Bobbin Lace Bookmark
Started on December 27, finished on January 2nd
This kit was a gift from my mother. She had kept it from her own childhood in the 60s. The basic concept is to use the bobbins to weigh down the thread and then wind and twist them between each other and the pins. I found this difficult, the tension never seemd to stay consistent. In the end I did end up with a thin piece of lace, wonky but beautiful. A little bit of fabric dye gave it some color.
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Crochet Tote Bag
Started on January 7, finished on January 31st
My grandmother once tried to teach me to knit, it never stuck. This crochet kit was a gift from my sister-in-law, and my first attempt at the craft. The first hurdle was learning to make a granny square, an effort that took reading the instruction booklet several times and two YouTube tutorials. I got there in the end. And the end result is a functional bag. Later on I added a fabric liner to keep it from breaking apart.
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Snow Sculpture
January 28
The dig site of a semi-excavated, jouvenile Frostasaurus. All traces of this find were destroyed by changing climate several days later.
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Carved Wooden Animals
February 8 through February 17
The first mirical of this adventure is that I did not cut myself. This kit came as a gift from my sister, and it came complete with lots of safety features. I did end up only using one of the two cut resistent gloves, I found that the tools sliped from my hand if I wore the other glove. Of the few pieces of balsa wood provided, I started by trying a simple bird shape, which deserved to be painted when done. Next I tackled the wooden fox figureine, an acheivement that I am very proud of.
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Cross Stich Bear
February 22 through March 1st
Another gifted craft kit, this time originating from a haberdashery in Redditch and eventually passed to me. This cute little bear had me questioning if I knew how to count or not. I think the final answer is, yes. One of my recuring thoughts during the process was how much the pattern reminded me of pixel art, something that I'll return to later. After finishing this bear was placed into a card and mailed to my aunt for her birthday.
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Candles
March 7
This craft kit was a welcome break for something simple. There was a set of four white candles, and a few sheets of colored wax sheets. A handful of shape cutters were included, but I also utalized a craft knife for some pieces. Once a piece of colored wax was cut it was placed on the candle and then pressed in, my body heat secured it in place. The miniature mason jar was a temporary holder, I did eventually find a respectable place for them.
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Wood Carved Trinkets
March 8 through March 21
A few small pieces of wood were left over from a previous adventure, and I wanted to test a few things. One, how well does hand carved wood work when you glue pieces together? The shark body was carved from one piece, while the fins were attached later. You can definitely see a seem, but it's not too distracting. The second experiment was, how small can I go and still make out the shpae. That teacup if roughly an inch and a half cubed (38mm).
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Gem Covered Shark
March 22
I like to find interesting (and often shiny) trinkets and treasures to keep on my shelf. I've also had a habit of picking up any shark figurine that I find intersting. I've had this particular figurine for a while, and it's lost it's appeal over time. So I thought it would be fun to make it sparkle again. Several handfuls of adhesive gems later, and I have the gem shark.
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Granny Square Cardigan
March 23 though April 19
Shortly after finishing the bag, social media began to play videos showing how easy it was to make a cardigan from granny squares. So I picked out some colors and set to work. In the end I made 60 squares, plus an extra length at the front for a lapel. The process of making squares is almost meditative, it's simple when you get in the rythm. Piecing this together drove me insane. I will not be repeating a project of this scale again with crochet.
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Painted Phone Case
April 4
I've never had a case on my phone before. Mostly because I keep getting cheap phones anyway, but also because I figure the case should be reflective of me. So if I can't find a case that works for me, then I can just make one. Well, the case itself I bought, a plain clear version that I was pretty sure would allow me to cover it with acrylic paint.
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Cross Stitch in Paper
April 20 though April 26
One thing I like about my job is that I get to sort through all sorts of interesting scraps. A trio of prints on very high quality paper was taken home. I then planned out a pattern and used a push pin to pre-poke the necessary holes. Then came the stitching. I like how these all came out. The bluebird became a mother's day gift when placed in a frame.
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Carved Wooden Cat
April 28 though April 30
More wood carving, this time setting up for future plans. I've seen dozens of people with porch geese, or little desk geese, that they dress up with the changing seasons. This little desk cat will be waiting and ready for their first outfit.
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SharkTea Website
Ongoing
It should be noted that I did learn how to code a website in school. It has been well over a decade since I last had to write anything, so I consider this website a part of my crafting adventures also. Welcome to the mess! I plan on updating and upgrading as I go.
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Bound Art Book
May 1 through May 31
While I haven't participated in MerMay every year, this does mark the fifth time I have completed a month of mermaid drawings. When finished I gathered up some tape and thread and a gluestick to put together an artbook to keep it all together. The various pieces of scraps hold together surprisingly well.
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Wooden Utensils
May 23 through May 30
Once I felt I had a handle (hehe) on carving wood for figurines and fun pieces, I wanted to try my hand at something more practical. A spoon seemed like the most obvious choice. I got a piece of balsa wood, and decided to split it to make a pair of utinsils. This paired set was later given to my dad on Fathers' Day.
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Gem Heart Painting
June 2 - June 21
The majority of the diamonds used for this painting are taken from a pair of kits that had nice colors, but weren't a style that I was interested in. After a very short round of research I discovered that the right adhesive could stick diamonds to anything, and so I set about creating something special. I've been calling this the diamond heart temporarily, but Gem Heart feels much more charming. Also, not quite a reference to the Stormlight Archive.
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Pipe Cleaner Sculpts
June 25 - June 30
Pipe cleaners feel like such a nostalgic art and crat material, but I honestly didn't work with them much as a kid. I've seen a few sculpts online that felt very inspiring, and so I searched out some basic patterns to try. I'm not entirely sure how succesful I've been.
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