Custom Color Giraffe Hat

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner! For about as long as I have been doing Giraffe hats (over a year can you believe it!) I have been doing pink ones for friends of mine who really wanted something more feminine for their expecting baby girls. I had never thought about putting pink giraffe hats in my shop until a friend of mine nearly insisted!

She was so insistent that I was convinced that if she wanted them so did others! Finally after I received a professional photo of one of my pink giraffe hats I finally listed them!

HERE IS THE LINK

Not only can you buy a pink giraffe hat, but you can buy one of any color you would like! All my colors are listed and you just pick 2 of your favorites!

Check it out!

What is color would your giraffe hat be?

NKS Photography Contest

Remember those super cute photos I got from a friend of mine?

If you don't let me remind you.

Well she (NKS Photography) is giving away a Photo session for your child age 1-12, and I am tagging along.

In honor of her awesome contest I decided to add a hat to the winnings. The winner will get to choose any hat from my shop (up to 4o dollar value) for free! You can't beat that!

Check out her facebook page and enter in the contest HERE!

Pattern Giveaway Time

It is that time of year again. Giveaway time! I took a poll on my facebook fan site and you all decided that you wanted...

Patterns!!!

I am giving away 1 of my original crochet patterns to 5 lucky winners!

Here are some of the patterns I have available:

Think of all the hats you could make with one of these patterns! Winner will get to choose their free pattern from any pattern available in my shop!

Alright Now the details:

Giveaway starts NOW (April 6, 2011) and ends April 30th, 2011.

I will announce the winners no later than 1 week after the end of the giveaway. I will contact the winners and get their choice of pattern. The winner will have 1 week to get back to me or I will choose another winner and so on.

To enter:

All methods give you one entry.

1. Visit my shop and choose your favorite pattern. Comment on this post telling me which pattern you like. (do this only once)
2. Follow my facebook fan page and comment on at least one facebook post. Comment on this post telling me you did this. (do this once)
3. Start following my Twitter. If you already follow be sure to leave a comment telling me so. (do this once)
4. Tweet this:

@craftytortosie join the giveaway and win. http://thecraftytortose.blogspot.com #contest #giveaway #free

You can tweet as many times as you want as long as it is the above phrase!

Good Luck everyone!

I am not responsible for unrecorded entries due to computer or internet problems.
More entries does not guarantee you will win, it only ups your chances. Winner/Winners will be chosen at random.
Winner must live on Earth to qualify for this contest.
Prize will be emailed to the email address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to internet or computer problems.
If you wish you can add your email address in your comment to make it easier for me to contact you in the chance you win.
Following the Blog is also advised. This will keep you in the loop and show you my latest posts.

Easter Bunny Hop

What better way to celebrate the holiday than will a Bunny Easter hat. (Okay maybe peeps should also be included)

Easter is by far one of my favorite holiday's. It is warm out, you get to collect eggs with candy in them, and everyone is just happy to be out and about!

I had to add something to my shop to celebrate the Easter season! I really loved how this turned out. The bunny ears are just too cute!

Who could resist a baby in a hat this cute. This hat is made of an organic cotton yarn making it uber soft for baby! You can find this hat in my shop in 4 different sizes!

Bear Hat Pattern

I am super happy to announce that another animal hat pattern is up and ready in my shop! This time a great bear hat pattern is now available with 4 different sizes. For sale for 3 dollars it is a great value. It can also be purchased made for 30 dollars for a newborn size hat.

One of my favorite animal hats yet just because it is so simple and cute that your babe could wear it constantly. I love making photo props, but I like it even more when I can make something that can be worn and loved to bits!

This little one is sitting on my granny square blanket which I absolutely LOVED creating! I have yet to get it up in my shop, but when I do it will be completely customizable with many colors to choose from.

Gift Certificates Available NOW

I finally got gift certificates up and running!

They are perfect for baby showers.

They even come in their own box with coordinating tissue paper.

They are available in whatever increments you would like, but $25, $50, and $32.50 (exact price of an animal hat plus US shipping) are available right now in my shop!

Bear Hat Coming SOON

A friend of mine took some FANTASTIC photos for me a few weeks ago. Well she showed me this photo as a sneak peak and I just HAD to share!

Her daughter is the model and man is she a cutie!

She is wearing a new hat of mine that will soon be available (both hat and pattern) in my shop soon. The blanket that she is laying on is also a creation of mine! I love that we got to incorporate multiple items into one photo. She has a GREAT eye!

Check her out NKS photography Caution: she also does some great boudoir photos as well!

Anyway, I just had to show off a little. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this photo and cannot wait until both items are up in my shop!

Don't you just love a good modern photographer!

Knitting the Loom Way

I was so excited when a friend of mine showed me her Knitting Loom. The popular loom is Provocraft's Knifty Knitter.

I just could not believe that she could produce gorgeously knitted items without needles!

This was especially excited because I cannot knit for the life of me. I can get the basics, but ask me to increase or decrease a stitch or circular knit and I am at a loss!

Crochet has always come easier to me and most knitters are the opposite.

Well as soon as I tried out the loom she had I went out and bought myself a set!

I bought the set pictured above and immediately started thinking of all the patterns I could make with them!

I tried searching for Knitting loom patterns and found that there just are not that many out there. The ones that are out there I really did not feel like knitting up. I have already started a great cocoon pattern for baby and am super excited to get it up and (hopefully) free!

Anyone else have a loom set and just love it?

Newsletter Is Back!

Yes! Finally I will be able to bring back my newsletter! It will be much better than last time and will have better information and discounts!

Thanks to a new discovery that has helped me hone my skills and get rid of clutter I have been more focused than ever! This is great news for all my followers and customers. As some of you fellow business starters out there know, starting your business from scratch can be an exhausting and confusing task. I have been slowly working and figuring out what is needed and what I need to get rid of. I will be focusing on my blog, facebook and shop as well as only a few other sites that need attention.

All this mumbo jumbo really just means that you are looking toward a better and brighter future in The Crafty Tortoise world!

Newsletter will start as a once every few month venture until I get the hang of it, when it will hopefully become a once a month email.

So here is the link you will need to subscribe! Be the first to know about new items, discounts and information only revealed to subscribers!

SIGN UP NOW

New Designs Coming soon!

Sorry I have not posted for a while, but I have been busy.

I have been working on a number of new patterns for you crocheters out there! This is only a sneak peak though... I have a photo shoot today and will be so excited to show you photos as soon as I get them back!

Here are a few of my designs:

LION HAT

BUNNY HAT

BEAR HAT

I know my photography skills are sub par, but you get the idea! I am super excited to get these photographed by a pro and on her baby!

I am so excited to get these patterns finally made. They should be available at the end of this month. All will be 3 dollars just like all my other animal hat patterns.

These are not the end either! I have a sketch book riddled with hats that have yet to come to reality.

Blog Mention

I received a wonderful photo the other day from Stefanie. She is a photographer in Denver and takes the most beautiful photos! She purchased a pattern from me and sent me the photo she took with the hat!
Here it is:

She even mentioned me on her blog!

Go check out her site: www.myportfolionline.com

I just LOVED her photos and I know you will too! She crochets beautifully too!

Christmas Already?

Oh yes it is that time already. Time to get my holiday items out there! So far I just have some ornaments up... Hopefully by the end of the month I will have some great elf and santa hats ready to be purchased!

Check out what I have so far!

My new Monster

Some great creations start as something completely different. This little guy started as my attempt to make a snake hat. After much grrrrrs and urghs I accepted this little monster. I love him now! I cannot wait to see him on a little baby!

Some of the worst mistakes can turn into masterpieces. LOL

Key Fob Pattern

Key Fob Pattern

Measures about 4 inches when finished

H hook

Small amount of worsted yarn

1. chain 32
2. Skip 2 chains, Dc across
3. Fasten off leaving long tail

Fold over and sew together with long tail. Attach to key chain!

I love these! You can use up all those small bits of yarn leftover and they are great for Craft Fairs!

Enjoy!

Rag Rug Time

It is summer and the one thing I love about summer is color. Everything is so green and beautiful. It is so hard to be in a bad mood when the world is blossoming.

Another thing I love about summer is the time I have to crochet. I have just started to get into making rugs. My Doily Rug just sold and in honor of that I felt like I really had to replace it.

So I sat down and made some Rag yarn.

• Here is the tutorial to do so
• It is for a braided rug, but if you scroll down it tells you how to add fabric to create a long strand of yarn.

I made my rag rug yarn and here is what it looks like:I used a twin sheet to get enough yarn to crochet about 3/4 of the way through my rug.

• I would suggest to buy up a few sheets that coordinate. It is better to have too much than too little.

Crochet Rag Rug

Use S Hook.

1. make magic circle, hdc 8 into ring, join, ch 1.
2. 2 hdc in each stitch around, join, ch 1.
3. *2 hdc in next stitch, 1 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
4. *2 hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
5. *2 hdc in next stitch, 3 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
6. *2 hdc in next stitch, 4 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
7. *2 hdc in next stitch, 5 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.
8. *2 hdc in next stitch, 6 hdc in next* repeat around, join, ch 1.

• By now you should be seeing a pattern. You continue to increase until you get a rug the size you want.
• If your rug starts to get wavy unravel a row and skip to the next row (example: if on row 5 my rug starts to get wavy I would unravel and instead crochet row 6)
  

It is as easy as that! Enjoy your rug!

Facebook Page Giveaway!

This is my first (hopefully of many) Facebook Page Giveaway.

I am giving away a pair of my Fingerless Gloves in your choice of color (and obviously size)!

This giveaway starts now July 15th and ends July 31st.

To Enter:

1. Visit my facebook page and join/like it
   
2. Participate in any of the Discussions (one entry per Topic)

Head over and start participating! The more you participate the more your chances increase!
Winner will be announced on my Facebook Page on August 2nd.


Good Luck Everyone!

More than one comment on any one discussion will not count towards multiple entries, but is welcomed.
I am not responsible for unrecorded entries due to computer or internet problems.
More entries does not guarantee you will win, it only ups your chances. Winner/Winners will be chosen at random.
This giveaway is open to US and International addresses.
Prize will be mailed to the Postal Address received after contacting the winner/winners. I am not responsible for prizes not received due to postal problems.

New Hand Warmers

I have a great new product for Women in my shop. These hand warmers and beautiful and perfect for the fall and winter ahead! They fit wonderfully, and will soon be offered in varying sizes including children!

I love this eggplant color too. It looks awesome with my tweed coat (I love rich colors in the winter). I have been working on other colors as well and they will soon be up in my shop so keep your eye out!

Also I may even put up the pattern once I get it perfected!

What do you think? What colors would you like to see these in?

Consignment in Brooksville, IN

I have been super super busy this last week and I am so excited to tell everyone why. I was contacted late last week by Kimberly Meadows. She is a photographer who is opening a boutique/studio in Brookville, IN. Which is only about 2 hours away from my house meaning I could go and see my items in a store! (hopping up and down) Anyway, She contacted me and asked if I wanted to Consign at her store. Honestly I did not know what to do. I was so excited, but knew that I had to do this the correct way and research the heck out of consignment. Well, I did my homework and decided that this opportunity was right for me. I whipped out my crochet hook and worked away getting 10 hats done for the shop!

Some info about the shop. It is called Studio 714 and is at 714 E Main St, Brookville, IN 47012. Please if you are in the area stop by! The Grand opening is July 16th at 10am. At 5pm there will be a live fashion show and live music! If you are in the area you should totally stop by and take a look at her shop. Along with my items she also has jewelry, sculpture, cd's, art, and other great items made by local artisans!

Great News for Pattern Lovers

I really do have some great news for those of you who love my patterns! If you have been following you know that during the month of May I had all my patterns on sale. They were all just 2 dollars per pattern! That is cheaper than a gallon of gas! During this month I had over 40 pattern sales. That is more than one a day! This sale was such a success that I have decided to re price my patterns.

This new price is still lower than my usual 5 dollars a pattern, and with the addition of my Spring Child-Adult Size hat and my Baby Bee Hat that is some great news!

The new price is....... 3 dollars!

In progress is the pattern for a new Watermelon Hat!

Over 150 Sales

Let's Celebrate!

I have been selling like crazy... well it feels like crazy. I have over 150 sales (jumps for joy), and have been keeping over 60 listings in my shop.

I took a second to think about the things that I have been improving that I think have helped me achieve my goals:

1. I have kept over 50 listings in my shop and kept adding to them!
2. I had a pattern sale that was extremely successful (thank you all of you who participated)
3. I have been advertising on Project Wonderful consistently.
4. I have been continually renewing 4 random items a day.

I continue to try to improve as much as I can. I just bought my domain name: www.thecraftytortoise.com and I now have a photographer that is using models to take some fantastic photos of my items!