Getting a kiln

I am super excited because next month we get our incentive bonus at work. This will probably be the last year we get one for a while so I'm planning on enjoying mine completely. I have been wanting a kiln for a while so I can start doing some stuff with PMC clay. After looking and comparing for weeks I've finally decided on this one, the Paragon Caldera.

The nice thing about it is that it's small, reasonably priced and it fires up to a cone 10 which means if I ever want to actually get into some pottery and ceramic type stuff it should get hot enough to do just about whatever I want that will, of course, fit inside the kiln. Also, I'm getting the bead collar extension on it because I've always been a bit of a pyro and I have been amazed by glass work ever since the first time I saw someone doing a glass blowing demonstration when I was in highschool. I'm not interested in blowing glass but doing some torch work looks intriguing and from what I've read and seen I think I could do it. I'm starting off with soft glass so I can start off small but maybe someday I'll work up to the boro glasses. So any tips or recommendations on torch work are more than welcome.

Debating

This weekend has gone by too fast, or at least today has. Yesterday I made it to the knit shop which was nice. Since I don't have any more entrelac classes I gathered my displays that I had up there and brought them home. This is what I'm debating selling on etsy.

I learned how to do entrelac specifically to make this wrap. I picked out the Noro silk garden yarn, special ordered it and made it up. I have never worn it and it's been a display up at the shop. I made it because I thought the pattern and idea was absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, I'm bad about picking out things to make that are absolutely beautiful but are not something I will wear/use. This is a prime example. I love it, I think it's beautiful but honestly the most use it will ever get from me is draped over a chair and I think it's too nice to just end up as something like that. So I really am debating selling it so at least it will end up with someone who will love it as much as I do but will actually use it.

Speaking of knitting I did pick up some new yarn. It's a green tweed looking yarn that is alpaca and cotton. It is an awesome blend of yarn that has the smoothness of cotton but the softness and lightness of alpaca. I'm intending on making a hooded cable vest out of it for the fall months. I also have a hooded jacket I'm making out of some chunky cotton yarn that is progressing. I only have the sleeves complete and maybe 4 inches but I'm also doing the back and two front sides at the same time so there's a lot more stitches each row.

Revised Designs

It is finally Friday and this week has felt like the longest week ever I think. Between getting my shawl pin order together and mailed out, being sick and everything else going on this week it has been hectic to say the least. At least my job has been relatively calm which has been a God send.

Speaking of my shawl pins and the title of this post I redesigned one of my pins. I loved my turtle one but something about it just didn't sit right with me. I worried about the fins coming off if caught just the right way and the head didn't look right. So after making some of the other designs like the bee and the lady bug I decided to take some of the things I learned and re-do my turtle. I love how he looks now. Just too cute. I put him and some other new pins on my etsy site this morning.

Last night I decided to do a bit of jewelry work with this totally amazing piece of fluorite that I bought. One of the qualities of fluorite that I absolutely love is it's ability to be multicolored, to shift from one shade of purple, blue or green to another so you get these really neat bands of color. This stone is teardrop shaped and it's banding goes from the bottom right angled to the upper left. The bottom right starts as this darker purple, fades into almost clear and then goes into this wonderful blue-green color. Just awesome coloring. I'll post some pictures tomorrow of the finished piece when I can get some good pictures out in the sunlight.

My name is my own

Well, at least in the State of Florida it is, and no I'm not talking about my real name. I'm talking about my Wire Dreams Design name. I started the process of actually making my jewelry and crafting a legitimate small business. The first step to that is getting you "doing business as" name registered. I got the confirmation today and I should be getting the actual documentation in the mail in a few days. I'm excited because this is something that I've always wanted to pursue but have always come up with some excuse. Plus in looking into some of the craft fairs that are held around here you have to have the proper documentation of being a business to even get a booth. Looks like that second major in accounting in college may actually come in handy.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I got absolutely nothing done work wise today. Well, I shouldn't say nothing I did get some things done, but not nearly as much as I should have. I have no idea what I'm doing this weekend though. I know Saturday will be at the knit shop because I haven't been there in 2 weeks. I just haven't been working on anything that I need that couple of hours of "quiet time" to get a good chunk of knitting done. Plus, it's been 2 weeks, I've got to check out what new stuff is in that I can't live without. Actually what I really need is a couple of good stash busting projects. If I was in to seeming I'd make a bunch of random patchwork type squares and make an afghan but I hate seaming almost as much as I hate sleeves.

Long week and it's only Tuesday

It's been a while since I last blogged, I just haven't been feeling it lately. The weekend was busy with me working on things that were not going as I had hoped. I'm having some issues with my clay but just one color not baking right. It's really odd. Plus, today I woke up and was sick feeling. I'm better now but for most of the day I've just felt off kilter. I think that I have some kind of chemical imbalance that's causing it. It seems like after having Little G that things just never went back to normal. It hasn't really been a problem up until recently and I'm starting to notice a pattern with this feeling.

I've gotten quite a bit of crafting stuff done which includes an angora blend scarf that is this really nice shade of blue/gray as well as a larimar pendant. I also listed some pendants on my etsy and 1000 Markets store on Sunday. I also have some really neat carved mother of pearl leaves that have been dyed green that I want to make some stuff with. It's on my to-do list for right now though.

Snagged a Treasury

Today is one of those super busy days. Dave is working so it's just Little G and I. I've been busy most of the day working on one craft or another but I thought I would jump on and post a link to a treasury I got last night.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=53259

Also, I redesigned my banner again. I wanted to create something that kind of showed off my knitting, my shawl pins and my beading. So I did a picture of my beaded scarf with a beaded shawl pin. For now I like it until I come up with some other idea. I already have one floating around but that's just something to add to it.

BTW - I fixed the link to my treasury. Thanks for letting me know! :)

Is it Friday yet???

My days have been off this entire week. Everyday this week has felt like it should've been some other day than the one it was. Today is no different. Sadly because my week has been kinda off the last time I really got to do any crafting was Monday. But I have been doing a lot of designing and sketching ideas out on paper. I have about 4 different things I'd like to try plus I have another design I've been playing around with in my head for a knitting tool that might be useful. Well I know it would be useful for me at any rate. So I have those things going on right now. I also have some really nice stones that I got in about 2 weeks ago that haven't been touched and that's just down right a shame.

Last night we went out to dinner to celebrate some good news that Dave got job related. Little G was doing great until I made the mistake of letting him see his cup of milk that I was putting in my purse to take along. The joys of 2-year olds when they go from precious to crank-monsters in 2 seconds flat. The entire way to the restraunt all we heard about was "my milk". Eventually he settled down before we got there and then was totally happy about eating steamed rice and crunchy noodles (we went out for Chinese).

This morning Dave picked out his new orange and brown dinosaur shirt for him to wear. Orange is Little G's current favorite color and I think we probably woke up half our neighborhood when at 6:45 am we are raoring at each other back and forth like dinosaurs as I buckled him into his car seat. Eh, whatever, it's the little things in life that matters.

Busy Bee

I feel like I have been non-stop lately with my crafting which is a good thing. Lately I've been working a lot on my shawl pins and have four new designs I'm working on right now. One I did last night and it turned out pretty good, I just need to re-design one part of it and it will be super cute. I also got my bulk order in so I have 16 that I need to make.

This weekend I plan on shifting back to my jewelry. The craft fair that they were going to have where I work early May has been postponed to who knows when, but before November. So I haven't been as adamant about getting a stock of jewelry made up. Last week I did go out of my norm and experimented with wrapping multiple stones at one. This one is an oval rose quartz stone with two red rhodochrosite stoness above and below. It's huge though length wise, at least 3 inches. But for someone looking for something totally different, they'll love it.

I posted all three of my shawls yesterday on Etsy. So far the red appears to be the popular one view wise. I also finished another shawl similar to the red one but in a blue/green colorway, plus if I remember correctly it is a silk/alpaca blend which is a hand painted yarn from Great Adirondack Yarns. They have some awesome colors. This yarn was a bit pricey so it will be listing for more than what the others are in my shop currently. I was hoping to get some nice outdoor photos of it this afternoon but with the weather we're having today, I don't think that's going to happen.

Oh, and Little G loved his new Cars towel. He about jumped out of the bathtub just to be able to use it. Here's a quick cute picture of him hunting for eggs in the backyard for easter.

Monday again

It's Monday and I really have no motivation to be here at work today but at least there isn't a bunch of stuff going on that I really need to have done. Hectic Monday's are always bad so today is okay.

The weekend was good. I spent almost all weekend working on shawl pins. I think I'm up to somewhere in the 30's have been made? I haven't counted recently. I'm happy with how they are all turning out though. Still waiting on the bamboo needles I use to make the closure part of the pins but those are fast and easy to make. They should be in sometime later this week.

Little G had an awesome weekend. Friday they had a "Spring" party at day care of which he got to dye eggs and do an egg hunt and have too much sugar. I was out early that day after working on some stuff from home and I finally got decent photos of my shawls. They are soon to be listed on etsy. Saturday we all just hung around the house and did some basic errands. I made the mistake of going to Joann's on Saturday to pick up some more clay and it was a freakin' mad house. Apprently this past Saturday was the "Sign up for a class and get 50% off it's price" day. Luckily they actually had quite a few lines open for checking out. It never seems to fail that I'll go in there to pick up oone or two things and they have two people working with 12 people in line.

Sunday we did an egg hunt in the back yard for Little G. I bought 6 of the larger plastic eggs and since he likes the Cars movie so much I bought one of the min Cars sets and put those in the eggs. I think he enjoyed the hunting for the eggs most of all though. Then that afternoon we went over to Grandpa's house and braved the hoard of people there. I'm an only child and Dave has one sister. Big family gathering were never something that were in either one of our pasts except for maybe Thanksgiving. Ever holiday for my father in law's wife is an event. Her borthers and sisters and mom are there, their kids, her kids and their spouse, their kids as well as the kids' kids. Get the picture? Plus the house is maybe 1400 square feet total. I don't care how hot or humid it is outside it's the one place you can go to not feel cramped.

Speaking of Little G and Cars, his towel came in today. He has a brown shirt that has Doc, Lightening and Mater on it that he wore to school today, tonight he'll have his new Lightening Towel and we'll top it all off with Lightening pjs.

Yay for Friday

It's Friday and I am glad. I am so ready for the weekend too, the past two days have been hectic. I got my sample pack all done up and sent off yesterday. it all turned out rather well if I do say so myself. Then last night I got to work making some more shawl pins. I'm waiting on an order of double pointed needles that I use for the closure pin but that doesn't stop me from making that main part. I'm thinking about making quite a few to contribute to The Sampler

As glad as I am about the weekend being here I'm kind of anxious for Monday to get here. One of the ladies I work with sells avon and I ordered a Cars hooded towel from them for Little G. He LOVES Lightening McQueen. So, I know he's going to be so excited when he gets his bath Monday night and there's this new towel with Lightening on it.

We've had some seriously funky weather here lately. Two days ago we got a cold front in and things got down in the 60's for a couple of days. Of course today will be back up in the 80's. Usually the weather changes like this totally screw with my allergies but this time everything seems to be good. Plus the sunrise this morning was absolutely amazing.

New Pin

Monday I got my first inquiry about doing a wholesale order for my shawl pins. I am elated. I kind of hoped when I got the idea to make them and how cute they were turning out that something might come along like that. I've been working on getting a color/sample pack together to send to them which was my idea. I thought it would be nice for someone wanting to purchase them in bulk to see what all the colors of clay I have look like in person and a sample. Tonight I should be finishing that up and getting it off in the mail tomorrow.

While doing that I created another one that looks like a bumble bee. I haven't figured out exactly what type clay creation to use on the closure, I'm thinking of trying to make a hive but I just didn't have time last night to play, so I'm using a purple flower one from another pin for the picture.

I Love Fantasy

When I was in highschool as well as in college I played a fantasy/role playing card game called Magic the Gathering. A couple of my friends got in to it and there was a group of about 15 of us that would play every Friday night. Good times. I have to admit that the first thing that drew me to playing was some of the amazing artwork that were on these cards. It got to the point that instead of collecting certain cards out of a set I wanted to collect cards that had art by certain artists.

The other day I was surfing through the pounce feature on etsy and came across this store called Shadowscapes The artwork on these pendants that she does immediately took me back. I admit that I am a talented person but I am envious of those that can imagine such things and bring them to life on paper or canvas. So, if you want to see some amazing fantasy artwork check out her store and also check out her website.

Yes!

My idea of using a thin layer of resin over the other that hadn't set properly worked awesome! They turned out great and I couldn't be happier. I have six small ovals total. They are a little too small for pendants and none of them match so I can't use them for earrings. Lately I've been making some charm style bracelets and I think I might make either one with all six or two that have three ovals and some other beads mixed in with them. Whatever I decide I'm just happy I don't have to scrap five of the ovals, that would've been bad.

A wonderful weekend

So far it's been a great weekend. The weather has been absolutely beautiful today after two days of rain and cloudy skies. I'm hoping tomorrow is just as nice when we take Little G to the park.

Friday I got some more dried flowers, these in a bunch of different colors. I made a two of the round pendants and then 5 small ovals I'm not sure what I'm going to do with. Something with the resin didn't go as good this time though as it set fine for the two larger ones but was still tacky for the smaller ones. So I mixed up another batch and did a thin layer on top of the 5 smaller ones and we'll see tomorrow if that worked. I hope so.

Here's a photo and link to one of the larger ones that I think turned out pretty nice.

I also did up and listed another shawl pin that looks like a ladybug. It's pretty cute.

Mentally draining days are potentially bad for your health

Today was just one of those mind numbing days that where I spent the day starring at my screen for the majority of the day. Since my job deals with maps, looking at all those roads and everything else on a computer monitor took it's toll. By the end of the day I was mentally drained and fatigued. I was driving like a maniac on the way home today because my focus was just off. I don't know how many yellow lights I hit today and there was one red light less than a mile from picking up Little G from day care that I just flat out blew through. Luckily it wasn't a busy intersection or anything but my mind was just elsewhere. Talk about scary.

Speaking of Little G I found out this morning that he knows what lollipops are, specifically Tootsie Pops. We have a glass cookie jar over the sink that I have some Tootsie Pops in, because hey lets face it, mommy needs a sweet treat every now and then. This morning we are getting ready to leave and I see Little G standing at the sink and saying something. Which I'm thinking what are you asking for at the sink. So I ask him again what he wants. Then he turns to me, points to the jar and there is no mistake in what he's asking me, "I wan wowwy-pop.....orange". Yes, Little G must have been introduced to the joys of lollipops at day care. Of course I have to explain to him that he can't have a lollipop for breakfast which he seems to understand and is cool with but still. It was kind of funny and cute this morning. You truly never know what they are going to come up with from day to day at this age.

Much better today

I feel much better today. It's amazing what 9 hours of sleep can do for you. I'm slowly getting my appatite back but it's defintiely better than feeling sick all day.

Tonight I'm hoping to get to work on some crafting now that I'm feeling better. I have a charcoal gray shawl that I'm finishing up tonight but I really want to work on some jewelry. I have a rectangular pendant that I did the other day I need to post along with the purple charolite one. I typically hate square and rectangle stones. Just trying to get the bail centered exactly in the middle can be a chore at times but this one turned out great. Plus it's a fossil stone so it looks like lots of little flowers all over it. Definitely different. Last week I also received to awesome pieces of turquoise and some more larimar. So I have lots of stuff to keep me busy.