a quilt and life lessons.

this thing.  i finally finished this thing.  nearly two months and three iterations later, it's finally, finally finished.  

finished size measures approximately 24.5" square, and uses a combination of cotton, linen/cotton and silk, dyed using a combination of synthetic and natural dyes (indigo, cutch, madder, sandalwood and alkanet).  this piece incorporated some of the fabric i dyed during shabd's class at TAC i took during the holidays; the fabric had been sitting around patiently since then, waiting for the perfect opportunity to be used.  the natural dyed stuff was done during my huge wave of natural dyeing about a month ago.  

this piece, in all its unfinished glory, had been sitting around gathering dust waiting for me to finish when i finally decided this weekend was going to be the weekend.  little by little and stitch by stitch, it started to come together under the sewing machine, becoming tangible proof that sometimes, all it takes is a decision and the tenacity to stick to it, to get things done.  lessons in life, i guess.  

shop update.

they're finally available! i dyed this rope about a month back when i did all the fabric and yarn dying, and these were amongst the first to go into the dye baths thus the colors turned out much deeper and richer than some of the later fabric/yarn batches.

limited edition cotton sash cord necklaces dyed in either a madder + cutch or indigo + madder colorway in two beaded styles, now for sale in the shop. when i say limited edition, i mean it - there's only four total available in madder + cutch and one available in indigo + madder. while the colors on the rope turned out even better than i had hoped, it's really the beads i'm super excited about. i managed to score these amazing glazed pumice beads with smaller glazed (what looks like) stone beads mixed in, and these guys are just the texture mecca. i mean it, folks. mecca. all sorts of nooks and crannies, caverns and little stubbly goodness abound on these beads, and no two are alike.

there will be also be another update along a similar vein in a couple of weeks on convertible necklace/bracelets, so stay tuned!

valentine's day handmade gift exchange bounty.

a few submitted photos of gifts exchanged/received in the valentine's day handmade gift swap.

this was so much fun to put together, and it makes me immensely happy to see how excited people were to make something for someone new, and to receive something from an unexpected new friend in the mail.  this is definitely something i'd like to organize more of in the future, time permitting.  what other handmade goodies did everyone else receive?  are there any other types of swaps you'd like to see in the future outside of general crafts?  if you'd like to participate in a future swap, please don't hesitate to email me or leave a comment to let me know.

hand painted valentines.

i hadn't wanted to post about these until i was fairly certain a majority of friends who i sent one out to received one, but this year i hand painted a couple dozen valentines and sent them all over, one of them even going out to london.  each card was also accompanied by a stuffed heart pin, though i forgot to take pictures of those, whoops.  i've been painting quite a lot recently, and this was one very quick little project that helped motivate me to practice painting regularly and also share the love, quite literally.  

also, i realize i haven't updated on the valentine's handmade swap, but i'm glad to say it turned out really well - i've heard very positive feedback from those who participated.  i'll update tomorrow with a few submitted photos of gifts either exchanged or received in the swap - stay tuned!

valentine's day handmade gift exchange.

for those of you that might have been following me on twitter, you may have heard about a project i'm starting that i'm super excited about - a valentine's day gift exchange!  and good news!  the flyer is finally ready.  all the details are in the flyer above - feel free to post on your personal blog or share it with friends you think might be interested in participating.  i think it's a great way to spread the love in a different way on a day that ofttimes draws such polarized feelings.  if there are any questions or if you'd like to participate, the most important things to note are 1) email me at whoskay (at) gmail to let me know and 2) please let me know by february 8th. 

i made these while procrastinating on cleaning the house for the umpteenth time, and i’m pretty pleased with how they turned out. i couldn’t get it to show in the photos, but the best part about these beads was the gold clay i used had tiny little flecks of gold dust, which when folded into the pink matte clay distributed an even dusting of the gold flecks throughout the bead, totally an unintentional plus. i was inspired to make these after seeing alyson fox’s ‘a small collection’ on jenny’s blog/shop; kinda neat that the desire to own one culminated into necessary creativity since those necklaces sold out so darn quick.

last ring i made from the jewelry metalsmithing class i took.  hand cut, shaped, sanded, soldered and polished from solid sheet brass.  likely my favorite out of the three i’ve made…this could definitely be something i’d love to pick up as a hobby if time allowed.

yarn$ chain$.

two yarn knot necklaces, knitted + crocheted by yours truly.  i’m particularly fond of how the blue one turned out.

close up of the (half) good luck knot.