Sunday, August 30, 2009

Stitch and Bitch Recap and Hair Ornaments






Today I was the only knitter at the Stitch and Bitch. I should have taken my beadwork or embroidery after all. One girl was making fur feet for a hyena costume, another was making an SCA gown with eyelets, and the organizer was plying wool together for a sweater. Oh and one lady was stuffing two teddy bears made of fabric. So next time I'm just going to take whatever I'm in the mood to take.

Also, here is a photo of my fascinator. I'm going to order some side combs off of Etsy next week to put on the fascinator. From the research I've done, you can use a barrette, a clip, hair pins, side combs or a headband to attach the pretty part to. Maybe it's better not to sew on the attachment until someone buys it and tells you how they want it. That way they can wear it in their hair, on a purse, as a shoe buckle or on the back belt of their evening gown or maybe on a flowing scarf. Like all things Etsy there are already almost 500 pages of fascinators listed. So who knows if I'll ever sell any but I sure plan to have fun wearing them.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Frolicking Horses Gourd Vase

I just finished the vase. The sisal around the rim came out great. And the real buffalo nickle that was made into a button was the perfect finishing touch. I had hoped to get it listed in my Etsy shop today, but the day got away from me. I ended up doing all the grocery shopping while my boyfriend worked on his art project. That's what I get for telling him I was going to grab some milk on my way home. My plan was to grab a quick lunch, just to get away from the apt. for a bit, grab some milk, and go home and get back to work. HA, that'll teach me. By the time I got the groceries carried in I was too hot and tired to do anything. I was watching some swimming event on TV and fell asleep sitting up on the couch. This heat just takes it out of me.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Gourd Rain Stick





I gave my gourd rain stick about 10 coats of spray finish today and left it outside to dry. The can said to let it dry 24 hours, so maybe tomorrow I can put the beans in and glue it all together and finish the tutorial on it.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Thursdays Projects




Today I made a list because I find I get a lot more done that way. There is just something about checking things off of a list to keep me moving along. It's only noon and I've already cut the nubs off the rain stick gourd and dyed the exterior. I've finished the black interior of the horse gourd and as soon as that dries I can sew the sisal on.

I also stocked up on blank t-shirts and got those into the washer to pre-wash them before putting paint or anything on them. Last time I didn't bother with pre-washing and stamped on them anyway, but it's always better to pre-wash any sizing out of the shirt and preshrink them as well. And when inspiration strikes I'll have shirts ready this time instead of having to wait for the washer and dryer to run. You know how it is with motivation; you have to run with it or it goes away.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Fish Tales





Today I finished the needle punch part of my fish design. The background took a long time but I really like the way it came out.

I also painted the inside of my horse gourd. I need to touch up the interior a bit with some black acrylic paint, and then I can sew the sisal on the rim.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Needlepunch Fish

One of the things I found when I was cleaning was my needle punching supplies. Since the Zombie Nanner Gang daily theme was 'Fabulous Fish' I decided to make it with needlepunch. I forgot how much time that takes. I started last night; working on it till 2 AM and did maybe 3 more hours today and I'm still not done. But my hands were too tired to continue and I had a whole pile of other things to do today, so I had to get back to work. It's very colorful and I really like it so far.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Beans Worked Better

Today I couldn't wait to add the marbles I got to my rainstick that I'm making out of a gourd. Only they didn't sound right. They seemed too heavy. So I ran in the house and got some dried beans instead. I put those in and gave it a test run. It sounded wonderful, just like I'd expect a rainstick to sound. But then I had to dump them out because I still have to grind down the nubs of the skewers I glued inside. Right now it looks a bit like a porcupine. After that I can put the beans back in, glue the gourd top back on and decorate it. How fun!

YouSayToo


YouSayToo gave me an award today. blog promotion I've been sending my blog feed there for a while now, but wasn't expecting to get an award or anything. It's nice to be noticed. Thanks.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Artist Paints Over 10,000 Paintings

This will be an inspiration to all you artist's out there trying to do a painting a day. http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/07/30/townhall/doc48890191f384a699145822.txt I met this artist yesterday at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival.

Now I see how important it is to number your pieces. I wish I'd numbered mine all along.

Miniature Paintings







I couldn't wait to paint when I got up this morning. Everything is in acrylics. I love the speed it dries and also the bright colors. It was a warm day so I didn't have to wait for things to dry so consequently I got a lot done. I'm not sure if I like the mermaid best or the crab. Which one is your favorite?

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Sawdust Festival 2009






We just got home. Here are some of the highlights.

Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival 2009

As soon as my daughter gets here, we are off to the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival. I'm hoping to get some good photos, but every year it seems like more and more artists have photo restrictions. Everyone is so afraid of being copied. I can see both sides of that coin. Photos are also great publicity for your booth. And it makes a poor impression to be yelling at your potential customers that you don't want them taking a snapshot.

It's a very humid day. At least we are not having the sweltering heat of a few weeks ago.

UFO's

I sorted through many many unfinished projects today. And I even got to work on one of them. It's a freestyle knitting and crocheted top. I can't quite figure out if I meant it to be a big flowing poncho type jacket, or a halter top or what. I really need to be better about labeling projects as I go along.I found quite a few mystery bags. Was it a scarf? Was it rice stitch? Was it supposed to be part of a larger project? And the older I get the worse it is, because I have more and more unfinished projects.

I also got to arrange many beads, sequins, glitter vials and other things that I've inherited or picked up at yard sales. That gave me ideas for greeting cards, ACEO's and fabric brooches. I just wanted to stop cleaning and knit or something, but I have company coming so clean it is. I thought they were coming tonight, but I called when they still weren't here by 9 PM and they said they'd decided to come tomorrow morning. They could have told me that! We made dinner too.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Sorting and Cleaning

We literally spent the entire day cleaning out boxes, sorting projects, and repairing the water damage as best we could. I'd have dozens of things to list on Etsy if I'd just finish up some of these things. We really need either studio space or a storage unit, but can afford neither. I'm sure a lot of artists are in the same boat. We are nowhere near done with the task. And company is coming tomorrow night. Ack! But I just can't clean any more today. I'm spent.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Fingerpuppets and T-shirts




I kept myself busy catching up with the Zombie Nanner Gang challenges. First I finished my hat for the 'soft hat' challenge. Then I got busy printing t-shirts for the Tiki and Robot challenges. And tonight I made finger puppets for the penguin challenge.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Gourd Purse and Horse Gourd




Today I thought I'd better work on my gourd projects so they don't fall through the cracks. So I did the metal leafing on my horse gourd and touched up the ink dye in a few places. I think I'm going to need to heat set that immediately because if you let it sit it slowly forms drips. Since I had the heat gun out for the metal leafing, I went ahead and heat set the ink dyes too. Now I need to paint the interior black and add sisal to the top as a texture.

I also worked on my gourd purse. I died the exterior a combination of yellow and berry dyes to get a somewhat orange look. Then I sprinkled it with rubbing alcohol to make things interesting. Then I heat set it all with the heat tool. The next step on the purse is to make a leather hinge to hold the lid to the bottom. But it will have to wait until another day because it's time to go to the Japanese market.

My Gourd Blog.

Update: Check out the dishes I got at the Japanese market.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Archery Gathering in Pasadena CA








Yesterday I was out of town at the archery gathering. I haven't even had time to download the photos yet. It was probably the most perfect weather we ever had. Three of our friends showed up to make bows. They were very focused and their bows were shaping up nicely by the time they left.

I started out the day with some juggling practice. Then I worked on my knitting until my hands hurt too much. Towards the end I worked on some beading and made wands with a little boy there who has Harry Potter fever. I envy his energy. He was running circles around me.

My friend brought me peanut butter cookies.

And I learned from John that the tool called the 'spoke shave' is called that because it was originally used to make the spokes of wagon wheels. Who knew? Not I.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

puzzle and knitting

I want to make a wooden jigsaw puzzle so I got the wood for it today at Home Depot. I also got some hard wood dowels in the bigger diameters because I keep needing some and not having any though for the life of me I can't remember just what I needed them for. But if an opportunity comes up soon I'll be ready this time.

But when I got home I didn't feel like working on the puzzle. I felt like knitting. So I finished the sleeve on a sweater I'm almost done with, because I needed the needles to work on a new idea I had. I want to knit a striped tunic. I have one sleeve on the needle and I'm realizing the bulk of the knitting isn't going to fit on those short needles. So I either have to find a jumbo cable needle or figure out a way to divide the sweater body into more workable rectangles and assemble them later. I even made a gauge square this time, so hopefully it will fit me when all is said and done.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Love Machine



I just finished my newest Zombie Nanner Gang challenge, which is 'love machine'. I did it in thread embroidery on felt. I like this acrylic felt because it's made of recycled soda bottles. I did it freehand for a folk art feel.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Gourd Rainstick


First thing this morning I checked my gourd purse lining and then did another layer of finish.

Then I got busy on the rainstick I started a few weeks ago. I have just about all of the skewers glued in. I just read about another artist that doesn't even bother with the skewers. She just uses chicken wire inside hers. I'll have to try that too. I don't see why it wouldn't work, and it would be a lot simpler. Plus it won't leave a surface full of holes to paint over. It pays to be open to new ideas.

I need to get back out there and put another coat inside the purse and clean up my toys for another day because we are supposed to go hiking this evening.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Gourd Purse




I figured it was high time I made a gourd purse. I was about to cut a canteen gourd in two when my boyfriend handed me one he had not only cut in two, but he'd cleaned it inside and out and painted the interior. That left a perfect surface for decoupage. I used some designer paper that was a deep green flecked with gold strands. I applied it with a foam brush. I need to let it dry over night before I can work on the exterior. Here are some photos. Do visit my gourd blog if you want to know more as I go along.

Punky Panda Stamp




Today seemed like a good day to work on abandoned projects, so I worked on crocheting some more squid legs. Next time I want to make something with 8 legs someone please stop me.

Tonight I carved some stamps for the Zombie Nanner Gang. I like the challenge. Every time I think I'm stumped and can't think of how to match the day's challenge, my brain comes up with 2 or 3 ways to meet the challenge.

I also spent an hour this morning cleaning up the living room. Crafts had really taken it over. Now that there are two people here all day every day instead of one, the place is getting messy a lot faster. It feels like two directions of traffic on a one lane highway.