Fimo and Computer Problems

I mentioned in my last post that I'd started working on a Fimo tutorial. I thought I'd have it finished now, but it hasn't been as easy as I thought. After all the nice cloudy stormy days that weren't great for photos we've had about 2 weeks of non stop sunshine, and when I say non stop, I mean about 17 very long, hot hours a day :( I never have much luck with photos at this time of year as it is, the light isn't sharp like in winter, but for some reason it seems even softer than usual. I ended up re-doing my photos about 4 times.

 Then my computer died. It temporarily revived for a few days and I managed to copy all my photos onto dvds. I'd started on the editing when it died for good about a week ago. I managed to borrow a computer for a few days, so I did manage to organise the  2,000+ photos into folders and start sorting through them at least. I set my new computer up over the weekend, took about 2 days to find out where things are hidden (Windows 8, I thought Vista was bad!) and made a start on writing the tutorial and lightening and cropping the final photos. I have the intro and first part done now. Only about 7 more parts to go!

This was the piece I showed part of last time, that I dropped the camera on, it has been baked.

I had some spare pieces of clay left over from the demonstration pieces so I had a play around and made a few things just for myself. This is a pendant, it's resting on a glass pebble to catch the light.

I used some of the leftover pieces together to make multi coloured pieces, this is a heart shaped button.

I made quite a few buttons, you never know when you might need one, I might have to do a few more though, I have a pile of purses that would look good with buttons made to match.

What projects have you been working on lately?

Coppery Felt and Fimo

Do you remember the coppery bronzey felt piece I posted about last month? I cut that up recently and started to make a glasses case and small coin/card purse out of it. I have so many cut out or part made up items at the moment, I think I'll be working on them all year :)  I did actually finish the glasses case though. This is one side of it:

And this is the other side:

I used some gorgeous hand dyed cotton perle 5 from Rainbow Girl on etsy. The variegated colours work perfectly. I also managed to do quite a lot on the purse. I managed to sew it all together already.

I still need to choose the right button, which always takes forever, and sew the buttonhole. I'm glad I got the gorgeous ribbon on the top of the front flap.

I've also been working on a Fimo/polymer clay tutorial the last few weeks. Taking photos has been harder than ever, it's been really dark, stormy and rainy, which is nice, but not good for taking photos. We did get a few really bright sunny days, so I worked on the opposite side of the house to the sun and managed to get a lot done, or so I thought. When I downloaded the photos, what looked good when I set up a shot, didn't look good once hands were in the photo! I thought Monday would be perfect for working outside, it was bright but cloudy, but also really windy, so back indoors. I did get quite a few good photos all in all, including this one, which captures perfectly my attempt to get rid of the huge dent I caused when I released the camera from the tripod without holding it first!

And here's a sneaky peek at one of the other pieces I worked on:

I'm nowhere near finishing it yet, but when I have, I'll put it for sale on etsy, it won't be expensive, but I want to put as much in it as possible, so if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or requests, if it's something I know about, I'll do my best to include it :)