Need More Fiber

Valentine's day is coming...

2012-01-21T10:09:00.000+01:00

AND I HATE THE SMART-ASS HOMOPHONES!!! I am going to scream if I ever see another one!

I admit, it was funny - THE FIRST TIME. Like, back at 80's when I first heard it. It's not funny anymore. It's not cute, it's not clever, it's not original... Please, don't do it.

I mean, what's wrong with saying "I love you!" It doesn't get old, ever.

P.S. I also hate the "you rock" "I love the way you roll", "I'm stuck to you" etc. Don't do that either. Please.

A mirror to my art

2012-01-18T10:12:00.000+01:00

Competition for needleworkers. Everyone's invited to join :-)

"The objective is to create a stitched cover for a handheld mirror of a size that would fit into a purse or handbag."

Unbroken thread speaks about this too

So September has a little project to share :-)

One World, One Art

2012-01-17T19:03:00.000+01:00

Last yea, 2011, was the last year of OWOH - One World, One Heart. This year the event will be OWOA - One World, One Art. All who create anything with their hands, be it traditional art or crafts, is invited to join this world wide celebration of arts and artisans. :-)

Yes, it's called "art", but crafts are included to the idea, and you don't need to consider yourself Fine Artist, or anything, just enjoy creating, joining God's Creation by adding some final touches... Anyway, read everything from the info page. :-)

Wasting time in Pinterest...

2012-01-16T11:55:00.000+01:00

Tutorial from Patricia Rose

She has more of them. I love generous people :-)

I also love her dolls :-D

Well, everyone knows one can waste hours on Pinterest. Anyway, here's my pinboard on dolls and other such things :-) Let's hope it can work as inspiration board and result in some dolls of my own, and not just be the outlet of creativity in itself...

More about dolls

2012-01-13T10:13:00.000+01:00

Fantasy dolls by Wendy Froud

Moomin house from Tampere Moomin exhibition

I love doll's houses too... I would really want to make something like Queen Mary's doll house.

I really like puppets and such

2012-01-09T23:25:00.001+01:00

I stumbled over K Pawz... (blog, site)

She's really amazing with these things! As far as I understand she makes the noses and such herself of polymer clay, the body of soft sculpting, and then she airbrushes the colors and such to make these amazing, wonderful plushies :-)

She also makes ball jointed dolls, which is something I really want to try...

This is Cameo by Marmite Sue

I like the lace part and lacing, I like that she gave her heeled feet...

It reminds me of that everything is possible.

I also like Antique Lilac doll clothes...
I was introduced to BJDs by Marina, like so many others. I love her dolls, but more than that I love her details, accessories, props, paintings, clothes... stuff. She's an incredible artisan. :-)
(I also like Christine Alvarado's dolls)

I would like to make dolls that are a little less airy and fairy and Japanese, and more real, robust, "normal" people. (I'm not the only one...)

I mean, I'm a Scandinavian, and I have long legs, narrow hips, wide shoulders and big breasts. There are no dolls like that. They are all more or less pear-shaped, some even ridiculously so, having tiny cherries as breasts tucked right under chin... I know it has to do with balance and that it's easier for a bottom-heavy doll to stand, than to the classic Barbie shape doll, but I would so much like to have my body shape associated with something beautiful, and not just...

Well... here's a Putin doll being made :-D Wonderful! I also like the construction.

P.S. How to make glass-like eyes of polymer clay

New year...

2012-01-05T18:59:00.000+01:00

I'm very tired, most of the time, and in pain quite a lot. I don't have much energy to do anything but to take the dog for a walk every day. I hope exercise will make me feel better and give me more energy, and it is wonderful to walk in the forest.
I'm sorry for the absence.

Too late, but still cute...

2011-12-09T19:09:00.000+01:00

There was an oil spill somewhere about New Zealand, and the local blue penguins were suffering - so a local yarn shop decided to start a campaign of knitting sweaters for the penguins, to keep them from cleaning themselves and eating the oil. That stuff is horrible... a lot of oil drenched birds will die of eating the raw oil.Anyway, the lovely knitters all over the world quickly knitted enough and more sweaters to save all the penguins and they are now happily back home. :-)

Yule Countdown Calendar

2011-12-05T17:34:00.000+01:00

Drops is having a countdown knit calendar this year again. Don't forget to visit the "Christmas workshop". Really nice things there, and quickies, if you still have some presents undone ;-)

arne & carlos; knitted balls

2011-11-18T15:45:00.000+01:00

I suppose it takes a man... a woman knits a ball and puts the pattern on-line, free for all, and thinks nothing about it. A man knits a ball, thinks the whole world about it, knits 55 of them, and puts them into a book, and gets rich, because everyone thinks it IS the whole world... Oy vey.

It is quiet here

2011-10-25T22:14:00.000+02:00

I am elsewhere talking about language.

Two months to Yule. Here's some countdown calendar ideas. You have about a month to make it and fill it with small gifts :-)

Here's some paper cone pattern downloads
nice pyramid box
Dreidel box template - why not make a Chanukkah countdown calendar? It's 20.-28.12. this year.
Winter solstice is on 21.12.

Hemslöjdskonsulenterna

2011-10-18T20:43:00.001+02:00

I don't know what that is in English. Slöjd is craft part of arts and crafts, hemslöjd is the homebased industry of crafts and konsulent is consultant, adviser. Someone whose job is to encourage people to craft more. We have those in Sweden and Finland, and it seems in Norway and Denmark too. Not so interested in those, it's the Swedish ones, and especially one specific one I'm a bit angry with right now.

I live in a small town near Stockholm. I wrote a mail to the person I though was the hemslöjdskonsulent for our town. I wrote the mail 1st of October. I received a note that the person was not available until 6th. Today, 18th, I received an answer to my mail.
She informed me that they work by county (which I know), my town belongs to another county (which I did not know), so I need to contact them (naturally), and then she gave me the url to their website. (The same website I found her email address from. Not the email address to my hemslöjdskonsulent, which she most certainly knows.)
With kindness.

That's all.

Okay, so I'm not her responsibility. Fine. But did she really need almost three weeks to tell me this?
Really?

What the heck is she doing to be so busy that she must take three weeks to write four sentences, not answer any of my questions, not explain me anything of how they work in Sweden, just telling me to go bother someone else.
THREE WEEKS?

I mean... I understand if she's busy being a hemslöjdskonsulent and all... but I would have appreciated the kindness of responding me earlier, as the response was so general and noncommittal, so it didn't ask much of her to write it. My mistake is easy to make, as our little town is counted as part of the district she responds for and sometimes not. I have lost three weeks here without a chance to get an answer to my questions. I know, it was my own fault, I should have checked which county my town belongs to, and she doesn't really have any responsibility to tell me that much... nevertheless... I feel offended. She could have at least bothered reading my mail and answer the questions she can answer.

Also, there doesn't seem to be anything happening in my little town. Everything happens in the *~*Capital*~*. If you are interested in crafting, you go to the *~*C*~*.

Also, I couldn't find the textile hemslöjdskonsulent for *~*C*~* so I sent the email to the office, which means that I'll probably get a mail telling me I should contact the textile hemslöjdskonsulent and I'll find her email from the same damned homepage. Or they'll just send me a copy of the general information that's on the homepage about all the things that happen in the *~*C*~*

Right now I hate them. I hate all of them. May the crafting in Sweden vanish and be forgotten, and may the hemslöjdskonsulenterna be forgotten and lose their jobs and never find anyone even remotely interested in crafting ever again. May no-one be interested in crafting ever again in Sweden, may the schools drop craft education, may all the yarn shops and fabric shops go bankrupt and may this damned woman choke on her own hair in her sleep. Or not really. Forget all but the last one. May she choke on her own hair.

Added 9/1-12
The "right" hemslöjdskonsulent responded... after I had sent a reminder 22/11...
So - I suppose I can forgive 3 weeks respond time. It usually takes THREE MONTHS!!!
And, guess what?
She didn't answer any of my questions, but sent me forward to sites I had already mentioned and said I can't find answers to my questions there.
Ok, may all of them choke on their own hair as they sleep.

Art journaling

2011-09-26T12:51:00.000+02:00

I'm making a "52 things I love about you" book for my husband for his birthday... I got the idea today. His birthday is on 1st. As in first of October. As in five days. :-D

I'm mad.

I got a deck of cards, but I can't find my punch, so I can't punch holes in it, to bind it into a book.
I considered other binding options, but then I found an old calendar. It has some 60 pages, but that's fine, because I have more than 52 reasons why I love my husband. And that's just what I came to think about right now. I'm sure I have forgotten half of the reason why I love him :-D
THAT's not the problem here... the problem is... it's an old calendar.
It's like making an altered book.
It IS making an altered "book".
I need to cover the text on the pages...

Now... that's really not the problem either. Paint, paper, collage, stuff... it's relatively easy to find things to cover the pages with. The problem is that I have some 60 pages I need to cover, embellish and write in five days.

Oops...

I didn't think about THAT.

You see, had I used the deck of cards, I wouldn't have needed to cover the cards. Except that it's an old advertisement deck, so I need to cover the back of the cards anyway, but there's plenty of pretty and funny pictures around for that purpose. Also, it's easier to cover 52 separate cards than 60 pages of a book - the pages are bound together, so I cannot paint all of them at once, I need to wait for the first pages to dry before I can start covering the next page. Didn't think about that...

Perfect teacher gift?

2011-09-19T11:41:00.001+02:00

Somebody came up with this "amazing" idea... you take crayon boxes (possibly empty, to keep the weight down), glue sticks, notebooks, post-its, index cards and tie these things on round tins (empty) and toilet paper rolls with pretty ribbons, and then decorate with pens. This is supposed to be a "great teacher gift".

Now, a teacher gift is a sign of your appreciation to what a teacher does for your child. "Teachers often don't get paid a lot for the tremendous effort they do each day"... so a teacher's gift is sort of a tip, gratuity or bonus.

Think you're a teacher. You love your job, you love the kids, you love teaching... you're the best teacher there is. Every year there's a load of gifts waiting for you. Some fancy, some expensive, most of it school supplies, apples or owls, because that's what people think are "great teacher gifts!" You are sort of waiting for something good... something one of these kids made him/herself, thinking of you... Perhaps you realized early on that people are going to give you owls, and you like owls, so you collect them.
Now, you come to the class room and see this...

It's extremely flashy, not the least personal and you will find it hard to give the things on it to the kids, because there is "21 boxes of crayons, 14 glue sticks, 12 notebooks, 4 composition books and 10 packs of index cards". You can't use the composition books, because they have been glued to a cardboard piece to be the base. You can't really use the crayons either, because they too have been glued on a tin, so if you try to take them off, they'll rip. Also - the instructions tell you to empty the boxes for weight... so - that's just decoration. You can't use the tins or toilet paper, because those have been hotglued together. There are not enough notebooks for the whole glass, and... frankly, the only thing you can do with this crap is to use it as school supply themed decoration, and who would want this in their home? Or even in the class room or teachers' lounge? To take space and collect dust? Great teacher's gift? Oh dear!

Also... how are you going to deliver this monstrosity? The first one was created for a teachers' meeting of some sort and given to one of the teachers as door prize. She/he then divided the items to his class. I hope there were not more than 12 kids in the class. But - if you are going to let your child give it to the teacher in class...er... talk about show-off. Do you really want your child to be bullied, and for something that is 100% impersonal, and practically useless, and will be remembered as one of the worst things the teacher ever got? And believe me... THAT is how the teacher will see this.
And how do you think the poor kids will feel? Or the kids with parents who don't care?
Oh, this must be the WORST teacher gift ever!

But - I fear a lot of teachers are going to get one... 82 pins and 195 repins... Oh dear.

Go here and read a bit about what really is a great teacher's gift.

I would knit my teacher a pair of socks and add a card my child made him/herself. Or then I'd give a box of cookies, again with a child-made card. Or any of the "canned gifts", naturally with a child-made card.

What would be a truly great idea is Christmas tree ornaments - if the teacher celebrates Christmas. If not, find out what she/he celebrates and let the child create an ornament fit for that holiday. If the teacher celebrates no holidays, make an ornament of his/her initial. Those are always nice.

I really like these woven hearts - if you want, you can fill it with candy, or even school supplies :-D
I like these "pretend stained glass" thingies :-) If you let the child draw the teacher, to be used as the image in the middle, your teacher will love it.

Pinterest inspiration and ideas

2011-09-12T10:36:00.000+02:00

Things to do frame

- a cute frame to make - you can also blacken it with fire
- make your own mosaic frame with glass and pretty paper scraps

make ring storage box with old sweater

Paint chip calendar, wall art, matchbook notebooks of paint chips, paint chip bookmarks, boxes from paint chips, paper punch garland, other paint chip garland, paint chip inchies, and other things to do with paint chips.

New organizing uses for old things

Dyeing electric cords :-)

Festive Fall

2011-09-05T10:47:00.000+02:00

I've found Pinterest... so much to look at, so inspiring, so much more things I want to try and experiment with and do and all that... *sigh*
For example this, this or this... and there's so much more in there! I have just began looking around!

Isn't life wonderful? Aren't human being amazing, creative creatures? Indeed the Creator has made us into Her image :-)

Anyway, here's "101 festive fall tutorials"

More homemade gift ideas

2011-08-29T00:06:00.000+02:00

DIY gift ideas for men and women, homemade present tutorials

Four months to Christmas/Yule!

2011-08-24T08:36:00.000+02:00

This is Isabella Cane's dog collar and leash by Bella Dura textiles.

Why not weave your own for your pet or a friend's pet?

What about making reusable produce bags for everyone you know? You could stamp the bags with your own design, each bag by a special design just for the owner, or with the things you assume are going to end in the bag, like apples.

Canon has published printable cube puzzles. So cute! I loved those things when I was little. You can also make them with your own images. If you cannot figure out how to fit the pieces of image on the pattern in some photo editing program, just print out them and cut and paste in real life :-D Don't forget to seal the images, by varnishing the cubes, or by putting on a self-adhesive plastic. Yeah, I know, not very green idea, but you could choose biodegradable plastic bags, and fuse the plastic on paper with the help of an iron. That should do it.

Knit and felt your own yoga mat. It's as easy as knitting a scarf.
(Well... four scarves. A bit tedious. But so worth it. You can have any patterns and colors and figures you like.)
Use any 100% wool yarn that has not been superwash-treated.
Felting takes away about 5% of the width of the finished article, so check your cauge - it can be anything - and cast on as many stitches as your cauge (x stitches / 4 inches) times 6,5.
That is, if your cauge is 16, you need to cast on 104 stitches.
The length is going to be reduces a little bit more, so take your cauge (x rows / 4 inches) and multiply that with 19, and you'll know how many rows you need to knit.
When your scarf - or shawl as it is right now - is ready, felt it in washing machine. See that all the ends have been nicely finished, because if they aren't you'll get a not so nice hanging bits of felt in the finished object.
Wash it in 40-60, and when it's felted and nice, block it to keep the edges as straight and flat as you can. After this you can embroider it or needlefelt it or leave it as it is.
You might want to make your mat non-slip. You can use silicone, sew on strips of leather or paint it with latex, or other things or you could use an ordinary non-slip rug pads.

Funny how the time flies...

2011-08-03T10:39:00.000+02:00

Not even five months to Christmas. The darn thing comes again this year, and four of these months will pass without you even noticing. I don't like to stress you or anything, but I think you could take some time from your summer vacation and update your card list and gift list NOW
- yes, now.
Stop reading, write the lists and update the addresses.
When that's done, you can continue reading.
, so that that's done and you won't wake up in November and find out to your shock that you need to do that, and there's no time and you're so stressed already because everything elseneedstobedonetoonowand...

Yeah.

And take a small amount from your "allowance" and get materials so that you can prepare something nice for present for all the people you care about, like the nice lady who always greets you so sweetly by the door or what ever. You don't need to make gifts to people you don't like, care about or hardly know, just for the obligation, but... I know, give them a deck of pretty cards and a little book of solitaires and other card games and tricks :-)

But make something nice for the rest. It doesn't take long to knit or crochet a pair of wrist warmers, and most adult women appreciate those. Most adults - men and women - appreciate such silly things like knee warmers. Okay, so we get old and achy. Big deal. Socks are also very much appreciated by all. Nevertheless, write the list and decide to make a rotating project list; one project for you, one for someone else and one for charity, and keep it. Start biting yourself throught the thousand and one ~~night~~ project list I know you have. Get yourself something pretty you have always wanted, make the gift you know you can so that you don't need to feel bad next gift giving time and make something for charity. Charity projects are quick and easy, and if you can't think of anything else, make a couple of potholders and take to your local charity shop.
Really... don't you always admire the people with the "energy" and "skills" to do a lot of stuff for charity or as gifts or just for themselves, and you know you could to the same, or at least some of it, but there just isn't enough... time. Or something. Take fifteen minutes every day when you sit down and knit, sew, crochet, papier mache or what ever you like to do. We all need more fiber in our lives, don't you agree?

Anyway, I'm aching today. My feet decided to start acrobatic exercises while I was having a shower and it ended with me on my back in the bath tub with sprained fingers and legs. There's a bruise a foot long behind my right knee and my left hand is almost unusable. Nice. I just came home from two week's trip to Finland, and my husband (with ADHD and Asperger's) hadn't done any housework and the home looks like it too... I mean, I don't do much housework, but I at least do the dishes every now and then. But, I can write, so I will be planning my Yule presents and watching MBC :-D

Heart Cat Campaign

2011-06-27T13:53:00.001+02:00

In Sweden they are crocheting Nekoyama's Aminekos with fixed heart for kids with fixed heart :-)

Hjärtekatt projekt

The Swedish crocheters have managed to create half a thousand kitties with mended heart :-)
I plan on doing the same.
I have already crocheted four kitties in my life and I think it's nice and easy :-)
Here's the first one:

A siamese with shirt and kippah. :-)

My husband - the one whose cat this is - is Jewish, so I made his kitty "Jewish" as well :-D

Here he sits in between two gift cats:

and then I have made another Siamese with stronger colors, and I don't have a photo of him, but he's the size of the brown cat.
The black cat was for a Halloween swap, that got lost in mail :-( Anyway, because it was for a Halloween swap, it was whole black. The brown was for another swap, and I had only brown yarn for it.

I like cats with shirts and different color parts, like this American Cat.

I also like these calico cats by Megipupu

They kind of have more character than the perfect cats...

I know calico is more of an American term, and they are usually called "tortoise shell", and with some cats the tortoise shell is a better name, because their fur looks like tortoise shell, but I like the patchwork cats to be called calicos, after the fabric patchwork is usually made ;-)

but I like how it rhymes with Jellicle :-) I like to write it "jellico", to rhyme better with calico, even though I read jellicle is a short of dear little cats...

also, jellico cats are better know as tuxedo cats.

But isn't this embroidered cherry kitty adorable? Such a nice idea :-)

Updates

2011-06-17T09:42:00.000+02:00

I knitted myself Lien Ngo's horseshoes cardigan. The second try. Too big. WAY TOO BIG! So I unraveled it and need to knit it again.
I'm knitting me... what is it it's called... the neck down one piece t-shirt... Babette? What ever.
I'm still full of ideas, but trying to limit myself and focus on the most important bits - that is; 1) losing weight and 2) writing a book

I'm still around, even though I'm very quiet at the moment.

ATC trade

2011-05-27T23:43:00.001+02:00

This post was not supposed to be published, at least not yet.

Mary Kruger's Died In The Wool

2011-05-21T15:49:00.001+02:00

OMG!

It so very well pointed out that you really need to know your subject before you start writing... Now, I have to say that there might be some differences in the American way of doing things and the way I have learned, but I really find it hard to believe the differences would be that... big and obvious.
Nevertheless, those details were easier to overlook, but the main point that made the book unenjoyable to me was the main character's behavior.
She forces herself into the investigation, holds back information from the investigator, and then gets angry with him, because he arrests one of her friends. Mind you that she lives in a tiny town where everyone knows everyone and are practically "friends" with everyone - had he arrested ANYONE it would have been "her friend", and she would probably have pouted about it.
Then this friend's wife, who is also the main character's best friend, gets angry with her, because... I really don't understand. Because her husband was arrested for a murder that happened in the friend's yarn shop? Or?

The main character is also supposed to be a knitting designer, and doesn't know anything about internet, selling patterns online, free patterns online - and this book was published 2005.

"Are you going to have any patterns available?"
"Of course I am. That's the whole point."
"I didn't mean that. I meant, sample patterns."
Ari stared at her. "Give them away, you mean? The whole point of this is to make money."
"A lot of people have put free patterns online", Barbara said.
"Really? Why would they do that?"
"Sometimes it's the only way for people to publish their ideas", Kaitlyn said quietly.
Ari turned to her. "Have you done that?"
"What, and lose my copyright? If I tried to publish it in print later, I wouldn't be able to because of that." She paused. "When I was first learning to make web pages, I did put a design on my own site, though, a simple one. A scarf in garter stitch."
"Well, anyone can make one of those, so that's okay."
"It was for beginners", Kaitlyn said defensively.
"And it was nice", Susan said firmly. "Of course, though, she's right. Why give something away for free?"
Barbara was leaning over Ari's shoulden. "Ari, haven't you ever looked at anything to do with knitting online?"
"No. I told you, I think the Internet is a waste of time..."
blah blah blah
"Maybe." Ari was frowning at the screen. "people really put their patterns online without expecting payment?"
"I hate to say it, but I've gotten some good ones that way."
"Hmm. maybe that's an idea. What do you think?" She turned to ask Kaitlyn.
"Why?" Kaitlyn said.
"As samples. You know I do that every now and then in here. It gets people to see what I do, and I usually get customers from them."
Kaitlyn was frowning. "Well, if you want to."
"I'll think about it. I think I'll check out some other sites here tonight", she added.
blah blah blah

Free knitting patterns. Now who would put those on the web?
blah blah blah
Typing some more, she st back, waiting for results. "Free knitting patterns", she read aloud, scanning one group of type. It had a web address highlighted at the bottom. Below, there was another grouping and then yet another. Shew glanced up to see the number of results for her search, and blinked. It numbered in the thousands. "That many?" she muttered, and clicked on the address for the first site.

Now, this is the results I get today... it wouldn't have been much different 2004. Knitty has been around since 2002, Knitting Pattern Central since 2004, I started my blog 2006 and Ravelry was launched 2007. In 2004 Magknits was around and Fibertrends' felted slipper clogs was a free pattern online... oh, that I didn't know that then... *sigh* Today the pattern has sold over 8000 copies. Think about that a little, miss Kruger. Who indeed puts their pattern online for free and loses the copyright? What?

Anyway, the knitwear designer in the book clicks the first link that appears, and gets someone's personal page where the owner provides free patterns, and among these she spots her own design. It seems that the owner of the site has been lifting patterns from books, leaflets and prints, and publishing in her site. Now, remember, this was the first result of the list, according to miss Kruger. The knit designer returns to the "main screen" and finds out that ALL the sites giving knitting patterns away are of the same quality.

"Some of the sites were for businesses that sold patterns, like hers. Others gave credit to the original publishers. A lot of them offered original designs, free of charge. Too many, though, had been pirated.
Ari was more than disturbed now. She was angry and appalled, as she leaned back in her chair. Kaitlyn had mentioned designers losing their copyrights if they published online, but this was far worse. This was direct infirngement, direct theft. She wondered if the publishers knew. She wondered if her own designs had been stolen."

It - naturally - turns out that that indeed had happened, and that plays a big part in the whole murder investigation.
But - the author of the book knows so painfully little about yarn, spinning, knitting, keeping shops, keeping sheep, designing... uh. Murder investigation, even how people behave, act, react... The main character uses a lot of time thinking about how everyone is going to be SO upset, but totally ignores her own 7-years-old daughter. She whines "running your own business is 24/7. So is being a mother. I have to find some time to work on new designs. And somewhere in there I have to get housework done", but she isn't doing any of this much in this book. I think she has 2-3 SHORT discussions with her daughter, PLANS sitting down to design, but, ah, cannot, because she is interrupted, and then she goes off to Internet to google her name again. Yap yap yap yip yap. Whine whine, yada yada, blah blah blah.
No. No more Mary Kruger for me.

If you want to read kntiting related murder mysteries, read Maggie Sefton. It's not the best mystery book I've ever read, but if I'd give Mary Kruger 1-2 on the scale 0-10 (Yes, I have had worse.) I'd give Maggie 7-8.

If you'd like a copy of Mary Kruger, pocket, bought from bookstore, but read by the dinner table, so it's full of stains, thrown discusted away several times, picked up again, after lots of sighing, being waved in the air during upset exclamations and explanations on how one actually spins, or that you can hardly garrot anyone with wool, because it's almost as elastic as rubber, and tends to break before it gets tight enough to actually stop anyone from breathing, and that you don't keep your sheep free on your front lawn. You just don't. If you know ANYTHING about sheep, that is. Anyway, if you want a copy which is in no way mint condition, but you get the second book, that IS in mint condition - I think I have opened it once - with it, just tell me and I'll send it to you. :-)
(P.S. The other book isn't in mint condition either. There are some marks on it. I don't know where they come from, but it's not flawless either. Readable, and free, though ;-))

Ha!

2011-05-17T09:53:00.000+02:00

I'm still new at this, and for some reason I didn't quite got the instructions... so I am changing everything at my Zazzle store. The tags are all over the place, all wrong, because I put () around the tag words, and not "" as I should have.
Also, I should have read the advice given to people before I started posting things. I'm going to lower my part of the sell from 1/3 to 15%.

I'll be back on line very soon. Luckily I haven't posted that many designs yet :->

More about egg art

2011-05-14T11:22:00.000+02:00

A couple of years ago there was an egg decorating contest at Instructables. I was very upset about the fact that the contest was open to only Americans, and that I disagree very much with the jury's decision on the winner. I expressed this in "Today I'm whiny".

A couple of days ago I received a comment by "anonymous"

"I just came across you post on the egg that I created in 2008. I am so sorry that you thought my egg was boring and that you expected more from me since I was a Master in Egg Art. I was trying to create a piece of art that people that see it on Instructables could create for themselves. My intent, in any public forum, is to expose as many people as possible to egg art."

I ASSUME it's Patricia, as she says "my egg", but I'm not sure, because she didn't sign the message. Nevertheless, this is my response to her:

Dear Patricia,

"Sorry my egg and my abilities disappointed you."
Frankly, it was the uninformed and stupid decision of the contest jury that disappointed me.

"Being inspired by something doesn't mean trying to duplicate it!"

Of course not. Especially when duplicating the egg is far beyond your capacity.
But, as you use pre-cut cabochons and findings, you could have also experimented a bit more and showed a bit more variation in the pattern. Now, you didn't and that's fine. Your egg is beautiful, which I have already said. It is just too simple and easy for a Grand Master of Egg Art. I bet it didn't take you long to glue it together. I bet it didn't take long to even "design" the pattern. I bet finding the opals was the hardest part in making this egg. And THAT is denigrating egg art, the competition and your rivals.
Now, that you don't have more respect for your co-competitors is one thing... but that the jury is so ignorant of egg art, that they choose an egg made with ready-made parts glued on an egg, THAT is the biggest offense of it all... and that everyone acts as if you had just invented Fabergé eggs! Anyone with a high-speed drill, glue and money can make an egg like that.

"The point is to post something on Instructables that others can do."

The point with the competition was to decorate an egg to celebrate Forbes' Fabergé egg exhibition.
The point with Instructables art section is to showcase your art.

And, interestingly enough, you don't give any instructions on how to make the egg.

This is your Instructables page on this egg: No instructions, just images.

Also, when someone asks you for instructions, you say "Please e-mail me @ --- for any more questions".

Not even with instructables the point is to post something EVERYONE can make.
Instructables is not exactly meant for beginners, Patricia. There are people of many different levels of skills, and not all instructables can be followed by everyone.

"My goal is to spark interest in and to promote egg art."

By participating in egg decoration contest with piece of "egg art" that didn't require much artistry nor skills to produce? An egg made as "something that others can do"?

I'm sorry, ma'am, but you fail in your goal and didn't even manage to make the point you intended when you created the "instructables" for your egg.

Sure, it's beautiful, but take a look at this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Topaz-Treasure/
Or this: http://www.instructables.com/id/BeadedJeweled-Amber-Goose-Egg/
(very simple, just stuff glued on egg, not even a hinge there, but still better than yours.)
or this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Candy/
or this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Swan-Double-Egg-Faberge-WannaBe/
or these one from the competition:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Blue-Bird-of-Happiness/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ostrich-Beaded-Jewel-Box/
http://www.instructables.com/id/quot-Train-Egg-quot/

You are seriously trying to tell me that the judgement was correct, that your egg was the best of them all, and you deserved to win with this boring, simple, mostly premanufactured egg of yours?

You ought to be sorry, but not because I'm disappointed. You ought to be sorry because you aren't.

More knots

2011-05-11T17:10:00.001+02:00

To something different: knotting
This is Stormdrane's blog, where he shares about his hobby; knotting. I'm amused, as half of the things he does would be called something different if he was a woman. Knotting is manly, macramé and naalbinding is womanly. :-D

P.S. I actually wrote a little more to this entry, a couple of days ago, right before Blogger went down, as I noticed that I had forgotten to say the most important thing: go to see the site, it's very nice, inspirational and educational, and Stormdrane is really good at his craft.
Also, I'm not accusing Stormdrane of being a misogynist, not at all, but the crafting society. Even if a man would be knotting macramé, naalbinding or bobbin lace, it would be all OOOH and AAAAH in the crafting community. Just look at 90% of fashion designers, and Kaffe Fassett. I didn't even know who Alice Starmore was before I joined Ravelry.

Today's design

2011-05-11T11:40:00.000+02:00

I wear blue for my father; my father has prostate cancer. Available also "for my grandpa", "brother", "son" and "husband", adult sizes and for children.

Springer face

Constellation t-shirt with medieval manuscript illustration featuring Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Draco.

There are also other items with these images available, and just ask if you need something I haven't in my shop :-)

Today's design

2011-05-10T19:15:00.001+02:00

Aspie Code t-shirt

Mermaid t-shirt

Pagan American - even Pagans can be patriotic and proud of being American.

Ha... I've said it everywhere but here...

2011-05-09T10:47:00.002+02:00

I have designed two t-shirt for Zazzle:

The first one; Fight like a Girl, is for Fibromyalgia awareness. "Fight like a girl" is for all "girls" fighting for life threatening or limiting illness, and the ribbon for Fibromyalgia is purple. I hate purple. :-D Very appropriate :-D (As, naturally, I hate my fibromyalgia as well. Good to have something ugly representing something ugly.)
Anyway, here's some humor - I don't think people who hasn't lived with something like this understand even half of the jokes, but I found it hilarious :-D

The other one is English Springer Spaniel, as anyone can clearly see, laughing, as they do :-) That image is also on cups. I can put it on everything, if you want me to :-D I love it.

P.S. Today's design is a badger

Two videos

2011-05-08T09:46:00.000+02:00

Etsy's facebook page published a Derek Sivers video: "Obvious to you, amazing to others"

The audience thought this was so true and wonderful and "Remember, you are not "not enough" because you can be more, but what you already are is fantastic!"
As if Etsians needed more of this. Everyone who has a store at Etsy already thinks well enough of themselves.

What I thought was more thought provoking, valuable and inspiring was the next video:

“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.”
-- Socrates

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”
-- Norman Vincent Peale

“He who praises me on all occasions is a fool who despises me or a knave who wishes to cheat me”
-- Chinese Proverbs

Peacock Treasury

2011-05-07T08:17:00.001+02:00

Please, visit my Peacock Treasury

It will close down one day, and then you can find the items from here:
- peacock feather flower
- peacock feather corsage
- peacock color beaded bracelet
- peacock color beaded bib necklace
- peacock feather bra
- purple mini tomato seeds
- peacock feather bra
- peacock feather skirt and corset
- peacock feather shoes
- peacock color stone necklace
- peacock color suncatcher
- peacock color necklace
- peacock feather fascinator/hairpiece
- peacock feather garters
- peacock color yarn
- peacock color painted vase

Don't forget the following treasuries:
Chat with a Mermaid and Mama, I Can Smell The Rain

How to make a three piece hammock

2011-05-04T12:53:00.000+02:00

All you need is a piece of cloth; about 1 1/2 as long as you are and about as wide as you are long - and two pieces of rope, also about your length or twice that.

Know How to Make a Hammock

Just a little rant...

2011-05-04T03:31:00.000+02:00

"People on the internet are jerks and they're going to say mean things because it's really hard living in your moms basement playing Everquest and Halo all day after getting fired from Wal Mart two years ago"

Oh? I don't live in my mom's basement. I don't play Everquest and Halo, or anything else. I have never worked at Wal Mart and I have never been fired. So take another guess.

"I don't care if he calls it "art" or not. Anyone who would spend their time making stuff like that, especially in that quantity...There's something deeply wrong with them."

And you think it matters whether you care or not? It is art, whether you care or not, or whether you agree or not. Also, even if you dislike the artist's choice of subject, he is very talented and skillful at his job, and he supports his family with it. That's good enough for me. He could be doing things that are really sick, like filming children being raped.

"Why is it the people who aren't artists always the ones so loudly criticizing art? What is and isn't art. What is and isn't proper. What is and isn't normal.
The average person is an idiot and not qualified to give an opinion about anything. They should just keep their mouth shut until they bother getting an education."

I'm an artist and not bad at it either, and I have expressed my opinion on what is art and what is not, and I stand by it.
99% of scrapbooking is not art.
Dusting bodily fluids with colored powder is not art.
Trashing public transportation is not art.
99% of graffiti is not art.
Pretending to be psychotic is not art.
A toilet seat is not art, even when you sign it, and a museum is stupid enough to buy and exhibit it,
and neither is an armchair cats have used as scratching pole.
Making photocopies of someone else's art and coloring it is not art either.

Perhaps it is because I'm jealous of how some people can be so insolent and get away with it, while I actually put time and effort to produce things and get nowhere.

"She seems like a bit like a bored, possibly talentless person herself who could't find anything better to do than pick on other people."

LOL Yeah... well, she isn't.

"people who rip you down... ...are defining themselves as people who need to be mean and critical, they are not defining you."

Actually, no-one was ripping HER down. People were expressing their opinion on an object, a thing, with no feelings, my dear, an inanimate object, one of many the artisan had made.

They weren't defining themselves, YOU do that. You really cannot define a person by a couple of words said on the internet, how ever hurtful the words are. Most of the people commenting items at Regretsy are hard-working artisans themselves, who actually help others frequently, and that's more than can be said of the majority of the people at Etsy.

And - what if what I do IS crap? There IS something called beauty and good taste, and even though we might disagree on what is beautiful and what is of good taste, most people agree on these things most of the time. I mean, even the "artists" who make art by squirting paint from the different cavities of their bodies, or by smashing the museum floor and walls in, or kill animals and so on, they do understand that what they are doing is not beautiful nor of good taste.
And, sure, even if I were a crappy artist, that doesn't define me. It defines my artistry, and I should be prepared to accept that I'm a crappy artist. Also, not everyone in the world is going to like what I do, how ever good I am at what I do.

"The only part that's unexcuseable are the nasty comments that try to hurt our businesses or sabotage our hard work. Some of the comments were slander and you could tell they were meant to be mean!"

How can people's opinion, how ever rudely and nastily expressed, hurt your business or sabotage your work?
Opinion is not slander, neither is truth.

"some people have so much *PLECK* inside them, they have to jump at every opportunity to let some out"

"small minded ppl band together to form a force that "can" hurt."

Small minded? It's small minded to call a turd a turd?

"Yes, regretsy is a mean, snarky place. If you let their meanness get to you, they've won. Just consider the source, try not to let the opinions of a few people who don't even know you get to you, and enjoy the extra shop exposure. If you do that, then you win."

Unless you are a reseller or pushing real crap, then you will get flagged, not your stuff sold, with the exposure at Regretsy. And as we are not out there to push people down, crash their fragile dreams and kill their shops, we all win, if you actually take it as it is and enjoy the sells, if you are selling something worth selling.

"The real joke is on Regretsy, and the commentators. They'll bash something time and again, but more often than not, that item sells."

Yeah... again, the real joke WOULD be on Regretsy, IF we tried to see no-one ever bought the items.

"I find internet bullying of this sort abhorent. who you are and your talent has nothing to do with the comments of these miserable creatures."

Miserable bullies... Isn't that rather harsh thing to say about people you know nothing about? Internet bullying is not when a thing you have made is being criticised, how ever harshly, meanly, hurtfully, even unfairly.

"a few random people on the other side of a computer have nothing better to do than be a-holes for no reason at all."

"people are asshats wherever you go and don't stop making your art. Eff the petty small minded bored losers who have nothing better to do"

"people that have nothing better to do with their lives than to hang out on a website talking smack about someone else's art are the ugly ones. Apparently the only way they can feel good about themselves is to tear others down, really immmature behavior. "

I do a lot of things in my life than hang out on a website talking smack about someone else's "art".
Frankly, I don't think Chinese resellers are the poor victims of the wicked us, I think it's the other way around, and I'm pretty sure you would agree, if you stopped to think about it. I also don't think people who steal someone else's work and then sell it as their own, are worth any kind feelings or words.

Also, if you take deserved critique as "tearing you down", I think you might need to grow up a little. Sometimes things look bad, even when they were made with all good efforts, and it should be okay to say so, and not need to call turd chocolate, so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.

Frankly, I don't express my opinion to feel good about myself. In the case of Regretsy, I express my opinion because I'm offended, upset, sad, angry, abhorred, disgusted or confounded.

Considering a well made and pretty object, that unfortunately look as if it was made of crap, I don't think it was Regretsy-worthy either, so there were no feelings and no opinion either. I just jumped over it and moved on to the next item. You see, I don't hang out on the website, I visit it like 1-2 times a month, and read it in chunks.

"people with nothing better to do than type out (un)witty comments criticize others who are at least trying to be creative and unique."

Yeah... trying to be creative and unique is the universal excuse to produce crap and waste the resources.
Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Either you are creative or not. You are creative if you create something.
Just putting two things together to make a third thing is not itself creating.
Assembling IKEA furniture is not creating.
It has to evolve from your thought, your imagination, and the work created must be art or an invention, a work of beauty or insight.
The first person who attached a chain on a metal octopus created something. The nth person doing exactly the same thing, especially, if she does it the nth time, is not creative. That's copying and mass-producing. There is no element of creation involved, nor design, not even a thought or imagination.
It is definitely NOT unique, not even TRYING TO BE. It's trying to earn some money by copying someone who succeeded. It's not original, not creative and not something that warrants you immunity against your peers negative comments - because we are your peers.

"never mind those miserable cunts. theyre just mad because the have huge saggy vaginas. "
Oh? Hysterical, perhaps?

"what kind of person has the time to sit online and search for items to post on regretsy anyway? someone with a bit too much time on their hands."

Oh... I better stop looking at items at Etsy, then. Now, I have been adding tons of things to my favorites, and wasting my time in making treasuries, but it takes the same amount of time as looking for crappy things, and just as fruitful - to me... so I must have too much time on my hands as well.

"I'm not buying the theory that it's perfectly ok - and should be expected - to viciously comment on another's work. It's not ok. It's not funny."

I think you have misunderstood the theory a little.
Firstly, you WILL get your work criticised, commented, talked, and sometimes this is harsh, rude, hurtful. This is reality, and expecting anything else is living in a fantasy fairyland where unicorns poo sweetly smelling rainbows. You should realize and accept that not everyone is going to like your work, and not everyone is going to express their dislike in a polite and proper manner. Shit happens, and one has to accept that it does happen. Sure, it is hurtful, sure, you are going to cry over it, but it doesn't change the fact that shit happens. Sure, it shouldn't happen, of course the world would be a better place if it didn't happen, but it does happen.
Secondly, people have the right to hold any opinions, and alse express them, the way they choose. They also have the right to take the consequences as well, and that means the people who express their opinions on-line will be called rude, mean bullies, miserable people with no lives and nothing better to do but be mean and so on and so forth. But is that in any way kinder or more appropriate, acceptable, correct or polite as sarcastic, even mean comments about someone's work? Now, if someone has actually worked on the piece, created something, given something from inside oneself into the piece, then I can understand people get hurt, but come on! Most people who get their "work" criticised, laughed at, mocked, frowned upon or abhored, haven't even tried. Some of them were very well aware of the possible negative reactions of people.
And, yes, sometimes mean is funny. It is not considerate nor kind to laugh when people are getting hurt, whether it is AFV or Regretsy, but it is funny, if you laugh.

"Now I have no problem with one individual going 'oh man, that's bad crafting' in private, to themself. I have a problem with an individual posting the bad crafts for hundreds of others to ridicule at once--and write the meanest things they can think of, pass judgement on the seller, harass them...."

Er... it is very rarely the seller is being passed judgement on, and never harassed. Nevertheless, there is an easy solution to your problem. Avoid sites like that. People are different. Some people go to Cute Overload, others to Cakewrecks to find some entertainment.

I expect people who are selling things they make, whether it is on Etsy, in a bakery or elsewhere, to be adults. It means, that they should know that sometimes someone says something that is not nice to hear. They should be old enough to have created a strategy to deal with the feelings born of the hurtful words. They should know that for every person who doesn't like what I do, there are others who do. Can't please everyone, and shouldn't try either. No, it's not nice, but it's life, it happens, shrug it off, move on.

I expect people who are selling things they make to be professional artisans and artists, like I am. It means that I understand sometimes things don't work out as I thought they would, accidents happen, and so on, but I should at least do my best and not accept anything less. If I know I'm not very good at something - and I should know, if I am an adult artisan - I also know that someone is going to notice it and also say it.
I should know I cannot ask the same prize and reputation for a beginner's work, as I could for a master's work. All crafters are not equal.
I also shouldn't try to sell something most people can make themselves as well - or better.

I am pretty demanding customer, because I can do most things myself, and I can do them better than most. I am also interested in many things, so I know quite a bit about the things I'm interested in buying, so I have a pretty good grasp on what is original, creative and unique and what is not. I'm an artist and an artisan, and I know how hard it is to earn a living in this field. I find it offensive that there are people out there "trying to be creative and unique" by copying what I do, and because they don't need to use time to actually BEING creative and unique, they can steal my market and thus my livelihood. Then there are hundreds of people who act as if I were the bad guy, and defend these little thieves, when I try to get a release of at least some of the frustration, anger and resentment. I do it by getting mean, like a lot of other people.

So... I finally gave in.

2011-05-03T03:41:00.000+02:00

Good bye, my love...

I have moved to new Blogger templates, because Blogger started making it VERY difficult to upkeep my blog with the old one. :-(
I hate the fact that I have lost the easy way of controlling the HTML. I'm an old dog, I don't wish to learn new tricks. :-(
So - the comfort of my readers is important to me, and if it is impossible for them to get the access to my old posts, because Blogger refuses to show more than a couple of posts for each month - cannot be helped. I have to swallow my pride and "upgrade" my blog.
Well... What ever.
I still like Blogger better than Blogspot, and it's way better than Tumblr, Sharebook or what Yahoo! is offering.

Today I was learning more things about shibori. So nice that there are ways of dyeing fabric that I can use.
I learned how to cut Katazome - there is more about that on his webpage. (yay. I always thought I need the silk as screen to do this... thanks to the Japanese I now know I don't. I can "glue" the silk on the paper pattern, and get by :-))
I also watched "how to fuse plastic bags" as I found out that Etsy has a channel, (I'm really going to make myself a raincoat, rainhat and boots of plastic bags, and not those flimsy ones but real, thick ones - just to show that it works.)
and how to spin paper,
and something else, and I was slightly... well... it looks so... complicated. Why hang the wool on your shoulder? And spinning against your thigh? What's with that? It's so much easier to give the spindle speed with your fingers. I don't get that. Looks really uncomfortable. Like not something you'd actually spin any amount of yarn to actually use for something.

Nesting dolls 2

2011-04-17T20:10:00.000+02:00

previous posting about nesting dolls here

Now I own two old nesting dolls. The first one was in too good shape for me to be able to sand it down and repaint it. The other is not.

But - as time has passed since the last time, and I haven't decided yet anything, here's a bit more inspiration on how to repaint nesting dolls (or maatuskas as we call them in Finland)

Emuse's Japanese inspired dolls

These are by Ingela Arrhenius

Irina Troitskaya's arctic series... I love ALL her sets.

I somehow like the simple white decor... like with these, by Abbey Hendrickson

There is something I like with these "nesting birdies" by Christo de los Rabitos

It's from his Deviant Art account that is inactivated. :-(

The following three are by "The Colorful World" at Etsy.com. I love them :-)

Or these monsters, from Matryoshka Madness. Simple and nice :-D

I don't think I'll make something like that anyway.

But - the original Russian nesting dolls have some charm... They are kind of personal and have nice colors.

Somehow reminds me of Inner Content's dolls...

If this is not illegal, it should be

2011-04-17T17:04:00.000+02:00

Somebody takes imprints of existing items and sells them on Etsy... I mean... it's one of the easiest things in the world to take an imprint of an object, and use it to copy the object, but that girl looks rather modern. That means, the person who made it is probably still alive, or at least there hasn't been 70 years from his/her death. Or at least the company who bought the design still owns the copyright. You can't just take an imprint of anything that happens to fancy you and sell that as a mold, to encourage and enable others to steal copyright.
Or - obviously you can.
Which means, that if I make a cameo of polymer clay or resin or something similar, sell it and this person gets her hands on it, I can find my unique, original artwork copied by every dick, tom and harry, and in a couple of years there's no saying who did what first, and my original will be counted among the "dime a dozen" crap.

Another thing I was really disappointed today with, was the different Etsy teams... as anyone and their dog can start a team, anyone (and their dog) starts a team, and then uses the fancy names. I checked out a couple.

There was a group about people who collect, buy and sell foxes, and only one of the members had an item with a fox to sell, and that was also the only item with a fox in the combined favorites of the team members. Really disappointing.

There was a team about people who either were big girls wanting fashionable, beautiful clothes, or selling fashionable beautiful clothes to big girls, or supporting anti-sizism in clothes selling at Etsy. The same thing there. Might be that the members were big girls, or supporting big girls, but not one was selling clothes to big girls, or favorited such items. *sigh*

Nevertheless, the biggest disappointment was a group that had named itself after the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. My reaction was: "Oh, steampunk! Or something other, extraordinary, handmade... This must be good!"
It was not. I find selling "vintage" from 80's VERY ordinary. Anyone can have a second hand store. Now... making something new with the vintage finds, that would have been extraordinary. Selling new-made things made with old patterns older than me, that would be interesting. Inventing new techniques, creating unusual combinations, exciting artefacts, weird, odd, interesting... that's what I was expecting from a league of extraordinary Etsy sellers.

I have to say that I wish I had the nerve. I named my shop "cabinet of curiosities and fair of vanities", shivering of the imputence and the pretentiousness of it, and I intend to live up to the name. That's why I haven't been selling anything there. Nothing seems worthy the name - curiosity and vanity...

I am really upset now...

2011-04-15T13:48:00.000+02:00

I was looking around at Etsy, as usual. Looking at all the wonderful things people make and sell, wished I was rich, rich, rich... and healthy, healthy, healthy...

There are so many women out there doing amazing things IN SPITE of not being all o.k.
Why not I?

I am mourning the lost chances and opportunities, the lost time... where did the last 20 years of my life go? What have I done since 1993?

I read a blog written by young woman, who was planning her 22nd birthday. She thought the theme might be 20's, and then presented idea pictures, fashion illustrations and photographs from 1915 to 1935. I suppose 20's are there in the middle...

I have a new blog. An Illustrator's Inspiration. No-one seems to be interested.

Some of my dolls

2011-04-07T11:19:00.000+02:00

Easter bunnies made of polymer clay and cloth, lace and satin ribbon
Together with Doris, the other of my fake Staffordshire spaniel pair,
and a cute little pottery badger, not made by me, and our Chanukkiah.

Yehuda Ha-Makabi, Jude Maccabean, for my Jewish husband and Chanukkah :-)
But we like him so much, he may stay all year around :-D
Together with an easter bunny I crocheted, little mermaid from Denmark, my beautiful cow pot (not made by me) and a blackbird :-)

Knitted and embroidered

Winter's Spirit, polymer clay, yarn, knitted, sewn, glued...

and because I only have an automated camera and it's white, the photos aren't good.

500 handmade dolls

2011-04-07T11:11:00.000+02:00

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyright to any of these pictures, and I don't own any of these dolls. In most cases the copyright is the respective dollmaker's.

I'm disappointed with this one too. I expected to see dolls from more than 400 artists, but there's only less than 200 artists in the book.
I do think the doll artists chosen are worthy, but... Dan Fletcher, for example, makes incredible dolls, but do you really need three almost identical groups of dolls to show his work?

Really?

There were several similar choises. That she chose to showcase her own work I can understand, but for example artists like Delia Seigenthaler, Lesley Anne Green and Reina Mia Brill had several dolls in the books, and, I'm sorry to say this, all their dolls look alike. You have seen one, you have seen all. (At least all that were depicted in the book). To think you could have seen something new and different instead! There are several artists, who, even though I have no doubt they are very good dollmakers, and create something new and interesting; only produce their own kind of work, and if you have seen one drunken idiot Japanese doll, you have seen enough.

I really wish she had set a limit of three dolls per artist, preferably less. (For example, Dan Fletcher would have been fairly presented with only two dolls. One drunken idiot doll and one non-drunken doll.)

I missed:

Julie Arkell

Julien Martinez

Natalia Lopusova Tomskaya

Katya Manshavina

Jill Willich

Elizabeth Ruffings - sure, she might be too "ordinary", or something, and her dolls are beautiful, but I love them and I think she has given calico dolls a real push up.

Or Marina Bychkova... I ADORE her dolls! And the clothes, details, accessories... she makes them all, and they are works of beauty and art...

Christine Alvarado

Silvia Baukloh

Jon Beinart - oh, I think his dolls are absolutely horrible, but they sure are new, original and innovative.

Katie Boyette

Mimi Kirchner

Jo James

Debbee Thibault

Dorote Zaukaite Villela

Alexandra Koukinova

Kate Church

Ima Naroditskaya

Forest Rogers

I mean... I understand that one cannot just pick dolls and put in a book, but I doubt these artists would have refused to be featured in "500 handmade dolls". After all, most of them have agreed to have their work published in magazines and blogs.

One reason to refuse/ignore these artists, so that we had a chance to see several copies of the same doll by several artists instead, could have been that most of them are not Americans, but I didn't notice that the book was only about American dollmakers. But... what about those who ARE American?

I really cannot understand why so many great dolls were left out of the book, and that makes the book a disappointment to me.

waffle weave and huck towels

2011-04-04T11:31:00.001+02:00

How to crochet waffle weave
1) the Swedish way of making pot holders and a nice waffle weave scarf
2) a little different waffle stitch video tutorial

3) waffle weave technique or the "Siberian Stitch"

Waffle weave is great as base for "Swedish Weave" or "huck weave" embroidery. It's even called "Waffle Weave" in Finnish and Swedish.

It's called "oitinho" in Portuguese, and it's very popular in Brazil.
Here's a tutorial and some patterns in Portuguese.
In Spanish it's called "Punto Yugoslavo", and it's just as popular in Spanish speaking countries :-D

Now if one only could get some time to do something...

Lots of posts today...

2011-04-03T00:28:00.002+02:00

This time, macramé.

Crocheted and knotted items are fashionable now, but the fashion bloggers couldn't tell the difference of one technique from the other. *sigh*
(Yeah, really awesome, but not macramé. "Read on to learn the difference..." the Emilio Pucci dress is not crocheted. It's knitted. So is the Julien MacDonald dress in the last picture. "Spring trend we are loving" is macramé, macramé (not crochet, even though Jameela, who ever she is, wears the dress nicely); macramé, I suppose; not sure about Lanvin's wedges, but they don't look macramé to me; Beauclerk shopper is definitely crochet; the only piece of the swimmingsuit that could fit the trend looks like a Battenburg lace applique; macramé, crochet...)

Some guy decided to make a chair of macramé, and now everyone is praising him and saying how he single-handedly rescues the technique. *sigh*

"The rope made of an aramide braid and carbon centre is knotted into the shape of a chair. The slack texture is then impregnated with epoxy and hung in a frame to harden."

"Moreover he (Marcel Wanders) rescues the traditionally pure, practical and constructive macramé technique from stuffy image that it has had since the sixties by linking it up with the latest technology".

Well... it's a nice chair. And...? I don't see people knotting away.
Now, the macramé owl trend might be what saves macramé. I suppose macramé is supposed to be hippie.
(Want to make your own owl? I, II, here are several among other things, III)

This is part of the "stuffy" image of macramé... I kind of like it. It's inspiring :-)

and someone was posting about how they found these objects from flea market or so, and were so happy... and some part of me understands. They are really well made.

I really like this top...

Uniqua Studio's wonderful macramé clothes

I really want that dress...

birdsofohio: macramé

I like Olga's Macramé pages. On "Patterns" page she tells how to make several knots, on "Projects" page are the patterns.

Now, then there's micro macramé...

Jean Wertman's zebra necklace. Jean was 80 when she did this...

micro macramé earrings. Here's how to make your own.

very simple and pretty bracelet

And I have to agree with knotgypsy, that Isha Elafi makes the most amazing macramé jewelry...

Then at last, Knotty notions - do something knotty every day :-)

Short Row Peppermint Pattern

2011-04-02T21:46:00.002+02:00

You'll need worsted weight 100% cotton yarn in red and white (or any colors you like)
a crochet hook to match the yarn
needle
(You really don't need any batting, but if you want to, add that.)

short row pinwheel pattern: make two

20 ch with red yarn
row 1: sc, ch1, turn
row 2: sc to the last stitch, turn (19)
row 3: make no chain stitch, but jump over the first sc, and sc to each after that (18)
row 4: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (17)
row 5: sc
row 6: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (15)
row 7: sc
row 8: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (13)
row 9: sc
row 10: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (11)
row 11: sc
row 12: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (9)
row 13: sc
row 14: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (7)
row 15: sc
row 16: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (5)
row 17: sc
row 18: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (3)
row 19: sc2,
row 20: sc1, finish and cut the red yarn.

With white, sc 20, "picking up stitches" from the "serrated" edge of the red segment, starting from the sharp point.
row 2: sc to the last stitch, turn (19)
row 3: make no chain stitch, but jump over the first sc, and sc to each after that (18)
row 4: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (17)
row 5: sc
row 6: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (15)
row 7: sc
row 8: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (13)
row 9: sc
row 10: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (11)
row 11: sc
row 12: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (9)
row 13: sc
row 14: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (7)
row 15: sc
row 16: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (5)
row 17: sc
row 18: ch1, sc to the last 2 stitches, turn (3)
row 19: sc2
row 20: sc1, finish and cut the white yarn.

With red, sc 20, "picking up stitches" from the "serrated" edge of the white segment.
Continue this way until you have a circle (repeat 3 times with both red and white, so there will be four red segments and 4 white ones.)

Leave a long tail of the white yarn last time you cut it, and stitch the last white segment and the first red segment together. (You can also crochet the segments together.)
Weave in all ends.
Block the peppermints, cut batting to size (slightly smaller than a "peppermint", if you want to use it, sandwich this between the "peppermints", with joining seam inside, and crochet together with sc's

Vintage potholders

2011-04-02T13:03:00.000+02:00

I have been fascinated by vintage hot pads lately. I think someone posted a photo at Flickr about their kitchen wall, where she had collected crocheted hot pads, you know, those small and slightly worn cotton (or cottonlike) material that makes you think of WWII... and I hate them, because they are so ugly and useless... but that wall made them look good. Really nice...

There's tons of free patterns online, you'll be most likely to locate just the pattern for your grandmother's potholders. But when I was looking, I googled "kaleidoscope hot pad crochet" and this is part of what I got:

What does any of that has to do with kaleidoscope pot holders? And how did someone manage to stuff a pet bottle with all those things? Naturally THAT link was dead. (I managed to find this one...)
The crocheted shopping bag is here, the messy basket that looks like a bird's nest is "crocheting with strips of fabric", and most of the other stuff is from there too, like the green thingy. Then there's the "garden candle holder", which I would call hippie-style lantern, and "cucumber and corn panhandlers" (cucumber?)
But... really fascinating. I just wanted to share with you :-)

It's the second day of 30 days to Beltane.

Countdown to Beltane, Day 1

2011-04-01T10:52:00.001+02:00

Today is April Fools' Day. It's 30 days to Beltane, the feast of feasts and song and dance and merrymaking and lovemaking...

I am going to post a similar countdown to Beltane as I posted to Ostara, and the same goes as for Ostara countdown; if you leave comments, I'll link to your blog, or if you leave links to an interesting page, I'll link to that.

I appreciate comments, it would be enough to just say ":-)" or "thanks for posting this", if you find it hard to express your thoughts. Just give me a little word to remind me I'm not alone. :-)

I was reminded of the difficulty of reading heavy posts, so I will be sharing the information into three:
in this blog will be all crafts, daily ornament and such,
in Homes4Her will be information relevant to household, living and general holiday information and
in Goddess Food will be all the recipes and meny suggestions.

You might wonder about my choice of separator line?
Christian?
No. This one is fully Pagan, a symbol of female genitalia, has the same form as the mandorla and thus is a perfect symbol for Beltane.

Fish is also the symbol of April 1st. Poisson d'avril, the April Fish, is what April Fool is called in France. The March-April issue of Marie Claire Idées is usually full of fishes made in different art and craft methods, and in France they give chocolate fishes to each other on this day. Sounds like a much better tradition than the practical jokes version.

Ornament of the Day

Fish ornaments: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7

Other fishy things for today; fish hat, fish toy for cat, fish potholder and fish bag
Maybe you could fill the hat or bag with among other things candy fish and give as a present?

Another idea for craft for today: crocheted puzzle afghan
You can use any motifs, there's plenty of free patterns online.

How to crochet rick rack

2011-03-31T10:11:00.000+02:00

Foxs lane offers a tutorial

horseshoe trim with rick rack

pretty rick rack trim

Some interesting sites and blogs and stuff

2011-03-28T20:28:00.004+02:00

I have been looking at crochet lately - yes, you guessed it: thanks to Teva Durham's book and all the enthusiastic knitters who act as if she just invented the whole thing...

Chain Creative

I found Wool and Tea. It has been inactive for 3 years, and I just found it :-(

Loulou and Oscar

they came, they saw, they crocheted...

CraftCrave

I found out that March is the Crochet Month. I remember posting something crochet related last March... (or was it earlier? Yes, 2009) And I'm a bit sad that I forgot it this year.

Crochet Liberation Front and Crochet Uncut

Tangled

I am having a discussion about the status of crochet, and mentioned that I know the names of several knit designers but only one crochet designer (Patricia Kristoffersen), so I decided to change this.

I have already mentioned
Maria Gullberg,
Danielle Kassner,
Mandy Moore
Mary Jane Hall
Doris Chan
Jane Snedden Peever and
Kathy Merrick

Now I'm going to mention
Linda Perman
Kristin Omdahl
Crochetroo
Robyn Chachula
Michelle Ryan
Priscilla Hewitt
Carol Ventura
Shelby Allaho
Dora Ohrenstein
Maureen Basher
Ellen Gormley
and
Tracie Barrett

What I've been doing

2011-03-28T13:03:00.002+02:00

Cowl

Yarn: I used some acrylic yarn in worsted weight I had in my closet, but I'd like something else. Something that doesn't itch ;-) (not that acrylic itches, but...) (I used 1 1/2 skeins. I think there's 50 grams in each.) (And, yes, I know, the color doesn't fit me at all, and I am sick.)
Hook: I used 3 mm, and it was too small. I can't find my #4. You use bigger hook.
stitches used: chain stitch, single crochet and double crochet (US)

You are going to need also 4 buttons and a tapestry needle.

Row 1: ch30 (I think that's a bit too little, but I haven't tried this with a bigger hook, so perhaps 30 is enough)
Row 2-4: ch3 (to replace first dc), and dc to every ch in previous row (30 st)
Row 5-6: ch3 (to replace first dc), 9 dc, *ch1 dc10 in previous dc's* twice (32 st)
Row 7: ch3 (to replace first dc), 9 dc, *ch2 dc10 in previous dc's* twice (34 st)
Row 8: ch3 (to replace first dc), 9 dc, *ch3 dc10 in previous dc's* twice (36 st)
Row 9: ch3 (to replace first dc), 9 dc, *ch5 dc10 in previous dc's* twice (40 st)

<

Continue the same way until your cowl is long enough to reach around your head. (I crocheted 41 rows more like this.)
After that repeat rows 8-2 in opposite order.
Last row (button holes): sc1, ch3, *skip 3 ch, 5sc in next dc's, ch3* (repeat 2 times), sc1, finish off.
Weave in ends and sew on buttons.

Long scarf

Yarn: I used some old sock yarn (light, sport weight, DK) I had in my closet, to make the first swatch.
Hook: I used 3 mm.
stitches used: chain stitch, slip stitch and double crochet (US)

Make a long chain of chain stitches, as long as you want your scarf to be.
See that the amount of stitches is dividable by 14 +7
Crochet three ch to replace the first dc, then 5 dc's, then 2 ch and slip stitch to replace the last dc. Then you crochet 7 slip stitches.
Repeat this the whole length of the chain. You should start and end with 7 dc's.
Now copy it to the other side of the chain.

You will be making as many of these strips as you think are needed for your scarf, but fasten them as you crochet, with slip stitch by the corners of the dc parts.

Skirt

Yarn: I only made a mock miniature, and used cotton thread #10 doubled. I'd use some light weight cotton, linen or similar for the normal size version.

Hook: I used 3 mm
stitches used: chain stitch and single crochet.

Measure your waist. Divide that in two.
Measure how long you want your skirt to be.
Now, ch a chain as long as the length of skirt, and start crocheting in sc's. Take only up the back of the stitch on the previous row.
Decide which side is up and which is down. Don't make the beginning ch in the "up" side, and crochet two sc's in the last stitch of the previous row in the "down" side, to get the piece in an angle.
When you have crocheted as long a piece as your waist measurement divided by two, start the decreases. At every row, you'll be decreasing 10 stitches. You do that by turning 10 stitches from the "up" side. This will give you a little sway on the skirt.
Make two identical pieces, and sew them together; the straight edge to the decrease edge. You can also crochet them together, which I recommend. Start the second half from the decrease edge of the first half.

Sc fabric is elastic, so you shouldn't have any problems with getting and keeping the skirt on, but you can add a waistband to be sure, or crochet a couple of rounds sc's from the waistline to make a prettier and more finished edge. You might then need to leave a small opening in the "up" side of the side seam, to be able to wear the skirt.

You can also choose to make the skirt about 10-15 cm shorter than you want, and then add a sc border on the "down" edge of the skirt. It will give a nice structural effect.

----------------

I am aware that I stink when it comes to writing patterns. I'm not even sure if it is possible to crochet something following these, or what the results might be, but how ever stinky, these are patterns I have written for my designs (how ever unoriginal and boring).

P.S.
Generic scarf pattern:

1. find a stitch pattern you like. Make a swatch to see how it acts, and make notes of how many edge stitches you need to add to make the pattern complete.

<< Like here - you will need *6* + 3 + 2
6 is what you need for one pattern, 3 to make the pattern row symmetric, and 2 for edges.

2. you'll need some 200-300 yards/meters of yarn, which ever thickness you use. That's about 1 1/2 balls of normal light/sport/sockyarn thickness most scarves are knit/crocheted and knitting needles/hook in size 3-4mm
3. you start with about 25-35 stitches, depending on how wide you want your scarf. This number depends on the stitch you have chosen. It must be dividable with the number of stitches needed for the stitch pattern, + all the edge stitches if you need/want any.
If knit, you'll cast on the amount of stitches needed, if crocheted, you'll crochet a chain of chain stitches, and then you just follow the stitch pattern until your scarf is long enough.(In the sample stitch, you need to crochet 4 x *6* + 3 + 2 = 29 ch, and you need to finish it on the row 6.)

Finish off, weave in the ends and that's it.

book review: Teva Durham; Loop-d-loop Crochet

2011-03-25T12:28:00.006+01:00

A couple of years ago Teva Durham published her crochet book. I was excited to see it, because I kind of like Teva Durham's desings. I have her first book, and I was expecting more of the same, this time using the wonderful possibilities of crochet.

I was sorely disappointed. I couldn't understand what had happened. Then I read the introduction.

Teva speaks about her grandmothers and mentions researching crochet patterns...
I suppose that's the problem then. She has learned to see knitting as just a tool, but she doesn't know enough crochet to understand the possibilities.

It becomes painfully obvious as I read on the introduction.
"the lacy stitches lending themselves to a vintage feel", "crochet possesses an air of domesticity"... "looking at doilies, gloves and tablecloths for inspiration..." Oh my.
Does she look at knitted doilies, gloves and tablecloths for inspiration for her knitted items? I strongly doubt that.
There is an ocean of crochet techniques created to produce material suitable for bags, sweaters and rugs, decades and dozens of cultures using crochet to produce things, but for some reason she didn't find that interesting enough to "inspire" her...

Perhaps the antimacassar she was referring to looked a bit like this?
"I confess that for a long time, I was a knit snob who viewed crochet as a lesser craft, the poor stepsister to knitting".
Yeah... it shows, Teva.

"I needed enough facility to my crochet designs to possess the same character as my knit designs - not to imitate my knitted fabric, but to exhibit the same signature qualities."
Oh. Now, THAT doesn't show. I suppose she is too afraid of "imitating her knitted fabric", then. Pity.

Medallion cardigan from Loop-d-loop Crochet
"I have somewhat "ouside-the-box" approach to design... ...it takes old-fashioned techniques and styles out of context and into the hip-hop age."
I couldn't help but laugh when I read this... Hubris, much?
Sure Teva is a talented and unique designer, thinks differently from most, and finds interesting and new solutions, but so does most designers.

Solomon knot flower shawl from Loop-d-loop Crochet
"After exploring crochet in depth, I have an equal love and respect for it and knitting. Some of my knit-blogging friends will have fits of the vapors upon reading this. Yet, still more are simultaneously joining the crochet cognozcenti in droves. I hope my perspective will be enjoyed by knitters who are delving into crochet as well as by crafters for whom crochet is their forte".
I'm sorry, but that sounds like egocentric, sanctimonious crap to me.
(And why not say "crocheters" instead of "crafters for whom crochet is their forte", as she repeatedly says "knitters"?)

Knotwork Socks from Loop-d-loop Crochet

I think about Maria Gullberg, who published a book "Time to Crochet" (tid att virka) 1998. She studied crochet also with the purpose of renewing the technique and bringing it to date with the rest of the world. She went to grandmother's grandmother and created lovely, modern patterns.

I could continue to amigurumis, but that's a bit different. Nevertheless, amigurumi crocheting has lead dozens of crafters into free crochet, which in itself is a wonderful, inspiring and modern artform.

I think about Danielle Kassner, who also went further back in history to find inspiration, and brought with her very nice modern designs. Now, Danielle designs colorwork which Teva doesn't much do.

I think of Nicky Epstein and her Medallion Medley and Temair Throw...

Now THAT is "your grandmother's crochet" taken into hip-hop age! It blew me away when I first saw it, and it STILL impresses me. Nicky's "Crocheting over the edge" was published 2008, a year after Teva's crochet book, but these two books are close enough each other in time so that we can safely say that when Teva was working with the models for her book, Nicky was working with her models...

I like Mandy Moore's hoodie vest (2009), Mary Jane Hall's cap sleeve top (2008), Doris Chan's Lace bolero (2010), Annie Modesitt's pretty pleats skirt (2009)... simple enough designs, and every one much more modern, "out-of-the-box" and inspiring than anything Teva published in her book...
Her "medallion cardigan" is right out SCARY!

I think of Jane Snedden Peever's crocheted aran sweaters, and the Cathy Merrick, mother of Babette (2006) and Boteh scarf...

If Teva Durham did something like THAT, THEN she might be able to utter the last words of her introduction. The truth is that when she wrote the book, she was still a beginner, and had no "perspective" to talk about. I haven't seen much development since then. Drops has better crochet patterns than Teva Durham does.

Nevertheless, some people disagree strongly with me, so look for yourself. (Interestingly enough, she's a knitter, not a crocheter, so what does she know?)
(And I have to admit that she did manage to get in a little nice details, like the back of Lazy Wheels Coat, or the angle on the hip-slung belt.

P.S: Look what Burberry Prorsum did:

Crocheted trenchcoat! LOVE!!!

P.P.S "You shouldn't be so quick to judge!" said someone, after reading the review.

I sat down and designed a collection I would have wanted to see.
I copied her quite heavily, after all, my intention was to see what I could expect of her. If *I* can do it - and who am I? - then she most certainly should be able to, at least as well as I did.
I wanted to see how disappointed I have the "right" to be. (Naturally, I have right to be as disappointed as I am, but I might be unfair to her.)

I managed to "design" 48 pieces in two hours. I'm pretty sure that if I had her assets, I'd be able to get the pieces into publishable form within a couple of months.

I assume Teva Durham is in "design mood" more than I am, after all, she lives on this, I don't. Also, she "copies" herself as much as I do, in fact, she does it automatically, as ANYTHING she does is hers.
Naturally, I think I know a bit more on crochet than she does. It shouldn't be that way, as by publishing a book of crochet designs she has opened herself up to being judged with the best of crochet designers. No-one forced her to publish anything.

So, I did that and now I'm even more disappointed AND slightly disdainful.

She published the book too early. She should have crocheted more, and she should definitely have looked at CONTEMPORARY design as she was trying to renew crochet, and not to what her grandmothers did in last century.

Am I being too harsh? After all, she's not as experienced in crochet as in knitting, and haven't done that much yet...
BUT THAT'S JUST THE POINT!
She acts as if she was just as good with crochet as she is with knitting, and she is not.
She waltzes in and claims to be a new wind in crochet, and she's not.
Perhaps she will be, in some 10 or 20 years, but this book is a great disappointment.

two easter patterns for you :-)

2011-03-21T19:03:00.001+01:00

daffodils and crocus

Hen

I'm still alive!

2011-03-13T16:59:00.000+01:00

Some Easter/Ostara picks from Etsy, Folksy, DaWanda and ArtFire:

I really like this painted tote :-)

Harvey Thumper is wonderful

and these "primitive grungy" eggs are nice too :-)

I'd love JuneinBerlin's easter card. I'd frame it and put on the wall :-)

I love the mischievous faces of Coccinelfe's easter fairies :-)

Renna's paper ornaments are nicely sober and classic compared to the previous silliness :-)
But that little bunny is still quite silly :-D

back to silly things :-D
I just love these bunny heads on a stick!
I want all of them!

I think this shoulder bag is lovely.
I love how "Bizmo" used the bunny gobelin.

He's got the googly eye look of the stick heads...
I like this soft sculpture :-)

Hare's Egg... very nice :-)

So cute and vintage-y! Pink cotton bunny :-)

sweet cotton bunny in a paper easter egg...

I'm not around much, but...

2011-02-24T20:04:00.000+01:00

I found ReadyMade Projects :-)

and don't forget One Pretty Thing

This year it wasn't as much fun as I remembered

2011-02-19T17:01:00.000+01:00

OWOH came and went and, as already stated, this year it wasn't as much fun as I remembered from the earlier years... I have already sent the winners their parcels and hopefully they'll arrive next week and the recipients drop me a line telling me they received their packages.

I won nothing, again. It's ok, there are hundreds of people participating and even though most people give more than one give-away, there isn't enough for all, and also, some especially lucky people win more than one. Nevertheless, I'm disappointed and sad, as always, when I don't win. It's kind of natural.

But I'm planning on a sort of a give-away on my own. It's fun to give :-) In my Homes4Her blog I'm having a 30 days of Ostara "happening" going on, preparing for Ostara (Spring Equinox) and I will be preparing ornaments, one every day. I'm thinking that might be a good thing to give away.
Or perhaps I'll have a swap. You send me something and I send you an ornament and something.
Or something. I haven't made up my mind yet.

I'm still sad about the Easter Basket I never got, and there are some other swap packages that never arrived, so I'm a bit suspicious about swaps and giveaways.
Also, I'm not feeling well, I'm really sad, tired, having spouts of anxiety, so I think I "deserve" something. It would have been nice to win something in the hundreds of OWOH give-aways. God obviously thinks I have already enough stuff, and then I really need to get on with GIVING ME things.
I made two Ostara bunnies, really cute, and I'm already thinking about giving them to my sister. Of course, she'd love them, but so would I. I just don't know what to do with them.
Also, I made a sculpture/art doll/something, and plan to give it to another sister of mine. She would appreciate it, but, again, so would I.

But... nothing really matters at the moment. I'm dragging myself from one day to another, doing things just to keep doing things, not because the things are interesting, fun, amusing, entertaining, meaningful, necessary... Perhaps I'll wait a little with the things I did, and decide whether to keep or give later.

OWOH 2011

2011-02-18T20:09:00.001+01:00

I picked a random number and got 63, and counted and counted and got different answers every time, and counted and counted, until I realized that that's random too :-D

The winner is Kelli from Book of Kells

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to my blog for 5th and last OWOH - One World, One Heart happening, where bloggers come together :-)

I was a bit worried that I wouldn't make it, because I posted last year's OWOH wins to the receivers only yesterday... No, don't worry, it won't take as long this year.:-D I made a promise that I would have the gift ready and also an envelope to post it in, before I gave myself a permission to participate. ;-)

I have not been well lately, so this blog hasn't been updated properly, but I do post every now and then, and every now and then I post more than other times. See this blog as a craft ezine, with links and ideas for different fiber crafts, from paper to wool.

I'm 42 in 2 months, married, childless but not petless. We have a dog (so if you don't want dog hair, don't participate in this drawing.)
I have been pottering with arts and crafts for as long as I remember. I do things with fiber; crochet, knit, sew, embroider, knot... I know how to weave, make lace and felt, and I can quickly learn any technique I don't already know :-D There aren't many of those...
The hardest thing to learn was spinning. I just couldn't get my head around how to fasten the fibers to the spindle :-D

So, my gift to you is this crocheted bag. It's small, the size of a pocket, about the size of a spread hand. 15 cm (6 inches) square, perhaps. The photo is rather good, I think it shows the color well. There is no zipper or button, nor a lining, but should be big enough to carry a wallet and keys or so.
I made it a couple of years ago, because I think it's cute, but haven't used it once. I hope you find a way to use it :-)

Now, how to get a chance to win this?
a) you have to have an active blog
b) you can live anywhere in the world
c) leave a comment

I will pick a random number from hat the 17th of February - that's a week from now - and inform in this blog who is the winner, and I will also contact the winner in mail if I can. Otherwise I will ask the winner to contact me with her/his address information, so that I can post this bag to you. So be prepared to visit this blog again 18th of February, so that you won't miss your prize.

another nice tutorial I found

2011-02-12T18:44:00.000+01:00

Sandy from Simple Inspirations is offering a pair of nice earrings as her OWOH gift, and she also has a tutorial on how to make these "paper clip beads" for a bracelet.

I'm not feeling well at all... dang.

OWOH

2011-02-09T15:27:00.000+01:00

I am not participating this year... at least, I have managed to keep my eager fingers from writing a give-away post so far, hopefully I'll manage the lasting 3 days as well.

But do go and visit the link list and all the wonderful, generous givers of this time :-) You might find something you like, and even win the lottery, and also, you WILL find tons of interesting blogs and people :-)

Coffee bags

2011-02-05T10:39:00.000+01:00

In Finland they are making things of empty coffee bags. Coffee is sold in thick plastic bags.

When the bag is empty, it folds into a flat, square piece of tough plastic one can sew and do different things with. In Finland they have been making hot mats and bags.

Here's how to make a hot pad: Kirsti-mummon pannunalunen

The bag can be made by first cutting and sewing the bags into strips that are then woven like a chip or shingle basket (split basket?). In Finland they used to make a lot of different things of birch bark.

Another way of making the bag is by using the coffee bags as fabric and patching them together into a bag. The coffee bags are tough and durable enough to be sewn.

I live in Sweden and we don't drink coffee, so I have started looking at our dog's food bags with lusty eyes...

P.S: Frolic is a quite nice blog... ;-)

Still thinking about Etsy

2011-01-31T19:24:00.000+01:00

I have been dreaming of an Etsy shop since I learned about it. I cannot have one, because I have no credit card.
(Now, there are other venues, like Folksy, ArtFire and DaWanda, and eBay isn't too bad an option either... but they are not Etsy... :-D)

So I have been looking around in the internet trying to figure out what I could be selling in my shop, and collecting ideas and thoughts in a book.

I am a craftswoman, I can do about anything textile, like spinning, weaving, knitting, crochet, sewing, patchworks, appliqué, macramé, quilting, lace in several different ways, and so on and so forth. I am also really good with paper and cardboard. (Fiber, isn't it?)
I am also a not too bad an artist.
[Funnily, I was looking at my book, and noticed that I had classified a lot of "art" projects as "paper craft" projects :-D To me things like scraps and paper dolls are not art, but pure craft. That's how "renaissance woman" I am :-D (To those who might not understand, or be sure, that means that there is no difference between art and craft.)]

But, several years ago I was thinking about [---] and to my irritation, someone else was thinking about it too, and now she has started a company specializing in [---] or similar items, and everyone is amazed by her ideas... *sigh* I wish... but no. There's plenty of ideas in the world, and several people get the same ideas at the same time. I didn't run with it, so the God of Ideas decided to give it to someone who ran... But... it is a bit irritating, anyway, as one of the reasons why I'm interested in Etsy is that as I am slightly disabled at the moment, I don't have much money, and I'd like to earn a little bit more, and arts and crafts is what I do.
Anyway, good luck to her and her company. May she thrive and prosper :-)

Yes, I'm babbling. Anyway, as I surf and look for ideas and inspiration, I find things. This time I found yubinukis...

People are making rings and bracelets and all kinds of things with this technique. Reminds me of temari balls. Very pretty.

My first basket :-)

2011-01-28T13:36:00.000+01:00

I have finished my first ever basket, and I made it of newspaper wicker. :-)
I'm very proud of myself.
I also know that I NEED to learn more about basketry. My technique stinks :-D
Well... not really, the first basket, made as I remembered what I have picked up during these 40 years and some basic logic, actually holds. It IS a basket. It's not good, but it's not bad either. Very nice for the first attempt without "proper education" :-)

Also, I have bought some stuff from Tradera (internet auction in Sweden) and the things have arrived to the post office... I took the dog out to check how I'm feeling and now I'm fighting with a horrible anxiety. No going to post office today for me. *sigh*Also, my feet hurt. It feels like all the meat in the feet was bruised, and somehow there're thorns that dig in between the bones every now and then when I put my weight on the foot...

BTW, panic anxiety feels like you are in a photo and someone is crumpling the photo... the reality bends in a way that is not possible, making the walls fall on me, or my arm bend in an unnatural angle towards my breast... and none of this is happening, it's just in my head, it FEELS AS IF... Weird.

Being petty once more...

2011-01-19T23:59:00.002+01:00

I get irritated by people who don't bother finding out simple things.

Wicker is usually willow switches. One can use also "cane of rattan stalks", reed and bamboo, split or not, or plastic, or even newspaper, but it's ALWAYS rather thick and stiff. You can't crochet wicker or make macramé out of it. You weave baskets.

This is a wicker handbag:

As you can see, it looks like a basket with some leather details. You just know it's going to be like a suitcase or a handbag made of plywood - with two hard sides and probably fabric lining that also makes sides, so that you can open the handbag while it hangs on your arm, without all that's in it falling out.

Wicker = hard

Now, THIS is not wicker.

This is straw. It looks more like something you'd put in your head than something you'd use as furniture.
It's soft, but not soft enough to do much more than simple knotting and bending. Straw bags are usually made of braided bands.

A material little softer is seagrass. It is usually spun into thin rope-like material, and then woven into bags.

These are not wicker either

The blue one is crocheted, the cream one is macrame. I think the blue one is made of raffia bast and the cream one of hemp or jute or sisal, or some other plant fibre one makes hessian (burlap) out of. Both of these materials are soft and don't splinter like straw would. You cannot crochet wicker or straw, nor make macrame knots out of them. So these are not wicker bags nor straw bags.

Raffia reminds a bit of plarn (plastic yarn), so you can use plarn to make anything made of raffia.

The green and white one is raffia and leather (by Balenciaga) and the strawcolored (sic) and purple is Jimmy Choo's straw bag. See how hard and shiny it is compared to the other, raffia bag.

Most of the summer bucket totes the shape of the green and white one are made of raffia or straw. If it looks like it's woven (and slightly rough), it's probably seagrass, braided strips, (and hard) it's probably made of straw, and if it looks like crocheted (and shiny), it's raffia.

This is NOT straw, even though they claim it is. You can't get such soft folds in straw. It is either seagrass or other spun plant material, but not straw. Straw doesn't have long fibres, so you cannot spin yarn (and not gold either) of straw.

This Kira "Straw" is not straw either. It's either seagrass or raffia, and considering the color and shine of the material, I'd say it's raffia. It is crocheted, so it cannot be wicker nor straw.

This Michael Kors Santorini "straw" tote is not straw either, even though it is braided bands. The material is too thick and soft to be straw. I would guess it's seagrass or cornhusks.

This is Straw Studio's Ingrid, and if you look at it closely, you'll see it's made of string, so it's not straw. I think it's made of seagrass.

This on the other hand IS straw. The spirals are hard, thin and shiny, like a straw hat.

This is not macrame, nor wicker or straw. It's braided and coiled raffia.

And here's a palmleaf tote. As you can see the soft, leatherlike material, similar to Kors' "straw" bag. It's coiled.

This raffia bag is coiled as well. It has that slightly plastic-y shine if you look at it closely...

These are not macrame. They are both crocheted. They are not wicker, straw or raffia, but quite ordinary cotton yarn. (or linen or hemp or ramie or some other ordinary spun plant fiber yarn.)

This is macrame. As you can see, it doesn't need to be "hippy craft".

Frankly, who am I to say that's hideous... there are people who like things like that. I don't. That's macramé in hemp.

This is macrame in jute.

This, again, is crochet, and horrible, I think. It too has its lovers...

This is called "crocheted bag". It's not. It's macrame.

Are you getting a hang of it? ;-)

P.S. This is Dalmatian.
The dog from Dalmatia.
You know, Dalmatian, American, Russian, Brazilian, Croatian, Indian, African, European... Dalmatian.

Where the heck did you even get the idea of putting an -O- in there?
Damnation?

It's even less rocket science than seeing the difference of wicker and yarn, or crochet and macrame...

a little origami :-)

2011-01-18T11:34:00.004+01:00

cute paper hearts, for example as earrings

the classic mini puff stars

Really cute as a garland :-)
(Now, I don't know if LBCpaper has made her hearts the same way, but that's one way of folding hearts from a strip of paper. Also, it's not my idea, I saw it at her Etsy shop first.)

How to make a reversible felt bonnet folklore style

Vintage sewing info: how to make hats

Making faux lead glass painting

P.S. This is about as kitschy as it comes when it comes to crafting... and I respect her more than myself, because she does SOMETHING, and THAT is ALL that matters in the end... :-)
Well done, Reshmi :-) May I be inspired by your passion :-)

Gifted

2011-01-17T17:56:00.001+01:00

I found the Gifted magazine. Interesting.

They had a link to Nice Package blog on the last page, and even though it is a very beautiful, inspiring and interesting blog, I was slightly disappointed.

It did lead me to Sweet Paul e-zine, though, and to this recipe:

Purty! And sounds really delicious. The e-zine is full of nice recipes, beautiful photos and funny stories.

Well... the reason to why I found this was that I found Mimi Kerchner's "favorite" at Etsy, and there was Virginia and Costas the Owl... really pretty doll, made of air drying clay, not of porcelain clay or something other such material that is really difficult, practically impossible for me to use.
And then I found this aimi-dolls - a Japanese site telling exactly how to use air-drying clay to make these amazing jointed clay dolls...
(Here's Noah's doll, which was the tutorial I was thinking earlier... using materials that aren't very... available for me. Frankly, I can't even imagine where to find sawdust. Or what is "stone clay" and so on. So Aimi-dolls are practically the same thing, but made with air-drying clay.)

And one thing leads to another, so I found 365slöjd - a Swedish site with a craft project for every day of a year. It was started in May last year, so there's about a 100 crafts to do. It is in Swedish, but it's not rocket science to figure out what they are doing.

Thinking about Etsy, again :-)

2011-01-16T15:03:00.000+01:00

I love Etsy. I love this society of SO creative, productive and skillful people, blended with the less so, the obviously high so, the lying, cheating, deceitful so and others... I would so love to have my own Etsy shop, and be able to run it too :-D
Ideas I have plenty, skills also, but health, money and energy not enough.

Here's a couple of links for you to ponder and perhaps get inspired somehow :-)
TED - Technology, Entertainment, Design
1000 awesome things - like looking up and seeing your loved one looking at you with clear appreciation :-). That is awesome!

Makezine, Craftzine and Instructables, and Crafster. Just a reminder...

Why didn't I think about it?

2011-01-12T20:13:00.002+01:00

Funnily, my last post was my 500th post. Nice :-)

This is Diane's paper doll... Why didn't I think about that?
I mean, I have been working with paper and cardboard all my life, and I'm really good with 3D thinking and patterns and such.
And I love dolls.
But no, this I have never thought :-D

Or this one...
I know they made furniture of papier mache back in France in the 18th century, and really pretty things too, as hard and durable as wood, if not more so.
That whole cabinet is made of corrugated cardboard (fiberboard). It is just as steady as a wooden furniture would be, but whereas carpentry is beyond my capacity, paperwork is not... also, there's plenty of material just lying around.
And for some reason I never thought of that.

Isn't it wonderful that there are people who do think about it? :-D
Because, another thing I'm really good at is copying. :-)

I love the cabinets with many drawers and doors and hidden compartments... I could make myself one, two, twenty... *sigh*

like this needle cabinet... or a hoosier (baker's) cabinet... "'Hoosiers" are distinguished by special features such as pull-out porcelain work areas, large flour bins, sugar bins, tin bread drawers, spice jars, pot and pan racks and many other features"

and secretary desks/cabinets... I just found out they make "secretary desks with curio cabinets":

Or the spice cabinets or apothecary cabinets...

Or antique filing cabinets, with the many different sized drawers... and haberdashery display cabinets and desks, "notions armoires", sewing cabinets and what nots :-D

I'm also pretty good at faux painting techniques... I COULD make it look like wood. Or something :-D

I don't NEED the item to BE old, just have the aesthetics... Wood is, of course, the best, but I like the Chinese and Tibetan chests and Korean Dansus too, so painting the thing lacquer red and adding some details, like black handles and such... perhaps even make them out of polymer clay or salt dough or what ever ;-)

P.S. Go and admire this "Parian Peddler" doll... I'd like something like that... for my cabinet of curiosities...
P.P.S. If I had a house like House on the Rock collection, I'd collect:
suffragette memorabilia,
things about witches, witchcraft, divination, Paganism and alternative healing methods, and other such paranormal, supernatural, mythical, mystical and magical things :-)
Mythical beasts, especially dragons, unicorns and white deers
swords
puppets - I want the world's largest hand puppet collection :-D
special effects
music boxes, clockworks and steampowered gadgets
snowglobes
dioramas
Sabbath decoration - for each of the 8 Sabbaths, like some people collect Halloween, Easter and Christmas decorations
Musical instruments
Carousel animals and figure heads
Noah’s arks
amber
peacocks and phoenixes

plarn and... parn?

2010-12-29T15:29:00.000+01:00

Sewphisticate experiments with plastic yarn - plarn.

This plarn tote is great too... really makes me want to try that... :-)

How to make plarn

Here's how to spin newspapers into yarn - parn?

Paper yarn rugs are wonderful. They are durable, stay put and don't create dust. Perfect for an allergic person. The rug in the picture is Finnish "Encore" by Hanna Korvela Design. The design received the Red Dot prize this year. :-) It's made of paper yarn and rags on cotton warp, and is recyclable :-)

You could also make yourself a bag, like Annie did :-)

How to make "newspaper wicker". I posted this already in February. Click on the images to see them bigger :-)

I love it how the photos on the newspapers give the "wicker" life :-) Stained and varnished it looks and acts like wicker... Yes, you can make ANYTHING you would use "real" wicker for... even chairs.

Here's free crochet basket patterns, you can make them from both plastic and paper yarn :-)

I'm making ATCs

2010-12-28T10:29:00.003+01:00

found this very interesting blog, and wanted to share:
Techniques Zone

----------------------

OWOH 2011 is coming.

I would like to participate, because it's a HUGE rush, but I haven't posted the OWOH 2010 packages to the winners yet, and I really cannot allow myself to promise something to people THIS YEAR without keeping my promise from last year, can I?
No, I will not participate in OWOH 2011 unless I have posted the 2010 packages (I mean, come on, Ket! It's just two tiny crocheted hearts and a picture of a wonderful dog. Just do it!) AND I have a prepaid international post package ready for the 2011 OWOH that I only need to write the address on and send.
I know that's really hard for me too, because of my panic anxiety and social phobia, but it is manageable, and one MUST keep the promises, otherwise one is a louse, and I don't want to be a louse.

So, I think I will be able to get the packages in post within a month, so I will be able to participate in OWOH 2011.

Now, what to give? I would like to give an Easter Basket, because 2008 someone had an Easter Basket giveaway at the same time they had OWOH giveaway, and that basket was lovely :-)

BTW; I wonder if you could go here and answer the question: would these be good Easter Basket Swap baskets? I'm asking mainly, because I made them for an Easter basket swap, and two of them were outside the swap, and the real swap pal never said what she thought about the basket, so I'm a bit unsure if that's a good swap basket or not.

The problem I have with this is that I am reminded of nasty things. (And now, stop reading, if you don't want a glop of "negativity". That's all that coming from here on :-))
The person giving the Easter basket also held an Easter Basket Swap, and still today I cannot see her name, her blog, the name of her blog, the swap group or the baskets other participants received and send without spitting bitter poison.
Why? Because I didn't get an Easter basket filled with goodies, I got a nasty mail filled with complaints, whining and accusations.

She told me among other things that:

a) she hasn't been able to contact me. I posted in the swap group, and she didn't respond, I posted in her blog and she didn't respond, I responded to the mail she sent me, and she didn't respond. Then after I went public with my complaints in my blog (so she couldn't delete my comments - she deleted them from her blog and the swap group), she miraculously managed to contact me, and send me not only one but two bitchy mails.

b) I didn't join the swap the proper way, because she couldn't find my comment in the correct blog post. Somehow she managed to invite me to the swap and send me all the necessary information. How did she do that, if she didn't know I was supposed to be participating?

c) I needed to give her slack, because she had a hard time in life, as she was moving, her child was being touched inappropriately at school and the school didn't do anything about it, so she had to homeschool her child, she was supposed to study herself, and her father got ill. And so on and so forth. So "she didn't need all this negativity".

Let's compare the misery a little, huh?

Those of you who have read my blog know I complain a lot about my health. I'm 3/4 of time too tired or too much in pain to do anything. I have a lot of ideas, I'm good at what I do, but I don't do that much.

I'm also living on disability, so there's not much money to work with. My husband and I get about 2000 dollars a month, and that must be enough to pay rent, food, medicine and all the household bills, like telephone and internet and what not. It does, we are not poor, but we are a "low-income family". I have to choose what I will use the extra pennies for. When I choose to do a swap, I choose to wait with new clothes, books, art and craft material, new things for our home and such entertainment as going to movies or a restaurant.

To give you some understanding of the costs of swap for me - not to complain, because no-one forces me to participate in a swap. I do it by my own choice and being aware of this, but perhaps these things are not that clear to some USonians.

1) Postal fees are HORRIFYING. (US postal service, priority mail, and Swedish post take about the same. That is, a small package about the size of a book will cost about 15 dollars to send.)

2) We don't have dollar stores. I don't think I could find anything that costs a dollar worth sending anyone. It would be fun to make some price comparisons... send swappers from different parts of the world to find the same items, a notepad, a pencil, a keyring, 10 yards of ribbon..-

3) The crafting supplies, especially ribbons and buttons, costs an arm and a leg. 10 yards of ribbon would be all I could send in a swap with 25 dollars limit. (In USA you can get pretty ribbon for less than 5 dollars 10 yards.) Simple cotton for dishcloths costs about 6-7 dollars for 1 3/4 ounces. That's about three times more than in USA. Also, you can find Sugar&Cream in 1 pound cones for less than twice the prize 1/10 of that costs here in Sweden.(Yes, the mere material cost for a dishcloth is already 6 dollars for me... those they sell at 2 dollars at Etsy. 6 dollars. Think about it a bit.)

Also, as I have social phobia, it's really hard for me to go out and find things to send people. I make most of the things I send myself.

To me every swap and giveaway is a real challenge.

We live in a horrible dump. This house was build in the 70's to provide housing for cheap work power. It was built quickly and they have cheated in some things, like the isolation isn't very good. It's cold inside when it's cold outside, and hot inside when it's hot outside. Also, the bathroom was not wet-isolated :-D So there's mold in the airing channels. Nice, huh?
This apartment has not been renovated ever, the plastic carpeting is the same they put in when the house was built. Plastic carpets don't take age too well... the seams are open in every room, there are slashes and holes in the floors, and these carpets are so lovely colors... puke beige and dirty grey. :-> I dream of wooden floors in livingroom and bedroom, and tiles in kitchen, hallway and bathroom.
The walls are painted wallpaper. We had the original wallpaper on the walls from 70's, you know, the brown-beige medallion... and I mean, some of the 70's medallion "baroque" wallpapers are really nice, and it could have been worse, but this was like... washed out dirty beige with stripes. The image on the left gives you an idea, but that looks GOOD compared to what we had. Now the walls are painted cream white, but as the wallpapers weren't put on well in the first place, and we have had cats who loved to rip the wallpaper, it doesn't look too good. Yuk. We try to cover the walls with bookshelves and art, and manage acceptably, but...
The bathroom walls are some sort of disgusting weave painted nasty, dirty aqua. I wish we had simple, common, normal white tiles. The floor is covered with strong teal plastic carpet, which is full of holes...
We have only one working lock in the front door, there's something wrong with kitchen light fixtures; our kitchen "eats" light bulbs. The kitchen is also designed by some idiot, as half of the cabinets cannot be used for different reasons, or used effectively.

There's mold by the windows, and when they changed all the other windows to this building, they refused to change our windows, because we had cats. We tried to negotiate a way on how the workmen could get an access to every room in the apartment with keeping the door wide open without the cats sneaking out. We asked them if they could do the apartment half and half - so that we could keep the cats in the living room while they were doing the kitchen and the bedroom, and in the bedroom, when that was done (or vice versa), but that was unacceptable, and they weren't interested in discussing the matter, so they just moved on to the next apartment and jumped over ours.

On top of that, since I fell ill in late 90's, I haven't had the energy to clean as much as we would need to. I mean, it's not dirty, but there's dust and dog hair all over the place, and therefore moths and carpet beetles... It's messy and cluttered, and I hate this place.
It's not made easier by the fact that the majority of our neighbors are antisemites and my husband is Jewish, and that we live about 40 miles from my sisters. It takes about 2 hours travel to just go and visit them. With my social phobia it's not easy, and I am very isolated and lonely. And I hate this place.
I hate this place so much that I don't even bother trying to improve anything.

We don't have children, so I don't need to worry about my child getting hurt at school, but I probably would homeschool my children if I had them, and if it was possible to do in Sweden. I was ruthlessly bullied at school and still fight with the damage done. Nevertheless, if you have children, children are part of your life, and they do things and things happen to them. It's life.

On top of that, my parents are getting old, my father is dying of skeleton cancer and is in constant pain, my mother has problems with her neck and head, so she cannot use her hands much, and has been forced to give up a lot of her hobbies. People in my life has had their problems, that touch my life, some bigger, some smaller. People get sick, people have accidents, people die. People have to move, people lose their job, people have problems. That too is life.

Anything else? Do you think I'd win the whine war? :-D

I'm not complaining, just saying that EVERYBODY has difficulties and troubles in life, so that doesn't work as an excuse for being a bloody bitch.

Life happens. Deal with it. Don't use it as an excuse to not to keep your commitments. If you feel you can't keep the commitments, because life happens, take responsibility and apologize.

I told her to consider whether her life is too messy at the moment for her to take upon herself commitments she cannot keep.
She told me that I have no business on telling her how to live her life, and that swaps are a joy in her life.
Of course the swaps are a joy in HER life, because HER swap partners keep their promises. Also, when her actions cause ripples in MY life, I think I DO have the right to tell her what I think about that.

Also, she announced another swap. She's giving me all these excuses to explain why she was a lousy swap organizer, but she's not smart enough to understand that she perhaps needs to come out of the situation before putting herself in a new situation where she's probably going to f- it up... I do hope she didn't do the same stunt to her next swap partner.

BTW, she has made her blog private, so I cannot see whether she commented on my swap basket or not. :-D I suppose too many people "giving her negativity she doesn't need nor want" :-D

Sharing a cute blog

2010-12-27T19:14:00.001+01:00

She is really good at embroidery :-)

http://www.theflossbox.com/blog

I am thinking about my bucket list...

2010-12-26T23:34:00.002+01:00

and found this amazing "Steampunk Octopus Book", when looking at what a "zentangle" is.

Advent Calendar 24/24

2010-12-24T11:15:00.001+01:00

98) more edible ornaments for the tree

99) in my childhood home I used to set up the Creche for every Christmas on this day. I think it is a beautiful and nice tradition, even though I am not Christian.

100) emergency clean up

and finally

101) Holiday Tree Looting Party - this is a Swedish tradition done at Epiphany, which is the traditional day to take down the Yule decorations. Make this part of your traditions for the day you take down the Yule. This is also the reason why there has been so much edible tree decorations among these 101 ideas :-D

Advent Calendar 23/24

2010-12-23T13:40:00.000+01:00

94) amigurumi santa ornament

95) really cute chocolate mouse :-) if you plan an edible decoration for your tree :-)

96) make a pomander

97) wonderful Yule dessert

Advent Calendar 22/24

2010-12-22T13:39:00.001+01:00

90) make cute, easy and sweet reindeer cookies - you can also use halved pretzels for horns. Looks better.

91) make jube balls

92) make a gingerbread house

93) printable bookmarks to add with the book you are going to give as a present ;-)

Advent Calendar 21/24

2010-12-21T13:39:00.002+01:00

85) scrap paper holiday gift tag, garland and card

86) star boxes

87) printable holiday countdown

88) 12 tags of Christmas

89) take a full moon walk with your near and dear ones

Advent Calendar 20/24

2010-12-20T13:39:00.000+01:00

81) Rory the Reindeer

82) cat christmas craft ideas

83) Christmas Card a Day at Scrapperie

84) holiday houses

Advent Calendar 19/24

2010-12-19T13:39:00.001+01:00

77) cute button ornaments

78) make button wreath ornament

79) a bigger button wreath

80) have a Polar Express day

Advent Calendar 18/24

2010-12-18T13:38:00.000+01:00

73) make fake snow

74) make snow storm curtains :-D

75) make fake frost in the window

76) paint your window with washable paint

Advent Calendar 17/24

2010-12-17T13:38:00.000+01:00

69) make yourself a holiday album

70) or just collect the holiday songs into a song leaflet you decorate and give to everyone so that you can all sing yule songs :-D

71) scrapbooking ideas, layouts, printouts etc.

72) cute little mistletoe berry ornament

Advent Calendar 16/24

2010-12-16T13:38:00.000+01:00

64) Christmas Checklist

65) The wreath here on the side is made with tiny pillows filled with potpourri, that are then tied on the wreath base with two pieces of ribbon.

66) lighter menu for the feast day

67) little paper yule tree garden

68) make a simple wool angel

Advent Calendar 15/24

2010-12-15T13:37:00.001+01:00

60)Applique heart ornament

61) knit a tree ball

62) bake cookies

63) decorating home for holidays

Advent Calendar 14/24

2010-12-14T11:22:00.000+01:00

56) mini pillows

57) pillow with patchwork trees - learn to make perfect points ;-)

58) make christmas stocking monkeys

59) make christmas stocking (you will want the mouth of the socking to be the widest part of the sock...)

Just a little insert in the middle of the count-down...

2010-12-13T17:33:00.002+01:00

I have been procrastinating and reading one of my favorites, Regretsy.

Oh, yes. I'm a nasty bitch who likes to... "react" about people whom I think are doing something stupid. I admit that. I don't think I'm perfect, or that everything I do is flawless, and yes, there is some envy involved. I wish I had the guts to at least try to sell crap, ask headless price for my creations and proudly present any stupid thing I happen to create...

I found this: Countdown #7 (the original is here: Jacks on Pollack. Unfortunately it seems the "ARTist" is reacting on something that happened on Etsy's forum. Oh, well... why she felt the need to come to Regretsy to yap about it, is another confounding matter.)

I say "ew!" just as I say "ew!" on every piece of "art" made with blood, sweat, tears, spit, snot, puke, pee, poop and any other bodily fluid, mucus, goo, gunk, ooze, glop or sludge.

"I’ll bet those are typical bitches that have sex with the lights off"
Ok, you'll lose that bet
"don’t touch my hair!”
and that one
"and “do I look fat in this?”
and that one
"who read Cosmo for lame ass sex tips"
and that one
"and have too many cats or angel figurines at home"
and that one
"And GOD FORBID, if sperm was to TOUCH their hair or face or mouth."
and that one (I do have to say that it depends totally on WHOSE sperm it is.)
"Those are the same girls that dole out oral sex to their boyfriends only one “special occasions.”
and that one - it's just for special persons, namely my husband.
"Girls, we know EXACTLY WHO/WHAT YOU ARE"
and that one, obviously :-D
"People that say, “ewww” to sex are uptight, WEIRD people."
I think you have problems in separating sex and bodily fluids. When I look at your painted boards with eyeshadow-dusted semen samples that's what I see. I don't think sperm is sexy. I don't either see anything sexy in guys jerking off. You might get off thinking about men's room, I don't, and I don't think you have any right to demand the rest of the world adjusts to your voyeuristic sperm fantasies. You have them, fine, but don't judge me for not sharing your sexual preferences.
"Those are the girls that get mad if their boyfriend looks at porn."
and that one.

I bet you are not going to pay your bets, though.

I have no problems with changing diapers or wiping clean after an "accident". I have no problems with reusable handkerchiefs and sanitary napkins. I don't even have problems with the wet spots in bed after sex. But I will not hang any of that on the wall, how ever "ARTistic" it looks.

I happen to think the traditional media is quite enough for anyone to be able to express themselves ARTistically. Georgie O'Keeffe didn't feel the need to paint with her menstrual blood, but she did paint mostly just "boring" flowers, and probably didn't like having men jerking off on her face either.

Advent Calendar 13/24

2010-12-13T11:16:00.004+01:00

52) Decorate candles with beads

53) make tree skirt

54) a little more advanced tree skirt

55) make quillows to gifts

This "gator quillow" is from Embroidered4U

Advent Calendar 12/24

2010-12-12T23:09:00.000+01:00

48) christmas trees of bottle brushes :-D

49) make gift bags

50) how to make greeting cards

51) make hard candy garland

Advent Calendar 11/24

2010-12-11T22:30:00.000+01:00

43) Holiday window decoration

44) make candle wreath

45) mini sweater - ornament or for dolls ;-)

46) feeding birds in winter

47) gift basket ideas

Advent Calendar 10/24

2010-12-10T13:33:00.001+01:00

39) recycled ornaments

40) plum pudding ornament

41) Mrs Beeton's Plum Pudding - very traditional, old fashioned, from scratch

42) drinking straw ornament - you can also make this of real straws, the forefathers of plastic straws :-D

Advent Calendar 9/24

2010-12-09T13:32:00.002+01:00

35) house ornaments

36) salt dough recipe

37) table setting ideas

38) Yule candy

The reindeer is from Frugal Families

Advent Calendar 8/24

2010-12-08T11:21:00.003+01:00

31) a couple of free Yule cross stitch patterns

32) recycled light bulb snowmen :-)

33) gift suggestion - for everyone. iPhone gloves have free peek finger and thumb, gameboy gloves have free thumbs. My husband loves his. He says he can do practically anything with those gloves :-D

34) patchwork table runner

Advent Calendar 7/24

2010-12-07T10:54:00.000+01:00

27) gingerbread ornaments

28) crochet snowman afghan

29) marshmallow snowmen

30) homemade marshmallows

P.S. here's a free one... thread marshmallows in a string...

P.P.S. Here's another free one ;-) How to spin yarn from old newspapers...

Advent Calendar 6/24

2010-12-06T12:36:00.003+01:00

22) Tree toppers

23) 3D paper star topper

24) Really pretty antique tree topper - not rocket science to make your own ;-)
Making doll parts out of polymer clay
general instructions

25) Some alternatives to Yule tree - and some more :-D

26) Make yule cones
It's just a segment of a circle, the smaller the sharper cone you want.

Here's a long list of ornaments you can sew

Advent Calendar 5/24

2010-12-05T12:18:00.000+01:00

18) Felted cookie cutter ornaments

19) Deepfried apple pies like in a certain fast food restaurant :-D
Crunch some peppermint patties inside, and decorate with sugar :-)

20) paper snowflakes. (Yes, you CAN call it "kirigami", but I wouldn't, because we have been doing this long before we knew what the Japanese called this.)

21) free crochet snowflakes

Advent Calendar 4/24

2010-12-04T00:11:00.002+01:00

14) How to make a popcorn girland :-)
Don't butter and salt the popcorn! LOL You can hang the strings out for the birds to clean them up after Yule.
You can use all kinds of dried fruits and berries in the garland too.

15) minimitten ornaments

16) knitted greeting cards

17) Yule tree pop-up card

Advent Calendar 3/24

2010-12-03T11:56:00.001+01:00

10) woven heart basket in crochet - this is a Danish Yule tradition :-) They are made of paper, and now I have seen them in crochet, felt, fabric...

11) The link in that pattern to Danish paper hearts doesn't work, so use this instead ;-)

12) Frankly, I can't stand a certain person, but there's always great ideas and recipes on her pages... Like this little tree place card :-)

13) Then to something totally different :-D North Pole cupcakes :-)
This one, from Babington House, looks fantastically frozen :-D

Advent Calendar 2/24

2010-12-02T11:39:00.000+01:00

If you wonder about the fact that my calendar only has 24 days, it's because I'm Finnish and we celebrate Yule at "Christmas Eve", the evening of 24th. 25th is a day of rest and playing with the toys one got for Yule and doing absolutely nothing.

6) iPod cozy tutorial - you can use the tutorial to make cozy to pretty much everything. This is a great gift idea for everyone. It doesn't matter if the receiver is old or young, male or female, or if she already has 5 cozies. Just adjust the fabric for the receiver, and you are fine :-)
P.S. You can always put some money in for a teenager, to make him/her happy ;-)

7) 32 packaging ideas in vector I like the first one, the candle, best :-)

8) easy Christmas wrapping ideas

9) make your own snowglobe or dozens :-D

Advent Calendar 1/24

2010-12-01T11:26:00.002+01:00

I saw a magazine: "101 ideas", it was called. There was not 101 ideas in the magazine. I feel cheated :-D

So, let's start:

1) recycle bin advent calendar

2) holiday dove ornament, to be put into one of the pockets of the advent calendar ;-)

3) 6 pointed star ornament

4) December Daily Album

5) This is a rather big one... because the idea is to not throwing your old season greetings cards away, but recycling them, and all kinds of things you can do :-)

Greeting Card Crafts
Things to do with old Christmas cards
Recycling Christmas cards

Last post 2 months ago...

2010-11-14T12:51:00.000+01:00

Oops!

Of course I have excuses and explanations. I'm still feeling really lousy, I'm tired all the time, aching and... it's NaNoWriMo... I was a week in Finland to see my parents who aren't feeling too well either. And so forth and so on. The thing is that no-one wants to read about that :-D

I would really like to make Yule gifts for everyone. (Everyone in this context meaning my family; parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, and a couple more. About 20 people all in all. Not a big thing, especially if one organizes it and decides and keeps the decisions, and divides it all into small chores ;-)) My problem is that I can't decide. It feels like everything I would be able to make is... blah.

I mean... would anyone really want things like coasters, cozies, booklets, cookies... little things like that? Or art? Or amigurumis? Or... what?

I would like to take 8 big cardboard boxes and fill them with stuff... all kinds of stuff. I would prefer to send the package then by post, but that costs a lot in Sweden and Finland now-a-days... at least 8 big cardboard boxes :-D Perhaps I could take just 8 big hat boxes or something :-D

Now, here's some quilling!

2010-09-26T16:20:00.000+02:00

Yulia Brodskaya for Neiman Marcus' The Christmas Book. Do go and see her other work. It makes me breathless, wordless, humble and at awe :-D
I told my husband "It's things like this that make me question whether I am an artist. I looked at quilled things and saw nothing. Yulia looked at them and saw THIS..."
How she uses even the reflections and shadows as part of the artwork... amazing. Wonderful.

I'm crying right now :´) I'm one of these people who get into art shocks. You don't want to visit an art gallery with me :-D

Some thought about crafts while surfing the internet

2010-09-17T23:52:00.004+02:00

These faces were made of empty toilet paper rolls...
by Junior Fritz Jacquet
Amazing.

1) When I was little, one of my favorite books was The Great Book of Crafts for Girls. In the end of it was some "taste education" - about what is ugly, of bad taste, almost offensive, and what is beautiful, simple, of good taste and high quality. Naturally, everything that was taught in the book was good, and what was not taught in the book was bad, but I remember especially a comparison between a wooden doll, very simple, from the book, and a rag-doll, very ugly, "personal" and "funny", I suppose it can be called, with twisted caricature face. I didn't understand at the age of 10 why the funny doll was "bad", and vehemently decided the book was wrong, and I was not going to listen to their opinion.
A lot of things that are advised to modern crafters in these dime a dozen magazines, are what would have been judged as bad taste according to this book. We have the googly eyed things with swollen faces, big potato nose (usually red, too), exaggerated and simplified forms... everything looks the same, giraffes and dogs, old men and babies... everyone has the same, ugly face. I cannot think ANY of these things would ever be on the "must be saved" list, or family heirloom list... and that is such a pity, because people do use at least some time, effort and money to produce these horrible things. I really don't think they would be spending much more to make good, real things, that one would actually save and present to one's grandchildren as "this is the toy my great-grandmother made, back in 100 years ago".
And I realize that today, 30 years later, I both understand and agree with what the book said.

2) I spotted a wonderful stumpwork book in bookstore and rushed to eye it through... and was terribly disappointed. They had not embroidered the flat pictures. They had painted them, and just added a couple of stitches to "mask" that it was a painting. They hadn't sewn the petals with lace stitches, they had embroidered the edges of painted petals, cut them out of fabric and sewn on the base - painted.
I look at a magnificent tablecloth with a border of sunflowers, and... it's painted too. The edge is not stitched either, it's glued. Sure, it's beautiful, NOW, when it's new and all that, but... embroidering isn't that much harder to do than painting, and it's so much sturdier. Paint WILL wear thin, crack and loose colors with time, especially in an item made to be used and washed. The glue edge will disappear with time, and in just some 10 years, the tablecloth is ready to be thrown away, beyond repair.
Now, it might be so that one needs a tablecloth for a party quickly, and one is good at painting, so one takes a bedsheet and paints flowers on it, and puts it on the table. Voilá, a use-and-loose piece of art, one time only... but... I so wish someone had seen just a little bit more trouble and embroidered the cloth.

3) Why does Santa wear boots made for... er... what? Someone with a REALLY bad case of hammer toes? Nothing in the universe has toes like that. And no real person wears boots like that, unless he's forced to. I suppose the round forms are somewhat benevolent, funny, delightful, like Santa is supposed to be, but I think they are just ugly.
Frankly, I don't get this shoe thing anyway... I get why the baby's first shoes get bronzed, but I don't get these shoe/boot shaped flowerpots, vases, candy bowls, porcelain figurine... The worst of them all are the miniature shoes made of resin! I mean... barbie shoes are ok, handmade miniature shoes made of real materials, for dolls or just because one can, that could actually be worn, if one was 20 inches high, proportionate adult, that's kind of cool. But the resin shoes, "collect the whole series", is just stupid. They are not even copies of some famous or important shoes. They are just shoes.
I like shoes. I am a bit of a shoe fetishist, to be honest, but I don't like fake shoes, not even as artwork. The real shoes are small artworks in themselves, and the worth just grows by the fact, that these little pieces of art are functional. I suppose I embrace also William Morris :-D

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

What I find very interesting is miniature art. This whole dtail blog is full of interesting stuff, but just look at this tiger!
Or the Little Prince book, fully readable and all. Now, THAT's amazing.

Or what this guy does with rice.

Or what has been done to peach pits for ages

Or...
I LOVE miniatures.
Like this one.
Or dolls houses! I just adore dollhouses! Like Queen Mary's Dollshouse...

Has anyone made a replica of that? Of course, it's impossible to get true copies of the paintings, books and things created by the best in their field at that time, but still...

Added 2nd of October: Some Pencil Work WOW!

Moda, Finnish fiber craft magazine

2010-09-17T09:28:00.004+02:00

Some models from Moda 5/10 I like: the pink coat and the red-white striped vest.

The other vest is Hanne from Knitty Spring 09

Sorry

2010-09-15T11:22:00.005+02:00

Some ideas I love, from
Sew Fabulous Fabric - 20 charming ways to sew fabrics into your life
by Alice Butcher and Ginny Farquhar,
published by David and Charles PLC, 2008,
and ISBN-13 is 978-0715328583

Also, Bargello Needlepoint has a great 365 Bargello challenge :-)

I want to make everything at Ullabenulla :-D

and I am at awe looking at Lisa Lichtenfels' amazing nylon dolls... I'd call them statues :-D

-------------------------------------------

I have been awful at OWOH this year. I apologize to my winners, because now it's over half a year since OWOH, and they still haven't received their wins. I haven't forgotten, and I work on it. I know it's not much of a consolation, but hopefully some.

Cakes

2010-09-07T18:57:00.014+02:00

Threadcakes! Amazing things!

I would make "Geology"

In a square mold by layering different cakes, fillings, puddings, sauces, etc in a square mold, let it set, pour it carefully out and then decorate by making the little village on top of it... and I would put some candy in as rocks :-D

I think I would make a blue cake and have the illustration, cut out of liquorice, on different sides of the cake, and not on three layers as here.

"Loch Ness Imposter" I would make of blue jello :-D And the octopussy of cake :-)

Hmm... perhaps pancake cake... with some sugar discs. Or perhaps cover it with licorice strings :-D

And this one - a monster cake and a lot of layered cupcakes :-D I think, if done well, it might be a cupcake cake "cake wrecks" wouldn't hate ;-)

traffic cone cake by elainewhy at Deviant Art

not related to threadless, but would work - just add face and speech bubble :-D

I think I'd make this "Hoot!" by making first two coffee cups out of fondants, then covering a cake with chocolate mocha beans...
And this, "Mr Cloud's New Scarf" makes me think of marshmallows and meringues in whipped cream...

"Current" would be on a green cake with green coconut grass :-)

Anyway, the Threadless t-shirt pictures are wonderful and the cakes amazing (some more, some less, all worth seeing), so go and see and get inspired :-)

Add some action to your scrapbook

2010-08-16T19:25:00.000+02:00

paper engineering, spinning discs, rotating wheels, paper dials, lift-up flaps, flipping, slides, pull and push tabs, moving parts, movable mechanisms, dimensions, box pop-ups, triangle pop-ups, layered pop-ups, hinges, eye pop-ups, mouth pop-ups, tongue pop-ups, positive / negative pop-ups, multiple layers, floating layers, folds, origami, magic boxes, moving arms, pull-up planes, pivoting motion, dissolving scenes...

I love pop-up books. I think it's wonderful, amazing, that someone has come up with the idea that if you fold a paper like this, and pull here and add a slip of paper here, and a cut here and slide there, you get a paper machine, 3-D world of flat surface...

I'm not the only one who is fascinated by this...

Robert Sabuda: Pop-ups made easy
- several projects you can practice and fit to your scrap book project

CraftTVweekly - Scrapbooking in motion
CraftTVweekly - Pop-ups with ease
These are kits, but the mechanism isn't too hard to figure out.

- waterfall card
- sliding card

CraftTVweekly - Flip-fold photoalbum

CraftTVweekly - pop-up pocketbook

Canon 3D papercraft

Enchanted Learning - pop-up crafts

Cylindrical pop-up and other patterns

Pop up "thank you" card

"Magic" pull-up card

Somewhat related...
Teabag folding origami
(diy Scrapbooking has an episode "Paper-Folding Pointers" where these techniques are used in scrapbooking.)

Tunnelbooks
Carousel books
Flexagons, Jacob's Ladder flip-flop and puzzle cube

My first Etsy Treasury: Magpies :-)

2010-05-05T15:15:00.002+02:00

It is located here: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=129864
and it will expire on Friday, May 7th

If you miss it, here's the links to the Etsy shops featured:

Hello mr Magpie - needlefelted bird by Felt Me Up Designs
Shiny Things Litograph Print by Artbear
Magpie print by Karen Davis
Two For Joy Magpie silver plated charm locket by Adorapop, Mymble's Daughter
Magpie - SW Merino Silk and Silver Hand Painted Yarn in Browns by birdsnestyarns
White Linen Magpie Embroidery shirt by orientbeauty
Magpie, Limited Edition Print by badbird
Uncle Roy, handsculpted muslin black billed magpie by MotherlodeToad
Hand-sculpted OOAK Lady Magpie Art Doll by Nenufar Blanco
Black-billed Magpie Wood Carving by Sandra Healy
Magpie Blue Embroidered Necklace by Ordinary Mommy
Steampunk Cuff with 3D magpie by edmdesigns

My extras are
Magpie Cuff by nemeton
Two For Joy Necklace by ShereDesign
magpies print by Jenny Robins and
Magpie's Treasure by Mahtab Grimshaw