flo floats!

I've thought about how far I might reach with this 'handmade' project. It appears assembling ikea furniture counts. Justification? If it took the entire day to put together, then i think it's worth documenting. And I am mightly pleased with the results and wanted to share some progress in the new studio.

Day 15 - Building a flamworking space (part 1of2)

Where it all beings - an empty space.

Note: Do not boast too loudly about you ikea assembly skills UNTIL its finished.

Note #2 - Do not skip steps. That's usually going to bring you trouble.

Note #3 - Flat floors are much appreciated.
My floors from one end to the other were off by 2.5inches.
The result? Flo's Flameworking Station Floats!
(cement leveling the floors will be an upcoming handmade to look forward to)

Oh yes, and I cheat even further with my 'handmade'
I absolutely could not have done this project without Pat's skillful assistance.

Est Voila! This entire unit, with countertops included, cost under $600
I am so so excited about my new creative space!

Part 2 of this project still to come. Fume hoods and metal fixings will be installed to make her fully functional and safe for my flameworking needs.

not much commentary needed: Handmade #13 -z-bird.

Another night in the studio with my side kick rocky boy.

Day 11 on the handmade menu - medallions.

I need to develope a better system of taking pictures of progress shots while at the bench.

Sadly this is all i got of the process...

I'll work out the kinks, and produce better quality shots in the future.

can't make it better

This guy was the reason I fell behind in my handmades... Loading issues, but finally resolved. January 10th's handmade - a song (*note* very rough recording).

sundays are for long walks with the doggie

I am behind on my updates, but at least I am still playing by the rules. Bri and I went for a walk with the ever animated Rocky boy on Sunday where we tested out our new film for our Super8 camera (we now have to take it in to get converted onto disk.. another future handmade project to finish) and I brought the ol' SLR for some picture taking of my favourite pooch.

If we haven't already covered this, Rocky loves playing with sticks.

Day 9's handmade - a Rocky album of all his wonderful character shots on flickr

painted potters

Personalized home project 1 for 2011 completed.
Day 8 of 365 days of Handmade - making pretty potters Bri and I decided to take our random potters at home and give them a little character
(to go with our exceptionally characterized home)

Our tools consisted of tubes of acrylic paint (matching our decor),
a small assortment of brushes, painters tape, a sharpie, and a clear lacquer spray paint.

Simple patterns tend to be the more successful. Try to start with a clean, rough surface. The black lines on the pot below are my sharpie trick, it adds more punch to your planter. When you're happy with your design be sure to use the spray lacquer on both the inside and outside of the pot. This keeps a good water resist finish.

To conserve on space we painted ikea potters with small holes for hanging.

I would have loved to post this portrait of Rocky boy as one of my handmades for this year
but alas the painting was a christmas present.. one of the last items i finished from 2010. In any case we'll say hello to it now so its not left out.

banana muffin

Baked goods are on the list for handmades this year. We're starting things off a touch easy here, going through recipes I would deem my 'tried and true' family baked goods. This recipe has always been made for me with love from Margi dearest. She sited the recipe off the top of her head, and now I divulge it online for all to enjoy (as i sit enjoying one of the sample muffins in these photos)

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Pre-Heat Oven to 350

In a blender, mix the following:
1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp lemon juice

2 ripe bananas

in a separate bowl:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
mix well then add wet ingredients

once mixed add 1 cup chocolate chips

Dish into 2 muffin trays of six (or pour into greased loaf pan)

bake muffins for 20mins (or loaf for 40mins)

So straight forward, so easy and yet baking intimidates me (why?) All the more reason to keep the handmade daily's going. It'll give me more practice at those things that unnecessarily scare me out attempting them.

last note: my friend Andy who has the blog delicate.balance has also joined in on this challenge. Instead of daily shes taking on a weekly handmade assignment for herself. Giver a gander.

drawing board

Weddings appear to be growing in popularity for glass commissions. I've done wedding favours, centerpieces, wedding party gifts and of course, gifts for the bride and groom themselves.

I recieved my first wedding commission for 2011 the other day - 180 wedding stoppers with a very open concept on design (basically anything organic with their wedding colours encorporated in it) here are some concept sketchs of the possible final items. The bottom two on the left are my current top picks but i can't determine their final merrit until I actually try out some samplers.

bound together

Day 5's handmade - iphoto assisted photo album. It's dead easy. Drag and drop into templates. Click to buy... and it arrives at your door step in 5 days flat. London photos on flickr.

acorn

Wee production evening at the shop.
Starting to get back into the swing of things...
Everyday handmade item for January 4th - the acorn

step 1. draft your notes/design (note the trivial pursuit.. i play while i work)

step 2 - make your pendant

step 3 - anneal your pendant

step 4 - string your pendant

In truth, the last photo wasn't taken today but the others were true production items from the evening. 4 days down. 361 days to go.