recent makings

Here are a few things that went into the mail recently! Tartans included (from left to right) are Nova Scota, Cameron of Erracht, Cameron, Rose, and MacKenzie. Plus we've got the Next Stop Everywhere and the Lady Elizabeth pendants plus Evanora's Emerald Amulet.

I really LOVE LOVE LOVE the new black settings, and I'm looking to add Loopy black so that everything will come in black.

Things have really started to pick up now that Fall is around the corner and I can't be more excited to be making things and sharing what I'm making!

C'est le weekend!

Here are some photos of what I've been doing lately.

I went on a very awesome vacation where I did a lot of spinning.





Finished this while I was there! I plied it the night Tim Lincecum threw his no-hitter. It's lucky yarn!


This was tonight's Tour de Fleece spinning, with my little helper.

My succulents are doing well. So is my pitcher plant.



I found out I can water him with air conditioning condensate which is great! We have a LOT of that this time of year. It's a lot cheaper than distilled water bought by the gallon.

We found a really weird succulent while wine tasting at Ceago Winery in Nice, CA:

I found out later it's a cereus forebesii monstrose. I really wanted to take a cutting, but didn't know how! The winery is gorgeous! There is a beautiful garden and there are lavender fields. Check out their photo gallery if you need some more pretty things to look at.

I've been doing some pretty fun jewelry stuff, too. (Of course. I always am!) Here's a little backstage peek:


One of my pendants is going to Comic Con this weekend! I hope the recipient sends me photos.

three cheers for the red, white, and blue!

This is Sally Hansen base coat, RCM Midnight Affair, Sally Hansen top coat, one thick coat of L.A. Girl Brilliant Blue, Hit Polish Nautical Nonsense, topped off with one coat of Jordana Quick Shine top coat.

I was very excited to find a couple of these LA Girl 3D Effects polishes at Rite Aid a week or so ago and this blue was absolutely ideal for Fourth of July.

I found Hit Polish on etsy a couple weeks ago and they were having a great sale! I picked up a couple, including Nautical Nonsense. It's got various red, white, blue, and gold glitters in hex and squares with a few shards thrown in. Some of the gold bits are holo, which makes it even better!

Happy July 4th to my American friends!

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

Succulents and such

My two new babies! A kalanchoe (Paddle Plant/Flapjack Plant) on the right and and echeveria (Hens and Chicks) on the right. I love succulents because they are very low-maintenance but can be really striking and unusual.



I have a bunch of cuttings and small plants going right now as well.
 

I'm going crazy with them! Now I'm on the search for containers and terrarium supplies.

Tour de Fleece day 1

Tour de Fleece day 1, a photo by TartanHearts on Flickr.

on the left/forground: Widdershin Woolworks BFL single, half of a 4oz braid to become two-ply
middle: first wheel-spun chain-ply/n-ply! WOO! Woolgatherings BFL, light fingering-ish weight
on spindle: same Woolgatherings but spindle-spun.

Orly Gel FX

If you do gel and think you even might like this, GO PICK SOME UP! Seriously. It's amazing.





This was three coats of Sally Hansen 'Red My Lips' with two coats of Orly 'Gel FX' and Gelish base and top coats. It was a little thick, because of all those coats but not too bad.





Basically, I want to wear Gel FX over every gel color out there. It is so fun! I think the photos pretty much speak for themselves with this one.

*All products here were purchased by me for my own wear and review. 

Tour de Fleece pre-game post #2

When I said, 'I think there is a wheel in my future", I didn't mean two days in the future. I meant something more in the range of two years. I was planning to save my pennies for a while and that sort of thing.

Then this happened:



I posted about wanting a wheel and BAM! A friend of a friend had an Ashford Traditional for sale for a very good price. I snapped it up! I still can't believe it all happened so quickly.

I've been doing a bit of spinning, as often as I can. This was the end of my first day:



I am so glad I started on a spindle and was at least nominally familiar with the why and how. I still thought the yarn went over the big wheel part until last week. (hehehe!) Treadling was the hardest part, mostly because I'm not very coordinated. I'm burning through fiber compared with working on a spindle. I can't wait to start on the Polwarth from the last post and this stuff that just fell into my cart on etsy: (do you sense a theme from the other fiber?)

T-minus 6 days until TdF starts! 

so so excited!

These babies are live! After a year of working with Cleo of twee & honey, they are finally ready!
http://tartanhearts.storenvy.com/products/1724768-twee-honey-for-tartanhearts-summer-set-le
http://tweeandhoney.com/t-h-by-twee-honey/for-TartanHearts/summer-set.html


I love them all so much! I think the mint is my favorite. I'm a cream girl through-and-through, so that shouldn't be too surprising. The listings have all the relevant info, so check 'em out if you're interested. I'm excited to start getting these babies in the mail! We have some special packaging for these, of course.

Tour de Fleece pre-game and goals 2013

In addition to doing the nail polish and tartan things, I also do various yarny things. That's how this blog was started! I've seen blog posts and things on Ravelry about Tour de Fleece since it started in 2006- I especially remember it in the early years because I spent a lot of time reading fiber crafting blogs in those days. I didn't start spinning until this year (March) so this will be my first Tour de Fleece.

background: Tour de Fleece was begun in 2006. The goal is to do some sort of spinning project along with the Tour de France schedule. There are two rest days, just like the real Tour. Spinning? Get it? SPINNING?! Anyway, it has taken place every year since and this year is begins on June 29. There is a huge Ravelry group with a ton of teams and I'm on like four (so far). Different groups give out different prizes and such (I donated some to Team Slutboots, of course).

Since I'm such a new spinner, my plan is to spin every day. That's all. I have about 2/3 of 8 oz of Woolgatherings Mixed BFL top to go, although I am spinning it already. I've had it for months and haven't made a ton of progress. I'm spinning it on a horribly crappy 2 oz spindle and chain-plying it. No idea what it will knit up into or even what weight it will be. Fingering or DK, I *think* but I'm new.


I also have another top on its way to me:

It's 4 oz of Polwarth, which I've never spun. Basically, it's purdy and while I LOVE the grey, I'm getting a little ready for some color. 

Since the Tour race leader wears le Maillot Jaune, yellow is an unofficial color theme. I have some yellow manis and yellow jewelry lined up just for this occasion! I also picked this yarn before I knew about the Tour so I am glad that it had yellow.

Back to some more spinning! I think there is a wheel in my future.

new things in the shop!

- a England Saint George. I'm not sure there are words to describe how fucking amazing this polish is. It's amazing on the nail and it's just as good as jewelry. (listing here, if you're interested) I have a few more pieces I'll be adding in the coming days.
- I've got some patriotic things in the shop for 4th of July. AMERICA!
-MOST EXCITING:
I'm doing a collaboration with my internet superpal Cleo of twee and honey! We're going to have *limited edition* polishes with matching jewelry! Photos and details and all that jazz coming soon! It'll all be here when it is ready: http://tweeandhoney.com/for-TartanHearts/