Some good news from 2013 !!!!

Before the end of 2013, I received this delightful email (!!!!!) :

Hi there, Alessandra!

Congratulations! Your project, the Tiny Yarn Butterflies, made it onto our list of 2013's Top 100 Kids' Crafts! To thank you for working with us, we created and attached a special button you can use on your site, if you so choose, so that all your site visitors will know you're in this year's Top 100 roundup. :)

Thank you again for your contribution to AllFreeKidsCrafts! We look forward to working with you in the future!
P.S.: If you want to view the full list of 2013's top projects or share it on your site, you can find it here: http://www.allfreekidscrafts.com/Miscellaneous-Crafts-for-Kids/Top-Craft-Ideas-for-Kids-of-2013

All the best,
Emily


Emily Timmons is the Editor of AllFreeKidsCrafts, so imagine how I felt when reading this email!!!
I have even a button to show off !!!! (top right !)

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Martine (also known an miss bee Appletree !) made a  link to my post Block stitch afghan : the way I do it !!!! …. and she was so kind to add sweet words to my crochet works, too !!!! ;oD

Thank you Martine !!!!!

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Another  christmas tree decoration was made ( and found !!!) :

More photos here !!!!
Mandarien have nice words even for my blog !!!! Thank you!!!!! xxxxx
If you say "hello" to her, you'll discover she is hosting a nice GIVEAWAY right now!!!!!

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This is a entry of the new year, but I loved the idea to put it together with all the other good stuff :

This granny square was made by mums minions !!!! I love it and I'm so happy that my tutorial worked for a crochet beginner !!!!! So so proud !!!!
She has followed this pattern !!!! Thank you for letting me know and for showing me this little beauty !!!

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…..by the way, new projects are on the way !!!!!!!

xxxxx Alessandra

Make it! ....a bigger butterfly !!!!!

....Even now, while writing, this post : Make it! Sweet tiny yarn Butterflies !!!! is the one that has been more visited than others written by me : 15542 visitors since it was published!!!! ;oD

I smile all the mornings when I see it still there, in the first place of my popular posts !!!!

Why I'm back to the tiny yarn butterflies?? Well, a reader kindly asked me how to do bigger butterflies and now I'll explain it to you all!!!

Instead of the usual meal fork, you have to collet a bigger one ! I had one for salads, that unluckily is connected with a big spoon...

....but the good thing is that they have the same number of prongs !!!!

Another thing to change is the thickness of the yarns that you are going to use for the wings and the body/antenna ....

In this way you'll have (for sure!) a bigger butterfly, see.....?....

The other four tiny ones are old friends of mine !!!!

You have to follow the same steps and tips given in the previous photo tutorial, as I show you even now...

This morning I just made a couple of them....

....and they are really loved by the little ones.....

....and what about you ???? ;oD

Try with bigger forks or with ones that you design on thick cardboards and use, instead of yarn, ribbons!!!!

Have fun, xxxx Alessandra

Today links : Welcome to Craft Schooling Sunday! and hookin on hump day 49 link party for the fiber arts !!!

Make it ! Granny Square Panel !!!

I told you!!!! Our "granny squares adventure" is not yet completed!!!!

First of all you need to group some yarn, a hook, a pair of scissors, a tapestry needle, some ribbon, a little branch (and some acrylic colours if you want to decorate it!) and pom poms !!!

You have to crochet a basic granny square. If you like you can have a look at my tutorial here!

As you can see, this time, I worked 9 rounds for my granny square. Each corner is done with 2 chains, not 3 and each round is closed with the invisible join, not with the slip stitch.
You can choose to make your granny even bigger or smaller than mine! It's up to you, honestly!

To complete my granny, I decided to border it with 2 rounds with single crochet stitches (remember : I use the american crochet terminology!) in 2 different colours. In each corner, I did 2 SCs!!

With some fluffy yarn and the pom pom makers do some colourful pom poms

I'm going to use them to decorate my panel (do you remember this one or this one, too????) !!!
But these are not the only decorations I'm going to attach to it.....oh, no....!!!!
I will add even some butterflies : do you remember my sweet chubby butterfly ???
....Even these ones, still so popular.....

Add everything you choose (or you prefer to let your panel plain? Why not? It's ok!!!)! I had to do simple knots for the tiny butterflies (choosing for each of them the same yarn of their bodies)

Remember to paint your little branch/stick before to slide it in the top of your panel

Some more knots for the pom poms at the bottom...

....and for the little ones at the top, beside the ribbon (to hang the panel!)...

...and look for the right spot where let it hang...!!!!!....

xxxx Alessandra

today links : Creative Friday  and Link your Stuff!!!

My sweet chubby butterfly !!!!!

It all started because I wanted to play with some colours.....

...and I crocheted a drop and something rectangular....

....these "anonymous" things soon became her....!!!!....

....a sweet chubby butterfly!!!!

....she cannot fly, but she can come with me wherever she likes...

I couldn't stop to take pictures of her....

....she was playing around with this little flower...

Enjoy the weekend!!!!!

xxxx Alessandra

Today link : Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia and Link your Stuff !!!!! Come and have a look!!! Thank you!!!

Remember to join my GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I've been featured!!!!!!

After reading all my emails, I went straight to my Blogger Dashboard.
Usually the first thing that I do is checking the "Overview" page....

3194 pageviews yesterday!!!!

Usually they are not more than 300 (more or less!)!!! ;oD

More curious than a cat, I went straight to have a look at the "Stats" page where there is "Traffic Sources".... And then I understood!!!

Some days ago I was contacted by Jaclyn Holtzman (!!!!), the editor of AllFreeKidsCrafts.com, who kindly asked me the permission to link to this post (my tiny butterflies!!!)...

The link did the trick!!!!! Thank you Jaclyn!!!!!!

You can check by yourself just going here : Tiny Yarn Butterflies !!!!!

I'm still skipping and giggling a lot!!! ;oD

xxxx Alessandra

Ladybug Week : my crafts !!!

Very, very simple what I did.....

I just took a circular canvas (20cm diameter) that I covered with one turquoise coat of acrylic paint...

Then, from Sarah's book, I traced all 3 the ladybugs' silhouettes and cut them off from some scraps of felt. This idea was forming in my mind...

So, after each ladybug was sewn, I glued them on the canvas and the same I did with some fluffy pom poms...

....not completely satisfied, I decided to glue on even some of my tiny butterflies ( please, have a look at the tutorial right here !)....

Happy with this result, I decided to hang it on the wall...

...where it looks lovely!!!! ;oD

xxxx Alessandra

My link is HERE !!!