I finally got around with finishing the amigurumi project that I mentioned earlier in the month for my friends birthday. And I did it with only hours to spare! His name is Polo the Platypus! Click here, here and here to see him in his original, yet adorable form. I think he turned out pretty well. There are a few things I'd change, mostly his eyes; I would have liked to have put them slighty lower and I was out of solid black safety eyes which I wanted to originally use. But considering it was my first amigurumi project that I wrote 100% of the pattern, not bad. I tend to take bits and pieces of other patterns to make my own but this time I knew I had to start from stratch. I'm going to try and write up the pattern if anyone want
s to give him a whirl.
So I came down to the Valley to visit my parents on my Memorial Day long weekend. I intended to start a blanket for my mum while I was down and I brought the yarn and my hooks - except for the larger hooks which I didn't realise that I would need for the project. Acks. I still had the urge to create something though. So instead I took a bunch of photos of flowers that are found all over my parents property. Plus, it was an excuse to use the macro setting on my camera. I seriously love the macro setting. I only wish I could use it for everything. But I have a feeling that people would not appreciate me putting a camera half an inch up to their face. Such poor sports.
For the time being, anyway. So instead I went and caught my friend Stan's band Saint Ray Satellite downtown. I'm generally a little weary about seeing a friend's band play only because what happens if I don't like them? I tend to show my dislike for things on my face pretty clearly so I wouldn't be able to lie if I didn't like them. Luckily for Stan, his band was actually quite solid. Yay! And seeing him again allowed me to remind him of the deal that we made a few years ago that if he ever put out an album (they are currently recording their first cd) that I got to play the kazoo on it. Oh yeah. He better not take that away from me. Check out his band at http://www.myspace.com/saintraysatellite. Back to the crafts tomorrow though. Ish is coming over after work for a little crafting session. Until then!
I remade the necklace shortly after last night's post. I just didn't like the focal bead and I knew I wasn't going to wear it if I kept it the way it was. Soooooo....I took it apart and restrung it without the focal bead. Much better.
Crappy thing about working for an American company in Canada? I have to work Canadian holidays. Bleh. Nothing downtown is open for lunch, the buses run on Sunday schedule and I can't buy yarn! I've been working on a new crocheted amigurumi project based on this little guy (some of you will who he is!) and I think I have most of the pattern worked out. I started a prototype to see if my pattern was going to make sense and so far it's looking great! Now I just need to find the right colours.
y beads I made a couple of weeks ago and some *upcycled beads from a necklace that my brother bought me in Turkey (I think it was Turkey??) that I tore apart. I'm still unsure if I like it. It's a little on the chunkier side than I am used to. But it's shiny and sparkly so maybe it'll grow on me!
Two bad things I learned today; 20 
hour migraines are quite unpleasant and the smell of burnt popcorn lingers. Forever. Two awesome things I learned today; Xbox Live 1 vs. 100 and that Swiss Chalet delivers in just over 20 minutes.
I love doing 8-bit designs when I work with polymer clay for one simple reason - it's bloody easy. You simply lay the clay out according to the colour chart and reduce. Not difficult, not even a little bit.
snap. I custom blended the darker purple colour as I did not have enough of one any one shade of purple for the whole project. I've learned to pre-blend all the colours and cut all the pieces needed for the project before I actually put it together. When I first started making clay canes, I didn't do this step and it always caused a lot of headaches when I 
would be half way through a project to only then realise that I did not have enough of a certain colour - and it always tended to be a colour that was custom blended so there was no way to recreate it. I would end up having to scrap the whole project. A waste of time and an even bigger waste of clay (and money).
I was missing out on anything. When other little girls were getting dolls for Christmas, I got craft supplies. She may not be as crafty as I am but really, that's to be expected - I'm a freak of nature. I'm a craft freak. I live and breathe crafts - but it can all be attributed to her. She once knit a scarf when my brother was a baby. She said it took forever. Yet you put her in a kitchen and she can make some of the most amazing things in the world. My mum is a better cook than your mum. No lies. She's made me appreciate the ability to take raw materials and turn them into something amazing with nothing more than your own hands and a few tools. It's a skill that I cherise and cannot thank her enough for.
I finally finished the felted bag that I made for my sister with only 20 minutes to spare before we had to drive her to the airport so she should catch her flight to Newark (followed by a flight to Seattle followed by a flight to Anchorage and finally to Fairbanks, AK). The handles are no where close to what I wanted but I just wasn't able to find what I was looking for locally. I may need to look online and order some in for next time I make one. I ended up using a small knitting loom to make some rope and then just did a large chain stitch with my fingers and sewed it into the inside of the bag. Either way, she seemed happy with it (even if I wasn't 100% happy with it). And here she is with her bag in her new favourite pose (see here, here, here and here ) and her newly acquired Nova Scotian tartan
After my sister saw the bag I was making her (post to come later), she wanted a wallet type dealie to match. I've started it but I'm not sure how I want to finish it. Do I line it with fabric or keep it unlined? What about the closure? Snaps? Zipper? Which side should be the outside? The mostly green side (as shown) or the grey side? Ahhhhh! Too many choices!
Until recently I never thought of trying out translucent polymer clay. I didn't know how to work with it and I figured what difference could it make in my projects? Man, was I ever wrong. That stuff is genius! It wasn't until I got the book The Art of Polymer Clay by Donna Kato (Kato clay anyone?) that I realised what rad stuff you could do with it. I put together three simple canes using the skinner blend technique between a layer of translucent clay mixed with a lil' bit of white clay and presto chango, I got some pretty snazzy beads out of it. Originally I made o
ne braclet for myself out of it, but after my cousin Kaitlyn saw mine, she asked me to make her one as well. I actually liked how hers turned out a little bit better since I had a better idea of how thinly I had to slice the cane to get the desired affect. I'll definitely be using this stuff more in the future!
nful to touch anything. Anytime I used it after that, I had flashbacks of its evilness. There had to be a better way. Then one day I came across the Makin's Clay Extruder online but it was a little more pricey than what I wanted to pay. But then I read reviews. A bunch of them. Every single one I read said that although it was a little pricey, it was worth every penny. So one day I decided to take the plunge and went ahead an
d ordered it online. I don't know how I lived without it. It's bloody fantastic. Easy to use, easy clean up and best of all, it doesn't hurt my poor hands! I almost wanted to call in sick the day after it arrived just so I could play and create with it all day (I didn't though, only because I have bills that have to get paid somehow). The first cane I made after getting it also used translucent clay and was made with just the scraps of the cane mentioned at the beginning of this post! It literally took about five minutes to throw together! Best $25 I've spent in a long time!
to constantly refer to a pattern to mak
e sure I'm doing it right. But when I came across Alice's handbags over at Futuregirl.com, I had to make one. They are super cute and quite simple looking without looking boring. So when she was looking for people to be pattern testers before she released the patter
n to the public, I jumped at the chance. I'm glad I did because her pattern was su
per easy to understand plus it forced me to learn the foundation single crochet stitch which is bloody amazing. There is nothing that I hate doing in crochet more than having to crochet into a chain. So painful. But no more! I ended up making two bags this weekend - both the small and medium sized bags that she wrote patterns for. I was also down in the Annapolis Valley this weekend visiting my parents and sister (she finally arrived from Alaska on Thursday) and found this adorable black, purple and pink (my favourite colours) fabric with guitars on it. Perfect for a bag lining! I stitched up a lining and finally attempted some needle felting on a finished product. Functional and cute. Two of my favourite things!
