Happy Crafty Hour

Last week, I organized a "Happy Crafty Hour" at the Community Crafts Studio.

What the heck is a "Happy Crafty Hour" you ask? 
Well, it's like a regular Happy Hour ... with a craft!

























(This one is mine.)

I prepared a large batch of my turkey chili (the tame version) and a small batch of the wild!  It was BYOB and a donation to cover the craft supplies.  Hey, we'd need the "B" to get loose enough to have some fun and do some marble painting!

That's right!  Marble Painting! 
Like you probably did in Kindergarten.
Don't laugh.  It's fun!
And produces some very gallery worthy art!

(This one is Chris'.)

I had done some test art at home, trying out how best to teach this.  I don't have any pics of those.  Too bad, but I took one to work with me to adorn my new desk.  Anyway, this works best with slightly watered down acrylic paint.  It lets the marbles roll around better.

We used box lids to contain the marbles and to do our painting in.  Just taped down the paper (so the marbles don't roll under the paper), used little cups for mixing and pouring paint, then ...  voila!  Marble Paintings!

They all turned out so different!

Some were minimal...

Some were maximal ...

Some even branched out and used moustache-shaped resists!
(The resists came in the form of cardboard moustaches that slide over your straw.  Like I said, it was BYOB and boy did we B!)

I wish I had remembered to bring my "good" camera as some of these shots from my camera phone just don't do the pics justice.  But it was a lot of fun and was E-A-S-Y!!!

Did I mention that I'm sadistic and I made them practice their color theory for mixing?  Yep.  I only brought red-yellow-blue-black-white paints.  [insert evil laugh here]

But a fun night was had by all!

... even if the threat of tornadoes made us call it an earlier night than planned.  Severe storms hit the area, but all were safe. Except me.  My cat Erebos had a freak out while trying to put him in the pet carrier so we could head to the basement for safety.  He cut my foot good.  I had to bleed in the basement for awhile ... then he promptly crawled willingly into the OTHER carrier for a nap once we were back upstairs.  The little jerk ...

Anyway, I suggest you try having your OWN Happy Crafty Hour sometime!  Make it a potluck!  Have special cocktails!  Go big!  Go small!  Just have fun!

Soapmaking Gets EPIC

What am I saying?! 
Soapmaking is ALWAYS epic!

It's that time of the year when a girl's thoughts turn to ... good clean fun!  (Yeah, I made "that" joke.  You should know better by now ... silly readers!)

So, I gathered some gals (and guys!) for another annual soapmaking event at the Community Crafts Studio.  Well, almost annual.  Last year it was just Suzanne and I in my kitchen at home.  But still fun!  This year we had a group of ten or so. 

Check out our workspace, all prepped and ready for class ...

I like to focus on pantry soaps, using herbs, honey, oats, essential oils -- many of which are found in your pantry!

AND I like to encourage the use of "repurposed" soap molds.  Any flexible plastic containers that end up in your recycling bin are great!  They can usually be used a few times before cracking and then can still end up in the recycling bin!  But sometimes I have to supplement with containers found at the Dollar Store.  Hey, they're still recyclable and can be used even longer than the others.

Using a glycerin, melt-and-pour soap base is super easy!  Especially with microwaves and glass measuring cups!

Please ignore my unhealthy (but oh so tasty) iced soft drink there in the background.  What can I say?  Vice!  Thy name is Dr. Pepper!

The above pic is kind of odd looking, I know.  But its what a partial 25 lb. block of soap looks like.  (Oh, I order in 25 lb. blocks, baby!  I like a LOT of good clean fun!)

I'm not going to run through all specifics and "how to"s here*.  You can find that all over the web and in crafty books.  But I can say this, I recommend high-quality soap bases and natural ingredients.  No synthetic fragrances here!  Essential oils and dried herbs, baby!  Better for you!

So here are some extra-nummy-goodness pictures of some of our finished soaps!  Lavender ... Lemon-Sage ... Honey & Oats ... Brown Sugar & Honey ... Cedarwood & Honey ... Green Tea ... mmm!

Lavender, still in a mold.

(What I believe to be) Lemon-Sage still in molds.

Lavendar (foreground), Peppermint (left, dark bar), various others in background.

A couple of us do have a few commercial molds (foreground.)
Don't they all look so pretty?!  Such variety of shapes, colors, smells!

Love, love, love!!! the fun shapes that come from single-serve fruit cups or applesauce!  Yogurt, too!

Mmm .... so pretty!


I love to do this.
I love to share the knowledge.
I love when it's over because it's 4 hours on my feet!
LOL

... and many Christmas gifts, DONE!



* I do have a handout available, but it isn't "everything" you need to know.  I mostly teach by doing.  Hands on learning is the best way.  BUT if you want a copy of the handout of handy tips and resources, leave a comment on this post or private message me at AECDesigns@gmail.com and I can email you a copy of the PDF.  Use at your own risk because I'm sure I left out some details!

Chips, Dips, Chains and WIPs!

(Okay, if anyone gets the reference, I'd love to see a comment!)


I've got WIPs coming out my ears! *

I've been neglecting the Sew-A-Long.  Some of the past few weeks of projects weren't really my "thang" so I've skipped a few things.  This week's one looked fun, but I just didn't have the energy or the interest to do it.

BUT I've got projects "on the needles" (knitting, for those who don't know), "on the hook" (crocheting) and a couple sewing things kinda hanging out in my head and on my table.

Here's a current crochet project I'm excited about!

It's the Sardinia Sweater from Rowan's Summer Crochet booklet.  I fell in love with almost every pattern in this booklet!  I decided to start with this one.  I ordered the yarn from Knitorious.  You know, the place I spend a bit of my time ... fondling--er, I mean SELLING yarn.  It's Rowan's Cotton Glace in Winsor.  Ain't it pretty?!?!


I've also finished a little DIY sample for an upcoming thing at the Community Crafts Studio.  Check THIS out:

A little notebook made from repurposed cardboard with a touch of scrapbooking paper,  yarn, a button ... fun and easy!

So, you can see I've been doing stuff.  Honest!




* For those who don't know ... WIPs are Works In Progress.

Sashiko Style

I've been wanting to give Sashiko a try. And wacky me thought doing a guided Stitch-A-Long would be a good way to do it! So ... since I've planned to lead the group, I guess I better figure it out!





Here's my sample piece so far. I'm trying out a single thread. Going to give the next sample a double strand. See which I like better. Plus, this cotton fabric doesn't have as loose of a weave as the linen-cotton blend we'll be using, but it suffices for a first try despite the slight puckering. Actually, after tracing the pattern onto the fabric, this basic running stitch only took about 15 - 20 minutes to do what's shown in the photos.

I'll be posting again with finished samples and the finished projects when everyone's done!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Another Open Studio Project: DIY Fabric-Covered Accordion Files.

There are several tutorials, how-to's and DIY projects like this floating around the web. I based this group project on this guide. Here are the finished files:



Can you spot mine? I'll give you a hint: It's green & leafy ... and doesn't have a bow. Just a tie. I'm not a "bow" girl. :)









You'll also notice that two of the folders use two different fabrics - one for the front and one for the back. Great way to go if you like variety!

_______________________

You may wonder about these "Open Studios" that I've mentioned before. A few years ago, my friend, Cara, and I formed The Community Crafts Studio located within Christ Church UCC. It's a place where we, as artists in residence, can have a space of our own to work on our artistic and crafty ventures, while providing a space for other to commune and work on their projects. We frequently hold guided projects, such as these files, too. Sometimes we charge a nominal fee to cover any supplied materials. Other times, folks bring all their own materials while we provide the "how to".

Above, I have included a link to our new web page. Over the next few months, I hope to add content to it ... a new logo ... finished projects ... who knows what else! Right now it's a place for upcoming events. Maybe we'll see you there ...

Terra-estrial

Tiny Terrariums.
Gidget-size Greenhouses.

We made 'em.
Check out the handiwork of The Community Crafts Studio...

We took these things:









And made THESE things:


(This is the work of Linda B. ...I think)


(This is Bobbie's)


(Cara made this one)


(This contains one of my many Buddhas. I love Buddha.)


(Chris worked really hard on this one. Spent lots of time getting that plant situated J-U-S-T right)


(Cara made this one, too)


(Made by Mom)


(...also by Mom)


(Pat constructed this one)


(...and this one)


(I didn't get a shot of Aurelia's so she had to upstage everyone with the gorgeous natural light ... sigh)

There were many others made. But my camera skills are still a work in progress, so it's not that the others weren't worth showing ... but the glare from the flash or my unsteady hand made the pictures unusable. My bad ...

But fun was had by all!