Crayon Swap Package & Other Items

Before the Summer I lead a swap called the Crayon Swap.  We each picked a color that we wanted someone to make things for us in, and then we each made items in that color for the other person.  Recently I found out that one person's partner never followed through with the swap; so, I made her a bunch of things with her color in mind (turquoise) as an angel gift.  An angel gift is when someone sends something to another person without wanting anything more than a thank you in return.  The diamond patterned item is a notebook made from a juice pouch cardboard box.  There is a crochet soda tab flower pin, a plastic bottle cap pincushion that looks like a flower, a juice pouch notebook, a juice pouch coin purse, a small drawstring bag made from a t-shirt sleeve, 5 paper bead stitch markers, an artist trading card (my drawing), a crochet cotton scrubby, a crochet cotton dishcloth, and a crochet cotton floral hot pad.  She received everything last week and loved them all.  I'm so happy that she liked everything and that she got something from this swap.

Here is a close up of the hot pad.

Here is a close up of the scrubby.  Normally I knit scrubbies, but I found a crochet pattern for them.  It works the same way as the knit one: increase on one side and decrease on the other side, then do a running stitch on the sides to make the top and bottom like a circle / spiral.  Very easy.

The top stitch markers are the blue paper beads ones that I made for her.  I'm new at making stitch markers, so they aren't perfect. I found some cool skull beads at the craft store, and made some fun Halloween stitch markers for myself.

Here is the front of a card that I drew and mailed to a friend recently.

I then took an out of date calendar and made an envelope out of the October page.

Here is one of the Summer months calendar page turned into an envelope.

Here is a recent artist trading card (ATC) that I made using watercolor paints and a black pen.  An ATC is 3.5" x 2.5" - the same size as a baseball trading card.

ETA: Here are more photos of the swap package.

Gift Tags & Crayon Swap (Blue)

Yesterday Cindy blogged about making gift tags out of tissue boxes using her die cut machine.  What a great idea, especially since lately I've needed gift tags for various things.  So after going to the grocery store today I had a few empty boxes (from canned drinks - bless my husband for saying that I should buy more canned drinks so that I have a lot of tabs to work with).  My tag die cut template has two tags on it, and here is what I got after cutting 4 boxes.  Some are better than others, but they are all great ways to recycle.

I just love the tags that I got off of a cracker box.

Pepsi tags.

The other day I got a surprise package in the mail, another angel gift from the crayon swap.  This one was all the way from Guatemala.

My angel said that the heart and the star on this scarf was in appreciation for my work in our ravelry group and in the crayon swap.

This is a knitted hair piece.  Such beautiful work.

And here is the cute card in the shape of a crayon.  Very cute.

Thank you my angel for the lovely gifts!

Special Delivery

Today was a great day for receiving packages.  I got 3 in the mail, and all of them were from people on ravelry.  That mean lots of wonderful handmade items.  You might recall the Envelope of Doooom swap that I entered a while ago.  My partner lives in Russia.  The above picture is what I sent her to work with.  The following is what she made for me from those items.

She made plarn out of the plastic newspaper bag.  Then she did a chain stitch to make the ribbon that is wrapped around the card.  How clever!  I'm going to have to do this on some of my packaging in the future.

Then using the cardboard from the Arizona Tea box, the heart from the envelope that the materials were mailed in, and a few other things, she made this blank card.

I sent her some paper beads that I had made, and she made me some stitch markers.  I don't have any nice stitch markers so I am thrilled to have gotten these lovely ones.  Sorry that the picture is blurry.

How cute are these earrings?!  She used the bread tags, buttons, and scrap fabric that I sent her to make these upcycled earrings.  I love wearing things like this when I teach classes, do demos, or when I have a table at a craft fair.  I would have never thought of making jewelry out of bread tags.  Brilliant!

Last but by far not least is this awesome necklace.  I LOVE IT!  It is my favorite item from this swap.  She crochet around the scrap fabric that I had mailed her.  When I look at it, I think about the projects that I have made using that fabric.  This necklace is full of memories as a result.

Thats not all, she also crochet around the 2 soda tabs that I had sent to her.  They are on either side of the clasp.  I love all the detailing as well.  My favorite shape is a circle, and the detailing really draws me in because of that.  Amazing work!

Here I am modeling my new jewelry.

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My 2nd package was from anther Crayon Swap angel.  She sent me this gorgeous blue cotton dishcloth that was made from an unraveled sweater.  The blank card is also very beautiful.  I love them!

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My 3rd package today was from a friend of mine on ravelry.  This is someone who I have become friends with and who I've swapped with in the past and who I've sent gifts to just because.  I'm not sure if she mailed these items as a Crayon Swap angel or just because.  Her letter sounded like it was "just because."  Included in the package were 2 books, one for each of my sons, that she picked up at a thrift shop.  She also issued me a challenge to try and make something out of the large pull tabs (the kind found on food cans).  I have made a bracelet using two of this size pull tabs before, so now I want to come up with something else to make out of them.

Just yesterday I was thinking that I needed some nice coasters, and then I get them in the mail from her.  I love when stuff like that happens.  She said that the yarn reminds her of denim, which in turn reminds her of the ravelry group that we are in: From Trash to Treasure.  They are beautiful.

She also made me this lovely beaded crochet bracelet.  I haven't taken it off since I modeled it for this picture.  The black button is the clasp.  It is beautiful.  The beads are iridescent, which I just love.

Here are 3 cardboard tags that she made using things like used stamps and a fake flower.  How cute!

Then she made me these 3 envelopes and blank cards.  

This has been a really great week for me, especially since all of these items (these and the other ones that came this week) came during the week of my birthday.  I feel really special and loved.  Thank you to all of my angels and to my swap partner!

Surprise - Blue Crayon Swap Items

I got a nice surprise in the mail today.  As some of you know I participated in a Crayon Swap recently (where everything is made with a main color in mind).  I had wanted items made for me to be blue, my favorite color.  Things happened and I wasn't going to get a package, but I did send one to someone (an angel gift - where you give without receiving because you want to).  My surprise was that I got an angel package of my own from someone else in the Crayon Swap.  She sent me this cotton scarf that has beads in it, a skein of the same yarn, a small package of the same beads, and a fun set of tissues.  

What a great surprise!  I love it!  Thank you!

It was such a nice day out today that I sat in a chair and worked on some birthday knitting for my oldest son.  He wants a sackbot for his birthday.  A sackbot is a version of a sackboy from the game Little Big Planet 2.  I'm using Lily's Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn in a variegated brown color, because it seemed to have a wood feel to it (color wise).  I plan on inserting cardboard inside of it so that it appears more blocky.

More Blossom Hot Pads

I've been slowly working on this blossom hot pad for Easter.  To me Easter colors are purple and yellow.   Yes pastels and white are totally Easter colors, but purple and yellow really say Easter to me.  What's funny is that they are pretty much the colors shown on the pattern's picture, except my purple is much deeper.  Last night I had to frog an entire round, because I crochet into the front stitches instead of the back ones.  I only have 2 more rounds to go before I'm done.

I finished this one last week.  I reversed the red and orchid / dark pink colors that I had used when making the 2nd blossom hot pad.  The darker color (red in this case) looks better in the back.  I used up all of the red and dark pink skeins of cotton making the two red ones.  The center yarn is the same as the other red one.  Its a self striping yarn, so thats why it looks different.  I still have a good bit of it left over even though it was small to begin with.  

Here is my current crafting bag.  Its packed with a variety of cotton yarn, the blossom dishcloth pattern, scissors, a crochet hook, needles (in an Altoid container), my kindle, a notebook, a jelly jar (it contains threaded needles (this needs to be removed from my bag), some soda tab bracelets (those also need to be removed), and a Leapster 2 handheld system for my youngest son (he needs something to do while out and about as well).  The bag itself is a reusable shopping bag.  Normally I use something more fun, but this bag was around when I needed one.  

After I finish this blossom hot pad, I want to experiment with crocheting soda tabs some more.  I want to figure out how to crochet a soda tab bag.  I know that there are patterns out there for it, but they cost money.  I can buy one, but I would rather figure it out myself.  Thats part of the fun.

Blossom Dishcloth & Soda Tab Bracelet

True to my word, I made another blossom dishcloth (hot pad to me).  This one is for the crayon swap that I am in.  I am making my partner lots of red things.  I started another one for her yesterday, but I reversed the two solid colors.

I actually found the pattern for this on ravelry so that I can share it with all of you.  The original pattern was from one of those freebie patterns in front of the Lily's Sugar'n Cream yarn at Michaels.  This is a good stash-busting project.  The center doesn't use much yarn.  It looks like you can make 2 to 3 of these using the same 3 skeins of yarn.  

I made another crochet soda tab bracelet for the swap as well.  I used a thinner cotton yarn than I did with the blossom dishcloth.  This yarn I actually got from someone in a swap last year.  I used an F hook and 12 soda tabs (vs the 14 in the pattern).  My swap partner's wrist is the same measurement as mine, so I know that it will fit her.  Plus she has daughters, so she can give the bracelets to them if she doesn't want them.  I gave the green one that I had made to my 3 year old for St. Patrick's Day.  He loves wearing it.