I’m working on some baby hats and booties for a local charity, and I need just a few more skeins to finish up some booties. Though I cringe at the thought of going to Walmart, it really has had the best prices on yarn in general and definitely Bernat baby yarn, which is my first choice for making crochet baby items. So today, I figured I’d stop by and just get a few skeins and be on my way home after school.

Low and behold, what do I find? Bernat Baby Softee in pink, yellow, and blue on clearance, $2 a skein. These are normally $3.28 at Walmart. For some reason the same type in purple and mint were $2.50. The Bernat Baby Jacquards were marked down to $3.

I quickly checked my wallet to see how much cash I had, and filled my arms up! However, I had the nagging feeling. Does this yarn clearance mean the end of Bernat yarn at Walmart? I posted the sale on a Yahoo crochet list, and ga-zing, I received a number of emails back that yes, indeed, other yarn crafters had heard that Walmart was planning on axing its yarn products!

So the good news is, more than likely you can score some great yarn deals at your local Walmart. The bad news is, this may be the beginning of the end of yarn at Walmart.

Of course, just as I was complaining about finding some decent on-line yarn sources, JoAnn’s has yarn sale that I have to admit is pretty decent. It ends tomorrow, 7/17, so if you are interested, you’ll need to hop to it. I wasn’t too impressed with the Red Heart Super Saver prices, but the Bernat baby yarn and Vanna’s Choice yarns are well-priced. They also have free shipping if you purchase at least $25. I stocked up on baby yarn, and I plan to keep an eye out for the next sale.

Crochet It. Love It. Wear It., a new book that takes crochet to the level of true fashion, is out for early ordering on Amazon.com! The Crochet Dude, Drew Emborsky, has really outdone himself with this new book that showcases some of the most elegant clothes I’ve ever seen in a craft book. I watched via Facebook as he uploaded photos of each design onto Flickr, so you can get a good close up over there.

One of the criticisms often made about crochet, especially when compared to its sister stitch knitting, is that crocheted clothing has no drape, that it is often bulky and unattractive. Perhaps this is true sometimes. I have attempted to make a few sweaters myself, which not only didn’t turn out that great (mainly because of the chick behind the hook not necessarily the pattern) but resulted in a thick, clunky piece I would not want to wear in public.

Obviously, it takes a master designer to come up with techniques that work with crochet. Yeah, Drew!

It’s that time of year at Interweave’s on-line shop, time for the annual hurt book sale! But the window of opportunity to score some slightly bruised books ends tomorrow. I have purchased books a number of times during this company’s hurt book sale, and I have been surprised to find that none of the books I ordered looked damaged in any way. So, I think a lot of these are just overstocks too! If you have wanted to treat yourself to some craft book titles from jewelry making, beading, fiber arts, or whatever it is you like to do, now is the perfect time! Click on either the ad above or below to get you over there.

My first jewelry kits are complete and listed in my Etsy shop.  Both are earring kits using ceramic Raku beads, natural mother of pearl beads, copper beads, and copper findings. One jewelry kit is what I call a “full” kit because it has all the materials (except tools) needed to make the jewelry piece as well as a detailed full-color instructional tutorial. This is a beginning level kit designed for someone who has made little to no jewelry at all.

The second jewelry kit makes the same earring design but is geared towards someone with more experience who may want to make the earrings but doesn’t need the tutorial included the the full kit, so the kit includes all the materials but no tutorial.

I have two more earring kits in the works that are now in the testing phases where I actually have people make the kits and follow the instructions so I can make extra sure they are super clear before I start selling them. And then, the fourth earring kit I have plan is still in the design stage.

What do you think about this first kit? I’d love to hear some feedback, and if you know of anyone who has wanted to start making jewelry but wasn’t sure how to get started, please pass along the links to the kits above. These earrings are very easy to make, so it would be a great way for a newbie to get started with this fun hobby.

Recently, I was asked to shoot a test video for a client I write for. When and if it goes live on-line, I’ll give you more info on that, but one very cool thing that came out of it was that I discovered the Flip Video Camera, just about the smallest video camera I’ve ever seen and very easy to use. The client loaned the camera to me, and I only had time to shoot one test video before having to return it. My husband, who was my photographer, and I were so impressed with this little guy that I did some research and discovered that they are sold all over the place on-line and are very reasonably priced. So, I bought one.

It arrive the other day and I’ve started to play around with it some more on my own, sans hubby’s help, and I’m still pretty darn impressed. The only drawback we have found is that it is not capable of super duper close-up detailed shots. For example, if you were going to show how to crimp a crimp bead, this camera won’t cut it. However, for larger crafting items, this may be the answer to anyone who has wanted to try to put some videos together but wasn’t able or sure about plunking down some big buck for a video camera. It would also be a handy camera to bring to craft fairs or related events since it so small and light-weight.

I have some ideas for some other videos for my client, so hopefully, this will be a new direction for my on-line publishing. If not, I can always post them here, but I’ll let you know how it goes.

I have been working on a new jewelry related project during my summer vacation, and until I got to a certain point of completion, I didn’t feel comfortable discussing it here. However, I have made some major progress and see my vision coming clearer ever day, so I finally decided to spill the beans, at least some of them.

Drum roll please…Tammy Powley (aka the Crafty Princess) will soon be offering jewelry kits for sale. This is a project that I have been dreaming about for way too long and decided to just buckle down and do it this summer.

Of course, it has been way more work than I expected. For example, my husband is helping me with the photographs since it is basically impossible to take photos of your hands making jewelry since, well, you need your hands to operate the camera. On our first photo shoot, he asked me how many photos I thought we would need to take. This shoot was for two of the kits, so I said well, maybe two dozen pictures or a tad more than that. How many did we end up taking? More like 100 pictures!

When I get further along, I will reveal more details about the designs I’ve created for the kits, but for now, I can say that I’m just starting with a small number to test the waters. My vision for the kits I think are a little different than what I’ve seen available so far. In fact, I’ve been pretty surprised at what I’ve seen as far as kits in general. My goals when putting together the designs for each kit include the following (in no particular order of importance):

• Use quality materials, some of which are not available at the average craft shop
• Develop a “class in a kit” approach where each kit covers specific skills
• Provide step-by-step instructions tailored for each specific kit
• Incorporate high-resolution photographs for each tutorial that accompanies each kit
• Generally create kits that are appealing to beginners but also appeal to intermediate level jewelry makers
• Offer convenience to buyers, no going to the craft store, bead shop, or ordering a huge list of supplies on-line.

I’m really hoping I get these all together and ready to announce properly, yes, with lots of fan fair, press releases, and Hollywood parties (okay, maybe not a party but you get the picture) by the time I start back to school, which is (yikes!) only a few weeks away. So stay tuned!

Melanie Brooks from Earthenwood Studio is celebrating her 1,000th blog post with a huge sale in her Etsy shop as well as a ten day give-a-way during the month of June. The final deadline is actually June 15th, 2010. Find out more about the details of her give-a-way on her blog.

If you like ceramic beads and jewelry components with an Earth-themed flair, then you will love Melanie’s work, and now is a great time buy some of her work that’s on sale and, of course, possible win some of it for free.

Do you love purses? Do you love crocheting purses even more? Then this new purse pattern of the month set up from The Crochet Dude is probably tailor-made for you.

He is offering members an original purse pattern each month that will not be published anywhere else. The patterns will come in the mail (like real mail, I know), and each will be signed and numbered. He is also limited the number of people who can join his purse pattern of the month club.

For more information and details about how to join, head over to his web site.

If you love buying beads and enjoy wonderful bead-related magazines like Beadwork, then make sure you head over to Andrew Thornton’s blog and spring cleaning sale. He has an assortment of beads, charms, and vintage jewelry that he’s clearing out.

Make a purchase and you are automatically entered in his Beadwork drawing. Those entered have a chance to win a year’s subscription to the magazine on him. You can get complete details on his weblog.