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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Visit Crickets online
435-689-0907

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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)
Receive email updates
Visit Crickets online
435-689-0907

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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)
Receive email updates
Visit Crickets online
435-689-0907

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Hammock Sling! My Fringed, Handknit, Photo Portrait Prop Baby Blanket

Here are instructions on how to use my Fringie prop photography blankets as a hanging baby sling during newborn to 9 month old photo sessions!

Thank you to professional photographer Katrina Stevenson in Lakeland, Florida for being the first to use my Fringie to suspend babies!


Here's a "before" shot of how the photo was made:


Katrina writes: "... I just had both parents hold it with a bean bag underneath to spot! If for any reason you only have one parent it's possible you could tie one end to your backdrop stand but it may be risky! And I always lay the fringe on the beanbag then place the baby in and then have the parents lift! Hope that helps!"

This outdoor photo with the 'Granola' cream hammock tied to a branch was captured by Josie Hamper of All For Fun Photography in Longview, East Texas (she says that because the baby was so new at 15 days old, Josie secured her with a sash by wrapping the sash around her torso then feeding the sash through the open stitching of the hammock and tying her into the hammock):




And the dear image above was captured and prepared by professional photographer Cheryl Woody of Frozen Moments Photography in Columbiaville, Michigan.

Cheryl writes about the session: "I have a large beanbag bed that I always use under the babies whenever I am lifting them off the table in any manner. The parents each held one end of the hammock and lifted the babies up. I can't wait to use the hammock again!" Here's another pic that shows how the hammock was held:




Below you'll find a shot of the cream, green and brown hammock from Kimberly Bush of Bluff View Photography in Peoria, Illinois:



You can see that Kim used the four END TASSELS to tie the hammock. The knit blanket base is under the branch. The right-most front tassel is in front of the branch and the right-most back tassel is behind the branch. Then the tassels are double knotted together above the branch. She repeated with the left-most tassels of the front and back fringe rows.

Here is a photo from Karen Fullmer Photography in Glendale, Arizona with her Fringie, showing the same technique of double knotting the end tassels around a horizontal branch:

Safety Tips:

a) Baby only needs to be suspended a few inches off the floor for a dramatic effect

b) A bean bag or other cushion should be placed underneath hammock

c) Use the entire end tassels to tie up hammock (not just a few strands)

d) Hammock can be tested first with a melon or container of liquid that weighs about the same as a baby

e) Bean bag, parents holding the hammock sides, etc. can always be edited out later

I hope you enjoy using your Fringie to create baby photos that will last a lifetime!

Appreciating you,
Celeste (Crickets)