Twin Bracelets for Twin Ladies!

One of my nieces and her husband have come for a visit this coming week so I have made her and her twin sister who lives nearby matching bracelets out of Viking knit.  I wanted to do something special that she could take with her and also for her sister, so that when they wear them, maybe they will pause and think of their time together.  I have a set of coffee mugs that I bought at Starbucks a few years ago and when I bought them, I secretly packed them for our trip to celebrate an anniversary away for a few days.  So now when we use these mugs, I think about our time away and remember when I brought them out when we had coffee in our room that first morning.  I am hoping that my nieces will think of the bracelets I made them and remember their visit. 

 

 I had also been working on one with pink wire and decided to finish it for my mother, she loves bracelets and hopefully will be delighted when I give it to her tomorrow.

My First Peyote Stitch Project

I finally finished my first Peyote Stitch project, but I almost didn’t.  I was nearly done when I made a knot and I had done it wrong and I couldn’t get the knot undone.  Well, not at first and I almost gave up on it, I put it down and walked away from it.  But decided to give it another try and finally was able to undo the know and fix my mistake and complete the bracelet. 

 

 

 

I have plans to make another bracelet, but it may not happen right away, I did get the beads for it but I am not sure when I will start it; I do have a few other projects waiting for me to complete first.  And like always, I will post about when I either start it or complete it, or both!

Have a great day! 

Another Project Completed

I wanted something that would go with my 12 carat blue topaz ring besides earrings; so I made the rope necklace and I finally finished.  I worked on it for so long; I wondered if I would ever complete it.  I think I started it before I started the red one; which I posted about on March 22 when I finished it.  I don’t know why it took me so long, but it did; distractions of other projects are probably why.   I don’t think I will do another one for awhile, after making four of them I am ready to move on to other things.  I am ready to try something different.

The next project I am trying to finish is a bracelet I started last week when I took a class on the Peyote stitch, the bracelet isn’t done yet; the subject of my last post.  You can compare pictures to see the progress I have made.  I hope to have it done in the next day or two.  I have the rest of the edge to do and finish the toggle that will fit into the little loop at the end.  I may just pick up a bead to fit it, not sure and it will depend on if I am able to do the toggle; since this is a new skill I am learning, I am not sure what I can accomplish yet.

I am also working on a couple of Viking knit bracelets, both are in the beginning stages; barely more than a mass of wire.  I will have pictures when they are completed.

I am still cutting fabric into squares to make “Sew as you go” quilts.  It’s tedious work but I am making some progress.

When I am done with the bracelets, I will focus on the beginning stages of planning a banner for my church.  The last large banner I made was about eight years ago and my church logo has changed a bit and the new banner will reflect that.  I will take pictures once I start the sewing process, but that may not be for a couple of months.  Pricing and picking the fabrics will be the first step and then I will make up the pattern of sorts to use as my guideline.  But like I said, I will take pictures as I go.  It will be a summer project I think.

That’s all for now and for all the followers in the states, Happy Mother’s Day this coming Sunday!

A class on the Peyote Stitch

Last night, my sister and I took a class on how to do the Peyote Stitch at our favorite bead shop; Thistle Beads in Niantic, CT.  We used left over beads we already had, which help keep the cost of supplies to a minimal.  We were shown all sorts of ways to embellish and finish off the piece we were doing, but neither of us had gotten far enough to actually do it on our own piece.  We are making bracelets and my sister’s band was very colorful, while mine; not so much.  She has made many bracelets that she has given away and some kept that were done in a Spiral Stitch, something she learned in a class she took last fall.  So her bead collection was far greater than my own.  We both enjoyed the class and our teachers were great at making it look easy. 

When we were on our way home after the class, my sister was thinking of all the possibilities of what she could now make.  To my surprise, I was thinking about Viking Knit and an idea I want to try.  I think I need to get more comfortable with the Peyote Stitch before I start expanding on the possibilities of what I can do with it.

We had fun and glad we did it.  I can’t wait to see what we both will create with our new skill!

What am I Working on Now?

What am I working on now? 

I have been working on Viking knit, I showed my friend Cindy how to do Viking knit and she is enjoying the craft as much as I am.  I made a bracelet for my sister and gave it to her on Saturday, which motivated me to redo one that I made for myself but was too big and had to redo the whole thing; I finished it yesterday.  I bought pink wire yesterday at a local craft store and almost started it.  I say almost because I got it on the dowel and went no further; maybe today.  I have plans to make several more in the next month.

I also have been cutting squares for “quilt as you go” quilts that my friend Sandy and I are making for a local women’s shelter.  Cutting squares from scraps is tedious work; you would think it would go quickly; after all, they are just scraps!  Cutting squares from yardage is much easier, you develop a system; but not so with scraps.  Sandy and I hope to have made at least 10 quilts by fall; I hope it is more by then, but that is our goal for now.

My granddaughter had a half day of school on Friday, so we got her for the afternoon and evening.  I promised her I would set up my scrapbook supplies so her and I could scrapbook on this coming Saturday.  It sounds so much easier than it is since I haven’t scrap booked for awhile and I will need to figure out where I left off; I have since gotten more pictures.  So that’s the plan for this coming weekend.

I also need to fix my granddaughter’s sewing machine; she brought it home and somehow she managed to get the thread all tangled in the machine inner workings and dismantled the bobbin casing.  She couldn’t find the casing when the machine came back and last Friday when she came over she had them with her.  I now have to get the machine back up and running for her.  So this is on my list of what I want to accomplish this week.

Tomorrow evening, Melody from “Thistle Beads” in Niantic, CT (my favorite shop) is going to teach my sister, Fran and I how to do the Peyote stitch.  You can make bracelets, necklaces, wrap beads and much more once you learn how to do it.  So tomorrow, my sister will pick me up or I her (not yet decided who is driving yet), we will stop at Starbucks for a “triple grande nonfat latte” and then on to Thistle Beads for our lesson.  The owners are mother and daughter and are very nice.  If you live locally and have never been, check it out!

I am still working on a Kumihimo rope necklace that I started a few months ago.  I don’t work on it constantly so it has been slow going.  I don’t have anything to wear it with other than a 12 carat blue topaz ring which I am sure is another reason why I haven’t pushed myself to complete it.  When I do, I will post pictures, but for now; its only half done and pictures will have to wait.

I also discovered a tool thanks to my friend Cindy that anyone who makes loops with wire may want to have in their tool kit.  I think this tool comes in another size for larger loops; to see whats out there do a search for “loop pliers”, it will show you the different options. 

So for now, happy creating!

The Re-arranged Craft Room

Before

Before

Before

At the beginning of the week I told you about rearranging my craft room; replacing my old computer desk and moving it and at some point getting new tables that would fit the room better.  We decided to go ahead and get the tables and while we were out my desk arrived.  

The desk in pieces

It took my husband several hours to put the desk together; there were a lot of little steps involved in being assembled.  He finished yesterday and the old tables removed and the new tables put in place. 

The tables are deeper than what I had planned; which is a good thing but only because they still fit into the space.  My husbands table is a five foot table and just barely fit into the space and that is because my new six foot table is six inches deeper than I had planned for.  But you can see by the pictures, I got it all to fit.

Our old computer chairs will come in handy and each work space now has its own chair, my husband will use his old chair and so will I with mine.  No longer will I have to scoot my chair from one spot to another.

What is going to take time to adjust to is my computer desk, much to my surprise it now feels strange to me; along with the new chair.  I do like the extra space the new desk provides, but like I said, it will take some getting use to.

My new work table is about six inches deeper, which is great both for when I am sewing and even when not; because when the machine is put to the back of the table, I still have plenty of room to work on whatever I am working on.

I didn’t reorganize my shelves at all or the little messy areas where things were just put out of the way.  And that’s because if I knew what to do with them, they would have not been just stuffed somewhere to begin with.

My new computer desk

My work space

A different angle of my work area

My husband’s work space

All in all, I like my revised craft room.

It’s Been Awhile

I just went on my blog and realized it has been over five weeks since my last post.  I had come down with bronchitis shortly after my last post and was hit hard with it.  It took two rounds of antibiotic to get it done but I can happily say that I am recovered finally!  But while sick, I didn’t do anything but rest, but I knew when I was getting better because of my desire to start working on a project returned.  So right now I am working on a rope necklace I started about two or three months ago, a bracelet done with Viking knit for my sister and awaiting a new computer desk to arrive any day now.

I haven’t felt like I can go into full swing of crafting just yet because my craft room is about to change.  I had a twin trundle bed set in the room that we finally gave to someone else which freed up space in my craft room.  We then ordered a small computer desk to replace the old slightly broken one I now use; it arrives either today or tomorrow, we hope! (I just got word, its out for delivery) Once it arrives, we will move my computer to another space to make room for another table.  We actually need two tables, a five foot and a six foot; the five foot table is for my husband.  I am going to share space with him; he has a wooden model of a ship he bought many years ago but hardly worked on before he packed it up thinking once he retired he would work on it again.  He has been retired now for almost eight years and has decided he wants to work on it again.  With the extra space we now have, I agreed to share; actually I welcome having his company in my craft room.

Yesterday, we went to Staples to look at office chairs, the chair that I liked best turned out to be on sale and so we bought two chairs, one for me in my craft room and one for my husband at his computer desk in another room.  The chair he has now has served us well; I won the chair at a United Way campaign at work many years ago, it’s still a good chair but the arm pads have eroded a bit.  So, it will be my husbands chair at his work table in my craft room.  Since we don’t have the new tables yet, we will be using our four foot tables we now have; they aren’t long enough but will do for now.

I am looking forward to the changes in my craft room, I am hoping it will be better organized and easier to work in once I am done.  I will take a before and after picture and will post it in my next post.

Have a great week everyone!