• Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Catching up…again

    April 25, 2016 - By 

    I feel like I’m always behind in posting lately. Not sure why that is but it happens all too often in my opinion.

    Last time at craft club,  I was trying to replicate this card that I had found many years ago in my dad’s room at the nursing home. It was such a sweet card with a clever design. I knew one day I wanted to try it for myself.

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    I decided to use a pack of cards from Michael’s that were color-coordinated as my base.

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    Of course this is just a start.

    I’ve also started work on a commission. I’m making a scrapbook album from a children’s board book.

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    I started by ripping the printed images off all the pages.

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    So far I’ve only gotten the outside background papers in place. I realize that I can’t force it…either I’m feeling creative or I’m not. Evidently I’m not feeling scrapbooky right now. 🙂

    Mini-me and I were out of town this past weekend for our annual mother daughter retreat. More on that tomorrow.

  • Art - Blog

    Dramatic colors

    April 7, 2016 - By 

    After completing the cover on my last art journal, I had some scraps of stamped tissue paper laying around. I layered the lovely brown tissue on the pages. This gave my background instant texture and an even more aged feel than the original pages already have.

    dramatic colors | Halle's Hobbies

    I really enjoy this color combo. It’s bold yet not something that makes you search for your sunglasses.

    It didn’t occur to me until just now that this journal entry is very similar to a small canvas creation that adorns my livingroom.

    dramatic colors | Halle's Hobbies

    Someone is very curious about mom’s camera…

    Halle's Hobbies

    As I was saying…before my ADD had me running up to take a photo of the livingroom wall…this color combo is obviously something I like a lot. The complementary colors work so well and the black and white accents give a nice pop.

    dramatic colors | Halle's Hobbies

  • Art - Blog - Crafts

    A second look: Upcycling Projects

    April 2, 2016 - By 

    Secondlook

    Since it’s April and this month is Earth Month I thought I’d share a second look at a bit of upcycling from a few years ago.

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    Oct 6, 2013

    Upcycling Projects

     

    We all know how to recycle and I’m sure most do it daily. Newspapers, cardboard, glass and plastic are all readily recyclable in most cities, at least across the USA.

    This is wonderful! But I’ve been really focused on upcycling lately.  Finding a new use for something that would ordinarily be tossed out.  Wine corks, bottle caps, worn out clothing, stained linens, broken plates…you get the idea.treesI showed a sneak peek of these a while ago. I made a wine cork tree last year but this time I decided to change things a bit. I used a Champagne cork cut in half for the trunk.  I think they turned out really cute.

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    I’ve also been using some scraps from previous projects such as the denim remaining after completing a quilt or two.  As well as the remainder of the dress shirts that I made wine bottle gift bags from.

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    In addition I’ve been making a bunch more cards. I’ll show more of these last two projects at a later date. The cards have much less upcycling in it’s truest sense but I am still attempting to include elements that might otherwise be considered unusable such as tiny scraps of fabric and yarn. As well as photo trimmings. I have a cigar box full of photo trimmings…they have such vibrant colors that it’s a shame to toss them out.

    It doesn’t have to be Earth Day to be a little “green”. Do a little more every day to be kind to our planet. Last time I checked…it’s the only one we have. 🙂

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    If you’d like to see more recycling and upcycling projects please use the tag cloud on my sidebar.