Category Archives: creativity

Thinking About Crafting

art, creativity, learning

I have been binge watching the PBS series Craft in America. It features American handcrafters and is the creation of a nonprofit in Los Angeles. Many of the artisans who are featured were doing the work as a hobby but eventually found ways to make it the focus of their lives. The series features a wide variety of crafters from sculptors to violin makers. Individual programs are organized around themes such as memory and community.

As I pursue my own crafting more deeply, listening to these artists talk about their process and progress has helped strengthen my commitment. I was initially a little frustrated with the box making instructor as she seemed to take a long time to get to the box making. But, I realized, as I settled in to listen, that she was discussing her creative process in developing the box, showing the iterations that led to the current product. She was inviting us into that process. We were doing more than just following directions.

Check out the holiday version of the series:

Seasonal Work

creativity, Making, , , ,

With the coming of cooler weather and shorter days, my creative work changes. While I do some crafting in the spring and summer, I spend most of my time in the garden and the kitchen, growing, harvesting and preserving food. Now, we are enjoying the fruits of that labor, and there is time to settle into my studio for crafting. While book and card making are my newest endeavors, I have crocheted for most of my life, learning at the side of my paternal grandmother. It is my main thread craft. I signed up for a monthly crochet kit. The projects use different stitches and yarns but are limited enough in scope to be completed in a month. I look forward to the kit each month. Last weekend, in an effort to clear some works in progress (often known as WIP), I pulled out the sewing machine to finish up a bag kit that has been lurking around for awhile. Sewing is not my strength but they turned out pretty well. A few pictures for your enjoyment including a crocheted shawl and baskets as well as the bags.

October 2023 Crafts

I forgot to mention the Legos! I’ve been almost done with the bookshop for a very long time and am excited to announce it is completed! Now I can move on to the succulents. I also have a Ugears hurdy gurdy model to put together. I gave my father one for a clock and he enjoyed it so much, he bought a few more. I think it will be a good project to work on between Christmas and New Years.

Bookstore
Lego Bookshop

One of the pleasures of semi-retirement is being able to prioritize these creative efforts. I’ve always made time for hobbies but only after everything else. This week, I signed on for a cartonnage, or box making, workshop. I made band boxes out of posterboard, wallpaper and newspaper when I was a teenage and am looking forward to explore another area of paperwork. This workshop is provided by Claudia Squio. We are creating a fabric-covered box with an offset hinged lid that will be big enough to hold an album. I will be diving in immediately after pressing publish.

My hope for you is time to create.

DIY: Homemade Washi Tape

books, creativity, Making

If you are not a crafter, you may not be familiar with washi tape. It is a decorative tape used for a variety of crafting purposes. I used purchased Washi Tape to create Ali Manning’s Washi Tape Journal.

There are a variety of tutorials for creating your own tape. This one from Randomona at Instructables starts with masking tape, which has a similar texture to real washi tape, and offers ideas for decorating the tape with various media from watercolor to colored pencils.

My idea was to recycle magazine pages for the tape, using double-sided tape as the base. I was able to try it out today, and the experiment was semi-successful. Washi tape is able to be moved around a bit before adhering completely. Double-sided tape is completely unforgiving: it sticks the minute it touches the background material.

I decided to add a challenge to the journal cover by taking one image and slicing it into washi tape wedges, spacing them out across the cover. It mostly worked although, as you can see from the pictures below, one of the pieces of the bridge doesn’t quite line up. I was so worried about the tape that I forgot about the alignment. I experimented on the back by putting down wider pieces of the background but it really didn’t work. The strips of the picture aren’t evenly spaced.

Here’s my bigger picture thought about this in terms of learning: part of me was disappointed as there are issues with the cover. But, I *learned* a lot and am already planning to try again tomorrow, applying a bit more precision to the widths of the background pieces. This is the process that should undergird performance based assessment: generating an idea, trying it out, reflecting, tinkering, trying again, reflecting, rinse and repeat as much as possible. It is messy, not easy to assess, but a process that opens a whole host of learning opportunities.

Critiques aside, I am actually happy with how it turned out. I put in an order for removable double-sided tape and am heading to my craft staff to see if I have any masking tape. I seem to be able to picture a box. Wish me luck.

As I dig around, you can check out the cover pictures below. I’ll make a single signature and sew it together later.

Homemade Washi Tape

It’s Been a Minute

books, creativity, Making

Teaching online and face to face as well as developing a new seven-week course that starts next week has been keeping me busy. A bit of stress has been keeping me distracted. Both added up to a bit of writer’s block.

It may seem silly to talk about stress when you are semi-retired and living a simple life like I am, but it still happens. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news to you young people out there who are looking forward to all that stress-free living the retirement communities promise. Sure, they fix your plumbing but can they keep you from saying yes to a project without asking enough questions?

I have been, for the past 18 months, volunteering for a local project that has become a time and energy suck without making any progress. It is time to walk away. Actually , it WAS time to walk away in June, but I hate giving up so gave it a bit more time and effort. Hence, the stress. I am still conflicted as I respect the vision and the work of the organization. But, I’ve done as much for them as I can and need to pivot to other priorities.

One priority is to build my bookmaking skills. I participated in a second Vintage Page Designs challenge last week, learning to create a Coptic Stitch Gratitude Journal. I am pretty happy with how mine turned out.

I also created two other books: a hardcover Coptic stitch book from a kit that has been lurking around and a Washi tape journal via Vintage Page Designs.

Ali Manning, owner of Vintage Page Designs, hosts a private Handmade Book Club, and I accepted her recent invitation after being on the waiting list for awhile. The club holds a variety of events, provides access to a large library of tutorials, and gives general information about bookmaking including information for starting your own business.

I’m not sure I am ready to start a business, but I already have a stack of six completed books and plans to tackle a hardcover journal next. I’m going to have to do something with them make beyond gifting, I think. I have also been making greeting cards, and they are starting to pile up. Finally, I have a tub of completed crochet projects along with the usual works in progress and plans for future projects. At the least, a business would be an excuse to buy more stash for these various hobbies.

And, let’s not talk about the books that seem to be piling up all around me. I have *always* wanted to own a bookstore and I just might be able to do that.

As I daydream away, enjoy a few pictures of recent books and cards:

Washi Tape Journal

Blue Book

Coptic Binding

Black History from Mr. Crim

creativity, history, poetry,

I haven’t much felt like writing lately: everything I think about writing seems frivolous in light of the horrific murder of Tyre Nichols and multiple mass shootings in January. Meanwhile, governors like Glenn Youngkin here in Virginia and Ron DeSantis in Florida are using their power to literally whitewash history.

So, I’m going to highlight a black historian I wrote about earlier, Mr. Ernest Crim III. He focuses on what matters, digs out that history that Youngkin and his ilk want to bury, and also finds bright spots in the world like the new poet laureate of New York, nine-year-old Kayden Hern.

@mrcrim3

You KNOW your timeline needs this to balance your exposure to trauma, so enjoy this story. 🙏🏾 There are three things I love most about this story. Firstly, the way Kayden’s grandma handled his curiosity. Secondly, how Kayden responded by actively engaging in poetry. Thirdly, I love how Governor Hochul reached out to him and kept her word. 💯 Who knows Kayden’s family? I wanna send him some books! 🤔 🚨Check my bio to order my NEW children’s book and for educational resources (like my autobiography, K-5 course, speaking engagement info, petitions, reading recommendations, etc.) and consider becoming a Patron or IG Subscriber to support my advocacy and content. 🙏🏾 #blackhistory #racism #ushistory #history #worldhistory #americanhistory #whiteally #africanamerican #childrensbooks #author #blackauthors #publicspeaker #blackhistorymonth #poet #newyork #georgefloyd #educationalequity #blacktiktok #whiteallies #fyp

♬ original sound – Ernest Crim III