Bye-bye to email updates for now! :)

Sometimes, less is more. I was knitting along and a little over a year ago, up to my eyeballs in orders and wanting to find a better way to keep in touch with you all.

So, I signed on with a software company that provided a website shopping cart, an email contact system, etc all in a package deal.  Thank you to all of you who joined up to receive my messages, I've really enjoyed being in better communication with you this past year!

BUT the software system is cumbersome to use and difficult to learn and maintain. I bit off more than I could chew and it was cutting into my time creating for you!  I'm ending my account with them.

I've saved all of my contacts (that's YOU!) in case I start sending out emails again in the future. 

For now, my online home base will be back with the handmade marketplace Etsy, where I started in 2007:

 

CricketsCreations (main online shop with scarves, throws AND baby props)

BabyBirdz (baby and maternity props)

CricketsHome (home decor knits such as throw blankets and coasters)

I'll also always love to hear from you on facebook.  If you haven't already, please send me a friend request! :) 

And I'm still available at cricketscreations@live.com or crickets@cricketsknits.com

I felt a tremendous weight lifted off of me as soon as I made the decision to cancel; I hope you can understand!  :) 

I really am a simple girl at heart who loves to bring others joy by designing unique knits with lots of color and texture.  I guess I'm not so much an online, techie, in-with-all-the-latest-business-trends type of person.  I tried on that hat and it didn't fit! ;)

Thank you again for your patience and loyalty. You truly matter to me.

See you at etsy, through email and on facebook!

Appreciatively,

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
435-689-0907

Crickets' Creations Under New Ownership?!

If you have been by Crickets' Creations lately, you may have noticed a completely new look for the scarf and shawl photos!

They've gone from me putting on a scarf, holding the camera at arm's length and shooting... to more of a catalog style with light background and mannequin wearing the item.  Crickets' Creations now has a professional, uniform presentation that's almost unrecognizable from the former look.

Click here to see the makeover

So, what's the story?  Is Crickets' under new ownership? Who is making the scarves these days?  Where is Crickets??? 

I'm right here, gang!  It's still me under the shiny, new hood.  ;)  Here's what happened:

Etsy, the online, handmade shopping venue for handmade artisans where I list so many of my knits, started a new platform called Etsy Wholesale for designers to list their wares that are available wholesale to retailers.
I really wanted in!  What an opportunity to connect with fashion boutiques all over the world much more easily than when I first started out; back then I would research on Google and then cold call shops... eep!  That's scary, I'll tell ya! ;)
Anyway, Etsy Wholesale is very picky about who they let in, since they work with some big names such as Nordstrom's and West Elm.  They told me that I would be a great fit if I only had more cohesive photos with simpler presentation.

 

So I dragged my mannequins "Manny" and "Mona Quinn" over to my cohort and professional photographer Alicia Cram's for pics of all the scarves and wraps!  Here's a photo of me getting Mona Quinn ready with an EnCircle loop scarf (um, yeah, my other friend Annie Howes used Photoshop to make me skinny, haha):

It took four sessions to get everything shot, but just MINUTES after I showed the new look to Etsy Wholesale, they accepted me even though it was ELEVEN O' CLOCK at night when I wrote them! :D  Hurray!

I have to admit that I kind of like the new look even though I miss the uniqueness & personality of the old photos.  What do you think??

ANYWAY, now that I have a nicer online display... DO YOU KNOW ANY GIFT, ART OR FASHION BOUTIQUES THAT SHOULD CARRY MY SCARVES??

This is the time of year that shops stock up on fall/winter items and I would so appreciate if you would let me know any store owners who value color, texture and fun as much as you and I do!

After you let me know their contact info and maybe tell them about me then I can reach out to them and show them my fancy, new product photos?? ;)

Thank you so much for being with me every step of the way!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Wild Burros: Donkeys Get Adopted in Utah! :)

During the moments when I'm not knitting, I can usually be found in the burro pasture behind our house! 

Today my husband Nicholas and I are so happy to announce that our sweet wild burro, Chocolate Bear, officially belongs to us now! 

 

Hopefully his buddy Barnabas' title will be coming in the mail any day, as well.  :) 

The BLM will only allow wild horse or wild burro adopters to apply for titles after a year, to prove that we will care for them long term.

As with any pets, these two make us laugh with their silly antics, melt our hearts with their affection and create an unbelievable amount of mess for us to clean up, ha ha!

We feel very lucky to share our lives with these two fellas and are grateful that they've decided to trust us and befriend us!

Now they love to meet new people, including kids.  Here they are reaching out to receive a gift of cherry tomatoes from our friend Jess.

Would you like to see more of our inseparable pair of formerly wild donkeys?

Most of the videos that I've posted on facebook are of these two:

Crickets' home videos

And here's a link to one of my FAVORITE pics, of Chocolate Bear getting a kiss from Nicholas:

Nose kisses from Chocolate Bear

Thanks for sharing this milestone moment with us!  Burros can live for 35 years or longer and these guys are only three years old, so we will enjoy their companionship for a long time. :)

Sincerely,

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Ribbon Wrap Newborn Baby Props

How are you today? I'm excited because I just made a new set of seven different colors of new RIBBON wraps, and I'm offering them at a quantity discount! 

Hand knit from a very small run of European ribbon, these are going to go quickly; most likely before I get a chance to put them up on my general site.  So here they are:

Coffee, Golden Blend, Solid Burgundy, Ambers, Greens, Terra Cotta Mix and Solid Maize

 

A close up of the Terra Cotta Mix, my personal favorite:

 

And, uh, that reminds me that I still haven't told you about my new, super wow color changing lace wraps in a brushed yarn that's similar to mohair:

Green-black and blue-white

 

And even though I have sent off over 50 since their debut (thanks all!), I still have a few in each color of my slightly fuzzy, solid color wraps:

What's the special price??  Choose ANY five of my lace wraps--ribbon, color shift or slightly fuzzy like at this link--and they're only $25 each (that's almost getting two for free since they're normally $38+ each)!  

Please email or call (my contact info is in my signature below) and we can talk more about what colors you'd like.  Then I'll set up special listings reserved just for you! :)

Would you like to be informed whenever I have a new product or color?  Then please click the link below to sign up for my "New News" email notification list (there's a place to opt out of categories that you're not as interested in, as well):

"New News" Customized Sign Up

Thanks so much!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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What's New emails from Crickets: Sign up here! :)

Woo hoooooo!  I have been wanting the perfect, soft, strong, lasting and colorfast grey yarns with which to make throw blankets for ... well, for as long as I've been making throw blankets!

And finally there are not one, but FOUR shades of grey now available!  Of course I had to buy a few of each.  ;)  Here's a sampling:

Starting in upper left and moving clockwise they are: Charcoal Heather, Clay Solid, Medium Grey Heather and Light Grey Heather

 

I am especially looking forward to making a pink and grey throw!  Oh, and a yellow and grey throw!  And teal and grey are so pretty together ... purple and grey is a modern combo .... I'm on fire with ideas! What would YOU like to see?  Maybe ALL greys??

Which leads me to an exciting announcement:  Before whenever I've had a new item or color choice to share, I've maybe posted it on facebook and a few of you might have seen it by chance.

Well, how would you like be GUARANTEED to always be in the know whenever I have a new product or exciting new material, without depending on facebook? Interested?

Then please click the link just below to join my just-created email list :

YES, please let me know what's new with Crickets' Creations!

Thank you for your time and interest ... and here's to your wonderful summer!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Custom Wedding Ideas, my Specialty!

 It took me a while to find the love of my life.  Nicholas is my cheerleader, my personal chef and my stand up, in home comic when I need a giggle. He also challenges me to be my best self and did you know that it was with his encouragement that I started Crickets' Creations?

He planned ALL the details of our wedding while I was busy knit-knit-knitting; all I had to do was show up for the second happiest day of my life (the happiest was when he proposed)!  Would you like to see photos and read more from our pink and green 2009 wedding? Please click here!

Our wedding meant so much to us and that is why it touches my heart to be asked to make anything wedding related, such as a custom throw blanket in the bride and groom's wedding or home colors, such as the this surprise gift for Chris' daughter to go with a personalized, engraved bench:

Or this stunning beauty (orange is my favorite color!!!):  An extra wide shawl wrap for Sherry to wear during her fall vows (her gown is ivory with bronze "fall leaf" colored trim and she'll be wearing fall jewel toned flowers in her hair)!!!!!!!!  I simply did not use enough exclamation points to fully describe my happiness, lol:

After Sherry placed her order, I sent her yarn samples in the mail of various "safe" colors along with what I really wanted her to use, which was daring ORANGE with other fall jewel tones such as purple and green! ;) 

I did a happy dance when I received her note:

"Well I was sure I was going to do the typical boring light ivory to match my dress with just a hint of color. So not me at all.

Then...I saw the color samples in those beautiful rich colors. I can't help myself I have to go with the rustic fall wow. This means (no pressure) that your creation will be the focal draw of my big day outfit. I am very excited with the colors and your skills and... IT'S ORANGE!

I can't stop smiling. I know this shawl is going to be amazing and absolutely reflect my inner self. YEAH!!!"

To me, that's what it's all about; creating something that will be special, unique and reflect the personality and preferences of the bride and groom.  A huge sigh of gratitude from me to all who have entrusted me to help bring to life a once-in-a-lifetime wedding gift or accessory.

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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I'm not giving up! :)

Lately I've felt a little discouraged due to some email delivery challenges that are happening. 

For example, the last email that I sent was rejected by AOL, which means that my VIPs with AOL accounts never saw my message.  And gmail is now filing a lot of emails away into folders automatically, where people might not think to check.

So I've been quiet and reluctant to send email updates. It's not as fun if I know a bunch of you are going to be left out!  But, you know what?

I've decided that being a quitter is no way to be!  There are still plenty of folks with Yahoo! or other email addresses.  And I am going to honor my commitment to stay in touch, obstacles or no obstacles!

So this time it's just a simple hello, and a sweet little photo collage showing a beautiful, expecting mother (hi, Bri!) posing with my purple Belly 2 Baby™ wrap (also available in beige, raspberry red and light pink) ... and later, the same wrap used to swaddle her new baby girl during first week portraits! It makes a nice connector between the two portraits, would you agree? :)

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Last Minute Graduation Gifts from Crickets

Yesterday, at CricketsHome I received a last minute throw blanket order for a graduation gift (thank you, Marilyn!).  It was Monday and Marilyn needed it by Friday. 

My customers are often in a hurry when they order from me: "Help!  The baby was born yesterday!  We need photography blankets by the end of the week!" 

That's why I keep as much inventory as possible made up in advance and on hand, ready to ship.  Even for custom orders, I often knit up popular components ahead of time, so just a little bit of custom assembly or fringe choices can be quickly implemented.

So when Marilyn ordered Monday morning, I was able to use a brown blanket that I'd already made.  I added custom fringe and it was ready to go that afternoon!  Now with any postal luck, she'll have it in New York in plenty of time.

If you're under a time crunch, please just let me know your deadline and I'll do what I can do send your goodies out post haste! :)

Oh and would you like to see that blanket (I love how it turned out)?

Please click here to see the brown afghan graduation present! :)

Thank you, "see" you soon!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Mix and Match Multiples - Best Baby Wraps from Crickets

Six weeks ago, I wrote explaining how I am closing BabyBirdz, one of my too-many online shops to make more time for YOU and creating!

Click this sentence to read the past message and moving sale offer.

I offered a set discount on my baby prop lacy wraps and thanks to enthusiastic response cleared out 55 listings; we're getting there! :)

Now I'm upping the ante with mix-and-match sets of any five or more wraps and/or EnCircle™ baby loops!  I'll explain the deal in a moment...

First, here are a few new photos with the wraps, generously shared by pioneering photography customers Amy Odom and Lindsey Marie:

 

And here is a collage of those irresistible little loops which I've named EnCircles™ (to read their debut announcement please CLICK HERE):

 

Now for the discount details!  The deal was:

• Wraps would be only $25 each when ordered as a set of 5 or more
• EnCircles™ would be only $20 each when ordered as a set of 5 or more

The new deal:

• Mix and match any five wraps and/or EnCircle™ baby loops to make your custom set.  

For example, choose 3 wraps for $25 ea and 2 EnCircles for $20 ea to make a set of 5 total. Or get 5 wraps. Or 5 EnCircles™. Or any other combination. It's YOUR choice! :D

Photographer Shelley Deneau writes about her mixed set of four EnCircles™ and three wraps: "I got my stuff today! Omg. I love, love it all!  So soft and fuzzy and beautiful and gorgeous and...."

So how do you get your mix-and-match set? Please either email me or call me at 435-689-0907 and then I'll reserve special listings for you! :) 

Oh and did I mention $5 flat rate shipping to anywhere in the world?  Oh yeah! ;) 

Thank you so much; I'm nothing without your support!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Know any moms? ;)

Mother's Day is May 11 and for the next few weeks, it will be my honor to custom create throw blankets and other hand knits for moms in their favorite colors!  My throws are both photo props and home decor.

 

Who might appreciate a custom afghan, hand knit to your color specifications?

• New or expecting moms (snuggle during feedings & nursery decor)
• Sisters
• Friends
• Grandmas
• Photographers (portraits for engagement, seniors, maternity & more)
• Daughters
• Aunts
• Any Moms (maybe even you?!)! :D

 

How do you get started?  Please email me at cricketscreations@live.com or call me at 435-689-0907so that we can talk about colors for the moms in your life:  Some great ideas include their favorite teams, their nursery or home decor colors or just, "Purple is her favorite!" and we can go from there! :)

If you'd like to see a gallery of different designs and colors that I've worked up in the past, please click here to go to my CricketsHome boutique!

And of course, early orders get my attention first so let's chat soon.  :)

Thank you and Happy Mother's Day!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Carrot Cake Cookies: Springtime Celebration! :D

I hope that you are having a fantastic holiday weekend that is full of joy and happiness. Thank you for everything that you do for me and everything that you mean to me; I can never say it enough nor fully express my feelings of gratitude for a life in kinship with others.

When my good friend Bridgette asked me if I would "Like" her carrot cake cookies recipe on Pinterest to help her win a contest, I thought, "My VIPs are the best; I bet that they would 'Like' it for her, too!"

So if you have a moment, would you please click on the image below and click the heart icon to "Like" Bridgette's pin?  It would mean the world to me and to her!

Thank you and please know that you are in my heart and thoughts this season of renewal (my favorite season is spring)!

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Are you a plant person? :)  I loooove plants and nature, even though I seem to have a black thumb instead of a green thumb!

That's why I'm so excited that my friend and neighbor Trish let me transplant some of the bamboo from her yard! Finally, a plant that has a chance of survival even with my torture and neglect!  Want to see how it all went down?  This is big news for a non-gardener like me! :D

So far, some of the stalks have blown over and needed to be reset after fierce windstorms.  But it's still mostly alive! And even growing!  Please, tell me about your gardening (or non-gardening) adventures; I'd love to hear.  :)

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Custom Color Throw Blanket Afghans Knit for You!

I really do love collaborating with my customer-friends to come up with brand new color combinations!

Recently, Michelle asked me to create a large throw blanket in chartreuse yellow-green, steel grey, bronze and poppy red. 

She sent me two inspiration photos, one of a throw pillow and one of her coffee table.  What an amazing color pop!  And I do love a challenge. :)

So, I put multiple strands each of a few different, color-shifting yarns and I think that I got awfully close to a perfect match.  Wanna see??

 

This was all possible because several new colorways of the color changing yarns are now available.  So if you've been hankering for a hard-to find combination, please let me know and maybe I now have the "paints" to "color" a perfect throw for you! :)

There's even a white, soft brown and pretty grey stripes yarn that I'm especially excited about, I think it would be so classy as a throw!

What about you, what have you been up to?  What are you excited about these days?  Please let me know! :)

Appreciating you,

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Baby Photography Prop Clear-Out and Wrap Sets!

Here's what the baby props clear-out is all about:

1) I'm realizing that the more time I spend managing nine (NINE?!  How did this happen?!  I'm out of control!) different online photography prop shops, the less time I have to give to YOU!

You deserve more... more personalized attention and more choices! :D

As a first step toward my goal of focusing on my VIPs instead of on computer stuff:

I've decided to allow the 587 (a-what?!) listings at my BabyBirdz shop to sell out and to centralize at CricketsCreations and CricketsKnits.

2) I've got 20+ colors of yarn for my single ply, lace baby wraps and I'm loving knitting up these fluffy, light-as-air bits of softness! 

 

And here's where I could really use some help...

 

My big idea is to set you up with an assortment of these sweet wraps at a quantity discount as a way to clear out BabyBirdz!

You get to choose any five or more wraps for only $25 each (normally a $38-48 each value depending on which exact yarn and stitch I use) and $5 flat rate shipping worldwide.

That's basically like getting 2 wraps for free, woo hoo! :)

And I get to clean up BabyBirdz by setting up 5 different listings for you with the special price after we've discussed your custom picks! 

Here are some of the many colors to choose from:

• White
• Cream
• Light Beige/Taupe
• Pale Mint
• Light Antique Yellow
• Light Pink (shown above)
• Squash (light orange)
• Gold
• Teal Blue
• Plum Purple
• Dark Berry (like a burgundy)
• Rusty Red
• Bright Red
• Spring Mix (pink-purple-green-peach)
• Heartthrob (pink-purple-charcoal-peach)
• Black
• Navy Blue

 

Please get in touch so we can discuss which colors I can knit up for you (I have too many to even list)! :) My contact info is in my signature below or I can be reached at Crickets Creations on facebook.

Always grateful,

Celeste (Crickets)
Founder and President of Crickets' Creations, LLC (BabyBirdz, CricketsHome & CricketsKnits)
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Olympics excitement and new scarves as low as $20 each!

Will my Scarves Be Worn at 2014 Winter Olympics as they Were for 2010 Games?!