December 30, 2015 · 9:41 pm

Smart, she is…

That’s my tribute to Star Wars… The ring tone on my phone is also Yoda… it makes me laugh when it doesn’t surprise me and freak me out. 😮

So you’re probably wondering who the “she” in the title is – it’s my sister, Laurel. She wrote a post for BlogHer, which got me thinking about this blog.  When I first started this website/blog, I had to give a lot of thought as to its purpose.  What I came up with was using it as motivation to produce.  I used the words “guilt and shame” in my first blog entry – if you’ve told people you’re going to do something, it’s harder to let it slip away. I think Laurel’s word – accountability – puts a bit more of a positive spin on it.

Over the past 14 months, I’ve noticed a decline in my posting, and unfortunately that means two things – 1) I haven’t been producing as much, and 2) when I do produce, I’m forgetting to write about it.

I’m not a person who make resolutions – I never keep them, and who wants to feel bad about failing?  I will, however, work on this whole accountability thing, by putting a thought out there.  Something I’ve been thinking about doing, and have been putting off, is creating items and posting them to sell.  I don’t know if this website or a link to Etsy would be the route to go, but it’s something for me to start figuring out.

So, that’s me, contemplating the fresh new year.  I hope it brings you joy and contentment!

I leave you with some of my latest work, which I had a lot of fun making.  Take care all!

Wedding rings - these were intimidating to make!

Wedding rings – these were intimidating to make!

Rose quartz and sterling silver earrings.

Rose quartz and sterling silver earrings.

This pendant was in memory of a dear dog, Dasha.

This pendant was in memory of a dear dog, Dasha.

Turquoise and sterling silver bracelet - this is now a pendant.

Turquoise and sterling silver bracelet – this is now a pendant.

Lava and sterling silver pendant

Lava and sterling silver pendant

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November 22, 2015 · 8:59 pm

Let it snow!

On November 14th (I can’t believe a week has gone by already!) I taught a class at the Beehive Wool Shop on needle felted snowmen.  We had a lot of fun, many laughs, and some very pleasing snowmen were created.

Snowman Table Decor

Snowman Table Decor

There will be another workshop coming up on December 5th – we’ll be making needle felted ornaments.  Space is limited, so phone the Beehive to sign up!

Christmas ornament

Christmas ornament

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November 7, 2015 · 11:49 am

A Tacky Twisty Tree

Every year at my office, there is a fundraising campaign for The United Way and other charities.  I am one of the canvassers, and I get involved in different ways.  This year I decided to participate in the Tacky Tie contest.  We were provided with thrift stores ties, and told to go crazy.  The ties will be voted on with purchased tickets, and the two winning ties will be worn by executive.

I chose a clip-on tie so that I wouldn’t have to worry about how the tie would be tied after a lot of unbendy hot glue was attached to it.  Turns out this was a really smart move.  Here is a picture of the back of the tie (I forgot to photograph before starting to paint on the front), one with the first coat of paint, and one with the final blue (although purple sparkle was added to give the impression of a night sky).

Stages of the tie

Stages of the tie

Now the fun part… attaching all the tacky goodness.  I decided to make a tree, and one of my coworkers had the wonderful idea that I should make it three dimensional.  I used gold foil and silver pipe cleaners to build the tree, first cutting a hole in the tie for the string of lights/leaves to come through.  I found some reindeer ornaments in the dollar store, so I took one apart, and attached the two halves to the base of the tree.  I found that the gold was just too, well, gold, so I added some black paint to the “bark”.  It was a little too tiger-y, so I added some muted gold sparkle paint… Success – it became much more bark-like.

Almost done

Almost done

The reindeer weren’t standing out enough, so they got a coat of paint/sparkle as well.  Another coworker provided me with some wooden animal cutouts, so I tried to turn a rabbit into a cat… it might have turned into a squirrel.

And here is the finished product… It doesn’t bend, and could probably be used as a weapon, but it was sure a lot of fun to make!

Finished!

Finished!

Smudge was very patient through the whole process (she only tried to eat the foil once or twice, and only walked over the wet paint a few times), and was “rewarded” by being put into a Princess of Darkness costume.  I’m sure she was wishing she had misbehaved a little more if this was a reward…

Smudge, Princess of Darkness

Smudge, Princess of Darkness

 

 

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October 4, 2015 · 10:06 pm

I Procrastinate Therefore I Am…

I am all about the procrastination… anyone else the same?  I’ve been procrastinating writing about my finished needle felting because the pictures weren’t adequate.  Have I taken new pictures?  Not yet, but now I’m procrastinating on a different matter, so I’m writing about needle felting.

My last post was about a day of wet/Nuno felting.  I did one test strip, two larger pieces, and worked on a sample I had previously needle felted.  The one piece that I have completed from that day was for the annual art show at my office. Although the piece has sold, I’m hoping to take it out for an artsy photo shoot before it goes to its new home.

On that note, here is a question for fibre artists – what sort of tricks do you have to photograph your work?  I have been having a lot of trouble getting a true colour image, as well as an image that has any sort of depth.  I have tried photographing at different times of day, with direct and indirect sunlight, as well as in fluorescent lighting.

Here is the progression of “Chimerical”:

And here is the final (non-artsy) picture:

Chimerical

Chimerical

I have added some new dates for workshops on my classes page – pumpkin making is coming up later this month.  Call the Beehive Wool Shop to sign up.

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August 3, 2015 · 10:48 pm

Spiderless cobweb

Beautiful weather… low wind… a long weekend – definitely time to set up a table outside and start wet/Nuno felting.

Wet felting set-up

Wet felting set-up

I haven’t done a lot of wet or Nuno felting, so I started off with a small practice piece – I wanted to check how some of the different types and colours of roving felted and blended.  I re-read a lot of instructions, took from them what I wished and ignored the rest, so that I could see what would happen working a different way.

I was trying to achieve a cobweb type of fabric, so I was working with fairly thin bits of roving.  This piece was not on a silk chiffon base – it was only roving.

Pre-felting layout

Pre-felting layout

Once I finished placing the roving, the “fun” began… time to wet the roving, roll it up, then roll and roll until my arms and back hurt.

Bundle to roll

Bundle to roll

Here is how it turned out – see if you can find the fabric – it matches its background.

Cobweb fabric

Cobweb fabric

I also started a new project for the annual art show at my office, but that is a post for another day. 😀

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