I watched the movie, Julia Julia yesterday. It was a rainy Sunday afternoon; which made it one of those days to cover up with a blankie, settle in on the couch with the dog snuggled into the curves of my legs while watching a movie. First of all, I loved the movie. My husband kept passing it up on our Netflix streaming que thinking it was just about cooking. I knew better, so when he was busy watching a ball game in his "man" room, I turned it on.
It was so much more than about cooking. I have always admired Julia's cookbook finding it was true what she thought about butter. It makes everything taste good! It occurred to me that I could take a hint from this movie to jump start my life into a new direction.
I think I am going to finally become someone who creates beautiful crafts. I have dabbled in crafts and have created my fair share of projects, but the activity has always been secondary to most anything else. I have at least a dozen or so craft books, piles of torn out articles from magazines and drawers and containers of assorted materials and tools to create the crafts I have always intended to make.
I will make my crafts page after page of them; while actually using the supplies and tools lined up in labeled boxes in my craft closet; which takes up almost 20' of space along one wall. I even have an antique document chest with 20 or so large deep drawers full of beads, papers, glues, sparkles, inks, and much more! It is time. I have time. I have passion. I have supplies. I will create. Like in the movie, I will do a certain amount of crafts (she did recipes). I think 100 projects is a nice even number to start with. It will take me awhile, but I bet I can do it within a one year period. Maybe I will do more than one a day some days and then not do any for a week, but I will do 100 in total!
I can't promise to make every craft in every book. I don't even like some of the projects so why would I make them? I will go through my materials to accomplish the ones that speak to me. I will try hard to not purchase new supplies so that the boxes will empty and the drawers will rattle with unused space.
I will blog about each project letting my readers know just how I adapted something to fit my sense of design or fit my supply of product to use. It will be fun! I always do best when I have to be accountable and I will envision that I have masses of readers who follow each step of my urge to create. It doesn't matter if you really exist. It matters what I believe.
I'm not silly enough to believe Martha Stewart dreams up all the wonderful things she makes, but I will make her my mentor. She will be looking over my shoulder assessing my work driving me to pay attention to detail. I can be messy and get distracted easily. I will learn to focus to make Martha proud.
I will upload images of my work, list the supplies used and give pointers using the goof ups that I made to keep others from making the same mistakes. Get ready world. I will create. I will finish what I start. Also, friends and family, get ready to receive the best of what I make. I can't keep it all! My husband just asked me what I was going to get out of doing this. He is such a typical man with an engineering background. Must I have a result? The result is that I make 100 crafts learning new techniques, skills while having F U N. His next question is what I was going to do with what I make? He is so predictable! I will find homes even if I donate them to raise money for an organization. Maybe in another week or two, I will have that piece of the puzzel in place. I could sell the crafts and donate all the money to the local dog shelter or something like that. I could even include making dog coats; which I have always wanted to do and give them to cold dogs. Hey, don't get me started. I will find places for my crafts!
I started today by making a home-made Christmas card. It was simple one. Just listing the supplies down made me realize why I sometimes change my mind about making something. I had to get all these supplies out and ready to use! Whew.
Supplies:
- White card stock
- Hole Punch
- Imagination Corner Cutter
- Fiskars paper cutter
- Small detail sissors
- Scrap of Vellum paper
- Page from a Christmas Carol Song Book
- Few Inches of Cranberry Satin Ribbon
- Rubber Stamp of Fir Tree
- Rubber Stamp of word, "Holidays"
- Rubber Stamp of Scroll Border
- Memories Soft Vanilla Ink Pad
- Shimmers Premium Iridescent Rose Ink Pad
- Archival Ink Sepia
- Yes All Purpose Stik Flat Glue
- Martha Stewart Create permanent glue (I found at Walmart on Sale)
- Gold Craft Glitter
Procedure to Make Card:
I cut the 8.5 x 11 inch card stock in half and then folded it to make the card
Cut the corners with the corner cutter
Tear the the edges from the Christmas Carol to fit on to the front of the card
Stamp the trees remembering that iridescent ink takes a long time to dry. Don't touch it too soon. I stamped a few on white card stock and a few onto the vellum scrap. (I save scraps of paper in a large plastic bag to use on future projects)
I punched holes on one edge of card weaving the ribbon in and out gluing the edges down.
Taking the Vanilla Ink and the scroll edge rubber stamp, I covered the front and inside of the card for a subtle background design
Taking hold of the Christmas Song, I rubbed the edges with the Sepia Ink using a foam brush. I also wrinkled up the Song then flattened out and lightly brushed the Sepia Ink over the top showing off the wrinkles.
I cut out the trees with the small detail sissors. I used the vellum trees as the top tree in two areas.
Glue the trees wherever you want them. I like a asymetrical design, but others must make even rows to be happy.
I had made some smudges with that iridescent ink, so I glued some sparkles on those areas to hide my mistakes and then added more because I liked the look.
First craft done. I have 99 left to do. Keep me company. Ask me questions and/or comments. You could even come out to do a few crafts together! How about a bird house making day before spring? Boy do I have some great supplies for bird houses!
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