Thread and beads and paint, OH MY!

It has been suggested that I show you all my back log projects in between the active projects. So that is what I'm going to do!

~Thready bits of craftiness~ 

I started cross stitching when I was about 7 years old. I still remember the very first project I completed, it was a house silhouette, finished it was only an inch square and there probably weren't even 30 stitches in the whole thing, but I was pleased with myself for completing it. I have since moved on to larger, more complicated, and cuter patterns.
Like this one...

it's twue, it's twue!

I get bored occasionally and want to start a project just for the hell of it (I use the excuse that I simply need to practice the particular art form of the project) This next one is just such a case. I decided I needed to embroider something and so I chose to embroider a hanky for specific set of garb I had made and she being an Irish character I chose a Celtic symbol. I chose to embroider, by hand, the Celtic Tree of Life... I'd lost my damn fool mind. I was just going to do the out line in one color and be done with it, but noooooo the project had other ideas (don't look at me like that, your projects get ideas of their own too and you know it!)

I ended up doing the outlining and then filling in with the same color of blue and then using the brown to add detailing so you could make out all the knot work.
Looks awesome but I will most likely never do it again. (unless I'm getting paid to that is)

~OOOOOH BEADS! PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY!~
(points if you catch the quote)

I've had a lot of interesting commissions over the years and one of my first and most interesting was a Santa suit for a man that was a professional Santa. He wanted his suit to be special and unique (or at least as unique as you can make an iconic suit) So I added a touch of beading accents to give the suit the kind of detail he was wanting.

Beading the letters proved to be very difficult, making them look like letters was a serious pain until I made the letters out of wire and then added the beads and stitched the whole thing down. I wanted to do more on the suit but he liked it as it was the first time I showed it to him.
I'm rather proud of this project because it really is the one that started it all for me commission-wise.

Beading is one of my favorite crafty things to do, there is so much potential for disaster when you're working with a large amount of tiny things that can be spilled and mixed up and spread around the floor... heh

This next one is a project I did just because. I was watching My Fair Lady and was inspired by the gorgeous necklace she wears.

I think this was meant to be a scale model to make a version for me, but I got distracted by something else before I actually made the full scale one (don't judge me)

I made this around the same time, same scale as the necklace, and I made it because... well, why not?

~Paint is not a good thing in a tiny closed off room~

Painting is a fairly new thing for me. Both of the projects I'm going to show you are from within the last 4 years and I'm rather proud of both of them.

First, in 2007 I met some pirates, not real ones of course, but a group of people that liked to play them out at Scarborough Faire. I've done a LOT of sewing for these guys and even some calligraphy, the thing that I most enjoyed was designing their flag and then making it. The ships name is Valkyrie's Fury and so I took the winged helmet idea and ran with it.

The flag itself is almost 4 by 6 feet, ya know, flag sized. I made a stencil for the design (Kinkos workers look at you funny when you bring things like this in to be laminated, especially it being the size it is) and then I painted the 2 sides, I flipped the stencil on the 2nd side so that it lined up with the first (because it's the odd details like that, that make me the artist I am) I've made 2 of these flags so far and I've kept the stencil safe in case they lose the one they are so fond of flying out the back of their truck (boys are dumb sometimes) This is a 37 piece stencil, 33 pieces belong to the wing design.

Other painty things I've done also include wings. My own wings in fact!

These are shaped wire covered in fabric and then painted. I get so many complements on these wings when I actually wear them. Which I really don't anymore because they are REALLY heavy (and act as sails on windy days) it is most gratifying when someone asks where you got your wings and you can reply "I made them" and get the Look Of Awe for it. I love it.

That is all for today. I'm going to try to post more often now that I have something to post about more often (seriously should have thought of this earlier...) I have lots of crafty things to share with you other than the things I'm currently working on.

I'll also be able to introduce number 4 to you soon (the little bastard) until next time though...

Craft on my friends!