a peek behind Lark Studio...

Pretty on the inside

One of the many pearls of wisdom I learned while apprenticing as a seamstress was that everything you make should look just as good on the wrong side as is does on the right side. There is no need for the inside to be as embellished, but the lady I worked for was adamant that everything that left her studio should be able to be worn or seen on the wrong side. I still use that as a gauge for my work.

I finally finished some tissue holder covers I believe I started in January. I do believe one could carry these on the wrong side and be okay.

It's okay to ask for help sometime

Oh, how easy it is for us crafty types to get on our impressively decoupaged recycled soapboxes when it comes to certain aspects of crafting. One of those aspects is the craft kit. You know, craft kits - those things you can buy from Michael's or Jo-Ann's where everything you need to create a {fill in the blank} is in one package for you...all picked out and coordinated by some corporate person somewhere. Yes, I know there are those indie crafters who make kits...but even they tout that the kits are for the "crafting challenged". So for those of us who aren't crafting challenged, for those of us who pride ourselves on creating something new, something truly of our own, we know craft kits are NOT for us. Right?

Maybe not. Last year during one of my "OMG it's on 70% clearance and even though I don't need it..." moments in Jo-Ann's, I purchased a fabric flower pin craft kit. Nicely packaged was a template, two kinds of fabric, coordinating wire ribbon, a sparkly bead, pin back and instructions. Well, I found it recently and decided to give it a try. Mostly to just clean out my crafting stash, but I also thought it would be a quick way to jump-start my crafting for the week. The entire time I'm thinking some variation of "I so don't need this pre-packaged kit". Well I must admit, once finished, the feeling was not that much different than if I had done it all from scratch myself. There was still that sense of accomplishment, that sense of bringing something pretty into the world. It was good and it got the creative juices flowing. The experience has me thinking that maybe this is a soapbox I can put away. Perhaps it really doesn't matter if you make from scratch or get some help...just that you make it.

Ma, look! No thread!

I finally took the cover off my Baby Lock Embellisher, unwrapped the cord, plugged it in and began to use it! Did I mentioned I've had this machine since September of 2005?

In cleaning up the craft room, I came across some polar fleece I had purchased to make holiday stockings and decided this would be a good first fabric to experiment with on the Embellisher. I had some yummy handspun wool yarn from my friend Kirsten over at Baa Baa Yarn and decided to mess around with it tonight. I cut an 8 1/2 in wide strip to use as a simple neck scarf. I folded over the edges and needle felted them. As you can see in the photo, I just made one pass on the edges and need to go back and felt them completely. The thread swirls and stripes were initially felted on both sides to give a softer look, but I decided I didn't like it and went back for a final pass on the "right" side of the fabric. That's one of the beautiful things about the Embellisher....if you felt something and don't quite like the way it looks, you can felt it from the opposite side and give it a different look or almost "erase" what you did at first. Nice. I'm taking this project to my Embellisher/Felting club meeting this Thursday and will see what the ladies think and what creative suggestions they have on adding to this piece.

I think I've found my new favorite toy!

Tutorial Tuesday: Fabric Tissue Holder

Just in time for allergy and cold season...a fashionable way to carry your tissues!  Craftapalooza posted a very easy tutorial on how she makes these over at Whipup.net.  What a great way to use up remnants and scraps of material!  Link

Embellisher Queen - Fiberella

On Friday I had the pleasure of taking a class from Fiberella - aka Paula Scaffidi. The class/workshop was hosted by my local sewing machine store and featured Paula showing about 20 avid sewers how to let our creativity flow using the Babylock Embellisher.

I purchased my Embellisher last fall, and have yet to use it. I took it out of the box and plugged it in - but that has been about it. Needless to say, I was stoked to have an Embellisher to play with all day under the tutelage of Paula.

The Embellisher is a needle felting machine. It has seven barbed needles and uses no thread. The needles force fibers to fuse (if they are willing!) I dig that concept because in essence you can create your own fabric. Needle felting machines are just gaining in popularity in the US, so there aren't many "experts" on the techniques one can use on the machine. Paula, however, is one of the experts. We learned several different techniques while we created textile sketchbook pages.

My first ever needle felting attempt was a random direct application of some varigated mohair wool onto some silk noile. Once it was down, it began to look like a school of fish. So with some not-so-good free motion stiching on a regular sewing machine, I decided to make them fish. It's a sketchbook page in progress...

Another technique we learned was how to create a very stable felt that could be used for dimensional applications. The flower petals are a felt I created using layers of rose and camel colored roving onto a water soluable stabilizer. The stem is silk needle felted to the page. Again, the not-so-good free motion stitching around the flower.

Speaking of not-so-good free motion stitching, in my 15+ years of sewing, I've never dropped my feed dogs. Go figure. So, in the upper corner, you will see my absolutely first attempt at free motion. The nice swirls were after some coaching and practice.

If you are textile junkie, you should seriously consider checking out the Embellisher. No matter what your poison, some needle felting can only open up more creative possiblities for your art.

Weekend Projects

Four and a half days off from the daily grind. This was nice! My goal was to craft for the majority of the weekend, which I was able to do. I can't even say I had works in progress (WIP) because life has been in the way of crafting for me for quite some time. But I can say I have tons, and I mean far too many, to be done (TBD) projects. These are the ideas that are in my head that I've purchased or gather the supplies for, and that have been sitting in my craft supplies for, some of them, years.

A few months back I decided to begin the purge. It was just too many good crafting ideas haunting my psyche just sitting there in the stash and not getting created. I was selling/giving it all away. Extreme? Yes, but it was what I felt like I had to do. Well, as any truly addicted crafter knows, once you start organizing/pricing/getting the stuff ready to sell, all the creative ideas...the visions of completed projects come rushing back. And that makes it harder to part with the items. You DO share this situation right? Or do I really need some Crafting couseling?

I did part with some items and have a huge box of supplies set for sale in my Etsy store, so I feel good that I'm working through my craft supply separation anxiety. I really just have too much stuff. But the experience of sorting, organizing and time made me realize that those creative ideas, those visions of finished projects were mine and I needed and wanted to own them. So I made a deal with myself - if I keep it, I must create it. Use the supplies up. Make them into something functional...beautiful...art.

This past weekend was my start down that road. I'm sure my crafting family will be happy to look at some new items from me. I know my husband is happy that I'm actually creating and clearing up my physical and mental crafting space. I'm happy to be back on the road to defining my creative process and discovering what I truly love about it.

I know I love those "a-ha!" moments that we have in life. You know those moments when you discover something that is usually so simple or that has been right in front of you for so long? You smack your forehead and go "duh?" or "a-ha!"? I like those. It reminds me that my brain is working and that you have to stop going through life with your eyes wide shut. I totally had one this weekend. I needed a container to put some Mod-podge in, and didn't have a paper cup or paper plate in the house. My DH had just finished lunch, and desperate for something disposable, I opened the trashcan. There is was. The perfect container...his frozen meal plastic thingy. Nevermind it was in the trash and not the recycle bin. It was perfect. So out it came for a real good wash and walla! The perfect painting tray. One side for water, one side for Mod-podge. Who would have thunk it...

The projects this weekend were somewhat random (which is still totally me, the self proclaimed ADD Crafter). First up, finishing up the record album notebooks. I had hoped to pick up the last of them from the print shop on Friday, but Tropical Storm Ernesto had other plans for me. Here's the wonderful Stevie Wonder in a notebook and the broadway musical Dreamgirls as a sketch pad. NOTE: again I must mention, not a fan of the plastic spiral binding because it can stretch out of shape.

Two record album cover boxes:

I've realized I won't make these for sale. I'm not sure people would pay for the time put into them. BUT - these are definate keepers for myself for personal use (gifts, storage, etc.) and a great way to reuse/recycle old album covers. *Look for this tutorial tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday.

Another recycling project was making floppy disk coasters. We haven't used 3.5 disk for years, but recently I found a small stash of old ones and began scouring the internet for crafting ideas to reuse them. I'm always looking for coasters at home, and figured these would be pretty cool. The plan was to put something on the label, like "Put Drink Here", but I decided against it for these. This has now become a WIP. The first disk showed me that high-gloss Mod-podge was NOT the sealant to use for this project, so I'm now on the search for a chemical based sealant to finish these up.

Another goal I have this year is to really concentrate on learning solid crafting techniques. I think that is one of the things that separate the good from the great. Or, for me anyway, that separates the "I can't stand doing X-craft" to "okay, this isn't so bad because I know have some solid basis on how to do it right". Jewelry making/beading is that X-craft for me. I've never taken a class or even had someone show me what to do. It's all been "on the fly", and my items tend to look that way which I don't like. So with some serious internet study (About.com is a good place to start) and some tips from some crafty friends, I created my first beading projects - beaded badge/ID holders and beaded eyeglass chains. These are no where near perfect and have much room for improvement, but I can say I attempted to practice good technique (and used the appropriate jewelry tools as well instead of the tools from the house tool box).

Sometime ago, someone, somewhere told me I was a "snob" when it came to sewing and crafts. And I am. If it's sloppy, I have issue. And if you ask me, I will tell you so. I'm going to where my label proudly. Embellished tote bag:

And contrary to the hype, attaching Swarovski crystals to items is NOT "fun and addictive"...it is rather tedious, but I do like the way it turned out...

Some random leather hair clips for the Fall:

Whew...sorry for the long post. There is actually one more weekend project, but I'll save that for Thrifting Thursday this week. If you want a sneak peek, check out my completed projects photo album. Wish me luck that I will stay on this creative/productive streak!