Little crochet break on Babette blanket

Since I've run out of yarn to crochet much more on my Babette blanket, I've decided to take a little break from making it. That gives me some time to work on some smaller crochet projects.
I'll be attending a craft fair in August and I also want to take some colorful things to the market.
I love happy colors so I also want to show that. I decided to make a bunch of Babuschka key chains to take. They'll brighten up the stand for sure. :)

Remember...

... I made these scratch off lottery tickets?
I made 25 of them and included one with every order since the 16th of may.And after a few weeks, we have a lucky winner!
The lucky winner is no one less then the sweet, cute and fabulous AnnaRubyKing!
She ordered the first crackled babuschka brooch and eagerly scratched off the lottery ticket that she got with her order.
Oh joy, there was a number underneath there and it read 25!
Our cat, who is on the comité of fairness insisted that I asked for the supersmall coupon code underneath the 25. The cat said: 'you showed in your tutorial the number so anyone can say they got the lucky ticket...' I felt stupid to ask because it would look like I didn't trust Anna but well, cats rule, so I informed about the coupon code! Anna put on her glasses because it was printed really teeny-tiny and wrote me the perfect number!
YAY! We've got a winner! Big congrats, Anna! She's getting a voucher for 25 dollars in my shop.

And if you don't know who Anna is, you will have to go and look at all three of her shops!
Here she is juggling with fabric, gocco ink, birds and ink.
She also has an amazing jewelry shop. I have been pondering if I should get my ears pierced again just to be able to wear a pair of LilaRubyKing-earrings.
And then there is Plural, Anna's excess supply and destash shop.I bet you are overwhelmed by all this... not only her pictures are amazing, you can just sense that she puts enormously much effort & detail in her work and shop.

My creative space

Today I can finally finish the tutorial that I started making last sunday. I was waiting for the mould to dry so I could use it and make final pictures.
I love making tutorials and I have many more in the pipeline so stay tuned! :)
I promise that I'll try to find a nice balance between clay related tutorials & others although I'm a bit biased of course... :)

Want to show your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo's to play! It's fun! :)

Flickr favorites

1. Granny Smith Apples, 2. modefabriek 25-26 januari 2009, 3. Untitled, 4. Granny Square (close up)

I haven't even finished my Babette blanket and all I can think about is crocheting a granny square blanket. And the more pictures I see on Flickr, the more I want to get started. I found these fantastic stools via via on Flickr and I love 'em! Don't you think they are utterly cool?
What is your next project? If it's a challenge for you to show me through Flickr pictures, I'm eager to find out! :) But feel free to show any of your favorites!

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blog or Flickr in Mister Linky. I'll pop over to have a look at yours. Can't wait to see your creations and find new favorites! :)

How to color and use liquid porcelain clay?

After showing a few times how to make a mould, I thought it was time to show you how to use a mould with liquid porcelain clay. I will also let you know how to color the clay.

Here is what you need: liquid porcelain clay (I poored it in a washing liquid container so that is easier to use), a mould, a glas jar or two, a filler with a sieve, oxide or stains, a sponge and two flat wooden sticks.
First we will color a bit of liquid porcelain clay. Put a bit into a jar.
Add oxide to it.
Stir it a bit an put it through a filler with a sieve so there is no lumps in the clay left and that the oxide is solved well.
Poor it back into the jar so that it has been sieved twice.
When it's ready, poor a bit of the colored porcelain slib into the mould and twist it around a bit.
Then fill the mould with white porcelain clay.
Let is set for 10 minutes.
Poor the liquid clay back into the container.
Put the mould upside down on the flat wooden sticks.
Cut with a knife the edge of the cup away and turn the mould around on the wooden sticks.
After a while, you see that the edges of the clay will come loose from the mould.
Turn it around and the cup will fall out of the mould. Let it stay there for a while until it is a bit dry because it's still soft. Then take a wet sponge and rub it softly around the edges so to get the sharp edges away.
Now let it dry slowly & then fire it.

Sunday goodness

Today is a day that I can eat dessert in the middle of the day.
Hmmm...

Yarn looks better in balls...

The other day I read this blogpost from Ballee on how yarn looks better in balls.
I looked at my cotton yarn stash...
and I think Ballee is right...
What do you think? :)
I love all my cotton yarn wound up in balls. Haha, that's a little change from crocheting.
Haven't done any work on my Babette blanket this week so I thought that this would make a nice crochet post even though there is no stitch involved! :)

I also want to share this blog with you: the design alphabet. The Design Alphabet is a daily read dedicated to home and product design. focusing on one alphabet letter per day. The Design Alphabet features product reviews, stores, new designers and interesting bits and bobs from around the globe. They featured my work a while back under the letter 'A' and I only found out about it recently. :)