Pysanky Stamp

I needed instructions to go along with my cowl that I knitted, so I created a stamp to go along with my things. I thought it would be good to incorporate "Boginka's Basket" somehow with "Honeysuckle Handmades", so I made a pysanky stamp!

Before

After
And the finished cowl with all the trimmings

I went to a Reggio conference today for work. As interesting and inspiring as it was (it really was), the highlight of the day was laying in the sun at lunchtime...

MY LABELS CAME!!!!

After all this anticipation, my labels finally came!

I'll be able to put them on all my donations for the upcoming auction. This will be the first time that I'm getting my name out there in the world and I'm really excited to see the outcome.

So far, reviews have been more positive than I was expecting, but aren't we always our own worst critic?

Birthday Stamp

Yesterday was a friend (or two's) birthday, and I made one of them a stamp.

Planning and transferring
Cutting

I added, "I presume" under his dog's name after I started carving it. Here is the final product:

poking and prodding

When I first bought my felting needles I really wanted to use the materials, but I didn't know what to make. The first thing that surfaced was this :

And I realized after I started this piece, that it would be titled "My Intestines"

Making Progress

Still working on the auction items!
I've finished one pair of the shoes and a cowl, just adding finishing packaging touches.
The shoes after sewing on the soles.
The packaging. I made the handle of the box a matching pom pom with matching tissue mosaic!
The inside of the box
A finished cowl. I'm working on a stamp to go on the packaging for this. Something simple and small...

Still to go - finish another pair of shoes, another cowl, a hat.

Still waiting for my labels (but they said that they have shipped!)

They contain us

Open your eyes
Put it in drive
get on the road and just go.

City lights
turn the tree lines
and National Park signs

Mountains approach
with small winding roads
and the air turns to falling snow

Miles away or just up ahead.
It doesn't matter what,
Any of us is looking for.
We'll never find it, because
It's not even there.

high beams showing
falling rock warning
construction work, slowing

The engine blazes
The elevation raises
The dynamite walls contain us

everyone's watching
for animals crossing
through the part of the glass
that's defrosted

Miles away or just up ahead
It doesn't matter what,
any of us is looking for
We'll never find it, because
it's not even there.

Little Booties

I have been working on a couple pairs of infant/toddler booties in the last week for the upcoming auction.
I used some of the fancy shmancy yarn that was purchased at the craft center for these and it worked wonderfully.
I followed an easy pattern I found online, but added a few different touches of my own and sewed it up a little differently than they suggested. I really like the moccasin feel.

The best addition to these booties was a sole. I had some leftover leather laying around and affixed that to the bottom, with a felt inner sole.
They still need to be sewn around the edges but I don't have the materials for that at the moment. Now the little kiddies can have safe feet!

I also started a smaller green/brown pair.

Renegade Tree

I've been really busy making items for the silent auction coming up. I realized today that my labels probably won't be here in time. I can really only hope that somehow they come in 4 weeks instead of 4-6weeks, which really means "These will come just as you've forgotten that you've ordered them".

I had a bit of the "earth after humans" feel yesterday :
Isn't it amazing? I can't believe how strong this little tree is to grow through the sidewalk OR to find such a tiny space to grow so that it doesn't even disturb the sidewalk around it (yet).

Cowl Project

I found a pattern for a 'cowl', which to me meant nothing besides what was pictured, which was basically a round thick scarf.

I decided to try this out for a friend and was somewhat pleased with the results.

I just couldn't get it to sit right for a photo. It kept looking like there was a hole in it, or it just really looks weird. It looks less weird in person, promise.So after making it, and thinking about it, I thought, "Cowl doesn't seem like the right word to call this thing that I made. Is it really a 'cowl'?". I wikipedia'ed 'cowl' to find that a cowl is actually :

"a hood worn by members of religious orders. It also refers to a long, hooded cloak, with wide sleeves, worn by some Catholic and Orthodox monks when participating in the liturgy. Developed in the Middle Ages, they became the formal garment for those in monastic life. They were worn to give warmth to people who often spent long hours in unheated and drafty churches."

So here is my creation as a cowl -

My opinion is that it is great either way. I'll call it a "knit tube" and leave it open to interpretation.

There is a silent auction coming up for work, so I plan on making a couple of these to donate to the auction.

Pattern :

size 15-19 circular needles
cast on 44 and join
knit 2, purl 2 for 3 rows
knit until project is 15-17 inches from where you started
finish with 3 rows of knit 2, purl 2
bind off

Rubber Stamping vs. Linoleum carving

I've discovered that making my own rubber stamps is amazing and easy. I just used linoleum cutters for the rubber as well as the linoleum. I've made my official business stamp, and another that I thought was very important.

As I've never done this before I wasn't sure if linoleum blocks or rubber would be best for what I wanted. I had heard about both, so I decided to buy materials to try both. I started on rubber and created the business stamp. (Which I also had cloth labels made of)

After making this stamp I decided to do the next on linoleum.
I realized after that this is not at all what I wanted because I would have to get paint and all sorts of materials for the lino block to work, and I really just wanted to use stamp pads for this specific project. The linoleum didn't soak up the ink from the pad as much as I would like, and I prefer a really saturated image. I re-carved on rubber.
The final result of the supervisor stamp for now:
I will be adding more detail eventually and doing a better job on the carving, but I am done with stamping for a few days now...
And in case you didn't realize how important this stamp is, you can see the creature here as he supervises me sitting at my table. He is supervising me even as I write this.

New Year, Yarn Bowls!

I'm back from a bit of a break from blogging, but I have been busy.
I haven't documented most of it, but luckily I received a new camera. I've been waiting for a card reader and it finally came today so now I'm able to show what I've been up to for the last couple of weeks.


I made some yarn bowls! This is a process that I will hopefully do again with more order, and different yarn. We'll see how much the recipient likes them.

I started off with a lot of fibers that I had lying around. Thick and thin string and yarn with lots of textures. They were cut and soaked in glue and placed on a balloon to dry.


They sat for about 2 days, and then I popped the balloons. This has to be done really slowly because it will pull the edge fibers out of place.

They will hold anything that sits in the bottom of the bowl. Such a cool product. When I do this again I will place the yarn in specific patterns and shapes.