Thursday, December 20, 2007

Wiccan/Pagan Round 6 Swap

SoulAssylum has received her swap box so I can finally put up some pictures. These are all inspired by the Goddess Persephone. She has two very distinct aspects. In her stay with Hades she is the queen of the underworld and has been described as "she who destroys the light." On the other hand, as she comes out of Hades in the spring to visit her mother, Ceres, she becomes the Goddess of spring growth and rebirth. As a symbol of this I decided to go with her symbolic pomegranate. The fruit represents both sides of Persephone.

SoulAssylum specifically asked for some runes. These are wood burned with the Elder Futhark runes. The edges are finished off with green foil and a light coat of clear seal will protect them.



The first pomegranate I did is on this zipper pouch. It can be used to hold the runes or as a little wristlet purse. The motif is hand embroidered. Oh, and its from a sketch I did. I didn't pirate this one from anybody.


Everyone can use an extra blank book. They are especially nice to keep a record of what your runes tell you. The cover matches the fabric and lining of the zipper bag and also has an embroidered pomegranate. A few of the pages have been block printed with my very first lino-cut. I super love the way it all came out.


These little bits were made from an extra bit of wood from the runes. The rune is Algiz and stands for protection. Another little pomegranate is made out of polymer clay. Do you think I over did the theme? The Pentagram was inspired from my partners wish list of fairy furniture and encorporates her favorite colors of red and bright green. It is made from bits of the bush in my front yard that so kindly shared its stems with me.



A quick photo frame with her avatar photo inside. The glass has a cat engraved on it to kept watch over whoever is in side. I built the frame with some help from the wood shop guys at work. and it comes with extra mat colors if she changes the pic.

Lastly, as I was looking for my packing stuff, Ozzy begged for a trip around the world. Since I don't have a window to put him in here, I gladly obliged. He is a stained glass sun catcher I made a few years back. He now has a happy new home.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Team Apache In Unforgivable Terrain

Up until now I was unable to post any pics of my husband with his pirate flags. But since these are PUBLISHED *squee* I guess they are safe.

This is actual proof of my hard work flying right over Afghanistan by 3rd PLT. These pics can be found in the December 16th, 2007 Stars and Stripes Mideast Edition. The color picture is on the front page. The whole article can be seen here by clicking the date of the issue.
I'm so proud of the hard work my darling husband has been doing these last few months. I'm also so selfishly proud of my work being on the front page of something. OMG!

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

My Computer Totoro

My work computer was acting up today. I figured it wasn't happy. So I gave it a smile Miyazaki style. Of course my coworkers just shook their heads and muttered "only you."

And if you look close at the top you can see my homage to Wash from Firefly. "CURSE YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL"


Monday, December 10, 2007

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

I've been so wicked busy at work that most of my crafting time has been spent on the few swaps that I've let myself do. I have found time to squeeze in a few small projects.
I desperately needed stitch markers for doing crochet projects that are all WIPs right now. I can never keep count with my plain colored ones. I have been brain storming ways of putting numbers on them when I remembered the ancient Risk game upstairs. I melted some holes and added some beads. I hope DH isn't too upset about it. :)




I also made up a bunch of earrings right before Halloween. The bats are from Hallmark's mini ornament series. All the Legos came from one small kit. I love the way the bad guy looks like he wants to stab the skeleton in the eye. The wooden squares were cut on the laser engraver from some scrap press board. The burn marks were intentionally left 'cause I love them. They still smell burnt up too.

Lastly, the makeup bag in my purse has fallen apart after who knows how many years. I love the zipper bags made from chip and ramen bags. I found this beautiful bag (and tasty ramen) to use. I also made a business card/mini wallet to match. I was glad to find a use for the many yards of vinyl I have in my stash. The bag is lined with a beautiful black fabric with silver kanji.

All other crafting has been swap based. I will happily post these pics once my partner has received.





Thursday, November 22, 2007

Drew's Flag

Every pirate needs a proper flag. Drew will now be able to pillage in style with his OOAK flag. I feel that it its very important for every pirate to have a flag specific to themselves. It proves who is the real thing and who bought their Jolly Rodger and the surplus store.

The 5th flag I've made in recent months may be the last I do. This is the biggest commission I've ever done. Both in size and time. The final size of the flag is about 72" x 60". It is made of heavy canvas cloth for stability. The eyes are painted. I used a double sided applique technique (I may have made that up) to make it reversible and flyable. The design was suggested by the client but drawn and enlarged by me. The other 4 flags currently fly over a military base in Afghanistan, a present from my husband to his soldiers.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Christmas/Winter ATC Swap

Here are my finished cards for my first ATC swap ever. I've made a few before in fabric scraps. This was nice because, like all swaps, your partners give you some inspiration with their likes. I can't wait to see what I get in return.

For smushisweetbaboo an Old World Santa




For Tygir a Rudolph

Friday, November 09, 2007

Cookies Are Distracting

I had scheduled myself for a craft weekend to finish one commissioned piece and start my projects for the latest swap. Unfortunately, duty calls. I was (nearly) begged to make some goodies for a fundraiser bake sale. I spent 2 1/2 hours in my kitchen making 5 dozen chocolate chip cookies. I even ate my dinner over the stove. MMMM tomato soup and grilled cheese samich.


They came out very well and I feel good for helping out the Family Group.



Meanwhile , my latest swap partner, SilentMynerva, received her tote bag. This was made for Weekend Swap 5 as a medium project. The owl and olive branch represent her name. It was made by raw edge applique using Steam-A-Seam and vintage fabric scraps. I hope the edges don't peel to much but overall I am very happy with it and so is SylentMynerva.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The Begining of Newness

I've been tossing around the idea of keeping a scrapbook of all the crafts that I do. I take pictures and keep decent records about them, I just can't bring myself to put it all in a book that will be ginormous by the end of the year. So here I am in the digital age of bloging and such and realized it was a great way to chronicle my art. I will atempt to post at least once a week about my current projects and thoughts about crafting.

I am also aspiring to start up a small business. Maybe a little ETSY shop or the like. I'm hopping this blog will be a good forum for future customers. It will also be a swell place for my swap partners from Craftster to stalk me.

Feel free to leave constructive comments for me or just chat. And please wish me luck in my journaling adventure!