In the Bag...

I finished part of the bags for my nieces last night. Their names are stenciled and painted, leaving me with decals. Once those are done they are set for Yule. We bought them crafty little knickknacks to put in which will make them happy. Yule gifts may seem premature, but considering how large our families are, last Yule would have been a good place to start for this year.

And other than the bags, I am pretty much craft-dead. We are too broke to buy any more craft supplies this month, and until I borrowed the paint from my mother in law, I couldn't even finish the girls' bags. I also found a spool of fishing line at my parents' house too, which is exactly what I needed to make the curtain that will ultimately go across the back of the wedding canopy's frame in our ceremony. With the wedding in eleven months (almost 10) it doesn't seem like I have enough time. I plan on making one string tonight, so I can show the ladies at my Meet and Greet what I have in mind. I'm not even sure if I'll like it, so tonight will be my first night stringing the beads and flowers. I hope it turns out well!

Not being able to buy new crafting supplies has really increased my rate of completion, I must note. I have finished several knitting projects, organized both my craft and my knitting areas, and have set aside the materials for several projects. My next project, set for this Friday or Saturday, is fusing together the plastic bags that I have been collecting for some time now. I have the instructions from a friend on Ravelry, so I intend to get it done soon. It will be nice to have the most complex project for my bridesmaids out of the way, I still have so much to do for them!

Being tight on cash has also made me think about purchases I have planned for the future. Do I really want to buy the wood and paint for my Yule boxes if I can't finish my wedding projects? Do I want to make the chuppah if the veil isn't done? With all these questions in my mind I sat down and really thought about my priorities. Yes, I do indeed need the yarn to knit my veil with. But I could hold off on buying the fabric for for the quilt. Eventually there will be a sale and I can get it even cheaper, right? So I came up with this list to keep track of what projects I would like to finish before I go gallivanting off to buy new materials. There are, of course, knitting projects listed but I suppose I can't keep the blogs separate forever!

1. Totes - With only decals left, I have fabric paint and hard plastic used to make personalized stencils. It shouldn't be hard to come up with the proper designs from the Internet.
2. Garters - I have quite a bit of crochet thread ready to be turned in to garters and the necessary materials to complete them (Dye, bias tape, elastic, etc)
3. Second Handkerchief - All I need to do is put the initials on the corner and I'll be done
4. Third Handkerchief - I can't buy the yarn for the edging but I can certainly finish knitting the body and weaving in the multiple ends my lovely cat created when she broke the yarn in several places. * Grumble *
(She's fine btw, I made sure!)
5. Hope Chest - It would be nice to have this done by my wedding, and we're very close. We have all the necessary paper, we just need to finish scraping the old paper out from inside and apply the new stuff.
6. Invitations - My fiance is designing our invitations, and I can't wait to finish them!
7. Giraffe - I promised my cousin a knit giraffe for Yule and bought the yarn last month
8. Sample Strand - I need to make a sample strand for the curtain
9. All my No-Knit Night projects - These are knit projects that only need sewing done, thats it.

And because I am in a list making mood (I usually am) here are the projects I would like to compelte this year, prefarably before the Yule season.
1. Veil - I will be buying the yarn next month or in August
2. Garters - All 6 (I'm a dreamer)
3. Handkerchiefs - Given that this is a great car & social project, I hope to have these done before the end of the summer!
4. Invitations - Yeah, I'm getting pushy on these LOL
5. My sister's tote - I need new paint, so I will raid my MIL's house again (I already checked my mom!) and see if I can find her favorite color. If not, I'm off to the craft store next month.
6. Quilt Design - At least. Part of the quilt itself would be nice.
7. Bracelets - I don't know what style yet, but I would like to finish the memorial bracelets
8. Memorial candle - How do you put a picture on a candle again?
9. Hope Chest - One good weekend of work and its done!
10. Altar Table - My fiance could probably do this in a few hours, then I get to paint it! =D

I'm pretty excited to see what all we can get done before Yule!!

Inaugural Address....

I am WitchyCrafter, though Witchy will work for short. I have started this blog to chronicle my various crafting projects. I have another blog, Twisted Yarns, which follows my knitting adventures. Most of the next year's blog posts will be wedding related, as I am getting married in May of 2011 and we are doing most of the work ourselves. I have several projects in mind that I will be working on, most starting at the end of the month. Most of them are either gifts for my Bridesmaids or decor items for the ceremony and reception. I will also be posting about crafts that are not wedding related, but those are going to be fewer than those that are for my wedding. What can I say, a wedding is a lot of work!

Since I have yet to really start any of them, I think a list would be best. Most of these are simple projects that shouldn't take me long once I get them figured out, and some will require a lot of help. A few have already been started but most are on hold for various reasons. I hope that I can share a lot of my crafty joy with any who read this blog, and I plan on posting often and at great length. So, here we go!

1. A "Wedding Curtain" - the area behind our officiant is not the most attractive space, sporting an old fire pit and a few benches. Campers also frequent the area we have chosen to get married in, so a beaded curtain featuring silk flowers and petals will be hung behind the officiant to block such views.
2. A Chuppah and Frame -I am not Jewish and neither is my fiance, but the idea of a canopy to cover us during the ceremony is a great one. My fiance burns easily and I don't like to squint LOL. We hope to make the canopy out of a handmade quilt we will use as a wedding quilt and the frame will be reused as something else once the ceremony is over as well.
3. Wedding Altar - In the ceremony space there is a water mane, covered by a not-very-attractive green dome. My fiance has promised to make me a cylinder shaped table to place over it, which will serve as the altar at our wedding.
4. Fused Plastic Bags - These bags are cute, environmentally friendly and are intended as gifts for my bridesmaids. A friend of mine has shown me how, and I can't wait to get started. I will certainly link her blog when I post the project itself.
5. Memorial Candle - My sister in law, who was also one of my best friends, passed away earlier this year. I plan to make a large memorial candle, including her picture, to be placed at our ceremony.
6. Memorial bracelets - In addition to the candle, I am making a bracelet for each bridesmaid to wear, I will also wear one, and I plan to put an additional charm on my bouquet.
7. Personalized Totes - This project is not for the wedding, but for Yule. Last year I made one for each of my nieces and they have effectively used them to death since. I am going to make them new ones this year, so it should be interesting to see if they want different decorations!
8. Christmas boxes - On top of being a crafter, a witch and a student, I am an environmentalist. The amount of wrapping paper used every Christmas bothers me, especially since most of it is non-recyclable. Until I can find a gorgeous recycled wrapping paper, I have decided to use a more permanent solution. I got the idea from the Make it Green Girl podcast, which is no longer on the air, but she had some great tips. One was to designate a specific box and wrap it in fabric or reusable paper, thus creating your Christmas "Gift box". I am taking this a step farther and painting wooden boxes to appeal to each child in my family, and a catch-all for the adult I choose in our Christmas Lottery.  Certified wood and non-VOC paint of course!

I'm sure there are more but that is all I can think about at the moment. Hopefully I can get cracking on some of these before too long, though there is another wedding in my family this month, so I've put most on hold until after that. I may work on any that I won't require assistance on, but there are a few I need help with and those will have to wait!