Treasury: "Red, White, and Blue", and progress on the gourd

Ok, it must be the season for treasuries. This is so much fun! This evening's theme was "Red, White, and Blue", in honor of the US Independence Day that is coming up in July. One of my hand felted camera cases was included. Here's the link, if you want to take a peek:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c11a54c0a5a6d918c2c6d2e/the-red-white-blue

Ok, and so this post has a picture too, here's how far I've gotten on the gourd I'm working on. Today I strung waxed linen through the holes in the top to make a web, and then started weaving on it. There is a button in the middle to act as a handle, and a couple of wooden beads pre-strung on the warp threads. I have no plan--this is just free-form weaving, as the mood strikes me.

"Paint the Town Red" Etsy Treasury

A pair of my hair sticks is in an Etsy Treasury! The person who put the treasury together started with a gorgeous red dress, then found all the accessories to go with it. What a fun idea for a grouping! I'd love to see the finished outfit actually put together, but in the meantime it is a great fantasy game.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c0f27aa35986d91f0f06f03/paint-the-town-red

Decorating Gourds

Remember that lump under a towel in my last post? Well, I got around to working on it last night and today. That towel hid a gourd, that I had soaking in order to make it easier to scrub down.

Dried gourds have a waxy coating on them, that needs to be scrubbed off before you can play with decorating the gourd. Hot water, a copper kitchen scrubbie, and lots of elbow grease did the job. Then after the gourd dried back out again, I took it out to the garage, put on my dust mask, and cut the lid off and scooped out the insides.

I was busy during the day today, but this evening I got back to working on the gourd. I'm planning on doing some teneriffe weaving on the lid, using waxed linen. I drilled holes around, so I could warp up my gourd after I got it dyed. Drilling before coloring means the dye can sink into the holes, and they are not so bright.


Then I grabbed my black leather dye, and darkened the inside of the gourd. Tip to the wise: put down tarps, because you might be as messy as I was. Leather dye drips. Leather dye also makes a gawd awful mess when you slip and knock the open bottle of dye, sending it flying. Off the tarp, of course. Rags and rubbing alcohol got most of it back off the tile...but dye, well, dyes things. I was Not Amused.


After I calmed back down, I decided that I really needed to finish up the dyeing process tonight, while it was still cool enough to have the windows open. It is over 100F here during the day in Arizona, so having the windows open is not terribly pleasant then. But leather dye (and rubbing alcohol) stinks, and the fumes can leave me light headed if I don't take precautions. So color happened, and the gourd is drying. Tomorrow I'll get to the weaving part. More pictures later!

Oh, and what did I do during the day while I couldn't have the window open? Finished up another Viking wire woven necklace. This one is of copper, and is 18" long. I used 7 colors of Delica seed beads to make the spiraling peyote stitched slide bead. It is fun having a stash to dip into, so I can play with the colors! More colors, of course, would be better. But I am resisting the temptation to decide that I need little vials of all the various of Delica beads. No matter how much fun that would be, and how many neat items I could make. Why? There are I think hundreds of different colors and finishes! But oh, the temptation...

Felt and Etsy and Project Planning

It has been a busy several days! I was on the road with my daughter, attending her freshman orientation since she starts college this fall. And then we went straight from there to an SCA event. So I've been out of the studio since last Wednesday.

Luckily, I was down to the hand sewing on the felt camera cases I've been working on, so I had a portable project. I tossed the thread, needle, awl, thimble, buttons, and felt in a tote bag, and off I went. Here's the results:



I've really been enjoying making these! I love playing with the different color combinations. And I enjoy seeing how they turn out. Felt making is so organic--the colors migrate around and blend together, so you're never entirely in control of the process. There is an element of serendipity that I really enjoy.

I spent the afternoon taking individual pictures of these cases, and listed them in the Etsy shop. (http://www.etsy.com/shop/tangibledaydreams) That pretty well rounds out the 'felt' category in the shop. My goal right now is to stock the shop well enough that there are at least 6 of each type of item, to give folks a better variety to choose from. And eventually I'd like to have 21 items in each category, which is how many items can be on a page before they flip over to a second page.

With that in mind, I'm starting on another project. Here's a teaser picture. Can you figure out what I'm going to be up to next?




No, I'm not watering a basket ball. There is something in the towel that I'm soaking. Which reminds me...back to work!

A Treasury of Violet and Indigo Dreams

Woah! Two days in a row for treasuries. I'm doing a rather bemused happy dance over here. :) This time, my indigo dyed hand spun yarn was included in an Etsy treasury titled, "Violet and Indigo Dreams". http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c014ae8c42b6d91535e1f54/violet-and-indigo-dreams

A Treasury for Dads

Oh, how fun! A set of my felted juggling balls was included in an Etsy treasury. The theme of this collection is items that Dad might like. http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=100113

It always tickles me to see what connections people make between the various items displayed on Etsy. I wouldn't necessarily have thought to put these 12 items together...but they absolutely fit as a cohesive whole. Nicely done, Dawn!

Viking Wire Weaving: 4 necklaces

In addition to the felt work I've been doing recently, I've also been experimenting with the Viking wire weaving. (The tutorial on how to do this is here: http://tangibledaydreams.blogspot.com/2010/03/tutorial-viking-wire-weaving.html)

This first necklace, so nicely modeled by my daughter Michelle, is made of 24 gauge copper wire. The slide bead is created with Delica seed beads that have been peyote stitched together. I'm living in Arizona, and copper is one of the 'three c's' that the state's economy was based on. (Cattle and Cotton were the other two.) So I decided to go for a desert Southwest feel, with the black and turquoise focal bead to complement the copper.

These next two are made with non-tarnish silver Artistic Wire. That one on the right is a collaboration with gem carver Epaul Fischer (http://www.gemartist.com/). It was a high school graduation gift for my daughter. The phoenix 'Wings' design was inspired by a needlepoint work that my folks had up on their bedroom wall when I was a kid. It read, "There are two lasting gifts you can give to your children. One is roots. The other is wings." So, this was her gift of wings.















And then I got to thinking about the Artistic Wire. It is copper wire, with a coating plated onto it. It comes in a variety of colors, which looks great to work with. But I'm not sure how durable the coating is. So, I decided to experiment. This last necklace is made of 5 colors of 26 gauge wire for the chain, and about 20 gauge copper for the clasp. I wove an inch of each color, and then pulled it through the draw plate. The coating didn't scratch in this process at all, and the sections are still even in size.
I'm wearing this necklace right now. I love the way it looks! But I'm still worried about the durability. I'm going to wear the necklace pretty much non-stop for the next few weeks, and see how it fares. I'd hate to put in all those hours weaving a piece of jewelry, if it won't hold up to normal wear and tear.

Has anyone else experimented with the Artistic Wire? What is your experience with it?