Projects for My Primas

I can't believe that it's already late-July.....where has my summer gone?

I've been keeping busy with the boys. We've been swimming with friends and out to the ranch (new kittens!) and to the zoo and the movies. Today we headed to the library for more summer reading.

I've also been busy with projects! During the cousin reunion, my cousin Meri asked me to crochet newborn beanies for her photography business. I made 3 slightly different versions in hot pink and black:

plus 4 flower pins to accent them:

My cousin Josie asked me to crochet a poncho for a gift for a 6-year-old girl. I just finished it in beautiful neapolitan colors of pink and brown (plus another flower pin) and will be mailing it to Albuquerque this week.

Speaking of summer, I've also been working on a special order from The Lavender Lizard. One customer asked me to make a baseball-themed tape measure. I love the way it turned out! This will be available on Etsy, and it's also inspired a couple of new designs that I hope to make and list soon. Stay tuned!

I'm Published!

Well, sort of....it's not the Great American Novel but it's a good start! One of my goals for 2010 was to be published, and it's finally happened, not once, but twice!

The first is a book called Craft Corps by Vickie Howell. It's full of inspriring interviews with famous "crafters". I'm on page 39 (Ds1's favorite number) with a crafty story about making Christmas ornaments for the boys every year.

Thanks for including my story, Vickie!

The second publication just came to me in the mail today. It's the July 2010 issue of the British magazine titled Knitting, and it's about, well, knitting. It has beautiful patterns, yarn and book reviews and makes me wish I could coordinate using 2 knitting needles. (I'm all thumbs when it comes to knitting!) My neapolitan stripe scarf was chosen for their inspiration page! Plus I'm on page 11 -- my lucky number! So exciting!

Thank you Emma, for choosing my scarf!

To celebate reaching this goal, I'll give away a set of the ice cream-inspired (what else?) lip balm holders shown here (a $15 value):

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling me what inspires you. You can earn additional entries for the giveaway by following my blog, becoming a fan of The Lavender Lizard on Facebook (click on "like), or following @lavenderlizard on Twitter. One person will be randomly chosen to receive the lip balm holders on July 1. Good luck!

ETC Design Challenge -- Summer Magic!

Etsy Texas Crafters is having their monthly Design Challenge right now! The theme is Summer Magic! So what magic does Summer hold for you?

I entered three items in the Design Challenge. My Neapolitan Stripe Scarf:

Market Bag in Marshmallow (a brand-new design!):

Partly Sunny Motif Scarf (another brand-new design!):

All of my entries are available for sale at The Lavender Lizard! And there are tons of other great entries! Please stop by the challenge page and vote for your favorite! (The link to the poll is at the bottom of the challenge page.)

Oh, and the top vote-getters will win prizes, one of which I'm donating -- their choice of my 3pack lip balm holders! So please help us decide the winners by voting and look for the August Design Challenge -- Elements! Thanks!