Day of Crafts

Saturday was a craft filled day. I got a book on Fair Isle Knitting and started making a hat out of it just for practice. I didn't have the right size needles handy to follow the pattern, but since I'm just learning a technique I made it with what I had on hand. Sometimes learning the skill is more important than the finished product.

The other book I got was on making stuffed animals.  That's going to be a lot of fun to do. Mostly I want to make the dachshund because my daughter loves dachshunds.

Then I got to try out my new needle punch set. It works like a dream. I've very pleased with it. The ergonomic design is easier on my hands, meaning I can go longer without breaks. Right now I'm working on a horse silhouette against a stained glass style background. While I'm working on one project I get ideas for so many more that I can do.

Angel Needle Punch

Today I started off by finishing up my angel needle punch. The border took awhile. I still need to add beads or embroidery for the eyes.

My inventory of embroidery floss is running low so I need to swing by a craft store and get some more.  I have one project waiting on dark green.

I've been taking photos of the finished ones, and adding them to products on Zazzle. That way I can make them affordable to everyone. I still want to sell the originals on Etsy or Zibbet, as soon as I figure out how to mount them so they can be hung or rested on a frame stand. It seems the needle punch is the easy part compared to getting the whole thing finished and into a form I can sell.

Here is one of the designs on a greeting card so you can see what I mean. http://www.zazzle.com/fantasy_fish_card-137118504473355606

Special Olympics Scarf on the Knitting Loom

I just finished my tutorial on Loom Knitting a scarf for the Special Olympics. I've been working on it for weeks. So if feels good to finally be done.

Each time I do videos, I learn something new. Today I learned to add annotations in the form of word bubbles to the video after it's already posted on youtube.  That is going to save me lots of time because I can make corrections without having to make the whole video over again. I certainly don't want to knit another 5 foot scarf each time I make a mistake on a tutorial. Soon I will put the two scarves I made into a box and send them off to the Northern CA Special Olympics.  Some of the states have deadlines that have already come and gone, so if you didn't finish on time, check for a state to send it to that hasn't expired yet.

Got New Belly Dance Bling Oooh Shiny

I thought I'd make a goofy new hat for my juggling persona.  Only the event is tomorrow and I didn't work on it today at all. Some days I just can't seem to drag myself away from the computer. At least I juggled today. And I'll go work on the hat right now, which is crocheted.
I'm thinking of making juggling balls again, to be used for teaching at SCA events. Corduroy bags filled with millet work very well for juggling balls. It's really hard to make the balls a consistent size though.

New Earrings

It's just after midnight. My goal yesterday was to list ten pairs of earrings in my Zibbet shop. I joined Zibbet in Nov. but only just now had the time to add items to it.  I decided to start with earrings, so go take a look. http://www.zibbet.com/Vespertine

Etsy is so glutted with jewelry I felt like my items weren't getting any exposure. So I thought I'd give Zibbet a whirl. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

A New Blouse

Yesterday I went to M&L Fabric, which is very close to me and picked out some prints to use for a wrap-around tunic style blouse. By the time I got them all pre-washed and dried it was dark out and I like to cut my patterns out on a table outside.  So today I hope to get it cut out. I'll have to alter the pattern to fit me.  As I've come to learn, if you want to sew accurately, you have to adjust each and every pattern. Women are all lumpy and bumpy and every lump and bump requires a pattern adjustment. Every time I try to take a shortcut and just sew it as it is, I regret it. Wish me luck.

Like Me On Facebook

I finally figured out how to use the fan page on Facebook. I put it on the right sidebar so you can 'like' me on Facebook if you want to. I get asked a lot in Etsy chat for this link and up to now I've always had to say, "I'd give it to you if only I could figure out what it was." Facebook is confusing to me, and every time I think I have the hang of it, they reformat everything. I listed all five of my Etsy shops over there on Facebook.

What A Weekend

I had a fantastic weekend that included archery, juggling, singing, belly dancing, crocheting, homemade cheese, balloon animals, birthday cake and ginger cookies and 2 meals out on the town. And it wasn't even my birthday. I definitely prefer this to staying home all the time.

Me as Sapphira of Alexandria in the SCA.

Mike and Paige in their new garb.

My daily self portrait on Sat.

Storyteller True Thomas

Our cavemen try to make fire.

Guy's birthday party.

Gourds, Needle Punch and Rose Stickers

Today I had a to-do list as long as my arm so I didn't get to work on crafts much. First thing in the morning I dyed 2 gourds with the little felt cubes.  One is Sienna and the other Berry. We got the dyes at the Welburn Gourd Farm. 

With Valentine's Day coming up I've been working on a bunny holding a heart done in needle punch. I got most of it done last night and then had no time to work on it tonight. We went out to dinner for my boyfriend's birthday. Now it's just after midnight and my eyes are way too tired to be working with a sharp needle. You definitely don't want to plunge one of those into your hand.

This weekend I have creative events both days so tomorrow will be about packing and getting organized.

Oh and I just made my second sale ever on Zazzle. I sold some rose stickers!

Dragonfly Needle Punch by Fayme Harper

What Are You Thinking Goodwill?

I needed a thrift store fix and since the Salvation Army down the street moved away, I went to the fairly new Goodwill across the street.  I was hoping by now their prices would have dropped out of the stratosphere, but no such luck.  If they are selling a pair of new shoes that's never been worn, the price is about the same as me buying new ones at PayLess shoes.  Even the flip-flops were $3. and I've seen them for less than that at Walmart.  In fact one lady near me said quite loudly to her shopping companion, "At these prices I may as well get new ones at Walmart." The shop was full of shoppers, but most weren't buying anything. There was only one customer at the register ahead of me, and she appeared to be the ride for the cashier.

I did buy a Welcome sign with a rabbit on it for my front door for Year of the Rabbit. It was $5.00.  And I bought a set of 3 papier mache boxes to decorate for .99.  Probably the same price I would have paid at Michael's but I wasn't going to leave empty handed.

I know not all Goodwill's have the same price point. This one is at Beach and Lincoln in W. Anaheim. Hopefully I'll find another thrift store with thrift store prices soon.

Thought of the Day

I told them they were welcome to tag along on my creative path, but they weren't allowed to chart my course.

Crafting and Freedom

I am really protective of my creative time. It seems like people are always trying to derail me to follow their agendas. And I fight it tooth and nail. Consequently I may lose one of my sponsors, but at least I'll still have my artistic integrity. Money isn't everything (at least that's what people keep telling me). Hopefully I'll find other people who like my video tutorials, even if my sponsors don't. I'm really stressing way too much over this. It's just that I put so much time into them, it hurts to be asked to do other more popular items instead. There is more to crochet than snowflakes and angels. Sigh. I'm going to brush my teeth, take my sock monkey to bed, and hope I still have a sponsor tomorrow.  But after she reads my e-mail, I probably won't.

Cross-Stitch Embroidery

Tonight I felt like doing something crafty.  Since the embroidery bin is sitting under my computer desk I started fishing through it and found a sampler I started eons ago. So I completed the letters 'Q', 'R' and 'S' and quit halfway through 'T' when my eyes started to get tired. I'm glad I worked on an existing project because the only way I'm ever going to finish them is by working on them.

Plush Book and Needle Punch

I've been working on needle punch a lot. I finished one of an Egyptian Ankh.  Then I grabbed an old project of a girl in a red dress flying a red kite.  I'm guessing I wasn't quite done with the blue sky when I ran out of light blue thread.  I just about got that one finished last night.

Today I got to go to Art Supply Warehouse with my daughter and  son-in-law.  They bought some clay for their new pottery studio.

I bought a book featuring many plushy artists called Plush You by Kristen Rask. I love to see the variety that the plush artists are coming up with.  Everything from mutant sock monkeys to bleeding monsters.
Plenty of fuel in that book for many rainy days of crafting with scraps of fabric, felt and wool. The book has some patterns included as well, though much of it is a gallery of the works of others. For unknown reasons it was marked down to $2.99. Excellent.

I also got some sparkly watercolors and some opaque watercolors in a really nifty stack.  Hard to describe so I'll have to take a photo when I have time.

The Ugly Side of Crafts

One of the downsides of becoming better known as an artist is sometimes people get jealous or rankled. So I woke up to an email from a disgruntled artist who swears I saw one of his hats and now make hats just like his.  First off his designs are very complicated so there is no way I could just look at it on youtube and then duplicate it. I may be good but I'm not that good.  I saw a concept and ran with it.  You can't trademark a concept. I can't tell people 'look, I made an outrageous hat, so you can't make one'. He's known about me for two years, so why is he just now bringing it to my attention?  Plus I tried to send lots of business his way by mentioning him in one of my articles.  A good deed never goes unpunished I suppose.  I've had over a million hits on my Hubpage articles, so most people would be thrilled if I gave them a nod and said, 'Go see that guy, he's great." I certainly didn't mean him any harm. Two freeform hats are never exactly alike, so you can't run around saying 'you copied me.'

Belly Dance Steampunk Fusion Hipband

I had already turned off my computer and was about to go to bed when I had an idea for a crocheted steampunk style belly dancing hipband. It will have metal washers on crocheted fringe and I'm going to see if I can heat treat the washers so they'll have rainbow colors. Too late to try this tonight, but definitely soon.

Needle Punch Dragonfly

Last night I made good progress with my Needle Punch dragonfly. Today I need to trim a few spots. I'm debating on whether or not to put a coat of glue on the back. Some of the berries aren't many stitches and I sure don't want them to unravel down the road. I know I took photos of the dragonfly last night but they are not on my camera. I wonder if I grabbed my boyfriend's camera by mistake. I'll have to go search out that mystery.

It just started to sprinkle. Looks like another wet day for Anaheim.

Yarn for the New Year

Happy New Year to all my readers and followers.

I went to Michael's today in search of a better needle punch tool.  I didn't think they'd have it and they didn't. I think I saw it at JoAnne's. But since I was at Michael's anyway, I got more embroidery floss. And all the yarn was on sale, so I got some more yarn for tutorials. I got some woolease for hats, and some variegated Red Heart in bluish grays.  Then of course I had buyers remorse because I need to save up for a new phone and a printer.  I can't have my cake and eat it to. I keep swearing I'm not going to get any more craft supplies until I sell some merchandise. I bet a lot of you have that same problem. For what I spent on yarn today I could have bought the needle punch tool.