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Archive for the ‘spring’ Category

This was my  test set-up in the living room, which I always do to have a better idea how the real thing might look. Also, just in case I’m running late I could set up really quickly on the day of the event.P1120805

And here is -with slight changes – the actual table at Panama Pottery’s Spring Bazaar. I was lucky, because I was able use this colorful gate to hang the bunting up, which looked great. Behind me, behind the fence in the parking lot two food trucks (all the rage here in town right now) were catering to people’s needs, you could purchase Kombucha on tap (another very popular thing here) and there were a few other vendors. The ceramic artists had openend their studios, music was good, weather and people stopping by to chat were very pleasant…

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P1120812I earned a few dollars for my daughter’s class selling the soap we made with the students.

This was my view from behind my table:

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The first picture was taken before the whole thing opened, but you can see in the second picture that there were not exactly streams of people passing through. I had plenty of time to sit and needle-felt when I was not talking to passers-by.

P1120820 P1120825Amy, a fellow vendor and textile artist who makes and sells quirky stuffed animals liked the little landscape so much that she and I swapped some things at the end of the day. All in all I can’t say it was a financial success, but I had a really good day and enjoyed myself.

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After a test-run on Friday afternoon in the living room (how to best display everything),

and a last-minute banner production (tip: don’t use your yoga mat as a make-shift ironing board…),

my daughter and I set off to do the real thing on Saturday morning. Unfortunately a very gusty wind blew all day and constantly sent all sorts of pollen, seeds and dust around the place – but in spite of this unchangeable fact we had a good day!

There were not a lot of customers out (see weather, maybe), yet enough to keep us going. Our booth neighbors were kind, the event organizers supplied us with water and snacks all day. There was a general sense of support and community, which I enjoyed. My family and several of my friends came to visit and wish me luck. Thank you all!

And after packing up, taking everything home, a shower, food and rest we went to see these guys:

What a great way to end a great day!

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Preparations for the upcoming craft show are in full swing. Since this is my first show all by myself (not things I made and donated to various fundraising events, like so many times in the past) I must admit that I am a little nervous, and excited. And there are so many things I have to figure out, from merchandise to display to payment options to packaging…I am sure it will be a fun event and if I am not perfectly prepared and equipped, I won’t mind. It is only stage fright, I suppose.

And these are just some of the basics that are waiting for embellishment and finishing…

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Here I am again, back to a somewhat regular routine, I hope. I haven’t had the chance during the past weeks to work on much. I am still crocheting the colorful flowers and bugs, and as of today I will be very busy preparing for a craft show on May 5th. Not much time, so many ideas…but at least I am full of enthusiasm and ready to go!

 

While I was looking through my garage to find props and costumes for my daughter’s class play (Shakespeare’s “Macbeth“, no less) I found a box of costumes I made three years ago, when my son was on stage with his class performing Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream“. I wet-felted/knitted/crocheted/stitched all the hats and crowns and other head gear. Take a look!

Hat for Nick Bottom, whose head gets turned into a donkey’s head (knitted and felted beanie hat with wet-felted ears, stuffed).

Crown for Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons (wet-felted crown, stiffened with liquid polyurethane and wire, embellished with gold ribbons).

Crown for Oberon, King of the Fairies (wet-felted crown, stiffened with liquid polyurethane and wire, unfortunately over time the polyurethane changed the color of the grey wool felt).

Puck’s hat (wet-felted and embellished with all sorts of natural and fake leaves and pods).

Crown for Titania, Queen of the Fairies (wet-felted over hessian fabric, embellished with fabric butterflies).

Lion’s mane for Snug, one of the carpenters, for their side-show (remember Thisbe and the Wall?). Crocheted hat with slightly felted roving.

And then there were flower wreaths, and maiden’s silk wreaths and tunics and all kinds of other things… Midsummer Night’s Dream is a great play!

 

On a different note: all the pictures for the promised ring tutorial are taken. All I need now is the verbal instructions, so in the meantime I thank you for your patience!

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I am trying to use spare minutes here and there to crochet the circles which are the basis for all the shapes in my instructions – bugs, bird, flowers, even the peacock. The first four rows are the same for all of them. After I weave in all ends I will continue to work them into their various final shapes.

I am also working on a tutorial how to crochet a cute flower ring – I just need a second person to take the pictures, since it is hard to crochet and handle the camera with just one pair of hands. I will have it up and running shortly!

Talking about crocheting, I was pointed to Ingrid’s  crocheting blog ”ingthings” (apparently very well known, but unknown to me) in a fabulous British  magazine called ”Mollie Makes”.

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Check both of these out, you won’t regret it – lots of tutorials, inspiration and fresh ideas. I will definitely keep reading them in the future.

Here is one of the instructions from Ing-Things:

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(I apologize for the images not showing – the links work, though, so please try those)

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Spring crocheting – update

Remember these great instructions I meant to try for incorporation into further projects? I finally had time to sit down and do just that.

The smaller one of the two bugs:

The eight-petal flower, which I think turned out really great (must be the fantastic instructions…). I will for sure make more of these. My plan is to use both bugs and flowers to embellish other projects, such as small bags or water bottle holders.

After writing this I will go and sit in the sun and try the bird. It looks really promising, too. I will keep you posted.

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A good week

Spring Break is coming to an end. We had a lovely time with a bit of this and that, sitting in the sun, playing games, resting and reading, visiting the ice-cream shop…

And Easter, of course, hunting for Easter eggs and goodies…

…and finding some!

A delicious Easter brunch (courtesy of Opa), followed by a walk in next-to-perfect temperatures in the spring sun.

Sharing your discoveries (big ants in a hole in this case) with people you love.

And in my case, feeling all peaceful  and content.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

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It is Tuesday again, time to do a simple craft with “my” 30 first graders. Since we have been doing a lot of origami since the beginning of the school year and they are familiar with it I am going to have them fold flowers. It will be a colorful window decoration to welcome spring (some more). Here is what you need and how to make your own flowers:

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* If you happen to live near a Japanese supermarket (in my case Oto’s), go get your origami paper there. 180 sheets for $1.50 as opposed to approx. $7.00 or more at an “official” craft store.

*The pipe cleaner you see up there is half the standard length it comes in. In other words cut your pipe cleaners in half before you start.

* Cut only a tiny hole at the bottom of the flower so the pipe cleaner barely fits in, otherwise your flower will be wobbly. Alternatively, stick your pipe cleaner to the back of the flower with some tape.

Happy crafting!

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I have been working on these lavender sachets, using my recently plant-dyed fabrics . The woven ribbon and the fabric I used for the cross-stitch embellishments are from a trunk show with Anna Maria Horner I went to not long ago. She talked about her textile design process, her career and her children. It was most entertaining and especially some of her quilts were just fabulous.

Back to the sachets that have my studio smell delicious  - here are some pictures I took along the way. Feel free to visit my Etsy store to look at a few of them in more detail (think of  Mother’s Day, Easter Baskets, spring decoration…).

I cut the fabric into strips of various widths and sewed them together again to use as the front fabric. The back is some vintage linen (laundered, of course!).

The cross-stitch motifs are embroidered, then cut out and hand-appliqued onto the front of the sachet, before putting it all together with the woven ribbon and tag and backing fabric.

They are filled with lavender buds, imported from France. I didn’t add anything else for a filler, because I wanted them to be light.

Don’t these colors make you happy? They certainly delight ME…

Do you want to see my photo studio? Here it is! The Californian sunshine is my perfect lighting (except for the occasional shadow), a piece of white linen gets attached to my son’s chalkboard with clothes pegs and after adding some other props I’m good to go. Not quite professional, I guess, but it works for me for now!

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Spring crocheting

I am winding yarn, so I can try out all the beautiful little crochet shapes in my freshly downloaded ebook “A Week of Spring Crocheting” (Eine Woche Haekelfruehling) by Kleeblatt, aka Brigitte Kremsler. It is the second one down when you look at the side bar under “Meine ebooks”. The pictures are a little fuzzy, I apologize, it was my fault, not the author’s. For a better impression look at her blog and all her super-colorful creations.

It says “for the crocheter with well established basic knowledge”…I wonder why…look at this peacock:

There are more instructions, such as a little bird, a heart and several small flowers. I will probably experiment with different colors (see above), depending on what my stash suggests, but I do like the crisp bright colors in her original work. It puts me in a joyful mood. Can’t show you any of my own bugs and peacocks yet, since I haven’t finished winding my designated yarn (see above). But I will. Finish winding yarn and show finished crochet bugs, that is.

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