Uli's Creative Corner

I'm going through a really busy time here at work so I didn't do a double update today....... the post was jewlery based so the goodies are over at Sparkles & Fuzz on Vox.  Come for a little visit. :-)

I made another ring.......... just a glass bead and some silver plated wire (for practicing):

It's only about a size 6, so I listed it for sale, very inexpensively.  I have way bigger sausage fingers. :-)  I love making rings.  I'm not great at it yet but I can see myself making many more.  I ordered some funky beads - not all singletons - so that I can make a prototype and then make others and custom size them.

Now to the rubber part of the title.......... I got some rubber rings to add to my chainmaille a couple of weeks ago and I finished this funky bracelet today.  It's stretchy so it doesn't need a clasp.  I know it wouldn't be everyone's style but I did it just for the fun of it and had a blast with it.  I think it's quite fun.  What do you think?

Sleeve #2 on Ruby for Erika is almost finished.  And then I have the hood to knit.  I think the hood will take forever.  But at least I'm making some progress.  Yeah for me!!!!

you buy yarn???

Yes, I bought some yarn and it felt soooo good.  Of course, I never got any pictures of it but do you have to guess what kind of yarn?  Of course, more sock yarn.  I bought 2 skeins of Garnstudio's new sock yarn called Fable.  If you follow the link, the shade I bought is 901.  It has a nice feel, the price was very attractive and I love the colours in the ball.  I hope it knits up as nicely.  I also picked up a ball of Trekking XXL that I've had my eyes on for a very, very long time. :-)  I was a happy girl.

I'm making slow progress on Beeskneesknits Ruby for Little Miss.  The 2nd sleeve is coming along but as I said, very slowly.  It's starting to be that time of the year though when she can make good use of it so I'd better get my behind in gear.

Now a JR story.............. Mr. Bam Bam as he sometimes is referred to in our family. :-)  We had a discussion the other day that he would probably be headed for the Emergency room several times before he even hits Kindergarten.  Well, I'll preface this story by saying that nothing happened but........ silly me wasn't thinking and left out a champagne flute that I was using for some earring photography on the coffee table in the front living room.  That coffee table has a ceramic tile top.  We were all in the kitchen just saying "where's JR got to" when we hear the banging and then the shattering of glass and continued banging.  The little guy was smashing the glass to pieces.  He wasn't going to let go or stop.  He had a big grin on his face.  Of course, I was terrified that he could get cuts on his hands or glass chards in his eyes.  Evan rescued him from the glass and I'm so thankful that nothing happened to him.  I can't even begin to tell you how badly I felt that I made the stupid mistake to leave that glass out.  But with Little Miss, we never had to worry about anything like that.  We're almost having to think like brand new parents.  Can't rely on what Little Miss did or didn't do to guide us here. :-)

I'm showing off my latest earring addition, a perfect pair of copper earings for Mother's Day over on my Vox Blog: Sparkles and Fuzz.  Go check it out.  I'd love to get some feedback on these earrings.  I really quite like them.  I've also got a gorgeous necklace set sitting here ready to be listed but there seems to be some discussion between 2 co-workers about who gets to have it.  I guess I won't list it until I know for sure whether one of them wants it.  I only just figured out my cost and what I would sell it for.  Because it has a very high sterling silver content, it was quite expensive for me to make so I have to charge a fair bit of change for it and so I'm not very confident even telling them my asking price.  I'm such a timid salesperson.....

It's spring break in this neck of the woods and I'm working today and tomorrow and then I'm off for a couple of days.  I'm looking forward to a little break.

Thanks for all the great comments on the ring in my last post.  That has most certainly given me the encouragement and inspiration to try out more and practice making more rings.  We'll see where it leads.  I've ordered a few more really cool square and rectangle shaped glass beads and also some really funky round ones so they shall guide me when I'm playing with more rings.  Now, I just need more wire. :-)

Still not much knitting.  I think, with the little amount of time I have, I'm in a bit of a slump.  I have so many creative ideas for my jewelry right now that maybe, my creative energies are too diverted?

Earrings seem to have garnered most of my attention:

This first pair is a custom order for someone at the office.  I just gave them to her today and she loves them:

The next pair combines my love for music with my love for chainmaille.  The rings used for this pair are sterling silver and tiny.  It was a challenge but once I figured out a good technique, they came together quickly.

And I'll show you one more pair today.  These are just simple drops but for the first time I used gold filled findings and beads to match the warm tones of the copper and gold coloured crystals.  I sold one pair to a colleague as she requested something in those shades and I had enough to make a second so I listed them this morning.  I'm also planning on a matching necklace.

I think the picture is a little dark.

If I get a decent picture, I'll also have to show you something that I tested out for the same colleague.  She has a piercing in her upper ear lobe and wanted to try ear threaders.  I found these ear threaders that don't hang down in the front and I just added a couple of little crystals to them.  I haven't shown them to her but she tried the ear threader before I attached the crystal and she said that they were very comfortable.  I'm going to try and get a picture at lunch time before I give them to her.  Curious to see?

Knitting time at gymnastics tonight. :-)

Oh, and check out the link to my Etsy store on the right hand side bar.  You have to scroll down a bit but they came up with this little bit of code that shows actual items from your store.  I think it's neat.  Kind of like a Flickr picture banner.

 

my first ever ring I made that I have to blog about it here and I already did over on my Jewelry blog on Vox:

I've wanted a ring mandrel for quite some time but I finally bit the bullet on the weekend.  This ring, by far, is not perfect.  The coiling isn't super even, the coiling isn't long enough, the wire ends aren't tucked in and hidden away perfectly.... you get the idea.  But when it's worn, it actually looks quite nice and everyone that saw me wear it yesterday thought it was quite cool.  I need some practice wire so I'm not "wasting" the bit of sterling wire I do have right now.  I definitely want to do more of them.

What do you think (aside from all the imperfections)?

Oh, I meant to write down something that Little Miss did or said.......... just to keep the memory of it alive but now I forget what that was.  That's a big bummer.  I just can't think of it.  I'm sure it will come to me later.

With the little knitting time I do get, I have been working on her purple spring sweater:  Ruby from Beeskneesknits.  It's a great little hoodie.  Of course, Little Miss is getting to the outer range of the size ranges of those patterns but they are generously sized so she'll be okay with this one still but at the same time, I'd better get cracking.  And of course, any other designs I have, will have to either be upsized and adjusted or I'll have to start making some for JR.  I have only a few rows left to do on sleeve #1 so I'm going to try and knit those while dinner is cooking because if I do that, I can cast on and start the second sleeve while I'm watching Little Miss at gymnastics tonight.  Mind you, I also cast on a little baby hat using the leftovers of the blue/tan striped Regia (see my last socks). 

I went on a beading course last Sunday.  Evan gave me the course for my birtdhday.  I didn't really learn anything new but just the fact that I got to go out and create something fun without disruptions was totally worth it.  I'm repeating myself because I posted the picture of my necklace and earring set I made in the course over on Sparkles & Fuzz (my Vox blog) but I'd still love to show it off here.  I try and show more of my jewelry over there so I don't totally annoy all my readers who come here for knitting so visit me over there from time to time anyways if you're interested in all my jewelry creations.

On that day, I also received a discount on beads and because my budget is limited, I just bough small amounts of some fun beads to create some quick earrings for my Etsy store.

Here's a pair of pretty flowers:

And I think these ones are my favourites because of the colour.  They remind me of a Caribbean cruise getaway trip:

These two have been listed already.  These next ones I call "Roll the Dice" haven't been listed yet.  I'm wondering whether the chain is too delicate for the dangly dice:

Last but not least, what else is new? A St. Patrick's Day inspired key chain:

Well, that's all that's new here for now.  The weather is nice today for once and I should have brought my runners to go for a walk.  Let's hope that spring is just around the corner.