May's Creative Challenge...

Again, I chose to leave the challenge open to any of the odd holidays.

In honour of Brothers and Sisters Day (May 3), from Ida Herter of  HerterCrochetDesigns  a crochet pattern for a set of amigurumi matryoshka dolls:

 The pattern is available as an instant download, which means once you've submitted payment, you will see a link to download your pattern in your purchases.  (Click on picture to see the listing)

And from a snail who went into hiding not long before May 24 (National Escargot Day), a picture emailed from an undisclosed location:

Sadly, this snail has not been heard from since this picture was emailed, so one can't help but wonder if his location was discovered.  (Clicking on picture will take you to the designer's shop, snail is not listed for sale)

June's challenge will be a bit different, thanks to a suggestion from a team member.  Instead of crocheting something for *that* month, the challenge will be to crochet something for the following month, so items can be posted here on that 'special' day.

 

April Showers bring...challenge entries!!

Or is it May flowers?

Last month with our challenge, I chose to post a link to the odd holidays in April and have everyone select their own favourite to create something for.
First, the link to the special days:  www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/april.htm

Rather than post a long string of the entries, with descriptions, today I'll post the treasury that was created to feature them, and will post a few here and there over the next week as time permits. 

One entry is not an Etsy listing, so I'll paste that one here so everyone's included.  From BerthasBizarreBazaar:

Clicking on a picture will take you to that particular listing.
 

'EHTeam's April Challenge Entries' by Smudgekitty

Each month, Etsyhookers Team has a creative challenge: create something based on an 'odd holiday' that falls in that month. Thanks to all who met the challenge, and here's to more fun in May!

Pdf Crochet Pattern: Amiguru... HerterCrochetD... $4.5	Instant Download PDF Crochet... HerterCrochetD... $5.2	PDF Crochet Pattern: Amiguru... HerterCrochetD... $5.2	Red Heart Pin Crochet Puff H... LeChatCrochet $5
Crochet Amigurumi Penguin -... wigglysee $8	Amigurumi Pattern Safety Con... quietnova $4	Flower Crochet Coasters, Spr... ProchetByEAS $24	Crochet Mug Cozy with Lavend... ProchetByEAS $25
Sunflower Crochet Coasters, ... ProchetByEAS $24	Instant Download PDF Crochet... HerterCrochetD... $5.2	Crochet Doll, Polychrome Dau... Smudgekitty $15

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

April is off to a lovely start, a little cool around here, but it definitely could be worse so I am not complaining.  And I do know that the lovely spring flowers are just around the corner...

Etsyhookers Team had 3 members rise to the challenge last month (Alien Abduction Day, Anything on a Stick Day) and it was fun to see what they came up with!

From BerthasBizarreBazaar  
this cool alien abduction hat with a spaceship 'beaming up' an unsuspecting human.

And from one of our newer members, HerterCrochetDesigns, this adorable star wand for 'Anything on a Stick Day'.  This is a pattern, so if you crochet, you can make your own--they'd be great at a kids' birthday party!  Just click on the picture to see the Etsy listing.

  
And lastly, my own alien doll, which will be available as a free pattern once I get it typed up and ready to go.  The doll itself is available in my shop, click on the picture and the listing will open in a new window.

And now, to check out April's special days to see what this month's challenge themes will be!

Return of the Creative Challenge!

We did hold off our creative challenge over the holidays, but have just started it back up in February.
The themes for February:  Love Your Pet Day (20th) and Public Sleeping Day (28th)

Three members rose to the challenge, all choosing the Love Your Pet Day. 

First, a giraffe hat from BerthasBizarreBazaar .  I'm sure there are many who would love an exotic animal as a 'pet'!  The giraffe hat is not available in her shop, but Lianne does have other fun hats, and you can contact her to 'Request a Custom Item' by clicking the link on the left of BBB's shop page.

 Next, a pattern for adorable bunnies from quietnova, available in her shop.  You can click on the picture to see the listing.

 

Lastly, just a bit of fun I whipped up for my cats, although Cairo (shown) seems to like these more than our other cat Stormy does! They are not available in my shop (yet!) but I certainly will take orders for them.

There are some strange special days in March too!  I'll be choosing a couple for this months challenge and will post them within a couple of days.  Feel free to follow along and challenge your own creativity, even if you are not an Etsyhooker team member!

Christmas Decorating

Furred Tree by akuadesigns

I knew we needed a new artificial tree.  How many times can you fold and unfold branches, losing precious artificial needles each time, before the tree is so 'needlebare' that your ornaments outnumber the needles?  Somewhere around 11 or 12.  My vacuum has eaten its more than fair share of the little green bits and I'm sure the animals may have ingested some over the years as well.
But, I do have to say, the tree my husband picked out this year had me feeling depressed every time I looked at it.  We went from a 7 foot tree to a 4 1/2 foot.  Sure, space is limited, and I knew in my heart it was better this way, but looking at the little 4 1/2 footer sitting on our trunk, I had actually considered taking it down and hiding it while my husband was at work and bringing up the old tree.  After all, hang enough decorations on it, no one would notice the lack of needles.

I did leave it though, thinking each time I looked at it of Christmas trees past.

Crocheted Bird Ornament from CraftingCallie

My favourite one comes to mind:  my Grandma Dobson's tree.  Complete with birds, and those aluminum reflectors around the bulbs, just thinking about it brings up such happy memories of Christmases at Grandma's house.

With two weeks until Christmas, there is still time to whip up some ornaments for your tree, or as last-minute gifts.  Why not keep a basket of handmade ornaments to hand out to holiday guests?
Some patterns available from team members:

Left:  crochet pattern for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, from lostsentiments.  Check out  her patterns for a bear, snowman and even a tiny elf hat!

Right:  Mr and Mrs Bonhomme pattern for gift bags from crochetsal, app. 4 1/2" tall, or use crochet thread for a much smaller bag ideal for a tree ornament.

 These animal ornaments to the left would be great on your Christmas tree, or to decorate year round!  Although this set is sold, wigglysee does accept custom orders!











To close:  a quick and easy free pattern for a snowflake to use as an ornament, or glue a magnet to the back for a fridgie.  Uses worsted weight yarn.

Sweetie the Snowflake

October's Challenge Entries...

We have a couple of listings for October's creative challenge.  The themes for this 'round' were National Dessert Day (14), National Pizza Month and as an extra, Hallowe'en.

Quietnova created this adorable cake ring:

And from Smudgekitty, this set of 4 Christmas Sugar cookie fridgies:

For November's Challenge, our theme choices are:
Clean your Refrigerator Day (15) and Absurdity Day (20)

Christmas always seems so much closer this side of Hallowe'en...I'll be writing some Christmas posts  over the next month and a half or so, from Christmas memories, to decorating tips, free and for sale patterns and supplies, not to mention Christmas gift ideas from our members.

September's Challenge

We had a few entries in our challenge this month, some of which were just for fun and not listed (at least not yet) on Etsy in the entrants' shops.
In honour  of Make a Hat Day (Sept. 15th), the entries are definitely fun!

From BerthasBizarreBazaar there were three:
a baby size cupcake hat:

 A greedy goldfish hat

 And this fun chicken hat:

Yes, someone has definitely been busy!!

From quietnova, modeled by someone who looks like he loves that hat!  (Adorable model, btw!)

And from WeeBeeUniquesByJulie  a vampire hat, available in her Etsy shop, perfect for Hallowe'en:

Lastly, an entry for Teddy Bear Day (Sept. 9th), from Smudgekitty
(one shown is a gift, but bookmarks can be ordered in custom colours)

I'll be announcing October's fun challenge in a day or two, so check back!