Crochet Philippines: 2011

Friday, December 9, 2011

New Logo and Header of millicentmelissa

With vacation time on my hands, got busy updating all my blogs and even found time to create millicentmelissa's new logo. Let me know what you think :)

Got great tips on how to create a killer blog header using Photoshop over at Overstuffed. Lara used Photoshop Enterprise in her tutorial but you could use Photoshop like I did, same instructions apply anyway. I'm not a Photoshop pro at all but Lara's instructions are easy to follow and quite useful for a newbie like me. Check out her tutorial here.

For the digital paper Lara mentions, I found a site where you can download it for free at http://freedigitalscrapbooking.com/. The selections are limited but there are some nice ones you could probably use.

Will be posting more of my Christmas Gift projects in my next post...

First Set of Christmas Gifts Finally Done!

Finally finished the first set of Christmas gifts for my girlfriends! Just in time for the first Christmas party of the year I attended, our Caring Group for Solo Parents.

Had fun doing these pieces especially the bracelet for Jopen for which I used matching pipe cleaners to a Dorset button. Simple and yet ingenuous! Got the idea from Martha Stewart at her tutorial for pipe cleaner ring here.

For Marikit

Close-up

For Celine

Other side

For Gail

For Reggie

As worn

Ring for Celine's earrings

As worn

For Nilds

For Dolly

Close-up

For Jopen

Close-up

Other side

Getting Ready for Christmas!

Been quite busy these past few weeks, crocheting as if in a race, readying my Christmas gifts for all the lovely girls in my life. Giving you a glimpse with the pictures below of the ongoing project.

Now, if I could only find a crochet project that could be a Christmas gift for the guys :)

A fine mess: some of the crochet projects am working on for Christmas gifts

More crochet flowers to become earrings

A crochet necklace in the works

Crochet Inspiration: Faye's Middle East photos

A few months ago, my co-Makati Feaster Faye Dondiego posted in Facebook some fabulous photos she took from her vacation at the Middle East and I just fell in love with this one!

Photo courtesy of Ms. Faye Dondiego

Faye was extremely nice for allowing me to use her photo as a crochet inspiration! So here are some of the work in progress for a project I'm naming for a sweet and artistic soul sister...FAYE!

Hexagon pattern taken from Crochet Adorned

Up-close

Will probably use this for earrings

And this one as a medallion

Will post the finished projects soon. Thanks Faye!

For Amara

Whew, haven't blogged in awhile! Had to take a hiatus from crocheting and blogging to organize our household. Had to get rid of bulky furniture and everything old and useless (and that included our lazy maid!) so now Marti and I happily run our own home without any worries!

So now that we're getting used to our new routines and everything else is settling down, I started with a few projects in time for Christmas, the first of which is a 3-set accessory for the daughter of my CG mate Aby whose name is as pretty as she is: Amara.

As the set was inspired by Amara, I'm naming these accessories after her:

Amara Necklace:
Floral Medallion with Gold Ribbon Necklace

Sunburst Medallion for Amara's necklace

Amara Cuff

Amara Cuff, side view

Really hope she liked it!

Crochet How-To: Crochet Mitered Squares

Scanning through my Crochet Adorned book for inspiration, came upon the crochet mitered square pattern and thought this would make a fabulous accessory like an over-sized cocktail ring!

This pattern is really easy as it only involves adding 2 chains (ch) in the middle of your work to make the miter. Here's the simple pattern I'd like to share with you:

Stitch Guide: ch - Chain
sc - Single Crochet
st - Stitch
Make magic ring (click here to find out how to make a magic ring)

Row 1

Make 3 sc inside magic ring. Turn.
Ch 1, 1 sc in first st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) in second st then 1 sc on third st. Turn.

Row 2
Ch 1, 1 sc on next 2 st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) on the ch 2 of previous row then 1 sc on next 2 st. Turn.

Row 3
Ch 1, 1 sc on next 3 st; (1 sc, ch 2, 1 sc) on the ch 2 of previous row then 1 sc on next 3 st. Turn.

By now it would be evident that the miter is done by adding ch 2 at the upper right corner of the square. You may opt to change color on any of the rows, just remember to finish off by adding ch 1 at end of each row or before adding new color to maintain the sharp edge of the square.

Try mixing the color or texture of yarns for a fancier look.
So here's my work in progress so far...

Haven't quite finished it yet but my sister already claimed this one as her birthday gift!

Crochet How-To: How to Make Crochet Covered Buttons

Image by Grant Neufeld via Flickr

Sarah over at Creative Jewish Mom came up with a simple and free crochet pattern on making crochet covered buttons using t-shirt and sweater buttons.

Got this excerpt about the pattern from her blog:

Yes, you can transform buttons by making nice crocheted button covers for them, or make a set of buttons from those that don't match, or in my case, make some buttons that will match your project perfectly! (I'll share it with you soon, just need to sew on those green buttons and weave in a few ends, hopefully.)
And really, I've seen crocheted covers for apples, for ipods, for MP3/4s, for mugs and tea pots, so why not make a little something for that humble button that's hanging around in your junk drawer? It only takes a few minutes and the results are wonderful. It is hard to make them look perfect, but that's okay, a handmade feeling is good too!
A little button like this would look so sweet at the end of a hair pin, or group a few together on a piece of felt, and make a nice lapel pin. And if you want to get really delicate and lovely with this, so do it with crocheting thread and you can do something more open, revealing the button underneath, or make a simple design using a few colors.

Click here to visit Sarah's website and see the full pattern.

Free Crochet Pattern: Pomo Boho Collar

Was surfing the net again for crochet inspiration and free patterns and came upon this fab blog "My Amphetamines and My Purls" and saw the Pomo Boho Collar pattern which was so fancy and romantic, I just had to feature it in this blog!

Photo taken from pomoboho.blogspot.com

Her blog posts about on-going projects are worth the visit as well so head on over there already! As for me, I'm heading to the mall to buy my crochet yarn to start on this project over the weekend :)

Project: Crochet Lace Collar

I found this free fancy crochet collar pattern at The Ongoing Project blog which inspired me to embark on another crochet project over the weekend.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/violetwired
Photo taken from http://theongoingproject.blogspot.com

Shay's pattern was easy to follow and although I was able to modify the size according to my neck size, the 2 collars I made came out short! Thankfully, was able to remedy that on my third try by using a ribbon instead of a button :)

Here is my finished project. I added some pearls to make it look more Victorian-inspired but actually this reminds me more of one of Queen Elizabeth I's paintings.

Okay, so I'll call this Victoria....

thanks to my lovely model: my sister Cha

With a ribbon closure, the size can now be adjusted

The ribbon part can also be worn infront

Visit Shay's blog The Ongoing Project for the free pattern and more of her fabulous designs!

Single Crochet Stitch

The Single Crochet Stitch is the most basic stitch and widely-used foundation stitch in crochet.

Here's an easy-to-follow video tutorial on how to make the single crochet stitch:

Do you want to have your very own Internet Business Card?

Image via CrunchBase

About.me

Through my Work-At-Home course under Internet Guru Jomar Hilario, I found this new site where you can make a profile and consolidate all your presence on the web in this site! It's called About.me and it's the simplest and fastest way to advertise your web presence, more importantly to drive traffic to your blogs. You can put links to your social network sites like Facebook and Twitter and to your blogs and even let anyone e-mail you (of course, without revealing your e-mail add). It's like your internet business card!

Sick of PTC earnings? Work as a Virtual Assistant instead!

Here are some fascinating profiles I checked out at About.me: