Part Two Steampunk Video Coming Soon

I got back on the horse and started making Part Two of my steampunk belly dancing hip band video. It seemed the universe was conspiring against me because every time I turned the camera on, either the dog upstairs would start barking, helicopters or airplanes would fly over, and gardeners would turn on their leaf blowers and lawn mowers. Half way through I made a major design change and had to start practically from scratch again.  So, instead of fighting the flow of the river, I set it aside until tomorrow.

Junk Jewelry

I've been enjoying the book Junk Jewelry by Jane Eldershaw that I checked out from the library. I was able to find some of the findings for the projects in it at Tall Mouse today in Cerritos. I also got some bass wood for carving marionettes, a book on brush stroke techniques, some beads, and a great rubber stamp in the art nouveau style. I believe it might be Artemis/Diana. I can't wait to emboss it on some cards. Tall Mouse had a 50% off sale today on everything. So tomorrow I hope to spend 8 hours on art projects, since I'm way behind. I think I'll start working on the craft tutorials for 2 hours each day, and then I won't feel so guilty working on other projects. But since it is after midnight already, I'm going to call it a night.
Happy Crafting!

Congrats to Dennis Anderson

Every day I feel like I'm on a new creative path. Yesterday it was baskets. Today it's wooden marionettes. There is so much to learn and do that it drives me half crazy.
Congrats to Dennis Anderson, who is now the #1 seller on Etsy.  He joined shortly after I did. Now he's #1 and I'm about #3,392,211.  Ah well. He makes great soap and other gourmet toiletry items. I chatted with him in Etsy chat last night and I'm so excited for him. Theblackapple has been the number one shop ever since I joined Etsy years ago. I love her shop too, but it's nice to see someone else take the baton and run with it.

Navajo Basket Weaving Book.

I bought a book at Knott's Berry Farm on Navajo basket making. The language was so archaic, I looked for the original date of publication, which was 1903. That's over a hundred years ago. What a treasure, and for under $10.00. It's a Dover publication. Those books seem to stay around forever.

Puff Stitch Crochet

I've been slacking on the exercise so today I went to Knott's to get some walking in. I also rode the train in camp Snoopy and went to see the Cameo Kate show again and went to the Mystery Lodge. When I was too tired to walk, I sat down and worked on my puff stitch crochet project. I'm still not sure how useful this stitch is going to be.  Any thoughts on the best use of the puff stitch? It's too lumpy to lay on or stand on so that leaves out baby blankets, slippers, pillows and placemats.

Crochet and Knitting Projects

I'm just about to go to the post office with my two scarves for the Special Olympics. They are going to Virginia. I'm so happy I got that goal finished. It was looking dicey for a while there.

Then I'm going to start on a new crochet tutorial. I'm thinking of a bobble puff stitch shrug.
My friend just reminded me of a knitting meeting tonight so hopefully that will renew my inspiration. I've known about the meeting for years but haven't gone. It's a long story.

Another Great Paleoplanet meeting

Staying warm on a chilly morning.

Our group has 2 new babies. This is Quincy and dad.

This is Jack and Mom

Making a longbow

Tom and Guy work on a bow.

With great delight we got to go to the Paleoplanet gathering today in Pasadena.  The day looked like it could rain at times but never did.
While there I worked on my needle punch, which people were curious about. I also worked on my peyote stitch bracelet some more. And I worked on my little whittled rooster and started making progress on the head and wattle. I practiced making the curved bits for the tail feather on a piece of scrap wood. Tom said I could keep the book, which is good because I have to constantly refer back to the directions, at least for this first one.

Most people worked on bows, which kept them warm on a chilly day. Guy had arrows to deliver as usual. He brought Chris' arrows but Chris (from Paleoarts) didn't make it up from San Diego. Maybe next time.  Tom Mills dropped by for an hour or so. He just got back from Florida. I heard that  700 flights got canceled because of bad weather so I'm glad he got back to CA without a delay.

James was there too. He got to take his mother, who is from England, to see Cher in Vegas and they even had backstage passes so they got to go backstage and talk to her.

Now that I'm home I've been working on a logo for Greenman Archery. I think we have the banner done and now I'm making one to go on stickers. I'm tired now, so I think I'll just relax and play a few computer games.

Peyote Stitch Bracelet

In an effort to keep better track of all my creative projects, I've made a list blog.  It's called Everything I Ever Made. If you are the curious sort and want to check it out then be my guest.

Yesterday I started a vibrant reddish pink beaded bracelet. I'm about halfway done with the bead weaving. I worked on it this morning and right now I'm giving my hands a rest.

Weekend Recap

I had a giant skein of white yarn that's been sitting on my desk forever and morphing into a blob of white.  So I grabbed it last night and started the magical transformation of turning it into a bunny with my crochet hook.  I got the head, body and two limbs done before I was too tired to continue on.  Good thing I stopped when I did because this morning my hands were sore.

On Sat. I was at an SCA event and worked quite a lot on my needle punch. I set up another project for anyone that wanted to test it out and my new friend Carol gave it a try and enjoyed it and took it home with her to finish.  I should have given her the rest of the red yarn to finish it with, but didn't think of it. I'll take it to the knitting meeting Tuesday night and give it to her if I remember to go. I took a lot of photos at the SCA event but I don't think I took any of the needle punch.  Leave it to me to forget the obvious.  I was more fascinated with the henna artist. I used to do henna at parties and after enjoying her work maybe I'll start up again. But for now I'm doing henna designs on wood with my woodburning tool. I have yet to photograph those.

Food Journal, Sasparilla, and Tourist Coin Charm Bracelet

Two days ago I got a composition style book, and decoupaged the front and back with food photos to make a food journal or diary. So far so good. The first day I wrote everything I ate down. The second day I couldn't find the food journal.  Now where has that silly thing gotten off to?

I did have something unusual today. I got a season's pass for Knott's Berry Farm and at the Calico Saloon I had some Sarsaparilla. 

For a long time I've wanted to make a bracelet out of those copper pennies that are stretched and then imprinted with a design at tourist spots.  Well I've hit the mother lode because Knott's has those little machines all over the place. I think I'll get one each time I go. Today I got snoopy on a heart since Valentine's day is coming up. If I can find the other ones I've bought over the years it will make a very cool charm bracelet. I know I got some in Hollywood and other spots.

More about the Special Olympics scarves

Well geewillikers, now that I have the scarves I made for the Special Olympics about ready to ship to N. California, they've already met their goal and asked to send the scarves to other areas in need.  So it looks like I might be shipping my 2 scarves to Maryland, since they are about 500 scarves short of their goal. Here is a list of states that are still accepting scarves as of now. http://www.scarvesforspecialolympics.org/states

And here is my tutorial for a loom knitted scarf if you still want to make one.
 


and


It's also a great design to use for Valentine's Day, Breast Cancer Awareness or your favorite sporting teams colors.

Plants, Crafts, and Life

I'm about to work on my Fair Isle Knitted Tam today as soon as I can get myself off the computer. What a time suck the Internet is.

I also got the rest of the gourds washed.  Most will be turned into dolls I hope. So many projects so little time. It's almost noon and I haven't even had breakfast yet.

I need to spend more time doing and less time thinking about doing. We had a cold snap last night. Neither of us have been sleeping very well. Night before last we had a windstorm that broke my donkey tail succulent that I inherited from Guy's grandmother. I was so sad about that. I repotted it the best I could, but winter is the worst time of year to transplant a succulent. Those plants are so fragile, I never repot them unless absolutely necessary. The poor thing was planted in pure sand, so it's a wonder it lived at all. But as the saying goes, if it's not broken don't fix it, so I left it the way it was.  Now I had no choice but to repot, as the clay pot had broken in half.  When I can, I'll macrame' a decent plant hanger for it. Before it had plastic hangers which become brittle with age. For all I know it's been in that pot for 20 years.

And some where in the middle of all this, I still want to paint today.  Actually I wanted to paint 3 days ago and haven't gotten around to it yet.  Oh and spinning. I'd like to do some spinning on my drop spindle.

I'm tired just thinking about all this stuff. How do people manage to get 20 things a day listed on Etsy? I just can't do it.