Lark Crafts

Have you ever taken a craft class? Yes? Then you know there’s something magical about learning something new, hearing about someone else’s creative process, and putting energy into your own creative pursuits. And if not, here’s your chance!

Now through May 23rd, you can enter to win a free class with the fine folks at Craftsy! They have all kinds of online crafty classes – knitting, crochet, sewing, cake decorating – and they’re offering a fabulous new quilting class all about foundation piecing: Precision Piecing taught by award-winning quilter Norah McMeeking. In a series of 9 HD video lessons, you’ll learn the basic techniques, tips, troubleshooting, and more. You can take the class on your own time and revisit it again and again for tips and hints along the way. And best of all: you don’t have to lug your sewing machine and supplies anywhere! Set up in your own space and learn at your own pace.

Click here to follow the link and enter. You’ll need to create a Craftsy login to enter…and (bonus!) you’ll get access to a mini class when you do.

My five-year-old daughter is really into growing things. She loves digging in the dirt and watching as the seeds she planted sprout and mature into vegetables and flowers. This spring, she got her very own raised bed and was told she could plant anything she wanted:

Yep. She promptly planted herself. I can’t say I blame her — there’s something about a sunny spring day that just makes you want to get as close as possible to the warm, fresh earth.

To celebrate the joys of gardening, we’re giving away a bounty of garden-related motifs from Aimee Ray’s Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection! Use them to embellish your gardening totes or gloves, a kitchen towel, or a set of napkins. Click here to get a free PDF full of motifs of peas, asparagus, strawberries, a flower, and more!

And, by the way, my daughter didn’t stay planted in her bed for long — she’s now growing tarragon, tomatoes, and oregano in her little plot of earth!

Into each life some rain must fall — or so say Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ella Fitzgerald. Too bad Henry and Ella didn’t have a pair of spiffy knee high socks with storm cloud appliqués from Stash Happy Appliqué to perk them up. But you’ll be right as rain this spring when you grab a pair of  socks, download the Stormy Weather Knee Highs pattern here, and start combating those rainy day blues in no time!

Authored by the oh-so-talented Cynthia Shaffer, Stash Happy Appliqué offers up a bevy of ways to use your stash of fabric, including a mod skirt, café curtains, a tote bag, a lampshade, and so much more.

Don’t let April showers get you down — download your free pattern of Stormy Weather Knee Highs, then snag a copy of Stash Happy Appliqué for more creative ways to use your fabric stash!

It seemed like spring was never going to arrive this year (Snow in March? Totally unfair.), but I think warmer weather has finally settled in for good here in Asheville. And with the higher temperatures, a lot of us are feeling the urge to get stuff done: cleaning our front porches, packing away sweaters and scarves and pulling out sundresses, and planning our springtime craft projects—like these cross-stitch designs from Trice Boerens’s Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals. The great thing about Two-Hour Cross Stitch is that every design can be made in a short amount of time—just right for stitching while you take a spring break road trip, soak up the sun in your yard, or indulge in an extra-long lunch (ahem) to enjoy the warmer temperatures.

Get started on your spring craft projects by entering to win a FREE copy of Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals, plus two finished, framed pieces from the book: a little duck holding an umbrella and a squirrel with an acorn. You just can’t get any more spring than that!

Plus, you can download a PDF pattern of these two designs for free: just click here and get stitching.

For even more cross-stitch fun, pick up a copy of Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals at BN.com or at your local bookstore. You’ll find animal-themed projects to fit every occasion – birthdays, holidays, baby showers, and more!

UPDATE: The contest is over and we have chosen a winner! Thanks to everyone for participating!

To enter to win two framed cross-stitched pieces and a copy of Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals, leave a comment on this post between now and 9 p.m. Wednesday, April 17. Any comment is fine, but we’d love to know what cross-stitch project you’re currently working on. One winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and announced by Thursday, April 18. Click here for the official rules, and good luck!

I have done the occasional cross-stitch, and sometimes I even finish them! I have a whole box full of materials just waiting to be used. Well, I think I’ll open that box again, because Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals is full of great ideas. Have you ever seen a cross-stitched alligator? How about a lion jumping through a ring a fire? And my favorite: a unicorn! This book contains all kinds of animals for you cross-stitching pleasure. There are your more tame animals, such as dogs, cats, ducks, and squirrels. And then there is the more wild side of the animal kingdom with seals, monkeys, kangaroos, elephants, and more!

To get you started, download these two free patterns in one PDF: a gentleman frog, and an owl and her owlet.

And to get you even more inspired, we are giving away the two finished pieces from these patterns, along with a copy of the book!

To enter to win two framed cross-stitched pieces and a copy of Two-Hour Cross-Stitch: Animals, leave a comment on this post between now and 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 9. Any comment is fine, but we’d love to know what would be your favorite animal to cross-stitch. One winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and announced by Wednesday, April 10. Click here for the official rules, and good luck!

Congrats to Laura, our winner!

What do cowboys, rock stars, Edward Cullen, and Wonder Woman have in common? They all recognize the awesomeness of wearing a wrist cuff.

Up your cool factor and join us in celebrating this month’s release of Aimee Ray’s Doodle Stitching: Embroidery & Beyond by downloading a free pattern of Aimee’s Butterfly Wrist Cuff. Now available from BN.com, Embroidery & Beyond offers over 20 projects that feature redwork, cross stitch, sashiko, and more!

Keep checking our blog and Lark Needlearts Facebook page for more on Embroidery & Beyond all month long – including an interview with Aimee, a giveaway of a project from the book, and lots of other fun stuff.

Get started stitching your Butterfly Wrist Cuff by downloading the pattern here. And don’t miss out on all the other beautiful projects featured in Aimee’s latest Doodle Stitching book! Order your copy of Doodle Stitching: Embroidery & Beyond at BN.com or find it at your local bookstore.

Did you know that some dinosaurs had a sweet tooth? No? Well, these do! Mr. T-Rex loves him some donuts, and Mr. Stegosaurus simply must have his daily dose of ice cream. And if you need to feed your own sweet tooth, here’s your chance: create a caption for this dino sweets scene for a chance to win some felted sweets of your own! What are they thinking as they eat all the sweets? How did they get in the sweet shoppe? What is happening?!

RAWR! Caption me!

And for more awesome needle felted scenes (before and after we mixed them up) check out Wee Felt Worlds. You’ll find a mad scientist’s lair, a pirate beach, exploring aliens, camping bears, and more!

To enter to win a prize pack of felted sweets, leave a comment on this post between now and 9 p.m. Sunday, February 24. Any comment is fine, but we’d love for you to create a caption for this needle-felted scene. One winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and announced by Monday, February 25. Click here for the official rules, and good luck!

Congrats to Virginia! She is our randomly selected winner of some wee felted sweets.

Create a caption for me!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, our best guestimates indicate that a felted scene is worth 142,763 extremely clever, extremely cute words. This week, we’d like you to imagine what creative things this felty scene can say by creating the perfect caption for it. It’s clear this bear pair is having a beary good time…. so join the fun! Up for grabs to one random winner: a prize pack of felt roving and a copy of Wee Felt Worlds.

In case you missed it, these scenes are mix-and-match photos from Wee Felt Worlds. The critters were created for specific worlds…then we mixed the all up!

To enter to win, leave a comment on this post between now and 9 p.m. Sunday, February 17. We’d love to hear your best caption for this needle-felted scene, but any comment will do.One winner will be selected at random from among all eligible entries and announced by Monday, February 18. Click here for the official rules, and good luck!

Check out the truly terrific entries from last week’s contest. You had us giggling!!