My first batch of hair slides

I am seriously happy as i have finished my first batch of hair slides. I have made many a hair accessory over the last few years, but this is the first actual 'batch'.
I now have a fantastic collection of 'peacock feather' hair clips ready to go either to the Christmas craft fair or on Etsy, not sure yet. Although i would love to keep them all and wear them!

I have really enjoyed making these and am so so happy with the finished pieces, they really all are mini pieces of art! I love the colours from my new felt stash and i think they work really well together. mmmm what will i do tomorrow?

Fantastic Fimo

My friend Anni bought some Fimo for the children and the big children.. he.. he to play with! So i spent the whole morning totally absorbed making my first attempt at millefiori. Now bearing in mind i haven't 'played' with fimo since i was about 12 i was quite impressed.





I think i will definitely be making some little rainbow buttons and beads for my work, it's another great medium for vivid colours and rainbows!!!!!!!!!!!

Shops & Peacocks!

Back from my trip to civilisation, and it was not too bad after all! I managed to slip in an inspiring wander around Selfridges and a little shopping trip to Hobbycraft.

Above my purchases from Hobbycraft, and below my new big rainbow stash of felt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (not from Hobbycraft...hahaha!!!!)

So I have been busy working on some 'peacock feather' hair slides, i had made one prototype that my daughter and I have been sharing, and i managed to make a start on a batch of them. Its great to get the time and space to sit down and cut out loads of felt & experiment with different colourways.

An evenings cutting out and arranging, ready for stiches and beads and sequins........

I even managed to start sewing some of them while i was on the train home, and i love how they are coming together. I have made each one different and have been using different colour threads and beads. I can't wait till they are all finished so i can get some great photos of them.

Its great now i am actually giving myself more time to do my art work, i am full of ideas. I have got so many things i want to make, and also some large art pieces to develop. I am also glad my inner colour radar is still working, walking around the shops in Birmingham I could see everywhere colours and design themes that i have been using. I always seem to have had this forsight or maybe its just luck!

The Real World

Unfortunately my creative burst has been interrupted by the real world, and i have to go off and sort out a few things. That's one of the problems when you work from home, you are not officially "at work" so people presume you can just drop everything.

With my love for lists i thought maybe i should write a little list of rules for myself and the way i use my blog, so here goes.

• Don't moan about the weather (too much)
• Don't spend too much time writing this blog
• Try and post lots of photos of my work
• Try to talk more about my work and inspirations, than holidays & cooking
• Use this blog to keep focused
• Have fun & enjoy the ride

So i am off to civilisation for a few days, maybe i can cheer up my trip with some crafty purchases!!

Creative Insomnia

I had trouble sleeping last night, (which is very unusual for me - i love sleep) with all the frustrated creativity flying around in my head! I had to get up at 1 am and google millefiori polymer clay (fimo) as I had ideas of making a signature button for my art accessories. Will be trying that as soon as possible but for now I must carry on with the projects I have started.

I was also trying to remember when and how I got into feltmaking and felt accessories. The first feltmaking I did was felting a bar of my handmade natural soap about 2 years ago. As far as the hair slides and greetings cards go I think it was June 2007, when I returned from Ibiza inspired by the crafts & colours I had seen. I will have to search through my photos and re-trace my inspirations!

This is an example of some of the things i have been working on recently, another batch of my work has just gone off with an application for a big craft fair - so fingers crossed.

Hello & Welcome to The Clara Luna Show......................

It's been a rainy August bank holiday monday here at The Rainbow Room, which is probably why I am starting my blog today! So here it is my entry into the world of blogging. I am hoping to share my world of crazy creativity and also watch how my work develops in this 21st century madness!
Clara Luna