Auction Time! **CLOSED**

I have a few One of a Kind hats still available for purchase and I would like to clean out my inventory. Mostly so I can feel better about buying yarn to make more! Here are two of my favorites:

Here are the rules:

• Auction will start on Friday April 22, 2011 at midnight and end Tuesday April 26, 2011 at noon, PST.
• The caption of each photo will have a description of the item and the starting bid which will include shipping costs. The price you bid, will be the price you pay!
• Comment on the photo of the hat you would like with the email address you use with your pay pal account AND your bid amount.
• Bid increases must be in increments of at least $1.00.
• You can bid on as many items as you would like.
• If your bid is the final and highest bid, I will email an invoice to the address on your comment.
• You have 24 hours to pay the invoice. If it isn't settled, the item(s) will go to the next bid.
• Your item(s) will ship the same day you pay invoice if it's before 4pm PST, or the next day if it is after. 

 Good luck! If you know a hat you want, you can order it from now until the auction starts. For the duration of the auction, these hats will not be available for purchase.

If you're interested in ordering a custom one of a kind item, please email me at JennLiebman@gmail.com.

200 Fans Giveaway **CLOSED**

This giveaway is CLOSED.

200 Fans! I can't believe it. I have the best fans, recommending their friends check out my site, and helping me spread the word about my creations. I <3 you all!
To celebrate, I am hosting a giveaway. This is the biggest one I have done so far, and I hope you all like it! There are two giveaways to enter:

1. Like the facebook pages of the vendors that provided the prizes (there are links below), and post on all the pages that you are entering this giveaway. It's a good idea to tag my by typing @Jenn Liebman Creations so I can track your entry. After you have done this, tag me and/or include a link to this blog in your status. Then comment on this blog to let me know you have done all the steps. Random.org will be choosing a winner from the blog comments. Yes, you have to do everything in order to be entered.
2. Have your friends like all the pages and post that you sent them. It's a good idea to have them tag me by typing @Jenn Liebman Creations so I can track this entry. The person with the most friends visiting all the fan pages, will win!

Here are the sites you need to visit:

Jenn Liebman Creations 

Strawberry Girl Couture 

Crystal Keyes Photography 

Now, the fun stuff: prizes! The winner from the blog comments will win this matching set of newborn hats from Jenn Liebman Creations:

The winner with the most facebook comments from their friends will receive these two prizes:
From Strawberry Girl Couture, a yellow and orange stretchy headband fitting newborn to 2-3 years

and:

A free mini session from Crystal Keyes Photography

{miini session your desired location, within 15 miles 

of her studio in Noblesville or in studio. 

Up to 10 pictures on CD unlimited backdrops and outfit changes,

5 family members (additional members $10/ea)}

or, for those not in the Noblesville, IN area

Maternity/Baby wrap. 5x3 foot in your choice of color. There will be a $3 shipping charge.

Winners will be drawn Friday April 15, 2011 at 4 pm.

Thank you and good luck!

One of a Kind

I decided I wanted to take my business into more of a specialty shop. I've seen a lot of other handcrafters that make one of a kind items for photography props. I'm starting to head in that direction. I've even started to spin my own yarn. Here's what I made with my homespun yarn:

This is one of my favorite hats and I was so excited to sell it! This is the type of item I really love to make and share with others.

Enough talk, here are some more pictures (these are for sale):

I just bought some hand spun yarn and I can't wait to get it and create with it!

The Why's of Creating

Is it a good thing that I want my readers and fans to kinda know me? I want them to know why I started my creations adventure, and know why I love doing it. So, let's get on with it.

Why I started
My hubby's sister had twins two years ago and I always meant to make them baby blankets. I was teaching in California at the time and a bit busy with that and planning the wedding to Hubby. I never got around to it. I met the babies in September 2009 when we got married and Hubby's family came to California. I fell in love with my nieces! I really do love babies, even if they aren't related. I can't help it! I meant to make the blankets after that, but I was facing losing my job because of budget cuts, so Hubby and I downsized by moving out of a house we loved and into a guest house behind my parent's house. We saved everything we could and prepared to move to Washington. In the last months we spent in California, I got my mom's old sewing machine from my sister. I brought it with me to Washington. This machine is a dinosaur! It's huge, heavy and the feeder teeth (I don't know the technical terms) that feed the fabric through the machine, don't work.
Once we got here, we took a few months to get settled. I registered to take the test to get my Washington teaching license and started looking for a job. It didn't take long for me to get bored with staying home. So, I dug out the sewing machine and started searching for fabric. I decided I wanted to give the pillows in my living room a face lift. I had no idea what I was doing. But, I found fabric I fell in love with and got started. I like how it turned out.

Then, I got on a sewing mission! I needed to find fabric for blankets for those girls! I had to find a fabric shop that carried minky. If you don't know, minky is the softest fabric I have ever felt. It's sort of like a fur, but not. I don't know how to describe it, but its beautiful and luxurious. I found a shop that carries it, and got more than enough to make two blankets. I got to work right away, and taught myself (with some pointers from my sister) to make blankets. Here's my first two items:

I posted these on my personal facebook page and had two other friends ask me if I would sale them blankets. I made two more, and delivered them to my friends when I visited California in November for another friend's bridal shower. When I was visiting while delivering the blankets, the older brother of the baby girl I had made one for, kept trying to take it away from his little sister. His mom got on to him about taking things away from his sister, and in the most adorable three year old voice, he said, "But Mommy! I like it!" When I got home, I made him one too.
My sister has a photography business and was starting to buy and make photo props. She introduced me to Etsy and told me I should start to make hats, cocoons and wraps for props. I bought some yarn, and she bought me a pattern. I found some free patterns on the internet and got started. I made a couple of really bad beanies! I kept practicing and got better.
A few friends started to order blankets, so I kept busy making those orders and reteaching myself how to crochet. I bought myself some cute patterns and started to build a supply. I mamaged to get enough done to post on Etsy and get a facebook fan page up and running.

Why I love it
 I said before that love babies. I love making things for them too. I love seeing photos with their little faces and an adorable hat or wrap. I love baby photos as art. I hope to have beautiful photos like this of my babies (when Hubby and I have them).

Thank you April Cooper Photography for this gorgeous photo!

I like to say that I took lemons and turned them into lemonade by trying to make a little living off of a hobby while I search for a teaching job. But, I think I fell into this accidentally. I just wanted to make something cute for my nieces, then for my friends. I got hooked up with some amazingly talented people that make patterns, take photos, and knit/crochet. I consider myself blessed to have found the crafty world and made new connections.
I'm not giving up on teaching, not at all. But, I won't give up crafting either. Teaching is what I am supposed to do; I felt it every time I walked into my classroom, and everyday that I miss it. I love to craft though, I always have. I loved it when I was 4 and watched my grandma crochet. (She taught me how and I made all of her chains.) I goal is to do both.
I know there's a lot ahead of me, but I look to it with excitement.

Just Starting Out

I thought I would start by showing off my newest product: the bloomband. I adore this item. Not only is it fast and easy for me to make, but it's super soft and really cute (if I do say so myself). This is also becoming my quickest selling item. To view it on Etsy.com, click HERE.

So, this blog will be one of the places I introduce new products and write about what I want to do next and all that fancy stuff. I may also ask my readers for ideas and tricks of the trade.

I'll keep this post short, since it is just a intro post. I'll get more into who I am and what I want out of trying to start this little adventure.

~Jenn