More Heart Baskets

By far my most popular item are small, reed baskets in the shape of a heart. They aren't real hard to make but when they need to be stained or painted, it ends up being a multi-stage process. Especially if they are closed hearts.

This one took a little longer because I was trying to do a driftwood type affect. This means either multiple white washing or pickling dips (which is what I had done the first time I made one) or one white washing with a light coat of off-white paint (that I found while trying to purchase more pickling stain.) Same to similar affect but a lot easier.

The bright pink is still set off by the off white and unless you have the natural, whitewashed, and white together, it can be hard to tell the difference. Taking the picture on a white background showed the true color better. Now hopefully my customer will like it too!

Macrame' Workshop

It is a busy time of year but we had our last fiber arts workshop of our series last night. This one was on macrame'. I didn't think I had ever done macrame' but after a little research I realized the friendship bracelets we made in middle school and high school were a version of macrame', we just used embroidery floss instead of hemp.

The youth were excited for their last workshop. We had touched on so many topics, I was hoping this time there would actually be some finished projects. I have come to realize the true meaning of a sewing bee. It is definitely an opportunity to get together, socialize, and maybe work on a project. Same was true for this group of girls. New friends were made during the process and new skills were learned.

One of the best comments I heard last night was, "I could sit here and do this all day. This is so much fun!" Is great when that is the sentiment that is floating around (instead of one of frustration and desire for it to be over.)

Hopefully we will be able to schedule more workshops in the future. Right now we are switching gears to some technology games and activities, so will see.

Bracelet made by one of the youth (which ended up being a necklace!)

Hard at work!

Needle Art Workshop

One of our workshops we learned about needle art. We used a cookie cutter to make a pattern on our handkerchief. Works great since you can erase the line and if you wash it the pencil disappears. We used a cookie cutter for the clover and free-handed the H's. With a little patience it turned out great!

New Project - Dyed Reed Heart

Recent Project - Dyeing instead of painting

I had someone who wanted a dark brown or gray heart. They ultimately decided on a dark brown. This was the outcome. I love the darker ribbon with this instead of the sheer I normally use.

I did learn that the reed dyes better when the water is hot or warm. It doesn't hold as well if the dye water bath is cool.

Simple instructions on how to dye reed can be found at: http://www.ehow.com/how_13937_dye-reed.html

Getting Ready for the Holidays

It has been a busy fall. As I look back I wonder where the time has gone. One minute it is September and school is staring and now we are putting up Christmas decorations.

I have been working on numerous projects. My mom decided this Christmas that all of our gifts had to be handmade. For me this isn't a problem. The problem is what to make. One of my sisters sent me a text saying my nephew had out grown his Iowa Hawkeye hat that I made him last year and that he could also use some mittens. I have never made mittens, so that would be a project that would challenge me, but with so many other projects, time may not be available.

I have been working on some basket patterns also. I had ordered supplies for a backpack and finally dragged out the supplies and pattern and got to work. The thing I have discovered with my last few baskets is that as I get to the top I tend to pull the reed tighter and the top cuts in. Sometimes this is desirable but for the last few patterns, it wasn't necessarily the ideal. At least each basket is unique and I seem to learn a little bit from each one that I do. Part of the problem is I hate to give them away or sell them once I put all the work into them. Plus some of them I don't feel are perfect, so hate to give away something that isn't perfect, but I guess that is what makes each one unique.

First Holiday Mart

I decided to try and sell my creations at a holiday mart. I found one that didn't have an expensive entry fee and worked into my schedule. The only part was that it was mostly commercial booths (Mary Kay, Avon, Tastefully Simple, Advocare, and the like.) Made a few sales (mostly woven hearts) but most people there were not interested in handmade items. Had a few people stop and look (most like the baskets and the owl hats) but most didn't seemed interested in much more. So next time, need to participate in one geared toward arts and crafts buyers.

Covered the cost of gas to get there and learned about how I want to set up my booth if I do it again. Life is about the little things and continually learning, at that I did!

Coffee Cup Cozy/ Cuff Bracelet

I have been working on all sorts of projects lately, some are new ones, others are ones I have been meaning to try but never seemed to have the time. This one fits into the later category.

Coffee Cup Cozy/ Cuff Bracelet

Gauge isn't important, depends on yarn and crotchet hook you are using.

For mine I used wool, worsted weight yarn and a G hook.

Working in the round
Row 1 - Chain 35, join ends with slip stitch
Row 2 - Single crotchet, slip stitch to first stitch (34)
Row 3 - Single crotchet,  slip stitch to first stitch(34)
Row 4 - 2 single crotchet in first stitch, single crotchet remaining stitches, slip stitch to first stitch (35)

Repeat rows 2-4 until your cozy is the desired size.

In order to figure out how many stitches I needed to begin with I chained a row and slip stitched it together than used a glass to make sure it would fit (also tried to see if it would fit over my hand onto my wrist, since I had seen some double as cuff bracelets)