Instagram & baby gift!

Hi everyone, how is your June starting off? Mine has welcomed weather of summer settling in. I've also recently heard the song of the cicada outside by the woods. I've been busy and I always like to share what I'm up to.
First off, have you visited me on Instagram? I'm there about once a day, sharing photos of my time spent crafting & such. I love to share about my adorable pets, if I head out to something fun and nature.

I am on Instagram as CraftinessbyB

I've been also sharing photos of food. I can't help it, I love food! Since I do not have a garden this year I'm trying to share locally bought produce and such. Or if I am making something yummy (often dairy-free) and how it came out. I visited a farmer's market over the weekend and just wanted to buy all the homemade, locally farmed foods! If you want to make an impact, support your local farmer's, bakers and artisans. You'd be surprised what you can buy and at such good prices!

locally grown produce

naturally, I bought strawberries!

Now, onto the baby gift I made! A friend is expecting in about a months time. She is having a boy and I wanted to make her something handmade. Even if she never puts them on the baby, she can display them in the nursery as a decoration. I found a darling book all about felt crafting and gifts. It has these 'Hermes' baby booties to make. I made mine out of blue and took my time making the stitches even. I hope to offer a video shortly of the stitching for this craft, called the blanket stitch. 

I decided to 'wrap' the gift in a fabric cloth bag. I bought a fat quarter of fabric and only used half of it for the bag. I simply picked a matching ribbon and wooden bead for it's closure. It's a pretty way to present a handmade gift without having to actually spend money on wrapping paper. And really now, it's so much more special this way!
I hope everyone is having a great start to their summer. What are you going to craft this season? Pop on over to follow me on Instagram and leave me some comments if you like! I tend to follow back people whom follow me. 

May Spring SALE ~ 15% off!

It's spring time and you know what? I decided, let's have a SALE! Visit my Etsy shop, open 'announcements' to view coupon code & details. From today to the end of May the sale is going on - so come browse my quality, hand made, artisan gifts for sale.

When you buy handmade you support your local communities. You are encouraging artists to continue their skilled crafts and workmanship. Each time you purchase from a small business you help support the local economy as well. Buying handmade has never felt so good!

My Etsy shop: Craftiness by B 

May Day, Fabrics and Floral Crowns

Happy Spring to you! How is it where you live? Here it's been warming up slowly. The geese are vocal on most days, the robins are hopping around in the yard and grass has grown back. Trees are alive with new buds on them and flowers are just barley poking up from the ground.

our dog enjoying a warm day

I have designed and ordered my 2nd fabric design for Spoonflower. If you haven't checked it out yet, I have a shop there now, it's CraftinessbyB on Spoonflower. Once my 2nd design arrives by mail, I photograph it and the listing will be public. That means it will be available for purchase as a fabric, wallpaper or gift wrap! My first design came out so pretty and I've even tried it on at Sprout, where you place your own design (how cool is that?!) on their virtual patterns before buying!

my design on the Zipper Pouch Baggie pattern

Both designs are from hand drawn artwork I made. I then scan it into my computer, adjust it (such as add a solid background color) and then post it to Spoonflower. I hope to one day offer full sized patterns on either 1/2 or 1 yard pieces of fabric. That way you can purchase it, simply cut out the pieces then sew it at home! What would interest you in a hand drawn pattern? Plush/soft toys, bags or something else?

And since it is nearly May now (my, how time flies this year!) I am working on a floral crown for May Day. I love to dress up for festivals and enjoy making my own accessories. The past few years I've shared two other crowns I made, one for summer/autumn, the other (with deer antlers) for winter. This one I'm including ribbon on the back that is about 1 foot or more in length.

May Day (Beltane) floral crown

I hope you are enjoying Spring in all it's green glory. Stay posted on my going on's on my:

 Google+ page, 

Pinterest page

and of course visiting my Etsy shop. 

❀*:.✿:*Have a sunny weekend everyone! ❀*:.✿:*

Spoonflower fabric ARRIVES!

It arrived, after about 10 days from purchase, shipping to me. I am so ecstatic to see my hand drawn design on fabric!

It is water color floral, tiny flowers design. I hand painted this, then inked it, then scanned into my computer to do final touch up's. It should now be available for purchase in my Spoonflower CraftinessbyB shop. This was on cotton, the colors came out as I hoped in almost pastels but still bold. 

Spoonflower & Gifts

This sure has been a busy winter for me. I had to wait to share these, since they arrived last week. Baby gifts for some expectant friends!

Flannel and fleece bib, in progress.

I had to make two, since the friends are both due fairly close to each other. One is having a boy and the other a girl. So little baby boy got some cool owls with funky hats. Little baby girl got elephants holding umbrella with a yellow birdie.

Owls for boy, elephants for girl.

I may even make a few bibs to sell in my Etsy shop at some point. I love gifting something handmade but also practical. These can be washed and dried and are easy to wear for baby. 

In other fun news ~ I am finally designing for Spoonflower! You can visit my shop on there at Craftiness by B on Spoonflower. I have one design I am going to try and load this coming week. It's from hand drawn and water color design I did by hand. I've always wanted to see my artwork on fabric. So this is a fun way to try it out and see how it will look for sewing projects. So far I will have one finished design but do have plans for two others soon. 

Spoonflower gives you a chance to put your designs on any number of materials. From stretchy lycra to 100% cotton. I can see my designs on things like bags or little gift ideas. If I get real ambitious, I will design things like "cut out dolls" where it's a pattern already on the fabric. The crafter would simply buy the fabric and it would have all the pieces and instructions printed on it. Cut, sew, there you go! So stay tuned for any future designs I might share with you.