Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
(I was hoping to find a better picture from White Christmas...perhaps one of them singing the "Snow" song, because of all the snow in Chicago lately! But this photo will have to do for now :-)

Well, I've been a bit M.I.A. lately, but still busy crafting of course. I'm thankful to have finally sold a few items (THREE!) on my etsy site! Two of my hand-painted Koala pillows and one blue paisley shawl. And as the holidays have rolled in, I've also been blessed with a handful of custom orders for Christmas gifts and have made a few sales at my women's Bible study Christmas get-together. I've really been encouraged and feel motivated to keep on crafting :-)

I crocheted these little hand bags a few months ago, hoping to find them a home since they turned out so cute!
So far I've sold one - the olive green one with white ribbon - $25. The last two items were custom ordered coin holder key rings, perfect for those of us who like to shop at Aldi's! - $6

Enjoying Fall.....

Baby Blanket!

A few weeks ago I had a request for a baby blanket to be made for a baby boy on his way sometime in October. After looking through some patterns in my new crochet pattern book, I thought this square-looking one would work for a boy along with a little touch of blue for the border. I used one (ok, actually several) of those "angel hair" yarns...SO soft and fuzzy! (As I'm sure you can see in the photos)




















So now it's finally finished! And here it is, nicely packaged, off to it's new home! :)

Mmm...Tomato Basil Bread!

I've always loved Panera's Tomato Basil Bread so I looked for a recipe to make it at home. This one turns out great! (The first time I made it I think I put too much tomato paste in it and didn't wait long enough to let it rise because I'm SO impatient, but THIS time, I followed the directions correctly and it turned out GREAT!)

My recipe notes:
* I actually only made half the amount of the recipe, which is good for a nice smaller-sized loaf. I may add more sun-dried tomatoes next time because I think they are wonderfully tasty!

* I also used a loaf pan instead of using a baking sheet like the recipe calls for. I lined the pan with foil so that it was easier to get out once it was finished baking.

* Instead of a food processor I used my kitchen-aid mixer, and then continued to use the mixer for 10 minutes instead of kneading it by hand. Works great.

Tomato Basil Bread

Makes one LARGE loaf (half amount of recipe work for a small loaf pan)

6 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 T fresh yeast or fast-action dried yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 1.4 c. warm water, divided

1.2 c. tomato paste

7 ox. Sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained and finely chopped

1 T finely chopped basil

1.4 c. olive oil

1) In food processor, combine flour and salt. Mix well. Cream yeast with sugar and 1 to 2 T warm water. Mix remaining water with tomato paste; add to flour along with yeast mixture, tomatoes, basil and oil. Process until dough comes together and feels soft but not sticky. Add more water if necessary.

2) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise at room temperature for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until doubled in size.

3) Punch down dough; shape into a long loaf. Place dough on a baking sheet, cover with a clean, damp dish towel; allow to rise another 1 ½ to 2 hours until doubled in size again.

4) Preheat over to 400 F

5) Dust loaf with flour; sprinkle with a little water. Bake 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 350 F. Bake another 25 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Remove from baking sheet; cool on a wire rack.

If anyone tries this recipe, let me know what you think of it!

My Latest WIP's

A few of my works in progress...small crocheted handbags (the middle one is actually more of an olive green but it turned out tan-looking in the lighting).


And then we have the baby blanket I'm working on...this one is wonderfully soft, fuzzy and cuddly! Eventually I will probably be adding a light blue border to it. (As you can see, these pictures are from the very beginning of the project...looks like it's supposed to be a scarf! Though it would make a wonderfully warm scarf...)

Happily crocheting again...

Again I've been M.I.A. for a bit, sorry about that. Now that we're done moving and a bit more settled into our new place I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of crafting.

Seems like I've come back to my love for crocheting again. I tend to go back and forth between projects. For some reason I often feel the need for a new project, even a new craft all together. My desire for variety typically tempts me to begin something new before even finishing what I've already started! But I'm trying, I'm TRYING to be more disciplined!

So, here's my latest crocheted creation...while looking through some fabric to use for the inside of my little black crocheted change purse, I was inspired by some paisley print. Once I cut out a yellow paisley felt piece and placed it on the purse I thought, "with some eyes and a little smile, this could be a little paisley baby whale!" So, change of plans, now we have a baby whale change purse :)




In other news, I went to Joanne's today to pick up some yarn for a baby blanket that I'm working on for a friend. I found this book called Super Stitches Crochet: Essential techniques plus a dictionary of more than 180 stitch patterns by Jennifer Campbell and Ann-Marie Bakewell ( <---I wonder if she does? ) and I think it's a beautiful book! And helpful of course, but really, I love the patterns they've included in here. It's nice because not only do they include the written pattern for the stitches, they also include a diagram, in case you like those better! It's great to have both patterns AND a nice little picture next to them!
It literally looks like their yarn swatch is laying right on your book, doesn't it? But really, it's just a photograph! Ok, so the ONLY thing I don't like about this book so far would be some of the stitch titles. Most of the basics are labeled (ex: double crochet, back post single crochet, knot stitch, etc) but then when you get to the other ones, sections labeled Solid, Open, Trellis Patterns etc, the patterns are simply numbered like "Solid 2" or "Open 5". That was a bit disappointing for me because I like creative names. BUT anyways, really the rest of the book is great!

Custom Orders!

Lately I've had a few custom orders requested, which is so wonderful! Honestly, I love having custom orders...then I know EXACTLY what the customer wants, rather than making something and hoping that someday it will have a home!

I thought I'd share a few of my recent orders:

Custom Order # 1 I had a request for the Dusty Blue Shawl to be made in a chocolate brown. What a beautiful, rich color!


Unfortunately I don't have a full picture of the shawl, so here's the blue one for color comparison.


Custom Order #2 A friend asked for a book tote for grad school, no zipper, no pockets, nice and large for all her books and I totally wish I were back in school again so I could make myself a fun book bag!! The pictures make it look small, but it measure about 13 inches tall, and 15 wide. It also has a reinforced bottom that measures about 4 inches wide.






Custom Order #3 This one you've already seen in an earlier post, but I don't want to leave it out! The monkey Amigurumi! A friend originally ordered him as a gift for someone, but we'll see...she may keep him for herself! :)

Finally my Yellow Baby Elephant is off to a new home! So you will no longer find him on Etsy! Here he is in a little box (not so little compared to his size!) ready to be shipped! (the pink baby elephant found a home long ago, so if anyone would like one, let me know and I can make some more :)

It's a little sad to see him go, but I'm glad he has a new owner!

Monkey Ami

Today I just finished this project for a friend. She had requested a monkey amigurumi. I looked at a few patterns online, but didn't find one I really liked, so I tried to see what I could come up with, and, thankfully, this wonderfully cute little guy was the result! I am pleased :) I hope she likes it.



I gave him a curly little tail (hopefully you can see it in the picture), and I used felt for the face and stomach. I really liked using the felt. And it's considerably easier and faster than crocheting the face (at least for me it is).

Breakfast of a Crafter

This morning I decided to make something, other than cereal, for breakfast. I remembered that my mother-in-law gave me a granola recipe, so I took it out, made a few small adjustments, and now it's something I have retitled "Vanilla Almond Granola" and I am quite pleased :)

Vanilla Almond Granola
Makes about 3 cups

2 c. quick oats
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. sliced almonds
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. honey
1-2 T vanilla

1) Heat oats in an ungreased pan in preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes. Mix in dry ingredient. Then mix in remaining ingredients until well coated.
2) Bake for another 20-25 minutes, stirring often to brown evenly.
3) Cool. Stir till crumbly, store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. Serve with milk or yogurt.

Spoon a little of this over some yogurt and strawberries, and mmm, mmm....what a tasty breakfast! (Personalize the recipe with your favorite fruits and nuts, of course :)


After you've had your fill, store the rest of the granola in the fridge. I like to re-use spaghetti sauce jars (just MAKE SURE you've washed them well! You don't want tomato-flavored granola!)

The Traveling Tote

I apologize for my absence lately. This summer has just flown by!! I suppose I should do my best to bring you up to date on my crafting lately...

The first project I'll show you is a custom tote I made for friend. I was SO excited to make this bag for her! She's going to be teaching little kids in the Bahamas for a year and needed a teacher bag for all her books and projects, so after picking out fabric and sketching out the design, this is what we came up with!

It's actually a pretty large tote, though at the same time it didn't turn out ridiculously large, so that's good! :) It has plenty of room for books and teacher supplies, very sturdy and durable. She can even use it as a beach bag, lots of room for towels and sunscreen!

This is the backside view, though honestly, I think this could be used as the front side too! Can you tell that it has a huge exterior pocket? I thought that would be a nice addition for any random papers, projects, etc.



The interior fabric she picked is just great! Perfect for the Bahamas!

And a little removable reinforcement for the bottom.


Her tote zips closed, stands about 14" tall and has 6 interior pockets.
It was so fun to see her excitement once it was finished!




And once again, I wanted to keep this one after it was finished! But I'm more excited that she gets to use it in the Bahamas! Maybe she will bring me some business from her Bahamian friends! ;)