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?? 

Sneak Peek!

I'm getting really excited for a project I've been wanting to tackle for sometime, so I thought I'd give y'all a sneak peek of a pattern I'm developing!

Any guesses?? :) Tee-hee! I'm so excited! 

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! 

The Easter Bunny Came!

Here are some photos from my time in my home town with my family for Easter:

Hubby and I on Easter Sunday

My adorable parents 

Game time! (sister Rach grinning) 

I won this game! (I'm the yellow) 

My mom never fails to feed us way too much good food. 

Brothers: My hubby, and Rachel's hubby Nathan :)

Molly's first Easter

I think she likes her pretty Easter dress! 

so cute! 

alright, this is the the last one. At least of my family, I'll do another post for my crafting while I was there! I just had to show you how Molly crosses her ankles like a lady, cause it's so cute!

Hope you all had a very blessed Easter celebrating that our Lord is risen, risen indeed! And that through that truth we know that by grace, through faith, in Christ, we will be risen and know eternal life too!

Thank you Jesus! 

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 :)

original designs!

In the midst of working on my teddy bear pattern, I decided to have my hand at making a tiny little owl.

Here is the result:

Not too bad for a first attempt? I think so! He's so cute and just about 3-4" tall. I posted a picture of him on facebook and immediately got a request from a friend of a friend to purchase him! 

So this was my official first sale of my own amigurumi. I mailed him off this morning, and I can't wait to hear what she thinks of him when he arrives!  It gets me even more excited to finally get my etsy shop up and  running. (I've only been talking about it for months now!) Just had to share :) 

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? 

Update

I apologize for my absence. Quite honestly I have felt less than inspired to blog, and the circumstance of having no digital camera in the last two weeks has not helped. However, since my absence, I have gotten a decent amount of crocheting done on my granny squares, and have finished a doll for my niece. I have also purchased a new camera to document all the things that you have been missing out on!

It's a Nikon Coolpix L110, and so far I'm loving the quality and clarity of the images! See for yourself on some of my pics I've taken since getting it: