JoAnn contest again

I went back to look again at the rules for the contest and the submission portion of the actual rules is different from what they have abbreviated on the blog - which is fine as the essentials are the same. The rules give more information.

All entries MUST include all of the following to be eligible:
1. Completed official entry form, available online at www.joann.com/craftforacause, including entrantʼs contact information and
a short description of how the hand-made item meets a specific need of the selected charitable organization or otherwise assists that organization.

2. Scanned image of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store or Joann.com receipt(s) showing proof of purchase of materials used to make the item.

3. Three color photographs (one of entire item and one each of the front and back showing detail) of the item. Digital photographs should be in .jpg format; however, .tif, .gif and .png formats are also acceptable. Files should be no larger than 2MB. No professional photography allowed.

4. Each entrant must sign the Liability and Publicity Release and Consent (“Release”) at the bottom of the entry form and, if the entrant is a minor, the entrantʼs parent or guardian must also sign. Online signatures must be typed between / marks (example: /Jane Smith/) and have the same binding effect as handwritten signatures.

5. After completing all required portions of the entry form and properly uploading the images of the Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store or Joann.com receipt(s) and photographs, click the “Submit” button to enter. Any other method of entry is void. Incomplete or illegible entries will be disqualified. Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. is not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or garbled
electronic transmissions.

Also, the entrant form says it must be a "nonprofit organization" which I assume means it must be a 501(c)(3) organization.  IOW the Bridge and Beyond would not qualify but Crafting for a Cause would because it is legally a nonprofit.
http://craftforacause2010.joann-mail.com/EntrantInformation.aspx

There is a list of charities from which you can choose, but you can also write in a different one. I have a few tax exempt organizations in my Charity section, but that is but a very small sampling.

I will keep you posted as I learn more about this.

Happy crocheting!

Craft for a Cause

Jo-Ann Fabric store is having a contest. If you have a physical store near you, you're ahead. If not, you'll have to order your materials as you have to have a receipt from the store.

You can read about it at the blog and also at the web site. Note that this Craft for a Cause if NOT the same as Crafting for a Cause, the organization I belong to and for which I have been making the double yo-yos. This is a separate, limited effort.

The basics - make an item using the majority of your materials from JoAnn's (for example, use purchased yarn, but your own hook) and send it to your favorite charity before October 30.

Complete the entry form and send 3 photos of the item and a scanned copy of the receipt. This is all done online.

The top 5 contestants will win $1500. You will be "judged on creativity, quality & functionality for the charitable organization receiving item."

DO NOT send donations to Jo-Ann's. You send them to your favorite charity. They will judge your work based on the photos.

Three charities will be chosen as finalists and the public will then vote. The three charities will all receive substantial donations - $50,000, $25,000 and $15,000 so make sure your charity accepts monetary donations.

If you're under 14, from Maryland or Vermont, or you or a relative works for JoAnn or its affiliates, you are ineligible to participate. Only one entry per person.

 Don't forget to take three photos of the project per the rules:

   1. Complete Official Entry Form including signed Liability and Publicity Release and Consent portion at bottom of entry form.
   2. Three (3) color photographs with one photograph showing a full view of the entire item and two showing details such as a close-up view and the back or inside of the item, as appropriate. No professional photography permitted.
   3. A scanned image of Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Store or Joann.com receipt(s) showing the purchase of the materials used to make the project.

The entry form is here http://craftforacause2010.joann-mail.com/ . Your photos will be attached. There is no physical entry. It is all done online.

I did not see anywhere that gave the definition of a charity but I have written to ask. [Edit: It says nonprofit on the entry form.]

Here is the kicker:

All entries [Sandie: that means your photos] become the property of Sponsor . By submitting an entry with photographs of your hand-made item, you hereby grant to Jo-Ann Stores, Inc. irrevocable rights to use, edit, post, publish, reproduce, display and create derivative works from your submission, or to choose not to use, edit, post, publish or create derivative works from your submission, in any media and for any purpose, including but not limited to project ideas, how-to sheets, magazines, patterns, internet website use,
social media, and more, without limitation and without further obligation to you, in its sole discretion.

Since there is no requirement that your project must be your own design, how can they make derivative works or patterns from your submission? I could not see the entrance form itself so maybe they ask this question there. I am always a little cautious about entering things where you lose control of your entry. This might just be legalese to protect themselves. [edit: Your PHOTO is your own creation. So they may mean photo?]

If the winner is notified and does not accept, that prize may not be awarded.

Moving on ...

I don't think I mentioned the filet tutorial at Crochet Cabana in the post about the Saggy Baggy elephant. So here it is. http://www.crochetcabana.com/specialty/filet_crochet.htm  . I found a couple of errors in it which I have now corrected. I am STILL a beginner at filet, so if you are more experienced and find an error, do let me know.

Happy crocheting!

Saggy Baggy Elephant

I had forgotten how many children's stories there are about elephants. The Saggy, Baggy Elephant was one of my favorites to read to my kids. There was also, of course, Horton Hears a Who and Babar and many others. THIS elephant is none of those, but I couldn't resist a trip down memory lane.

After I finished the other post, I sat down with the filet book and was excited to show you my first "picture" which is ... you guessed it - an elephant. It even looks like an elephant. I haven't bordered this piece but plan to. I wanted to have a photo of it before edging.

I had some trouble following the chart which tells me I should enlarge the next one for these senior eyes.

The number of squares listed is 11, but it is actually 12 (added note: the pattern is worked from tail to trunk, not as shown). Then I found a green highlighter and marked off the rows as I worked. That worked much better.

Now I can continue the elephants or I can stop here and do some other pattern. The author shows a picture of the elephants reversed as well. Cute!

Well, that is my elephant story. Maybe I'll have another for you later. I'd like to do the rooster. Do I dare? LOL

Happy crocheting!

colors and cameras and filet crochet

I thought I'd give you some insight into how cameras react to different colors - MY camera anyway. LOL

I've said this before, but my camera, and all the cameras in my house, dislike the color purple. Not ALL purples. They are mostly against the darker purples, like amethyst. Case in point. I just finished an amethyst scarf. Below are two photos. One is the original photo taken with my camera. The second, which shows the truer color, was done with Paint Shop Pro X.

Left: camera photo as taken

Right: Paint Shop Pro X adjusted photo

The blue of the one on the left is just gorgeous. Unfortunately, it is not the color of the scarf. LOL

Other colors don't play well with my camera. Some reds come out just as blobs which show no stitch definition. In order to show the patterns properly, I have to change the colors in the photo. This doesn't happen often, but just often enough.

Since I like the colors red and purple, I continue to make things using these colors, but you might like to check out your camera and see if it doesn't play as well with some colors. Particularly for items you might want to sell in your online shop since you'll need to take photos of those. Or you might have a better camera than I do. I have tried my camera, my husband's camera, and my cell phone. They all come up with blue.

I did, however, discover that my camera allows me to adjust some things. For example, I can take a photo in "sepia" to make it look old. ;-)

The color matters don't really mean a lot in the blog world, except that I don't like to be dishonest and say this is a picture I took when it has been adjusted. But then again, isn't it dishonest to post a photo of a blue scarf when it is actually purple? Hmmm. Why can't things just be simple?

In any case, besides the scarf - which is dc worked in BLO (double crochet worked in back loops only) - I continue to make saltines (2 round granny squares) and double yo-yos (first round 16, second round 32). I figure you all are tired of seeing photos of them, so I'll just quietly jot the numbers down for my records. LOL

The book I had ordered a while back came in and I thought I'd share. It is
Filet Crochet: More than 70 Designs with Easy-to-Follow Charts (Stitch Collection). I have not tried any of the patterns in it, but I'm anxious to. There are a lot of different pictures in it that interest me.

 

I have to say the fleur de lis (which is spelled fleur de lys in the book - my daughter says that is also a correct spelling), does not look like my vision of such. Since that is the symbol of New Orleans, the area where I live, and the Saints (yay Saints) football team, I'm a little picky about that. Of course, a fleur de lis is basically a lily. See wikipedia. You can google fleur de lis images and see what they look like in "real life". The black and gold is our local image.

Other than that tiny point, there are a number of pages of basic instructions which are useful to someone just starting out in filet. There is also an index if you are looking particularly for say a bunny motif or an elephant motif. The motifs are various sizes but she does include with each design a number of designs that could be put together easily. That's a handy tip.

There's a washing chart (as in how to wash your project), and also a chart listing American/English stitch designations. There can't be a standard. That would be too easy. LOL American sc is English dc etc. You know the drill. There's also a complete alphabet (capital letters only) and numbers 0 to 9 as well as a few extras.

I've now talked myself into trying one of these motifs! Pictures if I actually finish it. :-)

Happy crocheting!

Just a little bit of this and that today. Many of you have heard of Priscilla's famous flat braid joining. I thought I had lost Priscilla, but I eventually found her again. I was thinking today that some of you may have also lost some links when AOL, Geocities, Hometown dropped their hosting services. So if you had, here is Priscilla's site, including the flat braid join and many other wonderful patterns, both free and for sale.

When I think of the flat braid join, I also think of Chris Simon, who has a joining method for yo-yos which is wonderful.

Another thing I thought was important to pass along is that CGOA will be having two conferences in 2011. You can read all about it on the CGOA blog. One will be in Minneapolis and the other in Greensboro NC. Both are a good distance from me, but should be close to those on the eastern half of the country anyway.

I was looking through the Talking Crochet newsletter recently and saw this afghan which I thought was really interesting. Sort of a "yo-yo" look which is so popular these days. The afghan is called Rings and Things Afghan in case the link doesn't work when you try to find it. Of course, they have all sorts of good things there, so pop around the site and check it out.

In my never ending quest for unique and wonderful crochet tools, I ran across this Lacis Ergonomic Handle. I saw it several places, but the link (scroll down) shows you how it is used, which is handy to know. This seems to work similarly to the set I recently purchased (but haven't used yet) at Ebay. (I have other suggestions for folks who have hand trouble here.)

If you haven't been over to the Craftown forums, you might like to stroll over there. There's a new giveaway going on and the prize is The Sewing Answer Book. You can also see a few of my crochet projects in my photo album there. They're all at the Cabana, but these are a few of my favorites. I'm a moderator there so I pop in quite often. If you see sandiewhocrochets, that's me.

I visited Ravelry briefly the other day and realized I'd not been there in some time. There are just so many things to do that I can't make the rounds and still keep crocheting. LOL I went back there tonight to check for messages and ended up staying longer than I intended. As I was typing what was "on my hook" I realized I have more things waiting than I thought. Isn't that always how it is? I need to get moving on a few of those projects and call them complete.

I'm also on a group over at Eons. It's pretty quiet there right now, but we welcome newcomers. Sometimes new blood can get things moving. My daughter created the banner for the Eons group and I love it. All of the things you see in it are photos of my stuff. :-)

Well, if I stay here I won't get those projects done, so off I go. I have a scarf to finish first, then tackling those WIPs which will shortly become UFO's!

Oh, no word yet on the Master's Course. Still waiting for an address.

Happy crocheting!