Sue's World

Awesome Crafty Project

I recently saw something cool in a magazine, a reference to a website where you can design fabric and have it printed.  That obviously went into the "must check out sometime pile".  After I got home from my trip in June to see Joan (I know; I haven't written about that yet) I was really in a crafting mood.  I set my sights on our guest room.

I sewed a pair of curtains and bought/refinished a vanity desk with a glass top.  I liked the idea of a small desk in the room where someone might write some postcards or have a little laptop and I found the perfect thing at the local "antique" mall.  The size and price were right; the finish was awful.  Someone slapped on some white house paint over a hideous mauve, trying for a shabby chic look but achieving simply "shabby".  I stripped the paint down with careful sanding and then painted it a pale yellow.  Hmmm...I didn't photograph it yet. 

Once I have a theme in mind, I can't let go. The room has a beach/vacation feel to it. I decided I wanted to do something with shells.  I photographed a collage I'd put together a few years ago.  I used a piece of sandpaper and then glued some shells on it.  With the exception of the starfish, these are shells I colleted from Del Rey Beach, Florida, many years ago.

I decided this might be fun to play with.  I first was going to get more shells and do more shell crafts (and still will), but then I remember the fabric.  I took this photo and put it in Photoshop and started manipulating it.  I did a few rounds of edits and then loaded it into the fabric website and ordered a small swatch.  When I got it I was pretty happy but realized it needed a tweak.

So now I had a modified version of my design.  This is all from the original photo.  I just enhanced it by taking some of the features and repeating them and then making a very thin frame and making the whole thing grainy so it didn't read as a photo.  My sample had the frame around the whole thing but I realized I only needed it on two sides so that when the pattern was repeated it didn't show up with a double frame in places.  Now one square is about 5 1/2"

  Today my fabric arrived.  It's actually bright like the square above but I took it in low light so it's kinda crummy.  The fabric pattern is also not crooked; I had to be at an angle.  I am really happy with it.  I have a 36'x52' piece of it.  It's upholstery-weight twill that's machine washable.  I am planning to use a piece on my desk between the top and the glass.  And I'm going to make a pillow.  That will probably have to wait a bit but I am really happy for a couple of reasons.  I now have a completely custom accessory.  I got to play around with Photoshop and feel more confident using it.  I know I can create more fabric and though it's more expensive than going to the fabric store, it's unique!

Sue's Archeological Dig

I can live with a lot of imperfections and delayed gratification and such, but at some point it comes to head.  My craft room is a disaster.  That on its own wouldn't be that big of a deal but it's the same space that I use as an office.  There is room for me to get to my chair and to the closet and for the cats to get onto the daybed, but that's been it for quite a while.

It started earlier this year when I pulled stuff out to sift through.  Problem is that I never finished.  So today is the day.  I've had a 5' x 7' rug in here for a few years and today I pulled it out.  That required moving a lot of boxes and stuff but it's done.  The room looks bigger already.  I initially put it in for the coziness and may move it back, but for now it's a clean slate.  Now it's time to sift through stuff and properly organize.  Again.

I don't want anyone to search online for a craft store and find our address.  It's so darn easy to hold onto stuff that I know I can use "someday".  Okay...back to work!

 

So Here We Are

So it's Saturday.  It feels like a Saturday.  I baked hubby's favorite blueberry coffeecake for breakfast.  Mmmm!

I hung few more pictures in hubby's local office and went to one store at the mall for a couple of items.  I like when I actually find what I need and then it's on sale and I can use a coupon.  Cha-ching!

I worked on my first ceramics project.  We're going to be doing a class project, a bas relief mural where we each contribute a tile.  This week's assignment was to create a 4" test tile.  Now I'm know for doing flower art in class so I made it a point not to do a flower.  I kept thinking and thinking.  I recently saw a greeting card where a cat is eating a lizard.  The text is a spoof of the insurance company whose "spokesman" is a gecko.  You know the one.  I decided that was a bit too much but then started looking at pictures of Zorro, our striped cat.

I took an old photo of him and then started playing around with it in Photoshop.   I really just altered the look of it to bring out a higher contrast level.  I decided my piece should have a bird in it so I photoshopped one in. 

Yes, it's silly and that's exactly what I wanted to play with.  We each got a clay "tile" that's about 3/4" thick.  The idea is to carve it.  This is way out of my league but I gave it my best effort.  I traced Zorro's outline on the clay and started carving.  I decided not to carve the bird but instead to add the bird to give it more of a 3-dimensional feel.  I carved and carved and when I felt good about it, I stopped. 

I wrapped it up in plastic to it can start to dry, but very slowly.  It's actually helpful to look at the picture instead of the actual tile.  I can see there's some cleanup needed and I think the bird needs tweaking so it doesn't look like a dolphin...

All in all, I was happy with it.  I know what I would do differently next time but I admit it was nice to be encouraged to do something new.  I know some of the others in class weren't so thrilled because normally we're just cut loose to to what we want.  16 out of the 17 enrolled have been in the class before for multiple semesters so it was kind of fun to get a new challenge. 

A Bit of Whimsy

Mr. Yard Bird is drying slowly-but-surely.  It figures that the one week I bring home clay I don't have enough to do everything that I want to do.  I was actually going to throw on the wheel today but only have enough clay for a silly little project I'm about to start.  I'm happy with the bird and will be happier when it's successfully fired and then glazed!

A Birdbath is Hatched

 I couldn't resist.  I un-molded the birdbath pieces.  I used rapid-set cement so I figured after 24 hours it would be okay to peek.  WOW; I love it!  I could not get all of the leaf pieces out so I'm letting this cure for a few days before taking a scrub brush to it which was part of the instructions anyway.  In about a week I'll apply cement sealer and once that's done I will fill it with water.  I am really amazed how easy and inexpensive the project was and I will definitely be making another one.

Project #2 Complete: Ceramic Bird

Once in a while I start dreaming up things for the garden and occasionally doodle.  After making the birdbath, I set out to sculpt a ceramic bird that I intend to use for a fountain piece.  At some point during the process I looked up from the kitchen table and noticed it had started to rain.  Good thing I did my cement work already!

It took a while but I eventually completed by bird and I'm happy with it.  He's a bit whimsical and not really all that life-like, but I smiled when I finished.  I covered the piece with plastic for now to let it dry slowly.  Maybe I'll take a picture before bringing it in to have it fired.

I have a hole at the bottom and up through the "beak" so that I can put tubing through the piece for water to come out.  The holes aren't obvious so if it really doesn't work in a fountain it can still be something fun for the garden.

It's fun to try something new!  And it's not even noon; wow!

All Tied Up

 I am happy to say that I completed one whole section of my knitted blanket.  I folded the one piece over to show four of the five colors.  The "missing" color is rust/pumpkin.  I manage to get a couples of rows in while I'm taking a little break and it's fun seeing the progress.  I'm about 6 rows into the 2nd piece.  A big goal in the knitting department is learning how to hold my needles and how to wrap the yard around the stitches.  I do it awkwardly but can still knit pretty quickly.  Mom - one of these days soon I'm going to ask for your help on that (after you stop laughing at my current "technique"). 

Knit One, Purl Two

After knitting seven scarves for sisters-in-law and nieces, I was still in the mood to knit.  I decided it was time to learn something new.  I've done nothing but knit since taking classes over a year ago, so I did a bit of practicing today.  I finally remembered how to purl and then I played around with knitting and purling.  Finally I sought out a blanket pattern and found a nice one on Jo-Ann's website.  The pattern calls for 3 colors and you make blocks of each color.  Not satisfied with that, I bought five colors. 

You basically knit the odd rows and alternate knit/purl stitches on the even rows.  You end up with furrows that are subtle but definitely there.  After playing around with leftover yard, I started for real.  I had to do the first half dozen rows three times before I got it right.  I found myself inadvertently increasing stitches when I did the even rows:  bad news!  So on attempt #3, I've made it through 7 rows without a mistake.  I know I can't do this while paying attention to the tv, so it will take some time to get moving on this but I'm happy.

I also had to play with transitioning colors and found it was surprisingly easy.  So when I've completed 46 rows of my first color, I will switch to the second.  Each row is 33 stitches long so this will definitely take some time but it's a good Winter project.  After that I might be up to trying a "simple" sweater or something. 

One Last Thing

For the record, it's nearly killing me not to talk about projects I've been working on, or posting pictures.  I got a bit of a release with the pictures of the things I made for last night's gift exchange, but can't wait to share the other things I've been working on after Christmas when all the gifts have been handed out.  Until then, I'll just say I've been very, very busy!

Grace Group Christmas Party

Last night was our first Grace Group Christmas party.  It was a lot of fun.  Everyone in the group came and three of brought spouses that aren't in the group.  We had a nice potluck dinner with turkey and prime rib setting the tone for the meal.

We had a gift exchange, with each person bringing a gift not to exceed $15.  It's the one everyone has played where you draw numbers to determine the order of gift opening and then there's the added excitement of stealing gifts.  I drew the luckiest number:  1.  I started things off but it also meant I had the option at the very end to trade gifts with someone (there are lots of variations in the rules).

I opted to make the gifts we brought.  I brought a bird wall hanging and a wall hanging with words that describe Jesus.   It was a fun way to share something I made without having to make one for each person in the group!  The bird hanging is a fabric panel to which I added a border and then the hanging assembly.  The "Wonderful" hanging is made from scratch.  I had this idea several years ago but it always stalled with the idea.  Earlier this year I created the words on my computer in various fonts and then traced them onto "Wonder Under" that I'd fused to different fabrics.  I used really sharp scissors to cut the words out.  I created the background/border and when that was finished I ironed the words on.  I will be making more of those and some won't be in Christmas colors.  I was thrilled with how it came out. 

I'm sure many will recognize that the words come from the bible, Isaiah 9:6 to be exact:  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Handel then included that in his "Messiah", my favorite piece of music.

The two were traded until they were knocked out of commission and I was happy that Suzanne ended up with the birds and Roxie with the "Wonderful".  As for me, the gift I drew off the bat was a $15 gift certificate from Trader Joe's.  It's one of my favorite spots to shop and I would have been happy going home with it, but that whole gift-stealing was too tempting.  My eyes popped open when I spotted a 2 million candle power flashlight.  I recognized it as a Radio Shack item that had been featured on Black Friday.  I had planned to go get one for my hubby but then was too pooped to do so.  So I knew that was the item I wanted to end up with.  During the game, someone came and stole my gift certificate and I was about to go get the flashlight when someone wisely cautioned me to strategize since I had the last turn in the game.  The flashlight had already been stolen once and if I stole it at that time I would risk it being stolen and taken out of commission, so instead I opened a gift still under the tree.  I patiently waited until the very end when I apologetically took the flashlight from Ken, who'd hidden it under the coffee table.  He, in turn, got my gold candles and cherub. 

Right before I started writing tonight, I turned that baby on to inspect the backyard.  And I wondered how they measure candlepower.  Do they keep lighting candles until they're at 2 million?  Isn't that a fire hazard?  Hmmm.....