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So I neglected to post the last few days but I’ve been busy making things despite that!
The bookmarks I prototyped earlier in the month are done now, and flying east:
My daughters bridge project for her grade 3/4 class:
And a tool to use to make more even cuts in my clay bead making. The spaces between the blades can be widened to make tube beads instead of heishi beads (which they are set for now) and it will make precise sized cuts!
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I painted the rest of the beads, used a brush. So they’re cute:
And to help with pics I made a poor woman’s light box out of cardboard and tissue and my hot like the sun desk lamp. The resulting pics still needed photoshopping but were much more consistent and less shadowy than others i’ve taken. I’m told the ambient brightness in the room made my pics too dark (so now the correction washes it out) and that i should take the pics in a darker room so that the light of the lightbox actually LIGHTENS the pic. Stay tuned.
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Today I got sick of slicing inconsistent little slice beads so I jury rigged a slice bead cutter by putting some of my test blades into a lump of clay at even intervals (it’ll make about 3 1/2 - 4mm thick beads). This should work until I get a flexible tube / slice bead cutter figured out! The pic really isn’t an alien bug.
Most of my ‘crafting’ had little to do with real clay today. I spent the bulk of my making time, fixing up and finishing up a tutorial for sunflower and aster canes. A few more pics to edit and I will be so done that mess.
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Ok so I’ve had issues which meant I couldn’t upload my piccies but I’m trying to get back on track. Here are pics for days 1,2 and 3.
Day 1 saw me making a Jack and Sally charm bracelet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherrypiepunk/2260358948/
Day 2 was a dress making day. Eighties inspired neon pink leopard print, rar!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherrypiepunk/2260169975/
Day 3 was all about panties. Big bow behind panties with a kitty theme to be exact.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherrypiepunk/2260992108/in/photostream/
Thanks to everyone who left me comments of encouragement while I was away. Will be back tomorrow with more updates.
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Ok so I’m gradually getting pics of my thing a day makes on the net. Day 2 saw me getting adventurous with an eighties inspired jumper dress in amazing neon pink sweater faric with leatherette trim
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherrypiepunk/2260169975/
Day 3 was a day for making panties. Big bow behind panties to be exact. These ones had a kitty theme
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cherrypiepunk/2260992108/in/photostream/
Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to update more of my pictures.
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Yup, despite being really sick and feverish & the fact that I am sitting in a house without heat, I actually managed to make a few things today.
I also designed a card to sell them on. I went ahead and used the credit card to order them. As soon as the cards come in, they will be made available in my etsy shop. The prices for these handcrafted fabric brooches will range from $10 - $25 depending on the materials used and the time spent on them. The average price with be $15.
I will be carrying a full line of these handcrafted flowers in my etsy shop at all times. If you are interested in a custom order, let me know. These would be a great gift for a teacher in her school colors. I ordered some little bulldogs and will be making some up in purple and white with a bulldog in the center for my son’s school. As soon as they come in and I make them I will post pictures!
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sewed on loops and installed hooks in the wall to secure a futon against the wall in our spare room/aspiring studio. used the extra hooks to hold a curtain rod for some temporary curtains for the closet.
working with a tiny space and ugly wood paneling is annoying, and it’s hard to fully commit to transforming a rented place. maybe it’s just an excuse though. i wish i made things with real love and care, took time to work on them and make them beautiful. but instead i’m lazy and sloppy. still, it feels good to try.
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Survival guide for the urban environmentalist
Part 1: Concrete composting
So you downtown apartment dwellers already know about the obvious stuff: reusing your plastic bags, riding bikes and buses, shopping at farmers markets. But what about composting? For today’s thing, I documented what is one of my weekly events here in the most urban part of Seattle: composting my vegetable scraps.
Below left is where we live (3rd floor). Note the total lack of soil.
Step 1: obtaining a jar. You’ll want to find a gallon jar at least, and something with a good lid. When I saw this jar (above right) in the local Value Village thrift store, I snapped it up immediately. Note the fine price.
Step 2: filling the jar. I use all things vegetable and fungal. Egg shells are also OK, but it’s probably good to generally avoid meat and dairy. We’re mostly vegans, though, so just about everything food oriented goes in our compost. Because of the well-sealed lid, it doesn’t smell at all, and thus doesn’t attract any of our local fauna (fruit flies, cockroaches, rodents, apartment managers…).
Step 3: composting. Check around your neighborhood in the alleys behind restaurants. More and more cities have programs for compost pickup for businesses. The compost bin pictured at right is in an alley 2 blocks from our apartment. Note the technique of finding alley cardboard to prop open the bin while dumping, making the process much more pleasurable and efficient. You might also check with your local p-patch. Many have composting bins of various kinds that will go directly into local production.
That’s it! You’ll keep your (landfill-bound) garbage smell free, know that your doing something positive for the planet, and impress your house guests to boot! Happy composting!
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On Jan 29, I departed Asunción, Paraguay, by bus for Buenos Aires (18 hours), to catch my plane back to Seattle. I had a lot of fragile stuff with me that made it home fine despite: being thrown into the baggage compartment of the bus, stuffed into a locker at the bus station, transported to the airport, sent through baggage on the plane, onto the baggage claim carousel, and then by bus to my Belltown apartment. Only one thing was pretty badly destroyed: the little Amanita muscaria figurine that we bought in figurine central: Aregua, Paraguay. (Note that this infamous hallucinogenic species does not grow in the Paraguayan climate, but it is a very common symbol in - ready? - nativity scenes).
I am a big proponent of fixing stuff. I really hate throwing things away, partially for environmental reasons, and partially because it is such an act of sad resignation and loss of potential to put something in the garbage. Thus my first act of creation was to bring this sucker back to life.
The picture on the left is it’s state when I arrived in Seattle; on the right is after super glue came to the rescue. This wording seems appropriate, since, in Brasil, the brand they sell on the street is “super bonder,” which strikes me as more of an action hero than a brand name. Maybe its the fact that the brasilian formulation (unlike the US version) rhymes.
