More of the crocheted necklaces...

Like the crochet necklace I made before (here), just with other kinds of yarn. The upper one is cotton thread for crocheting, the black one a cotton yarn for just everything and the light grey is polyacryl. Normally I prefer cotton but the polyacryl yarn was very cheap and available in a nice range of colours so I took some of it for playing and practicing :)

For the grey and the black one I used some satin ribbon for closure. I still don't know what I want to use for the small crochet threat, maybe just some silver hook? Although I love crochet stuff, it is easy to get way too fancy with it ^^

The black was really kind of hard to photograph... mh... and I need some kind of model for this stuff because these crochet necklaces looks so much greater if they are worn! Hopefully Lachafa will help me with this when she is back home over christmas :)

Finally some to show...

I made the first round of butterfly earrings some time ago (have a look here). This one (as well as the other pair of earrings) I made for a friend. You can see how they evolve from the first time I made them to the next times. Now the butterflies are covered with a laquer-like surface. This time it consist of several layers of clear embossing powder. 

I couldn't show you them before she got them :) The card is one of my transfers done with aceton (look here). 

The other earrings are made out of air-drying clay which I stamped with some wooden fabric stamps. 

More stuff I made with air-drying clay: click here ^^

And as every year around this time: There are a lot of other earrings in production which I can only show you in some time (first: They still have to be finished, and second: A lot of them will fill advent calendars)

Crochet necklace - something simple...

...but I still really like it. I made some more already ;) Just with different yarn and little changes to the design (which I had for some time now as a handwritten copy from a friend). Most of the time I am trying a pattern at first and then starting to make my own variations. Lachafa is way more flexible than I am and just crochet freehand all the time! (Sweetheart, did you finish the pattern for me? ^^) But I am growing in my skills more and more and I love to realize how fast that can be!

To start with a big project like a afghan was perfect for me because my hands got back to the movement, the rhythm and flow taking stitch for stitch. Although the afghan changed into an UFO (at some point it was way too heavy to take with me all the time and most of my crochet  am doing while talking with friends), it taught me a lot just by doing it.

To quote my sister (she said this yesterday ^^): Just start!

This is really the most important thing next to: Don't be afraid of wasting stuff! If it is gone, be it! No difference to lying in the stash :)

And yes, there will be beaded versions too :)

Whispers in my ear

You can never have enough octopi.... or tentacles! This beauty is from Karen @graphics fairy (secretly I belive this one was just for me ^^). 

What else to do than to print it, cut it, glue it and put a thick layer of 3D laquer on top?! 

And what else to make out of it than earrings?!

You see how the octopus helps to get all his tentacles on the paper circle? ^^

If you are quiet you may hear what he whispers in my ear :)

Changing favorites - earrings

Most of the time I have one favorite pair of earrings which I wear really, really often. This one I made from some free advertising cards (I'll show you some... ehm... a lot more... over the next time ^^). Advertising and / or free postcards are made from sturdy paper or cardboard which is perfect for crafting. I glue some recycling card board on the back (or sometimes also some old plastics) to get more stability. I also like to crate a nice back site (but not with this ones).

On the top I put either 3D laquer or diamond glaze... but I have to say I am not that impressed by diamond glaze. The only real advantage: it dries in 2 to 3 hours instead of 12 to 24 hours (with the 3D laquer). Also it likes winter more than my 3d laquer... somehow it dries not too nice anymore since the temperatures dropped... but I can completly understand that attitude: I don't like the cold either! ^^

Some litte edit: 

The glittering stuff I put next to the woman's face is glowing in the dark! ^^

I'll test some more stuff in the future... because I really love the glas like surface over the paper :)

If you have any ideas for me: I would love to hear and try them! :) (I'll try some resin casting for example but therefor I want to make a lot of stuff before because for just one or two pieces it is too much effort).

Oh... and this is just an ongoing project (or rather process? ^^) of crocheting strange stuff. Yes, someday they should be something like sea anemones or corals pillow case for cuddling... and until then... it is just strange crochet stuff which teaches me more freestyle crochet and just looks funny on my computer... oh... and my cats are in love with the stuff as well! They think it is perfect to play and drag away ^^

Homunculus

I forgot to put something in the pictures so you get an impression of the actual size: The little key or the foot of the homunculus are about 1 cm (ca. 0,4 inch). 

I made this one (and his book ^^) already some time ago as a birthday present for a friend. It is my first homunculus (or better to say: my first human-like work with polymer clay). 

Yes, the six fingers and finger nails on the hand are on purpose! You see his little earring?

And his little tail...

...all the scars and stiching lines (hey, he is an homunculus!)...

...a little skirt for modesty...

...and a big potato like nose!

I even like the effect of my finger prints on the surface...

The eyeballs are made with 3D laquer...

And I used a tiny wee bit of my own hair for him.

I just cut in the cured polymer clay with a sharp knife and afterwards used acrylic water paint which went into the lines. Otherwise they would have been invisible :)

And yes, I need a lot more of practice but for my first piece I like the result. :)

The little book is useable! I printed some tiny sheets with a strange language and some pictures which suits into the homunculus theme and glued and sewed them together. A little bit of acrylic water paint, some cardboard and silver leather for the book cover.. that was it! 

Everything changes to an earring in my hands!

I found this little cones in the art supply store at the main station. The lighter one are the bleached variations of the dark ones. I had them in my hand and their size and structure is so simple and yet beautiful in the complicated pattern of the surface...

I cut the upper end and drilled a little hole in it. All with my dremel! I couldn't do without it anymore ^^ The silver wire is glued into the cone.

The little earing holder is just a piece of a toilet paper role glued on recycled cardboard and I used my new carved arrow stamps (just in case you didn't notice ;) ).

One of my friends suggested silver colour on one of the cones and I tried it. I like the result although the next time I will use another paint (acrylic paint, Reeves) or maybe just add some retarder... we'll see :)

PS: I am sorry for the long breaks between every entry at the moment but there are some issues in my family and also with friends which just needs more attention than my blog. First things first... but hopefully everything will get better with the time and then I'll take my time to make pics of all the stuff I got done. Although I slowed done my craftings I didn't stop them (otherwise I would have gone insane up until now!) so there is still a lot I can show you :)

PPS: I just can say thanks here to an anonym comment who helped me with some little errors I made. Would love to write it to you on a more direct way but also hope this may be sufficient :)

I never showed you this stamps!

As you see this are really basic stamps. I made them all from the rubber of normal school erasers )the really cheap ones ^^). I like the random background / muster stamps and I think there is always a need for a lot of arrow stamps! Don't you think so? And tags... no one should ever forget tag stamps! 

And a little castle... and a tiny house... and just a square. But sometimes you need a square! And don't forget I am just using a black ink pad to test and show the stamps. I think a lot of them would be quite cool in a lighter colour to create some kind of background texture.

I am really sorry I forgot to take pictures how I carved the stamps. I wanted to because especially a tag or an arrow is quite easy to do even for your first own handcarved stamp :)