Posted by Lesley on Mar 6, 2010 in
Soapmaking,
events,
shop,
site news 
My new Facebook GEEKSOAP™!
Happy weekend, readers! I’ve got so much to update about!
First and most exciting is that both Christine and I’s applications for booth space at the Bloomington Handmade Market in April were approved, and we’ll be sharing a table together! Yippee! I am so incredibly excited and am really looking forward to it. I also just realized that this means I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me since the show is now less than a month away! I’ve got quite a bit of soap made sitting around the house, but usually only one or two of a particular kind. I’d like to focus on a few of the more popular GEEKSOAP™ designs to stock up on. If you’d like to check it out, the Bloomington Handmade Market takes place on Saturday, April 3, 2010 from 10am – 4pm at KRC Banquets, located across from the Bloomington Convention Center on 3rd and College. Of course you can order online anytime at my Etsy Shop, too!
Speaking of GEEKSOAP (When am I not these days? I swear I dream about soap at this point) I’ve got a few new designs for you since my last post. One of the more fun designs I dreamed up and brought to life in soap is Mustache GEEKSOAP. Because what could be cooler or geekier than mustache soap? That’s right… I knew you couldn’t think of anything. The answer is that not much is cooler or geekier than mustache soap, so be sure to check it out! There are four mustache designs (so far) in this series – natural, classic, handlebar, and bushy. Aren’t they fantastic?!
Another new design is the LOL GEEKSOAP. While personal hygiene is no laughing matter, there’s no reason why you can’t have a good laugh or two while in the shower with some lolsoap. LOLSOAP! I crack myself up.
Since I’m also always thinking geeky around here, I thought you’d enjoy another design of mine: the less-than-three heart emoticon GEEKSOAP! Now you can show your love for cleanliness or express your devotion to that special someone in your life by letting the soap do the talking for you. Sure to get a reaction and bound to make an excellent gift. I heart GEEKSOAP!
Ok so my final new design is my most recent, and one I adore dearly… Facebook GEEKSOAP! It just turned out so awesome, amirite? Now you can take Facebook with you everywhere… even in the bath or shower! You’ll never miss a beat, and this fun soap is sure to put a smile on the faces of the social networking savvy everywhere. Note: FarmVille not included. (Thank goodness.) Do you love it or what?
Of course I’ve got all of my GEEKSOAP designs listed on Etsy in The Pink Toque Etsy Shop ready for you to snap up as quickly as I can make them. You can also see ALL of the soaps in my GEEKSOAP line and keep track of new designs as they are added (as I feverishly try to keep up with all of the ideas in my head) by watching the soap category of my portfolio over on thepinktoque.com
I also should mention that I’m very lucky to have a husband that hasn’t minded one bit yet that my soap making has mostly taken over our kitchen. Not that it is a very big kitchen to begin with, but, I admire and appreciate his patience as I turn into the mad soap making scientist on a regular basis. Not to mention how he puts up with my crazy new GEEKSOAP ideas and helps me flesh out the design details when I start babbling in soap lingo. I told you I dream about soap these days… it’s true. This afternoon I must’ve been daydreaming when I came up with yet another three new ideas that I have yet to complete… stay tuned because I can’t wait to show you! (If they turn out, haha) :)
Oh, and I’m thinking of having a contest soon to give away some free GEEKSOAP – I’ll work out the details and get it going ASAP. Hope to see you in April at the Bloomington Handmade Market! Have a wonderful weekend.
Tags: craft shows, emoticons, facebook, GEEKSOAP, lol, mustache, soap
Posted by Lesley on Feb 26, 2010 in
Soapmaking,
shop,
site news 
Happy Friday (TGIF!) I have been busy slaving away over soap, soap, and more soap – working on turning the ideas rolling around in my head into new designs every evening this week, and I finally think I’m ready to start promoting my Etsy shop more. I’m focusing the most on ”manufacturing” (aka producing in large quantities in my kitchen) and selling my own designs mostly, though the examples of FANSOAP™ I’ve made are good to show what I can do in case other companies or small businesses are interested.
So what are the newest designs of mine in the GEEKSOAP™ line? Computer geek soap! Inspired by the geekiness in our household, I’ve created soap that features the universal power (on or off) button, USB icon, RSS feed, and the @ symbol. Perfect for the geek in your life (or yourself), these are a symbol of true computer nerdiness that you can be proud to wash yourself with.
I’ve also got a hilarious series of GEEKSOAP™ coming out later this weekend or early next week - I’m waiting for my new order of soap supplies to arrive. But trust me, you’ll love it :)
Today is the deadline for applying for space at the Bloomington Handmade Market in April. I’m nervous and excited because I can’t wait to hear whether or not I’ve been accepted so I can share a table with my cousin’s girlfriend Christine. I’ll keep you posted!
Tags: computer, craft show, FANSOAP, geek, GEEKSOAP, market, soap
Cthulhu GEEKSOAP™ copyright to Lesley Karpiuk
It has been a busy crafting weekend!
First of all, I’m excited to report that I’ve applied to be considered for space at a booth at the Bloomington Handmade Market coming up in early April. The deadline to enter is Friday the 26th, and then I’ll find out whether or not I’ve been accepted and have a table by March 5. I’m totally excited – if accepted, I’ll be sharing a table with my cousin’s girlfriend, Christine, and we’ll be selling our wares to the public in just over a month from now. Not a lot of time, but I’m determined to be ready! So what am I going to sell?
Star Wars GEEKSOAP™
I’ve decided that this is the perfect opportunity to start an idea of mine I’ve been wanting to put together for awhile. Well, since at least last May. GEEKSOAP™! I’ve finally figured it all out and this weekend I slaved over soapmaking supplies and cranked out two dozen bars of a couple different geeky soap varieties that have been floating around in my head. Introducing my GEEKSOAP™ line, which so far includes
- Cthulhu (these are my faves, and so cute! They fit with my Cthulhu toques and Sock-thulhu plushies so well)
- World of Warcraft
- Star Wars
- Star Trek
- Batman
- Indiana University (appealing to the IU crowd at the craft show)
Warcraft For the Horde GEEKSOAP™
and has plans to include PacMan, Thundercats, and a few other geeky and awesome ideas still rolling around in my brain faster than I can make the soap. Check out the entire GEEKSOAP™ line over on my portfolio, which will be updated as new designs are created. All of my GEEKSOAP™ varieties will be available on Etsy as well. I’m currently making soap to have as stock to sell at the craft show in April, but I can easily sell it and/or make more for Etsy sales, too. It’ll help me see what is popular and what I need to make plenty of in time for the show.
Batman GEEKSOAP™
Along with the soap I plan to knit up some simple cotton washcloths to have available for purchase. The application for the Bloomington Handmade Market requires either a business website or five photos of your work to help them consider you for space, and so it was another good opportunity to get my craft portfolio site up and running smoothly (something I’ve been meaning to do for months now) to showcase all of the crafty things I do. Most notably are the Cthulhu toques, Sock-thulhus, and my GEEKSOAP™ line. Thanks to my fantastically amazing husband, the portfolio site is up and running and I sent the link along with my application.
Introducing… ThePinkToque.com! The Pink Toque is my online portfolio to show off knitting, crochet, plush, and soap creations I’ve made over the years. Along with being a portfolio, the site then directs people here to the craft blog and to my Etsy shop for more Pink Toque goodness. Let me know what you think! Even if for some reason I’m not accepted for space at the Bloomington Handmade Market, it was at the very least a good way to get me and my handmade business whipped into shape a little bit, don’t you think?
Stay tuned for more photos and more GEEKSOAP™ – have a great week! :)
You all know how much I love My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software. (Read my review here!) Recently I blogged about the fantastic new Version 2 that has been released, and now I’m proud to share a discount with you so that you can get your hands on the newest version of My Memories Suite a little more easily.
Readers of the Pink Toque Craft Blog can receive a 10% discount off of the very popular (and fabulous) Version 2 of My Memories Suite software just by clicking here!
Remember that Version 2 of MMS comes with 1500 new background papers, 1300 new embellishments and 20 new layouts. Not to mention all of the awesome new features such as zooming in, WordArt Creator, being able to click and manually rotate your embellishments and photos right on the page, having text follow a shape, and so much more! Be sure to check out all of the great new features of Version 2 that I blogged about a few months back (which includes a video walkthrough!). You’re going to love the facelift that My Memories Suite received with V2!
If you’ve been holding back and waiting for a rainy day to purchase My Memories Suite Version 2, now is definitely the time to pick it up at a discount. :) And don’t forget… I’ve created 5 tutorials for My Memories Suite (including the latest one that showcases the new additions with V2) available to help you get started, and I’m always available to answer any questions you have along the way. So what are you waiting for?
Tags: digital scrapbooking, My Memories Suite, scrapbooking
Posted by Lesley on Jan 20, 2010 in
crafts,
featured artisans,
site news
I’m a Craftster Best of 2009 Winner!
Wow, I am so completely honored: I am a Craftster “Best of 2009″ winner! Back in February 2009 I was featured on Craftster for my handpainted custom Mah’jong set that I made for Lucas. As amazing as that felt, I never dreamed it would also make a Best of 2009 winner list, too! I’m blushing and beaming all at the same time, if that’s possible. Thank you so much to those that made it happen.
To determine winners, Craftster picked the top 10 projects posted in each crafty category in 2009 that got the most replies and views and then whittled those 10 down to their favorite top 5. Each crafty category has 5 winners to represent the best of that category’s 2009 projects. Be sure to click the image above to see ALL of the absolutely fantastic winners in all of the Craftster crafty categories. You’ll find my Mah’jong set in the last category listed under Toys & Games.
Thanks for alerting me to this feature, Craftzine! :) I am so blessed.
Tags: Mahjong
Posted by Lesley on Nov 15, 2009 in
crochet,
hats,
patterns,
shop,
site news,
toques 
Newborn nephew Will sporting one of my ultra cool new baby Cthulhu Toques!
It was only a matter of time before my crochet Cthulhu toques spawned pint-sized versions for children. Due to many requests, I finally sat down and put together the youth version of my pattern. I’m now selling child-sized Cthulhu toques in my Etsy shop AND am offering the youth pattern included in the same PDF as my original adult sized version… at no additional cost for the pattern! Now my Cthulhu toque pattern is like having 2 patterns in 1! You can either buy the pattern, which includes adult and child instructions OR you can purchase adult or child-sized Cthulhu toques already handmade by me in my Etsy shop. Just in time for the holidays!
The new youth sizes includes instructions for creating a newborn, toddler, and child sized version of the Cthulhu toque. Now you and the child or children in your life can be in matching style together! The model in my picture is my brand new 2 week old nephew, and he’s sporting the toddler version, which is why it’s a bit big. But aren’t they both adorable?! As I said, I’m selling the child-sized toques individually in my Etsy shop, so if you love the Cthulhu toques but don’t have the crochet know-how, I can make one for you :)
The new baby version of my Cthulhu Toque. Get yours now!
As of the time of this writing, I’ve sent out a mass email to everyone who has purchased the Cthulhu toque pattern from me in the past via Etsy or Artfire and sent them a complimentary copy of the youth sized pattern update. Going forward, new purchases of the pattern from Etsy or Artfire will receive the updated PDF that includes both adult and youth pattern instructions. I also uploaded the new PDF to Ravelry and sent out a mass message to those who had purchased it via Ravelry to get them the new copy. If I somehow missed you, please contact me immediately with your name and email so I can ensure you get the updated version!
Adding youth sizing to my pattern is not the only update that I’ve made to my most recent version; I also updated the pattern to include tips and blocking instructions specific to the design to help you get the most out of the pattern and get it to look just right.
New and Improved pattern now available! Includes both adult and child versions plus blocking instructions
Want to buy the new and improved Cthulhu toque crochet pattern? Check it out in my Etsy shop! Want to buy pre-made Cthulhu toques already crocheted by me for yourself or a loved one? Get the adult version or child’s version now!
Enjoy! And thanks for your business :) Hope you had a great weekend!
Tags: Cthulhu, patterns
Our moving sale on Saturday
So my writing has been a bit scarce lately but there have been some craftings going on in the background. First of all, the reason for being so busy lately is because Lucas, the boys (Oliver and Winston), and I are packing up and moving back to Indiana to be near family. I didn’t get the job that I went home and interviewed for last weekend, BUT there will be other job opportunities and I can’t very well take them or be available for them when I’m 2k miles away in Canada. I sure am going to miss Calgary; I love the Canadian Rockies and I love just about everything about this beautiful country I’ve called home for the past three years. However, I also love my family and want to be near them as my brother starts his family (my first nephew is due in October!) and as Lucas and I eventually start our own family. I wish I could somehow have all of the great stuff about Canada and my family in Indiana all at the same time in the same place, but alas… something’s gotta give.
working on a bib
So we’re moving back to the U.S. on Sunday, July 26. Over the weekend we had a huge yard sale to get rid of just about everything we own; we’re taking the minimalist approach for the move. We’re going to be pulling a 4′x8′ trailer and that’s it, so if it doesn’t fit in a box that fits into the trailer, it’s not going with us. Oliver has done the cross country trip before; he moved from Indiana to Canada with me three years ago. This will be a first for little Winston. While we sat out front for the yard sale Saturday I finished knitting the second Modern Cabled Baby Bib pattern by Andrea Pomerantz. They turned out lovely! They are 95% finished; the knitting and blocking is complete but I haven’t had the time yet to pick out some super cute baby boy buttons to use. I figure I’ll find some when we get settled back in Indiana.
superwash BFL fingering weight wool dyed by Lesleyluu
A few weeks ago, user Lesleyluu on Ravelry had a contest to create a new yarn colorway. I suggested “Lesley” (as it’s my name, too, and we spell it the same!) and offered up my three favorite colors together: pink, mint green, and browns. Kind like spumoni ice cream from The Old Spaghetti Factory. Yum! The colors turned out soft and ice-creamy, and absolutely dreamy. I didn’t win the first prize, but Lesleyluu did choose my colorway to make as a runner up, and I was then able to purchase “Lesley” from her Etsy Shop. Yay! It arrived in the mail earlier this week and I was so ecstatic. It’s a gorgeous superwash fingering weight BFL wool, and my head is swimming with all of the knitting project possibilities for this lovely yarn. Be sure to check out her other fabulous colorways on Etsy. And tell her “The other Lesley” sent you!
Anyway, as you can imagine I’ve been pretty busy lately. Tragedy has also struck my family and with the move and all of the tying up of loose ends here in Canada before we move back to the states, time has been short for projects. However, at the end of a long packing day I’ve found time to sneak in an hour or two of knitting. I’ve got some more burp cloths to make my sister-in-law for my future nephew in the Bernat handicrafter cotton color, “Hot Green.” Seriously, Hot Green? Have you ever heard of a more hideous (and perfect for baby spit up) color name? I can’t wait to make some appropriate spit up cloths from it! And you can be sure with 4 days of driving across the country in the car with my boys I’ll have plenty of little projects to work on and share once I’m back in the good ol’ Hoosier state. :) I’ll do my best to keep up on Twitter during our moving and cross-country knitting adventures, but don’t panic if it takes me another week or two before I can update here properly again ;) Take care!
Tags: family, moving, yard sale, yarn
Posted by Lesley on May 29, 2009 in
crafts,
knitting,
resources,
site news 
I love this thing.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently acquired my first real MP3 player. I’ll mostly spare you from the horrid details of my problems with the Zune MP3 player that I purchased first… let’s just say the Microsoft proprietary software you are forced to use to sync your files with the player has a long way to go to reach a level of acceptable user friendliness. I took it back and picked up an 8GB Sony (Walkman) MP3 player; the same brand and type my husband has. And now, a haiku, to express my love for this new gadget.
Ode to my Sony MP3 Player
Thanks Sony player
Music, podcasts, video
Doesn’t suck like Zune
And now, I want to point out the highlighted word in my haiku that inspired today’s post. Podcasts. This is a fairly new concept for me; digital media in a series, web syndicated. Like a radio show, but broadcasted online for you to download and put on your MP3 player and listen on the go. And when I started looking around for knitting related podcasts, I was overwhelmed by just how many podcasts there are out there for just about anything and everything you can imagine. Some series are updated weekly, monthly, and in each little segment or show, there’s obviously a main topic related to the subject of the podcast that gets discussed. I don’t know why it never really occured to me to listen to podcasts before; perhaps it has to do with the fact I’ve never owned a portable media device before. I know that’s not a requirement since you can just listen on the web, but using a portable digital media device is where it’s at. I can take the Cast On podcast (knitting) or Epic Dolls podcast (gaming) with me wherever I go and get updated on new segments in the series just like I do with bloggers out there like the Yarn Harlot or KnitPurlGurl that I follow with Google Reader, for example. KnitPurlGurl has her own mom and fiber podcast, too. I find this whole thing fascinating. And I also feel a little noobish that I’m so late to the game on this.
Check out what I’m listening to and see my subscriptions, add me as a friend, or suggest podcasts you think I’d be interested in over at Podcast.com! I don’t use iTunes, as much as it’s promoted and hyped up, because when I tried to browse podcasts there it wanted me to download and install the iTunes app to use like a “store’ to shop for things instead. I don’t want to add more proprietary software to my computer; that was my main problem with the Microsoft Zune. If I can’t browse and download your selections online (via website, and not an additional required application that connects to a website) to then just drag and drop onto my MP3 player, I’m not interested. I don’t need another media player on my computer and I don’t have an actual iPod to sync, so it’s all pointless to me. But I digress.
If you have any podcast goodness you think I should be listening to, let me know! :)
Tags: haiku, mp3, podcast
Posted by Lesley on May 4, 2009 in
crafts,
featured artisans,
resources,
site news 
Queen of ALLL Things AWE-SUMMM!!! award
I was generously bestowed the honor of Queen of ALLL Things Awe-Summm, an award granted to me by my friend KnitPurlGurl! To accept this award, I am required to abide by the terms and conditions that come with it: I must list 7 awesome things about myself, and then I must list 7 others who I think are awesome to pass the award on to.
1. I’m crafty. But you already knew that. I knit, crochet, sew, paint, handmake cards and everything else in between. If it’s crafty, I’ll try it. I’m constantly crafting something and always trying to figure out how to make things; I prefer to make something myself if I can, especially gifts for others. I can’t remember the last time I purchased a greeting card for someone. Being crafty means I understand, appreciate and respect others that handmake things, too: the process, the effort, the time investment, the heart and soul…
2. In my professional life, I am dedicated to helping others. I’m an elementary teacher by trade, and have known my entire life that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I’ve been teaching others for as long as I can remember and am proud to have a career where it’s my job to help others all of the time.
3. Along the same lines, in my personal life I am dedicated to helping others. I’ve melded my love for crafts and teaching together here, where I’ve made tutorials on the digital scrapbooking software, My Memories Suite, to help others get the most out of and figure out how to use the software. My other pastime, gaming, has also been melded with my passion to help others as I write tutorial articles for various games, too.
4. I took a huge plunge and moved to another country in the summer of 2006. Moving so far away from family was hard, but it was the best decision I have ever made in my entire life and the best thing that I’ve done for myself, ever. If I had to do it all over again, I’d do so in a heartbeat.
5. That being said, Lucas and I have made the decision to move back to the states this summer (or ASAP) to be closer to family so we can start our own family soon. And while we’re moving back, which makes my family very happy, I’d still not change the three wonderful years in Canada nor change my decision to move here back in 2006.
6. I can multi-task. Seems boring, but I get a thrill out of having multiple things to do and managing them all at once. To be honest, I think I am more efficient when I’ve got a lot of things due and am up against a deadline. I think this is because I’m very organized and get excited about organization and prioritizing.
7. I can rollerblade. Don’t make fun, because not only can I rollerblade, I can do so without killing myself. While this may seem silly, rollerblading makes me FEEL awesome, and I can’t get enough of it when the weather is nice.
Whew! That was a bit challenging. Really, I thought about it for two days. However, it’s easy peasy to come up with 7 awesome people out there that I would consider Queen of All Things Awesome. In fact, the hardest part about listing 7 awesome people is limiting my list to only 7 people! Ugh! So here goes, in no particular order, the 7 awesome people I am passing this award on to:
1. Daniella of DaniDo Crafty! – fabulous patterns, owns a white mini schnauzer too, and an overall awesome person :)
2. Crazy Aunt Purl – love her writing style, humor, and perfect rolled brim hat recipe!
3. The Yarn Harlot – sure, this may be obvious, but it wasn’t until recently I started using Google Reader and actually following other peoples’ blogs more efficiently than just remembering to go down the list every week or so. Now that I’m on top of it and reading/following/stalking regularly, I can’t believe I’ve been missing out for so long. The Yarn Harlot’s blog leaves me in stitches! (See what I did there?)
4. Maria, creator and maintainer of the DigiFree digital scrapbooking freebie blog. I heart it.
5. Scrap Stuff with PSP – Shawna’s tutorials for PSP and PSD are my inspiration and where I learned most of my digital scrapbooking design techniques. I’d be nowhere without her!
6. Glamour Gals – My friend, Julia, is the director of program expansion for an amazing charity called Glamour Gals. Check her out!
7. Teresa Richardson’s Crochet Mania blog – I taught myself crochet via her YouTube videos. She has over 300 instructional crochet videos or something amazing like that. All I know is she is my top resource for all things crochet. She even has a Video Crochet group on Ravelry!
And there you have it! Special thanks to these lovely people for being blogs I enjoy following and for doing amazing work in your field. You’re all an inspiration! And thank you to KnitPurlGurl for thinking I’m AWE-SUMMM enough to deserve this award in the first place! I’d have included her in this list but since she just had to do it… I figured I can’t really send it back to her. But she’s definitely an AWE-SUMM crafter and overall fab person, and you simply have to pop in and check her out :) Have a great afternoon!
Tags: awards, featured artists
Posted by Lesley on Apr 7, 2009 in
crochet,
site news 
Does anyone else have craft A.D.D.? You think you’re absorbed in a project, but there hiding in the back of your mind is another project… one that keeps whispering your name. Then when you’re supposed to be focusing and working on your current project, you can’t stop your mind from floating back to the possibility of this other project, how it will look when it’s finished, what supplies you need… it’s been like this for me all week.
I know that I learned things backwards; I learned to knit first, then learned crochet and have been pretty much doing crochet-only projects since. But I’ve recently been wanting to get back into knitting projects, and of course I’ve already got an idea or two in mind. Once I learned crochet I found working things in the round to be so much easier than fiddling with DPNs, but recently thanks to some support and information on the Ravelry forums, I am feeling confident enough to try the Magic Loop method… and maybe even to drag those DPNs out of hiding. The problem is now that I feel confident that I can achieve this, all I want to do is get started. I won’t let myself begin yet another project, though, until I finish what I have “on the hooks” as I’m worried my current crochet project will just never get finished. *ahem* like that crochet sweater I started months ago. The poor side-to-side cowl neck sweater is still sitting on the back burner because I’ve let myself start something else. I am determined to finish it, though! Even if it means I won’t be wearing it until next winter. ;) I know that there are many people out there who have lots of WIPs at once, and so I know it’s not a bad thing, but I worry that if I give my craft A.D.D. an inch, it’ll take a mile. I guess I just hate the idea of too many unfinished projects lying around. I must stay strong!
And that brings me to the elusive “something else” that I am working on currently: a crochet hobo bag. And not just any hobo bag — a felted one of my own design. It was time for a new purse and this will be my first felted project! I didn’t really want it to be of my own design, especially with it being my first time felting, but I can’t seem to find just what I’m looking for already. I know that to felt the bag it needs to be around 25% bigger than I want the finished result to be (give or take a little) and because I couldn’t find a (free) pattern for a felted hobo style bag that I’m dreaming of, I’ve decided just to wing it. I’m getting a little nervous, though, as the sides take shape — it seems really big. Maybe too big? I just hope it felts up as planned and ends up being about the right size in the end. I won’t know until I try, right? And what better way to learn than to just jump right in. Wish me luck!
Tags: crafts, crochet, Ravelry
