Catcher in The Night

Good morning everybody =D. Today I woke up exceptionally early- 9.30 am! XD. I usually sleep in on weekends, but somehow I woke up today and all the things I need to do were already booted and running in my mind so I just couldn't get back to sleep. I always have a hard time sleeping, and dream-filled nights and waking up at odd hours at random intervals throughout my sleep is not something unusual. So I decided what I really needed was a dreamcatcher!

Dreamcatchers are of Native American origin, and in the original name for them they are known as spider or dream snare. They look like spider webs, and usually a bead would be strung in the middle of the web to represent a spider. They are hung above beds and are thought to protect the sleeper from nightmares. It is common belief that good dreams would pass through the dreamcatcher and slide down the feathers to the sleeper, where else bad dreams would be caught in the web and disappear at the light of day.

I actually wondered where to buy a dreamcatcher, but upon running the search engine in my mind for any relevant shops or stalls, no results were found =P. So, I thought of the next solution: make it myself. And as you can see from the photo above, I actually did it. I made myself a dreamcatcher =D. I Googled and followed a couple of tutorials, and I bought the materials and went straight into it.

The feathers, beads and light blue cotton thread I got from Daiso (yay for five ringgit items! =D). I still have plenty left over even with all the first attempts. The suede laces I found at some random jewellery stalls in malls. I searched hardware stores for metal hoops/rings, but was unsuccessful. I almost got Esmond to make one for me in the workshop, but surprise surprise I found just the very thing I wanted in Art Friend =D. All things considered, I think this little baby was constructed under 20 ringgit =D.



It was so much fun to make =). I had a hard time at first, having to cut away the thread and start over a few times before I got the hang of it. The thread had an annoying habit of getting all tangled up even if you barely touch it and it got fiddly as I went closer to centre and the loops became smaller. I would actually like it to be a bit finer, with more loops, but for a first time this one seems intricate enough =). I'd like to get some waxed thread for the next one I make and maybe experiment with different laces for the frame =D. I saw some online that used yarn instead of suede or leather and they looked more contemporary and colourful.

On a side note, Copic provides a .ase file for Illustrator. You can now have the entire colour swatch of Copic markers to use for your digital works =D. Just download the file and drop it into your Presets > Swatches folder. You can download the file and other Copic thingies at the Copic website.

I'll stop here for now. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everybody =D. A new week of work and play ahead of us! Here's to sweet dreams and good days =).