The year 2013 can be a full year of inspiration and appreciation if you welcome it into your life. My daughter and I wish to share a project that you too can do to help you kick off the new year.  Are you ready to learn how we are getting our year off to the right start?  If you want to resolve to show more gratitude in your life and appreciate the positive and good things that happen to you, this project is for you.

This is a project that is meant to creatively hold the written positive thoughts and actions of an entire year.

We have cleverly and fondly named our project. We call these creations our “Joy Jars”.  Our decorated jars are going to be the hub spot for our daily written sediments of one aspect in the day that was a positive or uplifting aspect of that day.  So that we can remember the event, on a small slip of cut paper, we are planning to write down at least one highlight of the day that gave us joy.  For an entire year, we hope to continue to fill the jar and stuff in the numerous slips we accumulate.  On New Year’s Eve, 2013, we will begin to open up each tab collected and smile at all of the great things that happened to us through out the year in gratitude. Are you inspired to create your own Joy Jar in 2013?

We went on a hunt to a few of our local thrift stores in hopes to find low-cost and interesting glass jars with lids. We felt pretty lucky in finding jars that cost $2.00 and $3.00 each. I am sure that you may be able to find something even less in price, recycled, or even around your home that would also suffice for the same purpose.

We decorated our jars in different ways.  My daughter used many inspirational word stickers, and decorative tapes on her glass jar.  She placed them on and around her entire jar so that no matter which way the jar was displayed, it would show a decorative side.  She created a simple look but, it is still cute and colorful.

Glass jar decorated with stickers and decorative tapes.

Finished Joy Jar

Completed Joy Jar.

The jar that I embellished included hand-made polymer clay beads, hand-twisted wire, and pink and red seed beads.  I glued the large clay beads on the flat areas of my jar.  The jar already had scroll raised designs so adding twisted wire also added the feeling of movement and whimsy to the over-all look.

I added seed beads to wire on my decorative jar.

I used my hand-made clay beads and wire to embellish my jar.

This is the lid of my jar topped with a hand-made clay bead. It is an easy open lid with the added embellishment.

To get an idea of some of the simple joys that you too may want to add to your “Joy Jar” read a few of the comments shared from the Club Creative Studio Business Fan Page on Facebook.  I asked the fill-in-the-blank question: ____________ brings me joy.  These are wonderful examples of sediments that can be added proudly to a “Joy Jar”. Are you inspired to make your own jar?  Being specific in your highlighted statement will be the best prompt of recalling the gratitude you felt when reviewing it a year from now.

Family brings me joy- Kristy

Peace brings me joy- Anna

Inspiration brings me joy- Dawn

Champagne and the feeling after a workout gives me joy- Lauren

Making Earrings brings me joy- Rachael

When a child really understands something funny, the laughs they bring, that gives me joy- Michelle

Being surrounded by beautiful things brings me joy- Karen

Hearing a baby laugh brings me joy- Lynnette

My kids and husband bring me joy- Valerie

Another Finished Joy Jar

Enjoy creating your “Joy Jar” with your own mark of creativity.

Happy New Year as you take your creative spirit into 2013.  I welcome you to follow this blog for more creative prompts, projects and information. Also, be sure to check out the evolving creativity in Club Creative Studio Art on the website: http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

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• The Happiness Jar (vandclover.wordpress.com)

I recently went on a  gallery and store hop with a friend Lauren, in an area that is full of interesting places.  To mark our memories, I purchased a small piece of art at an import store.  This carved wood piece is from Bali.  Right away, I loved it and I knew how I wanted to display and use this item in my home as a creative form of inventive storage.

Lauren and I with a creative find from Impact Imports, PA

I wanted a new place to display and hang some of my personal necklaces, for an easy way to locate and admire them.  This carving inspired me to use the bottom portion for this purpose.  The tricky part was to figure out how and where I wanted to place the attached screw-hooks.  As with anything you are about to drill into, you want to make sure that you are making the right decision and make your marks correctly the FIRST time.

These are the hooks I used for my project.

In order to not deface the art by placing the hooks directly to the front of the art, Lauren had the suggestion to place the hooks from under the bottom lip of this art. That made perfect sense and left me with the option to remove the hooks at anytime, if I wanted to display this in a different manner at any other given time.  The holes could be easily filled later and for the meantime, were at the bottom of the art so it isn’t obvious when and if I removed the hooks.

Added hooks on the bottom lip of this art.

Finished art transformed in to a display jewelry hanger.

The hooks serve as the resting place for my hanging necklaces. I love the functionality of this and the art as well. It is placed in a room that I see it often, and I appreciate the added functionality of this art. This art has now been adapted to my needs.  I made it personal to me and useful to me.

Have you had the opportunity to alter art? Tell us about your experience and success of your project!  If you are looking to do a similar project, I suggest you make sure you have a stable structure to add your hooks to, making sure that your screws do not penetrate through the wood entirely. Space your hooks evenly, secure with adequate twist, and hang over-all project in a manner similar to hanging framed art, with care and concern for strength of nail choice.  good Luck with your creativity!

Remember how thrilled I was when I wrote about the empty bullet shells that I received from visiting my friend? Janet brought to me many more spent bullets and encouraged me to keep creating from them.  She recently introduced me to the supply source and he told me a few interesting things that I will also share with you here on the blog.

Using empty bullet shells, I created fun recycled art.

Club Creative Studio Bullet Shell Jewelry Art.

Mr. Dan Buckley is a retired police officer. In 1990, Mr. Buckley retired from the Montgomery County Police Department after thirty-three years of dedicated service. He told me about when the force was making a transition from 38 calabar revolvers to the now used 9 millimeter weapons.  “The “bad guys” had more powerful weapons than they did.” So, the transition began. While they needed to train with the new guns, they had to shoot many rounds to get comfortable with the use and power.  They trained weekly and shot many rounds. Mr. Buckley estimates that the hundred men probably fired around 500 rounds each when they were first making the change-over. Times that by 100 officers and that equals 50,000 empty cases!  Dan collected the shells from the ground initially because he planned on reloading them. He did not get around to it.  For nearly 25 years, they remained in a 5 gallon bucket in a corner of his garage. I could not wait to make my artful transformations and I continue to dream up new items that I can incorporate the empty shells into.

Mini bead flowers on wires are ready to be cut for the Club Creative Studio Bullet Shell Vase Pendants.

Club Creative Studio bullet Vase Art.

When Janet told Mr. Buckley about me and the art that I created from her police officer son’s empty gun shells, he offered to give me the bucket so that I could do more creative art! so, whenever I create another item using the shells, I thank the kind heart of Dan for being my generous supply source. It was great timing and great luck to feel blessed with bullets!

Club Creative Studio Bullet Shell Key Rings

I am allowing my mind to wander and expand on other ideas and ways that I can utilize these shells creatively? I have a few creations in the works. If you have any suggestions as to a different way I can use these bullet shells as a new pendant or in a new item, please share your vision. I have a lot of shells to use up! Thank you for sharing your ideas with me.

Related articles

• Beautiful Bullets (clubcreativestudio.wordpress.com)

Looking at items in a different way opens doors to creative thinking and possibilities.  Yesterday on my way home from a run, I found a few unrelated yet wonderful items that I just knew I could combine and connect in some manner.  It seems that if I can’t make jewelry from items, I want to at least do something else creative with it. I picked these items off the street as misplaced “junk” and knew that with a little TLC, it could be turned into jewelry.  As I looked at the findings for a split second,  I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to try using the old discarded metal spoon and the glass heart fob.

I thought this project topic would make a great TWO-CENT TUESDAY post since the found components were very low-cost… FREE from my discovery. As soon as I picked up the items I thought: “Finders…Keepers”, what a lucky day for me to have an opportunity to turn junk into jewelry. Although they were random items to find on a street, I thought that  I found real TREASURES!  And FREE to boot!

Finding materials that are uncommon or are actually considered to be “found” objects are great because you can’t beat FREE! Plus, it pushes your imagination to be creative.  To put strange and unrelated items together is the ultimate challenge to figure out how to take something low-cost and turn it into something of actual worth or visual value to someone.

Looking at a spoon and a glass fob like these, would you know what you would initially do with them to transform them into a new and useful item?  Happily, I share what I did as I envisioned using these items to make another unique one-of-a-kind jewelry art piece.  What do you think of stage two?  I added wire and glass beads to the end section of the spoon.

with a few more additions, I was able to complete my necklace.  Using red and white hand-rolled clay beads, additional glass beads, a few formed glass heart beads and silver-tone findings and charms, the necklace is now a unique item.  Let me know what you think!

Whenever I am asked to create a custom piece, I love the challenge just as I enjoyed bringing this vision to life.  For more creative creations visit the website or drop me a line to let me know your specific jewelry needs. It’s always a thrill to create from recycled or found objects so I welcome your challenges.

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

Club Creative Studio recycled and melted plastic bottles were transformed into flowers and added to the painted canvas, along with quotes about creativity.

Inspiration comes in many forms.  Today’s TNT (This-N-That) post, I hope that these choice quotes on creativity inspire you to be creative in your own way.

Recently, I incorporated  a small collection of quotes that inspired me to be creative. They were applied to the canvas art project and will serve as a focal point within my creative work space.  Maybe some of them will strike a cord with you and lend to a creative spark for the times you need to be inspired by a creative quote.

The “Mother-Daughter Project” continues as we add more melted bottle blooms. The goal is to cover the canvas at some point for a complete look.

CREATIVITY

Make Art -  Love What You Create – Make Work Into Play – Always Be Creating – Stop Trying To Fit In When You Were Born To Stand Out – Make It Work -

Got Art? – Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Taken – Creative Minds Are Rarely Tidy – The Secret Of Life Is In Art – Be  Creative - A Hunch Is Creativity Trying To

Tell You Something – Creativity Is the Power To Connect What Is Seemingly Unconnected – Create – Love It! – Find Something You Are Passionate About And

Keep Interested In It – Beauty In Everything – Create With Heart – Take Creative Brakes – You Are The Creator of Your Own Story – Creativity Is Intelligence

Having Fun – Keep Calm…Sparkle On! – Imagine – Branch Out! – Follow Your Dreams -  Enlarge Vision – The Start of Something Different – Try New Things –

Proposed Creative Workflow: Does It Have Heart?

Yes ————> Make It  

No ———–> Don’t Make It