The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog

July 26, 2015
by Tammy
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Come by for Crafting Links

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

Check out Andrew’s new bronze creations and find out what he plans to do with them!

Robot Love

Enjoy some fun amigurumi & learn about a few crafting giveaways.

Connie Gee’s SAL

Connie has started up a free SAL. Join the Connie Gee’s Stitchers group on Facebook to share your progress photos. Find out how to get started.

Silhouette Studio – Tedious Tasks Made Easy

Silhouette Studio conquers two card making issues. Two-sided projects don’t align well with desktop printers. Many pieces mean tedious cutting & varied results.

Art Bead Scene

Meet Julie of Uglibeads, one of our fantastic new Art Bead Scene contributors (and FYI, her beads are the opposite of ugly!)

Table Transformation

Cherie transforms an old table into a fun piece for the living room.

Beading Arts

Make a teeny tiny little bead embroidered pendant! It’s fast, easy, and a great way to try stitching with the smaller seed beads.

July 25, 2015
by Tammy
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Video: Amazing Blythe Exhibit

If you caught Episode 24 of my Crafty Princess Diaries Podcast, then you know I’ve been falling down the art doll world. The more I learn, the more fascinated I’m becoming. So when I found this video that shows off amazing Blythe dolls that have been re-imagined into little miniature works of art, I had to share. Get a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy!



July 18, 2015
by Tammy
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Craft Links to Enjoy

DIY Crochet Bead and Wire Crochet Necklace

Learn how to crochet wire and beads into a fun, whimsical necklace. Here is the link to my video on how to crochet a chain stitch.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton

So many beautiful creations were made for the latest challenge, Endless Sky. Check out what all the participants made!

Review of Crafting Memories by Tammy Powley

Crafting Memories is the well-known craft author’s first book of fiction and it’s a very good read as career struggles mix with family scandal.

Yarn Review & Subscriber Giveaway

The Crafty Princess takes a look at a popular yarn used for knitting/crocheting baby items and has a YouTube subscriber giveaway in the works.

Mum’s the Word

This free pattern from Connie Gee’s Designs is suitable for cross-stitch, needlepoint, and beadwork. Use the small design to experiment with different flosses or techniques.

Beading Arts

Cyndi’s been going to town making Shamballa bracelets! Here she shows you how to make smaller feminine ones using cords and cupchain.

Art Bead Scene

Check out Rebecca’s roundup of ocean-inspired beads for this week!

July 16, 2015
by Tammy
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Video: Baby Yarn Review & Subscriber Giveaway

There are lots of different types of yarns on the market used for making baby items like clothing, afghans, and toys. In this video, I take a look at one from Bernat.

When you watch the video, make sure to head over to my YouTube channel and subscribe. I have a giveaway in the works, which I will be announcing in an up coming video. Subscribers receive automatic email notifications when I post a new video. Subscribe now so you don’t miss out!



July 13, 2015
by Tammy
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Knit Socks in My Future?

Since I tend to go barefoot a lot and mostly wear sandals, it has taken me awhile to warm up to the idea of knitting socks. But I have seen so many beautiful patterns for them, and I got to thinking that I do wear socks when it gets cold inside the house, especially in the evenings when we have had the AC cranking all day. So now, I want to make them.

Of course, this is where it gets tricky because I’m still not that great at reading patterns, and most of the sock patterns I’ve looked at seem to pretty complicated for a beginning knitter. And, of course, I can’t just bop down to my local yarn store because that doesn’t exist in sunny Florida, at least in my part of Florida.

Craftsy has some sock classes, but after reading the reviews, I got turned off. I don’t want to turn anyone else off, just for me sounds like it’s over my head.

So what to do? YouTube it! And I found this awesome video that shows step by step how to make a pair of ankle socks, which is perfect for what I need. Now I just need to order some smaller double pointed needles.



July 12, 2015
by Tammy
1 Comment

Knitting Sadness and Doggie Madness

If you have watched any recent episodes of my Crafty Princess Diaries Podcast on YouTube, then you may have seen this shawl popping up once or twice. It’s a very simple pattern, perfect for beginning level knitters like myself (and free on Ravelry) called Das Tuchle. I was using my beautiful Rainbow circulars from Knit Picks, size 8 (5mm) needles, and some of my favorite yarn from Cascade, Heritage Silk Paints in the Water Lily colorway.

Well….I guess I spaced out one night and forgot my project bag in the TV room where we sort of keep our dogs sequestered from other parts of the house and this is what happened! Yikes!




We don’t have any doggie evidence for sure on who of our three dogs did it, but this guy looks the most guilty.



And he already has a bad track record after eating a hole in my MIL’s cashmere sweater. Not that out other two guys wouldn’t have gone for it if given the chance. He was probably just faster than they were.

On the flip side, I’m very grateful that the needles and cable are fine. Most of the yarn made it through, though now in a lot of small balls. I’m not sure exactly what I will be doing with the yarn, but I’m preparing to start up the shawl again with some new yarn, hopefully one that won’t be as tasty.