Bugged out by summer

Yes, it's summer, my least favourite time of year. What is inevitable, apart from it being too hot, suffering from allergies and feeling totally lethargic, is the influx of bugs. I don't mind bugs, I have a soft spot for beetles, but flying insects drive me to distraction. So you may find it strange that I bought a books called Wire Bugs and have been making a few wire and bead bugs over the last few weeks. But these are cute bugs. They don't sting, they don't fly in at your face, they don't cause irritation or illness. They just look cute. Ants, beetles, bees, dragonflies ... they are all in the book. I even came up with a few hybrid ideas of my own. Great fun.

Surprise!

I had the most amazing surprise yesterday. I ordered a book last week called Skulls by Noah Scalin, published in 2008. It is based on the hugely successful Skull-a-Day blog and shares images from the year long project to create a skull a day, fun projects to make yourself and a few fan creations. While Scalin was in the midst of his project I sent him some hand made crafty creations using hand carved rubber stamps I made from his own images. The surprise? My creations are in the book! I had no idea they had been published and it was only by chance that I went back to Skull-a-Day and found out the book had been published. Being a fan of all things creepy I felt I had to buy a copy and when it arrived and I was flicking through it, SURPRISE! Let's just say I was on cloud nine, ten and eleven yesterday. Although the book doesn't seem to be available on either Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk to buy new, it is available from several second hand sellers. If you like all things skully you might just love this book. The really spooky thing is that the book was published on my birthday in 2008.



In other news, I have been making new beads, indulging in some yarnful creations and trying to get work ready for the local exhibition next week. All after a week of dog sitting for my sister. No rest for the wicked.

Art update

I have been wondering all week what I was going to post about today. Should it be my wire insect, the new cards I have been working on, some crochet or the art I have been creating. The only way I could decide (being a libra and terribly indecisive) was by realising I've posted most of my art on Facebook so I might as well post it here too. So, what do we have? Pencil drawings. Part of a raccoon (it still needs to be finished but I had to start on new work for the local exhibition next month), a bee, a hungry rabbit and some cuddling doves. Why do I have so much art to post at once? A new drawing board. It's fabulous - smooth, solid, tilts at four different angles and means I don't have to hunch over my desk. With a little luck it will mean more drawing for me.

A note(book) for Sunday

I have managed to get some of the projects finished that I started all those weeks ago. As a starter, here are the notebooks I mentioned a few posts back. Some may be destined for my Etsy store soon - if I can decide whether to add beads to them or not. They are made from fabric and the images are, of course, some of my own paintings and drawings. They are printed onto T-shirt transfer paper which is ironed onto polycotton fabric. Hey Presto, some fabric images to stitch to anything you like. I'll be posting more images of other things I have been up to, including crochet, wire bugs and new art.

Word verification on comments

Yes, I am very sorry to say that I have had to implement word verification on comments now. I have been bombarded with spam comments for a long time now. It was always a nuisance to be reading about printer ink cartridge sites and requests to link to the information on my site (though I never figured out why anyone would send a spam comment like that). But now I am getting really insidious spam comments for adult sites and I'm really trying to combat that. The suggestions on Blogger's help site say that by adding word verification the spammers will eventually give up if they can't get through. Obviously moderating the comments is not enough so I'm giving the verification a shot. I know how irritating it is to have to type in letters and numbers every time you leave a comment but I hope if the spammers give up then I can stop using word verification too.

NEW BEADS!!!

Yes, I am excited about these new beads. Big, fat chunky ones! I love the colours, I love the foiling and metallic paints. I could fill a big hole full of them and dive into the middle of them like one of those kiddies ball pools. The bright colours are my favourites but I've also made some in vintage script and music designs. They are one inch long and about 0.45 inches wide. Now I need to find some new patterns and designs because they are full of possibility.





Then there are slightly smaller ones too. These are rolled paper to form barrel shaped beads but instead of being coated in UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder) they are coated in many layers of varnish. These ones are three quarters of an inch long and about a third of an inch wide at the widest point. There are a variety of colours and a couple of sets that are one inch in length. The notepads I mentioned in my last post are destined to be decorated with some of these but I can also see them as earrings or a pendant. No doubt I'll be posting pictures of whatever I use them for. However there are sets for sale in my Etsy store so pop by for more pictures of them.

Partiality

I can't believe that it has been two months since I last posted anything. I wish I could say that I had been very creative during that time but that has been the problem - I haven't. I signed up for an Open University course on Greek Mythology and, along with some large bead commissions, that's all I have been doing. I overestimated the amount of time I had to work on a university level course so steam has been coming off my computer keyboard as I researched and typed.

I did manage to TRY and be creative. Unfortunately that means I have loads of unfinished projects on the go.

An unfinished notepad.


Unfinished new bead designs.


Another unfinished notepad. (Do you see a pattern evolving along the lines of notepads?)


Unfinished drawings.


Unfinished pushpins.


More unfinished beads.



Unfinished pompoms. (Not sure what I'm going to use them for but the Clover pompom makers are great fun.)


An unfinished sock on my sock loom.


Unfinished embroidery.


Unfinished lucet cords.


Unfinished spring themed cards.


In fact, in two months I have only finished one thing - a tag. With the lack of creativity in my life I was getting grumpy. So I managed to make myself a little tag reminding me - Don't be crabby - Live life and be content.


My course is drawing to a close in the next few weeks so I hope that normal transmission will resume soon. As it is I already have some new bead designs that I have added to my Etsy store so I'll be posting images of them next.

A new friend

I have a new visitor to my garden. This little guy has decided to come to get at the peanuts in the bird feeder. Well, after all, who needs to climb trees to get nuts when you can just go to the supermarket. But this feeder is right outside my living room window so I get to photograph and sketch him to my heart's content and he is none the wiser. I suspect there is more than one who visits though so maybe this spring I will have a bevy of squirrely friends come to visit.

Beads, beads and more beads

Where is the time going? Mid-February already! I don't know about you but it just seems to be zooming past. However, I have managed to get a few more sets of beads made with more on the way. Here are some pictures of the most recent sets listed in Etsy, some in smaller, more affordable mini bags so you can have something original to add to your craft projects but in smaller quantities.

2 Cute!

2 Cute Rubber Stamps is hosting a Valentine's challenge at the moment. The idea is to use one of the wonderful 2 Cute images to make a Valentine's theme creation. I love the animal images and was recently the happy recipient of two free images. So I had to make two cards, both shown below. If you want to take part, and there is a lovely prize of a $15 give certificate for the 2 Cute Etsy store, just get yourself a 2 Cute image and give it a go. You can even use one of the freebie images on the 2 Cute blog.