It's Here! It's Here!

FINALLY! I have some of my creations being showcased by my gaming community on our very own Youtube channel!

So far we're recording my oldest and first creations but it's so fun to see it up online. Soon we'll be recording some tutorials and even my cool piston and redstone creations. I can't wait! AHHHH

In the meantime, please check these two out and don't forget to Like, Comment, and Subscribe for more creations from yours truly, La Lady Panda.

The first video is of Pandaland. It is a fully functioning theme park. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_APdr-Gd4os&list=UUswoTPHl5xZZhnhOoMe8j1A&index=3&feature=plcp

The second is Creeper Manor Hotel and Resort. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EICQwr2Bbbs&list=UUswoTPHl5xZZhnhOoMe8j1A&index=1&feature=plcp

Thanks for reading/watching.
Love,
Mery Ann

Crocheting Curves

I love to crochet but I can honestly say that even I get tired of row after row of the same stitches. For that reason, and the fact that my hands get sore fast, I tend to stick to small projects. I'm not a great finisher either and lack of motivation runs rampant around the time I get half way through big projects. I tend to stick to really small crochet ideas so as to finish them quickly and reap the rewards of almost instant gratification.

Someday I'm hoping to work my way up to a full size afghan, or dare I say, plus size tunics! lol Well, when I do get there, I can rest easy that this amazing book I found online will be there to expertly guide me through what will probably feel like millions of stitches to the glorious finish line.

The article I found thanks to twitter about this book graciously provided a link for a free tank top/vest pattern too!

Click here for the free pattern: http://www.crochettoday.com/files/patterns-pdf/CurvyGirl.pdf

It's also available on nooks and kindles. I don't have one of those but I do have an iphone and you can get the kindle app on there for free and then download the book (not for free lol). 

I know its been a while since I posted but I've been going through hell and high water trying to get health insurance and get my car fixed so that I can go back to therapy and work on my agoraphobia. I feel like every step forward is ten steps backwards but I know thats a universal feeling too. I hope you guys like this free pattern and book suggestion. :)

Thanks for reading.

Love, 

Mery Ann

Flowers and Hearts

I've been out and about friends! Well, not really.

I went to my mom's house for a few hours to sing happy birthday to the boyfriend and the brother and it was actually a lot of fun. I haven't been out of the house in quite a while and although I was shaking with panic, I managed to keep a positive attitude and it paid off! I was able to enjoy my family's company without an anxiety attack. All in all, it was a successful outing and I'm happy for it.

To celebrate, I thought I'd share a bunch of heart and flower free patterns! <3

HEARTS

http://www.planetjune.com/blog/free-crochet-patterns/love-hearts/

http://www.freecraftunlimited.com/heart-crochet-hot-pad.html

http://www.dmccreative.co.uk/Products/Crochet-Collection/Crochet-Patterns/Home-is-where-the-heart-is.aspx

FLOWERS

http://molliemakes.themakingspot.com/blog/tutorial-tuesday-crochet-flowers

http://www.mooglyblog.com/2012/03/05/10-beautiful-and-free-crochet-flower-patterns/

http://6ichthusfish.typepad.com/6ichthusfish/2012/05/free-crochet-flower-pattern-tahiti-blossom.html

I especially like the Tahitian Blossoms because of the colors and I think if you make them in red, white, or green, they could double as Christmas Snowflakes. 

That's all for now friends. I hope you like this new post and I'll be sure to keep posting more free patterns that I collect across the vast world of the interwebs. As always...

Thanks for reading.

Love, 

Mery Ann

Combining Two Loves to make EPICOSITY

Once I began playing Minecraft, it quickly became a time consuming obsession. I enjoy being able to create with all of my imagination and this game definitely gives you plenty of room to build your dreams.

I normally move from one new obsession to the next, sometimes abandoning the last hobby for a new one but this time around I wanted to combine these two and create a Minecraft inspired crocheted item. Beanies are my specialty, so to speak, and so naturally I wanted to make a creeper beanie.

A creeper is a cubed, pixelated monster from the Minecraft. It's so scary! When you're playing and the game's sky rolls into night time, these creepers come out and sneak up on you. The only warning is a hissing sound followed closely by a .....POW!!!!!LARGE BOOM!!! and they blow you away.

They're always good for a scare and a laugh! That's why they are beloved and hated equally by all Minecrafters.

I created this beanie:

I played around with some felt and polyfill and made this adorable matching key chain that looks like the dirt blocks from the game. It's about 1 inch cubed.

They are for sale as a set at my etsy.com shop and I wanted to showcase it and some of the other AWESOME Minecraft inspired gear my fellow Etsy shops have for sale so I made a Treasury List.

A Treasury List is a collection of items for sale centered usually around a specific theme. For example, let's say you want to make a list of all of your favorite pink shawls you've found around etsy, or wedding dresses, or in this case, Minecraft EPICOSITY!

Here's a link to the Treasury List I made called Minecraft Mania:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MjEzMjQzMTd8MjcyMzAyOTExOA/minecraft-mania

*This picture belongs to ArtbyMark of http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByMark?ref=seller_info

I'd have to say my absolute favorite is a square cake shaped kitty pillow with cat nip! Look how stinkin' cute!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78614018/minecraft-inspired-kitty-catnip-cake?ref=tre-2723029118-12

I definitely want to make more Minecraft inspired gear. Maybe some felt goodies like hair clips and jewelry. Do you have any suggestions?

I wanted to include free patterns for something geek and awesome that you could create for yourself or maybe a smaller person you know so here it is!

This picture of Link amigurumi and the pattern are the sole property of "Becchin" as mentioned in the pattern translation page. Please click on the link to view the pattern and enjoy!

http://tanoshimou.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/link-legend-of-zelda-amigurumi-free-pattern/

If you and/or your kids LOVE Super Mario as much as I do, you'll definitely appreciate this free crochet pattern directory for ALL things Mario!

http://freeamigurumipatterns.wordpress.com/category/mario-video-games/

Well friends, that's all for now. Thanks for reading <3

Love,

Mery Ann

Cause Crochet is Awesome

What's better than a Free Pattern?

Wait for it..........FREE YARN!
Too bad there isn't any. :(

But at least I have a free pattern for you!

I came across this adorable newborn dress pattern and I just had to tackle it. I found it on Ravelry.com and let me tell you, if you aren't already a member, go join! It's free and painless. It could seem a little intimidating at first because there's so much to do and see but with a little practice I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. (See bottom for quick tips.*)Besides, you could always ask me for help! I'm always happy to lend a hand!

I had previously crocheted a pair of baby sandals and a headband from an original pattern I wrote and used the same colors and puff stitch flower for each of them like this:

And then added the dress to the set as shown here:

This set is available for sale on my etsy shop here:


https://www.etsy.com/listing/101238603/summer-newborn-baby-dress-headband-and


For the free dress and diaper cover pattern click this link:

http://www.oocities.org/crotiques/bgs.htm


And for the puff stitch flower check out a fellow crocheters Blogger page here:


http://easymakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2010/07/6-petal-puff-stitch-flower.html


I have a database of free crochet patterns on my Pinterest page here:


http://pinterest.com/cbatcreations/favorite-free-patterns/


I have the sandal and headband patterns scribbled into my crochet notebook and I haven't decided if I write it up and post it. I'd need people to test it of course and then I would post it for free, just because.

Do you think I should write it up and post it?

I don't know why but I don't think I would ever be the kind of person to sell patterns. I love seeing all the amazing patterns people have for sale but if I wanted to make something bad enough, even at my amateur level I would probably just try and figure it out myself first. It could just be because I'm stubborn though. It would definitely be easier to just use an already created, written, and tested pattern instead. Oh logic, why must you lose to stubborn all the time?

HA! Just thought of something. What if kids said, "Let's play logic, stubborn, pride!" instead of rock, paper, scissors?

Anywho :)

Thanks for Reading
Love, 
Mery Ann


*Ravelry tips: At first you'll want to look around at the literally thousands of free patterns for either knitters or crocheters by typing a category into the search bar on the top right of the main screen. From there you'll see pictures and descriptions of the patterns and a menu on the left hand side of your page to narrow down your search by category, sizes, and even hook or needle size. Once you find some you like, click on them and either favorite them to show support or add them to your library so that you can access them at any time. I'm CoolBeansnThings on there so add me if you'd like and message me for help with anything. :)

All You Minecrafters!

Sooo I was checking out OXM magazine on twitter a couple of weeks ago when I ran across a build competition for Minecrafters on Xbox worth 800 microsoft points to the top 5 winners and I said to myself...HECK YES!!

I quickly jumped on and added OXM to a couple of my favoritest builds and took screenshots to then tweet to OXM magazine's UK twitter.

Keep in mind that ALL of my creations have sub-creators and master builders who work along side me to create these awesome builds. In a later post I will be detailing my collaborators so if you're one of them and you're reading this...would you like just your gamer tag mentioned, your real name, or both and let me know if you have a site or page that you want to shout out?

Here were my submissions:

 This one is a bird's eye view of a city currently still under construction. The city so far boasts a bank, hospital, police station, fire department, restaurants, clubs, kwi-e-mart, gas station, church, botanical garden, office buildings, pre-school. elementary school, high school, McDonalds, Krusty Krab, Taco truck, Ice cream truck, suburbs, community pool, hot air balloon, and a full mall with a food court, movie theater and nearly a dozen stores!

And this one is a theme park that is already finished. It has two roller coasters, two water slides, two mazes, a food court, cookie kiosk, cake kiosk, tons of pixel art, bow and arrow mini games, a tunnel of love, bumper boats, and even a music fun house.

The city submission got me into the TOP 5 and the theme park got honorable mention! I'm saving most of my points for the next DLC content which should be dropping in the next few weeks. 

If you would like to see the article about the competition and the other winners and honorably mentioned click here:

http://www.oxm.co.uk/43124/features/minecraft-xbox-360-the-five-greatest-oxm-community-creations/

I'm hoping to create a section in this blog to walk you through my creations picture by picture for those of you interested. If you have any Minecraft 360 creations you would like to show off, leave a comment with your gamer tag or send me a message on Xbox, my gamer tag is La Lady Panda.

Thanks for Reading!
Love,
Mery Ann