Anniversary Giveaway!

This time last year, I made my first pattern available online. What better way to celebrate than to give away free patterns?
How to enter:
1. Visit either my Etsy, Artfire, or Ravelry page and then come back and fill out the little form below (mandatory for entry).
2. Subscribe to my blog’s RSS feed and fill out the form below, except instead of listing a pattern, just let me know you subscribed (1 extra entry).
3. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the contest, come back and fill out the form again letting me know (1 extra entry).
4. Blog about the contest, fill out the form below and leave a link to your blog.

The winners will be announced on Saturday, June 6, and an email will sent to you (to the email provided).

Also, this is the first time I’ve used ContestMachine, so if you have any trouble entering, please let me know!

BOGO Birthday Bash!

Since my birthday is just around the corner, I decided to have a bit of fun and give stuff away! From now through March 26, you will get a free pattern of your choice (of equal or lesser value) with any pattern purchase. This applies to every pattern you purchase, so if you buy two patterns, you get two free! So here’s how it works:

ArtFire purchasers - Send me a message through ArtFire after purchasing letting me know which pattern you want and I will email it to along with the purchased pattern.

Ravelry purchasers - Send me a message through Ravelry after purchasing letting me know which pattern you want and I will send you an expiring link download (the link will expire 30 min. after it is used).  Or, if you send me your email address I can email the PDF to you.

Etsy purchasers - Send me a convo through Etsy after purchasing letting me know which pattern you want and I will email it to along with the purchased pattern.

Lunch Time Pattern Available

My Lunch Time pattern is now available for $3.25 on Ravelry, Etsy, or here on my blog.

The pattern includes instructions for making:

Bread slices

Peanut Butter

Jelly

Bacon

Lettuce

Tomato

Chips

Cookies

We Have a Winner!

Melanie of Whimsical Creations has won the contest to win my latest pattern!  Congrats!  Email me at beansproutcreations@gmail.com with the email address you want the pattern sent to and I will send to you asap =)

Now, what have I learned after my first contests?  Well, since Melanie was the only person to enter, I’m assuming most people don’t have blogs of their own =)  So I think that next time I have a contest, I’ll do something a little more accessable for people!  If you have any ideas, feel free to leave a comment to tell me about it.

Crocheted Heart Earrings

As a Valentine’s Day gift for my daughter, I decided to attempt to make some heart shaped earrings.  Here’s what I came up with:

Items needed:

3.5 mm (E) crochet hook (don’t use your favorite, as wire can scrape it up!)

32 gauge silver wire

Red Seed Beads (about 33 for each earring, plus a few extra just in case)

2 earring hooks

Needle nose pliers

Crocheting with wire is exactly the same as normal crocheting.  However, you do need to make sure and not crochet too tight, otherwise you may break the wire.

To add the beads in a single crochet, insert hook , wire over hook and pull up loop, slide one bead over to your hook, wire over hook making sure the bead stays put,and pull through both loops on hook.  You will do this on every single crochet made.

Heart (make 2):

String up all the beads onto the wire

Row 1: Ch 2, sc 3 into second ch from hook

Row 2: Inc in first, sc, Inc (5 total)

Row 3: Inc, sc 3, inc (7)

Row 4: Sc across

Row 5:  Sc, Dc 3 times into next sc (alternate bead placement on the dc, sometimes pulling over the bead on the first wire over, sometimes on the second), sc 3, dc 3 times in next, sc

Bind off and weave in ends.  By gently pulling and tugging, shape the heart.

Take your earring hooks and carefully pull the loop open with your pliers.  Attatch the heart and carefully close up the loop.

Wear your earrings proudly on Valentine’s Day, making everyone “ooh” and “ahh” over your skills =)