice shipments. Made me smile so I snapped a photo to drop in the IM window to make hubby smile too.

Lastly, there at the back, my new stack of preemie beanies.

As much as I dislike purling, and knitting rib, I decided to have a go at that pattern.  No denying it’s cute, but the rolled brim ones are a LOT easier…

Have a great WOYWW day.

Garden printables for Project Life

Having a bit of a play with some free vectors.  Always a challenge, deciphering the copyright info.  These cute little florals needed a bit of editing, and colour changing, but were clearly marked as Free for non commercial use only.  Nice when that happens. Get the PDF here.

Although they are garden themed, I thought the quotes worked on a few levels.  I did the same quotes/text on a softer, more abstract set, and that one was a challenge!  The copyright info was in Chinese, and the translation … well, what do YOU make of this?

… 2, the site does not guarantee the accuracy, security and integrity of the site content; check with the virus itself, but the site does not assume the user from the use of these resources for themselves and others to cause any form of loss or damage.… (I read that as they can’t guarantee there are no viruses on the site, and that they can’t be held responsible for your use of them)

4. The content on this site are from the network source, material, pictures copyright belongs to original author, this site is reproduced material for everyone to enjoy and share, not as commercial purposes.… (I read that as for non commercial use only)

6, the spirit of the Internet: sharing, exchange, progress (not sure about that – maybe a reference to Creative Commons?)

I can more or less get the jist of it, but it is in no way clear!

I’m curious to see which set gets more attention.  Get this set here.

Crochet Preenie Beanies – pattern OKed!

I got the word back from Baby Beanies that the crochet pattern is OK so I am going to share it here.  I found a really nice sizing chart here – although the post is old, and the blog is no longer active, I found it very helpful.  I’ve snipped a bit out to add to the pattern and added a link to the PDF, so you can use it to assess your own crochet version and check the sizing.

I can do one of these in about 30 minutes.  I’ve tried to make the pattern apply for both the US terminology and the UK terms.  The US is in RED and the UK is in blue.  I do hope I got it right.  I would really appreciate any feedback.  I don’t usually do patterns for knitting and crochet, although I have done them occasionally, I’m not an expert! And once I’ve done something a few times I go on autopilot, and then forget to take notes.  But this is very very simple, and very, very forgiving.  Given there is a need for beanies of ALL sizes, full size newborn ones, the odd added or missed stitch isn’t going to render the beanie unusable.

That’s basically what it looks like, although some of these substitute a hdc (or htr in UK terms!) for the dc (tr) stitches.  I thought it might work better but in the end I liked the dc/tr for all rounds until the edging round(s).

 

Now I have discharged my duty – I’ll try to pop back tomorrow and make sure I email any commenters or email-ers who asked for a copy when I got it OKed.  Have fun using up your scraps making something useful for charity.  My stash of bits of yarn are getting consumed quickly, making room for more new yarn….

{wink}

Double beanies – pattern for Magic Loop

I finally mailed off the package of beanies.  Hopefully the crochet version will get an OK and I’l share it.  But in the meantime, I had a couple of emails from people asking about the Magic Loop version of two-at-a-time.  As I had annotated the original pattern for myself, I figured I might as well write it up.

I like making one girly one and one boyish one when I do two at a time.  And while I did manage three at a time, the problem is with keeping the yarn straight.  The middle ball needs care and attention, much more than just two do.

I wanted to try adding an active link to my PDF – I had to use a different program than I usually do so it was learning something new.  It worked, but when I view it the links don’t look active, until you hover over them.  THEN you can see the cursor that indicates a clickable link and clicking will open the page in your browser.  I wanted to add links to videos or instructions that I found useful. I have ones for the Limitless Cast On for 2-at-a-time ANYTHING, a general 2-at-a-time sock video, invisible joining to knit in the round (and I also find this trick helps me not let the stitches twist when joining) and as the beanies need to stretch and not be too tight, a couple of stretchy cast on videos.

Here is a PDF.  Any feedback would be very welcome!

Across the 8th dimension (printables)

This set is prompted by something I uncovered while spring cleaning.  One of the few movies I forced DS to watch that I’m not sure he got.  Totally not of general interest, although I have tried to make them more universally appealing with more generic backgrounds than actual logos.  In part, because copyright info on what logos I do find is hard to determine.  I would have loved to use a Yoyodyne label…

… but I felt it would make the printables less useable, even if I could find a copyright free one.  As they are, with colourful backgrounds and bold text, the focus is on the words.  And I think the quotes work well enough.

You can grab them here.  I’ll be very interested to see how many people recognize where these are from and comment or pin.  John Bigboote would …..

Maybe this will help?

WOYWW 307 – 6th anniversary ATC-back printables

Happy WOYWW!  I missed last week (my back was just too bad to sit at my desk and my iPad too annoying for the usually long comments I tend to leave) and as my first wrenched back came after posting WOYWW the previous week, but before managing any comments, it seemed better to skip it than join in and NOT comment.  This week my back is better, but I am taking it easy as I am sure the second spasm was caused by doing too much too soon.

I got a fresh blade for my Cricut, so I can cut some things, and I am still working on my ATCs.  I made all I could from the darker backgrounds and am now working on a lighter and brighter one.  Similar elements but a little different.

Here are the ATC backs I made for this year’s swap.  The sheet has nine backs. Do feel free to grab them and use them.  I will probably edit out the WOYWW related bit and re-make them for download after the Anniversary swap.

I also share this little “memory game” from my local Tiger.  I just loved the colourful chipboard rings.  I think it was maybe £3 for 50 doughnut-shaped pieces.

They are colourful but have a cute dotty scribble pattern on the back, and could be covered with cardstock too.  I think they could work on a layout, obviously, but maybe on a card too. So cute.

As it is a “memory game” there are two of each pattern.

I also have a whole pile of little preemie hats ready to mail off.  I didn’t count them but I think it could be close to 20.  And I still have loads of yarn leftovers so will make more.  Part of the spring clean was getting the oddments of yarn that were scattered all over the house in one place!

 PS If you want to swap ATCs for the WOYWW anniversary, drop me a comment and I’ll confirm so we can exchange addresses. 

Printables for Project Life (Taylor Swift inspired)

My DD loves Taylor Swift, like a lot of teen girls do.  While her music is nice enough, and I am impressed with how she has grown lyrically over the years, when  am picking the tunes, I’m unlikely to pick her.  I tend towards the old bluesmen, the Stax /Volt catalog, Stevie Ray, or songs of the 60s. Why then do her songs get caught in my head for HOURS?  Nothing will dislodge them, except the theme tune from Jessie (another of DDs favourites) but that creates a whole ‘nother problem (…cause it feels like a party every day…. ARRGGHH!)

So during one of those stuck-in-my-head moments I made this quick set of printables.  I think the song titles/lyrics/album titles I selected aren’t specifically boy or girl relates, and the colours should work for both too. Just one sheet of five, download here.

What do you think?

 

As usual, I am always open to suggestions, so if you have a set of printables in your head, but can’t find them out there for purchase or download, drop me a line.  I enjoy the challenge and might give it a go.

Stars printables for Project Life

The UKS Project Life challenge this month has a few options.

to use stars
If I won the lottery… 
to make a mess (ink splatters, tearing, tea stains, distressing etc) 

I already added the messy paint drippings set (look back a post) as an alternative but this starry one is the official Printable for the challenge.  Of course you don’t have to  take part in the challenge to make use of the printables, but if your resolve is flagging, the challenges might get you back on track.

Just a single sheet to download, and the stars are filled with inky splodges, so in a way it ticks two of the challenge boxes! Have fun with them.

Life is messy PL Printables

Yep.  It is.  It feels like 2015 has been messy from the start.  Internet problems were surely the worst of it, but I keep throwing my back out, doing commonplace things (getting out of the car? really?) and then I had a cold, and then there have been other things that needed my attention that weren’t crafty…honestly, it’s all I can do to knit a little preemie cap in found time.

This printable sort of echos that.  I made two for a specific project, but the other one will come later.  This one I’ll share now.

I originally made just the set with the words.  But then I thought that the plain paint drips would be useful for journaling, or even as a small photo mat for any sort of messy, painty kid, room, etc. so I went ahead and created the sheet without the words as well.  And because I almost NEVER do 4 x 6 cards anymore, I did a couple of them as well – mostly because I really wanted a PINK one in the mix.

You can grab the three-page PDF here.

I wish I could say life has settled down, but it hasn’t.  We have a weekend of spring cleaning coming up, some Drs. appts for DD and some upcoming visits to prepare for.  I have something in the fall that needs attention and a fair amount of prep work and two more sets of visitors from across the pond.  I have a list of projects I want to do a mile long – I need to make notes on them or I will forget my grand plans LOL! The only thing I can be sure of is I am NOT missing the WOYWW crop, no matter what.    And I WILL be sharing the ATC backs for that (as well as an unbranded set for other than WOYWW swaps) probably next Weds.