Jewellery Done!

As promised, some photos of the final product! I made this necklace for a friend of mine, Cat, to give to a friend of hers (confused yet?!). I think it turned out okay.

I would still like to find a way to make the pendant not as mosty looking, and clearer. I think I need to find some sort of resin to do that, I will keep working on it....

A few weeks ago now I also made up this little necklace for a friend of mine who had her birthday last week. I hope she liked it, I can never tell if people do or they are just being nice!

These features were made by wrapping wire around a knitting needle, then wrapping wire around the circle that made, then beating the wire flat. I ended up using the same technique on the necklace I made for the secretary at work

I didn't take any photos, but I attempt to crochet on the weekend with Amelie and Atticus. One problem which we didn't perceive earlier was that both she and I are lefties and my mum, the tutor for the day, is not! Regardless I think we managed to get the hang of the basic stitches. Next time round we are going to step it up a bit and attempt grannie squares!!!! Let's hope we can get that working AND have photo evidence for it.

Books!

I am a book nerd from waaaaaaay back. When I was in primary school I don't ever recall not having a book in hand. In fact, I spent most of my lunch times in the playground reading books and looking for 4 leaf clovers. Once I got into high school I tried out reading some fantasy books and non-fiction. Sadly, the last few years reading for pleasure fell a bit by the wayside. When you spend 24/7 living, thinking and breathing a PhD thesis, it is hard to find the time or energy to read books (well, non academic books). I did manage a few, but it hasn't been until this year that I have really gotten back into the swing of reading....and I am LOVING it!

I have a guilty secret to admit though. My latest pleasure has been reading the Twilight series.

It is oh so wrong, but also so addictive. The books themselves are not that well written, but there is just something about the story that sucks me in! I think I must be getting soft in my old age. Mainstream isn't really my thing usually, and I did resist the urge, but I relented at the insistence of my best friend. So I blame her hehehe. I am almost finished the whole series now. I am over half way through the final book and I just really want to know what happens! I forsee another late night under the covers tonight. In fact, I might head to bed soon and see how much I can get though! Then I can get onto the next books on the pile- Marley and Me (book club selection, I am not really looking forward to it!), White Tiger (loaned by Elaine), The Host (another Stephenie Meyer book, also a loan), The Painted Man (loaned by Andrew), Lovely Bones (yep, another loan), and I think there is something else there on the pile too which I have forgotten. Many many more late nights ahead!

I have always wanted a book room, or a library in my house (when I own one that is).

The idea of having a room filled floor to ceiling with books just fills me with glee! Of course a nice little bay window and a comfy seat is also a must. Even better would be if this room was in a circular room, kinda like a turret in a castle....

Ahhhh maybe one day I will get there. Sometimes I wonder if the images in my mind and the reality of my life will ever match!

Oh, I also finished that necklace I was making tonight. I haven't taken any photos yet, I will do that tomorrow and post them.....

BUT!

I found a major problem! When I put it all together I realised the lady at the shop gave me one bead which was the wrong colour!!!!! And to fix it would mean going back and getting a new one and also having to read-thread the whole necklace! I am not sure what to do. It is semi obvious....they are two different shades of blue. So I might send a picture to my friend tomorrow and ask her what she thinks. The perfectionist in me is telling me to remake the necklace...but I also need to post it ASAP.......arghhhhhhh

Anyway, reading time.............

Some Melbourne pics

As promised, a few little shots from my Melbourne trip. Didn't get to take as many as I would have liked mainly due the fact I was worked to the bone whilst I was there. Okay, I may be being a little dramatic there, but I still was severely lacking in the free time element to my trip.

Brunswick Street park....

Federation Square

Cool artwork in the Flinders Street station arcade

Got the craft mojo back!

Okay, well my mojo wasn't really gone as such...but I was otherwise occupied with work and my blog (and craft) was thus neglected. I can say I was too lax with craft though. Before I headed off to Melbourne last week I had a craft day with Amelie and Atticus. I was semi productive I guess. I managed to tack my table runner....

I am actually really scared of the hand quilting. I think I am going to cheat and do some bits on the machine because otherwise it is going to take me 10 years to finish this!

The other thing I worked on was my pincusion from The Home Patch. So far I have cut out all the tiny felt bits....

All I need to do now is iron them on and then whip stitch them. Hopefully it is easy enough! Guess you will see when I am done.

Tonight I am also working on another project. I am making a pendant for a friend of mine. I am going to make it into a necklace which she is giving to a friend for her b'day. Anyone who is my facebook friend would recognise this pendant, as I made a similar one earlier this year for my friend Christine.

Getting ready there

Fabric in, now to add the dragonfly charm

Drying time!

I hope I wake up in the morning and it all works out.

Anyway, a long blog, so I won't elaborate on my Melbourne trip this time, other than to say I paid a visit to Patchwork on Central Park and got some fabric for Amelie and Atticus, as well as myself....

I have no idea what I am going to make with it yet, but it's Alice in Wonderland design and it's COOL.

Time to go and read I think. Next time, a few piccies from Melbourne, and some talk about future projects and BOOKS!

I'm Back!

I am back! I spent the past week doing work stuff in Melbourne, so blogging was impossible! I had a very tiring but fun time, and I made a few purchases and have been working on some crafty things, so I will be posting on those very soon, so stay tuned!

Coral creation

Tonight was jewellery/beading night and another creation was born. I think my perfectionist streak made this take a little longer to make than it should have, but I managed to get it done by the end of the two hour class. The longest part of it was making the wire links with the coral beads (those are the three red beads you see every second link). To make them I wrapped the wire around a knitting needle and wire wrapped it, then the wire was beaten (in a loving way) with a hammer to give it that flat effect. I won't bother explaining the rest, I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves...

I really really like it and I am very tempted to keep it for myself, but I think I have been greedy lately keeping all my creations. Instead I think I might give it to the secretary at work. She has been a bit sick and I think it would really suit her and her fashion sense. I will keep note of the design though, as I wouldn't mind making it again for another friend, but maybe in purple.

Time to go and pack for my trip to Melbourne. I head off on Tuesday, but I am going via Sydney so I need to take everything with me tomorrow when I head down there. I feel very underprepared and disorganised!

If I don't post for a week, you will know why! There will be plenty of shopping to do in Melbourne. I hope to somehow make it to Meet Me at Mike's and Patchwork on Central Park, so I may return with crafty goodness :)

Alyce

Getting there!

Last night I was very productive in my patchwork class and managed to sew together the final parts of my table runner....yay! I think the most time consuming part of the evening was trying to work out which fabric best suited the little triangle parts at the end of the piece! After much musing it was decided that the pink and grey/green/brown coloured fabric fit best. I also went for a plain homespun on the back, the same fabric as the creme background behind the felt features at either end of the runner. I think it has come up quite well....

I am up to the hard bit now, which is all the hand patchworking! I think it is going to take me longer than I was hoping, mostly because I want to make sure it looks good on the front AND back, which is painstaking. Basically what I need to do is running stitch diagonally across the patchwork squares, then around the felt feature and the triangle ends I need to just do a straight stitch. My perfectionist streak will not let me ignore the back (especially since the fabric is pale and I am using a greyish thread, hence it will be very visible to anyone who turns the table runner over). I think this one will be coming with me to Thouraya's place for our craft day!

In other crafty news I have started on Thouraya's craft/photography challenge. I have taken a couple of photos, but I am yet to decide how I will have a yellow themed craft project. Maybe I can do something at my beading class tomorrow night.

Back to quilting now. I hope it doesn't drive me too mental.

Alyce