Teodora' b.u.n.t.

Oh so busy...

2010-08-07T13:10:00.000+02:00

...and not so much with lovely creation, but rather other mundane things :(

However, I have been quite productive as well, and I'll show you here en-bulk.

Some things unexpectedly sold before I could even list them, I had loads of commissions and am very exhausted and in need of a holiday. But there you go, life gets in the way.

But! I am in no way whining and now I'll get on with it and just show you the pics. I hope you enjoy and wish you a great weekend!

(Weekend, yay!)

So, the burdies are naturally flying around and the bottom two are still available at the shop.

These 3 have already been sold or gifted to lovely friends.

The earrings I kept for myself, but the pendant will be in the shop today

And my latest obsession that I call "mad patchwork". Some sold and some will be available later today.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that and don't mind me being slightly "unconnected", I'm working on it ;)

Cheers, my dears!

Summer!

2010-07-03T10:28:00.000+02:00

Hello there and happy summer!

I am sorry for being so infrequent lately, but I have been really really REALLY busy.

The stuff that I promised to post last time is still on hold, but rather replaced with a little summer celebration (most of it coming to the shop later today).

I hope you enjoy it and that you are having a smashing summer!

Cheeep! Pendant

Summer in the City Pendant

Summer in the City Earrings

Marine Burdies Earrings (private collection)

Simple Beach Life Earrings

Ice-Cream Peacock Ring

Ice-Cream Garden Earrings (sold already)

Just a quick hello

2010-06-20T16:24:00.000+02:00

Hello there! I know I've been neglecting the blog and other web whereabouts for a while, but I have been super busy. Making some custom orders and also a sort of a new collection which, in a way, blends together my love of fabric and of polymer clay. I hope to get it into the shop and on here next weekend. Till then I hope you are having great first days of summer.

See you soon and be good!

Wishing for summer breezes...

2010-05-29T15:37:00.000+02:00

I have been super busy lately and missing the sun (oh, Holland, why art thou Holland!), so I am just squeezing in two little additions to the shop (later this evening).

Sunshine, happy chirrups and the sound of rustling leaves:

The multiplying flock of burdies

2010-05-22T17:30:00.000+02:00

Loads of burdies followed this one. Only a few will make it to the shop later today, since most are already chirruping away, and some I kept for myself. I think summer sun when I look at them. What do you think?

brooch

brooch (available)

brooch

brooch (available)

brooch

ring

pendant (available)

brooch

necklace

Sunny critters

2010-05-08T16:34:00.000+02:00

Life has been quite hectic over here this past week and it looks like it will continue to be so. But! I have decided to try and keep the sort of relaxed regularity of posting new things in the shoppe, probably on weekends.

So, on that note, I give you two new critters:

Both are brooches/pins and this one is mine...

...but this one is for sale, so go grab it while it's buzzing!

(someone told me that people who do puns should be shot - when I re-read myself now, I tend to agree)

Have a sunny weekend all!

Images on polymer - and heeeeeeeeelp!

2010-04-30T13:54:00.000+02:00

Hey there! I hope you are enjoying your spring. It's Koninginnedag here in the Netherlands, and the weather turned rainy last night and will apparently stay so next week, which spoils my plans a little, but oh well.

So, images in polymer - there are obviously a lot of ways that you can achieve them (caning, painting, transferring, carving, backfilling, etching) and I was experimenting a bit this past week with some of the techniques, mostly carving and backfilling and transferring.

First, let me show you the carved pendants (they will be in the shop later today).

I love the flower one so much I almost kept it. The birdie one looks better in person than in the pic and was hard to photograph because of the varnish applied to it, but is not as pretty and vintagey looking to me as the first one. They are both carved and then antiqued with acrylic paints. But they were carved before baking though - I find it much easier (and obviously much more forgiving).

And now to transfers...

The only transfers I did before were on baking parchment with inkjet printer and those were good enough for what I wanted to achieve, but this time I wanted a proper clear transfer so I tried the toner one. I read up on it galore and then set forth to do what I thought would be a straightforward and quick process. Oh how mistaken I was! Seriously, I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and have been reading up on it afterwards as well to no avail. Let me show you my troubles:

1) Snakeskin ring

This transfer turned out the best of them all, but that is due to the fact that it's a busy pattern, so you can't really make out if there are mistakes. However, when I applied a layer of liquid FIMO and re-baked it, it bubbled up in tiny specks. In stuff that I wear I really don't mind little imperfections, but it is definitely a mistake and I can't figure out where I'm going wrong.

(I adore huge rings btw.)

2) Fly ring

In this one you can clearly see two problems - first, there are still little hairs of paper that I couldn't get off for love nor money, and second, due to trying to @#Y^%% get rid of them I rubbed off a part of the fly's left wing. How do you get rid of all the paper!? I mean, if you leave it there, as soon as it dries it creates a milky film over the image, and if you rub more it smudges the image. Which leads me to

3) Japanese print ring

No picture since I screwed it up completely (and it was my favourite image!). Same thing as with the fly, I was trying to get rid of the paper from the black hair of the girl in the picture and at some point the black just smudged all over her porcelain face! And there was still a white paper film on the hair!

And finally

4) Liquid clay transfer (decal attempt)

Also no pic, since it was ruined.

I put Liquid Fimo onto a picture, baked it, soaked it in water, started rubbing paper off (it wouldn't peel in one go) and just straight rubbed off the whole image from the clay!

I really don't get it! Please do share your advice, if you have any, I am getting desperate!

In the meantime, I am itching to do some etching (hah!) but want to sort out this transfer rebus first!

mememememememe!

2010-04-27T12:32:00.000+02:00

I have been extremely productive these past few days, making jewellery for sale galore (which I will show you gradually soon). BUT! I have also decided to devote yesterday to finishing up a few things for myself and myself alone. Two of them have been waiting on the shelf for ages now and finally I got around to finishing them up:

1) Remember the jacket from boyfriend's trousers? Well, I finally finished it by adding buttons and stiffening the collar with interfacing and lining.

It was on hold because I couldn't find appropriate buttons or lining material. First I wanted red or silver buttons, but I didn't like any I saw in the shops, so I ended up buying buttons that should be covered by fabric - but still didn't have the right fabric. Then I went digging through my scraps bag (which is in a a big laundry basket which I don't often open, since it has tons of stuff on top of it) and found another pair of old trousers that my boyfriend gave me - linen and of the same colour as the corduroy! I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but I really love the difference in materials. So, the buttons got covered and stitched with red thread just for effect, and the lining (same linen) and interfacing were put on the collar (which now stands up perfectly). For the actual closing I didn't dare make button holes on the corduroy, so I ended up putting snap buttons and have the big fabric ones just for decoration. And tadah!

2) Since I went on a sewing spree, I made myself a top (out of cotton jersey bedsheets) which turned out great (as in - I like it) and was fast to make

I normally don't wear orange since it makes my face look like a carrot and makes it featureless, but I just couldn't resist the colour combination.

3) And finally I finished a necklace - choker, which was waiting for ages (had the tubes crocheted ages ago)

The construction of it didn't come out perfect, but it's for myself so I don't mind much and I really like the colour combo.

So, that was my "mememememe" spree and I'll see you soon with stuff I am not keeping for myself ;)

Happy spring, I say!

Oh my!

2010-04-19T19:49:00.000+02:00

These past few days have been really sunny and pleasant, but today tops them all - not only has the first pendant from the previous post been sold within 15 minutes of being posted, but I have been featured on Polymer Clay Daily, by wonderful Cynthia Tinapple. I couldn't be happier!

Spring gardens blossoming

2010-04-19T16:59:00.000+02:00

Very flowery mood over here. I have even planted some flowers on the balcony! (I have a red thumb, hence my excitement). I am truly enjoying this spring and all the sunshine. The thing I love about Holland is the time the sun sets during the warmer part of the year - we are currently at 9pm! Woohoo!

Therefore, I give you a few gardens (some of which, you can also find in the shoppe)

Here I almost went into summer - think orient, sipping cold tea under a canopy on a fresh warm summer evening...

Hope you are enjoying your spring as well!

Spring tree

2010-04-11T12:09:00.000+02:00

Look what I got yesterday!

My boyfriend made it for me. It's made of wood and painted white and can be taken out of the base. I am loving it! It's supposed to be for this:

...but I am loving it as decoration on its own.

Woohoo! Spring is being so good to me so far (bows to the boyfriend as well :D)

Birds of sunshine

2010-04-10T13:31:00.000+02:00

Hey there! Sunshine is here and I am so happy. I really thrive in the sunshine. It's been busy over here and there are a few little projects on the way, inspired by various colourful things out there. But more about that in some of the next posts. For now, I give you the sunshine burdie (just because the colour reminds me of the seaside):

It's a polymer clay brooch which I made just for myself because I felt sunny. Hope you like.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T12:23:00.000+02:00

Hristos vaskrse!

My eggs turned out far more pastel than they were meant to be, but I still like them.

But just look at these!

...

Jungle is massive!

2010-03-28T16:09:00.000+02:00

After a long and hard battle with a man-flu type of cold (in other words - I am the worst whiner when I get sick), I am back to posting ;)

Despite my horrendous cold, I was actually quite busy, and apart from a few bits and pieces that I'll show you in one of the next posts, I have finished a new jewellery collection! Woohoo!

As you can see, it's called "Jungle is massive", which only means that I am still into that tribal groove and going towards my most beloved huge, enormous, oversized jewellery (I want it even bigger, believe you me). I am loving crochet for allowing me to go huge and stay light.

Most pieces are already in the shoppe, and now I let you browse and I hope you like what you see. (And, of course, I would love to hear what you think)

Cheers!

First the earrings:

This pic is to show you the size:

Then rings:

Bracelets/bangles:

And finally, my favourites of the collection - necklaces:

6 things about me

2010-03-20T19:04:00.000+01:00

Nela invited me to this game and I find it fun. So, the rules are: write six random things about yourself and illustrate them with a photo, so you would get to know other bloggers better.

Well, here goes:

1. I am a complete salt lover, I eat very salty food which mostly no one else can eat. I'm not much into sweets, but salt I love. Yep, bad for you, I know, but so are cigarettes and I smoke, too. Seems I'm into organ failure ;)

2. I am a complete sucker for colours, that is, certain colour combinations (they can be monochromatic as well), they make me weirdly happy and inspire me immensely. On that topic, I strongly dislike blue house-ware of any sort, while blue is one of my favourite colours in my wardrobe, and on the other hand - I never wear yellow, but love it in the house. Hmmm...

3. I am terrified of creepy crawlies, and pathologically so. Once I was late for work because I didn't dare go into the bathroom where I saw a bug. I had to call a friend to come and kill it. Seriously. I can't even kill them, I'm that terrified.

4. I used to have a "splav" (like a raft house) on river Sava, in Belgrade. My dream house has to be next to water and with loads of trees and a porch, I don't care about much else. I may never get it, but that was close enough ;) I love water and trees.

5. When the weather is nice, I love nothing better than to sit outside a cafe and watch people go by. The only other thing that relaxes me as much is driving or being driven (in whatever).(The picture is for Nela, since it was taken at Ada Safari).

6. I only comb my hair when I wash it. It's horrible, I know, but I really don't like combing it. And, yes, that's me in the picture.

So, I finish with a gross random fact and tag: beademecum, Doreen and Fiona

Jacket out of trousers - tutorial

2010-03-14T13:13:00.000+01:00

Here's a tutorial for the jacket from the previous post. Mind you, I am far from a professional seamstress and I mostly improvise, since I sew only for myself, so if you know better, please do modify as you go along. Also, sorry for the drawn tute, I didn't take any pics as I was making the actual jacket, since I had no idea if it would turn out right, just blissful hope - I am one of those people who know of the expression "measure twice, cut once", but my selective memory makes me forget about it as soon as I have a project in mind - and to tell you the truth, whenever I have tried to be precise it was a disaster (if you read the "Blah" post, you'll know what I mean).

So, without further ado:

What you'll need:

a pair of trousers (sizewise: mine were from my boyfriend, I would be able to fit into them and it made a right size jacket for me, even though I have big boobs; best bet is to measure the width of the trouser leg x2 and see if it fits the broadest part of your back, since the front closing is supposed to be askew anyway)
scissors
needle and thread (or a sewing machine, you lucky bastard)
measuring tape and straight pins

(the seam that you don't cut will be the one that stays in the middle of the back)

You can play with lengths a little here (as much as the length of the trouser leg allows you, that is)

(in case you want to fit the sleeves the "cheatin' way", as shown here, just sew shoulder seams together, and skip the side seams for now)

(middle seam of the back is the one that you left on the trouser leg - am I talking too much?)

I find this the best way to determine the width of the collar. Otherwise, you can just measure it beforehand.

Again, the existing sleeve seam is the one you left on the trouser leg. And again, I find it easier to fit the sleeve while the piece is rectangular and then cut off excess, than to try to measure and cut it out first. Also, in case you are fitting the sleeve the cheatin' way, mentioned above, you would do this flat, and then sew the side seams of the body together after this step.

As far as the closing is concerned, you can choose buttons and then make button holes, or button loops, or use velcro, or whatever you want really. Mine is probably gonna end up with velcro.

Btw, you can add a lining to it as well, I am too lazy for that - besides, this is a recycling project! (or so I justify my laziness)

Now, in case it was unclear where each of the trouser leg pieces goes, I tried to make a little colour chart.

In case anything else was unclear, or you just want to express your approval or disgust, please do leave comment and ask away (or praise away! or spit away!)

And this is my jacket:

Nice to meet you!

A quicky

2010-03-12T17:02:00.000+01:00

Just a quicky post and about a quicky little sewing project (seriously, what did you think!).

I am feeling a bit under the weather, but this was on my sewing shelf for ages now and I finally got it done (it is just waiting for appropriate buttons which I don't have at the moment). So, here it goes:

A SHORT JACKET MADE FROM BOYFRIEND'S TROUSERS

I'll try to put together a tutorial one of these days. Now I'm off to drink vitamin C.

Be good and enjoy!

Blah

2010-03-08T17:12:00.000+01:00

This post should be categorized under "sewing failures", and the story goes like this:

The other day I was watching The Fashion Show, and at the final show the designer Anna McCraney showed this dress that I totally fell in love with. It's a knit (which is perfect), but since there is no way that I can produce a knit, I thought I could make something similar out of cotton jersey. The design is simple enough (thought little Teodora), so I went on to cut fabric strips that I would then sew together and produce a similar dress for myself. So, since I do not possess a sewing machine, I proceeded to sew over 20m of fabric by hand (later calculated in steaming rage). I even pinned everything down beforehand, which is something I normally can never be bothered to do (and since I only sew for myself, I don't care about little imperfections). It took almost three days of booooooooring stitching to finish it off. And when I did, and tried it on - it was completely and totally askew, with fabric strips in excess or shortage by as much as 20cm. How the hell did that happen?! I seriously have no idea. So I had to cut the length to the shortest strip (including the parts that were already sewn! by hand! for 3 days!) and make the bottom hem as small as possible to get the most possible length (thank you adhesive seam tape!) and was left with an askew dress, which is btw. also too wide, along with the stripes which were supposed to be narrower as well - and I even modelled it on a a bloody mannequin. It's a sewing mystery. So, there you go, I'll show you the pic of my embarrassment (taken by my phone camera, but a crappy dress does not deserve a better picture).

After so much effort, I'm gonna wear it, even if it kills me!

P.S. I (well, my boyfriend) made the DIY mannequin following the instructions from the Threadbanger episode. Actually, mine is a combination of two episodes (this is the 2nd one), since I used the duct tape and a garbage bag. It works great, even though mine is slightly bigger than I actually am (possibly due to overstuffing, or lack of enough tape layers), but it doesn't matter, since it retains the shape.

T-shirt diariorama project: decon - recon

2010-03-03T13:17:00.000+01:00

So, I had this brilliant idea to make a little project called T-shirt diariorama project. I was thinking how hungry for learning new stuff I am, and how many new techniques I have learned lately and thought I might put it all in one place. The place being a plain white T-shirt. This means that I will mirror any techniques that I use at a particular time on this piece of fabric. It's supposed to go on till 2011 and will all be posted at the website. And I plan to wear it. So, something between a creative journal and a presentation of different techniques and materials, with tutorials wherever possible. This part is really an omage to all those people who selflessly share their knowledge. I find that really great and am seriously thankfull for everything I have learned from them. The tutorials will either be done by myself, or I will provide a link to the one I learned the technique from or the one that explains it much better than I ever could. . That's where the brilliant part comes in (or rather, now you realize that I was being sarcastic) - namely I spent loads of time yesterday and today putting together a little film (found here, or in the previous post) and my very first tutorial! It-is-not-as-easy-as-I-thought-it-would-be (which makes me even more grateful to the people who do it all the time). Also, I have sooooooo many bookmarked pages in the craft tutorial section, that it takes me ages (if at all) to find the tute I am looking for. But I shall persist! I plan to upload the tutorials on the website, but since this is my very first tute, I'll present it here (and in case you like, you can download it as .jpg here).

This is step 1 of the project and it does not mirror anything I did recently, but is just a start and the first tutorial. All the following steps will mirror my creative processes. (stop talking now, Teodora)

Here we go then....

T-shirt deconstruction - reconstruction tutorial

or how to turn a plain tee into this:

(Actually, I wanted something different - a reconstruction I came up with myself as well, similar to this and this, but when I opened my "plain white T-shirt", it turned out to be too small for that, i.e. I would have to add material due to the disproportion between the sleeve size and my boobage (big), which I didn't want, so this is what came out instead - not as radical change, but alright).

Here we go then:

Btw. this "cheat" sleeve fitting I learned from someone on some website and I really spent half an hour now trying to find it, but can't! Seriously - I have too many bookmarks. Thank you to whoever made the tute, it works perfectly!

So, what d'ya think? Was that clear enough? Is it alright for the first tutorial? If not, please do comment or ask away. In the meantime, you can find the project here, or follow it on this blog.

Cheers!

T-shirt diariorama project - introduction in paper

2010-03-03T13:15:00.001+01:00

Paper seduction, or "what girls love"

Up and away!

2010-02-27T13:10:00.000+01:00

The collection form the previous post is in the shop, but more importantly -

the website is up and running!

Do check it out and tell me what you think.

It is still work in progress, but my part of it is mostly done and I thought it was ready for the world. The whole website is meant to be a collection of all the stuff that me and my boyfriend do, so, not only a shop, but also a gallery and a space for sharing all our creative concepts and endeavours.

I really hope you like, since I am very excited.

Welcome to my tribe!

2010-02-25T16:48:00.000+01:00

Well, I've been away for a while, but I come back with results! ;)

I have finished what I call "welcome to my tribe collection"! I am very pleased, even though my hands are a complete wreck from all the crocheting and stitching.

(Gross, I know, but I had to share!)

And now to the hopefully prettier culprits, without further ado, tadah...!

I started small, just to try how it would work...

BLUE

Then I made a sort of a prototype of what I wanted (I am keeping this one for myself)....

RED

And then I was in full swing!

MAROON

POWDER

BUNT

GREY

And then to something completely different, yet in my mind totally on the topic:

PODS

I will list them all (except the red one) in my shop tomorrow and hope others like them as much as I enjoyed making them.

I am also finishing up the work on the website and will hopefully get it running properly tomorrow as well - woohoo!

Enjoy and do leave a comment, I would love to know what you think :-)

Cheers!

Seasons in fibre

2010-02-14T15:23:00.000+01:00

My house guests have gone :( and I'm back to being busy.

I mentioned in the previous post that I am currently very much into fibre jewelry an I hope it lasts. The first four necklaces are already listed in the shop. They are each dedicated to a season:

SPRING

SUMMER

AUTUMN

WINTER

They all consist of felted wool beads which I then embroidered, crocheted pieces and yarn constructs and I really had fun making them, even though it takes some time, especially the felting part, since the beads are quite big (the one in the first pic is almost 5cm in diameter).

Now I am working on some necklaces that I am really excited about - they are inspired by colourful African jewelry, especially high chokers. Actually - they're not, since I didn't really research African jewelry, but they are inspired by what in my head African high chokers would look like :)). I find fibre materials so appropriate because they are so light and there are so many ways in which you can use them. (me excited). Also, my dad brought me some really nice wool and I want to work on a few "monumental" pieces :)) Oh my, I have so many ideas and so little time. I really wish days would last at least a couple of hours longer.

Bird obsession and then some

2010-02-05T23:23:00.000+01:00

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, I am heavily into making birds in all sorts of media lately. I therefore present you with a huge big one:

Papier mache, and boy did it give me trouble! I never made anything this big in papier mache and my construction was all wrong because I was too impatient to start, which is why I didn't think it through. But after two days of struggle it came out as I wanted it and I am happy now. The wings were painted by my boyfriend and are not quite done yet, but I wanted to share ;) He made the table there as well and I am completely in love with it. That too still needs a few touch-ups, but I find it great. Not to mention that it was made completely out of found materials (the sides, for example are made from a doll cradle :)) )

Apart from the huge big burdie, I have been totally fascinated by fibre jewelry as of late and am experimenting with it. A few necklaces are done, but I still need to take pictures, and am working on a painting at the same time (in the next pic you can see how I hog the whole living room with my projects galore :)) )

I am rushing to finish it all up, since I am having house guests for the next few days and won't have time for much else but catching up and having craft unrelated fun.

Be good and see you soon!

Display your love!

2010-01-28T13:39:00.001+01:00

Valentine's is not really big where I come from, but love is always a good topic of creation, so here are a few Valentine's specials fresh in my shop:

Love Birdies Magnet

Love Bug Magnet

Love Birdies on the Wire - magnet

Love is in the air - magnet

Love Connection Magnet

All are polymer clay and acrylics, and some wire. Love bug is my personal favourite, even though I am currently heavily into birdies of all shapes and sizes. Will show you soon ;)

Be good and enjoy!

New things sprouting in the secret garden

2010-01-23T12:25:00.000+01:00

Or, in other words, there are some new thingies in my DaWanda shoppe -

Art Nouveau Garden earrings

and the Secret Auburn Garden set.

Aaaaaand, the good news as well, I have discovered the new post editor (d'oh!). Seriously, I am such an idiot - this is sooooooo much better than having to think in reverse and calculate with complex formulas which picture will end up where :)) (I am using all the kinkiness of it now just for fun).

The bad news, and major irritation for weeks, is the fact that exactly 5 pieces of commissioned jewelry ended up either stolen or lost in the Serbian post office. I am mightily pissed off, and so is the friend I made it for. Especially as one set was supposed to be her New Year's ensemble and the other a present for her friend. The communication between the Dutch post office and the Serbian one is so complicated that we both just gave up and I am making her new sets (which unfortunately cannot be the same as I used the only vintage findings I had of the kind for them). Uuuuurgh and double uuuuurgh!

Buuuuuuurdies!

2010-01-21T16:27:00.006+01:00

While dealing with the real life, I have neglected to post the burdies! How could I!

All of them are papier mache and painted with acrylics.

Btw., I would like to offer some of them for sale, but I really have no idea how I would pack them for shipment safely enough (I mean, it's paper). Does anyone have an idea?

Who doesn't love technical glitches!

2010-01-19T10:05:00.005+01:00

Aaaaaah, I finally have a browser again!

It was completely uncooperative for two days, and now it's operational again! Woohoo!

However, I was unable to post new jewelry in the shoppe, and also unable to download a huge pile of work that's gonna occupy me this week (of course it arrived when my browser was down!).

In the meantime I finished almost all the burdies, but, naturally, the camera is off with my boyfriend (1,2,3....), so what you get is a crappy picture from my phone camera of some of them and I'll provide better pictures when I get hold of the camera.

Now I have to go and deal with the mundane stuff (urgh) and leave you with the burdies who live on sneakers too, don't you know ;)

Life, ah, life

2010-01-17T17:23:00.003+01:00

I have been meaning to post, but life has caught up with me. I've been busy with uncrafty and unarty stuff and so slightly distracted.

Hoever, I have not been unbusy, so here it goes:

1) My Mail Me Art entry

I haven't been drawing in ages (sketches don't count) and this was a nice break. If you're interested, follow the link above. The deadline is 31 January, but it's a fun little project, or at least it was for me, maybe because I am going postal myself?

2) A felt necklace for myself.

I am in love with this one. It was hard work, as I did every single part of it - the felting, the embroidery, the crochet, the assembly...it took me three days, but it was so much fun.

It is inspired by beautiful beads of Sonya Yong James (she makes other lovely stuff. too).

Anyhoo, I wanted to make the necklace versatile (maybe because it took me ages, maybe because I was indecisive about the length), so I came up with an assembly that allows me to wear it in 3 different ways:

a) long

b) medium (with a help of a ribbon)

c) short

d) or even as a bracelet

Well, me very pleased.

Other than that, I am working on the burdies, and if I get a chance, I'll post some new jewellry in the shop tomorrow. Till then - be good and see you soon!

As promised...

2010-01-06T11:26:00.010+01:00

I was thinking of earrings actually, but, yes, I know, I don't really know what I was thinking...

So, I got a hold of the camera and here are some pics of the other stuff i mentioned in the previous blog post (I know, I know, you are mesmerized by those floaties above, but bear with me):

- packaging and my new DIY stamp! It's a crude one, since I was very impatient to make it (as I mostly am when I want to make something), so it's made from materials I had on hand: a stolen eraser (from my boyfriend. He was nice enough not to kill me afterwards), a piece of wood i cut from something, and a squishy, foamy, double-sidedly sticky something in between that I also nicked from my boyfriend's supplies. My way of making it was very simplified, and I didn't have a carving tool small enough for the lettering, but it was very quick, and I actually followed the rules of sorts. But since this explanation of mine makes no sense whatsoever, I give you a very helpful link (you can skip all the rubber supply stuff in the beginning and just nick an eraser) - there you go.

- Next, I made a lot of burdies! And there are more on the way. I am completely hooked. This is just a sneak peak and I'll show you individual photos when I'm all done.

- And here, my pride and joy (indulge me, this is like a mother loving a complete brat of a child). It is nothing special, but if you read my previous post, you'll know why I am so thrilled with it.

Anyhoo, before I go to ponder on half a dozen sewing, gluing, claying and cooking projects (not all together) that I am itching to do, I leave you with the Threadbanger episode that helped me with this. In case you are of the same crocheting intelligence as I am, I'll add my translation to the "idiot language" below.

So, all you have to know is what a chain stitch and single crochet are (btw. single crochet is the US term, the UK term is double crochet, aaaand, my favourite needlework reference book is a Croatian translation and hence has a term niski stapic bez navoja for it; besides why is it called "single" when you do two loops....and so on and so forth - how could I not cry in despair here!). Ok , so now that you know that, you proceed like this:

- make 8 chain stitches

- connect them in a circle

- 1st (numbers are the numbers of rows) - do single crochet in each stitch twice, so you end up with 16 stitches (double) (count them so you would be sure where you are; I found the "tail" trick mentioned in the episode not very precise)

- 2nd - do single crochet in every fourth stitch twice (now you have 20 stitches)

- 3rd - do plain single crochet all the way

- 4th - do single crochet in each stitch twice

- 5th - do single crochet in every fifth stitch twice

- 6th - do plain single crochet all the way

- 7th - do single crochet in every sixth stitch twice

- 8th - do plain single crochet all the way

- 9th - do single crochet in every seventh stitch twice

- 10th - do single crochet in every eighth stitch twice

- 11th - do single crochet in every ninth stitch twice

- 12th - do single crochet in every tenth stitch twice

- 13th - do single crochet in every eleventh stitch twice

- 14th - do single crochet in every twelfth stitch twice

- 15th - do single crochet in every thirteenth stitch twice

- 16th - now, if the size is good you do plain single crochet all the way here, if it's too small (like mine was) because your hook is smaller than in the episode, or yarn thinner - proceed to do single crochet twice in every fourteenth stitch here, every fifteenth in the next row and so on, until you have the desired size

- do as many rows of single crochets all around as needed for the desired depth

- when you reach the desired depth - skip every 4th stitch

- final row - skip 2 stitches every 4th stitch and when you reach the end of the row, you are done (for me, at this point the opening was a little too big, so i proceeded to skip 3 stitches every 4th stitch, and so on until I had it right).

I hope this helps a little, and hopefully no one who CAN actually crochet is reading this and dying a little with every line, but rather laughing their heart out (I mean, come on! Just look at those sperms up there!) :-D

See you soon and be well in the meantime!

Let there be colour! (and animal kingdom)...and stuff

2010-01-04T12:26:00.007+01:00

I have so many ideas running amock in my head, but I find that a very good start of the new year! I have also been on a let-me-make-whatever-there-is-out-there spree. So, let's see:

- I made gift boxes and bags for my jewelry

- I made my very first stamp (wahey!) - and stamped around like a mad woman

- I made a new jewelry batch that I'll show you next time

- I crocheted my first thing ever!

I find crocheting sooo confusing (especially with all those abbreviations in patterns), and I have attempted to crochet stuff numerous times before - to no success whatsoever. But yesterday I crocheted a hat! Woohoo! Yaay! And yipee! Seriosly, even though it's not much (just a plain red beret) I am so happy because I figured it out and don't feel like an idiot when faced with a crochet hook. However, being in that "I am so smart, I am so smart" rush I followed on to crochet loads of little yarn sperms (?!). Yes, I know...I have no idea either...I'm sure I'll find some use for them sometime...Ahem....Aaaaaanyway...

- I made some really cute home decor birdies as well. They were actually supposed to be for sale, but I kind of fell in love and now have to decide which ones to give for adoption :((

All of this would be followed by photos, except my boyfriend took the camera with him, so I can't make any /:{. Next blog, I promise, and I'll add some crafty links as well that really helped me (like for the hat, and the stamp).

Until then, new arrivals in my shoppe are bellow. I am getting off on colour, but that is hardly new. And the fishies and peacocks are back again! ;)

Have a great week!

Aaaand the winner of the New Yaer's giveaway is.....

2010-01-01T16:45:00.003+01:00

(drumroll)

...

....

......

........

...........

JOVANA!

Have a great 2010 everyone!

Happy Holidays! and.....tadah!....a GIVEAWAY!

2009-12-23T13:33:00.004+01:00

Let's start with the giveaway!

Flourishing away!

2009-12-21T14:48:00.006+01:00

Something old, something new... Nope, no one is getting married, I just re-did some of the old pieces and posted them for sale on DaWanda. And then I did some new pieces, some of which already sold, or will be in the shop very soon.

So, here goes:

The following three pics are the re-done oldies, now available on DaWanda:

Perfume Boudoir brooch and ring

Simple Life ring

Spring in the forest necklace

The next three pics are the new pieces that already sold before they were even listed (yaay! - me very happy):

Secret Spring Garden earrings

Secret Spring Garden Necklace

Winter Paisley set

And, finally, these are the new pieces that will soon appear in the shop:

Secret Garden locket

I am very happy about this locket - it's made on a recycled Vaseline tin, and it opens just enough for you to put a little special something inside.

Court Garden earrings

Art Nouveau earrings

My head is full of ideas and projects, I need to pace myself and get organized. Anyways, hope you enjoy these and are looking forward to the holidays as I am :)

I will post some of my Christmas spirit in the next post, AND there is a New Year giveaway on its way as well!

Winter's mix'n'match

2009-12-16T15:03:00.005+01:00

Hello there! Still busy here and slightly disoriented. Too many things to do, or too big of a to-do list forming in my head. Either way, I have been jumping from one thing to another and employing most of my crafty abilities. Tadah - I present you with some of the results:

1. This is something I am very pleased with. I loved both materials so much, and already had this jacket in my head, so I decided to make it a reversible one. Also, neither of the materials alone would carry off the shape I had in mind, so reversible jacket was the perfect solution. This for me was a triumph of sorts - first of all, I sew by hand, second, I tend to make mistakes in sewing since I am impatient, but this one went smoothly all the way!. All in all, I am very pleased. The brown side is woolen, and the red is the most gorgeous deep red heavy cotton. Yaay, I have a new jacket!

2. J. and I made Christmas cards for friends and family (and are now procrastinating sending them. Note to self - send the darn cards!)

3. I made papier mache birdies for house decoration. I have another one in mind, and it's supposed to be huge.

4. Other than these, I have almost finished a new batch of jewelry that will soon find its way into my shoppe. And having mentioned the shop - DaWanda is having a Christmas discount on the 17th and 18th December (tomorrow and Friday), so feel free to visit my shop and get yourself or a loved one some Christmas goodies ;)

Oh, and I have a new fan page on Facebook. Drop in and have a look!

See you soon!

Busy bee

2009-12-04T16:56:00.005+01:00

That would be me :-) I did some commission work (for the first time) for two people. One set is a combination of earrings and a ring, and the other - ring, earrings and a pendant. I hope the girls will like their pieces. And I hope you like them, too. I personally had trouble giving up those earrings from the second set. Alas ;)

I also added some new stuff to my DaWanda shop. They are not new pieces, just added for sale now.

That's it for now. I am having a splitting headache for two days now and I am keeping busy so it would go away, but it seems to be the wrong method. And now I'll go and add some cheese to that whine. ;)

Be good!

Autumn's back in town!

2009-11-03T13:44:00.008+01:00

It really is, and I really don't like rain, not really...Unless I am inside doing my favourite stuff. Like, looking at colour, making thingies, having coffee, being warm etc. Which, as you can see, I have been doing these days. And I even got a window of opportunity to take some of the pics outside. And I am quite pleased with them, too.

Hope you enjoy :-)

(Btw. all of the stuff is for sale at my DaWanda shop, bar the two fridge magnets, one of which is a present for a friend - even though I still can't decide which one he would prefer :( )

I present you with presents

2009-10-31T10:42:00.006+01:00

Here's what I've been working on:

This little booklet is like a prototype extended business card/brochure for my boyfriend. The little drawings inside are all his and I made the booklet based on a great tutorial from Craftynest.

And then, still on the topic of business cards, I made a business card case for my mom from a mint tin. The front is done in FIMO, and the back is padded with felt. I really like how it turned out. Hope she will, too :)

And now I am off to rest a bit. I'm coming down with something, and am feeling really tired. Need to stuff myself with some tea and comfort goodies. In other words - I go to pester J. to make me some tea and put on a film ;-)

Silly me!

2009-10-29T13:31:00.004+01:00

I completely forgot to post this! And it is cozy! :))

What is it? A tequila cozy of course!

It was a birthday present. The little pouch contains drinking games and dice and cards. And naturally, there is a pom-pom on the top ;)

Nesting anyone?

2009-10-29T13:05:00.006+01:00

I don't know if it's the sense of incoming winter or plain PMS, but I have been crafting galore, and it was all for home decoration. Now I feel cozy ;)

Okay, the mask was for a friend's son, so it doesn't strictly fall into 'home' category, but it's padded! - therefore cozy ;)

Pom-pom and fimo bead flowers. Very recycled. Have I not mentioned that I made pom-poms galore? Oh, and I made the vase, too. There's a Nesquick box lurking underneath ;)

Is it wrong that I am posting my toilet on the blog? Well, anyhoo...ahem, the painting was done specifically for the toilet, which is otherwise very claustrophobic. It's supposed to be a window...I mean, I hope you can see that.

I'm working on a couple of personalized presents at the moment. Will post as soon as they're done.

Have a good Thursday!

Still in that colourful swing

2009-10-15T17:20:00.004+02:00

Yup, still there...

As soon as I lay my eyes on that bag from the last post, I knew just what kind of earrings I wanted for it. I was relishing the idea of making them for a couple of days, and finally, here they are. I am very pleased, if I may say so myself :-)

The colours strike again with another knitted bangle - very imperfect, but it's for myself, so I don't care much.

A break from colour, and into practicality - I just needed this, so I made it.

But then, I went completely berserk, and decided to make a vest. And not just any kind of vest...

It took some patience to make all these pom-poms (there are around 30 of them here, plus some that I didn't use), and then put them in place one by one. I love it, and I look completely mad in it...and I love it. The inspiration came from the ruffle sleeve top, from one of the previous posts, but as soon as I put it on I started singing Are we human, or are we dancers... If you've seen The Killers video, you'll know why. Now I want feathers :))

Viva los colores!

2009-10-11T13:17:00.005+02:00

On Friday I made this knitted bangle bracelet. I was in a completely wintery mood and thought I'd do something warming and I found this method and the colour combo suiting. (I am not a very good knitter, but this is just for me, so I don't mind the slip-ups)

Then yeasterday we went shopping for some supplies and presents, and as you can see, my colours were still on winter tip of the scale (regardless of the butterfly).

And theeeeeen.......colours just exploded all around me. And kept exploding!

....

I bought this lovely little vintage looking purse, and some yarn, as well as that cover for the armchair, and some sewing material. The colours completely changed my mood.

Everything was suddenly very bunt, including my boyfriend, his painting and the little felt phone case I just made for him (which sits on his shoulder only for the purpose of the photo, btw.)

So, how could I not make some colourful jewelry. I finally used the felt elements I made a while ago and tadah!

Seriously, I cannot tell you how much colours influence me. They really make me happy. When I see nice colours, my mood immediately lifts. They don't have to be warm - it is just the effect that a good combination has on me. That is one of the reasons why I love my boyfriend's paintings so much. He is very good with colours and I have a painting of his that's my favourite hanging opposite the couch, because every time I look at it, it makes me smile a little.

And anyway, there is a good reason for the "bunt" as a part of my name here and the name of our little manufacture :-)

I hope the colours above bring you some smiles as well!

Secret garden

2009-10-09T13:36:00.006+02:00

I am still in full boost as far as fimo meddling is concerned. Here are some of the latest tidbits, mostly inspired by completely amazing Jennifer Morris, and her technique:

The news is...

2009-10-05T18:01:00.005+02:00

...that I have finally opened a little shop at DaWanda! Wahey!

Feel free to browse :)

Normally, the stuff I make gets snatched by friends and family, or given away as presents. So, finally, I have kept a few pieces for selling purposes. And there is more to come :)

Enjoy!

Cool breezes

2009-10-04T17:03:00.009+02:00

The autumn is upon us here and I am productive galore (and have no idea why this is underlined, but cannot change it, urgh). Reusing, reassembling, recycling seem to be my things in these, as well as some cool colours (and by "cool", I mean the temperature, not the likeability;))

So here are my latest meddlings:

Dress/tunic, recycled from my boyfriend's old T-shirt and some scrap material. The picture on the front is a Japanese illustration (that got this whole thing started btw.). The little flower on the side serves the purpose of hiding the stupid NIKE sign that I couldn't get rid of any other way.

The inspiration for this came from Maegan's tutorial for ruffle sleeve top but I gave it up half way through because I thought this works better for these colours. Also, I wanted exactly these colours, so this is not an old T-shirt, but a quickly sewn top ;)

Okay, this picture is crap, but the shrug is completely adorable in person. When I first saw Eve's tutorial at Cut Out & Keep, I couldn't figure out how it would work, but when I got around to trying it, I was completely thrilled! It is so incredibly easy and looks so great that I am tempted to do loads of them (so far, I only had one blouse that I could use for this, but I am on the lookout for more;)). Thanks Eve!

So, after my sewing spree, I moved on to adequate jewellry of course...

Pendant immediately acquired by my boyfriend. Made on a recycled jar lid.

Again, a bad photo - the colours are much nicer live, and they match the colours of the ruffle top perfectly.

These were made from recycled zipper "thingies" (whatever those are called - you know, the thing you grab hold of when handling a zipper?)

Another pendant (and, yes, another peacock) on a recycled jar lid.

I'm still on the go!

of! b.u.n.t.

2009-09-13T11:36:00.005+02:00

I made this little video with my boyfriend's reappearing character (check out the link for his appearances in 2D ;)). I find him really adorable. Also, the painting in question is sort of the origin of the name b.u.n.t.

Hope you enjoy!

Oh, yes - I did notice that in the end the letter T went into the wrong line, but it was all done and edited by then! :((

Childish is me ;)

2009-09-11T12:29:00.004+02:00

Well, I used Danny Gregory's advice once again, and I tell ya, I think it really works! So after a long draught drawing-wise (or anything productive-wise) there are a few new bits and pieces on the production line ;)

This is sort of like an anniversary present for my boyfriend. Ahem, namely, well...that's us in short.

This one was inspired by a photo of some rock formations somewhere in the USA I think, but I can't find the original photo now. I find the idea of an alien robot meeting a chicken very amusing and I even had ideas about a comic.

I have no idea where this one came from. (Btw. the bird is smoking a pipe, but I didn't take a picture of it for some unknown reason, and then couldn't be bothered to do it again)

Watercolour it is!

2009-09-11T12:20:00.002+02:00

I got a watercolour moleskine as a present from my boyfriend (woohoo!) and decided to dive into it and not wait for too long. I am an absolute beginner when it comes to watercolour, and I am often very impressed by its effects (if not by my skill, or lack thereof ;)). Otherwise, human figure is one of my favourite subjects - so, here goes:

Road-triping

2009-08-24T18:55:00.004+02:00

I dream about a road trip like this. And the people in this picture are all specific, and perfect road trip companions. Now, wouldn't that be just lovely?

The spirit of togetherness

2009-08-20T14:37:00.004+02:00

Still no progress on the creative front, so I delve into the oldies, and there you go:

These are not oldies per se, as they've been done a couple of months ago, and they were both a collaboration with my boyfriend and both ended up as presents for my parents.

Hope you enjoy :-)

Back and taking it slowly

2009-08-05T20:47:00.004+02:00

I'm back from holiday and mostly resting from it so far. Nothing new on the production line yet, so I just leave you with the recipients of the presents from the last post and hope I get into gear soon.

Cheers!

Super heroes, here I come!

2009-07-07T21:09:00.006+02:00

I am off to a holiday! Going to spend it with all my most beloved people. I'll be back at the beginning of August, and until then I leave you with the presents I made for two of my best friends.

I made every single detail of them (including the boxes and the clothes) and it took me almost three days. I am quite pleased and hope they will be too! And hope I don't crush them in the bag on my way there :#

So, here they go, from packed to unpacked:

Lena action figure...

...and Zule action figure

Here are both of them looking innocent and sweet. But! When you undress them (in case of an emergency, of course)...

...they turn into...

SUPERHEROES!

Their special powers range from arguing with public servants to barbecuing.

And now I'm off. Hope you all have a lovely summer and see you in August!

Harem and felt

2009-07-07T10:21:00.004+02:00

Well, these are my latest doings:

I tried felting for the first time and it is great! I only got three colours from a lady at the art market here in Rotterdam a few days ago, just to try. So, I ended up with these elements (which I still haven't decided what to do with). All wet felted and all fun.

As I mentioned before, I needed comfortable trousers for a festival we are going to. It's gonna be very hot and it's a whole day thing, so this is what i came up with. Harem trousers of sorts.

Been busy - aqua flood and more

2009-07-01T10:34:00.003+02:00

I've been really busy lately. We are going away for a month and I have been making presents, jewellry for myself, and sewing a little as well (you can never be too practical/comfortable at a festival/concert). So, here it goes:

I had some of that striped cane left from all the boudoir thingies, so i made myself a butterfly brooch. Very pleased with that one.

Btw., I found the tutorial for this striped cane (well, sheet) somewhere online, but, for the love of me, I cannot find where. Seriously, I have so many bookmarks in my Crafts section that they start to loose the point, since I need ages to just browse through the titles. Anyway, thank you to whoever it was that posted the tute, I find it looks great.

Ring is, again, for myself, if only for the reason that I like and wear absolutely huuuuge rings. I don't know anyone else who wears them as big, or would like to get one from me - I think people would find it more like a centerpiece for the table ;-). This one is 4cm in diameter. See what I mean?

This necklace is actually what I made the peacock feather cane for! The necklace is a present for my mum, and she wanted something with turqoise (which is where all of this blue madness started from). Actually, she wanted something completely turqoise, but I never go where I plan with polymer clay, so tadah! this is what she will end up with. I would be such crap at commmission work ;-)

Some cane was left, so I also made this brooch.

This brooch is a result of playing with blues and greens after coming across a magnificent tutorial by Camille Young. The technique is simple enough, but the results (hers) are gorgeous. Just follow her links and see the beautiful things she does.

Another ring, supposed to remind you of stone. Made for myself - I needed something in that colour.

And, naturally, since I already made the colour blend that I liked, that led to yet another striped sheet. Oh my. Both the necklace and the earrings bellow are made as presents for my mum and a friend of mine. Hopefully they'll like.

That's it for now. Being my oh-what's-this-i-wanna-try-it self, I have now decided to try out some felting. I have already made the elements, now I have to figure out what to do with them ;-). Will post when I'm done. Hope you enjoy this in the meantime!

Cheers!

and on the road we go...

2009-06-18T11:18:00.003+02:00

Finally a drawing in my moleskine after aaaaaages of it quietly sitting at the corner of my desk. I am getting ready for a holiday and a road-trip is my idea of a perfect one. This holiday won't be a road-trip, but one can draw and fantasize, no?

Welcome to my boudoir!

2009-06-14T15:56:00.007+02:00

...or at least that's what this series reminds me of. Something like nouveau vintage, satin, velvet, textile wallpapers, delicate retro jewelry, art deco, jazz age and such. Well, at least that is what I attempted and, just a btw, I don't think I have ever done as many pieces in one style.

Hope you like :)

(still undecided whether to make it a brooch, pendant or a ring)

pendant

brooch

ring

brooch

necklace

And these I especially like, beacuse of the combination of retro and recycling - namely they are all done on old jar lids:

silhouette pendant

pendant

Spring is back in town!

2009-06-09T17:15:00.005+02:00

Ok, so I might be slightly late with the whole 'spring is back in town' thing, but as inspiration goes, that was it. I adore sunshine, and our balcony view is just great as we have a huge tree right in front of it and loads of birds at all times. Anyway, all of the jewelry below follows a 'spring in the city theme'. I hope it brings some sunshine your way.

Snakes

2009-06-02T11:40:00.004+02:00

Obviously, I like the look of snakes and snake skin. These two are an experiment and contain no wiring (which is probably a bad idea, but I like them too much to try to break them). As it is, they are quite flexible and I hope they won't break soon. I tried to put in wiring, but couldn't make it work somehow. Later I found this Donna Kato tutorial for bangles, so I might give it a try in the next batch.

Btw., both are made from polymer clay and hand painted with acrylics.

Fake an faux and does it show? 2

2009-05-27T10:12:00.003+02:00

Still trying to figure out all the materials that you can fake by polymer clay, and I am all excited, and in a very experimental mood as you can see. I love plymer clay. Even to me, the impatient one, it gives so many options.

soon to be earings and ring

a very kitchy pendant

another very kitchy pendant (or brooch, or ring - I haven't decided yet)

faux jade (I think?) pendant

Fake and faux and does it show?

2009-05-26T10:12:00.006+02:00

Does it ever happen to you that you make something and you are not sure how it looks only because you know how it's made, and what you expect it to look like? Well, it happens to me.

First example: do these two settings really look like some sort of silver/pewter, or is it obvious they're not? Does the first remotely look like turqoise?

Second example:Does this really look like at least a fake snake skin? Hmmmmm. (Btw, it's decoupage on a sellotape cardboard)

I am really never sure!

Here fishy fishy fishy....

2009-05-26T10:06:00.003+02:00

I was slightly diverted from the peacocks to fishies...

.... and ended in peacock madness!

2009-05-23T12:08:00.006+02:00

I am still on the go!

It all started innocently....

2009-05-23T11:59:00.005+02:00

It all started innocently with a birthday present for A., and I came up with a peacock ring design:

Btw., the box is made based on one of the patterns by Mirkwood Designs and then decoupaged.

Back to jewlery!

2009-05-18T10:46:00.002+02:00

I wanted some retro looking, slightly kitchy pieces, and i came up with these two. In both cases the base is translucent white Fimo, and the motif is hand-painted.

Brown purse

2009-05-15T13:58:00.006+02:00

I desperatly needed a brown purse for a party we are going to on Saturday - I absolutely hate dancing with a bag on my shoulder, and yet, I am a woman, not to mention a smoker, not to mention that I normally don't have that many pockets on myself... And, tadah! - this is what I came up with: it is very recycled; the material is brown corduroy which used to be my boyfriend's trousers (am I destroying too many of his clothes lately?). The button is a decoupage piece made with chocolate wrapper and some sewing thread (that one went slightly wrong as I tried to paint the branch first - let me say that does not work at all with Mod Podge when you are stupid enough to use a plain Stabilo pen). I am pleased with the final result and it took less than half an hour to make, including nailing down a ring to the button ;)

...and a new dress

2009-05-08T11:36:00.003+02:00

...tadah!

It's hand-sewn (I mean, everything I sew is hand-sewn, since I don't possess a sewing machine) and also hand printed from hand drawn design (all by me)... a lot of hand s there! ;)

Anyways, I am being slightly immodest here, but I really like how it turned out. Wahey!

A new bag

2009-05-06T09:34:00.001+02:00

And some new sewing stuff from yesterday. I needed a bag to match a jacket ;)

Apparently not lazy much

2009-05-05T10:17:00.030+02:00

So, it's high time I posted something.

I haven't been doing much drawing or painting lately, but was more into crafts and sewing. My problem always is that when I find a new technique or a project I get completely absorbed in it, and leave others behind. More discipline is what I need! But here's what I've been up to lately:

1) some recycle crafting - in this case, a flower and a necklace made of old plastic bags

2) some recycle sewing and printing. Here:

a) a tunic/dress made from my boyfriend's t-shirt (I didn't steal it - he gave it to me!); only the sewing part was mine, print was already there

b) a print on an old white t-shirt (the design came from a napkin); only the printing part is mine here

c) a skirt made of 4 t-shirts (4 panels), that can be worn any way round; in this case both the design, printing and sewing were mine. Inspiration came from an episode of truly amazing Threadbangers.

Woohoo! I'm quite happy with the results :D

3) some jewelry made with paper napkins and wood and cork - in this case a pair of earings and 2 rings

4) And finally some paper creations completely inspired by amazing work of Yulia Brodskaya.

a) a thank you note for a friend who helped us out

b) a stress relief poster for myself ;)

The process of making them is stress-releiving, too, I tell you!

So, all in all, I haven't been that lazy, and still have a few projects on my mind. Wahey!

sweets for my sweet on a sweet voyage

2009-02-23T09:47:00.005+01:00

Well, it seems that I am in a 'pinkish' mood as far as drawing is concerned. The first pic is unfinished I'd say. The second I really like. And the third came out of sketches I was making for FIMO jewlery that I'd like to make soon. I don't really have a sweet tooth, but I like how sweets look. We'll see how that idea turns out.

Anyway, sweets-related, I have to mention Stephanie Kilgast here. Her skill is completely amazing! My personal favourites are her breads. Bon appetite!

another Schiele

2009-02-20T13:36:00.002+01:00

Here's another take on Schiele in polymer clay.

As my attention span is that of a goldfish, it might be a while before I play around with this again. But so far, I like ;)

Also, I really want to do EDM#211 with Schiele in mind. But I have to ponder about it a little first. I think it's called "relishing an idea" ;)

inkjet transfers onto clay - my first try!

2009-02-19T06:53:00.011+01:00

I've come across an extremely helpful tutorial on transfers onto polymer clay, using inkjet printers - thanks Valerie!

It is something I've been really eager to try out, and I present you with the first result. It's a pendant for my boyfriend. The print was done on HP inkjet printer, using the cheapest baking paper in Holland (money is always tight in my household!) and I was really thrilled by the result!

Naturally, since I am a "baksuz", when I did a transfer for myself the printer went low on ink, and as if that wasn't enough - the clay tore when I was lifting it from the work surface. Buuuut, I didn't give up. So, on the second pendant I traced the picture (after baking it), using (again) the cheapest Stabilo pens, and then glazed it. I am very pleased with the result!

The picture used for the first pendant is one done by my boyfriend, and for the second - Egon Schiele's Gerti Schiele in a Plaid Garment, one of my favourite pieces, by one of my favourite artists, the original of which you can see below:

Wahey! And I hope you like as well.

P.S. I have no idea why some of the pictures are not clickable here. If you want a better view, please see my Flickr page

fill the blanks

2009-02-16T22:50:00.003+01:00

I think it was Danny Gregory's advice with the blank squares and filling them out, that was supposed to fight productivity block. I have done nothing worthwhile in a month! Urgh.

And I also need to stop whining and get on with it

2009-02-15T12:19:00.002+01:00

Ok, to be entirely fair, this is what I produced in the past month (other than completely useless tidbids that I would never post).

The first pic is a sort of a wall illustration (it's about 2m high) done for my boyfriend - the facial i-am-not-amused expression is entirely his. The second pic are rings (or soon to be rings) done in FIMO, wire and felt. That was going horibly wrong as well.

I want my productivity baaaack!

I WANNA DRAW AGAIN!

2009-02-15T11:57:00.005+01:00

All of my EDM challenges so far. I am posting this to boost my drawing efforts. I have done nothing for ages! How horrible. I hate being unproductive!

a new leaf aka a new page

2009-02-10T13:21:00.003+01:00

I have been quite dormant for a month or so, and in my constant attempt to be organized I have been posting old things first. I think from now on I will try to be more up-to-date :) Oh bummer, that means I don't really have anything to post today.

Well, I can at least mention that I have opened a shop at Zazzle with some of my designs.

personal stacks - things that make me go mmmmm

2009-02-09T11:33:00.003+01:00

It might be immodest, but I really like these. Maybe because they are personal.

on hold

2009-02-09T11:26:00.004+01:00

I have suddenly been very unproductive these days. I ma still scribbling a bit, but really don't like anything I do lately. Perhaps posting something old migh help.

When I did these, I was interested in different perspectives. All were pencil on paper and coloured in PhotoPaint.

personal bustles

2008-12-02T11:20:00.003+01:00

Another great streess-relieving process for me is making personalized memory-boards of sorts. For myself or others

topic-ed stuff

2008-12-02T11:03:00.003+01:00

I like doing 'topic-ed' stuff. You'll see what I mean below. It's a stress relief of sorts.

toys galore
sweet stuff galore

houses galore

shoes galore

bugs galore

All of the stuff is completely imaginary, as you might have guessed

catching the tram

2008-12-02T10:56:00.002+01:00

Little Red Riding Hood?

b.u.n.t.

2008-11-28T19:55:00.003+01:00

Perhaps a brief explanation is in order here. I have always drawn and painted, but I have not been very prolific until I moved to the Netherlands. I might post some of the old stuff, but these are all mostly new.

I do very different things, depending, I guess, on my mood, or perhaps a state of vision, be it the inner or the outter eye. I therefore have very different series, as you might notice in the future.

As far as the title of the blog is concerned, 'bunt' is a double-meaning thing. My boyfriend and I are starting an art manufacture (all will be duly informed), and have come up with the name 'bunt' - in German (he is German) it means 'many-coloured', 'colourful', in Serbian (I am Serbian) it means 'revolt', 'rebellion'. We thought it fit perfectly. Especially as it came from a painting of his that is my absolute favourite.

sweet

2008-11-28T19:47:00.001+01:00

I was in a good mood, or at least trying to re-create some.

...and all things nice

2008-11-28T09:50:00.005+01:00

I find some sort of pleasure in drawing food it seems

It's sort of a 'sugar & spice' thing

as first posts go, this one could be better

2008-11-27T12:25:00.009+01:00

This is one of the first illustrations I have done since I have moved to the Netherlands. I have been very prolific here and very happy about it, since I was previously known to do perhaps two to three pieces a year. Well, hope you like :)