Delays, delays, delays

I want to apologize to those faithfully waiting for the Ribbonrie photos, etc. When the company is run by one person, and that one person gets sick, it is like a plaque has hit! I am starting to feel a little better after 2 weeks in bed and hope to begin catching up on my work this week and next. Thank you all for your patience, you will not be disappointed.

Luckily, the reason I have been sick is a good one, I am expecting our fifth child November 26--Thanksgiving Day--which seems very far away at this point! But we are very happy and excited, and dare I say, we hope it is a sister for our only daughter so far.

It's almost time to vote!

**** Stay tuned, Ribbonrie contest photos coming soon! ****

Not Your Grandma's Doily

I was inspired to make this mini cake stand after seeing one on a visit to my LQS (local quilt store). I showed it to my rug hooking group yesterday, and they said it needed a doily. So of course I turned to my favorite resource, the internet, and searched up a free doily pattern, but I wanted it to be a bit funky, so I crocheted it from this very bright green #3 thread. I love how it turned out! It was fun to work on while I watched Lost last night (the next new episode isn't for two weeks, what's up with that?!?).

The pin cushion was stitched by a friend from my quilting group from a Heather Bailey pattern. To make the cake stand, buy a glass candle holder from the dollar store or the thrift store, and glue a small glass plate to it. I used Liquid Nails clear silicone sealer and a 9" glass plate from Walmart, the whole thing cost me about $2.25. That's my kind of craft project!

Free Giveaway!

I recently finished punching my newest design, Ribbonrie, and I'm not totally satisfied with how it turned out. Sooooo, I thought it would be fun to ask for your help! For the first 20 people who email me at angelacho@yahoo.com, I will email you this design for free! There is one catch, I would like you to punch it up in a new colorway of your choosing, and email me the photo of your completed version. Here are the guidelines ( if you request the design, you are telling me that you agree with these rules):

• Email me the photo by March 17
• The winning colorway may be included in future pattern releases of this design
• Please do not alter the design itself, just the colors
• Keep track of what colors you use

We will have prizes for the winning colorway! They will be good, but I haven't decided what they will be yet--I'll keep you posted on that one. But everyone who participates will be a winner because you get the Ribbonrie pattern!

Contest at Calico Carriage!

Debbie at Calico Carriage is running a great contest. All you have to do is visit her blog and follow the steps, then you can win a fat quarter bundle of Lila Tueller's new fabric line, Soiree!

Contest ends January 31, so there is plenty of time. And you get to play with Moda's new tool, Fabric Matcher, which is really fun and addicting. :) Good luck....

New Start for 2009

I signed up for a blog in 2005 and haven't been back since! Promptly forgot all about it, actually. So one of my goals this year is to be a semi-regular blogger. We'll see how it goes!

I love reading crafty blogs (the only kind I ever read), and my very favorite are the free patterns and tutorials you can find there. I also love reading the blogs of my online friends from the various hooking groups like PRHG and WoolSnippets. I hope I can add something worthy to their wonderful work thus far.

Explore the links of some of my favorite internet spots!