swap swap

it has been so so so hot here lately, and its compounded by the fact that our house has no air conditioning. thats the price you pay for living in an old house :) the floorboards are nice, but the insulation is crappy :(

i have been sitting in front of the fan in the lounge room in the semi dark just crocheting or drawing. the computer is in the hottest room in the house as well which deters me from blogging or being on the webs much.

onto some happy ness, i am participating in a craftster swap with the theme of my favourite books in the world- discworld, and have been crafting up and trying to think of some awesome crafts to go with this theme. so far i have made a little sculpture of the luggage:


and i havent really thought of what else i will do- maybe i will crochet a neck warmer thingy- i think i have some nice wool somewhere that has a purple theme to it... i would really love some wizard hats buttons :) maybe i will have to make some out of polymer clay? or shrinky dinks?? any ideas on what else i can make?

onto other crafts i have learnt to crochet and have finished one crazy crochet scarf to put in the etsy listings, and have one more delightfully red one i want to put in there- i have a nice idea for a blue one with white trim like waves !

here are some pics of red in progress:


and a close up of all the crazy stitches:

its a deeper red too- more like fresh blood
these are fun to do when you cant sleep- which for me has been quite often lately. the heat sucks :(

felting

Today I had a fun day with one of my good friends Katy, we both learnt a new craft, and felted!

firstly we started out doing some hats, I made a cone out of plastic and tried to shape the felt onto it



it didn't turn out to good as none of the fibres were bonding to each other :/



after that disaster, we tried to make some felt scarves


we made it a little thin...
part of the process..



mine..

then I tried to take the hat off the base.... big mistake...
it came out like some kind of squashed onion :(

but the scarf of felt turned out cool! bring on winter.. it was 42 here yesterday :(

ETSY LAUNCH!

well i have just launched my new store- The Piaochong Emporium!
www.piaochong.etsy.com

I have a few of my masks listed, soon i will put up my crazy crochet scarves, and a few other goodies- i have an idea for an awesome collection of different things: leather bracelets with the word crafty stamped into it, some more masks, some crochet, and some felted, stitched and sewn things!

all my money,(i hope) will be put towards saving for a little kiln- something small and new that i can play with! i have some fantastical ideas for some amazing things i would love to make.

here is my latest mask i have been working on:


i have been practicing my clay modelling, and have come up with a pretty fantastic looking sculpture from polymer clay- her face needs a lot of work, but i will try my hardest to get her just as i envision!


The Etsy store is one of my resolutions, so i can cross that one off for once! :)
wish me luck with my endevours! your support is all i need!

Resolutions!

The Christmas and new year period is finally over, my brother stayed with me for a week and played games most of the time he was here. I did however teach him to do some leather crafting, and he helped me to cook dinner on a few occasions. He is a well mannered boy, quiet but that suits me fine. took a few photos of the kiddos, one of which I will upload here-

(just after this she fell asleep)awwwwwwww

Dave and I are gunna get our selling on! yeah! he has some old games he wants to put up for auction, and I want to do Etsy stuff. (I keep saying it, and soon it will happen!)

I have a list of Resolutions I need to start working on

1. Tegans wedding is in 11 month (hyperventilates) and if I am going to be a hot bridesmaid I need to get cracking on the fitness!(ie: loose a stack of weight-CSIRO diet you better work!)

2.Get my P's- yep, I have been on my learners for almost 8 years now.....

3. Get my Etsy and production rates up!

hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!
oh... What's your resolutions?