Chicken pig and bears, exploring crochet.

What a glorious, sunshiney day.  Its smells like summer is coming, all green and growing. 

 

Iz, Defi and I went to the river this morning, we watched the swans bathing and grooming, the ducks swimming, the golfers on the opposite bank golfing...and losing balls in the river which was most funny... and we smelled the smells that mean summer is coming, wet, green growing smells.  Ummmmmmmm.

 

So.  I have been busy lately, or rather the hubby and son have.  After deciding that the time is right to start giving some lessons in how I make my style of beads, the studio had to under go some renovations.  Both hubby and son are currently on a lunch break, but within the next couple of hours they will be finished.  We just need the pipes tidying away (a quick trip the hardware shop to purchase some clips and bits) and a sweep up and I will be firing up my torch for the first time in over a week....I have missed my torch.  I will be posting pictures of the studio, soon, it still needs a lick of paint to brighten the walls, but I have to melt some glass first, with my nice new torch, the Midrange Plus, and I am now connected to oxygen tanks rather than an oxygen generator so will need a little play to get used to the hotter, faster flame.  I have a massive grin :)

 

Seeing as the studio has been out of action for me to play in, I have been playing with another medium.  Wool.

 

I don't knit, I can only do purl and knit stitch and knitting grows so slowly that I get bored, but I do crochet, not very fast, but faster than if I was knitting.  I have picked up the hooks several times over the years and made crocheted tops and gloves and little things like that, but nothing ever grabbed me as much as making little creatures out of glass, so my crochet stints never lasted long, until now.

 

As I haven't been making pigs and cows and dragons and bears in glass, I thought about filling the gap with crocheted ones.  I have glass buttons, lampworked ones, that I have been wanting to put on something, thought it would be a jumper for me, but had a little epiphany and not much enthusiasm for a larger garment, I found on line a free pattern for a pig and chicken toy by Michele Wilcox, and using my eye buttons gave piggy a goofy look.  Defi loves this toy and is always in trouble for trying to steal it!

 

After I made the chicken pig, as he is called around here when Defi runs off with him, shouts of 'give back chicken pig' echo around the house, I wanted to make something else.  The teddy bear pattern was another free one I found on the internet, again by Michele Wilcox, and when she was made she just looked so naked and cold, so I set about trying to find teddy bear clothes patterns and came up with none.  Very disappointing.  So I picked up the hook, and set about making teddy clothes, with lampwork buttons, of course.  This well dressed bear, has knickers, little top with two buttons, a pinafore dress, hat and shoes.  Best dressed ted in the house I think.

 

Just off out now to fire up my torch and make something in glass, but my interest in wool has definitely been ignited so expect some more animals from me, I have already drawn up plans to create my own patterns, so maybe some glass creatures will find themselves recreated in wool.

 

Enjoy the pictures of Esme and chicken pig in the garden, you can just see Defi in a couple loitering around ready to run off with chicken pig, who is now safely upstairs out of the way!

 

 



 

 

Laney x

Grey days and Chickens.

Today in Hereford, its grey, misty, dreary and a little depressing, considering its early March.  After a very wet walk down at the river this morning, followed by a vigorous hosing down and cleaning up of the dogs when I got back, I turned on the heater in the studio, and had a couple of hours pottering about in there.  Coming back into the house I walked past this trio, and they waited there until I could grab the camera and take this snapshot from the window in the hall.

 

My studio is left of these wooden chairs, which see alot of sitting on in the summer, and to the right of them is my veggie beds, hence the sitting on in the summer, admiring my lettuces and such, but over winter they languish under the grey skies and turn that lovely silvery colour with touches of green...and chickens!

 

 

From left to right, Dirty Gertie, EveryReady Looky Likey and Frankie, who was originally totally black feathered and now white as snow.

Two of my veggie beds, waiting for veggies, we have one of the Maran girls (there are two but they are just the 'Maran girls' and Big Red, the oldest member of the chook coop.

Not the best pictures of the week, but they made me smile!

 

Laney x

Following my muse.

I have been practising my seed beads and trying to improve my skills.  I am really rubbish at following a pattern, although I have some fabulous ones by Lynn Davy a wonderful, talented lady and friend from the Craft Pimp forum, but I never seem to follow them exactly, always going off on a tangent and following my muse.  Lynn tells me this is normal and I should go with it!

My blue dragon, is my own lampwork bead (what else!) and I have used some beautiful blues, once again inspired by a lovely blue piece that Lynn did and showed on the forum, and spiral roped and looped around the dragon, it took a bit of jigging to get him to orientate the right way.

My blue dragon with spiral beaded rope.

I have worn him all week and he is so comfortable now he hangs properly!

Finally, I can reveal what I sent my bead soup blog party partner (what a mouthful!) thankfully Lizzie says she loves them and I am so excited to see what she does with them, here they are....

Bead Soup for Lizzie

Just a little different from her usual style of elegance and femininity then!

Sunday Feb 17th is Poole Bead Fair, and if you click on this Poole Bead Fair money off link you can print off the flyer to get the discount on the door.  Be nice to see you there!

Have a great Valentines Day, I am now off to see my little brother get married!

Laney x

Chickens and bead soup

Yesterday I got this in the post, isn't he just fab!  He is made by my lovely friend from the Craft Pimp Forum Vic from Cornish Dragon click on the link and go to have a look at her blog.  She has only recently been experimenting with her fabric dolls and I think she has a great future ahead with them, even my kids said she should make lots and sell them in gift shops and Etsy, which from my children is high praise indeed.  Chooky, has now got a birds eye view seat in the window of the living room, out of the way of our Defi, who as you can see in the top pic is a little bit intrigued at the chook in the house and worse, a chook on the rather dusty rocking chair in the kitchen!

Other news is my bead soup from Lizzie at The need to Bead came this morning.  I have my beads for the bead soup blog party they came all wrapped up beautifully with ribbons and flowers

and inside on a beautifully printed label all the contents, I could learn alot from how this was packaged!

Now all I have to do is figure out what I am going to do with all this grown up stuff!

What an exciting week and its only Tuesday!  Hopefully Lizzie will have got my bead soup today, as soon as she has let me know I can post a picture of what I sent to her.

Laney x

Where do you get yours?

Inspiration, that is.

I read lots, from fantasy to fables, novels to comics, childrens books, they have the best pictures, to classic literature, poetry plays..I read everything, except cookery books, I loathe cookery books, because I loathe cooking.  My husband finally banned me from the kitchen last week, after setting fire to a tea towel and welding egg onto the hob, but that is another story!  Thankfully, he loves to cook and is good at it.

So.  Other than reading, where else do I get my inspiration from?  Funny tales I hear from other people, of minor catastrophes that morph into funny cartoon beads, and pictures.  All pictures.  I have boxes of photographs, from back in the day when you developed film, all the animals I have loved and now lost, the kids growing up, holidays, gardens, lots of pictures.  I also have pictures on my laptop, sadly I have lost as many as I have kept due to not backing up my systems often enough.   And the internet. 

I love the wildlife websites, National Geographic being one, and just recently this one, Project Noah  This is a great website, with fabulous pictures of all wildlife, fungi and plants.  I found this fabulous guy on there, he is gorgeous...



Philippine Eagle
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/8050935

Isn't he gorgeous?  Have a little look on the website, its brilliant, lots of lovely pictures.

Another picture to finish off and one that is exclusively mine...well whom else has a chicken in a bowl of water in the utility room sink, being stared at by an old mog?

Claude and Dave

Dave sadly, passed away not long after this picture was taken, nothing to do with the bath I assure you.  I was told to place her in a bowl of warm water, chooks love this when they are feeling unwell, it can revive them, and it did Dave for a few days, but sadly she didn't make it.  Still its a fab picture and a treasured memory, perhaps there is a chook in a bowl coming to an Etsy shop near you!!

For some of my inspired beads! visit my Etsy shop

Laney x
 

Stitch markers and experiments

 I have been encouraged by Sara of Crafts of Texture, to make some stitch markers, using my natural brand of humour, finally able to put it to some good use!  She brought some glass buttons from me, a while ago, and mentioned that with my humour, stitch markers would go down a treat...so get them while you can!  First up is my trademark Chook marker with fried eggs and bum holes...how else would they lay eggs!!

 

Chicken (chook) and fried egg stitch markers on Etsy

Just click on the link for the chooky set or for the Sheep and balls of wool set (below) click here!

Struggling to think of that perfect Xmas gift for Granny?  Look no further than in my Izzybeads Etsy shop

I have been experimenting with my fused glass.  This pendant is quite simple in that there was only three pieces to cut, but the finished piece is stunning, but, a touch grown up for me!

So...

I decided to have a play.  I put together some fusing glass and made some cabochons, then I dragged out the glass paints (ones that go into the kiln to be fused into the glass, so posh ones!) blew off the dust and promptly emailed the lovely Jill at Kiln Fired Art for some tips.  Sadly, my watercolour skills are limited, the paint isn't vibrant with me, it just goes to mud, and using glass paints is a similar process, other than for drying you use a kiln.  Jill suggested I try an oil based medium, which resulted in a quick dash to the local supermarket for some Olive Oil, then I set about my fused cabs. 

So far they have had two firings and I am not unhappy with them, just not over happy.  They are not quite the masterpieces I imagined they would be, but, they are a start and I have many more ideas...and cabs...to play with, but I think I will take the bull by the horns and attempt to use the glass paints in a more watercolour technique, possibly this weekend...wont be next weekend as we are now counting down to the Beadathon raising awareness and funds, to support the Children with Cancer charity. 

If you are feeling generous and want to support us, and read more about it, click this link Beadathon.  We are a small group of lampworkers, and we are very passionate about raising awareness for this fabulous charity, we are nearly at our target of £500 and it would be brilliant to reach that by next weekend.

Laney x