Upcoming Craft Show

Next week is the craft show at my work. Basically all the people that make or do side business type stuff can sell things in the building for two days down stairs in the main area. It's usually pretty fun to see all the different stuff people you know do that you didn't previously know about. While I'm excited about it I am really not prepared for it. Well, I am but I'm not.

I'm pretty sure I have plenty of stock between scarves and pendants but I just haven't organized it in my head yet as to how I want to set it up or display it all. I have some ideas but nothing solid. Just got a shipment of wire in today too specifically for show pendants and bracelets so I will be busy with that later this week and the weekend.

Most of the pieces I've made I have put on etsy but this moonstone pendant I made this weekend I am holding back. It's just really lovely and I'm not ready to let it go yet. Since I don't wear a lot of jewelry it wouldn't be worn and loved as much as it deserves if i kept it but at the same time I'm just not ready to give it up. So, I'll save it for the show and if it doesn't sell up to etsy it will go.


On the knitting front I finally finished a sock I had been working on a design for. Sadly it took me needing the needles the sock was on to finish it up. Now I just need to write up the pattern for it.

Sock Blanket Square and Pendants

I just finished a pretty big order of custom pendant wrapping and have finally gotten a chance to work on the new stones I bought at the show on the 31st. These are my first two that I've done for my shop. I love the labradorite and the kyanites that I picked up are awesome. There's a good chance that one of them just might end up in my own collection


I also finished the first square of my sock blanket I'm working on. This was actually finished before last weekend but it took forever for me to get it somewhat blocked and a picture taken. Haven 't started the second square yet but I have some Christmas knitting to do first.

Weekend Knitting

To keep myself on track knitting wise I thought I would do an update each Saturday on what I'm currently working on or finished.

I finished one of two of these fingerless mitts. They are called Namaste Mitts and I bought them as part of a kit here on etsy. They fit incredibly awesome and are really fun to make. I have a couple of other projects I'm working on so these have taken a bit of a back seat but I definitely will be getting to the second one soon.


I also recently finished this slouchy hat/beret. Pattern can be found here. It ended up being a bit big which is good but bad.


It's really slouchy like I wanted but doesn't really fit at the ribbing. I haven't done it yet but I plan on buying some of those small, plastic hair combs and sew two of them in the ribbing so I can still have my slouchy hat and have it stay in place.

The newest project I'm working on, which I started yesterday, is a blanket that will be made out of sock yarn. It's called a Barn Raising Quilt and is a pattern from this book. It's basically a bunch of 7-7 1/2 inch squares knitted out of sock yarn scraps. Of course I'm not knitting mine out of scraps and am doing it in a rainbow type pattern. This block I'm working on will have an orange center and then red around it. I just started the red so it's kind of hard to see.

After forever and a day...

I figured it was high time I FINALLY get back to updating my blog. And what better way but to show off my latest stone haul from the gem show today. I spent way more than I had budgeted but I found some really great stones this time around.

First, Dave and I were actually there at 10 AM when the doors opened. The previous times we have went I would work a couple of hours and we'd end up getting there at 10:30/11 AM. Of course the majority of people there are there to buy bead strands and finding type stuff. First I hit up my usual vendor for moonstone and labradorite. They had a nice selection this go around that were good sized and lots of flash. I was a bit disappointed in their labradorite but did find some nice larger pieces for pendants. I also decided to try some kyanite. It is one of my favorite stones but I'm not sure how it will do in the shop, so I'm taking a bit of a chance there.

Then we went around to some of the other vendors. I found some more nice labradorite so I bought those and then I found another vendor that had some beautiful stones. Alot of them were really big which was disappointing since they would be way bigger than I would want to wrap but very nice quality. I picked up some one off stones there that just looked interesting. Two fossilized sand dollars, a nice piece of lapiz, a green turquoise and then my favorite, 2 brecciated stones that are made up of turquoise, sugilite, and pyrite.

I usually don't go for man made type stones and stick to natural but these were too beautiful to pass up. The colors are amazing and they will make absolutely gorgeous pendants.

Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff

I am looking forward to the three day weekend coming up. We have no major plans, but regardless I'm intent on enjoying that extra day. This weekend I worked a little bit on everything. I decided on a quilt block design and started cutting the pieces out. Did a pendant out of the apatite stone I got in recently and put it up on my etsy site as well as worked on some knitting patterns as well as start another project. Yeah, I know, I need help. I think I have something like 7 projects going on right now dealing with knitting.

The pattern I ended up choosing for my quilt/wall hanging is called Bouncing Betty and I found the block off of the Quilter's Cache site. I found the site several years ago and the amount of information and patterns are amazing. Right now I have some of the pieces cut out but haven't sewn any of them together yet.

Last week I sent in some of my silver scrap to the place I usually buy from and opted for a store credit. I'm running low on wire anyway, so I figure that would be the best way to use it. More wire and also a bracelet mandrel. I really liked how that labradorite one turned out and want to make some more but the method I was using to sculpt the bracelet was taking too much time. Better to invest a little and get a tool that can help with that process. I'm anxious to get it in because I have the one smaller moonstone that I posted about earlier and I wrapped this large round moonstone this weekned for a bracelet that is going to be absolutely amazing when it's all put together. I also found some time to wrap up this apatite stone.

What am I thinking?!

So, as if I don't have enough projects and stuff to do I am fixing to start another mini type quilt. It all started this past weekend when we were putting some stuff back up on the walls in our dining room. My dining room is done in a rustic/americana look and one of the things that I have is a wooden quilt hanging shelf. Shelf on top and a wooden rod across the bottom to hang a quilt from. Currently it has about a lap blanket size quilt on it done in red white and blue fabrics. Now I'm jonesin' to make another in similar color and pattern. Here are some fat quarter's I picked up at the fabric store. I love the blue swirly one on top.


I also have new stones that have come in, 6 labradorite and there are two HUGE ones. Also some amber, apatite, rose quartz and lapis. Most of these are going to become pendants a couple maybe bracelets.
Speaking of bracelets this is going to be my newest one. My first one, the labradorite, sold today. Similar design but this one is going to be much thinner and dainty the the other since I'm making it out of a small, rectangular moonstone. In the end it's going to be beautiful I think.

A Happy Father's Day

Today has been a pretty good day. Dave planned on grilling some steaks here at the house for dinner with his dad. It was a good time and Garret was happy to see Grandpa at his own house instead of going to visit him. Of course neither Dave or I are ready to go back to work tomorrow even though we took Friday off.

I finally finished a piece that I was on the fence of what to make with it. But in the end it decided to become a bracelet. I love how it turned out because now I know what to do with a couple of irregular shaped stones that don't really work for pendants.

Christmas in July? Well...Almost

Here is a picture of my latest test knit...a Christmas Stocking. I know the person I'm test knitting it for on Ravelry is planning a July Knit-a-long so it really will be Christmas in July. It turned out wonderful for just using up some leftovers of yarn in my stash. Now I just need to make two more before Christmas. One for Dave and one for Garret.

Yesterday I got in my box-o-yarn for the color work project I have planned. The colors are all as expected so that will possibly be started this weekend. I'm anxious to start on it but I really need to figure up a few other things on it design wise so that puts me starting it Saturday.

Halfway through the year

I'm still trying to figure out where the time as gone. It's definitely been a whirlwind of a year so far between Dave and jobs and watching the wee one grow up and the new things he learns every day.

Today I am starting a new eating regiment. I hate to say diet because I really don't want this to be that. Right now I'm taking notes out of the Eat Clean Diet book by Tosca Reno. I've done similar plans in the past and they have worked for me but was usually really strict and just not something I wanted to adopt for long term. So I'm giving this a try and just spent way more at the grovery store this weekend then I usually do but my fridge is now stocked full of fresh vegetables and fruits so that's probably a good thing.

I've been busy knitting lately. Did another test knit of an anklet type sock and am working on another now that is a Christmas stocking. It's turning out really cute so I'm anxious about that. I feel like I'm finally using up some of my stash yarns instead of just adding to it. Also am working on some cute fish socks for a Knit Along. One's finished but just need to fo the other. I also ordered some yarn for a pair of long armwarmers that is going to have some detailed colorwork that I'm designing. I think I have the design down just hoping that it transfers to knitting as good as it looks on paper.

After last month I've been a bit lax in creating new jewelry. Did up a larimar set that turned out absolutely beautiful as well as made a couple of labradorite pendants. I also have a moonstone one I need to list but just hasn't happend yet.

New Stuff

This month has been super busy. Between playing catch up with jewelry, doing classes at the knit shop and personal knitting I feel like I've been going non-stop. I am definitely looking forward to the 3 day weekend coming up.

On the knitting front I am still working on that shrug. I hate to admit it but right now it is hibernating. I just can't bring myself to owrk on it right now. This weekend also starts the Gothsock knit-a-long. I have been totally hoarding this yarn here lately and recently picked up three skeins in her shop update AND got in on the sock club that opened up yesterday. I already have the pair of socks I want to do picked out and I also plan on doing some arm warmers since this knit-a-long is from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

As for my shop, sales have been terrific this month which is great but is kind of bad in that if you don't have as great of a month the next month it's kind of depressing. For now I'll take it and be happy though. If next month is a slower month sales wise at least I'll have time to make new things. I ordered some new supplies a couple weeks ago that came in last week and I've been having fun with that. One of the things I purchased were these sterling silver flower bezels that fit 6mm cabs. Here is the first bracelet I made where I set jade and lapis cabs in them.

I sold a lot of wire wrapped pendants this month and am trying to replenish the stock. I also finally found some carved shell cameos for a decent price. Here are the two newest pieces. I love both of these so much, they turned out beautiful.

Gem Show

Friday I went to the gem show and stocked up on Moonstone and Labradorite. I got some really nice stones, but before I show off my haul I want to show off what I created last night from 3 of those stones. I'm finally getting around to try and make some sets with a pendant and pair of earrings all wrapped similar. I've done it before on much smaller stones and I can't say I enjoyed that all that much. But this moonstone set came out beautiful if I do say so myself.


I have another set that are similar in size that I might use to just make a stand alone pair of earrings out of.

As for the haul, here's a photo of all of them together. The labradorite are beautiful and all of them have a wonderful, rich, blue flash.

Hats, Ponchos and More

Okay, I promised that I wouldn't take 2 weeks to do my next post so here it is.

I've really been getting into the test knitting so here is a picture of the color work beret I finished a couple of weeks ago. This was my first completed project doing a pattern and using two different colors. It was a great and fun pattern and went pretty quickly.


I am currently working on a poncho. It would be great for something to wear over a swimsuit at the beach. I'm making it out of some pima cotton in the most beautiful light blue color. It's coming together nicely and think I will be finished with it by this coming weekend.

After taking a bit of a hiatus I actually got some pendants done this weekend. Maybe it's the upcoming gem show or that I've had a pretty good month in terms of pendant sales and need to replenish the stock. Either way I made these 4 pendants this weekend. Two moonstone, kyanite and an amethyst cluster. All 4 have been listed in my etsy shop

Procrastination

I haven't posted in forever it seems and the sad part about it is I've had stuff to post about and things going on but just keep putting it off.

Spring is finally officially here in Florida. As by my allergies every plant, tree, flower or whatever must be in full bloom with all the pollen in the air. Luckily we've had a couple of nice rain storms roll through to hopefully keep some of it out of the air. There for a while every day when I came out from work my car was yellow with pollen from the oak trees. Ick.

I have been keeping myself busy though. Picked up a couple more test knitting projects. I did a color work beret that turned out beautiful and I'm doing a very open work meshy poncho right now. I'll post pictures of the hat and what I have so far for the poncho in another post ( promise it won't be almost 2 weeks). It's so sad that it takes having a deadline to make me actually finish a project.

Speaking of knitting my yarn FINALLY came in for the hoodie I want to do for this fall. I think I won't be starting it until June though. My date to finish the poncho is mid May, which I need to finish next week because in May I'm doing a KAL (knit-a-long). So hopefully by June my board of knitting projects will cleared and I can start on that.

On the jewelry front I have been slow to create. Although, I have had a good month this month selling pendants. Moonstone and Labradorite seem to be the big sellers right now. Not that I'm really surprised. A couple of the newer creations have sold but this one is still around and it's a really nice large statement piece too.

The gem show is coming up next Friday. I stocked up fairly well the last time but I'm planning on going to see if there's anything that just WOWs me that I have to have.

Test Knitting

This past weekend I did some test knitting. It was the first time that I had ever "signed up" to do something like that and test out someone's pattern. The pattern was for this scarf

It turned out better than I expected considering at first I wasn't really sure how the two yarns would go together. But it's beautiful and it was fun being a test knitter too. Definitely something I'm going to keep my eye out for in the future when people need patterns tested.

I'm slowly making progress on that shrug I mentioned in earlier posts. At least I'm down to the decreasing part of the other arm now so that is a relief. This coming weekend I suspect I'll get some more serious work on it done. I also made this really cool cabled bag. I need to piece it together and find a strap for it but it turned out beautiful, so pictures of that coming up when I get it all finished.

I've sort of been in a pendant making slump lately. I got a little bit of inspiration last Thursday when I sold 6 pendants in 3 days and then I made this piece and it litterally sold within minutes of listing it on etsy. That was a shock.

I also have these two newer pieces posted as well.

Daylight Savings Time

I hate when the time change goes into effect. It seems just when I'm used to everything the way it is it's 7:00 in the evening and still daylight out. I prefer it when it's the time of year but it still takes some getting used to.

As I've said before I've been on a knitting kick. I think the reason I've been on this kick lately as I've been picking projects that I can finish so there's a bit of instant gratification in that and the need to start and do another project.

I still haven't gotten a picture of the bucket hat I finished last weekend but this past weekend I made an adorable little monster for Garret. I bought the pattern off ravelry from this etsy seller. I modified it some so he has horns instead of ears but it turned out really cute. I named him Iggy but Garret just calls him "monster" eh, whatever works for him I guess.


I'm in the mood to do something different with my hair. A couple of weeks ago I dyed it a dark black/burgundy color and before putting the dark dye on it I used this dye from L'Oreal called Fuchsia Flash to had some dark pink/reddish color. I like the pink mixed it with the darker color but now I want it cut differently. Right now it's just straight and boring.

Stone Shawl Pins, Redeux

Last weekend I finally got around to playing with shawl pin designs again. I posted previously with a picture of a prototype shawl pin that was clay and had a stone in the middle held by sterling silver prongs. The problem I had with it was it didn't hang right for a shawl pin and I wasn't 100% happy with it. Interesting and beautiful? Yes. Exactly the best design for a shawl pin? Not quite. So, back to the drawing board I went and I came up with this idea...



I love it way more than the others design I had. It big, bold and definitely different for a shawl pin which is exactly what I was wanting. The stones are 30mm(about 1.25 inches across) and I have a supplier I know I can get this specific size from on a regular basis. Since these shawl pins are kind of big and not everyone would have a use for ones this large I'm thinking about trying to find some place that has 20 or maybe even 25mm round stones which would be about .75in or a full inch across to make some a bit smaller. I'll just have to check around and see what I can find and what works best. The best thing about it is I feel like I'm getting to combine both my love for jewelry making and working with clay and making something that is just beautiful.





On the knitting front I am so back into that it's not even funny. I think I have 3 projects ongoing right now or if I don't there will be. I'm still working on my shrug which is slowly but surely getting there. It's turning out really nice and should be kind baggy and airy so I think it will be great for spring. I'm still working on the dragon scarf/hood for the little one but it's sort of moved to the back burner for now. I also have a sock I'm working on that will probably get donated to the knit shop to be a display piece. I really like making the small ankle/footie type socks but just not that excited over making the regular length ones. The next project I want to work on is a vest. I picked up this beautiful blue and light green varigated yarn last Saturday at the yarn store for it and now just ned to adjust a pattern I have that calls for a different gauge yarn.





On the knitting front I am so

Dinosaur Roar

I've been in the mood for some quick knitting and wanted something I could make for the G-man or put in my cube at work. I found this cute little pattern for a small dinosaur using fingering yarn on ravelry and I believe the pattern is literally called Dinosaur Roar!. I had some green and brown left over from some ankle socks and arm warmers so I made a little one first. Then I decided to use some blue and green worsted weight yarn to make a bigger one.


The pattern calls to make each piece individually. While making the first one I found that it didn't take long to make but I hate piecing small pieces together. For the second one I modified the pattern so I could make all of the body in the round and stuff as I go. Then I make the legs and spikes and sew them on separately. Adding pieces on like that is way better than trying to seam sections of the body together. Plus, it really seems to make it go faster.

I have a bunch of scrap, left over yarn from projects so I see a hoarde of dinosaurs in my future.

Trying Out New Things

While I love doing my wire wrapping I have some stones that are too small for wire wrapping. Or they are at least too small for the work I like to do. I have done some metal working but I really just don't enjoy it as much as I do working with wire. I really wanted to start doing some stuff with prong settings and wire and alot of the stones I have aren't a perfect size that I can use a pre-made prong setting for. So, that only leaves doing it yourself.

I searched etsy for a tutorial on prong settings with wire wrapping and came across this ring tutorial. Since some of these stones are smaller I thought a ring pattern wouldn't be too bad to learn, plus I could understand some of the basics on making a prong setting out of wire. This was my first try, which didn't turn out half bad and used a labradorite stone I had.












Speaking of labradorite I recently listed this awesome looking labradorite pendant I call "Tempest" because of the blue section at the bottom that looks like a small storm.


And this moonstone pendant I called "Phantom" since the sutle blue flash on this one seems like it comes from the inside of the stone instead of across surface of the stone.


On the knitting front I am back to starting more projects that I can keep up with. I worked quite a bit on the shrug yesterday at the knit store and am finished with the one sleeve and am now a couple inches in on the back part. This will probably be my knit store project as I can go there, sit down and just work on it and it doesn't seem so bad.

Of course while I was there I picked up this pattern to make the G-man a dragon scarf. It's going quite fast and the more I work with it the more I'm thinking that instead of doing the head as it's shown in the picture I'm going to make it as a hood. Lets face it, it doesn't get that cold, that often here in Florida and if I make it into a hood he can use it more to play with and pretend he's a dragon.



I checked on my special ordered yarn and it will be 6 weeks before it shows up. Maybe earlier but that's the estimate right now. It sucks because I'm anxious to start on the hoodie but I also have these other things going on so that gives me time to finish them.

My New Project and My New Time Suck

Dave introduced me to my latest time suck which is a game for the original Nintendo called Castelian

Actually, the entire website that you can play them on is a time suck. They have just about EVERY Nintendo game that was made, even some foreign ones, and you can play them in your browser window. Definitely a great little bit of nostalgia.

I've started another knitting project, this time a shrug. It's easy enough of a pattern it's just b-o-r-i-n-g. I am not quite halfway through the main part and just a few rows short of finishing up the increases for the sleeve. I'm having a hard time staying motivated on it and can only do about 2 rows at a time before having to put it down. I love the yarn I'm making it out of though. It is a great heather green yarn that is made from cotton and alpaca. In fact the name of it is Avocado.

I'm also just placed a special order for yarn for this hoodie.



I figure it's high time I make one of these to replace an older hoodie I had that was similar in color that I had bought at the mall at a Charlotte Russe or one of those type stores. It was my favorite ever but the elbows eventually got worn out. I'm going to make it out of some malabrigo twist yarn in the color applewood.

New Stuff

This weekend I made another two pendants, this labradorite which is rather large and has a beautiful gold flash


and another amethyst one, which is a birthstone of February.


I also got a surprise on Saturday when some supplies I had ordered and thought weren't going to show up until today came in. Included were some flat swarovski crystals. I've been wanting to do a shawl pin with them and finally got around to purchasing them. I really like how it turned out too.


The long weekend has been pretty relaxing. I've watched a little of the Olympics since the winter games are my favorite. I like to watch the snow boarding, luge, speed skating and the downhill skiing events. It's probably a good thing that it was relaxing because I suspect this next week will be a busy one at work. At least it will be a short one.

Succesful Experiments

This evening, after dinner, I was sitting at the kitchen table where I have a portion of it sectioned off for my jewelry work. There is a box sitting there that has a couple of stones in it that are ones I am the most anxious to wrap. I pulled out one of the marquise shaped moonstones and all of the sudden got a design idea that was out of the norm for my usual wrapping style for this shape of stone.


I love it, it's beautiful and kind of elven or medieval. Something along the fantasy lines at least and I have to say, am quite proud of it. There's always an amount of satisfaction that comes with drawing out a design or imagining it in your head and then the piece turns out exactly how you imagined/hoped it would.

Some Good News

So, finally after 3 and a half months Dave finally got a job offer. They called today and offered him the job, which was the same one I mentioned that he went on an interview for. He is excited to get back to work so it's definitely good news. We went out for our usual celebratory Chinese restaurant.

I took pictures of my new pendant when I got home today and when I got around to taking them off the camera the main ones didn't turn out all that great. Ugh. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow. I did finally get a somewhat decent photo of the new shawl pin design I'm going to try out. I bought 3 more round stones (Labradorite, Ruby Fuschite and Chrysoprase) as well as some more silver wire. I really like how this one turned out, the stone in the middle is a type of jasper.

New Banner

Today I decided to change out the banner on my etsy shop. I recently got new business cards made and they use the 4 pictures in this banner along the top and then my information is below. I still need to do some updating to my actual web page but here is how my new etsy banner looks.


I need to work on changing my avatar as well but that just hasn't happened yet.

On Sunday I made a new shawl pin but I haven't gotten a chance to take a good picture of it yet. It turned out really neat looking though and plan on making a couple more. Speaking of photos and I have a new rutilated quartz pendant that I wrapped last night that needs some photos as well.

Oh How I Love Moonstone

I just finished this pendant up today. Sometimes you just finish a piece and you're like, "Wow, this turned out awesome." For me this is one of those that if it doesn't sell any time soon I won't be brokenhearted just so I can admire it.



I'm anxious to wrap some of the other moonstones I have. I bought quite a few at the last show and all of them are beautiful. I also have a couple of pieces of labradorite that I think will be quite nice as well.