While You Have Your Duct Tape Out....Part 1

By now, I'm sure that you have made at least one duct tape journal...right?

I even got my mom on board while she was visiting last month, and she sent me the most beautiful and touching embellished journal in the mail yesterday.  It had all the things in it that I needed to see and hear right now!

But I digress....

While you have your duct tape out--making duct tape journals--there are a couple of other projects that you should also try.

I found a duct tape envelope project bookmarked in my Favorites, and as you know that I love making my own envelopes from magazine pages, maps, calendar pages, and just about everything else, you know that I had to give it a try.

You can find directions for making duct tape envelopes at Brit + Co.  Basically, I followed Brit's instructions for creating a kind of "duct tape paper," if you will, and then followed my own envelope tutorial steps for creating the finished product.  So here is what I did:

1.  Following Brit's instructions, I laid some (super-cute) Hello Kitty duct tape in overlapping strips straight on top of my cutting board.

2.  I pulled the sheet of duct tape off the cutting board and turned it over.  Then I laid down overlapping strips of a different duct tape on the back going crossways.

3.  I used one of my envelope templates to draw directly on the duct tape "paper."

4.  I cut along the lines, and here is the front side of the cut-out envelope:

And here is what the envelope looks like when I am holding it closed:

5.  To secure the envelope, I laid down another strip of the duct tape right across the back, and then trimmed the edges.

And that's it!

Here's a peek inside:

And here's my duct tape envelope collection so far:

I can't wait to send one of these lovelies through the mail!

Sadly, I am officially out of Hello Kitty duct tape.  I am feeling a certain incentive to expand my duct tape collection!

Stay tuned for "While You Have Your Duct Tape Out...Part 2"!

Our Lady of the Sketchbook

I've been developing an interest in the role of Mary within the Catholic faith. 

As a Protestant, I do not see any emphasis placed on Mary in worship--not prayer, not sermons, not songs.  And yet she is so central to Catholic worhip that it has made me curious about her.  Especially when she is so honored and revered within a system that does not seem to accord much power to women in general. 

While reading more about Mary and Catholicism in general, I have also been interested in the imagery of Mary that I've encountered. 

While my girls were in a library storytime recently, I picked up a few books from the kids' section, including The Lady of Guadalupe and Mary the Mother of Jesus, both written and illustrated by Tomie de Paola.  The pictures have bold lines and colors that I find immensely appealing.  Some of them have found their way into my sketchbook with greater and lesser results.

I am actually very pleased with how they came out, even though I see every fault loud and clear.  I think the colors are lovely and bright, and I love the boldness of the lines, mimicking de Paola's beautiful style.  I obviously can't draw a face to save my soul, and I labored over the hands until I just had to accept the results. 

There is some advantage to drawing with the audience that I do.  I drew the first picture with Bayla at my left elbow and Katy at my right.  At one point, Katy pressed, "Mommy, you sure are taking a long time to draw those hands!"  But I think it was good for her to see me draw, erase, draw, erase, and continue to draw again until I could accept the results. 

Having the girls there, though, forced me to accept the results sooner than I probably would have if I were on my own, so I could get the page done and move on. It's a sketchbook, after all!  I have lots more chances to master eyes, mouths, noses, and hands.  I'll get there!

Layered Fabric Flowers

I was seeing photos of layered fabric flowers in all sorts of publications and on all sorts of web sites, and I knew I wanted to try making some.  When I ultimately saw a piece about them as a kids' craft in Disney's Family Fun magazine, I knew it was time to sit down and see just how easy they are to make!

I have a stash of my children's outgrown clothing--pieces that I've held back from the Goodwill donations pile because something about the color or pattern makes me want to save it for a fabric project.  My two big fabric bins also hold several pairs of old jeans and some of my own old sweaters.  I used this supply to choose cloth for my layered flowers.

I separated the pieces I found pretty into "color families"--groupings that I thought looked nice together.  From there I used a circle template to draw with a fabric pen (the kind with ink that disappears within 24 hours), and then cut the circles freehand from there. 

Once I stacked the concentric circles one on top of another, I chose a button from my collection for the center.  I pulled out several of my favorites, and my daughters helped me to make my choices.  They loved playing with the buttons, and checking out different ones to see which looked best with the stacks of fabric circles.  I maintained veto power, and they took my rejections well as long as I let them play with the remaining buttons while I stitched the chosen one to the center of the fabric flower!

I use a small straight pin to attach them to my shirts (though perhaps a safety pin would be a better idea!), and have worn the flowers out to lunch and to two recent craft fairs.  I have always gotten positive, though not effusive, comments on them. 

I guess I can't blame the horribleness of this photo on the fact that my three-year-old took it.  She's not responsible for that terrible hair-do, after all.  But I DID want you to see the flowers on my sweater!

If you look closely, you can see a different two flowers pinned to my sweater for the firehouse craft show.

I tried doing some freehand stitching on one of the pins to see if it added anything to the look.  It was quite a challenge to stitch on such a small space with a button right smack in the middle of it all!  I didn't ultimately feel that it added anything, though I might try again prior to attaching the button.  Maybe it will add to the design rather than looking like an afterthought (which it was)!

And just in case you were hoping to see yet another photo of me behind my craft show table display, here is a picture of my spread at the Interboro High School Fall Craft Fair this past Saturday. 


You can see another layered fabric flower on my sweater here:  same sweater, different flower!

I was delighted to receive an entire cafeteria table for my goods; I was able to put out some things that I sometimes skip when space is tight.  For example, I offered my Colorful Journeys Stationery Sets for the first time in awhile, and sold three of them, which really pleased me. 

I don't make or sell anything that I don't like, but I do have special favorites, and take the greatest pleasure when people decide to take them home with them!

My last craft show of the year is on Saturday, at Haverford High School, where I spent 9 out of the 11 total years I worked in the field of education.  It will be fun to be in those halls again, this time selling my handmade art and crafts rather than teaching European History or World Cultures!