I mentioned my new line of items is inspired by nature, right? If I didn't, I'm saying it again. I'm completely inspired and obsessed with the natural world. So, it only fits that my items are beginning to resemble what you can find there. Most recently I've added something new for MissNissCraftworks. I've developed a line of bath/body care that are reminiscent of spring and summer. Washcloths, scrubbies, and makeup removers are the bulk of it. In all honesty, you could use them in the kitchen, but I think they're too pretty to scrub pans! One of my absolute favorite new items are these 'Forget-Me-Not' Make-up Removers. I was completely smitten with the idea of reusable makeup removers and thought the wording of the flower was a perfect play on works. 'Don't forget to treat your face!' Okay, admittedly a little silly, but I like it. The photo I was inspired by is the bottom right. I thought forget-me-nots were gorgeous flowers, but the vibrancy of this photo really stuck out to me. So, I did my best to replicate these delicate little things into washcloth for something just as delicate, your face! I am also offering these lovely leaf washcloths. I'd like to say the pattern is mine, but it is not. Nevertheless, I couldn't resist knitting my own leaves to sell. They fit very well with my theme! I love the shape and the green colors. It really makes you yearn for spring. Luckily you can have these inside to remind you of the the real lush, green leaves that are absent from our trees at the moment. Finally, we have the scrubbies/loufas. I fashioned them after some of my favorite summer flowers. Top left is the sunflower, top right is the zinnia, and bottom left is the daisy. I'm still working on photos and editing, so that's why the pictures of these don't quite match the others. The sunflower and daisy are listed, though, with some not so great photo!
Since I listed those, I have added a hand strap on the back. It makes it easier to hold these flower scrubbies when washing. Plus it looks really nice. That's it for now. Until next time!
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Just in time for Valentine's Day! I made these lovely heart coasters for the season, but honestly they are perfect year round. I absolutely love the delicate look of them. The mitered center is quite a different look than one normally would find in a crochet heart.
If you'd like a set you'll have to personally contact me through here, Etsy, or FB. I'd be more than happy to suit your needs! Or for now, simply gaze on the beauty of these hearts. :) My brother is a 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' fan. Yes, my brother. Otherwise considered a 'bronie.' I thought it was a little weird at first, but being a fan as well in my younger years, I was okay with it. Anyway, I have been wanting to make him a pony for a very long time. However, it took me that much time to find a pattern I really liked. I'm not quite skilled enough to create my own construct on my own, so following someone else's pattern was a must. I'm sorry, but at the moment I do not have the web link to the patterns on hand! If I remember I'll post the link at a later date. Key words being 'if I remember.' I knew I was going to make a Fluttershy, his favorite of the gang. So, I rummaged through my yarn at home to find the right colors and went to work. The pattern itself was really easy to follow. With any toy made in parts, though, the sewing it all together was the hardest part. I didn't quite get the neck to look right, either, but she's still adorable! I cut pieces of yarn for her hair and attached it with a crochet hook. You could probably use a latch hook as well. Eyes and cutie mark were done in felt. Since the Fluttershy toy was a gift, I couldn't share it until now! I have been waiting FOREVER to share it with the world. Needless to say my brother really loved it. Quite honestly, I feel she turned out ten times better than the on cheap China ones you can make in the store. ^_^ But I might just be biased! What do you think? Would you want one for your self or a gift, too? Contact me if you would or just admire this one's cuteness here! #mylittlepony #friendshipismagic #crochetedponies
Over the weekend I participated in a holiday craft show. It was my second one, so I had an idea what I needed to do for set up. I had items made for Christmas along with my regular items. All in all, I was pretty pumped! One of the things I added for this show was a special order form. I even made a really cool looking form! It's seen in the picture below. I suppose customers didn't REALLY care too much about it, but I did notice the graphics caught some of their eyes. They would stop and read at least. :) Go ahead and use the form if you like. You'll have to white out the information about the QC or you can message me privately for the pdf without it. I did, however, get one special order. A sweet old woman was looking for some slippers for her son for Christmas. She wanted a look like my soled baby shoes. She wanted Christmas green, brown double soles. I said I could do it for her just fine. She was excited, but said she'd look around at the other booths first. A while later I was pleasantly surprised to see her back. She wanted to order from me! So, I filled it out and told her I'd have them ready by Monday. She was surprised so fast. I was, too. Sometimes I say things before I realize what it really means. My husband thought I should just tell her later that week, but what was done was done. All of Sunday I spent my day creating the shoes you see in the first picture. I thought they turned out really well once they were all blocked (as seen in the picture)! Below is a picture with the sole and top together. What do you think?
I've been quite busy lately. Lots of orders are coming in for Christmas. It's a bittersweet time in a crafter's world. While I adore having many projects to work on and my lovely customers, I do wish that business would be as active throughout the year. (This is my creative outlet, let me make something for you folks!) I have faith that time will change this, though/. One of my recent orders included a granny square hat. This customer found the look she wanted from an online store. I often see things in the stores (usually machine made China things) and think, 'I could totally make that, but better!' So of course I said it could make one for her, but in my own style. :) The hat she wanted is pictured below. A fantastic granny square hat! I've contemplated doing something similar in the past (without having seen this before), and now I had the chance to do it! The colors she chose were hot pink, orange, and white. Now with anything with more than one color I usually have to contemplate the placement of the colors for a while. I feel that the balance of colors in a piece can make or break the look. Pink was obviously going to be the primary focus. The only issue was figuring out where to put the orange and white. Here's what I came up with for the granny square. Once I finished the hat as the picture showed I felt there were still something missing. My flair! The hat as is is pretty basic, a little bland in my mind. I decided to add a nice picot edge in white and accented it with a slip stitched orange over that. Here's the final product!
Some of my best work comes from special orders. You'd think with a free reign of creativity for every other project those would be the best ones. Unfortunately not. It seems that with a certain goal in mind and a customer to please my focus and creativity are really honed.
My latest project, as you could guess, was to make a couple of beard hats for a couple of children. The beard hat seems to be a popular novelty item lately. The novelty comes mostly when the hat is set on a little babe. A once hairless child is transformed with a full beard! Ha! Cute and funny. Dare I say? Children and women may now be able to participate in no shave November! I do believe that these hats aren't purely for novelty. It struck me that they really could keep the face warm in the cold temps of winter. The beard itself is pretty thick and warm. Hey, might be a great addition to your snow shoveling ensemble! You may get a few funny looks from the neighbor, but you'll be warm. :) My version of the hat ended up being a basic chunky beanie with the beard pattern from Ashlee at I'm Topsy Turvy. I would have really loved to be able to create my own pattern, but this one was so perfect I couldn't argue with using it! Both hats turned out really well which you can see below. This past week I've been adding several new styles of headbands to the shop. I've had them for a while and just got pictures done of them. So, into next week I'll debut these lovelies on the blog.
The Peony Hairbands are a cute ruffled crochet flower on a thin crocheted headband. I've worn a few of the colors around town and have gotten tons of complements on how nice they look. You will too! They're great for teens and young adults. Children would be adorable in them as well, I just don't have a sizing for them in shop quite yet. How do you like them! If you're interested in a different color, message me. I know a little boy who is in absolute love with The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, namely the new movie. By love, I mean he could probably watch it endlessly. So, when it happened that we would be in town for his 1st birthday party I took the chance to make him a special gift. It wouldn't be a gift by me without making something myself. I strongly support gifts made from home or made by small businesses. Of course the gift was going to be said Lorax. I could envision exactly what it'd look like: a bright orange ball of softness in the likeness of the Lorax. I loosely followed Erin Scull's pattern found here. I changed it a bit. Most notably I changed the eyes, mustache, and eyebrows. I didn't like the shaping of the crochet mustache and eyebrows, so I used felt. Felt mustache and eyebrows, because the alternative of using loose yarn would be a bit messy and fall out with the loving play of a child. In addition to this lovely little Lorax, I added some Truffala tree seeds. Okay, they won't grow actual Truffala trees, but rather giant marigolds in orange, yellow, and white. Like these: Needless to say both parts of the gift were a hit! I was surprised with all the lovely complements and astonishment of my hand crafted Lorax. Quite humbling.
What gives me the greatest joy is that I can offer a child a one of a kind toy that will hopefully be turned into an heirloom for his family. *Photo Credit of the Lorax goes to Alika Faythe of Despres Photography* This post is quite honestly very late. Christmas 2012 I made a pokemon toy for my Godson/cousin. It's the Cyndaquil on the right that I made for him. Actually, it's probably the very first crochet toy I had ever made. I got the pattern from WolfDreamerOTH. She has a magnificent library of patterns she has created for game related toys. I even learned a few new crochet skills that I have begun using in my crochet designs as well!
Anyway, my Godson was SOOO excited by the gift. I can't tell you how heart warming it was to see him run around with his cousins and the party with that Cyndaquil always in tow. Heck, I'm pretty sure that if I got an awesome gift like that for Christmas I'd be toting it around with me, too! Even at 25. His older brother thought it was so cool that he had gotten a pokemon toy that he asked me to make him one too. I was more than happy to oblige, so I pulled up the list from WolfDreamerOTH and let him pick which one he wanted. Of course he chose one of the harder ones, Lugia, which is pictured on the left. ;) It was another growing experience for me, though. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out and so was he! Next time you need a toy gift and you want to make it yourself, I would suggest heading over to WolfDreamerOTH's blog for some patterns. You won't be disappointed. One of the most frustrating things I have come across in my journey to learn crochet and knitting is charts. I can read words just fine and have a general understanding of the abbreviations. However, there are moments when searching for new patterns I can use or manipulate I would often get frustrated when all of a sudden there's a chart pattern before my eyes. Lots of lines, squiggles, and circles. Sure you can see (for the most part) what the pattern would look like, but where to begin? I had to go looking through several symbol charts to find everything I wanted to know. I'm outlining the basics for you here today! As you can see in the chart above, I've outlined some of the basic terminology that go with chart symbols. Once you figure these out, it's really quite simple to read the chart. I have given you an example of a motif chart below. When crocheting a motif, you usually start from the middle. In this particular chart you work your first round into a magic ring and where it is marked '1'. Another nice thing about this chart the small bold number signify which round you are on. Working around the chart can sometimes be confusing and easy to mistake your place. Make sure you follow carefully so you know where you are and your next step will be. A helpful tip is to read the chart and follow the path you should take before you begin.
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My name is Annissa, owner of MissNissDesigns. I am a knitter, crocheter, sewer, and all around crafty lady. Archives
April 2023
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