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...

I'm Featured on Craftster!!

I feel quite honored and a bit giddy about being a featured artist on Craftster for May!! Glad all that hard work is paying off! Check me out!- http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=346122.0

2nd Washcloth...

Here's my 2nd washcloth practicing another pattern, the basketweave, and this one is good enough to be a gift! I'm giving it to my mom for Mother's Day!

Practice Washcloth

I actually learned to purl and follow a pattern! I know it's sad, but my brain finally wrapped itself around the rest of what I should know knitting-wise! Here's my fancy washcloth where I practiced my newfound gift! There's mistakes all over the place, partly from my daughter who picked it up and lost a whole row of stitches, and also where I discovered I can't have a conversation and knit at the same time! Can't wait to try more cool patterns and stock up on washclothes...

My New Stash!

Here's just part of my yarn/fiber stash from the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival! I stocked up on lotsa roving to spin with- some colored and natural angora & natural alpaca (not pictured), the multi-colored roving to the right is from Creatively Dyed, one of my favorite vendors, and also the blue/brown tussah silk, that I started spinning in the car on the way back... I also bought some metallic fibers to play with, in blue and aurora, it's awesome already (see the yarn I've started spinning). So much fun & so inspiring!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

Just got back from the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, which was amazing, as always! SO, SO HOT, but full of fiber and yarn goodness. Met some cool podcaster celebrities yesterday, went to the "after party" to schmooze, hit the festival AGAIN today to find more goodies, I'm pooped! I'll post pics of my goodies later, but I'm always excited to see and feel new fibers and yarns, and get inspired by all the fabulous ideas out there! I'm going to have my husband copy a triangular loom for me to weave on, I started spinning with pure tussah silk (LOVE it!), some angora (hard to spin), found more sari yarns, etc.... My mind is spinning from all the projects I've got lined up!

My Booth!

Last Saturday's show was a bit of a bust with an outdoor show & chilly, rainy, windy weather.... Here's my booth for the 2 hours that I was there, before the downpour... :(

Oh, well.... Here's hoping my next show in May will fare better!

Beach Mural

After many, many hours of work, I finally finished my friend's mural! They wanted to copy another they'd seen, and have a reminder of their honeymoon, so, voila! I could keep working on it forever, but here's where I quit...

Skirt made from Easter Dyed Yarn

As soon as I finished dyeing that rainbow yarn last week, I was determined to make something out of it for my daughter, so I just started knitting in the round on my circular needles until a skirt was born! It's a bit of a mini-skirt, but hey, she's got the legs for it!! Just a fun skirt to try out something new to knit, maybe next time I'll try to follow a pattern!

Finally Finished!

Well, I finally finished my daughter's blanket and we bought her a new twin bed! This blanket turned out WAY too big, it drags the ground on every side, and the kittens love it a bit toooooo much, but I think it looks great now that I've finally finished it! I'm a bit sad that the bed covers up her hippo, but oh, well... Now I just hope it's not too warm, since it's her "summer" bedspread....

Dyeing with Easter Egg Dyes!

Yesterday, my friend Nicole came over, and we used leftover easter egg dyes to dye some yarn and roving we had. We perfected alot of the do's and don'ts so you don't have to!

First we started with natural colored roving and yarns (mostly wool, 1 cotton), then soaked the yarns in a vinegar water bath for 15-30 minutes. (3 tbsp white vinegar, then fill rest of your glass bowl with water to cover yarns).

Next we dissolved our colored tablets (seperated into specific colors, using 4-5 kits worth) in a little more vinegar, then filled up more with water.

"Paint" your colors onto your yarns that are on a long sheet of plastic wrap to your liking, not soaking too, too much... When satisfied, place another strip of plastic wrap on top, wrap up loosely, kinda like a "burrito", then put in microwave for 10-15 min on med heat. This will intensify and set your color, keep in microwave until no more liquid comes out, and was clear...

Let sit still wrapped up for a while until cool, then rinse out excess dye.

Let dry- colors will lighten and brighten more when dry!

We learned that wool is best, my pastel yarn was the cotton, and it didn't take the dye well at all, so stick to wool! Cover all surfaces with old towels, and also, that now your house will smell like wet sheep!

This was sooooo much fun, now we can't wait to try it again, I loved the "neon" bright colors we achieved, you could also use kool-aid too, but haven't tried that yet...

Getting Ready!

I've been a busy bee, making as much stock as I can for my upcoming shows! Here's a bit of what I've been working on, soda can flowers (see my past tutorial on how to make them), soda can mosaic frames, and resin frames (see tutorial also)... Next I'll make my sign (out of soda cans- what else?) Gotta get ready by the 24th for my 1st show!!! I'm excited, come see me!

Upcoming Craft Shows

I've still been working feverishly on my daughter's blanket, but it seems to be shrinking, not getting bigger! It stretches and makes me think I'm farther along then I am, still have 10 inches to go!

I'm also gearing up to do some shows this year, maybe a show a month, so if you are in the Virginia/DC area, here's where I'll be:

April 24th- New Hanover Christian School"s Spring Fling 2-5 pm (Mechanicsville, VA)
May 8th- Linden Volunteer Fire Department's Spring Bazaar- 9-4pm (Linden, VA)
June 6th- Ashland's Strawberry Faire- 10-5pm (Ashland, VA)

Come out and support your local artists!!!!

Still Working!

It's been 2 weeks of working 2-3 hours a day on my daughter's blanket, and I'm halfway there!! I think it looks awesome, and she is sooooo thrilled with it, I gotta finish it soon!!

Scrap Yarn Blanket

Here's my latest project- a fun scrap yarn blanket that will be for my daughter's new twin bed.

All I did was cast on 150 stitches, and I'm just knitting the garter stitch with a new yarn each row, with a fringe edge that will go along the side of the bed. It's fun and I can't possibly get bored because I'm always looking ahead to see what color to do next! What a great way to use up your leftover yarns! It's been taking me about 10-15 minutes each row, so who knows how long this one will take me?- Wish me luck, only 7 more feet to go!

Real Life...

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been working on some custom projects, a custom bottle cap bracelet, and a tropical mural for a friend's daughter's wall... Also had my son's 4th birthday party in there for 14 kids!! Now I'm working on knitting a cool blanket for my daughter's new twin size bed, pics to come later .....

Chain Link Scarf- 2nd try!

I finally finished all my links on my chain link scarf & felted it, but I'm not sure what I think of the results.... Anyway, here's how I did it, maybe yours will turn out better!

1. Loom Knit i-cords or knit your favorite "cord" with 100% wool, or any other felting yarn... Make a sample size, then knit away, connecting each other into rings.

2. Keep going!! The length needs to be at least 2 times longer than the end result should be.

3. Felt in the washing machine by washing on the hottest setting with a couple of pairs of jeans for agitation. Repeat if necessary...

4. Enjoy!

My scarf before felting was 159 inches long, after felting, 77 inches long....

Handspun Yarn + a new project!!

Since being stuck in the house AGAIN after another snowstorm, I handspun some more yarn on my drop spindle, from a merino/tussah blend, the color called Concorde... Turned out nice!

I'm also starting a new project, I'm going to make a t-shirt quilt... I have NO idea what I'm doing, but I figure it'll keep me busy since apparently MORE snow is coming our way. After going to the quilting store and shelling out ALOT of money, I sure hope I can figure all of this out... Wish me luck!

A New Venture!

As if Etsy isn't enough, I've started another storefront, this time on Maker's Market! It's a new marketplace for all artists, check it out for yourself as a buyer OR seller!! My Naptime Designs is my store name, check me out!!
www.makermarket.com

Felted Bead Charm Bracelet

We have a foot of snow on the ground here, so I've been a busy little bee, trying to hang on to my sanity while being trapped inside .... I've been going thru all my supplies and ideas for something to keep me going...

Since I had lots of felted balls around from previous projects, I felted up some more to make this charm bracelet... FUN!

More Dichroic

Since we're snowed in again, I've had plenty of time to play with fusing glass again, here's the latest batch... I'm figuring it out slowly...

Wire Wrapping-1st attempt

Here's my other new technique that I played with over the weekend, not as exciting as playing with molten glass, but alot easier than I expected it to be... I've always admired this technique, and I love these results!! Here's a cool website for tutorials on this technique and many others: www.jewelrylessons.com/tutorials/all

Glass Fusing-1st attempt!

Over the weekend I played around with some new techniques, first - glass fusing, which I've always wanted to do... After 3 failed attempts, my husband and I finally "mastered" the process for full fuse, and got pretty good results for my 1st try ever. Since I had a kiln from my metal casting days, we had a head start!! In case you want to try this too, here's the formula...

1. Slowly bring temperature up to 1200 over 2-3 hours, let sit at 1200 for 1/2 hour. (to let bubbles squeeze out)

2. Ramp up to 1450-1500 as fast as possible (point where glass will "melt"), let sit here 10-15 min for a full fuse, then open door to kiln to flash vent and lower the temperature to 950 as fast as possible (to get past the yucky devitrification stage), let sit at 950 for 1/2 hour to anneal.

3. Let kiln cool off naturally, don't bother glass until it's room temperature...

Voila! Now I'm hooked, so fun and so cool!

HUGE lot of resin!

I've been a busy girl, making a HUGE batch of resin jewelry for Valentine's Day and to beef up my Etsy store stock... Here they are in progress... Comics, conversation hearts, etc.... I found out that candy sprinkles are OK, but sugar sprinkles dissolve into the resin... Who knew??

I'll be posting the finished stock soon on my Etsy site, check me out!

Lap Blanket- Finished!

Finally finished my lap blanket, it's small, but WARM!! Probably coulda made it bigger, but I quit when I ran out of yarn!! This was fun yarn to work with, Gedifra's Super Gigante from Italy...