Heart CroMander

The little CroMander balls have been one of my most popular posts.
For that reason, I've decided to share another one with you all.
As with the previous one, the idea and the pattern are quite simple. But it is quite versatile and it can be embellished quite a bit according to your personal taste and the use you will be making of it.
Here's the pattern for the heart:
Beginning row: With a worsted weight variegated yarn or cotton thread and F crochet hook,
ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook.
Row 2- ch1 and 1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 3-1 sc in same space as ch1, 1 sc in next 2 sc and 2 sc in last sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 4-1 sc in same space as ch 1, 1 sc in next 4 sc, 2 sc in last sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 5-1 sc in same sp as ch 1, 1 sc in each of next 6 sc, 2 sc in last sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 6-1 sc in same sp as ch 1. 1 sc in next 7 sc, 2 sc inlast sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 7-1 sc in same sp as ch 1. 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 1sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc in last sc. Ch 1, turn.
Row 8-1 sc in same sp as ch 1, 1 sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc in last sc.
Row 9-1 sc in each sc across.
Row 11- First side:
Row 1- 1 sc in 7 sc after ch 1. Turn, don't turn ch 1 at end of row, simply turn the piece around.
Row 2-In sert hook in second sc from the loop in the hook and draw another loop, pass yarn through both loops on hook. 1 sc in next 6 sc. Turn.
Row 3-Ch 1, 1 sc in next 4 sc, 1 dec sc in next sc. Turn.
Row 4- Ch 1, 1 dec sc at beg of row and then 1 sc across.
Row 5- 1 sc across. Fasten off. Rep on the other side, reversing direction.
Repeat with the back of the heart. Fasten off.
With both front sides facing each other and back side facing you, slip stitch all around to join, leaving a small hole to stuff with Fiberfill.
Once stuffed, close hole.
Make blossoms as follows:
With petal color of your choice: Ch 5, slip sti to close. Ch 3, slip st and then make 2 dc in round, ch 3, slip st, 2 dc, ch3, slip st, rep around until you have 4 petals. Fasten off.
Sew blossons to heart randomly or following any design you like.
Sent with your favorite fragrance and enjoy!

If you missed the pattern for the CroMander balls you can get ir FREE

at any of these links:

http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/cute-frangrant-cromander-pattern.html
http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/cromanders-part-2.html
If you would like to see more of Craftybegonia's work, go here:
http://craftybegoniagallery.blogspot.com/2009/02/craftybegonia-art-of-crafts-and-crafts.html


Are you down of discouraged? God loves you, that is why he opened his arms and died for you. Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here:

http://www.stepstochrist.us/

Another site where you will find important answers to soul questions.

http://www.bibleuniverse.com/home.aspxhttp://www.bibleinfo.com/

Need encouragement, comfort or cheer? Look in here!

http://www.frontiernet.net/~rexfam/kingfam1_001.htm

CroManders Part 2

If there is a word I could use to describe Craftybegonia, it would be "Imaginative."All of us crafters who work with our hands are creative people. All of us enjoy making beautiful things that people will enjoy, and Craftybegonia is all about that too. But all of us look at things in our own personal way, our personality shines through our work. And perhaps, in many ways, it characterizes is, it brands it, until it just shows us a little bit too.

Craftybegonia is all about making beautiful, one-of-a-kind, imaginative things, and making them with as much quality as possible so that the person who later owns them will be able to enjoy them fully. From sculptured crochet, to handpainted items, and from fun toys to delicate, almost dainty "clothing" for your tables, to gorgeous things for your walls. The aim is to make it not only handmade, but fabulous, and not only fabulous but inventive, ingenious, if possible innovative while at the same time, maintaining a high quaility standard. Craftybegonia is constantly growing in different directions. And don't be surprised to find new items, new ways of doing things, new "inventions" on things handmade.

One of those "Inventions" is the CroMander.

What is a CroMander? A crocheted pomander. I give these as a thank you gifts to customers. They are very useful and easy to make.
Spritz your favorite fragrance under the petals of the flowers and place the little ball at the corners of your lingerie drawer and everything will smell of you, not of laundry detergent or fabric softener.
You can also place them in your linen closet or just sew a ribbon to the top of them and hang them on your side of the closet where your everyday clothes hang. It will be a welcome site and scent in the morning!
Do you know a bride-to-be? Make a couple of these and she can put them in her suitcase.
You can make them larger, and perhaps hang one over your cat's litter box. . .The pattern is simple. Here it is:

CroMander

Materials:
Scraps of yarn in flower petal colors of your choice
Scraps of green yarn (you can make them in cotton if you like, I prefer to give them a green background as it it was the greenery under a real pomander)
2 2-inch Styrofoam balls
F hook

With petal color of your choice: Ch 5, slip sti to close. Ch 3, slip st and then make 2 dc in round, ch 3, slip st, 2 dc, ch3, slip st, rep around until you have 4 petals. Fasten off. Make as many as these little blossoms as you would like to cover the ball. I sometimes make them really tight, overlapping each other slightly, or I leave small spaces of green to be seen, you can do whatever you like. You can make them all of the same color or of different colors. You can place little pearls at the center, or sew little ribbon bows between the blossoms if you want to pretty-it.up, especially, if you are giving it away to a bride or a special friend.

Ball: With green, ch 2, 4 sc on 2nd ch from hk. Round 2: 2 sc on each sc of round.
Round 3: Ch 1, 1 sc in same space. 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, around. Round 4: Ch 1, 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc, around. Continue this way, measuring your shape with the little styrofoam ball and adapting your crocheting to the contour of the ball. Once you are reaching the bottom of the ball, begin to decrease the amount of sts as follows:
ch 1, 1 sc in next 4 sts, insert hook into next sc and pull a loop, hold on hook, insert hook on next sc and pull a loop, finish sc by slipping yarn through both loops on hook (1 sc dec). Repeat this until you have only 2 sc left at the very bottom of the ball and then just pull the loop through them to colose them and fasten off. Sew all your flowers to the green covering in whatever design you like or randomly.

In this second installement of the pattern I wanted to include leaves not only so that you could see them incorporated to the pomander, but also to give you a complete pattern with them. Leaf: Ch 9, sc in 3rd ch from hook. 1 hdc in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, 1 treble in next ch, 1 dc in next ch, 1 hdc in next ch and 1 sc in last ch.
In opposite side loops, repeat the same, ending with a slip st at the tip of the leaf and fasten off. Sew the leaf on any spot of the CroMander that you like.
You can make as many as you like, I decided only to make two for this ball. But you can make as little as 1 or as many as you want. You can also make all the blossoms of one single color or use various colors as I have. You can also use variegated and single colors as I decided touse inthis one. Enjoy!

This pattern is mine, do not sell it or distribute it as if it were yours. The term CroMander is mine, do not use for commercial purposes or attribute it to yourself or to your site. Thank you!
If you enjoy the tips, tutorials and patterns on this site, follow it, so you can get the latest post automatically. I try to update the blog often.

If you enjoy my tutorials or find them useful, subscribe to my blog. As you become a Follower of it, you'll get the new posts first hand.

To see the first installment of this pattern, go here:

http://craftybegonia.blogspot.com/2009/03/cute-frangrant-cromander-pattern.html

An Inspirationtal True Story
Back in 1932, I was 32 years old and a fairly new husband. My wife, Nettie and I were living in a little
apartment on Chicago 's south side. One hot August afternoon I had to go to St. Louis , where I was to
be the featured soloist at a large revival meeting. I didn't want to go.

Nettie was in the last month of pregnancy with our first child. But a lot of people were expecting me in St. Louis . I kissed Nettie good-bye, clattered downstairs to our Model A and, in a fresh Lake Michigan breeze, chugged out of Chicago on Route 66. However, outside the city, I discovered that in my anxiety at leaving, I had forgotten my music case. I wheeled around and headed back. I found Nettie
sleeping peace-fully.. I hesitated by her bed; something was strongly telling me to stay. But eager to get on my way, and not wanting to disturb Nettie, I shrugged off the feeling and quietly slipped out of the room with my music. The next night, in the steaming St. Louis heat, the crowd called on me to sing again and again. When I finally sat down, a messenger boy ran up with a Western Union telegram. I ripped open the envelope. Pasted on the yellow sheet were the words: YOUR WIFE JUST DIED.

People were happily singing and clapping around me, but I could hardly keep from crying out. I
rushed to a phone and called home. All I could hear on the other end was 'Nettie is dead. Nettie is dead.'

When I got back, I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and
joy. Yet that same night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart.

For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn't want to serve Him anymore or write
gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well. But then, as I hunched alone in that dark apartment those first sad days, I thought back to the afternoon I went to St. Louis . Something
kept telling me to stay with Nettie. Was that something God? Oh, if I had paid more attention to Him that day, I would have stayed and been with Nettie when she died. From that moment on I vowed to listen more closely to Him. But still I was lost in grief. Everyone was kind to me, especially a friend, Professor Fry, who seemed to know what I needed. On the following Saturday evening he took me up to Malone's Poro College , a
neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and my hands began to browse over the keys. Something happened to me then. I felt at peace. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, once into my head
they just seemed to fall into place:
'Precious Lord, take my
hand, lead me on, let me stand! I am tired, I am weak, I
am worn, through the storm, through the night lead me on to the light,
take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.'
The Lord gave me these words and melody, He also healed my spirit. I learned that when we are in our deepest grief, when we feel farthest from God, this is when He is closest, and when we are most open to His restoring power. And so I go on living for God willingly and joyfully, until that day comes when
He will take me and gently lead me home.

-Tommy Dorsey-

Are you down of discouraged? God loves you, that is why he opened his arms and died for you. Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/
Do You Love Beautiful Things? Visit our Gallery!
We offer an absolutely gorgeous and unique assortment of handmade, one of a kind items for home home decor, gift-giving, and for personal use.
http://craftybegoniagallery.blogspot.com/

Cute, Fragrant CroMander Pattern

What is a CroMander? A crocheted pomander. I give these as a thank you gifts to customers. They are very useful and easy to make.
Spritz your favorite fragrance under the petals of the flowers and place the little ball at the corners of your lingerie drawer and everything will smell of you, not of laundry detergent or fabric softener.
You can also place them in your linen closet or just sew a ribbon to the top of them and hang them on your side of the closet where your everyday clothes hang. It will be a welcome site and scent in the morning!
Do you know a bride-to-be? Make a couple of these and she can put them in her suitcase.
You can make them larger, and perhaps hang one over your cat's litter box. . .
The pattern is simple. Here it is:

CroMander

Materials:
Scraps of yarn in flower petal colors of your choice
Scraps of green yarn (you can make them in cotton if you like, I prefer to give them a green background as it it was the greenery under a real pomander)
2 2-inch Styrofoam balls
F hook

With petal color of your choice: Ch 5, slip sti to close. Ch 3, slip st and then make 2 dc in round, ch 3, slip st, 2 dc, ch3, slip st, rep around until you have 4 petals. Fasten off. Make as many as these little blossoms as you would like to cover the ball. I sometimes make them really tight, overlapping each other slightly, or I leave small spaces of green to be seen, you can do whatever you like. You can make them all of the same color or of different colors. You can place little pearls at the center, or sew little ribbon bows between the blossoms if you want to pretty-it.up, especially, if you are giving it away to a bride or a special friend.

Ball: With green, ch 2, 4 sc on 2nd ch from hk. Round 2: 2 sc on each sc of round.
Round 3: Ch 1, 1 sc in same space. 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, around. Round 4: Ch 1, 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc, 2 sc, around. Continue this way, measuring your shape with the little styrofoam ball and adapting your crocheting to the contour of the ball. Once you are reaching the bottom of the ball, begin to decrease the amount of sts as follows:
ch 1, 1 sc in next 4 sts, insert hook into next sc and pull a loop, hold on hook, insert hook on next sc and pull a loop, finish sc by slipping yarn through both loops on hook (1 sc dec). Repeat this until you have only 2 sc left at the very bottom of the ball and then just pull the loop through them to colose them and fasten off. Sew all your flowers to the green covering in whatever design you like or randomly.
This pattern is mine, do not sell it or distribute it as if it were yours. The term CroMander is mine, do not use for commercial purposes or attribute it to yourself or to your site. Thank you!
If you enjoy the tips, tutorials and patterns on this site, follow it, so you can get the latest post automatically. I try to update the blog often.























Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/

Your Hook Called: It Wants Your Fingers Back

Summer is coming and you want to crochet but your creativity has hit a wall. Let’s see if these few tips will break through it.

1. Start with color. Get your patterns and look for one that you like and want to follow, but don’t necessarily want to immitate to the smallest degree. Well, think of a basic color you like: Brown, Tan, Black, Navy or White. Then, add a splash of color: Orange, Yellow, Lime or Fuchsia. And take it from there. You can add two more colors. Like for example, if you are making a top, and you want checks or stripes, you can do Navy, white and Lime, and even add a dash of yellow. It would look happy and still be cool for summer because of the blue and green. If you want something a bit more hot, start with a chocolate brown, add tan, a bright yellow and a bright orange like pumpkin.
If your real favorite is red, but you don’t want an all over red piece, and you are tired of red and white, and you have already done red, white and blue. Try red white and lime, or red white and yellow. Even red and natural. Or red, ecru and black.

2. Texture. If you don’t have a pattern, try my formula for making a sweater without a pattern and do blocks of different, rich textures that please your eye. You can make them in different shades of a family of color like: cream, sand, ecru, taupe, and combine them all. You will end up with a pretty top you can wear with just about any color of skirt of pants.

3. Shape. If you want to try something different. Buy yourself a Sew Easy pattern for a nice top. Cut it out and transfer the pattern onto brown paper (that way it will not break as you work on it.) Then choose a shape. Let’s say a triangle or an octagon or a hexagon. Make as many motifs as needed to fillout the outline of your pattern and make little motifs like rounds, for example, to fill in the gaps and you’ve got yourself a new piece!

4. Mixed-Crafts. Do you know how to knit as well as to crochet? Then combine both. Add gorgeous cables to your crocheted pieces. True, you can make them in crochet as well, but there are many more Aran stitches for knitters and you would have a lot more variety to choose from. Do you know how to embroider as well was to crochet? Combine them.Make blocks that are solely sc and then embroider them with pretty lazy daisy stitch or any other stitch you prefer.

5. Top/Bottom Contrast. Finally, there’s another way in which you can change the simplest of shell patterns. Do the top in one stitch, let’s say hdc, and the bottom in shell stitch, cables, a ripple stitch or even in lacy motifs. The contrast will make the garment interesting.

Hope these simple tips will get your creative juices flowing again.
If you like this blog, don’t forget to subscribe to it by joining those who are following it. That way you will always get the latest.

More of What we Have to Offer
Craftybegonia: Handmade That’s Down to Earth

I won’t kid you, making items handmade is not always easy. It is time consuming, and materials are not always the cheapest, especially if you are a craftster or artist who, like us, likes to use the best to produce the best you can. We try to make items as pretty as we can, and as affordable as we can, because we want you to enjoy them, and yet quality and uniqueness means a lot to us.
Introducing Affordable Handpainted and Handcrafted Wallhangings Each Piece Unique, Not Two Alike or Repeated.
Many interior designers who want to stay in a budget would be interested in these beautiful handpainted wallhangings. Also, any homeowner who delights in beautiful items would also.
Take a look at them up close. You will not be disappointed!
http://craftybegoniagallery.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-more-gorgeous-handpainted-wall.html

Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/

New:Handpainted Wallhangings

Introducing: Craftybegonia's
Handpainted Wallhangings!

To see them in more detail, please go to our gallery:

http://craftybegoniagallery.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-more-gorgeous-handpainted-wall.html

Chickie's Puzzle
I'd like to know how it happened.
I can't understand it a bit;
A moment ago I was curled up so,
There was naught I could do but pick.

So I picked and picked, and by and by,
There came a great crashing sound;
And first thing I knew the shell was in two,
And I standing safe on the ground.

Anonymous author of the 1800s.
Moral of Chickie's Puzzle:
Persevere, if it is somethig worthwhile,
don't give up.

Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/

Block and Strip Crocheting

How to Make a Sweater Without a Pattern--Part 2

More than a pattern, I will give you a very useful formula that will enable you to make all kinds of sweaters and garments for yourself and for others.

You Will Need:
* Worsted weight yarn, colors of your choice, the sample used 6 solid colors and 1 matching variegated
* Size H crochet hook
* 1 pair of scissors
* 1 tapestry needle to join pieces
* 1 Measuring tape
* Brown paper
* Easy sewing pattern or personal garment

First, take a sweater you really love and which fits you well, or, if you are making it for someone else, take a garment from that person or purchase an easy sewing pattern for the standard fit of that person's size.
Cut out the pattern and transfer it to brown paper (trace it and cut it out), if you use a garment, trace the outlines of your garment and make a good skematic of it, with measurements and all, if possible. Next you will decide the size of your blocks, they could be small or large as in my example (this is a tunic I made as a birthday gift and the recepient loves it.)
Choose your yarn or thread and start making your squares, they could be grannies or textured
stitch blocks like the ones I made. Fill the space of your paper outline with the blocks, pinning them with pins in place, the outward side facing the paper. Then, join them together, the wrong side facing you, while they are still pinned to the paper. Once you have your garment in one piece, crochet the strips all along to fill the sides, the neckline and the back, the wrong side facing you.
With the sleeves you do the same, you make a paper outline of the sleeves that could fit you and your garment, fill that with blocks and crochet strips in between and if you want to, at the bottom as a loose "cuff."
If you want pockets, you make two squares, sew them together and just join them to the side strip at each side facing inward as you go about crocheting and joining them.
With this formula you can make a variety of sweaters.
If you want your tunic to have buttons, make buttonholes as you sc the front side strip. If you don't want to make buttonholes, make frogs and sew them to the front strip with nice knots or buttons on the strip opposite to it.
You can make many changes on this garment, you can make it shorter, to become a classic sweater, or longer, to turn it into a light spring coat.
Hope you can make a lot of beautiful sweaters using this formula!

Would you like to try this crafter's community?
MyHandmadeRegistry is a brand new social communty for crafters which rewards you if you promote it: http://www.myhandmaderegistry.com/profile/ClotildeM

I leave you with a bit of Inspiration:

"Once I thought to find on earth
Love, perfect and complete.
Now, I know it carries wounds
In its hands and feet."
--Anna Hemstead Branch

I am only one.
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something
That I can do.
--Helen Keller

Real love is one Person: Jesus! If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/

Craft Blogging in the New Century

Add this effect to your own photos

Aside from being a crafts lover are you also a Blogger? If you are, I want to provide you with a FREE list of useful tools that might help you optimize your blog even better. You might know some, and you might not know others. If you find this post useful, please pass it on by linking to it in your own blog for the good of others. These tools are considered by some to be essential, I consider them very useful. You might come to use them a lot. They are FREE, which makes them all the better.

Here they are:
The First one is Feedburner: http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home
This site generates a terrific feed that is compatible with all feed readers found for free online. It will also allow you to put easy subscribe buttons for XML, Add to yahoo, Add to Newsgator, Add to MSN etc. Read about how their single feed policy can benefit you. After you register, you can get from them a nifty chicklet button that willhelp you find out how many readers are you seen that particular feed to read your blog. You can also choose to have a headline animator that will display your last 5 posts in an animated form.

Bloglines is another site similar to Feedburner: http://www.bloglines.com/

SoloSub,RSS & ATOM Feed Subscription Made Easy: http://solosub.com/

So, if you have a great blog and now you know how to manage RSS and to stream out your content, Friend Feed is a great place to post your feed. http://friendfeed.com//
For example, this is my FriendFeed page: http://friendfeed.com/craftybegonia

One thing that some bloggers complain about Blogger Blogs is the lack of trackbacks. For example, I am a member of several crafting communities and sometimes when I post a pattern or a tip, I am asked for a trackback. I cannot give one thorugh Blogger, because it does not offer that service.
If you have had that experience yourself and wished you could give a trackback, you can use the following service: http://haloscan.com/
This way, you will have FREE commenting, FREE Ratings and FREE Trackback.
Haloscan will provide you with a nice seamless way to integrate free trackback in your blog by means of a small code. If you want to, you can also add their comments component, replacing the the Blogger comments.

On the other hand, if you are afraid of having to put up with spammers, you can use this service. It is FREE for personal use: http://akismet.com/ It will filter spamming.

Photobucket, image and video hosting: http://photobucket.com/

Flickr, a popular image hosting site: http://flickr.com//

Are you running out of the space allowed for free accounts in places like Photobucket or Flickr? Why not try ImageShack? It is a free image hosting site that can help you if you need an alternative place to post images for your blog. Here's the URL, just in case you want to try them:
http://imageshack.us/

Do you want to run a poll, here's a place where you can go: http://www.freeblogpoll.com/

One essential new step is that you claim your blog at Technorati.
http://technorati.com/

Use MyBlogLog as a metrics tool:
http://www.mybloglog.com/
MyBlogLog tracks outgoing traffic to allow you to pinpoint where your traffic is going.

You can get traffic statistics from this site: http://www.statcounter.com/

Pingomatic is an automatic pinging tool for you to let search engines that take pings know that you have have posted a new topic in your blog. http://pingomatic.com/

Slide, photo hosting and slideshows: http://www.slide.com/main

If you want to add interesting news topics to your blog, try this site: http://www.topix.com/

Of course, you can use YouTube to post videos that bring traffic to your blog, to show tutorials, how to make some patterns, etc. It can be your free classroom! http://www.youtube.com/
Personally, I've used to it to introduce things, and it has been a good help.

Do you like to add fun photo effects to your blog?

Bubome might be the one that fits your bill! http://www.bubome.com/index.html

BeFunky is a free online cartoonizer that willmake your photos look like cartoons and then you can take them somewhere else to make slide shows out of them: http://www.befunky.com/
It offers other special effects aside from the cartoonizer which you might want to try also.

RockYou, add glitz to your pics, make fun slideshows, and more! http://www.rockyou.com/

Fotline, fun special effects for your pictures: http://www.fotline.ws/

Dumpr is a site that lets you add digital special effects to your photos for free, such as turning them into jigzaw puzzles, into drawing sketchets, etc. Here's the link: http://www.dumpr.net/

FREE Button Maker For Your Blog: http://tools.bloggerbuster.com/buttons/

FREE Favicon Maker: http://tools.bloggerbuster.com/favicon/
If you don't know what a favicon is, it is a tiny image which shows in your browser window when you visit different sites. It is just a fun item.

FREE Blogger Templates: http://freetemplates.blogspot.com/

Web Analysis Tool: http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/web-site-statistics/

FREE SEO Tools: http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/free-seo-tools.html

Website Keyword Analysis: http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/keyword-ranking/

Link Popularity: http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/link-popularity.php

Indexed Pages: http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/indexed-pages.php

Now, to a category closer to our hearts: Crafts!

There are some communities you should join to encouragement, networking, sharing, learning and also for fun, ehre are some of them:

http://www.mycraft.com/

http://crafterscommunity.com/

http://crochetme.com/

MyHandmadeRegistry is a brand new social communty for crafters which rewards you if you promote it: http://www.myhandmaderegistry.com/profile/ClotildeM

http://www.crochetville.org/forum/

http://www.getcrafty.com/

https://www.ravelry.com/account/login

I hope these tips will help you in some way to make your blogging better and more effective and your presence online stand out a little bit more. If you find this blog useful, Follow It! That way you will not miss a thing. Next week, back to regular crafting!

I leave you with a bit of Inspiration:

"Once I thought to find on earth
Love, perfect and complete.
Now, I know it carries wounds
In its hands and feet."
--Anna Hemstead Branch

If you want to get to know Him better, there's no other book like Steps to Christ. A sweet, short, beauttiful book. Read it online for FREE, here: http://www.stepstochrist.us/