Happy Blogiversary to me! Craftybits @ PlanetJune.com is one year old today. To celebrate, I’ve made a new header (if you’re reading this through a feed reader, please click through to my site to see it). Bye-bye to the text-only header, and hello to some of the favourite things I’ve made. I’ve saved my template so I can switch in different photos whenever I feel like it. What do you think?

a look back

Wow, I’ve been blogging for a whole year… I feel like the year has flown by, but when I look back at what I’ve accomplished in the past year I can’t believe how far I’ve come in one year! Over the past year, I have:

• participated in 7 Whiplash challenges and 3 OneHourCraft challenges
  
• increased the traffic to my site every month (numbers removed because I’m not competing with anyone – it’s only the trend that interests me):
  
• published 7 original crochet patterns with more on the way, and the free Fuzzballs pattern
• written several tutorials to help out other crafters
• and made lots of new friends in the craft blog community!

…and forward

I don’t know how I’m going to top all that, but I have so many new ideas I’m going to have a good try! I think lack of time will be my main problem. But this isn’t a race or a competition – I do this (crafting and blogging) because I love to do it. Whatever happens next year, if I enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed the past year, that will be enough for me 🙂

ps… monkeys

I’m suffering from a yucky cold right now so I still haven’t finished the monkey pattern 🙁 But I’m determined to beat it soon – I’m meeting up with the lovely Kari of Crafty Ginger this weekend, so I will not be sick for that. Can’t wait to see you, Kari!

To everyone who is still waiting for the Fuzzy Monkeys crochet pattern:

I haven’t forgotten you! Life has been hectic for the past couple of weeks. I have some big personal things going on: we’ll be moving house soon; my sister just visited; and I finally got to see the hand doctor.

So, while the pattern itself has been finished for a while, I want to add some more instructions, hints and tips, and helpful graphics, so you’ll be able to make the best monkeys around 🙂

The pattern will be available very soon… Watch this space!

After a strange hiccup this morning where my blog reverted to one month ago, everything now seems to be okay. Please let me know if you find any problems!

Also, if you signed up for the New Patterns mailing list last night or today, you might want to sign up again just to make sure your e-mail address didn’t get lost in the hiccup.

Thanks for your patience! Hopefully everything will run more smoothly on this new server 🙂

UPDATE: I spoke too soon… There are currently 2 versions of my website (old server and new server) and some people are seeing the old one (all posts present) while others were seeing the new one (lots of content missing). I believe I have got all the content into both versions now, and within 24 hours everyone should be seeing the shiny new version!

I’m putting together a reward as a thank you for putting up with all this disruption… Check back here tomorrow afternoon and find out what it is 🙂

The server that hosts PlanetJune.com is having some “issues”, so my webhost is moving my website to a shiny new server which will hopefully be more stable. As a result, PlanetJune.com may disappear for 24 hours or so. Do not despair! I will return and everything will be right in the world again 🙂

I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home today. And it was perfectly timed to cheer me up (my wrist is hurting again, thanks to some work-related strain on it yesterday):

Photo taken in dappled sunlight to prove that the sun really is out – yay!

It’s a package of cute and fruity treats from Heidi of My Paper Crane, who makes (amongst other wonderful things) the most adorable plush foods in existence. Thanks Heidi – it’s much appreciated 🙂

And now for something completely different…

Inspired by a segment on artificial bonsai on the TV show How It’s Made that I saw on Discovery channel last week, and Mumblepeg’s lovely crocheted sakura (the “Best Wildcard” winner in the Softie Awards), I was inspired to create my own bonsai sakura (that’s a cherry blossom tree, in case you were wondering).

Click picture for full-size version

I’m not going to show you a full tutorial, but here’s a brief rundown of my methods, in case you feel inspired to try something similar.

The moss and soil is made from foam, cut to shape and painted with green and brown acrylic paints. The branches are formed from 18 and 22 gauge wire, fleshed out with strips of paper towel and then wrapped in brown floral tape.

The flowers are hand-sculpted from FIMO Soft polymer clay. I poked a length of fine bead wire through the back of each flower before baking, and then used the ends of these wires to attach the flowers to the branches. I used more floral tape to cover the exposed wires.

I planted my sakura in the bonsai pot that had once housed my attempt at a real bonsai: I tended, wired and pruned the little sapling for a couple of years, but it eventually withered and went to bonsai heaven. I’ve kept the pot for five years, waiting for the courage to try growing another bonsai.

I’m hopeful that, with favourable lighting conditions, this sakura will be so happy and content that it will bloom year-round…

life update

Some of you already know that I have been really suffering with the carpal tunnel in my right wrist for the past 3 weeks. I haven’t been able to crochet or do any crafts and it’s been driving me mad. It got to the stage where I couldn’t type with my right hand, or even grip a piece of paper, without pain.

Last week, the doctor gave me some horribly strong anti-inflammatory medicine, and the good news is, it seems to be working! I’m trying to take it slowly and not do too much too soon, but I’ve been so desperate to get crafting again, it’s going to be difficult to restrain myself…

I’ve just started work on my next crochet pattern, so I hope to have a new fuzzy friend to show you in the next week or so, but it could take longer if my wrist doesn’t cooperate.

blog update

The server that hosts my blog, my pattern store, and some other parts of my website has been a bit flaky lately. I’ve noticed it playing up 4 times in the past week. So, if you get a WordPress error page when you try to access my blog, come back in an hour or two and *fingers crossed* it’ll be back up.

Obviously this is not a satisfactory solution, and unless my webhosts get their act together, I will be shopping around for an alternative host very very soon…

Look what I got in the mail today! A lovely package of kimono fabric scraps from Eloise in Japan, so I can finally make some of the lovely projects from my chirimen Japanese craft book.

There are 23 pieces in all, in a huge variety of colours, textures and prints. They are all so lovely! Some of the pieces are tiny, so I’m going to have to plan carefully to make the best use out of them. What fun! This will take my mind off my poor hurting wrist.

Eloise… thank you, thank you, thank you!