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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter
From LaurieannWe are proud to announce that the Bluebonnet Crafters will be in the August issue Aleene's Creative Living The Magazine.
Crafty College will feature a free class with instructions for the back to school crafts mentioned in the article. The Class will be open after Aleene's Creative Living The Magazine comes out. Watch for it and let us know what you think.
Please enjoy the crafts below and as always thank you for reading the Crafty Visions Newsletter.
Also please take some time to visit our contributors websites or send them an e-mail. With out them this newsletter would not exist.
Sincerely,
laurieann@ivisions.com
PS
If you want a condensed copy of this newsletter e-mailed to you, send a request to cvjun_july98@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.
Place a square of plastic wrap on the bottom and use a weight to flatten the bottom slightly. Let it set overnight to dry. Remove the weight and peel off plastic wrap from the bottom of the form. Remove the plastic wrap from the inside and gently lift off your paper mache bowl. Carefully peel the plastic wrap from the center of your bowl and allow to continue drying.
When your paper mache container is completely dry paint the entire inside with a base coat of white paint using your foam brush. Allow to dry and repeat painting the outside with the base coat. After it dries repeat base coating the entire inside and outside of the bowl with a second coat.
Apply the water based varnish to a small area at a time and use torn pieces of the flag motif paper to completely cover the inside and the outside of the bowl. You can use large pieces of the napkin to show the motif or tear in smaller pieces to give it a red/white/blue look.
Allow to dry thoroughly and apply two thin coats of water based varnish on the inside and outside to seal the container completely.
It is a good idea to get your spacing before you apply the glue. The spacing is adjusted so that the marbles or jewels do not stick up above the edge of the cup or leave too large a space at the bottom or between jewels.
Apply a small amount of E-6000 to the back of
each marble or jewel and place them in rows around the votive candle cup.
Begin at the top with the jewels or marbles just slightly below the upper
edge and work your way to the bottom leaving tiny spaces between. Allow
glue to dry thoroughly. Add the candle and it is ready for presentation.
by Bluebonnet Crafters
1. To help keep the scale of your fabric in line with the crafts you are working on cut the smallest pattern piece for that craft out of clear plastic (Shrink-Art or quilting template) and use the template to look at the fabric. If the print is too big it will show immediately on the smallest piece.
2. When painting straight lines mask the area next to the line with a strip of masking tape.
3, When using water soluble marking pens it is best to use a very
light hand. These marks can be removed by daubing with plain water. Heavy
marks may require a second attempt at removal.
Patricia began her crafting career with First Impressions, a desktop publishing company when her job of ten years evaporated In her late 50s, after many discouraging interviews, she concluded that the older worker just wasn't wanted any more so she began her own business. She found that the desktop publishing business was saturated and many of those involved had the equipment and knowledge superior to hers.
Funds were getting scarce and a sisters' birthday was fast approaching. Without the money for a gift and wanting to conceal how bad things were for her she bought a pair of white ceramic dime store angels. These angels were so plain she thought some flowers added in their hands would help. She got a square of Sculpey, made some tiny roses, baked and painted them, then glued them into the angel's hand. They were a big success and there began her journey into the craft field.
Although she had done some ceramics in high school. Her sisters' gift was her first attempt since then. She began making jewelry with Polymer clay. At first it was rose pins and earrings. When she got bored with the roses they gradually turned to angels. Patricia says "I was not prepared for the way the angels evolved and took off. They truly seemed in charge of leading me where they wanted me to go".
She started selling the angels in several boutiques in her local area and gradually moved to the internet in late 1996. Since their debut on the internet thousands of her angels have found a good home. Over 2,000 individual pieces were sold during the last quarter of 1997. Comments from customers are "they make a person smile" and "they make you feel good when you wear one".
Patricia still has quiet periods but a lot of her angels are sold to dealers, churches and other organizations. They normally buy hundreds of pieces at once and want them "right now". One large order can wipe out her stockpile of angels. She is now experimenting with molding processes and is beginning to turn out molded angel babies that are accurate even to showing her fingerprints. This is the type of quality Patricia has been searching for. Even though molded her angels will always be hand painted.
This has been a family project up to now but
she hopes to hire and teach others to paint them. Because of her experiences
those she hires will definitely be people over 50 or those retired or disabled.
She hopes to make available a way for her workers to supplement their social
security or disability income. The only requirement Patricia has is that
you have a talent for painting. She states "I like to think that what happened
to me was part of a plan and the angels are part of it too. They lead and
I follow and it is a great partnership". Most of all she believes her angels
carry a message of hope. "We must never ever give up hope".
In the following issue, we will print the questions, the answers we received, and new questions for you to answer.
Please submit your crafting questions to laurieann@ivisions.com
Question: What to do with coffee cans?????
Answer:
Glenn can make some country candle lanterns
from his coffee cans or from
any size can.
1. Fill the can with water and freeze it.
This keeps the can from bending
when you puncture it in the next step.
2. Using a hammer and an ice pick or small
pointed screwdriver, puncture
the can in decorative patterns, such as
concentric circles, zig-zags,
simple quilt patterns, stars, etc.
Keep it simple.
3. Thaw the ice and re-cycle the water.
If the can has a painted-on label,
spray paint it all one color. I use
silver or chrome.
4. Put candles inside the can.
Uses: varying sizes of candle lanterns on
a mantel at the holidays, with
some greenery interspersed, as a substitute
for jack o lanterns at
Halloween, for parties, camping - we even
used them as table centerpieces
at a country wedding.
As for the plastic lid - cut a narrow slit
in the center of it , push the
handle of your paintbrush through it and
it will help keep your hands from
drips.
Laurann
Question: Where do I find raw materials for chimes???
Answer:
In reference to the item in the newsletter
about raw material for wind chimes. I am
wondering if Clodene has tried her local
hardware store for the piping for the chimes.
They will also have instruction sheets
on how to cut the pipe. Hope this helps. Mary
If you love crafts you would have been in craft heaven at the annual Association for Craft & Creative Industries (ACCI) Show held recently in Chicago. This wholesale trade show featured everything that’s new and hot from all the craft and craft related suppliers in miles of booths that filled the Rosemont Convention Center.
If you are looking for some good ideas for Arts & Craft Shows this fall, here some of the trends that surfaced at this show.
Heirloom seems to be the buzzword for this year! Memory albums have given way to a whole new category of craft possibilities. Cute had been transformed to classic. There were so many booths that supported this trend it was unmistakable! Items that capture that part of us that want to be connected with our past or those things that will connect future generations to ours were the big winners at the show. Connecting the generations is what heirloom is all about. From Christmas memory ornaments to baby items to grandparent gifts, capturing the moment for posterity is a major craft category!
The new faux finishes have opened a whole new world for crafters. Most anything can be transformed from plain to priceless with the wipe of a cloth. Garden stepping stones, treated with the new patinas, looked pieces from galleries! Some of the faux stained glass products would even make Tiffany take a second look!
One of the neatest items was a new product from Jaquard. They have computer printable silk scarf kits! You design the perfect silk scarf on your PC and then simply print it out on their silk fused paper! The color is permanent and vivid! Once it is printed you simply iron the scarf to set the color, remove the paper and you have a beautiful one of a kind silk scarf! I know there are a million possibilities for crafters with some imagination, silk fabric and a roll of freezer paper if they prefer not to purchase the kits!
Fiber arts are definitely a huge part of the craft industry. One company from Australia was selling the most beautiful ‘silk’ embroidery threads that were made from Milk! Incredible texture and colors! Ribbon crafts are plentiful with more and more pull thread and wired ribbons at very affordable prices. So many of these items can be used for crafts that tap into the home décor part of this market. John Nesbitt, the keynote speaker for the convention, stated that " We cocooned during the 80’s, in the 90’s we are feathering our nests!" Crafts that comfort and enhance our homes are hot!
Soft crafts like dolls and teddy bears are still perennial favorites. Lots of new fabrics for teddy bears! Real and fake mohair is getting harder to tell apart except when you see the price tags! As for dolls – the trend is obvious. Cuddly or classic cloth dolls are big! Cloth doll lovers will enjoy lots of new patterns that are available. Airtex has decided to sell its wonderful pastel fiberfill year round instead of just the spring holiday season. Pink, green, yellow and lavender are available! Makes the neatest hair for fairies and elves! Another hot item is Chenille – the bedspread kind! Daisy Kingdom has a new line of craft cuts and patterns for a number of adorable and cuddly toys and crafts. This stuff will just melt your heart!
Wearable Art is getting more and more attention as there are so many new dimensional paints for fabrics as well as paints and trims that turn an ordinary shirt into a fashion statement! For kids clothes there are a ton of hot new ways to dress up shoes, shirts, & hats! Lots of new stuff that kids can use to say "I made it myself!"
Crafting has really gone high-tech as more and more companies are developing software for the crafter! Everything from photo albums, quilts, cards, pattern design for cloths, needlework & cross stitch, to memory night light kits are available in software packages. There are many new products that allow you transfer pictures to fabric with the help of your PC and color printer. Watch your craft & computer software stores for more and more of these great products to hit the market!
These trade shows are always interesting and fun. Every booth hopes they will have the hot new product of the year. It’s we the crafters that will determine the winners by our response to the products when they hit the stores! Hope that some of these things have stirred your imagination!
See you next time in the Doll Corner or come visit me at Sisters And Daughters, a complete source for the Cloth Doll Maker!
Sincerely,
Diane Lewis
diane@sistersanddaughters.com
Sisters
and Daughters Inc.
http://www.sistersanddaughters.com/
Note from editor:
Diane is the owner of Sisters and Daughters Inc., which is a complete source
for Cloth Doll Makers, and a regular contributor to Crafty Visions Newsletter.
She is offering a great special! All you have to do is register and you
will be given a 10% discount on your Birthday! To register stop by their
site at http://www.sistersanddaughters.com/
How???
Well, check out Alumni Hall (http://CraftyCollege.com/alumnihall/) at Crafty College. Here you will find many original dolls pictured. These are not the typical designs that you see for sale as patterns at your local doll shop or online, these are ones designed by students taking doll design classes online! Many for these dolls represent the first dolls designed by these students.
Please check out the original creations of these students and take the plunge and instead of making other designers dolls learn how to design them your self! More information is available at http://CraftyCollege.com
If you still want a free pattern there
are links to six patterns on The Doll Net
(http://TheDollNet.com)
Editor's Note: The doll shown was designed
by Judi Ward based on the techniques taught at Crafty College in her design
classes. This one-of-a-kind original doll is a "Has Been Show Girl".
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Trace the pattern on your posterboard or Manila folder and color it. Cut out the outside shape. On the back side write your letter or message. Turning the picture over cut along the traced lines. Place the pieces in an addressed envelope and send them to a friend. The friend will then have to put the puzzle together to read your message.
Materials:
Fold the lace in half placing one end through the split key ring, center the key ring and tie an overhand knot approximately ½" down from the middle of the lace. Place both ends of the lace through the first bead, pushing bead up to the knot. Tie a square knot to hold the bead in place. Add a second bead followed by another square knot and continue until you have used all 16 beads. Slide the snap hook onto one strand of the lace and tie a square knot to hold the hook in place.
Slide both ends of the lace back through the last bead and trim the lace close to the bead. Hook the snap hook through the lace loop that holds the split key ring. This makes a key ring bracelet.
Materials:
Wash the rock well and use an old toothbrush or hand brush to remove any loose material. Allow to dry thoroughly. With your sponge brush paint the rock completely in the color of your choice. With the metallic paint write # 1 on your rock. With your permanent marker finish writing "You're # 1" or "# 1 Dad". Allow to dry. Paint designs with the metallic paint to decorate the paper weight. When dry apply two layers of varnish allowing it to dry between layers.
You can make each a different color or print or make the all the
same color.
All seam allowances are 1/4"
Material:
Sew the 3.5" X 6" piece of fabric into a tube 6" long. Sew one circle into each end of the tube leaving an opening to turn and stuff.
Repeat with the other two pieces of fabric. Place the 3 stuffed tubes
grouped together
with the bottoms even and tack them in place.
Glue one piece of chenille in the center top of each tube. Glue short
bits of red, yellow
and gold thread to the of the stem to represent the lit firecracker.
Add the eyes and embroider a mouth to each. You can add cheeks to
the middle sized firecracker. Attach the pin back and wear to celebrate
the 4th of July.
Great 4th of July picnic food. Serve hot or cold with lettuce salad, sliced tomatoes and pickles.
Makes10 muffins
Split flakey biscuits horizontally. Place one half in the muffin tin and with your fingers gently press to form up sides. Add 2 tablespoons of pre cooked ground meat/meat loaf and top with cheese. Place the remaining half biscuit on top and gently pinch the sides together to seal. Place a small cut in the center top and bake in a 375 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes until muffins are golden brown.
Frost each snack cake with the white canned frosting and then using the colored gel alternate stripes of red and blue and white down the firecracker shape.
Paint the Wooden ball for the head (either brown or peach) Let dry.
Sand smooth.
Dip dot the eyes with the end of the paint brush. (2 dots of black) Let dry.
With a Q-tip apply 2 large dots of blush to their cheeks. If you want a mouth use the marker to make a U shape.
Cut the hair into small pieces and glue to her head. Cut a rectangle of unfolded white paper twist aprox 2" long. Fold in half lengthwise. With the fold away from you take the 2 top corners and bring them together even with the fold. Attach with a small amount of the Elmers glue. This forms the Nurses cap. (I wish I could show you this.) The cap can be attached with the hot glue.
Paint the pot white. Let dry Use the marker to draw on a collar. You may add the same dip dots for tiny buttons. Her arms could be white ribbon. Take 1 length and tie a knot in the middle this forms her folded hands Glue the 2 ends (her arms) to the "shoulders" of the pot. Now, don't forget to glue her head on.
Carefully remove the rose petals from the rose. Beginning with the inner petal group, glue the center to the bottom of the glass votive cup allowing the petals to cup around the glass but not extending over the top of the glass cup.
Add each successive petal group being sure that the petals in each layer fall between the petal in the layer before. Continue until you have formed a full rose. Add the leaves and glue the cardboard circle to the bottom as a base. Add the candle and it is ready to present as a pretty gift.
Card: Fold the card stock in half from top to bottom and then in half from left to right to form a card. With your glue stick, apply a small amount to the back of each flower and arrange in a pleasing design on the front of the card. Carefully tear your waxed paper to fit folded over the card. Place a thin line of glue along the fold of the card stock and fold the waxed paper over the card stock and press into the glue. Open the card and write your message.
Envelope: Use a piece of gift wrap or a picture from an old calendar, etc. as your envelope. Place the card diagonally on the wrong side of the picture or wrap, fold the bottom up and trim the point just below the card edge. Fold the right and left side in using craft glue to tack along the edge. Trim the remaining edge, fold it down over the point where the other three edges meet and use a sticker or stick glue to seal the envelope. A plain white self stick address label can be used for the address.
????
Hi My name is Julie first I enjoy your newsletter very much I use
a lot of the crafts as I am involved with a lot of children's groups.
What I need now are crafts having to do with vegetables. The
programs we are doing this year in Vacation Bible School is called 'Veggie
Tales" and I am in charge of the crafts so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You! Julie - juledfransee@centuryinter.net
????
I do crafts once a month at a senior citizen center. Any ideas
for people that have trouble doing small detailed work?
Thanks, Cindy - meimd@email.msn.com
????
Our youth group needs to raise some money for activities and since
we all like arts and crafts, we decided to have an end-of-the-world crafts
sale. My question is, do you have any ideas on what sells the best?
We don't want to waste money on materials for things that will not sell
well. Our best guess is that articles of clothing and jewelry will sell
very
well, rather than things that are purely decorative? Perhaps
you or some of your readers can share your bazaar experiences. (oops!
"bazaar experiences" sounds funny. That didn't come out exactly right!)
We also have 40 windows that we salvaged from a house. Can you think of any ways to decorate them or otherwise turn them into art objects?
Thank you, Laurann - lwakefield@lbusd.k12.ca.us
????
Does anyone have any different ideas on what to do with kitchen
towels......... Like knitting (I don't crochet) the hangers for the towels
with a button or velcro???? What else could be done??? Anyone
have any ideas? I don't think you can ever have toooooo many towels!!!!
Thanks in advance for any ideas... Glenna - cp21@ids.net
????
I desperately need a recipe for paper mache that is cheap.
I believe there is one that is cooked on the stove top but I am having
difficulties finding this. Can you help? Ronnie - soro@netconnect.com.au
????
I Know how to make a basic candle I want to know how I can decorate
it . And also would like to know about sites that clearly teach you Origami
for Kids. In one of the projects there is a mention of Bread Dough, can
someone please tell me how it is made.
Thanks, Panna - hetab@hotmail.com
????
I am looking for a pattern of a turkey that uses lollipops as it
tail. I don't know if it is a leisure arts, or needlecraft pattern.
I'm a new grandma and would love to have it for thanksgiving. Thank
you for your help. - jpv1@webtv.net
1) New on The
Doll Net :
(http://TheDollNet.com)
The CLOTH DOLL® Online!
Warehouse Reduction Sale!
Special back issue offer - Only $3.50 an issue!
http://TheClothDoll.com/
Sisters & Daughters, Inc.
New Cloth Doll Supplies and Patterns
Also Register for your Birthday Discount!
http://SistersAndDaughters.com/
Doll Challenge - SEW ME A STORY!
http://TheDollNet.com
People's Choice Award Winner - Celebrating Black Doll Art
http://TheDollNet.com
Free China Paint Tips! - Jean Nordquist Dolls
http://JeanNordquistDolls.com
And Much More!!!! - http://TheDollNet.com
2) Crafty College - New Classes/Dates
- ALL TAUGHT ONLINE!
http://CraftyCollege.com
3) Kids Projects - Bluebonnet
Crafters!
This year Bluebonnet Crafters will be adding extra craft projects for the younger crafters to The Hatchling Day School (http://bluebonnetvillage.com/school.htm) rather than a separate "Kids Summer Craft Camp".
It is their hope to make things easier for you. No sign
up, no fuss just
check by every two weeks and check out the new project
beginning June 22 and continuing through the first week of September.
Drop them a note and let them know what type of crafts you want to see.
Bluebonnet Crafters
e-mail: bluebonnet@BluebonnetVillage.com
URL: http://www.BluebonnetVillage.com
Contributors:e-mail: bluebonnet@BluebonnetVillage.com
URL: http://www.BluebonnetVillage.com
e-mail:Country.Cuts@juno.com
URL: http://home.att.net/~DLeddy/
e-mail: Diane@SistersAndDaughters.com
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