THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!!!!! xox

Happy Friday the 13th! Long time no giveaway!

I’m starting this year off with a little goodie bag of accessories for you to share or hoard!

You get an ice cream scoop hair clip, happy sammich cookie hair clip/brooch, pastel rainbow hair bow (alligator clip) with pink heart cabochon, big cherry zipper dangly, and some other fun random non-crocheted stuff I’ll stick in the bag! This giveaway is open to people all over the world. I’ll cover the shipping!

Rules (I’ll try to keep it simple!):

1) Leave a comment! That’s easy! 🙂
2) For extra chances to win: mention, blog about, or link to my giveaway on Twitter, tumblr, or your own blog. You must show me the link to that specific entry, not just your general Twitter, tumblr, or blog URL. For each extra chance to win, you have to leave each extra comment in my blog, so that each separate entry counts for the random number generator. Don’t compile all your links into one comment. I used to separate comments for people, but I will no longer do that.
3) Comments will close on Friday, January 20th, and I will choose a winner with a random number generator (random.org).

I think that’s it! Good luck!

I got a really fun shipment in the other day: new biz cards, hang tags, and Thank You labels!!!!! I know this is probably exciting to only a few people, but I just get a kick out of always refreshing and fidgeting with my branding stuff. I made a little video to show you guys the goods!

I’m so excited that Red Velvet Shop now carries a limited number of red velvet cupcake slouchy hats and red velvet coffee cup cozies! Get ’em while you can! 😀 Thanks, Elsie and Emma! xo

I bought these shoes in Hong Kong. I think they were in this mall on the Kowloon side called “Trendy Place,” but I can’t remember for sure. They were a bit small, but the lady tried to stretch them for me while we shopped. They were on sale for like $30 USD.

I can’t say that I love the outfit I wore them with…but I am still figuring out how to make them work in my wardrobe hehehehe. I feel really comfortable in platform shoes that have an angle, but I feel like platforms that are just one big sponge of equal height make me feel like I’m waddling when I walk. I can’t really explain it, but it’s one of the reasons I avoided flats for a very long time. I spent most of the early 2000’s about 3-4 inches taller than my normal self every day.

Sorry for the lack of blogging! I have been living in a bit of a boring black hole lately, just trying to wrap up projects on my to-do list, plan for Valentine’s Day items, and avoid taxes and accounting (can’t do that for much longer, though). I also spent a few days working on a super cute but super TOP SECRET project for a friend. I can’t wait to show you pics of that. Oh you are gonna love it. But it can’t be revealed yet for a few weeks!

When I first begin to design a new pattern, I start with a simple sketch.

The simpler, the better. The sketch helps me break my ideas down into simple shapes, and it also helps me organize and plan colors. The sketch is not really meant to be seen by anyone or show off my fancy drawing skills. It is simply the tool I use in the designing process.

After the sketch, I go and buy yarn, and then start to crochet. Sometimes, there’s a lot of trial and error. Always, there’s a lot of taking apart of things and starting over. While this particular design wasn’t overly complicated, for some reason it just took me a lot longer than I’d planned! I was happy to re-visit the tea cup pattern again, though. Now that I have it written down, you will probably see some tea cup scarves available in my shop very soon! Until then, check out the finished Tea Party scarf!

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of me wearing the scarf, because I was literally still sewing it together minutes before the Express Mail deadline, and I had to get it out to a special somebody before Christmas! Plus, I hadn’t really slept in days. Nobody wants to see that! 😛