Fall Pantone Colors Leprechaun & Olive Branch

The last two clay recipes I need to share with you from the Pantone Fall Fashion colors this year are the greens -- Leprechaun and Olive Branch.  Personally Olive Branch is my favorite shade of green, however,  Leprechaun is a rich vibrant hue that, surprisingly, I quite like.

Olive Branch is actually one of the Pantone neutrals and has a real earthy tone so both greens are quite different from each other.  Mixing up the clay, however, you will notice that both of them contain my Olive base (recipe #7-8) from my Color System.

So here are the recipes using Kato clay.  I will have the recipe cards ready to download tomorrow.

Leprechaun

6 parts Kato Green

1 part Olive # 7-8 *

Olive Branch

8 parts Olive # 7-8 *

1 part Kato Black

* Note:  These clay color recipes are created using Kato Polyclay.  Any of the base color "mixes" used are from my Clay Color System.

New Mini Snaps

I am excited to announce the new addition to my Snap Decisions Collection -- our mini size snaps and mini snap base earrings.  These snaps are smaller than our regular-size snaps and can be interchanged with our wide selection of our own unique designer snap earring bases.  And if you like to create your own, we have already added supplies in our DIY snap section.  

These are already available in several locations:

Shear Fx Studio - Chase, BC

Shuswap Artisan Market - Sorrento, BC

And of course in our online store (shop here)

And I will also have my whole line available at the Pop-up this coming Friday at:

Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts

Small Buttons

Anne from Kelowna Yarn & Needlecraft sent us a picture of an adorable kids cardigan sweater she made with our handcrafted buttons.  This sweater is her class project this fall.  She wanted to use the lady bug buttons but they were a little too large so she attached one to the collar as an accent.  The main buttons she used are our sorbet treats in lime green.

Most of our children's types buttons are now sold individually in the stores rather than in a package.  We have found that this works great for certain styles as some of the colors can mix and match like the toglets used in the sweater shown below created by one of Kelowna Yarn's customers (see the previous blog post here).

Since some of the yarn shops we sell to specialize in baby and children's items, our smaller buttons have become more in demand.  We had requests for even smaller ones such as the Brilliant Blooms and so we came up with the Mini version.

To see what shops sell our buttons and other handcrafted items, you can visit our website page here.

Some knit outfits using our Buttons from Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts

Anne from Kelowna Yarn & Needlecrafts and her knitter's group has been really busy these knitting up a storm.  Our "Toglet" buttons have been quite popular with the children's wear and here is a sweater with them on.  I love the spring colors.

This gorgeous sweater was by another knitter who used our "Pinstripe" buttons.  The texture used to create these buttons was from one of Helen Breil's, "After the Rain".

You can see more finished knit projects on Kelowna Yarn's facebook page.

Quilt Show at Heather's Fabric Shelf

We are getting ready for our first show of the year which is the Quilt Show 2014 put on by Heather's Fabric Shelf in Kamloops, BC.  Each year it has been getting larger and this year the hours are even extended to accommodate the flood of people who participate and attend.  It is on Sunday, April 13, 2014 from 9am to 4pm.  It takes place at the Holiday Inn & Suites that is across the parking lot from Heather's Fabric Shelf store where there is more to see there.  Click on the photo below to go to their site and read more about it.

We will be set up again in the Holiday Inn Lobby along with Donna and her mom Elsie from Donna's Yarn & Crafts.  They will have some cool new ideas and supplies for your knitting, crocheting and crafting needs.

Just a sneak peek of what they have been up to, these are some adorable "Ruffled Baby Booties" that Donna crocheted and we added our Toglet buttons to.  Donna will have the pattern and yarn available at the show and later in her store but if you do not crochet or have the time, I am sure she could make a pair for you.

There are a few other new ideas that we have been brainstorming together and will give you another peek before the show.

Colorful Toggle Buttons

After making a lot of buttons in brown tones for the past while, I was happy to be mixing up some bright colors again.  These colorful toggle buttons are the small mini type, or as Dave likes to call them, "toglets".  They are a result of another custom request from one of our stores that sells our work.  I was discussing with Donna of Donna's Yarn & Craft in Kamloops about making some toggle buttons and wanted her input.  She showed me a small toggle they had in a plain bamboo and wondered if we could make something similar but in different colors.  She was receiving a lot of requests for these for children's wear and especially for boys.

After working out our technique, the little "toglets" were created in a variety of colors.

Mini toggle buttons or "toglets"

We used a few of the Pantone Spring 2014 fashion colors, Violet Tulip and Placid Blue.  The other colors are favorites from our color system collection.  These mini toggle buttons are now available at Donna's Yarn and Craft in Northshore, Kamloops.

We are also making some new sample color chips for a few of the stores we do custom work for.  This will make it easier for them and their customers in selecting their button colors to match the yarns or fabric they are purchasing.

color sample chips for buttons