Two RAD clutches WINNERS!!!

Guess what! We have two winners.

I had my son pick the first one:
(Do not mind his weird faces. He hates his picture taken, what's a photo taking mama to do???)



And the winner is #7:

AnonymousFeb 15, 2012 07:08 AM
Totally my style. LOVE! -Laura E =)

I had my daughter pick the next winner:



And the winner is #14:

ennadoolfFeb 17, 2012 05:46 PM
♥ love your shop! My fave is your mary jane slippers - I've never knit any but have crocheted some and I love the colours you used!! beautiful!

CONGRATULATIONS


(seriously kid, can't you just smile normal???)

I'll be emailing winners to get addresses to send my awesome clutches. I hope you love em!!!

xxoo,
Gilda

Weekend fun

This weekend, my nephew came over.
He is almost exactly three months younger than my son. They're best friends.

I'm worried about when these two become teenagers. Surely, they will cause tons of trouble. Right now, they bond over having younger sisters. Oh how they despise younger sisters!

Speaking of sisters, doesn't little sister remind you of a little actress in ET? (with her 70s style coat and pigtails.)

This weekend was all about chillin with the homies. My nephew was over, but also the neighbors came over, too. Here they are playing basketball in the driveway:

At one point, we had 9 kids roaming the house. And it was a mess at the end of the day! How does one have the neighborhood peeps over AND keep the house clean?
My new rule was going to be 'play outside only,' but there is a snow front coming in. And my husband said, "what if it is 20 below?" I mean, this is Minnesota after all.

Oh, look at Jake. Silly dog put on one of my knitted hats!


Off to do more knitting... I am working on lots of goods for a Spring Boutique (a portion of my profit goes to these charities: www.freedom.firm.in and www.hopeschool.org) and the HandmadeMN show in the Spring. I'll be giving you sneak peeks in the following weeks ;)

AND!!!don't forget to leave a comment on my giveaway post to enter to win one of my very first clutches I patterned. To make it easy, here's the link:
http://gildaknits.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-rad-clutches-up-for-grabs.html
I'll announce the winner this Wed, the 22nd.

peace xxoo,
Gilda

puppy fever and more clutches

It's that time of year again; puppy fever!

Isn't my friend, Laura, so sweet to invite me to the Humane Society to get my fix?

A few years ago, I had to bring my cat there. I always thought I'd never be the type of person to bring pets back, but as it turned out, my son is deathly allergic to cats. And so I had no choice. I hope my kitty found a good home. It was comforting to learn today that they do not put animals down at the Humane Society.

I used to be a cat person, but I can't be, so pups will do. And I have two. But it's always fun to meet other pups, too.

These were my favorites from today:

An American Bulldog, just like my Jake! (except this is a girl)


And this little guy was taken from a pet hoarder. He had special needs. And I loved him. I think I might go back for him. But I better not. I don't want to be a pet hoarder either!


And here's my sweet friend, petting the sister of the American Bulldog.


She is going to kill me for posting a pic of her, but isn't it a sweet one? I tried to get her to model my new clutches that I'll be putting in the shop, but she wouldn't. I might just have to put the self timer on and I always feel so ... awkward.

These are so cute, I can't wait to get them in the shop! They are hand knit, then felted, lined, and have one of a kind buttons. Here a little bitty pic:


In the comments of my last post, someone asked for tips on sewing on knitting. I have no tips. I wing it. But I do everything by hand. So, it's a lot of work. But it's totally fun and awesome, so you should try it.

And speaking of my last post, don't forget to leave a comment on that post to enter to win one of my very first clutches I patterned. To make it easy, here's the link:
http://gildaknits.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-rad-clutches-up-for-grabs.html I'll announce the winner next Wed, the 22nd.

Peace out, yo.
xxoo, Gilda

Two RAD clutches up for grabs

Hello there bloggies.
I've been patterning a new clutch design.
Would you like to win one of my very first clutches?





Y'all deserve a lil somn' somn' for being so RAD.
And not just one person will win, but two.
Because I have TWO pretty [awesome] clutches.





So...all you have to do is
**leave a comment telling me what your favorite thing is in my shop. This is my shop page: www.ahandmadeprincess.etsy.com
**For an additional entry, like my facebook page and leave another comment here telling me you did so.
This is my facebook page: www.facebook.com/AHandmadePrincess

I'll randomly choose TWO winners and post it next Wednesday, February 22, 2012. So make sure to come back then.

This is my very first give away, so make it a real good one and I'll do 'em more.

In the meantime, I'll be posting more about what I'm knitting (and designing) and random life stuff. Like, for yarn along (a weekly link up to show what you are knitting/reading), I'm knitting more clutches (see above) and I'm STILL reading Cutting for Stone. (I think I'll be reading this one for a loooonnng time!)

gnomes and pretzel buttons

I have a fondness for Gnomes. Anything gnomes. If I could, I'd fill my yard to the rims with garden gnomes. The reason I can't is because, well, my collection has gotten that big yet and, also, I have two dogs that would knock em over. But I have an appreciation for a garden gnome garden. I really, really do. When Gnomeo and Juliet came out in theaters, uh yes, I was sooo there. And when I saw this really cute gnomey fabric with a gnome garden scape, I HAD to get it. And what did I do with it? I made a skirt for my daughter.

Cute, right?
And then I made her a cute gnomey hat with a bow. (to match this coat I just bought her.) (Girls size, clearance for 14.99!!!!!)

Oh yes, I've been doing lots this past week. I also have some goodies that will soon be going in the store:

And, look, we made valentine buttons! (found on pinterest)
Here's a quick recap:

What you need:
square pretzels
hershey hugs
m&ms (I used raspberry. I didn't even know such things existed, but they are soooo yummy!!)
optional: wax paper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 200
Unwrap hugs, place on to pretzel
Line up on (wax paper) cookie sheet
Bake for approximately 4 minutes, or until hugs are soft (but not melted!)
Press m&m into each hug
Cool in fridge (do not take off cookie sheet until cooled. Chocolate can be messy!)
Enjoy!

bad words and craft photos...

Sometimes, I am afraid that I shelter my kids too much.



Last night, as we watched "The Middle," which is my 6 year old daughter's favorite show, and after my husband and I had a brief discussion about how the NPA overreacts to the superbowl half time shows & commercials, but says nothing about so called family shows in the same time slot, my daughter said, "can I tell you bad words?"



I said, "sure, go ahead and tell me."
"stupid, hate, ugly."
And then I said, "crap?" My husband looked at me.
"yes, she said.



And I giggled on the inside, because those weren't really bad words at all, were they? I think the F, S, B, and GD words are bad words.



So, then, as I lay in bed last night, I pondered my daughter's naivety. When I was 6, I was a cussing machine. In fact, I remember the neighborhood kids threatening to tell my mom about it. When I was 8, I remember asking my 18 year old cousin if she cusses all the time. I was completely appalled at her answer of no. I replied that when I turned 18, I would cuss all day long. I mean, any 18 year old, free to do what they want, being 18 and all, would cuss all day long.



Why the infatuation with bad words?
And if I was such a cusser, why don't my kids know any REAL bad words?
And if they don't know any bad words by now, will they be naive forever?
These are the things that keep me up at night.

It used to be 1985, but now it's 2012. whoa.

Can you believe it is February 6, 2012? I can't! I can't believe it's 2012. You know, when I was younger, like 10 and it was 1985, 2012 just seemed so....out there, so in the future. And here we are. Anyway, I am always stopping to think about things like that. How time moves so quickly. And why. And really, what is the point of it all? I am one of those people who has to know answers, so I am awake at night, sometimes, 2 in the am, thinking about things like this. 'Whyyyyyyyyyyy?' But, anyway, the whole point of that, before I went on my tangent, was to say, "wow, it's been a whole week since I last posted."
HA!
So, the week flew by so fast and I still have yet to take photos for "A Month Of Craft Photos." Oyyy, I am so bad!
Where does my time go, you ask.
Well, I am going to be honest. This is where my time goes:
Knitting:

Kids/Dogs:


and eye candy on the net:




SOURCE: http://handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com/
........
and my husband gets a teeny bit of attention, too. :D
I swear!
This is an old picture. But here's us getting pedicures for our anniversary (my gift to him, hehehehehe).