The Beginning of a New Year..... and New Projects!

I've been a busy creative bee these past few months. I've been knitting, designing and metaling to my heart's content.

This beaded necklace was completed this summer out of shell beads, man-made seaglass, some metallic-painted beads and a few hematite thrown in for good measure. A light, summery design.

This little pumpkin hat includes my first foray into felting. I had joined a knitting group last year and got a little taste of  it when I decided to play around at home. These pumpkin leaves were the perfect fit for a great fall hat. Now to see the little guy grow into the size I made for him!

I posted the baby Wonder Woman hat earlier and will post an update once I take a better photo. The hat is darling, but the crown is a bit long. I need to re-work and re-photograph. Stay tuned.....

This past December I participated in my first craft fair, joining fellow students in a group show in Cambridge, MA where we work in studio. It was great fun to see such amazing work from my peers. To see how we all learned the same basic skills and have all gone in completely different directions is again an amazement to me!

The above is my setup at the show, and a close up of a pair of earrings offered. I loved the "tweedy" look of the cross-hatch markings.

I can't move on without pointing out the packaging and logo. Having worked in packaging for 4 years now, I couldn't just through my gems into a plain generic box and call it a day. I'd been mulling over names for a very long time, and have been playing with logos just as long. One day it all sort of came together, and followed by one intense evening of shouting at both the printer and Word, I walked out of the house with some snazzy cards and stickers to use. I am very happy with the result.

I've been planning out new knitting projects and, in a rotating basis, have completed a few as well. (Rare, I know.) Even better, I've just posted LOTS of new photos of my work to my Flickr account. (under "GatelyGirl")

In this new year, I hope to better my metalsmithing skills in creating more rock and seaglass pendants, as well as branch out more into stamped metal designs. Who knows? Maybe I'll get more tricky in my sawing skills! One can hope.

I've also got plans to complete more stuffed animals and toys.

I like looking at patterns as reference, but then going out on my own tangent to find something new. (I hope to learn how to actually follow a pattern and finish a project ON TIME as well!) The owl above has a body completed, but is in need of wings to fly, etc., etc. Let's hope the little guy it's intended for does not finish college before the owl is complete. (You can see the body in the background photo. The shapes on the photo are there to serve as reference for me while I make up a pattern to achieve that look.)

This is myself and my dad toasting the new year after an exhausting volunteer effort in helping with the First Night Boston parade. It was a great event and the weather was really accommodating. This beer and the one that followed were well-earned.

The grey wool cap I'm wearing is one I've completed using a reference pattern and going a little by the wayside. (Meaning, it was meant for a toddler and ended up for me. It's ok, I love it.)

I do hope your new year is off to a great start with grand ambitions as well! I'll be posting my progresses and my lack-there-ofs as I go. Hope to see you soon!