In the Studio

Now that S's schedule has settled down, I once more have the joy of scheduled, uninterrupted studio time. (Thank you, S!) It's usually only one morning a week, but those few hours make all the difference to my state of mind and level of creative output. Here's what I've been working on recently:

I've finally had the time to make some more handmade knitting needles. I finished these four pairs today. Each pair takes several weeks to make, with my schedule, since there are so many steps in the process: cutting the wood to size, shaping it by hand, sanding it thoroughly (using three different grades of sandpaper, from rough to ultra smooth), designing the decorative elements, affixing them to the wood (using nails as well as epoxy glue), letting the glue dry (at least 48 hours), then finishing the wood (using a light coat of mineral oil and then a final rubdown with wax).

Whew! So they are truly a labor of love, but I always like seeing how they turn out. I'm especially happy with the blue art glass ones (center in pic below) and lapis lazuli ones (right in pic below). Though the red jasper ones and seafoam green ones are nice, too. The pics don't really do them justice.



I've also been doing tons of wire work, creating custom bird's nest pendants. This is the output for the last week or so, not counting the ones that are already in the mail:
Each nest takes about an hour to weave by hand, and I often work on them in the evenings and in the little corners of time here and there during the day. It's been a lot of fun to work with the pink and blue pearls!

I finally put together a custom listing in my Etsy shop so that folks can design their own fully customized "Family Nest" without having to send me a convo and set up a personalized listing. I've had that on the to-do list for some time now, so it felt great to finally get that done.

Just in time for my Mother's Day showcase today -- which has already led to two sales! Yay!

If you're interested in placing an order for Mother's Day, I recommend getting it in by Wednesday to be sure it arrives in time. After all, Mama only has so much studio time!