Chain ply cotton

On By CarynIn Craft

Since I had more spun cotton single than I needed for my crepe yarn, I tried chain plying it to make a three ply yarn sample. It did not go well. The cotton single was difficult to handle and kept breaking if the strands rubbed together. The resulting yarn is very haphazard with sections that coiled mixed in with the smooth ply.

Photo description: three ply cotton yarn on a wood bobbin

The chain ply and the crepe yarn don’t look that different on casual observation because of the irregularity of the single spin. The variations in width cause more visual texture than the plying techniques. I will have to try this comparison with a different fiber preparation.

Photo description: crepe yarn (left) and chain plied yarn (right) on a PVC niddy noddy

Bird bath

On By CarynIn Wildlife

Our last ice storm broke all my ceramic and glass bird baths. Some of the old pottery had been outside for years. We must have had hail because they were all just shattered. I ordered a hanging water container made of wood and plastic rather than risk breakage again.

Photo description: wood and blue plastic water basin added to the hanging array of foodstuffs for squirrels and birds

Really the water is for the squirrels, who quite liked the other water basin.

Desert ornament

On By CarynIn Craft

I had a request for a camel laser cut ornament, so took a slice of flame maple and line engraved an SVG camel image. I like a line engrave of SVG files better than a bitmap engrave for JPG type images.

Photo description: camel laser engraved on a circle of flame maple, finished with Howard’s Feed-N-Wax
Photo description: other side of the same ornament with the camel image reversed and done with a faster speed resulting in a lighter burn

I like the way the flame maple looks like shifting desert sands, especially when it catches the light on the move.

Throwback Thursday: beaded daisy sculpture

On By CarynIn Craft, throwback

Back in June of 2012 I was still making jewelry to enter into the Fire Mountain Gem contest. I was just starting to put my head toward marketing and using purchased elements rather than components made from scratch. The contest really is to motivate buyers to purchase from the company, so the designs that win need to have a wow factor and inspire makers to buy. Custom sculpted elements aren’t usually in the standard beaders repertoire.

I fell short of the mark on this design. I love it, but it did not make the short list in the contest. I used a purchased wire knit chain and braided it, used purchased ribbon ends and clasp, and built a daisy pin using plated button and pin findings, crystal petals, crystal beads, and seed beads.

Photo description: daisy pin necklace with Viking knit chain and crystal beaded pin
Photo description: closeup of the daisy pin center
Photo description: side view of the pin, showing a peek of the base elements

I certainly had a long list of purchased elements, but maybe my color scheme didn’t fit what the judges were looking for, or I used difficult to decipher techniques. Hard to tell. I was getting better taking project photos, though.

Laser cut clips

On By CarynIn Craft

I saw a hint about making clips to hold down material in the laser cutter. The tip was for a different brand than I have, with a different grid, but I thought I could design my own clip.

Photo description: clip design evolution: top left was too narrow to fit my tray, top middle needed a tab to make placing easier, top right got a face because the tab looked like a head, bottom left the tines were delicate, bottom right is a functional and personified clip
Photo description: laser cut plywood clip person in use

I find the little straining strongman amusing, but it does stick up above the material, so has to be placed away from the path of the laser. I may design something more streamlined later, but the current version is functional so it might be awhile before need demands a redesign.