How did I get into this predicament? From as long as I can remember, I've been drawing or painting. I colored in numerous coloring books, did paint-by-numbers, and was always gluing this and that together to see what new object I could come up with. I'm not sure where that creativity went in high school or college. I took math and science courses, but no art courses. I'm not sure why.
Now I'm all grown up ... er, older anyway ... and I'm interested in many types of crafts. I think it started with a quilt class that I took in '96 or '97. I'd never done any quilting, and I thought it could be fun. I sewed a little bit, but nothing as organized as quilting. I loved the quilting class. I loved how the quilt blocks were pieced and put together. I hated the applique block. I still don't like applique. I caught the quilting bug ... well, the piecing bug. I love piecing the blocks but I seem to have an aversion to actually finishing the quilt. In fact, my first quilt from that first class is still waiting to be finished. I'ved quilted about 3/4 of it. It's on my list of UFOs to complete.
I did completely finish a mystery quilt that was cat-themed. It's called twisted tails and it features four cats, one facing each side of the quilt, with their tails intertwined. It turned out really cute, and I hand quilted it just to see what that would be like. It was an interesting experience, but I'll probably stick with machine quilting from here on.
I started dabbling in other crafts not too long after that. I took a few classes in decorative painting (or tole painting as the instructor preferred to call it). It was fun to see how easy it was to take a plain piece of wood and make it mine. Soon after that I discovered Donna Dewberry's OneStroke painting around 2002, and in 2003 I went to Minneapolis to do the certification for a OneStroke Certified Instructor (dragging Kelley along with me). I'm not sure why I needed to do that. I think I had delusions that I'd make oodles of money teaching OneStroke. If Donna could do it, why couldn't I? I did try teaching some private classes, but it didn't turn out like I thought. I gave up teaching and focused on painting for myself. I painted on just about any surface that doesn't move. I have enough paint brushes, paints, and unpainted surfaces to keep me happily painting for a long time. Unfortunately, painting doesn't seem to hold my interest as it once did.
I took a few classes on faux finishing. I thought that maybe I could combine a OneStroke painting business with a faux finish business. I painted the entire main floor of my house in various techniques. My favorite is the Tuscany effect in the kitchen complete with grape vines and breakaway wall. The sunflower border in the kitchen, achieved by using a sunflower stencil with a plaster compound, is a close second. The border blends in with the wall. I decided that faux painting is too hard on my back; I won't be doing that for clients.
I took two sessions of a mosaic class. In the first one we made a jar lid and a tray. They turned out great. I went to the store and bought mosaic-making supplies. For the second class we covered a bowling ball. It was wonderful. I dragged Kelley to that class, too! Mind you, she wasn't kicking and screaming. I love my bowling ball, but I won't put it in the yard since I don't want it to get dirty. I have bought many mosaic tiles and surfaces to mosaic ... but haven't done a thing with them.
I took a crochet class soon after I found a crochet book with gorgeous sweaters and blankets. I love sweaters, so why not learn how to make my own? Well, the class was fine and I learned the basics of crochet, but I don't think I have the desire to make my own sweaters or blankets this way. I do know that I'm going to purge all my yarns and crochet needles from my craft room. I'll find a friend who wants what I have.
Kelley dragged me (kicking and screaming .. um, not so much) to a cake decorating series at Michaels. We made some wonderful cakes. I bought all the tips and other products that you need for decorating cakes. I've decorated a few cakes since the classes, and I'm sure I'll decorate a few more. Probably not enough to justify all the tools I have, though...
I found a wonderful medium called Polymer Clay. Ok, I'm late to the party, but isn't it wonderful? Kelley and I went to a demo class at Michael's, so of course I had to buy a pasta machine and all the cutting tools. Oh, and clays and books. Books could be a topic all their own! I even bought a new toaster oven so that I could use the old one for baking clay. So far I've only baked one batch of clay, but I really want to make beads out of clay.
Somewhere along the line I discovered Gallery Glass. It's painting on glass that gives the effect of stained glass. I really like Gallery Glass. This is one craft that I'd like to keep doing. After all, I have all the tools, paints, empty surfaces ... and books.
More recently I've started getting hooked on making jewelry with beads. I find the charm bracelet look really appeals to me. I think it would be great to make a chunky bracelet and hang a watch off of it. Perhaps a bracelet made out of Polymer Clay beads? Hmmmm...
There have been many other crafts that I've tried, but these are the ones that seem to have made the biggest impact on me. I think if I can find a way to blend these all together, I'd be very happy. I'll talk about what I'm thinking in my next post.
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