My cards arrived!!
What fun to received a delicately wrapped package with such great handmade goodies inside!
Thank you to Missy Balance at Crafty Carnival for organizing this swap. It was great fun. Looking forward to the next one!
My cards arrived!!
What fun to received a delicately wrapped package with such great handmade goodies inside!
Thank you to Missy Balance at Crafty Carnival for organizing this swap. It was great fun. Looking forward to the next one!
A couple of weeks ago, as I was browsing some of the blogs that inspire me, I visited Crafty Carnival and discovered a card swap. I joined up and needed to create 10 handmade cards.
I did it! I finished them and mailed them off yesterday. Personally, I think they look great. They weren't difficult, just very time consuming. Here they are!
Have you ever needed something for your home that you could see perfectly in your head but never find anywhere in the real world? I had an experience like that a couple of years ago. I probably could have located a similar item but I needed to watch my pennies.
I wanted a coffee table, with storage, and the option of use as extra seating. Okay. My husband, being the handy and creative man he is, said, "We can make that." So that's exactly what we did.
We made this.
In it's final stage, after painting and adding cushions covered in fabric, we ended up with a set of three tables that could fit together to form a large square or be used separately. I never really liked the color we painted them. The picture doesn't quite do it justice. It was very yellow. I was going for more of a beige but, we figured we might remake them in real wood, not MDF, and choose a better color later.
Well, later never really materialized. I think I am in good company there. I moved and then moved again, taking my yellowy tables with me. They served us well. And then, this past weekend, the time burst upon me when a new coat of paint was in need.
We picked Rice Paper. It looked nice and neutral on the card, which can be very deceiving. But, we threw ourselves to chance and bought a gallon.
A nice and creamy color. It looks pretty when the sun shines on it.
Here you can really see the difference in the two colors. An din the course of repainting, we got rid of two bags of blankets we haven't touched in two years.
This time, I also coated them in polyurethane in the hopes of keeping them a little cleaner. I had some fabric I purchased a while ago with no project in mind. I just liked the colors. I tend to gravitate toward stripes and I love the blue/green color palette.
And I decided not to recover the two small cushions. I left the cushions off completely. I liked the cleaner white tops. We have so much red in our living area right now, these colors help to mute the fire energy a little bit. Here they are, complete and in place. It feels cleaner and fresher. Just like spring. And we did it in one afternoon.
I would love to hear about projects you've worked on, inspirations you've had, successes as well as failures. Every failure is just a learning experience for the next adventure.
Yours in Creativity!
Greetings and welcome to my be-lated Eastery posting. Now, for those of you who know me a little better, you might think, 'Why is a nice Jewish girl like that posting about Easter egg coloring?" Well, let me tell you.
I grew up in a multi-religious-background household. My mother's family is Jewish. My "father's" family is Catholic. My dad's (step-father) family is Protestant. So, we did the Christmas tree and the menorah, the Easter basket and Passover, etc. I always knew the religious implications behind any holiday I celebrated. I also always knew which ones I participated in from a religious base. That said, I anticipated my Easter basket and all it's goodies as well as my pretty Easter outfit as much as any little girl.
My mother was incredibly talented at finding little chatchkis (knick knacks) that I couldn't live without. She filled baskets and stocking with such attention to detail, always keeping my personality and likes at the forefront. These are some of my fondest memories of her.
That said, coloring Easter eggs is something I remember and do every year. Opening up a bottle of white vinegar instantly takes me back to small white porcelain bowls with scalloped edges, a napkin at my neck and multi-colored finger tips.
My husband could not remember ever coloring eggs, so we embarked on a creative journey together. Here's what we came up with.
These first two I had for breakfast. That's why the light is a little off.
I tried to dye the egg one color and then use stickers to redye in different colors but keep the layers.
This one used Sharpie markers. I gave the yo yo to my husband. He's a Monkey in Chinese astrology so I tend to pick up little monkey things when I find them.
This one, well, rubber bands and wax crayons.
Something weird happened to the dye when we handled the eggs too soon. But it has an interesting texture and looks kind of pretty.
This flower one is my husbands tribute to my business name, 6 Petal Crafts.
Coloring Easter eggs was a fun crafty activity for a Saturday afternoon. We experimented with different materials, markers, rubbers bands, etc. We made salsa and munched as we went. I hope your Easter, religiously celebrated or not, was warm and wonderful.
Have you ever seen any pictures of SARK? Or flipped through the pages of one of her many colorful and wonderful books? If not, you should.
I had the amazing chance to work with Susan, aka SARK, last summer during her workshop at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA. She is truly an inspiration. She has the most contagious energy and the most loving, supportive spirit. I encourage anyone with the opportunity to work with her to take it.
If you're a SARK kindred spirit, you'll enjoy the new videos, fun photos and neat downloads that she's posted from her upcoming program, Dream Boogie with SARK: Dancing from DREAMing to DOing!There is a woman in Cyberville named Leonie Allan.She lives in Australia and is The Goddess of Goddess Guidebook. I found her after checking out the Creative Everyday site, which I also think is fabulous. I love Leonie's ideas, her color, her energy, her openness, her humor, her honesty.
One of the things she does is called Switch Off Sunday. She encourages everyone to take the whole day or part of the day, whatever you can do, and unplug, sign off, shut down. So, I decided to switch off for at least part of the day, as much as I could manage.
I set 3 goals for my Switch Off Sunday. 1. Participate in a meeting with one of local police officers about the safety of our small community and how we can help. 2. Purchase and paint our kitchen a cheery and rich shade of yellow. My husband and I are doing this together. 3. Finish construction of the door we are building for our bathroom to cover a built-in type shelving area.
The meeting for our Neighborhood Watch went smashingly well, I suppose. The officer was friendly, engaging and encouraging. So, check that one off the list. My friend Gail is our "team captain" and I wanted to show my support for her as well as our neighborhood. There was much discussion about video surveillance which is very big brother to me but, if it makes people feel safer in their homes, well, then go for it. Anyone out there part of a neighborhood watch? What's been your experience?
We purchased the paint for our kitchen. It's called Victorian Yellow, which I think is a horrid name and should be said with o's drawn out long and snobby-like. "Victoooohhhrian Yellloooooow."
I am currently working on a distance learning course in Feng Shui and I am on the last unit. As my final project, I must re-do my own kitchen. This is all part of that. New paint. New lamp. New rug. New artwork. It's quite exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. But my husband has been battling vertigo for the last week and it was too much for the day. So, we decided to leave the actual painting until we return from Santa Fe. (We are going to a bead festival!)
We did however, complete our bathroom project, managing to make the door we created stand and roll in place. We've purchased a plastic track, usually for cabinets,
and that didn't work.
We tried those gliding pads touted to be able to move very heavy furniture. Not so successful.
We moved on to wheels and a "trench" and that seems to be working. I love doing these kinds of projects with my husband. Sometimes we can read each others thoughts, knowing exactly what's coming next. Sometimes, we're on different channels. But, we get where we need to go, together, and I like that.
So, out of 3 large goals for the day, I managed to accomplish 2 and a half. All without using a computer. And yet, rather ironically, here I am sitting at my desk writing all about it on this blog. Staying focused, setting reasonable goals, and believing in yourself can make all the difference in a day. It is so easy to sit down in front of your computer and suddenly find the day has passed. I encourage you to switch off on a Sunday or any day you find you need a break. Do something you've been putting off. Do something you've always wanted to try. Do something just for you to make your heart feel good.
Yours in Creativity
Today is Friday. Here in North Adams, it's known to many of us as Sanford & Kidd day, a day for "Junktiquing".
There is this wonderfully chaotic "shop" in town called Sanford & Kidd (I always think of Sanford & Son when I go). The proprietor, Tim, a fantastically friendly and good-hearted man, is what one might refer to as an estate dealer. He clears out spaces for those who have passed, moved, don't want to deal with it, etc. He then takes these finds to his shop, prices it all to move, and opens the doors every weekend.
There is a dollar shelf in the back and let me tell you, people wait in line to get in there first. They scrabble to the back, pulling and stacking anything they see that might be good for something. Many of these first-ins pile their things on a table and tell you they're spoken for, only to put them back on the shelves after they've taken their time going through it all.
But, be that as it may, my friends and I make a morning of it. We trek down and squish our way through everyone else, seeing what we can find that we can't go home without. In the past, we've found crock-pots, old wooden phone tables, carpets, fabric, basket balls, base ball gloves, etc. All for a dollar. On one trip, I found a Kenmore Elite High Efficiency washer & dryer. Now, they weren't a dollar (unfortunately). But retailing at nearly $1800 each, S&K's price of $800 for the pair seemed like a deal. It was enough of a bargain that my husband came down, bought them, and arranged for delivery and disposal of our old ones.
Lately, the pickings have been slimmer. I suppose, that's really a good thing. Today, I found a great folding cart, only to discover it's part of a dining set from the 50's maybe, and Tim doesn't want to break up the set. So, if anyone out there needs a table, chairs and a hutch, kind of retro, and you don't need the cart, look me up.
I did find a large spoon with lots of holes. I thought it would be good for making latkes, fried potato pancakes. Or for any other draining issues I might suddenly come across.
I must confess that I am a total point of purchase buyer. I am a marketers dream. If it's sitting in front of me at a counter, I am so much more likely to take it home with me. Such is the case with the other item I purchased today. While waiting to purchase my spoon, for a dollar, I noticed a large box of various scarves. You know the kind, silky but not silk, very 70's, tie them around your neck and voila, instant retro.
There in the box was this cravat-type thing. Not quite a scarf, not quite a tie. Well, you see below.
An interesting paisley pattern, longer and wider at the bottom. Feels like a tie. Whispers in your ear, "I really wanted to be a tie when I grew up but no one encouraged my dreams."
My thought, it could make an interesting headband. I recently cut my hair much shorter than I intended to. It's growing on me (no pun intended) and I figure I might as well make the best of it. My husband would tell you I have a very 70's sensibility so this seems to fit right in.
You know that saying, one man's trash is another man's treasure? Well, it's true. I mean, how you look at something determines what it looks like. Is it valuable? Is it junk? In this age of greening our world and our lives, it pays to look at a hose roller with hose attached for a dollar. Or at the old ladder that could be a magazine or towel holder.
So, here's to "junktiquing" and breakfast with the girls, our weekly tradition. Who knows what treasures we'll find next week...
Yours in Creativity!
Hi. My name is Michelle. I am a jewelry designer, crafter, quilting/painting/polymer clay artist-wannabe.
When I was a kid, I loved to go swimming. I'd head up to the high school where we had a huge pool that was open to the public for "free swim". It wasn't exactly free since you had to pay to get in. But, anyway. I went and I loved jumping off the diving board, lounging on the bottom wearing flippers pretending I was a mermaid, or trying to snag a combination lock on the bottom. 12' deep didn't seem so bad then. Now, a number of years later, I'm much less inclined to swim that deep.
So what does that have to do with anything? Well, I'm new to this world of blogging, relatively speaking. I've tested the waters at Wordpress and Blogger but haven't been able to find a place that works for me. I want some creative freedom to move things around, change things, customize them. But I'm in no way a techie, therefore, it needs to be a user-friendly platform. So, I'm taking another dip into a new pool, so to speak. I may be shooting myself in the foot but I don't exactly have an enormous following requiring a delicate leading to a new watering hole.
I've been reading Tara Frey's book, Blogging for Bliss, and I am truly inspired by what she, and her featured bloggers, have to say. I've book-marked many of their sites for reference and creative inspiration.
My dream has always been to open up a crafting shop of my own. Someplace where creatives of all kinds could come and connect, shop, teach, explore, laugh, etc. I have big plans in my head and on paper for what I'd like to see happen. My amazing and wonderful husband dreams and plans with me. Whether or not it ends up taking the shapes we envision now is yet to be seen.
It takes several forms and, for now, it lives as a jewelry business on Etsy, in our gallery here in North Adams and in a local crafty shop downtown. One day, it will plant its roots a little deeper somewhere and evolve.
As part of my journey, I want to experiment with and experience all kinds of crafts and techniques: Polymer clay, Metal working, Quilting, Batik, Papier-mache, Collage, etc. I want to chronicle my achievements as well as my frustrations.I will try things I have never done, expand on things I already know, make some videos, chronicle a long term project with my husband for a show in our gallery, etc.
I welcome your input, your comments, your criticisms, your ideas and your suggestions. Feel free to share your own crafting successes and struggles. My mission is to connect my creative energy with that of the universe, mingling it with all the other creative energies swirling in the mix.
So, having said all this, here I go again. I am diving in to this blogging sea and seeing where it takes me. I'm hoping some of you will join me.
Recent Comments