My Desk Companions

I have a big black wooden organizer that sits to the right of my laptop, and on of top of that I have some buddies that keep me company while I work, play, and create! I just received a new addition to my collection, so I thought I'd introduce you to the gang. Here's a group shot:

From left to right we have: Wolfy the wolf pup, Oso the bear, Jazz Kitty the beanie baby, Illia, and Lirael. I an also see a little baby food jar I stick odd beads into to someday possibly use, and some candy canes from Christmas I've never eaten :P

Wolfy was given to my brother and sister of the heart, John and Becca. We all love wolves and whenever I see it I think of them! Oso was from my brother and his new wife (then fiance) Tanya. Jazz Kitty is from my dear best friend Mel.

The two art dolls are the work of Meri - they are what I really want to show off! First the one I've had for a little over a year - Lirael.

Lirael is my art muse. I loves her so much! If you look closely (don't think you can see this all in the photo) she has earrings, a necklace, bracelet, and anklet. And she's purple. Isn't that perfect for me? We work well together.

Meri also made Illia for me:

She's my D&D character, bard, and an adventurer. In this shot you can see her bow (her quiver's on her back), her short sword, and her harp :) Isn't she cute? She's going to be working with Lirael to give me some more geeky ideas to work into my art. 

I love my desk companions! Do you have anything special on your desk? 

Crocheting Frenzy

I believe I've mentioned recently that my sister in law is in the hospital with complications with her pregnancy. They are hoping that they can keep her healthy enough to avoid having to take the twins out for another two weeks, but it's still going to be early! Why does that mean a crocheting frenzy?

Well my Mom and I decided to make the matching blankets for the boys. Her's was finished a while ago, partially because she had a lot of time to work on it while she was up north with my dying Granny. I, being the slower crocheter, and having other projects going too, have been plugging alone on my blanket.

I thought I had a month left. Now it's any time in the next two weeks! I have a feeling I won't get the blanket done in time, but I want to try and get it done as soon as possible! Of course, spending time helping out with their two year old, and running errands, and all that other stuff is cutting into my time crocheting!

Crafty ADD #31

It's the start of another week - and more crafty stuff to report! Woohoo!

Crochet

I was a bad girl and did not get anywhere near as much done on this as I should of. That's because I was really focused on the two jewelry projects below. I have one more that I REALLY need to get done, but as soon as I'm done with that I'm going to have to bust out the mad crocheting skills...

Cross Stitch

I think I only worked on this one day this week. But it was an important day! I added purple! Always a landmark day right?

Jewelry

The butterfly is finally finished! Well...almost... *sigh* I still need a proper pin back for it. Haven't found one in the right size yet. This little bugger took me HOURS longer than I think it should have :P I can't even begin to tell you how many problems it caused...in fact...I don't think I'll even try :P The good news is as soon as I find a pin back it's going on my back pack that I carry everywhere! Yay for a beady project for me! To show off!

This is my challenge piece for the Etsy Bead Weavers monthly challenge. It's what I've spent the last three days working on (when I could). I'll tell you more about it tomorrow. It deserves it's own blog post :)

Craft on!

Crafty ADD Weeks 21 - 30

I've had so much fun doing my Crafty ADD posts! And one of my favorite posts of all is when I get to the end of a 10 week (approx) stretch and look back with a slide show on all I've done. It's a lot of fun to revisit my projects, frustrations, and triumphs. I hope you have fun looking at the slide show as well :)

Crafty ADD #30

I know - I went two weeks with out an update, but life's been such that I wasn't getting too much done so it's not too much of a loss :P

Crocheting

I'm never doing this blanket again! I figured it out, the squares are so small that I'm having to tie in twice as many ends as I did when I did the first baby blanket. I do NOT like tying in ends! LOL Oh well. It's going to be pretty - so that's something at least :)

Cross Stitch

Book mark's finished! Well, ok, so in that photo it hasn't be cut out and backed yet, but Mom does that part for me (interfacing hates me) so I took a snap shot before I sent it her way :)

I'm making something for me this time! Can you tell what that is in the center? I'll give you a hint, it's an animal :P
I finished my "no thought" necklace - but not my butterfly! Hoping to finish that tonight :) I've got a lot of projects I need to get going on - so I really need to finish it up!

Here's a snap shot of my first paper beads! This is after they've been rolled, and coated with one coat of glue. They still need to have a finishing spray put on them, but it's been raining and I need to have the hubby do that outside. Once their completely done I'll start listing them online and do a post all about how I made them!

Crafty ADD #29

Last week was a mixed bag for me. I did really good the first half of the week, and then I had a really massive migraine that laid me out flat for three days. Despite that...I actually have a lot to show off! So let's dive in :)

Crochet

Don't know WHY that picture turned out so...yellow. Oh well. I finished the core part of the second strip. Next I need to tie in all the ends and do the border!

Cross Stitch

It's almost done! I just need to fill in the blue on the bottom symbol. Another hours worth maybe?

Jewelry

I'm making paper beads! This is the very first set I made, and as you can see, I did NOT do well on some of them. This is definitely a skill with a learning curve to it! I have since made three more sets in different colors and done a little bit better each time. I didn't get a picture of those for you though. Ooops! I'll do a post just about my new paper beads where I explain the process a little bit more and you'll see the rest of them then :)

I whipped these up early last week. They are now in my consignment shop. :)

Didn't make much progress on this necklace because I spent most of my time working on my other beady project. Which is fine - because this one will be sitting there waiting for when I need something that doesn't take a lot of thought!

This is my current favorite beady project - and it's for ME! I'm using a pattern from this month's Bead and Button magazine and I can hardly wait to see it all done! I love butterfly's :)

Crafty ADD #28

Wow - It's been two and a half weeks since I've done an ADD post - if that's not confirmation that I've been pretty out of it, I don't know what is! I got a wee bit done in that time though...

Crochet

The first strip is complete and I've gotten a start on the second. Waaaaay behind on this project!

Cross-Stitch

The quote reads "Nothing is hopeless, we must hope for everything." It's just cut off by the embroidery hoop :P And it's by Madeleine L'Engle. I'm getting close on this one! Which is good - cuz it's a present :P Well that, and the next project is for ME and I want to start on it.

Jewelry

Another ring! I really need to get these posted on-line huh? I'm feeling pretty sick today, but I'm going to try to get at least one ring on-line by the end of the day. We'll see how I do...

This hemp necklace started out with a plan for different beads, and then I discovered that the beads didn't have a wide enough diameter! So I went shuffling through my boxes and found these beads that I'd totally forgotten about! I think they go perfect with the white hemp.

And this is my current project. I started it because it's basically "mindless" and all the other projects I have in my head right now take thought, and I just haven't had the brains to work on them lately!

The good news is I seem to be getting back into the swing of things, even though I'm still not feeling good, so hopefully this will be a more productive week on many different fronts :)

Crafty ADD #27

It's been just over two weeks since I posted a crafty ADD update - and with good reason. I lost my Granny last week, for any of you that didn't know, and that put the rest of life on hold. I did get a wee bit of crafting done on the trip up for the funeral (hey come on, this is how I cope!), and of course I got stuff done before, and even a little after! So here's my loooong ADD update :)

Crochet

Have I ever mentioned that I hate rolling the yarn up into balls? Oh wait, I'm sure I have... Ok, so maybe hate is the wrong word, but after spending an HOUR rolling this up (there were some massive tangles to unravel) that was all I was doing that particular night.

This picture doesn't show adequately the progress I've made, so I'll just tell ya :P On the first strip I've done the first edging row around all the squares and tied in all the ends. I need Mom's help to do the next edging row so I started in on the next strip. I need to step up the pace on this project >_>

Cross Stitch

I started another book mark! This one's going to be a present :D I'm having fun with it - don't think it will take me too long either - which is good :)

Jewelry

I'm in love with making rings! I know I haven't gotten any up on my site yet (hey, I have a GOOD excuse this time!), but I'm still having fun making them :) And they don't take that much time! Hmmm...in fact...I may make another one when I'm done with this post :P

This pretty bracelet is going to my consignment shop - but if anyone falls in love with the colors I will gladly make it for you!

Remember seeing this one in one of my previous ADD posts? I bought a clasp and finished it :)

I have a couple more pieces to show off - but I'm saving those for a specific post :P

Crafty ADD #25

It's Monday - so it's that time again - time for me to share all the stuff I've been working on this last week! I had a pretty good week craft wise :) Let me share with you...

Crochet

I didn't get quite as much done on this as I would have liked last week, I kinda got caught up in beady things, so I'm resolving to do more this week!

Drawing

That's right - I actually drew something! Now if you ever ask me I'll tell you that drawing and all that "traditional" artsy stuff is entirely NOT me. But... We're doing monthly challenges with one of my groups now (Bittersweets Daily Challenge) and this month's was ACEO's! I've got another idea (in a different medium) up my sleeve but I decided to pull out my pencils and do this as well :)

Jewelry

I re-did and finished my ring for myself! Now I'm excited to get a ring stick so I can start making them for my shop - I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from this!

"Treasures of the Sea." This broach is my entry into the Etsy Bead Weavers Monthly Challenge. It's simple, probably won't win anything, but I had a lot of fun with it :) Hopefully I'll have it listed later today or tomorrow.

Remember that coin I showed you earlier this week? Well I reworked the beading around it. It's a lot tighter and looks much better now! I'll be doing the necklace for it soon :)

This was the first piece I did while lying on my back with a migraine this weekend. See, as long as I'm lying down my migraine stays at a semi-tolerable level, so I decided to figure out a way to bead lying down, and I wanted something easy to start with! I picked up this assortment of beads a few weeks ago, planning on making a necklace like this, and so that's what I worked on as I adjusted to lying down and beading :) Hope to get this one listed soon as well.

Awesome Knitting and Crocheting

The Blogfire Guild's current them is showing off awesome knitting and crocheting! Well it just so happens that I have friends in both of those camps, and so I thought I'd show of their work!

Meri makes all sorts of fun things to put in her shop, but I have a special place place in my heart for these dolls she makes. The one shown is the Chess Black Queen Fairy. Not only do I think her work is very impressive, she was sweet enough to make me a purple fairy for Christmas! I was sooo suprised - and excited! My fairy, Lira, sits on my desk and watches over me while I work :)

Yvonne of Handerbeitskram is another artist I've had a lot of fun getting to know! We've both done a trade, and she ordered a custom order from me, and both transactions went wonderfully. We also talk on plurk all the time and have many of the same interests (like sci-fi). I've been learning to knit - and I really admire her handiwork. She also has bunch of great yarns in her shop so make sure to check it out. I picked these fingerless mitts to feature because I love all the bright colors in them!

Crafty ADD Update #24

I had a very hard time focusing on anything this week! Part of that was going on another short road trip to see my Granny, and part of that was feeling sick, and part of that was....I don't know? Here's what I got done though :)

Crochet

Not much progress on this over the course of the week, but I got a little bit done! I'm kinda stuck on the hat I've been working on. I need to get together with Mom on that one. Not showing anything because I crocheted and tore apart several times.

Jewelry

Almost done with this! I need to get a clasp for it and then it'll be done! Woohoo!

Here's what I've gotten done on the remake of the ring I talked about yesterday! I decided to add a little design to it as well as make it narrower this time around.

This is the start of my challenge piece for the Etsy Bead Weavers Challenge this month :D I'm going to call it "Treasures of the Sea."

Crafty ADD Update #23

Last week was a bad one migraine wise (reacting to something new...) and I thought I didn't get very much done. The good news is that looking at the pictures shows I got more done than I thought!

Crochet

What you see here is the death and rebirth of a project. The ball on the right is what was once the purple hat I was crocheting. The biggest problem was that I didn't think to check gauge until I was REALLY far into it...and my gauge was way off. My Mom and I thought we'd figured it out, but the problem was I could no longer do counts to double check myself. I was getting close to being done - and I realized that somewhere along the way I'd manage to get WAY off. I finally decided that the only thing to do was start over and MAKE SURE I'm in gauge this time! I also decided to make sure I had the right yarn (the ball on the right was close, but no quite). I tried starting it again today, and discovered I need yet a bigger size crochet hook. Good thing is I can get one from my Mom tomorrow :)

I also started a baby blanket this weekend! That was a whole fiasco though. Mom and I are going to be making matching baby blankets for my friends that are having twin boys. I'm doing a blue and white and she's doing a green and white. Which wouldn't have been a problem except that we some how managed to get two different types of yarns and so we had to go back and return some and refigure out colors a bit. But we're all good to go now!

Jewelry

Wednesday I made one of my last Christmas presents! I had put this one off, not because it was too hard, but just because I knew I wouldn't be seeing John until after Christmas so I knew I could put it off. I know that the shot of the dragon pendant is fuzzy, but I LOVE that pendant. John did too, so we're good there :)

Saturday I made up this simple necklace in pearls and swarovski crystals. It's a wedding necklace for a family friend. She wanted something very simple. The dress is a lovely cream, and I found pearls that match exactly! The crystals match her sisters (the maid of honors) dress. The one other thing I kept in mind when designing this piece was that the dress has several places where things are grouped in threes (pleats, edging, that type of thing) and so I duplicated that in the necklace by grouping the pearls in threes!

Yeah, I'm still working on this! Going sloooow. Mostly just because I haven't put anywhere near enough time into it :P Like I said, lots of migraines again this last week. Hoping to finally get it done in the next few days though so I can get going on my next projects in the pipeline!