SEWING....
This is picture of just a very small portion of my every day, always growing, fabric supply (warehouse). My husband occasionally asks if I buy fabric to make things as a hobby or if buying fabrics is the hobby. I think it's a little bit of both, I do buy fabric to make specific things.... pillowcases, curtains, clothing, banners, holiday items or a wide variety of items. But I also buy fabrics that I am instantly attracted to and just love everything about it. The design, patterns, the colors, the feel of the fabric and a fleeting picture in my mind of all of its future possibilities.
I have three sewing machines...one I use for simple straight sewing machine another one is heavier duty for thicker fabric projects, and the third one has many embroidery applications. I also have an Interlock machine that I do not use as often as I should.
I am a very involved, always active crafter of all kinds of artistic flavors. I am either crafting with my hands or in my constantly busy mind. The initial excitement of creating with my hands what my mind has envisioned has me jumping right into a project, with no real plan...just a mish of ideas. I gather every piece of anything that I think would work in this project, plug in my glue gun or clear enough table space to lay out fabric or whatever materials I think that I will need. My process is usually to just start cutting, sewing, painting or glueing with no real organized assembly plan in mind. I know what I want it to look like and I usually end up with something similar to what I had seen and/or what I had envisioned. At this point, I really look at what I am creating, and I start analyzing the project, the construction of the parts and pieces. I begin to identify the adjustments that I need to make in the order of construction...what part goes under, what part goes over before I sew or glue. I am not shy about ripping, cutting or pulling apart projects to get the test run/prototype closer to what I had imagined. A lot of learning mistakes are made, but it all gets me closer to making the project that I had imagined and hoped to create. Because I am not really using a pattern but either copying something I saw or something that I created in my head, I have to gauge size, proportions, materials and the order in which to assemble. While initially throwing it all together, so to speak, I learn about size, proportions, materials, the order in which to assemble and possibly even going in a slightly different direction, but with the same general original idea. At this stage I might actually make up some pattern pieces, do a few sketches and then look on-line to get a new perspective or additional ideas for my craft/project. Even though, some of my most loved crafts have come from this style of creative frenzy - when I am going to make more than one of them, I find that I do need a more solid plan. An actual plan doesn't make it any less whimsical or creative...just a plan for the basic parts and then always adding fun, magical touches that make each one special.
I look at everything in this world as a possible component or idea for a whimsical, fun or even possibly useful item to create. When I become 'really present' in any situation, my mind goes to the 'what if's. or 'what abouts'. And then, my flow goes as long and as hard as it does. When I am somewhere other than home, I feel like I want to head home so that I can take those ideas and either sit at my computer and let it all spill out or climb the stairs up to my craft rooms and begin pulling together what my mind's eye has begun to design.
BEADWORK....
Everywhere I go, I always have my camera handy.
Taking pictures is a craft. It's the way that I really see the world....there is so much out there but to zero in on something, take a picture and then get to view it over and over is such a treat. I take pictures every day. Whether it's when I'm on a car trip, a walking trip or in one of our homes or gardens there is always something that is picture worthy. We have bird feeders set up at both homes and love the activity at each of them. I spend a great deal of time watching and photographing the birds and squirrels that visit our feeders.
I am always on the hunt for parts and pieces that I find to be interesting. Picking up sticks, rocks, acorns or anything that appeals to my creative self either because of its shape or color has me always wearing something with pockets. I don't immediately know what I'm going to do with my new finds...but I am sure that I will find a place for it in a craft/project. Or it will just be something that I display and love to look at.
I am fortunate enough to live both in a big old Victorian house that has multiple floors of which I have taken over two big bedrooms...for my creative, craft spaces. And, also in an old log cabin in the woods where my kitchen table and bins below hold all of my crafting treasures. When I bring my 'finds' to either home I usually start by more closely examining the pieces. I lay them out and start moving them around or assembling these parts and pieces into the beginning of a new project. If nothing creative comes to me at the moment, I put them into containers with similar objects for a future project. I just follow whatever it is that leads me in a direction. No matter how full and crowded my craft areas become I am that person who knows exactly where everything is.
CROCHETING/FELTING/SPINNING.....
I almost always have a crochet project in the works...I would really love to learn more than just the basic stitches...but the few that I do know work well for me at the moment...I have large bins full of a variety of colors, weights and different kinds of yarns. I also have two big feed bags full of fiber from my fiber sheep that need to be cleaned and combed to use for felting projects and spinning projects. When going on a road trip or when I'm going to be sitting somewhere for a period of time...I always slip a crochet project or a fiber project in my purse to occupy my time. I have a hard time just sitting. On a road trip, my husband and I talk a lot, listen to music or just enjoy the scenery. But there are always times to just be quiet, and I feel like keeping my hands busy with a rhythmic activity...like crocheting or combing fiber. Smaller, mobile and relaxing to do.
This is one of my many collages...when I am on a collage creating streak, I choose a lot of pictures, narrow them down, cut them out in great detail, work on placement and then the glueing down part begins. I have seen many attractive collages that have only several main pieces but, my style seems to continue to be...covering every inch of the canvas. Arrange it so that the eye starts in one place and comfortably moves around the whole collage. Occasionally, when the mood moves, I like to create seasonal collages also...Christmas and Halloween are my favorites. I generally go for the whimsical, woodland, Faries, gnomes, witches, cats and little forest critters...doorways, fences, flowers, old houses and just whatever my eye goes back to when choosing the pictures for a collage.
