Category Archives: Artsy-Craftsy

February 5, 2015 · 9:54 pm

Spring has sprung…

Or at least it’s trying to… the rains are starting to bring out some lovely flowers. I was so excited to see cherry blossoms the other day – one of my favourites. Interested in surrounding yourself with flowers? A new class has been scheduled at the Beehive Wool Shop so you can learn how to create your own needle felted Spring flower.

If interested, contact the Beehive to sign up for the class on March 21, from 10:30-12:30. Class space is limited, so sign up today!

Needle felted flower

This class is now full. A second workshop has been scheduled for April 18, 2015.

So excited!

Photos… GOOD photos are so important, and I think they are something that many artists struggle with… I know that I certainly do!

I’ve been reading blogs for tips on building a light box/white box so that photos can be consistent in terms of lighting and quality. I found several using a large cardboard box that would probably have worked well, however there is the problem of storage. I’m quite sure that Smudge (aka the Princess of Darkness aka the cat who is more than happy to “help” with any crafty endeavour) would be thrilled to have a new cardboard box to destroy, er, play with, but that defeats the whole pristine photo environment.

Periodically I check on UsedVictoria.com for those hard to find items, and, as often happens, they came through! I found a portable studio and lighting kit – it has its own lights incorporated into it, and it folds up into a large briefcase-like case. It is the dearest thing! I haven’t taken photos of it or in it yet, but hopefully will do so over the next few days. Stay tuned for some (hopefully!) professional-ish portfolio shots. Fingers crossed!

Smudge in a box

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Tagged as Photos, Smudge

December 6, 2014 · 11:25 pm

Roving, roving, everywhere roving…

Today was the first of two Christmas ornament workshops (still room in the second workshop on December 13th – see the Classes page for more details) – it was a lot of fun… a great bunch of students making some pretty fabulous ornaments!

Table decor

The snowman likes chocolate…

Last night, after I had put together all the material for the class, I decided to make one last ornament. Smudge decided she had been ignored and shooed away quite enough, so she decided to “help”. Sigh…

Smudge “helping”

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Filed under Artsy-Craftsy, Classes, Fibre Arts

Tagged as Christmas, Needle felting, Ornaments, Smudge

November 24, 2014 · 1:26 pm

A Twisted Tree

‘Tis the season of craft sales… what fun! I went to two this weekend – they were overwhelming, but I picked up several wee gifties and stocking stuffers. I did find a little treat for myself as well… odd how that seems to happen! This is my lovely new ornament/all year around piece of fabulousness… a twisty tree!

Tree of Life

The artist is Sharen Johnston of Glass Quirks. I had seen her work before and loved it… I’m glad to have a piece of my own! There is a tree on both sides of the disc, so when the light shines through, there is a real feeling of depth. She had a selection of colours and sizes, but deep red… one of my favourites… Yummy!

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Tagged as glass

November 17, 2014 · 9:44 pm

Everything’s coming up sparkles!

Everything in my world is sparkly right now… the floor, the counter, me, the cat… It’s a little bit crazy! But I’ve had a lot of fun working on the tree. The clay that I added cracked a bit while it dried, but instead of filling it in with more clay, I went the route of loading the tree up with paint, gloss and sparkles. Then I sprinkled more sparkles on it. Sensing a theme? Some of the cracks still show, but that’s what twisty lighting is for. Now I guess I need to make more ornaments for it…