Artistry and Craftery

Friday, June 11, 2010

BP Spills Coffee

So funny yet so sad...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair

Hi all!

I just got back a little while ago from vending at the first annual Long Island Fleece and Fiber Fair held at the Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead, NY! In addition to having fiber artists sell their wares, there were also many demonstrations and workshops, including sheep herding, sheep and alpaca shearing, carding, dyeing, spinning, felting, knitting, and weaving! There were also angora rabbits, sheep and lambs, and llamas and alpacas that you could pet. Below are some pictures I took throughout the day of some of the beautiful work I saw as well as some of the lovely creatures without whom none of these fiber arts would be possible! Enjoy!

My table

My favorite item of the day, a lovely felted handbag from the Hallockville Knitters

Beautiful table decor and pin cushion from Mojo's Place

Gorgeous hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns from Hampton Artistic Yarns

Brilliant hand-dyed rovings from Color Craze Fiber

Beautiful hand-spun yarns from Temptress Yarn

Me meeting my first darling llama!!!

Amazing art from award-winning needle felter Irene Heckel

Freshly sheared llamas and alpacas

Me petting some baby Romney sheep! "Baaaah!!!"

Mommy angora bunny and baby angora bunnies (2.5 weeks old!) :)

Another angora bunny -- I challenge you to find its face!! (Hint: only the nose and mouth are visible)

Adorable retractable tape measures I bought from Mojo's Place

"Weave-it" miniature handmade loom I bought from Bumblebee Primitives

Finished woven square!

It was great meeting everyone and I look forward to seeing some of you again at the next fair!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Hippest Handbag EVER!!!

I just wanted to show off this amazing gift I got from my sister Jeanne on Easter (the green you see in the bottom of it is Easter grass -- she had filled it with chocolate also) -- it is too gorgeous and cool and unique to not be shown off!!!

She found it in a thrift shop in NYC!

It is made entirely of wire, different-colored glass beads, iridescent amber-colored acrylic beads, and a sheer fabric that pulls closed with a beaded ribbon drawstring.

HOW COOL IS THIS??!?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Nervous Knitter

I am, what some people would call, a "nervous knitter". Certain things about knitting that I haven't tried yet scare me and make me feel anticipatory anxiety. It's silly, I realize, to be afraid of a pair of not-so-pointy needles and a ball of wool, yet I am. Yet at the same time I truly desire to try new things and expand my knitting boundaries. So far I have mastered the following (with great mental anguish ahead of time):

cables
changing colors
entrelac
lacework ("easy"-level)
increasing
decreasing
using markers
making something in 3D
fulling (felting)

Sage Green Braided Cable Scarflette Neckwarmer

Things I still need to master and that continue to give me the chills every time I think about it:

double-pointed needles
fair isle/intarsia
making a sweater
making socks
making gloves
making a hat
following a chart

Knitted and Needle Felted Violet Rose Clutch

And some of these are combined: like, I need to be able to use double-pointed needles to make the hat and the gloves I want to make. And the silly thing is, once I try it, I am fine. It is all anticipatory anxiety. I guess what I'm afraid of is that I will fail, and that I will waste time and energy on something that turns out to be no good. Never mind the fact that all of the other things I have tried have turned out fine...

Knitted and Felted Scoop Bag

So do any of you get nervous with certain crafts or trying new things? Would love to hear from you!

7/9/10 UPDATE!

I have now become much less of a nervous knitter, and have attempted and conquered most of the items on my "scary list": double-pointed needles, fair isle, making a sweater, making socks, making a hat, and following a chart! The only one that I have tried and NOT conquered now is the intarsia -- that still kicks me butt! Oh well... I'm just glad I've gained so much more confidence! :D

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Alice in Wonderland Goodies!

Today I am featuring some of my Alice in Wonderland themed items as well as items from some of my Etsy friends' shops featuring Alice! Enjoy!

From NotSoShabbyChic: