The Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy Powley’s Crafty Weblog

March 16, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Book Review: Hattitude by Cathy Carron

Hattitude: Knits for Every Mood (Cathy Carron Collection) is published by Sixth and Spring Books and retails for $19.95 US and $25.95 CAN. It includes 40 knitted hat patterns. Each project includes at least one page of instructions, and then two color photos, one full-page and another smaller image, but the two photos help give you an idea of the various elements of each hat.

The designs are definitely feminine in style, so do not expect of find many that could be considered gender neutral. A few designs that I especially liked include the first project in the book called “Theatrical.” It sort of has a beret affect going on with it and interesting seaming at the top. “Vivacious” is another standout design. It has a woven pattern around it with a trim at the top. With 40 designs, I think it would be hard not to find at least a few that you may want to try making. I also like the fact that an assortment of yarns are used from various companies.

For anyone who wants to move beyond the basic beanie style hat, this has a lot to offer. There are very little basic-type instructions as far as how to do the stitches, so you will either need some experience or will want to supplement with a stitch dictionary if you are not already an experienced knitter.

March 15, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Yarn Score!



I will give you the full scoop on my yarn score during my next video podcast, which I plan to film in the next day or so, but here is a peek into my bag of goodies!

March 15, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Craft Tutorial, Shamrocks, and Stitching Storage

Art Bead Scene

Check out what Dawn of La Touchables made in response to our monthly challenge – wow!

Organizing Embroidery Floss

Connie’s craft room may look like a disaster zone, but her embroidery floss is neat and organized at least – find out all about the floss storage options she uses.

Shamrock Card Embellishments

Here’s a versatile card technique to add to your card making toolbox. Use green paper to form lucky shamrocks or four leaf clovers. Use pastel to make pansies, violets or other simple leaf flowers. Use your imagination.

Craft Show Time!

See some simple craft projects to make that work great for craft shows in this new podcast episode.

Beading Arts

Cyndi shares a brand new tutorial for a bead embroidery pendant that lets the focal take front and center stage!

March 10, 2015
by Tammy
2 Comments

Craft Show Time! Episode 16 Video Podcast

I finally have my voice almost back to normal after being sick for about two weeks! So that means it’s time for another episode of Crafty Princess Diaries Podcast!



Here are links from the show:

Crafty Princess Diaries Blog/Podcast Ravelry Group

Crafty Princess YouTube Channel

Miss Inc.

Tumblr

Little Wendy Crochet

Freshstitches

iMake

March 8, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

March Finished Objects & Giveaway!

March is a long month and the perfect time to get some crafting in. With that in mind, I started a March FOs thread on my Ravelry group.

Come and post photos of your finished objects. All crafts are welcome. We are not limiting this to just yarn crafts…beads…cross stitch…wood working…paper-arts…come on over!

To top it off, Wendy of Little Wendy Crochet has offered up one of her amigurumi patterns, Happy Fish, to one lucky winner who will be pulled from those who participate in the March FOs thread. The details for participating are in the Ravelry thread. Come and join us!


March 8, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Crafting Link Love

Art Bead Scene

March Monthly Challenge is Haida Totems by Emily Carr. A Canadian artist, her art took on bright hues and bold brushstrokes of the Fauvist paintings she saw in Paris in 1910.

I Love Resin

A journal can be a walking momento if you add your own molded embellishments to it. Molding video on the blog too!

Carmi’s Art/Life World

Why not upcycle your old blanket into fingerless gloves? It is so fast and easy to do.

Cross Stitch for St. Patrick’s Day

It’s almost time for everyone to be honorary Irishmen and Irishwomen (unless, of course, you are already Irish – then you already have a great excuse to party). Connie has added a new free pattern in the spirit of the season and has suggestions for more great St. Patty’s Day-themed projects.

Lazertran Inkjet Decals on Wood

See how to piece decals for larger projects and how to “melt” a decal onto wood.

Peep Bunnies

I list ’em every year but they remain popular! Peep bunnies made from felt.

Beading Arts

Are you anxious for Spring? Cyndi will help you get a jump start on your Springtime jewelry!

March 7, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Book Review: First Crochet



First Crochet: Simple Projects for Crochetters (First Crafts) is written by Lesley Stanfield and published by C&B Crafts. It retails for $12.95 in the US; L8.99 in the UK; and $13.95 in Canada. It includes 128 pages of text, with a generous amount of full-color “how-to” photos and instructions for 24 projects.

The format is “workshop” style, first showing how to complete a number of basic crochet stitches such as chain and slip stitch. Then each chapter has projects that are designed around a group of stitches so that the crafter using this book can learn and practice at the same time.

While I like the general approach of this book, I had to admit I was kind of confused at first because there was no mention of the single crochet stitch. Then after reading some more I realized that the stitches used in this book refer to the UK standard. So the US version of single crochet is referred to as double crochet. The US version of double crochet is referred to as treble crochet stitch.

UK/European crocheters will not find this to be a problem, but US crocheters should just be aware that the names of stitches are different. It is one of those many inconsistencies that exist in the world of yarn-crafting, but it is not something to stop anyone from enjoying the projects in this book. In fact, one of my sisters is a very new crocheter. She’s made a scarf and a hat at this point. I think this book is a great fit for her because so many of the projects are easy to do and use a minimum number of different stitches. US readers just need to make note of the different stitch names.

March 5, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

YouTube Subscriptions Aren’t Really Subscriptions?

I am always asking readers of my blog and viewers of my crafting podcast to subscribe to my Youtube channel. As an avid podcast viewer myself, I have also subscribed to a fair number of channels over there. Recently, however, I noticed I was not receiving notifications.

At first, I thought people were just not updating their channels, but then it just seemed to be like no one was updating any more. This brought me over to my own channel and I started poking around and noticed that under the subscription link, you can see all the channels you subscribe to on Youtube. Along with a list of those channels, there is also a column with a box that says “send me updates.” Yikes!

You guessed it. Most of the channels I had subscribed to did not have that box selected! I don’t know if this is new or not because at one point I was getting update notifications from these channels and had no idea that “send me updates” box even existed!

So PLEASE! Check all your YouTube subscriptions right away. You are probably missing all kinds of update notifications and, like myself, did not know you have to also select this box so that you can get them.

March 3, 2015
by Tammy
0 comments

Share Your Crafted Finished Objects & Enter to Win

March is a llloooonnnnggg month, so that means you have lots of time to get a few crafted projects started and finished. Come share your finished objects (all crafts are invited) in my Ravelry group’s March FOs thread. If I get at least 10 people to participate (and you can enter as many times as you like), then I will draw a winner after the month ends.

Go over to thread now for all the details! Show us your beautiful crafted jewelry, needlework, woodwork, resin, knitting, crochet, and more!