PIF done: one for Rachael

I wanted to somehow incorporate a reference to Rachael's four wonderful children. I had many ideas that had to be discarded due to the advanced level of skills required. Eventually I settled on making a 4-strand braided necklace.

There are also four small beads and the bigger bead has four little spots. I was so happy to finally finish this project that I made Rachael a set of matching earrings to go with the necklace.

PIF done: one for Polina

Pay It Forward (PIF) gift for Polina was actually finished back in February, but I didn’t want to blog about it before finishing Rachael’s one. It was inspired by Polina’s gorgeous bright summer dresses. While outside was grey and cold inside I was enjoying looking at the beautiful red, orange and yellow beads. And from them I made this spiral bracelet.

(Note: Sorry for quality of the photos, they were taken back in February - I'm glad to see that my photography skills improved in the last few months)

I loved the colours so much that I kept on wondering if I should make another one for myself. And then I made few small mistakes and decided that this bracelet wasn’t good enough to be given to someone else. Excitted about having a good excuse to keep it, I started wondering if Polina wouldn’t prefer something less geometrical and more flowery. So I got out Carol Wilcox Wells' The Art & Elegance of Beadweaving book and used their flower pattern to crochet a new bracelet for her. I also tried making a seamless join. It didn’t end up being so seamless in my case, but not too bad for a beginner.

While in Odessa I was happy to see Polina wearing the bracelet with one of the dresses that inspired it in the first place.

(Note: This photo was taken by my husband)

I'll post about PIF gift for Rachael tomorrow.

Pay It Forward Update

About two weeks ago I received a package from Carol of Sand Fibers with the “Pay It Forward” gift.

She created it to match to the bracelet I ordered from her Etsy shop.

I love them both and hoping to wear them on my next outing without Cat. On my side I have few ideas for the things I can create for Rachael & Polina and aiming to send them off by the middle of February.

Pay it Forward

I was admiring Sand Fibers’ creations on Flickr for awhile now. And on Sunday night I somehow navigated to her blog despite my resolution not to look at any new blogs (that’s what happens when clicking around late at night). Her top post was invite to take part in Pay it Forward. Here are the rules:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a Comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange, and who make the same pledge on their own blogs . I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward.

So now I’m looking forward to getting a handmade gift from a person, whose work I find inspirational. And if you want to take a part, leave a comment.