its a mad mission

I just had one of those “only in New York City” moments. On my first train, I saw posters of Ira Glass advertising his new “This American Life” television show. On my second train, I saw Ira Glass. 

A post for my extended family especially. I’m thinking you, like me, can’t get enough of these kiddos.

The following is not a pic of my nieces or nephew. But my little sister the sports guru decided there was a better use for my porcelain doll collection.

Grace Bonney over at designspongeonline.com has posted pics of the spool (kudos to michelle for her photography). So psyched. For any of my crafting readers out there, check out the whole site. She’s got lots of great ideas on there.  http://www.designspongeonline.com/2008/04/before-and-after-spools-gold.html

Our final felting class was a free-for-all. One lady made a sculpture. Another a handbag, another pieces for a garland. I decided to attempt a ridiculous-to-try-to-complete-in-one-night project: a 22×22 square with dry needle felt orchid. To make the orchid, I basically poked the edges of the fiber into the base fiber, but left the fiber that makes up the inside of the petal loose. It felts into the project when I soap and wet it, but in a much airier, transparent way, as you can see in the closeup of the leaf. My new roommate Michelle, who is moving in next month, has bathroom decor with these colors, and I think this might look good with it. You will meet her next month on this blog, after I have a ginormous farewell-to-deb blog, since she is moving to Charleston and I am plagued with so many emotions about it. Yay! Boo! Hooray! Loser! Winner! Wahhhhhhhh!

The whole enchilada.

Ooo, the texture!

Translucent leaf.

So apparently I’m turning this blog into a craft site. Sorry for those of you not interested in crafts. I will post something grittier some time soon. Until then, my instructions for turning another person’s junk into your treasure.First, find a massive cable spool in a sidewalk trash heap. Proceed to roll the spool through the streets of Brooklyn for 15 minutes to your unrenovated church building, avoiding splinters, cars and small children (they find this quite entertaining). Next, have boyfriend pull out sharp metal staples that could injure users, and you cut out two layers of egg crate just a bit larger than the top.

Paint base.

Lay two foam circle on top, and cover with fabric circle that measures about 10 inches past the edge.Fold over opposite ends, pull tight, and wield your staple gun with pride! Do same to opposite corners, until entire circle is secure.

Sit and model for photographer Michelle Crafton. 

The latest creation from art class…and an ikea napkin backdrop. When I put them on I start speaking Elven.

**Note, each slipper is all one piece, no seams. Behold the wonder of felting!