Crochet patterns

After many requests, I have finally written patterns for some of my newborn photo props. I am so excited about opening a Ravelry store, just about as much as I was when I opened my Etsy shop 2 years ago. That's when I started designing newborn hats, cocoons, slings and baby blankets. The patterns are fairly easy to follow, and explanations of the stitches are included with each pattern. Plus, you are welcome to sell what you make!! I currently have 3 patterns listed for sale, two cocoons and one sling. They are available on Ravelry as well a in my Etsy shop in the Patterns section. I have a few hat patterns written, but they just need to be tested before I can list them for sale.

Free Worldwide Shipping - 3 days only

I'm offering free worldwide shipping this weekend from Friday, June 25 thru Sunday June27 on everything in my shop! Take advantage and stock up on hats, cocoons and other photo props.

So excited!!

I'm so excited and honored to have been chosen by Babble.com as one of the Top 50 Etsy Moms!! It must have been a tough decision, there are so many great shops on Etsy. Take a look at the list, I'm sure you'll find a new shop to add to your favorites.

Photo Prop Giveaway!

To celebrate 2 years on Etsy, I'm having a giveaway! All customers who make a purchase in my Etsy shop from Monday, April 12 - Friday, April 16 will be entered into a draw for my Chunky Upright Sling, a $40.00 value!!

Thank you to Nicole Everson for this beautiful image of the sling.

New shop!

I'm so excited because I've just opened a second Etsy shop, Brooklin Girl! Its soon to be full of crocheted goodies to accessorize your home. I currently have coasters, dishcloths, felted bowls and napkin rings available for sale. I am looking forward to adding some afghans and throws, but my Bubblegirl shop is keeping me very busy. That shop has had quite a year, I've almost reached 1600 sales in 18 months which might explain why I haven't posted here since last March. I'm really enjoying making some different things for the new shop. I was so happy to see that my one of my felted coaster sets made it to the front page on Etsy only a few days after the new shop opened!!

New year, new design

Happy New Year!! I ended the year on a high note by celebrating my 200th sale on Etsy. I'm pretty pleased about that since my original goal was to reach 100 sales in my first year. I opened my shop in May 2008, so I've doubled my goal in a little over 7 months. I'm now hoping to reach 300 sales by my 1 year anniversary. I spent some of my holidays working on a new baby hat design. It's a folded brim baby cap that's decorated with a little flower. I currently have 3 colors available in the shop.

Chocolate Brown

Sweet Cream

Pretty in Pink

FREE SHIPPING!!!

I'm offering FREE SHIPPING all weekend long, from Friday November 28 thru Monday December 1st. Check out my shop for all your winter accessories, scarves , hats , mitts, and cute little baby items.

Earth Tones

Most of the baby items in my shop are pastel "baby colors". I never intended it to be that way when I started...I wanted to make things in non traditional baby colors. Well, it didn't turn our that way because I fell in love with a certain cotton yarn that is only available in pastels. This week I decided to try a 50/50 cotton acrylic blend yarn. It feels just like 100% cotton, and this one comes in a variety of colors. So far love it, and have made a baby tassel hat, a pair of booties, and a pair of mittens all in the same brown taupe color. I have found that customers like to have coordinating pieces to choose from. I'll be purchasing some navy blue tomorrow for a custom order, but still have to find chocolate brown. Unfortunately, this particular yarn does not come in that color.

I can't believe it!

I'm so excited, I made it onto Etsy's front page! My new flowered scarf was included in this treasury, Buy ALL your scarves here!!, curated by Raghouse International. Thank you so much Raghouse and congrats to all the others included!

My new model

I've started using models to photograph my kids' hats and I think the photos look pretty good. I recently designed a new earflap baby hat and wanted to use a model for it as well. But...I don't have access to a newborn baby so I decided to use this little cutie. My daughter received it on her first birthday, and it's head is just the right size for these cute little hats. I think it worked out pretty well..I sold a hat the first day it was listed. I will be offering this hat in pink as well and it should be in the shop sometime this week.

New hats for fall

I spent this past weekend making some new hats for fall. I now have a larger "big kid" version of my Baby Hat with Tassels that has been so popular in my shop. I think they look pretty cute, I'll have to wait and see if anyone else likes them.

I'm also adding some more brimmed hats to the shop and have included some for boys!

I got my labels!

I am so happy with the fabric labels I purchased from MommieMadeIt on Etsy. They match my exact specifications perfectly and are so easy to sew into my knitted and crocheted items. One of them is shown here sewn into my new baby jacket. I will definitely purchase more of these!

Here's another photo of the baby jacket.

Treasuries!!

I have been so fortunate this week to be included in 3 Etsy treasuries. The first one, "Nature Babies", was curated by Etsyknitter teammate brendaml. My new blue baby mittens are in the second row.

The second one, "School Daze", was curated by another EtsyKnitter, blazingneedles. My yellow backpack is in the third row.

The third, "Etsy Hookers Can Cover Your Head", is by fellow EtsyHoooker noradora. My flowered chocolate beanie is in the bottom row.

A big thanks to all of you!!!

I also managed to grab a treasury myself that showcases the wonderfully talented members of the EtsyHoookers Team. Here it is, "Look what hookers can do!"

Handmade Kids

I've mentioned before on this blog about the Handmade Kids contest Etsy is having right now. Well, the finalists were named yesterday and one of my fellow Etsyhookers teammates made the finals!!

This custom letter pillow from Laura of Laura's Left Hook is a finalist in the Home Decor category. Laura has many great crocheted items in her shop, she is so talented and I'm so happy her work is being recognized. Oh, and the prize, besides bragging rights....a $350.00 Etsy shopping spree, just in time for Christmas!

You have to be registered on Etsy to be able to vote in the contest. There are 7 categories in total and lots of great items to be found.

Good Luck Laura!!!

Etsy Purchases

I know there are alot of blogs that feature Etsy sellers, well I thought I would feature items that I have actually purchased on Etsy. So far I have been extremely happy with everything I've bought. My new obsession has been handmade soaps, and there are so many shops on Etsy to chooose from. If you take a look at my "favorites" on Etsy, a good chunk of them will be soap.

I just finished off this bar of Lemon Grass Apricot Scrub I purchased from Lily Pond Soaps and I loved it.


I've now moved on to this Pure Romance Shea Butter Bar from Anderson Soap Co. and my skin has never felt so soft.

I was so happy to receive this handmade play dough from Do Si Dough last week. I also purchased some in pink so each of my kids could have one in their favorite color. Well, they were a big hit! With all the rain we've been getting here this summer, I really needed some new indoor activities. Even though they have played with the store bought dough before, this was completely different. They sat at the kitchen table with this dough for three hours!! And, of course, they have asked for more.

My latest purchase was for some custom made fabric labels I'm going to sew into my knitted and crocheted items that I have for sale on Etsy. I found them at Mommiemadeit, a terrific shop on Etsy. I couldn't believe how quickly I received a proof of my order. It was ready the day after I made the purchase and was based soley on the message I left in the "message to seller". The design looks exaclty like I wanted it to, with the fonts and colors I requested. And, the labels were shipped out the very next day!! Talk about great service, I can't wait to get them! I'll post photos when they arrive.

Cuteable!

My Baby Blanket Gift Set is featured on Cuteable today! I applied about a month ago and hadn't heard back so I just assumed I hadn't been accepted. I was so excited to receive the email notifying me that one of my items is on there today!

http://cuteable.com/

From start to finish

I thought I would show the step by step process I used to make my latest baby blanket. This Wonder Dreams blanket was crocheted in blue and green cotton yarn, with a white trim. All knit or crochet projects begin the same way, with a ball of yarn and a needle or hook. In this case a 5mm crochet hook and several balls of Bernat Cottontots yarn.

The blanket is made up of 25 6"x6" squares; 9 blue, 4 green, and 12 granny squares that are a combination of blue and green with a white edge.

Once all the squares were made, I crocheted them together with white yarn to form strips 5 squares long. They could also have been sewed together, but I prefer the look of the crocheted border around each square. I ended up with 5 strips that then had to be joined to form the body of the blanket. I then crocheted a white border around the entire blanket.

If you ask most knitters or crocheters (or hookers as we are known) what they like least about their craft, most of them would say, "weaving in the ends". I am no different, this was the most time consuming part of this project. As you can see in the photo there were ALOT of ends to weave in. The more color changes there are, the more ends there are too. I hope this makes you appreciate all the work that goes into making something that has many different colors. It would have been harder for me if all the squares were granny squares instead of plain. I have made many blankets with all granny squares and it has taken days just to weave in the ends.

It was worth all the effort, here is the finished product a 31"x31" baby blanket.

First try at pattern writing

I have been thinking about putting my patterns down on paper. I have them all written down in some form, mostly drawings and shorthand that only I can understand. I think it takes alot of skill to be able to write a pattern that other people can understand and follow. I have decided to start off with a very simple pattern and am posting it here in the hopes that someone will try it and give me some feedback. I would like to know if it is readable and if it needs any corrections. All critiques will be much appreciated.

The patttern is for a soap cover that I designed for my kids. I have a couple of them for sale in my Etsy shop and I also made one for myself that I use all the time.

The soap in the photo was purchased from Lily Pond Soaps. If you would like to purchase this Citrus Bubbles Shea Butter soap, visit http://www.lilypondsoaps.etsy.com/

Bubblegirl's Soap Cover

Designed by Lisa Charbonneau

Materials:

Size H (5mm) crochet hook

Worsted weight cotton yarn - 1 skein (50g)

Size:

5.5" x 3"

Skill Level:

Easy

Instructions:
Row 1: Ch 28, hdc in 2nd ch from hook, *sk 1 ch, hdc in next ch, repeat from * to end; ch 2 turn.

Row 2: Sk 1st hdc, hdc in next ch 1 sp *ch 1 sk next hcd, hdc in next ch 1 sp, repeat from * to end; ch 2 turn.

Rows 3 - 16: Repeat Row 2.

Finish off.

Sew bottom and side seam, or sc them together instead of sewing.

Top Edging:
Join yarn with a ss near seam at top, ch 1 and sc evenly around top of soap cover.

Drawstring:
Ch 70. Ss in 2nd ch from hook, ss in each ch to end. Fasten off.
Thread drawstring through holes in the third frow from top as shown in photo. Tie drawstring as shown.

Abbreviations:

ch=chain

ss=slip stitch

sc=single crochet

hdc=half double crochet

sk=skip

sp=space

The Storque

I just noticed tonight that one of my items has been included in an Etsy Storque article. The article is about the Handmade Kids contest Etsy is having right now. I'm not eligible to enter the contest because I'm not a U.S. resident, I'm from Canada. But, Etsy will be featuring a special gift guide for international sellers of children's items. I'm so excited that one of my baby blankets has been featured in the article, sometimes they get put on the front page of Etsy. I'm crossing my fingers, I've never been on the front page, but I hear it gives your shop great exposure.

That's my Forest Squares Blanket in the center of the bottom row.

New baby blanket

I recently finished a new baby blanket I designed and I'm so happy with how it turned out. It took alot longer to make than I thought it would, but it was worth it! It's my favorite blanket so far and I'm planning on making a "boy" version with blue and green squares. It's made with 100% cotton yarn which is great because it's not only very soft and lightweight, but also machine washable...very important for baby items.

I also purchased a crochet pattern for booties from Etsy seller Sylver. I have my own design for knitted booties which I sell in a gift set, but I'm not quite as experienced with crocheting booties. So, I received permission from Sylver to sell the booties in my shop, how great is that! She has lots of great deigns and also sells finished products in her shop too, http://www.sylver.etsy.com/