10/31/2010

Happy Halloween!!


Credit to Maccuris


Today is the day where it's okay to eat so much candy to make us sick. I somehow don't even have any candy to eat :(

I have made a few things for Halloween this year. My costume was even bits of Perler beads.Sadly I don't have a picture of me in my costume so you will just have to see the pieces.

Both the headband and necklace glow in the dark.

On Saturday I went to a science fiction convention called Hal-Con. It was a great time. I even wore that headband and got a few comments on it. My friend was telling everyone I made it lol.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween. Now enjoy my favourite Halloween song! I even watched this movie last night.

10/24/2010

Guest Post from Craft Mummy!

Hi! I'm CraftyMummy. Thanks for inviting me, Jen!
I "met" Jen through the SITS community 
and was so impressed with her Perler bead art.
It reminded me a little of the cross stitch I do
so I thought I'd share some basics with you.

Cross stitch is easy. Yes, really!
It's just a whole bunch of little crosses.
But it can look really detailed once you get 
a lot of different colours in your design.
That's what gives you the shading.

These sea creatures are stitched on dark blue Aida cloth.
Aida cloth has a nice even weave that creates little squares
which makes it easy to stitch your crosses on.
You can get Aida cloth in different "counts"
which is how many threads per inch.
The lower the count number, the bigger the little squares.
So if you're new to stitching go for a lower count like 14
- it'll be a little easier to see your squares!

Sometimes you don't stitch crosses but just "half" crosses.
See the green grass above?
Those stitches all go one way without 
the stitch back the other way to create the cross.
These give a different texture in the picture.
Leaving spaces around the cross stitches gives texture too.
This peacock is stitched on linen so you can hardly see the little squares.
Most of it was stitched over two threads in the linen
but the golden gate section was stitched with tiny crosses over just one thread.
It creates a really fine texture.
Here's the other peacock in that picture.
There are little blue seed beads stitched on the tail
after the crosses were all stitched.

The charts I use for cross stitch are grids 
like the charts Jen uses for her Perler beads.
So you could take a Perler bead chart, 
grab some embroidery thread, needle and Aida cloth
and stitch a cross stitch to match your beads!

I hope I've given you some inspiration.
If you want to see the whole pictures that these sample pictures came from 
you'll find them over on my blog, Mummy Crafts:

10/18/2010

Thank you all and good night!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been commenting on either my blog or through any other means that you may see my work. I love getting comments on all of it.
I have been loving this blogging experience so far. I have been talking to many great people, reading lots of blogs and generally enjoying the whole experience.

This weekend I was featured on
http://lambaround.blogspot.com/2010/10/not-baaad-sundays-6.html
I am very excited about it! I am glad someone liked my work enough to feature me. Her blog is great and the Not Badddd Sundays are fun to look through. Be sure to check her out.


I also have someone I make things for on occasion and last time his girlfriend gave me the money it came with a little note. " Good Job as always. The sprites all turned out perfect. Keep up the good work". I thought the note was really cute and just glad to know that he has been liking everything I make for him :)

I am currently working on a guest blog for http://mummycrafts.blogspot.com/.
It's through the SITS website tribe event. The site is a great way to make similar bloggers and to just get the word out there about our blogs.
I am hoping to finish it within the next few days. I will let you guys know when it is done and posted on her blog.
She is also doing a guest post for me, so you shall see that within the next few days.

Halloween is coming up and I have a special surprise coming up for that. I am making a Halloween costume that will have bits of bead parts to it. After Halloween I will do a whole post about it.

Also, Christmas is coming up and I already have a few requests for people that they want as Christmas presents for others or themselves. This year, my friends and family are getting creations made by me for christmas. The joys of having to pay for braces :(

That is all folks. If you have any suggestions of things I should make, be sure to post a comment about it. I am always looking for new ideas.

10/16/2010

No one puts Baby in a corner...

I love that title, even though I was never a fan of Dirty Dancing.
After I did Miho, I began playing around with the program Perler and seeing what I could make with it. I tested all these pictures I had and finally found one that I really liked.


That is me as a baby. My family loves this picture as do I. I looked so cute, don't you think?
So I got the pattern the way I wanted it and it was going to take 9 pegboards to make.




According to the pattern, that was what the lips were supposed to look like. To me, I looked like a creepy clown baby. I couldn't leave it like that.
After about an hour of tweaking, this is what I came up with.

I didn't look as creepy. I was happy. So I finished the piece.
I am so happy with how it turned out.

Now ironing it was a scary process. A lot of the beads didn't want to iron and join the rest of the piece. Plus one whole side ironed very funny and I had to replace a good section of it. The whole thing took over an hour to do. I am very pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to frame it.


I hope you like it as much as I do.

10/11/2010

Quick Update

This weekend I only finished my current piece. Today I plan on working on something. I am excited for this one.



I went on a shopping trip Saturday because I had a big list piling up of things I needed. So I was at Michaels and they had these sale of buy a frame and get one for a penny. I was excited because I needed a frame for Starry Night. Now I didn't know exactly what size I needed so I got two and hoped for the best. I got to the cash and used my 50% coupon they gave me.
I ended up getting 2 frame for $5.01.
I was excited.
Now Starry night hangs above my computer desk. I am just so proud of this piece.


Hope you enjoy this quick update. I have a few things planned for the coming weeks.
Finally going to post the stuff people wanted me to make.
At any point if there is something you want to see made, don't be afraid to tell me. I am ALWAYS looking for new things. I do go through dry spells.

Have a good Thanksgiving!

10/08/2010

Ways to Connect to Me!

I am currently working on all the ways to keep in touch with me and this blog.
My goal is to work on getting more readers and even get people to start the hobby. It's fun and relaxing.
Here are the ways to keep in touch with the blog and myself.

1. Follow this blog with the Google Friend. I love checking out followers and their blogs so be sure to go that route for followers for yourself.

2. Facebook Fan page. It's located on the right sidebar. It's recently created(as in yesterday). I will post status updates about my projects, open topics, generally just chat to people. Don't be afraid, I promise I won't bite.

3. Email me at penelopethelob@gmail.com. I check that email all the time(through my igoogle page in fact), so I never miss any emails. I will more than happily answer any questions or search for the answer if I don't know myself(sadly I am not an almighty bead god)

4. Post Comments on any post. I respond to them all.

Those are just some of the ways to keep in connect with me.

Here is a project I am currently working on.

It's from a webcomic called Megatokyo.
If you know it, guess who it is!

Have a good Thanksgiving weekend!

10/06/2010

A new type of piece

A while ago, I came across a Starry Night turned into beads. I loved it. So I came in contact with the girl who made it and another girl and between them, I got the pattern to make it. Over the past several days, I have been working on it every chance I get.
So I decided, I would show you guys the piece in steps.


So thank you to Darlaa and MagnetGames for the help. I love this piece.

One thing I realized about this piece is that I am not taking the time to iron anymore. Every time I do a project, I try to speed through the ironing process that I am not doing it well and beads are falling out and having to be put back in. My goal is to try and slow down when ironing and take my time.
I learn something new every day.