Sale time!

It's September SALE time!!! Use these coupon codes @ the check out to receive great discounts on all items in store!

10Off = 10% off any one item
15Off = 15% off any two items
20Off = 20% off any three items

And, for any person who would like to crochet a pattern on their own check out the new pattern bundles in the sale section of the store where you can purchase up to 5 patterns at once at a great discount!


www.Etsy.com/shop/SammyDCrochet see ya there!

Proud as a Peacock!

The Etsy store is going quite well at this point! I just added my newest design; it's all original and super fab as far as I'm concerned lol, it's the piece I'm most proud of! And naturally I named it after kiddo, who wouldn't? I'm really proud of how the photographs turned out. I'd been in need of a good reason to break out my baby (my Nikon D5100) and do something special with it and I think the pictures turned out really well.

Anywho, I'd love any feedback on the item/pics etc.

Cheers

Mmmmmmm, fresh!

I had an awesome weekend with the family :) Admittedly we were rained out so swimming wasn't an option but we made up for it by eating some really awesome food ( I know, a great trade off). Greg and I hit up Williams Coffee Pub for a quick bite before grabbing a few necessities at Walmart and I fell in love with my sandwich. Now, that sounds like a completre fat kid thing to say but until you've had this panini with goat cheese, provolone, portobello mushrooms and balsamic vinegar, you don't know what you're missing!

 My delicious sandwich... It looked so good I forgot to snap a pic before I dug in!

 What's tea without a blueberry scone?

 Another gratuitous food shot

Greg enjoying his Turkey Sammich

Now, onto dinner. My mom treated us to an amazing sunday night dinner which we haven't done in the longest time because of moving, time, life etc. but boy did she make up for lost time. It was simple but hearty and delicious. People should pay her!

 Lightly breaded chicken fried to perfection

 Hand made Cannelloni with homemade riccotta & spinach filling, smothered with home made pasta sauce (from scratch!) and fresh pasta noodles

 A pretty thing indeed

 Okay, ONE last food shot. Can't you see the steam rising? Makes my mouth water!

 And here's kiddo to steal the show (but I never mind it lol). God she's a mini version of my big sis.

"Fingers don't go up your nose!"

All in all, a lovely time had. It's amazing how much you can catch up on with your mouth full of food and eyes fixed on the plate in front of you lol. Looking forward to another one soon :)

Cheers

Say Hello to Sammy D. Crochet on Etsy!

It's finally open and running! My very own little piece of Etsy heaven; www.etsy.com/shop/sammydcrochet
I've been crocheting like mad in between running around with 4 dogs under foot and trying not to spend a life's fortune at Michaels on yarn. Anyway, long story short I've got a few children's hats  posted along with a couple accompanying patterns. I've also got two cowls posted, one of which named for the coolest chica on the planet of whom it was commissioned by; Miss Mia :) So far 3 sales so I'd like to keep the momentum going!

 In the upcoming months I will be adding like CRAZY to my shop, lots of accessories, photo props, and house hold items and Amigurumi toys for kids of all ages so keep checking back. I post things with the philosophy that if you like a product but would like to make it yourself you can buy the pattern, but if you like an item but cannot make it yourself  you can purchase the finished item. In the mean time, I'm photographing all my items by myself, and while my Nikon (my baby) is more than adequate it just doesn't look the same without real babies in the items! So with that said, if there are any photographers out there who do newborn/infant shoots etc and are looking for some loaner photo props in exchange for photo credits and links to websites please contact me!!!

Catching Up

I feel like I'm swimming a race in a bathtub and everyone else is out in the ocean with somewhere to go! While I'm totally having fun (because a bath tub is just the bee knees for playin') I keep feeling like I'm not going as far as I can in the time I allot myself. With that said, many many things HAVE been accomplished, probably not as fast as I would care to admit but certainly done effectively and correctly.So eat it efficiency!!

We're moved into the new house in B-town and it's perfectly lovely. It is definitely smaller than our last house but aside from the benefits of the literally unlimited storage space it offered it was too big. Honestly, it's a real thing, I promise! This new place is in great shape and has a giant pool! I don't care how old you are, if someone says " I have a big pool" you're automatically jealous or really stoked. I'm both of those for myself ha-ha.

 Greg doing one of his patented cannon balls :)

 Jackson (a.k.a. Jack Attack!) chillin' on the diving board; what a cute puppy!!!

HE'S SO FLUFFY.

 My favourite peeps hanging out in the pool; my aunt Barb from Newfoundland (by Jesus!), my sister Chantelle, brother Anthony and his cutie pie GF Diane and my cutie patootie nephews Blake and Rian 

Little Miss. Charlotte Ann showing her Auntie Spam a thing or two about swimming :)

My bedroom is essentially complete save for a few pieces of door trim and to hang a few pictures to brighten up my spectacularly off white walls. I'm a sucker for sunset photos but I'm in love with everything shabby chic; I even bought magnets from Michaels that are shabby chic! The have a whole shabby chic thing going on right now; magnets, cups, vinyl sticky wall papering, and I want every piece of it lol.  It'll have to wait, I'm kind of loving my cosy little basement bedroom/apt. I sort of feel like a grown up because of my set up, then I remember I'm two floors below my mom so it wears off pretty fast lol.

On a side note, my being an amateur/hobbyist photographer I was thinking of selling some of my prints on Etsy. While I do know my way around my Nikon (my baby) and Photoshop and Lightroom I'm not an expert on what type of fancy archival paper to print on or where to get it done. I reached out to a couple Ontario based photographers on Etsy to get some advice on where to get my work printed locally and cost effectively. One based in Owen Sound explained that she bought an Epson professional printer and does the printing work herself, and the other who is local to me was extremely vague and off putting. She declined to give any names of the business she uses (6-8 according to her), and assumed I didn't have a business license (which I do) to try and deter me from pursuing it, and on top of all that was just plain vague. It was like she didn't want to give up any of her sources or didn't want me to get involved in that aspect of business on Etsy like I would be directly competing with her. While I can't say what her true reasons are I'm trying not to take it personally. That's the problem with business; it becomes your baby because you work so hard on it and then it just becomes harder and harder to draw the line on between "it's just business" and "it's personal". Whatever the case may be, I like the personal aspect of owning a business; I care about the end product and care about the purchaser, their experience, and their contentment with the items I've sold them. Whatever the case, I'll keep searching for printing sources!

Cheers to keeping your head held up
Sambo

How very busy indeed!

It's been very busy around this house lately, my family is moving in T minus 2 days to our new home in Brampton which has a very promising 10 foot deep swimming pool! So aside from all the packing and shuffling and organizing I've been squeezing in time for crocheting (naturally). I had made 2 hats for my adorable niece Charlotte but hadn't had the time to give them to her so finally, I got the chance yesterday when I stopped by my sister Chantelle's (who is a hard core knitter btw) for dinner with my fiancée Greg.

The first had I made for Kiddo was a Lavender (one of my favourite colours right now) toque with a flap and button sewn on. I made this one with cotton yarn and a 5.5 mm hook and is of my own creation.

I love the hat and how soft it actually is. My sister ( a total yarn snob!) was a little shocked when I told her that the yarn was cotton yarn, or kitchen/dishcloth yarn as she refers to it but I'm glad that I may have made a bit of a convert out of her. I like re-purposing items and using them in original ways... but most of the time that happens because I didn't know what the proper use of something in the first place!

Anyway, Kiddo who's just 19 month enjoyed the pretty hat

After the success of the purple hat came Charlotte's clear favourite which was my Gnome Hat! I used Acryilc worsted weight yarn from Lion Brand Yarn in Crimson because I wanted that true bright red that makes people notice those gnarly lawn ornaments. Thankfully kids bring out the good side of being a gnome lol. 

The finished product

Charlotte and Unkie Greg

And then something magical happened....

The Imagination Movers came on the TV!

 Needless to say Auntie Sam lost Charlotte's attention 

All in all it was a nice afternoon. Auntie Sam (me, that's right) played with Charlotte in the sandbox while the grown up ladies gossiped (yes... I know... I'm 24 and still relegated to the kiddie table) and kiddo loved her new hats! BTW, check out that gorgeous hair! She's 19 months old and she has longer hair than most kids in junior kinder garden! It's almost a shame to cover it all up with cute toque..... almost.

On a final note, these patterns will soon be available in my Etsy shop, www.SammyDCrochet.Etsy.com so stop on buy and support the independents!

Inauguration Day (for a Canadian)

POP! Hear that? That was this blogs cherry, ha! Time to get to work on the good stuff :) My name is Samantha and I am 24 going on 25 and when I grow up I'd like to be a nurse either in a labour and delivery unit or a psychiatric unit, because frankly, aren't they one and the same give or take a little amniotic fluid?  I've been crocheting for a few years now, I had a few pitiful attempts at knitting which did not pan out well. They usually stopped at half made scarves with gaps and stitch switches all over them. I was probably not encouraged to keep on knitting because my sister Chantelle is just so awesome at it. She totally kicked my butt in terms of quality and quantity (rivalry? no!! who me?! never!). Knitting fell by the way side and I picked up sewing for a bit as a creative outlet but frankly it isn't number one in my heart since it's kind of difficult to snuggle up with an episode of True Blood and a Singer sewing machine in my bed. So, crocheting came back into my life and oh how happy I was! One needle, reasonable patterns, understandable stitches, and being able to call someone a Hooker and get away scott free--> I love this! I am engaged to the coolest dude ever, my fiancee Greg :) and probably in relation to that I love crocheting baby items like little hats, scarves, booties, blankies (damn natural clock thingy....), so on occassion I'll be sharing the love and putting together little contests for freebies! Freebies might be a pattern that I've made or perhaps a fuzzy little handmade item from me to you so keep checking back to stay up on all the twisted games I'll invite you to play... I mean... fun, sweet, easy, no blood or bruises games lol.

I'll be back later to post some new pics and tutorials,and generally post about my life, my dogs (I have 4!), my fiancee, family, and work etc. Oh, and crochet. I'll definately mention crochet.

Toodeloo!