A Fresh Start

I am so sad that I have been away from this space for all of 8 months. That is indeed a very disappointing fact that I am trying to remedy.

Other things have kept me preoccupied and have taken me away from crafting. I’d like to think I never really stopped doing crafts– just that I haven’t been focused enough to do it the same way I used to do it. My art journal, for one, hasn’t moved since the start of the year. I am going to try to remedy that this last quarter of 2021.

Postcards have been my focus and while I had returned to active trading because I wanted to destash, I have ended up acquiring more as I grew my collection. I’ve finally awakened to the reality that I need to get the postcards organized, and I must take a step back from the time consuming production of sending out postcards.

With my craft supplies staring me in the face, I’ve committed to the project plan below:

Produce and post one piece to sell in the Etsy shop every week at the minimum. It has amazed me that there has been foot traffic into the shop, and I’ve actually managed a smattering of sales with zero effort or movement from me over at Etsy. It makes me wonder how that could exponentially grow if only I took the effort to work on the shop. With the holidays around the corner, I think I can actually make more in that corner if I put more focus into posting or reposting new items.

Start sewing fall and winter projects now, so that they will be ready when the season hits. I’ve had the fabric and the patterns for more than a year now, but the pandemic has really put a dampener on production. Last winter saw me making my mind up that I needed new coats this year, so it’s basically a choice between buying new ones, or finally using what I have and making those pieces I’ve been dreaming about. I’m starting with some blazers and will move on piece by piece.

Pick up the hooks again. I’ve fallen in love with this granny square crochet cropped cardigan from a name brand being sold by a luxury department store for $495.00, and now on sale for $222.75. It’s a simple enough pattern and while I am not a fan of all the green in the cardigan, I thought it was pretty enough to go for. Even if I bought all the yarn needed, I wouldn’t go over $100. Yarn, hook and pattern in hand, this will get going this week.

I’m just trying to make up my mind about whether or not I want a tighter pattern, or the looser one that will show more squares than c clusters of double chains. Hmmmmm. All I know is I will work to make it look like what I’m copying as much as I can, give or take a shade or two adjustment of the colors used without substituting colors.

Catch up with the art journaling. Last year was a very prolific year for my art journal as I managed to document most of my year in quarantine. I got sidelined by other pursuits but hope to catch up this last quarter of the year. Never too late.

Prepare for the holidays. And what do you, we’re now going into September! In the Philippines, our Christmas season begins with the so-called “Ber” months. It’s when they start playing Christmas carols over the radio and the holiday decorations start to pop up in the stores and buildings. Here it’s time to think of this years Christmas card, plan things for the store, and start the holiday planning.

I am hoping I can get this corner of my world up and running again. And this time with more regularity, as I try to get back into crafting over the postcards and life in general.

Crafting weekend

I have been home trying to spend my “me” weekend productively but with no pressure. My 16 year old is with his dad this weekend– so I have time to do things I want to do at my own pace.

It’s been a busy day.

I’ve been labeling my bins, finally settling on printing them and taping them on the sides. I only did two that I organized and identified.. so many more to go!

What I am proudest of is that I’ve been creating again, and although all are still works in progress, tomorrow I know I will finish at least one and hopefully get to post it. Happiness! And like always, I am feeling this deep urge to keep it all for myself which is a very bad idea if I will subsidize my pieces at all. Need to create and post things to the shop!

So I’ve been surrounded by mini cups of this and that which I’m trying to make sense of. You’d think that with all the bins I’ve surrounded myself with, I’d have a better sense of organizing my supplies. Not at all. Still, I am enjoying reacquainting myself with supplies I forgot I had, making room for new ideas. And the organizing continues.

Crafting in the time of Corona

I actually started a similar post in June but that draft never went anywhere. Silent since April. That is a personal disappointment since I haven’t stopped crafting. (I just literally let out an audible sigh.)

I am hoping the coming weeks and months will finally get this blog going. I am going to try to do regular updates to chronicle my crafting journey. It isn’t always easy given all that’s been happening in the world. While crafting has been a form of escape for me, coping with working from home and all the chaos and uncertainty around us has affected me more than I care to admit.

But I’m here now. And I have to say, I’ve had a bit of creative rebirth of sorts in the last couple of months.

My art journal has come to life. I was stumped between my last journal ended in 2017 and this latest one I managed to start working on in March of this year. I have kept going.. and am still going. I am already planning

next year’s journal while making sure I have enough to keep this one going to the end of the year.

I have become a mask sewing maven.(Love the sound of that!). Although I haven’t sewn any masks in the last four weeks or so, I consider this an ongoing project. I think it’s time to look at upgraded or improved patterns this time around and finish what I have.

With the pandemic still raging, I think masks are going to be an accessory of necessity for quite a bit of time ahead. I am actually looking to make a few for friends as holiday gifts this year..

Excited about new ideas for the shop! I am heartened that traffic has increased and that I have actually had sales come in. So I’m trying to get ready for the holidays with more listings and hoping they bring in some revenue. People are shopping online more now, given the situation and I am hopeful!

I have been organizing my supply inventory. This is really long overdue. And with this comes some much needed destashing. The worst is when I come across supplies I forgot I had, because then I feel bad that they have lain dormant and untouched when I could’ve thought up of something to create using them. The reality of it is, there is always the problem of finding time to actually make pieces these days. But I am trying to get better organized so I can get this going!

I am grateful that I am able to continue my creative pursuits even during this very challenging time. It has helped me to cope and helps me to stay optimistic and hopeful about the months to come.

Not quite crafty these days

I’ve been working from home for over a month now, and I get why people seem to think I would’ve had more time to do crafts because I’ve been home. I’ve actually really been on a crafting drought the last couple of weeks.

Save for the crocheted necklace I attempted (first ever completed!) a few weeks back, I haven’t picked up my tools except to re-string a rosary style necklace of gorgeous pink agate beads. That is almost done and has been set aside.

I’ve been meaning to make a piece a week — and I think I have to pressure myself into creating more. It’s just that life has been a bit stressful at work — what with the adjustment of doing everything from home.

It also hasn’t helped that I’ve found myself mildly obsessed with sewing masks.

I’ve always been the first to admit I am a novice sewist or seamstress. I’m banking on my crafty inclinations to get me through, and despite several tries, I haven’t quite gotten the fit and the pattern that would work for me. I am still trying.

A few weeks back, I published the photo below in my Instagram account. Taking the cue from some experts on the best material to use, this one used a 200 count bed sheet cover. I normally don’t use those and had set this one aside to convert into pillow cases, but I used it instead for this two layer mask cover. I fashioned ear elastic from another project I had been using. I managed to put in some 22 gauge wire folded and it twice and it seemed to hold.

The mask proved to be a bit wonky on the sides so I added a flap. Still didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to so I am experimenting on how to make a better fitting mask. I am working on this and another pattern. I’d like to be able to produce enough for me to use when we return to work — as I am sure it will be a requirement to wear them, and it would be a good preventive measure, no matter how minuscule an effort it may be against the virus we are all fighting. (I will write a post on the resources for this shortly.)

I have also been slowly working towards contributing to a nationwide effort to provide face mask covers for our front liners. There’s a website online, sewingforlives.com , that provides for a pattern as requested, connecting seamstresses or anyone who wants to donate with requesting agencies/institutions.

Again, the novice that I am when it comes to sewing, I’m taking a little longer creating the straps to go with the mask itself. I am getting there. It’s just a little tough being productive when I work during the day during the week, and I can really work on this only at night. But I am getting there. Even just 10 or 20 would be a big deal of a contribution for me.

At the start of this whole stay-at-home deal, I worked on my art journal. After creating several sections ready for my entries, I’ve sort of taken a break. I haven’t necessarily set it aside — I’m just taking a pause. I am looking to resume that this week.

Creating has always been a source of relaxation and release for me. Having found my rhythm again, I’m hoping to do more before we find ourselves back or close to picking up from where we left off. I guess the stress has just gotten the better of me, stifling my creativity. Hopefully, the coming weeks will see something different come out from all of this.

2020

And so a new year is upon us and the first two months have ended. That I haven’t been here doesn’t mean I haven’t been crafting. On the contrary, I feel that 2019 was a very productive year for me craft wise. My writing may be in stops and starts, but crafting has been a constant in my life. It is a source of comfort, relaxation and never ending learning.

I have a 20 for 2020 list in my personal blog, listing 20 things I want to accomplish in the year.. So the idea came to me to come up with something slightly different in this crafting space: a 2020 craft wish list.

I’m looking to write up a list of 2020 projects I want to undertake in the coming year. And from there, see how it goes.

Art journaling

1. Begin and finish an art journal in earnest. I completed my first art journal/altered book in 2015. It took me 3 years to finish it and it was a true labor of love. Since that time that I decided the last post was my last, I have tried to start another art journal at least 6 times. I am, however, currently working on something that might actually get me where I want to go with this project and that will be one of the next posts following this. I am inspired!

2. Rebind my art journal. I chose to an altered book which meant literally painting and doing my entries on an existing book. It has fallen apart at the seams literally, but I have done my best to keep it in one piece. The cover is off the spine and I really need to give the binding serious attention to preserve the book.

3. Do an art journal reveal video. I’m trying to figure out how to do this but I think it’s best done after the rebinding.

Sewing: sew the following pieces:

4. A spring coat

5. A dress

6. A topper

7. A blazer

8. A tote bag

9. A make up bag replicating the one I’m using

10. A denim painted dress or jacket

I have acquired patterns and fabric and the sewing machine has been silent for most of the previous year. It’s time to get it going again!

Jewelry

11.Create the broken shell necklace I bought a set of shells for

12. Create polymer clay beads and figure out how to cast stones in clay

13. Create fabric beads

14. Use my labradorite cabochons to create a statement piece.

15. Embellish a purse with semi precious stones and shells.

Mixed media

16. Work on my rose petal collages

17. Finish one photo transfer project

18. Create mixed media accessories made out of paper

Crochet and needle craft

19. Crochet a cardigan

20. Learn how to knit properly and follow patterns.

It seems like quite a long wish list but I’m optimistic that I will get most of that done. I will do a regular check in here to see where I am periodically and let’s see how this goes.

 

Midyear start

Disclosure: Clicking on the links and pictures in this post may result in the writer’s earning off a commission if you visit the site it leads to, or make a purchase a result of the links embedded here.

Here I am, yet again, attempting to jumpstart the craft blogging.  I’ve managed to get things rolling on the personal blog, but getting to this particular corner just now.  So where have I been with the crafting?  Now that I’ve come back, I’ve made a resolution to finish pending projects first before beginning any new ones.  I’ve started with the jewelry repair (easy!) and have gathered a few unfinished pieces.

I arrived from Manila 2 weeks ago, and I’m very proud of how I resisted the urge to shop for more beads and other jewelry supplies — keeping my purchases to a minimum.  Just more headpins and eyepins, essentially, and a very limited inventory of gemstones and gold filled findings.  I am not even asking for more for Angelo to bring as he returns this weekend.

I started straightening and organizing the headpins and eyepins already using my nylon jaw craft pliers.  I am hoping to find my digital caliper soon so I can figure out the gauge of the findings.  I buy the headpins from Wellmanson’s in Quiapo, and while I love shopping there, they don’t identify their findings by gauge.  So you are pretty much left on your own to figure it out.  Still, how can you beat 1000 pcs of 1.5 or 1.75 or 2″ headpins for under $2?  OF course, the catch is that you will have to straighten out most of the wires, so I am grateful for these jaw pliers.

After month after month of closing out sales from my favorite bead stores here in Manhattan, I have quite the stash to sort out and put away.  I had started doing this before I left, and it’s just easier for me to stop crafting altogether to focus on the organizing.  I’ve tried to pull together the loose stones into bins by kind, and just putting all the freshwater pearls together.  The metal components are a little more difficult to properly organize because I usually buy them in very small quantities.  That’s where I can use these bead organizers.
I have actually taken to labeling them, but I still end up intermixing the different components in one bin.  There are also certain items that need bigger storage, and I usually look at the small parts organizers found in the do-it-yourself or home improvement stores.  So I don’t really have a uniform storage unit for my components, but I confine myself to stackable or flat surface containers.  You will usually see piles upon piles of them on one corner of the room — or in my storage closet which is bursting at the seams.

My sewing adventures have also been put on hold because of my trip home.  I would have hated to be left leaving with an unfinished project.  I might not remember all the things that I should and not be able to finish the piece.  I have more than enough fabric to work with, and I hope to complete some light coats before autumn is upon us.

Of course, the very point of writing here again is because I want to chronicle my crafting journey for the remainder of the year.  Again, more for my benefit than anything else.  I have time and again attempted to plot a crafting calendar with no success.  The calendar was done, but I failed to follow through.  This time, I will post as I go along, and I’m already thinking that would actually see more crafting accomplished.

August is upon us and before you know it, the so-called “BER” months will be here, beginning with September. For us Filipinos, that signals the beginning of yet another season, and yet a different set of crafts altogether.

Here’s to a more productive second half of the year in crafting.

So much for excitement

Well, I tried.

I know that’s not the best thing to write after three months of silence. But I’m hoping I’m back, more so since I’m creating again.

There were some sales in the shop which sparked renewed inspiration to create. I think I really should devote a day or part of a day in a regular rhythm — not necessarily weekly – to creating new pieces. Even just a few hours can yield several pieces like this weekend.

I normally find one or two patterns forming as I assemble a piece – variations coming eventually – and then I am off on a roll.

And there are projects cooking in my head which I have to avoid getting entangled in lest I lose focus. Right now, I’m trying to sew again for my own wardrobe. I have been working on some patterns, mostly free, which I got from Mood Sewciety of Mood Fabrics, the famed fabric store in NYC. As a novice sewist, this is a very good resource for someone like me who does it as a hobby and who needs more help in figuring out the sewing I want to do. It’s also a good reference for fashionistas in general out there, and an off kilter destination for tourists who are students of fashion or who are crafters. This deserves an entire blogpost altogether.

I have also discovered other free and pattern-for-sale resources which I will write about in a future post.

I’ve also been working on pressing some rose petals which are taking forever and a day to dry properly, but I am being patient with them because this is a special bunch. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s the general humidity or the phase at which I started drying the roses. I have many pressed rose petals to work with but I don’t want to let this bunch go to waste.

There is so much crochet inspiration but I don’t want to pick up my crochet hook and leave the work hanging. There is a project forming in my head which would require many little pieces to be put together, so I am just trying to see (1) if it’s a project I really want to undertake because I don’t want to end up with many little pieces and not see it through, and (2), do I have the time..

Decisions, decisions.

Let me go back to working on posting the dozen or so pieces I created offer the weekend. Visit my Pinterest boards or better yet, please visit the shop and pick a piece.. or two…

Almost Friday!

Trying to get back to craft blogging

I haven’t really stopped crafting — I just haven’t been “here”.  So today I discovered (to my horror), that I haven’t posted since April.

Sad.

I know that I haven’t been able to devote as much time to crafting the last couple of months, but I never stopped.  The slow down was mostly vacation and family visiting and then vacation again.  Plus of course, there’s the daily distraction of work.  And motherhood.  And just life.

So what have I been up to?

I’m still trying to sew.  I now have quite a fabric stash and have all these plans and patterns.  I’ve even taken to altering patterns and creating mock ups to ensure that they actually work on me.  Hopefully, the upcoming projects will help me to keep a sewing novice journal here.

I have immensely enjoyed learning.  (Thank you, YouTube!)  There are so many great teachers who so generously share their knowledge and skills in videos that can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour long.  And I have watched and watched.. when something stumps me, I google the topic and find myself watching the experts do it.

I have made Mood Sewciety an almost daily habit not just for the inspiration but for free patterns, and all those sewing tips and lectures.  One day soon, I’ll write about how Mood Fabrics here in Manhattan is my kind of sewing heaven — whether I need to do a quick drop in or when I spend an hour or so browsing and thinking and resisting the urge to splurge.

I have been working on keeping the shop going, and although I haven’t posted anything new in a while, I’ve noticed quite a bit of traffic with items or the shop being favorited by shoppers.  (I must be doing something right.)

Still, it’s been a while since my last sale.  My recent trip to Manila saw me shying away from more supplies shopping (for the first time!) — because I have been confronted by the reality that I have way too much at home that need to be converted to something wearable.  I did succumb to the urge during my short trip to Hong Kong — but I didn’t let myself get carried away.  I am proud of my restraint! LOL

I have started working earnestly to organize my supplies again.  While sorting through my bead organizers and supply bins, I’ve had a chance to reacquaint myself with stocks I had forgotten about.  At the same time, new ideas popped into my head about how I can utilize these supplies.  No goals for now.  I just want to get started with the crafting again.  Be it beads, or polymer clay, or maybe even fabric or notion based accessories — I’m itching to get creative again.

I’m recrafting a new home.  No, I didn’t move.  But yes, I’ve been changing things up at home to make it the home I am dreaming of for Angelo and I.  It’s been slow but things are changing.  Clutter from so many years ago have been cleared — and while half of that is up in the attic (where the piles have moved), I am happy with the way my world at home is changing visually.

I am hoping to create some photo art to bring our walls to life — and imbibe a sense of family around my son and I.  I want to reupholster our dining room chairs instead of buying new ones.  (Although maybe buying a new set might seem an easier “out”, I want to give this a shot and save some money along the way.)

I haven’t quite gotten to repainting.  I think that can wait for now.

With summer almost over, I can’t wait for the cooler climes of autumn when I can work on the attic as well.  Like I tell myself, one small corner at a time.

Sometimes we just need a little push to get our projects going again.  I’m hoping this one will get things rolling here, indeed.

Hello, 2018!

I always greet the new year with optimism, because it always brings in a new beginning.  In my mind, no matter how chaotic or tumultuous or completely bland the year that just ended was, there is that forever hope of things getting better, more so as we restart the clock so to speak.

So happy new year.

I’ve been ramping up my creative streak of late and can happily report that I have managed to finish a winter hat, a pair of hand warmers (only because I don’t have an existing pair of the ones I did last year!) and my embroidered scarf is almost “almost there”.

Yet another slouchy beanie.  I have spools and spools of yarn that are begging to be knitted or crocheted, and in the midst of tidying up, I actually came across a few skeins of pompom yarn that I had meant to work with as an embellishment to a white or black slouchy beanie.  Even if it took forever and a day to decide between using black or white for the actual beanie, the process of actually crocheting the hat was rather easy because I worked with an existing pattern.  Then there was the actual figuring out of (1) how to incorporate the pompoms, and (2) the placement between stitches — or how close or far I would put them together.  But voila!

Pink hand warmers.  When fall came, I actually couldn’t remember where I put my leather gloves.  I did find my hand warmers, but only one of each pair.  I could pretend I was being funky and wear a different pink on the left and another on the right.  Besides, does anyone really pay attention?  (Yes, they do.  I know because I do.)  And again, maybe because of last year’s practice but I nailed this one despite the unstitching every now and then because I was working freeform using the fan stitch.  (Not quite sure that’s what you call it.)

At first I thought 30 stitches for the actual cuff was too tight, but then again, crochet stitches actually stretch as you pull on it this way and that. It worked well enough because I meant for the warmers to reach up to just beyond my wrist, and not all the way up my arm. That’s another project maybe for another winter.

I know it’s February and I’m going to start drafting my next post the moment I hit send.. more, more, more!

Polymer Clay Love

The long weekend has been a crafting staycation for me, mostly with me getting back to polymer clay.  I have amassed enough clay to keep me kneading and conditioning for quite a bit, so I went back to work on unfinished projects.  I also started to collate the work I had done so far, and much of them will evolve into something new cooking up in my head.

I found molds I had created but which I had not used to mold clay with, and a striking ornate brass stamping of a lion head I have had for a while came to life in clay.

I am a novice at this but I find it very rewarding with minimal frustration because you can turn it into whatever it is you might want it to be.  It can be fanciful and candy colored, or almost like faux metal or faux stone.  I have enjoyed working with it and creating things to wear that make people stop and wonder what the necklace or earrings are made of.  

I find great inspiration from Cynthia Tinnaple’s Polymer Clay Daily where artisans from all over the world are featured.  Just browsing the short blurbs and the gorgeous pictures are enough to get me thinking about how I want to work with my polyclay.  So many possibilities!

While I work mainly with gemstones and glass beads for my etsy shop, I have pieces which have incorporated handmade cabochons I fashioned from my own molds.  I find that polymer clay cabochons are actually more elegant and have a more subtle color range than the regular resin cabochons that are in the market.  I’ve bought one or two and made molds, but my best tool is a set of carved opal cabochons that I got as a gift from my late mother-in-law.  They were loose cabochons meant to be a set of three, but the intricacy and uniqueness of the carving was what made them standout.  I see them as peonies.

I have worked with both pour on (liquid) molds and the more common mold putty.  I can’t say I like one more than the other because I’ve found that one can be better depending on what type of mold you’re making.  For intricately designed originals with lots of crevices and detail, the pourbob mold is more suitable as you will see in the end product below.

The pink and lavender cabs, I will use as is, but the beige ones will rendered with a hint of gold patina using gilders paste later.

Below you will find my raw polymer clay lion head cabochons fashioned from the brass stamping on the picture on the left.  I actually did two versions of this with two different clays.  The harder in consistency went under the brass stamping itself, and the softer beige one went into a putty mold I cast off of the stamping.  

The brass stamping wasn’t all that expensive but was hollow and unwieldy to work with, needing attaching to a cloth or plastic base.  So I thought I’d try to create a solid cabochon instead of a hollow form, and experimented with a subtler patina that wouldn’t make the head too loud a part of a piece I had in mind.  Here you can see what I mean when I put the real brass with the faux metal polymer clay lion head.  It isn’t quite as shiny, but you can pass it off as metallic.

This second I worked on is more of a cost and weight work around.  I fell in love with the original casting the minute I saw it but the price was a bit of a splurge for a finding.  The slots were too big and uneven a size for me to find actual cabochons for, so I knew right there and then I’d have to make the cabochons myself.  The piece was also rather heavy and I worried that further embellishing it would make it too heavy on the neck.  

This one is a work in progress as I purposely left out the bail on the original piece, and I am thinking of creating a solid backing for the pendant to have the bail cling to.  But below you will see the original rendering, and the golden tint it took on after an application of gilders paste.

Rendered this way, I can fill in the setting with my choice of metallic polymer clay, or do that and add gemstones or other embellishments around the cross form to create a larger statement piece.  It’s just trickier to get all the rope details around the frame, but the finished setting in polyclay worked quite well and turned out as I had expected it to.

I’m going to save the before and after of the flower cabochons I tinted into a dark gold hue for later when I have them set into Earrings.  

I just found a shoebox full of other polymer clay bead experiments which I need to turn into something workable.  That’s another post altogether.  I am also working with doing another form of polymer clay Earrings but I’m still thinking about how I can render it well.  Back to my polymer clay I go..