Category Archives: Crafts
Day 15, A Frosty Morning…
Today I give you a wintry star that I tole-painted with a pretty snow flake, that someone gave me, in the background (these hang from a shelf in my studio) along with a little poem that I wrote while sipping my morning coffee…
A FROSTY MORNING
It’s a wonderful, frosty morning
and the air just clears your head
making it all worthwhile
to have tumbled out of bed!
The grass is crunchy when you walk.
It has a sugary glaze
that sometimes disappears by noon
or sometimes lasts for days.
Jack Frost has been out playing
across the lawn and through the wood.
He weaves his lacy ice webs
then stands back and says “that’s good”!
There’s a lovely stained glass pattern
on the surface of the pond.
He laughs and makes this magic
with a flick of his ice wand!
You may think of winter
as bare and cold and stark
but be sure to see the beauty too
when Jack Frost leaves his mark…
by
Maron Craig Bielovitz
11/15/12
Re-purposing an old book into a new Art Journal
I had finally filled my first art journal a few months ago and now I am ready to start another one so I took this book that I found at a flea market and I re-purposed it into a new journal. Here’s how I did it…
I chose a pice of Toile patterned wrapping paper that I’ve had laying around for a long time and cut it to fit just as you would for any book cover.
I spread collage medium all over the covers of the book to adhere the paper. You can use Mod Podge or white glue.
I took my rubber roller and gently rolled out any lumps caused by the fixative until I felt the paper was securely in place with no bumps.
I folded the edges over and glued them into place securely.
Next, I cut some ribbon into the right sizes to finish the edges off nicely on the inside covers.
I then spread a thick coat of fixative on the ribbon pieces to make sure they would adhere to the surfaces.
And glued the ribbons in place.
The ribbons make a nice “frame” on the inside covers. A great place to start and finish creating!
And voila! A new Art Journal is born. The pages are thinner than I would like but there are a lot of them so I will probably end up gluing two of them together for each journal page to make them sturdier. The pages are wire-ring bound which I feel is a must for a journal as it becomes very thick with all the embellishments I use throughout the book. Now I will decorate the cover a bit and start filling this new journal with lots of eye candy!
feeling “crafty”!
I’ve been having fun doing some fall themed crafts lately. These wreaths are just right for Autumn with sunflowers and fruit, bows or raffia and they don’t take long to make with your trusty glue gun and some floral wire.
I like making trays and they too are easy with ready to paint trays from the craft store,craft paints, some rub-on decorations and a little imagination. With the fruit theme, they are very apropro for ”harvest” time.
The smaller stacking trays are great for snacks or just for making a corner of your house look pretty! Sometimes I sand the edges for a rustic look. I’ll take them to the Artisan & Farmer’s Market this weekend and I’ll be surprised if they don’t appeal to someone!
decorated gourds
I’ve often said that, as an artist, when I experience a period of being “blocked” creatively, I can always jump start my muse by doing a craft. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Autumn and Winter and that I am more productive during the cooler months so it’s no surprise that decorating gourds would be a natural outlet for my creativity right now! The supply of gourds is plentiful and the different shapes and sizes tickle my imagination to come up with these whimsical characters. I’ve been selling them at the Artisan and Farmer’s Market as fast as I can create them and with the Farm stand just a few spaces down from my own tent, I don’t have to worry about running short on a supply of gourds! The most fun part is seeing what appeals to the individual shoppers and the smile that comes over their face when they find that special “one”! I started out with just painted faces but then decided to embellish them a little with bows, flowers, raffia, glue on eyes, etc. What a fun way to awaken your creativity!! Happy Autumn, everyone…
Crafts and Cocoa
What could be better on a cold and windy evening than to set up an “art picnic” in front of the fireplace? My hubby had retired to the bedroom to watch a little TV and I just wasn’t tired yet so I rummaged through my studio and brought an armful of things to work on into the living room where I had set up two TV trays as a work station. I took some small white shipping tags and water-colored them a Christmassy green. Then I outlined them thinly with red marker. I had a rubber stamp with holly leaves and berries on it so I took some stamp markers and made the leaves a darker green than the tags and the berries bright red and stamped the design in the center of the backs and down the right side of each tag to leave room for the gift recipient’s name on the left. I finished them with some dark green yarn for attaching to the gift or stocking and I had a quick and easy finished craft project that will make any gift look special because it was hand made. The only other ingredient “needed” is a steaming cup of hot cocoa! I am in the Christmas spirit! Fa la la la la……
Christmas Craft
From the plain one on the right to the finished product on the left, this is the craft project that jump started my muse. It was such a simple thing to do but I love crafts for that reason. They are so easy to do and you have immediate gratification! It makes you feel so good to have accomplished it that you just want to keep on creating in one form or another.
Tropical pillows
My son & daughter-in-law have a “hobby” room in their new house that was formerly a young boy’s room. It had a jungle print mural on one wall and they decided to leave the mural there and just paint the other walls a sunny yellow. They have their two pets in that room also. Gizmo, the sweet and furry Chinchilla in his huge apartment sized cage and Lucky, a snake that is longer than I am tall! (He is quite at home in his big aquarium up against that jungle printed wall) Anyway, the “kids” got a futon for that room and said that the cover was very plain light beige so I found this neat soft corduroy fabric with a tropical print on it and made some pretty pillows to jazz it up a bit. This may be the last of my sewing projects for a while as I would love to get back to my collage work now…..
Sew creative….
Fergus gets a new toy
My creative urges lately have been in the form of sewing. I made a slipcover for my footstool and some coordinating throw pillows and a seat cusion for the desk chair. Yesterday I even decided to try my luck in making an “indestructible”, Scottie-proof dog toy which you can see in Fergie’s mouth above. He loves those long, stuffed dog toys from the pet store but they don’t last what with those mighty jaws and teeth of his. So I figured with some sturdy fabric, such as upholstry fabric, and some extra reinforced seams that he might play with it for a while before I found fiberfill all over the place. Well, it lasted all of 5 minutes the first time around, destroying the cute little embroidered face I put on it, so back to the sewing machine I went. This time it has at least lasted over night! Maybe I’m on to something here!!
Mardi Gras Masks…
Leaf Nymph
Madame Butterfly
Christmas Fair…
Snow Flake Pins
Our Church had a Christmas Bazzar today and I donated a few things I made for the cause. Wish I had more time but this was such a busy week for me. But I did give them a few trays I had made a few months ago too. On the bright side…I did purchase a few dozen homeade cookies for the holidays that I will pass off as my own! lol!
