Well, besides the fact that my coral reef marine tank resides in the same room as my studio, there has been new additions to the sea creatures at my humble abode...only these sea creatures swim on Etsy! Here's the story:
Several weeks ago, I was invited to a baby shower for a new member at our church that just had a baby and nothing for the baby. I was called to bring a gift of plushy toys. Being very reluctant to simply purchase some impersonal mass-produced items that you get a choice of maybe 5 of, I decided to make them for her. Okay...back up about 32 years ago....
We didn't have a lot of money growing up and we never really got what we wanted (I know, who didn't in the 70's, right). Anyway, I loved to make gifts for my family members and plushy toys and pillows was one thing I loved to make. Big problem: I had no access to fabric. Big bummer for a little creator! So, what does the die-hard artist of 8 years old do? ImproVise! I made my plushies and pillows by stapling cut out shapes where you would normally sew. I bet you can't guess what they were stuffed with: balled up pieces of paper! Instant poor-girl plushy! Several years later when McDonald's chicken McNuggets came out (remember those cute puppets?) I did actually sew some for myself, but back to the story. Now, my first real sewing project (with actual fabric) occurred when I was about 10 years old. I wanted to make the most beautiful ballgown a 10 year old could ever have! So I did, sewn by hand without a pattern. It really wasn't a bad first attempt for a 10 year old, however it did itch...and badly! Well, months later, my mother went in the attic in search of the heavy fiberglass drapes for the living room window that were put up in the fall. Oooops....the drapes are now a dress and at that point, I discovered why it was so itchy!!! But I digress.....
So now back to 2008...
And back to those plushies! So, the woman made out with some absolutely adorable marine animals: a coral, sea star, squid, clam, octopus and a sand dollar. They were very well received both at the baby shower and with my grandchildren! There you have it...the birth of the felt marine animals.
To see them for yourself, you can follow this link right to that section of my etsy shop:
Any feedback will be well received!
I wanted for a long time now to wrap around two circles/ovals one inside the other, one end wider than the other, but when I started to wrap on one end, the other would not stay put. Last night I had this idea how to do it, using Corra's pipa tutorial, and it seems to be working, I like this resulting pendant. Sterling silver with amazonite dangling bead. 2.5x3 cm overall.
I made today two new pendants. The first one I started last night, but I didn't like they way I did it, so I rewrapped it this morning.
The second one is a paisley pendant using the same pearls and additionally white freshwater pearls and sterling silver beads. I quite like this one.
Jens Pind is the name of the latest weave I've learned today. It took me yesterday close to 2 hours of frustration after which I gave up, but today I started with full force and it 'clicked' almost instantly. Must have been very tired last night for my mind to blank out so much.
A sneak peek at my latest patterns...this one is by far my favorite! Above the pattern is centered to focus on the floral design and below it's off center to feature more of the intricate swirls. I'm calling it Sari since it reminds me of gorgeous silk saris from India.
Another pattern...I like the versatility of the floral pattern below. I designed it with lots of different flowers so there are lots of options to choose from. The details are especially sweet in earring charms!
One last design for tonight. This one is more architectural in nature, I get a bit of an ancient Rome archeological vibe from it. It's quite interesting in my new dark bronze glaze as well.
No, it's not about the song, but the name of the weave I've learned lately. It is also known by another name, dino snorting drano, and although it's a gorgeous bracelet weave, I'm not sure what the person creating it was snorting when it gave this name *roll eyes*. Thank got it's also called by the alternative name, which is what I'm gonna use.
I was busy the whole week with this byzantine necklace, a piece on commision. Now hope they will actually buy it :)
Tonight, after all this chainmail, I wanted to do something entirely different, but still something in my comfort zone. So I picked the herringbone weave, which I love so much. The beads are goldstone, they sparkle so much in the light, they're simply gorgeous. For the first time since I make herringbone, I've used thicker wire for wrapping, it has quite an interesting effect. I might use it again for larger beads.
Since I'm on a chainmail roll, here is my latest creation. Spent the better part of Friday evening and Saturday morning winding and cutting the coil to make the rings for it (two sizes, AR 3 and 6), and Saturday afternoon until late in the night I was working on the necklace. I pulled apart at times bits and pieces of it until I got the design the way I wanted it. Although it did turn out to be come something else than I first envisioned. Oh well...
