Okay, Who ate my Friday?....

No really,  It has gone by and I don't even know how or where it went.
I humbly apologize for not getting my giveaway up yesterday.
I am taking pictures this morning and will post again this afternoon with the fiber giveaway details.
Please come back then!!
Okay never mind the then, Now- my giveaway is on the Fiber Page- Go, go, go.... enter to win...
In the meantime I did get somethings done and delivered.  My dear friend Deb finally received her special order free-form crochet purses yesterday, took them home and "Desi" her cat approves of them.
Here she is welcoming them to the family!!

Does she think they are her new kittens?  LOL

Go to my Knit and Crochet page to see more about my most recent discovery

Jewelry and Fiber- Crocheted Hairpin Lace Choker

embellished with Vintaj filigree and beaded. 

What have I been doing.... creating and more creating...

All this week I have been slaving over my McElligut's Pool quilt 

to prepare for entering it in the Road to California Quilt Show.  

The deadline is looming and I decided to take the binding apart and redo it. 

Lots of stitch pulling and trimming and hopefully the binding over all the curved edges 

will lay smoothly. 

I cannot post pictures of it until after the show so I am sorry you can't see it.  

It will be worth the wait, I promise.

Earlier this month I finally made it to my Polymer Clay Guild Meeting

 and my wonderful teacher, mentor and friend Karin 

gave a demo on how to make Worry Dolls.  

This doll idea is thought to have originated in Mayan culture. 

Click here to read the story of their creation and magic. 

I have some of the little cloth dolls that are still made in Guatemala in my stash

but Karin taught us how to make hollow bodied dolls from clay. 

The reason they are hollow and the head can be removed

 is so that you can write down your worries and put them inside. 

The magic your worries are gone!  

Here is my first attempt.

Her 50"s hairdo makes me laugh, more good medicine for worriers. 

Her head is formed on a  toothpick which is completely covered with clay 

and inserts into the open neck.

I am planning on making a lot of these for the Holidays.  

My first batch will have wings.  "Worry Angels".

I am working in my head on designs 

so that they can be worn as jewelry 

or hung on the wall or even a Christmas tree. 

Come back for more about these in October. 

In the meantime I have more Tarot Bags and they will be in my Etsy Shop this weekend.  

The name Tarot because the first one I made I use to carry my Tarot Deck and book in. 
Of course you can use them for any purpose.

These are so fun and relaxing for me to make.  

I love just playing with the different colors and textures of the yarns. 

I am completely spontaneous when creating them 

so each one has it's own shape, size, fringe and color combination. 

 I have added beads and my handmade polymer clay pieces to many of the bags.

Here is a little indian summer piece. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

  

Autumn is almost here in Las Vegas...

Fall in Las Vegas is a breath of fresh air.  

We have just finished enduring anywhere from 6 to 12 weeks of triple digits 

and although the occasional 103 or 4 may be reached the night time cools everything down.  Unfortunately the pool cools too and our blood is so thin now 

that 69 degrees feels like the glacier waterfalls we would jump into 

up in Washington State because we were young and crazy. 

I love when we can open the windows at night and feel the cool fresh air.  

So 

 I am switching my color palette to those warm autumn hues. 

This art quilt, "Autumn Dreams"  has been in my Etsy shop for awhile

but I just redid the pictures and it looks so much better photographed outside. 

 

I love all the texture I was able to achieve with the yo-yos, halloween burn out fabric, free-motion quilting

and silk leaves and flowers. 

The gold and variegated threads really show up in sunlight and the angle makes a difference.

  I took a Tarot class a few years back and still use my two decks. 

I have been making Tarot bags like my own with fall colors. 

 I have a very dear friend who has a September birthday who received one 

and here is another with lighter shades added. 

Football season has commenced and so my husband, 

a avid Patriots Fan watches all the shows 

so I  have been pretending to watch while I stitch up 

lots of crocheted fingerless gloves 

(in my "Tom Brady Shirt" for good luck).  

They will be ready for 

The Mt. Charleston Fair #2 

on November 21st from 10-4 pm 

for my local friends. 

Hope to see you all there we might even have a little snow!!

I handmade the buttons from polymer clay and used alcohol inks to make them look like ceramic buttons.

I added my own twist to a very fun and feminine version 

of a pattern from Crochet Magazine Sept 09 issue.

There is a lot more I have been doing but I am going to save some for my next post!  

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Raggedy Bags!!!

My latest stash busting project has been making what I have named: 

"Raggedy Bags". 

 

I have seen bags and rugs made from braided fabric strips. 

But I haven't seen my technique out there yet.

I crochet 1" strips of fabric that are tied together with square knots. 

This one has an adjustable fabric handle and one of my polymer clay buttons.

Here I added one of my resin faces. 

The bags are also reversible.  

The side in the picture has all the knots 

and the inside is knot free!

They are very sturdy, colorful, machine washable

 and meant to fray and distress a little so 

DO put them in the dryer they just get better and better. 

I use mine to carry things like my wet bathing suit home from pool parties,

 produce from the market, 

anything that needs a soft and washable bag to cushion it.  

I plan on making zippered pouches with a coordinating fabric 

so valuables will not sneak out the natural holes in the crocheted cloth.