Merry Christmas!

Talk about neglect.  Months without a single post.  I thought I should at least post a picture of the holiday ornaments I made this year.  I only made the gnomes.  The mushrooms were given to me from a friend who had no idea she was receiving a gnome on that same day.  Serendipity.    The holiday season around here has not seemed like the holiday season at all.  It has been strangely warm and we have no snow at all.  In fact, we have had one of the cloudiest Decembers ever recorded.  Hardly any sunshine at all.  Not a recipe for a cheery holiday.  Sorry to bring the room down.  Let's get back to wishing you a very Merry Christmas!  Here is hoping it is snowy and cheery wherever you may be.   There are going to be some changes in the new year and  I will be sharing them in a couple of days.  (Clutch the pearls!)  Yes, I am going to have another post within the week!

Fiber Show

This weekend I stopped in on a fiber arts show.  It was very crowded which meant I did not last very long.  I hate trying to maneuver my way around while trying to view a piece without an obstruction (clueless observer) in my way.

There were plenty of quilts on view.

I enjoyed the slight abstraction of this one.

I admire anyone that can work with color in such a complicated way.  I cannot work with color in any way, shape or form.  That is why I only work in black and white photography.  I just cannot see in that way.

 

OK, this is the only commentary I will give regarding technique.  I have only made a few quilts so I am no expert.  I just prefer that I see the hand of the creator in the piece.  I want to see some hand quilting.  I do not like quilts that are both pieced and quilted by machine.  Even worse when the machine work is done by another party.  There is nothing wrong with it, I just prefer that it not be done this way.  I will get off my soapbox now. 

Look at all of that beautiful handwork done by this person.

 

These were some of the pieces I found the most interesting in the exhibit.  These were made by a woman who spends half of her year in Hong Kong.  These apartment buildings represented her life there.  The fabric was custom printed.  There is hand quilting as well as some applique work.

 

I was also intrigued by this piece which was a weaving with a Japanese influence.

Ornament Swap

These are the ornaments I received the first time I participated in the Holiday Ornament Swap.  It has had many iterations.  It began as a swap organized by two bloggers, but the numbers exploded and they found it too hard to manage.  It then moved to Swapbot for a year and then it seemed to disappear.  Recently I noticed that another person who participated in this swap several years ago is trying to revive the swap.  Only a few people have signed up.  The deadline for signing up is next week.  I think that you should go here and sign up!  It is a lot of fun.  You get to create your ornaments and then be all happy when you go to the post office to ship them off.  Then all you do is wait for a little holiday surprise to arrive in your mailbox everyday.  You can't beat that.  If you are at all considering signing up, do it now.

Holiday prep

Have you started to get into the thick of your holiday crafting and gifting?  I have.  Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to successfully shoot the results.  Above is a detail of the globe I made for a friend.  One of her dogs is a Boston terrier so I made this little snow scene in a globe for her.  Too bad none of the shots showing the entire globe were in focus. 

This year I decided to try out some new variations using those clear glass ornaments.  This is the mini tree and snow version.

I also tried out these painted glass ornaments.  There was a lot of trial and error due to the viscosity of various paints.  Also, one should take heed to the cautionary information provided by  the person who wrote the tutorial.  When they mention that it takes FOREVER for the paint to dry, they are not kidding.  It has been about three day and these are still wet on the inside.

     So much more to do before next week.  Why don't they keep enough employees at the post office so that they can have all of the windows open during the middle of the day at the busiest time of year?

Renegade Holiday

This weekend was the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair. I got there right after it opened on Saturday because the building is not very large and it gets very crowded very fast.  So, I could have shown you really bad photos of craft booths due to the fact that it was jammed with people and there was no way to get a clear shot of anything, or I could show what I thought was the best display at the show.  This is it.  These beautiful jellyfish made out of fabric.  It was squandered away down a small corridor.  I wish it had a more highlighted location, but the space is not very accommodating for that. 

When I researched online I found that there was a larger display at Portland airport.  Here is a video to give you a better idea.

 

 

Underwater Flight // Sayuri's World from Quimby on Vimeo.

 

 

There were a couple if vendors that stand out in my memory.  Here are the links - McBitterson's is right up my alley. I also enjoy Slightly Offensive Chicago Posters, but I think you have to live here to get most of the jokes.

After perusing the show and breathing the open air again we went to Hoosier Mama for some pie.  It was a good start to the holiday season.

 

 

Happy Halloween!

I saw these here and decided to make a few.  I guess I could have made the mouths bigger so that the fangs opened slightly.  Trick or treat!

Kind of a drag

I picked up this book on family crafts that was published in the seventies. I had no real reason to purchase this book, but I often like to see what kinds of crafts they offered back then. I bought this book for one project only. How to pimp your bug.


I really don;t see how this could ever be listed as a problem, but it is. This project promises that "short of a lasso, this is the very best way to rope in some new friends." The book also adds "If you happen to be a parent with an old car and are searching for a project that you and your teenager can work on together, this is a good one. You may find new rapport and new closeness via a VW painted red, orange, yellow, green , blue and violet." See how easy it could be for you to bond with your teen?

This is the instruction page. My favorite part because of the lingo. :Preparing the old surface was a drag." Don't ya know? "But the taping and painting was a gas." You can't make these things up.

They recommend acrylic paints which I don't quite understand. Anyway, here is the finished product.

There are also some other interesting crafts in this book.

Look at this shopping basket. It would look really nice on that townie bike of yours. Everything comes back around, I guess.

There is batik as well. I could drive my rainbow VW with my townie bike and basket on board and have my batik scarf wrapped in my hair blowing in the wind as I head down Highway 66.

Merry Christmas!

I did not participate in any holiday ornament swaps this year. I made these mini dolls for a few people around the globe. These are the extent of my holiday tree bling. Merry Christmas!

Well, it's something

I made this yarn wreath last night while watching TV. It is a small gift for my godmother. I am still waiting for Ryan Gosling to come over and give me that shoulder rub.

Just what you need

Have you been going crazy with your holiday crafting this weekend? So you need a little pick-me-up? A little something to help you make it through? A little crafty Ryan Gosling? I have just the thing. Trust me, it is hilarious. You are welcome. http://handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com/

Ornament swap 2010

I think that everyone should have received their ornaments by now. These are the ornaments I decided to make for the swap this year. As usual, I could not decide on one. The acorns were the first idea and then I decided to try out the snowman heads. There is actually a jingle bell inside there. It does ring, but not as high and loudly as I would have liked. I did not participate in the regular one I have joined the past 4 years or so. It just got to be too big and people were not sending out any ornaments. It wasn't any fun anymore. So, this year I organized a much smaller international swap. I will soon post the ones that I received.

Renegade Weekend

I went to the Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale yesterday and it was incredibly fun. It was also incredibly crowded. I heard that it was even more crowded on Saturday which is good news because we had a snow advisory most of the day on Saturday. People must have really wanted to get out there and shop. The holiday fair was about 4 or 5 times larger than the last time I attended. It seemed to go on forever, which is great. You will notice that I have absolutely no photos to share because it was nearly impossible to shoot when you were packed in like sardines. So, I am going to share links and photos from a few of the people that stood out to me. First is Kirkiture. These are some really beautiful lamps and you cannot beat the pricing.

Clinton Reno has some really cool prints. I was enamored with the Octoscooter, myself.

Judgeworks has some great show posters. This Calexico poster below is just a sampling. Unfortunately, there are only a small number posted in their shop. There is so much more to see from this place. You'll just have to trust me on that.

Tugboat Printshop never disappoints. I try to keep up with their blog so that I can look into their shop and see what they are printing.

Last, but not least, no matter where you live, everybody should have an ork poster!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday. This weekend is a good time to make some of your Christmas gifts. I seem to be the only one that sees the humor in this snowman.

I really have been doing something

I told you it would be here before we knew it. It may seem like I have not been getting anything done, but I have. I swear. These will become one of my holiday ornaments to swap. Now I must get back into the kitchen. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

These are my little mummies I made to send out with my Halloween treats in the mail. They stand about 1 1/2 inches tall. Happy Friday and here's to some good trick or treatin'!

Fair warning

You know you don't want to admit it. It is time to start thinking about the holidays. This is just my little friendly public service announcement for you to get crackin'...or craftin'. Can you believe how little the tiny ones are?

Morning run

The only thing reminding me that fall is around the corner and this heatwave will eventually end.

Nowhere to Land

For quite some time I have been looking for a good place to keep my keys. Most people have a landing strip, but that doesn't work for me because I rarely use my front door and there is no good place in my kitchen. I cannot hang them near the door for security reasons. I usually toss them on the table where they eventually fall to the floor and I grope around in the morning darkness searching for them. I finally decided I needed some type of storage box.

I had some of these cigar boxes laying around.

The problem was that I thought the back was far more interesting than the front. This made for a very shallow back to the box. It was not ideal.

As luck would have it I was out running one morning and this was sitting on top of a dumpster. It was meant to be.

It was much deeper and could store more stuff.

It had a nice clasp for closure and for some reason the word "Dreams" was printed on all sides.

I just added some cup hooks and a picture hanger on the back and it was ready to be hung on the

wall.