• Blog - Crafts - Creativity - Kitchen

    Interpretive crochet

    August 11, 2017 - By 

    That’s what I decided to call my near inability to follow a pattern. I’ve decided that I’m ok with that. I crochet mainly for myself making dishcloths. My stemware really doesn’t care if I have too many or too few stitches. Why should I?interpretive crochet

    Honestly, I can and have followed a pattern…once for sure.  The green hexagonal dishcloth proves it. I’m pretty sure the purple one is correct as well. The rest of them..not so much.

    interpretive crochet

    I tend to crochet when I’m waiting or watching TV. I think its the TV that screws me up with the whole pattern thing. OH well. They are pretty and will certainly clean dishes so that’s all that matters.

    Incidentally…the purple yarn is the last of my cabbage dyed yarn.

  • Blog

    T Tuesday: tree house edition

    August 8, 2017 - By 

    Mini-me and I took a little excursion to the MN Landscape Arboretum. We had several things in mind. Photography, exercise and scouting locations for senior pictures. As we walked the 3 mile drive we saw a few of the art installations for this year.

    Amazing Spaces: tree houses is the overall theme. We did not see all of them nor did I get photos of each. Each was unique. Some better than others or perhaps more detailed and understandable in concept.

    This is the one I fell in love with.  A human sized birdhouse as you can see by Mini-me peering through the glass.

    I was amazed and thrilled by the level of detail that went into the interior.

    As I stood on the step to take it all in, I saw that someone had set things up for tea. Oh how I wished that we could sit and have tea for real inside.

    All-in-all it was a great morning spent with my girl. Incidentally we did go back with J to take senior pictures. They turned out great. There is a little part of me that really wants to share a couple of my favorites but I made the decision long ago to never show their faces or use real names for them as they are minors.

    We still plan to take more senior pictures in a more urban setting as well…just to make the choice even more difficult. LOL

    Today Mini-me and I might go to the zoo…or else that will be tomorrow. Today we’d be on the clock to get home in time for a meeting. I don’t like to rush fun outings especially when they are quite pricey like the MN Zoo!!

    This is our last “free week” or I should say mostly free week so we are trying to get in some stay-cation activities before that school bell rings.

    What are you doing today?

    T stands for Tuesday
  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    A second look: Art Journal vs Altered book

    August 2, 2017 - By 

    This month for Second on the 2nd I wanted to reshare or perhaps rehash the debate over art journals vs altered books. Let me know your thoughts.

    Take a look….

    altered book vs art journal | Halle's Hobbies

    Over the years there seems to have been a shift in the verbiage used to describe the process of taking a book of little or no use and making it into a piece of art. Or perhaps it could even be a book with great meaning to you and you want to express yourself within it. Either way…you are altering it from it’s original purpose. Hence the name altered book, right?!  But the line has been blurred as mixed media and collage entered the scrapbook and paper arts world. I’m not saying this is a bad thing…more products, techniques, blogs and tutorials out there. Mixed media entered the main stream. Along with that is where the shift happened from altered books to art journals.

    I’ve always felt (and still do) that explaining to outsiders what an altered book was bordered on exhausting at times. I’d, all too often, get a blank stare from the person I was talking to about my new passion. Somehow changing the way I described what I was doing as art journaling made more sense to my audience. Oh, it’s just art in journal form. Sure, if that makes it easier for you to understand…I’m cool with that.

    For me, I feel as if the difference between an altered book and an art journal has a couple different facets. An altered book must first of all have been a written and published book. Secondly, for it to be an altered book, it has a theme.  Such as this Vintage Fashion altered book….which happens to be the first round robin altered book swap I ever participated in.  Too bad postage costs have skyrocketed since then.

    vintage fashion altered book | Halle's Hobbies

     After completing a few themed altered books, I began creating pages randomly with no theme. Just a place to play and be creative. Somewhere along the line I started calling my “no theme” altered books, art journals. It seemed easier or perhaps more logical way to describe them once I heard more about art journals.

    For me, I feel an art journal can be comprised of any substrate. Plain or scrapbook paper, card stock, bound journal, moleskin, cardboard. You name it…it’s likely been tried…as well as, you guessed it….published books. This causes the dreaded crossover…well, is it an art journal or an altered book? I feel as if I’m talking in circles.

    I think what it comes down to is personal preference. It is art after all. You can call it whatever you want. We all define what we think is art in very different ways. You aren’t going to please everyone and you shouldn’t try. Art is an expression of yourself. There are no hard and fast rules…which is why I got interested in altered art 11 years ago.

    So there you have it…my opinion on the difference between an altered book and an art journal. What is your take on this subject? Do you agree or have another ideas? I’d love to hear your opinions.