wreath

I trimmed two of my six lavender bushes last Sunday (I do
it in stages so that the bees and other insects could still enjoy
them too). I decided not just to hang them over to let them
dry but made a wreath. Never made one before, so I'm pretty
pleased with the not-so-perfect result. Learned one thing
while making this: next time I'll use an environment friendlier
material for binding (because of the wire I'll have to unbind
this wreath before I can throw it away one day - not so clever,
hm..?).

Hope, you are all well.

yesterday

I've been sanding pieces for new pieces I wanted to do
for a while. Hope to finish the project soon.



In the garden I found some scarlet pimpernel (I found
out the name after browsing the web). So sweet! But
since my garden is already full with allsort of weeds
I grab them out and plant them in a pot (they don't
seem to like it though, since they hang the heads today).

Oh, and I added these two to the shop.


Have a lovely Wednesday!

sunday

The weather this weekend is half as nice as on Thursday,
so I'm postponing the work in the garden. I worked with
some natural materials inside.



I don't know why I always have to do something with my
organic waste before I finally throw them away. Probably
it's part of my childhood memory - I was impressed by
the creativity of the poor people in Indonesia. They create
their toys out of organic waste and other litters, e.g. a
boot made of citrus peel and used skewers. Creativity is
unlimited to the origin of the materials.



I hope, you're having a wonderful weekend!

be my friend

Remember I told you I wasn't satisfied with some felt
items last Friday? Well, one of them was the hedgehog.
I first had his felted spines "combed" to the front. It
looked cute, but somehow I couldn't find the right stitches
for him. I felt so insecure about it, that I did some sketches
last night, before I ruined everything by directly stitching
him (the bear was directly stitched without sketching, for
example).



I like the left bottom stitches best, but it wouldn't fit
the punky spines. So, I "combed" them back. It looks
less cartoon-like, but as soon as I added the first stitched
spines I knew I'd love him.



I hope to get more muses for the other items ;)

me and painting

Painting with other materials than watercolor or gouache
is something that takes me a good amount on courage
to overcome myself. I'm not sure why. Probably I had
kind of a trauma LOL

Two times in my life I've tried oil painting, but I didn't
like the result (I know, I shouldn't give up after only two
times, but I didn't have the patience). I like to work with
acrylic better (especially since it dries quickly), but up
till now I couldn't say I like the feel of it on canvas. I
have some half-started or half-finished canvases sitting
here *sigh*

Before Christmas I bought a book of acrylic paper for a
project I had in mind, which doesn't have to do with
acrylic at all (it was just discounted and has the perfect
thickness ;)). Last midnight I suddenly got the desire to
paint. I hesitated, either I should paint on canvas or on
paper and finally decided to try the paper. I'm glad I did!

It's of course a pain, that the paper rolls whenever it got
too wet, but it flattened pretty quickly as the paint drying.
I painted until the morning (I was finally in bed at 6 am,
because I of course had to grab a TWest first ;)). The
paintings - which supposed to be mixed media work - are
not finished yet. I think, I'm procrastinating the next
step, because I'm afraid to overdo them.


the skin was pretty dry from felting, that it looked like
an elephant skin - noticed while waiting for TWest ;)

I was thinking about the next step, when I saw the soft
light through the curtain (oh, what I call curtain is not
really a curtain - it's a makeshift, which became an ultimate
solution up till now..). I got a sudden muse to paint it and
I did. It's far than perfect, but I really, really love it! The
first time, that I'm really excited about my acrylic painting
and so I dare to show it here (but maybe I'd change my
mind tomorrow..).

experimenting

Sometimes life just goes as it likes and not as you plan.
I knew that, but it always caught me by surprise and
it felt like I'm almost drown. Let loose is not something
I'm good at. So, this is something which helps me stay
on the ground at the moment. And sometimes I chant -
even in a different way than a friend once taught me..


from my sketch book - chanting and practicing handwriting at
the same time (actually, the mantra is nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
but I was interested in the flow of writing it and the sound rather
than the correctness in spelling)

So yesterday the street carnival has started again, but
this year I decided to lock myself up at home. I was
experimenting with an idea instead. This time my couch
was my working table while I sat on the ground.



I'm loving the typography on the vintage thread spools..


I actually have some felt items ready for the shop, but
I'll wait a bit till I list them. Something is still missing -
I'm not feeling right about them yet (argh.. I'm a really
weird, complicated person - why can't I just list without
having a 100% right feeling about an item...?).

today

I'm working on a necklace. The wool in the water reminds
me of the worms we used to buy for our fishes.


Is it snowing, where you are? We got 10cm snow last
night! It's a record since we live here and of course
it's my turn to keep the yard free of snow. So, I think,
I have enough snow this winter.

dust bunnies

I'm working on my new felt collection. I'm not sure
I should call it a collection, as I'm pretty sure, as ideas
keep on flowing it'll end somewhere else than it has
begun. So, maybe it'll be a collection of some tiny
collections LOL



This is only a little part of how my kitchen table look
like at the moment - there's no place left to eat on
the table (but I have time to let it look this way, as
my son will be first back on Tuesday ;)). But the
dust bunnies of the wool are in every corner of the
apartment. I'm a HUGE mess worker, as I have only
eyes for my work when I'm on the roll. I work while
I'm sitting or standing or walking. So when I cut the
felt the scrap falls just where I was and while I'm
walking I take the dust with me. And right after I
vacuum the dust, I make new one - I'm horrible!!!!
But I don't really care, as I'm happy with the result :)

I won't show and tell at the moment, till I have the
collection ready - which I hope, at the latest next
Sunday. I'm so excited! Can you feel my excitement?
^_^

what a day

It has been a busy week for me. It's school holiday.
Because my boss is having a holiday too, I worked on
the B&M store each day except for today. So, I thought
my son could finally invite friends to play today and he
did. Two of his friends were here the whole day long.

I made some fresh ice tea (green tea with lemon and
sugar) for them. Since it was still hot (hot ice tea..
funny :)), I served them in mugs. And since I only have
some boring blue Ikea mugs, I needed something to
mark them, so that the boys won't mix up their mugs.
I then made wire tags with their initials to hang on the
handle.



I wanted to make some crepes for lunch, but I didn't
have enough eggs. I decided to take the boys to the
supermarket, as I didn't want them to do something
crazy at home. So I sent them out of the door, I went
out myself, closed the door, put my shoes on and...
gosh! I didn't have any key in my pocket! Arrrghhhhh!!
Something must be wrong with me - I have never locked
myself out of my apartment for the last 20 years and
suddenly it happened twice within a few weeks! And of
course, I haven't deposited a second key to a friend.
Again, I had to call the fire department *sniff*

So, that was the bad part of the day. But! There was
luckily also a good part of the day as well :) I got two
sales and.. I was three times on Etsy front page today.
Unbelievable!! That has never happened to me before..
Thank you, moonovermaize, 3FUN and joojoo! Also my
big thanks to rawartletterpress, felicitycrew, joojooland
(yes, it's the talented Afi, who runs joojoo and also the
PersianGarden), Lori411 and slinkymalinkicat, who
have brought my items to the front page in this month!

Oh,.. and my showcase on Paper 'n Stitch is up since
last Tuesday.

rock garden

I haven't given my collection a name. I've been thinking
of "stacking stones" or simply "stacked", but then it
won't really suit for the ring, as it's not stacked (yet ;)).
But last night "rock garden" came across my mind. I think,
I like it.

Here's the first batch of my collection all together till
yesterday. More are coming each day (when I come to
torching). I told you, I LOVE this collection :)

Hope, the rain will stop and the sun will comes out again
over the weekend, as I haven't photograph all of them.

I'm wishing you a nice weekend!

hope, fly and dream

Tuesday is almost over. It's time to announce the winner
of my guessing game. Thank you to all the participants!
So fun to read your guesses ^_^

But before I announce the winner, let me tell you the
story of the shards first.
The glass shards were a teapot before. We got a glass
teapot on our wedding. As the marriage broke apart,
my ex took the teapot with him. I bought a new one.
Somehow it has to be made of glass. I bought a cheap
one (it was similar like this one, but with a round pot
and a straight handle). After almost 5 years the plastic
ring, which hold the glass pot around it's neck, suddenly
broke. I was shocked - I was holding it, as I was about
to dry it!! I collected the shards to make something
out of them. And my new teapot? If you followed my
treasury addiction last winter, you might remember I
even made a teapot treasury. I was looking for one on
Etsy, but I couldn't find the right one or the ones I love
were out of my budget. So now my thrift store finds
are serving me as teapots. The mocha coffee pot is ideal
for me in the late evening - I got two cups of tea. The
coffee pot is great when I have many guests. It has even
a cozy to keep the tea warm.


Now to the winner.
Three comments guessing 'teapot' came from (1)Leina,
(2)Minna and (3)Antonella. Christine's answer was
unfortunately too general to be counted in.
With a little help of the randomizer....

.... Minna aka karuski is the winner! Congratulations!


I've turned the piece into a wearable artwork. I wanted
to make something inside the white ring, but I thought
it would be too much. But without, it doesn't feel complete.
So I decided to make a work on a small canvas, where
the dream catcher might rest if not in use as a necklace
(or window decoration or what ever the owner wish to ;))
and there it shows the words fly and hope, which can be
trapped by the ring.
This is what I'm trying to say with this piece:
Give your dreams wing(s) to fly. Never lose hope. Even
if you only have one fragile wing. Dream on, as dream
sometimes comes true.
It was a fun project, kind of finishing a puzzle :)
Thank you to all of you, who has given me the support
with your comments!

Working with polymer clay is not my thing, but sometimes
it's just practical. As for the two words I first wanted to
make them out of glass too, but lacking skill I didn't manage
to do it :/ Fimo did a good job here, even if it was not easy
for me (I admire even more polymer clay artists, like Leina
or Stéphanie). As my son saw it, he of course wanted to
play with Fimo too. He made a sword, an axt and a shield
for me :)

Fimo is involved in my next projects too (at least for
the moment - I'm looking for an alternative for an
eco friendlier material - maybe papier-mâché). I'm
drooling over Kokeshi dolls lately. Inspired by them,
I start to make my own dolls. The cotoneaster girl is
the first one of the series. So cute ^_^ What do you
think?

This one will be my next is my newest listing in the shop.
Another vegan friendly listing, as no leather involved ;)
Made over 2 weeks ago, but forgot about it *sigh* I'm
getting old!


I'm going to donate 10% of my sales of some items to the
American Cancer Society in honor of Laura, who is fighting
against the ovarian cancer. I saw about this project
sometimes ago, but just got the time to read about it
carefully. Just search for "etsyprojectembrace" to find
more items for this good cause on Etsy.

wednesday and progress

So, it's Wednesday already. The choir performance
is getting closer - tonight is the rehearsal. Hope, it
won't take too long.


My shop is getting crowded (on the fact, that I never
had more than 12 pieces in the shop till last year *lol*).
I had to cancel an unpaid sale unluckily, so there are
now two Moon Over Paris necklaces. This one is my
last listing. I've made it as an alternate for a custom
order and she has picked the other one. It's a 'revival'
of my first focal flower style, but with some leafs added
and made on the curved mandrel (that's why it's a lot
bigger than my old one).

Oh, and look at this.

Curators: OneClayBead, Lori411, iragranteco, aysetugrul,
karuski, brownbunnybyiris, ixela, emcisaac and Sumikoshop
I don't think, I've ever been featured in so many Ts
at one time. Thank you so much, girls! As I'm rarely
hanging around much on Etsy, I'm very grateful, that
you still think of me *hugs*

Also thanks to Craftopolis for making it easier to keep
an overview of Ts and TWs! It's one of the tools I visit on
daily basis to track my shop activity. The other two are
craftcult and Google Analytics (although I find the stats
about the referring sites are not always logically traceable,
but maybe I'm the one who is a dork ^_^). So, thanks to
both of them as well!

Now to my experiment aka guessing game ;) Have you
seen my last hint (there's another hint in the next
paragraph too ;))? It's not too late to enter a comment
(or two or three.. ;)) on this post.

Yesterday I've made three more glass pieces.

Can you see the flaw of the piece on the front left? That's
my old third piece, which I haven't shown you. I've
tried to etch it - didn't think, that Pyrex won't etch. But
it seems, that I've worked sloppy, as at this piece some
spots got etched. Those spots are where the glass was
fumed by the titan rod I used to make the hole (it's only
my theory ;)). If I had heated the glass thoroughly after
making the hole, those fumed spots would have been
gone. I will try to rework this one today - hope it'll work.

I've also made the next piece to ensemble to the end
result. It's made of polymer clay, ink and silk thread.
Actually the oval ring has been sitting since the begin of
this year, but my idea was not ripe enough, so I've put
it aside. I think, now it's the right time to use it :) The
part with the drawing is coated with a matte varnish.

And which glass piece will be the one for the winner of
this game? Well, I still haven't decided yet. I haven't
even decide, either it'll be a necklace, a brooch or even
something totally different. I'll let my creativity flow ;)
Just watch this space and see the next progress.

So, now off to my workspace :) CU!

scribble a doodle

I used to scribble and doodle a lot since I was
a kid. I don't know when exactly, but I stopped.
Scribbling became a burden somehow. I realized,
every time I start something, I was expecting
from myself, that it has to come into a result.
It was not only for fun anymore.

Three weeks ago I decided to start it again. I
start with some basic exercises. Lines, dots, etc.
No rules, no goals. A bit every night before going
to bed. So as my boy was in the hospital I decided
to take my drawing materials with me instead of
my knitting. When I couldn't sleep I continue my
scribble exercise. On Saturday night though I
wanted to do an illustration with watercolor and
I ended up with four postcards.



The only idea which I had already in my mind
before I started was the yellow stripes. Everything
else was just flowing at that time. I was just having
fun :) The exercise did it job!

dancer

Instead of going to bed I've made another
sculpture on Friday night. It begun again
without any direction. As the face was finished,
I thought, it looked a bit like a Wayang golek.
It became quite manly, even if I wanted to make
a woman's face.


See more photos in my Flickr gallery

I have to think of Olive as I made the hair, so
as my son said, "it looks a bit funny" :D
Well, I need to study ears and nose better for
the next time - not really happy about them.


See more photos in my Flickr gallery

I think, it's a man, who is in disguise as a woman.
Maybe he's dancing a traditional Javanese dance.
Maybe someone, whom I've met in the past.
Who knows - the clay always took it's own life :)
My hands was only the instruments...

clay day

My son wanted to do pottery for a long time,
somehow we have never managed it though.
Yesterday we had invited a friend of my son
to play with clay, as we finally bought 10 kg
clay!


My son's creations (more photos).

First I only assisted them, when they needed
me. With toothpick, chopstick and cutlery they
made each 5 things. First some flat work, then
sculpturing and at last they even made mugs
(my son's friend decided to turn it into a bowl :)).

After they almost finished, I couldn't resist
any longer - my fingers were itching ^_^
Starting with no plan what to make, I finished
with a portrait of a woman. She won't be the
last of her art, I guess. It was so nice to start
sculpturing again after over 6-years break.

hope :)

It always took so much time to find the perfect
shots, if I modeled my jewelry myself and take
the photos myself as well. I've been thinking
about buying a bust for a long time, but kept
telling myself, I don't need it.

After reading Nicole's article in the Storque
last month, I decided to go for it. And just a
few minutes ago, the postman brought her
(I won't give her a name though ;)). Hope, I'll
save my time in photographing from now on :)
For sure it will be very helpful to design my
next jewelries on her :)



Aww.. so many smileys - I must be really happy
about her :D Or is it pugsinspace's FP, in
which 4 Elements has it's FP debut? *big grin*

my fish

There was an action started by Etsy
to make a Swimmy inspired fish.
Many fishes have already started
their journey towards Brooklyn.

My first fish was made of a cardboard
with my paper-mâché experiment on it.
I really don't like the result. Because of
the junkmail and the gouache color I used,
it looked like dried tomato sauce *lol*


Today I've got a flash to make a collage.
The gills was a coincidence - a lucky one!!
This time I love the result SO much,
that I'm not sure, if I really want
to send it to Etsy. My heart is set on it
and I won't be able to make it once more,
cause of the images I've taken out of
the magazines.
Oh well,... let me sleep on it first.

The background is made in Photoshop.

creative thursday

Today I wanna show you my son's work,
which he has made for me last week.

The first one is a toy - a fishing game.
He has asked me for this for a long time
(I think, since he was 5? and now he is 7 y.o.),
but I didn't want to buy it, as I thought,
he will quickly get bored of it.
On Thursday he finally made it by himself,
while I was still sleeping. He said,
it's an early birthday present for me
(I have my birthday in 4 months :-)).


The second one was an arrangement of
paper ornaments. He has made
the red and pink ornaments the day before.
On Thursday he has the muse to
made some green ones and
arranged them on the floor.
It was really a creative Thursday for him
and I'm the lucky one to get all of the results.

nature junk

Today I've wanted to send my ACEO
to my Collage A Day trade partner.
As I was walking to the post office,
I've found some nature junks,
which are treasure troves for me.



But of course, I've also seen real junks.
Some are really interesting.
A blue toy locomotive e.g., which
layed almost fully buried on the road.
Too bad I didn't have the camera with me.
I should take a photo of this on Monday,
since I have to go there once more.
The post office closed earlier today *grr*
Anyway I've made this collage
out of some troves - nature junk.

so sweet!!

I was surprised by a very sweet person,
as I looked in my mailbox on Saturday.
Look at this stack of stuff! Isn't it sweet of her?!



Actually I was thinking to take a break
of making the collages, due to the carnival.
But how could I after receiving them ;-)
And today I've found an old bookmark,
which I've brought from my Japan travel
as I was 15 y.o. I think ;-) It's long, long time ago.
So I took the girl of the bookmark
and put her onto my collage #5.
I simply love Japan!!