Thursday, December 2, 2010

OMG, I have been so bad!

Really, I haven't posted anything since May??? I have been soo bad. I guess I could blame it on spending all summer at the pool, but who are we kidding: sometimes it rained. And I guess I could blame this fall's absense on my spending all my time making gifts for Christmas gifts (and therefore not wanting to post pictures and ruin lots of people's surprises) but honestly, I think I just had a 5 month brain freeze.

My other blog: www.chickenneckmom.blogspot.com today is having a discussion on crafty handmade Christmas gifts, so feel free to visit and leave your thoughts. Until then, I am busy being one of Santa's elves and relentlessly making mosiaced trivets, garden stones, and jewelry for my nearest and dearest while taking time out to eat and sleep and occasionally pay attention to my children.

I promise I will be back in January 2011. I will post pics and articles of the fabulous (I hope) projects I made for people, as well and updating you on my latest project: attempting to create mosaic recreations of area lighthouses. So check back then. Until then, have a fabulous Christmas, Hanukkah, and a amazing Festivus for the Rest of Us. Peace.

Monday, May 24, 2010

If you haven't checked out Xomba yet. . . .

you really should. Check out Xomba.com, I mean.

For the past year, I have been the featured Family and Home writer for Xomba.com,a profit sharing online writing community. Since of late, my interests have changed from matters of home and hearth to my main hobby, crafting.

So, last month, I wrote a sample article about a picture frame I made for my mother-in-law for mother's day. I submitted it to my editor with the request that he switch me from Family and Home to Hobbies and Crafts.

And then I waited. My article got many rave reviews from people on and off the website. Figuring I was on a roll, I wrote a second craft article. This one was on using natural ingredients to make your own hand sanitizer. This article did even better than the first one.

Today, I checked the website, and Yay!, my editor switched me to the featured writer for the Hobbies and Crafts section. I am so happy, and I can't wait until my next article is published. I am learning lots of techniques from my beloved mentor, Candace at Wye River Designs, and plan of writing all about the things I am learning, both here and on Xomba.

So if you haven't discovered Xomba yet, check it out. And don't just read my articles, but investigate further. There are a lot of talented writers just waiting for you to discover them.

And by the way, my pen name under Hobbies and Crafts is Tiffayres. Check it out, and support Art in this world!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Save the Indoor Playground

I am taking a break in talking about my projects to let you in on a project of a good friend of mine. Her name is Kim.

Kim was the manager of a little place called the Island Secret Garden on Kent Island, MD. The ISG was a wholly wonderful place. It was the nicest indoor playground anyone could ever ask for. It had climbing equipment, slides, ball pits, and bikes. Everything kids need to stay active on rainy and snowy days. It provided plenty of opportunities for dramatic play also, with many play houses, cushions, beautiful murals on the walls, and puppets. There was a cozy area for parents to relax with magazines, books, or each other's company, with a view of the entire play area. For many of us with small children, it was our home away from home.

But if this place was so wonderful, you might ask, why isn't it around anymore? Why indeed?

It turns out the building the ISG was housed in wasn't built to withstand three major snowstorms within weeks of each other. By the last blizzard, the roof had caved in, and the ISG had lost the rights to their space.

There is something everyone can do to help, though. Kim has found another space for the ISG, which she has now renamed the Kent Island Discovery Zone, or KIDZ! The only thing she is lacking for reopening is the capital necessary.

And no, I am not asking for money. I wouldn't do that. But if you would like to help us get our beloved indoor playground back, click on the link below and vote for KIDZ to receive financial help from the very nice people at Pepsi! It's doesn't cost you anything, but the couple of seconds it takes to click the link, and you would be making lots of Delmarva children (and their parents) very very happy.

http://www.refresheverything.com/kentislanddiscoveryzone

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Onwards and Upwards

I have not written in a while,and for some really good reasons. First, I am trying to get my editor at Xomba.com to switch me from the Family and Home writer to a Hobbies and Crafts writer, so I have been busy writing articles to prove that this would be a much better fit for me. The second reason is that the craft fair season is starting, and I have a table reserved on Saturday at a flea market in Chester, Maryland. The Safeway is having a flea market to benefit People with Disabilities, an organization that does exactly what you think it does, help people with all types of disabilities. If you happen to find yourself on Kent Island on Saturday between 9am and 4pm, stop by the shopping center with the Safeway. We will be in the empty space next to the grocery store.

I am going to have a small table set up selling necklaces, bracelets, and mosaic'd picture frames and jewelry boxes. On Sunday, I will be back here online to tell all about how it went.

Hope to see you on Saturday!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

The Upcycled Necklace




Well, here are pictures of the famous necklace that I did NOT get to show at the recycled/upcycled Earth Day Show at the Kent Island Federation of Arts. Everything you see in these photos that isn't beads was made from plastic grocery bags. I braided together strips of plastic bag to make the chain. The broach is more strips of bag that I threaded through the large wooden bead and then fringed. Each fringey was then threaded through a smaller bead. (And when I say "threaded" I mean it literally, I had to use thread to guide the plastic through the hole in the bead.) If you look closely, you will see that the clasp on the necklace is a pop top off of a can of soda.
I am looking on the bright side, since I wasn't able to show it this time, I now have time to create a matching bracelet and possibly earrings to create an entire collection. I also was convinced to finally become a member of KIFA so I can get actual notice about when these things happen so I can be better prepared. Yay me!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

One man's art is another man's crap

No picture this time.

Don't know if there will ever be a picture of this, whatever "this" is.

Lemme start at the beginning. KIFA (Kent Island Federation of Arts) is having an art show for Earth Day on Saturday. It was suggested to me by someone close to me that I enter something. After giving it alot of thought, I decided to make a necklace. The rules for this art show are that the entries have to consist of 80% recycled materials. I saw some of the entries that are already on display. There is a dress made entirely of Capri-Sun bags and a fish mosaic made of soda can pop tops.
I was stumped as to what to do. Then, I got inspired when I remembered that my friend Tammy, (whose crafting site is listed at a link above this blog) has made handbags and wallets by crocheting strips of plastic grocery bag. I remember loving this idea when I first saw pictures of her work. So I decided to modify that idea for myself. I took strips of grocery bag and braided them together into long braids intending to make a necklace and pendant. The necklace was going to be a long strip of bright blue plastic with brown wooden beads strung periodically. The pendant was going to be a flower created from intricate loops of white and red braided plastic. The blue portion of this project turned out fine. The pendant is where the wheels fell off the wagon. I just cannot make it turn out the way I want. I have tried many different methods of working with the materials and finally went to my old standby: crazy glue.

So, here I lay. It's 11pm and my fingers are covered with a fine layer of crazy glue. The pendant still looks like crap and the piece is due tomorrow morning. I am hoping a good night's sleep will provide me with the inspiration that I need, but I am afraid I have now totally psyched myself out. You see, once I had the fleeting thought of calling KIFA and telling my friend Carol that I wasn't going to be able to drop anything off after all, my mind just gave up. A total psych-out.

So, good night and sweet dreams. I really hope I can pull this out. I would like to be able to announce that I am entering the show after all. Maybe I will dream a solution to my problem. You never can tell.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

I am also the crazy mosaic lady!



For the past month, between jewelry projects, I have been working on a large mosaic lazy susan for my home. I just finished grouting it last night at my weekly mom's craft group. I came up with the idea for this project while I was sleeping one night. I woke up after midnight one night with a crystal clear picture in my head of exactly how I was going to do it and how it would look when I was done. The finished product didn't turn out exactly the way I envisioned, but I still think it turned out pretty good.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Completing the set from last week


I am so happy! I finally finished this necklace I have been working on for the past two weeks. I really hope my mom doesn't read this blog, because this necklace was made to accompany the earrings and bracelet from the last blog. I gave her that set for her birthday this weekend, so if she is here, I think she knows now what she is getting next.

For $2.99 at the Wye River Design Studio, I purchased last week a bead kit that contained the large circular polka dotted disk. My original intent was to use a jump ring to turn the disk into a pendant for a necklace. The kit, sadly, did not contain enough beads to make a necklace, so the apple shaped beads included inspired the earrings from last week. The earrings inspired the bracelet, which sadly I have to redesign as a stretchy piece. The clasp on the bracelet does not seem to be substantial enough to hold it on. Instead of trying my luck with another clasp, I will just redesign it to be clasp-less.

As I was aimlessly pawing my way through the beads today, I found the little cylinder red and white beads that seemed to go perfect with my pendant. Add some silver spacers and the rest of the beads from the kit, and I think it goes perfect with last weeks set.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Looks Kinda Like Apples. . .


So, last night I went to my favorite destination in the whole world, the Wye River Design Studio, intent on making a gift for someone. I knew I wanted to make earrings and either a bracelet or a necklace. Imagine my surprise when I walked in and found almost everyone I am friends with there. Apparently, my discussion group from Kent Island MOPS decided to meet there last night for an impromptu mom's night out. We had a lot of fun laughing, telling stories, and basically enjoying a night of crafting without our kids or husbands.

The picture here is what I made last night. This is going to be a gift for someone, and I really hope she likes it. The beads for this project came in a kit. This Saturday, I am taking my 6 year old daughter down to the studio to make a complimentary necklace for this set. I can curious to see what she creates. She has a way with beads. She almost picks beads out at random, using her own brand of "the force" and strings them in a way that I think will never work out. When she is done, the result is usually gorgeous. Sometimes I think we all need to create that way, just pick up what we like and put it together. I used to think the beads she picked had nothing in common, but of course that isn't true. Every bead she selects has HER in common, so how can they not work?

Next week, I will display what she comes up with.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Jewelry Wire and and a Clasp



This is my first attempt at creating jewelry using wire and a clasp. Last Wednesday I took a jewelry class at the Wye River Studio and this is the fruits of my labors.

My first step was to peruse the materials and find beads or spacers that inspired me. As I looked through the silver spacer beads, I quickly came upon these small butterflies. Because we have had such a nasty, rainy, snowy winter here in Maryland, the butterflies made me think of spring and better things to come.

Once I had my inspiration, I needed to find a color scheme. My favorite color combination has always been purple and green, so it was pretty easy to go from there.

The earrings were made using silver head pins strung with silver butterfly spacers, silver flower spacers and green and purple beads. The necklace came together pretty quickly once I had the earring done. I used a silver toggle clasp as the closure.

If I can get my webcam to work tomorrow night, I will be debuting my earrings and necklace on Inspired at Homes Web Pajama party. If you are not already a party guest, you should really check it out. It is a lot of fun, and full of great crafting ideas.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Beginning of a Bead-utiful adventure






Last year, I was lucky enough to move to within walking distance of the Wye River Design Studio, in downtown Grasonville, MD. The owner and operator of the studio, recognizing that I needed a distraction from the rewarding, but tedious life of a stay at home mom, quickly took me under her wing and indulged my love of all things crafty.

I tried most of the crafts in the shop. I quickly discovered that I most enjoyed making mosaics and creating beaded jewelry.

The pictures accompanying this blog were some of my first beading creations. I debuted my collection at the Kent Island Federation of Art's Artoberfest, held in late October of last year. My collection was mostly stretchy bracelets and necklaces, which I marketed toward the child and elderly demographic. I did fairly well, selling 4 bracelets and 1 necklace, making 5$ profit over my table fee. Last week, I started learning about working with jewelry wire and clasps. As my skill set grows, I hope to be debuting more pieces in craft shows and eventually launching my own website selling my jewelry.


Until then, enjoy. The pieces shown were made with stretchy string and plastic beads.