Poppy Moon Pendant on Embellished Sari Silk Ribbon

I sent this off as a surprise to my friend sheepBlue on Lettuce Craft.  Since she received it today, I can share.  I made the focal piece at last year's Adornments Retreat.  The instructor, Candie Cooper, gave su collage sheets with images on them, so I'm not certain where this particular image is from.  The base is wood, which I painted white before layering on the sheer image.  Then I added the brass dragonfly and the flat back Swarovski crystals.  I painted the back a shimmery blue with some Jacquard Lumier paint that was in my stash, and then finished the whole thing with a coat of Diamond Glaze.

  

The image includes a crescent moon, and a faint face beside it, with a field of poppies in the foreground.  I used some Beadalon wire, and added a green glass and a Vintaj brass bead at the top, before wrapping the wire a few times around the beads.  From the bottom I suspended a Czech glass poppy bead, on a decorative headpin.

The whole piece is strong from some sari silk ribbon that I embellished with some tiny brass disks, seed beads, and a coppery orange thread.  The silk came from Monica of Mariposa Originals, whom I met at last year's retreat.  She kindly sent some lovely pick-me-up packages to jewelry making friends during the pandemic.  The brass disks came from the ever-awesome pottermouth on Lettuce Craft.  

I'm so glad that a piece I started nearly a year ago is now complete!  I love how it turned out, and think that the real inspiration to finish it, was imagining it for sheepBlue specifically, and pushing it more towards her individual style.  I love being inspired by my crafty friends!

The Neverending Klaziena Shawl

This project was a long time coming.  I started it on Christmas Eve, as a gift to myself, what with the news of Craftster closing and whatnot.  The pattern is called the Klaziena Shawl, by Kirsten Bishop, and it's free.  One of the nice things about the pattern is that it comes with options for making it as a triangle, or a rectangle shawl.

The yarn is Scheepjes Whirl in the color Green Tea Tipple.  I finished the last row with about 20" of yarn to spare!  I love when that happens.  While I am very happy with how it came out overall, it was a bit of a slog.  The repeat is about 12 rows long, and not easy to remember, so you really have to keep an eye on your pattern.  Plus the yarn is so thin and the hook so small (3.5mm) that it just takes forever.  If I were to make it again, I'd try it with a thicker yarn, and larger hook, and do one less repeat of the pattern.

Red & Cream Disappearing 9-Patch Quilt Top

This little quilt top was whipped up for Edel in the Go Bananas Swap.  I found a charm pack in my fabric stash that was a free gift when I bought a quilt kit off Craftsy/Blueprint.  It wasn't quite enough to do a whole top, so I dug through my stash and added a few pieces with the same colors.  I feel like the cream florals and old handwriting prints blend in really well with teh vintage looking fabrics in the the charm pack. 

 I even had enough of the dark red solid to send along to Edel to use as binding.  Heck yeah for stash busting during the pandemic!  And here it is all quilted up by Edel, for her mom. 

Create Prayer Flag

This prayer flag was created for my dear friend Edel, in the Go Bananas Swap on Lettuce Craft.  When I saw the embroidery design on Urban Thread, I knew I wanted to use it for something.  I dug through my stash and couldn't find much in the way of plain fabrics for the background, so I went with a soft tan on on cream floral print that I felt matched the scrollwork in the embroidery.

I did a row of hand stitching along the edge and dush through my charms stash fro the letters for CREATE.  I didn't like the color balance of the charms, so I altered the C and the T with some Vintaj metal patinas, to try to bring in more of the green and turquoise from the embroidery. 

Scrappy Cool Waters Quilt Top

This quilt top was created for my dear friend Edel in the Go Bananas Swap on Lettuce Craft.  When she & I were discussing the swap, we hit on the idea of making quilt tops for one another, as a way to stash bust, while also keeping postage costs down, since they would be smaller without batting and backing.  The pattern is called Cool Waters and came from an issue of Fons & Porter's Quilting Quickly from May & June of 2017.  It is intended for a jelly roll, using 40 2.5" strips.  Instead I used fabrics in my scrap stash in shades of turquoise, aqua, blue, purple, and pink, which Edel listed as some of her favorites.  Some of my strips were the width of fabric, while others were just 9".  I had enough to make the entire top, and one extra block, for Edel to make into a pillow to go with it.  There are bis of so many wedding and baby quilts in this scrappy wonder.  I love how it came out, and would do the pattern again in a heartbeat.

Stash Busting Quilted Potholders

A few years ago I made a quilt for my friend Vicky when she got married.  The pattern had you make more blocks than were actually needed for the quilt top, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the extras.  While digging through my stash making masks, I came across them again, and decided to put them to use!  I used up the last of my insul-bright scraps and whipped up 3 potholders for her.

Honeybee Necklace & Earring Set

My aunt recently contacted me to ask if I could make her a Honeybee themed necklace and earrings.  Apparently in his retirement, my uncle has started keeping bees, and they have been selling the honey at a local Farmer's Market.  She wanted something to wear while selling it.

The necklace chain is made from Vintaj artisan brass chain and findings, Swarovski Crystal rondells, Czech glass, and cherry quartz beads.  The honeybee pendant includes a bronze bee from Green Girl Studios, and a pewter bee charm, with bronze chain, and more Swarovski crystal and Czech glass beads.

The earrings are Czech glass and crystal beads, with pewter bee charms.