Friday, June 15, 2012

Gale's Gallery VI: Simple, Yet Satisfying Projects

Wishing a Happy Father's Day to all!  

Long time, no write.  I apologize for the delay, but I really want to write something of value and not just fill up cyberspace.  So, there will likely be gaps in my weekly routine and maybe I will hit on something that inspires me to write more than one in a week:)

I have been busy selling appliances, running errands and doing chores.  There are days though that I just HAVE to create a little something.  I've talked about some of my more "involved" projects, but there are lots of little projects that can be "satisfying."  I also love the crafting with family and friends, so small projects fill a double role.

Here are some to try:  (Author's note:  If you want inspiration, go to the web or cable tv.  Some of my favorites for quick projects are scrapbooksoup.com, crafttv.com, marthastewart.com, Carol Duvall's projects on HGTV.com and diy.net to name a few.)

Last week Audra and I tried a quick project that only takes a few supplies (which also means you don't have to spend a ton of time getting everything ready and cleaning up.)

You will need a piece of pastelboard (you can find at an art supply store, not so much at a craft store,) oil pastels, a bamboo skewer and a stencil if you don't like to draw freehand (like me!)  You should also have some type of fixative as this will never dry.  This is like kid's scratch art done with crayons, but a bit more evolved and expensive:)  You doodle and fill in the whole board with colored pastels.  Then cover all of it in black.  Take the skewer and draw or scratch out a stencil.  The projects below took less than an hour:

Audra's Scratch Art

Audra used a scrapbook page that was already punched like this.  Very clever!

Gale's Scratch Art

Mine was done with the traditional stencils found in craft stores everywhere.

Another quick project was this bargello tile art.  I had a really colorful cool one, but gave it way:(  I like this one too.  Mostly, you take tiny tiles and make rows, moving every color up or down one row to make a design.  

Tile Bargello

Lastly, for this post anyway, is a woven potholder.  My dear friend Bonnie showed me how to make something "professional" looking from the potholder loom we all had as kids.  You don't use elastic bands, rather wool or something natural.  You make two so it will protect you from the heat.  If you wanted to, you could add a layer of batting.  Instead of putting on loops, you wind the wool yarn around and then loop off when done.    It's easy to chat and do this with a friend!



Until next time,
Gale



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