Only Boring People Are Bored Poster

I get restless but never bored. There is always something interesting to do but it would be better if it was done in a new location; preferably Fiji.

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Rasta Umbrella Bob Marley Quote Poster

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

The Rasta rain flows off the edge of the paper.

Jamaica was the first stamp in my passport and the country has a very special place in my heart. It's where I learned to sail and snorkeling was a lot more fun when the fish are colors other than beige.


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Chasing Buses Double Crochet Filet Stitch Scarf Pattern

Alethea had scarf envy and handed me a small ball of wool yarn. I knew I needed an airy design to compensate for limited resources but she also wanted a warm scarf.

I called the pattern Chasing Buses since my other daughter just started taking classes at the U of M and she had multiple bus adventures today. The solid parts represent the streets and the holes are her footsteps in the snow as she ran.

The first row is the filet stitch followed by 3 rows of double crochet.

Here is the pattern.

Use the crochet hook size recommended by the weight of your yarn. This scarf was done using a G hook.

I chained on 30 stitches since the scarf is worked in a repeating pattern of three and I prefer odd numbers.

Insert your hook in the 6th chain from the hook and DC, chain 2, DC in the 3rd chain  from the last stitch. Repeat DC, chain 2, DC until you reach the end of the chain. Chain 3 and turn. (You now have a row of 9 filet stitches)

The chain 3 is your first stitch.
2 DC in the chain 2 space. DC in the top of the previous filet double crochet stitch. Continue across the first row. Chain 3 and turn. You will have 28 DC stitches.

DC across the top of the second row. When you get to the end, chain 3 and turn.

DC across. You now have 3 rows of solid DC.  When you get to the end, chain 5 and turn.

The chain 5 is one side and the top of your first filet stitch. Double crochet in the 3rd stitch over. Chain 2. Repeat DC, Chain 2, DC until you reach the end. Chain 3 and turn.

Do 3 more rows of DC followed by a filet row. Continue pattern until you achieve the desired length. I would have added fringe to the ends but ran out of yarn.

Macchiato Colored Crocheted Scarf

I still had a lot of yarn left so I made a scarf using the pattern by Catherine South.

The scarf and the two hats used a total of 3 large skeins of yarn.

Nissa likes texture and the stitch has a fun little crossover bump every few stitches.

Ribbed Crochet Winter Stocking Hat

I had a lot of brown yarn left over so I tried another hat pattern, this one is from Crochet Geek. It's very warm and was much easier to fit.

Nissa was beginning to get a little concerned when I kept calling her to try it on since the yesterday's hat was too large and first trial fitting for this one was too tight.

I made this one 5 stitches longer than the pattern called for since she's going to be taking the bus to the U of M and I wanted to make sure the cuffed portion covered her ears.

Cocheted Puppy Dog Hat

I made this hat using the cute pattern at Repeat Crafter Me.

It may have turned out a bit larger than I intended but Nissa wore it all day in the house; which was awfully sweet of her.

Next time I make this hat I'll use a smaller crochet hook than the one recommended, a tighter stitch and have one less row across the bottom so it doesn't sit so low on the face.

It would be fun to use the pattern to make a cunning hat like the one Jayne Cobb wore on Firefly.

Forest Tree Face Sculpted From Clay

This face was so huge it took almost a month to dry.

I formed it over a plastic covered bowl so it wouldn't be too solid. The bark features were made by adding clay and forming ruts with my fingers.

The leaves were individually made, scored, and placed with slip.

The hardest part was transporting it, freshly made, home from the cabin in a car filled with dogs. I never thought it would survive but it somehow made the trip intact, didn't break in the kiln, and avoided being nabbed by the art thieves that plagued Nissa's class. We lost a surprising number of items.

Slice Carved Pottery Bowl

The wheel thrown bowl was generously sliced with a scooping motion using the loop tool.

Bowl Carved With A Zig Zag Cake Decorating Tool

You take the zig zag surface tool from Wilton's cake decorating line and heavily incise the surface. You need to do this before it's leather hard but not too soft or you'll cave in the sides.

A Platter of Clay Heads

Nothing says a party like a plate full of clay heads. A few of them are waiting for antlers, hair, and a rather stylish Mohawk.

The bottoms have a hole so that they can have a supported inserted inside.

Pottery Mustache Man Vase

Fredrick has a huge mustache and ears that Will Smith would love. He kept begging; but I told him you need to show me you can handle pens before I move you up to Sharpies.

Clay Tree Spirit

The tree spirit is made of leaves with a bark nose, eye brows and lips. His eyes are acorns. Next spring he'll be moving to the woods by our cabin so he can keep the Nisse in line.

Clay Mermaid With Copper Hair

Lorilei has copper wire hair embellished with sea glass beads.  I thought about the smooth, silky hair that you always see on mermaids but have you seen what salt water does to your hair?

Monster Face Pot With Horns

Henry started out as a vase. I built up his cheeks, cut out his smile and left a gnarly tooth. I particularly like the lopsided horns.

Loch Ness Monster Plate

I attached Nessie to the plate and used a metal brush to brush on a rough wave pattern.

Wavy Textured Pottery Bowl

I had a mishap while this bowl was drying. I went to move it and broke a chunk out of the top. I almost tossed but sometimes accidents make things better.

I cut the top edge in a random wavy pattern and used a wire brush to texture the outside of the bowl. The bowl looks better after the mishap than it did before.

Assorted Carved Pottery Plates

The pattern was done with the tip of a church key. The piece has to be soft leather hard, if it's too dry the tool doesn't press in smoothly.

These were both done with the curved side of a flexible metal tool.

The same metal tool was used here but the cut was deeper and closer together.

The tip of the loop tool was pressed in lightly, then deeper, then lightly.

I used a small melon baller to scoop out the clay.

This surface resembles an orange. The surface was leather hard and I gently cut out small random bits with the smallest part of the loop tool.

Carved Pottery Hand Shaped Soap Dish

I took a thrown pottery plate and free hand cut out a hand shape.  I put in palm creases but some of the lines filled in after glazing.

I planed on it being a soap dish but it shrank to the point where it would hold guest soaps, now it holds rings.

Bark Carved Pottery Pot

I have a few pots drying before the first fire. Many of these have carving, some are plain.

I used a veining tool from a wood carving set to incise this pattern which reminds me of tree bark. You could probably do something similar with the tip of a vegetable peeler.

Carved Pottery Bowl With Stone Like Pattern

This pot was was so thick I wanted it to resemble a boulder, so using the loop tool, I randomly cut chunks off. 

I enjoy the smooth interior with the hewn exterior. It's pleasant to touch.

Deeply Carved Pottery Bowl

This pot was very chunky so I took the loop tool and carved into very deeply. The edges were a bit too sharp so I used the loop tool to smooth it a bit after it was drier but not totally dry.

Carved Clay Rose Petal Plate

This design was so much fun to do.  I started in the center, bent the flexible metal tool, and gently flicked out chunks of clay.  I think the pattern resembles an open rose. I used kiln space at my daughter's school so my glaze choices were limited, I basically did everything in blue or celedon.

Carved Pottery Plate

 I've become quite enamored with carving clay pieces. I throw the pots on my daughter's wheel, let them dry to leather hard and carve them with simple tools.

The silver one is a flexible piece of metal that you can bend to cut shapes. The yellow one is a plastic cake decorator.

Carving suits me well since unlike Nissa, my pots are on the sturdy side. I can carve away a lot of clay to try to achieve a more elegant shape.

The leaf shape was created by heavily bending the flexible metal and you use a slight twisting motion to cut out shapes.

Here is the plate glazed. The blue glaze has a left an interesting color variation that gives it lots of depth.

The World Can Be Amazing When You're Slightly Strange Poster

This would be strange.

The image is a digital collage, of sorts using separate vintage images. I processed the images in Illustrator to make them vectors (this allows me to make the images any size I choose), re-sized them, and colored the former white backgrounds. The exception is the monocle, which was made in Illustrator. I have the entire Adobe Suite but Illustrator is my favorite. Photoshop is wonderful but I like the freedom to change sizes and text works much better in Illustrator.

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California Typography Map Poster

Like many children, my first big trip was to California and it deserves the motto the Golden State. The map is filled with California phrases and landmarks.

Silicone Valley, pacific coast highway, Hollywood, death valley, traffic report, valley girl, Sacramento, grizzly bear, Disneyland, the golden state, sequoia national forest. Napa Valley, wine, sigalert, eureka, LA, actor, rodeo drive, San Francisco, organic, west coast, earthquakes, the strand, santa ana winds, golden gate bridge, Venice Beach, grapes, San Diego, Beverly Hills, palm trees, Beach Boys.


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Get A Life Mario Power Up Mushroom 8 Bit Gamer Poster

I went old school while watching 12-12-12: The Concert For Sandy Relief on Hulu.

It's been awhile since I played the old games so it was a good thing my kids let me know which color mushroom to use.

The 8 bit look can be done pretty easily in Illustrator.
* You make a frame using the rectangle tool.
* object->path->split into grid
* choose the number of rows and columns and make the gutter 0.
* click on a square with the selection tool (black arrow) and fill it with color. If you hold down the shift key as you select the squares, you can color multiple squares at one time.
* You are left with faint lines after you remove the lines by making them transparent so I go to window->pathfinder->unite and combine the shapes as I color them them.

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Star Wars Word Search Puzzle Wrapping Paper

Now I know where the scrolling words on the opening screen for Star Wars movies go; they float freely throughout the universe until captured.

I made this for my hubby, a huge word search and Star Wars fan. The puzzle contains 40 Star Wars related words and phrases. I'm such a geek, the font family is the same one used in the rolling opening credits.

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The things to search for:
death star, lea organa, ewoks, chewbacca, wookiee, tie fighter, star wars, sith, sand people, tatooine, endor, dagobah, padawan, padme, kessel, droid, jedi, palpatine, yoda, the force, R2D2, C3P0, luke skywalker, laser brain, aunt beru, bobbafett, echobase, alderaan, may the force be with you, light saber, lando calrissian, mellenium falcon, clone wars, darth vader, obi wan kenobi, bantha breath, rebel alliance, moseisley, anakin, skywalker, space station