Garden Tripods

   Yes, yes, yes. I will admit, I am on a bit of a gardening craft kick right now. I'm sure it will end soon, with the full heat of an Oklahoma summer looming. Blech. 100+ degree weather is not the best environment for plants.

    Which means I must get it out all now, right? This week, I made an easy garden tripod with just 3 simple materials (plus a pair of scissors)! Awesome, right? But I can't take any of the credit. I actually found great instructions to the project online, here. Anyway, it was a snap to put together these bamboo poles. The only adjustment I made was cutting down the bamboo to fit the needs of a small climbing vine rather than using an entire length of bamboo for each leg. This also allowed me to be able to make more support structures for the vines. So let's grab some leftover bamboo and get climbing.

Garden Name Sticks

Finished product

      After the doozy of last post, I wanted to keep it nice and brief. However, I'm still in the garden mood. I got an idea for this project when I couldn't find any metal dowels to use and after I tried banging on a metal spoon to make it flat (it worked much better in my head). When I failed at both of those options, I began rooting around in the wooden skewers and found some unused (and washed, but used) chopsticks. At first, I was just going to color coordinate them - because I'm organized like that- but I figured it would actually be better if you could see what the plant was.

      I need to make a ton more of these for all the various plants we are growing this year (onions, carrots, peas, blueberries, blackberries, squash, zucchini, lettuce, mustard greens, and tomatoes, plus a few others)! Especially since they are so easy. But to start, I focused on the herbs for my new garden center on wheels.

Materials:

• chopsticks, unfinished wood
• permanent markers        (I used sharpies)
• A fine tip black permanent marker

Chopsticks

Sharpies

Gardening...on Wheels?

Finished project!

    Well, spring is here and being able to go outside again is both good and bad for my creative side. It means I spend less time indoors with idle time on my hands, but it also means more time spent in outdoor spaces. And since the backyard becomes an extension of our home in spring, what better craft project to do than one involving plants and our patio.



   Last summer, I found a few old drawers at an estate sale. The lady sold them to me and asked what I planned on doing with them. I said I wanted to make a planter out of them - of course, right? Now that was all well and good to say it, but actually getting there was kind of a struggle. First, I had to clean them out (they had sat outside all fall and winter) and put holes in them for drainage. Then I painted the decorative details purple and water proofed them using spar varnish. Next came the question of how to actually arrange them. My dad and I went through quite a number of configurations before settling on the final design. And then I was so happy, thinking all we had to do was put it together and we'd be done. But then my mom got in on the design process, suggesting we add height and wheels.

     Wheels? What? Why? But still, I was intrigued by the idea of a cart peddling herbs. So, we added old chair pieces and AV cart wheels my dad had lying around. And Tada! We were done, right? No, now we must paint the chair legs white so that they match the drawers. This is an example of a little input from others being a good idea, but too much having the potential to derail a project. My garden clock is ticking away, letting me know that time is running out for my herbs to be able to grow and flourish as the heated onslaught of summer peaks it head over the horizon, laughing that we are at a standstill.

Steampunk Jewelry

A sample of the pieces, right before they are baked

    As promised, I have a new craft for you, based on a steampunk aesthetic. Basically, this is a brass/metallic look including gears, sprockets, wires, etc. Steampunk is based upon an alternate version of reality; an idea of how our world would have developed differently if Victorian England had relied more heavily on steam power rather than developing electricity. There are tons of sources out there to describe how this look came about, so check some of that out for a better explanation. 

My craft zone for steampunk jewelry projects. You can see clay, embossing powder, as well as tools (in the soup can)

     My mom keeps checking out books on this aesthetic used in crafting and one of my really good friends recently went to a steampunk/scifi convention in Dallas that really got me into the idea. Especially when it comes to costuming and jewelry, I love make-believe and whimsy. This craft lends itself well to the beginner. Gathering all the little tidbits is probably the hardest part of the whole creative process. Luckily for me, I am a compulsive craft/object hoarder, so I often have lots of junk lying around dying to be played with and put in a project.

Baby Tees

The happy recipient

     So in my last blog, I wrote about wanting to combine silk screening with my slice die-cut machine. I found the perfect project in making baby clothes. This is something my mom has wanted me to do ever since I got the Yudu silk screening machine (to be honest, I think that is the real reason I got it.) But anyway, baby clothing is always so adorable and the pieces we love the most are always hand printed or hand sewn little jewels in a wardrobe.

    Since I was bringing over some of my weapon pillows for my cousins, I figured the newest addition to our family should also get a little something uniquely made. Why not a baby romper....with a throwing star or with my dad's face on it. A perfect baby gift, right? Ok, I thought so, my mother wasn't so sure. But honestly, she should be happy I put her idea (with a few tweaks) to actual use.  : )  Just don't throw the baby.

"Pillow Fight!!!!!!"

     So, it is still pretty cold here and I am still mostly doing indoor crafts (the papermaking has been saved for days where my hands won't freeze as I splash water everywhere in the garage).  Also, with Christmas came presents and one of my presents this year was a Slice machine! Basically, it is a die cut machine like a Cricut, which allows you to cut out different shapes and sizes depending on what design cards you have. I am really excited to start incorporating this into my cards as well as any new paper (or fabric) oriented crafts I do in the future.

Finished products, laid out like a plushy arsenal, ready for play

     Another fun project I am working on has to do with my friend Jordan. She asked me to create some pillows that would be more fun in a pillow fight, like a light-saber pillow, grenade pillow, nun chuck pillows, etc. I immediately jumped on the chance to try this new project out not only because it was a great idea, but also because it would allow me to use another fun toy I acquired recently, a YUDU machine. This is an all-in-one screen printing machine and so far I have had not only great fun, but great success using it.

Holiday Cards, Christmas

 Hello again,

My cute little arts tote- thanks again Debbie!

     I’m back again, this time to show one of my favorite crafts- homemade cards! This hobby is something I picked up a long time ago and though I don’t remember how or why I got started, cards are something I love to make for other people. I think part of my fascination comes from the written word as well as getting a hand-written card from someone else (still so much better than an e-mail in my opinion).  I used to spend hours making just a few, but as time has gone on I have tried to simplify and make cleaner, more professional looking cards in less time.

Material List:

·      An assortment of stickers

·      An assortment of paper

·      Scissors and/or Paper cutter

·      Glue, double-sided tape, glue dots, or other adhesive

·      Blank card sets with envelopes

·      (Optional) yarn, hole-punch, aluminum foil