Picky Chicky's Art & Craft Blog

Leaves in all colors!

2012-01-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

I finished lots more batches of leaf coasters and have posted them to etsy...go take a look!

Brown, Tan, and Ochre Leaf Coasters

Leaf Coasters in Shades of Blue

Burgundy and Brown Leaf Coasters

Gray and Black Leaf Coasters

Any other ideas for color combos?

New etsy listings: felt flower and leaf cuffs

2012-01-02T17:57:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone! The past few days have been...uh...somewhat productive. Haha, I spent a lot of time reading books and watching HGTV instead of doing anything useful. Sometimes you gotta relax and do nothing though, right?

Today I did manage to get the new cuffs up on etsy!

Felt Flower Cuff Bracelet in Purple and Lavender

Felt Flower Cuff in Red, Black, and White

Felt Leaf Cuff in shades of green

Felt Flower Cuff in Blue and Turquoise

Happy holidays and new felt cuff bracelets

2011-12-24T15:19:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely holiday weekend! Being sick and sitting around has been at least somewhat productive...I finished six more felt cuffs and have more in the works (as well as some more sets of felt leaf coasters).

Trying to come up with some new color combos for my next bunch...any thoughts?

Now at Love and Glitter!

2011-11-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hooray! My accessories are now available for sale at Love and Glitter on Main Street in historic Ellicott City. It's a great place to start some of your holiday shopping and find unique, handmade gifts.

Some of the pieces for sale there include my felt leaf coasters, decoupage frames, owl pins, flower barrettes, felt purses, and floral cuff bracelets. Please make sure to stop by and check out all of the cool handmade stuff in this lovely shop!

While I was there, I bought a couple of these fabulous pendants...and they have a variety of necklace chains and ribbons to pick from. What fun!

Fall inspiration: apple picking!

2011-10-10T17:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I spent a fantastic afternoon picking apples at Larriland Farm in MD. What a great autumn activity!

Stayman and Braeburn apples were available to pick yourself...and yes, I did get on a ladder. Other types of apples (Golden Delicious, Jonagold, etc.) from local MD orchards were available in bins as well.

I was inspired to create something apple-related so I started work on an applique purse.

I'm keeping the stitching minimal on this one to emphasize the apple's shape and color. So cute!

My next creation? Some delicious apple crisp or pie to use up the bag of fruit I bought!

Fall is here...and projects in progress

2011-10-02T09:53:00.000-04:00

Yay fall! The leaves are just starting to change and it's getting cooler finally (man I hate the heat). Other things to love about fall:

Boots weather! I can finally wear all the awesome boots I bought this year.
Halloween. Jenny and I purchased some crazy costumes online so we can at last go as ABBA...although I'm not sure if we'll get any guys to agree to dressing up as Bjorn or Benny...
Candy corn season! I always forget how much I love candy corn until it hits the stores again in the fall. Along with some coworkers, I ate a whole bag of candy corn this week and it was delicious!

This inspired me to finally start on a project I'd had in mind for at least a year--a candy corn purse.. Here's the purse in progress...I decided to go with a variety of candy sizes.

Picking out the fabric for the lining should also be interesting. I'm thinking either a black/white print or something with both yellow and orange. I want to finish it this week to have it in my shop for Halloween.

I finished my second felt cockatiel softie in time for Bill and Allison's wedding a few weeks ago...

This one presented a little more of a challenge as I was trying to make it look like a pearl cockatiel. I used sticky felt to make the white spots on the back.

I also managed to stitch a bunch of new pins this week (while watching lots of bad tv, of course--current favorites are Say Yes to the Dress, What Not to Wear, and Millionaire Matchmaker).

I should have the new pins available in my etsy shop shortly!

Not-so-simple Simplicity Christening gown

2011-06-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

On Monday, Kate and I decided we should attempt to make our own christening gown for her newborn, Isaac. We had searched a bunch of thrift stores and consignment shops with no luck, and most of the gowns were ridiculously frilly (not to mention overpriced).

Neither of us has ever made a christening gown, but we figured it couldn't be too complicated, right? Kate found a Simplicity pattern and we used the sleeveless "slip" part of the pattern to make a simple gown.

I was NOT a fan of the instructions in the pattern. Lots of ambiguity and confusion. I ended up doing my own thing about halfway because there was so much cursing about the directions.

We did find some cute lace and other trim in my ribbon stash so I hand-stitched those on as an accent. Overall, it came out pretty decent. If I had to do this again, I'd use a simpler cotton fabric for the gown though...the stuff we used was stretchy and somewhat annoying.

And here's baby Isaac, tired from all the crafting...

aww...

Meditations on moving

2011-06-15T16:52:00.000-04:00

Yes, I have in fact noticed that I haven't posted anything in about a month. I have an excuse! I was moving! Haha...I know the move didn't take a full month (most of it was done in two days) but between the packing, unpacking, cleaning, perfectionist lining of my kitchen cabinets, organizing, and getting rid of stuff, it's been super busy.

My thoughts on moving:

1) It will always take you at least 50% longer than you think, and you have at least 50% more stuff than you think. Yeah, I had no idea I'd be packing 100 boxes. (And now unpacking them...)
2) Friends are awesome! I used movers for my furniture, but my friends helped by providing boxes, packing boxes, moving stuff, unpacking my shoes and clothes, and organizing my movie collection. (Jyoti did this last task and she made categories such as "movies I like" and "things with non-humans." haha). My friends also supplied me with so much bubble wrap and packing paper that I didn't need to buy any, even with my extensive dish collection.
3) Start early. Man, I was still packing boxes when the movers arrived. I should have started waaaayyy earlier.
4) Unpacking is at least more amusing than packing. I keep finding things I packed and thinking, "What IS that?" and "Why did I keep it?" and "What was I thinking when I purchased it?" Case in point--the wooden pirate ship wheel pictured above. Where the heck am I going to put that?
5) Make lists! I had a list of my boxes, which ended up being not that necessary...but I could see how with a larger home or several people it would be important. However, my moving list of all the places I needed to change my address was crucial!
6) Moving in the summer stinks. Almost all of my past moves have been in the summer and even if it's not awful outside, I always end up lying on the floor somewhere thinking "ughhhhhhhh I'm gonna pass out."
7) Remember to drink water and eat! I was way behind on the day of the move and forgot to eat lunch. Luckily there was a Chipwich in the fridge in my old place so I devoured that :)

Overall, I have to say the move went really smoothly though. And I love the new place! Even if it does still resemble Boxland a little bit.

May Craft Blog Giveaway Winner

2011-05-17T21:20:00.000-04:00

Yay! The winner of my giveaway for the Pink Leaves Felt Cuff Bracelet is:
MommyWantsToRead

Thank you to everyone for entering! Have a great day :)

May Craft Blog Giveaway: Pink Leaf Cuff Bracelet!

2011-05-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday everyone!

I know it's been a while since I did a giveaway so here it is! My May giveaway is for one of my new felt cuffs--this one with lovely pink leaves. I made this piece while at a craft fair last week in an attempt to brighten the dreary gray day.

I hand-stitched this bracelet out of two layers of recycled felt, with a bright pink ribbon sandwiched in between. This cuff will fit most size wrists and is quite sturdy.

It's super easy...just leave a comment on this post below including your email address. So enter below and get yourself a free piece of my hand-stitched felt jewelry!

You can leave your email address in this format if you like: pickychickybird AT gmail DOT com, just to avoid spam.

Last day to enter is Monday, May 16th...I'll announce the winner here on my blog the following day, so stay posted!

A few more pics of the prize:

Good luck to all my giveaway enthusiasts!

New Felt Cuff Bracelets and Hobo Craft Fair Recap

2011-05-05T11:28:00.000-04:00

I was playing around with my felt the other day and came up with this new blue/cream/peach color combination--I love how it looks on the felt cuff bracelets!

These would look awesome with jeans, or as the "something blue" in a bridal ensemble. I made the one on the blue ribbon with a long ribbon so that it could also be worn as a headband. I love the way they look together as a set.

In other news, the hobo craft fair on Sunday was not too hobo-y...until it started raining at 2pm. The rain wasn't going anywhere, so I packed up shortly after that. The morning was pretty good though--good temperature, nice people, decent traffic.

Some of my new crafty items out on display.

Lots of pins and barrettes!

People seemed to really like the MOO business cards I had available--they're really pretty and a great way to show lots of your different projects. Plus, they're inexpensive and super easy to make. I think I have only one left--time for another order!

Getting ready for craft fair--and spring flower cuffs!

2011-04-30T17:19:00.000-04:00

Reminder--tomorrow is the Riverdale Park Arts Festival! Please stop by and see me if you're in the area...it's from 11am to 6pm. I make no guarantees as to the hobo-ness this year though :)

I'm currently packing up for the fair and just finished a new batch of my flower felt cuffs for spring!

Happy spring everyone!

Decoupage frenzy! Baskets, plaques, and boxes

2011-04-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

I spent most of the day yesterday working on additional decoupage projects. Here are the ones I finished!

Close ups of some of the pieces...

Small ship tins--I have about 100 of these cute little circle tins lying around so I thought I might as well decoupage a few.

Castle wall art--love the fairy tale look!

Ship wall art--I never get tired of this image.

The backs of the nesting ship boxes are painted with a palm tree on a beach.

I'm so excited to be using up a big chunk of my stash of wooden and other boxes, frames, trays, drawers, etc. More coming soon!

What else should I paint on these? Flowers, octopi, leaves, Sean Connery?

Hobo craft fair this weekend! Plus projects in the works...

2011-04-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

A quick side note: today is the 226th birthday of John James Audubon...please check out the Audubon Society and what you can do to help birds in your area!

Over the past few weeks, I've been working on a bunch of new items for the upcoming 4th annual Riverdale Park Arts Fest--yup, that's right, this is the craft fair Brie and I refer to as "Hobo Craft Fair" (due to the rain, cold, and our other assorted hoboness from the last time we did it).

It's going to be this Sunday, May 1 from 11am to 6pm and there's food and live music too--and hopefully no rain! Last year I was sick and couldn't make it so I'm excited about attending this Sunday.

The main projects I have in the works right now are my felt flower and leaf cuffs, and more decoupage wall art.

Three of the cuffs here were ones I finished while in New Mexico...the other three are still in progress.

And I have a bunch of the decoupage wall pieces ready to be painted. I draw in the pictures with my favorite Faber-Castell Pitt brush pen...and then they will be colored in, and sealed with another coat of decoupage finish.

On this last piece, I am still deciding what to do with the middle square. My original intention was to draw an anchor in that box, if I can manage to make it look normal. If this was going to be a personalized piece, I'd paint a big colorful letter for the person's first name in that box.

Shopping and inspiration from New Mexico

2011-04-25T17:49:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I was visiting Albuquerque and had a great time relaxing, visiting birdfriends at the zoo, eating, and of course a bit of shopping!

We spent an afternoon strolling Canyon Road in Santa Fe and checking out all the cool galleries...my favorites?

Brigitte Bruggemann's gorgeous flowery abstract paintings at Mill Fine Art
Jim McLain's turned wood vessels
Robert Highsmith's photorealist watercolors at Marigold Arts

I also bought these fabulous vintage parrot (I think they are rosellas?) candlesticks at Canyon Road Flowers.

We also stopped in Night & Day, one of my favorite bedding & bath shops--and I could not resist buying this framed bird illustration:

There were also some luxury custom sheets by Bonjour of Switzerland that I fell in love with, but those will have to wait as they generally run $1000 for a set!

We had a delicious lunch at Bumble Bee (I loooove their quesadillas!) and then took a look through Santa Fe Greenhouses--my parents are always on the lookout for new plants.

Inside they have lots of cool garden stuff and even some kitchen goodies...coasters, dishes, etc.

Gardening gloves in every color!

I don't know why, but seed packets make me happy.

And Vinsy, this photo is for you! Heron legs!!!

Some of my other favorite places in Albuquerque:

Hey Jhonny: a small and exceptionally beautiful shop with fantastic, unique home decor and accessories

Jackalope: a giant warehouse of eclectic furniture, accessories, home and garden decor, pottery, etc.

Flying Star: stop in one of their many locations for delicious baked goods, lunches, or breakfast all day....mmmm.

Hanayagi--The Japanese Garden Shop: awesome Japanese art and other unique finds make this tiny shop well worth the visit!
Bookworks: independent bookstore with a great selection of craft books, funny magnets, and other cool gifts!

New decoupage frames: whales, ships, fishies, castles, and a mutiny

2011-04-21T17:34:00.000-04:00

Kate's birthday was this weekend and I wanted to make her something original and cool, so I decoupaged a picture frame with pages from an abridged illustrated version of The Mutiny On Board HMS Bounty. Then I painted a cute little ship in the corner with acrylic paints. Turned out just as I imagined it!

I loved the ship frame so much that I made some other versions.

Here's one on a wall hanging piece instead of a frame--love how it looks with the rope!

And here's one with a whole bunch of stuff painted on it. Yes, I know the text is sideways. It was an accident but I like it!

ArtSpring move and other fun stuff

2011-04-16T13:30:00.001-04:00

Today, ArtSpring in Silver Spring is opening in its new space! Very exciting :) I went by last Saturday to bring my new spring items and check out the new store space--it's upstairs above Austin Grill where Ceviche used to be on Ellsworth Drive.

Since the space used to be a resaurant/bar, it's super trendy looking and cool...perfect for displaying funky crafts and homemade items. They were still in the process of getting it ready but I thought it looked awesome! Tons of fantastic stuff to buy--animal notecards, birdie mugs and dishes, cool purses, jewelry, etc. And they have more than 100 of my new items there, including my decoupage minibooks and letter trays, octopus purses, framed map paintings, ribbon placemats and table runners, and more, so go check it out!

The new ArtSpring shop opened at 10am today and I'm going to swing by on my way to hang with Vinsy this afternoon to check it out...and ok, maybe buy a few things.

The plan for the afternoon is possibly to attempt baking something...possibly more vegan cupcakes? Last time we tried this, we had a near-disaster with an unfortunate baking soda/baking powder mixup but we caught it just in time...and had some delicious cupcakes!

Coming soon...inspiration, birdies, and crafts from my visit to New Mexico last week.

Some spring inspiration

2011-04-06T21:03:00.000-04:00

Sounds like a lot of folks are having a tough week, so I thought I'd post some happy/inspiring spring pictures. I took a walk around my neighborhood this afternoon and it was so darn pretty out!

is that broccoli growing out of the planter?

blue jay in the tree!

In progress: new flower cuffs for spring

2011-04-04T13:25:00.000-04:00

After making the felt leaf cuff bracelets, I decided I wanted to do more of them, but with a springlike theme. Here are a few of my felt flower cuffs in progress...

I probably will have to get some more ribbon (as if I didn't have 1000 spools already) because the kinds I currently have didn't really suit the cuffs. I do have some yellow grosgrain ribbon with daisies that I'm going to use for the one on the right.

If these come out cute, I want to do some purple and pink ones next!

Leaves and bugs and Robin Hood

2011-03-30T12:29:00.001-04:00

Ok so I'm still fairly sick but at least yesterday I recovered the use of my brain! I've been working on some new felt accessories for my etsy shop.

All of the blog reading the other day came somewhat in handy, I got some new ideas for crafty items to make, and different ways to list them.

I started by making this ladybug gift set, which I adore!

I've also been thinking about making a felt cuff bracelet for a long time, I keep seeing them in craft books and online. I wanted mine to be all forest-y so I did leaves (and an acorn, on one). Why foresty? Because of this:

Yeah, that's Jason Connery (yep, son of Sean!) as Robin Hood in the 80's TV series. I've always liked Robin Hood things and I must admit I was mildly obsessed with the show, even as a kid. Check out his fantastic armband wrist-cuff things!

As I recall, Kevin Sorbo had some pretty sweet armbands in Hercules as well.

Although his armbands usually had lots of metal hardware and stuff on them. (For what? Did he attach things to them, and pull like a boat trailer or something?)

In any case, here are my felt leaf cuffs.

It was a lot easier to photograph on a towel than on my own wrist! However, it made me think that these might make nice napkin rings too :)

All three cuffs (the acorn one is not quite finished):

The ribbon is kind of thick, I think for my next batch I would use something smaller.

A look at the backs. You can see a little stitching, but not tons.

What do you think?

Being sick is GROSS

2011-03-29T11:59:00.000-04:00

Somehow over the course of the weekend I managed to catch some sort of plague (ok it's either a bad cold or the flu) and have been at home sick, bored, and completely miserable.

I haven't even been motivated to work on crafty things because I've just been so gross. Here's a lovely chart of my activities thus far.

Actually, the complaining might be under-represented on this chart.

Felt cockatiel softie!

2011-03-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

So a friend who's getting married contacted me a while ago to make some cockatiel felt sculptures to use on top of a birdcage at the wedding. What a cute idea!

The couple sent me a picture of their birds, who are "whiteface" cockatiels, an interesting mutation that doesn't have the bright orange cheeks and yellow face that are most common. I wanted to make my felt birds to match theirs as much as possible.

Surprisingly, I did not have a "craft fail" at my first try. Perhaps this is because I have been around my birds so much--I know pretty well how they are shaped! While I've made some cockatiels out of felt before, they weren't totally 3-D so I thought this might be a challenge.

I totally love how he came out! He's got a puffy belly and the wings are a little bit movable, so you can hold them out a little bit to make a "cape" like Edy does when he's happy. The beak is a little bit adjustable too--couldn't decide if I wanted to sew it down closer to the face or not.

I really wanted to make the crest lifelike so I used two layers of felt to create the "feathers." His tail is still a little bendy despite three layers of felt tail-feathers.

Here's a view of him from the top/back.

And sitting on my couch, from a distance it looks like a real bird! Haha.

Here are some of the supplies I used to create my cockatiel soft sculpture...fiberfill, embroidery floss, and gray, black, and white felt. You can also see some of my templates, which should make the second softie go much faster--wing templates, crest templates, underside of the tail. The light gray felt tube on the right will be used for the head, and the dark gray tube for the body.

I did not add feet to this softie...once I hear back from the bride & groom we'll see if the feet are necessary. I thought it would be pretty complicated to add them, and might require purchasing some floral wire, which I tend to stab myself with a lot by accident.

More soon on cockatiel #2!

Some birdies to welcome the spring!

2011-03-21T16:35:00.000-04:00

Between a bunch of parties and other fun things this weekend, I found time to work on a few new pins for my etsy shop. The first pin came out exactly as I had imagined it...two cute little birds in love!

The second pin was kind of an experiment, to see if I could even make a cockatiel that small on a felt pin. It actually did not come out the way I was expecting, although it is still kinda cute.

More pins coming soon!

St. Patty's Day blog giveaway winner!

2011-03-18T10:26:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patty's Day yesterday!

Yay! The winner of my giveaway for an embroidered flower barrette is:

thecharmingfreak

Congratulations!

Thank you all so much for entering...and have a great weekend!

Ahoy! Pirate treasure maps!

2011-03-14T14:41:00.001-04:00

The last few days I've been working on more of my little map paintings (I sell some of these at ArtSpring currently). This time I had some Ikea frames purchased in advance, so I made sure the maps were sized to fit.

Which one do you prefer? I am partial to the second one.

These are so cute for a kid's room. I often draw these maps for children I babysit/hang out with, and they really enjoy using them to create a story or game.

I love drawing the little castles, ships, forests, huts, mountains, etc...and of course I made sure to add in a whaley for good measure!

If you are interested in purchasing one of these treasure maps, please convo me, as I'm not sure if I will be posting them to my etsy shop or not.

Shiver me timbers!

St. Patty's Day blog giveaway!

2011-03-09T10:31:00.000-05:00

Just in time for St. Patty's Day, I am doing another blog giveaway! This time, it's for one of my felt flower barrettes. You get to choose which one you like best--I have various sizes, colors, and styles :) The barrettes range from about 1.5" to a little over 2 inches.

It's easy to enter--just leave a comment on this post below including your email address and which barrette (from the picture above) you'd like if you win.

You can leave your email address in this format if you like: pickychickybird AT gmail DOT com, just to avoid spam.

The lucky winner will be chosen at random on St. Patrick's Day--Thursday, March 17th. I will announce the winner here on my blog, so stay posted!

Vote for Tiny!

2011-02-20T08:54:00.000-05:00

I entered Tiny in the Humane Society's Spay Day 2011 Online Pet Photo Contest. You can take a look at her profile/picture and vote if you like! It's funny, I was looking through the other pets entered in the contest (mostly cats and dogs of course) and it started looking to me like Facebook for dogs. Haha.

I also saw this totally adorable picture of a mini-rabbit!! Why is that so cute?

This weekend, Francine is visiting me and so far we had a nice brunch, drove through a giant smoke cloud from the brush fires in PG county yesterday, utilized the services of a crappy personal stylist, bought 7 dresses between the two of us (plus a skirt, a coat, and tights) at Columbia Mall, and had a tasty dinner at Tiffin...which was so busy we had some questionable service--I think they forgot we existed and Francine's okra dish took approximately hundred years.

On to more adventures today!

Craft project list--organized or overwhelming?

2011-02-15T11:47:00.001-05:00

I was inspired by WendyMoonDesigns, who has a yearly project list on her lovely blog...and decided to do something similar. I thought this was such a great idea...but when I started compiling my various project ideas into one list, I started freaking out a bit. How will I ever get to all of this stuff?!

Perhaps my list just needs to be prioritized a little? Here's a first stab at my craft project list though. Keep in mind the items are in no particular order!

Also, I am taking requests...if you have a project idea you'd like me to try, comment below and I will add it to the list!

Belated Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T23:33:00.001-05:00

Just a quick post this evening to wish everyone a great Valentine's Day!

Here's the wonderful valentine I got from my friend's daughters--don't you just love kids' drawings??!

So sweet!

Underwater watercolor mystery revealed!

2011-02-13T15:00:00.000-05:00

Here it is at last...drumroll please!

It's an octopus! Isn't he the cutest thing ever? He was a present for Kate & Eric, who are expecting a new baby in April. Yay!

Etsy items for the week

2011-02-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

Just posted some more appliqued felt tags to my etsy shop...here they are!

Kind of a woodland, forest-y set.

Kites! Ready for warm weather and spring breezes!

Another sneak peek: more underwater mystery

2011-02-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

I couldn't resist...here's another small part of the finished watercolor. I put some finishing touches on it this morning, cut the paper and fit it into its frame!

I totally love how it came out--it is pretty much the cutest thing ever--and can't wait to post pics of the whole thing sometime next week!

Sneak peek--mysterious underwater watercolor!

2011-02-07T14:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I decided to start a small watercolor as a present for a friend...it is nearly complete but I want it to be a surprise!

Hmmm...what do you think it is? :)

Valentine's Day...or "You Are All"

2011-01-31T17:24:00.000-05:00

I spent this past Saturday making valentines with my friend and her 6-year-old daughter...what fun!

I used to love making special valentines when I was a kid. These are the ones I received on Saturday...my favorite is the heart person which says "You are all" (or "You are all heart," depending upon your interpretation).

Like most kids, we usually got some cheapo box of generic valentines to give out to the whole class. My brothers and I found it vastly amusing (in a toilet-related way) to save the valentine that said "You wipe me out!" to give to the kids in the class we did not like. It had a picture of an alien on it, which I never understood...maybe they intended this in a "aliens take over the world and wipe out humans" sort of way? I prefer the toilet interpretation.

I had a couple of etsy treasury features this week--Never Tired of a Snowflake, Sunny and Bright on a Gloomy Sunday, and Sunny Spring Flowers.

Also, I worked on some more heart pins on Sunday and have one up in my etsy shop already--go check it out!

Placemats, snow, birdies, and boredom!

2011-01-27T12:10:00.000-05:00

I have decided that being sick is really boring. The snow seems to be melting, so I'm not really snowed in...but I still have a bad sore throat and probably shouldn't go anywhere.

However, I have managed to do lots of cleaning, sorting, and crafty things. Here are the latest pics:

More ribbon placemats! I finished 6 of these last night.

Also, cut more felt shapes for heart pins...

And here's a look at the snow. Most of it has melted around here, although we didn't get hit as hard as other parts of MD.

Here's Tiny's impressive batch of eggs. Well, several batches. She has 18 eggs currently and I suspect another is on the way. Poor baby.

Here she is...she was annoyed with me for taking pictures of the eggs.

Still sick...

2011-01-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

But I'm being productive! Last night I was up super-late working on (finally!) finishing the edges of the ribbon placemats and table runners I started several months ago. Once I got a technique down, I was able to breeze through and finish 4 placemats and 2 big table runners.

After much inner debate (and some earlier failed experimentation with stitching the edges), I decided to go with Stitch Witchery fusible web hem tape. It's not perfect, but it gives the stitch-free look I wanted and is not difficult to use.

It's kind of dark in here this afternoon (snow is coming!!!) so my pics are not great but here's a preview of what I finished so far.

I like the way the green placemat and the blue table runners came out best. I definitely prefer the edges with the thin ribbon, which means I usually have to cut the fusible web in half to fit underneath.

On some of the corners I used Liquid Stitch (a clear adhesive for fabrics) as well to give it some extra hold. The corners were not easy! I even thought about doing a mitered corner but that was too complicated.

More to come tomorrow...with better pics, of course. :)

This little piggy stayed home.

2011-01-24T15:16:00.001-05:00

I've been sick the last few days with a cold, so there's been plenty of time to work on piggies! (Mostly while semi-watching Return of the Jedi and The Fugitive.)

Here are the latest:

Fat Piggy (aka Mr. Plumpy)

Slim Piggy

I hadn't originally planned to use such a thick marker to outline them but I like the way it looks...although it is more cartoony than I had planned. I am a strong supporter of Slim Piggy in his fight against Mr. Plumpy.

Also, I just remembered this illustration I did in college as a birthday card design:

I love it--so cheerful and colorful! So I'm going to do a couple of more festive piggies today just to see how they come out.

This little piggy went to market...

2011-01-23T09:53:00.000-05:00

So a while ago, my friend Emily asked me to work on some piggy watercolors for her new baby's room. I'm in the process of working on these...I decided to do a few different ones and see which one(s) she likes best.

These two went slower than expected, even though I already know the circles are a painstaking process. I did start another piggy a few weeks ago using collage but it's not working for me...I might show it later if I can get it to redeem itself.

What do you think?

And now for something completely different...

2011-01-20T16:18:00.000-05:00

Today's photo is of a totally different kind of art...my friend Jenny asked me to design her a flower tattoo!

This is actually the second tattoo I've designed for her...the first one (several years ago) was a dragonfly. She picked out a few flower designs she liked and let me know what color scheme she preferred. I just sent the picture over to her...and I'm hoping it's just what she wanted! :)

What an honor to have my design drawn on one of my closest friends! Very cool.

Custom Order--Purple Heart Pins

2011-01-19T15:06:00.000-05:00

Mike, who I used to work with, put in a custom order this week for some of my purple heart pins to give as gifts. He wanted two pins so I made a bunch for him to choose from:

I haven't made these in a while but I'm thinking they would also be nice to sell in my etsy shop for Valentine's Day. Yay for custom orders!

Octopurses!

2011-01-16T15:38:00.000-05:00

Today I finally finished my two new octopus purses!

I love how glam the blue/green one looks with the sequins. The orange one is just kind of plump and cheerful.

It reminds me of when I was in middle school, and we had the opportunity to get pen pals in French class. My best friend asked for a boy pen pal from France. When he first wrote to her (in English), he said, "My name is Sebastian and I am quite plump." I love this.

I just listed the purses on etsy as well, go take a look!

Coaster frenzy!

2011-01-13T15:48:00.000-05:00

I just posted a bunch of new sets of coasters to my etsy shop...new colors and stuff! :) Go check it out!

What's new...

2011-01-12T18:23:00.001-05:00

First, a sneak peek at my octopi purses! I have selected lining fabrics and will be working on the stitching this evening.

Also, I just posted a bunch of new items to my etsy shop! More flower pins, hoot owl necklaces, a birdy felt tag, and some woodland bookmarks.

New pins up on etsy!

2011-01-09T09:53:00.000-05:00

I just put a few of my new embroidered pins up in my etsy shop...go take a look!

Also, pictures of several new octopus purses coming soon! The octopi have been stitched on and I'm currently picking out lining fabrics.

2011-01-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

Yay! The winner of my December giveaway is:

TanyaMcGuire

Congratulations!

Thank you all so much for entering!

December crafty giveaway--embroidered flower pin!

2010-12-28T14:11:00.000-05:00

Good news--my next blog giveaway is finally ready! This month, the prize is one of my new embroidered flower pins.

It's easy to enter--just leave a comment on this post below including your email address and what color pin (from the picture above) you'd like if you win.

You can leave your email address in this format if you like: pickychickybird AT gmail DOT com, just to avoid spam.

The lucky winner will be chosen at random on Tuesday, January 4th...I'll announce the winner here on my blog, so stay posted!

Seattle shopping extravaganza

2010-12-26T10:18:00.001-05:00

We discovered some great places to shop in downtown Seattle...as well as (surprisingly) a great gift shop in our hotel. Also made a quick trip to the outlets and picked up some good stuff there.

Warm & cozy stuff for the winter! Furry vest: Gap Outlet. Leather gloves: Fini. Socks: Free People. Wood rounds coasters: The Country Store at Salish Lodge & Spa.

I fell in love with this coat, even though I already have at least a dozen coats. It's super soft (not wool!) and has a great silhouette, plus lots of fun zippers! Coat: Free People. Shawl: The Country Store at Salish Lodge & Spa.

Carved wooden frame/wall art: Thailand Junkie. Birds flour sack dish towel: Watson Kennedy. Greeting cards: The Country Store at Salish Lodge & Spa.

Some very cool (and mostly bird-themed) finds from Snoqualmie and Seattle, WA. Sweater: Gap Outlet. Birds flour sack dish towel: Watson Kennedy. Footie slippers: Free People. Metal chicken tray, greeting cards, chickadee figurine, and chickadee mini plate: The Country Store at Salish Lodge & Spa.

Yay for awesome shopping!

Inspiration in Seattle

2010-12-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, I spent a lovely week in Seattle and Snoqualmie, WA with some friends! What a relaxing time...we enjoyed the hotel spa, watched bad tv, went shopping (and eating!) in downtown Seattle, played board games, and enjoyed great food. Here are a few of my trip pics, check out my Flickr page for more!

Our hotel, the Salish Lodge & Spa.

And coming soon--a separate post with pictures of all the cool things I bought!

Craft fair takeaways

2010-12-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

So I ended up doing two craft fairs this week, one at NPR and one at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in DC. Both were internal craft fairs, not open to the public, but they went pretty well.

I always bring materials so I can work on pins or other projects if things are slow at the table for a while. Yesterday this worked out great! I had a few potential customers come by who were interested in the pins I had, but wanted something specific--usually different sizes or colors. I was able to take their orders and make their pins right there, so they could pick them up at my table later in the day.

One of the requests was for a set of pins to wear for holidays--a pink/red one for Valentine's Day, a black-and-orange one for Halloween, a pink/yellow for Easter, and yes, a GREEN one for St. Patty's Day. Recall an earlier discussion with Brie where she thought no one would want a green flower pin? And I said they would for St. Patty's Day? Well I do...haha. So there!

I also got a few ideas from folks who wanted to see other animals/themes:

ladybug bookmarks
turtle pins
butterflies (wouldn't a monarch be cute on orange felt with black stitching)?
seals and frogs (a man came by who said he ONLY purchased things with seals or frogs on them!)

So my takeaways for the week?

1) Always bring projects to work on while you wait.
2) Make what your customers want! I seem to get a lot of requests for pink and purple pins for little girls...must make more!
3) Let visitors to your table know that you are happy to do custom work.
4) Brie is wrong about green things. :)

You can dance if you want to...

2010-12-05T12:13:00.000-05:00

I'm a bit behind on blogging and crafting lately, I've been super-busy with dance rehearsals and other stuff! Yesterday was the Southern Region Oireachtas (Irish dance competition) and it was a lot of fun. It was local this year, which was nice...we got to hang out at National Harbor for the day, plus I didn't have to fly anywhere :)

Our ceili teams did great...my four hand placed first (out of 7!) and my eight hand placed third. And our school got both 1st and 2nd in ladies AND mixed ceilis! A good day overall!

Today it's back to crafty, I have a bunch of felt tags and things that I need to get ready for a craft fair this coming Friday. And of course, a few more owl pins...

This week's batch of hoot owls :)

Hoot owls--new colors

2010-11-28T10:21:00.000-05:00

Here's my latest batch...I've been working on my owl pins and pendants in dark reds, browns, purples, and grays. I especially love the brown and gray ones.

Ok so it has been pointed out that I am a bit obsessive about the owls--I keep cutting more and more of them. I think I've made at least a hundred at this point, in various colors. I think I just want to try every possible color combination, and keep working on them while I'm on a roll. They're fairly quick and easy as far as projects go. I do have a craft fair coming up in two weeks though and I should get to work on other items soon...

NYC weekend...a bit of inspiration

2010-11-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I went up to NYC to visit my friend Francine and also attend my cousin's post-wedding celebration. What an awesome weekend!

This somewhat fuzzy picture is from my bus ride home...I love it! While there, we went to see a new play called The Language Archive, ate waffles and crepes with gelato, and went shopping in the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn. We discovered some awesome stores, including my new favorite, Catbird, where I bought these fantastic pussywillow earrings!

Catbird was full of tiny treasures, nautical ornaments, and amazing, unique jewelry. We also found some cool stuff at Pema, which had a great jewelry selection as well.

I had so much fun, I think more NY weekends are in my future!

More exciting news--now at VisArts Too!

2010-11-22T14:48:00.000-05:00

As of last week, my crafty items will now be sold at VisArts Too! in Rockville Town Square. The VisArts space is really cool, I explored a little bit while I was dropping off my artwork. It's a brand-new space filled with lots of light and fabulous art! VisArts Too! is the retail store on the round floor. Upstairs, they have great studios, and you can walk around, explore, and ask the resident artists questions.

The shared studio of a group of 8 fiber artists upstairs was particularly interesting...they had great woven, dyed, and printed fabric pieces of all kinds. Definitely inspired me to go to December's meeting of the Potomac Fiber Arts Guild. My friend Krista went last month and had great things to say. I've been meaning to go for some time, and at the December meeting they're having their annual sale/auction/brunch so it should be fun!

This all came about because I went to Strathmore's Museum Shop Around this year and fell in love with pretty much everything at the VisArts booth! I bought a few things, including a gorgeous floral ceramic tray for my parents, made by Wandering Trail Ceramics.

Anyway, some of the items I have at the VisArts Too! shop are my handwoven chenille scarves, owl pins, felt tags, leaf coasters, flower barrettes, and felt purses. So if you're in the Rockville area, go check it out!

HOG (Hoot Owl Giveaway) winner!

2010-11-19T00:36:00.002-05:00

Yay! The winner of the giveaway for a free Hoot Owl pin is....

bldrnrpdx

Congratulations!

Thank you all so much for entering, and a big welcome to the new folks reading my blog for the first time! Please stay posted...I will do another giveaway in December! :)

My first blog giveaway!

2010-11-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking of doing a giveaway on my blog for some time, and here it is! Hoot Owl Giveaway (HOG?)!

That's right, you can get yourself a FREE owl pin! (Or pendant, if you so choose.) It's super easy...just leave a comment on this post below including your email address and what color owl you'd like if you win.

Keep the free hoot owl for yourself, give it as a holiday gift, or just wear it to make people jealous :)

You can leave your email address in this format if you like: pickychickybird AT gmail DOT com, just to avoid spam.

The lucky HOG winner will be chosen at random on Thursday, November 18th...I'll announce the winner here on my blog, so stay posted!

Octopus purse in progress!

2010-11-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

I'm working on another custom piece, an octopus purse for Gleb's other niece, and came up with a few template options. I'm still trying to decide what to put on the back, along with her name. Ideas?

Gleb and I both liked the tie-dye one best...although the orange is more striking. The blue one was my first try, and I think it would look super-cute with some green tentacles!

I'm also thinking of doing a orange-yellow version, that would be striking as well on the purple background, and could have orange tentacles. The tie-dye one is probably a bit busy for tentacles.

I cut these out freehand, which was way harder than I was expecting. I am now the friggin octopus MASTER. The first one I cut out of light blue felt ended up being 2 inches too big in each direction to fit on the bag! However, it's super cute so I'm saving it for a wall piece or something. Gleb said, "I may have other uses for a large felt octopus. It is just the kind of life I lead." I think perhaps it would be a good piece to keep my felt Whaley company.

This also made me think of Doctopus:

I don't remember how we found him, but is he not fantastic???! In the good ol' days at Kaplan, we printed him out, colored him with crayons and hung him on the wall. Ah I miss that sort of ridiculousness!

Owls and updates...

2010-11-09T18:09:00.001-05:00

I've moved on to purple owls now...just posted a few of them to my etsy shop. Take a peek:

Dark Purple Hoot Owl barrette ('n friends)

Purple Hoot Owl barrette

Dark Blue Hoot Owl pin

Helen suggested I use more photos of the backs of the pins, so I'm trying to do that consistently again in my etsy shop. I guess I got lazy about it somewhere there...

I have two new requests for pieces, one is an octopus purse for Gleb's other niece and the other is a piggy collage (or several small piggy artworks?) for my friend Emily for a baby girl's room :) Exciting!!

More hoot owls--now in blue!

2010-11-03T18:18:00.000-04:00

Ok so I've been working on these owls for like 3 days now, and surprisingly, I'm not tired of them yet. Today I worked mostly on blue owls, making both pins and pendants.

Next on my list to do:

1) Finish sewing princess purse.
2) Make felt cupcake pins & pendants. I couldn't find any I liked on etsy, which is shocking. Clearly this is a void I must fill.
3) Something holiday or winter-themed for the Washington Post Holiday Crafts Contest. I'm thinking something featuring images of either snowflakes or candles. I'm not really much of a snowman person though...can you see me carrying or wearing anything with a dang snowman on it?

Coffee-themed treasury feature

2010-11-03T09:50:00.000-04:00

This morning my Brown Leaf Coasters were featured in a beautiful mocha-themed treasury by stampgirl45 on etsy.

Go check it out!

Little hoot owls!

2010-11-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

So after my first few attempts at owls, I have come up with a template I love, and also managed to fix the problem with the eyes being overly googly. I just cut pieces for about 20 more owls in various colors and I finished 8 of them while watching Frontier House (one of my favorite PBS series) last night...they came out so adorable!

Hoot! Hoot! Hoot!

Craft project vote winners: Solar system felt tags and owls

2010-10-31T10:47:00.000-04:00

I've been working on the items selected as my next craft project from the poll. My solar system felt tags are finished and I plan to post them to my etsy shop this afternoon!

I also got started on the "something containing owls" craft project. I started by sketching the owl I had in mind (along with a candy corn felt purse that came to mind):

So on Friday I made my first owl...which is a little bit batlike for some reason...perhaps the eyes? Otherwise cute though, I like all the detail stitching.

Right now he's just an applique and I haven't decided what to put him on yet...maybe an eyeglass case?

After the first owl I decided to try a few without tails and made these adorable little guys, which are actually pins.

I think I'll make some into barrettes and pendants as well. It would be super cute to have a necklace with an owl pendant and also some felt leaf pendants attached.

Help me pick fabrics!

2010-10-28T13:45:00.002-04:00

Ok I've finished all the embroidery on the sides of the Princess Purse and now I'm trying to select a fabric for the lining. I've narrowed it down to my three favorites, a light pink with tiny hearts, dotted yellow, and dark pink with swirls. But I cannot choose! Please help by adding a comment below to tell me which one you like best!

Usually what I do to select fabrics for the lining is I narrow it down, and show a selection of 5 or 6 to my friend Brie. She picks one and I usually end up doing the opposite of what she suggested! Haha. She says the space purse was the first time I actually listened to her on my fabric choice. So getting the feedback really does help!

Space purse (SPURSE)

2010-10-28T09:48:00.000-04:00

I entered my Solar System purse (or "spurse" as Jay calls it) in the NASA/Etsy contest earlier this week. I went over to Jay's and we had an amusing photo shoot for the purse, during which he spoke in Russian accents a lot (to mock my poor English) and we ate leftover pizza. Good times.

We had some lighting challenges since it was evening but otherwise everything went fine. I'm excited about the contest--I'm really hoping my spurse will at least be a finalist! I think there is some kind of voting after finalists are selected...I will be sure to post info about that later!

Votes and other notes

2010-10-27T14:31:00.000-04:00

The results are in! It looks like I got some late voters yesterday on my "next craft project" poll...we had a tie between Solar System felt tags and something containing owls. The percentages don't add up to 100 for some reason though. I will have to brainstorm something good with the owls on it. Some options:

Felt purse
Coffee cup cozy (not that I drink coffee)
Eyeglass case (Brie has been telling me to make one for months)
Necklace pendant
Hairclip or pin

In theory I could make all of those. In other news, Glebby has requested a princess purse for her niece, who likes girly things! :) I had this purse already designed in my head so it was quick to start--here it is with the pieces cut, while I was still playing with sequins:

The front will have a crown and Gleb's niece's name embroidered on it, the back will have a magic wand and some more sparkly sequins, of course. I finished stitching the front last night:

Love how it turned out but stitching words freehand in cursive is NOT easy!

Decoupage project (aka book ruining)

2010-10-26T11:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was procrastinating from some not-fun tasks and so I decoupaged a few mini composition books with these images from A Tale of Two Cities and The Mutiny On Board HMS Bounty. I used those cheap abridged versions of the books that you can buy in craft stores for like three bucks :) I'm calling these
"Law steps & sails minibooks."

Here's a picture of the backs of the books:

I don't have any more minibooks but I will probably work on decoupaging some boxes/sets of drawers with the same books this afternoon.

PS Only 23 hours left to vote (on the right-hand side of this page) on my next craft project! And your vote actually does count because right now it's a tie between 2 and 3. Please vote! :)

Sneak peek--solar system purse

2010-10-19T10:40:00.001-04:00

I have been inspired by NASA & Etsy's 2010 Space Craft Contest, which sounds fun and exciting! Winners may get their works sent up in a space shuttle, and the grand prize winner gets to go see a space shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center! How cool is that?

I've had the idea for this purse for some time but this contest presented the perfect opportunity to get me to complete it :) I used the images at nasaimages.org for inspiration, particularly the Solar System Montage and All Planet Sizes--since I'm a dork, I wanted to be as accurate about the planets as possible, within the limitations of my available scale and felt.

What I really wanted to do was get all the planets on one side of the purse, but as Brie pointed out, my standard-size felt purse is not big enough and I may have to split them in half. I think that is what's going to happen. I cut out and arranged the planets on both sides of the purse in a way I'm ok with. The purse will be lined in a star-print cotton fabric and I'll use a brighter blue for the blanket stitch around it.

Now I'm just trying to decide if it is worth going to the craft store, getting more felt, and trying to make this a large purse so all the planets fit on the front. Suggestions?

New barrettes on etsy

2010-10-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

This evening I put up a few of the new barrettes in my shop:

Bright Orange flower felt barrette

Autumn colors flower hair barrettes (set of 4)

Barrette frenzy!

2010-10-17T11:29:00.001-04:00

I just counted--over the past week, I made 55 new felt flower barrettes! I spent a lot of time sewing them while visiting my parents out in NM. I tried a few new minor variations and have ideas for more later. For now, I'm just happy to have been so productive!

I'll be posting some of these to etsy shortly!

And here's a picture of some of those green ones, just to prove Brie wrong--they did come out kind of cute. So there.

Toadstool Tuesday

2010-10-05T16:30:00.002-04:00

I loved the way the toadstool bookmarks came out, so I made a bunch more... and a couple of felt tags, too. The green tag is going to be part of a woodland-themed tag set--with also an acorn, leaf, and a third thing, which I have forgotten!

Exciting news--now at Vivo!

2010-10-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

Vivo!, an awesome shop just off Main Street in Historic Annapolis, will now be selling my felt coasters, sewing kits, bookmarks, and hair clips. They have the coolest things there--when I first brought my stuff by last week, I could not resist buying some gorgeous big felted/beaded flower pins for myself.

Here's a big batch of newly-made coasters in a basket, getting ready for the shop this morning.

So if you're in the Annapolis area anytime soon, please stop by Vivo! and check it out!

New bookmarks!

2010-10-03T11:31:00.000-04:00

Here they are...I think the toadstool and fish are my favorites. More coming soon!

Trip to JoAnn's & lots of new craft projects!

2010-10-03T00:04:00.000-04:00

So coming soon I will have a bunch of pictures of the new things I've been working on:

1) 60 more flower barrettes in a variety of colors/styles
2) bookmarks featuring toadstools, acorns, bees, falling leaves, snails, and fishies
3) felt tags--some of the same themes
4) more colorful collections of coasters!

I also went to JoAnn's today and picked up some plain tank tops and baby hats that I'm planning to embellish with fabric appliques. I swear that place is dangerous...I went in with a very specific list of things to buy and walked out with like 25 other items. Lots of good ideas though!

And here are some books I saw at JoAnn's that I have now added to my wish list:

Project Leprechaun?

2010-09-29T17:10:00.001-04:00

Brie: Who wants a green flower anyway?

Me: You don't know, maybe it's for St. Patty's Day.

Brie: You should make a four leaf clover then.

Me: Your mom should make a four leaf clover.

I actually cut out so many felt flower templates for barrettes that I now have a blister on my finger and can't use scissors for a day or two.

And no, they were not just for green flowers, I did all different colors.

With a little help from my friends

2010-09-28T12:27:00.001-04:00

As usual, my helpful cockatiels Edy and Tiny decided to lend their assistance to my craft projects today.

Edy enjoyed running around and picking up the felt squares I was cutting for barrettes.

And Tiny had a good time getting into mischief while I was weaving ribbons into a table runner.

She likes to climb on top of the stacks of ribbon, but hates walking on the tape.

Craft fair yesterday!

2010-09-26T19:56:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures from my booth at the South Silver Spring Block Party on Saturday. I was lucky to have two vendors with tents next to me so I had plenty of shade! Good traffic and nice people at the fair. It was a gorgeous day and Myers and Eric also came out to keep me company. Kate even sold something while she was sitting there!

My scarves lined up all in a row :)

Lots of barrettes & pins!

Bookmarks, purses, coasters, etc.

That trash can behind the table ended up being a giant bee magnet :(

All in all, a good day!

And coming soon...

2010-09-09T18:24:00.000-04:00

My new project will be winding the warp for the next three scarves! Here's a peek at the colors/yarns:

I love how they look like ice cream here!

An excellent idea

2010-09-09T17:12:00.001-04:00

I just finished this set of coasters as a custom order through my etsy shop...I love the way the colors look together!

Some weaving resources

2010-09-08T15:09:00.000-04:00

Last night I was up with a bit of insomnia so I spent the time browsing weaving stuff. I thought I'd share just a few of my old favorites and new finds for weaving resources, particularly for the rigid heddle loom, which is what I use.

Books

Hands on Rigid Heddle Weaving

This is by far the most comprehensive resource for rigid heddle weaving I've found so far--it's what I used to teach myself how to weave about 15 years ago. It covers the basics, has clear instructions and diagrams, gives well-designed projects, and offers variations techniques for those wishing to expand. An outstanding book overall.

Weaving Made Easy: 17 Projects Using a Simple Loom

Good coverage of the basics, great pictures, and interesting projects. Once I get through enough of my stash to justify buying new yarns, I want to try the Bamboo Obi project--so cool!

And here are the two books at the top of my wish list right now...

Much as I enjoy plain weave, I really want to learn weaving with two heddles...it looks like it can make some very interesting variations.

Websites

Interweave.com Resources not just for weaving, but for other crafts too.
Ravelry.com I just joined this one and the forums are awesome...and you can trade/buy yarns from other folks' stashes...which is nice if you're looking for a particular yarn (like I was).
Weavolution.com Great groups & forums!
Halcyonyarn.com Supplies, yarns, looms, books, etc.
Woolery.com Another site for supplies, yarns, and stuff.
Weavezine.com Articles, projects, tips.
Ruthe's Collection of Weaving Resources Huge list of handy links!
The Mannings Handweaving School and Supply Center In PA--trying to find a good time to take a class there so I can finally learn to use a 4-shaft loom!

Happy weaving!

Baby collage

2010-09-08T01:39:00.000-04:00

Can't sleep so thought I would post something...here's the full picture of the baby collage I made for Melissa. Little Liam was born earlier this week--congrats to Maloo & family!

I love how it came out...adorable, and with lots of texture. I'm going to make some more as samples and put them up on etsy (thanks Krista for that idea) :)

Scarf or dishcloth? You decide.

2010-09-07T17:18:00.000-04:00

So I finished the blue & white windowpane scarf and it looks pretty good:

Once I got started, it was a pretty easy weave, for the most part. I would definitely do something similar again. I have in mind a brown/rust/peach version with smaller stripes...but that will depend on what yarns I actually have enough of for the warp.

Today's been pretty strange:

1) I've got three birds at my house instead of 2...I'm bird-sitting for a friend so one birdy is keeping me company in the living room, and the other two are hanging out in my room. It's not as insane as I thought it would be, though.

2) Just heard from an old friend I haven't talked to in YEARS and her life sounds like a movie. World travels, interesting boyfriends, belly dancing classes...how unexpected!

3) Got a call to set up a job interview this morning!

4) It is too beautiful outside to be believed. I might have to take a walk to enjoy before it gets dark. After such a freakishly hot summer, nice weather seems kind of unreal.

Orange you glad again?

2010-08-29T21:49:00.000-04:00

Another treasury feature...this time it's my orange flower barrette that made it in:

Etsy Orange!

What a lovely treasury by Experience :)

Top 5 Best & Worst of Being Unemployed

2010-08-27T18:51:00.001-04:00

This isn't exactly craft-related, but it's been on my mind. Today I was doing some thinking about the whole state of being unemployed...in between job applications, of course. I know so many people right now who have been affected by layoffs or other kinds of downsizing. It just seems to be getting worse :( On the whole, I feel pretty positive, but this is still not an easy situation.

So here are my thoughts about the:

Top 5 crappy things about being unemployed

1) Money worries and guilt. Highly miserable, regardless of your financial situation.
2) Feeling isolated and disconnected socially at times. This is strange because I have lots of plans with friends--but few with mere acquaintances, folks I don't know well, or new people. There's not as much opportunity for this, unless you seek it out.
3) Magnifying other areas of your life that aren't going ideally. Spending lots of time by yourself has a way of doing that...and now you don't have the excuse of work or "no time" to hide behind for why you haven't fixed things.
4) The waiting game. The whole job search process is slow and it's just not much fun.
5) Feeling unproductive/like you're wasting time. Not that I didn't waste tons of time on the weekends before...but now it comes with FREE automatic guilt since you're not getting paid!

However, there are also the

Top 5 awesome things about being unemployed

1) Less stress! Seriously. And not as many migraines :) Huge.
2) Time for myself--for crafting, for seeing friends, volunteering, reading books and blogs, taking care of long-overdue errands, spending time with my pets, and CLEANING MY HOUSE. I've been oddly busy--I have plans to get out and do something pretty much every day.
3) Did I mention that my house has never been cleaner?
4) Being able to help out friends. Some of my friends needed a babysitter for a few hours...others needed rides from the airport, company/moral support during unpleasant errands, or a pet-sitter. It's nice to be able to say, "Sure, I'd love to help!" instead of "I can't, I don't have time."
5) Getting in shape--ok so I haven't met my goal yet, but I feel at least 85% healthier. And yes, I clearly got that percentage in a scientific manner. Actually, most of my friends have commented on how much better I look now that I'm not stressed out and working too many hours.

In general, it's been a great time to get my life in order. So it sucks sometimes, and it ain't vacation...but it's not all bad.

Some good lists and columns from others:

Top 5 Benefits of Being Unemployed

The Unemployment Blues

Unemployment Blues (another one)

24 Ways to Beat the Unemployment Blues

7 Myths About Being Unemployed

100 Motivational Blog Posts for the Unemployed

100 Tips, Tools, and Resources to Help You Survive Without a Job

Ten Fun Ways to Kill Time When You're Unemployed

Weaving again!

2010-08-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

I had taken a weaving hiatus for a few weeks, although the warp has been sitting patiently on the loom waiting for me. Yesterday I finally got started...

I planned this "Windowpane Plaid" scarf months ago and am pretty happy with how it's turning out--just like I imagined. Although it does kind of remind me of a dishtowel plaid, haha.

It's an off-white chenille yarn, with a synthetic novelty yarn for the stripes. And it's a pretty easy weave, too...so I should have it completed by the end of the week. More pics soon!

Another fall treasury!

2010-08-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here's an etsy treasury curated by earlykooka, featuring my Autumn Leaves Purse:

Autumnal Tribal Tones

Awesome colors and patterns. Please visit and take a look!

Sneak peek--baby collage!

2010-08-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

My friend Melissa asked me to make a name collage for her new baby's room...I finished it this afternoon and really like how it turned out.

The baby's name is a secret till he's born though, so I must wait till then to show the full picture!

Day trip to PA

2010-08-16T14:17:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, my younger brother and I took a trip to visit our older brother, who lives in Wilmington, DE...so we explored the nearby area in PA. Here are some photos from Marsh Creek State Park.

Why is it called a creek? It is clearly a LAKE.

Can't you just hear the bugs and bird sounds?

This is one of my favorite shots.

These boats reminded me of shiny fish.

Love how striking the birdhouse shape is against the sky.

Still life with life jackets.

Another fall treasury feature!

2010-08-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday my Autumn Leaves purse was included in another etsy treasury, this time curated by Sherri Conley:

Autumn Leaves

Thank you Sherri for making such a lovely treasury!

Cleaning!

2010-08-11T11:04:00.000-04:00

I must apologize for being somewhat MIA on the crafty project postings. I have a part-time job I'm working a few days a week now, and my other major project over the last month has been cleaning the heck out of my living room.

For the first time in years, I now can truly say my living room is presentable. Usually I felt I needed to apologize for it when people come over.

Right now you can sit on the couch without (gasp!) moving a whole bunch of crafty crap. My craft stuff is organized in a way that makes sense and I am working through using stuff up.

I live in a small apartment and junk piles up fast here...it has literally taken me months to get my living room back to this state.

How did I do it? Getting rid of stuff! Quite a few things found new homes via craigslist, Planet Aid and other donation bins, Jyoti's neighborhood yard sale, and also gifts to my friends' closets :)

It turned out my biggest clutter nemesis was papers--I am taking out a huge bag of them to recycle each week. Why on earth was I saving work papers from 6 years (and several jobs) ago? They weren't interesting and I certainly never looked at them.

I also used the help of a few Feng Shui books that finally made me feel it was ok to part with some of this stuff:

I haven't painted my door red or anything (I'm pretty sure my complex would object to that, although this door has never seen a new coat of paint!) but the books were really helpful about putting the clutter items in perspective.

I still don't have the heart to take down my collage wall...

Or to completely trash my magazine collection...

But there is definitely room to breathe now!

More treasury love!

2010-08-11T09:18:00.000-04:00

Check it out! My autumn leaves purse was featured in another beautiful etsy treasury, this time by fuchsiabloomstudio:

Prelude to Autumn

Treasury, Hooray!

2010-08-02T20:59:00.001-04:00

Check it out--HannahsHands featured not one but TWO of my pieces today in her extremely lovely "Warm Autumn Colors" etsy treasury.

Great colors and great items...I definitely found some new favorite shops :)

Rainy days

2010-07-29T14:40:00.000-04:00

So Sunday marked the beginning of a no-power week in my apartment building. It started with a tornado in Montgomery county which came through and knocked over the tree outside my window...onto my car!

Yeah those 60 mph winds were no joke.

Strangely, my car ended up with only minor scratches on it, once excavated.

Since then, I have been running around and haven't gotten too many crafty things done. And today there's more rain...

Supermodel Photo Shoot #2

2010-07-25T14:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Jyoti was gracious enough to be my new scarf model! Here are some shots of her modeling my purple chenille scarf. Isn't she lovely?

The scarf will be posted on etsy soon :)

Beginnings of my fall line!

2010-07-24T10:26:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to put together a fall line of accessories...I planned out quite a few but have started with the pins and barrettes (the easiest!)

I have a really wide variety of new projects planned...from scarves (both woven and sewn) to gloves and maybe even a piece of clothing or two. We'll see how many I get to, as some are quite ambitious :)

Here's the first batch of pins and barrettes so you can see some of the colors I'm working with.

It's going to be romantic, a little bit cowgirl...with lots of plaid, suede, and tiny calico prints...more to come soon!

Sketchbook Project

2010-07-23T13:11:00.000-04:00

I spent this morning catching up on my blog reading and getting inspired. I saw info on a few blogs about The Sketchbook Project and right away knew it was something I wanted to participate in too!

I've signed up for the "In Flight" theme (mostly so I can put birds all over it!) and am excited to receive my journal in the mail soon. The "Nighttime Stories" theme was also tempting though...

It's pretty cool...the sketchbooks go on tour to 6 U.S. cities and then enter into the permanent collection of The Brooklyn Art Library. Awesome!!!

Great read of the week!

2010-07-20T23:55:00.000-04:00

This is a non-crafty book but fantastic for refocusing your energy or reorganizing your craft area. I picked up this book and was thoroughly inspired to clear my clutter! Really an excellent guide--this book focuses on why and how to clear your clutter as it relates to feng shui and improving your environment and life in general.

This really motivated me to get rid of old junk and stuff to make room for new things in my life. A quick and enjoyable read...I heartily recommend!

Okay, okay...

2010-07-19T23:41:00.000-04:00

I've gone missing for a little bit, but I had a lot going on:

1) Switched to new, non-crashing computer!
2) New volunteer gig
3) Massive cleaning spree of house
4) Car repairs--still in the works!

I will most likely return to the world of blogging later this week. I did complete a few crafty projects, including finishing the orange purse and decoupaging mini notebooks with candy wrappers--pictures to come soon :)

I am also newly resolved to clean out my craft shelves every 3-6 months. I hadn't truly gone through them in about 5 years and was stunned at some of the stuff still there that I will probably never use. I got rid of my huge stash of homemade paper beads (from when I made a curtain out of them to go around my dorm room bed!) and am giving my untouched scrapbooking supplies to a friend. Why didn't I do this sooner? I do have a hard time parting with my stuff and looking at it objectively. But recently I've been watching a lot of Clean House and I think it scared me a bit, haha.

Crafty book review!

2010-07-07T21:01:00.000-04:00

The New Crewel: Exquisite Designs in Contemporary Embroidery

Several friends recommended this book to me, knowing how much I enjoy embroidery. I finally got a chance to check it out and was pleasantly surprised. I always thought crewel sounded scary and super-difficult. When I was a kid, the crewel kits in the craft store looked beautiful but too complex to try. However, this book does a great job breaking it down into easy and manageable stitches and projects.

It turns out, a lot of crewel is just variations on satin stitch--which I already do tons of in my embroidery. I liked the book's straightforward format and clear instructions.

The sampler is a great way for a crafter new to crewel to try out various stitches or patterns and there were some really beautiful ones of leaves and flowers. There were also a few that reminded me of a bizarre 70's pillowcase from when I was a kid.

Overall, the projects are cute, though I would have liked to see a few "more intense" projects at the end. And the color palette was pretty simple in this book, they could have shown more variety. I guess on both counts they were just trying to keep it simple and "not scary"--I'd say they succeeded.

I would definitely recommend this book for a beginner, or if you're looking for some basic projects to try out.

Happy crafting!

Busy bee!

2010-07-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

I can't think of the last time I finished this many projects. Here's my bounty from yesterday's crafty afternoon.

So cute!

And here's my finished Waldo scarf...

It's really soft and fluffy :)

I also finished my variegated stripes scarf in blue & gray. I thought this one would be "easier" to weave. Ha! For some reason, the warp threads kept snapping or the chenille rubbing off--but only on the blue warp ends. I can repair them easily, but it's still frustrating! The finished scarf did come out beautiful though.

The stripes are subtle and remind me of a snakeskin pattern.

Also quite soft and fluffy!

Here it is in progress...with two snapped ends showing that I later wove back in.

Here's to hoping the next scarf is pain free! :)

Fruity felt coasters

2010-07-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

I finished another set of these coasters yesterday, as a very special birthday present for a friend. I love how they turned out!

More projects in progress!

2010-07-01T13:08:00.000-04:00

My internet's been out for a few days so I've been slow to post. Here are a few of the things I've been working on:

Cutting out more pieces for tie-dye barrettes...

finally picked a lining fabric and stitching together the orange purse...

and finishing touches on the pink scarf.

It looks a bit Waldo-esque. I had to abandon the original Valentine scarf plan because the yarn I chose for the warp turned out to be a HUGE pain in the neck and I needed to do something fairly simple for the weft. I am pleased with how it turned out though. The next scarf should be an easier weave.

And lastly, I've been journaling in a different format of late, see what you think...