The (first) Finished Journal 🤓📓

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at my first journal. 😊

There will be lots of pictures…so you might wanna grab a cup of coffee or tea, sit back, and (hopefully) enjoy 😃

This one is different than the first pages I showed you last week. I took a bound book, and worked on those pages.

The book I chose was ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Here it is with a few pages of coffee-stained paper…

The inside cover

On the left is a piece of handmade paper I found in a Thrift Shop. I made envelopes, pockets and tags – you’ll find them, and some original illustrations, throughout the journal…

The back-inside cover

Here are some tags and inserts…

All of them have a decorated front, and a blank back…lots of room for writing and doodling 😍

In the end I felt that the vintage look of the inside didn’t really match the plastic-y cover. So I gave it a new cover 😁 What do you think?

This is the end of my ‘ Show and Tell’ 😅 I hope you enjoyed the little trip into the Wonderland. Did you? A little note in the comments would be greatly appreciated! 💕

I’ll see you soon! Take care! 🤗

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A Collage For A New Mom 😍

Hello my lovely friends 💕

I hope you’re doing well, and have a happy spring in your step on this lovely Monday!

Today I wanna show you the collage I made for my daughter, a new Mom 😊

You may remember…in January we welcomed little Georgia Mae to the world. I’m happy to report that she’s a very happy, smiley baby 🥰

Here she is with her beautiful Mommy

So, since January I’ve been collecting little Mom/Baby related snippets, with the idea of somehow combining it all into a memento. It was just an idea in the back of my mind…until last Thursday. That’s when I came across a canvas hiding in a closet in my craft room. 😁

That, my hodgepodge of calendar pages, pictures, poems, doilies, a vintage music sheet,tissue paper, and some ModPodge* came together beautifully for this collage.

Here’s a detail – I love these little poems 💖

I started by covering the canvas with one sheet of tissue paper, arranged and glued down the pictures, then secured and coated everything with ModPodge*. Done! Easy Peasy 😅

Did this inspire you to make your own memento-collage? Please let me know…I’d love to hear/read about it! 💕

Have a fabulous day! 😎🌻🌞

*no affiliation with PLAID

What Do You Do When The Crojo Is Lost?

Hello my lovely friends 💕

I hope this finds you well! 😊

The question in the title line was one I asked myself many, many times over the last few weeks. And it’s also the reason why I took a timeout from writing for you.

I did try hard to get it back. I searched high and low for inspiration…spent WAY too much time on Pinterest 🙈 I dug deep into my creative pool – and my yarn stash 😁 – and came up empty.

What to do, what to do?

Then it hit me…I don’t HAVE to crochet. There might be other pretty things inside me waiting to be made. 😊

During my hours on Pinterest I saw many gorgeous handmade journals. Beautiful pieces of art, and creativity. I found myself going back to them over and over. I finally felt that little spark of inspiration 😍

I read about ‘Smash Books’ – it’s like a scrapbook, but not. It’s messy, it’s colorful, it’s awesome! 😅 You just take a ready-made journal or loose pages (to be bound later on) and start painting, cutting, glueing down any- and everything that strikes your fancy.

It’s completely new territory for me. I’ve never done mixed media, plus it’s an exercise in patience. See, you can’t just sit down and start or go out buy some supplies and begin the creative journey.

There is some legwork involved 🤪 and, I have to say it again, patience. Not really my thing 😅 so definitely a learning curve!

I visited our Antique Mall, and numerous thrift stores for old books, magazines, note- and greeting cards etc.

In between collecting these pretty things I coffee-stained paper. This is quite an exciting process. Even though I did it the same way every time, each page comes out differently.

Wanna see?

Pretty cool, huh? 😁

After a week of successful hunting and gathering the journal making began.

Here are my first attempts…

What I did, but will do differently from now on – I picked a theme for each signature.

What’s a signature you ask…I know I did 😊 A signature is a stack of loose papers (usually 5 or 6 sheets) that will be bound together to be combined into a book.

Anyway – I find that making themed signatures is a bit stifling…and time consuming. I’ll let you know, but I have a feeling that going with the inspiration, and combining snippets as you come across them, will be more fun. We’ll see 😊

So… I think it’s safe to say I found something I love to do 😍

Until next time 💕

Crochet Painting, Tulips, and ‘The Never-Ending Ruffle’ – WIP Wednesday 😊🧶🌷

Hello my lovely friends 💕

While it’s been a couple of turbulent weeks (weather wise) I’ve been calmly wielding my crochet hook…thanks to the ‘Great British Baking Show’ – yes,I’m addicted 🙈

I have to admit though, that when they announce ‘5 more minutes’, and the music gets faster…so does my crochet hook 😅 Not so calm then!

So I’ve been building my inventory for the Fall-/Winter Craft Shows – but I leave that for another post.

Today I wanna show you my current two WIPs – huh, only 2 😳, somehow that seems wrong, but nevertheless here we are with 2. 😉

This here is my second ‘Crochet Painting’ – I named it “Let’s go for a walk”

I hope you’re able to recognize something 😬

I’m quite pleased with the tree

The first one I made still needs blocking and framing (don’t know yet what I’m gonna do about that since it’s quite large)

Do you see the sunset? 😊

The second WIP – a multicolored shawl, that came out a bit bigger than planned (it’s about 60″ wide) – is almost done…if I can ever finish the ruffle-border.

Not an easy task, since it’s 3 treble-crochet per stitch 🙃 All around 😅

Since it’s a happy Springtime shawl – I had to include some tulips 🌷

Aren’t they adorable? 😍

If you have a project in mind that is missing some tulips – here’s how you make them 😁

Crochet – Tulips

Number of stitches: Multiple of 3, +1

Row 1 – Attach the green yarn to the end of a row. Ch 3. Yo. Skip 1 stitch, 1 dc in next stitch.

Ch3. 1 dc in same stitch. Yo. *skip 2 stitches, 1dc in next stitch. Ch3, 1 dc in same stitch.

Repeat from * until there are 2 stitches left. Dc in last stitch. Fasten off.

Row 2 – Attach new (flower) color to the top of the last dc. Ch3. *Work 5 dc in the ch-3 space. Remove hook. Insert hook into the top 2 loops of the first dc of the ‘group’

Pick up the working loop and pull through. Ta-da – Tulip made 😃

Ch 3. Repeat from * until all the spaces are filled. Dc in top ch of beginning ch.

Fasten off.

Row 3 – Attach new color. Ch2. Work row in dc, by working 3 hdc in the ch-3 space, and 1 hdc in the first sc on top of the tulip

And there you have it. A beautiful row of happy tulips. 😍

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. 😊💕

Now I’m off – gotta see what the bakers in the tent are up to…and (hopefully) finish those ruffles! 😄

Take good care of yourself! Until next time 💕

7 Craft ~ Show ~ Ideas – Free Crochet Patterns

Hello my lovely friends & Happy May 💕

Wow…May already! I don’t know where the time has gone, but one thing is clear…if it keeps up this pace I’m gonna be in trouble come ‘Craft Show Time’ 😬

In case you feel the same way, here are some super-cute ideas to help you along. 😊

Or maybe you temporarily misplaced your ‘Crojo’ (happens to all of us), and are looking for a fun project to get you back into the swing of things 🥰

All of these projects are, besides really cute, pretty easy – yes, even the elephant 😅

Okay…here we go!

1) I found this lovey on ‘A Purpose And A Stitch’ and you can find the pattern ➡️ here

(Image: A Purpose And A Stitch *)

2) I’m obsessed with this Boho Bag from ‘Make And Do Crew’ 😍 It’s at the top of my crochetlist! The beautiful pattern is one click away….right here

(Image: Make and Do Crew *)

3. The pattern for this adorable zippered pouch includes the instructions on how to put the ‘zipper’ in ‘zippered’ 😁 and is designed by Loops & Love

The pattern is ➡️ here

(Image: Loops & Love *)

4. I will definitely be making numerous of these nifty little things from ‘The Roving Nomad’ 😃 The super-easy pattern is right behind ➡️ here

(Image: The Roving Nomad *)

5. The pattern for these little baskets is from This Little Street

(Image: This Little Street *)

6. This hat! 😍 Not something you’ll see all the time! That made my list…Gotta have one! 😊

If you do too…click right here ➡️ beautifulcrochetstuff

(Image: beautifulcrochetstuff *)

7. This beautiful Market-Bag is designed by ‘Maker Crate’. You can find a detailed Step-by-Step tutorial here

(Image: Maker Crate *)

That’s it for now…but I’ll keep looking 🤓

Have a marvelous day! 💕

Happy Crocheting 🧶

*I have no affiliation with the designers/websites

Behind The Scenes 😎🧶☃️

Hello my lovely friends 💕 How have you been? I hope all is well in your neck of the woods 😊

All is good here…except we’re all getting a bit cabin-feverish. It’s so, so cold 🥶 ☃️

The recent snow brought us some beautiful scenery

But we’re ready for Spring-flowers – so today I turned my ‘ Jim Shore’ pillow over. From ‘Winter’ to ‘ Summer’! I hope Mother Nature will get the hint, and we’ll get at least the average temperatures for this time of year! 🌞🌷🌷

🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷

I’ve suffered from a touch of ‘bloggers block’ lately 😕 I’m not sure it’s over, but I won’t know until I try. Right? Maybe some pictures with comments to get back into the groove of things? Okay…here we go 😁

While the Laptop got a bit dusty, the crochet hooks were quite busy.

I made another vest

The new cardigan ‘Opposites attract’ 😃

I like the idea of two different-color halves…so there may be quite a few of them in the future 😉

The second one is already in the works…

And I have an idea for a third one…

The sun came around the corner just as I snapped the picture, so it’s hard to tell that the right side is a deep black. I’m not complaining though…just saying she could’ve waited another second 😎

It’s not the best picture, but you get the idea of the colorway 😊

The big fail for last month was this coat…

I loved it while I made it, kinda liked it when I tried it on (it’s heavy!), and started to get an uneasy feeling about it when I put it on the mannequin and started taking pictures 🤦🏻‍♀️

It stayed on the mannequin for a few days…then the decision was made – it has to come apart. And I wasn’t even upset – I guess that’s a sign that it was the right choice! 🙃

Notes to self:

1. Bulky yarn is not the perfect yarn for long coats (it gets reeaally heavy)

2. Do not use the Double-crochet stitch, especially when placed between stitches, when

working with bulky yarn (the stitches pull apart)

3. Don’t weave in ends until you’re 100% sure that the piece is perfect! It’s much, much easier to take something apart when the ends are still dangling

And last but not least…Georgia Mae’s blanket is finished 🥰 Big yawn…I guess it’s quite cozy…

Now it’s back to one of the WIPs 🤩

I hope you have a wonderful week! 💕

A Creative Weekend

Hello my lovely friends 💕

After the hectic holidays I treated myself to a wonderful creative weekend.

I had a few things to finish…like this Pixie 🧚🏼‍♀️ Scoodie

I had a few rows to crochet on the scarf part, and then I made the PomPoms.
Now, I have to say, even if you’re not a fan of the LionBrand Homespun Yarn, you have to admit that it makes awesome PomPoms 😊

If you wanna love the yarn, but are struggling with it, check out Robin’s post on her blog Imperial Crochet.  She made a beautiful hat/scarf set out of said yarn, and has a few tips on how to work with it.

Next was my Boho Vest (yes, my Christmas Decorations are still up  😁)

Fun fact: Since I splurged on some handspun yarn from the ‘Lake of the Ozarks’ region  (4 skeins to be exact) this vest may very well be now the most expensive piece of clothing in my closet 🙈 Who’d a thunk it?
I really, really like it though – so it was worth it.

Since I started wearing more vests to spruce up some boring sweaters, I decided to make another (more economic 😆 ) one.
If you look closer, the bottom part (the Ozark yarn) is knitted, and the rows are vertical.
I basically knitted 3 panels, and picked up stitches on the longer side.
I actually like to do it this way…no more math to figure out the stitch count. I just knit/crochet up until it’s the right length, or width in that case.
I hope this makes sense!

And that’s exactly what I’m doing for the new one, except I will make the strip long enough for the back and both front panels…no seams to close 😎
This time I’m doing the ‘Basketweave Stitch’ – my first time! And I love it…I can’t believe it took me this long to try it.

Have you done anything in this stitch? If you haven’t and would like to know more, please let me know – I always love to help 😍

And – since I feel my String Painting definitely needs improving, I dabbled a bit in paint.
My hat’s off to the kids that did this in Elementary School! There is – at least for me – a steep learning curve. Like making sure that all the excess paint is stripped off the string, and ‘don’t apply to much pressure’!

If you like to see more…don’t go anywhere 😁 I took a few pictures of the process

Squirt some paint in a glass dish or on a plate, and dip your string in the paint until it’s covered all around. Take of the excess paint (I held up the doubled up string, and with thumb and forefinger of the other hand grabbed it, squeezed, and pulled up)

Lay out the strings

Cover it – I like to cover it with another piece of drawing paper (that way you’ll have two images 😃) and a book. Apply some pressure, gather the strings at the bottom, and voilá

Not bad…but I will keep practicing 😊

Well, that was it for me 🤓 Did you have a wonderful weekend, doing things you love?
I sure hope so!

Until next time 💕