Thoughtful Friday 1
This was inspired by my week long battle with a nasty cold and laryngitis. If you want to play along with Thoughtful Fridays, just visit the link under "Join In" or visit Bella Dia.
While I am honored that you enjoy my crafts enough to reproduce them for your own enjoyment, I am saddened that some have done so for profit. Please do not make any original crafts seen on my blogs or Etsy stores and sell for profit.
If you wish to post images or links to my blog you may do so just include a link back to my site.
All original crafts, images, and content in this blog ©2008 Melissa Z., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
This was inspired by my week long battle with a nasty cold and laryngitis. If you want to play along with Thoughtful Fridays, just visit the link under "Join In" or visit Bella Dia.
Today I made. . .

Crocheted bonbons for spring.
Whew! 29 consecutive days of crafting was tough! But, it was a good challenge for me, and it helped push me towards finishing some of my Etsy store projects. I will tell you that I am really looking forward to not blogging this weekend, of course I will still be crafting :)
Have a nice, relaxing weekend. I know I will!
Today I made. . .

A few more cookies for the store.
These are my vanilla "Cheshire Cat" cookies. They are currently available at Crafts by Alice along with some chocolate "Alice" ones.
Today I made. . .

Harajuku paper dolls.
Aren't these the cutest things ever? (Sorry for the dark picture, but it has been cloudy all day.) I came across Gwen Stefani (love her!) on HP. She has an entire page with really cool print projects, like how to make your own Harajuku paper dolls. There are dozens of clothes, hairdos, and shoes to choose from. I made my own Love, Angel, Music, Baby. One word of advice: don't use regular glue, use a glue stick. You can see the glue coming through some of the girls.
So What You Waiting For? Click here to make a few of our own paper dolls.
Today I made. . .
Quick & Easy business cards.
I have been contemplating ordering some "real" business cards for some time now, but really didn't know if I would ever need them. Well, yesterday I needed them. After meeting with 20+ Etsy sellers, I really wished I had my "fancy" business cards to swap. I did, however, have these quick and easy ones that I whipped up Friday night (I made more today to tide me over until my "real" ones come in a few weeks).
In case you too find yourself in need of some last minute business cards, here is a little tutorial to get you swapping in no time:
1. Buy a pack of business cards, size 3-1/2" x 2". I found my pack of 250 business cards at Big Lots, for a buck! I am sure they have them at Office Depot or Staples as well, but I would check Big Lots first.
2. Open up a document in Microsoft Word. I assume other programs can create business cards too, but I used Microsoft Word.
3. In Microsoft Word click "Tools", "Letters & Mailings", "Envelopes & Labels". Pretty easy, so far!
4. Choose your card size. This one is important, or all of your text will be funky. With "Envelopes & Labels" open, click "Options". Scroll down through all of the options until you find the business card size that matches your cards (ex. 3-1/2" x 2"). In my Word program it is Avery 5377 business card. Click OK.
5. Type in your text. Now this step is a little tricky if you have a design on your card, like I do. I had to test a few pages before I got mine right. I moved over, with the space bar, 23 spaces before I started typing in my text. This cleared the design and centered my text.
6. Spell Check!!! The last thing you want to do is print the entire sheet, or worse all of them, and then realize you misspelled a word!
7. Copy your text. I am not sure if all programs require this, but Word doesn't save your text after you print one page of cards. Or, maybe it does and I just don't know how to do it. In any case, it is best to right click and copy your text BEFORE printing your first sheet of cards. This way you won't have to go through all of the steps every time you want to print a sheet.
8. Print your cards. First, make sure the cards are put in the printer the right way. Thankfully, mine came with the instructions on every sheet, but you might have to send a sheet through first to test it. Then, check to see that the "print full page of the same label" circle is checked. If it is, you are ready to click print.
There you go! You now have some super fast, super inexpensive cards to give out to everybody you know.
Today I made. . .

New crafty friends! (I forgot my camera, so pictures of everybody's cards will have to do.)
I attended my first Team Etsy meeting today at my local mall (it also happens to be my favorite mall). Not only did I get to meet dozens of amazing local Etsy sellers, but I got to do a little shopping too! What can be better than that?
So, last week knitting needles were added to the giveaway, sizes 6 & 8. Well, this week another knitting item is being added. . .
I can honestly say that I now know how to knit, well at least one stitch. Yeah!!!
Here is my first real try at casting on and working the knit (or garter) stitch:
This is the same yarn I used to learn to crochet, and it has helped me out again.
How do you like my funky pink needles? My grandmother's friend gave me all of her knitting needles (I mean like 30 pairs), but I like these the best. . . so very '80s!!!
Do any of you knitters have know of any simple, beginner patterns that only use a garter stitch? I'd like to master that stitch before moving on to the purl stitch. :)
Did you guess? Yep, it is "I Taught Myself Knitting" booklet from Lion Brand Yarn. Included in the booklet are instructions on how to knit and a few patterns. Now all you need is some yarn! Check back next week :)








