Sunday, July 25, 2010

Crafting frustration

I can't decide what's more frustrating:

1. Tackling a new project and encountering one after another trouble spot. Or . . .
2. Thinking the second time it will go smoothly after working through all those problems and then still running into trouble. Argh!


This is my second go at the wristlet and it looks only moderately better than the first. I wonder how many tries it will take me before I get it right?

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Splash of green

I love the fabric of these bags - soft purples with little spots of green. It just makes these drawstring pouches look so sweet.

Friday, July 16, 2010

My beads!

I was pleasantly surprised when I finally got a look at the beads I made. They're not bad. There's one that even looks close to something a professional would make. Purely accidental, I assure you.

Here's the whole collection:


The plain beads were the first practice ones just to get a feel for working with the melted glass. I started to have a bit more fun and play around with these round beads between the plain spacers.


Then I was feeling more comfortable and tried a few new things - making dots, using frit (broken glass bits) and a metallic-looking glass.


Then we tried making long beads using a little metal plate to roll the bead on. I didn't expect the orange to be quite so orange. You really don't know how the colours are going to turn out because the beads are still quite hot when they go into the kiln and the true colours don't show. But it turned out pretty well. My favourite of all the beads I made is the darker long bead. It looks really cool.


Unfortunately the photo doesn't do the bead justice. The metallic sheen and layers of colour don't show up too well. I definitely will make this one into a pendant to wear and proudly say I made it.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The wait is over, sorta

The beads arrived! The beads arrived!

But I'm gonna wait until tomorrow when my mother is over to look at them together. Each bead is wrapped and taped, so the anticipation opening the little packages will only add to the excitement to finally know what we made. I hope a few are worthy of becoming jewelry.

I can hardly wait to see!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Plus one

Ah, when will I learn about trying to fit way too much into a limited time? Never it seems. I decided to sew this wristlet for a good friend who was nice enough to accompany me to a wedding as my plus one -- the morning before the wedding. Trying to figure out a new pattern under a tight timeline does not make for relaxed sewing. I got it finished in the end, but not quite as nicely as I would have liked. From a distance with squinted eyes it looks OK. The colours are quite lovely from a mixed bag of bits I got at a fabric shop in Burlington, Vt., and I added pink grosgrain ribbon for a nice detail.


If you want to make one yourself, here's the pattern:
http://javajem.blogspot.com/2008/02/wristlet-tutorial.html

Sunday, July 4, 2010

At the torch

I made beads today. Lots of them! My mom and I took a flameworking class in Scarborough and had a great time learning how to work at the torch. Glass is absolutely amazing when it's heated - becoming like honey and glowing so bright.

They need to be cooled down slowly overnight in a kiln, so we don't know quite how they turned out because the colours are not too visible when the glass is still hot. Now comes the long wait for them to arrive in the mail so we can see exactly what we made. I am the worst at waiting!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Lunch time

This is my own invention. I thought it would be nice to make lunch at work a bit more refined than using a ripped piece of paper towel to carry food from the microwave to the desk. I figured I'd make a pouch that can hold utensils and a napkin, and be thick enough for holding hot food. I didn't have enough for mine, but this set for a friend has matching fabric napkins.


Just slide in utensils and a napkin, fold it and toss it in the lunch bag. It adds just a little bit of niceness to lunch at your desk.