Spring Sale on Artfire

I am doing a Spring Sale on my Artfire for the next month. 

Put in coupon code SPRING15 to get 15% off of your next purchase at http://kreative.artfire.com! 

A few days, a few projects

First things first.  I went to a local shop, Sid and Nancy, in a local area shopping district, Five Points, with some of my wares to sell.  They were well received and I ended up commissioning four of my Soft Swirl Caps and two of my visor caps.  I was pleasantly surprised that a pair of my soft elegance earrings had sold also (yay!).  I'm going to see how well my hats do here before making a summer line in cotton.

Anywho here are the craft projects I've been working on:

This is a hat I posted previously that I was making for my husband.  I finally put the canvas into the visor and finished it up for him.

My stepdaughter made some leeway with the granny square bag and is presently working on the handles (with my help and guidance of course).  I like how it came out even if it is a little loud.  The yarn makes its own pattern with the squares.

Warm Black Around Town Crochet Cap.  This will go up for sale in my artfire shop soon.  I love this yarn and the way it came out.

Cotton Around Town Summer Cap

I went to Michaels a few days back and found this beautiful cotton yarn in Wild Berry on sale.  It is the Loops and Thread brand and is really soft, even softer than Lily's, which is the off-white yarn that is used. 

I'm more than likely going to work on more drawings for awhile.

Drawing

The last few days I have not lifted my crochet hook.  Well actually I did make another Around Town Cap in a warm black but that was about two days ago.  Since then, I have been attacking my sketch book with all of the ideas that come tumbling from my mind from time to time.  This is the inspiration that has eluded me the past couple of months.  I am back to building my portfolio...the only question is, where am I going to put all of these drawings and sculptures when I am done?  Usually I just draw but my inspiration transcends the two dimensional realm.  Most of my works will be true mixed media rather than my usual charcoal/ink/graphite/gouache amalgamation that I usually stick to.

I've started on one.  I have yet to take a picture as it is still a work in progress as it has been for the last couple of days.  I've taken for granted that I draw pretty fast.  I am relishing slowing down and paying attention to all the nuances in the pieces like I used to.  I had an art professor once describe me as "anal retentive" because of my attention to detail.  I couldn't just simply "draw" a picture.  I would attack every portion of it I could with detailed technical acuity.  These days I am not so caught up with technical perfection.  Back then I had a desire to be an art conservator so the need for keen observational skills was essential to my goals.  I still would not mind being an art conservator but my life since my early college years is much different.

Now that I'm older I can better embrace the abstract as well as the concrete.  I can remember the frustration of my professors at my refusal to even tip-toe out of my comfort zone of technical proficiency.  I was "tight" at times but it worked for me.  Now that I am older I can leave a piece with an unresolved line and not pitch a fit about it.  I actually have much more to say with my work also that I didn't have to say when I was younger.  I can remember feeling lost when I thought about the messages I wanted to convey which now is not a problem.  I know exactly what I want to say and can focus more on how to say it.  Well my next post will have something crochet/craft related in it.  I promise.

I am looking for ways to incorporate my crafting with my art.  It's just a matter of finding the right binding medium and it is on!

New Artfire Items and Projects

Well, I've been doing more than my share of catch up.


First I completed a few more letters.  O and Y in Red Heart Baby Econo in Baby Blue with a B left to go (for boy).

From my previous post here is what I was sent by my swap friend from Canada.

The pictures do not do this bag any justice!  It is beautifully and skillfully made!  The liner print is gorgeous and has compartments for yarn, hooks, books and other items.  LOVE IT!

It also came with a matching pouch!  Well enough talk...here are the pics!

My stepdaughter is feeling better now after being a little sick and she was very happy to have new yarn!  Here she is working on the crochet granny purse pattern.  I had to help her a little bit but she has the hang of it.

She loves the colorful yarn!

I worked on another hat which is now for sale on my artfire!  I call it the "Around Town" newsboy cap and will provide the pattern for sale some time in the near future.

I love this color! 

What's been going on?

Life.  In between crafting and art, life goes on with all of its various ups and downs.  The best laid plans are usually laid asunder (hence my aversion to definitive plans).  You can't predict sickness, auto issues, or technological failures, you just have to roll with the proverbial punches when they occur.

That being said I did  manage to get some crafting done around the unpredictability of life.

Basketweave stitch bracelet.  I made this out of this beautiful jade green yarn I had purchased from Ben Franklin's in NC last year sometime. 

I was interested in trying this stitch for awhile and I think I like it although I will try it with a bigger hook and larger yarn next time.

It took the better part of a week but I finally came to a satisfactory stopping point with this 9 pointed star baby afghan.  I had to take it a little slow so I could get enough skeins (took 3.5 so far) and also it got a little boring too, which is why I rarely do blankets.  I am pleased with how this came out and eventually will use the remaining 1.5 skeins to make it bigger.  I misplaced the pattern I used but the pattern was for a 12 pointed star...I shortened it to 9.

I made this G (for Gracie) and will make an N and a C for her sisters as gifts.  Keeping the G in shape was a challenge so I have a length of yarn connecting the top of the G and the line portion to prevent it from twisting.

If I work consistently these take the better part of three days to make one.  A more realistic figure would be four to five days given life and my propensity of working on more than one project.

I love making these pillows.  I am contemplating putting them for sale but they would make great swap items.  Speaking of which, I recently completed a swap with a great and talented young lady from Canada.  I sent her the K pillow made previously.  She sent me this BEAUTIFUL sewn craft bag.  It looks professional!  She's sooooo talented.  She also made a matching yarn pouch with a drawstring.  To add to all fo this awesomeness she sent some great yarn!  A yarn called Araucania that has to be some of the best feeling wool I've ever felt.  I've only ever worked with merino wool (which I love) but I will have to look into this more.  She also sent two skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky wool which I have never worked with but can't wait to!  I am looking for a pattern for it now.  For my stepdaughter she sent a few skeins of Lily's cotton with a pattern for a granny square purse.  She's a little under the weather but she was excited to hear about getting new yarn...she's just as bad about yarn as I am (lol).  I am working with Red Heart Baby Econo in baby blue to make some alphabet cushions B-O-Y.  The Y is completed and I'll work on the O next.  I'm going to throw a hat or two in the mix and build up my artfire store some more.  As for Thing A Day, I've been keeping true to it.  I haven't been "completing" a thing a day but I have been working everyday whether it is on a letter or a blanket.