fourteen

i am finally putting together an etsy shop! i have taken quite a few pictures and am now writing up a few descriptions and pondering prices for the pieces that i will try selling. hopefully i will have my shop online in a day or two. i haven't been up to much recently, but did finish a little pin the other day. it is quite small, but falls nicely.
i have been having trouble deciding on a color combination for this blog, so don't worry if it seems to be a different color every other day. i am sure i will eventually settle on something.

thirteen: in need of inspiration

my mom asked me to make a couple of pillowcases as a present for a friend, but i am having the hardest time thinking of what to make. the one parameter i was given was that it should be white or cream colored, since we aren't sure what the person's house is like. i think my biggest problem is that i am over thinking what i should be doing rather than just going with the flow (which is what i usually do). i have start to embroider some little designs that i think i will incorporate into the cases once i decide what i am doing. fortunately, i am have until july or so to make the cases, so i will keep on thinking about what i should do...

twelve: my love affair with shrink plastic continues

i still can't get enough of shrink plastic! every thing i scribble on plastic sheets look so good once they have shrunk, which is great since i am not a very good artist. i like using colored pencil rather than permanent markers, the colors in the pencils become much more vibrant once they are shrunk. the other day, i tried to print something on one of the plastic sheets, but they were not compatible together because the sheet melted a little in the printer. oops. luckily, i didn't break it.
the earrings above are studs that i made. i used a spray polyurathane over them so that the color pencil would not fade or rub off.

eleven: i hate measuring

i really hate to measuring out my fabrics and materials when i am sewing, but i think i need to start doing it. i have been getting around measuring out fabrics, by making my different projects obviously asymmetrical or completely different sizes. however, i think it is now time that i bite the bullet and force myself to make things more uniform. i tried to make the two pillows below the same size, without measuring and i unfortunately failed. so, in the future, i am going to measure everything!
with these two pillowcases i tried to experiment with weaving. the woven center gives it an interesting dimension and i don't have to worry about sewing everything together, which is always a good thing.

i made this pillow as a showcase for a piece of embroidery i made a few months ago. i did all the colored embroidery on the patch by hand and then used the machine to sew around it. i think it looks pretty good, almost like it is fused together.

ten: corks & frames

for years i have been trying to come up with a way to use old wine corks and over the weekend i finally came up with a design and idea that i really like! i got some old frames that i wasn't using, spray-painted them and then glued some cork cuttings to the back. it makes quite a nice pin board for papers or for jewelery or for whatever else you want to use it for. i think this is a great project for earth day since i am reusing frames and old cork. the one thing that is not-so-eco-friendly is the spray paint i used, but that is easy to replace.
the pictures on the frame above were taken by the very talented jhair.

nine

i finished my favorite pillow case (so far) yesterday. with this one i decided to have a monochromatic look and to do a lot more quilting. I quilted a little design on each of the patches and then I sewed a border around it. i was a little worried that it would look too busy with all of the patches and quilting, but i think it looks great and really ties together well. i am going to try to make a matching blue case, but i am not sure when i will start/finish it. my sewing station is not great, so i have been suffering from a sore back for the past day or two from being hunched over the machine. i am going to try to find a new spot, which should be good news for my back and may allow me to work a bit faster.

as i mentioned in my last post, i have also been playing with some shrinking plastic i had lying around. i am not really sure what i am going to do with it, but i enjoyed making the pieces and watching them shrink in the toaster oven. these earrings are some of the few items i have made with the plastic. i wrote a poem by e.e. cummings (my favorite poet) on the plastic circles before i cooked them. i think this gives an interesting look and texture to the piece. the writing is very small, but you can still read it and from far away it looks look like it has little blue stripes.

eight: bits n' pieces

i found these necklaces that i made while i was in austin. i strung several strands of beads and then braided them together. the darker necklaces has a very loose look to it, while the colored one is much tighter. i haven't done beading in awhile, but these pieces inspire me to do some more. right now, i am in the middle of making another patchwork pillow and am rediscovering the wonders of shrink plastic.