Magnetic Bookmark or Row Marker Tutorial

Magnetic Bookmark or Row Marker

I had been wanting something other than post-it notes to help me keep track of my rows while crocheting and had recently purchased some cute bookmarks that inspired me to create something for my crocheting. I also just found a new contest from Cricut and TodaysMama that pushed me over the edge to make these bookmarks. I made these bookmarks using a Cricut, but if you don’t have one yourself, you can cut out cardstock and scrapbooking paper in similar dimensions. The Cricut just makes it easier and faster.

Supplies Needed:
Cardstock
Scrapbook paper
Adhesive (used both Tombo and all purpose craft glue)
Grosgrain ribbon (mine is 5/8 inch)
Self adhesive magnets

Instructions:

Pieces cut from George and Basic Shapes

1. Using George and Basic Shapes, cut two rctngle4 in shadow at four inches with cardstock.
2. Using George and Basic Shapes, cut four rctngle4 at four inches with scrapbook paper.

Outside of bookmark

3. With Tombo or other scrapbooking adhesive, attach two scrapbooking pieces to the cardstock.

Glueing ribbon

4. Flip over the cardstock and attach ribbon to cardstock with crafting glue as shown. I chose to use ribbon because I was afraid that often used bookmarks would eventually tear if the cardstock was simply folded over.

Inside of bookmark after attaching paper

5. Place Tombo or other scrapbooking adhesive on the back side of the scrapbooking paper and then attach as shown to the cardstock.

Attaching magnets

6. Peel paper from magnet backs and attach to the inside of the bookmarks. I cut the magnets myself from a sheet of adhesive magnet purchased at a local craft store. These magnets are not especially strong since they are not necessarily meant to be attracted to themselves, but work fine for bookmarks or row markers. I am searching for a source for a stronger magnet for future use.

Putting my row marker to use

7. Put your bookmark or row marker to use. I keep mine busy with my crochet patterns.

I have also made bookmarks with Doodlecharms’ cards and the tiles from Going Places. These were used as teacher gifts at the end of the school year. I placed the decorative paper behind the cutouts of the Doodlecharm cards and Going Places. These were solely to be used as bookmarks, not row markers, since they were not long enough to mark the rows well.

ASL sign for the post:To sign book, pretend your hands are a closed book and open them.

A Triple Discovery In Our Neighbor’s Yard

On Memorial Day my husband and kids decided to try to go fishing in Bull Run. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were biting like crazy and they did not have much luck with fish. On the way back to our yard they made a great discovery that made the trip worth it. It was raining quite a bit and something caught their eyes as they headed for our back gate. They discovered three fawns in the back of the neighbor’s yard. One of them probably flicked its ear to get a bug to fly away, or they may never have even seen the babies.

The girls came rushing into the house, extremely excited to share with me. I went out and got to have a great view of the three fawns doing just what their mommy taught them—-to stay very still and hide until their mom comes back. Later in the day we happened to catch site of them following mom deer off into the woods. If I had not seen them earlier in the day I probably would not have realized what I was seeing.

To sign deer, put your open hands on your head, with thumbs touching your head, like they are deer antlers. Check out lifeprint for a photo of the sign.
Be sure to click on the photos if you would like a little better look at the deer.

Designing a New Tawashi Crochet Pattern

preliminary sketch ideas

Since I have been learning to design my own patterns I have found that I work in a few different ways.  In the case of my tawashi, I have been mostly working with the same circular base and then making new designs that incorporate that as the beginning.  I do this because the circular part is the useful part of the design, the portion that will do the real work of the tawashi.  Then I do the add ons that make it look like a cute shape that turns into some type of animal or bug.

I realized I had a fish and a seastar, so I wanted to add one more sea creature before moving on to another theme.  This way I can have a set of three patterns available at some point.  In addition, my mother in law likes seahorses, so she would probably like a set of seahorses for her kitchen.  She might just hang them for decoration, but hopefully she will use them.  (Maybe I should make a special set for her that have a center circle big enough to use as a coaster….)

some bits and pieces of my chicken scratch

As I create my idea I sit with a notepad and pen next to me, stopping every few stitches to write down what I have done.  Of course, this also results in lots of scratching things out as I frog ideas that are just not working.  In addition, I have my own little shorthand that would make very little sense if I handed it off to someone else to try to make something.

Seehorse in progress

Once I make one of the item I generally make it a second time following my chicken scratch, making notes as I go.  Then, I type it all up, add some photos to make it  more clear and prettier and have it tested again.  Usually I test it at least one more time based upon the typed version and then ask someone else to test it for me.  Since my testers work for free (and a free pattern) it sometimes takes a while for my patterns to make it into my shop.  I am trying to figure out a way to keep track of several patterns being out with testers at once, but have not gotten that organized as of yet.

How To Lose a Customer (or why I won’t shop in Michaels ever again)

My mother in law and I seem to have poor luck with my birthday gifts.  Last year she got me an Ott Lite, but when I received it the bulb did not work.  Well, I solved that issue by ordering a new bulb and it works great.

This year was not so easy, though.  She was kind enough to get a Cricut Jukebox for me to use with my Cricut machine.  I pulled it out to use at a crafter’s morning at church and discovered it did not work correctly.  I ended up emailing the manufacturer and waiting to get the receipt from my mother in law in case I needed it.  Once I received the receipt I checked what it said on the back (it did not say anything that would keep me from exchanging it in the policies on the receipt) and went to Michaels to exchange it for one that worked.

At Michaels I was told I needed to wait for a manager.  He asked me what was wrong with it, which I thought was pointless since he was not going to fix it, but I told him anyway.  He then opened the box, rifled through the warranty book and told me that I would have to deal with the manufacturer.  I said, “So you are not going to deal with this?”  Then he started to tell me that he was not and had no control over warranties.  I said that I would then ask my mother in law not to purchase things from Michaels for me anymore.  He then said, in a rude tone of voice to his cashier, “Just do it then” and then mumbled something and walked away.  So, I go over to the cashier, who then tries to tell me she can only give me store credit.  I was not even asking for money back ever — only to exchange for one that worked.  I said that since no one was listening to me I would take it and leave.

I then called the Cricut phone number.  They pleasantly explained to me how to reset my machine.  I tried that and then called them back.  They took my information and are sending out a new Jukebox, without even asking about my receipt or asking me to send the broken one first.  They will send the postage label to return the broken one with the new one, but said not to worry about it if someone forgets to put in the label.

This is not my first poor experience with Michaels.  I generally only shop there when I cannot find what I need somewhere else due to multiple problems getting assistance and problems with trying to get items that never seemed to get restocked.  Now they have added tons of dollar store type items and keep dropping the amount of real crafting supplies, I just don’t see a need to ever go there again.  Especially after being treated so poorly today.

How could the manager have made this situation better?  If he did not want to deal with the “hassle” of returning the broken machine through his store, he could have offered to let me call Cricut right there to see what they would say.  Probably I would have just gone home to do it, but if he had made that offer instead of being irritated with me and acting put out that I wanted to exchange something that did not work, I may not have been happy but I would have considered shopping there again.  If he had even tried to explain in a nice tone that he cannot take returns of this item because of its electronic nature, the company, Michaels policy, whatever, I may have believed him. It also would have helped if the manager and the cashier had listened to me since I told both of them that I just wanted to exchange the item for one that worked, not get money back for it or a store credit.

I know enough about how stores work to know that they have their own policies that cover returns that are not dictated by the manufacturer.  Perhaps their agreements with the manufacturers allow for the store to return items to the manufacturer and perhaps they do not; this, however, is a separate issue from dealing with the customer.  Places that make returns easy when things do not work are places that I will return to forever because there is nothing more frustrating than having a birthday gift that does not work.

Choosing to not help me costs way more than the amount of that Jukebox.  After all, I am a customer who owns a Cricut machine, which means I will continue to need supplies for it, such as mats, cutting blades, and paper.  I may also buy cartridges for it.  This is what the manager should have realized.  In addition, what he did not know is that I also tend to purchase yarn, stamping supplies, cross stitch supplies, and kids crafting supplies.  None of those will be purchased at Michaels.

Stash Busting Work in Progress for my Four Year Old

Afghan in progress for four year old

I finished an afghan for my seven year old around Christmas time that will fit her twin bed, so the four year old is on the list for one next.  She has not outgrown all of her “baby” afghans, but it would be nice for her to have a twin sized afghan that will last.

When looking through afghan patterns and stitch patterns with my four year old she ended up picking a pattern that is the same as the afghan that is on our rocking chair.  I assume she chose this pattern because she associates it with the comfort she receives from rocking with Mommy.  The pattern is called “Fourth of July Fanfare”  in Leisure Arts Afghans for All Seasons.  In the pattern book it is done in three colors (red, white, and blue); however, Marian picked out a deep purple and a rosy pink from some yarn I picked up on clearance a while back.  The yarn is called Red Heart Value Textured Yarn and I cannot find anything about it on Coats web site, but I found it at ACMoore.  It is worsted weight, comes in 10 ounce skeins, and is 80% acrylic and 20% nylon.

This project should help me use up several skeins in my stash and help me remain on my yarn diet, which is now up to three months and counting.

More Cute Tawashi Scrubbies (and their patterns) On The Way

Since adding a poll about what patterns crocheters are searching for when they arrive at my blog, I found that many people are interested in more tawashi scrubbie patterns. On my blog I already have the flower tawashi. I currently have two other tawashi patterns available to purchase on Artfire, Ravelry, and Etsy. I hope to get one more listed this week.

The fish tawashi were inspired by my husband, who suggested something larger than the flowers since he would like larger ones to use in the bath with the girls. The ones pictured were inspired by a Dr. Seuss book.

The turtle tawashi were partly inspired by some cotton yarn I had picked up and then set aside without a plan. It is sometimes hard to figure out the best way to work with yarn that changes color, but I like the turtle shell having the mottled, natural look. I also like that the loop for hanging is also the turtle’s tail.

I am in the home stretch of getting the pattern for the ladybug ready. This one is a little different in that I think that you would probably just use the nylon side for washing. The cotton side might be a bit bumpy with the spots. I have not tested one in the kitchen or bath yet to see.

Just a note, if you want to use these for your kitchen, you might consider acrylic yarn. I thought I should always use cotton, but then someone suggested acrylic and I found that the acrylic dries faster and sometimes does a better job scrubbing. So, right now I have three acrylic and nylon flower scrubbies for my kitchen and use the cotton and nylon for baths.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Prize Winning Hat

Mad Hatter Tea Party Prize Winning Hat

Every spring our Ladies Bible Study has a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party after one of the Bible Studies. Each lady is asked to create a silly hat to wear to the tea party. In the past I have let my older daughter create a hat for me. I have also made a hat with lots of crocheted flowers on it. This year I had the idea to make a hat shaped like a teapot. I knew, however, I would not have the time to create the pattern myself. I went in search of a pattern.

I could not find any patterns for a hat shaped like a teapot, but I did find a beautiful crochet pattern for a teapot toy on Etsy at KTB Designs. I am sure she thought it was strange when I asked the diameter of the bottom of the teapot before I purchased the pattern.

I ended up not crocheting the bottom of the teapot and then later adding the brim to it. It actually fits my kids better than me, but that is probably good since they both want to play with it.

This article and photo is not to be posted elsewhere without my permission. Copyright 2009.

I See All The Letters of the Alphabet!!

Well, not really. Just the letters in my blog name. I love the alphabet because it enables the sharing of ideas. I have been very busy combining a love of the alphabet and reading with my crochet work lately with my Lovely Little Letters series. So, here are a few items I discovered when I looked up the alphabet on Etsy. They just so happen to spell out the name of my blog and shop.

By the way, the title of my post comes from the cd “Here Come the ABCs” by They Might Be Giants.

L:
A:
U:
R:
A:
S:

L:
E:
F:
T:

H:
O:
O:
K:

A Fine Catch and other crochet patterns in the works…

Red Fish, Blue Fish Tawashi

I made a few sets of these tawashi a while back for a friend as well as having a set or two in my Etsy shop. Then I got into other projects and kind of forgot about them. I discovered my pattern (if you can call the chicken scratch I wrote on a couple post it notes a pattern) while cleaning my corner next to my spot on the couch. I decided to pick up the cotton yarn and nylon tulle in attempt to use some more of my stash.

Since I have been trying to add some patterns to my Etsy and Ravelry shops, I decided to make my chicken scratch into something anyone who crochets and reads patterns could understand. That meant typing up the pattern in my word processing program, adding some photos, and then making another tawashi following my printed out pattern. That resulted in my finding a few mistakes that had to be edited before handing off the pattern to be tested by someone else. Once the pattern has been checked again, I usually look over it one more time, just to be sure. I would hate for someone to email me when the pattern would not work because I forgot a comma or typed in the wrong number somewhere.

A Fine Catch
Right now I have a couple more patterns out being tested, a couple more mostly put into the computer, and about a dozen in chicken scratch form. I am trying to balance the progress I make in getting the patterns ready with the rest of my obligations so that I don’t feel totally overwhelmed or stressed about it.

If you have a chance, please vote in my poll at the top of the sidebar so I have some idea what kind of patterns you might be interested in using in the future. I am working my way through the alphabet right now and hope to play around with items for my daughter’s new American Girl doll. I am not sure how quickly I will get to that, but if I see there is a bunch of interest I may take a break with letters and do something new.

It’s a Marvelous Day!

Instead of suggesting a children’s book in this post, I would like to share a children’s musician that our entire family really enjoys. My children are currently watching his dvd, “The Marvelous Musical Adventure,”which they received as a surprise gift for Valentine’s Day. (I don’t normally do Valentine’s Day gifts, but I figured if I gave it to my oldest for her birthday the youngest would be upset even though she could watch it anytime she wanted.)

Nearly every time we ride in the car we have Steve Songs in the cd player. Lately it has been “Marvelous Day,” although we also have “On a Flying Guitar.” My four year old’s favorite song is “Spyrtle the Turtle.” It is really cute to hear her sing along, although she will often forbid me from singing along with the cd.

We were fortunate enough to discover Steve Songs at our local library a few years ago. Our library often has musical performances in the summer, although I am not sure what they have in the budget this year since I have already heard that the library may be cutting days due to budget issues.

One of my favorite songs is “Bridge to Terebithia.” Neither of my kids is old enough to have read the book, so it is not quite as meaningful to them. I had wished when I first heard about the movie of the book that they had used this song for the credits. Apparently Disney bought the rights to the song so it is no longer on the later releases of “Marvelous Day.” Below is a youtube video with the song.

The video below is from PBSKids. It even has a few ASL signs in it if you watch carefully! (I also use the song, “Fast Monkey” in my signing playgroup to practice signs for fast, slow, happy, sad, and silly.)

And a personal bit of trivia — apparently Steve and I attended the same college for one year. I attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT for my first year of college, where he evidently attended as well. I don’t know if I ever met him; guys with guitars were a dime a dozen when I was in college, lol.