'Claire Bears'

Hey guys!

So this post is a little different from normal, and I want to talk about a fundraiser that's coming up at the end of April to raise money for a little girl (named Claire) with cerebral palsy. I will have a craft booth at the fundraising carnival on April 28th, where I will be selling lots of handmade and unique items, including some 'Claire Bears' - I credit my mother with the clever name. This bear below is the first one I've made (hopefully of many!)

Each bear will be unique, slightly different in size and shape, and available in many different colors since I am creating my own patterns as I go!  Each bear will be approximately 7 inches tall when sitting down and have eyes sewn with yarn so there will be no choking hazards for young children if it becomes a play toy! I'm selling the 'Claire Bears' for $15 each, and $5 of that will go straight to Claire's Cause. Claire's parents are fundraising for important items, such as handicap renovations to their house, a handicap van, and a litegait to help her practice walking. Here is a link to the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Claires-Cause/424910807597540

Purchasing a bear means supporting small businesses (aka, a poor college student) and helping a child get support she needs! It could make a great gift, toy, or decoration for a desk or bookshelf.  If you would like to purchase one or have any questions about it, you can message me on Facebook, or email me at savvystitchesnewengland@gmail.com  Not all colors will be available, because I am trying to work from the large amount of yarn I already own in order to save time and money! I am taking orders until the end of April, and will be happy to send the bear anywhere with a small shipping charge.  The bears may take up to a few weeks to ship, depending on how many orders I receive! If you are able to make it to the fundraising event on April 28th, the Happy Spring Carnival, then I can have  your bear set aside for you to pick up there.

I will continue to make 'Claire Bears' and post pictures to Facebook, and possibly here, so if you like one of the ones you see, you can just let me know.

Also, if you choose not to buy a bear, but would still like to make a donation, you can contact me and I will make sure your donation makes it to the right place!!!

Please don't feel like you have to buy anything or make donations, I just wanted to show you what I've been working on lately, and the fundraiser that I'm currently involved in!!  I'll be back with some other crafty blogs soon, including a new sea glass lamp if I can get working on it soon!

Tuft's Police

Well, it feels like it’s been forever since my last post, and I think the time has definitely come for another; I miss writing about crafts!! It’s been pretty busy lately, but now I have lots of crafts to talk about!

I had a hard time deciding which thing I should talk about first, but I’m gonna go with the sea glass mosaics on canvas again.  As I think I mentioned before, I wanted to coat my pictures in resin to give them a little shine and help protect them from the elements (and keep any glass pieces from being able to fall off).

So I bought some polyester resin and attempted it on my first pictures the other day.  The pictures were smaller than some of the other ones I’ve made, about 4 by 5 inches, so I didn’t need very much resin at all- about two tablespoons each.  So I followed the directions and mixed up the resin with the catalyst and poured it on the pictures (which were elevated using empty Gatorade bottles).  I was so impressed with the way they turned out!

But, I had no idea the resin would smell so bad.  I had the windows open and the fan on, but the room still smelled pretty terrible.  After awhile it didn’t seem so bad, and I was doing some pretty intense multitasking (reading/crocheting/watching a show) when the cop and David’s RA came in.  They informed me that the smell was bad all down the hall (whoops) and the RA had called tufts police because he thought I was burning something (which still doesn’t really make sense to me, because it smelled a lot like spray paint). 

I was complemented on my work by the cop, who thought the sea glass picture idea was really cool, but then informed that it would be best to do this outside next time.  Oh well, now I know! And to anyone out there thinking of experimenting with resin for paintings or jewelry, find a nice open space!!

On another note, I have some exciting news about the rock tumbler! I had to break down and buy grit, but finally I got some results. It took a little patience, leaving it in for almost a week, but the glass came out smooth around the edges and frosty white.  I found a couple of blue beer bottles in the bushes the other day, so I’m very excited to see how the next batch of glass does in the tumbler :)

If you have any questions about projects that you’re working on now, feel free to ask me below and I’ll see if I can help!