Craft tips and trick.....
It's been said that necessity is the mother of invention and that's how I came up with many of my little crafting tips. As soon as the batteries are recharged, I'll take some pictures..
Painting tips....
-when painting small pieces, use sticky tack to stick the piece to something for hands free painting. I'll often stick small wooden pieces right to the top of the bottle of paint. As long as you aren't painting the back, it's great - especially for painting sides
- minimize drying time with a blow dryer on cool. Keep in mind this doesn't cure the paint, just dries it quickly. Ideal for base painting.
- save paint when painting small details or pieces by using paint in the cap of the bottle. Shake well and you're good to go!
- designate a bottle for leftover paint. Great for base coating where coverage and not color is important.
- skewer sticks are a must! Use for blending paints, holding some items for painting and drying. I used them when painting shells from the dollar store - stuck the shell on one end, painted, then jammed the other end into floral green for drying.
General........
Dollar stores and thrift stores are amazing places for supplies. Don't look at something just for what it is but what it could be. Is it the design or the components that are ugly? I snagged some butt ugly beaded tassels at the dollar store and took them apart. A little time and now I have a lot of awesome beads!
Yes, you could pay silly amounts of money at the store for a bag of pine cones.....or you could go to the park and collect them for nothing! Really want that cinnamon smell the ones in the store have? Easy! Buy a small bottle of cinnamon oil, place a few drops on a cotton ball. Put ball and pine cones in plastic bag, tie up and leave for a day or so. Or you could just dab the pine cones before or after the craft is finished!
I'll be adding as time goes on. Right now I'm off to take some pics! I'll have some new crafts posted in the next few days!
This is so annoying......
....ignore this..... I'm just trying to take up enough space so the intruder image isn't covering up the real post I made earlier..... here's a shot of my Jinx...
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WTH?????
I don't know why this image has hijacked my page but as soon as someone posts an answer it will be fixed!
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Noriko Purse adaption....
Above is the purse I made for my sister-in-law- Jonna for her birthday. I probably shouldn't have photographed it in front of the green and white bag holder, but I'm learning.
What shoes are to many women, bags are to me. I have bags whose main purpose is to hold other bags. And since I also love to craft, I'm always looking for cool patterns. This bag was adapted from a simple pattern I found online - http://tinyurl.com/nw7l9l . The finished bag is much smaller than I'd anticipated. I added the front flap and added the straps with buttons on the sides. I also gathered the sides slightly, something the original did not call for. The outer bag is made from different panels, but the interior is lined in a natural cotton.
I was pleased with the end result and so was Jonna! Right now I'm working on a bag for myself. It's still very much in progress and right now I am struggling to come up with the perfect strap....... stay tuned!
Dolls, recycling and saving money!
I've just posted a few of the dolls that I've made - actually, the only ones I still have! - and I thought I should explain how they are indeed recycled. Inside and out really! Here's how it breaks down.....
patterns - online and craft magazine
stuffing - thrift store pillows, washed
clothing - Rose's skirt - shirt given to me to use for material
Rose's blouse - scrap from bedding bought for sewing from thrift store
Rose's headscarf - half an old scarf that had gotten ripped
hair - Rosy- doll hair from dollar store
Mama Earth - thrift store yarn
embroidery floss - thrift store, dollar store and retail (on sale!)
needles etc - retail
Rosy
Another pattern that I modified quite a bit. The original called for the body to be made of printed material that doubled as the dress. I added a gusset and modified a blouse pattern from another doll pattern. The skirt is a length of material gathered and hemmed. As all my dolls do, she has a embroidered heart on her chest.
Completely hand sewn.
Rosy is named in honor of my beloved Tante Rose.
Mama Earth
The original pattern was for a fairy - much smaller and much simpler. I added a gusset in both the face and torso to give the curves I was looking for. I confess she is much bustier than I'd intended! Her arms and legs move and the embroidery incorporates beads.
Completely hand sewn.
Cd holder to craft supply holder
I had snagged a black plastic Cd holder - the tower stand alone style. I snagged it from the dumpster a few months ago. We live in a cluster of apartment buildings and have been slowly furnishing our apartment from the dumpsters. Yesterday I got 9 milk crates - shades of university! - and unpacked a lot of my craft supplies. We have been living out of boxes since November of last year and nerves are getting frayed. I haven't been able to craft, work on puzzles - all my non-computer related hobbies.
But today my husband Tom got the computer desk from next door. They told me when we moved in last March that we could have it. Better late than never I guess! Anyway, it's quite large and I'll be using it as a craft table. Much of what I put in the milk crates will actually fit on the desk. I was separating my colored pencils from the colored pens - and there are at least 3 types of colored pens in my crafting inventory! - and I was trying to think of a better way to store all these things in a way that was more space efficient and user friendly. Then I remembered the tower CD holder.
I removed the base of the tower and laid it on it's back. This way, it is 20 inches long, 5 inches high and 5 inches deep. (I forgot to get a before shot). Using empty CD holders as dividers, I have thus far found a home for my colored pencils, 2 types of colored pens, sponge sticks, assorted paint brushes - and still have almost half left to fill. Some of my paintbrushes were a bit short, so I created a false bottom by folding cardboard into a square bottomed U and inverting it between CD's.
Forgive the quality of the pictures - still learning! I'll be posting pics of the new craft central once it gets more organized....
In the meantime, this is a perfect solution to a problem that I've had for some time. I've tried, and discarded, various dollar store organizers and thrift store re-inventions and nothing worked until now. The size and weight make it very portable. It fits perfectly on the upper back shelf off my new desk! And I love that I was able to recycle something - saved me money and the holder from the landfill. And I'm good with that.
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