oh i have been a bad blogger.
i have the late winter/early spring blahs.
can't wait to get out of my house and start on my garden.
I have plans to put in a micro prairie in my backyard. It'll be 4 foot by 4 foot. So when i say micro i mean.. teeny teeny tiny.
i havn't been making much lately. But i have done some craft shopping, thanks to some birthday cash that was sent my way.
So i have lots to work with.
this is my first tutorial thursday, and i have two tutorials to direct you guys towards.
over this way http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/14/bake-me-a-cake/ is a sweet free crochet cupcake pattern. It looks so yummy!
and here we have some breathtaking felt poppy directions http://wishingelephant.blogspot.com/2011/02/felt-poppy-flower-tutorial.html i want to whip up some of these for fascinators. Gotta buy some pretty felt.
and a bonus third tutorial, because i got distracted, wandered off and found something awesome. HOMEMADE GLIMMER MIST! honestly, WOOT! i love glitter and glimmer and gleam. and glimmer mist ain't cheap, and i am all about crafting on a budget, (but only because i have not won the lottery yet) and i love diy. http://estherscardcreations.blogspot.com/2011/03/homemade-glimmer-mist.html
I will be making a cupcake this weekend, and trying out the felt poppy as soon as i can get my hands on some nice felt. but i've got everything i need to attempt the glimmer mist so i'm running off to try it out right noW! i will post pictures of my results!
Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label links. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
the name game
so when i decided i wanted to take a step back from my jewelery business and start all over, i thought it would be great. i expected it to be easy and fun. it was fun, but it wasn't easy. i made every decision 2 or even 3 times. I wanted a new start to remind me of all the things i love about jewelery making.
the hardest decision was about the new name. I wanted simple, and elegant and easy. I wanted it to mean something.
the first item of jewelery i sold on esty was a charm bracelet. pressed glass beads in clear, black and both with an aurora finish. It was spaced themed, and i called it the galaxy bracelet.
one of the things i love about making jewelery is working with the wire. i love creating a necklace bit by bit by adding on the wire connectors. I like the connections and the way you can manipulate them and change a peice, all by twisting the wire a different way.
When i thought about my galaxy bracelet i felt that connection to the past. i can remember twisting the head pins, sliding them onto the chain, slipping the beads on to the wire. it mattered to me, the connection from that peice to this new beginning.
each of my peices are connected to each other, its in the way i work the wire, and string the beads. each peice forms a star in my own galaxy of jewelery that i choose to share with the world.
so come check out the stars
the hardest decision was about the new name. I wanted simple, and elegant and easy. I wanted it to mean something.
the first item of jewelery i sold on esty was a charm bracelet. pressed glass beads in clear, black and both with an aurora finish. It was spaced themed, and i called it the galaxy bracelet.
one of the things i love about making jewelery is working with the wire. i love creating a necklace bit by bit by adding on the wire connectors. I like the connections and the way you can manipulate them and change a peice, all by twisting the wire a different way.
When i thought about my galaxy bracelet i felt that connection to the past. i can remember twisting the head pins, sliding them onto the chain, slipping the beads on to the wire. it mattered to me, the connection from that peice to this new beginning.
each of my peices are connected to each other, its in the way i work the wire, and string the beads. each peice forms a star in my own galaxy of jewelery that i choose to share with the world.
so come check out the stars
Friday, January 21, 2011
things that i love
oh so today i have been lazy (don't tell!) and wandering through the blogosphere looking at pretty things and looking for idea's rather than making pretty things and having ideas.
what i found was a blog with some kick ass ideas on budgets that i am in looooooooove with. what am i talking about? dollar store craftscheck it out!
Its based in the states, so some of the items and store's don't quite match up in canada, but the ideas and tutorials go on forever. theres a few different sections on the site, 1$ and free, 5$ and under, 10$ and beyond, decor and tutorials.
the 1 dollar and free section is full of how to's for items you probably already have in your crafty stash. theres a lot of sweet little minatures in this section. and i have doll house dreams, so they make my eyes light up and glow. but with my resolution of organizing my craft room, the big winner in the section for me isthis article of three ideas for recycled craft storage.
the 5 and under section is full of coolness too, the crafts here have a bit more scope, and a bit more ooph, and theres still lots of projects with some items you probably have in your stash. i'm loving the river rock boot trays which i will totally be making for the spring and the recycled tin can candlesticks
in the 10 and beyond section the crafts have big attidue and big payoffs which for 10 bucks, is all kinds of awesome. i'm loving the big apothecary jar, which is easy and awesome and is on my to do list. i love this pottery barn inspired tile mirrow even more.
the decor section is delightful, full of easy cheap little touches for your house. this faux wrought iron wall art projects are so cool. and from a source i never would have thought of. and this stained glass project is glorious.
so if you havn't fallen in love with something i just posted, then you need to get off your butt, head over to dollar store crafts and see the rest!
what i found was a blog with some kick ass ideas on budgets that i am in looooooooove with. what am i talking about? dollar store craftscheck it out!
Its based in the states, so some of the items and store's don't quite match up in canada, but the ideas and tutorials go on forever. theres a few different sections on the site, 1$ and free, 5$ and under, 10$ and beyond, decor and tutorials.
the 1 dollar and free section is full of how to's for items you probably already have in your crafty stash. theres a lot of sweet little minatures in this section. and i have doll house dreams, so they make my eyes light up and glow. but with my resolution of organizing my craft room, the big winner in the section for me isthis article of three ideas for recycled craft storage.
the 5 and under section is full of coolness too, the crafts here have a bit more scope, and a bit more ooph, and theres still lots of projects with some items you probably have in your stash. i'm loving the river rock boot trays which i will totally be making for the spring and the recycled tin can candlesticks
in the 10 and beyond section the crafts have big attidue and big payoffs which for 10 bucks, is all kinds of awesome. i'm loving the big apothecary jar, which is easy and awesome and is on my to do list. i love this pottery barn inspired tile mirrow even more.
the decor section is delightful, full of easy cheap little touches for your house. this faux wrought iron wall art projects are so cool. and from a source i never would have thought of. and this stained glass project is glorious.
so if you havn't fallen in love with something i just posted, then you need to get off your butt, head over to dollar store crafts and see the rest!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
oh man i am totally stoked about this blog post! today i am very very lucky and excited to share an interview with dyeing for ewe.
Dyeing for you is an amazing little business of hand spun yarn, and hand dyed fiber for spinning. Dyeing for you is an amazing crafter and once you see the wool, you will totally agree that they are an artist.
Dyeing for you is also phenominally funny and smart, and you can swing by the blog to check it out over this way
I gave Dyeing for Ewe 6 questions and was delighted when she got a little rambly on me. More awesome to share!
1. you make some amazing colors and great colorways, do you use any tools like colorwheels when you are deciding what colors to use?
-Thank-you so much! I started using online colour programs, and then got quickly frustrated. I needed something in my hands to mix, match and play with so I started dyeing up mini test strips of colours and blends of colours. Now I have hundreds of tiny colour bits of yarn and when I'm having issues with inspiration I pull them out and mix and match. They all have little labels on them so I can recall how I created that particular shade. They're also great for colour mixing tests. I like to add little bits of this and that to customize shades to make them mine.
2. what inspires you to keep crafting?
-It's a really selfish inspiration to be honest. I just want to play with fiber. Whether it's spinning, dyeing etc. I find my happy place when I'm playing with colour and fiber. It keeps me sane and centers me, but it's also incredibly fun at the same time. I've always know I'm the artsy fartsy need to create type, but I struggled to find my medium for years flitting from one thing to the next- when I found fiber arts it was like the sky opened up and an angel chorus started to sing and I knew I wanted to do this every day. I'm lucky that my shop allows me to do that.
3. whats one orginizational tool that you can not do with out?
-My dyeing notebook. Hands down, single most helpful organisational tool. I write down inspirations, colour mixes, name options and every single braid I dye with what mixes and application technique on which fiber I used. If I lost that book I'd pretty much have to start all over. You'd think it would be easy to remember some of the colourways but sometimes there are colours in the mix that would surprise you, and me sometimes.
4. tell us about your favorite part of dying wool?
- I'm hugely tactile and love just touching it. Soft wool, coarse wool, hairy wool and smooth wool. It's all lovely to me. Also because it's always an unknown, no matter how much I think I can control things. I can dye something a dozen times and it never looks exactly the same. I do small batch and one off dyeing, and that is what I really love about the process. I can re-do a colourway, but because it's one at a time they're always different. Wool is such a wonderful medium for that process and even after the dyeing you can individualize what you do with it by how you spin/felt how you draft and what spin technique you use. That's why I prefer to dye roving/top in particular. It just has so many more options.
5. can you tell us about something that frustrated you in the beginning, but now is a triumph?
-Dyeing related? Finding my own technique, beyond what you learn in dye books and the like. I needed to have something that looked unique in order to feel comfortable. I know some make a great living (more than me for certain) doing certain techniques and the same colourways over and over. That is awesome and I highly applaud them. But I really needed something that made me feel like I was doing something different. I'm not pretending to be anything new, mind you. I just found something that works for me and maybe makes people look twice before being able to figure out how I did it, you know?
Business wise? Breaking into etsy. It's such a huge site and I was convinced I'd put some items up, no one would ever buy a single thing and I'd get lost amongst the crowd. I'm hugely self conscious about my dyeing that way. So when people started responding positively I just.. have no words for how wonderful everyone has been. I'm hopeful to make this a full-time job one day, but my slow and steady progress has been absolutely awesome for me.
6. whats the something customers say to you that you love?
Gosh. Anything positive, or constructive criticism that allows me to better my dyeing. I'm a super insecure flaky artist type at times, and some days I dorkily read my feedback to remind myself that I don't completely suck. I'm not sure I'm supposed to admit that though. Appearing 100% confident and cocky just isn't my style though lol. Truly, I appreciate the kind words from friends and customers, or even just people who happened upon my little corner of etsy and favorited an item or sent me a message. The words mean more than sales, although sales are what enable me to keep dyeing so they're super swell as well.
Dyeing for ewe has a fantastic selection of colorways, some of which are themed after dr who, some of which are world of war craft themed, all of them are awesome. I can not say how much I covet their fiber. (relatives out there, my birthday is coming up, pay attention to that statement!) For those non spinners out there they also offers hand spun yarn that is spun up out of the lovely colorways and there is nothing like working with beautiful handspun.
head on over tothe store to check out the prettyness and to fill your fiber and yarn needs. You know you want to.
Dyeing for you is an amazing little business of hand spun yarn, and hand dyed fiber for spinning. Dyeing for you is an amazing crafter and once you see the wool, you will totally agree that they are an artist.
Dyeing for you is also phenominally funny and smart, and you can swing by the blog to check it out over this way
I gave Dyeing for Ewe 6 questions and was delighted when she got a little rambly on me. More awesome to share!
1. you make some amazing colors and great colorways, do you use any tools like colorwheels when you are deciding what colors to use?
-Thank-you so much! I started using online colour programs, and then got quickly frustrated. I needed something in my hands to mix, match and play with so I started dyeing up mini test strips of colours and blends of colours. Now I have hundreds of tiny colour bits of yarn and when I'm having issues with inspiration I pull them out and mix and match. They all have little labels on them so I can recall how I created that particular shade. They're also great for colour mixing tests. I like to add little bits of this and that to customize shades to make them mine.
2. what inspires you to keep crafting?
-It's a really selfish inspiration to be honest. I just want to play with fiber. Whether it's spinning, dyeing etc. I find my happy place when I'm playing with colour and fiber. It keeps me sane and centers me, but it's also incredibly fun at the same time. I've always know I'm the artsy fartsy need to create type, but I struggled to find my medium for years flitting from one thing to the next- when I found fiber arts it was like the sky opened up and an angel chorus started to sing and I knew I wanted to do this every day. I'm lucky that my shop allows me to do that.
3. whats one orginizational tool that you can not do with out?
-My dyeing notebook. Hands down, single most helpful organisational tool. I write down inspirations, colour mixes, name options and every single braid I dye with what mixes and application technique on which fiber I used. If I lost that book I'd pretty much have to start all over. You'd think it would be easy to remember some of the colourways but sometimes there are colours in the mix that would surprise you, and me sometimes.
4. tell us about your favorite part of dying wool?
- I'm hugely tactile and love just touching it. Soft wool, coarse wool, hairy wool and smooth wool. It's all lovely to me. Also because it's always an unknown, no matter how much I think I can control things. I can dye something a dozen times and it never looks exactly the same. I do small batch and one off dyeing, and that is what I really love about the process. I can re-do a colourway, but because it's one at a time they're always different. Wool is such a wonderful medium for that process and even after the dyeing you can individualize what you do with it by how you spin/felt how you draft and what spin technique you use. That's why I prefer to dye roving/top in particular. It just has so many more options.
5. can you tell us about something that frustrated you in the beginning, but now is a triumph?
-Dyeing related? Finding my own technique, beyond what you learn in dye books and the like. I needed to have something that looked unique in order to feel comfortable. I know some make a great living (more than me for certain) doing certain techniques and the same colourways over and over. That is awesome and I highly applaud them. But I really needed something that made me feel like I was doing something different. I'm not pretending to be anything new, mind you. I just found something that works for me and maybe makes people look twice before being able to figure out how I did it, you know?
Business wise? Breaking into etsy. It's such a huge site and I was convinced I'd put some items up, no one would ever buy a single thing and I'd get lost amongst the crowd. I'm hugely self conscious about my dyeing that way. So when people started responding positively I just.. have no words for how wonderful everyone has been. I'm hopeful to make this a full-time job one day, but my slow and steady progress has been absolutely awesome for me.
6. whats the something customers say to you that you love?
Gosh. Anything positive, or constructive criticism that allows me to better my dyeing. I'm a super insecure flaky artist type at times, and some days I dorkily read my feedback to remind myself that I don't completely suck. I'm not sure I'm supposed to admit that though. Appearing 100% confident and cocky just isn't my style though lol. Truly, I appreciate the kind words from friends and customers, or even just people who happened upon my little corner of etsy and favorited an item or sent me a message. The words mean more than sales, although sales are what enable me to keep dyeing so they're super swell as well.
Dyeing for ewe has a fantastic selection of colorways, some of which are themed after dr who, some of which are world of war craft themed, all of them are awesome. I can not say how much I covet their fiber. (relatives out there, my birthday is coming up, pay attention to that statement!) For those non spinners out there they also offers hand spun yarn that is spun up out of the lovely colorways and there is nothing like working with beautiful handspun.
head on over tothe store to check out the prettyness and to fill your fiber and yarn needs. You know you want to.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
who got crafts for christmas?
oh i did! i got loads of crafts for christmas!!
my biggest haul is a set of fiskars special effect scissors, which are awesome.
i got two hanks of faux pearls, one in brown and one in blue-black, and i have many projects for them. i just love pearls, real and fake. they make me happy.
in my stocking i got some scrapping ink, which was followed by three other ink pads, plus i got two mat stacks, one in pastels (green-blue-purple-pink) and one in neutrals (white-cream-beige-brown). i'm already dreaming about scrap booking with them. the ink colors i got were peach, teal and purple.
then i'm taking today to clean the house and do some crafting. i'm working on a shrug with crazed octopus cables, and i want to do at least one scrapbooking page with my christmas goodies.
and if you didn't get any crafting presents, i suggest you pick some up. if you like yarn and fiber head over to dyeing for ewe for info on the boxing day sale or you can also head over tofateful fiber to check out some sweet handspun
my biggest haul is a set of fiskars special effect scissors, which are awesome.
i got two hanks of faux pearls, one in brown and one in blue-black, and i have many projects for them. i just love pearls, real and fake. they make me happy.
in my stocking i got some scrapping ink, which was followed by three other ink pads, plus i got two mat stacks, one in pastels (green-blue-purple-pink) and one in neutrals (white-cream-beige-brown). i'm already dreaming about scrap booking with them. the ink colors i got were peach, teal and purple.
then i'm taking today to clean the house and do some crafting. i'm working on a shrug with crazed octopus cables, and i want to do at least one scrapbooking page with my christmas goodies.
and if you didn't get any crafting presents, i suggest you pick some up. if you like yarn and fiber head over to dyeing for ewe for info on the boxing day sale or you can also head over tofateful fiber to check out some sweet handspun
Sunday, December 5, 2010
fantastic not friday features
so as i was soundly beaten by bloggers picture inserting thing, and forgot that there was a preview button. what i got was a post with pictures, but the text was not where i wanted it and defeated, i deleted.
but i'm back with a html cheat sheet, some resized images and now this should work.
when i got to etsy and the ring section, i was a little blown away. there are 19 sections of rings. so with my eyes the size of tea cups i went a little crazy. i have five amazing rings for ya'll to look at, and my are they pretty.
this ring expanded my horizons. when i thought ring, i never thought crocheted or fiber would ever be involved. check out the full view to see an amazing creation over on etsy
this ring was more of what i was expecting to feauture. I love the idea of casting twigs and making jewellery out of nature. and a rose twig ring is awesomely romantic. see the whole ring in its knobby natural beauty.
this ring was also not something i would have thought of. silk and silver just didn't seem right when it came to rings. but this ruffled delight is awesome. just look at it, don't you want one?
i don't like yellow. i don't. but i want this ring. i want one for ever finger and one of every toe. this ring is adorable. its made of felt and acrylic, and screams summer and flight.
this is a bit more what i was thinking i'd be showing, a fantastic wire wrapped ring. its so steampunk it looks like it crawled off a switch board and wrapped itself around your finger. check the whole thing out
so for my first set of features i learned that my preconceptions about rings were ... definitly wrong. and i'm pretty pleased by it. next week i'm gonna keep expanding my conceptions by trying to feature 5 wire wrapped rings, from simple to complex.
all images belong to original owners, they are reposted here in admiration only.
but i'm back with a html cheat sheet, some resized images and now this should work.
when i got to etsy and the ring section, i was a little blown away. there are 19 sections of rings. so with my eyes the size of tea cups i went a little crazy. i have five amazing rings for ya'll to look at, and my are they pretty.
this ring expanded my horizons. when i thought ring, i never thought crocheted or fiber would ever be involved. check out the full view to see an amazing creation over on etsy
this ring was more of what i was expecting to feauture. I love the idea of casting twigs and making jewellery out of nature. and a rose twig ring is awesomely romantic. see the whole ring in its knobby natural beauty. 
this ring was also not something i would have thought of. silk and silver just didn't seem right when it came to rings. but this ruffled delight is awesome. just look at it, don't you want one?
i don't like yellow. i don't. but i want this ring. i want one for ever finger and one of every toe. this ring is adorable. its made of felt and acrylic, and screams summer and flight.
this is a bit more what i was thinking i'd be showing, a fantastic wire wrapped ring. its so steampunk it looks like it crawled off a switch board and wrapped itself around your finger. check the whole thing outso for my first set of features i learned that my preconceptions about rings were ... definitly wrong. and i'm pretty pleased by it. next week i'm gonna keep expanding my conceptions by trying to feature 5 wire wrapped rings, from simple to complex.
all images belong to original owners, they are reposted here in admiration only.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
stuff i love
the internet is full of amazing things.
these are my favs
craftgawker is an amazing site, where you go and see hundreds of pictures of crafts people have made, all the images are also links. there are so many amazing craftspeople online, this website will show a fraction of them, but it is all glorious and gorgeous,
craftser is a great forum site for anything you can craft, you can find discussion, tutorials and some amazing items here. best of all, they have a separate business forum, and don`t allow selling posts in the general forums. because sometimes you just wanna look at stuff.
firemountain gems is where i love to buy my beads. looooooooove to shop here. i try to avoid it when i`m not shopping, because everytime i go there, no matter what i`m supposed to be doing, i end up with an order. i love them because the more items you get, the less they cost.
craftzine is full of awesome. half a billion different projects, tutorials and recipies.
knitty is an awesome knitting zine. The patterns they post are all so lovely. some of the stuff posted here is actually what inspired me to pick up some knitting needles.
crochet me is a great crochet zine. they`ve become a little heavy on the ads though, which is why they are only great. some awesome patterns though and their printed affiliate is also great.
these are my favs
craftgawker is an amazing site, where you go and see hundreds of pictures of crafts people have made, all the images are also links. there are so many amazing craftspeople online, this website will show a fraction of them, but it is all glorious and gorgeous,
craftser is a great forum site for anything you can craft, you can find discussion, tutorials and some amazing items here. best of all, they have a separate business forum, and don`t allow selling posts in the general forums. because sometimes you just wanna look at stuff.
firemountain gems is where i love to buy my beads. looooooooove to shop here. i try to avoid it when i`m not shopping, because everytime i go there, no matter what i`m supposed to be doing, i end up with an order. i love them because the more items you get, the less they cost.
craftzine is full of awesome. half a billion different projects, tutorials and recipies.
knitty is an awesome knitting zine. The patterns they post are all so lovely. some of the stuff posted here is actually what inspired me to pick up some knitting needles.
crochet me is a great crochet zine. they`ve become a little heavy on the ads though, which is why they are only great. some awesome patterns though and their printed affiliate is also great.
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