Photo description: witch’s costume with purple spiderweb cape, dress and cape hand sewn, hat purchased
I don’t know what possessed me to sew a kid’s costume when I had a new born, but I did in October 2008. This is the costume that made me realize that it is more expensive to buy fabric than to buy premade costumes. Was it well made and amazing? Yes, it was. Was the spiderweb themed purple sheer and coordinating black fabric so cool? Oh yes. Was it worn more than once? No. The dress was too small within a month, although the cape lived in the dress-up box for years. Was it worth the time and money? No, not for a growing kid. For an adult? Maybe, especially if it will be worn year after year.
Here is something from July 2008 that reflects most of the crafts I was involved with at the time: crochet, wire work, and glass fusing.
Photo description: copper and glass necklace from 2008
The rope was crocheted with copper lined seed beads (I think, I may have crocheted copper wire with clear seed beads, but the rope looks too even with a nice drape, which tells me I probably used silk cord, rather than wire, and the the copper color may come from a lined seed bead). I finished the rope with hand made wire cones and a purchased copper toggle clasp. The pendant is fused glass with a hand made chased copper inclusion in the shape of a four loop Celtic knot. I was experimenting with fused glass using a small kiln because I could set it up, let it run its program overnight, and check on it in the morning in my own time, very important when dealing with a young child and another on the way.
I attached the glass pendant using copper wire, and added five independent coils of copper around the rope. I must have done this for flexibility reasons, it would have looked better with a single longer coil, but that would have changed the drape.
These seed bead crocheted ropes do make me nostalgic for the times I could wear necklaces. They have a comforting feel in the hand.
Here is a throwback to May 2008 of a work in wire that looks more complicated than it is.
Photo description: Egyptian coil bracelet made from 22 gauge silver wire with handmade toggle clasp
I enjoy items that are made my connecting identical elements to form something new. The Egyptian coil bracelet is made up of lengths of wire spiraled in opposite directions from the ends and folded in the middle. Each link connects through the center fold loop; the spacing between links depends on the length of the loop.
Although I like the look of the bracelet, the darn thing catches on everything. The thin gauge wire is easier to coil into a tight spiral, but when it catches on a thread or pocket, the wire pulls open. It is a good linkage study, though I recommend using 20 gauge wire or thicker.
In May of 2008 I took a picture of a finished necklace for which I really should have tracked my hours. The main element is a beaded crochet tube that winds around wire wrapped cats-eye cabochons. I would work on the tube while my eldest was in preschool or napping, and I believe I could obtain an inch an hour at my fastest. It is very tiny work done with a very small crochet hook using silk thread and Delica seed beads, which are high quality and more uniform and also very small.
Photo description: Statement necklace with variegated blue beaded crochet rope wound around 17 glass cats-eye cabochons wire wrapped with the center cabochon featuring a wire tree
I still marvel at the amount of work that went into to that beaded rope. I strung the beads on the silk thread, then crocheted the rope, waxing the thread as I went. The finished strand feels very nice, has a nice weight and a pleasant feel, but it is truly a work of passion.
Here is a throwback to April 2017 when I used a 3Doodler 2.0 tool to sculpt a fish.
Photo description: “Hooked” fish sculpture created for my Dad for Father’s Day using the 3Doodler 2.0, about 50 sticks of PLA, two plastic safety eyes, and about 12 hours working time.
Dad displayed the fish on a clear acrylic shelf in an upper window. Here is a picture from 2024.
Photo description: same doodled fish seven years later on a hanging shelf with the woods behind the window glass. His lure went A.W.OL. probably cat related.
As much as I loved the idea of the 3Doodler, the entry level extruder pens could not keep up with my desired work flow. I burned out a couple pens experimenting, and they often needed frequent breaks in production, more than I did.
Critters and Craft 