HAPPY NEW YEAR AND NEW IDEAS!

It's a new year and i'm hoping this one will be filled with more creative persuits than last year or the years before. Crossing fingers that I can make that happen. I'm trying, might take me a little bit to get going but I think this year will be good.

Here are some pics of the gifts I made for family and friends for Christmas. I call these Scoodies (scarf with a hood). I looked them up on the internet and they are really a very basic pattern. I did modify it a little bit in the back behind the neck so that there wouldn't be a lot of bunching up. So far so good.

My scoodie: Black fleece with faux animal print trim on hood.




This is the one I had originally made for my grandmother but ended up giving it to my Uncle's girlfriend after my grandmother said she couldn't stand things on her head because it would mess up her hair when she saw me wearing mine. Glad I was able to change it out before I gave it to her and it never got used. It's made from fleece. I had just a plain black bias tape on the hood edge but it really felt like it needed a bit extra so I added the black lace. I also added small black looped fringe to the ends.






I made this one for my mom. It's just like the pink one except it doesn't have the bias tape edge, just lace.






Just recently I came across a tutorial on dying glass pearls over on Martha Stewart and just had to try it out.

I'm still on the fence with this one. Yellow and Tan seem to take better to the pearls than the other colors I tried, black, wine, dark green. Here are some pics of the results.

1st experiment:

2nd experiment



Other than those things, nothing new. Hopefully I will have new things to show more often this year instead of once every few months.

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:

Latest Works

It's been a bit since last I posted. I have some progress pics of a couple of altered headbands and a leather cuff bracelet i'm working on.

Headbands-
#1. Grey satin headband accented with brocade ribbon from Wal-mart and swarovski crystals. I still haven't decided on what else I want to do with this one.


#2. Black satin headband accented with a vintage rose ribbon trim and dome nailheads. I still have a bit of work to do on this one as well.



Leather cuff in the works. This was made from a belt I found at the thrift store. I originally only wanted the medallions and the leather pieces to use in projects. One of the leather pieces I'm going to use as a ponytail holder, it's just the right size. This is, I guess you would call the tongue of the belt, it's the part that the belt connects to, the piece with the holes in it. I was originally going to just throw it out with the rest of the belt that isn't useful but low and behold, it's perfect size for a wrist. I was going to make it a button on cuff but the hole is to small for any of the buttons I have and the shanks on the buttons that almost fit aren't quit long enough. I had to use snaps instead and use the buttons as accents to make it look as if it buttons on. So far I'm very happy with it. I have some more glueing to do and I haven't decided yet if I'm going to add anything extra to it yet.

Headband alteration

In the bellydance community, altered headbands are common. I like the creations a lot more than I do the dance. Don't get me wrong, I love the dance too but it's that creative process that piques my interest more. I finally got around to making an altered headband. The headband I used is wide, covered in a black satin type material. They are readily available in several colors, white, black, blue, orange, purple, red, silver and gunmetal(darker silver color).

This altered headband is actually 2 headbands. I also used some eyelet material as decoration. This is a pic of the headband before I added a few things to it.



This is the headband at the finished stage. I made it so that I could change out the flowers and feather accessories until I decided on a 100% or I may just leave it. I haven't decided yet. I added the afgani or it might be a kuchi pendant to the front, which also can be changed out. The way this headband is put together it opens up the potential for so many additional things.








Here is me wearing it.





I started on another altered headband, this one, that gunmetal color and a very pretty ribbon I got from Wal-mart and some swarovski crystals. I haven't decided yet if I want to alter it towards bellydance related or just altered enough for everyday type use. I haven't taken any pics yet because I haven't decided anything and I still need to clean up the ends of the ribbon and I keep forgetting. LOL!