Broomstick Lace Shawl

Here's my grandmother having fun with her new shawl (or head scarf!)  Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!!

I can finally post pics of my secret project- a bacon scarf! Hubby loved his, my brother hasn't received his yet, but soon... This was FUN and hubby says I could probably make a fortune selling them to other geeks like him! All I did was use red and white fleece, cut fatty strips and handstitch around the fat and edges to look crispy... Yummy! Next I'l post pics of the cozy recipients!!

Finished Broomstick Lace Shawl

I finally finished this shawl for my grandmother, hope she likes it! It's so soft and cuddly, and such a pretty texture!

Xmas Presents- Shhhhhhhh...

I'm working feverishly on Xmas presents, but since some peeping toms may be around, I can't post pics yet... Hang tight and I can show you more later!!!!

Broomstick Lace Shawl

Now it's time to move from Craft Shows to Xmas presents! I'm making this broomstick lace shawl for my grandmother... I almost took a class on this technique, but I'm glad I didn't pay for it, because I just watched the YouTube video from Naztazia and taught myself! It's a fun and gorgeous texture, and I'm using some baby alpaca to knit with, so this will be so soft and cozy when I'm done! Hope my grandmother enjoys it, or I may just steal it back!!

Wire Knit Bracelets

I'm still making stock for Xmas, working feverishly.... Here's a few of my new wire knit bracelets, some using buttons as the clasp. I like how they are lacey, lightweight, and fun!

Crocheted Scarves

I still haven't decided if these will be for my last 2 Craft shows, or for Xmas presents, but I made more crocheted scarves... They are fun and easy, just crochet 2 strands of yarn together in a long chain, then dc in each loop, from the Complete Idiot's Guide to Crochet Projects, and they are so addictive! Guess I'll see if they sell 1st, if not, lots of friends will be recieving a cool scarf!

More Zipper pins!

Still making stock for my last 2 craft shows, here's more zipper pins and my new banner!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

More spoon pendants! I love the million dollar bill one!

Soda Can & Resin Frames

I've been busy making more stock for my upcoming shows, I have 3 shows in a row! Here's the latest- soda can mosaic frames and resin frames with bottle caps and Xmas ornaments that I've made, FUN!

Here's where I'll be:

N0v 5th & 6th- Epiphany Lutheran Church Holiday Stop & Shop- Horsepen Rd, Richmond, VA

Nov 13th Sunnyside Assisted Living Craft Show- Skipwith Rd, Richmond, VA

Nov 20th- Church of the Redeemer's 19th Annual Craft Show- Mechanicsville, VA

Come see me and support your local artists!

Homemade Halloween

Here's my kids dressed as scary mummies... They wore these costumes 3 times, and I gotta admit the costumes got better over time, falling apart looks cool!

Almost...

The good news is that I'm at the end of my 90 foot rope (hahaha), the bad is that my rug's barely 3 feet across, so I'm gonna keep going... I think I'll get another 30 feet of filler cord, THEN quit! I've come too far to give up yet!...

My 1st Sock!

Here's another example of why I should never say never! I thought I would never want to, be able to, or understand how to make socks, but this is my new challenge for myself, and here's the toe of my 1st sock!!!!! The yarn is gorgeous- from my favorite lady @ Creatively Dyed (colorway-Hancock), the pattern is from the book Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy Johnson- knit using the Van Dyke pattern. My mentor is awesome, and I'm very excited about this new project, wish me luck!!

More Spoon Pendants + Slumped Bottles

I've got lots of Craft Shows coming up and I'm always trying to think of new ideas, so I tried slumping Coronita bottles in my kiln, and it worked!! I figure they would make cute spoon rests, love them! Also made another batch of spoon pendants since I've sold 4 just last week...

Resin Spoon Pendants

I made a new batch of resin spoon pendants to stock up for my shows , this time playing with Barbies too. I think they turned out fun!!

Needle Felted Xmas Ornaments

I've got a show tomorrow at the Gayton Kirk Festival, so I've made more ornaments, this time felted over styrofoam balls. They are very satisfying to make, easy and fun! Wish me luck tomorrow!

Soda Can Stars

I've been gearing up for lots of upcoming craft shows, and I love this new idea of making stars out of cans! I figure it's a cute Xmas ornament idea, so I've been busy making a constellation of stars!

Here's how to make a 5-point star- www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html

Progress on Rug

I'm still working on my rug. slowly but surely! I've given myself a deadline of Oct 1st to finish, wish me luck!!

Stained Glass Mosaic Frame Window

Here is the final piece, painted bronze/gold in it's place of honor... I love it!

Almost! Just need grouting!

Here's the update on my window! With and without light shining through... My last class is tonight and we want to use some clear grout to enhance it, can't wait to see how it turns out!

Quinn's Dress- finished!

After much procrastination, I finally finished the flowers on this dress that my friend, Nicole knitted for my daughter's birthday present. That was all I did - make 2 i-cord flowers, she did the rest of the awesomeness!!!! This has become our tradition it seems, to handmake an incredibly cute dress for my daughter each year, and I am thankful to my mentor for her knowledge and friendship!!

I'm getting there!

I've only got 2 more classes to finish this, but all my catch-up work has paid off... Almost there!!

Progress on Mosaic Window

I've been playing catch-up with this project, and because it's all "freehand", I'm not sure how happy I am with it so far... I like the concept, but guess I have to get farther along to see the big picture. Wish me luck figuring it out!

Stained Glass Mosaic Frame

I'm still working on my labyrinth rug, but now I've started another HUGE project! I started a class through Henrico County, and we're making stained glass mosaic window frames. After class 3 of 6, this is only as far as I've gotten, so now I've get lotsa homework to do to catch up. Basically, we are gluing cut pieces of glass to an old frame, then we'll grout it all... It's hard to see my peacock feathers yet, so stay tuned for more progress!!!

Progress on Rug

After searching all over town, I found my filler cord (22/32 size), and started filling in my knitting. Still need to sew up my spiral, but this gives me more of an idea how this will shape up! I've got ALOT more work to do to fill all 30 yards of cord!

More Progress...

My rug is coming along quicker than I thought! My only problem now is keeping my coils together to see my color changes, guess I might have to start sewing the tube together with the piping cord... Then I'll be working with a rug in my lap, and that might become unwieldy...???

Rug Progress

After many false starts, here's how far I've gotten on my labyrinth rug... The pattern called for the moss stitch, I'm doing stockinette for speed, and it called for using 1/2" piping cord, and I'm going to use 3/4" to stuff it... It's working up much faster than anticipated, which is good for helping me stay on task to get this done asap! What a great stash buster!

Labyrinth Circle Rug

I've decided to finally start a daunting project, even bigger than the blanket, making a circle labyrinth rug from the book One Skein by Leigh Radford... If you are on Ravelry, check out members progress on these rugs. It will be awesome when done, but even working a foot a day, it'll take me over 3 months to finish... That is my goal, so we'll see! It will complement my daughter's blanket well, since I'm using alot of the same yarns and colors, it's another great stash-buster!

Painted Wreath

OK, so this is one of those projects that was fun, but didn't turn out as expected, so live and learn! This wreath was a pain in the @$% to spraypaint, and still looks horrible, and the lack of substance makes it an oval, not round anymore... Still, it's a cheap wreath and I'll leave it up a while until another idea strikes me...

Toilet Paper Roll Wreath

Last night I was bored and feeling crafty, so I started this project that I'd been wanting to do for a few months, making a toilet paper roll wreath! Here's my inspiration - http://alisaburke.blogspot.com/2009/11/recycled-wreath-tutorial.html and also http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/11/diy-project-toilet-paper-roll-wall-art.html, So easy and fun!~ Just make your design, then hot glue gun it all together. Now I need to decide what color it should be, blue or white? hmmmmm...