Day 13 - Tea Leaves

Day 13 - Use tea leaves or tea bags (used or unused) or even just liquid tea (in a cup or not) to create something today.



Ok - I actually followed the rules today.  I used tea - loose leaf tea that has been sitting in my tea collection for over a year.  It was too expensive to throw away but I never really liked the flavor.  So I started thinking and ended up with tea balls...yes I said tea balls.

I used Styrofoam balls, school glue and skewers to create the amazing smelling balls. 

















They will make my kitchen smell heavenly.  I no longer feel guilty about not drinking this tea because it will be a lovely addition in this form to my kitchen!

Davy 12 - Camouflauge

Day 12 - Create or alter something so that it disappears into its background.



Camouflage - not really my thing.  But finding a way to make something blend into its background that I can manage.  See I made a necklace...

But its not really a necklace.  Its a needle holder.  Since I have become obsessed with making felt items I thought this might be an easy way to keep track of all of my needles.  I have never been much of a seamstress when sewing by hand, but this new attraction to felt makes needles necessary.

Its handy too - if I wear it while I am working even if I drop a needle I have more at hand (I just have to hope I won't find any dropped needles with my feet!)

Day 11 - Left Handed

Day 11 - Work on the other hand.  Pick a medium you're comfortable with, then work with your dominant hand - if you usually favor your right hand then only use your left and vice-versa.

My most comfortable medium is wire and beads.  Odd that I haven't used them yet in this project.  The problem with this assignment is that I use both hands pretty interchangeably when I make jewelry.  So I decided to make something that I could use in my left hand - I know that's a bit of a stretch - but it works for me.  So here you go...

a wine cork key chain.  I also realize that it looks as if I have a bit of a wine obsession - 11 crafts and 2 focus on wine!  But I made one of these for my soon to be brother's fiance (I clearly need to call her something better!) and I wanted one for me.  It also probably looks like I have a thing for key chains - but I think I have only made 3 in my life - two are documented on this blog!

This project made me smile - and since it is the first week back in the semester for classes - I needed something that would make me smile!

Day 10 - Snow Day!

So first off - Life got in the way and I am days behind in updating - not in crafting - just updating.  So I should get two posts up tonight and then get caught up tomorrow.  However, since life seems to be ever so unpredictable right now - not making promises...and back to the business at hand.

Day 10 - Use only water as your medium/inspiration today.

So its official - I am getting my inspiration from the suggestions not actually following them.  It snowed and we had a snow day.  No school and 1 inch of snow.  What more could a girl ask for - except for a few more inches of the pretty white stuff or another day off.  So I wanted to make a snowman.  I love making snowmen but there wasn't quite enough snow for a traditional man.  Instead I collected some snow and made a snowman on the dining room table.  I crocheted his scarf (yarn use done for the week!) and made hat and gloves out of construction paper.  His eyes, nose, mouth and buttons were made of beads.  He was quite dapper...

And then I invited him to stay the night - it was cold out.  Although he wasn't a very good guest.  He started to fade a little early...

Then he started just throwing his hat and buttons around without regard for where he left them...

And he really didn't even attempt to pretend he enjoyed my hospitality...

And he left without saying goodbye and didn't clean up after himself when he left!

At least the cat can play with his scarf and use it as a toy!

Day 9 - Play with Your Food

Day 9 - Make something with your breakfast before you eat it.

Really?  Play with my food.  My mother would not be happy with that behavior.  So I played with the idea of my breakfast...

Again with the stuffed felt!  Not sure why I am so attracted to felt right now, but I am.  So I made a piece of toast with jam on it to represent my breakfast (even though I ate oatmeal for breakfast). 

Today's a snow day.  School's cancelled, the state is basically shut down and we have about one inch of snow.  I love snow - it brings me joy, but apparently it scares people around here.  So today's craft is going to be very exciting - can't wait to share it tomorrow!

Day 8 - Transform an old book

Day 8 - Transform an old book into something new by cutting, folding, gluing, and so on.

So far in this process I have learned that I do not follow directions well.  I was not transforming an old book for 2 reasons: 1.  I love every old book I have in my house and 2. I tried to make a book safe for my brother at Christmas and destroyed 2 books without any usable product.  So I decided to use an old book...

(a 21st birthday gift from an old college friend).  One that I do not read regularly and that I could remove part of and not destroy the whole book.  When I read this direction set it made me think of one of my favorite artists Kelly Rae Roberts - I don't think she destroys books but she uses words in her mixed media.  So I painted...

(Check out Butt sitting below the work area!  He very seldom leaves my side when we are both in the house - he is curled up beside me right now!)

And this is what I created.  A 6x6 acrylic painting that uses a quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge that was cut from that little book.

(the yellow mustache is supposed to be two yellow birds - you know - friends sheltered by the tree...)  I must admit this took more than 1 day.  I have to work on my timeliness!  So now I have to work on today's craft - so I am off.  Oh and just a side note - I am not following directions today as well! 

Day 7- One Week Down!

Day 7:  One week down!  See how fast it goes?  Today, make a stenciled them l and use it in your work.

I read this and immediately thought about what I made my brother for Christmas.  I had made stencils of mustaches and etched them onto beer glasses.  They ended up pretty cool.

Except this time, I wanted to do it in reverse.  So again, I didn't really follow the directions, I didn't use a stencil but rather did a relief.  I started with a simple glass plate...

I then used stickers and contact paper to make a design on the plate.  I originally wanted to do this on a candle (and did) but you can't see it on the glass.  I think it will be seen after I burn it down a bit but it sure looked like a failure in pictures.  So the plate looked kind of goofy before I etched it...

but when it was done, I think it turned out pretty well...

But what use is there for a glass plate with spots?  Well this...

I had fun with today's assignment - I really enjoy playing with the etching of glass. So maybe this will be a recurring theme as well as the yarn...I guess I will just have to wait and see how moved I feel!

Day 6 - Look in Your Kitchen

Day 6 - Look in the kitchen and work with the first fruit or vegetable you spot.  It could be in the form of juice, jam or even canned.

My second resolution is to be healthy - including eating better.  So on New Year's Eve I went grocery shopping and bought lots of fruits and vegetables, including apples.  Apples which are so good for you - the whole doctor away thing - but that I really don't like.  So I have been carrying the same apple back and forth to work for lunch everyday this week and not eating it.  My lunchbag was the first thing I saw when I walked into my kitchen (if you can call that little space of real estate a kitchen!) 

So an apple it is.  I must admit that I knew I was going to work with an apple all day.  I had been thinking about this assignment since I cheated and read ahead the day before and had a plan.  I was going to take an apple and cut the side to make a flat surface, soak that in lemon juice and then carve an A into the side and let it sit till the carved part turned brown.  I had put a lot of thought into this craft.  Then I read a post at the TinyBudda that quoted Osho as saying

“Don’t seek, don’t search, don’t ask, don’t knock, don’t demand – relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.”

So I decided that even if I saw an apple first I had to be moved and in the moment decided what to do so I decided that if I wanted to motivate myself to eat an apple I needed to make the apple more attractive...and walla.

Yep its an apple cozy.  A pretty soft purple wrapper that will keep the apple safe from bruises in its many trips back and forth to the office till the day I am finally hungry enough to eat it or the day that I decide its just old and gross. 

I feel like a bit of a liar.  Yesterday I shared that I don't really know how to crochet and then I did it today.  I know 3 stitches - a chain, a single and a double - and I cannot follow a pattern for the life of me.  So what you see is a rectangle (sort of) that was made using the 3 stitches I know and just made to fit this apple.  I grabbed two buttons (from the button collection I mentioned yesterday) and sewed them on to hold the cozy in place. 

I feel motivated to challenge myself to use yarn in one project a week - perhaps I can make that collection functional instead of just soft and pretty!

Day 5 - What do you collect?

Day 5:  What do you collect?  Work with a collection of objects you have in your home (or borrow a friend's if you like).

I have a few collections...buttons, beads, porcelain dolls, glass men, art prints...a lot of collections actually.  But I have a collection that I don't really share with others - its my guilty pleasure.  Its...

Yarn. (I have bags of this stuff!)

Yep - Yarn.  I know - that just sounds like craft supplies, but as I only know 3 crochet stitches I can't really justify the amount of yarn I have.  I just love walking through the isles of the store and feeling the skeins of yarn and if its on sale - well I want it for home.  It may be more of a shopping compulsion than a collection!

So - I chose to be inspired by this collection, and wine - I love wine.  So I had an empty bottle (thank you Rio Seco) and a bunch of yarn.  I chain stitched the yarn....in one really long chain that used almost a skein of this really soft and fuzzy discount bin yarn. 

This is the project in progress....with Butt observing from my lap.  He loves when I play with yarn because then he plays with yarn.

When I finally finished this "simple" project 3 hours later (I crochet a chain stitch really, really slowly), I thought it was cool.  I am not sure it serves an purpose other than pretty, but really you do need pretty in every day of life.

Day 4: Well not so much...

Day 4: Take a five-minute walk, then make something using whatever materials are available where you've ended up.  Leave it there for someone else to discover, but be sure to document it first.

are they crazy???  its cold here!!!  so I jumped to a different day...

Day 21: Write a ten-word story.  Bonus: Illustrate it!

Ok - I have to admit - I have no idea where this came from.  I just thought something simple and I thought of a fly.  There were no flies to be seen when I was thinking of this - I actually started thinking of frogs which lead to flies which lead to this story - again no logic because there were no frogs around when I came up with it.  So without further ado...

Oh  - side note - as I re-read what I wrote yesterday it sounded as if I never actually used the calendar from 2007 - I did I just kept the used calendar because I loved the gift from the brother.

So today's assignment is to use a collection - attempting to decide which collection to use...

Day 3 - Make Something Out of Paper

Day 3 - Make something out of paper, but don't use scissors or glue or draw on it..  What now?  (And no, you don't have to know origami to do this.)

Ok - first off you must know that I cheated on this assignment.  I only had a half hour last night to complete it amongst the business of the day and I used scissors - I cut out two squares and an additional 4 cuts.  Realistically, I could have still made this item without scissors - tearing would have worked.  I just was tired and didn't want to fail on day 3.  Besides  when you read the introduction is says to make what you are inspired to make even if its not the directive (ok - paraphrasing there but you get the idea).

So anyway - Here is what I made...

Yes, I was still inspired by the first assignment to make something that fits in the palm of the hand.  So I made a teeny tiny paper box to hold I have no idea what.  Actually - it just holds a quarter...

And the bottom is cute too...

I made it out of part of a 2007 Calendar.  Why do I still have a 2007 calendar you ask - well I must admit I am a bit of a hoarder and it was a gift from my youngest brother.  Its pretty cute and I have never found the perfect use for it and this motivated me to use it.

Also - please know that I am so not doing today's assignment.  I am not taking a five minute walk outside - its cold and yucky and the assignment is to walk and create outside.  I am skipping to day 21 - its more appropriate for the weather!

ps.  Its been years since I made a paper box so I got guidance from http://www.allfreecrafts.com/

Day 2 - What's your Favorite Animal?

Day 2 - What's your favorite animal?  Use it as your inspiration today.

Not sure how one picks a favorite animal -  I seem to love them all.  Except squirrels and other rodents - but especially squirrels - one did crawl up the toilet and get stuck and die there.  It was traumatic.  So my favorite animal is probably Butt - that's a terrible name, I know.

I lengthened it to Buttin Face so its not as bad (and no that's not a misspelling it is Butt in Face because that's where he always puts his!)  Butt is about the cutest cat ever - but I am dog sitting.  So Tell is on my mind - and the end of the bed (Down Girl!  She never listens!).  Tell is pretty cute too...

So as I am not at home with all my supplies I had to be creative and well - I took a blurry out of focus picture.  But I think its kinda cool - that's what happens when you use the Macro setting for something that doesn't need it.  But the goal of this project is to create and I like what I created so I guess I achieved yesterday's goal with this picture. 

Its 11:25 pm and I haven't finished today's craft so I had better get crackin - its been a busy day filled with dog and work and babies and small children and dinner and more dog in between.  I am exhausted - but will prevail! 

Day 1 - Create Something That will Fit in the Palm of Your Hand

Day 1 - The first step is the hardest, so start small today and make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only the materials in your immediate environment.

This seems silly and simple.  I have just gotten back home from being away for the holiday.  I made Christmas presents for my family and as a joke made felt animals for stocking stuffers.  I had the bag of supplies still in the living room and my jewelry making supplies are there as well.  So the quick and easy fit in the palm of my hand craft is a purple butterfly key chain.  My mom has lupus.  The disease is represented by a purple butterfly - and tomorrow mom has one of her chemo treatments for the disease.  So I was motivated to create a purple butterfly key chain.  I'll send it home for her next time I see the post office (which had better be Monday since I have New Year's Cards to send - I missed the deadline for Christmas Cards!).



Its just felt, floss, stuffing and a key ring.  Not a very auspicious start to the year but its a start and I am sticking to it.  I figure easy is the way to start the year and perhaps the crafts will become more intricate - or I will be more involved.  All I know is that this got day one done!

Getting Started

I have a goal for 2011.  Simple statement but the reality is that my resolutions/goals generally last about 3 days at the most.  So as it is January 2, I am already about to the end of the time I generally focus on my goals.  In reality I have more than 1 goal for the year (notice the use of the term goal instead of resolution - I think it sounds more positive and reaffirming).  These goals are as follows:
1.  Live a healthier lifestyle.
     - This means eat healthier and actually eat fruits and vegetables daily.
     - This also means to exercise at least 3 hours a week.
2. Create daily.

I want to create something everyday.  I have to admit I read Julie & Julia right before the end of 2010    and that inspired me to do something in a year.  Then I found "365 A Daily Creative Journal"  by Noah Scalin and I knew what it was I wanted to do.  I do not commit to crafting what he says everyday - some days I may be moved to do something different than he directs, but I am using it as a guide for the days I am not.