Month: July 2018

Another ceramic pot

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while will know that last year I was introduced to a lovely little ceramic studio where you go to decorate premade ceramic items. Last year I decorated 4 pots for my desk to house pens etc. Well, last week I went back and did another one. I had every intention of doing something different but then decided that my crochet hooks could do with a nice new home.

This time I decided to completely freestyle it and go with what the mood took me. So, first I  chose the background colour, with no real idea of what I was going to do next. I painted the background a light orange and then decided to drizzle paint around the pot…

Then I chose another colour to drizzle, this time with a slight sparkle to it (unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of this stage). I was going to stop here but the urge took me to add another colour with sparkle, so I went with it…

As you can see from the picture, the paint pooled at the bottom and when I lifted the pot up I was left with big sticky blobs of paint around the edge. So, the next job was to wipe the excess paint away from around the rim. This is how the pot looked when it was finished but preglazed…

The colours always look so pale and insipid pre glazing but the glazing always makes the colours pop. Anyway today I was able to pick the finished pot up and here it is…

Its no masterpiece but I love it, I love that its a complete one off and it wasn’t copied from any step by step instructions, its all my own. You cant see the sparkle in the photos but up close it has a little twinkle.

I love how it looks with my crochet hooks in it…

And I love how it looks on my desk with the other pots. They are all so different and all hand decorated by me…

Being surrounded by handmade things makes me so happy, especially when they are handmade (or in this case decorated) by me.

 

Karen x

June project review/ July project goals

Yet again, its taken me until the middle of the month to write a review of last months projects but nevermind, better late than never! Here it is:

Spring embroidery sampler: its finished and I actually got round to framing it too, along with my winterberry embroidery…Here’s my version of the spring sampler, compared to the original. Much as I did like the original, I wanted to put my twist on it, there was a little too much green for my liking!

  

Linen project bag: I did the embroidery on this and was all ready to sew it up when I discovered I’ve lost the velvet ribbon that goes in it for the tie, so its currently all pinned up waiting until I either find the original ribbon or a suitable alternative.

Mystery crochet project: This remains a mystery, I’ve lost steam with it so may put it to the side for a little while.

Zenbbroidery mandala: this is going very well and is largely the reason that I haven’t finished the mystery project as I seem to be wanting to work on this at every available opportunity.

I’m loving the embroidering so much, I find it very therapeutic rather like colouring in.

Ripple blanket: The ripple blanket is going well, albeit slowly as I keep getting sidetracked with the embroidery and machine sewing. I’m just about a third of the way through it now but I’m in no hurry to finish it just yet.

Machine sewing: Yippee, the old bird finally came out of her retirement and I am very very excited about all the things I am planning to make with her! So far I have whipped up lots and lots of bunting triangles. One length of bunting is actually complete,  1 more ones is all pinned up ready to have the binding sewn on and a third is just waiting to be pinned. Here is a sneak preview of the completed one but there will be a full post once all 3 sets are finished…

Itty bitty squares: they still remain in a box, with their itty bitty ends still attached. I think this may well be left for a little while and picked up in the Autumn in blanket making weather.

All in all I’m quite happy with what I achieved in June, especially the bunting. Unfortunately I don’t have an awful lot of spare time at the moment but I can see the sewing machine put into A LOT more use in the near future.

July project goals

Seeing as though we’re already almost half way through July it seems a bit daft to write a separate July goals post so I decided to tag it on to this one. Pretty much my only goal for the next week is to get through the last week at work, the last few weeks at school in the summer term are always a bit manic to say the least. Crafting wise, I’ll be happy if I finish the 3 sets of bunting that I’ve started, finish the linen bag and continue to work on the Zenbroidery mandala. Anything else I manage to get done will be a bonus!

What crafty makes are you up to at the moment?

 

Karen x