We have recently been eating a lot of chia seeds (in yoghurt, in smoothies), and we have also been making terrariums in glass jars … glass jar + moss + chia seed = chia terrarium. No need for terracotta animals.
We are slowly filling our apartment with plants…
{ This is not the same jar… this is a chia forest }
I made this hanging pot plant holder last Sunday. Once I had all the bits together (which took me about three weeks, not because they’re hard to get, just because I don’t get to hardware stores often) it was really easy – the hardest part was choosing a plant and a non-dripping container for it to sit in. This is a hoya, which we chose because it has beautifully shaped variegated leaves and apparently it will do ok inside (but won’t flower unless it gets good sunlight, which it won’t)… and because my mum and dad have a hoya which I love.
There’s a tutorial for this “not too desperately retro” macrame hanger and some inspiring photos on Skinny Laminx.
Two dear friends of ours celebrated their first wedding anniversary last week, so I made them a card (they had gorgeous colourful bunting at their wedding..)
Paper is (one of) the traditional gifts for the first anniversary, so it seemed appropriate. Plus I’ve been making a lot of pop-up cards recently, enough of them that working out the heights and measurements and where to put the cuts isn’t too stressful.
And the leftovers are often quite pretty too….
There’s a good introductory tutorial for pop-up cards at Oh Happy Day, if you’re interested.
On a weekend trip to Tasmania last year I found a framed set of fishing flies at a secondhand stall in the Salamanca market. Each fly is a beautiful little creation, they were carefully attached to the backing and were hand-labelled: Red Doctor (Salmon), Victor, Yellow Dog etc etc… but I was ruthless, I wanted them re-framed on a clean, white background. I finally got around to doing it this weekend.
I dyed some more yarn today, using black beans again. When I cooked the beans afterwards, the water boiled over. This is what the stove looks like now, kind of pretty, no?
A couple of weeks ago I dyed some yarn with black beans. The results are above, a lovely silver-blue-grey colour which changes slightly depending on what’s around it and the light. (I didn’t tie my hank very well so that pile of yarn in the background is waiting to be untangled.)
My dyeing process, which I cobbled together from many places, is below, along with some links to general info on natural dyeing.
This is what the yarn looked like before:
Finally, finally finished this necklace. It’s very hard to photograph! It hangs differently depending on where the silver section is around your neck. I’ll try to get some action shots soon. Each bead is hand-made from Fimo. It’s been years since I’ve used Fimo, but it’s so versatile and fun to use. I burned the first batch of beads (cooked them at at 230° Celsius instead of Fahrenheit, oops) but I liked the darker colour, and the burnt-ness on the silver ones, so I burned the rest of the batches too.
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This is not what I thought I’d be making this week, but apparently when I’m stressed I turn to more traditional crafts…. not entirely original (still not acting on those half-formed ideas) but quite pretty. Back to less doily-like things now.
Pattern: Fan bookmark by Crochetroo on Ravelry and Crochetroo’s blog
Well, the ivy is growing at a great rate but this blog isn’t…
My trouble at the moment pretty much comes down to just not spending enough time doing and making. Way too much time working, and also quite a lot of time thinking (idly staring away from my desk, walking to/from work etc) but just not enough of the doing.
Which means I have a flurry of half-formed ideas and inspirations which haven’t been acted upon. Then sometimes, I see something which is like one of my ideas but better. And, more importantly, realised. I’d like to think of this as a great motivator, inspiration to get myself going, but really it just makes me pissed off at myself and, sometimes, get despondent. And when I’ve got nothing to show for myself I don’t write blog posts.
So what am I going to do about it? That’s what I’m thinking about right now.
You know, they ivy’s grown about 4cm since I put it in that vase, and this blog’s grown by 4 posts… so maybe that’s the rate I measure this by. 1cm of ivy = 1 post. I’ll try to keep up.
After another failed attempt at sewing t-shirt neck binding (how on earth are so many millions of t-shirts made each year, each with a smooth, un-puckered neckline?), I’ve gone back to embroidery. Sure, it’s slower than machine sewing and won’t result in anything wearable, but things don’t go so disastrously wrong so quickly. Mr Beckett’s wise words (‘No matter. Fail again. Fail better.’) will have to wait for another weekend.
T-shirts are now firmly on my list of things to master (or if not master, at least achieve), along with knitted socks. Any tips?
late August 2010
early October 2010
March 2012
