PIF (crochet style)...

earlier today I read Lazy Daisy Crochet & found out that Melissa is doing something neat - she's playing a pay-it-forward style of game she found via Oodles 4 Noodles (that she found on Create Bella Create) & crocheting surprise gifts for 3 followers. I just did one of these on FB and it was so fun... I enjoy surprising people with little gifts so I am going to play too! Here are the rules if you want to join in:

1.  I will send a surprise gift to the first three commenters on this post. The gift will be handmade by me.  It will be sent sometime in the next 365 days. It will be a surprise.  We all love getting surprises in the mail, right?

2. To sign up and receive a gift, you must play along, too. Pay it Forward on your blog, by promising to make a surprise for the first three people who comment on the post. 

3. You must have a blog (that is updated, as I will blog stalk you to find the right gift for you). Include your blog address in your comment. 

4. After commenting here, you must repost this or something similar to your blog in 48 hours.  If not, I will chose the next person who comments…Its that simple!! :)

I am looking forward to playing this fun game with my fellow bloggers and making something special and handmade just for them.  

Oh and please go check out the fun going on at Lazy Daisy Crochet, Create Bella Create and Oodles 4 Noodles!

WIP Wednesday...

a little of what I'm working on:

12" squares - patterns found on Ravelry via YarnCrazy Crochet World - a wonderful library of patterns!

a cute little crochet sweater - Ravelry link to pattern here

another sweater... a sleeve, button & flower left to do here - Ravelry link to pattern here

and, finally, a bath puff, or dishwashing scrubbie - modified version of this pattern... fun!

I am also working on a whole box of goodies for my swap partner for this Ravelry swap, and I am so excited as it's the first big swap I've joined. The box will be mailed out very soon and then I can't wait till she gets it so I can show you what I sent her!!

more squares...

for more swaps... seems I'm loving the squares at the moment!

LA square #67

LA square #60

Jan Eaton square #19 'Lacy Cross'

LA square #20

LA square #60 (again)

Jan Eaton's squre #19 'Lacy Cross' (again)

fo friday...

Some of my finished objects today... lots to post but I've been lazy about my picture taking lately! These are a few squares I've made from my new book, 200 Crochet Blocks by Jan Eaton, and from Leisure Arts' 99 Granny Squares to Crochet:

LA square #20

LA square #15

Jan Eaton square #14 'Alhambra'

Jan Eaton square #24 'Alhambra'

There are more, but, as I mentioned, I've been terrible about taking the pictures... I'll try to get the rest up tomorrow!

a smattering of crochet...

a few of my recent projects:

a cute baby blanket with a ruffly edge

orange 'durango hat' for a friend

infinity scarf with rose detail for my SIL

hooded cowl with a flower and some 'bling' for a friend

another 'durango hat'... for ME this time!

a lovely olive green ruffly scarf

and, finally another 'durango hat' in cream that turned out to be not what the requester wanted so this one is still available!

i haven't dropped off the face of the earth...

I'm just buried in crafty projects & yarn!

I've been busy making cards:

And...

I've been crocheting! I'm addicted... it's literally all I want to do! Dana's (Crafty Minx) Crochet School is so thorough and easy to follow, & it gets you up and hooking quickly! I've made wrist warmers (aka. fingerless gloves), dish cloths, scarves, hats... and my yarn stash is quickly growing! I've warned Shawn that he may come back and have to unearth me from under my piles of wonderfully soft yarns!

baby bunting... I will be making this in adjustable size (and different colours!) and die cutting felt letters like "sweet" and "precious" to use this as a photo prop... I can't wait! I found it here on Amanda's blog!

my first attempt at a cabled scarf... it was remarkably easy and, of course it's in my favourite colour!

dishcloths... I've been making dishcloths and pot holders - the cotton yarn is so inexpensive and one ball makes 2 cloths! If you're getting presents from me this Christmas, you know what you're getting...

I found a super easy pattern for this cute hat and flower... I know a couple of little girls that will be getting hats!

more dishcloths... this time with a matching towel with a hanger so it can hang off of your oven door handle

a burnt orange neck warmer - just have to find the right buttons for this & it's done!

another cute little hat and (gigantic) flower... I <3 Ravelry!

I took my knowledge of cables from making the previous scarf and made one for myself that is slightly skinnier since I have a very short neck...

some of my latest cards...

crochet school...

is going very well! Dana @ Crafty Minx is a great teacher - very thorough with her explanations, and the videos are great! I have tried (and failed) to teach myself from books before, and never was able to get past the chain stitch, but I've progressed this time!

This is my single crochet stitch swatch (it's much farther along now, as we have covered the half double crochet, the double crochet, the treble crochet and the double treble crochet, but I have yet to upload the photos!) after the first week - not too shabby, eh? And here is my very first completed 'project' - a dishcloth:

because I don't think I have enough to do...

I've decided to take an online crochet class! I've wanted to learn crochet and knitting for some time now - I bought a couple of books and gave it a go on my own last year - I stumbled upon Dana's blog, Craftyminx, and there was a post for Crochet School! Can't wait to give it another try!

FRED...

Let me introduce you to 'Fred', a progressive card that my crafty Tweeps & I made for Sue. If you have just happened upon this post (perhaps because my feed came up in your reader and showed that I posted for the first time in months?!?!?), start back over here at Lydia's blog for the back story & hop along with us 

1) Lydia Fiedler -  2) Dana Keith 3) Mary Dawn Quirindongo 4) Leslie Hanna 5) Lisa Adametz 6) Michelle Hanway 7) Dreena Guptil 8) Tara Liddicoat (you are here)

See how he came together (below) just before he went to Sue:

This was a bit of a tough project for me... if you've followed the hop then you've see Fred in his various stages... what one thing to add? I thought of flowers because of the pretty butterfly, but the combinations I tried all seemed to overwhelm. I loved the lace and pearls in the middle, and I didn't really want to cover up much more of the pretty patterned papers by stamping another image, so I tried tying a pretty bow in some taffeta ribbon, but that was also a little too 'much', if you know what I mean? I settled for a little ruffled ribbon... I think it added a pretty, soft touch - a nice way to send off Fred.

what I've been doing...

Playing with all my new SU! goodies!!  That's right... It's the most wonderful time of the SU! year... the new catalogue went live on July 1st, and I've been playing with my preorder goodies, making up samples for my groups and classes:

This card uses the new taffeta ribbon in Daffodil Delight, and that beautiful hydrangea image is a Level 1 hostess set! The kraft Crumb Cake card front is embossed with our new square lattice embossing folder... I just love the wonderful deep impressions you get with these folders!

Here, I decided to let the gorgeous new designer paper be the star of the show... just accented with a ruffle of Chocolate Chip satin ribbon and a scalloped oval punch.

This card uses the reinker float or reinker spread technique, made popular by Crystal French, that has gone viral on the web.  It's really very simple: emboss your image in white on SU! shimmery white cardstock, then spritz the image liberally with water - the water will pool within the embossed lines of your image. Put a drop or two of reinker (I used Pink Pirouette for this one, but I've seen beautiful combinations of colours if you Google 'reinker spread technique') on a piece of acetate and touch the tip of your aquapainter to it and then touch the inked tip of the aquapainter to the pools of water on your image... Watch the magic happen! I went over a couple of areas again to give the darker colour since I wanted to do a single colour image.

This card is not all SU!... it uses up some of an SEI paper pack that I had was given awhile ago and am just now breaking into.  I thought the shiny patterned paper could be the star of the show (although it was a little hard to get a photo to show it accurately!) with just a little ruffled ribbon and a sentiment from the new SU! level 3 hostess set, Occasional Greetings. I must say that I think this is my new favourite way to add ribbon to a project without the bulk of a knot or a bow - it just adds that little something!