July is Racing By in Craft Land

Hello out there in craft land. I’ve been busier than a long tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs.

And my limited satellite bandwidth makes it hard to blog at all. I’m hoping to switch to something better but the company I am changing to has a 2 month wait for installing the service. Talk about a bad infrastructure out here.

Anyway, my newest project is a crocheted necklace made of flowers with 5 petals.  So far the colors are red, gray, cream and maybe I’ll add light purple.

In pottery I had a burst of creativity and made a bunch of things including little dish shapes for a rain chain, a dragon for my marionette show, a puffy box for storing paint brushes, a twisty vase for knitting needles, 2 marionette heads, 2 fairy doors and some doll faces and shoes. Holy cow I’m going to need to slow down and finish some things. I wanted to go yesterday but I coughed all night. Then I wanted to go today and woke up with a nasty migraine. Part of the slowdown is I have to give the studio staff a chance to fire everything.  There are many students now and piles of stuff to fire.

Also, I am doing embroidery on a denim apron. That is slow going because it makes my hands hurt. I need to start using a thimble (work smart not hard).  I just get lazy about it.

I also got some red bandanna fabric so I could sew an official country blouse, now that I live in the country. I haven’t decided on the pattern though. We shall see.

Now off I go to make all the things. Peace out. 

All the discs for the Rain Chain have been glazed and fired. I just need to assemble it.

Class Update

I'd like to fill up my craft classes in Lucerne Valley, CA, so here is the new information: http://pigglewiggins.com/content/arts-crafts-classes Make sure you click on the Read More button at the bottom of the paragraph. A few lucky people got to take my Right Angle Weave Earring class for free. If you missed out you can still take it, but it is now $10. a session.
Right now I'm making a waiting list for the Brick Stitch Earrings.

Right Angle Weave Earrings made from Black and Red agate beads and crystal faceted beads. 

Crafty Update

When I don't get enough sleep I don't feel like creating anything. We've had high winds which keep me awake at night. I worry about the chicks. If the power goes off the heat lamp will go off. Last night our water pump went off. I think the power blinked and flipped the breaker. But luckily the heat lamp on another circuit stayed on so the chicks were fine today. They are growing so fast! I had to build them a new brooder but did it for under $10 thanks to Pinterest.

I'm at the library so no pics. But when the first rolls around I'll have enough bandwidth to do Blogger at home.

I started a gauge square for knitted socks. The needles were too big so I got smaller needles. So I am ready to go as soon as I have a spare moment. The sock yarn is called Rusty Stripes.  Sock names are weird don't you think?

I've seen some cool home dec ideas on the Dottie Angel blog. I liked her collection of wall knick-nacks and was thinking of hanging up some mirrors when I stepped on the back of a mirror and cracked it. My cat knocked it off a pile of boxes. Naughty kitty. And he scratched me today when he flung himself into my arms. Left a 1 inch gash right through my sweater on my left arm by my elbow. He needs to be an outdoor kitty but there are too many predators out there.

Just today I had to relocate a squirrel. And I think we have feral kitties in one of our old storage buildings. So that is a whole new problem in our yard.

My library time is up in 8 minutes, so I guess I am out of here. Maybe I'll go have a peanut butter milkshake at Cafe 247. And lunch. It's already 3 PM. Bye bye.

Voodoo Doll Made With Cotton Yarn

Yesterday was my busiest craft day in a long while. I went to Fanciwerks from 10 to 5 to meet with local fiber artists. I had planned to work on 3 or 4 projects but then I got into knitting my voodoo doll and I wanted to finish it. It seems like it has been so long since I finished a knitting project. I can't believe I ran out of time! So I didn't quite get the heart in the right place. Today I had to cut it off and re-position it. But I am satisfied now.

The debate rages on as to whether (in the USA) you can buy a craft pattern, make the item and then sell it. I don't think it would be a very nice thing to do, but lately I've been reading about how it won't hold up in court. Especially if you used a different color of yarn, yadda yadda. I don't know, and I wish I could sell these but I won't. But I do have some idea for new dolls based on big head, small body.

A lot of artists are now saying why buy the pattern at all, if your hands are tied as far as selling it? Just another can of worms caused by the Internet.

Yesterday I felt like I was in an awkward position. One of the knitters had made a beautiful sweater from a pattern in a magazine. She offered to copy the  pattern and give it to all of us. She was counting hands to see who wanted it. I said I'll have to pass because of copyright issues. The rest of them said I was incorrect. Well, magazines are copyrighted last I checked, as is the pattern. Whether the designer holds the copyright or the magazine does, I'm sure someone does. Yes, even if it is an old magazine.

None of us like these rules when they are not in our favor. But as a knitwear designer, when I sell a pattern, I would want to protect my rights. And so I want to protect the rights of other artists everywhere.

After knitting, I went to Burning House and worked on my marionettes and my rain chain. I had a lovely talk with some of the people there about hypnosis and metaphysics. And I got four of my pots back that had been fired last week. So a productive day all around.

Ceramic Rain Chain

Today I started a new project I've wanted to do for awhile. It's called a rain chain and I learned about them on Pinterest. I'm making little dishes out of my white paper clay. Then they will be sorted by size and linked together with beads and chains to make a rain chain that goes from my eves to the ground. Considering the wind out here I think I'll sink it into a bucket of cement in the ground. I've never made anything like this before. I'm excited.

I'll take them to pottery class tomorrow and make some more.

Knitting in Lucerne Valley, CA

 Spring has arrived at my home in Lucerne Valley. In spite of the chickens trying to eat these daffodils when they first sprouted, they've managed to bloom.

Moonrise in Lucerne Valley CA

 I'm enjoying the perfect weather before the blasting heat of summer arrives. We have a very short spring here. And it is still winter according to the calendar. I bought a red pear tree to plant as well as 2 olive trees. The olive trees are different varieties and will cross-pollinate each other. The label promises more and better fruit if you do it that way.

I think this photo will be a good reference for a future painting.

The sunsets here are often spectacular.

Northern Lights Cowl folded in half.

 A nice knitted cowl to stave off the cold.  With much of the U.S. still covered in snow, I'm sure someone out there needs this so it is going in my Etsy shop.

Pretty cowl (neck scarf loop) to keep the chill off.

 The cowl in it's normal width.  Hand knitted in acrylic yarn. The name of the yarn is Northern Lights.

A view of Lucerne Valley, CA at sunset.

The view from my front yard.

I hope some of the Joshua trees bloom this year but I don't see any buds yet. They have huge white flowers.  They don't bloom every year and we didn't get much rain this year.

Making a Gelatin Printing Plate

I just poured my first Gelli plate for printmaking. The directions should have been simple, but there is a discrepancy between how many packets of gelatin to add to the mix. It says '7 1 oz packets' but the whole box weighs 1 oz and has 4 packets. So as per the directions I have to let it set overnight. I wanted it to be twice as thick so I will double the recipe next time. I don't have enough glycerin right now to do another batch. I made my best guess and we'll see how it turns out. Also, the new clear acrylic frame I'm using as a mold wasn't really flat on top when I opened it. It was slightly convex. So I hope it all comes out. I think that is why I've been procrastinating. The instructions are a bit ambiguous.