I finally finished this necklace. I finished the two bead crochet ropes months ago. It sat on my desk for so long because I couldn't figure out how I wanted to join them. I am happy how it turned out. I am still figuring out the best way to join bead crochet ropes. I am hoping they don't fall apart. My last two projects in bead crochet were bracelets.

Favorite Quote

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort. ~Sydney Smith

Cool Crochet Art

The Daintification of Masculinity

Someone on Ravelry.com posted this link, I had to share it. It is a project by artist Nathan Vincent. He creates traditionally masculine items using traditionally feminine crafts. In this project, he uses crochet. What I love about crochet is that you can use it to make anything from the usual scarves, afghans and hats to well, guns and urinals. You can make most any form with crochet. I love seeing art and craft projects that push the envelope and push the medium or technique beyond its usual perceptions. When many people think of crochet, doilies and afghans come to mind. I like doilies and afghans but crochet can do so much more than that.

Startitis

I currently have a bad case of what fellow crafters call startitis. That means I have started more projects than I can finish anytime soon. I do this a lot. love to learn new things. Among other creative interests, I crochet, knit and make jewelry. I have also dabbled in drawing, design, photography, and card making. I counted 12 current projects: 2 bead crochet ropes, 1 wire crochet, 2 knitting, 2 crochet, 3 beadwork and 2 wire work projects. That is after I finished a couple of projects. I am feeling bogged down by so many projects. At first, I thought I would work on the projects that I didn't know how I was going to finish. I am getting frustrated with that. One project is the bead crochet ropes from my last post. The bead caps didn't look right. I still cannot make up my mind how I want to join them. I am realizing I may need to put the more difficult projects aside and work on the projects that are easier for me. Maybe by working on projects I don't find difficult I will find a solution for the ones where I am feeling blocked. Attached is a picture of a wire crochet project I finished last night.

Bead Crochet

I have been making bead crochet ropes. I finished these two ropes several weeks ago. I wanted to join them to a resin pendant I already had to make a necklace. For the life of me, I couldn't figure how how I wanted to join the ropes and pendant together. I looked at bead crochet projects online. Many people use bead caps. I went two bead stores looking for bead caps. I also looked at a couple of online bead stores. The ones I found were either too expensive or not quite right. Today, I went shopping for Father's Day with my Mom. We decided to stop by Joann's. I found these bead caps. I like these the best of anything I found. I can't wait to see how they turn out. They were even on sale.

My Favorite Quotes

I love inspirational and/or funny quotes. When I find one I like, I will copy and paste the quote onto a word file I created. I have always wanted to put a quote of the day on my website. I don't think I will post a quote every day. At the moment, I am not feeling motivated enough to do that. Think of this as the quote of the week (or more often if I feel like it.) I saw this quote and it definitely applies to my life at the moment. I am very hard on myself and tend to beat myself up for past mistakes.


Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.
Oscar Wilde

Flowers

So far, I have posted an introduction, a post on my road trip and a funny video. However, I haven't posted anything about my projects; I must change that. As I mentioned in my last post, one of my recent projects was crocheted flowers. I love spring and flowers seemed to be an appropriate project for this time of year.

Funny Video

I saw this video on Craftypod.com. I can definitely relate; especially the part about cotton yarn. I have been crocheting flowers and have been buying more cotton yarn. This is after I told myself that, for my projects, I would only use yarn from my stash.

CraftyPod Video Blog #4: 7 craft supplies I am no longer allowed to buy from Diane Gilleland on Vimeo.

Montana

This past weekend, I took a road trip to Missoula, Montana. It was a long weekend. First, when I got there, I realized that the hostel I had booked was tiny and in a scary part of town. It had 2 rooms with bunk beds, a kitchenette, and a futon near the front desk. I also found out the photos on the hostels website were creatively cropped to hide the sleazy motel next door. When I saw that, I almost turned back. I decided to stay and try and make the best of a bad situation. I learned that having a bad place to stay can almost ruin a trip. Missoula was different than I thought it would be. I was picturing something out of a Western. I was visualizing talking to cowboys and ranchers. Instead, it was a college town. I went to 3 local museums in one day. By the third museum, I had hit information overload. Note to self, don't go to more than 2 museums in one day. The first picture is in the entrance to a visitors center. The second photo is of a chandelier I thought was cool.

The Intrigue...

I realized I never wrote on why I decided to call this blog Crafty Intrigue. I have been thinking of starting another blog for more than a year. I kept trying to think of a good name. I had an online shop that folded in 2007. I also had a blog that I stopped updating in 2008. I didn't want to start another venture with the same name. I wanted a new start without the memories of the old business name.

Recently, I have become fascinated with burlesque and pinup style. I am fascinated with women who create a glamorous persona. Dita Von Teese is an example. I kept thinking about how intriguing great style is. I love crafts, any name had to reflect that too. I thought crafty intrigue combined my interest in style with my love of crafts.

New Beginning

I have decided to jump into the blogging world again. I had another blog I started in 2006. I stopped updating it in November of 2008. It was for a failed venture selling my handmade jewelry. For a long time, I didn't want to do any new blog or venture.

For the past year, I have been toying with the idea of starting another blog and craft business. However the idea never went past the thinking stage. On a recent road trip, I realized I was holding back because I was afraid. I realized I needed to get past the fear and inertia and start somewhere. The past few weeks, I kept thinking a new blog might be a good way to express myself. I have been wanting to write more. I also wanted a place to post my photographs and craft projects. The idea of having a place to selfishly post whatever I find interesting appeals to me. I have recently become interested in 35mm photography. I plan to post lots of pictures (hopefully.)

Another reason, I put off starting this was I felt like it needed to be beautifully designed from the start. I realized if I waited for that moment, when this blog looked lovely and perfect, it would never happen. So I decided to start the blog and change the look as I go. I am perfectionist. When I knit or crochet, I will make one little mistake and want to start the whole project over. I am currently trying to make peace with imperfection by knitting past the mistakes. Or starting a blog without a design. Attached is a picture of a scarf I recently finished. Several times, I lost count of the stitches and made mistakes. However, once I finished and blocked it, I was very happy how it turned out. It seemed appropriate for my first post.