Sales!

Today was the last day of the Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition, and we went down this morning to pick up my paintings. upon getting there I had a great surprise, I hadn't just sold the tiger, but two more! So goodbye to the bluetits, goodbye to the fighting zebras, hello to a trip to Athens to see my sister - yay! I'm so chuffed!

After that, we went to the craft store and I bought more felt (oh dear!) and wool for scarves, plus other bits and pieces. Then, after a spot of lunch, we went......

..........to the beach! It was a blustery day, but not raining or cold, so we strolled up and down the beach at Lepe Park, searching for shells and sea-glass. My daughter stuffed her pockets full of shells and sand, and I stuffed mine full of bits of glass that will hopefully get turned into necklaces very soon. So a good time had by all!

Three Bracelets....

SOLD
The above are three little bracelets for a commission. They are for three redheaded young ladies, so I had to choose colours to suit their skin and hair. I have used turquoise glass beads alternating with AB clear glass beads on silver wire for the central one; the other two are on bronze wire, the left-hand one using AB shades of blue/lilac glass beads, the right-hand one using dark blue glass beads with sprinkles of gold within them and bronze glass seed beads. It's quite fascinating making jewellery for someone else as you have to make something you might not normally think of - I am very pleased with these and hope they go down well with the lady who commissioned them. It was also very nice to get the wire and beads out again after all that sewing!

Accessorized!

Here they are, the kitten and puppy with their little bits and pieces! They each have a nice squashy bed, a food bowl and a big sack of biscuits (with 'biscuits' inside), and a can of their favourite food. The dog has a chewy bone and the kitten has a little mousey friend. And that's all I'm doing for now - back to beads for a little while. Both SOLD!

Little Felt Cat....

After Laura's comment the other day, I thought I'd have a go at making a small cat - it came out really well, but took a very, very long time! Four hours - I don't know if I am a slow sewer or if that is just how long these things take. There will be accessories later this week (for the puppy too), when I can muster up the enthusiasm!




I am in a bit of a quandary as to how much to charge for these - I'm thinking £10 with their bits and pieces. Any advice gratefully received!

A Break from Felt....

I had a repair job to do last night, a friend's necklace needed re-stringing, and as I had the beads and paraphenalia out, I thought it would be nice to get a bit of jewellery made for a change. I seem to have been knitting/sewing a lot lately. The above are three pairs of earrings all on gold coloured wire. The first pair has little conical glass flowers with tiny pink beads in their centres and three seed beads above. The second pair is made with fuschia coloured frosted flowers, clear glass seed beads and two golden hummingbirds. (They tinkle as much as the necklace did - sweet!) And finally, a bit of stuff and nonsense in the shape of two green glass elephants - I think they are circus elephants as they each have a red stripy ball to balance on. I got these in a job lot of birds/frogs and it seems a shame not to use them for something! All are £7.50 per pair + p&p

Little Felt Puppy

Believe it or not, the above took about three hours to make - this is a very labour intensive/non- cost-effective pastime! I am a bit miffed that the photograph has picked up every stitch - they don't show very much at all in real life, but the flash must just reflect off the cotton. Shows up my wonky sewing - well, what do you expect with dark felt, dark cotton and under electric light. I'm lucky I can still see straight! The pattern calls for a number of accessories - bowl, bag of doggy snacks, tins of dog food, coat and toy - but I think I'll give it a couple of days before attempting any more. There are other more sensible things I could be doing...........like the ironing.....pah!

A Bit of Fluff....

Spurred on by the promise of making felt animals, I whizzed through finishing the above last night. It is an odd little mohair wrap that buttons horizontally round your shoulders - very boho! I have used five vintage carved mother-of-pearl buttons from my stash. I found the pattern in the calendar free with this month's 'Simply Knitting' magazine and fell in love with it - this one is just for me! I would be wearing it now except it is still a tad damp from the blocking process. So it is sitting outside in the sun and hopefully I can use it tomorrow. I would be open to knitting another one of these if anyone felt they wanted one.
Then, at a time when I really should have been thinking about going to bed, I started making my first little felt thingy. I admit I chose the simplest of the lot, just to get a feel of the whole process - the worst thing is trying to find the relevant pattern on the sheet that came with the book - 60 patterns, not a word of English and they are printed on top of each other in different colours. I have decided I have to sit down quietly and find each and every one, match it to it's picture and write what it is beside it. Then I won't have the insane flapping about and cursing that the above involved last night!

As my brilliant son came back with 10 sheets of felt yesterday in a rainbow of colours - I only asked for four or five as I didn't know what I wanted - I have the materials to make some more today, whoopee! (Polly, if you're reading this, I AM getting on with your painting, honest! It's coming along very nicely actually, thank goodness!)

I Love E-Bay II

I have been coveting the Japanese craft books and magazines I have seen on other people's blogs lately, but hadn't found anything I wanted enough to go to the effort of ordering from the USA or Japan. While trawling through E-bay however, I saw the book for me - felt mascots. Luckily no-one else wanted this, so I 'won' it, and it arrived in the post this morning. I am soo excited and have sent my son and his girlfriend off to the craft shop to get me some pieces of felt! I do have a piece of knitting to finish first, but that will not take long, so be prepared for an invasion of small felt creatures over the coming week!

Little Lulu,another very small dog....

I've been at it again with the little knitted dogs. I thought I'd do a very girly one this time, so Lulu is white, fluffy and wears a pink overcoat. She has a navy blue leather collar with a little gold ID disc. Her accessories include the beige nubbly bed with a pink and brown blankie, two toys and a little bowl with ner name on it and a large juicy bone. Even my own dogs aren't this spoiled.... In case the photo doesn't give the scale of this, the dog is about 4 inches long. This is in preparation for the Christmas fairs, but if anyone would like to get in there first, I have no problem selling her now. Same price as before + p&p

A Couple of Experiments....

I have a 'virtual' friend in Boston, Eleni Zhodi, who is a fashion designer but also an avid crafter. We 'met' over the internet when she got in touch to see if we were related as her maiden name was Bletsis - had to disillusion her as I am only a Bletsis by marriage, not Greek at all. Anyway, we have kept in touch for a couple of years now and occasionally she sends me photos of the bits and pieces she has made. Last week she sent me examples of her new craze, which is wire chokers made with simple copper wire and turquoise/pearls/chunky beads etc. I liked them so much, I had to have a go - and the above is the result. Mine is made with florists aluminium wire, which was a cheap way of having a go in case it all went terribly wrong! I have used turquoise faceted glass beads and thinner silver wire to wrap and attach. After that. I had the idea to make a pendant in the same manner, this time using green lampwork glass beads. The pendant is fairly large, about 3 inches long and hung on a brown leather thong. They are for sale, £10 a piece, + p&p. WIRE CHOKER - SOLD

I am currently knitting another small dog - have got as far as dog and coat, and am in the middle of the basket - not going to show it until it is completed, however!

Hummingbirds

Here is the first hummingbird necklace, made using green wire, green glass leaf beads, purple frosted flowers and two golden hummingbird charms. The photo really doesn't do the necklace justice - the colours are much prettier in real life, the wire not so dark, and the light shines through very attractively. Each large flower has three gold wire stamens (had to look that up to make sure the right word was used!), two with clear glass beads on the tips, one with the hummingbird. Further leaves, flowers and beads carry on half way up the neck , the rest of the chain being simple green wire. It tinkles as you wear it like tiny, tiny windchimes - now that is a selling point as far as I'm concerned; to me, jewellery that makes a good sound is just as important as how it looks! £22 + p&p SOLD

I have eight hummingbirds left and more purple flowers as well as some smaller fuschia coloured flowers, so there will be more variations on the theme. I think tinkly earrings will have to be made, even if they are only for me....

Summertime....

The above is a necklace I made using gold coloured wire, various assorted turquoise glass beads, and the last (I think!) VW charm and two seagull charms. It is really cheerful and if you actually have managed to get a tan this year, would look great on! £15 + p&p SOLD

I've not done much 'beading' lately - had a bit of a inspiration loss - but I received some great little charms in the post today from good old Llamalashes (thanks, Emma!) and have lots of ideas brewing, involving flowers and hummingbirds....

Nasturtiums...

This is the watercolour painting I have been working on for the past week or so. I have a pot of nasturtiums in the garden that have been struggling throughout the very wet summer and now that the weather has improved, so have they. I have been sitting outside in the sunshine painting them in situ and it has been glorious! Admittedly the actual flowers I started sketching have died and been replaced, but it was surprisingly easy to keep the continuity going. I don't do botanical painting very often as I find it very difficult and the results not always satisfying, but I am fairly pleased with this one. I am considering painting a bumble bee somewhere on it, but of course when I went outside with the camera, every bee in the whole garden decided it was time to go elsewhere! This will be entered into the Fleet Art Society exhibition at Calthorpe Park School next month, but if anyone is interested in buying it before then, do please get in touch.

Next on the agenda is some 'bread and butter' work - I have a cat portrait to paint, which after taking a break from animals for a few weeks, I am actually looking forward to doing! Must also get back to the beads - I have had a lot to deal with at home the past week or so and have not felt like making anything much, but as of today with my daughter's first day at college a roaring success and my day job working out nicely, perhaps it's time to get back to the jewellery!

Very Small Dog....

Here is a little chap I have been working on all week - starting to prepare for the Christmas Fairs already. He is knitted in grey chenille, has moveable legs and a cheeky disposition! He comes with his own fitted coat, dog basket, nubbly blanket and two toys, a stripy ball and a chewy plait.
As you can see, without his coat on he is poseable and has a nice smart leather collar with a silver tag. (I must need something to do with my time....) The whole set is £15 + p&p
I will be making further small dogs in various colours and degrees of shagginess, all with their own beds, coats and accessories - if you would like to order any specific colour, let me know. I don't do specific breeds - not yet, haven't mastered that yet!

First Sale at Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition

If anyone remembers this painting from a few months ago, well, I have just sold it! It was one of the five paintings accepted into the Best of Hampshire Artists Exhibition this year, and first to sell. I'm really pleased as it is a whole new district and viewing public. Also the quality of work in this year's exhibition was exceptionally high, so a sale is terrific! One down, four to go......

I shan't be quite so prolific now that I am back at the day job - not so much time as well as feeling rather tired at the end of the day. I also have various commissions in the pipeline, so will be working on them when I can - Christmas is coming and there will be presents to buy...! I'm not complaining, it's all good!

Silver & Purple Curls and a new image...

This will be a bracelet to match the previous necklace, crocheted in silver wire with the irridescent tear-drop beads on the points. It has a double row of points this time, and is not as wide as the necklace - I just have to attach a clasp this evening. £10 + p&p SOLD
This is a long curly scarf using soft lilac wool for the inner rows and some Sirdar 'Vegas' yarn in the Stardust shade for the outer row. When worn it looks like a feather boa! Very warm too. This started out as an economical project as I had the lilac wool from a boot sale, and bought the Vegas in the bargain section at Hobbycraft the other day. Then I ran out of the Vegas half way through and the only place I could find that shade again was on the Texere yarns website, so had to pay full whack for another ball as well as postage - aagh! Still, it was worth it as the scarf is lovely, very glam! £17 + p&p
This is just a personal note - having shown you my daughter a while back, she has since gone to the hairdressers and had her first 'grown-up' hairstyle! I haven't been holding her back in any way, she has always preferred her hair in a simple bob cut. However, we had a chat and agreed it would be nice to have a new style as she starts college next week. Trouble is, I think she looks even cuter like this (I know I'm biased!) and can't help sneaking extra glances at her 'cos she makes me go 'aaaah...'