Mrs. Octopus and the Tea Party

Mrs. Octopus is the perfect hostess, she always has every situation in hand. She serves cake and tea on cute white porcelain with lavender roses. This is entirely designed by me, made by hand in polymer clay, hand painted with acrylics, the background is done in watercolor. I plan to do an entire series showing off her awesome ability to multi-task.

A Tale of Two Kitties

I just finished two watercolors, they are both of the same cat, but there is another cat involved, from a print I have long admired by Beth Van Hoesen. You can find it here, look for "Bugs". I have wanted to make something similar for a while now and when I saw a picture of my friend's cat, I thought, this is my chance! So I showed my friend the print and asked her to take a similar picture for me and in exchange I would give her one of the watercolors. The problem now is, which one?

Day Lily Silk Scarf

Here is another silk scarf, this time with yellow day lilies on a blue watercolor style background. It's on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/73834962/yellow-day-lily-hand-painted-silk-scarf

Owlivia

I made an owl before, from a pattern by Ana Paula Rimoli. But I wanted to make one to sell on Etsy so I needed something original. I had chosen my own colors before, so there are some similarities to those before, and similarities to Rimoli's because they are both still amigurumi, but other than that, there are a lot of original details and I did not follow her pattern. In my pattern I added a couple ears, chose a different type of eyes, crocheted a beak instead of embroidering one, improvised a feathery kind of wing, made the bottom flat so that it stands better, and added cute little chain feet. It's on Etsy.

Batik Dot Messenger Bag with Knitted Outside Pocket with Crocheted Octopus

This is one of those projects that came to me in a series of small inspirations. First I was going to decorate a pre-made canvas lunch bag. So I knitted the pocket and improvised a crocheted octopus for the pocket. It just was not working out, the lunch bag could not live up to the cuteness of its own pocket. So then I thought I might make a tote for it, then I remembered the dot batik fabric which matched the pocket perfectly with its ocean-y color and bubble goodness. Then I remembered the messenger bag pattern I had and it all came together. I so want to keep it! But more than that I need to sell something! I can make another, or several, eventually I'll get one, lol. The fabric is really special and handmade, not printed (but it is store bought.) I did all the knitting, crocheting and sewing myself.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71623004/batik-messenger-bag-with-crochet-octopus

Pink Bird Scarf version 2

I made a new pink birdie scarf! I listed it on Etsy.

Butterfly cosmetic bags

I made these for my new Etsy shop. They are hand painted on silk. I used both plain and black resist for the design. The black resist was much harder to wash out and left little black bits here and there, so watch out for this. Also I think I maybe should have used a different background color because this one washes out the butterfly too much. I meant to use a more contrasting green which would have been better, but it got bluer.

Sea Turtle Silk Tie

I painted this silk tie. It faded a little more than I would like, perhaps I should not have saved the fix for the second application of dye but mixed another fresh batch. I'm finding that to be a big problem with silk painting, getting the dye to really fix even when you do all the steps and wait full days for dyes and resists to dry and iron and use fixative solutions and do the hokey pokey and everything. Blue is really resistant to sticking. But it really is a satisfying art in that in that if it all works out you have a really beautiful piece of fine silk that people love to touch and look at. The subject is an endangered green turtle with a starfish knot placement holder. (I just made that up :) .)

Oh and a few more xmas items I forgot....

I crocheted an xmas pickle. It goes on the tree and the person who finds it is supposed to get a prize. Don't ask me where the tradition comes from, there are many stories out there but I have wanted to get one. Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts magazine had a pattern to knit one but since I cannot hold several tiny little needles at the same time, though I have tried (!) I just made up a pattern to crochet one. I copied the idea of having pretty glass beads meticulously strung onto the yarn beforehand.

I made a cup corset, a sexy little cute thing to help you hold onto a hot cup of coffee, I knitted it with supporting lines to indicate where boning would be and added red ribbon laces. I'm kind of thinking of making a bunch and selling them, do you think I could make big bucks??

I also made my sister a hat.

Sweater Vest

I made this vest for Alfred in gray green to go with his eyes. The pattern is from Norah Gaughan Collection Men. It came out a little big, but still looks pretty nice. It has a nice vertical knit pattern.

Lily the Christmas Elf

I made this for my niece. It came out pretty cute. The pattern was from Lily Sugar 'n Cream (hence the name) and was free and in perfect time for the holiday. It whipped up pretty fast and I think the bells really added something to the enjoyment of the toy. She liked tossing it into the air and catching her, she was a "circus elf" apparently. :)

Hot Water Bottle Cover

The pattern was from Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine, Fall/Winter 2010 I just love the gingham stitch pattern in red and white, it's kind of thick and cushy too, perfect to protect you from water that's too hot. I changed the tie ends from pom poms to little red flowers.