Carnival of Green Crafts

So the Carnival of Green Crafts is basically a twice a month "traveling" event that takes place in various host blogs. Its a collection of links to other blog posts having to do with green crafts (eco friendly materials, tutorials . . .). Its pretty neato and it has tons of great ideas about crafty recycling and cool eco friendly materials. Its really a great resource for new and creative ideas.

I had two posts featured in the 3rd Carnival of Green Crafts hosted by Crafting a Green World:)
Just scroll down and look under "Bags, Bags, Bags!"

Carnival of Green Crafts #3: Trash Into Treasure

check it!

Also submit your own! The next one is September 4th

Baltimore by Hand

poe earrings at etsy

My poe bottle cap earrings were featured in the blog Baltimore by Hand as one of "a few favorite finds"! This blog is connected to the Baltimore Sun and features various artists, highlights upcoming art and craft events, and even has a few crafty tutorials. Pretty exciting:)

Baltimore by Hand

mom's garden:)

a few days ago I went with my family to visit my mom's garden. My step dad and other family members and friends planted the garden so that we could all visit it and remember her by the bright colors and flowers she loved so much and used so often in her art. It's really blooming quite beautifully and it's a nice spot to visit on a warm sunny day:)

beautiful black eyed susans

sunflowers were my mom's favorite flowers. I know shes laughing because the 4 ft sunflowers that were planted turned out to be 8 ft giants!

my aunt deibbie and the rest of my family admiring the garden

zinnias are my favorite flower

the garden forms a round shape like a sun and crescent moon

I'm going back again soon to do some weeding. I think one great thing about having a garden is that we can all be a part of it. By giving the garden our love, my mom's legacy of spreading and sharing beauty continues:)

all work and no play makes jill a dull girl

ahhhh so many bottle caps!(not even half )eeek

this is my bottle cap jewelry bin

So I've been working pretty hard lately on my jewelry and I've been trying out some new fused plastic sewing projects. I've pretty much been working non stop since I haven't been getting any hours at my dad's shop (they're a bit slower in the summer). I have to get my stuff ready for bel air festival of the arts in September. I'm still not sure yet whether I'm going to be having a full booth or a half booth, but I still need to increase my stock.

I've also been doing a lot of organizing in my room and also in my workshop. I have soooooo many art supplies it's not even funny. Its been hard, but I've found that the best way to organize is to have bins for each kind of project. I have a whole organized bin for painting, one for print media, one for colored pencils, one for drawing . . . you get the idea. Anyways, I like to make my supplies portable. I also have been trying to clear off my workspace so I can actually sit down there and work instead of cramming into my room and trying to do everything on the floor. Genius huh? haha

While I was adding resin to my bottle caps, I realized I haven't done any craft projects just for me lately. I decided it was time to take a small break. I worked on a project I've ben wanting to do for a long time. I guess I kinda cheated and took pictures and made it into a craft tutorial (to be posted soon:), but it was still relaxing and nice. It's satisfying to sometimes be able to keep something I make. After I finished my project I made my favorite dinner (ling ling potstickers and stir fry mmmmm) and watched the Jane Austen Book Club. I really love that movie, and of course Hugh Dancy. Anyways, it turned out to be a pretty perfect night. Now I think I'll just lay back, watch Ollie run on his wheel and curl up in my bed to read a little harry potter:)

my comfy bed awaits:)

funky wallets

So I've been experimenting with creating wallets from the fused plastic I've been making (learn how to fuse plastic bags). I discovered that if you have clear plastic bags, you can cut out shapes from other colored bags and place them between the layers. You can create fun patterns that way! I had thought about putting other things between the layers (like sequins or dried flowers . . .), but I read on another site that the layers just won't fuse together around the objects and it won't work. I wonder if embossing powder or bits of glitter would work? I'll have to try. Anyways, here's a picture of the first wallet I've made. I'm pretty excited about it.

hehe

My boyfriend was cleaning out his room the other day when he happened upon a ginormous bag bursting at the seems with plastic bags that he couldn't "bear to throw away". Apparently he's been saving them for years, it's destiny I suppose that brought us together (me and the plastic bags;) Anyways there are bags of every color you could imagine! There is even bright pink and teal. I can't wait to start using them. I think I could make some pretty funky stuff.

Hopefully if I get the technique down just right and make some more of these wallets, I'll be posting them on etsy soon, or maybe even selling them at my next show . . . we'll see:)




clifftop

Going to clifftop (or the Appalachian String Band Music Festival) has been a family tradition for about 4 years now. Unfortunately in the past I've always been away, but this year I got to take the long hike up to West Virginia and spend some quality family time listenin to fiddles, trying to flatfoot, and hangin out at the family booth. I have to say it was quite an experience. I loved the constant merry background of old time jams, and of course learning about a truly unique american culture.

they love them some old time

this is the old groove trailer where we made our base camp for the week

my mini set up complete with some old time washboards!

there were gorgeous luna moths everywhere!

my little cousin emma advertising my merchandise and playing the mandolin

My dad and uncle, who both love to play and listen to old time, started our family tradition of attending this festival. My dad owns a promotional products company and t shirt business, and my uncle is an illustrator, so it seems natural that they should combine their forces and create their own company Old Groove. They print t shirts and various other accessories that have to do with the old time music and culture they love so much. It was a huge hit at the festival the first year they brought some t shirts and they have bought a booth there ever since.

This year, my dad and uncle let me set up my own table within their booth. My little mini set up included an old window, and some old washboards I fashioned into displays for my necklaces, earrings and hair clips. Overall I'd say for having such a small set up I seemed to generate a lot of interest and definitely enough sales to make it worth my while. I think my reused and recycled jewelry theme really fit in with the old time "hippie" atmosphere.

It was definitley a great time and I really can't wait to continue the tradition and go again next year!

a way to use those old plastic bags!

I'm pretty excited, I finally found a new way to use plastic grocery bags! Admittedly I don't have that many now because I usually bring my own bag to the grocery store, but sometimes I forget, as do my parents. Well now I know what to do with them!

I learned how to fuse plastic bags together to create a stronger and thicker material. You can sew it, cut it into shapes . . . the possibilities are endless!
So far I've been making these cute little flower pins and hair clips. I think they are pretty cute. I pinned one to the dress I was wearing today and it really looked great! I think it would also look nice pinned to a purse or beach bag.

This is how you do it
1. lay plastic bags on top of one another and try to smooth them out as flat as possible
2. stack about 3-4 plastic bags, make sure the inked side isn't going to touch the iron, just turn it over or fold it inside out, I like to put the prettiest bags on the outside:)
3. cut of the handles and the bottom of the bags so you have one even slab
4. put a piece of wax paper (waxy side down) underneath the plastic bags (if it is up the wax paper will fuse to the bags), then I use a piece of printer paper on top
5. heat the iron to a synthetic setting, but if it is not hot enough, turn it up a bit, you kind of have to experiment, my synthetic setting was way to low, but the cotton setting was way too hot, so I settled somewhere in the middle
6. now its time to iron! keep the iron moving and don't let the iron touch the bare plastic bags (they will melt onto it), move the paper around to where you are ironing. I like to start in the middle and work my way to the edges. (also you should probably do this in a pretty well ventilated area)
7. after that side seems pretty fused and stuck together, turn it over and iron the other side
8. ta dah! now you have a plastic bag slab that you can cut up, sew or do to whatever you want!

just remember practice makes perfect, start out slow, this process is pretty easy, but there are always a few kinks to work out.
(I learned the basics through esty labs.)

I'm hoping to fuse some more tomorrow and maybe experiment with making some little change purses or makeup bags. We''ll see how it goes:)