over the moon and back

the school year is officially over...whoah. i was thinking about it over the weekend of how quickly it happened. i'm done my second year in textiles? was i there for this? :)
you can expect more blog posts now that summer has officially started but as for now; there were a few projects i wanted to blog about but with the final weeks of school drowning me in lovely craft times (and bucket loads of teatimes) i'll bring you up to speed:

request lined mittens: complete!

these were the first mittens i've ever crocheted and i'm glad to say that they're pretty toasty fit, a little late for the final cold days of winter so i like to think of them as way on time for next winter. 

i used new 100% wool yarn bought from Romni Wools and a light bright white cotton linning as requested. also these shots don't really show just how huge these are but i guess when you're in furniture design like Tom is, it's good to have a pair of paws for hands.

i introduce to you a Mr. Francisco Lamark in doll form, head honcho of the Lamark society. standing at a distinguished 8 inches, i used yarns to embroider over a silkscreen drawing i drew. i was even lucky to find a pretty sweet shiny copper colored ribbon for his helmet, making the bolts with french knots yum! i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. i moved a few things around from their symbol for asthetic reasons, but i'm sure the Sea Salts and Francisco won't mind that. 

i still have others to sew up and send out to my brother who is in charge of the website and any fund raising. hopefully these dolls will sell and help them towards their fantastic goal.

in our dye and print class, our final project was working with transparency. we were given lots of ideas and new tehniques in a workshop with the wonderful Kerry Croghan, but like i said in the last 'real' blog post, i couldn't help but to think of my little night light Poe.

      

  

once again, i tried to use as much recycled materials for this project and i could...and it also gave me another reason to go to the junk wonderland that is the re-use center in Burlington. i bought a little lamp for the hardware, a glass dome light shade (about 12" or so inches in diameter) and some old doilies for my very own moon. I used a hand spun Chilean yarn my uncle bought for me the last time he was down in south of Chile, which is known for their hand spun yarns (also shows just how much yarn obsession was inevitable for the likes of me.) my inspiration initially came from Poe, just making a sweet little floor lamp with a crochet shade over it. there is something comforting about a small and soft glow on the floor of a room, kind of like candle lighting only safer. 

i guess my bum ticker's idea of using my Spaceboy for next year's main theme couldn't wait and i instantly thought of making this dome into a moon, my very own personal moon and with Chilean yarn at that! 

i worked on samples of crochet using different sized needles in the same piece to create larger loops  to then sew some doilies to create pretty craters but didn't get the effect i was looking for. i then literally made giant holes in a piece and found exactly what i was looking for. i found some referring pictures of the moon's surface and started on my final piece. 

one of the great things about being in the craft wing is getting a bit of help from other studios. my friend Jade helped in cutting off the threading of the glass jars i used for sampling and my friend (and now graduate) Alastair helped me in making the heart shaped base for my moon. i thought of making a sleeve for the cord and embroider a line from a letter to really tie Spaceboy to this project but was suggested maybe even painting the words on the edge of the wooden base which really tickled my own heart.

last week was my biggy final critique day where we bring out everything we've made in our dye and print, our surface design class and anything else we may be proud of.

the octoglobs floor lamps i upcycled for a friend last year made an appearance and one agreed to even come home with me which is now sitting pretty in my room. i also brought out my embroidery project, Ona inspired bags, retirement felted scarf and even the Lamark doll.
after i had layed everything out on the table, it kind of hit me how happy i was with my work this year. i genuinely feel that my skills are nearly top shelf and ready to reach up again. i had some pretty neat things to hear from my teachers, even some that made me shyly say thank you with a loud heartbeat in my chest. i'm excited for next year and having the summer to think of projects for my collection work based on the always haunting Spaceboy, fun fun!
i'll have to post about some summer ideas i have brewing up another day 'cause this has gone on long enough :) but first a wee peek:

thought i'd post a little teaser picture of what you can maybe totally find at this saturday's craft sale at the Trafalgar Sheridan College campus. these are just name tags to some real cutie pie things i'll be sewing up in the next few days. trust that you'll get a few more peeks before then.

finally, i leave you with a real oldie little dittie by Cliff Edwards shown to me by a studio mate (and someone to keep an artsy eye on, fyi) ana d.

internally yours,
sister valentine