Granny Squares!

I have all sorts of fantasies about using my many partial skeins of stash yarn to make one huge wild multi-colored granny square afghan. I've made a few, they are fun, but I haven't really gotten into it yet (can you say TOO MANY QUEUED PROJECTS? I knew you could...). My friend (and enabler) Darla shared a link on her Facebook page which got me all excited about it again.

Apparently at All Free Crochet they are having a giveaway for what looks like a completely fun and exciting book on Granny Squares, appropriately called Granny Square Love. Quick, go to that link to enter, the last day is October 5.

 Even if I don't win it, it's going on my wishlist. Fun!

C.A. Therien

I am so excited! I go to take a glance at the Art Daily Blog, and what do I find? My friend Cat (C.A. Therien) is a featured artist. Go read her interview, it's lovely - then go look at her amazing art.

I met Cat at Polymer Clay Central's discussion forums at Delphi, and then in real life after I moved to Chicago. She's in Peoria, and I used to get down there for Clay Days now and then. It's always so good to get together and make art with other artists. Cat is an amazing person, with an amazing family. I've had the luck to meet her husband and several of her kids, and spend quite a bit of time with her eldest daughter who is just downright fabulous.

Just another example of the light, life and talent in the polymer clay community!

Back in the saddle again!!

...out where a friend is a friend... and my friends in the art community are certainly that, in spades. I love you all, and I'm constantly challenged and delighted by your creativity and talent.One of my favorite things to do is prowl around Artfire and look things up. In the past, before all the big changes, I enjoyed making collections. All those are gone now, sadly, but I have a chance to do many more. There's certainly enough to choose from. Today my eyes lit on something and inspired me to create a new collection... Gorgeous Goddesses.

I am in the middle of redoing my studio so that I can get back to more regular creating. Look for some very new and different items in my shop! Right now I have one commission to finish and a show to plan for in December, plus some items to create for the Interfilk Auction at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. Plus I just got my son started at all-day first grade! Quite a change from half day kindergarten, but he's loving it. The fact that standing just outside our back gate I can watch him walk to and from the school door helps a lot.

Look for more Sunday Sensations coming up on (hopefully) a more regular basis, and I have some other ideas to hopefully thrill you with. *grin* I hope it's a lovely weekend where you are!

Gorgeous Goddesses

   Curated By: gundowerks

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

Moving ahead

I think i might have decided what i want to do when i grow up (at 45 it's got to be coming sometime, right?). As i get my artistic and domestic life back in order again i want to start focusing my efforts toward more fiber arts, particularly clothing, bags and other wearable art. I want to continue working with yarn and polymer clay, maybe get back to silk, possibly wool and felting.

If so, you will be seeing more in this blog. We shall see.

Getting ready for some changes

So far for me 2011 is FIRED - there's been a lot of turmoil and negative stuff going down. I haven't had a chance to be very creative, and one big reason is that my studio is a junk room. I am trying to get into a position where I can start clearing it out and using it again. My positive affirmation today says "I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life", and that's exactly what I'm doing.

I want to give a shout out to my bestie, Darla. She's agreed to be a beta tester, checking out my ideas and new items, and giving prototypes a look over. I've needed a critical eye, someone who has a good artistic sense. Thank you, Darla, I have yet to really put you to work, but you just wait!

I am thinking about a bit of change in direction with my art. My thought is to go more toward the spiritual side. I've been doing things of that nature for a while, although not many of the items are up for sale yet. Keep an eye out, there will be more things on the way in the near (I hope) future.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated - I love input from my friends & fellow artists.

Sunday Sensations!

I have to admit I'm a pretty bad housekeeper. I try, but it gets overwhelming. Mopping is hard for my physically, and I get annoyed by even trying. A few months ago I got a Swiffer Wet Jet and I was really excited about it. The only thing I didn't like was that sometimes things were so messy that I'd go through two or three of the disposable pads trying to get the floors cleaned. I hated that. I'm by no means the world's greenest person, but I try to reduce, reuse and recycle when I can. Luckily there was my friend at MicroMops to the rescue!

That store is amazing. There is everything there... many things that I will buy when I can, because they are all designed to help the desire to be green. I bought a set of four reusable Swiffer pads. They pick up -everything-, and I don't care how gross they get, toss 'em in with a load of towels and they're ready for more duty. I love them!

Right now I'm drooling over the wool dryer balls. I use a set of plastic (rubber? something) nubby balls right now. I love the way things turn out, I love that I can use them with towels (since you shouldn't use fabric softener on them) and I LOVE that I don't have to buy fabric softeners or sheets. However, I don't like the sound they make thumping around. The wool balls aren't supposed to be nearly that noisy, so I can't wait to get some of them.

MicroMops has so many things it's not funny... that shop is amazing to browse. Add to it the fact that Amy is wonderful, sweet and amazing and you've got the best combo - good products, good prices, and fantastic customer service. I was very pleased with my experience shopping there, and I will be a repeat customer.

So, get to work reducing, reusing and recycling. MicroMops is one way to help you get there.

Sunday Sensations!

Another wonderful vendor I've purchased from is Pegasus Soaps. When I started hanging around Artfire and Plurk, I went looking for friends who make the products I use and love, and I love bath bombs... luckily enough, Pegasus Soaps makes unbelievably fantastic bath bombs. I got hold of two kinds, both of which were fantastic. The Cinnamon Toasted Oatmeal bath bombs were delicious, kind to my skin, delightfully smelly and just yummy in every way. The other bomb I ordered, though, was the best... the Monkey Farts bath bombs are amazing. I love the smell, and the name just makes it. Also like the Oatmeal bombs they were kind to my skin and lovely to bathe in.

I think my favorite part is that each bomb comes in two half domes. I've had other bath bombs that are gigantic and although they are lovely, it seems like a waste. When they come in two halves I get two wonderful baths, or I could use both if I want to.

Michelle has a ton of different wonderful smells, all of which I hope to try as I can. I have to be careful though, she's one of those studios I could spend way too much time and money in! Michelle is also an incredibly sweet person who I feel honored to know and spend time with online. I'm blessed by her presence, and her wonderful products.

Monkey Farts for sale!

Long time no see...

So far 2011 has done nothing but torture me in every way possible. I've had my store on vacation since I left home Memorial Day weekend to spend six weeks helping my mother recuperate from a week long stint in the hospital. I returned home two weeks ago to some personal tragedy and heartache that I'm still not recovered from. My studio is also a junk room at the moment, but I plan to start excavating soon so I can have some space to start creating again.

My plan is to reopen my studio in a few days and start adding new items to it over the next week or so. I have new ideas that I hope to put into play within the next month and get into my shop as soon as possible. I'm also planning some destashing on eBay as I excavate the studio.

Hopefully these are all things to look forward to! I know I am excited to get back into the swing of things.

More crochet

I found the perfect yarn for the cow.  It is a narrow mercerized cotton that should be wonderful to feel when worked up.

The slug is stuffed and closed, I just need to make an eye I like and figure out how to make the tentacles. Her birthday was the 31st, hopefully she'll have it before the end of June.

Have several cotton skeins to make more summer caps for L. I want to finish at least one of those before I start the cow.

Location : 458-498 E Main St, West Plains, MO 65775,
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BOOKS!

Thanks to Swagbucks and MyPoints (earned enough for $40 in Amazon gift cards!) I got four crochet books... well, I have three and one is on the way. I got two by Christen Haden: Creepy Cute Crochet and Yummi Gurumi. I now have the patterns to make a crocheted bacon, lettuce, tomato sandwich... and a crocheted Death. ;-)

Besides that I got Crochet Patterns for Dummies and am waiting on Learn to Crochet Visually. Whee! I'm going to finish the present I'm working on for my sister, and then I have another present to make - Cameron the Cow. I just need to pick out the yarn for that.

Magic Ring

I've spent a lot of today surfing Magic Ring/Circle/Loop videos on You Tube. I still can't get it to finish right. I will keep trying until I get it, because I really need to start the Brain Slug pattern for my sister. Her birthday is May 31, and I'll be back home where she is the 27th (or around there), so it needs to get -finished-. I have the yarn, so it's just about learning to make that top part right.

After I get her Slug done I'm going to start another hat for L., and then a manta ray. I'm also trying to track down the maker of a Bender Hat pattern so I can buy that - it is for my sister, but I'm sure it will end up a Christmas present.

Well, crap.

I made a hat for my friend L. I was so proud of how it turned out, and she loved it. I set out to make another and tried a larger hook. Bzzzzt. It's way too big! *sigh* I'm moving back to a smaller hook and will try it again. I wasn't as thrilled with the colorway (Sugar 'n Cream Twists: Cottage) anyway... so I'll start again with Twists: Lava Lamp. I love the Twists, I want to do something with every one.

I also started a shrug for myself out of some acrylic I got on sale... it's nice and soft (yes, I'm fine with non-natural fibers, provided they feel good, wear well, and clean nicely). If the pattern works as I've altered it, I'll try it again with nicer yarn. The pattern calls for Bernat Bamboo, which is my latest Object of Lust, so I might give that a whirl.

So disappointed about the hat!! *sigh* I won't frog it, I'll find someone it fits... but it still gripes me.

 

Just Fiber

I was streaming my biz blog to Ravelry, and then I realized that I don't want to blog about fiber there unless it's something I'm selling. Since I don't plan to sell anything I crochet or loom, linking that blog there seems kind of purposeless. So... a new blog! For all my fancies in fiber... projects, links to patterns, new fibers I find, who knows what else. Such excitement.

Sunday Sensations - ColtPixy!

My second buying experience from among my Plurk Buds was with ColtPixy. There simply aren't enough good words in the dictionary to sum up this woman - she's a wonderful artist, she's a great business person, she's a delightful friend and she is also the Super Ultra Amazing Guildmaster for my guild, the Polymer Clay Smooshers.

My Mom is the most amazing lady around, and she loves jewelry. She's usually seen wearing one striking piece, sometimes a strand of beads, sometimes a single focal. She loves color, and she always looks gorgeous. I fell in love with ColtPixy's Pixy Stones, and got one for my Mother for Christmas.

Mom was just blown away by how lovely it is, and immediately modeled for me. She loves it, and wears it often!

ColtPixy then started doing something that is so cute and so adorable it's not even funny... the Bunny Butts (as we Plurky folks affectionately call them). Her Lucky Bunny Charms are done with an amazing technique (one of my favorites) called Mica Shift. The bunny looks raised, but the piece is completely smooth to the touch. It's hard work, and ColtPixy pulls it off beautifully. I found an orange one in her shop and it had to be mine.

An example of ColtPixy's wonderful business ethic is that, when mine didn't show up way past the time it should have, she immediately shipped me another one. When the first one arrived almost immediately after, she refused to let me pay her for both. I now have two gorgeous bunny butts and am percolating ideas to create a piece of jewelry I can wear often to showcase them both.
Her items always arrive beautifully packaged. It's a joy to do business with this lady, and I'm incredibly glad (and lucky!) that she's both my friend and my guildmaster. You can find her online at her shop, on Facebook with the Smooshers, and at the Smoosher's blog. I highly recommend checking out all three!

My Artfire Blog

Sunday Sensations!

One of my favorite things to do is help support my fellow artists. I do this often by passing their links on as often as possible in Plurk, Facebook and Twitter... but every once in a while I splurge a little and buy something from their stores. I'm going to start a regular Sunday feature that will showcase or review my friends' stores and it starts today with a review of a purchase I made last year.


My Plurk Buddy MzzThang is awesome. She's Fo-Shizzle Designs where you can see all sorts of fabulous things like book thongs, recycled eyeglass necklaces, hair accessories and some really cool chainmail. She is also Earth Wind and Artfire destash shop, which is where I made my purchase. Actually a bunch of really fabulous purchases, including some amazing wild magnetic pink beads that I'm making a necklace for myself from, curved flat connectors that I've made some awesome earrings from and another couple lovely bits that you'll probably see in my shop soon. Everything was gorgeous, just as advertised, shipped fast and packaged beautifully. I love it when I find excellent people to do business with.

Giveaways

One thing I'm going to try to do from time to time is highlight cool events elsewhere on the net. I hope to start blogging about giveaways my friends do, as well as stuff I run across in craft blogs. Feel free to email me if you have something coming up you want me to mention!

You all might not know that I'm a closet greeting card maker. After I get my studio re-fabbed I plan to start bringing some of my cards to my shop. I love everything that has to do with paper crafts, including (of course) rubber stamps. Over at FaveCrafts I found a contest you can enter by blogging (like me!) or tweeting. It's for a really nifty gadget that lets you put your rubber stamps into a scene and stamp them altogether. It's called the Stamp Factory by Fiskars. I know I want one!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

There's March Madness in the air at my shop. Everything in the shop is 25% off. My workspace is crowded with items, all ready to be finished and listed so I thought it would be nice to clear out a little cyber-space before I start. ;-) So, through April Fool's Day, everything is on sale!

And remember, if you buy more than one item, everything ships together for the same price!

So much to learn!

After an impromptu lesson on Artfire listing & SEO from my friend Haffina, I've discovered the need to redo (tweak the titles and add some stuff, plus redo a lot of photos) my listings. It is kind of daunting on some levels, on other levels it seems like fun, so I'm looking forward to it.

I am adding some interesting things to my gundowerks shop soon - some Reiki inspired pendants. I also plan to redo all my shop sections, so keep an eye out for changes!

Round and about the 'net

I've been trying my hardest to showcase the incredible talent of my friends on my Facebook page and on Twitter, so please tune into one or both of those to see running commentary on new listings and collections that feature my friends, and some from me, of course.

I've listed three new hearts for Valentines Day and soon I'll be listing my first entry to the Polymer Clay Smooshers "fairy tale" challenge, so keep tuned for that. I will also be listing a lot of hair barrettes and pony tail barrettes at Sassy Chic, so keep an eye out there as well.

Weekend Linky Bits!

Each day I come across beautiful things that my friends post. Some I get a chance to tweet, or FB, but not all. I'm going to try to do a weekend link post with tidbits of pretty that I've run across during the week.

Deb of Chrysallis Creations listed this gorgeous pair of earrings - wow! Aren't they beautiful? I love the way the wire moves. Not that I'm a huge fan of Deb's work or anything (*grin* okay, yes I am!!), but she won my heart with these jadeite earrings. Honestly, I -want- these!

I cannot say enough about ColtPixy's work. She's moved into a really cool groove lately, covering bottles, and I'm just in love with them. This Green Fern wish bottle is so delicate and lovely, and this Jester wish bottle looks like candy! Yum.

Serenity Grove does some of the prettiest chainmaille I've seen in a long time. This Faerie Halo Choker is just gorgeous! Her shop is full of wonderful things like this Spotted Butterfly Magnet. She also has yummy looking body care products. Mmmm.

My latest creation

My wonderful Polymer Clay Guild, the Smooshers of Artfire, has a tremendously cool thing going on. Every month (January through September) our Guild Master lets people who read the blog pick a challenge theme. Smooshers then make items that fit that theme, and we're all featured on the blog. Our first challenge of 2011 was "mythology", and a beaded & polymer clay Greenman was my contribution.

 

You can see the incredible talent of my guild in this blog entry about the theme. I love my Smooshers, and I can't wait to see what other challenges will yield this year.

A new shop!

I've opened Sassy Chic at Artfire. You'll be seeing a lot of interesting things here, starting with hair accessories! Right now I'm listing barrettes, pony tail barrettes and hair pins - some sassy for the kid in you (some of them glow in the dark!) and some more chic items for the grownup crowd.

In the future I'll be featuring fun badges, spinners, cute jewelry and all kinds of things. Keep your eye out for some Sassy stuff!