Craft Diva

Craft Diva's Fiber Woven Necklaces

I've been blogging about some of my pin-woven projects on the Craft Diva site. Today, I'm adding some pictures of a few of my one-of-a-kind pin-woven necklaces that I've made over the past couple of years.

ABOVE: Jewel Tone pin-woven necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring various yarns and fabrics, lampwork glass beads, sterling silver clasp.



ABOVE: By the Sea pin-woven necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring pearl cotton, cotton and wool yarns, enamel sea charms, glass beads, polymer beads, macrame neckstrap using waxed linen.



ABOVE: Buddha pin-woven necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring pearl cotton, cotton, wool and silk yarns, copper and bone beads. 4 strand braided neckstrap using pearl cotton.



ABOVE: Pretty in Pink pin-woven necklace by Lynn Smythe. Featuring pearl cotton, cotton and wool yarns, lampwork glass beads. Macrame neckstrap using silk cord and Venetian glass beads.

Links to Other Pin-Woven Posts
Warped Women Doll Pin
Pin Woven Objet d'art

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Pin Woven Objet d'art

ABOVE: Key to My Heart by Lynn Smythe

On June 2 I blogged about my Warped Women Doll Pin that I created from a kit. Once I learned the technique of pin-weaving, I started designing my own pin-woven projects including a variety of one-of-a-kind necklaces and objet d'art.

ABOVE: Detail of Key to My Heart by Lynn Smythe


ABOVE: Extreme close up of Key to My Heart by Lynn Smythe

Exhibition Pieces
Occasionally I enter my art pieces into museum and gallery exhibitions. The two objet d'art pieces shown in this blog post are part of my Heart Woven series.

The red and white piece is called Bleeding Heart, while the green and amber piece is called Key to My Heart. The third piece in this series has yet to be made, but will be created in shades of lavender and purple and will be titled Broken Heart.

The pin-woven portion of each piece is created first, using a temporary loom made from foam core board. Once the woven portion is completed, it is removed from the temporary loom then attached to a fused glass frame. I create the one-of-a-kind frames from tested compatible bullseye, wasser and uroboros fusing glass in one of my two kilns.

 

ABOVE: Bleeding Heart by Lynn Smythe

 

ABOVE: Detail of Bleeding Heart by Lynn Smythe

 

ABOVE: Extreme close up of Bleeding Heart by Lynn Smythe

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Craft Diva

Warped Women Doll Pin

ABOVE: Fiber woven doll pin by Craft Diva Lynn Smythe

Yesterday I posted up a picture of my miniature art doll project. Today, I decided to continue with the art doll theme and post up a picture of one of my warped women doll pin projects. A pin back was sewn to the back of the dolls head, so that it can be worn as a pin, or attached to a tote bag, etc...

Warp & Woof Creations
The technique used to make the doll is called pin weaving, or fiber weaving. I purchased a kit years ago from Donna Rhodes and Kathy Stachowicz i.e. the Warped Women. I also purchased their book Warped Women and Material Men.

I'm not sure if they are in business anymore. I did a search on their company; Warp & Woof Creations, and found a website but it hasn't been updated since 2003. If anyone knows if they are still in business, and has updated contact information for them, please let me know.

Free Form Pin-Weaving
I made 3-4 warped women pins from kits before starting to design my own projects. I will be posting up information and photos on some of my pin-woven necklaces in future blog posts. I found the inspiration for creating my own pin-woven necklace designs after reading the book Beads & Threads; A New Technique for Fiber Jewelry by Helen Banes and Diane Fitzgerald.

Take care,
The Craft Diva

Art Dolls

ABOVE: Miniature art doll by Craft Diva Lynn Smythe

I have experience with a multitude of craft and jewelry making techniques including:

• Fused glass
• Beading
• Sewing
• Macrame
• Pin weaving

The photo at the top of this post shows my first attempt at making an art doll. I used one of my fused glass cabochons as the dolls face and embellished it with a lot of beads and fibers. It was a fun little project, which went together relatively quickly and didn't take a lot of supplies. I used a fat quarter batik fabric for the body and bits of leftover yarns and beads for the embellishments.

Take care,
The Craft Diva