Crocheted Flower Video

Southern Handmade Gifts

When Cr8tive Living stumbled upon artist Meredith from Southern Handmade Gifts we knew we’d found a hidden treasure! The combination of unique crafts showcased within a tech-savvy site had us begging her to share tips with our readers.

Here are some of her favorites!

Crochet Tip ~ When purchasing yarn, make sure you have a reasonable, and by reasonable I mean one or two more skeins then you think you’ll need) to complete your project. Remember you can always eture unused yarn….but you can not always find more of the same dye lot! MAKE SURE you check the yarn “DYE LOT #”. This number is found on the skein wrapper. Some like certain RED HEART brands have “NO DYE LOT” meaning that all skeins are exactly the same shade. Others have dye lot 3…meaning all the skein with the same dye lot with match exactly. You may look and say “they look close enough” but TAKE it from me…..what looks right to you in a store will look totally different with crochet into a project…this is so important….solid colors could be just enough off that it looks like two pieces and in variegated yarn the way the colors change may be different…this may not seem like a big deal but take it from someone who has had to scrap more than one project because I did not buy enough of the same or did not check. this Blanket called Tequila Sunrise is a good example I had to buy many many skeins of the same dye lots to ensure that the colors where RIGHT ON.

Beading Tip~ Use good quality materials. I found when I first started beading that the saying “you get what you pay for” could not be more true. Now you can find deals..but you have to know you quality. For example a lower quality, all be it cheaper, beading wire will kink very easily. It would not probably make it through a nap with out getting kinks in it. You wan to get the best possible materials that you can find and afford…..and it will pay off with better quality, longer lasting and more durable handmade pieces. This Moonstone & Sodalite Necklace w/ Sterling ~Metaphysical Properties Healing & Stress Relief necklace here

is made with the most flexible wire I could fine, real gemstones, sterling silver and even sterling silver findings. Also because these gemstones have a little bit of weight to them I made sure I used wire strong enough…all wire should have a test pound weight and even recommended types of materials to use with them.

Last Tip ~ This I learned while building my site and it has been a total time saver…..Scan Your Jewelry instead of photographing. Granted this works way better on some pieces than other pieces but the ones it does work for are GREAT. Two tricks I learned (besides the fact that there are some great informative articles out there about it) is *Cover Scanner with dark blanket to block out light since it will the lid will not shut and * use a small ring box or I used a stack of post-it notes to prop lid to scanner open so it is not resting on jewelry and/or knock it out of place after you get it like you want it. Here is a great example of that a scanner can do Pink Leaves “Of Change” Necklace

I hope you enjoyed just these few quick tips and I look forward to hearing from you on my blog to Southern Handmade Gits

Meredith Crosby

craftyGAgal

Southern Handmade Gifts

A Quilting Project in the Works…

Are you like me? Do you tend to get absorbed in a book that you are reading and all you want to do is whatever is in that book? I read Jimmy Stewart’s biography and went on an old movie kick. I read American Brutus by Michel Kauffman and decided to follow John Wilkes Booth’s escape route (Still yet to do this). And then I read the Elm Creek Quilts series and decided I wanted to create my first hand stitched quilt. Of course I do.

Now, I don’t consider myself an artistic quilter- the patterns I choose and the work I do is quite simple. But I love to sew. It is so therapeutic and soothing for me. So I chose 12 different sampler patterns and my fabrics that look adorable together. I’ve gotten some done and I’ll show you the first two here. They’re not great, but I’m definitely enjoying the process!