Little Fish...

 I had a rare spare evening the other day and made the above.  I had the tiny knitted goldfish hanging around from another project,a nd a couple of weeks ago found the small frame while out shopping.  The frame has a deep gap inbetween the glass and back so was ideal to create this diorama.

The weed & sand have been crocheted, and the bubbles are beads attached with invisible thread.  I'm very pleased with the result - once I have attached a hanging loop on the back of the frame, this will be for sale in my Etsy shop.

Little Fishy...

 I've had this necklace in mind for a long time, but wasn't quite sure how to execute it.  I finbally got my hands on some tiny glass 'bowls' and set about knitting a very small fish - the bowl is 2 cm wide, so the fish had to be similar.

 This is a prototype - either the fish has to be smaller or the bowl slightly bigger.  I'm quite pleased with it but it needs tweaking.

However, if you fall in love with it as it is, do get in touch as it is for sale.

I've also made a few of these - one is listed on my Etsy shop.

Shiny!

Here is the completed goldfish purse - I want to say that was fun, but towards the end it really wasn't!  Each sequin has been laboriously handsewn in place, and I'm not sure just how many of those sequins are now scattered around our living room!

He has a cotton print inner, and there is a hint of stuffing between the felt and cotton to give it a nice rounded fishy shape.

Like that.

One of those projects that will remain a one-off - I'm really pleased with the result, but not sure I want to do it again...unless you pay me of course!!

And finally, may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, Happy New Year!

2014 was not one of my best years in some respects - months of building hell next to our house, lack of painting commissions for the first part of the year, misery at the day job culminating in handing in my notice, the loss of a good friend, and quite a lot of irritating things to deal with.  But it did have it's very good points - the release and good reception of the Nudinits animation (two and a half years hard work!), catching up with some old school friends in the summer, and some very exciting changes for the new year - going totally freelance and finally realising my lifetime dream.  Thank you for sticking with me through it, putting up with the moans and wails, sharing the good bits and giving me the impetus to work hard in order to have something to show you all.  Here's to 2015!

This & That...

Two days before the festivities begin and I think we might be just about ready!  Stacie and I have been having fun with a gingerbread house kit (Morrisons £4, I can't get over what good value this is!).  Stacie has badgered me for several years now to buy a kit and I have held off because I felt they were always expensive - and looked complicated!  However, this one was dead easy and while I had to do the construction bit (with Stacie holding things in place) and the icing, she was able to add the sweetie decorations and thoroughly enjoyed herself.  Trouble is, it will be a shame to break into it to eat it!

Despite tearing around Christmas shopping, sorting out the house, finishing off the day job (yay!) and wrapping presents, I have managed to squeeze in a little painting time.  This is a small coloured pencil work of a toadstool we saw on a dog walk a few weeks ago.  I'm using Faber-Castell coloured pencils - one of Amazon's Black Friday bargains - and they are gorgeous!  Very slow and painstaking, but very therapeutic!

And while taking a short break from the Nudinits knitting, I've been doing some other crafting.  This is a purse in the shape of a goldfish....I got the clasp free with a knitting magazine and it just shouted out to be used as a mouth.  The purse will no doubt be totally impractical, but will look cute at least!

Goldfish in a Lightbulb - At Last!

Finally, thanks to the half term break, a goldfish in a lightbulb is ready for sale!

He has been knitted in an orange and lime-green varigated crochet yarn, with tiny orange sequins sewn on to his body.

His eyes are safety back glass.

The two different kinds of weeds have been crocheted and knitted from green crochet cotton.

It took me over an hour and a half to get him satisfactorily arranged and secured inside the bulb - stuffing him into it was the easy part, getting the wires of the three components sorted and stable was another matter.  However, just before I was ready to chuck it across the room, it all came together and by this morning the clay was dry and hard and the whole thing ready to be mounted into the wooden base.

This will be in my Etsy shop later today - first come, first served!

I knitted this little Angel Fish last night, the varigations in the crochet cotton making exactly the right stripes - more by luck than judgement!  He's a bit big to go inside a lightbulb, but a few of them might look good on a mobile....

Clearing The Way......

Just finished the portrait of Brian - awaiting approval now.  This was a pure watercolour, nice to work in a traditional way.  Seeing it on the screen, I have just noticed something that needs to be done - argh!  At least it has been completed before the half term break, which means I am free for a week to pursue other projects.

One such project is putting this little fishy into a lightbulb.  He is just over an inch long - I do like making these! 

Still Looking For a Home....

As it has been two weeks since I pulled Caren's name out of the bowl and unfortunately she hasn't been in touch to claim her prize, I thought it only fair to hold a re-drawing to let someone else have a chance at winning this.  The name picked out this time was Marissa Brenton - let's hope she comes forward!*

Amongst the miles of garter stitch scarving I have been knitting, I am still slogging away with a tiny tea set, which is proving to be very time consuming due to the thin baby yarn and the 2mm dpns.  I need some elves to come in the night and help me out!  So I took a break to use thicker yarn and sensible sized needles to make the tray upon which to serve the tea - felt very good to be able to finish something in only a couple of hours!

*Hooray!  Marrisa got in touch very fast indeed and the goldfish will be on his way to the USA very shortly!

All Present And Correct......

One of the great advantages of living with a fellow craftsperson is being able to get them to make the stuff you can't! My DH restores vintage racing cars and is highly skilled when it comes to metal and woodwork.  So when I said I needed wooden bases for the fish-in-bulbs, all I had to do was give a rough description of what I wanted and shazzam, two weeks later I have a bunch of perfect bases ready to be used.  He is a clever chap!

Yesterday I also managed to find the perfect wood varnish, and with an unexpected trip to Hobbycraft (heaven for the crafter...) I also got some terracotta air drying clay for fixing everything in place at the base of the bulbs - we are now good to go!

It's been a week since I held the draw for the prototype goldfish in a bulb and the winner, Caren, still has not been in touch.  I shall give her a few more days but if I still haven't heard by the 10th May, I shall pick another name - I need to know how these guys travel!
Update - new winner has been picked - Marrisa, who has been in touch.

I'm still plugging away at knitting these scarves.....it's not very creative knitting yards and yards of stripes, but it has to be done. I'm past the half-way mark at least.

I have a new painting commission...a portrait of Dangerous Brian!  He's a horse and doesn't look very dangerous to me, but then I don't ride him!

We Have A Winner!

The draw for the goldfish in the lightbulb has just taken place, using the ultimate in high-tech equipment. Paper and pen.....

.....scissors, followed by.......

....folding!  Placing in a handmade papier mache bowl!

The superbly crafted random generator....Stacie!  (She's my daughter and believe me, nothing could be more random than a ticket picked by her!)

The winning name is CAREN - if you could get in touch with me at the e-mail address at the top of the page, I will get the goldfish wrapped up and sent to you asap - let's all cross our fingers that it makes the journey to wherever it is going in one piece!

Unfortunately, two weeks on and Caren never got in touch,so I had a re-draw and the winner is Marrisa Brenton...who sent me her address very fast and will be getting a fish in the post!

I have just ordered lots of different coloured crochet cotton with a view to making more mini sea creatures for stuffing into lightbulbs.  I have taken on board the suggestions for different little critters and will be definitely attempting (note *attempting*) octopi and seahorses - the seahorse was on my list anyway, who can resist a seahorse!  Give me some time though as I still have a mountain of commissions that I am slowly working my way through - is there a medical condition called Knitter's Strain, 'cos I think I'm developing it...

A Sort Of Tutorial...

Quite a few people have asked me how I managed to hollow out the lightbulb - if you want a sensible tutorial, have a look here. This is where I learnt to do it.

However, if you want to see how I did it, here we go.  First assemble your tools on a tray - it gets messy. Also, do wear some kind of safety glasses - there will be all kinds of crap flying about.

Make a cup of tea.  See sense and remove cup of tea from work area.

Pry up the little metal disk on the bottom of the bulb using a kitchen knife.  Stab finger.  Go more carefully.

Remove little metal disc with pliers - sometimes the wire from inside will come with it - not today.

There will be a tiny hole where the wire poked through.  Embiggen this hole...I started with a screwdriver....failed...tried the kitchen knife - stupid.....tried a skewer - nearly....found a set of mini tools that I got free in a cracker at Christmas and the tiny thing with a screw on the end was perfect.  Once the hole was big enough, I used the big screwdriver to start breaking up the purple chunk of glass. And a hammer.  Carefully.

Have a swig of tea.

To get the purple glass pieces out, enlarge the hole by bending back the metal edging with your pliers.  Tip out purple glass and then pull out the remaining wire filament.

There will be a long thin piece of glass inside the bulb - this needs to be carefully broken with the screwdriver and tipped out.  I cannot emphasise the word carefully enough - first time I tried this the screwdriver poked straight through the lightbulb and I had to start again.

See how close the screwdriver is to the bulb?  This is not good.

Tip out all the bits of glass that remain in the bulb. 

There will be a rim of glass in the metal section.  This has to be carefully broken to englarge the aperture.  I used my pliers and carefully snapped it piece by piece.  Notice how often I am using the word carefully?

Drink some tea.

Using your industrial strength kitchen scissors, carefully snip the jagged metal round the top of the hole and make it even.  Retrieve pieces of rogue metal that pinged across the room into the dishcloth.

After making sure there are not bits of glass left in the bulb, fill with soapy water and gently wash using a soft toothbrush.  Not your own toothbrush, one that you keep downstairs especially for this kind of thing.  This one I got free on our flight to Boston last year.

 Twist a piece of kitchen paper into a point and gently insert into the bulb.  Use the handle of the toothbrush to swab around the inside the bulb and dry it as best you can.

Compare actual amount of tools used with the optimistic two gathered at the start.

Finish tea.

Scrape glass and wire debris off tray into a  paper towel.  Remove shard of glass from finger. Carefully. Wrap up glass bits and throw away.

 Inspect hands for damage.  No blood here....

...or here.  Yay.

Take gratuitous photograph of dog who has been whining for his dinner for the past half hour and really getting on your nerves.

Feed dog.

Put bulb back in it's box, hole upwards, and balance on the top of a radiator for any residual dampness to dry off. 

And that's how I did it.  Unfortunately, I cannot fill the bulbs yet until my partner comes home from Belgium with the wooden bases he has made for them - no point in putting fish inside until there is something to anchor them to.

There are still a couple of days left for you to enter the draw for my original fish in a bulb.  Good luck!