Cuddly little prickles

I just realised that I do have something to post about that I made - hedgehogs!

These little guys were custom orders for Christmas.

I was approached by one of my customers, asking if I could make hoggies that look like Santa.

Now I wasn't going to pass up a challenge like that, so I made a sample one and sent him pictures of it.

He ordered 4! I'll be selling the same design next year in my shop, along with a tiny version. They'd make great tree decorations.

The red and gold hog and the black and blue hog were actually a little surprise. My friend Sayre if I had time to make a couple of hogs for her son (she'd bought a couple from me as presents, and he decided he wanted some of his own). So I knitted these two guys and sent them off without telling her - she put them in her son's Christmas stocking and he was so pleased with them when he opened it! Seeing the picture of him with them made me smile, I just love making people happy.

Here's one of the Santa hogs, obviously settling into his new home in Italy. I hope he remembered to bring a gift for the baby Jesus!

Awesome bead artist

I apologise for not posting much recently, but I've had a lot to do with my "real" job (recording audio books), and I've been frantically trying to catch up after feeling rubbish for a week and not getting much done.

Apart from playing with a few clay techniques, I haven't done any jewellery work at all since the pieces I made for Christmas presents - shame! I'm dying to get back into it.

I should be finished with the current book by the end of today though, so I'll have some time after that to create to my heart's content.

So in lieu of pictures of my work, here's an Etsy artist that I've discovered recently, thelonebeader. I just love ther work, so clever and detailed, plus she uses those tiny little seed beads that I'm a little obsessed with. My favourite piece is this beaded cardinal.

The cardinal's such a cool bird! One day, if I ever get to the US, I might see one in person. Anyway, I'd cheerfully mug someone* for this pin, because it's gorgeous.

*Actually I'd never mug anyone. Stealing is wrong. But I would compliment them on it, ask where they got it, and then try to persuade them to give it to me!

Free papercraft from Yamaha

I forget who it was who brought it to my attention, but this is awesome.



Yamaha (yes the people who make motorbikes and keyboards and such, have a whole section on their website with downloadable paper models of bikes, animals and other stuff. You print them out, cut them up, and stick them together. I'll definitely be having a go at making the hedgehog when I have more time (unfortunately being ill over Christmas with the cold that everyone's had has made me fall way behind with my work).

Enjoy them anyway!

Presents - sorted!

My parents have always made a big fuss about Christmas. They spend far too much on presents even though my brother and I are all grown up and living away from home - my dad even buys presents for my dog!

The problem with giving gifts when you get older is, people become much harder to choose presents for, because they already have everything they want. My parents used to hassle me every year to decide what I wanted for my "big present", when I really don't need anything else. And I'm rubbish at finding the perfect gift for other people.

So this year I made things much easier, in two ways.

Firstly I created a wish list on Amazon with everything I could think of, and emailed the link to my mum. She loves the fact that she could just order stuff for me online in the comfort of her own home at 10pm without having to trawl through town of a Saturday not being able to find anything I'd like.

As a result, I got several awesome books on polymer clay on Christmas Day, and spent much of the afternoon leafing through them and going "Wow! That looks awesome, I could make that!" I'm expecting to have some cool new lines available soon, inspired by the projects in the books. Yay!

And secondly, I gave handmade jewellery as presents this year. I figured a nice unique piece designed especially for that person would mean much more than the usual potted plant or pair of slippers or gift voucher or whatever.

I haven't actually made jewellery for family members before so I was a bit nervous as to whether they'd like it and concerned that I might look a bit "cheap" (even though I spent quite a lot on materials).

So here's what I made (click on the pictures to enlarge them). I decided to buy beads rather than make polymer clay ones, because I didn't think my style of clay work would really suit the type of jewellery I wanted to make.

For my boyfriend's mum - a necklace and earrings set with some gorgeous shimmery green glass beads, a green foiled glass focal bead with rose pattern, and colourless and pale green Swarovski crystals.

Each bead is individually linked to the next with sterling silver wire to make a beaded chain. The part of the necklace that rests on the back of the neck is a simple delicate silver chain (because the crystals aren't comfortable there, they can dig into your neck).

This was my first attempt at making my own ear wires, and I'm pleased with the way everything turned out.





For my mum - a necklace and bracelet set with blue glass beads, colourless Swarovski crystals and a blue foiled glass focal bead, made in the same way as the green necklace.

The bracelet is a simple silver chain, to which I added the crystals and blue glass beads as little charms.







For my grandmother - a necklace and bracelet set with pink and lavender Swarovski crystals and colourless Swarovski crystal flowers. Again I linked each bead individually using sterling silver wire.

It's hard to see from the photo, but the flowers sparkle beautifully and sometimes shine yellow or blue (you can see the blue in the picture).

They all seemed to like their presents!

Did anyone else give handmade gifts this year? How did it work out for you?

A little bit about me

Me

I'm 29 years old and I'm studying psychology at university. I like to describe myself as having the head of a scientist and the heart of an artist - I definitely need to have an outlet for my creativity, and I also love to experiment and break the rules!

Being inquisitive, I'm naturally interested in almost everything (except I don't have any patience for politics), but I'm particularly fascinated by evolution, the natural world, and the brain.

I love my organic vegetable garden, and enjoy creating wildlife-friendly spaces - my garden's designed to attract a wide range of birds, insects and mammals, and I also rehabilitate (and release) sick and injured wild European hedgehogs. In my spare time I'm often to be found with a pair of binoculars and a field guide in my hand, watching birds.

I've been battling fibromyalgia since I was 16. Life's an uphill struggle at times (fibro causes exhaustion, sleep disturbance, muscle pain, lack of concentration and motivation, and depression), I have to try to find a balance between keeping busy and getting enough rest. The sense of satisfaction I get from creative activities can really help when I'm not feeling at my best.

I sing with three choirs - usually sacred choral pieces (although I'm not religious myself). Music is a great way to escape from any problems I may be having - concentrating on singing a piece I've never even seen before, let alone heard, is enough of a challenge that I can't think about anything else! One of the things I love most about the choirs is the friends I've made - we have such a great time together even if concerts can be a bit stressful at times.

Jewellery

I've been making jewellery since August 2008, so I'm pretty new to all this! I'd like to think I'm learning fast. I've recently started working with polymer clay - I had a gift set of Premo for Christmas when I was 10 or 11, and I've never forgotten how much fun it was! I love way you can create so many different colours and textures and shapes, and put them together to make a truly unique and personal piece of jewellery. I'm using Fimo Soft these days, mostly because it's the most easily available here.

At the moment I'm exploring inclusion of objects into translucent clay. I'm had good results with spices which produce fantastic earthy colours, glass seed beads, sand, eyeshadow and glitter. I'd also like to try dried flower petals and perhaps strands of yarn. These are seriously individual beads!

I make beads in very small batches, usually less than 30, because I want every piece I make to be truly unique. I know it isn't very time-efficient, but that's not the point - I'm not running a factory!

Basically I make jewellery that I'd like to wear myself. Not that I've got round to making anything for me yet...

Knitting

My mum taught me to knit when I was 9 or 10. I don't have the patience to knit big things, in fact I've never knitted anything bigger than a hat or scarf. I like to see results pretty soon, and as I don't knit very fast (fibro makes my hands ache), sweaters and blankets just take too long.

One of the first pattern books I got was one with animals that my mum bought me when I was a child. I must have made every animal in that book, and then moved onto creating my own simple patterns.

I started making hedgehogs as a fundraiser for hedgehog rescue charities, especially Epping Forest Hedgehog Rescue, who have given me so much help and support with my own hedgehog caring. I'd previously tried pattens which involved making loops for the spines, but soon realised that using chinchilla/eyelash yarn does a much better job and is so much easier! I have lots of different colours of yarn so I can make them in team colours or even to match your décor! It's a great way to help our prickly friends.

Well, I think that's about it! I'll be posting more soon. I'm intending to use this blog to show how each piece is made, the techniques and equipment I use, etc. Please let me know what you think!