Schoolwork + art journal

It's the end of term, so I'm finishing up all the art homework I didn't quite manage to do at the time. It's all due tomorrow, and I finally only have optional stuff left! Whew. SO much drawing. I am reasonably pleased with most of it, though of course it could have been better, but blehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

This one is supposed to contrast geometric and organic shapes.


We had to get a black a white photo with perspective, and extend it three inches on each side. I like bit of it, where there was visible detail, but I am ambivalent about the rest.

Drawing is fun, but it's not really my favourite, so to take a break from drawing, I...did different art. Obviously. Did I ever blog about my art journal? I started it AGES ago, but I hadn't done anything in it in ages. Friday night I added a whole bunch of pages...I was just in the mood for it I guess. (I was also pretty sick on friday, and making art meant I thought about it less.) Anyway, pictures: (in the order they're in the book)

"Maybe not."


"Take control"


"Fear"

This one has a few pictures because it's a little interactive:

"Secret robot"
The pink yarn is handspun from acrylic bits, wooo!


"Greenery"


"Constitutional"


"Meetings"

Next time I choose a book for an art journal, I will choose one without lines. But this one was a dollar, so I guess I shouldn't complain. I also made a ball out of wire which is attached to the ribbon bookmark thing, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I also finished my mom's x-mas present! I was going to make her a hat, but I made her a hat last year, so I decided on a cowl instead. She really likes smoke blue, I got the yarn in the summer for her because the colour was right. There's actually about half of it left, so I might make her a (matching) hat after all. Now I just have to make my dad's present...he wants socks, but I also found this wicked prawn pattern, which is great because my dad loves prawns. Anyway, cowl:

It's 100% wool, but it's pretty soft? I hope it's not too scratchy for her....
For anyone worrying about surprises being ruined, it's ok! My sister occasionally reads this (that's why pictures of her present won't be posted until after x-mas), but as far as I know my parents don't know this blog exists. Secrets intact!

I sort of feel like "Secrets Intact!" should be some superhero organization's group cheer or something.

Hm. Apparently being sick makes me super productive.

SO MANY HATS

Goodness gracious.

I did a craft fair on friday, and I was madly making hats in preparation for about three weeks. Quite glad to be done frantic knitting for a little. Though I need to work on x-mas presents now...

Anyway, the hats! I'm afraid the pictures are a little blurry, I wasn't able to take them in the day.

This one is my favourite! I really like how it turned out, I'm going to write down the pattern and publish it on ravelry. I've made another hat with this pattern, so I've got it pretty much figured out now.


Crocheted hat, similar pattern to this one. The pattern turned out well, so I might write this one down as well.


This one makes me think of cherries!


Got to love pom-poms. This yarn is weird, it's a white single plied with brown boucle, but I'm happy with how it turned out.


Quite soft. I like putting stems on the tops of hats.


This one is soo floppy and soft! It feels like dressing gown (but in a good way).


Tiny toque. It looks very small, but streeeetches a lot.

Some of these sold, but not all, so I'm taking the rest to Rare Funk tomorrow. (If you're interested in buying any of them just let me know, I can put them on etsy for you.)

I was very worried about not having enough stuff for the craft fair, but then I went through my room, and found PILES of things! I probably had the most stuff piled on my table out of everyone, it was odd. I dug out a bunch of older hats, scarves, mittens, yarn (dyed and spun), jewelery and clay monsters. I priced everything suuuuper cheap, so stuff sold! I made $134! And today I met someone who had like my stuff but didn't have time on friday, and she bought another $50 worth of stuff. So hurray, money! Now I can buy more yarn!

I mean...christmas presents....

I spun a little bit of thread-y yarn:

Spun from the thread-y bits from Lions Brand Homespun, after I took it apart.

Finally, here's a picture I drew for art class:

We had to pick two different objects and transform one into the other. I picked a spindle and a lizard because a lizard is not like a spindle.

ATCs

Some new ATCs! This first one I made a while ago but only recently unfinished; it's crocheted, stiffened with mod podge, and has a wire guy climbing on it.




Next is a multimedia collage similar to a card I made a while ago.



The second collage is simpler (only a couple cut up images and some rubber stamps), but I really like the colours in it.

Yarnbombing!

I was on vacation with my family on the the Bruce Peninsula and I found a giant ring thingey (that ships used to tie up to, I believe?) and it was PERFECT for yarn bombing! I knitted a tag but I only had about half a day, so I didn't have time to make it go all the way around, which was sad, but I like the way it turned out well enough. I crocheted a frilly border on it too.

Neglect

Oh dear I have been neglecting this blog! And I have been making crafts quite obsessively. I'm working on my third knitted shirt in two weeks! (It's so exciting, I don't have pictures, but it's this pattern.) It's a little ridiculous, but crafts are AWESOME. Plus I have no money so I never go out and do things.

It's interesting how much the ATCs I make have changed in the last few months...getting new craft supplies has a lot to do with that though, especially a set of acrylics!


I've also gotten some more rubber stamps. I really like stamping on an ATC background then washing it out with water, it blends the shapes and colours really nicely. Here's a couple cards where I've combined that technique with wire:




I'm also getting fond of using hot glue as a material in its own right. I wish I could dye it though...




Texture just seems to get increasingly fascinating the more I play with it. I'd never really thought about texture all that much, but working with (and cuddling) a lot of yarn, plus some drug experiences (sometimes drugs AND yarn!), have really helped me focus on it a lot more. Plus flat ATCs are boring!




I also now have an account on ATCs for all. It's a rather badly designed site, but there's a lot of spectacular art on there. (And of course some not-so-great-art, but that's only to be expected.) The best part is that everyone is so enthusiastic about trading, and I really like being able to pick the cards I get (that's my main problem with ATCs on swap-bot).


I have also been learning to spin! It's great but I'm not very good at it; try as I might I can't get non-slub yarn. Luckily I LIKE slub, but still. The biggest problem is that right now I only really want to make big projects (mostly tops) and I don't have the skill or patience to handspin enough yarn for one. Sigh. So my handspun is sitting around for now. But I have learned to ply on a drop spindle, plus dying yarn is SO MUCH FUN. I just love bright colours, and since I'm just using food colouring (with vinegar as a mordant) it's super easy to get them! Here's one example:



The fiber is this super-soft wool I get from Yarn Indulgences. This yarn is unplied and terribly slubby, but I just love the colours in it!

I've also been experimenting with some weirder fibers. I picked some dried milkweed fluff from a field which I'm going to try blending with wool. It's too short and straight to use by itself (at least I don't think I could), but it's sooooo soft and silky. I just need to pick out all the seeds first, which is going to take forever.

I also tried making plarn! I spun it as well, which was super easy since I didn't have to tease the fiber at all. It was much less satisfying though....probably for the same reason. So, to make it more interesting, I plied it with some polyfil I dragged back from Toronto. I like how the polyfil goes sort of puffy!




And, of course, I've been yarn bombing things! Here's a couple, both crochet:

Yarn Bombing and ATCs

I went on a yarn bombing expedition the other day and it was very exciting! My favourite is the first picture, a hat on a statue (there is a photo of the full statue here. There are a couple more tags on flickr but here are four:

More hats! And I've learned to make rings

Hats

I have a bunch of new hats finished! I haven't decided if I'm taking them to Rare Funk, the store in Kitchener where I sell hats, or listing them on Etsy.

These two are commissions for a friend, who wanted presents for her children for christmas. The first is made with Lions Brand Homespun, which looks really nice and feels super soft, but it is extremely annoying to work with.



This one is made with acrylic and wool stripes.



This red one I started ages ago but ran out of yarn...so I got more yarn last weekend and made it large enough to wear comfortably.



I used some of the yarn left over from the first hat for accents on this lacy cloche.



This one is made of wool I got off ebay. The sizing turned out smaller than I expected, so it's probably best for a child or someone with a very small head.



This varicoloured beanie I made as an option for a commission as I wasn't sure about the taste of the person in question. Acrylic yarn from Value Village.



An acrylic hat made in shell patterns:



And finally a fluffy red hat I made for my mother. She chose the yarn, which is Red Heart.




Rings

I got some ring bands from Michaels a while ago, and have just started using them. I've made 4 rings so far, in blue, green, red and black, so I think of them as water, earth, fire and night. I was going to make an 'air' one but I didn't have the right colours of beads on hand.





Monsters

I've also made some new polymer clay monsters! The updated Etsy listing can be found here and more pictures by clicking the picture below.