lots and lots of beads...

This past summer, I met an artist who makes beautiful lino etched prints and cards.  She asked me if I would be willing to make some beads for her to attach to her greeting cards, as a gift to her customers.

And of course, I'm always up for a challenge...

This is her business card, (note the tiny martini glass in the corners)

and this is her logo.

I wanted to make something inspired by her logo and brand, but not exactly matching it.

The process started with making some stamps.  These were some of our favourites.

Then I made some beads and sent her a variety of samples to choose from.

The big flower in the middle of the top row was the winner for the flower beads.

 Some were more successful than others.

 And somehow I only took pictures of a few.

She chose some, with some modifications, and I got to work.

Stamping...

cutting...

 punching holes...

sanding...

 bisque firing...

waxing...  This picture was taken after the bisque firing.  The beads were each hand painted with underglaze, then waxed and glazed in clear.

Unfortunately at this point I stopped taking pictures.  I guess I figured people were bored of seeing pictures of unfinished beads.  I even forgot to take pictures before sending off the finished product.  A total of 700 beads in 3 different styles.  Lesson learned!  Even when exhausted...take pictures!

Linking up with some friends today at:
Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

Knitting in Progress...

I have a couple of projects on the needles right now.  I'm promising myself to finish these two before I cast on anything new.

 Over Christmas holidays, I was working on this lace edging for a shawl I want to make.  I thought it was done, but then when I went to pick up the stitches to work on the shawl, I realized it was too short (and that it wouldn't work the way I hoped).  I have "unbound-off" the last row and am adding a handful more repeats of the lace pattern.

 It's actually a pillowcase lace edging, but I'm doing it in a worsted weight cotton instead.

The whole project fits in my new yarn bowl (with a bulk size ball of grey yarn underneath, no less).  I worked on this last night with the yarn bowl on the floor and the cat ignored the whole thing completely.  Success!

 And this.  This one has be a little disheartened.  I'm not liking the  colour scheme nearly as much as when I started...

 ...but I keep plugging away at it.  I'm hoping the black binding that will go around the edges will tie the whole thing together nicely.  And it's such slow going since it is "secret" knitting that can only be worked on at night...after a certain someone goes to bed...which is not nearly as early as it used to be a few years ago.

I do quite like it like this, so there is still hope.

I have finished reading Rainbow Valley by L. M. Montgomery and am currently reading Rilla of Ingleside, books 7 and 8 of the Anne of Green Gables Series.  For all these years, I never even knew there was a book 7 and 8.  Book 8 is set at the beginning of World War I, so it's not quite as light a read as the others.  I'm just at the beginning so I'm interested to see how it goes.

Linking up with some friends at:

small things for Yarn Along

Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

from the kiln

Loads of grey and white...a new combination I've been playing with.

 This one was supposed to be a berry bowl, but I liked it too much to punch holes in it.

 A couple of yarn bowls (that double as candle bowls).

A rather large (!) soap dish.  

 A cutey - patootey. We can light the matches right on the bottom.  I think I'm going to make one of these for every room in the house.

A pencil cup or vase or container for wooden spoons.  In hindsight I wish I had covered it in the little flowers, to look like feverfew in bloom.

Some cedar dessert plates, since the ferns won't be out for months yet.

And of course, some buttons.  There's going to be buttons!

Hopefully, I'll get most of these items listed in my etsy shop this week.  Except the yarn bowls.  I do believe they are spoken for.  

Linking up with my friends at:

Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On

Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

From the kiln...

 A couple of sweet goodies came out of the kiln this weekend.

Some little green grass prep bowls...

 ...that just so happen to stack nicely.

And a grass mug to match.  

(Incidentally, I finished Wuthering Heights.  Although it's not marked, Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte was also in the book (surprise!) and I liked it much better.)

 Some sweet little buttons - more to follow later this week.
Oh, and they're listed in my Etsy shop should you like to have a peek.

And a new house guest.  

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember."

Everything else has to be sent back through for another firing :(

I'll share pictures the second time aroung - fingers crossed.

Joining some friends today at:
Keep Calm Craft On over at Frontier Dreams

Empty Bowls

Our local Potters' Guild has been working hard to get a great selection of hand made pottery bowls ready for this great annual event.  If you haven't attended one before, you get to choose a lovely bowl (oven, dishwasher, and microwave safe) from a great selection on display, and then you get to choose the soup you would like (donated by any of the 12 local restaurants participating), along with bread and coffee. You get to take the bowl home with you at the end of the dinner!

There is live entertainment, a raffle table with fantastic pottery and art made by local artists, and all of the proceeds are donated to the Inn of the Good Shepherd and the Lambton College Food Bank to reduce the number of empty bowls in our community.

This event is held in loads of communities in both Canada and the United States, and although ours is a little earlier than usual, they should be coming up soon.  Keep your eye out and support this great cause.

Knitting, Buttons, and Yarn Bowls

I've been making and making in the studio, but I have nothing finished to share yet.  Here are some of my works in progress...

 I am IN LOVE with these new buttons I'm working on.  I have cedar, juniper, and boxwood in the works.  They are underglazed and waxed and ready to glaze and fire.  Hopefully late this week or early next week.  My favourites are the tiny little juniper ones, or maybe the rectangular ones... I can't really decide.

Also waiting to be glazed are the "wood slice" buttons.  I'm looking forward to seeing these finished.  I have a few with great big holes for a big bulky yarn, too!

 Still plugging away at my striped scarf.  It's pretty hard to sneak in some good secret knitting time.

 And the yarn bowl of the day...

I'm currently working on another batch of yarn bowls.  Stay tuned!

Joining  few friends over at:
Keep Calm Craft On at Frontier Dreams
Yarn Along at small things  I'm still reading Wuthering Heights as I was asked to pause that to read both Scorch Trials and Kill Zone, part of the Maze Runner series.
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
Fiber Arts Friday over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder

small gifts

I cannot take credit for this idea.  I first saw these little pencil cozies on WhiMsy love (probably through Pinterest) but the etsy shop she linked to seems to be inactive.

My plan is to make a whole bunch of these right now for random little gifts throughout the year (and I think a few for stocking stuffers).  I am bound and determined to finish up a few tiny projects like this early on in the year and stash them away.

I have 12 so far, because I think 3 wrapped together will be a nice little gift.

They are on Ravelry over here if you want to add them to your queue.

I made mine using a ball of sock yarn from my stash, so without changing yarns, I get all these different little cozies.  I used nine stitches (in stockinette) on size 2.75mm needles.  They take around 15 or 20 minutes each with sock yarn, and I think I may give them a go with worsted too.

It took my about 4 or 5 tries to get the right size, and initially I was trying to do it with i-cord but it was a little too messy.  I switched to stockinette and I'm sewing them up in place on the pencil.

And here is my newest style of yarn bowl.  I like a yarn bowl that lets me rest my project in it, rather than just having the yarn in the bowl and the project on the side.  My little sock yarn ball is a little small for this particular yarn bowl (I think some tiny yarn bowls are in order).  It will be great for worsted weight.  

And incidentally, this bowl happens to be listed in my etsy shop if you need one.

Joining my friends today at:

Keep Calm Craft On, at Frontier Dreams
Yarn along at small things
 I just started Wuthering Heights last night...I have never, ever read it before.

Fiber Arts Friday at Wisdom Begins in Wonder
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia
From the Farm Hop

Candle cups

There's something about winter that just makes me want to enjoy candle light in the evening.

I have loved this pattern every time I have used it on plates and mugs, so I thought I would test it out on little candle cups.  It just might be my favourite yet.

 These have been on my "want to make" list for months and months.

 I walk around carrying mine feeling very "little house on the prairie".

 And I just love to look at them all lined up.

I can't decide, however, which colour I like best.  It seems to change with my mood.

 There happen to be a couple of sets newly listed on my etsy shop.

Stay warm, my friends.

January

Some years, as we start to pack away the decorations that we put up in December, the house starts to look rather plain. This year, as I sometimes do when I'm not ready to pack it all in at once, I'm keeping a few "winter decorations" up for January--- because they are pretty, and I love them, and they make it feel cozy in this cold dreary month.

 These two little arrangements will stay in the dining room as long as they are nice.  They are small enough that I can easily change the water every couple of days to keep them fresh.

 

 This little arrangement is on a shelf in the bathroom.  Wintry, but not too Christmas-ey to stay up.

 And this is one of my favourites.  It's above the china cabinet in the dining room, so we can enjoy it without it taking up any floor space.  It has a mix of handmade decorations and store bought items including crocheted snowflakes and stained glass icicles I purchased from fellow crafters/makers/artists.  It has paper-quilled snowflakes I made as a pre-teenager (more years ago than I wish to count). And it has icicles and snowflakes that I have bought piece be piece through the years.

 Oh, and a pair of hummingbirds.  Sparkly brown hummingbirds.

The dogwood branch, trimmed from my garden, is anchored in a glass jar filled with rocks, that sits in a larger glass vessel (also filled with rocks) to make the whole thing nice and sturdy.  Being above the china cabinet, I don't need it tipping over when we're not paying attention.  And in front of it rests a very large snowflake.  

How about you?  Do you leave anything up for January to stretch out the holiday season, or by now are you ready to pack it all up and say goodbye for the year?