Multi-strand Yarn Box

How many times have you sat crocheting with a skein on each side of you, just daring them to fall or cross lines (paradox!) and going crazy because you don't even want to get up to take a break for fear of the consequences. Here's a simple solution I've been using for a few years now.

Materials: Lidded box, 1/2 inch rubber grommets, Dremel. (if you don't have one yourself, ask around, someone will!)

I got this cool divided box from Ikea for $9.99. But you can use any lidded box that will fit two yarn skeins in it. Make sure they don't fit too tightly, you don't want them jammed in there. You want the yarn to be able to come out of the skein freely. Take your yarn with you when you shop!

The 1/2 inch rubber grommets are from Home Depot, I'm sure they have them at most hardware stores. These were in the plumbing section, not that I pretend to know why.

First trace the inner hole of your grommet where you want the hole to go with a pen. Then use your Dremel to burrow out the whole. After a few trials, I found this easiest by starting in the middle of the circle and slowly moving outwards to the traced circle. You want to go just a little bit bigger than your traced hole to make getting the grommet in easier, but just a smidge. You can also do it the mathematician way and actually measure out a 1/2 inch hole and be all precise about it. Pinch the grommet, stuff it in the hole, and voila! A nice safe hole for your yarn to come through without being damaged or snagged.

I put two holes side by side on the long side of the box for shorter skeins, and two closer together vertically on the short side of the box for longer skeins. The ones on the ends can be used for the longer skeins stacked on top of each other rather than side by side like the shorter balls or skeins.

Now it'll be easy to set your project aside and even travel with it without those evil crossed lines and tangled skeins. Have fun!

T-Shirt Giveaway! for Fans

It's time for a giveaway!

Yaaaaay! Come on, get up, jump around, you know you want to.

Want to win a t-shirt of YOUR CHOICE from my tee shop? Of course you do. Even if you're not a tee lover (really? why the heck not?) then someone you know is and it'll make a great gift!

To be eligible for entry, you must be a fan on Facebook...or a "liker" as it is these days.

http://www.facebook.com/beththompsonart

Entry is super easy. Simply enter your email in the form on my facebook page. (Look for the S logo on the tabs on the left, where it says Free Tee.) If I get up to 250 likes by July 15th, I'll draw for a second tee! So tell your friends and up your chances.

For an extra entry, go to my shop and comment on this blog post telling me which tee you would choose if you win!

http://theteechick.spreadshirt.com

The small print: No purchase necessary and no cost at all to you. No shipping, no tax, no "handling", no membership fees, no subscriptions...this is a true giveaway. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Your contact info, i.e. email, will not be used or distributed in any way. I won't spam you, I promise. I will only use it to contact you about winning.

Sorry, only USA and Canada can enter. (yes, of course that includes APO/FPO)

"So if this doesn't cost me anything, why are you doing it?" Thank you to my fans, advertising for me and new fans for my biz. Simple as that.

Drawing for this giveaway will use random.org to be fair and impartial.

Last day to enter is Friday, July 15th.

Beth Thompson Art

Hey all, I know I've been MIA. My wrist started giving me fits after the holiday rush, and it just isn't getting better. I'm not able to crochet, and hence not able to make new patterns or any inventory. I can't even do the special requests from my fabulous customers. I'm sorry, and I hope in the near future it'll get better and I can get back to using this beautiful yarn collection I look at every day.

In the meantime, lucky me, I have a left arm too! And with that left arm I am able to draw again. So I've been working on the art side of my business while the right arm heals. And with that has come lots of new prints, photographs, and my tee shop is back open and chock full of lots of fun things to wear and use. Find me at my new homes:

Prints, photography, gifts: http://bethjt.etsy.com or http://www.beththompsonart.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/beththompsonart

T-shirts etc: http://theteechick.spreadshirt.com

Make sure you click that like button on Facebook, I want to have a giveaway really soon! Thanks for your patience and good thoughts for my wrist to heal.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, or whatever you celebrate at your house!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas or a happy holiday season if that's not your thang. Our family had a great season. We went on a trip to Disney and had a wonderful time at home too. My daughter turned four at the beginning of the month as well. I've listed new patterns this month that have been a big hit, and I'm excited to get to the new year and create even more.

Drop me a note and tell me what your family did for the holidays. And in the meantime, enjoy a couple pics from ours.

Update? Yes!

Oh it's been a busy year! I'm done with craft shows for the year, that was the big time eater. Here' s a pic or two from the shows. They were a blast and each one was totally worth my time and effort. Still not sure I'll do the big Food and Gift Festival at the Tacoma Dome again next year though...it was crazy! Five very long days of constant go go go. My whole family was affected, even my mom had to come up from Texas to help me. A bit much. But fun nonetheless. My aqua booth really stood out amongst everyone else's red and white backgrounds. I loved it. I was on the end of an aisle and got lots of traffic. Sales went above and beyond what I could have imagined, it was a blast. I literally sold 50%+ of my inventory, which for a craft show is huge as some of you know!

And here's one of my cute husband who was such a huge help and support during the Tacoma Dome show. He wore The Yarn Chick shirt and an apron without one complaint, haha! He wasn't able to be here for the second smaller show due to deployment, but I'm so thankful he was here for the first! Love you, Hon!

And a special huge thank you to my mom for coming up and helping me for three weeks with both shows and with the kids! You're the best, Mom!

So now that the shows are over I'm catching up on custom orders. I've got all the show orders done and out the door and now I'm working on all the ones from friends and family. Unfortunately I've been having some major pain in my wrist from so much crocheting the past few months, so they are slow going with me having to take 24-48 hour breaks from crocheting in between orders. Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding. And for the tips for making my wrist feel better, they are really helping! But I'm determined to get them all done in plenty of time...then I can take a real break over the Christmas holiday.

So what's in store for the new year! New patterns! New products! And I'm excited to get started. First let's get through these holidays, shall we?

Oh and through November 29th you can get 25% off all patterns in both my Etsy and Artfire shops! Just enter code THXGIV10 at checkout.

The kitties are growing

Some new pictures of our kittycats. They are so fun and snuggly, and mischievous! And they are growing like weeds. They are about 8 months old now.

I ♥ Hearts!

My new obsession, with Valentines Day coming up I came up with a little mini pattern for crocheted heart appliqués. There were a few online, but none of them worked exactly how I wanted. They are so fun to make and so cute!

I will be offering them as an add on for my hats in my shop, but thought I'd show you how they look now. A couple of these are too big for hats, but would look SO cute in a frame to decorate a little girl's room, or sewn on a tote bag, or put on a card for V-day. So many cute ideas, what would you do with them?

UPDATE 10/7 - I wrote down the pattern and it is available in my artfire shop for free with any pattern purchase. Just use coupon code freeheart!

Drawing Tutorial - Hair - Stages 4-9

Sorry, don't know what happened to the images on these posts...I will try and fix them soon...

Continued!

STAGE 4: STILL laying down strokes in the direction of hairs. I continue to go back to the beginning and darken things up while making the lines longer and longer to shape the style.

STAGE 5: Keep molding the style...continuing to keep to the darkest areas. Avoid highlights, but make the strokes into the highlights very random and jagged. Also: Turn the paper as needed to make the direction of the hairs easier to draw.

STAGE 6: Finish up the style. Continuously going back and darkening things up in layers.

STAGE 7: Here I take my tortillon, dirty or clean, doesn't matter. And go over the entire style in the direction of the hairs. Avoid crossing the strokes as much as possible to avoid a smudged look. Smooth everything out.

STAGE 8:Pick out highlights. I use my beloved "Hold-tu" putty and shape it into a sharp wedge. Then "draw" (drag) lines, uneven to each other, into the highlights so they blend into the pencil strokes and brighten the areas a bit. You could also do this with a sharp white eraser I'm sure, but the hold-tu works best for me.

STAGE 9: Time to push the darks! Go back over all dark areas with 3B again, or use something darker if you like. Add stray hairs around edges of curls and outside of the "border" of the head and also around the face. I avoided the face ones a bit since I haven't put the skins tones down yet. Give the illusion of individual hairs all over the head by drawing them at various pressures into highlighted areas. Continue to go back and push the darks until the very end of the drawing. You will add a lot more stray hairs at the end, when everything is done with skin, background etc...as a last step.

Stay tuned for more of this portrait's stages. This concludes the hair tutorial. Thanks for the visit!