Bottled Fame

I haven’t posted in a while, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting on my butt doing nothing. In the past couple of months I’ve made loads of lucky stars, a couple of random origami balls, a few books, and I even finished another pincushion. There are a few more things that I made, but I don’t have pics yet. Soon, maybe.

I finally finished this pincushion in June. It will be in my Etsy shop soon. The actual colors aren’t as bright as the picture, and and the button isn’t as dark. I’m still trying to figure out how to take better pics. This pincushion is approx. 3.5″ wide and 2″ tall.

I’ve been obsessed with bookbinding this month. I saw a tutorial online and decided to teach myself how to do it. This is the second book I made using the Coptic stitch. Not my best work, but it’s sturdy. I’m going to have to practice that stitch… It is made with scrapbook paper and thin cardboard (cereal box) for the covers and blank 4×6 index cards folded in half for the pages. It is approx. 3 1/8″ wide, 4 1/8″ tall, and 0.75″ deep at the spine. The pages are left uneven for a more handmade look. It has a long ribbon to keep it closed. It has 48 single pages. Twice that if you write on the front and back of each page.

The second book I made using the codex binding technique. It is made with scrapbook paper and thin cardboard (cereal box) for the covers and blank 4×6 index cards folded in half for the pages. It is approx. 3 1/8″ wide, 4 1/8″ tall, and 9/16″ deep at the spine. The pages are left uneven for a more handmade look. It has 46 single pages. Twice that if you write on the front and back of each page. It will most likely make its way to my Etsy shop. I love it!

Another book I made… it is the same size as the one above and made the same way. It might go in my Etsy shop as well. I like it.

The first book I made using the Coptic stitch. It is made with scrapbook paper and thin cardboard (cereal box) for the covers and blank white printer paper (8.5×11) folded in half for the pages. The book is approx. 5″ wide, 7″ tall, and .3/4″ deep at the spine. The pages are left uneven for a more handmade look. It has 90 single pages. Twice that if you write on the front and back of each page.

Lucky stars! I heart origami! I made most of these in June/July ‘08. Some in August ‘08. Most of these will become earrings or charms and make their way to my Etsy shop. I’m also working on some tiny stars.

Some random origami balls. I made these in July ‘08 using brown, yellow, and pink construction paper.

Shelly at This Eclectic Life recently posted about audiobooks and mentioned The Golden Compass. She posted information about her daemon, and I was inspired to do the same. I might as well post about SOMETHING… since I haven’t been very crafty lately.

I took the quiz once (back in September) and found Thaleron. He fits me perfectly.

Okay, the pictures below are extremely horrible! I know. And I’m sorry. I don’t have a good setup here, the lighting is horrendous, and it is hard to take a decent picture of anything bright red. Please overlook the poor picture quality.

I made this little bird for my mom using this pattern: http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2007/02/19/birds-of-a-feather/ She enjoys watching the cardinals that visit our yard, so I thought I would make her one. The picture is so small because that is the only way I could get it to look decent enough to post… and it is still horrible. I’m sorry. Anyway, I made this little bird on April 22nd (I’m obsessed with dating things… it keeps me organized).

Another horrible picture. Sorry. This is the first reusable shopping bag that I’ve made. I used a plastic bag as a template and searched the internet to figure out the gusset. This one isn’t great (I made a few mistakes.), but I will definitely make more. I am using this one for my crochet/knitting projects, and as you can see, it’s already full of yarn. It’s pretty roomy; It has four skeins of yarn and two folded up baby blankets that I’m working on., as well as my crochet needle case and some scissors. I finished this bag on the 23rd. I’ve been feeling crafty lately.

I received this gorgeous inchworm pincushion (horrible picture, though. sorry!) from 1CrazyQuilter on swap-bot a week ago. I absolutely LOVE it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just hope my partner likes the pincushions I made. Mine were no where near as fancy as this one. I would like to find some wool felt and try new pincushions. They look like a lot of fun.

I have a new blog! Yes, I finally moved my blog from blogger to wordpress, and I must say that I’m in love! It’s so much easier to use and I think it looks better. Woot!

I joined a pincushion swap on Swap-bot, and this is what I sent my partner (lamazon). The swap was for 1 pincushion, but the large one was the first pincushion I ever made, so I decided to send a tiny bottle cap pincushion ring to make up for any imperfections in the first. Now I am obsessed with pincushions! lol I am working on some for my future Etsy shop.

A shot of the “lace” I designed and crocheted for my first bottle cap pincushion ring. The lace was my contribution to this month’s theme in Crochet Along. It’s simple, and tiny, but I like it.

My second bottle cap pincushion ring. I will most likely put this in my future Etsy shop. I really like the fabric used in this one.

A shot of the lace I designed and crocheted for this pincushion. I love, love, LOVE it! I will definitely make this lace again.

This is a baby blanket that I am making for my cousin’s newborn. I am using Caron Simply Soft in Country Blue and Light Country Blue. It is worked in single crochet with a size N hook and two strands of yarn (one of each color) held together. I have 10-20% to go. I haven’t decided if I want to add a border or not.

Another blanket for the baby (also posted in the Ripple-Along) using the Wavy Blanket pattern. I am using Caron Simply Soft in Off White and Soft Green. I have about 75% to go. I am actually thinking about turning it so I don’t have so much to do. It started out really wide… crib size, I believe, but I don’t want to make it that large. It would take ages… I’m incredibly slow because of my short attention span. lol I hardly ever finish large projects on time.

More to come… and soon. I will be opening an Etsy shop and making more pincushions.

The last weekend of March was good to me. I spent the entire weekend in Gatlinburg, TN. It was great. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures. However, I did make something to take on the trip… and I bought something on the trip… so it’s bloggin’ time!

I made this box bag a few days before I left for G’burg using this tutorial: http://dragoknit.blogspot.com/2007/02/box-bag-tutorial.html It is a makeup bag that I made specifically for this trip. I really needed something to carry my makeup in, and I fell in love with this style of bag as soon as I laid eyes on it. It’s so adorable! I think the zipper came out especially well, considering I have very little experience with zippers. I can’t wait to make more!

This is a purse I bought in G’burg. Oh yeah, it’s giraffe print! I’m a freak for giraffes, so I just had to buy it!

This is a hammock I made for my rats. It is black jersey knit on the outside and blue fleece on the inside, and it also has two layers of thin batting inside. I thought I had grommets for the corners, but I had to settle for buttonholes. I would’ve put straps in the corner, but it would’ve been too long. I will use straps when I make one for the girls in the larger cage.

That’s all I’ve recently finished. I have plans for more hammocks/rat toys as well as a corset for faire. I just haven’t been feeling very crafty. Where’s my muse?!

Last month I made a couple of drawstring bags for this project, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before I mailed them to Sherry.

Please visit Sherry’s site if you would like to learn more/participate!

Has it really been four months since my last post?! Wow! And you know what’s worse? I haven’t made a single thing since then. It’s sad, really.

I would like to make a resolution to be more crafty this year… I just need to sit down and work that into a series of smaller goals so I won’t fail. Hm. Until then, I am going to catch up on other blogs for some inspiration.

I have several things to share with you, but first let me apologize for the horrible pictures. I’m no good with a camera… or editing pictures, for that matter.

This is Ethan Kade, my nephew. He’s wearing a busted ball on his head. Have you ever seen those rubber (I guess) balls that are filled with air but are still extremely squishy? It’s one of those. It has a small hole in one end that stretches enough to fit his head. It’s great!

My grandmother gave me a pile of fabric from her stash, and this is my favorite. The picture doesn’t really show the colors… it is a light green with dragonflies and ladybugs. The largest dragonfly is approximately 2.5″ tall and the smallest is 1.5″ tall. I love it! I think I’ll make a bag with it. Hm…

I found a wallet pattern on Craftster and decided to make a few. Here’s my latest… Not sure if you can tell, but the stars are glittery. It was my first time using no-sew snaps, so it’s a little off-center.

I finally decided to tackle freezer paper stenciling… and it’s okay. This was a test shirt. I hate it. I practiced with straight acrylic paint because that’s all I had. It’s incredibly stiff.

My second shirt. I LOVE IT! However, I didn’t have a chance to go to the store, so it is acrylic paint as well. And it is too small for me, so my cousin snatched it up.

I am extremely disappointed with this shirt. I don’t know if it was the stencil or the textile medium I mixed with the paint, but the first coat went underneath the edges of the stencil. Also, the paint was so thin that I could not dab it on… and now it is streaky. And for some strange reason the paint cracked when it was washed, but the other shirts didn’t. Does textile medium cause paint to crack? I did heat set it, so I don’t know. Anyway, I made this shirt for my cousin. She loves MST3K.

My cousin called today to let me know there was a sale on yarn at our local Hobby Lobby. Gah! More yarn! Needless to say, I ran down there and found some very pretty yarn on sale for 99 cents. They were originally marked anywhere from $5.84 to $6.88. I completely flipped! I didn’t have much money to spend, so I only bought 22 balls. Here’s a pic:

Each ball is approximately 3.5oz. The brand is Yarn Bee and the two “styles” are Luscious and Icelandic Jewels. EE! I love them! I’m so excited! I didn’t get a lot of any particular color, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them… but I’ll figure something out. Woot!

I also stopped by the library to borrow a few books. I picked up Candy Crochet, Crocheted Socks!, 200 Crochet Blocks, and Big Book of Crochet. I’m a little excited. Hee.

Okay here is my first square… and after looking at it for a minute, I noticed that there is an extra stitch in the white…. but oh well. Other than that, I think it looks good.

This is a picture of a ripple afghan I am making for my cousin’s baby that is due in April. Since we don’t know the sex, I am using a light green/off white combination in Caron Simply Soft.