Category : Creativity

612 posts

Soaping today

The garage is finally a comfortable temperature again so I got my soap making supplies out and made two batches this morning. The first was an unscented batch that I felt comfortable making again as it turned out well the first time around.  soap

Next I decided to branch out a bit with new recipe, fragrance and an inclusion. I’d observed this soap being made by my friend Patty so I had a clue before starting.

The inclusion is oatmeal ground in my coffee grinder. I sprinkled a few oats on top of the mold so I’d be able to tell the two batches apart very soap moldseasily.  The oatmeal acts as a wonderful exfoliant and general grime fighter.

The molds are tucked away in the storage room waiting to be released from the molds in 24 hrs or so. I lifted the wool blanket a wee to show you the two batches. There was a lot of heat under there.

 

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Beyond the list

sept cardsIf you joined me for T stands for Tuesday, you know that I had a list long enough to choke a horse. I usually do but I always try to allow for a little “playtime” each day as well.  I can’t say that it happens all the time but I am ever grateful when it does.

We have some occasions this month that are in need of greeting cards so I’ve been hard at work creating them for the events.

20130902_3343In addition, I’ve been making a bit of miniature terrain as well. While Mr. G was purging the office, I spied a few pieces that looked like they would work really well as gaming terrain.

These first three were….CD spindles. Did you guess right?

I thought they’d make good bunker or storage pieces.

20130901_3331Next came some molded Styrofoam packing pieces from a very ancient…in the computer world…CDROM drive. I looked at it an saw another bunker, nearly the same design as one you’d pay  upwards of $50 for. Crazy, right? So I cut it in half and glued it together….now I have two!

20130902_3342After adding some additional foam pieces and painting the whole works with a mix of gesso and black craft paint, I spray painted everything with my splatter technique.

I layer the colors of spray paint without letting it dry between coats.

I use a light hand with the color. It gives a rich depth of color…almost an airbrush effect.

I used 5 colors of spray paint on these pieces.20130902_3339 They were obtained from the recycle center and my folks place.

I know this is not my usual type of art but sometimes I get a very different crafty bent. This happens to be one of those weeks.

Hope I didn’t scare you off. :)

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Operation Write Home

At craft club, I learned about an organization called Operation Write Home that provides greeting cards to military personnel for them to send home to loved ones.  They are able to provide these by donations from crafters. sketch 187

What a cool idea!! I’m so in!!

While browsing the site I saw that they often do challenges in the form of a sketch for cards. You can take the sketch and make any kind of card you so desire.

The latest was sketch#187.  This is my interpretation.

thoughts of youthanks

 

I don’t usually work that way when it comes to cards, so this was quite a challenge for me.

I’m thinking I’ll try and work through a few more of the sketches from previous challenges to see if I can work on my direction following. :)

In the mean time, I’ll still be creating cards in my own way.

Going with my instinct…letting it happen naturally.

Sometimes I love the end result…sometimes not.

The point is to keep on being creative every day.

 

And by the way….

thanks for stopping by.

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Remember to play

remember to play

As summer is winding down, schedules start to fill. Meetings, homework, activities and appointments take up all the free time we’ve been accustomed to for the past 3 months.

This thought came to me as I was working on this page…

 

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The rhythm of nature

20130825_3229

With the hot and humid yuck of August fully upon us, I was feeling the need for something I little more Spring-like.

This journal is nearly full. If I can get 3 more entries to fit, I’ll be really surprised. Good thing I have another going and yet another book waiting in the wings.

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Every purpose under heaven

20130821_3165Layer, layers and more layers for this journal page. I had an idea in mind when I started. What was in my head didn’t match in the least bit what was coming out on the page.

I walked away for a couple days…literally.

I really liked pieces of the pages so I took my circle stamp to those parts.  I filled in around with blue and white with my fingers. I’ve really got to remember to get a picture of my hands one of these days all covered with paint. But I digress…20130821_3166

Anyone remember the 1984 movie Footloose? Well, I certainly do. It’s still a favorite of mine.

This set of Bible verses was used in a scene by Ren McCormack, played by Kevin Bacon, as he was trying to convince the very conservative city council to allow the high school kids to have a dance. This scene amazed me to hear that the Bible said dancing was ok because I grew up in a very conservative church that dancing was not allowed either.  Its a beautiful and powerful set of verses.

20130821_3168I decided that the verse needed to be added after I looked at the pages. I thought that might be a view from heaven…the universe in front of you…all the stars and planets.

 

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T Tuesday: a week in review

T TuesdayHere it is Tuesday again and I’m linking up with my friend Elizabeth for T stands for Tuesday. I’m pretty sure time is speeding up as we approach Labor Day and the start of school.

Little J and I made use of the time that her big brother was at camp last week. Being a teenage boy, he hates shopping. I’m not so fond of it myself but my girl…she can shop!! We went to Kohl’s 3 days last week. Yikes! The third was unscheduled…we stopped by my mom’s and she wanted to get something to wear for an upcoming wedding.

thank you cardLittle J and I also went to Goodwill twice, Costco, the Mall (not MOA), ACE hardware, Target and of course, the grocery store.  Geesh. We didn’t buy a lot but all those add up to a lot of time and moola. But now with the exception of shoes for the boy…I am DONE!! No more shopping for school.

We had a quiet weekend with a neighborhood bonfire Saturday. Late Sunday evening was a bit more exciting. We were watching a movie when the power went out. Everyone seemed to come out from their homes to see if the world swimwas ending or if it was just them without electricity.  Power was out for a huge area even though it was a gorgeous night without a cloud in the sky. We have yet to find out why.

In addition, we’ve been still Cuttlebug crazy. I’m going to get it all packed up and give it back this week. I want my family room back!!

Since the hot humid weather has finally found its way back to MN…we went for a dip in a friends pool. Ah, refreshing.

Today we have another busy Tuesday on tap. It’s going to be a scorcher too! Yuck.

What are you doing today?

Maybe you should stop by Bleubeard and Elizabeth’s for a spell.

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