Art That Sets You Apart

Club Creative Studio creates Art That Sets You Apart!

Enjoy viewing the creations in this video while listening to the musical talents of my friend, Vaughan Branch.

At the end, I share a few tidbits of information with you.
Be sure to visit the online store often, as the inventory is always one-of-a-kind, changing often.

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Creative Charms

Club Creative Studio Resin Charms

My creative friends that I refer to as members of the CRAFTease Crew have gathered once again to create a collaborative item with creative charms.  You may recall the blog that highlighted this group effort of creating individual charms and exchanging them with others for a charm bracelet. The December theme was The Twelve Days of Christmas.

After that pleasing experience and fun results, we decided to gather again and make and exchange more creative charms. This time we all decided to work with resin and the theme was going celebrate  Saint Valentine’s Day.  Once again we gathered for the exchange of our charms and we ended up with another memorable item.  I love the charms we created.

NC CRAFTease Crew 2012

Mixed resin poured into mini square molds.

Small items are arranged into the mold and resin is added to cover items and cure for twelve hours.

We make a mess but, it is all for the love of creativity. There is a reason.

Our great collection of completed charms! Ready to exchange!

When creativity flourishes, we get the excitement and confidence to continue on with a technique, or try something new. The NC CRAFTease Crew will be meeting again soon and I will be sharing an artful technique at our next gathering. I look forward to showing my craft-loving friends how I create in a fun medium.  Who knows what will come next? What is important is the expression of art and learning new techniques from someone who has knowledge to share.

Finished necklace with completed charms.

We have combined the charms in bracelets and necklaces.

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Survival Kit For Life

Club Creative Studio encourages and supports creativity. To help you express creativity for everyday life events, you are welcome to try this activity, the creation of a Survival Kit. Gifts known as “survival kits” house a collection of small commonly known, everyday items.  Each item is individually assigned a special symbolic meaning.  Each item combine to be so important, one has the impression that it just can’t be lived with out.  It is needed for mere survival.  That is a joke of course but, it is a nice gift with thoughtful meanings.

Club Creative Studio: Survival Kit Gift Bag (Back Side)

The list of items included in a survival kit bag can be personalized for one person or made in bulk to share with many.  Often times the items are placed in a clear bag so that the contents can be readily seen, and an itemized list is included to explain the contents. Creativity can be expressed in the packaging as items can be placed in decorative bags, boxes. baskets or buckets.

Club Creative Studio: Marriage Survival Kit Gift Bag (Front Label)

 

 

The above image is a photo of a “Marriage Survival Kit” that I made for a special occasion where many married couples gathered for an evening.  Below you will find a list to help you get started with clever sayings to accompany your items, for any type and any themed ”Survival Kit”

Make sure the items are age-appropriate and safe to include in your gift giving.

TOOTHPICK: To pick out the good qualities in people.

PAPER CLIP: Help you “hold it together” during difficult times.

HERSHEY KISS: Help you remember the power of hugs and kisses.

BUTTON: To help remember the times one should button their lip.

BAND-AID: To help with life’s hurt feelings.

ERASER: Erase away any mistakes you make that you want to forget.

CANDLE: To light your way when things are their darkest.

MARBLE: For the times you feel you’ve lost all of yours.

LIFESAVER: For the times others will need your help and you will need theirs.

MINT: To remember that your friend is “worth a mint”.

GUM: Because we stick together.

STAR STICKER: You are a shining star.

HAPPY FACE STICKER: Remember to smile

STICKY TAPE: To tape your lips when you have nothing good to say.

A ROCK: We are as sold as a rock!

TEA BAG: For the times that you get into hot water.

JOLLY RANCHER CANDY: To add happiness to hard times.

PENCIL: To stay sharp.

ONE PENNY: A penny for your thoughts.

Can you think of any other clever items that can be included in a theme “survival kit”?  The themes are only limited to your imagination. Make a “survival kit” with a theme for your mail delivery person, your neighbor, teachers,  a baby-sitter or the pet-sitter. Give a gift bag to members of a committee, for holiday or birthday favors. Have fun!

 

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Neat Sweet Treats

Club Creative Studio is always on the hunt for creativity. February is a sweet month to include creativity that has a focus on candy.  I am sharing a few neat ideas that are treats as well. I found a few completed examples of items that I have  created myself in the past.  They are simple enough, a child can do this alone or with minimal assistance.  I hope that you are inspired to create from these ideas, putting your own spin on the projects to make them even better with your own style.

Happy Saint Valentine’s Day as you may be helping a young child share treats with family members, classmates or neighbors. This year, make them personal, create them yourself.

Image: artistshelpingchildren.org

With a simple paper motif cut-out a flower is made.  Add your stick candy to the center portion through a hole punched section as a focal point. Your sweet treat has become a stem as well.

Image: stampinup.net

Layer cut-out flower motif shapes and you have a three-dimensional petals, the lolly pop can be used to secure the paper and grouped to create a full bouquet or single flower treat.

Image:squiddo.com

While you are discovering crafts made from candy, here is one more idea you can attach to a hand made Valentine card.  I am sure that someone will appreciate the ingenuity.

Have fun creating art your own neat sweets. It is a way to make it a special treat.

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Heart to Heart- Easy Paper Crafts

One of the first things that you think about if you are thinking of Saint Valentine’s Day is a heart-shaped symbol.

Image: extreamcardsandpapercrafting.com

The above photo is a sample of a simple made large heart constructed by adding several small heart-shaped loops. The strips are loops connected by a stapled, taped, or glued ends. Vary the width of your paper strips for a different looks if you like. Best place to start: make one heart and then build upon that one adding to the top section with glued tip ends.

Image: instructables.com

The above photo is an example of how a simple paper weave can be cut into a shape of a heart and used as a Valentine.  Just use various paper strips and weave over under technique. You can buy pre- cut quilling paper strips at your local craft store or make your own strips from a paper shredder. I have a hand-held shredder that works perfect for this project.

Image: villageactivity.uk.com

The red and white paper heart above is also woven. Each half  dome-cut paper has three slits cut to matching points and then linked together at the end point, weaving the halves. More ideas in this blog will show you without words how to make your cuts and construct these little woven baskets.  Enjoy making them simply or more complex looking.

Image: pompomemporium.com

Use felt material as a medium, the same technique of cutting slits and weaving together two parts form a new look. Place candy or paper notes inside, add a handle or hanging loop. In the past I have had various aged students create these weaving projects from construction paper and they were easily created by grade levels as early as first grade.

STEP ONE: SIMPLE SKILL VERSION

Enjoy including creativity into your day today.  I am sure that at least one of these projects featured will be a great family activity to do together or to do in a classroom setting.

STEP TWO: MEDIUM SKILL VERSION

STEP THREE: ADVANCED WEAVES

For a little bit of a challenge in making an advanced version weave, vary where the split lines will go and the pattern will take on a new design!  Best of luck and have fun creating! Use the heart decorations for your home or to give as great paper gifts to others, include the directions or supplies for an added bonus. Spread the word about being creative every day!

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On a Roll- A Toilet Paper Roll

Image: tporigami.com

Club Creative Studio does not have to look too far to find creativity.  Because creative and innovative ideas are all around us, all we have to do is open our eyes and mind to locate it.  Spotting creativity in unusual places can be especially rewarding because it is in those times that you are left with a lasting impression of what we can appreciate in art form.

Hope it does not rain on this bride's wedding day!

Let’s take what may be the most uncommon place in a home to find creativity the bathroom. Yes, I said…the BATHROOM!  I happily found information to share today that sets me on a roll of blogging about something creative and interesting.  Look no further than a toilet paper roll. And admit to liking this type art. It even has a name… toilegami.

Image: pearlstreetdesign.com

You may be familiar with the triangle fold. Often hotels have this fold displayed in their rooms.  In Japan we would see this simple triangle fold often and the last one to be in such an area would be expected to fold the triangle for the next person visiting.  Intricate designs would go a long way impressing house guests. Look at these fine folds.

Image: origami-resource-center.com

Try folding the ends and adding a little added detail to the bathroom decor.

Image (2): origami-resource-center.com

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A Reason for Resin

Club Creative Studio encourages creativity.  Today, my reason for writing is to share information on a project with a focus on the medium called resin. I have a handful of friends that I am now lovingly referring to them as CRAFTease members. You have perhaps heard of  the enduring term: Foodie, an informal term used for a particular class of aficionado of food and drink. Likewise, I may have coined this term today: CRAFTease. The name I give to those I think are interested in “crafts” and have the willingness to learn from what a new product has to offer in being tempted/teased with the desire to experiment more with that unfamiliar art product. Also as a play on words “ease” found in CRAFTease, brings to mind that the examples and artful expressions of ideas created by a CRAFTease flow with ease.

With this blog post I am once again highlighting the creative sparks that come from a scenario of creative minds meshing. How do you foster the creative juices of others? The answer is simply encouragement.   Encouraging creativity and sharing art and information is one way to pass along the excitement of art.

The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. 

If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom

and the world would produce abundance beyond the wildest dreams.

(Sidney Madwed, American poet)

Before I highlight the post title, I wish to share a little more background information on this group project activity.  Last year, Gayle just wanted to gather some of her creative-type friends for a group project/gift giving activity.  Gayle arranged to have a handful of her pals meet up at her home to brainstorm and share their talents together in a group art project.  It was a meeting-of-the-minds of sorts. The holiday season last December 2011, seemed to be the perfect time to come together in spirit, create a hand-made charm and share it in friendship.  Combined efforts of art were exchanged within the group, everyone left with a memorable keepsake of what each person hand-made individually.  Collectively, the art was “charming”, hand-made charms for us to add to our own link bracelet.  The theme: The Twelve Days of Christmas.

(December, 2011) CRAFTease Project

The opportunity that brought both fundamentals and fun to the table sparked me to ask if we might want to do this type activity again… in February, to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Needless to say we all agreed that we would want to discover or perfect another medium and share the outcome with the group members once again. We decided to all focus on the same medium this time and approach our projects individually under that same theme and medium, resin. Resin is known as any variety of substances obtained from the gum or sap of some trees and often used in varnishes, plastics, and even medicine, and as a comparable synthetic product.

Resins we will be using are valued for their chemical/synthetic properties and associated use of a thick liquid that is hardened into a transparent solid. The word “resin” has been applied in the modern world to nearly any component of a liquid that will set into a hard lacquer or enamel-type finish. Our charm examples that we will experiment with are an expression of a modern product which is an epoxy resin.  It is known as a “resin” because it will solidify in the same way as (some) plant resins do.  Synthetic resins are liquid of thermosetting plastics and do not derive from plants.

Our reason for resin is to experience its apparent diversity in casting, layering, embedding , filling and coating.  I will be happy to post our results. We are meeting soon to try out our luck.  I am ready with the camera to share what we do as a CRAFTease member.  Please check back for more information on how we used our resin during the month of February.

F.Y.I. The English word RESIN originates from the late 14th century Old French resine.

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Bring Bling to Bold

Image: Inspiration pattern & hand-mixed colors by Club Creative Studio.Rich colors that bring boldness.

Club Creative Studio’s art is one way to add color to the “gloom of winter”. Art can be created to help you bring a dash of bling into your bold color choices of fashion and home. Right now it is considered “hot” to add rich colors and bold patterns to your fashion, and even in your home accessories.

 

Artful finds from a market-theme storefront that offers a more global awareness/influence will make you realize that it is o.k. to go bold. You may appreciate the fabrics you are seeing more often that commonly resemble the batik or ikat patterns. Items that are made from or are made to look like the ancient fabric-dying techniques are bold and beautiful. You can consider even tribal patterns to be bold.

Thinking of Persian rugs or Mexican tiles gives you an idea that patterns found in such items can become a focal point of interest. Adding a pop of color adds a spice to life.

Wearing something in jewel-tones such as fuchsia, turquoise and citrus greens and yellows is an easy way to bring your wardrobe up to date and fresh. When choosing an element of colorful bling, you may want to consider choosing colors that either blend or compliment your look. By introducing a combination of “wow-colors” you set yourself apart as being a bit bold, and certainly…beautiful!

Club Creative Studio hand-made beads.

Within the new category GLAMOUR tab on the website: Club Creative Studio I have introduced art that is bold and somewhat “over-the-top”. Here you will find jewelry art that is fun, and fabulous.  Enjoy viewing items that are being add to the growing new section. They are certainly making statements!

Rich colors that bring boldness.

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10 Ways to Think Like an Artist

While I write and share information about creativity, I do understand than not everyone thinks they are specifically “artistic”.  We tend to believe that the artistic/creative type are a strange bunch that really think differently.  Well, while it may be true that they think a little differently, they do so because they see differently, and are open to change.  What does it mean to think like an artist?  Creative people do things simply because it is interesting and personally challenging to do.

Image:funderstanding.com

This week’s Two-Cent Tuesday post shares ideas on how you can jump-start your journey to think like an artist.  How can you be creative everyday?

Learn to think like an artist:

1.  Look at things more closely than most people do.  Open your eyes to your surroundings.

2.  Find beauty in everyday things and situations.

3.  Make new connections between different things and ideas. There is more than one way to do something.

4.  Go beyond ordinary ways of thinking and doing things. Make an effort to approach and produce something differently.

5.  Expose yourself to possible failure.  Experiment or try something that is not comfortable to you.  Be brave and not scared to mess-up.

6.  Arrange things in new and interesting ways.  Mix it up and rearrange something to be unexpected or different.

7.  Work hard and at the edge of your potential.  Push yourself and discover hidden talents.

8.  Persist where others may give up. Forge ahead and remember your focus.

9.  Concentrate for long periods of time.  Creative persons usually don’t do things very quickly, they take their time to create.

10.  Utilize dreams and both new and old ideas to see something in a different way.

 Challenge yourself to try one thing on my list today that uses creativity in some interesting way.  Be and do the opposite of routine!

 It is an aspect that I strive for each day as I have the continuous goal of Being Creative Every Day at

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

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Let’s Band Together

Welcome to the Club Creative Studio blog.  It is with pleasure that I share another post on the topic of creativity.  Today this quote comes to mind, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” — Maya Angelou.  It reminds me that creativity is all around us and it will always be there for us to appreciate and discover.  We can and should band together to acknowledge the creativity of humankind.  How interesting creativity makes our world.  Creativity brings beauty, humor, expression and variety to our lives.

Sometimes we may think that something has to be out of the ordinary to qualify as truly being “creative”. But looking at common items in a new light and using common items in a new manner can become extra-ordinary and even extraordinary.

Let’s bring to mind a simple, yet common item that is used by many from time to time, a band-aid.  How can one transform a band-aid so that is still recognizable but, has become a totally new item? Can you use your creative thoughts to visualize this?  Here are a few ideas that have taken the band-aid theme, take advantage of the sticky adhesive and infuse creativity at a very high level.    Get on the band wagon and see what type of creative situation you can come up with.  What a cool medium for expanding the imagination and discovering, then appreciating whatever flows from it as a finished project.

Can you imagine using a common band-aid as inspiration for art?

Take a minute to consider that band aids have great variety now-a-days.  They vary in shape, color, design and are made in various materials.  The next time you are in the bandage section of a store, stop and look at all the different brands, interesting prints and take note of the packaging as well.  I’ve discovered a few creative projects you may be inspired to try yourself.

 Art created using band-aids.

Band-aids were the inspiration to create these interesting and unusual rings.

Artist: Toby Jones, band-aid theme ring bands.

Band-aid earrings: Image from nreazon.com

Someone has a band-aid tattoo on their knee. Image: hippieman1234.com

“Ouch” is what comes to mind when I see this band-aid tattoo.

Last but, certainly not least I would like to share a few images of how you may use the tin band-aid packaging to create a cute keepsake container.

Image: franticstamper.com

Well, what are you waiting for?  If you are inspired… go raid the band-aid box!  Happy creating!

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