Post # 18: UFO City at the Craft Cafe, Books I Love, & A Confused Pear Gourd

 
My work table is not always the neatest thing in the world, but things are improving day by day. Since I started writing this blog I have gotten motivated to really dig in and get things organized. Today I am simply sharing some more UFO's (Un-finished Objects or works-in-progress) and a few completed projects as well.

 I think watching Downton Abbey and beadwork go very well together. That's what was on the TV in the picture from post #16 when I showed the start of rearranging my craft space. I have already changed parts of this area around three or more times since then and will continue until every puzzle piece fits perfectly into place. I'm enjoying the process and will share more pics along the way. Sometimes things seem much messier in the process of getting neater! (I hope).

There's always a vast assortment of things to be seen on my beading trays and boxes. These are some bead knitted pieces based on ideas from the book "Betsy Beads" which I may have mentioned earlier.

 

 It has provided another great, easy to carry, easy to pick up for a short time type of project that can be done in-between other things without too much concentration. Also, there are beads, of course, and stitch markers, yarn, shells, metallic thread, etc.

     The gourd on the left (with the red interior) is the first gourd I ever crafted. I started it in 2005 when we lived in Tennessee. It is still a UFO!!! DH grew it in his 3000 sq. ft. garden. (Which somehow grew to 5000 sq. ft. the next year, but that's a whole other story)! This gourd has lived in six places with us and as a result has an injury which must be repaired. Maybe now that I'm really getting settled into my craft space I'll be able to finally tackle this one!
     The pear-shaped gourd started out to be a gourd bird feeder, but first I couldn't decide whether to paint or stain it, whether to string the edges with beads, or leave it natural, since it was so pretty as is. When I can't decide, I simply wait. It isn't time. (This would drive some people crazy, but not me, no - probably 'cause I'm already there). I finally decided that I like it so well I would like to keep it inside. It does still need some embellishment of some sort, either paint or stain or fiber or beads or wood putty, etc., but- form following function, I need to wait. Now I am trying to decide if it should be a candy dish or possibly some sort of beading or crochet caddy. What do you folks think? Any opinions out there?

I still plan to wrap beads around the stem of the gourd on the left.

The fishbowl gourd is also a UFO. It is woodburned and colored and

now in limbo, but it seems fine and happy right where it is.

The smaller gourd, sitting in the fishbowl, is the beginning of

another gourd purse, but who knows what it will become?



 The Oil Lamp gourd on the left and the bowl on the right are

 wood-burned and stained with various inks and dyes.

The two in front are dyed with shoe polish, chip-carved by hand,

and a paste wax finish was applied and hand buffed.

The beadwork pieces are from a book by Diane Fitzgerald,

which is one of my favorite books, but one for which my

10ThousandProjects don't always allow me the time.

I plan on purchasing more prisms for my window.

This is definitely a case where "more is better."

Post #17: The Best Audiobooks Money Can't Buy

     Dear Hubby loves to read, and many times while I am working on my 10ThousandProjects he will read aloud to me. This is fantastic, as it is really difficult, if not impossible, to either knit or crochet or do beadwork or other handwork while reading at the same time, although I really do enjoy a good story. Watching a movie on television will sometimes work out, but most of the time it ends up just adding unnecessary background noise. Audiobooks are really great, and I especially like them when they are read by someone special. 

     DH (Dear Hubby) really loves old novels, the ones you can get for free that are prior to 1920, pre-copyright; he especially likes westerns and historical adventure stories, but we read many other types of non-fiction together as well. Sometimes he'll read an entire book to me over a period of days or weeks, but on other occasions he will simply share a passage or two that he finds interesting from whatever he is reading on his own. Such was the situation a few months ago: We were sitting quietly. As is often the case, the only sounds to be heard were the soft snoring of the dog and the faint clicking of my knitting needles. All of a sudden DH broke the silence to share this little tidbit with me: "As a Zulu chief, it was beneath his dignity to work with his hands.”* My reply to DH rolled off my tongue with no hesitation: “I guess I'm no Zulu chief.” 

     The thought of going even one day without working with my hands strikes a level of fear in me that words cannot express. I choose to not even go there in my mind. Now, that does bring to mind another friend's recent blog post regarding hands and crafting. If you are interested in fiber and beads and creativity, (and if you are reading this, I assume you are), then you may very well enjoy this too, so please check it out @ http://urbanstitchstudio.blogspot.com/. You won't be disappointed. And while you're at it, have an awesome day!

 These are the knitted and felted catnip mice I made for

Bear, Moose, Meiko, Sake, and Laci, my sister's five cats.

After I started, my friend Beverly and a whole bunch of other fiber friends knitted mice that Beverly then graciously stuffed and painstakingly sutured them closed after felting so they could be sold and the proceeds were donated to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Here are some of them before they were felted and stuffed.

Finding my peace in creativity,

Meryl

*The book from which DH was reading: “Allan Quatermain"
Here's a link to the Kindle download page:
http://www.amazon.com/Allan-Quatermain-ebook/dp/B000SN6IOQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1358812010&sr=1-1&keywords=allan+quatermain

Post #16: Welcome to my Fiber/Craft/Dog/Weird World!

   I have not posted in about a month, and even though I'm not quite ready to do so, here I am. It has certainly not been due to a lack of anything interesting or fun to share from my fiber/craft/dog/weird world. It is simply that I haven't figured out how to be in two places at once, or more accurately, how to do certain multiple things at once, even though I am an excellent multi-tasker!
   I have always been drawn to technology and many times through the years I was the first of my friends to acquire or become involved with various pieces of hardware: answering machine, cell phone, Macintosh computer, laptop, pocket pc, computerized sewing machine/embroidery unit, GPS, iPhone, etc. Over the years I have changed the way I feel about these things: Instead of "I love technology" I now believe, and say, "I love/hate technology." Can anyone else relate to that? For all of the time-saving it has brought to our world, it has also created more things to do. For all that has been simplified, it has made our world more complex. Ah, am I rambling? Does this relate to crafting, fiber arts, self-expression, finding peace in creativity? Why, yes, I think it does. You see, the entire time I've been sitting here, typing away on my iPad, I was NOT working on any of a multitude of other projects that I have at my disposal; projects that are hand made, quiet and peaceful, no electronic technology required, just two good hands and a focused mind. That is why there have been no blog posts for almost a month; not because I didn't want to do it, but because I had to make another choice. Can you believe I chose to spend my time playing with fiber and beads instead of touching this keypad? Hah!
   Also, I forgot to mention that I was forced into a month of winter hibernation (against my will, mind you), due to the unfortunate rear-ending of dear hubby's truck while he was minding his own business sitting peacefully at a red light. I am sad to say the truck did not survive but joyous to report that dear hubby, although he did sustain some back injury, is recuperating and has returned to work. Anyway, the month he was home on disability, since the poor dear was stuck here in the recliner, only leaving the house to go to physical therapy and massage appointments, I felt it was my duty as his faithful and loving wife to stay close by his side, bringing him the needed beverage or ice pack, helping him choose which movie to watch next, (well, somebody had to do it), all the while staying pretty much off of my laptop and iPad, and concentrating instead on my bead knitting, bead crochet, and whatever other hand work I felt like picking up.
   I tell you, aside from the electric lights and Netflix via the Roku box hooked to our flat-panel digital TV, it was like going back in time. Yes, I did check my email. Yes, I did pay our bills online during that month. I occasionally headed out for groceries. But no, I did not blog. I did not spend much time on the computer. That is, unless it was to socialize with other crafty friends or research a knitting pattern. [wink]. I hibernated. I knitted. I crocheted. I napped. Should I say I fibernated? I knitted. I walked the dog. I waited on dear hubby. I knitted some more. I let the housework go. I did some beadwork. I did not feel guilty. Wow, and I had fun.

These pictures are in no special order, just whatever came up. I hope you enjoy them.

Welcome to my fiber/craft/dog/weird world!

I made these circular knitting needle holders back in the fall as Christmas gifts for some dear friends I knit with quite frequently. I finished the beaded hangers and added the needle size numbers during my winter fibernation. [I just noticed that I put all the numbers down the left side since I am left-handed. I hadn't realized that before].

This is a necklace and bracelet I'm working on inspired by the book "Betsy Beads" by Betsy Hershberg. I'm using blue bamboo yarn knitted together with beads strung on fine green Egyptian cotton crochet thread. I still have many decisions yet to make on this: whether to leave the beaded rope as is or embellish it further; whether to add a focal bead or decorative clasp or magnetic clasp or complete it with a continuous join; whether to introduce another color. The good thing is I don't need to worry about that now, or ever. I am enjoying going with the flow and making it up as I go along, knowing that if I follow my instincts, my end result will be satisfactory. If I'm not satisfied with the end result, then I simply haven't reached the end yet, have I?
 

Sorry these next pics are a little blurry. These are some knitted and crocheted components I am making from cotton with glass and metal seed beads to use in dog collars. The rolled-type bead at the top is one of the knitted beads from the Betsy Beads book.

This is what I thought was a finished object, but now I'm not so sure. It was the first time I ever put knitting on a gourd. I cleaned and cut the gourd, dyed the outside with alcohol-based inks, and hand-braided the top with reeds. The natural shimmery white inside was so pretty I had to leave it untouched. I knitted a long strip of fabric using a soft, fluffy yellow yarn combined with a shimmery, green yarn and attached it around the rim.

I really like the result, and I like keeping some of my double-pointed knitting needles in there, but now it's top-heavy, since the bottom is so round. It's easy to knock it over, so I'll have to figure out how to stabilize the bottom: feet or legs, a stand, weight the base??? Sigh.

 

I did get a new camera, although I still have to take the time to really figure out all the settings, etc. As I mentioned in a previous post, please be patient with my photography. I know it needs a lot of improvement, but for me that's not the most important part. It will come with time and practice and patience. It's all good.

I will say the new camera does take some nice close-ups.

These are some bits and pieces of bead-weaving I have done in the past.

I have a lot of gourd art UFO's (and some finished objects, too). Some are simply decorative, some are boxes, or dolls, or oil lamps, or as you see here, purses. The first photos are the front and back of a gourd that I have been carving with a combination of hand tools and power tools. I am sure the looks of this will change many times over as I move forward with paint and stain, etc. The one with the red flower is wood-burned and stained, and the clasp is hand-beaded.

 

The winter fibernating hibernation continues.

Dear Hubby's truck (or what used to be his truck). It's a wonderful thing the frame folded up like that to take the brunt of the impact. We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

I've been making some new collars for Alice.

I like the contrast between the plain cotton and the Swarovski crystals.

It makes our walks in the Florida sunshine more interesting.

This purple collar is built on top of our prior min pin, Fido's, old collar, a hand-me-down of sorts:

   Every time I tried to get Alice to pose for a picture with the purple collar, she insisted on showing off her recent spay surgery scar instead. I finally did get a picture, but again, sorry for any blur. I simply could not get her to stand up! She kept giving me the belly!

 I did a lot of rearranging and organizing after the month of hibernation and recuperation. Alice did not like my new work table one bit, at least not until I strategically placed an ottoman so she could sit next to me while I work.

While I was rearranging I pretty much decided to take over our family room/breakfast room/kitchen as my workroom/studio and I have nicknamed it the Craft Cafe. I'm still putting it together, haven't finished decorating/arranging/putting things away/hanging things up, but I think it will make a nice, bright, comfortable place to work on my 10ThousandProjects.

 

 

This pair of sand hill cranes visits our house frequently.

I made this beaded lighter cover for my sister's birthday out of size 8 seed beads and Swarovski crystals. I've had a lot of these beads in my stash for 10 or 15 years. Once again I like the contrast between matte and shiny.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl