A Gift from the HeART by Linda Kay's Art

What a wonderful way to share the love you feel for friends and family by making a handmade gift. Something that will show them, every day, that they are well thought of and loved.

This is what I did for some very special friends who saw me through a very difficult time recently.
I needed a simple, economical yet meaningful gift to give to my friends as a small token of my gratitude. I chose a heart.

I was perusing Pinterest recently for ideas and found a 4 sided heart ornament made of paper that I instantly fell in love with. So, to make it very personal, I chose a 3 sided design as that is a special number for me and holds deep meaning that I wanted to embed in my gifts.

Now I went into production mode!

After cutting out a bunch of hearts with my Cricut machine, I went about and put these heart ornaments together. First I creased a line down the center with my ruler and bone folder.

I gather a lot of soft colors and pretty designs for my hearts as I wanted to reflect my loving thoughts with sweet colors and patterns.

I cut lots of fibers to use as hangers and set them aside.

Choosing which ones worked well together was a lot of fun. I worked on a crafting mat to help keep the mess manageable. 

Using Modge Podge and a 1" flat brush, I started pasting them together. One heart laid face down, the other two folded in half and matching edges with the first.

Laying the folded fiber hanger in half, I placed it in the center of the remaining side, laid on enough glue and squeezed the pieces together keeping the hanger as close to the center as possible. Some of them were a bit lumpy and bumpy, but I didn't think that hurt any of them. I just made sure to fill them with good thoughts of love and hugs!

I let them dry overnight and hoped my cats would not try to run off with too many of them. They really like to sleep on this table and love yarn even more!

I tied on some shiny beads; one on the top, two on the bottom.

I have a special ornament hanger that I got from Crate and Barrel last year which worked out perfectly for the display. It created quite a interest at my party where everyone was encouraged to pick one out and take it home. 

So, if you need to make a special gift on a budget and don't have a lot of time, these little hearts might just be the trick. 

Best wishes and Happy Holidays!

Linda Kay

Use these links to find me. 

My Website ~ http://lindakaysart.com/

My Blog ~ http://lindakaysart.com/blog/

Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/LindaKaysArt

Instagram ~ http://instagram.com/lindakaysart

And make sure to come by the FB group and share all your projects!!

Felted Soap Tutorial By Kelly Corso

Christmas is only a few weeks away and Kelly is here to show us a fabulous gift idea that’s easy to make! 

Have you ever heard of felted soap? It’s soap that is encased in wool, pretty cool huh? There are many benefits to be had from felted soap.

-soap lasts longer

- you have a wash cloth and soap in one

-exfoliating properties

- wool has natural anti-microbial properties

- it’s also darn pretty!

I'm going to teach you how to make cuties like these for yourself or for a great gift for someone you love!

Material needed:

-wool- any wool of your choice will work. A lot of people like merino. You can choose roving or    batting. I prefer batting because the fibers seem to felt together faster and easier.

- a bar of soap, your choice. Preferably in a shape with rounder edges

- a stocking or panty hose

- water and friction

Soap, wool, stocking and a container for warm water

Step 1- Put enough warm water in your container to dip wool in

Step 2- Tear off strips of wool and dip in the water, then begin wrapping the soap. Tearing is better than cutting. Cut edges will take a bit longer to felt together.

Begin wrapping the soap while smoothing the fibers on the surface of the soap

Step 3- Cover the entire surface of the soap while keeping the fibers as even as possible.

Step 4-  The fibers will still be loose at this point. Enclose the soap in your stocking or panty hose.

Soap enclosed in stocking

Step 5- Immerse soap in warm water to get it completely wet and begin rotating it gently in you hands as if your were washing them. Be very gentle at this point because the  fibers are still loose and need to begin to felt together. 

Do this for approximately 5 minutes. 

Step 6- Take the soap out of the stocking and the fiber should be                 interlocked at this point as pictured below. At this point you can continue to felt without the stocking.

Final Step- Continue rotating the soap in your hand for about 5 more minutes or until you can feel the fibers tightening around the soap.

Place on a towel to dry. 

Drying can take 24-48 hours

Bada Bing! There you go! Felted soap!

I hope you enjoyed learning how to make felted soap and give it a try!! It is so much fun!

Happy Felting!!!

Until next time-

Find more of Kelly’s fabulous felted creations at: 

Bird In A Tree Creations

Connect with us in between posts and 

share your thoughts with our Facebook  group: 

Cre8ive Klatch

Mantra Mobile by Michelle Reynolds

What a wonderful project this one is! 

This project could also be a tree ornament, an affirmation for yourself or a friend, or just a beautiful mobile piece to hang anywhere! 

You’ll want to make lots of these!

Hi everyone!!

I'm Michelle Reynolds from www.shellsinthebush.com/ and the Cre8ive Klatch Team.

I'm here today to show you how I made my Mantra Mobile and to inspire you to create your own.

Here are the supplies I used but I encourage you to use what you have already or to check out your $2 shop for some special items.

Paper - gelli prints and scrapbooking paper, pencil, scissors, glue stick, alphabet stamp set and ink, hole punch, ribbon.

1. First of all you'll need a mantra - two to five words that resonate with you.  I've created a Pinterest board if you need some inspiration.

2. Decide which shape you would like your mobile to be - for example if your mantra is Live Laugh Love you might decide on a heart shape.

3. Choose some papers - I love gelli printing so I have a lot of gelli prints and I also have a stash of scrapbooking papers which are plain and patterned.

Choose a colour scheme - think of contrasting your papers - warm colours and cool colours, plain and patterened, or red/white/blue etc.

Your top layer with words on it should be plain enough so the words stand out and don't get lost in the pattern.

4. Cut out your papers - I have cut out three circles - using a round gelli print made the bottom layer easy to cut and I have already made up circle templates to use but look around your home - in the past I have used small plates and bowls and glasses to create a circle shape.

5. Use a glue stick to glue your layers together.

6. Put your words onto your top layer - I have used stamps, paint pens and gel pens. Another idea is to use words or letters from a magazine.

7. Then continue to decorate your mobile to your heart's content. You could use a paper doilly as one of the layers - see image below.

8. I punched a hole in the top and threaded some ribbon through.  If you feel your paper is too thin and not strong enough then you may have to glue some cardstock to the back of your mobile.

I hope you have fun creating your Mantra Mobile.  Please join our Cre8ive Klatch FaceBook Group and share your creations - I would be thrilled to see them and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Michelle.

PS If you would like to buy some gelli prints to use to create this mobile or in your art journal, for collage and mixed media art then check out my Etsy store for some great Gelli Print Packages.

Meet Our Cre8ive Vagabond

Hi there fellow Cre8ives!

My name is Janet Forrest, and I'm new to this group. Well, at least visibly.

When Susan, Lori, and Ursula first launched this new new project I thought it was a GREAT idea. But because of my crazy lifestyle I felt unable to commit to projects and deadlines. I’ve just been watching the progress from a distance, trying to be supportive, but wishing I could participate without setting myself (and them!) up for disappointment.

Well, those sweet ladies did it! They found a way for me to be involved on a flexible timetable that fits my reality. I’m now their “Cre8ive Vagabond” - a guest blogger and occasional participant. 

I hope to bring you a different perspective on cre8ivity, based on my need to find it in some pretty non-traditional places.

But let’s start with a little background.

For twenty years I owned a brick and mortar business - a florist and gift shop that was non-traditional, as well (you’ll figure out pretty fast that’s the way I do life!) It was heavy on the gifts, unlike most florist shops, but gifts came first and flowers were added later. It began as an outlet for my creativity - my arts and crafts - but I quickly discovered that there weren't enough hours in the day to be supplier, displayer, salesperson, janitor, accountant, etc. so I had to re-define creativity. For many years I had to express myself through the products I purchased for sale, and creating displays that made people NEED to have the merchandise in their own home.

As the store grew (from under 500 sq. ft. to 2500 sq. ft) I added staff and was able, eventually, to return to designing and producing (with the help of some talented ladies!) merchandise for sale in the store.

But then life changed again when grandchildren started arriving. With them came the need to reassess what was important in life, and the store lost. In 2005, just a few months shy of its 20th birthday, I sold it and embarked on a new adventure.

I was having so much fun with my new granddaughter that it took a few years for me to realize that the creative part of me, the part that made me, me, was withering up and in danger of dying. To make a VERY long story short, a friend encouraged me to go to the book store and peruse the art section and see if anything spoke to me. The next thing I knew, I was taking an on-line art business class and met “my tribe.” The journey to rediscover creativity in my life had begun.

I was trying to stay open to all the possibilities, but I had it in my heart I wanted another creative business, so I explored how to make that happen in the computer age. The next three years were full of ups and downs. I struggled with defining “creative” and figuring out how to make it work in my new “post-working/caring-for-grandchildren-while-their-parents-were-working-life.” I’d started out hoping, in my heart of hearts, to have another creative business, selling things that I made, but when I got reacquainted with how much time and energy that takes, I realized it just wasn’t going to work in my new reality. But I KNEW I needed to have creativity in my life. And so I kept pushing ahead. And I’ve ended up going places I never could have imagined. 

I rediscovered my love of writing, began photographing the world around me through what I’ve come to call my “Tattered Lens,” 

begun doing art for the fun of it,

and developed a serious case of wanderlust - thus my current title of “Cre8ive Vagabond!”

And here we are.

I hope I’ll be able to inspire you to expand your definition of creativity as I share stories and art from the road. Thanks for joining me on this leg of the journey!

We couldn't be more excited about having Janet join us!! Want to connect with her? Want to read her fascinating blog?

Tattered n' Worn

Or join the conversation over at our Facebook page:

Cre8ive Klatch

Happy Halloween From The Cre8ive Klatch

From all of us to all of you...

have the spookiest Halloween ever!!

Come join the spooktacular conversation in our Facebook group:

Cre8ive Klatch

Thanks to Itkupilli for the clip art graphics that I used to put this together.

Ideas For Bringing Back Your Muse

Do you ever find yourself in a creative slump? A day or more of fleeting ideas and a lack of creativity? It feels like you just can’t come up with an idea or figure out what or how to tackle your creative tasks?

What do you do? How do you bring back your muse? What ideas do you use to coax your art back?

I took a poll from our fantastically artistic group..who just like you…has those same moments and this is what they said...

I have a great network of creatives from a variety of backgrounds that I lean on. Artists, musicians, dancers, writers....I could go on.... I brainstorm with them, swap ideas, explore my project, and before I know it, the creative juices start to flow. I truly believe that we create more than we could alone when we allow another into our play world!

Scribble Swarm

Also the Scribble Swarm.  Another thing I do is just start scribbling. Doodling has become an art form, so if I think of it that way, it is about being creative. But scribbling can be messy and energetic. 
Rachél Payne of Creativity Tribe

Do something non-art related
Like dishes, laundry, purge a closet. Also just painting super freely/abstractly in my art journal that no one has to see. That gets me in the mood!
Jill Lambert of Jill’s Dream

Get up and dance to a great song. Pull out some great books and/or magazines and look for color, texture & shapes. Go for a walk. Do something boring.        Linda Kinnaman of Linda Kay’s Art

I go for a walk in nature … Or my favourite way is to visit a store in town that I find inspiring and makes me feel like I am "Refilling the Well" {a little artist's date a'la Julia Cameron} then I go home, put some music on, get my art supplies out and get onto it.          
Cat Athena Louise of Bohemian Dream

I go for a drive or read.     
Ursula Smith of Ursula-Smith.com

Drag out some of my 843678986 Stampington magazines.
Lori Leissner of LeissnerArt

Start a non-creative project that I don't want to do! That almost always works!
Janet Forrest of Tattered N' Worn

I go to nature or meditate... Clear my mind of the local traffic.... Daily crainess...
Kim Hyer of A Paper Addict

I do something unrelated to art. Dishes, start something in the crockpot, chop firewood or something else physical. Works everytime.
Sally Rose of Hidden Talents

Pinterest, I just get on and do something creative - I usually start by finding something I like on Pinterest and copying it then I make another one and modify it and another making it more my own.
Michelle Reynolds of Shells in the Bush

As for me…well...my first inclination is to clean the studio. But you can read my top 6 fixes for my creative slump over at my blog...Susan’s Art Circus

In between posts you can always join the conversation on our FaceBook page: 

The Cre8ive Klatch

C’mon over and tell us what you do when your muse leaves you!

Until next time,

Susan

Gr8full For All Of You...and Moving Forward.

Well...we have been here for almost two months. All our bio posts have run and you, our reader, have stuck with us through our experimental soft launch. I truly want to tell you how gr8full I am that you've shared your precious time here. 

This has been an idea on the back burner for quite some time and its a thrill to have it come to life.

If you missed any of our fabulous artists you can look them up on our biography page.

Moving forward we are going to start with some fabulous ways to make gifts for Christmas...which if you've looked at a calendar is coming up fast! Too fast...

The girls also have some tips for your studio. Moving it from your home to an outside space, how to fit one into your house, and if you have a studio why its okay that its never tidy.

Business tips, show season foibles, quick cre8ive things for the holidays, and lots, lots more.

Our hope is you will continue to come back for more...continue to find something here to connect with...discover cre8ive ways that resonate with you.

In the meantime come join the conversation on our Facebook page: Cre8ive Klatch