2012

Happy Monday 2012. So far, it's been a slow crawl to the New Year. The etsy shop got real quiet, real fast and with the husband home and the child off school, absolutely nothing is as normally scheduled and that means nothing much gets accomplished. We have one last quiet day around here before the husband returns to work and then I shall have to institute routine again or risk my sanity as the children rage against boredom. Speaking of raging against boredom, I got my order of roving in the mail from asherjasper on etsy. It is a box of painfully sharp joy. It came in on Saturday and the requests for small colorful items started coming in immediately from the children.

Here's a small pile of odds and ends I've managed to create. I'm definitely getting better. The felting process is time consuming and I really must work on my posture while I work it because my back is killing me, but it's fun. The husband remarked that I wouldn't be making any money from these creations should I decided to sell them. Worry not people, this one is just a pastime. Until I achieve the skill level to make skulls or dragons, you probably won't even see this stuff again. On a side note, I received a book for Christmas about crafting with cat fur. I know it was mostly a joke and the book recommends a wet felting process for most of the projects, but there was a cat right next to me, so I brushed her and needle felted up a ball...when the summer shedding starts, it might get weird around here.

In other news, I think I've been steered in the right direction for an project. As I kept asking for ideas, I honestly had no idea what I was looking for, but I knew when I heard it, it would stick. Over on the facebook fan page, I received some great inspiration links and ideas, but here's the one that set my gears in motion. No, I'm not going to make a chair, but formed lace beyond a simple bowl or small 3-d shape intrigued me. The one major drawback is that this sort of thing requires much planning and I'm a fly by my seat kind of creator. 


Already, I am asking for advice on stiffening lace. This chair here by Marcel Wanders is described as being draped over a form and stiffened with resin which means it's rock hard, not lightly stiffened like we usually do with lace. So I've got a few different products on order as per lovely twitter advice and I will be experimenting to find the right one to use even before I settle on my object and pattern. It's going to be a slow process I imagine and that's going to drive me up a wall, but hopefully all my patience will pay off and I'll end up with a jaw dropping piece of art too. I will of course accept any suggestions or advice in this, as I am, as always flying blind. So, here's to a great and creative 2012.