Think Crafts Blog - Craft Ideas and Projects - CreateForLess

This is the front of the shed, you can see some of the original plus the extension. That's one of my dogs, Edison, enjoying the sunshine.

The New Year is upon us and I have to say I really don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions, but it might be time to take part in this yearly tradition since right now my house is pure chaos. It all started when I decided I wanted an extension to my shed in the backyard.  My shed is really a very nice studio, but we still refer to it as “The Shed” since that’s what it was originally supposed to be, a place for the lawnmower and other gardening tools.  However, my husband did such a fine job in building his shed that it became my studio. 

A back view of the shed showing the extension.

Now most creative people would have been thrilled to have 20′ x 22′ under roof with a built in stereo and air conditioning, but I felt that if I had just 10′ x 12′ more… I’d have the dream studio of all time in my backyard.  Thus, the extension was underway.  Granted my husband has a real full time job that has nothing to do with building sheds for creative people, so he has worked weekends to complete my extension since September.  It’s been amazing.  Concrete floor poured.  Wood framing framed.  A roof appeared and the walls went up!  Then an opening was cut between the two and a doorway was created.  I got a huge picture window along one of the new walls.  Finally the flooring went down and it was time to move in all my craft supplies.

Craft supplies all over the counter tops of my kitchen!

Ok, here comes the chaos.  I decided since I had so much space I could move every single piece of art and craft materials into the new and improved shed.  Sounded simple.  Didn’t seem like a big deal.  Have I mentioned lately that I’m a bit of a “not quite living in reality” type of person?

More craft materials lined up in my living room!

You got it.  I have more stuff than the average craft store has in its end of the year inventory.  And I’d put it EVERYWHERE! I bravely have begun to gather all the various supplies into my dining room, kitchen, and living room.  I’ve got stacks here, I’ve got stacks there.  I’ve got piles of yarn, wool roving, and looms.  I’ve got boxes and boxes of paper making supplies including two huge paper presses.  I’ve got tools, kilns, and torches! And man oh man do I have beads, jewelry findings, and a million buttons!

The piles of craft stuff are getting higher and higher, oh, my!

Where the heck am I going to put all this stuff in my new, wonderful, uncluttered shed?

I think my craft supplies are secretly multiplying!

I resolve that by the end of 2009 I will be organized!  Happy New Year and stay tuned……

For many years I worked as a silk painting demonstrator for Rupert, Gibbon, & Spider, the company that makes Jacquard Products. I loved demonstrating silk painting mainly because it’s a really easy technique that gives brilliant results. During our recent trip to Turks & Caicos I found some silk painting that really caught my eye. I think the pieces fascinated me so much because it wasn’t your typical scarf or tie, but a very up scaled craft application for gift tags and bookmarks!

I am always amazed at the creativity I find as I travel. I’m inspired when artists and crafters think outside the box and match their creative skills to what the consumer is willing to buy.  I might not immediately buy a $200 silk painted scarf, but I did buy $30 worth of gift tags and bookmarks!  The local silk painting artist in Turks & Caicos knew that her consumer was the tourist seeking souvenirs and keepsakes to take back home.  While one or two of the day’s tourists might buy more expensive items, she didn’t lose a potential customer like me by including some less expensive options, yet still kept her designs fresh, innovative, and charming!

We can all learn from that savvy artist down in the islands of Turks & Caicos.  If you want to make a living from your art or craft you must take the time to learn and understand your customer.  High ticket items will sell, but mid to lower ticket items will sell faster in most markets.  Take a look at what I purchased.

Bright brilliant colors make silk painting an eye catching technique! I got the ladybug gift tags for a friend and the fish gift tags for myself. The silk painting is sandwiched between the paper bookmark within a window making it look like stained glass.

Quick Tip!

Round paint brushes are usually the best for silk painting when you need to paint into small places or paint in details.  Flat brushes are best for broad areas that need to be painted.  A quality brush will do most of the work for you!

I must have a ton of beads!  I’m hopelessly addicted to beads.  I buy for color; I love orange.  I buy for shape; I love tablet, oval, and round.  I buy for motif; I love fish, sealife, and flowers.  I have small beads like seed and E beads.  I have medium beads of shell, ceramic, and glass.  And I have large beads of clay, crystal, and wood.  And with so many beads, it’s easy to forget exactly what I have.

I recently just re-organized my beads because I couldn’t remember everything I had.  Because if you have beads, you most likely have all the supplies needed to make jewelry, meaning you need to keep up with all your findings!  For me the real key to organization is that the organizers need to be clear, I need to be able to see at a glance what is in my organizers!

Organization can be a bore, but somehow I’m never bored when organizing my beads.  I enjoy seeing all my treasures, touching each to feel the texture, and coordinating the colors.  I get happy all over again and think about all the jewelry I can make.  I organize first by type of bead, which usually boils down to size. And then I organize by color or metal.  It’s important that you follow your way of thinking when you organize.  If your first thought is color, then organize by color. If your first thought is that’s a glass bead, organize by material used to make the beads.

 I love the above organizer!  I like the sturdy, permanant compartments and that it shuts very securely. I’ve used organizers with adjustable compartments, but most aren’t stable so your beads end up mixing.  Adjustable organizers are better for larger items or maybe threads.

I have tons of seed beads and hated having to store them in original packages, it just made organization difficult so I was happy to find this type of organizer so I can store my seed beads by color and easily find the color I need!

How do you organize your craft supplies?  Come on!  Share!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

When I first started crafting after college, I would sit and cut fabric for hours.  My hands would actually go numb.  I never gave it a second thought, but maybe I should have.  We are learning more and more than repetitive movements done until you feel pain is just not a healthy thing to do!  Be comfortable and enjoy your hours of scrapbooking, rubberstamping, card making, and other paper arts.  Here are a few tips to make your adventures fun, safe, and more enjoyable.  Remember, comfort and safety first.

Ergonomics for the crafter means using tools that are comfortable and properly fitted.  It also means using good lighting, proper chair posture, and learning to get up and move every so often.  Here are a few pointers:

• Chair:  Invest in a proper sized chair for your work area(s) if you sit for more than 1/3 of your day.  You should be able to sit back comfortably in the chair with your feet flat to the floor.  Do not cross your legs.
• Take Breaks:  Schedule regular 15-minute breaks for every two hours.  Every 30 minutes stand and stretch.  Take a walk, wash your hands, or splash some water on your face. You’ll be more “mentally” ready and refreshed.
• Work In A Circle & Semi-Circle:  Create a work area that forms a circle.  The more a tool or supply is used the closer it should be to your reach and towards the front of the work circle (the front of the work circle is the area in front of you as you are sitting). 
• No Slouching:  Mom was correct, you should watch your posture to avoid neck and back problems.  Adjust your chair or worktable to help avoid slouching or hunching over your projects.
• Take Notice:  Make notes of repetitive movements.  Try to vary and change the repetitive movements.
• Lighting:  Invest in it.  Natural light is the best, but make sure that there is plenty of non-glare lighting.  Try to use as much full spectrum lighting as you can in your work area.
• Tools:  Try and test tools before buying and look for user-friendly designs like spring-loaded, padded handles, easy grips, and other comforts.  One size rarely fits all!  Get the proper fit!
• Pain Means No Gain:  If it hurts, feels painful, goes numb, or any other discomfort is felt…STOP.  Learn a new way of doing the situation or process.  Your hand wasn’t designed to hold scissors and cut for hours.  Break up your tasks.  Spend 15 minutes cropping, then move on to 15 minutes of designing…
• Be Well Rested:  Don’t work or play when tired or fatigued.  The number one cause of accidents is carelessness and carelessness is often brought on by fatigue.  You can’t really enjoy your creativity if you are fighting to keep your eyes open. 
• A Place For Everything:  Keep everything in its place, and that is not on the floor or any other traffic area.  Organize as best you can and don’t let your work area get too cluttered.  A few minutes cleaning up and putting up can save you hours later!

A Friendly Plastic Challenge

We welcome guest blogger Helen Bradley who has news about a Friendly Plastic challenge and helpful information for working with Friendly Plastic.

Hello…

I’m pleased to announce that AMACO is celebrating its 90^th birthday in 2009 and it is having a Friendly Plastic Challenge to coincide with this.

All crafters are invited to join in the challenge and to make projects using the very wonderful Friendly Plastic Design Sticks. Friendly Plastic is an inexpensive, colorful and easy-to-use plastic material which can be molded into shapes and it softens in hot water so it’s a great crafting medium for kids.

The project categories for the challenge include a Best Focal Bead which must be made using one of the AMACO bead rollers, Best Valentine’s Jewelry Ensemble, Best Butterfly - the butterflies will be donated to the Holocaust Museum Houston and Best Bottle of Hope. There are specific requirements for each of these categories and the pieces will need to be submitted by the December 1 to AMACO. You can find more information about the Challenge by clicking on this link: Friendly Plastic Challenge. There is also an entry form that needs to be filled in and submitted with your challenge entry.

If you’ve never played with Friend Plastic before you are in for a treat. Here is a step by step for making a butterfly for the challenge and some quick tips for working with it:

Step 1

To get started with the Friendly Plastic, cut it into pieces or punch it with a robust hole punch. We find that the Tim Holtz micro serrated scissors made by Tonic work particularly well with Friendly Plastic. To create a marbleized effect for your butterfly, cut a series of long strips of Friendly Plastic.

Line up your cut pieces of Friendly Plastic.

Step 2

While you can soften the Friendly Plastic in hot water, an embossing Heat Gun works particularly well. Using the heat gun heat one of the cut strips of Friendly Plastic until you can see it starting to melt. Push the edge of the second strip into the softened edge of the melted strip and continue softening the plastic and pressing strips together. If you melt and press the pieces together you ensure you do not have spaces between the strips.

Step 3

To create the marbleized effect, take a marbling comb or something similar and starting beyond the edge of the molten plastic drag through the plastic across the stripes, all the from one side to the other.

Step 4

Ensuring that the plastic is still warm and very soft, start at the opposite side and place the marbling comb in between the drag lines you just made and this time drag back the other way. Make sure to start the movement with the comb well before you touch the Friendly Plastic and drag through the entire plastic layer, not just its surface.

Once cooled add dots of metallic paint.

Step 5

When the marbling is complete, allow the plastic to cool and then use the marbled pieces for your project.

To make our butterfly we punched out some small circles of Friendly Plastic and placed them on the marbled piece and heated it to melt the pieces together. To make the butterfly, take a butterfly shape cookie cutter and dip it into a bowl of warm water that has some cooking oil in it. Press it into the soft Friendly Plastic to cut out a butterfly shape - the oil will prevent the plastic from sticking to the cutter.

Butterfly

Tips for using rubber stamps

Friendly Plastic can be stamped using a rubber stamp. Take care to press the rubber stamp into the Friendly Plastic and leave it until the plastic cools and sets. If you remove the rubberstamp from the Friendly Plastic too quickly it will stick to the rubber stamp. Don’t use acrylic stamps with the Friendly Plastic.

Tips for working with art molds

Heat resistant art molds that have a built in release mechanism such as those from Krafty Lady Art Molds (www.kraftylady.com) work will with Friendly Plastic. Push pieces of the Friendly Plastic into the art mold and heat them to soften them. Continue to press Friendly Plastic into the mold taking care to heat the plastic enough that it softens and you can press it into the mold but not so much you burn yourself.

Tips for working with Bead Rollers

Coat the channel of the bead roller with some cooling oil (we use olive oil) so the Friendly plastic won’t stick. Soften the amount of Friendly Plastic required to fill the channel and roll the bead. To make a hole in the bead, heat a metal pin, coat it in olive oil and poke it through the bead. Leave it in place until the Friendly Plastic cools and then twist it and remove it.