Running at Full Throttle!

Gearing up for the Ars Nova Art and Craft Sale is in full swing! I have all of the small/child sized head wraps done and will start working on the med and larges today. I have also sew 34 cat nip pillows and am going to start filling them tonight. Right now it doesn't look like much, but it will when they are packed full of rice and catnip. I'm also going to cut the fabric for the pencil clutches today and if I have time some travel tissue holders too. I'm still trying to figure out display ideas. I want to try to make a step display made out of paper pulp from junk mail and paper scraps, but I have to make the form first which will be tricky for me.

I also have an old create that I'm going to fill with fabric and put the pencil clutches and tissue holders in. And then there is this swanky "take and Read" display I got a long time ago. I'm going to put kits for the pencil clutches and travel tissue holders along the bottom, pattern print out (they will be $1 ea) along the center, and then business cards and "about craft leftovers" pamphlets in the top. Perfect right. I love this little rack so much, I'm so glad I finally get to use it. Oh and then, I'm going to put the crocheted dishcloths in my dishdrain (which is bright red) and prop that up. I thought that would be kind of neat. I have a Styrofoam head that I will put one of the head wraps on, but I'm honestly not sure what to do with the rest of them. I'm sure I will get it figured out... Maybe that is what will go on the paper pulp stair form! Ha! Thanks for letting me chat this up with you all, because I think now I do know what I'm going to do for my display!

Now you may be wondering... how is she doing all this sewing if her machine is broke? Well, because of the generosity of others that's how. Thank you to everyone who donated, you have really made this little crafty lady happy! This is my new machine, isn't she beautiful?
It's a brother CE-4000 computer... she sews like a dream. If I would have known that sewing was so easy with a fulling working, not having to hold the foot control in your hand to make it go and only having one hand to guide things, no button hole function, bad tension, out of alignment, gets smelling like burning rubber when I use it machine, I would have bought one a long time ago.

And with that I'm going to head into the studio. Even though I have today completely off class, I have a lot to do... I'll show you what I've been up to in my studio at school in my next post.

Have a good day!

birds of a feather flock together

...or something like that. Point is, I made another little bird! I thought the boys needed a lady friend. She does have a little catnip in her belly and will go play with Molly later next week. I changed my mind about selling them as cat toys.... the idea of it kind of cracks me up now. Before I was a little horrified to have the little birdies in a cat's vicious claws. I guess after making two I got over it and realized that although they have their own personalities, they won't come back to haunt me if they split a seam.



Here is some shots of just her:


Okay so something pretty fricking cool happened yesterday! My other blog Craft Leftovers was mentioned on the Craftzine blog! I've had something like 500 hits in the last day! That's more than I usually get in a whole month. I know it's not going to last more than a couple of days, but for the time being it makes me feel pretty neat. The same post, the reusable tea bag along with the needle wrap, was also mentioned on the CraftyPod blog too! Thanks sister D! What the heck am I going to make this week that will make people want to come back.... too much pressure! I guess, just what I was planning on making, no reason to change it really. I just hope you all like it!

Oh yeah, another neat thing that I've been doing, related to school, is a woven tapestry based on an ancient culture. I chose the Anatolians for as my research topic and developed this pattern for my kilim tapestry. We had to do something based on their weaving tradition.
There won't be any grid lines in the finished product, they are just there to help me know what I'm supposed to be weaving. It's going to be about 4" x 6." I am going to use naturally dyed wool for the weft to better reflect on the culture's traditions. I have some walnuts left over from the sock yarn, so I figured I would use that. I'll show you pictures when it's finished.

Another school related: I've been cranking out about 12 little color studies every week since the first week of school and now have 50! It's not nearly enough.... I've decided that there needs to be enough to cover all the walls of a gallery and I think it will be my senior show... or a show this fall, which ever comes first. I'll take a picture when I go into the studio tonight. I'm also making a lot of progress on the endangered species project and have made some headway with the printing technique I'm using. I almost have the results that I want. I'll take pictures of that too. I'm shooting for a show for those works at the end of the summer... maybe at the botanical center in Chicago. Maybe I could donate them and they could auction them off to help with their conservation program... hmm... that might be good to look into.

Well, I need to get some rest before I head to work, I feel so fricking sick right now. Have a good day!