Winter break is my go time

Ever since I finished all my classes for the Fall semester I've been crafting my fingers to the bone. Now is the time to get caught up on all the projects I've been thinking about but had no time to get done at all. And project #1 on the top of my list was to get back on the Teesha Moore craft wagon. I didn't even attempt to hit my goal of 20 panels and 1 finished object October or November, but I've already finished my goal for December and then some.

These pictures are way overblown on the light, rest assured much better pictures will be taken when they end up in my shop.

I had a few in progress pieces that were supposed to be long clutch like purses, but as my planning didn't go quite as I'd hoped I turned them into accent pillows.







I also put together these little pouches/wallets. It's the perfect size for a few of the basic necessities: license, cash, card, maybe some chapstick. I'll definitely be making more of these.




That aside, I've been addicted to my crocheting hook for some reason. I made a shawl for myself and a couple more yarn bombs that are ready to be planted. I tried last night to make a thinner shawlette but so far have only managed to supremely bungle the patterns I tried to follow. Oh well, I'll keep trying. There's got to be one out there that I can follow along with.

Yarn Bombing! Finally!

The really exciting thing I just did today! Yarn Bombing!
I've been wanting to do this all fall and winter long but have been too busy and too chicken to find a time to do it. But I finally did it just this afternoon!

My first bomb were these bearies! They are too adorable! And almost hard to part with, but it was for the greater good of sharing their cuteness with the public! Sadly I thought I had a lot more safety eyes so I'll have to pick up more before I can continue to make more but oh well. here's the link for the pattern: http://www.gleefulthings.com/blog/?p=2030

Here they are on my dashboard being prepped for placement



Ok so I didn't go to some wild place to plant them. They're tied up in a tree across the street from where I work. But that way I'll be able to watch them and see how long it takes for them to be taken down. I wonder if my coworkers will be able to figure out that I put them there....there's a good chance of that.





And then I did another one!

I started on this one back in August or September and never got the motivation to finish it until now! I posted in progress pictures a while back. Anyway, I wasn't able to hang it up as well as I would have liked but I'm pretty pleased with the placement. This one went on a tree next to a neighborhood subdivison, right by the road. No one saw me put this one up I dont think.







And just as a bonus a wee vine I crocheted for a past project that ended up being tossed. I figured it tie it up for fun. This one I got caught on - the lady in the van was giving me a funny look haha.



There will be more for sure. I think I want to go bigger and better........hmmmm.

Going out with a bang!

Much to my surprise and delight I managed to finish my project by early afternoon today. Then of course much shuffling of furniture had to happen so I could take some decent pictures but I get to share with all of you what has completely consumed me this last week!



This is my final project for fibers; we were taught how to use discharge paste to pull the dyed color back out of the fabric....I can't say that my piece really pushes that point but I do like the effect.

Onto the detail shots!





Sooooooooooo many bullion knots - I used 10+ things of floss. I really thought I was going to run out but I managed to make it last...I suppose I could have used up the rest filling it in a bit but I was/am ready to be done with this already. I figured that the total time it took me to complete this project was about 35 hours, with at least 2/3 of the time just hand stitching.





The black filled in areas are knotted up black yarn couched onto the fabric. I wanted to try to create an organic texture reminiscent of mold - haha. I was really trying to respond to the patterning of dye on the fabric which reminds me of plants on a cellular level.







I got a few comments that the little germ guys look like sperm, but they're not. Oh well, at least I know what they're supposed to be.



It was this moment right here, when I was cutting/ripping the edges of the fabric to make a more organic edge that I totally freaked out. I accidentally ripped right into one of the embroidered mold spores...but actually I really like that the embroidery runs off the edge...though I'm not completely sure how long it'll stay nice like that before it unravels.

That's it! I'm super happy with this result - I think it's my favorite project of the semester, and it will be hanging up.

Also there will be a bunch more posts in the next few weeks! I'm finally free from school for a while so you can count on me being super productive in my own personal projects and the TM stuff I've been slack on for so long!

Have a great week guys!
Emma

Super quick post

Ok, I am in the midst of my super huge final project, of which I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to finish fully to my liking, before I run out of time. Its going slow, but I'll be stitching every spare second I have this weekend so I'll report back here on Monday (or Sunday if I manage to finish before bedtime) with detailed pictures and such then!

Edit: Its 10 pm now I'm pretty close to finishing - with one move I've either made it super awesome or really just screwed up...............I'm leaning towards liking it.......with a little more tweaking. But I really must stop touching it now before I really ruin it.

Never enough hours or energy

Ok guys I'm going to be really honest: I am really really tired right now and I don't want to do my homework! But I have to power through somehow. This is the last week of school (well technically finals week but I'm going to have to put in some major hours this week for my final project in fibers) and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel but getting there is going to be a royal bitch for the next couple of days.

I'm not going to spend too much time on this post as I need to recharge my batteries somehow and get some work done but in the meantime I'm going to leave you with some quick pics of some fabric I recently dyed at school! I wish I had a whole set up at home to do this but it's pretty messy....or let's say I'm pretty messy when I do it.

Admittedly not the best pictures; its winter so its dark all the time now =/











The last picture is going to be the base for my final project; I will definitely have progress pics and the final picture of it when its done, I'm super excited about my concept!!

The shod teddies say to make a list

I've spent the last hour or so trying to think of what to type here tonight. I've been busy but only on projects that I've been working on and have talked about ad nauseum. And then it hit me: I've been making lists a lot lately just trying to prioritize everything I need to get done in the next few weeks before the end of the semester and with the holidays coming up (ack scary). So I'll share it here with you! We'll see how many I can get checked off!

(Oh and btw those teddies I speak of in the title of this post are here:



It was a failed attempt at silk painting from my fiber class...it's not how I wanted it at all, but there is still a silly charm about it).

Anyway! List time...

1. Finish heat setting my silk painting samples
2. Dye 2+ yards of fabric for final project in Fibers (I think I'm going to buy more than I need so I can have awesome dyed fabric for myself for future projects)
3. Complete final project for Fibers (I don't have many details on it now, but I know it involves discharge paste...hopefully it'll be fun).
4. Finish monoprints for printmaking (due on Tuesday!)
5. Finish Nic's surprise holiday present before 12/11!! We're going to see Wicked the musical SOOOOOOO excited!!
6. Must get back on the TM monthly goal project and go crazy. I think I'll have a much easier time getting into it and will be very productive once I don't have any school stuff hanging over my head.

Also must get any xmas gifts out the door and mailed sooner than later! I hate the PO this time of year but it must be done. I know the gas station by my apartment actually does mail service so I think I might try to go there - I kind of doubt people line up there to mail things out too much haha.

I promise next week I'll have new pictures to share!

Its what day now?

I cannot even believe how fast this month has gone by. Christmas lights are popping up everywhere and I'm trying to remind myself that I need to be doing some Christmas shopping while getting all my school stuff done so I don't end up leaving it all to the last minute. Lately I've been working on monoprints for one of my last big assignments in printmaking. Basically, a monoprint is a completely unique print that can't be mass produced as is the goal of most printmaking techniques. Ironic I guess that it's my favorite thing to do in printmaking, just because it allows me to play with other mediums and experiment.

Admittedly these pictures kind of suck, but I thought I'd share a few that I have at home right now.

My teacher likes to have us focus on a theme throughout the semester so that we can explore the subject as our prints progress....we had to write an artist statement as well so I'll share that with you guys now.

"What was previously commonplace on the street and in people's homes has quickly turned to outdated forms, abandoned for the “better and faster.” Through analysis of these visual objects and their residual function, I seek to rediscover their value. My prints create a narrative, imagining these objects taking on a life of their own. By deconstructing, rearranging, and adding elements, I translate our own obsolescence in an age where technology increasingly has more power and control over our lives than we do."

It's all highfaluting art speak but basically what it boils down to is my concepts were built on the idea that so much in our society is thrown away at the drop of a hat - as I love the look of vintage technology I thought to find other ways to reinterpret it - and of course my imagination took over so to reinterpret it I created little stories in my head about what these inanimate objects would do if they were given their own "life" after being thrown out and abandoned. It's how my brain works - go with it.

So these are all monoprints. Created from prints I made in class, cut apart, painted over, glued to other things, etc. I even did some embroidery stitching on a few!





The webs on this one are all embroidery! The picture does horrible at conveying the texture but it's pretty awesome.



Also some more embroidery in the root work. This one isn't done yet - After I finish all the roots, I'm not quite sure where to go from there....hopefully I'll figure it out





There's one more that pretty much my favorite one but I left that at school of course. Pictures will come eventually.

Undergrad Juried Art Exhibition

Every year my school has an art show featuring undergraduates; last year I didn't really have anything I felt was worthy of entering, but this year I thought why not? Here's the pieces I think I'm going to submit to see if they'll be accepted...

I love this piece though sadly I don't really have anywhere to display it in my apartment. It speaks to me of consumerism, hoarding, and a throwaway society. I love that so many people see different things in it.





And I think I may have posted this before, but I love the simplicity of this mono print I made last winter. It's whimsical and a little dark at the same time.



There might be one more piece I'll try to submit if I can find it and take good pictures before the deadline. Wish me luck!

flamingo dance

Here's the project of the week! Took me 7 hours on Friday to get just the printing alone done. But I'm happy its over with and I'm fairly happy with the outcome even if the registration system I was supposed to have been using didn't work out really...thank goodness I'm pretty good at improvising.

Layer 1: light pink silhouette



Layer 2: Hot pink overlay



Layer 3: Black detailing



Here's the overall look. It was done on a piece of fabric 2.5 yds long. Long day!



Now what to do with it? hah. I think I might take a small chunk and turn it into a hoopla for my wall.

Finally some new pictures, geeze!

Yay!! I've really cut back on swapping (thank god! If I didn't I'd be a shivering ball of mess trying to get everything done) but I couldn't help but start another round of the Jar of Whimsy swap on craftster. Read: Get or make a container of your choice and fill with tons of tiny things! So much fun right! And my partner, the awesome MissingWillow received today so I can share my wee crafting hehe.

So I sent it all (or rather as much as I could fit) into this stoneware teapot I made in my summer ceramics class. Totally classy and awesome.



Whatever was left I fit into a spare mason jar and a few baggies. Course the handmade wee things were specially wrapped and donned with appropriate taggies. MissingWillow has a wee house she is crafting for, with rooms for tea and tea vending, as well as a palmistry room and waiting room!! I had to make her some fun stuff for the palmistry room =)

First I have to show off these tiny tiny runes I made!!



All done with polymer clay - they were supposed to be shades of gray, but I guess when you're cooking something that tiny, it really doesn't take too long... I think I had them in the oven maybe 2 minutes before I noticed it was smoking a bit and yeah,..oops. But it did give the runes a lovely patina. I dabbed white paint in the lines I scratched in before baking and made a little pouch to keep them in.

I also made her a spying eye (may also be known as a magnifying glass) and a creepy vintage girl frame to hang up in the room - maybe ghostly ancestors?



The spying eye is made from a Tim Holtz gear wheel, a neato circular watch face I got from erica_tattoos (one of many! I got a bunch and I love it!), a wee key, and a little red crystal embellishment thing.

I also made a small matchbox shrine thing - I was thinking along the lines of a wheel of fortune, but maybe with timey mystical overtures or something?



Holy crap a matchbox is tiny, but I am a bit hooked and I'm itching to make another shrine soon - look out for that!

I had a pog too that I converted to a spooky type table top, or maybe just room decorative medallion - it's two-sided



I burned the edges with a real flame because the inky edging with a stamp pad just wasn't really cutting it - again more smoke in my apartment haha.

And a palmistry hand to keep in the room! The idea is totally stolen from the completely incredible mistress of tiny Knickertwist who made a similar palmistry hand out of a doll hand - same idea!



Oop couldn't find any other pictures but I also made a wee rug (had to restart it 3 times! kept messing it up somehow), wee bunting, a dragon eye.....not sure where that was going but I sent it along anyhow, and a creepy poison sign.



Oh and a fun papercutting that I tried, in the spirit of all things whimsy and wee, to make it as small as possible....that being said its still probably about 4" x 6" but still a challenge to cut out!



And of course this was all sent along with a teapot and mason jar full of found and bought whimsies =) I hope she can find use for it all! I had a lot of fun making it.

A small rant

*sigh*

Ok this is frustrating. I have twice now bought E6000 glue which is awesome and wonderful. HOWEVER. Twice now I've had it for a few months and then after squeezing and getting some glue out, it somehow becomes unglued at the bottom where it's supposed to be sealed shut and leaks nasty toxic glue all over me!!!! Seriously, glue company design these containers better so they don't leak and make me throw away a half a bottle of expensive glue! I might not be buying it again just because its more of a waste and I don't use it all that much to make it worth it.

Anyway....

I slacked last weekend when I probably should have been doing homework and got some fun holiday gift crafting done. I suppose the only thing that's good about the holiday time going fast is that before you guys know it, I'll be able to share all this fun stuff with you instead of keeping it all secret.

This weekend will not be slackage though....I have a 10 page paper to write >.< which I am not looking forward to. Buuuuutttt after this hurdle I think I will be feeling a lot better about my school stuff having that monster behind me and will hopefully be in much better spirits. I think I might be getting my "first" wind (as compared to a second....I have yet to find the first so yeah..).

Have a great night all!

Printmaking, procrastinating and other awesomeness

This last week I was in a funk. I don't usually let my stress get the better of me, but I had such a hard time shaking it I took a half a day off from school *gasp* (skipping one class, shhh don't tell) to just mellow out at home and try to relax. It's the last month and half of the semester so now the pressure will probably stay at an elevated level and I just need to find my groove. I think I might be getting there though..I hope. I've completely let go of my TM goals this month and likely November too...but I can't even fathom trying to get them done with everything else so I can't say its a bad thing. I know when I have nothing else going on I'll be working like gangbusters on it so I'm not worried. In the meantime though, when I need a crafting break I've done a few projects as xmas presents for friends. It's a nice change of pace to be sure. Of course nothing can be posted til they receive!

My printmaking project was due this past week so I have a few snapshots to share - of course I only had my cell phone to use so they're definitely not detailed but I'll try to get better pictures in the future.







I'm a bit bummed by the bottom 2 just because they didn't turn out as dark as I had hoped and I ran out of time and motivation by the end to get it done. The teacher is allowing us to redo one to submit for a better grade if we want. I haven't even seen my grade but just because it bugs me I might try to redo the bottom one.

Also here's a sneak peak of my next printmaking project



It's a lino cut that we have to do a 3 layer overlay for....my right wrist hates me for it (broke it when I was a kid so it's always been somewhat weak). But I'm pretty excited about my base image so it'll be fun to see how it develops.

And some TM goodness you might not have seen before!







Hope you guys have a great week!