Monkey Trouble

WOW! Literally, 6 months since I last wrote. I’ve been quite negligent. It’s very difficult to blog. What do I talk about?

I’m having some computer issues right now so I’m posting from my phone for the first time.  Hopefully the computer issues will be resolved soon (waiting on a battery), so here is a short post – monkeying around a bit…

These monkeys were crocheted with cashmere brown and beige yarn, stuffed with fiber-fill and then sewn with black button eyes.  All were gifts😀





It’s Been A Long Time

Wow!! What kind of blog is this!?! The last time I wrote was in January!?! That’s just crazy. It’s hard to write, create, and keep track of what I’m doing with three kids….anyway, I was inspired by these pants

I’m a closet designer and have been designing clothes for dolls, toys, etc since I can remember.

….these two are just a tiny example, because when I was first “designing”, cameras were not readily available as they are today (I love my iPhone).

I digress, anyway, I saw the pants and decided that I wanted to knit a pair of pants for myself. Knitting takes an extremely long time (at least for me) but the stitches are so nice. Crocheting is quick and easy and if you find just the right stitch, it can be quite nice. I decided to experiment and made a jumper for my daughter’s stuffed animal trying various stitches throughout.

I still have yet to find just the right stitch, but I know what I want to incorporate into the pants….voila! Flowers!

I have, of course, distracted myself with dreams of making this awesome Dr. Who dress

And I made a gift for my nephew, Finn from Adventure Time

And now I’m making a pair of gloves for my husband

Who says I’m distracted!?!
I hope to have a completed pair of pants to show when I next write….but alas, I doubt it.

A Mish-Mash of Distraction

So it’s been a long,long,long,long time since I’ve written….so I figured I’d say hello. It seems as if I’ve had a difficult time finishing some projects, but I have had small successes finishing others. My mind has all of this stuff flying through it and I can’t control it. I see something I like and think ‘I can do that!’ And then I try it. Then I’m thinking, we need more blankets (it is winter after all), so then I start a blanket. Then it’s the holiday time and I’m scrambling to finish projects in time….anyway, I did end up creating a bunch of stuffed toys to donate to a shelter just time for Christmas. SUCCESS!

….and I did get to finish my first knitted pin. SUCCESS!

…but then I got distracted. I wanted to create stuff with yarn (I bought a slew of yarn – my favorite Caron Simply Soft Yarn) but then there was a sale on my favorite clay –Amaco Stoneware Clay – and decided instead to make something
using said clay. I made this great clay piece which I call Squiggly.
I don’t know what it can be used for.
A display piece? Something you can put change into?
I don’t know. I just know that I liked the way my “art piece” came out of the kiln
and plan on making more of this Squiggly art. SUCCESS!

During all of this I ALSO tried to make character inspired dolls, a hexagon blanket duvet cover,
and a knitted drawstring bag. I have yet to finish the dolls (as you can see)
and I won’t tell you who they will end up becoming, but with all
of these distractions, I don’t know when any of these projects will be completed. FAIL!

Hopefully, I will write more frequently….but I get distracted 😉

The Fiber Arts

I don’t know which type of fiber art I enjoy more; knitting, crocheting, quilting, embroidery, or felting. The talent that is out there is mind boggling. It makes me want to craft day and night. Unfortunately, I don’t have the stamina nor the health to do this. I can dedicate a blog post on it though so that you all can enjoy the wonderful works of what I think is art. These works of art are abstract and literal. They are colorful and serene. They truly show the varying degrees of workmanship that can take place with an unconventional media.

Since I don’t know who created these wonderful works, I am simply going to just display them. ENJOY!

Yarn Bombed Tree. A new form of graffiti.
These works were crocheted in squares and circles and attached to the varying outdoor objects.

These works are using varying techniques and designs to create sculptures and portraits
and clothing and you can see the possibilities are endless

Last, but certainly not least illustrates how needle felting can be used in extraordinary ways
to portray people, animals, things with such realism!

I hope you enjoyed some glimpses of unconventional art.

20th Anniversary

It’s been so long since I have written. My 20th wedding anniversary just passed at the end of August with the love of my life, my husband. Technically, we have been together for 24+ years but we actually got married in 1993. To commemorate this, I made a Wedding Couple. They were created similar to the way we looked on our wedding day….

In order to make this couple, the forms have to be created. These dolls are approximately 6-7″ long and were knitted and stuffed. I also did something a bit different this time by adding some wiring so that their limbs were movable.

Once each body was formed I could then concentrate on them separately. I focused on the groom first. I felt that he was easier since I was making him wear a tuxedo. The bowtie, lapels, and his boutonnière were made of felt and were needle felted onto the tuxedo and body.

Now it was time for the bride. I made her dress a few times and kept getting stuck. Then my son suggested that I do the dress as separates! Voila! I created her dress and since it was a sort of a take on my wedding dress, I added beading using Swarovski beads and her hair and bouquet were felted onto the body. I also felted some white fiber with some tulle for a veil.

Here they are with the finishing touches….
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Fun with Fabric

I was looking for a photo of a project and came across some work that I have done with fabric.

This is a Scrap Piece quilt. I took an old blanket (that I love) and I pieced together miscellaneous fabric, attached it to one side of the blanket. The opposite side I used an old sheet and then binded the two together with more fabric pieces. The best part of this quilt is that there is no measuring!

This is a quilted pillow. I found fabric colors that worked well together and stitched them carefully. This one required a lot of measuring 😉

This is a blanket that my sister asked for me to fix up for her son (my nephew). You can see by the photos that the fabric animals were removed and replaced with newer versions (the patches that were replaced had holes).

Lastly, these are the most recent fabric based projects that I have completed. I like to call them Fabric Art. I take a work of art and interpret it with fabric.

Girl With A Pearl Earring – Johannesburg Vermeer

Girl At Sewing Machine – Edward Hopper

I FELT fine…..

I havent written in awhile, due to well….LIFE.  While LIFE goes on, I do keep my hands busy (when I can).  Today i’m going to share some FELTing projects that I have done over time.  BIRD IN HIDING was created to see if I could make something in felt.  The bird was then photographed in my plant. ELVIS was created for my husband’s birthday a couple of years ago. I embellished Elvis with beading to show his flash style and stuffed with filler and filler-beads to keep him upright.  CHEWBACCA and PRINCESS LEIA were test subjects of geekery that I wanted to experiment with.  I feel that the first try wasnt bad, but could use improvement.  FACES OF FELT were experiments using FELTing and face creation. I liked the way they came out, I just didnt have a “body” to put the heads on. They look kinda creepy and I sorta like that, so I left them as-is.  Last but not least is FLOWER which I made for my mother-in-law for Hanukah last year.  I put some filler-beads and stuffing at the bottom of the felted flower pot to keep it upright.

BIRD IN HIDING

ELVIS

CHEWBACCA & PRINCESS LEIA

FACES OF FELT

FLOWER

The Making of a Knitted Drawstring Bag

I was very proud in making this drawstring bag as it was done completely from my imagination and with no pattern.  It started when I was making these knitted squares that I didnt know what I was going to do with.  I basically was making them and collecting them.  Then, one day I was taking my kids to the zoo over the summer and found that I didnt have a drawstring bag to keep things in; like my wallet, water, phone, snacks, etc.  I found one of those flimsy ones with an ad for a mortgage company on it – ugh.  I ended up using that bag and that is when I decided I could make one for myself.  Later that week (probably as I dont remember), I took each of the squares that I had already knitted and made them into what is now the bottom of the bag.

Then I took a circular needle and just knit and knit and knit until it got to a point where I felt it was a good size.  During all of this knitting, I tried a bunch of different color ways and combinations because why not?

 

At the point when I got to the top I turned it inside out and created a lining for it because I wanted the bag to be durable enough to handle anything I put inside of it.

 

Then I folded over the top so that I could have a place for the cord.

  

And then finally it was complete!

And that is how I made this knitted drawstring bag 🙂

I dont know that I will make one again, but at least I know how to make one now!

How to Make a Puppy & Kitty

This “how to” is not a true how to as it’s not a step by step demo of how it was made, but more of a picture sequence.

I generally make what I see in my mind with no conscious thought behind it.  Alot of it depends on my mood, how i’m feeling as i’m generally not feeling 100% (that’s a whole ‘nother story), if I see material that I like at that given time (yarn, clay, glass) and then the idea pops into my head and I say to myself “Im gonna make a dog with this yarn”.

With the puppy, I made one and so many people liked it, that I actually WROTE down a pattern and was able to duplicate it (white dog) and modify it (for the cat)!  It was very time consuming to write down everything…..

Here is how it started.  It is made with Lion Brand Homespun Yarn.  I knit each piece (head, body, legs), stuff them and then attach them together.

  

  

 

Or modify it like I did to make the kitty.  The kitty I decided to make during Superstorm Sandy – that terrible Northeaster that hit NJ (among other states)  a few months back.  It was quite boring with no power, so I decided to knit.  I started the kitty then, but didnt finish her until a few weeks after (too much going on).  My kids named the kitty Sandy of course.

  

Its pretty much the same pattern – atleast for the body and legs and then I adjusted for tail and embellishments for the head (cat has an area where the whiskers go and pointier ears).

Anyway, I just thought I would share 🙂

Lady Art

Sorry I haven’t written in awhile. Lotsa stuff happening, but anyway I wanted to show you this doll I made a long time ago and recently found when I was cleaning up. She is not especially attractive but is more of an “art” piece than anything.

Her head is made out of polymer clay (as are her hands and feet). Her face was painted. Her body was made out of fabric and stuffed. Her clothing was crocheted with beading throughout using embroidery yarn. Her hair is embroidery yarn.

It was an experiment because after all, you can’t discover things unless you try.