One of the things that amazes me most about members of the HAF group is the sheer diversity and level of skill in multiple areas.  ReefBotanicals is one of those team that is truly astounding, to me.  Not only do Larissa and Eric create of fine bath and beauty products, but she is also an amazing face painter and what?! A lawyer, too!  

The handmade world is populated mostly with female artists, the majority of the world's buyers are female, so it's always refreshing when I see a shop that has male influence and offers products for the guys.  Check out this great shaving and bath set:

They also have some lovely gift baskets that are truly drool-worthy and can be tweaked and customized to your preferences.  I love it when artisans have such flexibility and are so willing to work with customers to give them exactly what they want!  One of the huge advantages in buying handmade from small businesses.

On the more visual side of things, Larissa has such talent with face painting.  I'm pretty dismal at finger painting, so it's pretty cool to see what she can do with a face!  I can't imagine how difficult it is to illustrate a moving target -- a face that's trying not to smile, laughing, or just unable to sit still.  I love this happy face from her face painting website gallery:

Make sure to check out the great offerings from this team of artists.  You can also read all about their day-to-day adventures and read about other artists on their ReefBotanicals blog.

I posted a new tutorial about how to make a papasan chair cushion cover.  We have a white-furnitured living room (this madness was installed before we met and married), and the dog is the main user of the white papsan chair.  It's started to look pretty darned funky after a few years, so I decided to make an cover.  I figured I'd take some pictures and write up the general gist for anyone who's interested.

I posted awhile ago about knitting some socks for my MIL's birthday.  I finished them last week and presented them to the lovely lady earlier in the week!

Travel inspires many artists, whether it's other artisans creating beautiful things in a new, exciting way, the vistas, beautiful building, the exotic taste of another language, the novel flavors of a foreign dish, or simply just the time away from daily life.  This week's artist, Holly of Tuscan Road Designs, is no different and found herself in a new, creative world after her visit to the island of Murano.

Her style is very eclectic and feminine, and you'll be able to find rustic, organic designs and frilly, victorian-esque designs snuggled next to clean-lined, modern and bold, colorful designs. It's a candy shop where almost anyone would be able to find something to suit their tastes.

Her outstanding collection and gallery of jewelry is only part of her day-to-day life.  After taking lampwork classes, inspired by the beauty of the glass artists discovered on her journeys, she taught and she shared her knowledge with her son.  Her son, in turn, shares his experiences with wildlife rehabilitation.  You can read all about the baby owls (who are disgustingly cute) on her blog.

I try not to complain often about my aches and pains, but the past few weeks have been pretty rough.  I took a knitting break while we were out of town, but I've been having to take it easy since we've been back, despite my itching to knit like a crazy lady.

I've struggled with arthritis since I was 14, so it's nothing new but it does get the best of me.  As the weather heats up, things always get worse, and my regular regimen of supplements and prescriptions weren't cutting it.  So I did what I always do: go to the doctor and see what's next on the list of things to try.

My doctor prescribed a new (to me) NSAID that's supposed to be pretty good.  Hopefully, it gets me back to knitting freely soon.  I'm a big fan of resistance bands and have barely been able to do the stretches and exercises that really help keep my knees and elbows limber and reduce stiffness.

Arthritis is a pretty common challenge, and it seems like it's most debilitating for people who are active with their hands.  I can't count the number fibery types, jewelers, painters and illustrators, etc. who have to learn new techniques, find new tools, or take long breaks to prevent permanent or long-term pain.  Repetitive stress injuries are also a frequent complaint for those of us who work long hours on our crafts with few breaks and don't pay attention to our bodies.

It's always 'just one more row!' for me, and my body punishes me for it.

Robin of helenapuck is a busy mom of two, an active professor, and a multi-talented artist.  She's an accomplished cross stitcher as well as a jewelery artist.  I always find it interesting when people are able to combine two, seemingly unmeldable (don't think that's a word...) mediums into one.  Needless to say, because of that, I was caught by this piece:

Inspired by a Charlie Brown story (recognize his shirt?!), she took two strands of thread and stitched across.  She framed it with a sterling plate pendant, to top it off.  

You can find more of her cross stitch here, including some of her amazing patterns like the one below.

Her jewelery designs range from quirky to cute to interesting to wow, with a few other adjectives thrown in there. ;)  One of those wows is her Copperhead Road set.  Totally hand-forged and fashioned, this piece is just amazing, to me.  The loops and whirls are so perfect and pretty, and it gets even better when you see the elegant, hand-crafted clasp.

Black alpaca Simple Luxury socks done!  I would have finished them earlier, but we've had so much going on that they just kept falling behind.  I'm so happy with them, though.  The yarn is probably the nicest alpaca I've knit with in awhile, and they're delightfully silky soft.

I planned on making a green pair next, but realized that my mother-in-law's birthday is at the beginning of next week.  She mentioned that she'd like a pair for that, so I need to get cracking on that.  I have some fun self-striping sock yarn that's got a lot of red in it that I plan on using.

Anyway, here's the long awaited black socks.  You can find them listed here, in my etsy shop.

We just got back from a two week visit in NYC.  It was a lovely, relaxing break, and we both really enjoyed catching up with our families.  I spent so much time lounging around, watching the water, talking, and eating that I didn't get a stitch of knitting done! 

It seems weird, since I almost always have needles around, but running around in circles, making trains, trying to meet up with people, and being on time to events just isn't conducive to picking up the sticks.

While we were there, I did get the pleasure of visiting a yarn store that I occasionally order bulk from and was able to pick up some worsted weight alpaca at a fabulous price (without having to pay shipping!) to fill out the amount I need for my husband's sweater.  I also picked up enough for a sweater for me, of course. :)  

I did spend some time charting out new patterns and have a plan of attack for a new product.  What's that involve?  Mostly twisting my brain and stretching my deficient spatial skills to imagine swatches and maneuvering of mental knitting needles.  Very painful, but it's usually a pretty important step in my creative process.  I'll probably start seriously working on those in the next few weeks, depending on how the madness here at home goes.

When we got home, my alpaca yarn was waiting for me.  The stuff is gorgeous and this is my new favorite supplies.  The balls are bigger so I don't have to worry about breaks in the second sock, and the quality is amazing.  It's like spun kitten hair with teflon strength.  Truly beautiful, decadent stuff.

I've already started a pair of socks out of the black.  I'd hoped to have knocked out at least one pair of alpaca socks for Father's Day by now, but I had a sudden custom order come in and knocked out four pairs of tabi in two days.  My elbows hurt!  So I'm taking it easy on the alpaca and will just start making a dedicated effort to knock out a pair every week or so until the holidays (or a bunch sell! :) )

That's life in the fast lane.  It's great to be home, and I can't wait to catch up and get back into the groove.

Dream Again is a perfect name for this week's artist.  Looking through her shop, I was struck by the boldness and forward beauty of some pieces, the organic simplicity of others, and the intricacy of most.  Her etsy shop is really a stunning gallery and sampling of her work.

She's been a lover of feminine, pretty things since she was a child, spoiled as the first girl to her mother.  It wasn't a far leap from loving to creating; and, at the age of 20, she picked up her first jewelry supplies and that was all it took.

Above is one of the bold pieces I admire.  The fish and dragonfly motif are elegant, yet very feminine, and the alternating symmetry of the chain adds a lot of interest, for me.

An important part of creating is constantly learning, and this self-taught artist strives to expand her knowledge.  You can read on her blog about her journey into creating beautiful chainmaille pieces.  I really like to read stories about people exploring new avenues of creation and the process they go through, and I really admire the persistence and enthusiasm that Dream Again has for learning.  Below is a lovely example of her chainmaille.

I'm a huge sucker for pearls, so I have to share this last piece with you.  It's a delicate, yet stately bracelet, made up of irregular, fresh-water pearls.  The pale pink pearls are attached to a silver-plated, looped chain, if you need more pop than those gorgeous pearls give you!