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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter
From LaurieannWe are proud to announce that the Bluebonnet Crafters are featured in the August issue of Aleene's Creative Living The Magazine.
Crafty College is featuring a free class with instructions for the back to school crafts mentioned in the article. The Class is free for everyone. Check it out (click HERE) and let us know what you think.
We are also proud to announce the Web
of Angels... This virtual happening is FREE and designed to promote
the online arts and crafts community.
Sincerely,
laurieann@ivisions.com
PS
If you want a condensed copy of this newsletter e-mailed to you, send a request to cvaug_sept98@wwvisions.com.
And, if you have not subscribed to this newsletter, please fill out
our on-line subscribe form
as well as check out our other issues of The Crafty
Visions Newsletter.
Using the 3" Styrofoam ball impress the bottom of her head onto the bottle by screwing the Styrofoam onto the threads of the bottle. Remove the Styrofoam ball. You can make the face by painting the Styrofoam ball and painting the face or you can use a 3" doll mask by gluing it to the ball around the edges placing the hair to cover the mask edge and adding ribbon or lace around the neck to cover the bottom of the mask.
Glue a small amount of hair across the top of the ball about 2-1/2" to form bangs or the hair at the forehead. Attach two braids, one on either side of the face extending from the bangs down. Using the pattern piece cut two hat brims and one back. Place the brim pieces right sides together and sew around the curved edge. Center the back of the bonnet right sides together on one piece of the brim. Sew from the bottom of the back piece around to the bottom of the back piece on the other side. Turn under 1/4" along the second brim piece bringing it down to cover the raw edges and top stitch the full length of the straight edge of the brim enclosing the seam. Turn the bonnet right side out and center an 18" length of ribbon half way from the front of the brim to the back tacking it at the center and at the bottom edge of each side of the brim for ties.
Cut a piece of fabric 8" X 25" and a second piece 4-3/4" X 25". Place a double fold hem in one 25" side of your 4-3/4" piece of fabric. Place a 1/2" elastic casing along one 25" side of the 8" piece of fabric. Place the right side of the narrower fabric to the wrong side of the wide fabric being sure the raw edges meet. Take a 1/4" seam joining both pieces together. Fold the narrow piece to the right side of the wider piece (the right side of both pieces of fabric should be facing the same way). Press to crease the bottom hem. Divide the skirt into eight equal pockets of approximately 3" leaving a seam allowance of 1/4" at each end. Sew each pocket in place beginning at the hem, going up to the top of the pocket and tack stitching at the end of the seam for strength.
Take a 1/4" seam from the bottom up to the elastic casing being sure you catch all layers. Zigzag the raw edges or trim with a pinking shears.Thread narrow elastic through the casing gathering to fit the "waist" of the soap bottle. Tie off the elastic and whip stitch the opening closed.
Using the pattern piece cut out the bodice. Cut two rectangles 5" X 3" for the sleeves. Sew the sleeves right sides together with the bodice from mark on the front of the bodice over the shoulder to the mark at the back on each side. Turn under 1/4" around the neck and on both wrists and top stitch lace in place. Sew from wrist to waist on each side.
Place the bodice on the bottle tucking the blouse under the skirt. With a small amount of Polyfil softly stuff the sleeves.
Bring the arms together in the front and glue a small plastic wide mouth bottle (Rx) between the wrists to hold toothpicks. Glue the back of the bottle to the bodice (above the skirt) to help anchor it in place. Hand stitch the sleeve to the bodice on either side for approximately 1/2" from the wrist toward the dolls' elbow. This will cause the arms to form two loops that can be used to hold serving spoons or small salt and pepper shakers.
Using a cardboard funnel place your weight material into the bottle. Place a bead of glue around the top of the bottle and in the indention made in the Styrofoam head. Screw the head onto the top of the bottle being sure the face is facing forward and allow to dry. Even if this is not as tightly as you had it screwed before the glue will dry and hold it in place.
Place a paper napkin with a plastic knife, fork
and spoon folded in its center in each of the pockets around your doll
and display her in the center of your picnic table.
Cut one piece of fabric 14" X 44". Fold the ends toward the middle with the right sides together leaving a 1/2" gap. Sew or use fabric glue down each long side forming two pockets with a slight gap between the open areas. Allow to dry, turn right side out.
With needle and thread take a single stitch
in the gap between the pockets bringing the thread to the outside. This
should be centered from top to bottom and left to right. Take a stitch
through the center of the 1 yd. piece of ribbon tacking the ribbon in place.
At the folded edge of each pocket another tack stitch should be used to
anchor the ribbon. An option would be to sew a button in each of these
three places to anchor the ribbon. Place 10" or smaller plastic picnic
plates half in each pocket, fold the carrier and tie it closed with the
ribbon.
Hem both ends of a 44" X 90" piece of fabric.
Attach by sewing or with fabric glue the loop portion of the hook and loop
tape 5" from each of the four corners on the 90" length. Five inches from
each corner on the 44" width place the hook portion of the hook and loop
tape. Tuck the corner of the tablecloth toward the table and hook the tape
behind the corner forming a pocket to anchor the tablecloth to the table.
Glue the 1" pompom to the 2" pompom. Trim the 2" pompom slightly to form an egg shape rather than a round ball. Cut your chenille stem in 7 equal pieces. Glue three on each side of the ant body to form its' legs. The remaining piece is folded in half and the 1/4" pompoms are glued one on each. The fold is glued to the top of the remaining 1" pompom as the antennae. The two wiggle eyes are glued in place on the pompom and this pompom is glued in place for the head as in the picture of the ants.
This completes your ant which is now glued to
the visor. You can make more than one ant for your visor and glue them
all around. With your permanent marker write "What is a picnic without
ants?" and then sign your name. 
Trace the pattern on a piece of paper folded in 4. The pattern is 1/4 of the entire pattern so the two edges with the dashed lines should be placed on the folds of your paper. Cut out the door knob hanger shape but only cut the opening to go over the door knob from the one end. Open it out, Trace the pattern on your Fun Foam, felt or poster board.
Glue buttons and trims around the edge of the door knob hanger and in the center write "Genius at Work".
This can be hung on your door when you are busy and do not want to be disturbed.
Using the picture as a guide cut the body out of yellow and the eye backs of white Fun Foam, the head, wings, beak and horn looking feathers from brown Fun Foam. On the two eye pieces draw lines from the center out to the edge as shown in the picture. Fold the chenille stem in half with the ends twisted one time about 1" down and then separated. Place this against the pencil with the top extending to the edge of the yellow about 1 inch above the pencil itself then wrap the folded end of the chenille stem around the pencil tightly and set aside.
Form a tube of the yellow felt of Fun Foam overlapping at the back and glue it to hold.
Place craft glue on the wrapped part of the chenille stem and position your yellow tube over the pencil and press into the glue centering it on the pencil.
Glue the two white eye backs in place, make sure your black lines fan out from the center to the bottom, see picture.
Glue the beak in place.
Glue the wiggle eyes in the center of the eye back. Glue one wing on each side as shown in the picture.
Your "Wise Old Owl" pencil topper will remind you to learn all you can in school this year.
Cut the celery leaving a 2" section still joined at the butt end of the celery stalk. Set aside and save this end for celery roses.
Drain the pineapple well and use only the solids (save the liquid for another recipe). Mix the pineapple with the cream cheese and chopped nuts. Use this mixture to stuff celery sticks.
Place three celery sticks together slightly overlapping (as it once grew) tie and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. If used for a picnic pack and carry like this.
When ready to serve cut into 1/2" wheels with
a sharp knife.
In the terra cotta pot glue your Styrofoam cone. With toothpicks cover the entire cone with lettuce, cabbage or kale leaves or any green leafy vegetable. Place a toothpick in each of the vegetables listed: in the base of a radish rose or stuffed olive, on cucumber slices slice them slightly thick and use the side of the cucumber slice so it looks similar to a flower and cauliflower or broccoli buds.
Beginning at the bottom of the cone pick the vegetables and place in spirals up to the top. Refrigerate until serving time.
These instructions are for a large arrangement to be used in the center of the table. If you would rather individual type servings use small terra cotta pots with a half ball sized to fit the top in place of the cone and a single serving of crudities arranged as a bouquet in the individual smaller pots.
Instructions:
Place two or three colors on the paper plate (add textile medium if working on fabric). Be sure that your celery is trimmed absolutely flat on the cut side. Dip the cut end of celery into paint picking up some of each color, daub on a paper towel and set the celery straight down on the object to be painted, turn a quarter turn to your right and lift up. Repeat for a rose that is slightly set into the background and repeat a third time for a rose that looks even further back.
With your paint brush and the green paint add
leaves to look as though they are coming from behind the roses: darker
on the darker roses, light on the lighter roses. You can repeat this process
as many times as you wish to decorate your project.
From time to time we see new products that appeal to us because they are different or perhaps an easier way to achieve the effect we are looking for on a particular project.
This issue we have three such products to share with you. The first is a new textured spray paint from Krylon's Fabulous Finishes line called "Make It Suede!". (Available at your local craft or paint store).
This product gives a soft matte finish with a slightly fuzzy texture to your project. Make It Suede! comes in 8 beautiful colors: Berber, Buckskin, Caramel and Brushed Sienna are light beige to light reddish brown.
The remaining four colors are soft shades of a grayed blue (Brittania), burgundy (Bordeaux), a grayed green (Forest Glen) and a medium gray (Gray Flannel).
We used the Brittania for our Suede Trinket Box.
The second product is Color Your World Plastic Art Chips.
Color Your World
1440 Norman Ave., Suite B
Santa Clara, CA 95054
PH: 408-629-3176
Email address colorwld@flash.net
Url: http://www.color-your-world.com
We used this product with dimensional paint to make the luminaires. This is a great fun product that looks something like aquarium gravel but is translucent and much lighter in weight. It comes in purple, sky blue, aquamarine blue, emerald green, cola, cranberry, racing red, orange and snow white. The packaging is one pound, three pounds or bulk pack of ten or more pound packages.
These Plastic Art Chips are great for kids crafts since they are non-toxic, recyclable and environmentally safe.
The third product is Floral Accents Connectibles by Duitall. This product is available in craft stores as well as in home decor outlets. The package includes a mounting bracket, a connecter cap and floral foam as well as the hardware. You prepare the floral arrangement in the floral foam, attach it to the connecter cap and then it clips over the mounting brackets. There is room behind the arrangement to provide for your window treatments or to cause the arrangement to sit out from the wall so it will mount over a window or a doorway. This brings silk or dried flowers into your home decor allowing you more leeway with your window treatments.
Although our project is for display over a picture, placed at the head of a bed with fabric draped behind the arrangement and allowed to swag down the wall this would form a stunning headboard.
Note: There has been no payment made for these reviews. The reviews
are the personal opinions of Bluebonnet Crafters presented as a service
to our readers.
Place the top and bottom of the paper mache box into a larger box to contain the overspray. Following the directions on the can spray the entire out side of your box. Allow to dry.
Arrange buttons, charms and trims as you like and glue in place. Allow to dry.
Option: You can spray the inside of the box
in another color.
These are made from 2 liter drink bottles placed over a votive candle. Since they are fairly lightweight you may want o glue two strips of plastic cut from a second bottle to form an "X" at the bottom of the luminary casing to set the votive candle on to help weight them down.
Dimensional paint is available from several companies. Some require a cake decorating tip that will screw onto the end of the tube. For this project you will need to draw lines but they do not have to be grooved or decorated so the paint could be applied with a craft stick or small palette knife.
To prepare the 2 liter bottle cut along the line at the top and at the bottom of the bottle. Be sure that the bottom cut is absolutely straight so your luminary will sit flat. To provide the base as mentioned in the option cut two strips of plastic from another bottle, crease a fold in each end that will allow the strip to fit inside the bottle from one side to the other. Glue the folded area to the bottom side of the luminary crossing with the second strip. Allow this to dry and place your votive cup on the area where they cross. This will help weight the luminaries. The top of the bottle can be cut straight or as mentioned in the option to follow the top of your design.
Begin with your prepared bottle and trace the picture you wish to transfer to your luminary onto white paper. You may have a single design as shown in the butterfly or you may choose a repeat pattern that entirely circles the luminary. Or, again you may choose a geometric stained glass look. Tape the pattern to the inside of the prepared plastic bottle. Trace the outline on the bottle with the permanent pen.
Using your dimensional paint follow the traced design. This will form a shallow well that outlines each part of the design. When the paint is dry spread the well areas with craft glue and sprinkle liberally with the plastic art chips.
It is best to do all areas of one color at a time. Allow them to dry. Repeat this process with each additional color you will use in your design.
Option: You can make a decorated top border by cutting your 2 liter bottle in scallops or to follow the top part of the design you are putting on your luminaries. As an example: place a row of tulips all around the bottle and cut the top half of each tulip following the petals of the flowers. Add your dimensional paint after the decorative edge has been cut.
**Tip** The plastic 2 liter bottles can be cut
with regular scissors by pinching a fold in the side and making the first
cut on the pinch. You can then cut around the bottle with your scissors
rather than a craft knife.
Instructions:
A more permanent arrangement is made if the ends of the floral material are dipped in craft glue before being placed into the foam receptacle. Spanish or sheet moss can be used to cover the bases but are unnecessary if enough greenery and floral material are used to make a very full arrangement.
Place one dark flower at the center top of the arrangement on a diagonal. Beginning immediately below and to the left place a row of flowers starting with the lightest, a medium another light and another medium and ending with a spray of the light small filler flowers. To the right of this line extending from the dark flower at the top down toward the right side add a smaller medium value then two of the darkest, another smaller medium value and ending with a small spray of the lightest value.
To the right of that approximately halfway between the bottom and the top place a medium value large flower with a small spray of light flowers just above it and a spray of tiny medium value below. This should bring you to the right hand edge of your picture frame. To the left of the flowers that are in place add a row of two darkest flowers with a small spray of light flowers above and between the two roses. This should place the bottom dark flower immediately below the very top dark flower. A large flower of the lightest value is to the left of this grouping with a small spray below it and another large flower to its left side and a tiny medium value to the left which will end at the left corner of the picture.
Use your greenery both broad leafed and fern type to completely fill in any empty spaces in the arrangement keeping within the line established by the flowers.
Glue the floral foam to the connecter cap and allow to dry thoroughly
and place the hardware centered above your picture and place the connector
cap onto the bracket fitting the top edge of the slot on the back of the
cap onto the end of the bracket and snap down firmly. If you wish a fabric
drape can be centered over the bracket behind the arrangement and swagged
from the edge of the picture down to frame it. This arrangement also will
work over a door or a single window.
by Bluebonnet Crafters
# 1. To prevent dripping candles pour enough water to cover, add 2 tablespoons salt, mix slightly and submerge the tapers approximately 30 minutes.
# 2. Place a cork on the tip of any sharp needle, crochet hook, etc. to carry.
# 3. When painting small items lay down a strip of double sticky tape, place the items on it and leave until the paint is dry. This prevents them from rolling or moving while you paint.
# 4. To thread yarn or thick thread through the needle place the
end of the thread in a folded piece of paper smaller than the eye of the
needle.
On occasion butterflies, other insects, autumn leaves and seed pods have been treated to preserve a lifelike look.
In the heart of the Willomet Valley in western Oregon, Broman's Lighthouse Nursery has been operated as a family business since 1981. The nursery operation grows all of the roses and other flowers currently used in the rose jewelry products. Email: rosejewelry@proaxis.com
The Rose Jewelry Company in their on-line catalog, show a variety of miniature and micro miniature rose pins and jewelry pieces. These real tiny roses have been dried, treated and joined with jewelry findings to present the discriminating consumer with a truly unique piece of jewelry for personal embellishment or very special gifts.
In addition to the unique jewelry the Rose Jewelry Company offers an innovative repair service. Sometimes even with the best care accidents happen so Rose Jewelry Company will replace accidentally crushed roses in their jewelry pieces for a small fee plus shipping and handling.
Stop by and visit Ruth Ann and
Howard Broman with your Christmas list in hand. Tell them we sent you.
In the following issue, we will print the questions, the answers we received, and a new question for you to answer.
Please submit your crafting questions to laurieann@ivisions.com
Question From Last Issue: I have problems making any money from doing craft shows. I have tried everything I can possibly figure out to do. I have ceramics so can do many varieties such as kitchenware, animals, holidays, angels, etc. Please help any way you can think of. Any advice is welcome. Thanks.
Answer 1: I am replying to the question about what sells at craft fairs. I have done many different crafts over the years and have been going to craft shows intermittently throughout that time. I started doing silk flowers about 10 years ago. I went to a couple of craft shows and sold nothing even though my things were beautiful. Other crafters with less expensive items were the ones selling. I regrouped for my next show and made smaller versions of all my nicer stuff. They sold out. I made decorated french horns one year in three sizes. I had orders from coworkers of mine and my husband’s and neighbors and friends for 40 of them. I made extra to take to a show. I ended up calling my husband at home and having him bring all the ones for the orders over. I sold every last one and had to get more supplies to fill my previous order.
Sometimes you hit on something like that. I have seen many ceramics crafters. Some do well, some don’t. Not a lot of people want to buy oversized ceramic bunnies with tole painted flowers on them. People are looking for artsy stuff now. Pasta bowls, novelty bowls for collectors (i.e., cows teachers, etc), stained vases, etc. I was at a craft show last month where a ceramic crafter complained so loud to everyone because she didn’t sell a thing and blamed the organizers. She had a few small items at $4.00, but they were really cheesy. I think the bottom line is you have to cover all price ranges and quality must be uniform throughout. If you can’t produce a quality item and make any money on it, then find another item that you can make out on.
I was always lowering my prices thinking I would raise them later. It doesn’t happen. I was able to give my card to several people during shows and get business that way. I offered to deliver to their offices for secretary’s day, etc. I got into two businesses that way and was busy for a while with them and their extended families. I now have a wholesale business as I tired of working with the public at large after running a successful custom drapery business for six years. I got customers by putting business cards in fabric shops and carpeting stores. I even went to craft shows and took pillows and home decorative items I made from leftover fabric.
I didn’t mean to drone on and on but I know how hard it is to work hard and then not sell anything at a show. It is discouraging. But if you stick it out and you have a good product you will find your market. Thanks, Pam
Answer 2: I saw your question in Crafty Visions and I’m not trying to make a sale here and won’t contact you again. I do sell my angel jewelry at volume prices (about half the price listed on the website, excluding Angel Kisses). I sell a lot to people who do craft shows, sell Tupperware, or Avon. They sell my babies right along with their stuff. You can go to the website and read a letter there from Lynda Stedmann. She runs house parties and sells various wares and has been doing a banner business with my babies. Most people do and I get the benefit of repeat orders. Lynda’s phone number and e-mail are also listed if you wish to confer with her. One big word of advice, research your craft shows. Spend a little more and get into better shows in more affluent areas…that always worked for me. Hope this helps. Patricia, Patricia’s Angel Babies http://home.earthlink.net/~firstimpress/
Answer 3: We used to paint plastercraft figurines years ago and we found a market by offering to paint customized cats and dogs. The customer would give us several pictures of their pet and we would paint a figurine to match it. Be advised you’ll get a lot of strange looking pets, but that’s what makes it special to the owner. Be sure to get a deposit for any work you do and don’t sell yourself short. You should charge 3 to 4 times what you had to pay for the piece. We found the best success at mall shows. Lucee
New Question For Next Issue:
I have been trying to sell my crafts on the Internet. I have a nice site but don’t seem to sell much. What crafts are selling on the Internet and what are the tricks needed to sell on the Internet? Thank you so much.
Please submit your answers to laurieann@ivisions.com
The Internet is also a wonderful place for Dollmakers because there
are so many free patterns available. The
Doll Net is currently featuring 7 free patterns. These include:
????
I’ve been looking for a pattern for a flowerpot
doll that was featured in a national magazine last summer (1997).
It was made of LARGE clay pots, with smaller ones for arms and legs strung
together with macrame cord and wood beads, and may have been called a “Patio
Pal”. I seem to remember it as a “boy” (farmer or maybe a scarecrow).
I seem to remember it shown sitting in a lawn chair. I do have a
pattern for “Flowerpot Fairies”, but that’s not the right one. Thanks
for any help you can give me. Shari. pptm@gi.net
????
I am looking for a pattern and instructions
for making a t-shirt quilt. I saw one years ago in a magazine and
haven’t been able to find one anywhere. Any help would be appreciated.
abc@westol.com
????
At a garage sale last week a lady bought a
crocheted angel whose base was an old fashioned clothes pin.
I would love to have a crochet pattern for this.
SandiGreg@SwBell.Net
????
I run a playgroup for toddlers and I’m looking
for some simple crafts for them to do. I especially like to use recycled
items such as egg cartons and toilet paper tubes. Any ideas would
be helpful! Liz
hyman@ziplink.net
????
I have an old brass teacart. The brass
has dulled over time. I would love to refinish it. I have tested
spray paint that is called “brass” but don’t like the results. I
would like to find a faux finish kit to give it a verde gres finish but
haven’t found a kit like this. Does it exist? If so, please
provide info on where to find it and any special tips on applying the paint.
If such a thing does not exist I would like another color of spray and would appreciate color suggestions and application hints. I thought a flat black would lend a wrought iron appearance which might be attractive.
Thanks for any suggestions. M Brown
travlbug@ix.netcom.com
????
I am decorating my 6-year old daughter’s bedroom.
Any fun ideas for painting, décor, colors, themes, etc? She
has a blue teal rug and unfinished pine, country style furniture.
Thank you!
jandrews@asicentral.com
????
I am looking for natural plant and herbal
dyes I can make and use for natural fabrics like
cotton. Anyone know where I can find a list or help me please?
Robin
kceee@sound.net
????
I wonder if you can help me? I want
to buy crafts with, predominantly, an apple theme. They would be
sold in a gift shop on my son’s ranch during the fall apple season.
This is a rather large operation that many, many people visit from September
- December, and is located in Placerville, California.
So how do I find these people that may
have some neat things to share with the world? Thank you,
Clairety@rsvlonline.net
????
Greetings,,,,,,,,,,I’m interested in the “punch”
system,,,,,,,using a stenciled pattern with a needle attached to a handle
and you just punch through the holes,,,,,,,can you help me???????
Fin99@aol.com
????
I know it is very easy to make playdough.
It consists of flour, vegetable oil, food coloring. But I do not
know the amount of each ingredient required. Can you send me this info.
many thanks
thalia.wolff@ussurg.com
Crafty College - New Classes/New Instructors/New
Dates - ALL TAUGHT ONLINE!
http://CraftyCollege.com
**** New SELF PACED CLASSES ****
These classes are always open. You can register anytime!
Very Soon we will be announcing many new classes
and new instuctors. Some
of the classes are:
*** DID YOU SEE ??? ***
*** Crafty College instructors, Bluebonnet Crafters, were featured
in
Aleene's Creative Living "The Magazine". There is a free mini-class
that
goes along with the article at Craft College - http://CraftyCollege.com
*** Crafty College was featured in the TECH TALK section of Craftrends,
a
trade magazine for Craft, Needlework and Sewing Retailers.
Thank you to both magazines for their wonderful comments.
**** WEB OF ANGELS UPDATE ****
http://CraftyCollege.com/webofangels/
The Web Of Angels starts September 15th!!!!
A huge FREE online class with many angel crafts provided by artists world wide!
Please check out the growing list of crafts as well as the details at http://CraftyCollege.com
This is a FREE Class starting on September 15th. You do not have
to
register to attend, just show up on campus on the 15th.
If you have an original Angel craft and you want to be part of the
Web you
can still sign up online at http://craftycollege.com/webofangels/join.html
New On The
Doll Net:
http://TheDollNet.com
C. L. Leone
Designs, Inc.
Original Cloth Doll Patterns
Carlton Place
Wax Dolls For Today's Collector
Computer Guardian
Angels
Cloth Angels by Jean Gandy
Nadia And Her
Dolls
Learn Japanese doll making.
Contributors:e-mail: bluebonnet@BluebonnetVillage.com
URL: http://www.BluebonnetVillage.com
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