My body strikes again!

So I am having some major health issues. Had a CT scan and some xrays done of my abdomen, but the results have not come in yet. Needless to say, I am reconsidering my custom work avalibility this holiday season. 

New Ornaments!

Sold

So these are the ornaments I finished this weekend and uploaded, except one of them sold the next day! She's a regular of mine, and I was very happy to see she liked one of the latest batch.  Though the Holly and Poinsettia are really my favorites.

I still have the orange finished and needs to be photographed.

I have managed to finish the purple grouping of 7 blossoms for the hydrangea bridge.  Slowly puttering along...

I have to say this has been a stressful month and I am glad to see it over, though the work is no where near complete. I still have a custom order to finish before Christmas, and a lot of satin kanzashi to make.  Should be interesting to see if I can get it completed in time, and up to my own standards.

Hydrangea Bridge Coming

As if I haven't had enough on my plate lately, with custom orders rolling in for the Halloween Costume season, I have begun a new project.  And now seemed like a good time since it always takes me MONTHS to get one of these truly finished.

Its a Hydrangea bridge, of green, purple, blue, and green (in that order), with leaves.  I planning a grouping of seven flowers each, except that I am not sure how many I will need for a proper grouping size, so its still a guess. 

The centers I have decided to change from my old style with the bell cap and pearl to a flower stamen grouping, a little more realistic.  And since some of the new brand of bell caps I have purchased have been RUSTING in storage, I either coat the heck out of them in glue to seal the metal, or just use something else, in this case, a pearl flower stamen.

Also I am still working ornaments, and have several I just haven't taken pictures of yet.  I am still waiting to get another 2 - 3 done before I wrap the ribbons on this batch and probably photograph and list them all at once. 

I still have a few custom orders in the background, and some family projects I do every year I have to complete.  And with my son home with me now most of the day time to work has been whittled down to a few minutes a day.

And the Wisteria is still sitting on my work desk, crying to be finished.  All it really needs is a nice butterfly and the hair fork attachment.  And a final thread wrapping once everything's attached.  *sigh. 

Too Busy!

Dark Lover's Quilted Ornaments

My first custom order for ornaments this season came through, and it took forever to complete them. I've been crazy busy, as you can see in the pictures below, most of this work was done in the last two weeks.  

The Butterflies are made with cherry party in blue, with shades of light and dark wisteria and light and dark denim blue. I had to do FOUR SETS, which means 8 butterflies in total.  I just got them glued to their bobby pins over the weekend, and they turned out really well.

Kiku with Leaf

 The kiku finally managed to get its leaf attached.  It is almost complete, I just have to attach the alligator clip.

Bright Pink and New Grass Green

The pink and green piece was another order I had roll through in the made to order listings.


New Events on the Docket:  Have to finish this huge custom order, including several satin pieces I need to remake. 

I also need to take an inventory of what colors I have in supply and re-do the made to order color selections.  I never added printed fabrics, and there are very few examples of what the colors actually are.  I also want to re-work my pricing guide. 

Look for new clearance items coming soon for the holiday season!

Final Kiku and Updates

This was the final result of the kiku.  It took two more layers rather than one, but it came out really well.

I tried making a leaf piece for it, but it was too big.  Which means I will have to remake it, but I know what size I need now, so hopefully this will be the last time.

Then it will be wired on to a large alligator hair clip at customer's request.


Also, ornaments are coming back !!!

 I've made 3 so far, and this last one is being a total pain.  I still need to wrap them with ribbon to seal the fabric ends and give them something to hang from.  Maybe bells.

Also I have been working Storenvy transfer like crazy.  I have finished working most of the listings, everything except the ornament balls.  I am considering re-taking those pictures as well. But it is getting late in the year already, and my time is running short. 

All About the Kiku (Chrysanthemum)

I have to say my favorite thing to make is the kiku, or chrysanthemum, style. It is increidbly diverse and can be made with either style petal, pointed willow or rounded wistera.  The one seen here, a custom order I am working on, is china red with blood red exterior and rhinestone center with leaf piece attached to a silver alligator hair clip.

 I usually make the pointed willow style petals, I find them quicker and easier to make and I focus on side by side color patters, like swirls and stars. They work from the top of the dome, down to the bottom.  I usually point the center with a large quilting pin with a colored head. Then one by one, glue them in rings until a pattern is developed. 

However with rounded petals, they layer one on top of the other, their edges flat and not pointed.  This means in order to hide the glue and edging properly, you work this style in reverse, with the outside or bottom layer glued first, then working up to the interior. 

The pattern I have chosen here is actually of an alternating layering.  I placed about 15 petals on the outside ring, then layered the next one inside on the edges of the petals centering the top petal. This give they eye more of an acceptance of mistakes in the formation of the petals, since chirimen is kinda plush and difficult to get uniform.  Unlike silk.

This piece still has an interior layer to go, before I apply the rhinestone center.  It is wired to some 22g coated brass, that goes through the piece and then is glued under the chirimen covering.  This under layer is necessary to give the chirimen petals something to adhere to.  Straight foam does not work, and your petals will slide all over the place before they dry.  And covering the foam completely adds to the visual aestihetics to your piece, no little white holes peeking through, showing gaps in your work. 

Ok that's it for tonight.  More pictures coming soon!!

Store Updates

 Custom Order

I have been working like mad now that my kids are back in school and I have time! 

The last of the photos from the shoot in August are finally finished with editing.I still have some work to do, make up for some shots I missed and probably go back and rework several pieces that need thread wrapping for exposed wire or tape.  Then I will have to re-shoot those pieces again.

I finished my momiji custom order seen in the pic on the right.  I used all gold colored wiring where I could, and thread wrapped the end, which I did not do in her referenced piece.  But its her wedding, so hey, why not. 

I still have another custom order I have to finish.  The purple rounded petal with rhinestone center she wants redone in shades of deep red and china red.  I still have several satin pieces I started, but have decided to redo.  I didn't like the way they came out, it looked sloppy and you could see the glue in the petals, the center did not cover it  up enough.  So there's that.

But hopefully I will be finished all this by the beginning of October, when I plan to start picking up ornament balls again.  They were so popular last year, I have to continue them. It's going to mean a stop at some fabric stores for discounted holiday fabrics to work with, I should go count my coupons, lol. 

The website transfer is still postponed.  I had hoped to have opened it by now, but alas, with everything going on, it's difficult to make it a priority.  Family comes first.  And being sick doesn't help.  But things are back on track so hopefully I will get the website transferred before the year is out.