Art Escape

I have been experimenting with my new camera, the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTI or EOS 400D. I have uploaded two new photos to my slideshow. Check back often for new and upcoming additions while I learn about photography. The painting of the photographer is a portion of a piece in Brian’s painting portfolio.

My Star Mouse

Here for you today is another craft done by my very talented and dearly missed Grandma Lucy. This is a door stop dressed up to look like a mouse. My grandmother found this craft on a trip she and my mother took one summer. My grandmother copied the craft but improved upon the original design with a few minor modifications.

The original craft she found was about 2 ft tall. The body form and main weight of the object was made with a 2 liter bottle. My grandmother filled it about a little more than half way full with sand and then stuffed the top with plastic bags. She then covered it with a sock. To the bottom she applied a piece of felt. The top head piece is one large styrofoam bottle with a small hole on the bottom where it fits onto the bottle cap. The cheeks are made with smaller size styrofoam balls. My grandmother would then sew the dresses for the mice. She and my mother came up with all different kinds of themes for the mice. Sports teams, birthdays, easter, christmas, halloween theme material lined her closets. My mother enjoyed helping by applying all the facial features and accessories of the different mice. I still remember our trips to the craft store to find the tiny eyeglasses and hunt for more special trinkets for them to each hold. They held such things as footballs, basketballs, baskets, presents, teddy bears, and flowers.

The project I have pictured here was a special theme designed just for me. This version is quite a bit smaller than the original. It measures to just short of 12 inches, was made with a 32 oz plastic bottle and is more suited to being a decoration. My grandmother also made a smaller version using an 8 oz plastic bottle.

Bamboo Anyone?

Green Daily published a story this past saturday about some really cool and sustainable spectacles. The story claims they are really flexible so it is hard to break them but I wonder how the material will hold up to the rigors of everyday wear? They are also affordable as I have routinely paid at least $150-$200 if not more for frames in the past. I have bamboo growing in my yard. I wonder if they would cut me a deal if I donated some bamboo? 

 I also posted this over at the More Hip Than Hippie Forum.

Macrame Plant Hanger

I learned how to macrame not too long after my daughter was born. I used to make plain beaded jewelry in junior high and high school using string or fishing line but didn’t discover this method of decorative knotting till in the course of shopping at a local bead store, that a friend of mine owned, I observed a necklace she was making to be sold in her shop. I asked her to show me a couple of basic knots. I then bought some hemp twine and went home to make some jewelry. I made several pieces for both myself and Brian, my husband. I make necklaces, anklets and bracelets combined with various beads when I was first learning. This twine can also be used around the house being that I utilized it as clothesline for along time. The 3mm rope is rated at 170 lb. test.                          

After exploring this technique using a .8 mm and 1.0 mm twine, I experimented with 2mm and 3mm twine. I had seen necklaces made with this thickness of twine but they seemed too bulky. I began to wonder what other things I could make with this twine using the macrame technique. One day at my friends shop, I noticed a plant hanger made using macrame but with a different kind of twine. I noticed the beauty and sturdiness of the items and decided to to try to make one to hang my plants up in my window. 

 I wrestled for a long time with what to use for the top hanger. I finally decided upon using a brass ring. I found multiple sizes in the local craft section of a big box retail outfit. I made my first one concentrating more on how to make the plant hanger itself. I eventually experimented and decided that the whole piece would look much better if I wrapped the brass ring with the hemp twine. It gives the plant hanger a nice, finished, even look. I liked them so much I asked if my friend would accept them as consignment in her store. I sold several of them and mostly used the proceeds to buy more supplies of beads and twine.  

 After you complete this you need to cut 16 very long pieces of twine. Feed them through the hole in the ring to the middle of the cord making sure that each end of each string meets the other. Use an Alpine coil knot to bind the strings together near the top closest to the ring. Then divide the stings into four groups of four cords. Use the half knot and the square knot making different patterns as you go. Experiment to see what you like best. When you get to your desired length it is helpful to have ready a lightweight round object to simulate the plant circumference in order to make the bottom basket holder. Take two strings from two neighboring groups of strands. Join them together about four to six inches below the stopping part of the your macrame chains using the square knot until all the strands are connected to each other. Repeat again joining two strings from two neighboring strands 3-4 inches below the previous square knot until all the strands are connected to each other. When you have reach the desired depth of your basket holder, join the strings together and bind them tight with another Alpine coil knot. My friend no longer owns that particular store (nor do the current owners offer consignment currently) but a new outfit has just started business and they have three plant hangers handmade by me for sale in their store. I have three more in progress at the present time.  Some other macrame plant hanger instructions are here. 

Not only have I made plant hangers but I have put the art of macrame to use with other crafts as well. I made a guitar strap for my husband, Brian, years ago where I took a burlap strap and covered it with patchwork material of an old tie and corduroy using macrame for each end of the strap. I have made baby teethers with it recycling old baby toys or using non-toxic wooden beads as a rattle. Keychains are a favoite of mine to make with macrame because they can be made quickly and I can get really creative in decorating them with beads. I am currently working on making a pattern for a Kleen Kantean carrier with shoulder strap.

If you found this post helpful in your crafting endeavors, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you if you used these instructions to make your own plant hangers.

Quilt Love

Now it is time to share some of the crafty goodness from my husband’s side of our family. Brian has many crafty people in his family one of which is his Grandmother Mae. She has been making quilts for a very long time and has supported her family at times by selling her crafts. She also makes them to give away as presents for her family members as she gave me my daughters at my baby shower. I find the two quilts she made for my son and my daughter to be the most treasured gifts I have ever received, however, she is very modest about her work. These quilts hang on the wall in each of my children’s bedrooms and I hope that they value these quilts as much as I do and pass them down to their children as a family keepsake. The amazing detail that she achieves with each quilt is just breathtaking.

I Miss My Superhero

My dad, Donald O’Neal, was a professional photographer for almost 38 years. He graduated from Florida State University in 1969. He began teaching photography at Hoover Junior High School the same year and eventually moved to teaching the same subject at Merritt Island High School. During this time, he perfected his craft by shooting weddings professionally on the weekends. After he developed the film, he would assemble wonderful photo albums for the happy couples.

During my seventh grade school year he helped me with my science project which was exploring the workings of a camera. He helped me create a pinhole camera from cardboard and tape. We went outside to our front sidewalk and took pictures of a house across the street while he explained how the different aperture settings, shutter speeds and focal length when changed, affected the final result of each picture we took. I always wanted to learn more about this trade of his but they didn’t offer this elective at my high school. When I went to college I wasn’t sure then what I wanted to do and lost interest quickly. Now, I find it tragic that I have just now found a passion for photography; something I feel deep regret over not learning more about from my father.

He had a goal during his retirement years to sell prints of his wonderful photoart. My husband designed and created Wall To Wall Photos with detailed notes from my father of what he wanted it to contain and how he wanted it appear. In addition to photography he has a passion for interior decorating. All of his homes were meticulously decorated and he was comforted in his last years by surrounding himself with his photos. He enjoyed traveling and used those opportunities to capture the beauty of places on our planet and those people, animals, and things which inhabit it.

Unfortunately, his life was cut short just before his sixtieth birthday by prostate cancer. He was my personal superhero. I love him and miss him very much.

Are You a Thread Head?

The latest podcast show by the Thread Heads over at ThreadBanger is all about reusable shopping bags, one of my favorite subjects. Just ask anyone who has had to endure my incessant ramblings about using them when I explain the great pleasure I get every time I walk out of a store with my bags in hand. It did take me awhile to learn to bring them with me on shopping trips but now it has become a force of habit. I now remember before I leave the house to bring my bags with me and you must form a habit of bringing them into the store with you as well. One of my local grocery stores used to give me $.05 off my total shopping bill for each cloth bag I would bring to put my groceries in so that was a big help and a great reminder. They have just recently changed to giving me points on my frequent shopper card but it is still an incentive. I do find that if I have my bags with me at all times that I use them everywhere I go. I love telling the cashier at any store I shop at, with a smile of course, that I have brought my own bag. It just makes me feel good and makes me feel like I am making a difference, however small.

I have all sorts of different bags. I have several Classic String Bags and also a couple of Produce Bags. I have started a collection of health food store reusable bags which are usually made of canvas. Whenever I go to a new health food store I always pick up a bag with their logo on it. I have one from Greenlife Grocery, Nature’s Food Patch, Earthfare and Whole Foods Market. My Whole Foods bag is so big and durable that I have used it like a back-pack to lug my stuff around. I haven’t picked up any chico bags yet but I do plan to get some of those awesome bags at some point in the future. They are very convenient and compact so you can stuff them in your car so you don’t forget. The other reuasable bags I take with me on shopping trips are just canvas bags I have collected over the years with various organizations logos on them. I have customized some of them by painting or sewing over the logo. A friend of mine made this bag completely from scratch.

One of the organizations mentioned in the Thread Head podcast was Morsbags whose goal is social guerilla bagging. They give you a pattern for a really simple to sew bag and give out their labels in printable .pdf form, then you give away the bags you make for free usually on a day set by the head organization. I really like this idea and so much so that I created a pod for my area called BlueRidgeBags so if you want to make some with me contact me through the morsbags site.

Other links of interest:

One Bag at a Time

She’s A Betty: Reusable SHopping Bag Guide

Reuasable Grocery and Shopping Bags Blog

Reuse This Bag

Feed Projects link via The Daily Green

Bags On the Run

U-HandBag Blog: Tutorial for making a reuasbable bag with comfy handles

The Craft of Colored Glass

Not only was my dad a photographer but he was a crafter as well. He enjoyed woodworking and stained glass. He made one large window piece in a bathroom and many transom pieces for two houses he owned in Florida. I remember being fascinated with the extraordinary colors and patterns which made up the glass he used. When I went with him on a trip to Europe we were both in awe of the amazing stained glass windows in the gothic cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims in Paris, France. My father also took classes to learn more about this art after he moved to North Carolina because he had planned on making many more during his retirement years. Also, a former supervisor of mine used to make small little sun-catcher stained glass pieces and she gave one to me as a christmas present.

An Apple a Day

My father was a photography teacher at both high school and college level and a professional photographer specializing in travel and wedding photography. Since the role of teacher was his main career for 35 years he always received wonderful apple figurines from many of his students. He enjoyed collecting all sorts of different apple figurines and had quite a collection, at least one for every day of the year, probably more, when he decided he was done collecting them. During the time when he enjoyed collecting apple figurines, I made him a latch hook craft of an apple from a kit as a present for his birthday. I have done many latch hook crafts in the past but this was by far my most favorite. Latch hook kits come with the materials you need to get started including latch hook canvas and precut yarn (most often acrylic). The latch hook tool needs to be obtained separately but some kits may include this as well. My mom introduced me to this type of craft when I was in middle school. It is very easy to learn and a lot of fun. You can also design your own patterns and print them on latch hook canvas to make something of your own creation.

We had an ice storm

We awoke on Friday morning to our own personal ice rink right on our driveway.