Knitting and Crocheting Made Monday Go By Fast

Today I decided to make a day-in-the-life style video for Vloggerheads. The day is not over so I'm still working on it. My camera batteries are about to die too.

On the way to Apple Valley I worked on the orange toddler dress I'm knitting. I can't decide if I want to make it striped, or make it all orange and then use duplicate stitch to make it look like a jack-o-lantern.

Then tonight in the last bits of sunlight, I worked on my grey free-style crochet necklace. Honestly I think I have enough bits to do the necklace already, but it is just so much fun making the little parts, I can't seem to stop. I need to find a flat surface somewhere to lay it all out and figure out how to turn it into a statement necklace.  And I have yet to sew the faux pearls and beads to it. I was going to start the beadwork tonight but once again I've managed to lose the beading needles. I didn't want to waste the last 30 minutes of sunlight looking for a needle.

Dinner is in the oven and I'm kinda dragging, so I'm just going to sit here and blog and update my Twitter and such.

Please leave comments. Otherwise I feel like I'm kinda wasting my time here.

A two dimensional crocheted flower

Exploring paisley shapes.

Pink Resin Flower Hippy Chic Boho Necklace

I just finished a cheery little asymmetrical necklace with a pink resin flower by Blue Moon Beads, rainbow hemp, dark green lamp-work beads, a vintage turquoise colored button and a rectangular charm. The clasp is a vintage spherical wooden button and hemp loop. The flower really catches the light.

Crochet Tutorials for Halloween and My Gourd Water Bottle

Today I made not one, but two crochet tutorial videos. Unfortunately the company I made them for is also closed on Friday until next week for the holiday, so I can't post them until they get back to their desks. I never had to wait for someone to approve my videos before. This is going to take some getting used to. Anyway, one is for a Halloween bracelet and the other is for a Halloween necklace. I'll post the link here once they give me the go ahead.

After I had that wrapped up I finally got to work on my weaving using a technique called 'looping'. I cleaned out a bottle sized gourd, and got the guts out. It's going to be a water bottle. I'm covering the surface with linen 'looping', which will make it look artistic, and give it a grip for when it's full of water.  Gourds are natural insulators and will keep water cool while hiking. But they are also light weight which makes them perfect vessels for hauling along on archery quests. I think this is the first time I tried to make a water bottle.  My friends already made theirs long ago.

Turquoise Necklace and Earrings

This afternoon I made a turquoise necklace and matching earrings. I saw some earrings at a PowWow but since I had no money on me I thought I'd see if I could just make some. And I'd recently seen my turquoise container. I just wasn't sure where it had gotten off too. But luckily it was in the 2nd bead bin I opened. I found some glittery black beads and some silver beads to nestle between the turquoise chips. I'll share the photo tomorrow. This pair I made for myself, but I could always make one for my Etsy shop if one of you just has to have it.

Spiral Necklace

I fell in love with these glass spiral focal beads. Being a hypnotist, I have a thing for spirals. I just listed it in my Etsy shop last night. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=39468335 I know I have a red one somewhere too. I'm not sure if it's on a half finished necklace somewhere. My beads need organizing. I was talking to Matt Nix of Nix creations last night. He has something like 38,000 followers on Twitter. I wish I did. I don't think I have even 1000.  Do you twitter? I think my follow twitter button is over in the side bar if you want to follow me.

I've also been knitting a pixie hat in maize colored yarn with little baby blue and white flowers. I should have that done soon. This Sunday is our stitch-n-bitch in Fountain Valley CA, so if I don't get it finished before then I'll take it to that.

Back to Crafting Today

I was so busy at the archery range yesterday that I never got around to doing any beadwork. I was way out of my comfort zone trying to straighten 12 foot long reed shafts over some Sterno for my atlatl darts. Then Sal and Guy helped me finish my berimbau. The wire under tension on that thing is a little scary. Diane sat next to me all day making beaded necklaces, so I was seriously wanting to drop everything and do some beading but I ran out of daylight before I ran out of projects. So today I already started a necklace with black seed beads and colorful glass tube beads.  I'm about done with the beading but stopped for lunch. But I need balance in my life, which means getting some exercise, so I'm about to walk to the grocery store. Hopefully I'll get back to my necklace later this afternoon.

Crocheted Scarflette/Necklace

I spent most of today making a crocheted necklace, working on a trellis scarf and sorting through random bags of yarn and projects trying to bring some order to the process. I have two other crochet blogs if you want more details on the craft of crochet. It's tedious to put links in every single post. Just know that you can find my other blogs all listed on my profile page. Many of them have only a follower or two so be sure to follow the ones that might be useful or entertaining to you.

I've noticed it's the trend now to have lots of blog give-aways and gimmicks, and reviews about endless artisans, but I am trying to veer far from that and keep my blog on track. I hope people come here to see my creations or get some tips. I don't want to dilute it with a bunch of other nonsense. Plus I want to make as much one of a kind art as I can before I die, and so many things take big chunks out of that rare creative time.

Two New Necklaces

It stopped raining long enough for me to take photos of my 2 new beaded necklaces and list them on Etsy. I still need to put a clear spray coating on the black gourd to keep if from getting scratched but I want to let it dry overnight first, unless it gets really warm out today, and for all I know it may be raining again in 20 minutes.

When I took a wardrobe class they talked about putting together different looks and one of them was called 'Sophisticated Gypsy'. To get the look you wear a solid colored dress in a simple design and then accessorize it with a necklace like these to draw the eyes of onlookers upwards to your face. Thus it's a look any woman can wear. It's most effective if your stockings and shoes match your dress, giving you a longer line, or wear tan stockings and shoes with a colored dress.

So I thought it would be appropriate to name my listing Sophisticated Gypsy.

If you've had your colors done you'll know whether you look best in cool colors (Winter and Summer) or warm colors (Spring and Autumn). So I made one necklace in each.

Making Paper Beads

Today I'm working on a necklace made from paper bead triangles. This is truly the poor man's craft. All you need is leftover giftwrap or magazine pages, a glue stick or glue, and some kind of protective finish like Modpodge or white glue thinned with water or acrylic glazing medium or clear acrylic spray. I use a bamboo skewer to roll mine, but you can also do it with just your fingers. If you already do crafts like scrapbooking you probably have all those on hand anyway. Homeschoolers, this would be a good craft for your kids too, ages 7 and up maybe.

I know one artist on Etsy that even makes purses with these. To add variety you can add other round beads between each rolled bead. Here's your chance to incorporate those polymer or bread dough or rose beads you've made.

Spiral Necklace

I just finished a beaded necklace with white confetti lamp glass beads and shiny black beads and blue seedbeads and a blue spiral glass focal. Too tired to take photos now but hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow.

Beading

I was busy covering a gourd with beads when I got an idea for an autumn inspired necklace and started working on that instead. Nothing like changing horses in midstream. I'll do the photos tomorrow. It's already after midnight here in S. Calif. And I so need my beauty sleep.

Crafting under the trees.

Today while everyone traisped up the hill for the archery shoot, I stayed behind and worked on a beaded five strand necklace that I've dubbed the "Confetti Necklace" and I started working on a bubblegum Norkel.
Things got a little exciting when I went to crimp my bead, and the crimper blade broke off! I'm definitely going to take those back to the store and see if they'll exchange them. It was a pleasant day for outdoor crafts. Should I feel guilty that other parts of the USA are still deep in snow?