Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The thing about creativity

Wonderful post from Jen Grey: http://www.jengray.com/archives/001132.html.

I need to print this out, frame it, and hang it in my craft room!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Creative plumbing

Not much crafting today. Instead, the Big Guy and I worked most of the day putting in a new kitchen sink and faucet. We made a huge mess and pretty much trashed the entire kitchen in the process, but it's in, it's working, and it looks so nice! Does figuring out plumbing from diagrams on the internet count as creativity??

I worked a few rows of the "Mother and Child" necklace and decided I don't like the colors. There are only two bead shops in our area and they're each an hour from my house, in opposite directions, so I took a chance and ordered beads online. Last time I did that it worked out fine; this time, the color numbers and names on the pattern weren't matching up to the numbers and names on the bead site so I tried to wing it based on the online photos. Obviously not a good idea. I really need to be able to see the colors I'm picking out. Drat! The next time I have $75 I don't know what to do with, I want to order Delica color sample cards so I can order online with a little more confidence. In the meantime, I'll just have to find time for a trip to the bead shop.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Beading project


Threaded up my bead loom this afternoon to start on the "Mother and Child" necklace. I have two looms - one my Dad made for me and one that a friend passed along recently. I like the new loom because it has a spring on either end that holds the threads in place much better than my loom, but I can't adjust the spacing between the warp threads. I got the entire thing strung and worked the first few rows, but it was just too awkward. I think with practice it would be fine, but it was too distracting for right now. Took everything off and strung my loom, which is always an exercise in frustration because the threads pop out from between the spacers and bunch over/cross up. This is the least fun part of loom beading!

Friday, January 16, 2009

When I wonder what to do next...

I started a running list of ideas for creative activities for the year. When I hit one of those I-have-a-free-afternoon-and-don't-know-what-to-do moments, maybe this will help spark a new project or two.
  • Read a craft book
  • Read a craft magazine
  • Experiment with the different feet/stitches on my sewing machine
  • Sketch quilt ideas
  • Create a bead pattern
  • Take a class
  • Visit a bead, craft or fabric shop
  • Visit a craft show
  • Visit someplace that inspires me and capture ideas
    • Trinity Cathedral
    • Natural History Museum
    • Art Museum
    • Galleries/shops
  • Learn a new quilting/sewing technique or bead stitch
  • Try a new herb craft or recipe
  • Plan my herb garden
  • Look through new craft books at the library or bookstore
  • Call a friend for a crafternoon get-together

Thursday, January 15, 2009

So many ideas, so little time

No hands on crafting for various reasons the last few days but I've been browsing bead and crafting blogs at lunch and found several cool bead embroidery books I'd like to check out. That's definitely something I'd like to learn. The colors and patterns are just fascinating. I also found a couple articles on creating inspiration journals. Also something I'd like to try. I have a lot of pictures saved on my laptop and a lot more bookmarked online and browsing through those helps spark new ideas, but it might be fun to have a visual record of what prompted a new idea along with pictures of the finished piece. Might give me some insight into my own creative process, since it's been so sporadic up until now.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Fabric, fabric everywhere

Got a random itch to go through all my quilting fabric last night and sorted it all by color, then spent all day today organizing my craft room and finding new homes for the piles of fabric I had scattered all over the floor. Tried a few different things and finally settled on putting the sorted fabrics in clear containers on a shelf. Some of them are just stacked loose, waiting for more boxes, but I like it. I can see what I have and I think it will spark some new ideas having everything out, plus I don't have to dig through a giant container looking for one little piece of fabric. I tried out some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine, too. Lots of possibilities there!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Unexpected drawbacks to daily crafting

I've been spending an hour or so in my craft room every evening after work. The upside is that I've started and finished several fun little projects and I'm really enjoying getting back to crafting on a regular basis. The downside is that I don't spend as much time with the Big and Little Guys in the evenings, crafting gets all these ideas swirling around in my brain, and then I can't sleep! Time for a few low-key creative evenings I think. And also time for a break from sewing. I ordered a pattern for a beadwork necklace from Margie Deeb. The design is called "Mother and Child" and I'm hoping to make it for a friend in time for the Spring Equinox.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Grab Bag



I made a fun little bag from this pattern and some fabrics in my stash. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's very funky and I really want to try it again in some fun patterned fabrics. If I omit the pockets on the inside, it could be made to be reversible.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Boxy Pouch and a photo (finally)

Yet another new pattern AND another project from the pink and green fabric originally purchased for the Lazy Days tote. I'm getting a nice collection of bags out of that 1/2 yard cut!



I made a boxy bag from this tutorial. It was very quick and simple. Even with making my own quilted fabric (same technique as yesterday's Humbug Bag - I love it!), it only took an hour to make.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Humbug Bag

I finished the Lazy Days Tote and had fabric leftover, so I dug out the Humbug Bag pattern I've had forever and made the smallest size bag. It was very quick and easy, but I learned a new technique for continuous diamond quilting and made my own quilted fabric for the body of the bag. Used both the angle markings on my grid ruler and the zipper foot on my new sewing machine for the first time on this project.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Lazy Days Tote

Started a quilted tote bag from this pattern. The pattern calls for pink and green print fabrics and I wasn't sure how it was going to look, but I found some fun prints with perfect matching colors and I really like the combination - very spring-y! The quilt blocks for the first side went together a little rough, but the second side looks much better. Guess I need practice cutting a straight line! I would like to find a tutorial on using my rotary cutter. I'm still not comfortable with it and I suspect there are better ways to use it. This is the first piece I made that I actually machine quilted. Nothing complicated, just diagonal lines across the patches, but it came out pretty nice and made a big difference in the look of the finished pieces. Ordinarily I get impatient and/or intimidated and skip that step.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The Year of the Mouse

I've run across a number of blog posts about setting a one-word intention for the year, rather than making New Year's resolutions. I like that approach. I've gone back and forth about my word for 2009 and I think I've settled on "Nourish." It seems to fit in a lot of different ways and covers a lot of ground that I would normally have attempted to cover with a lot of resolutions, but in a gentler way. It's a sort of guidance rather than a "should," and that makes all the difference. What forms will it take for me this year? Well...
  • Being creative nourishes my spirit.
  • Finding a way to connect to the Divine that feels right for me and can become a part of my daily life nourishes my soul.
  • Eating healthy foods and making good lifestyle choices nourishes my body.
  • Finding a balance between work and home creates more time to nourish my connection to my family and friends.

It fits. And it feels like a wonderful, positive focus for 2009. Happy New Year!