Crochet Cactus

 

I recently stumbled across the most amazing scholarship ever! Along with a general application, you submit your latest knitted or crocheted project. I'm sure none of you are surprised at my project of choice. The plush prickly pear fits right in with all of my other little plants. Cross your fingers that the judges will love it as much as I do!

spring update

It's been pretty quiet in blogland as of lately. The past few weeks have been tumultuous, to say the least. Some new things in my life: I've decided to do art camp at the Springfield Art Association again this summer! I'm super pumped and already dreaming up new projects and creative ways to play tag, which seems all that kids are really interested in doing these days. The Southern Graphics Council International Conference is only two weeks away! I'm looking forward to major printmaking geekouts, some amazing exhibits, and seeing some friends I haven't seen in a while.

As you can see, I have a new obsession. Ever since I flipped through our pictures of San Diego and printed cactus cards, I've had these beauties on my mind! It's been pretty warm here lately, so I thought a trip to get some new spring friends, or 20, was in order. Deciding which to get was so hard! What can I say, I'm a lover, and all these little babies were crying out to me to be taken home. They now live in front of my bedroom window. We are happy together.

I also embroidered a new little travel pouch with the prickly pear cactus on the front. I'm starting to really like embroidery; it's soothing and a nice way to keep my hands busy and feel productive when I'm indulging in guilty television pleasures.

This weekend brings time at Paper Boat Studios, Indian food, a trip to Soulard Farmers Market and more plant/seed shopping.

Happy Weekend!

tie-dye

Today I had fun with some dye in my basement. I dyed cotton and a bunch of linen. I'm really pleased with the subtle tones I achieved and hope to try experimenting with bleach soon!

print on linen

I had a very productive evening in the bedroom studio! I pulled some proofs on linen with a linoleum block I've been carving this week. It's nice to finally see some prints after weeks of planning and organization. For too long I've compartmentalized my loves for both printmaking and textiles. I could definitely get used to this awesome schedule.

give thanks

Last night I learned how to make my mom's perfect pie crust. Everyone always tells her how good her crust is, so it felt kind of special. This year we had Thanksgiving at our house for the first time and she asked me if I would make these tiny pumpkin pies. These pies are even tinier than the ones I made before; I made them in mini muffin tins! My mom had also requested more acorns for the event. I love them all together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

acorns

sunday night project - for my mom!

jewelry design

tiny shapes

This weekend I developed a new addiction. I love how small they are (the middle left one is ring sized) and picking out the colors. More to come!

rings

Last night I finished up two rings. The tops are cotton crochet shapes with a stitched border. The sterling silver ring band is made of wrapped wire. I love soft things.

plans

After failing to find the perfect planner for 2011 (you could say I like to plan ahead) I decided to just make my own! I bound white, beige, grey and pastel olive card stock together with linen, cream embroidery thread. After the papers were sewn together I drew the calendar on each page, which took about three years. I found these great sheets of thin cherry, only a little thicker than the card stock, which I was able to attach to the bound pages. To finish off the cover I added paper collage and a piece of wool felt I made, all held together by a length of crocheted hand spun alpaca wool from my summer visit to the farm.

Can it be 2011 yet?

quilt

I have finally finished my quilt! This piece was inspired by a quilt that my grandmother made me when I was little. After printing my imagery via reductive woodblock on Sekishu rice paper, I stitched all of the details on the front by hand. A Kinwashi border and back panels along with textile batting completed the quilt. It actually feels soft, which I'm really happy about.

thread on paper

Today was spent sewing panels of Kinwashi and Sekishu rice paper together for my printed quilt project. It's almost done!

felting

Maggie, Eve and I (aka welloiledmachine) celebrated our last day at the Springfield Art Association with spinning and felting lessons. It doesn't get much cuter than this.

stitching

It has been an entire week since I posted last, but rest assured. It has not been dull. This week my internship at the Springfield Art Association began. It will be my fifth summer with them. The last few days have been full of prep work for art camp. I've been making finger painting examples, testing out silkscreens, cutting up endless piles of mat board and making lots and lots of coffee. The kiddies come next week: four and five year olds. The name of their camp is called "Mini Monets". I love it. This age group is my favorite. They are hilarious.

I also will mention that after hours of research, stewing and in store visits, I purchased a Nook e-reader. It is the absolute best thing ever. The only downside is that all I want to do is read, all of the time. I guess you could argue that's not a downside. But between work, my brother's high school graduation party, relatives from California in town and cuddling with my nook, I've been playing around with some stitching. My grandmother gave me some of her embroidery hoops last fall and I just love the look of them, not to mention their practicality. This is just a sample piece I've been playing around with using embroidery floss on cotton and simple shapes. I'm envisioning a larger piece later, or perhaps a patchwork wall hanging of some kind.

Tomorrow I'm headed back down south again to see the new Darwin exhibition opening at the St. Louis Science Center as well spend some relaxing time with Brandon. Hopefully this weekend will include a visit to the Botanical Gardens and some wild blackberries as well. Next week I'm hoping to share with you the fruits of my paper making class as well as my first attempt at book binding with said paper.

Happy weekend!

white & black

 

 Maybe I'm still thinking about LOST, or subconsciously not ready for summer. Both scarves are crocheted wool.

fleece

I purchased a bag of fleece from the farm I visited yesterday. This fiber is from an alpaca named Akira. The two bags that you see in the first picture divide the two different grades of fiber. First grade fiber is from around the alpacas mid-section and is the softest and cleanest. Second grade fiber comes from the surrounding areas and is a little coarser, but still suitable for spinning.

shearing

Today we visited the Wier Llama and Alpaca Farm in Fairview Heights Illinois. Once a year for a week the farm brings in vets, shearers and tons of helpers to assist in the shearing and care of 100+ alpacas and llamas. Alpacas are known for their friendliness and we weren't disappointed; all of the animals were really relaxed and pleasant, not to mention the cutest. There were also people there spinning fleece and selling crochet and knit goods. I got tons of spinning and fiber tips. I also purchased an entire garbage bag full of beautiful reddish brown alpaca fleece that I will promise you updates about. I have many plans for it.

The animals just wondered in as the pleased to get sheared.

Look at that fresh new do!

happy mother's day!

Today we are taking TWO of these homemade strawberry pies (courtesy of the best mom ever) over to my grandparents' house to celebrate mother's day. My brother and I got my mom a hummingbird feeder, so I felted her a tiny hummingbird to go with it and hid it in her lilacs so she'd be surprised this morning. I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

celebrations!

Today is my Grandma's birthday! I'm headed home this afternoon for a visit and I crocheted her this party hat for her big day. It just happened to be Harold-sized!

weaving

So yesterday, while I was putting off writing an art history paper, I made these goodies! I was super bummed this semester that I couldn't fit a weaving class into my schedule and have been looking forward to some much needed free time to attempt to teach myself. I already know the bare basics, but hopefully I can find a good instructional book this summer to fill in the gaps. I made these little charms by creating a wire frame around a cardboard circle and then weaving in and out of the warp wire with embroidery floss, snipping and changing colors as I went. 

Below is a view from the back. I tried both a sewing on a braid in a spiral and sewing on a piece of fabric. I think I like the fabric better; it is an opportunity to explore more pattern!

Before I bought the jewelry supplies I tested out my circular weaving pattern by making this coaster out of various yarns.

I'm really exciting about how these little projects turned out; and I love coming up with different color combinations. I smell an etsy shop update coming...