ReeHart - Blogging from the Heart

Posts Tagged ‘crafts’

My wife and I recently got back from the Spring Bada-Bing at around midnight yester night. I was highly satisfied with how the craft show turned out; I can say it was a very good show, indeed! We’re both very exhausted, of course, and things weren’t as perfect as we’d want them to be. But, all in all, we still had a good time and we made some sales.

We could not have expected a much better organized show. You’ll immediately note that the venue is arranged beautifully as you go inside; it’s perfect for an up and up craft fair. It was no problem to unload our stuff early in the morning, as there were a lot of volunteers to help us carry our goods to our booth. Along with two chairs, tables were already accounted for, so it was pretty good to not have to worry about bringing our own tables and chairs.

Lunch might have been a bit of a problem as there weren’t a lot of options near the venue, but fortunately for us, the Mafia of Richmond Crafts organized a lunch-in option for the vendors. It was stress-free, and they brought the relatively cheap meals straight to our booths. It was unsurprising, as this is the 4th time they’ve put on this show; the organizers really know how to handle it. I heard no word of anything that went wrong, and if anything did, I’m sure it was an easily fixed minor problem.

The number of people in attendance was a bit lower than expected, but as I never had a chance to actually see the attendance log, it could only be my perception. Besides, the place was nice and big, and there were a lot of places to hang out. I’d say that there was a light, but steady flow of customers.

Of course, the most important question is how much we made in relation to the costs of the show. I guess we did pretty good: My wife and I both had tight schedules on the days leading to the show, so we weren’t as well-prepared as we would’ve liked. This affected our sales a little, I believe. So, I’d say, for us, it was a good but not great show.

I am planning to go to the next Artisan’s Craft Show, and I think I have the necessary crafts to join. With only eight days until the event, I’m already preparing the things that I will be selling as a vendor. Among the things that I will be showing off are turquoise, aquamarine, onyx, chalcedony, smoky quartz, purple amethyst, amber, citrine, prasiolite (green amethyst), rose and clear faceted quartz, rutilated quartz… Do you want me to continue? I may even bring some ruby or emerald if I complete the design in the short time left.

As you can very well see, I have a great fascination with colored stones and gems of all types and colors. I feel uncomfortable if I do not have at least one gem set in jewelry on my person; I simply must have one around my neck or on my fingers. But, I have decided to take it one step further. I have designed and made a number of necklaces using sterling silver with gemstones. And I am eager to show them off.

Accessories like these, of course, need to be accentuated by the right sort of clothing. I went by Nova Moda boutique and I found out that “Not My Daughter’s Jeans” were in stock. In Hamilton, Nova Moda is the only shop that carries this particular line of jeans; they will fit your loved one fabulously. I have already mentioned Michael Kors in a past entry, as well as Nada, who is a Canadian designer. The latter showed up during Toronto’s Fashion Week, and she was said to be one of Canada’s rising stars in the fashion world.

But for now, I have to get back to making these jewelry pieces. It’s hard for me to begin a project, but once I do, I carry the momentum for quite a while. So I shouldn’t interrupt myself when I work. At any rate, I’ll just see you at the next craft show!

South Carolina is responsible for many of the agricultural products that circulate in and around United States. When you drink that glass of milk, or light up that proud cigar, do you ever stop and think about where it came from? Chances are, they came from right here in South Carolina.

In addition to agricultural products, we have also been able to make amazing textiles, machinery, automobiles, and even paper products. South Carolina is truly a land of many resources. That is why we are able to produce rich equipment such as this.

By day’s end, though, the majority of people never stop to think about where the things they see everyday come from. People take for granted how much work is really done to make the simplest of things that we use every single day; from breakfast cereal, to school supplies, to automobile parts. These have been made with much effort and thinking on someone else’s part.

This has been my calling for a time now. I haven’t quit my day job, yes, but I have made steps to increase my awareness of the people who are responsible for making these products. To do this, I make a lot of different crafts that depict their lives. I try to work on my art skills for about an hour each day, and I display them on one of the many craft shows held around South Carolina. I’m not about to brag, but I believe my crafts are well-received both by friends and strangers.

What makes my crafts special, perhaps, lies in the way that I depict life in South Carolina. You see, I use the very materials that are so commonly harvested by this rich State and show how life here is. For example, I have a diorama of a tobacco farmer using the very dried leaves that he harvests. It is a very personal way of depicting our life, and many approve of this method.

Want to earn extra money without working? Ever wondering how to get rid of those junks in your closet? Do you want to have a clutter free domain but are clueless as to what things go into the trash and what remains? Then its time to organize your things, keep those things for keeps and open up a garage sale right in front of your house.

Garage Sales are second-hand sales or thrift shops wherein an unused item is disposed at a lower price. In this way, a neighbor who is in need of one of your items but does not have enough budget to buy a new one can buy yours at a lower price. Stuffs sold at garage sales are usually second hand items in good to excellent working condition. Now dont be pressured in selling your favorite stuffs on garage sales as you can label them as for keeps. You have the option as to what you can sell and what you want to keep.

Garage Sales are a quick way to earn money and organize your home. There are actually items that we bought in the past without really thinking about its necessity so it is usually just stocked up in our homes. These items can move on and found new owners in garage sales. Sellers is on an advantage too as she can enjoy a cleaner and clutter free house.

Income earned in garage sale is usually to buy a much wanted piece of furniture that could blend into a bigger home. Furniture pieces are also being sold in garage sales as well as cribs for newborns, baby furniture, old toys, etc. which performed it use from the seller. Garage sales are also a perfect time for neighbors to mingle and interact and keep up with the things happening around.

The All Town Garage Sale will be at Abita Springs, Louisiana this year. Go to garage sales and discover useful pre-owned stuff that is in mint conditions on fair prices. Who knows, you just might get what you are looking for!

You can have fun expressing yourself, by making your own collage. As you can use what you like to create this, the freedom with this kind of art is endless.

You have many textures which can be of use to you for creating collages. As an example, take gold and silver paper, wool, felt, corrugated paper, wood, metal, newspaper and ribbon for starters.

It may be now, that you have to paint your background card, or whatever you may be using. Once it is dry, you can then sketch out your subject, then try different pieces out and find places to position them on your sketch, or backdrop.

Bear in mind that your whole picture does not have to have collage pieces on it. If you are using pieces of paper you will probably need to cut them, or tear them, to obtain the right colours and shapes. Actually, crepe paper is pretty good for collages.

You want your pieces to stay affixed, so one of the important issues here is, that you need the correct glues for the materials you are using. For example, for fabrics, you need a glue to handle this. If in doubt, read my article on adhesives which can be found at my website.

The collage I have described here is a pretty basic one, but really, if you want to take this a step further, you can use pastels, leather, metal, gravel, buttons etc. Most things can actually be affixed to a flat surface. The rule is really that you can use any items to support what you have in your mind visually.

Why not try doing a collage with plain old black and white newspaper? If you think this out well, you can achieve some quite startling results. If you think what is done by children in schools, they are quite inventive, using everything from bottle tops to silver paper for their projects.

At the present time a very popular form of collage is one that is done with photographs. These are often of friends, animals and family pets or family trees, to give you just a few ideas.

So, to do a collage, we have established that you need a base and these can differ enormously with the different weights of objects to be applied to it. Your background plays an important part too. It could be that you paste photos or magazine shots, or you may even have to paint it first, but you will need to sketch out the subject.

Now make your choices from your bits and pieces and remove all the unwanted pieces. The ones you are left with can sometimes appear to be a trifle odd ,but don’t let this phase you. They do not all have to be so that you have an even, level, surface.

Move them around your collage, placing them until you are satisfied with what you have. Then glue each piece very carefully and wait for it to dry. Once it has dried, you could put a coating of a sealant on it, just for protection purposes.

Now, it may be, that you want to frame it as a picture or have it raised on a mat. You could also do a wall hanging this way, the choice is endless.

In fairs and festivals, you can be sure there are always an abundance of activities. Themes are also of great variety, from the traditional carnival types, to the sometimes weird medieval getup festivals. But whatever the theme, there is always on common denominator that makes these fairs similar to one another: They always come with craft shows.

Everyone appreciates an amazing work of art every so often, but purchasing a piece or two for your very one is even better. There’s no better place to look around for the elegant, utilitarian, chic piece of artwork than in the different fairs and festivals that are happening around the Michigan State. Whether you’re in the market for an elegantly carved piece of woodcraft, or looking for a richly embroidered piece of fabric to add decor in your home, you’ll be sure to find them at these fairs.

Also, if you have some skill or talent of your own, you may also opt to showcase your stuff, instead. If you are skilled at glassblowing, for example, why not try showcasing your wares at a fare? Don’t let just family and friends appreciate your art, it’s a good idea to register at shows and let other people see what you can do. All it takes is a bit of looking around for the right event for you.

While we’re on the subject of choosing the right festival, there are a few things you may want to keep in mind. One is that’s it always a good idea to choose fairs and festivals that are near to you. If it’s a bit of way off, say crossing the Mackinac Bridge to get there, then it may not be worth your effort, as travel expenses may offset the income you earn at the fair.

Secondly, you have to check if the craft show that you are attending has been successful in previous years. As the shows tend to take place annually, you can ask around for their credentials. You may even ask this question to the event organizers; a craft show that performs well is usually proud enough of their achievements that they don’t mind sharing how they run things.

I only have one thing to say to you if you are not aware of Craft Shows: Where have you been? Don’t sweat it, though, I’ll tell you about them anyway. All over Maine, there has and always will be people like you and me; possessed of varying but equally skilled talents. Yes, you heard me right. You are talented as well. If you do not think of yourself as talented, the more likely scenario is that you just haven’t been able to hone it in a while. What did you enjoy doing as a child? Whatever it is, work hard to maintain it.

Back to the topic at hand; these craft fairs are, at the core, events in which people of varying talents show off their crafts for all to see. You will be amazed at the exquisitely carved statuettes, the fine-shaped glass wares, and even the rare craft made out of common items. Truly, craft shows are the place to go for art.

Now if you either believe that you can do this as well, or better than, the people you’ve met in these fairs, then we may have a prodigy in our midst. If this is the case, you would want to join as a participant yourself! All you have to do is find the right craft show to begin in, and pretty soon, you will be hooked. I will now describe the two basic steps in starting out a hobby of crafts below:

Starting off, we have to find the most appropriate craft fair for you to begin your trade. This is done by going to the Web and using one of its many search engines. In particular, look for craft fairs in your State. You will eventually find a website that catalogs all scheduled craft shows annually.

Once there, all that remains for you to do is choose the best ones; you will most likely prefer the events closest to you. But it doesn’t end there. You also have to contact them one by one, and ask them about their specific event. You see, different organizers have different ideas on how to handle the whole show, and it is these subtle differences that will make the difference.

Many young girls today are hooked up with collecting dolls like American Girl dolls. Well, this is not that surprising to know as it’s totally fun and exciting to collect some pretty girl dolls and be able to dress them up and buy them some accessories, furniture, books, and presents, like you would do to a real dear friend.

Collecting dolls like American Girl dolls is a good, fun hobby. After getting a doll, you can buy her different cool and trendy clothes and accessories. You can do whatever you want with the doll. If you want your doll to look like sporty or be dressed like a princess, you can. If you also want her to be comfortable like a real dear friend, you can also get her beds, tables and chairs, trunks and other storage cases, and many other furniture options. You can also get her different pets, musical instruments, suitcases, horses and carriages to enjoy.

Also, if you want your doll to meet some new friends, you can bring her to some doll retail locations that offer special activities for doll collectors and their dolls. You and your doll can meet new friends and have lunch or tea. If you wish to have your doll’s hair be trimmed or be cut, it is also possible in these retail locations. You can also visit some online resources and communities for doll collecting. For American Girl doll collecting, for sure you will find lots of these said resources and communities. In these places, you can interact with other collectors and eventually be able to share your doll with them and same thing as they eventually share their doll to you. You can engage yourself and your doll to parties and the like.

However, doll collecting can be expensive specifically when it’s American Girl doll collecting. On the good side, the dolls you may possibly own can become investments. Most especially if they were released long long time ago.

But if you wish not to spend much, you can try looking at eBay and Amazon. In these places you can find retired or used dolls and discounted dolls that are in good quality. Clothes, accessories, books, furnitures and other great stuff for dolls are also available in these places. However, you must be careful and wise in checking of the quality of the dolls and the stuff for them to be sure you’re getting best value for your money.

When would you use glazing? Well, sometimes personally, I have found that I am not satisfied with the look of a painting as sections of it seem quite drab, with the colors not penetrating through. Then I resort to glazing.

This is a very disappointing result for the artist. Sometimes it can be because the artist has used too much turpentine as a medium, or may just be bad paintwork. Everybody has days where things do not go just as you intended. This is the challenge you face when you paint.

Most artists would consider this a crucial part of their work. It definitely seems to give your work a lift. The glazing part has so many uses as the majority of people have come to realize over the years.

So let us see how it can help you, the artist, particularly. I can only impress on you the importance this part of the process plays to your individual work. Amazing depths can actually be achieved, but it will also be handy to use on certain parts to great effect or simply to unify all your work.

How you use it depends, but it can add warmth to your work or on the other hand, make it look colder. What it amounts to really, is, laying a thin film of colour on top of another. This way the under-colour shines directly through. A bit like glass really.

However the first layer needs to be completely dry before you proceed, or you will have problems with intermingling shades. Obviously the colour you place on top has to be a transparent one.

You will have come to realize now that this is a very important step of your work. It can bring about the feeling of distance and space, but also adds strength and purpose to your work. I love using it as it seems to successfully bring my work to a happy conclusion.

At first you may find it hard to achieve great results. It is a learning curve through trial and tribulation. Basically what you will find is, what and where do I do this? Only by trying colours will you find out.

So suppose you just try putting a very deep purple over a pale yellow, this will give you an idea of the strength of color that can actually be obtained. Really it is best to just keep experimenting until you are happy with the finished result.

Do not, whatever you do, mix your color with a white when you are glazing. Keep it really pure. If you use oil as a medium you can rub this on really thinly. Just remember to keep it pure!

If you are looking for strong, vibrant effects, get out your palette. Try putting, for example, a very strong red on top of a much weaker shade and see what prevails. You can have so much to work with to great effect. Then you could round it off with a layer of gel. Some people just prefer this.

Art presents itself in many shapes and forms today. To me it is always interesting and gratifying to appreciate other peoples art. You dont necessarily have to like it personally to accept the hard work that has gone into it and the thought behind it.

Being a contemporary artist I realise that it gives you the creative license to express your inner emotions. On a bad day my paintings may appear more dramatic. But then I am also able to paint something that will soothe my spirit.

Art is a hugely individual subject. A piece of art that is highly acclaimed by one individual may certainly be loathed by another. But to my satisfaction these days there is such an enormous selection of art available that there truly has to be something for everyone. Take the Graffiti scene as an example. One person calls it vandalism and to another it is simply fantastic

Just look at pavement artists sketching out their pictures in chalk. This surely is a talent, but one that many passers by can enjoy but yields the artist very little money. Many of us have been to Paris and the Montmartre district where the artists set their easels on the pavements doing quick caricatures much to everyone’s amazement and amusement.

More unusual perhaps are sand sculptures which feature in the Canary Islands and I am sure other places. They range from biblical scenes to dragons with real fire breathing out of there nostrils. Mosaics too are very interesting and colourful as these designs can be used on plant pots, walls, gardens etc. and in oh so many ways.

Posters - somebody has to design them so they are thought provoking and catch the eye. This is a great challenge for children too, who are encouraged to do posters for any number of things from road safety to recycling the environment. I love to see what sense can be made of driftwood collected along the beach. I think a special type of person is needed to do this with a very good imagination and creativity.

Paperweights are an every day object which no one spends to much time thinking about. Yet they too can be wonderful subjects of art. When one takes a few collected pebbles, cleans, paints and varnishes them they certainly take on a life of their own. And of course the simple collecting of them, feeling the texture of the rock in your hand, provides great satisfaction to many of us.

Other things that are either getting very popular or making a strong resurgence are scrapbooking, felting, needlepoint and patch working. Or what about the great individual gift that are cards? Fantastic artists design and make their own cards in a great variety of ways. Getting enjoyment from creating their art and also from the knowledge that the recipient will greatly appreciate it.

With so many different forms of art surrounding us there surely has to be something for anyone. And if you really want to get involved and learn more then there are a great many workshops that are being run in art stores or at schools. The satisfaction and enormous joy that art can bring to people is something that can never be measured, at least not in monetary terms - thank God for that.