Friday, June 4, 2010

New Bracelets

I've been into jewelry lately, or should I say that what seems to get finished. Anyway, this first one is Tropics that I got from Fusion Beads. The lampwork bead in the middle I got from Etsy.
This one is a little blurry (I'll try to fix that). It is a floral wreath bracelet. I made the beads and then strung them to the copper rings.

This was actually the first one. I wish you could see the focal pendant but again only one of my pictures actually came out. I stamped a flower onto a piece of hand-dyed fabric. I then attached it to a brass circle and covered it with diamond lacquer. This was very easy. I made it in about 2 hours.
Enjoy,
Michele


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

We now return to our regularly scheduled program

So, yes, I've been missing. It simply comes down to that I didn't have anything to show. Natalie has been keeping me very busy and I've been working on stuff but nothing show-worthy.

Until now...


Monday was my Pandora's Meeting. Unfortunately we were missing three of our favorite people but Alisan and I met, and did some fun stuff with UTEE and Lutrador.

First we painted our Lutrador and let it dry. We did one where we wetted the Lutrador and painted and one we left dry.

After one was dry we used a melting tool to burn holes and what not.
This is my piece. Very random.
This is Alisan's. She signed hers. Neat tool. It has many different points and melted the Lutrador like butter. (Feel free to giggle at the SNL reference.)

We also took a piece of velvet, painted it with Gesso, and then put on several layers of UTEE. After the last coating we applied a stamp. Once it dried we used Lumiere to accent the design. The pink one is mine. The glare from the flash is a little harsh but you'll have to see it in person.


This is Alisan's. We used gold UTEE as her last layer and we should have used more. The Lumiere really brought out the design.
Fun, fun.
Enjoy,
Michele

























Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Knitting Away February

February was a little crazy around here. The racing season got under way and Jason spent five days home all month. So, since Natalie wants an audience and that leaves little time in the studio, I've been knitting. These are my second pair of socks.
This is a knecklace. It is very delicate and crys for beads. I'm working on it.

This is my first pair of socks. I tried to tackle socks last winter and just couldn't get it right. For whatever reason, this time worked.
Enjoy,
Michele

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Felted Bag Progress

Here is what I've been dealing with the last few days. Lots of this white crap they don't know how to deal with in North Carolina and a five-year old with cabin fever. This photo is from Saturday. She went out twice that day. Sunday she went out once and hasn't been out since.
Here is the finished market bag I've been knitting. It is much bigger then I thought it would be.

Here it is felted. I was hoping to work on the flowers but I don't have the appropriate size DPN. Since it doesn't look like I'll be getting out anytime soon, I may substitute the next size.


And I just had to share this. This was a belt when I was in high school. It was in a box next to catnip. Haley is enjoying herself. What better fun on a snowy day but to get your cat high!

Enjoy!
Michele

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Eleventh Hour Cowl

So remember the yarn from the last post. Well, here is what I made with one of the skeins.
It is a free cowl pattern I found on-line. I've actually had this finished for a little while but I want to make a polymer clay button for it. I didn't like the first one I made so I'll be making a new one.
I went on a retreat this past weekend and had a great time. Didn't finish anything, but had a great time.
Enjoy,
Michele

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Yarn, Wondrful Yarn

So I'm nothing if not unpredictable. My friends say I'm eclectic. Whatever, it could be worse, right? Anyway, I needed a change of pace so I went back to a knitting project that I started around Thanksgiving and put down because it called for something new and I needed to concentrate and didn't want to. So I picked it up again. But I needed a quick, instant gratification project so...
I came across a project on-line for a neck scarf (which I seem to be wearing a lot of lately) and needed a bulky weight yarn. Off to the Needlecraft Center in Davidson I go and came home with these bits of lovely. What a wonderful, warm place! I saw a friend from quilt guild there and even got invited to the sit-n-knit on Monday. Stay tuned for the results.
Enjoy,
Michele

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The Latest on the Cardinal

Here is the latest on the cardinal. I've now completed the left side of the pattern, very exciting! I'm very pleased with how he's coming along. Usually I stay seasonal, so I would have typically put him away by now but not so much with this project.

Enjoy,
Michele

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Sunday, Sundae

Here is an update on my WIP. I figure if I'm accountable to the blogging world I'll finish it in a timely manner.
My next recipe. I made a Shrimp Corn Chowder I saw on another blog I follow. The Sampler Girl posted this and I thought it looked wonderful. It was!!!! Too bad I'm the only one who eats it (not really).

I haven't posted a cat picture for a while. Here's my sweet girl, Haley, trying to hide behind a quilt no less.
Enjoy,
Michele


Thursday, January 7, 2010

Things I've Made (of all sorts)

Here's a WIP that I've been working on in between the Christmas ornaments. It is Blackbird Designs Tis the Season to Be Jolly. It is done with Crescent Colours Belle Soie silks and it is absolutely yummy. Sewing with silk is like sewing with butter. That is cardinals tail and he is surrounded by holly. The saying is in French. You could do it in English but I didn't want to.


So what do you do when you're tired of holiday leftovers and it's really cold outside? You start cooking. Yesterday I made a Garlic Chicken Stir Fry (sorry no photo). Really good, even Natalie liked it. I think it could rival take-out.

Today, I made a Slow Cooker Beef Stew. It had a bit of prep work but it was all worth. I seved it with some Corny Corn Bread. Excellent! Thanks to allrecipes.com for the recipes.
Enjoy,
Michele

Monday, January 4, 2010

Catching Up

Over the holidays I needed portable projects so I finished several Christmas ornaments. Sorry I'm not going to rearrange them. We start with Six Geese A-Laying.

Five Golden Rings...
Four Colly Birds...



Three French Hens



Two Turle Doves...



And a Partridege in a Pear Tree. These are from Cricket Collection. The plan is to finish the remaining six before next Christmas.


This is Birdhouse Mitten, also from Cricket.


Michele