Not a lot Lately

I thought I was getting back into creating but the last few weeks have been very iffy even after I cleaned up my space and made a little bit more room. I really don't have that much space to work with or quiet either whenever the hubs is at home. I try very hard to make what I have work, yet I still find myself wishing for that extra room that I can call my own, ALLLLLLL MINE!

In order to cut out fabric and have a symblance of a table this is what I have to do. Take 6 TV tray tables of all the same height, if they aren't find books or so forth to make the smaller tables as tall as the others. In the pics I only have 5 cause the 6th one had stuff all over it and I didn't feel like moving the stuff. I use masking tape to tape down the corners of the cutting cardboard mat to the tv tables to keep it steady and not moving as I work. Also liberally dot area with curious kitties. The last thing is a must, kitties.









I also finally got around to make a duct tape dummy, FINALLY, I hate it. I'm gonna save up my money and get me a dress form but so far, can't seem to find any that size up to my measurements. What a horrible wake up call. :(


Here is a top I made that didn't come out right because I didn't double check the knit fabric before cutting. The stretch is going up and down instead of side to side. It works as a sleep shirt and a bathingsuit cover up. So I guess it wasn't a total loss. I guess next time i'll follow the directions better too. I found the instructions on Burda Style in the free patterns section. I was also trying to use fabric I had on hand.

Lacy Flowerettes

A few weeks ago I saw a tutorial on making a ribbon flower with the ribbong that has wire running through the edges. I don't remember where I saw it, youtube or maybe a website. I still haven't made one yet. I did however make some stuff using some lace I had. I had some white lace that I dyed using fabric dye, food cloring and antiquing with tea and coffee. I got a lovely shade of purple from the fabric dye, a nice pretty pink from the food coloring and a nice antique color from the tea and coffee. I tried to make green lace but that color of food coloring just didn't want to stay and kept rinsing 99% out and just leaving a very very faint hint of green and you really have to look for it. So that particular piece, guess i'm going to have to buy some green dye, now to just choose the color of green I want.

My favorite is the brown lacey one then
Brown lacey flowerette:


rainbow lacey flowerette:


blue lacey flowerette:

Weekend creation

I finished the last bit of sewing I needed to do on my leather cuff bracelet. It is now done, done, done. I don't think i'm going to add any little extra's to it though it still feels like it needs something. I'll just let it sit and stew for a bit.

edited to add (4-19-10) I gave this bracelet to Zoe Jakes of Beats Antique after the concert at Stubb's in Austin, TX.







I started another wearable piece and finished. Okay, I'm not totally finished, I need to change out all the crystals cause they aren't blingy enough. I used plastic scrapbooking crystals. Yes, I said plastic. I know I should be tarred and featherd for that but, they work so good at the positioning and design. The plastic crystals have a sticky back on them, not a permanent sticky but enough to help with working out a design. Unfortunately I don't have the right size crystals in the color I want to use so I need to get some more. BLEH! If I have to, I can use a back up color but I dunno. I've got so much on my mind right now that it isn't totally thinking straight.

Using up scraps

What do you do with scraps of yarn? You know that yarn that is not enough for some projects but to much for another, it's kinda in between. I have a few yarns like that.

I got this idea last week to try making a granny square, easy right? Well, only if your paying attention to what your doing. I found this one Never Ending granny blanket square
Simple enough right? Well, my lack of paying attention showed up in the final product, OOPs!






On one of the squares I counted off, not to bad but enough that the 2 squares didn't line up just right. No biggie cause this is my bag and if I really really really get an itch about not liking it, I could take it apart, make it a bit smaller so i'd have enough yarn. You know when you take something apart, the yarn seems to be less than what it was the first time around. UGH! I'm trying to use up some of my yarn, the older stuff. So the bag is new yarn and old yarn. The older yarn is the lovely burgandy color. Of course this Red Heart brand of yarn isn't made anymore. :(

I started another shawl in a varigated Red Heart brand of yarn. Don't know the color name cause I seem to have lost the outer label. I'm looking on Red Heart's website and it is sooooooooo slow. Not having any luck, they say they have 72 colors and it's not showing 72 colors. GRRRRR! Okay I give up, I looked at Red Heart and even I Love This Yarn brands and can't find this particular varigated color. I bought it at Hobby Lobby, i think, thus why I checked the ILTY colors as well. Oh well.

It's another hat

I finished another hat. YEAH! I used bulky cream colored chenille and some grey glittery fun fur. Since the fun fur stuff is kinda stiff and itchy, I didn't incorporate it into the whole hat, just the top portion and left the brim chenille soft. hehehehe!

Ice Princess Hat:



Close up:



another close up/sidish view:




Now that I'm done with the hat, I can start on a scarf or maybe that pillow i'm thinking about making or I could just do both at the same time, since it will be 2 different sized looms. I also want to learn to knit socks, but they seem very intimidating. I also want to learn how to do other stitches with the looms and perhaps even make my own. I picked up some double pointed knitting needles a couple days ago and some cute yarn and a couple of the free patterns that are hanging up. I picked up this one for crocheted fingerless mitts that is very cute that I want to attempt. Not sure what I want to do first, knit or crochet. I guess I could start them all and just work whichever one I want when I feel like it.

Vacation Creations

I have pics of the stuff I made over my Holiday/Vacation. Unfortunately one of the hats I made, I didn't get a pic of before I gave it away to my coworkers 1yr old daughter. I was going to get more of the yarn I used but Hobby Lobby was out. I hope they get some more in cause I want to do another hat in that color. It was originally going to be for my 5yr old niece but the hat just seemed to small. Since Hobby lobby didn't have the original yarn, I had to find something else.

Skinny tube scarf knitted on Kniffty knitter flower loom out of the yarn my daughter originally wanted to make a larger tube scarf from but we only had 1 skein and it was a Joanns exclusive yarn.



Close up:





Skinny scarf made for my 5yr old niece. This stuff is heavenly super soft and luckily for me I still have 2 skiens left to make something for myself.



Close up:



This is the hat that I made for my 5yr old niece with the new yarn. I like this yarn but I had to couple it with another yarn to make it a bit thicker. I coupled it with a very soft black yarn. If I had 2 skiens, I could have just doubled it. Might try that some other time. The yarn is very cool, I think.



With the brimmed rolled up:





Here is a large scarf/wrap that I made using another Hobby Lobby yarn called Chocolate Souffle. I used the red loom, wrapping 3 pegs and skipping one.



Close up:




I am on a friggin roll here with these Kniffty Knitter looms. I started another hat using white bulky chenille and this silvery grey fun fur stuff. I'm calling it Ice Princess. The brim of the hat has none of the fun fur because it would be itchy, so just the main part of the hat will have it. I didn't want to go to bed because I wanted to keep on knitting the hat. I have other color ideas for hats and scarves. I'm also going to attempt to make a pillow out of one of the pattern books I bought, I just need a pillow form to put it on.

I made a boucle pom-pom while showing my daughter how to make them and decided to turn it into a scarf pin or just a plain shirt pin with some wire and shiny plastic beads, we'll see how that goes.

Here is what I'm working on

Okay, I got pics of the stuff I'm working on.

Here is the fish, which I'm debating to bead and decorate or just leaving it as is.



Here is the doll on both sides



I haven't decided which side yet will be front and which will be back. I need to finish stuffing and sewing up the hole. Now I need to decide on what kind of face to put on her. I don't plan on doing a lot of beading because I want the fabric to show.

I've lost my energy

So I was really on this thing for making scarves. I have numerous color combos I want to do but I seem to have lost the UMPH to get them started or even finished for that matter. I'm working on #4 and have only done like 4 rows and I started it about a week ago. I need something, I just don't know exactly what it is. I'm tired of this funk. I'm tired of the whirlwind spurts of creativity that are gone as fast as they show up. I try to force myself to finish something when i'm not in the mood for it and I get frustrated over it, mess up or whatever. UGH!

Just around the Corner

HI! Just another week and Christmas will be here, YEAH! I've gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping done and went way over my budget, oops! I still have a few things to make, just need the motivation. I got some of the supplies I have been waiting on and now just need to find a bit of time to finish up the earrings to go with a necklace. I also need to finish the scarf i'm working on for my grandmother. I can't wait till next week because i'm OFF, OFF, OFF! 9 day vacation, WOOHOO! I'm excited but I'm not, cause probably half of that is going to be sent traveling from one place to another. Honestly, I'd rather just stay home but I can't cause I miss my family too and it's hard to go and see them and this time of year is when I get my vacation so I gotta go.

Creatively speaking, I have earrings to finish and I need to finish up on a prototype ring design. I haven't come across a ring like this yet but doesn't mean that someone hasn't already done it or something very similar. So after the holidays look for my new design (to me anyways).

I have a beef with an artist even though I don't know where this lady is from, just somewhere near El Campo TX., I think. My great Aunt T ordered a couple of floral paperweights for my grandmother. My grandmother wanted red roses and the date of birth and death of my grandfather. When my grandmother recieved the items she told me that she almost started crying and was just going to throw them in the trash. First, they weren't even red roses, they were a reddish carnation and a yellow carnation. Second, they weren't even the same sizes. The reddish carnation is probably the better of the two but not by to much. The yellow carnation one, it's like the lady just decided to hurry up and since she didn't seem to have enough resin to make it the same size the carnation looks squished.The yellow one, it's just horrible, I was upset that this artist actually let that one leave to a customer. They both have knicks like they were cut by something. The bottoms were painted with a crappy green paint that didn't even get into all the cracks and crevices. The bottom was covered with green felt and it was a sloppy job on cutting it to fit the bottoms. The yellow one actually had scraps of green felt stuck to the bottom. As an artist, selling a product, I would never have let those leave my home much less expect the customer to pay for them. It's things like this that give crafter/artists a bad name and make consumers continue to see our creations as "garage sale" type products. Grrr, just thinking about it makes me mad and I have those horrible pieces at my house right now. About the only decent thing I can say about them, the person did a decent job on keeping the air bubbles out. I'm going to have to get pictures so that everyone can see. I just haven't had time yet.

The Muse came and visted

Hi everyone!

Hope ya'll had a lovely Thanksgiving Holiday. We had a small family get together, the hubby cooked a most excellent ham. I made candied yams, green been casserole, 7-up cake, cherry pie and a pumpkin pie. The next day we used the ham bone and made stock for a ham soup, it was sooooooooooo good..Mmm,Mmm Yummy!

I didn't get half the things done that I had planned to do over my little vacation. I had a 6 day weekend. Tuesday I had already scheduled off over a month ago not even realizing at the time it was the week of Thanksgiving. My appointment went well, I now have some medical coverage and assistance through my county for atleast a year. I only have to pay 25% of my bill, unless it's a private doctor thing through the ER then I have to pay the whole bill. My prescriptions won't cost me but about $10-$20 which is good. I also qualified for women's health services, which is why I needed the medical help to begin with.

Later that afternoon however, my good day went to pot. I was on my way to pick up my daughter from school. I didn't even get around the corner from my apartment before I got backed into. I was coming to a speed bump and slowing down because I have bad struts on my car. I caught the vehicle lights come on out the corner of my eye and no hesitation, the lady just started backing up. I tried to swerve and honk at the same time, but I just wasn't fast enough. She got a scratch on the pretty chrome of her bumper and I now have a dent in the rear fender well to match the dent on the same side on the front fender well. I got backed into back in February in a parking lot. It's almost identical except different parking lots. Both vehicles that hit me were trucks and both drivers said they didn't see me, even though my car was past theirs and if they'd bothered to look out the side mirrors they wouldn't have had any problem seeing me. Grrrrrr! So either I'm going to have a great christmas from the money I get or a newer car. Personally, I'm leaning to a newer car, maybe even a bigger car so that noone has a problem seeing me. (rolls eyes) Unfortunately, my car being old and way past it's prime, the replacement parts have all been discountinued and the probability of finding them is like 50/50 shot. Noone was hurt, I was a little shook up from it though.

The rest of my little vacation, went just fine. I have some pics of new stuff.

This is a pair of earrings I'm sill working on. I have some chain coming in so that I can finish them. I glued swarovski flat back crystals into their spots. I have realized that some how I've ended up with A LOT of the green flat backs in several sizes.



This is a necklace I finished. I'm really liking the new Global Nomad line of products by Blue Moon Beads (creativity inc.) that you can find at Michaels. I still have another centerpiece to work on, waiting on chain for that too.


A close up of the center piece.



Another gorgeous pair of earrings. I got the moon like shapes from a seller on Etsy (GreatMusings). I glued on tiny flat back AB crystals and a citrine crystal to give them just a little sparkle. I really like these earrings.



My grandmothers bracelet. She wanted a dice bracelet and charms to indicate gambling. She likes to get down to Louisanna now and then or the bingo hall. hehehe




I also finally took some decent pictures of some stuff I've been meaning to list on my Etsy shop. More handmade jewelry and some more supply stuff, like pre-printed fabric patterns for stuffed dolls. Like this cute little guy.

Update

Well, I can't say that there has been much creating going on lately. I started this blog in hopes that it would help inspire me some to create so that I can share. I feel like I failed that idea miserably at this point but I'm not giving up.

Today I got an email from SassyArtGoddess about the annual beaded face swap. I joined the swap the very 1st year (2005) and haven't done one since. 2006 was a rough year, lots of stuff going on about this time that year. 2007 well, not much going on and I really didn't feel that I could even accomplish a piece, things were that off. Things are still off but I have the perfect face in mind and know just about which beads I will be using to accent it. I will pull that stuff out tonight and get it ready.

The custom pendant I was asked to make is driving me nuts. The design in my head works but it seems that I don't have the right materials for it (sigh). I've been wracking my brain about the problem I'm having and I think I may have figured it out. One, I'm not used to working with different metals like brass. I'm used to working in sterling and silver colored wire mostly and maybe a wee bit of copper or copper cored wire. I would have loved to do the piece in 14k gold-filled but that's just a wee bit out of the budget. Two, this depression that is just hanging around like a noose is extremely frustrating. Today I bought a couple of things off etsy that I think will work better than what is trying to happen in my head. I also think the design change will also make the lady happy. I found some lovely glass cabs in a sunny color that I'll wrap in brass or copper, haven't yet decided which wire I'll use. The change in idea seems to fit better than whatever direction I was trying to go. She wanted something sturdy because she's hard on jewelry.

I think I've realized why the funk just keeps hanging around, time for change. My first step is to quit smoking and I think I'm making great progress. I've had 2 cigerettes in the past week and I haven't bought anymore nor do I plan to. I know I can do this, I went 4 days without one and haven't had to many issues. LOL! Wish me the best of luck.

I also have a few pic updates of Lira our newest edition to the family. She's growing up so quickly. She's not nearly as skittish as she was the first month we had her. She has picked up my other cat, Kitty, and her behaviors. I can't go to the bathroom without them both at the door, Lira terrorizing Kitty. I can't go into the kitchen without Lira wanting my attention. She lets me know when she doesn't have any water or food. It's funny Lira tries to hide the food when I put it into their bowl. Lira also thinks that making the bed is play time and attacks my hands and feet. She seems to think that it's my job to pay attention to her even though she's supposed to be my daughter's responsibility. So here she is:

Lira and Kitty lying next to each other.


Lira and Kitty waiting for me to give them some attention. Lira sure is growing fast.

A Journey of Creation

A new blog, A new day. This is a step forward into expressing my creativity.

What does creativity mean to me?

I've spent time thinking about this question. Creativity is my outlet of expression. As far back as I can remember I've always done something creative, drawing, writing, crochet, sewing, always something. Creativity is the release valve on the steam pressure cooker of my life.

I enjoy working with many different materials. I don't have one specific set design, I just go with my flow. I get inspiration from everywhere.

Examples of my work:

CF style inspired dragon.

Crystal and Tourmaline bracelet

Wire ring I made for my daughter.

Beaded art doll necklace

My craft bag that I designed and sewed.

As you can see I work with several different things. I also sculpt, crochet, cross-stitch, paint ceramics, knitting, scrapbooking, some paper/fiber crafts. I draw on occassion. I do what I like whichever idea and medium pull at me.