Easy Craft Ideas Revisted.

This week, I decided to share some informational videos to watch crafting videos made by Craftside for fun quick and easy craft project ideas.

In the following "Look Learn & Create video", learn how to make felted flowers with Craftside blogger/author/craftster Stefanie Girard, author of "Sweater Surgery", from some 
recycled sweaters.  The recycled sweater felted flowers can be used for jewelry, pins and other great accents.

Another great video from Craftside, is a video featuring Lisa Engelbrecht, (author of "Modern Calligraphy" and "Modern Mark Making")

demonstrating some fun and easy calligraphy techniques.  Her lettering can vary from the more modern art letters to traditional calligraphy letters.  She also shows how to use traditional and non traditional inks and paints to use for art lettering.

In this particular episode Lisa Engelbrecht shows how to use the Martha Stewart Glue pens to create fun art letters with foils and glitter.




and in the video below,  that I took of her at my local art supply store, she demonstrates using various inks to create fun art letters and make cool designs.  Her ink work is fabulous and fun to watch.




Have fun week creating.

Disclaimer

Review of the American Girl Crafts - Funky Felt Pins Kit

With summer quickly approaching it is a great time to plan some creative activities for my kids.  It is always wise to have some fun and easy crafting supplies on had to entertain the kids, especially on those hot summer afternoons.

Since, the American Girl dolls have always been popular in my household,  the idea of crafting with the the American Girl craft kits was met with a lot of enthusiasm.  These kits are available at local craft stores and online.  We wanted to try something portable and not too messy, so we choose to try out the American Girl "Funky Felt Pins" kit which is recommended for children eight years old and up.  The kit retails for $12.99.

The packaging on the "Funky Felt Pins"  is very colorful and a bit deceiving in a positive way.  From

the outside of the package, it does not look like you get much in the way of supplies.  However, I was

happily surprised to find it was jam packed full of enough supplies for my girls and their friends to give this kit a try and learn some basic embroidery skills.

This kit comes with the following:

● Project & Idea Booklet

● 12 yards of embroidery floss in 4 colors

● 33 plain felt pieces

● 5 embroidered patches

● 12 adhesive pin backs

● 10 sequin flowers

● 1 piece of white practice felt

● 1 needle

● 1 needle threader

The instruction booklet does have some nice colored simple instructions for their versions of the following stitches and knots:

● running stitch

● applique stitch

● cross stitch

● french knot

● finishing knot

The kit is color coordinated with enough materials to create at least 12 pins, which is great for an easy to do scout troop project.  However, you would have to pick up extra needles for each girl, since this kit only comes with one needle.  You can pick up pins at your local "Michaels Craft Store" or "JoAnns" fairly inexpensively.

The first thing I did was to lay out the pieces and then pick out a few different shapes to sew together.

Then I sewed the small floral sequin onto the green felt flower using white thread to make the stitches stand out.

I then sewed the green felt flower onto the orange felt flower.

Which was followed by sewing those pieces onto the darker felt flower.

The kids took a vote and wanted to add some bling to the flower.   So I added beads to finish it off the piece.

As you can see, the steps are very simple and easy to follow.  However,  I did find that it was a little bit challenging for little fingers to negotiate the needle and accomplish the smaller stitches.   However, even

with that frustration, the project certainly kept her attention.  A different size needle did make the 

difference for her .

 Here are some other projects we made with the die cut felt pieces provided in the kit.  The first is a felt

owl pin.

The second is a funky felt ring.

The third is a funky felt hair band.

The fourth is a funky felt  hair clip for their American Girl doll.

These projects are so fun and easy for the kids to do.  They also provide a great base surface for adding beads, buttons, rhinestones, and more.  This make room for some creative self expression allow by each child.

Tips:

●  Lay everything out so you can pick your colors and shapes.

●  If you are using the kit for younger children, you can help avoid frustration by using white glue to adhere the pieces together.  Let dry.  Then sew together with simple stitches.

●  Use up those fun beads and charms you  have around the house to use as accents for these fun pieces.

Disclosure.

How to Recycle Macaroni & Cheese Boxes & Make a Pocket Book

This project is fairly easy to do.  Recycling card board boxes from food stuff is a great way to keep them out of the land fills.  Plus this makes a fun and inexpensive kids craft.  All you need is some empty food or product boxes which most of us have an abundance of around the house.

For my project, I choose to find a use for the many "Macaroni & Cheese" boxes that seem to accumulate in our home. So after feeding my kids their favorite "Kraft Mac & Cheese", I took one of the boxes and made some simple cuts.  Then I trimmed the edges.

On the second box, I cut off the top and bottom flaps on the box.

Then I trimmed about a 1/4" excess off each end (top, bottom, sides) so that it will fit snug inside of the

outer box.  I then put the second box inside of the first to make sure they fit together well.  Keep in mind that the top flap must over lap, so trim any excess from the second box.  I then glued them together with

white glue and let them dry overnight.  Once the glue is dry, it should look like this:

I then painted the inside and outside of the box with gesso to strengthen the box. While I waited to it to dry, I decided to work on the trim for the pocket book.  I used a designated pasta machine to condition the clay.

I used a texture sheet (a rubber stamp image created for polymer clay) and impressed some pre-conditioned polymer clay onto it.  Depending on the brand, there may have some sticking.  If that happens then spray a small amount of "Armour All" onto the stamp or texture sheet before impressing the clay onto it.  Remove the clay carefully and cut it to fit the outside of the pocket book.  Bake the clay according to the manufacturers directions and allow to cool before attaching to purse. I decided to cover the bag with some excess felt and trims that I had on hand.  Since the felt was self-adhesive it was fairly easy to cut and stick it to the boxes.  I then glued the beaded trim.  After the clay cooled, I used an appropriate adhesive to attach it to the pocket book.

Made from two empty Macaroni & Cheese boxes.

The kids enjoyed this project so much, that we covered other cardboard items with polymer clay.  Below

is a converted recipe box.  We also covered an old empty tin with polymer clay using molds and other small accents to create a treasure box to hold pokemon action figures.

These are really easy projects and quite fun to do.  The plus is you are teaching your kids to recycle and upcycle items that would otherwise end up in a landfill.

The "Felt Club" experience!

Black Friday has been advertised as the official start to the "Christmas Shopping" frenzy. Personally, it is the one day of the year that I try to avoid the local mall. I have found great treasures in the "Indy Craft" shows. Handmade items are always fun and finding unusual items is an adventure. One of the best places in Los Angeles to find "Indy" gifts is the annual "Felt Club" show. Everything is colorful and made of interesting (if not unusual) materials. Here are some pictures from the last one I attended at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.  They do hold one each year at a variety of locations.

Visitors to the show started lining up at 6:00 a.m. to get the fabulous "Goody Bag" which included a book from the "Craftside Publishing Group", felt, beads, and an interesting assortment of really fun craft supplies. I got a plastic gun and a plastic bow and arrow which eventually were turned into earrings (yes these were small).

If you have never attended a "Felt Club" event, you are truly missing out on a wonderful opportunity to see a tremendous range of "Indy" designs and crafters.  

The "Sweater Surgery" recycled sweater tree.      The purse above is a project from the book (Sweater Surgery by Stefanie Girard), this purse is completely made of recycled and felted sweaters.  It is stunning in person.  I just loved the color pallet.

The ever wonderful "Angela Cartwright" well known  for her acting career in shows like "Make Room for Daddy", "Lost in Space"  and other fabulous films and shows. Her  IMBD page has a great listing of her extensive career.  For our purposes, I am focusing on her writing and design talent.  I have all of her books and they are fabulous.  The "In This House" book is "a collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage Techniques" featuring the work of some very talented designers.  It also has some really instructions on how to make your own book with some great artwork you can use.  Her instructions are limited on purpose to allow for the reader to really make the project "their own".   My favorite book  is "Mixed Emulsions" because the material in that book is applicable to so many different projects.  She is talented and generous with her knowledge.  As well as a lovely person to meet in person.   I can not wait for her next book to be published so I can add it to my library.



Below is Lisa Sonora Beam, the author of  "The Creative Entrepreneur" (Quarry Books).   She was at the show giving mini demonstration of her projects and doing book signings for fans.  She also held a "Make-it & Take-It" that was quite popular.  Her book is geared towards the creative individuals and empowering them to take charge of their business in a way that makes sense.

Lisa Sonora Beam book signing

The "Threadbanger DIY" group came by to film interviews with the various authors and crafters.























Annual Clothing Swap took place on the second floor of the Shrine. This is an opportunity to refurbish your old wardrobe with some new (well....new to you...) clothing.  The idea of swapping clothing is getting more and more popular.  It is a fun way to add to your wardrobe and to delete somethings as well.

Below is a view from the second floor looking down and the very crowded room full of happy crafters and shoppers.  There really was something for everyone at this show.  Be it shopping, workshops, food, and/or the clothing swap.

Upstairs, they held  clothing swap and any left over clothing was donated to a local charity.  They also had a bunch of work stations where visitors could deconstruct and re-make their new clothing finds. They had a row of sewing machines and all types of lace, ribbons, patches, button, etc. to accent an article of clothing.  As well as some great coaches on hand to lend an opinion or two.

Back to shopping:

There was a booth that had adorable skirts, purses, etc. made from vintage fabrics combined with newer materials.

Craftside Publishing had several "Make-it and Take-its" throughout the event.  The "Sweater Surgery" felt flower class was a hit with the crowd.

 Present at the show were several of the designer jewelry contributors
  to the "1,000 Pieces of Jewelry"    book (Quarry Books) 


To the right,  is Shari Bonnin whom you may have seen on several episodes of "DIY Jewelry Making" on the DIY Cable Channel.  Shari is well known for beadwork. Shari has an Etsy store.  She can be found either selling or attending jewelry shows in Los Angeles and Orange County.






Adjowah Brody of the "Weekend Store" jewelry designs (#0737 p.227) also had a booth at the show.  Her jewelry ranges from typewriter buttons to art pieces that are stunning.  She also has an Etsy store, but I have to say that seeing her work in person is so much more fun.