Giveaway!

Want an adorable, handcrafted owl made by yours truly??

• Just skip on over to my sister's blog Keep it Simple, and enter for this great giveaway to promote my new etsy shop, HandcraftedJoy. 

Tiny teddy

I have seen these thread bears all over etsy and the internet, and thought it would be fun to give it a try myself. I found a free pattern through ravelry found here: Icicle Mohair Bear and bought some size 10 crochet thread on sale at Joanne's. I used a size 7 hook- that's 1.65 mm (teeny tiny!) and some chocolate brown embroidery floss for the details (his paws, claws, eyebrows and nose).

I had lots of fun seeing this tiny bear come to life, and really enjoyed learning how to make a 5-way thread jointed animal. It's so cool that he is posable! I added a bow for the finishing touch and here's how he turned out:

Please forgive the obscene amount of pictures...I'm just so stinking proud of the way he turned out!

Piglet

Ok, so it's been a SUPER long time since I first mentioned this, but I finally finished him!

It's my design for an old-fashioned piglet! I couldn't find any decent patterns online when I wanted to crochet one, so I decided to write my own. Here's how he turned out:

What is my favorite part? So glad you asked! His ears are perfect, I just love how they turned out!

I gave him a test run this weekend with my niece, and she did exactly what I would have hoped for- she grabbed his little hand and walked around with him as if he were her best friend :) Just like what he did in the books with Winnie the Pooh- he's always holding Pooh's hand, and I think it's just adorable to see an 11 month old hand grasping onto him!

Now my dilema is, I have spent so much time making and designing him, I just don't want to put him in my etsy shop to be sold to some stranger. He is 100% original and I don't think they could appreciate that. Is that just silly? Maybe I'll keep him and give him to my child one day...ahh. Who knows?

ETSY shop!

Announcing the Grand Opening of my own Etsy shop!!

I finally did it! You've been hearing me muse about it for months and months, but with the school year finally at a close and life finally at a slower pace, I have picked up my crocheting again, and also opened up shop!

Want to know where you can find such wonderful items such as these?

Just go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/HandcraftedJoy (and please ignore my hideous banner! if someone has expertise in this, and wants to help me out, please do!!) and spread the word!!

I specialize in making things for baby, but can also do custom orders- you think it up, I'll make it!

Amigurumi Friday!- designing your own amigurumi

Disclaimer: I am absolutely not an expert at designing my own amigurumi. I speak out only out of a couple weeks of experience. I have however, been making amigurumi for a couple years, and have been crocheting for at least 6 years. So I do (kind of) know what I'm talking about.

1. Familiarize:
First things first: Get to know the shapes and techniques of increasing, decreasing and magic circle before you ever try to make your own amigurumi. Try some free patterns first- there's tons on LionBrand, FreeCrochetPatternCentral, and Ravelry. Check it out!

2. Visualize/conceptualize:
Once you feel you have a hand on some familiar construction techniques, shaping and such, decide what it is you want to make. I suggest drawing it out. That will give you a more solid idea of the sort of shapes you'll want to make, get you thinking on the construction of your ami, and get you excited to get started!

3. Go for it! 
Some people attempt things in a very loose manner, just going for it, and hoping by the time they have their ami stuffed and closed up that it resembles what was in their mind. As a Type A personality, that just does not work for me! I write out exactly what I'm doing, continually referring back to my drawing to make sure my proportions are correct. And if I ever decide to start selling patterns, I've got it all written out. I just need to edit, type, and have someone test the pattern. If I get half way through a feature or body part and realize it's all wrong, I rip it out and try something different. Frustrating? yes! But that way I know my finished product will end up being something I'm proud of. Even something I'd be willing to sell.

4: Don't be afraid to step away
So after all those really specific tips and instructions let me just say one last thing: I crochet because I love the craft, and I love the people I crochet for. 99.9% of what I make is gifted immediately following finishing it. If this whole process gets really frustrating and stressful- stop! Put it down and walk away. It's not worth losing that love of the craft over. You can try it again some other day!

Well, I hope those tips are helpful and inspire to try your hand at designing!
I'll leave you with a few images of the creatures I've designed in the last couple weeks:

Teddy bear update

I've had to take a break on my teddy bear over the last week and half because I ran out of my taupe yarn (which I suspected would happen), so I started other projects in the mean time. 

However, before I ran out, I was able to complete one bottom leg and shape his big bear hiney.

I added felt to the bottom of his foot, handstitched with embroidery floss using a blanket stitch.

I attached his leg using a safety eye as a moveable joint. It's a new technique I wanted to try out. I'm not sure if I really like how much his leg sticks out where the joint is instead of looking like it belongs to the body. We'll see. This whole project has been a great learning experience for me. 

I think the biggest lesson I've learned is not to get ahead of myself. There's been a couple times where I've jumped onto the next step, forgetting something crucial -such as, forgetting to put in the leg joint before closing the leg up, having to reopen it, add the joint, and close it back up only to discover, that completing the joint by attaching it to the body before closing the leg up made it harder to crochet. Argh! Oh well. Next time, I'll be an expert...right?? 

My spring break crafts

Sleepy sheep # 5 finito! I added a pink felt flower with a button center. She was finished and given to a very sweet little 3 year old for her birthday! Happy Birthday Bella!

Ladybug, I was bored and improvised her. She's got felt spots, felt bottom and legs, and yarn features (eyes and smile).

I also pumped out this flower. No idea what I'll use it for yet.

 

This one was probably my most fun project. My sister and I recycled a stained sweater (her husband's) and left overs from a pillow case to make these bunnies. We found the pattern here, at Betz White's blog on how to make a cashmere bunny. We didn't have an extra cashmere sweater lying around (who does??) so Nathan's sweater worked just fine! We hand stitched the bunnies adding buttons for eyes (left over from a recycled shirt...also Nathan's....hmm), pink felt lining the ears and stitched a heart shape with a blanket stitch. I made the pom poms for the tail with extra yarn I had lying around, and wa-la! 

What I really love is Rachel and I made them and then realized that they face each other. I don't know how we did that, but they look like they're kissing, so I love it! 

So cute! and absolutely free to whip up! 

I also made another owl. I added wings this time, and now am not so sure I really like them. And his bottom also turned out a lot more rounded than I wanted him to. Now I have to prop him up because he's too round to stand on his own :(

Last but certainly not least is this adorable piggy that came from a suggestion by my sister. I was planning on making a sheep with this fuzzy pink yarn, but my sister suggested the pink fuzzy yarn would be cute for a pig. So I used a familiar body construction and made up the snout, ears, and curly piggy tail. I really like the way he turned out!

Welp, I think that's it for my Spring Break crafting. It seems having time with my family and time to rest made me a rather productive woman! 

Teddy bear

I've been working away on my teddy bear design and have finished his head so far. I only had to modify my intended design a couple times, 1st because the head was getting to long and tube-like and 2nd because I forgot to add the eyes and nose before closing it up! But I really do like how he turned out.

It is fun to discover that I have the skills to make something that is in my head come to life!

I stuffed the head individually, then sewed the felt face on using a blanket stitch most of the way, and then stuffed that a little as well. I used blush to color his cheeks and ears, and both eyes and nose are those nifty safety features where they look like a bolt and nut.

The rest of the bear is yet to be done, but I do have most of his big butt shaped, and one bottom leg made and attached. The only problem is I have run low on my yarn in that color, so now I have to put it down until I can get into my craft store!

Oh well, looks like I'll be making more owls :)

Eggs

I have the extreme good fortune of living relatively close to my family (my sister, her husband, and my parents all live about a 2 hour drive away). So, I get to visit them on holidays and make regular trips, and it isn't a huge expense or burden to travel! This means that for the entire week of Spring break, I'm going to be with my mom and dad and sister's family! I get to play with my niece and actually contribute to her first easter basket, which is so fun!

This inspired me to crochet up a few things for my family including these two easter egg shaped amigurumi:

the bunny is for my niece, Molly

 the egg is for my mom's dog.

I know...pathetic that I crocheted a toy for a dog, but if you knew this dog, you'd understand. Trust me. 

I've had a lot of fun whipping up these real short little projects, cause they're just so darn cute!! You get maximum effect with minimum effort and time :) gotta love that, right??

Easter is in the air!

Here is one quick project whipped up for my niece's easter basket:

This is before I finished his other ear, but you get the picture...literally. :)

I used blush to color his cheeks and ears, and he's basically an egg with a face and bunny ears. 

This a free pattern I found on Ravelry by RoxyCraft blog, called Bunny Boo.

If you're in need of a cute easter project I highly recommend this one! 

Amigurumi Friday! (it's back!)

For today's amigurumi Friday I would simply like to share what I've been working on lately, and maybe ask some advice from you, instead of give it.

For some time now I have been contemplating writing my own patterns for amigurumi. It is a really intimidating thought that has taken me all the way to last night to get over the fears and doubts about whether I could really do it. Because last night I sat down and sketched a little teddy bear, with full intentions of crocheting him into life! I'm really excited to try writing my own patterns, especially because I won't run into the legality of copyrights when it comes to selling my products on etsy! :)

So far, this is what I have:

Have you ever written your own patterns? How did you go about it? 

I obviously drew mine out, and am writing down things as I go. Is there a better/more effective way to design an amigurumi? 

Craft time with the sister!

I had the fortune of being bored out of my mind this week on account of my husband being out of town on business. Why do you ask is this fortunate? Well because it inspired me to get off my duff and make a trip to my hometown to visit my parents and my sister, her husband, and my favorite baby, my niece Molly!

I spent Monday through Wednesday there, and all day Tuesday was spent crafting with my sister in her lovely new house. (This is the sister I'm planning on opening an Etsy shop with) She brought out an old sweater of her husband's that she accidentally shrunk in the dryer. Who hasn't done that before?! And had a wonderful idea to use it as fabric for a pillow cover. She had an old pillow form lying around, just waiting for some love and attention! So she cut up the sweater and an old pillow case for the back, and sewed it all up in a jiffy using a sewing machine my parents wanted to get rid of.

She asked me if I would be willing to crochet some flowers for her pillow, and then I got the idea to use these giant buttons I had bought at the Dollar tree, and crochet flowers that would button on, so if she ever wanted to change the color of the flowers (to match her decor) she had the option! Brilliant!...if I do say so myself :)

Well we put our heads together and came up with a marvelous pillow cover all for 0 dollars, and 0 cents!

We also used embroidery thread and did a blanket stitch along the bottom to close it up :)

Ps. if you're wondering how I made the flowers, I just made it up as I went. 

But there is a real similar pattern for a flower like this found for free at Lion Brand here.

And just for posterity, a recent picture of Molly-dolly! 

Amigurumi Friday!-using felt

Remember this sweet face from earlier in the week? 

Well today we're going to talk about how to do it!

First off, thank you Harugurumi for the excellent pattern of the sleepy sheep, available free on her lovely blog! This is my version using felt for the face and embroidery. (Her sheep have a crocheted face and yarn features) 

Supplies you will need (for face only): Felt, scizzors, chalk or marker, embroidery thread, tapestry needle, and a little imagination!

I crocheted the head of the lamb, then traced onto the felt using white chalk the shape of the face I wanted...somewhat of an oval. You can get super particular here about having a true oval shape, but I prefer the home-made with imperfections look. I think it gives the animal character! 

Then you cut it out!
Next, trace onto the back of the oval the shape of the eyelids so you don't embroider blindly- and choose the color you want to embroider the eyes with. Begin!

I went one way with simple straight stitches and then back on the curve filling in the gaps left. 

Next add the eyelashes by beginning in the back of the felt, poking the needle through at the eyelid, and stitch out and down, always beginning at the back of the felt at the eyelid.

You getting the picture? good! Now do the other one :)

(Here's a view from the back, so you can see the mess is always on the wrong side of embroidery. That's why you do the face before attatching it to the head!) 

Right, now for the nose and mouth. Start at one central point and fan out your stitches to the left and right for the nose. I chose a peachy-pink :)

Ok, once your done with that, put your needle from the back, right into the bottom of the nose and do just 1 vertical stitch down for the mouth. 

(Make sure you tie everything off in the back! )

Now, to sew it onto the face, you can continue using a straight stitch as I did with the brown face, or you can choose to do a blanket stitch. That looks like this:

Here's how:

Enter your needle from back, and make sure before you put your needle back into the fabric that your needle passes above the thread left from your last stitch before you pull tight! 

I hope those images are actually helpful!

I find it's beneficial to safety pin on the face as your sewing so the features don't move around on you

But that's about all I have for you this week. I'd love for all of you to try your own lamby face, and share how it turned out!