DESTASH SALE

I am having a SUPER destash sale! I have way too much inventory and it is burning a hole in my pocket. I have just added a ton of hats to my CLEARANCE section in my shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TCTbaby?section_id=8027001

Make sure to visit and see what I have! These items are all Ready To Ship and most are Free US Shipping! It is one heck of a deal!

May Brings Cables

May is finally here, well.. maybe it is almost over, but one thing is certain May has brought Cables to my shop!

There are SO many great Cable Hats and Headbands in my shop READY TO SHIP! Check out my shop section READY TO SHIP here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TCTbaby?section_id=10964224

But don't worry if you can't find what you are looking for! Any of these hats can be made again and again in whatever size, or color you need!

Plus they are made with 100% cotton so they will be cooler than my usual hats and oh so very soft on baby's skin!

And you GOTTA love the headbands! So adorable and perfect for spring/summer! They are just the right size to stay put and still add that bit of accessory to your baby's wardrobe (and at $15.00 each they are a steal!)

Don't forget to check them out!:http://www.etsy.com/shop/TCTbaby?section_id=10964224

Dinosaurs ROAR

My dino hat is now available as a Crochet Pattern!

If you crochet this is great news! The pattern comes with instructions for 4 sizes: 0-3m, 3-6m, 6-12m and Toddler 1-3years. The hat and spikes are detailed in this written pattern. A wonderful hat for those little boys that just LOVE the dinosaurs!

You can find it here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/96830888/crochet-pattern-dinosaur-baby-hat-pdf
For just $3.50 it is so worth it to make for all those little baby boys about to be in your life!

Find other patterns from me here: www.thecraftytortoise.com

Dr.Seuss Inspires!

So The Lorax came out and I happen to LOVE Dr. Seuss. I remember watching The Lorax when it was an old animated movie. (probably one of my favorites) I am always inspired by the crazy and wild that the Dr.Seuss name brings. It is always creative and inspiring.

I recently bought some homespun and tried my hand at dying yarn. It turned out great! A wonderful colorway of Moss green, Rusty red and Turquoise. I didn't have enough for an entire hat, but the lime green I paired it with really brings out the color. Pair that with a great Dr. Seuss inspired design and a wonderful wooden button and this hat came together GREAT!

Double The Fun

I recently got to send my items to get some Twins photographed in them! I was super excited and could not wait to share my items to get some great photos of my hats on Twins. Xanadu Dummert Photography is a great photography company and did a wonderful job! Here are just a few photographs! Oh... And good news! I added the Mohawk hat and the Red Rose hat to my shop! SO you can own these hats too!
Also my Simple Flower headband is available in my shop as well!

A few new items have shown up in my shop lately! www.thecraftytortoise.com

One is my new One Of A Kind (OOAK) Baby Bonnets! These are perfect for Photo Shoots and will still keep your baby warm after the shoot! I just LOVED the first one I made (pictured above) and NKS Photography was sweet enough to buy and photograph it! There is another available in my shop www.thecraftytortoise.com called ORCHID. I am working on many more too... so stay tuned!

I have found another great item to grace the shelves of The Crafty Tortoise: Baby. My Loopy Flower Headbands are a must for those newborn photographs. They are a steal at 12 dollars a piece and will keep fitting all the way up to Child size (4-10)! What an awesome way to show growth than with the same headband on your newborn and then again on her 1st birthday... and for many, many years to come!

These are made of a handspun art yarn so each one is a little unique!

I just love creating and love seeing my items in action!

I learned to KNIT

So I took up knitting recently again... for the 7th or 8th time. I bought larger needles (11/8mm) and decided to give it a try. I was very worried as before I had not been able to make anything more than a skinny scarf... and even then it took me about 5 years to complete it! Well... I gave it my all... and just kept telling myself "If I can crochet... I can Knit". And LOOK! It worked! I finally got my act together and created a few hats! I started with a pixie bonnet... I wanted to do something basic and pixie bonnets are pretty easy to make. After I completed that (imagine me Jumping up and down on my couch) I took a jab at another style that I had been idolizing and created this Short Elf Hat! 

I have found knitting to be a new passion for me! It has been a new challenge that apparently I needed! I think I have told you before that I am about sick of animal hats. They are wonderful, cute and adorable, but I needed something more creative. I wanted to work more with my mind and experiment more with handspun yarns and textures. This has been a great journey for me and I really have been enjoying it. 

I encourage everyone who crochets to pick up some needles and vice versa. It is a great challenge and if you are up for it you can figure it out! (it may just take a few tries)

Check out some of the cool items that are being given away on my Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150431037434643.383144.263547049642&type=1

A WONDERFUL valentines headband from Spoiled N Sweet Bowtique!

You even get to choose the size!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/spoiledNsweet?ref=top_trail

Crochet RePlay is offering a 15.00 dollar gift certificate! Her hats are adorable! So many flower hats to choose from!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/jeanneramelli

Itty Bitty Designs has offered the Newborn size Itty Bitty Band below!

This is just too cute!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ittybittydesign?ref=seller_info

Rebecca Welch has offered this AWESOME pampered chef gift cert for 15.00 dollars 

(can upgrade to 30 dollars, ask rep for details)

http://www.pamperedchef.biz/rebeccawelch

Sweet Crochet Creations has made this GREAT "I LOVE MOM" hat for one lucky winner! Made in size 6-12 months.

http://www.facebook.com/SweetCrochetCreations

Check out my Facebook Page to enter to win these great items!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150431037434643.383144.263547049642&type=1

Facebook Cute Baby Contest Starts NOW

The long awaited date is here! I know a lot of you have been waiting patiently for my Facebook Page to hit 1000 LIKES so this contest could start. I have over a DOZEN cute babies that are waiting for you to vote for them!

One lucky winner with the most LIKES on their photo will receive a gift certificate to The Crafty Tortoise worth $32.50.

There are also FIVE extra Giveaways Going on at the end of the PHOTO ALBUM! These 5 items are being given away and ANYONE can enter! After you have Voted for your favorite CUTE baby, read the rules under each item and follow to enter!
Below are some of the items you can win!

How to vote: go to my Facebook Page Cute Baby Photo Album. You will find all the entries there pick your favorite (or two or three) and click LIKE right under their photo!

Comments on the baby photos will not count, but are welcome. Make sure your favorite wins by sharing a link to the contest! 

This contest will run for only 2 weeks so get your votes in early! 

The photos are wonderful. So many cute babies to choose from I don't know how you will choose just one... the good thing is you don't have to. I myself will be giving each baby 1 vote to start them off!

This Contest Officially Starts Wednesday January 11,2012 through January 25, 2012!

Hurry over and check out all the cuties!

Christmas Ornament Tutorial

I was making Christmas ornaments for my family this year and realized about halfway through that it had been a while since I did a free tutorial... so Here it is!
This is a common recipe I tweaked to make the ornaments a bit darker. I got about 12 large snowflake ornaments out of this recipe.

Cinnamon Salt Dough Ornaments
1/2 cup Table Salt
1/4 cup Cinnamon
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup Tea or Coffee (I used Carmel Vanilla Tea to make them smell awesome)
Puffy Paint to decorate

Measure out your ingredients and mix them together in a large mixing bowl. Knead together until it makes a dough. Add flour or water as needed. Dough should not be too sticky. Place dough on floured surface and roll out with rolling pin. Cut out with Cookie Cutters and place on backing sheet. Punch hole to hang your ornaments with a bamboo skewer or straw. Place ornaments in 200 Degree Oven for 4-6 hours or until centers are hard. Turning if needed to speed up the process. Let stand until cool.
Decorate with puffy paint.

To make this look as professional as possible I traced my cookie cutter on sheets of paper (I took advantage of my copier making this much easier) and practiced my designs. I find this is a good way to make your end result much nicer!

These when dried and finished will be my gift to my family members. Along with designing the front I will add their names and the year to the back to make them a bit more personal. A cheap but heartwarming gift for anyone! Merry Christmas!

Facebook Giveaway Coming SOON

Hello Blog followers!
The Holidays are upon us and I figured what better to celebrate than a giveaway!
I never know what to give when I do freebies like this, especially because I do baby items. So I have been doing a lot of Gift Certificate giveaways and really enjoy them. I love that you can decide what to get! You can even give it away and really share the love this season!
Now to the details.
I am giving away a Gift Certificate for $32.50!

HOW TO ENTER
I am hosting a Cute Baby Photo Contest.
Submit a photo of your baby to thecraftytortoise@gmail.com by December 10th, 2011 to have a chance to win.
The photos will be posted on my Facebook page in an album titled "Cute Baby Photo Contest" the photo with the most "LIKES" will win the Gift Certificate!
You will need to watch my Facebook page to know when the giveaway starts! It will start as soon as I reach 1000 people that LIKE my page. Once I reach 1000 LIKES the giveaway will start and I will keep the contest going for 2 weeks!

RULES:
More than one photo  will not count towards multiple entries, Please enter 1 photo per baby.
I am not responsible for unrecorded entries due to computer or internet problems.
Winner will be chosen at the end of the contest. Photo with the most LIKES will win.
This giveaway is open to US and International addresses.
Prize code will be emailed to the email address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to internet problems.
Baby photos must be your own or a relative.
Professional photos or candid photos are allowed.

Owl Hat Pattern Now Available

My owl baby hat crochet pattern is now available in my etsy shop! It is $3.50 and includes 4 different sizes: 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months, and Toddler 1-3 years.

I have gotten a lot of request for this hat. It is a great square base hat and includes the pattern for the eyes and beak!

A wonderful hat to crochet for your baby to be or grand baby to be! Customize colors to your content! You will also get the right to sell finished hats (see pattern listing for details).

Get the finished hat here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/79103962/square-owl-baby-hat-newborn-to-3-months

Crocheters to the Rescue

I know I have not blogged in a while and there is a good reason for that. The Crafty Tortoise has been BOOMING! I have been super busy because of this and only have my fans/customers to thank... so THANK YOU!
My shop has rocketed up and away! I have more than doubled my sales this year, and was finding it very hard to keep up. That is when I brought in the Calvary. My shop is still Handmade, just not all handmade by me. I now have a group of suppliers helping me out. Quality is still my main concern. I make sure every stitch looks perfect before your hats go out.

What does this mean for you?

This means more patterns, more original designs and more growth for my business! This is great news for my customers and even better news for your little ones. I am able to still get orders out, but now I am able to create as well.
The Crafty Tortoise is still handmade, still modern, still quality, just faster!

This change will hopefully help move The Crafty Tortoise toward a Ready To Ship status in the future.

Melissa Wenn
Fiber Artist
The Crafty Tortoise

OWL HAT is a HOOT

NKS Photography has to be the BEST ever!! She took this adorable kissable photo for me of my owl hat! 

I cannot ask for a better photo from her! I will hopefully have a photo of my owl hat in teal for boys soon.

This is a square hat that is made up to look like an owl. It has slight ear flaps and braided ties. The color combo is my Favorite! And do you believe my husband picked that gorgeous magenta yarn out!

We were at a craft store and it and the marigold color were both on sale! I was just going to buy one of each, but my husband threw all that was on the shelf in my basket! I was shocked. His response was: "You'll make something awesome out of it. I have no doubt." 

He is so amazingly (apparently amazing is the word of the day) supportive. I don't think The Crafty Tortoise would be around if he wouldn't have pushed me to follow a small dream of creating crochet patterns.

Anyway,

Back to NKS Photography!

If you have not stopped by her shop you NEED to! She is amazing! 

She has taken lots of photos for me including Family photos of my my dogs, my husband and I. They turned out AMAZING!! I absolutely love them and so does everyone who sees them!

She made our dogs look SO photogenic!

We had to climb into this tree to take this and a few more photos. Can you believe we are actually 6 feet off the ground?

I love this photo, and I think Nikki (photographer) does too! It definitely shows off how uptight my jack russell (white) is and how laid back our affenpinscher (black) is.

Stop by and if you are in INDIANA schedule photos! You will not regret it!

Whale of a Sale

The Crafty Tortoise is participating in Whale of a Sale this year! If you have never heard of it and are in Indianapolis you NEED to go to their site and check it out! Tons of great baby items. I have seen them on the news and was not able to participate last year, but as soon as I got the email this year I signed up.

This year it is September 22nd-24th. For more info check out their website.

My items will be discounted, including these 3 popular items!

And MANY, MANY, MORE!!!

I look forward to this Craft Fair and many others this year!

YOSPUN = awesome yarn

I just HAD to tell you about YOSPUN! An etsy shop that I had the honor of purchasing from and making this hat:

It is SO awesome! I Loved the SUPER BULKY handspun I grabbed from her shop and just knew I had to make something adorable! I have already sold out of this hat! It was only up for a month!

I really cannot wait to add more Limited Items like this to my shop where I only make about 3-4. It is so cool thinking that there are a few people out there with an original hat that cannot be recreated! It is like Art on babies heads!

I am saving up so I can purchase more from YOSPUN! There are just so many cool yarns in her shop that it is hard to choose which I want next!

Take a look at her shop and order before I do!

Long Elf Hat

I am SO excited to finally get a GREAT photo of my Long Elf hat! NKS Photography was kind enough to take a gorgeous photo of a tiny babe in my hat.

This hat will make a GREAT newborn prop and I cannot wait to make it in Christmas colors for the holidays.
The Extra large pom pom makes an Awesome addition to the long tail!
Available as a pattern or the hat.

Great news to all you crocheters too! The Crafty Tortoise is branching out and adding on a crocheter. This means way more patterns and new items and LOTS more Craft Fairs! YAY!
I am so excited for this and cannot wait to share with you my new crocheter as soon as I find him/her!

New Patterns Up!

Just put up a few new patterns fresh from my mind!

By popular demand my Sock Monkey hat is in my shop! Both the hat and the pattern are now for sale!

Also now available is my Thick and Chunky Baby Blanket. The blanket and pattern are for

sale in my shop!

I was SO excited to get these up!

AND THE WINNE IS...

I carefully tallied up your comments from the Pattern Giveaway and then picked 5 winners at random!

Remember the winners get to choose a pattern from my store and have it emailed directly to them for FREE!!

The Winners Are:

Angel~A

Jessica (you get 2 patterns you lucky girl, you were picked twice)

Kristine

and

Brianna

I only have contact information for Jessica so if you are on this list email me or facebook me:

thecraftytortoise@gmail.com and tell me that you won!

You have 1 week to let me know, otherwise I will have to choose another winner.

CONGRATS!!!

If you didn't win I am sorry, but for 3 dollars you could purchase a pattern (its kinda like winning).

Epic Fail

You know those moments when you just sit back and accept failure. Sigh, well I have been having a lot of those lately in my pattern making. I have never been more frustrated in my whole career. It has been all I can do to keep from screaming, burning all my yarn and melting down my crochet hooks for the mere amusement of it all.

If you can't tell I have been in a rather (pardon my language) pissy mood.

I blame my ridiculous idea of "trying something different". It sounds great on paper, but once you begin it is a frustrating, bumpy ride that I was just not ready for. As my husband would put it "I wore roller skates to an ice rink." I just was not prepared.

To fill you in even further:

So my brilliant idea was to try to design diaper covers (they look easy enough). I have SO many GREAT ideas for different designs that I just had to start on them! (think coordinating with my hats!)

So I got my hook, my yarn, and my notebook and started away! I thought I was doing well, I had some measurements and some idea of how to start the pattern.

I probably got about 1/3 of the way through and decided I had made this WAY too big. (we are talking about 4 sizes too big!)

So I went with it. Changed the size in my mind, then it ended up being too small. My measurements were off, and the thing looks distorted, not what I had in mind at ALL.

Grrr... I have been tweaking and restitching, and unraveling for about a week and I am still no where near the outcome I was looking for.

So what to do now?

Start over, and I mean OVER. I am throwing everything away, all my (bad) covers so far, and the so called pattern I have created that does not work AT ALL!

Ahh... that feels better.

I am sure many of you have felt this way before, something that seems like a wonderful, gorgeous idea in your head, doesn't come out just right.

What did you do?