Just be happy!

2009-12-22T14:19:00.000-08:00

I'm usually an uplifting person and I try to be positive, but some days things just don't seem to go the way we want... I was having one of those days when I received a message from Ruth letting me know that I was the winner of her giveaway. It totally made my day, specially when I received a set of beautiful Chrismtas ornaments made by her. The snowflake was hand crocheted, the ornaments are simply gorgeous!

Thank you so much, Ruth. I love the ornaments from the bottom of my heart! By the way, you and your family are in my prayers. Please visit her blog and leave a message if you have a chance, Ruth and her family are going through a very rough time right now.

2009-12-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

First, happy Sunday! I hope all of you are having a great weekend.

Well, now I'm here to show a picture of the slippers I made. The white one I crocheted and sent to my one skein yarn gift exchange partner. I hope she likes it! Note: the little flower is purple, I just wasn't able to get a better shot.

I also made these ones, the pink is for mother-in-law and the green is for my husband's uncle's wife. Now I'm working on a royal blue one for a friend. The hook has been smokin' and the fingers are sore! hehehe

2009-12-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello!

I have mentioned before about the personalized ornament I purchased to celebrate Lucas' first Christmas, but I didn't show it to you guys, so this morning the thought crossed my mind and before it went away I grabbed my camera and snapped a shot of it. Isn't it cute?

Oh... today was a busy day... I took Lucas to see my brother-in-law, he asked me to bring him by, so I did and left Lucas with him for a little bit while I went to a Michael's store to get some yarn for two custom hats I have to make tonight. After Michael's I picked up Lucas and we went to a coffee shop where some of the moms of the mommy & baby group were to trade one of my hats for this little alien - the monkey was made by the same person (she has some super super cute stuffed toys!) , but I bought that one from her to put in Lucas stocking along with a hat made by me, of course. hehehe

In the afternoon I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned... oh, did laundry too... LOL

And here is a picture (not very good, sorry) of the amiguri toys I have been making lately. Boy, I am hooked! These little guys are so much fun and I have a whole bunch of them bookmarked. They are all free patterns from Lion Brand's website. I plan on making tons of toys and baby hats for next year's fair, I don't think I was very well prepared this year, so I'll make sure that next year things are perfect. ;o)

I forgot to tell you guys, but last week I went to a cookie party exchange, it was the first time I went to one and it was awesome! We (well, mostly my husband - I'm still dieting and I've lost 18lbs so far) had a wide variety of cookies and I just had to make one kind!

Mmmmm... now I better go, I'll host a playdate here tomorrow and I want to bake some cookies to offer to my guests.

Cheers!

Baby Beanie Hat with Bear Ears Free Pattern

2009-12-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

Another week has started, which means that Christmas is getting close and since this is the time of the year when we are more giving, I decided to write the pattern for the baby beanie hat with bear ears, so you can make some of these cute hats and keep the littles ones all warm and cozy!

I know that there are several patterns out there, but I made up my own, I had my little guy close and I tried the beanie on as I was crocheting and since I ended up making so many of these, I know the pattern by heart.

This is a quick and easy project, you won't need a lot of yarn and it makes a great stocking stuffer! (Hey, if you don't crochet, but you still love these, they are available in my etsy shop!)

Yarn: Vanna's Choice (Aran weight)

Hook: US size H/5.00mm

Stitches:

Chain: ch
Slip Stitch: sl st
Half Double Crochet: hdc
Single Crochet: sc

Ch 4, join with a sl st to form a ring.
Round 1: 10 hdc
Round 2: 20 hdc
Round 3: Increase one hdc every 3 stitches, total 27 hdc
Round 4: Increase one hdc every 3 stitches, total 36 hdc
Round 5: Increase one hdc evry 9 sticthes, total 40 hdc
Round 6 - 15: One hdc in each stitch from the previous round.
Fasten off. Weave in.

Ear (make 2):

Ch 3, join with a sl st to form a ring. (It will be tight!)
Row 1: 5 sc
Row 2: 2 sc, 3 sc in the same st, 2 sc (total 8 sc)
Row 3: 1 sc in each st (8 sc total)
Row 4: 2 sc in the same st, 6 sc, 2 sc in the same st (total 10 sc)
Row 5: 1 sc in each st of previous row.
* Leave a long tail so you can attach the ears to the beanie hat.

Note: if you want the inside of the ear to be in a different color, make row 1 and 2 with a different color yarn.

Enjoy!

2009-12-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hello there bloggers!

Today was finally able to sit down and finish the slippers that will be given to my hubby's grandma for Christmas. Initially I was going to make them just blue, but in the end I decided to make the cuffs white and add the flowers, I think they look better this way. What a fun little project to make, I can see myself making more of these in the future, but it really will have to be in the future... because I need to make new items for my etsy shop, it has been abandoned since I have been busy making Christmas presents and hats.

Oh, talking about hats... I was able to sell some at the Christmas party yesterday (which was lots of fun, by the way) and also a couple of custom orders placed and had some people that seem to be interested in my work, so I hope to have some more sales soon!

Right now I'm sitting on my couch, the Christmas tree lights are on and I am looking at the snow falling outside, it's so beautiful! I just hope it doesn't last too long because I afraid of driving if there is snow on the ground... heheheh

Have a wonderful week, everyone.

Zoo Lights

2009-12-12T18:46:00.001-08:00

The day today was awesome! In the morning Lucas and I went to the mom & baby Christmas party, it was fun, I was chatting with the other moms, I sold some hats (yay!), Lucas was crawling around... at night our little family went to our city's zoo to see the Christmas lights, it was beautiful!

It was cold, but we had hot cocoa that warmed us up, and Lucas was dressed warm, so we really had a good time.
Have a great Sunday, my friends.

2009-12-10T16:03:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to show you one of my WIP. I'm making this slipper to give to my husband's grandma as a Christmas present since she really cold all the time, I think this will be the perfect gift. It's a free pattern that can be found here.

Other than that I made another little hat today and I have a custom order for an orage/green one, the hook is smokin'!

Hats, hats and more hats!

2009-12-09T15:15:00.000-08:00

I know you might be tired of my hats, but I have nothing else to show you other than hats, I am sorry. The black is a basic beanie that I made to put in my husband's stocking and the other two little beanie with ears are for the Christmas party on Saturday.

It seems like the days go by way too fast lately. This morning I got up, did laundry, picked up around the house, fed and dressed Lucas, then we went to the produce stand, to the store to pick up his Christmas present, got gas, then we went to the post office... oh that was something else... the line was huge and the price of the postage to send the package to Brazil was almost the same as the amount of money I spent buying the gifts... oh well. Anyhow, the post office was so busy that I ended up having to come back home to feed Lucas some lunch and for his nap, which wasn't the original plan... I still need to go to Costco to have my Christmas cards printed out. I need more time!!! LOL

Cheers!

WOW!

2009-12-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

24 HOURS OF MADNESS: 50% off of your order (excluding shipping) - refund will be issued to your paypal.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

*Offer ends on 12/09/2009 at 2:00 PM (PST)

2009-12-07T15:48:00.000-08:00

Hi!

This morning I took Lucas to a playdate, it was fun, there were 4 other kids + their moms and the host had planned a Christmas art project for us to do with our babies, so it was a ton of fun. With some washable brown paint we pressed one foot and the two little hands on the paper and glued a little nose and wiggly eyes and ta-dah, a reindeer was created! hehehe. I think this was a pretty cute idea and it was something quick and easy to do with an infant. Now every time I look at my fridge I smile at this: My weekend was more productive than I expected it would be, I was able to make all of these hats that I'll be bringing to the mom & baby group Christmas party next weekend.

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

2009-12-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

This morning we delivered some cookies, it was so cold and windy outside, but we stopped at a coffee shop drive thru and got coffee to warm ourselves up and then visited some family member to give them their Christmas cookies. We didn't have time to deliver all of them, but I'm sure happy we started. And here is a picture of the baby hats I have been working on. Right now I'm crocheting a light pink one, but I don't think I'll be able to have a huge assortment by next Saturday, due to the fact that I have only been able to make one a day, oh well...

Have a good Sunday everyone!

2009-12-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

Today was an awesome day, I must say. In the morning Lucas and I went to the the Victorian Country Christmas fair, there were lots of beautiful tree ornaments, decorations for the house, food, lots and lots of things. I just bought one ornament that was personalized for Lucas' first Christmas and also bought him a hoodie - nothing for me or my husband, it's funny how we don't think about ourselves after we have kids.

Anyhow, in the afternoon, after Lucas' nap, we went to the waterfront and took a nice picture for our Christmas cards, this will be the first time we have a picture card, we were waiting to have our little one to do that (I'm so happy!), after that we got our tree, then we went to Michaels to get tins for the cookies.

Once we got home, my husband took care of putting the tree up and adding the lights, while he was doing that I placed the cookies in the tins and labeled them, then I started decorating the tree (with a nice big cup of apple cider!) I am totally in the holiday spirit!

Oh, I can't finish this post without showing you a picture of the rubber duckie washcloths that I received today in the mail. I think they are absolutely adorable, the party will be a hit if things keep going like this. Don't you think?

2009-12-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

I have been baking cookies like a mad woman, seriously. My hubby and I were talking and we figured it would be nice to start the tradition of baking Christmas cookies and giving them to our family & friends. So... I have made M&M's cookies, chocolate chocolate chip cookies, caramel shortbread, lemon squares, and today I baked and decorated sugar cookies.

This was the very first time that I ever decorated sugar cookies, and I have to tell you that I now appreciate it even more. It's so HARD and it takes FOREVER! heheheh, I will sure make more cookies, but I really don't know if I'll be decorating them again... however, I had a friend over for the baking/decorating today and we were able to chat, so it was fun.

The cookies in the picture are the ones I decorated, I'm not going to show you the ones that my friend made because then you will be able to compare them, and I tell ya, hers were gorgeous!

I hope everyone is as happy and excited this holiday season as I am. Cheers!

Another Shrug!

2009-12-01T15:07:00.000-08:00

Yes - I made another shrug, this one is a bit different than the previous one. This is a "V" stitch shrug, so it's tighter and the ruffles are a little bigger too. I love it!

Since I had a couple of people asking me how the back of the shrug looks like, here is a picture!

And another picture, just because...

I don't know if any of my followers live here in the state of Washington, but if you do and you have some time to spare, make sure to go to the Victorian Country Christmas at the Western Washington Fairgrounds. It starts on Wednesday and goes until next Sunday. It's a lot of fun, plus all my scarves, some neckwarmers and hats will be there!

Cheers!

My own wreath

2009-11-28T16:23:00.000-08:00

Today I finished this crochet wreath for my home. I am excited, I think it's beautiful and I am proud that I made something for my own home. :o)

Have a wonderful Sunday!

SALE

2009-11-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

BLACK FRIDAY through CYBER MONDAY SALE in my Etsy shop ~ I'm offering free worldwide shipping! Plus, 10% off of your first item and 25% off of your second item (equal or less value), which will be refunded to your paypal account. To visit my etsy shop, just click HERE.

This is your chance to pick up some great handmade Christmas gifts!

Happy Shopping!

2009-11-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to show you guys the shrug I made last night after baby Lucas went to bed. The idea came from an episode of the TV show "Uncommon Threads" that I had recorded in my DVR forever, but as always, I decided to add my own touch, so I made the ruffled trim.

A quick and fun project that has gotten my head spinning with ideas for new & different shrugs!

I don't have much time today, baby Lucas has an ear infection - poor little guy is not feeling too well today, plus I'm in charge of the Thanksgiving desserts and hubby asked me to make 3, so I better get started!

Before I go, I want to say what I'm thankful for today:

- my filter that allows me to have hot or cold water at any moment, very convinient to make the baby a bottle;

- the YMCA nursery staff that treat my little one so well while I exercise;
- my iPhone to keep me entertained and connect to the world any time;
- my baby's pediatrician, for being so nice and caring;

Cheers!

2009-11-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

A couple of posts ago I asked if you guys could help me with my tea problem, I'll be hosting a playdate next week and would like to offer the moms some tea, as well as apple cider, hot cocoa and a light snack. That's just how I am, I really like to have people over and I think it's nice to have something handy to offer. Well, so here I am to thank you for giving me your advice!

I bought a box of Earl Grey and a sampler pack also - I'm content now. Oh yeah, I also bought a tea box at World Market (boy, do I love that store or what?! hehe), so they can easily look and pick whatever they want. Isn't it neat? Thanksgiving is coming and my idea is to start writing about things I am thankful for, so here are just a few:

- I am thankful for you, blog friends, that are always here visiting me, leaving your kind comments, giving me your advice and encouraging me to craft more and more;

- I am thankful for the Moms & Babies group that I joined, those moms are so nice, it's great to share experiences, to go on playdates, to chat and to keep me sane;

- I am thankful for my beautiful family, for having such a loving, understand and supporting husband and for a smiley, healthy and happy baby;

Cheers!

2009-11-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends!

How have you guys been? What have you been up to? Well, we had a quiet, yet great weekend. On Saturday, my mother-in-law came over for dinner, we had salmon and clam chowder from a little place in town - so yummy and very affordable. I ended up giving her the crochet wreath, she was thrilled, I'm glad.

On Sunday my hubby, baby and I went to the thrift store to buy picture frames, we got a whole bunch of them, they are different sizes, different styles, but they will be all painted black and then they will display our family pictures on the hallway.

Well, before we went to the thrift store, I sat down by the fireplace, sipping a nice cup of hot spiced apple cider and... I crocheted, crocheted, and crocheted... how fun is that?!

I made 5 baby hats, 3 of them are for Lucas and 2 are for a friend's little girl. I have added a listing to my etsy shop where you can pick your favorite colors and I'll custom make a hat for you. These are so much fun to make.

What do you think?

I also made these two neckwarmers, the cream one was sold a little after I listed it. This is also my own design, I created it as I was crocheting and I gotta say, I really like it!

This plum one is made with eco-friendly yarn (80% acrylic, 20% post-consumer recycled polyester), besides being good to the environment, this yarn is so soft!

Have a great week everyone!

2009-11-20T19:03:00.000-08:00

Once again, the pictures are not very good, but I know I am not the only one facing the bad lighting problem. Anyways, I made a Christmas wreath to give to my mother-in-law, my idea was to make the styrofoam ring to look like candy cane and then I used a two different tones of red for the roses and added some pine green leaves. I hope she likes it!

I still want to make one for my home, I have already started working on the roses, but that's as far I've gotten. Oh, I also was able to make a hat & scarf set that will be given to a friend, so I'm excited that I'm getting some gifts done.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

2009-11-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hello, hello. I apologize for the bad picture, but it's not even 3 o'clock and it's already getting dark, which makes it very hard to get a good picture. Oh well... this one will just have to do it for now. Anyhow, the picture is of a knitted scrap scarf that I started yesterday and finished today, now I'm crocheting roses to make a couple of Christmas wreaths, one for my mother-in-law and one for me and my little family. Christmas is approaching so fast and I need to step on the gas to get some gifts made for a few friends.
Also, I have been meaning to mention that I ended up making the cabled scarf into a neckwarmer, but I still need to add buttons before I can take some pictures, so soon you will be able to see how it turned out. To be brutally honest with you, I am not crazy in love with crochet cables, maybe I should have used a thinner yarn, because it ends up being quite bulky, that's why I decided to make a neckwarmer instead of scarf, in my opinion it would be too thick for a scarf.

Oh, one more thing, I started hosting play dates, some of the moms and babies of the group I belong to come over and we chat, the kids play, it's a win-win situation. BUT I always like to have something to offer, I bake some cookies, a cake, have hot cocoa, spiced apple cider... but I know that a lot of people love to drink tea, I am not much of a tea drinker (I like coffee better), and for that reason I'd like to ask you guys what kinds of tea should I buy and have at home to offer? Please give me some ideas! Thank you in advance.

2009-11-17T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Phew! I can't believe how fast the days have gone by, it seems like forever since my last post, I really didn't mean to disappear, things simply got too busy here.

Lucas has been having a tough time since last Thursday, he hasn't been sleeping too well at night, which makes my life and my husband's life hard. Fortunally (I'm knocking on wood!) yesterday he has a better night asleep, not great, but better than the last few days.

Well, now let me show you a couple of pictures of the patchwork beanie hats that I made last weekend. They were tons of fun to make, the changing of colors is something that I really enjoy because I don't get bored!

I also made three patchwork scarves, but you know what they look like... hehehe

Oh, I was also busy setting up an etsy shop for my mother-in-law's husband, it's called D&L Engraving, he does a great engraving job, he personalizes license plates frames, name tags, he even made me a couple of signs so I could take some pictures for the shop.

That's all for now.
Have a great Tuesday!

2009-11-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

I hope everyone is doing well, I've been doing good myself. Have I mentioned that I've lost 18lbs since I began dieting? I tell you, I feel really good and excited to be getting back to what I was before pregnancies... hehehe (I'm still hungry all the time, but it's worth it!)

Yesterday a friend of mine, came over to visit, she's from the same city I am from in Brazil and she's now living with the host family I used to live when I first came to the US, so she was nice enough to bring a whole bunch of children's books (in Portuguese) that my sister bought for Lucas, now we can have tons of fun reading in the afternoons! Well, she also brought some cute handmade gifts for me. Look at them, aren't they cute? They were made by her mom, she used some kind of tree seed, I'm not really sure what kind, for the body. I think they're adorable!

Another thing I have been meaning to show you for a very long time is this baby blanket that I made for a friend of mine that's expecting. The reason I didn't show it here before because I didn't want to spoil the surprise. It's all made in the waflle stitch, it was tons of fun crocheting it.

Note: Glo is having a $50.00 gift card giveaway, make sure to visit her blog and read the rules to enter. It's a great opportunity to help people!

Have an awesome week!

2009-11-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

I decided to give this crochet cable scarf a try, I like it so far, but just haven't had much time to work on it. Hopefully tonight after I put baby to bed I'll be able to do some hookin'!

The rubber ducky obsession continues, I just received a package with the bubble bath confetti that I bought the other day. Later on, I will put them in little bags to go with the other party favors. This is just too much fun! heheeh

Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend!

2009-11-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

Today I received the little ducky soaps that I traded with another etsy seller for two of my neckwarmers. Aren't they just adorable?? (Well, I think they are!)

I have another etsy seller machine embroidering a little ducky onto washcloths, so that will be part of the party favor box that will be given on Lucas' 1st birthday. Can you tell that I am a "little" obsessed with the party planning? LOL

I started crocheting a scarf, but I'm not even going to show you because is one of those that I have made many times, even the color is the same... so, when I have something new, I'll let you guys know.

Cheers!