A Little Makeover...

So, I decided that the old blog needed a little makeover.  You may have noticed that I've been doing quite a bit of fiddling lately.  Mostly, I just changed the banner, but there are a few other tweaks here and there.  I like it, and I hope you guys do too.

It's been a minute (or two, or three, or five hundred!) since I posted on a regular basis, but that's okay because this is just a hobby to me.  A hobby that I cannot live without, but a hobby nonetheless.  I would love to say that I'm a professional crafter/artist/blogger, but the truth is that I still have to go to a 9-5 (which if you've worked retail, you know is rarely actually 9-5) retail job, pushing product, and recovering aisles.  I enjoy my job, but it's a job.  It's not a passion, and it's not a life.  That is where this blog and my various crafting communities come in.  Between my arts and crafts, my job, and my lovely little family, I feel that my little slice of pie is complete.  Good times.

Anyway, I have been rather busy crafting my little heart out, but rather than do a review, I'd rather give you all a peak of what's ahead.  I've been playing with the idea of trying to sell some of my patterns.  I still want to offer free patterns on occasion, but I thought I'd try my hand at making some side earnings out of all my crafting.  I figure if I could get to where my crochet can pay for itself, than all will be well in the land of Spiderling Dreams.  It's a thought anyway.  I'm currently working on some stuff for Spring, inspired by my love of "bugs."
Here's a medley of stuff that I've been working on, and stuff that has been inspiring me as of late.

Thanks for the visit!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Normally I don't make a big deal about Valentine's Day, but my husband  made me happy today with this humble show of affection. 

I hope you all feel as loved as I do today!

A Little Birdhouse

Back in September of last year, I posted about a little birdhouse that my now 13-yr-old had made at a Home Depot workshop when he was about 7-yrs-old.  Well, I finally got around to finishing it.  I had been hoping for years to interest him in painting it himself, but I finally faced the fact that he doesn't share my love for painting things.  It's okay because we share other interests.  

There's actually more decoupage going on here than painting.

I went with a butterfly theme because, as you know, I have a thing for "bugs."

The photos were taken at different times of the day (and in fact different days) as, after taking the first one, I realized that I neglected to take a picture of the side design.  Brainfart?

Also, I am quite excited as I have some new blooms in my tiny container garden!

    

I don't know what either of these flowers' names are, but they are my favorites so far!

I hope you are all enjoying your Spring!

Thanks for stopping by once again.

In Bloom

Remember my little garden post back in March?  

My how they've grown!

    

And everything seems to be blooming at once! (Except the jasmine, which bloomed in March & April.)

Don't you just love up close flower pictures?  I love the macro setting on my Powershot!

I couldn't resist bringing a little bit of the beauty indoors.

Thanks for stopping by!

Finished Object

Or "FO" as we refer to it over on Ravelry.  So I finally finished my mobile.  Well, actually I finished my butterflies a while ago, but just hadn't strung them up yet.  Then I decided to make some grey and black butterflies, got  a little sidetracked with a couple of swaps, and well here I am a whole month and a half later still trying to finish up that mobile.   Aaand, here she is!

This is how she looks in the corner of my kitchen.

 Finished off with some simple glass beads.

Less than spectacularly photographed, but you get the idea.  I was originally going to make two mobiles with five butterflies each, but when I hung one of them up in this spot, it looked small, dinky, and unimpressive.  So, I unstrung them and restrung eight for a longer piece.  Much better.  It's not as colorful as the ones I made last year for a swap, but that's me.  I'm less into rainbow, and more into working with a limited color palette.  I have two butterflies left over that I'm thinking about making into brooches.  

Anyway, I hope you guys like it.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

In Memorium

April 30th

is always a somber day for my family and myself.  Ten years ago on this date we lost my brother to a motorcycle accident. He was 23. He was my parent's youngest child and only son.  He was two years younger than me, and the best friend I have ever had.

Every year on this anniversary, we try to get together at his grave site and have a little cemetery picnic.  My brother was a new age kinda guy (even though that term probably has him turning in his grave right now,) and he enjoyed burning candles and incense.  Perhaps he would be more comfortable with the term pagan, although I don't believe any of his interests had anything to do with ritual or religion.  

I enjoy bringing him candles, incense, and beer.  These are the offerings I'm bringing to him today.  I hope he enjoys them!

I'm not religious, and I'm not much of a superstitious person, but I hope that a part of him knows how much 

I miss him.

If you would like to make a little crochet candle holder like the one above, I used this tutorial over on "Nature Nut Notes" blog, and a baby food jar that I cleaned with some goo gone.

Thanks for visiting!

Botanicals, Bugs, and Butterflies

Today is Maria Sibylla Merian's 366th birthday.  Or, I suppose it would be if she were still alive.  I have to thank Google for bringing this to my attention, otherwise I never would have been the wiser.  Maria Merian is one of my all-time favorite artists.  She was an illustrator during the enlightenment era, and her work focuses mostly on plants and insects.  How fitting that I am currently working on some lovely little butterflies! I'm planning to make a little mobile out of them like this one.

Here's a progress pic...

They currently look a little too pastel-y for my taste, but I'm hoping that the black trim will change that.  I'm just not that into pastel colors.  Unfortunately I have a hard time finding mercerized cotton in more color variety from my local yarn shop.  These would be so beautiful in a rich jewel tone!  I suppose I should start ordering supplies online, but I really hate paying shipping charges.  

Thanks for stopping by!