Coffee Cozy

Coffee Cozy

A quick and easy crochet project!

This little coffee cup cozy is quick and easy to make and will protect your fingers from that hot coffee. Use these instead of the paper ones at the coffee house and save a tree and go green! Less trash for the landfill! They are quickly stashed into your purse to use on that next coffee run.

You’ll need some ribbon, a bit of yarn and less than an hour to create your own little Corset Cozy! They also work great for soda cans to keep your fingers from getting chilly.

These make great gifts and stocking stuffers! Be prepared to get lots of compliments!

$1.99

How to add a Watermark to your Photos

I found this neat tool that is FREE and will help you to add a watermark to your photos.

Bow-licious Babe

Bow-licious Babe

a design by Connie Haney

This is an adorable hat with a simple bow that can be worn on the top or side of the head. It has a cute picot hem edge but can also be knit with a 1x1 ribbing instead. Instructions include sizing for Infant to Adult and easy instructions on adding the loop to hold the bow which is knit while knitting the hat for a seamless look. You can also add more than one bow for extra bow-liciousness!

$5.99

Flora Headband and Pyramid Pouch

2 NEW patterns up for Sale...purchase buttons below!

I have been working hard the last 2 weeks trying to get some of my pattern designs up online.
I am still tweaking my Bow-licious Babe and Carousel Beret and should have them available before mid October. But for now I have my Pyramid Pouch and Flora Headband patterns ready.

If you are on Ravelry you can see them and all of my designs here. If not you can also find them at www.behappydesigns.com

You can find Flora and Pyramid Pouch under my Crochet Patterns section.



Above is the Pyramid Pouch. This is very quick and easy to make and would also look adorable for baby gifts. Just make one in white and add a blue or pink ribbon closure. If you know the baby will be a boy or girl ahead of time then crochet the pouch in blue or pink too. They are a lot of fun and a good excuse to use up that ole acrylic yarn you have hiding.






This is Flora and I designed this back in June and I'm very proud of how it turned out. These stay in place very well and the design makes them very adjustable. I love how the closure looks like a flower, hence the name... Flora!



I’m very honored that my Carousel Beret will be in the “1000 Fabulous Knit Hats” book!
A definitive and inspirational collection of hand knit hats by Rockport Published, presented by Annie Modesitt.

Two Quarters and a Penny

Ok, yes I am shamelessly wishing myself a Happy Birthday! I mean when you get my age if you can't wish your own self a Happy Birthday, well then that just ain't right...right? LOL

I have received so many birthday cards in the mail and tons of email birthday wishes that I feel really blessed! I've also received many online discounts for this place or that which I guess have come due to the fact that I either subscribe to their newsletter or purchase from them. None the less I will take it ALL!

My sweetest hubby gave me my presents last night even though today is really my birthday. He got me an 8" digital frame that I love. I had one years ago that my son had gotten me for Christmas one year and it bit the dust last year and I've missed it ever since. This new one is great! It has tons of on board memory and then will take another memory card(s) as well, so I can put lots and lots of photos on it. It even plays mp3 music! I can see it from where I sit and knit and so it's full of photos of my Jennifer and Justin both of whom live far from home. My daughter has lived in St. Petersburg, Florida for the past 3 years and my son is moving to New York City in a few weeks. We live in North Carolina, so now both of our children are a 12 hour drive away. One north and one south. There really should be a law against that.

Anyway, back to my birthday. My hubby also got me some new bedroom slippers, some socks and a new battery for my camera. He also got me a card that plays music...so sweet. Then today he took me out to eat at Applebees. We then went to Ulta, Borders and then stopped off at Starbucks. He bought me a new Crochet Today magazine at Borders too. Starbucks had sent me a postcard for a free birthday drink so I had a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino...yummy!

Yesterday my son got me my fav gift card! You know it...a Dunkin Donuts one! Gotta love me some Coffee Coolatas! My daughter also sent me a beautiful bd card with a gift card enclosed. I always love her cards as she writes such amazingly sweet sentiments to me. My MIL sent me a pretty card with some moola which I've already spent to good use.

This past Friday my little sister Kim drove down and took me out to lunch for my birthday. (an hour drive ya'll) We went to Bob Evans. I always love it there because they are never busy, busy and they have great food. She also had brought this cute little cake that looked like a bee. She also gave me some pretty earrings, a gift card to Ulta, a bd card and a little sisters book. I just was really touched that she went the extra mile to tell me Happy Birthday. She brought our mother along and she gave me a gift card to Hobby Lobby. I love that store and plan on going there Tuesday to get some "I love this yarn" in some Christmas green.

I know my daughter will call sometime today to talk to me on my bd and I am looking forward to talking to her. I really want to know how the bridal shower went yesterday that her and some of her friends gave to her room mate Katie who is getting married the end of October. I knit Katie an afghan and I can't wait to see photos of her opening it and her expression when she saw the uh um little chapstick cozies I made for everyone who came. Check the links to see photos in the previous sentence and the links here to see my Ravelry page for the afghan and cozies with more photos and pattern details.

Oh, on another note and I don't want to forget to mention that I got the nicest request from Jodi who has a blog called the creative JAR. She wanted to mention one of my items in my etsy store on her blog. I was flattered that she chose one of my items to include in her post. You can see that post here. She also sells some unique art at her etsy store so be sure to check her out.

So, all in all a wonderful birthday. I'm blessed! Now back to the title of my post...
in case you haven't figured it out yet...
that is how old I am!

Etsy and Packaging

My take on packaging...still learning too!
www.conicuts.etsy.com

I wanted to share the way I've been packaging my etsy store sales that I have to ship. I wrap the item and the thank you gift separately in tissue paper and then I use a sticker with my shops name on it to keep the tissue paper closed. The photo below shows my last sale that went out. I also include a Pocket Testament with the plan of salvation. I also put in my business card which isn't in the photo.

Thank you gift...
If you haven't shopped at etsy you may not know about the thank you gift. Most if not all etsy sellers will include a hand written thank you note and small extra gift. This is what makes etsy sellers special and shopping at etsy special. I have even received a coupon or card for an extra discount next time I shop with a certain seller.



I ordered the little envelope and card that I used from ebay and then just decorated it myself. The sticker on the front of the little card is my new logo and I plan to print these on stickers to use next time on the tissue paper. This time I used some stickers I still had with just the name of my shop and my website link. I used a glue that once dry will stick and then re-stick. That is the dark color you see on the flap of my little envelope.



My friend Aura who also has a shop on etsy called AuraKnits shared with me that it is less expensive to ship via PayPal. So for this order I used the PayPal shipping link and was able to ship this package for $2.09! Your item needs to weigh less than 13 ounces to use PayPal shipping and choose First Class. Over that weight it will be less expensive to use www.usps.com
This is great and helps to keep shipping cost low for my customers.

I also called USPS and they told me that any box less than 12" x 12" x 12" is considered a package, anything over that and you have to choose large package. Another thing is that as long as you have a printed shipping label on your package or envelope you can request that the postman picks it up right from your home. It can even be in your own box and not a Priority box. You can request pick up online, but I know my postman well and so he told me to just put a note in the mailbox that I have a pick up and he then knows I have one on my front porch. That way they are out of the weather. So, as long as it has a label and NOT stamps they will pick it up, otherwise if you use stamps on a package (that won't fit in your mailbox) you have to take it into a post office. Also remember that you save if you pay and print your own label online than if you take it inside a post office.

A long time ago I was able to get these spring type scales free from the post office.



They can weigh up to 6 pounds when stacked together. I did find them for sale on ebay, but check your local post office or www.usps.com to see if you can still get them for free.

If you want to ship Priority remember you can get all of the supplies, boxes, Priority labels and etc. free and have them mailed to your home for free at www.usps.com This helps if you don't want to weigh your items. I ordered a Priority Mail kit so that I would know what boxes are what size and cost to ship. This is still more costly than using PayPal's shipping for packages and envelopes under 13 oz.

Another knitting friend, Larrisa who also has an etsy store called Beyond Stitches posted on her blog recently about how to use a white box to take better photos for your items that you sell on etsy. You can find that post here. I've since started using my own setup to take better photos this way.

I hope I've helped you learn something you didn't know today!

Mitten Glove Wizard SALE

I got an email the other day from Knitting Software and they are having a special 25% off all of their software until this Wednesday, September 16th. I purchased the Mitten Glove Wizard and I love it. With the discount it's only $14.96 which is a great buy considering all it does. The discount will show up in your shopping cart. Anyway, you tell it what kind of gloves/mittens you want to make and it writes the pattern for you.

It has every style from mittens, pop over style, fingerless gloves, half finger and wristers or handwarmers. You can even customize them by specific measurements. What a great piece of software for the knitting enthusiast! So, if you think it's great too, remember the sale ends Wednesday!