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emma

@erf.makes

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whatever i fancy!!!
personal acct: @erf.misc

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a couple of paintings!! took an oil painting class at lillstreet this summer & it was so fun to practice a new medium and have fun with color theory :) set up my home studio today and i’m excited to keep going with it!!

the first is a painting of my favorite weekend breakfast, featuring @plnvk_ as a hand model

the second is a study of Martha in the Velázquez painting Christ in the House of Martha and Mary - an exercise from the class that was challenging but enjoyable!! by @erf.makes

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a year ago

guess what!! i’m knitting again!! get used to it!!!!

this is the weather tank, the pattern is a @woolandthegang / @weather.observers collab that i had been eyeing for Years and i’m so happy to finally have the finished piece!!

this was my first time doing intarsia so experienced knitters…..be sweet about the weird spots where you can see the ends woven in!! anyway i’m super happy with it!! if u see me out on the town w my head And torso in the clouds now u know why! 😇🙂‍↕️

i’m locked in on color work now so stay tuned…… by @erf.makes

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2 years ago

happy 2025!!!!!

it’s been a minute and quite frankly that’s because i have been working on a knitting project that i can’t put down!! don’t worry i’ll show y’all soon 😇

this was a linocut printing project i carved the blocks for maybe 2 years ago and printed the first layer and then got too scared to print the second layer because i didn’t set up the registration correctly so i had to eyeball the alignment of the two layers 🥲 lessons learned!!! anyway at the beginning of this year i got over myself and decided to go for it and got maybe 3 / 10 that I’m satisfied with. it was a good test in setting up my home studio and seeing what works and what doesn’t

anyway i drew this when i was getting really into plants and starting to collect field guides and made a little layout of plants i liked because they had fun name!! so sue me!! hmu if you want one i need to get these out of my house to clear my dang head by @erf.makes

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2 years ago

it’s been a long time coming y’all but i have the perfect enclosure for the office closet!! i had this vision back in like February and it took over 6 months to execute but i’m so proud of how it turned out.

It’s bojagi inspired patchwork curtains with a roman shade pulley situation. 🟥◻️🟨◻️🟩🪢The cat litter box, my craft supplies are mostly on the bottom of the closet, and there’s not really horizontal space next to the closet, SO i wanted a vertical rather than horizontal enclosure situation.

swipe through to see some time lapses of the process ➡️➡️➡️

BEFORE

blergh!!
ugly!!
annoying!
i can’t open the dang door if i want the fold out couch on this wall! rude!!

SEWING THE PATCHWORK

after I planned out the design, did some math, got the fabric, & cut all the pieces (this process took a while for an indecisive girl like me)

I mostly used my quilting skills for this, but i did french seams to hide the edges since i didn’t want to do a backer. no fraying allowed!!

GIVING IT BONES

in order for the pulleys to work cleanly, i had to give the curtains some structure! I made lil casings for dowels & sewed them on - 5 for each curtain. After this was done I hand-sewed eyelets onto the dowel casings that hold the cord onto the curtain. I also finished off the other edges as well 👾

INSTALL

Not pictured: installing the wood rail situation (it’s just a piece of wood I had cut to size at Lowe’s). I did have to figure out how to turn the power up on my drill but that’s no problem 🚜⚙️

Also not pictured: putting lil screw eyes on the rail to hold the pulley cord from the top

what IS pictured: I staple gunned the curtains to the rail then fed the cord through tiny eyelets. I also installed cord cleats on either side.

yes i know i need a real step stool don’t @ me

BIG REVEAL

look Paul it worked!!!

sorry i set up the angle bad oops

90% of the time this is how it’s set up!! i’m so happy with it :) there are some more fancy things i could have done (make it removable, integrate the dowel casings into the patchwork design, etc) but it’s for Me and so it only has to make sense to Me!

(i hope my cat feels like a diva when she goes to the bathroom)

(paul has by @erf.makes

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15 days ago

dispatches from wisconsin!!

not pictured: bald eagles, baby cedar waxwing, xtreme lay-z-boy nap on a rainy afternoon

quick plein air study before dinner!

oil on canvas paper

the bay before the storm

oil on canvas paper

watercolor paper birch on paper (not birch)

mitten progress!!

maybe i like magic loop now?? stay tuned by @erf.makes

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a month ago

hey guess what it’s summer and it’s a twofer!?

partially frozen waterways duo, painted back in january / february

leaned into my multitasking impulses by doin 2 at the same time - i love doing this but my lil office cannot contain 2 easels

had some time off work which was most lovely…im currently nursing a sunburn while the thunderstorm whips up all the trash from early summer reverie…

i’ve been doing big organizing time / decluttering all over the apartment! Currently the sewing machine is out so she & the community garden are getting priority over my painting projects. i harvested radishes recently and i’m hoping that the bunnies don’t eat all my lettuce…o to have a tiny fluffy nemesis!

that’s my status report! as always—stay frosty by @erf.makes

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4 months ago

ok time for a flower painting bc it’s spring!!!

this was another fun study in value - foliage without green?? who’d’ve thunk!!

peonies like these ones aren’t blooming yet but there’s so much to look forward to 🌸🌹🪻🌷🌻💐🪷 go lay in the damp grass! eat the petals as they fly off the tree!! great your local fauna!! by @erf.makes

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6 months ago

patchwork pillow time!!

i found these log cabin blocks i had done awhile ago when i was sorting through my fabric scraps and decided to finish them into a pillow!

i have So much polyfil from amigarumi so I just used that to give it volume instead of an insert. Next time i think i want to add batting and actually quilt the fabric for a fun surface texture.

This was a fun scrap-busting project though! Everyone is getting a lil patchwork thing for Christmas this year mark my words!! by @erf.makes

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6 months ago

hellllooooo it’s time to show some of the painting studies i worked on at my latest @lillstreet class!! Tara gave me such a good color theory crash course and i’m having a great time w my oils 👾

this particular one i was challenged to get a full range of values with No white pigment and i think i did a pretty good job!! i would be remiss if i didn’t include the reference photo of miss spoons!

ok more to come stay tuned 🫶 by @erf.makes

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6 months ago

helloooo it’s pattern doodle hours!! i’ve been thinking about taking on a new quilting project (or maybe even a weaving project?? i want to try that soon) but i want to get weird with it so i’ve been experimenting with patterns in colored pencil and watercolor and seeing what colors and shapes i like!

which is your favorite? by @erf.makes

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7 months ago

it took me a year to finish this quilt from planning it out in CAD to hand binding the edges. Slow and steady is how i operate!! but i do get the job done just in time for it to be -10 in Chicago today eek!!

everyone stay toasty please and thank you! by @erf.makes

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9 months ago

2026 intentions in the form of a tree!! mostly continuing what i’ve been doing i.e. getting more offline, building community, getting the creative juices flowing, practicing advocating for myself and others

the actionable steps are in my journal but that’s for my eyes only please and thank u!

i’m also upping my reading goal from 30 to 50….send recs! i like sci fi, social science, and nature!! especially the intersections of these things by @erf.makes

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9 months ago