Where Have We Been?

School. And work. Not fun. And not too crafty. In the past three months I had one craft day (with the exception of some beautiful doodles in the margins of my notebooks). Not something I’m very happy about. I did manage to teach embroidery and origami, spreading the crafting love to new people. I hope they enjoy it, because both crafts are addicting and now they will need their fix.

With the holidays I get a break from essays, reading and chapter summaries so it’s time to get crafty. I never did get all my handmade gifts made. But I have a bit of a new take on “buy handmade” that I plan on writing about soon. The handmade gifts that I have put together or picked up aren’t given yet but I will post pictures after the holiday. My step-dad gets another one-of-kind gift. He loved the truck painting so much Brian and I were inspired to get a little weirder. The other handmade one is for Brian, so I can’t write about it here.

Brian is busy at work but has found some time to create some awesome things. Hopefully he gets around to posting about it soon!

Hope you have kept up the imagination better than I have,

Melissa

Edited: December 19th, 2011

Screen Printing Update

I found some affordable screen in Toronto at Gwartzmans, of course. I attempted the fabric shops downtown and not knowing enough about the material I needed there were really no deals to be found. The staff didn’t know what I needed, one man tried to sell me tulle, but mostly they were unhelpful.

Gwartzman’s had a range of thread counts, they were knowledgeable, and totally understood when I wanted the cheapest fabric available. Someday I’ll want a lot of detail, but right now it would be too intimidating to pay that much.

This morning I cut out my perfect size and attached the material to my frame. For anyone trying this, it is probably a job for two people. One can do it, but it would be faster with two.

I removed the old fabric and it’s soaking in baking soda, I’m still trying to salvage it. I was surprised to find that staples were not used to attach the fabric, it’s just tucked around foam. I’m not sure if this is because Speedball is cheap, or it’s to keep the fabric from tearing. It was a slow process but I have the tight screen I started with. I have no idea what I want to make this time around. All the intimidation is back. It has to be perfect, it has to be artistic, it has to be wonderful! Maybe I have commitment issues.

Edited: July 28th, 2011

What We’ve Been Making

With both of us having more free time than we know what to do with there has been a lot of art going on lately. Visits to Deserres, Dollarama, and hardware stores are becoming an almost daily thing. On one of our adventures downtown we discussed the dirty subway and how awesome it would be if they were all decorated and cleaned. This little conversation inspired Brian.

It started with a sketch about a day ago…

I was impressed with the angles. That little sketch looked pretty great to me. By the time he went to bed last night, it looked like this:

It is both inspiring and intimidating to live with that much talent.

I have been staying focused though and getting a lot done myself. I have put a few new products up on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/keepuptheimagination and have been working away on some new items. I love painting on wood. It takes paint nicer than canvas and is more eco-friendly. I purchased some cubes and gift tags a few weeks back and here is where I am with them: I hope you all have been having as much luck with your art as we have. Expect to see some new embroidery soon and a bunch of new items on Etsy.

Keep up the imagination,

Melissa

Edited: April 30th, 2010