Weekend Project - Making Paper Beads

For those of you who aren't aware, March is National Craft Month!  Now that the month is almost over, I figured it was high time I got to celebrating :)  I honestly have not had much time since February to craft much, and I've lost a lot of inspiration.

In my crafty YouTube watching, though, I came across a couple videos that got me interested in some new crafts!  One of my goals for National Craft Month was to try something "new" that wasn't knitting or crocheting.  I've done a lot of crafts in my life and enjoyed most of them - cross-stitching, latch hook rug making, etc.  But these videos I watched brought back some crafty times of my youth that I'm more than happy to revisit.

One channel I started watching consisted of friendship bracelet tutorials.  I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them, but I had a 50% Off coupon to ACMoore and decided to buy a huge pack of friendship bracelet thread and a cardboard loom.  Considering I wound up only paying $6.50, I think I win.  Now if only I can remember where to start...

I also started to get back into paper bead making.  I used to love making paper beads when I was younger, and I even had a little wheel that helped me make them (and it made things so much easier).  Unfortunately, even if I did ever find that wheel, it was made for kids so the bead's hole was way too big.

So instead I bought some picks from ACMoore's garden section, came home, and used some old 8.5x11" scrapbook paper to make my first paper beads in years!  Here's a picture of some purple ones:



After gluing the last flap down, I used clear $1 nail polish I had sitting around.  I just started investing in real nail polish, so I didn't feel bad scarificing some of my $1 variety :P

I've also started making some beads from striped paper, and the way the colors are coming out when I wrap them looks like Easter eggs - 'tis the season!  I'm interested in seeing what some of these beads will look like on my crochet necklaces.  Once I'm better at making them, of course.

And don't forget what else is great about March - the Morning Call's Best of Blogs contest!  Head on over to the site to vote for my blog if you enjoy reading.  I'll be forever grateful.  I hope your week is off to a good start!

Work in Progress: Crocodile Stitch Scarf

Happy Friday, everyone!  Are you as pumped for the weekend as I am?  I can almost guarantee that you're not, haha.  What a crazy week.  I feel like Hubby has been on the verge of committing me all week because I've been coming home from work a) stressed out and b) playing my new iPhone app "Tiny Wings" for about two hours every night.  I may be obsessed.

So I just wanted to share this amazing new crochet stitch I've been learning.  It's called the "Crocodile Stitch" and it basically looks like scales.  I've been practicing by making a scarf and was able to snap this photo right after I'd started.  Last week, I doubled the size of this and it looks great:




I learned by watching a combination of YouTube videos and a written version.  What I've done follows none of these to a T, haha.  It's much harder to learn than I expect it to be.  But now that I've caught on, I think it's super easy, not to mention fun and quick!

I got the yarn on sale at Mary Maxim.  It's one of their own yarns, but I forget the name offhand.  I'll post an update with the details once I'm done - I just wanted to share how fun this stitch was!  And it seems to be making its rounds in the crocheting social media circle, so of course I jumped on the bandwagon :)

Before I leave you all for two days of fun, please vote for me as the best "art" blog in the Lehigh Valley!  Participants can vote once per day until voting ends, so if you've already voted for me, you can keep doing so for the rest of the month :D  Thanks for your help, and have a great weekend!!!!

If you could own any kind of pet, what would it be?

Would it be too obvious of me to say I'd love to own an Angora rabbit as a pet? Not only are they incredibly cute (I might be too distracted by cuddling to end up knitting), but you can also use their fur as wool! I'd never have to leave my house again :P

Ask me anything (epecially knit and crochet questions!)

Vote for Me in "Best Blogs of the Lehigh Valley"!

Morning, all!

I have so much to update you with.  I finally got an XD card for my new camera so I've been taking pictures left and right of current projects: Flower swaps, a new stitch I learned and am applying to a scarf, some knit afghan squares from Knitting Today magazine, blah blah blah.  A whole slew of things.

But today I'm here because I've been nominated for "Best Blogs of the Lehigh Valley"!  Of course, that means nothing if I don't get my readers to come on over and vote.

Click here to vote and read more awesome Lehigh Valley Blogs!

And on that note, I know they've been sparse lately, but I'll be getting back into my groove thang soon.  Classes have just been kicking my butt the past couple weeks and my motivation's been lacking.  Gotta get back to it, though!