Nursery D.I.Y. part 2

No baby yet, she apparently decided that she likes here hide-away, and I don't feel like she's planning on showing herself soon...
So lets get on with the nursery projects.
The crocheted t-shirt yarn rug was merely the beginning of the DIY's for the nursery. The next thing I made, or actually restyled, was the main light for the room. We bought this old thing a couple of years ago through Marktplaats (which is the Dutch version of Craigslist) for 20 euro's.

It was a complete light, but in a terrible style. We had it in our bedroom for several months, but eventually we took it down, because it was just tooooooooo wrong... It went into storage until I decided I could give it a new life with some spraypaint, some shades and a little love. I went to the market on a Tuesday afternoon and bought some fabric and trimmings.

I used primer basecoat spraypaint to give the entire thing a matte white finish, and glued fabric and trimmings on the shades. This is the result:




I really adore how it turned out. The first shade was a pain in the  >uhm< rear to do, but after 4 you get a routine, and by the time I finished all 8 I considered myself a pro. (sidenote: I notice some of the ribbon let loose, and the fixture is a bit off.... But I fixed it.)

No Longer a WIP!

Yay! I managed to transform a WIP from being a WIP to a FFI! (Fabulous Finished Item! don't know if it's an existing term, but I like it!)

Ive blogged about this rug a couple of months ago', when it was still a WIP. I was struggeling with the edges of the rug, they were curling up like a mad man! I finally sat down, ripped the last 4 rows and decided that the curling was probably caused by the thicker (or broader) yarn. I fixed this by cutting it in half lengthwise (yes, it was a lot of work) and using the thinner yarn for the new rows. It worked like a charm, the rug stays perfectly flat on the floor.

I added some more rows, because there were some more shirts discarded for recycling in our home, and because Bigger is always Better.

I finished the rug with a cotton thread scalloped edge, which gives the rug a nice and smoother finish. I absolutely adore this thing! The best features? It's Major Recycling, it's sort of a keepsake, because there are shirts from a couple of family members in it and it's the very first thing I finished for the baby...

One month

I have been quiet for a month now.. There wasn't anything I felt the need sharing here. Not that there haven't been happening good things, it's just that I didn't felt the need to get behind the computer and typ them all down. Don't get me wrong, I love blogging! There are so many wonderful blogs out there which I read every single day. But with 8 hour office-work-days, keeping the house clean & pristine (ahum), longer sunlight and everything else I felt more like creating than computering/blogging.
I still haven't touched my beads... But I have been knitting and crocheting my pants off! So I have lots of finished stuff to show. Maybe I'll just have to get back blogging.
Yeah, I'll do that.

Progress on the grannies.

Okay, I have made progress on the square grannies! And I promised pictures, so here they are...

:: So far I've got 9 patches done!

:: I used different patterns

:: Lots of colours

:: Some really need some blocking

:: I even made a "advanced pattern" granny square!

And that will be all for the colourful happiness for today! I used the "standard" granny square pattern. (at least, I think it's pretty standard, since this is the pattern that pops up first and many times when you google "granny square pattern."  The large flower is a pattern I found cruising on the www, and can't seem to find anymore... so I guess it will be a single in my large throw.

And I used Lucy's Summer Garden Granny Square Pattern. I love a little diversity while crocheting, and these different patterns really fit the bill. I am really enjoying all this crocheting!

But I have been eading as well! Pictures of those will follow when everyone received their stuff ('cause it's all swap-stuff)

Jippy!

Hmm, I guess the creative juices are starting to flow again.. I have picked up some beads, and the crocheting also continues. All WIP’s though.. And lighting is so poor now that I can’t seem to manage to take a sharp picture of the things I am creating. And the shaking hands of excitement are not helping much either. – I know, it sounds like I am making lame-ass apologies, but they are all true  - But okay, I will try again tonight… Or tomorrow, cause I have to go to school tonight.


I am glad Januari will be over soon. It hasn’t been a very easy month. I hope Short Februari will bring in some fresh excitement, creativity and joy! Yes, we need some Joy! And a wee bit warmer weather would be nice too. If it wasn’t for Sabon’s handcream and body lotion, I would look like the Desert Woman! I adore this cream, bit pricey, but a little goes a long way! And the smell. Ah the smell.. You don’t need any perfume anymore I’ll tell you. But pricey indeed. I am already down to the 4th tube. And although it makes a nice birthday/Christmas/Valentine present, there has got to be a cheaper way to get my hydrationkick.

And then I read Heather’s post on Shivayanaturals. I have got to try this!!! I am going to put it on the TTD list, and hoping to make some time to do this, ‘cause it sounds like an excellent idea!

Shift in Craftiness!

Lately, I’ve been noticing a little shift in my craft-time-devotion. I have been crocheting more and more, and the beads just lay around on the attic. I have some obligations for swaps on Beading Daily and I am having a real hard time in cranking the jewelry out. The beads don’t flow with me, but they go everywhere I don’t want them to go. Temporarily strung beads decide they don’t want to be strung anymore, and bounce on the floor, beadboxes that really like gravity, needles breaking with the slightest bend, threads gets knotted in places I don’t want it to knot, beadholes shrink on me, not making it able to pass ‘just one more time,’ and everytime I want to start a new colourcombo, the colours I need just ran out. (or ran on the floor as you wish). Being in my attic-beadstudio is starting to feel like a visit to the dentist, and lets be fair; that’s not something you like for a hobby.


So, I decided to let it go. Just for now. However, I do need to make a couple of pairs of earrings, before I take a leave of absence from my beads… I hope I can manage to do this.

Maybe a little time off will revive my creativity-bubble. The beads won’t turn bad (at least not worse then they are behaving now), and the studio will remain bead related, I’ll do my crochet on the couch in the livingroom.



This box came in 2 weeks ago. It’s filled with Bamboulene, which is a blend of 50% wool and 50% Bamboo. It’s soft, and the colours are bright! And I am crocheting it into Granny squares, hoping to make a large throw for the bed. But I am telling myself a pillowcase can be nice as well, because a throw might be a little bit too large for a first time crochetproject!



I am starting off with a basic square, maybe I’ll blend in some squares with a more intricate design, but first I’ll have to get some routine!



A little block each day… don’t think I can manage to finish this project before Dull’s birthday (which is March 1st). That would have been awesome!

Pic-less Posts

Well hello! I think we can finally draw the conclusion that I am not much of a social person during winterseason… In person I am – or at least I hope so -, but this little blog of mine have been neglected quite a bit. This is mainly due to the fact that it’s dark when I get home. I love blogging, but I really feel that a blog needs pics to be interesting enough to make people read it, let alone come back for it. And taking pics of my jewelry in artificial lighting is really hard!
I know I promised to show some pics of my work, but I’m honest to say I haven’t had the lighting, nor the time. So I apologise.
Did manage to make a lot of new stuff! I even had a jewelryparty 2 weeks ago, I didn’t sell as much as last year, but everything that gets sold is worth a happydance, right?!
The biggest hit at the party were leather bracelets, 4 people ordered one! I also made some necklaces… But no pics yet. (again, I apologise…)
So, now I am still working on some orders from the party, one bracelet in particular has been eating my time. The girl who ordered it saw a black/pink version on the party and decided she wanted it in black/ruby. So I happily wrote down the order, searched around for the right sized and coloured beads, started the thing and after 3 minutes I remembered what a lot of work it takes… But I can do it in front of the tv, so that makes up for it, and I am happy that the colours work up great.
In addition, the Christmas tree is UP! It’s feathery, purple and twinkly and it makes the livingroom cosy! (again, maybe I’ll manage to take some pics). I did get crafty on Christmas as well, I stumbled upon Lucy’s blog recently and fell in love with her blogposts about stars and snowflakes. So I made a couple and added them up to a lovely string of red and white wintery goodness. (again, I will take pics Ah, you get the idea, right?) I really love to make my own Christmasdecorations, there is so much junk being sold, it’s good to make your own quality-stuff!
Oh, and do you remember the Muse? The winners will be announced in 2 days, so that’s pretty exciting! Can’t wait to see what everybody dreamed up about the Muse, and also, I can finally show you guys what I’ve made with it. I bet you’re all very eager to see, right?
I reaaaaaally loved participating in this event. It triggered all my creative juices and gave me a chance to try some new stuff. Usually, when I get an idea I start out with one thing and it evolves to something completely different, usually with totally different materials then I pulled out in the first place. For this event, I wanted to stick to the kit and see if I could guide my creative juices between these borders. I think it worked out, and although I added some extra materials, I also used the entire kit. Please keep posted, because after the Big Reveal, I’ll put some pictures here.

Yeah! You finished this post, even without pics! It does work! Woohoo!

TravelPillows & a Necklace for Mom

Another post from me... Guess the feeling just lingered on a little bit more. I've finished the travelpillows I wanted to make:

The one with orange-red-brown large cirkels is for Dull, the other one, which is pink-beige-brown striped is mine.

The inner pillow is made of a large pillowcase, I just sewed it through the middle twice and cut between the 2 sewing lines, turned it rightside out and stuffed it with filling (and mine's with a little bit of lavender, which makes me sleep better). Then I sewed the little baggie-thingy, sewed them together and now they are happily waiting to go on holiday with us....

I also finally made the necklace for mom, I promised to make her a couple of months(!) ago. It's actually a redo of a necklace I gave her 2 years ago which broke when the dog was happy to see her. That necklace was a single strand necklace, this one has a splitted two strand shape.It's all the way crystal-clear coloured, which makes it a bit hard to photograph. I used Preciosa & Swarovski crystals, some sterling chain for the drops and little glass seed beads between the larger beads.

I am quite happy with the result and hope mom will be as well....

Well I am off to celebrate Queensday! The weather is absolutely delightfull!