FINALLY...A New Pattern AND My First Giveaway!

I've been trying to find time to work on this crochet pattern for awhile now... well, It's FINALLY in my shop today! Now you can crochet your own Lil' Monkey and Bitty Bear rattle toys. They work up quickly (really!) and are easy enough for a beginner (and hey, I'm always here to help!) These would make supercute stocking stuffers for the little ones in your life.

AND, as a thank you to my blog readers...my first giveaway..YAY!
To the first 3 folks who comment, I'll send you your choice of the monkey or the bear pattern FREE. Just let me know in the comments below!

Happy crocheting! :-)

Addicted... ?

I think I might be addicted to crochet...

A little wool gingerbread house for the tree! Pattern from my imagination. I can invision a whole wooly gingerbread village, can't you?.... (gee, I guess I'd better get to work!)

OH! Also, a new monkey rattle in the shop today! :)

b l u e

If you're just checking in on me this week and wondering what the 'color' posts are about, I'm participating in JCHandmade's "week in color" challenge. :)
Today's color is "blue". I have this blue button on my corkboard, and with the Holidays approaching I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you one of my favorite organizations--- Project Linus.

From thier website the Project Linus mission is "...to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers”."

I have been a "Project Linus Blanketeer" for the past 5 years. I love that they only accept HANDMADE blankets. Over the years our chapter has received wonderful (and sometimes heartbreaking) letters from children (and parents of the children) who receive our blankets.

If you are not familiar with Project Linus please do look it up! If you are in the U.S. there is likely a chapter in your area. Even if you don't have time to make a blanket, most chapters GLADLY accept yarn, fabric and supplies (crochet hooks, etc) for making blankets.

I LOVE volunteering! If I had the means to volunteer full-time I probably would :). I hope this post about Project Linus will at least inspire a few of you out there to get involved. If you're already involved with a wonderful volunteer organization, write about it on your blog and let me know! I would love to see what you're up to. :)

g r e y

I've been dying for an excuse to take a pic of this door in downtown San Jose! I snapped this shot on our walk back from the post office today... :)

o r a n g e

Two posts in one day? I know it's unlike me, but I forgot to mention that I bought a new camera over the weekend.... so I decided to join in JCasa's week in color challenge. Here's my pic of the day.... :)

I just couldn't resist ...

A new pair of studio slippers! (Nick and Nora, $12.99 at Target. -- Ginny I thought of you when I spotted these :))

AND, while on the subject of monkies.... I had a request this week for a mini monkey baby rattle. Because of the whole 'new to crochet' thing I struggled with it a bit but finally got him to turn out right (I think). Isn't he cute?!
Hope you are all having a wonderful and productive week!

Making new friends : a true tale from the checkout line at Michael's

It's still hard for me to believe that I was standing in line at Michael's last week when a gal in front of me turned to me and said:
Her: Hi,.... excuse me, ...are you Amy?
Me: Yes. (look of surprise)
Her: I recognize you from your.... BLOG
Me: !!!!!(look of surprise AND confusion, I mean how many people read this really?)
Her: I'm Gemmielou from Etsy.
Me: OMG! You're kidding....

Gemmie and I convo'd about 6 months ago when she first setup her cute shop on Etsy so I knew she lived in San Jose, but we had never met in person. I should probably add that the population of San Jose is about 975,000 people, so the odds of ending up in line behind her at the craft store----pretty slim. Seriously, is that RANDOM or what?!?! What if I had not put those pics of myself on my blog?? I would have stood in line right behind my fellow Etsian without a clue! This totally blows me away.

AND to top it all off, much like myself, Gemmie has an adorable little boy! We had our first playdate with the boys today! And I'm hoping we have many more. Wow. I am so thankful to be a part of such an awesome crafting community and thrilled to have a new crafty friend in 'real life'. :-)

BTW - The adorable handpainted girls at the top of this post are from her shop. SO cute! :)