Shell Stitch Business Card Holder

Thank you for your patience, Dynamos!  Yesterday's post got too long, so I'm posting the business card patterns today!

I think I'm going to do a formal poll and ask your opinion about this, but do you mind when I post two (or more) patterns in a single post?  Does that make it more fun or more confusing?  I like to group my projects together, which means that sometimes I clump multiple patterns into single posts.  I like it, because it's like an all-brand-new roundup, but I can totally dig that it might make it hard to keep track of where patterns are...

So, now that you're hyper-aware of my multiple pattern posts, here are the patterns for the business card holders that I posted about yesterday!

Shell Stitch Business Card Holder - Fine Weight Yarn Version

Supplies:

Small amount of fine (2) weight yarn (I used Vanna's Glamour by Lion Brand in Platinum)

Size D crochet hook

Yarn needle

ch 26

R1: sc in the back loop of the 2nd ch from hook, sc in the back loop of each ch across (25 st)

R2: ch 1, sc in first st, (skip 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip 2 st, sc in next st) 5 times (25 st)

R3: ch 3 (counts as first dc) 2 dc in first st, (skip 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip 2 st, sc in next st) 4 times, 3 dc in last st (25 st)

R4-11: repeat rows 2-3 four more times (25 st)

Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Fold sides in to the center and whipstitch together to make the back seam.  Make sure the back seam is centered, and whipstitch the bottom closed.  Weave in ends!  Add business cards and enjoy!

Shell Stitch Business Card Holder - Crochet Thread Version

Supplies:

Small amount of size 3 crochet thread (I used Aunt Lydia's Fashion 3 Crochet Cotton in Artist)

Size D crochet hook

Yarn needle

ch 32

R1: sc in the back loop of the 2nd ch from hook, sc in the back loop of each ch across (31 st)

R2: ch 1, sc in first st, (skip 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip 2 st, sc in next st) 6 times (31 st)

R3: ch 3 (counts as first dc) 2 dc in first st, (skip 2 st, 5 dc in next st, skip 2 st, sc in next st) 5 times, 3 dc in last st (31 st)

R4-13: repeat rows 2-3 five more times (31 st)

Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Fold sides in to the center and whipstitch together to make the back seam.  Make sure the back seam is centered, and whipstitch the bottom closed.  Weave in ends!  Add business cards and then go show it off to all of your friends!

Stripes and Bars Business Card Holder

Supplies:

Small amount of fine (2) weight yarn (I used Vanna's Glamour by Lion Brand in Platinum)

Size D crochet hook

Yarn needle

ch 26

R1: sc in the back loop of the 2nd ch from hook, sc in the back loop of each ch across (25 st)

R2: ch 1, sc in each st across (25 st)

R3: ch 4 (counts as first dc and ch 1), skip 1 st, dc in next st, (chain 1, skip 1 st, dc in next st,) 11 times (25 st)

R4: ch 1, (sc, sc in ch sp) 12 times, sc in last st (25 st)

R5: ch 1, sc in each st across (25 st)

R6-14: repeat rows 3-5 three more times (25 st) ** there will be 4 dc rows all together**

Fasten off.  Weave in ends.

Fold sides in to the center and whipstitch together to make the back seam.  Make sure the back seam is centered, and whipstitch the bottom closed.  Weave in ends!  Add business cards and then take a picture for the Dynamo Gallery!

Ooh!  That's a good idea for everyone!  If you make a business card holder, email me a picture and I'll add it to the Dynamo Gallery.

One last thing before I go:

This is for those of you who don't think that they have any need for business card holders...
The holder is also the perfect size to use as a Zinger Cozy...
Oh yeah!!  High Fives All Around!!!!

So don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already!!!

xoxo

A Giveaway and My New Cards

They're here!  They're here!  They're here!!!!  My new business cards arrived, and I am so excited!

Okay, so you might remember this post where I talked about how unnecessary business cards were for someone like me, and they were, back then.  But times have changed!  Increasingly I am finding opportunities that an actual real business card would be so handy to share my information.  (In particular I am thinking about an especially embarrassing exchange I had with the owner of a shop that I would love to teach classes/workshops for... Oh well.)

I really wanted a card that would stand out, and would have value of some kind. I wanted a card that you wouldn't want to throw away, or stash in the bottom of a desk drawer (to throw out later).  I wanted a card you'd want to USE... Ideally, I wanted to put a pattern on the card.  I played around with that idea for a while, but it wasn't until I had streamlined my mini wishing star pattern that I knew what I was going to do...  So (drum roll, please) here are my cards.

It has the pattern for the Wishing Stars on it and a QR code!  Rad right?!  I am so excited!

I needed a business card holder.  I wanted something pretty.  It had to be crocheted, because it's so important to me to represent my brand in public!  And even if it was simple, I didn't want it to look too simple.  So I made a holder in shell stitch.  I did it in the round, which created some 'how am I going to write this as a pattern' problems.  So I made a second one.  My questions were still not answered.  So I made one flat, which was easy and beautiful and fit just perfectly!  Awesome!  But now I wanted to make another one in case I needed to show how I stitched it together...  So I made another one.

I got inspired and made a different design, thinking that you might like the option of choosing a different look, if the shells weren't your thing.  So I made one with bars...

Then I got it in my head that I wanted to make a shell-stitch business card holder out of size 3 crochet thread, since the weights of the yarns weren't THAT different.  Ahahahaha!!!  Yeah, I had to re-do the case three times, but I'm putting the pattern on too, since crochet thread is cheap and comes in tons of colors.  I mean, why WOULDN'T you want to have one in every color?!

This has left me with a ridiculous quantity of business card holders that all look the same. I will never use them all.  So I'm going to have a giveaway!

I've got 5 business card holders, which each contain a set of 4 of my new fancy-schmancy business cards, available for the giveaway!  But here's the catch, if you win, you have to promise to give 3 of the cards away to crochet-crafty friends to share the love, Dynamo.  Sound like a deal?  Cool!

You have to be a Dynamo (which means you follow me!) to enter.  Leave a comment on this post telling me how you follow: Google Friend Connect or email** and I will enter you to win one of the business card holders!  There will be five (5!) winners!!!  (Everyone is welcome to enter, I'm happy to ship internationally!)

** You may have noticed I've got a new following option now.  I've gotten some sad lamentations from friends that they wished I would offer a follow-by-email option, since they keep missing posts, so I've now included that in my side bar.  So, if you check in regularly, but haven't wanted to use Google Friend Connect, this is your chance to become a full-fledged Dynamo, with all the rights and privileges!**

The giveaway is going to be open until 11:59 pm Tuesday, July 31st.  If you follow by email AND Google Friend Connect, feel free to enter twice, just let me know you're following both ways.  I will pick winners from a random drawing on August 1st!  Good luck!!

(Whew, this post got LONG!!! I'm putting the patterns up tomorrow!)

xoxo

Update 7/31/12:  Comments are closed now.  Thanks for playing!  I will announce winners on Wednesday, August 2nd.

Every Day is a Good Day.

I am a cancer survivor.  I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma a month after my 29th birthday. I did a course of chemo and radiation, and it worked beautifully.  I have been cancer-free for 7 years (and 1 month)!

Last month my 91-year-old Mema was diagnosed with breast cancer.  It is very slow moving, and not in her  lymph system.  Her oncologist is extremely optimistic about her diagnosis, and she will be cured with a simple mastectomy, which is scheduled for next week.

I was filing her insurance authorization paperwork today in her cancer binder (On a side note, did you know that cancer patients carry a binder to all of their doctors appointments?  That way all of the doctors can see at a glance what all the other doctors are doing.  It's a nifty system.), and it occurred to me how grateful I am that I'm here to take care of her.  How grateful I am that I survived so that I could have Mims, and celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and weddings and brand-new nephews.

Mema needed a new mug wrap to protect her hands from the heat of her morning cup of coffee, so I made her one with a crocheted awareness ribbon button.  I think it turned out really cute, so I'd like to share my pattern with you. I also made a visual tutorial to go with the pattern, grade-school-science-fair-style, all in one picture.

The Awareness Ribbon Button
approx 1" across
Supplies:
Aunt Lydia's Size 3 Crochet Cotton (Black and Pink)
Size D crochet hook
Sharp yarn needle
3/4" safety pins (optional)

R1: 5 sc in a magic loop, pull loop tight and sl st into first sc (5 st)
R2: ch 1, 2 sc in each st around, sl st into first sc to complete round (10 st)
R3: ch 1, (2 sc in next st, sc) 5 times, sl st into first sc to complete round (15 st)
R4: ch 1, sc in each st around, sl st into first sc to complete round (15 st)
Stop.  Get out the pink yarn and embroider the awareness ribbon shape onto the front of the button.  Don't worry about trimming the ends too closely, you can just tuck them inside as you finish the button.
R5: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog, sc) 5 times, sl st into first sc to complete round (10 st)
R6: ch 1, (sc 2 st tog) 5 times, sl st into first sc to complete round (5 st)
Finish off, leaving a long tail.  Flatten button, tucking any stray threads inside before you stitch up the back.  Tack the button together around it's outer edge.  Enjoy your new button!

 I made some that I attached a small safety pin to the back of, so that they could be worn.  I'm planning to give them to my mom and sister, so that we can all show support for my grandma.

I think that these buttons would be great for fundraising, particularly for families that are in crisis who really need donations to help pay for treatments.  You could give the buttons away with any donation to the family, or you could sell them for $2 (or $5 or $20) each, depending on how much money you're trying to raise.  I'm not a fundraising expert by any means, I just think it might work.  I put some on my business cards, and they turned out professional-looking enough that I would have bought one if I'd seen it out in the world, especially for charity.

I made the purple awareness ribbon in the picture for myself.  Purple is the color they use to represent Lymphoma and Leukemia.  I made it to remind myself that today is a really great day.  Every day that I have is a really great day.  Because I get to be here.
xoxo

Business Cards

My mom and I were talking about business cards the other day.  I spend my days taking care of my 2 girls, my 5 year-old Mims, and my 91 year-old Mema, and my mom is a teacher, so we do not have any call in our normal lives to need business cards. Yet, every once in a while, it would be really helpful to have a way to give someone my contact information without having to fish through my purse for an old receipt.  But that's not really a good enough reason to order 500 business cards, even if (as my awesomely supportive mom suggested) it would be fun to make a cool case for them.

I have seen, in a very expensive (for my budget) catalog, some personalized 'business cards' that were actually 3x5 cards.  Now, this company was offering them with embossed printing on high end cardstock in 3 different designs, which would be perfect for a business professional to show how successful and important they are. I am a stay-at-home-health-care-worker, I am all over the DIY version of this!

Supplies for Personalized Business 3x5 Cards:
A $0.49 package of blank 3x5 cards
15 minutes to figure out Word (there's a 3x5 template, btw)
2 minutes to print a fat stack of them out! Done!

The advantage to this, besides being cheaper than dirt, is that I have a ton of room to add a note, or to jot down a commission estimate, or add some other detail that might not be appropriate for every situation. Plus, I printed some on plain index cards, and a few on the back of lined index cards, giving me more options for my business contact needs...

So now that I had my new fancy-shmancy business cards, I had to make a cool case for them.  I wanted something that would hold them together, but would also give me a surface to write on, in case I was out in the world and needed to write on the fly.  I had an index card holder made of an icky rubber plastic when I was in college that I based this design on, but I made mine out of cotton and it feels divine.  Plus, it holds, like, 30 cards.  I am set for the next 10 years!!!

When I showed it to Jake, he immediately declared that I needed to make one for him. He outlines his novels on index cards and has to tote them around on his travels, in case he gets an opportunity to work, so they are constantly getting mixed up and abused.  He has requested a less colorful version.  I think that he will get what I make for him and be grateful. Ahahahaha!!!
xoxo

Update 2/07/13: Want to make your own holder?  Check out the pattern for my Index Card Holder HERE!!!