Author Archives: amysolovay

September Garden Journal Pages for the Happy Planner or Other Discbound Planners

September Garden Journal Pages for Discbound Planners Like Happy Planner, Arc or Tul

September Garden Journal Pages for Discbound Planners Like Happy Planner, Arc or Tul

Happy September, Crafty Friends!


Did you plant a garden this year? If so, what did you plant, and how’s your harvest coming along? Did you enjoy success with your crops this growing season? or did the bugs and birds eat your harvest before you had a chance to?


To those of you who did plant gardens, I hope your plants flourished, and that you enjoyed harvesting a bounty of delicious, garden-fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs or a rainbow of delightful flowers — whatever it is you planted.


Have you been keeping a garden journal to track your gardening successes and failures? If you haven’t already started, now is the ideal time to create a garden journal while all the details are still fresh in your mind. By planting time next year, you might have forgotten some of the details about what you did and how you did it.


Sadly, I don’t have a garden this year. 🙁 But when I am actively gardening, I routinely make garden journal pages to keep a record of what I’ve done well (so I can repeat those successes) and about what went wrong (so I can try a different approach the next season). I also like to keep a record of what I planted where, so that I can be sure to rotate crops effectively the next year. My garden journal also incorporates to-do lists that keep me on track on what needs to be done in the future.


If garden journaling is of interest to you, I invite you to check out more of my garden journal pages and read more about my process for making them.


If you maintain a garden journal, I’d love to know more about what you record in it and how it has helped you achieve your gardening goals. What do your garden journal pages look like? The floor is open for comments, so please feel free to ask questions or share insights in the comments area below.


Thanks so much for visiting! I truly appreciate your presence here.


Posted By: Amy Solovay

Mood Board: Beige, Brown, and Pink Craft Project Ideas

Photo Collage / Inspiration Board Featuring Craft Inspiration and Craft Project Ideas in Shades of Beige, Brown and Pink

Mood Board Featuring Craft Project Ideas in Shades of Beige, Brown and Pink -- Find Free Crochet Patterns and Free Craft Tutorials for Making All of These Projects

Mood Board Featuring Craft Project Ideas in Shades of Beige, Brown and Pink — Find Free Crochet Patterns and Free Craft Tutorials for Making All of These Projects


Welcome, creative friend! I am glad you’re here.


If you’d like to make any of the projects pictured above, I invite you to check out the following free crochet patterns and free craft tutorials, which will explain the most important details you need to know about how to make projects like these. If you have questions, feel free to ask; if I know the answers, I will do my best to help.

Hand-Stamped Floral Thank You Card: A Past Month’s Altenew Inspiration Challenge Entry

Floral Slimline Thank You Card

Floral Slimline Thank You Card

Scrapbooking Layout Documenting My Crochet Projects

Crochet Projects Photo Shoot at the Beach -- Scrapbooking Layout

Crochet Projects Photo Shoot at the Beach — Scrapbooking Layout

In the scrapbooking layout above, I’m pictured wearing a couple of my favorite crochet projects. Free crochet patterns are available online for both of these designs. In the photo on the left-hand side of the page, I’m wearing this bead crochet necklace. In the photo on the right-hand side of the page, I’m wearing this crochet infinity scarf. Click or tap either of those links if you’d like to be magically transported to the free crochet patterns for making those projects. Or, tap / click here if you’d rather learn how to make a scrapbooking layout like the one pictured above.

Freeform Crochet Blanket Made in Shades of Beige, Brown, and Peach Yarn

Freeform Crochet Blanket

Freeform Crochet Blanket


Shell Stitch Baby Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern

Shell Stitch Crochet Baby Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern

Shell Stitch Crochet Baby Blanket: Free Crochet Pattern

Earthtone Ombre Kitchen Set: Free Patterns for Crocheting a Matching Set of Variegated Potholders and a Dishcloth

Earthtone Ombre Crochet Potholders and Dishcloth: Free Crochet Patterns

Earthtone Ombre Crochet Potholders and Dishcloth: Free Crochet Patterns

Crochet Lace Dishcloth: Free Pattern

Lacy Treble Shell Crochet Dishcloth -- Free Crochet Pattern

Lacy Treble Shell Crochet Dishcloth — Free Crochet Pattern

Layered Crochet Flower

To create this flower, you crochet two different layers, and then you sew the two layers together. The last step is to embellish the top with a pretty button and / or other baubles. You can glue a faux crystal onto the button or stick a faux gem sticker onto the button for extra sparkle.


The bottom layer is a one-color flower that’s very easy to crochet. The flower has six petals; it lies mostly flat but has a bit of dimension around the outer edge. You can get the free crochet pattern for it HERE.

Small Crochet Flower With Popcorn Stitch Petals

Small Crochet Flowers With Popcorn Stitch Petals

Small Crochet Flowers With Popcorn Stitch Petals


The top layer is also an easy one-color flower design. I call it the Small Crochet Flower With Popcorn Stitch Petals. A free pattern is available for crocheting that, too. You can also use either layer separately.

Crochet Cupcake Potholders: Free Pattern

Over to You:


The floor is open for comments, if you have any insights you’d like to share or questions you’d like to ask.


Thanks so much for dropping by my craft blog today. I appreciate your interest!


Posted By: Amy Solovay

Green and Blue Mood Board Featuring Color Inspiration for Crafts

Green and Blue Mood Board Featuring Color Inspiration for Crafts

Green and Blue Mood Board Featuring Color Inspiration for Crafts


Welcome, Crafty Friend! I am so glad you found your way here.


You probably already have more craft ideas of your own than you could use in a lifetime — but it never hurts to have more. Pictured above is a mood board featuring craft projects made in a palette of blues and greens. I have free crochet patterns and free craft tutorials available for most, but not all, of the projects pictured above. If you like any of these ideas, you are welcome to use these patterns and tutorials to make your own versions of these projects.

Striped Crochet Square With Heart Design: Free Crochet Pattern and Chart

Crochet Heart Squares: Colorway Ideas for Baby Boys

Crochet Heart Squares: Colorway Ideas for Baby Boys

Striped Checkerboard Square: Free Crochet Chart

I have a baby blanket pattern posted that makes use of both the striped heart and striped checkerboard square designs. If you want to use the striped checkerboard chart, you can grab it from this page.

Crochet Pattern Sampler Afghan

Crochet Pattern Sampler Afghan

Crochet Pattern Sampler Afghan

A Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Documenting My Green, Tan and Turquoise Crocheted Blanket

6x8 Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Documenting a Crochet Blanket Project

6×8 Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Documenting a Crochet Blanket Project


If you’re curious about the behind-the-scenes making of the Pattern Sampler Afghan, pictured above, this scrapbooking layout will give you the inside scoop — plus it’s also useful if you’d like some ideas for documenting your own craft projects, road trips, etc.

Free Afghan Stitch Crochet Tutorial

The afghan stitch tutorial linked above will teach you how to crochet solid-colored fabrics in afghan stitch. To make the colorful variation shown in the photo collage above, pictured in the far right-hand-side column in the middle, the trick is to use two different colors of variegated yarn. The yarn colorways I chose for this are self-striping yarns with fairly long stretches of color, but you can also get interesting results with shorter, choppier bits of variegated color.


What you do is complete a forward pass, drop your active color, and pick up the other color. Complete the return pass, then work the next forward pass, then drop the active color and pick up the other color. You don’t ever cut your yarns in between, so you don’t have extra ends to weave in with this technique — yet you can achieve a vibrantly-colored project using this method. I love this idea and use it often to make interesting projects. If it inspires you, too, I hope you’ll give it a try.


Thanks so much for dropping by! I really appreciate your interest in these craft projects. Please feel free to drop me a comment if you’d like to have tutorials or instructions for how to do any of the other projects that I pictured in the mood board but didn’t link to in the body of the post. Happy crafting!

Mood Board Inspiration: Blue, Green, and Purple Craft Ideas


“I don’t know where I’m going

But I sure know where I’ve been

Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday”


~Sung by the band Whitesnake, from their Saints and Sinners album

The photo collage below reminds me of this song because I am not sure where I’m going next, creatively speaking, but these pictures give you a glimpse at so many of the places I’ve been in times past.

Blue Green and Purple Mood Board With Free Craft Tutorials: Learn how to make all different kinds of craft projects with the free tutorials I've posted here at this website. You can learn how to paint spin art, make collages, be more productive with creative planner layouts, make jewelry, crochet, paint still life art, and more!

Blue Green and Purple Mood Board With Free Craft Tutorials: Learn how to make all different kinds of craft projects with the free tutorials I’ve posted here at this website. You can learn how to paint spin art, make collages, be more productive with creative planner layouts, make jewelry, crochet, paint still life art, and more!


If you’d like to learn how to do any of these art and craft techniques or make similar projects to any of the ones shown above, I’ve got you covered: I offer free tutorials for learning how do do just about all of this stuff. If you’re interested, I invite you to check ’em out:

Bohemian Swirl Collage Art — Free Instructions

Learn How to Make This Bohemian Swirl Collage With Our Free Collage Art Instructions

Learn How to Make This Bohemian Swirl Collage With Our Free Collage Art Instructions

Happy Planner Horizontal Weekly Layout Featuring Year to Shine Goals Stickers

Happy Planner Horizontal Layout for January 6, 2023 from the Year to Shine Goals Sticker Book

Happy Planner Horizontal Layout for January 6, 2023 from the Year to Shine Goals Sticker Book

How to Do Spin Art: Free Tutorial and Instructions

Created with GIMP


Art Trading Cards Featuring Spiral Motifs and Circle Images

Art Trading Cards Featuring Spiral Motifs and Circle Images

“Bohemian Girl” Collage / Assemblage Art:

Bohemian Girl: An Assemblage Art Piece by Amy Solovay Made With Resin Art, Spin Art, Hand Painting, Polymer Clay Beads, Block Printing, and Lumiere Metallic Paints

Bohemian Girl: An Assemblage Art Piece by Amy Solovay Made With Resin Art, Spin Art, Hand Painting, Polymer Clay Beads, Block Printing, and Lumiere Metallic Paints


I made a series of similar small art pieces that all look somewhat like this one, but each is unique. I’m in the process of writing a tutorial sharing an overview of my creative process for the entire series. It’ll be awhile before the tutorial is completely finished, but I do have some of its component pieces ready for you to check out:

Easy Curved Crochet Circle Pattern

Easy Curved Crochet Circles: Free Pattern

Easy Curved Crochet Circles: Free Pattern


I originally crocheted these circles to be the ends on a tube-shaped purse. That didn’t work out as planned; I never shared the purse pattern, because I wasn’t thrilled with how it turned out. I have another version of that in progress using flat circles that I’m much happier with. However, you might find the curved circles useful for whatever crochet projects you happen to have in mind, so I shared the pattern. I’m thinking of using it to make disc-shaped Christmas ornaments for this coming holiday season, but I am sure there are zillions of other ways you could use it if you are so inclined.


Get the Free, Easy Curved Circle Crochet Pattern HERE.

How to Draw or Paint a Still Life

Learn How to Paint or Draw a Still Life With These Free Instructions

Learn How to Paint or Draw a Still Life With These Free Instructions

Wire Crochet Necklace With Green Jasper Beads: Free Pattern


Wire Crochet Necklace With Green Jasper Stone Beads: Free Pattern by Amy Solovay

Wire Crochet Necklace With Green Jasper Stone Beads: Free Pattern by Amy Solovay

Any questions? The floor is open for comments. Thanks so much for dropping by today. I appreciate your interest!


#moodboard #blue #green #purple #freecrafttutorials #freearttutorials #collage #collageart #painting #art #spinart #spinpainting #arttradingcards #freecrochetpatterns #crochetjewelry #jewelrypatterns #jewelrymaking #diycrafts #artglass #blockprinting #wallart #inspiration #plannercommunity

Ideas for Getting a Jump Start on Your Christmas Crafting

Classic Christmas Crochet Pattern Book: Traditional Danish Holiday Decorations and Gifts, by Heidi B Johannesen and Pia HH Johannesen, Published by Trafalgar Square Books

Classic Christmas Crochet Pattern Book: Traditional Danish Holiday Decorations and Gifts, by Heidi B Johannesen and Pia HH Johannesen, Published by Trafalgar Square Books


Serious questions for those of you who celebrate Christmas: Do you make any of the Christmas cards or gifts you give to your inner circle? And are you typically satisfied with the amount of holiday crafting you actually get done each year?


Most years, I spend my summers making Christmas craft projects so I will not be caught empty-handed when holiday season rolls around. However, it seems like, no matter how far I plan ahead, I never quite manage to get as much done as I’d been hoping to.


This year, I am really, really far behind on my holiday crafting goals; I did get a few Christmas cards made already, but I have a lot of catching up to do. I’m thinking I need to make a big push this month to get many more Christmas cards made, and to also get some Christmas gifts completed. I have been meaning to try making some of my own Christmas giftwrap and gift boxes, too…


Pictured above is one of the new pattern books I’m planning on working from to create my Christmas gifts and decorations this year. It’s called Classic Christmas Crochet: Traditional Holiday Ornaments, Decorations and Gifts by Heidi B. Johannesen and Pia H.H. Johannesen. This is one of the most stylish, festive Christmas crochet books I’ve come across lately. If you look closely at the cover of the book, you can see a sizable number of the finished projects that are included in the book; many of them are brightly-colored Christmas tree ornaments you can crochet. So the book’s cover beautifully shows off a good number of the projects that are included within.


I’m looking forward to sitting down with my crochet hooks, yarn, and this book, and spending some quality time making some Christmas tree ornaments and other decorations using these patterns.

This book also includes patterns for making Christmas stockings and small toys, so there’s a lovely mix of Christmas gift ideas included.


If you celebrate Christmas, you want to give handmade gifts to your Christmas gift recipients this year, and you haven’t already started your holiday crafting, I highly recommend starting NOW. If you already have Christmas patterns stashed, you can get them out and use them to get started. You’re also more than welcome to use any of the Christmas craft patterns I’ve posted; I made many free Christmas patterns available, and despite the fact that they’re Christmas projects to be used in December, many of them are actually small, summer-friendly projects that aren’t challenging to work on during the summer months (that’s because I usually design and make them during the summer months, haha).

I’ve also reviewed bunches of different Christmas craft books, all of which include useful ideas and fun, festive projects. If you’re in the market to buy new Christmas patterns for yourself, I invite you to check out my book review of Classic Christmas Crochet, which is my new favorite Christmas crochet pattern book for 2023.


If you don’t celebrate Christmas, or you don’t feel like working on Christmas projects right now, no worries; I have bunches of other craft projects and patterns available you might like to work on. I invite you to check out my page of summer crafts to find other summer-friendly ideas you might want to try right now.


Thanks so much for dropping by my craft blog today. I really appreciate your presence here. Happy crafting!



XOXO,

Amy Solovay, your hostess here at KnittingCrochetCrafts.com


If you found this blog post helpful, I invite you to return to this site often for more posts, craft tutorials, project ideas and inspiration! You can make sure you keep this site on your radar by signing up for my newsletter and community at Substack. .



Basic subscriptions are free; I send out regular newsletters to let my subscribers know about new craft articles and tutorials as they are posted. I also share details about the craft projects I’m working on, and invite my readers to share their projects, too. So there is no need to feel like it’s just you, crafting all alone at home. I’d love to have you join us! You’re invited!!

By Amy Solovay

Please Visit My Ko-Fi Shop HERE to Find My Sample Sale, Destash Sale and Digital PDF Pattern Downloads for Sale.

Please Visit My Ravelry Store HERE to Find Digital PDF Pattern Downloads for Sale.

About the Author:

Amy Solovay

Amy Solovay


Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College; she has also earned a separate Associate of Arts degree in textile design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles). She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.


Amy learned to crochet as a small child, and she still enjoys crocheting all these years later.


I'm excited about this book, Delicate Crochet by Sharon Hernes Silverman! I am super proud of the 2 patterns I contributed to this pattern collection. I hope you'll check out the fingerless gloves and the beaded necklace I designed for this book. Thanks for taking a look at them!

I’m excited about this book, Delicate Crochet by Sharon Hernes Silverman! ! I am super proud of the 2 patterns I contributed to this pattern collection. I hope you’ll check out the fingerless gloves and the beaded necklace I designed for this book. Thanks for taking a look at them!


As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles.


If you’re interested in reading Amy’s personal blog, she invites you to visit her official website, AmySolovay.com; and, if you’re interested in earning income while spending time crafting, she encourages you to check out Crafterprise.com.

This page was last updated on 11-2-2024.