Admire and Inspire: Buds Buy Beads

Here’s a TNT (This-N-That) Club Creative Studio riddle for you.

Question: What do you get when you place two jewelry makers with different design styles together in the same bead store for a few hours?

Answer: A few long receipts!

Small package, long receipt.

Welcome to the Club Creative Studio blog where the focus is on CREATIVITY.

I recently blogged about a small bead shop that was closing its doors for public business. I learned that after eight years, the owners wanted to start reclaiming their lives and go fishing and enjoy and be near their grandchildren more often.  One can hardly argue with that! It takes dedication and many hours run a brick and mortar storefront and I totally understand their desire for a change of pace.  It will be a loss to many bead fans and jewelry-makers to no longer have the store in their neighborhood. In their final days of their close-out, they offered a great opportunity for customers to purchase their remaining tiny treasures at deeply discounted prices. I hit the bead store scene with a new bud to buy beads and we enjoyed our productive day.

I had a great time talking the “language of jewelry-making” with a fellow jewelry maker and friend: Anna Servati of Anna’s Jewelry Designs. We first met at a networking event and quickly started speaking our native language BEADS.  It is always a thrill for me to be able to meet or maintain a working relationship with someone who has similar passions and high levels of creativity.  We have very different design styles yet, we can still appreciate the same beads and techniques in the jewelry-making world. I suggested that when we both got home, we needed to photograph our “bead stash” from today. Here is Anna’s stash. She loves gem stones, and added some unique clasps to her collection.

This is Anna’s stash.

While shopping, we  had moments where we both admired the same beads even though we may have bought totally different beads in the end. We did agree to both purchase one bead alike, however.  This will be the bead that we will both use in one of our individual projects to see how each of us will create with it.

How fun is that?

This is the special bead we each bought to use in our own separate creations.

I wanted to use the photos to illustrate in this blog how two people can shop differently with their own personal art styles in mind, and let you see what caught our eyes long enough to want to purchase.  My hope is to have you admire the collections and be inspired to do something creative. You don’t have to be a jewelry-designer to use  or love beads, stones, charms or wire!  This is my stash from the shopping adventure.  You know I am always on the hunt for the unusual finding so leave it up to me to find the charms shaped like hands right off the bat as I entered the door! Some things just scream Club Creative Studio.

This is Club Creative Studio’s bead stash from 01/03/2013.

The best take-away aspect that I realized yesterday while spending time with my friend was that while we had our little conversations in between our glazed over eyes in auto pilot shopping mode, we spent some quality time doing what I love to do…admire and inspire.  The shopping spree also brought another aspect to the forefront of my mind. I feel that it is important to have at least one person that you can trust to have a listening ear near or word of honest advice when you need an opinion.

I have many different “go-to” pals who are very knowledgeable in specific areas that are willing to share and have a give-and-take conversation. If you don’t have people in your life-like that, I suggest finding a few because there is nothing better than having the opportunity to bounce off ideas and get feedback from a variety of people.

To view more interesting and unique hand-made items from Club Creative Studio, U.S.A. visit the website and check back often. You may see a creation that incorporates an item from this recent stash of goodies! Thank you for taking time to admire and be inspired. We love it when you wear and share Club Creative Studio hand-made ART THAT SETS YOU APART!

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

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Veronica’s Visions

Welcome to a new year of posts with the focus on CREATIVITY.

Club Creative Studio has made creative business goals each year. They have been expressed in a visual way and used as an every-day display for the entire year.  This is a low-cost creative activity. It is a tradition that is also a type of visual communication.  By creating a poster (vision board), my focus on goals is always right in front of me, in a colorful way. I am reminded of the importance of them each time I look at the poster. It’s great to visualize goals, a poster board creation can serve as a prompt to keep you on track or inspire you to reach higher to obtain them. Try to make one for yourself, if you are motivated by this post.

Club Creative Studio’s 2013 Vision Board

A vision board is a creative way that anyone can express their vision of the future in poster form and keep a focus on where you want your efforts to lead you.

Ten Suggestions For Planning Your Board

1. Decide when you want to have your poster complete.  Plan accordingly so that you have enough time to finish your project. This is no time to procrastinate because your purpose of the whole creative exercise is to commit to your wants and needs. Make this a priority so that you can have success right away in completing your poster and use it as inspiration as soon as possible.  A good time to aim for completion is at the start of a new year or land-mark event.  It may take some time to gather cut materials, and construct it so plan ahead if possible.

2. Use old magazine cut outs, photos, inspirational quotes, written journal thoughts, computer software or scrapbook materials or a decorated plain piece of paper to creatively organize and decorate your poster board or foam core base.  It can be made in any size or shape.  Keep in mind however, that the larger your base board, the longer it will take to cover and the more material you will need to do so.

3. Use a key focus word or short phrase (sort of like a title) to aid as a theme for your poster creation.  This will give your board an over-all theme and make it easy to recall your goals at a quick glance no matter how detailed your other information on the board is.

I used a few key words to develop my theme. The word RAISE… reminds me of my goals to: RAISE Expectations, RAISE the Bar, RAISE Standards, RAISE my hand, RAISE questions, RAISE Awareness, Raise Profits and RAISE Eye-Brows.

4. Take advantage of using color or mixed media in our board to add variety and uniqueness. If it is eye-catching and generally attractive, you will find yourself looking at it more often.  This is key to using it to your advantage and bringing your goals to the forefront of your mind.

5. Plan to review your resolutions, habits, motivations, and goals daily. Place it in plain view so that you see it everyday and often.

6. Allow for space to add to your lists on the front or the back of your board.  One year, I wrote many of my accomplishments on the back of one board, making that side just as important as the front! Maybe your “buzz word” can be best serve you if it is repeated several times in the same poster. Consider making up your own power word by combining two or more words together like my example of the words CAN and  FANTASTIC to combine into: “CANTASTIC”.

Club Creative Studio’s theme word for 2013 is: “CANTASTIC”!

7. Vow to make a new board each year and keep the old boards as reminders of past success if you have the space.

8. Encourage others to create with you and share your goals. It is fun to share supplies, gather and celebrate your journey plans.

9. Keep your friends accountable for your goals and ask for help and support from them when you need it.

10. Knowledge is Power. Use the spirit of creativity to invite others to make their own boards, and tell how they are part of your life and how they serve you. Promote your success.

Club Creative Studio has a repeat word theme and that is “WOW”.

Have we inspired you to take some time to make a visual board with your goals?  Have a great time creating and a great time reaching those milestones in the New Year 2013!

We welcome you to visit our website as we share creativity and you can see for yourself how the goals on my vision board have been incorporated into creative art!

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

We also welcome you to follow this blog and check back often as we start a new year of sharing on the topic of CREATIVITY.

New Year’s Tradition

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We create our own decorative glasses and masks for the new year.

We wish all of our visitors to this site a great start to the NEW YEAR! May it be a creative year full of happiness and good health.  This will be a quick post to share a tradition that my daughter and I take part in each New Year’s Eve. We don’t purchase pre-made decorative eye glasses…we MAKE THEM!

Happy New Year!

This year we made the year numbers a bit larger and placed a stick handle on the back to display as a mask.  Each year we get out the markers and decorate away! We don’t spend too much time on it or add any mixed medium supplies, it is merely a quick way to bond and share the new year together in a few pics with our creations in hand.

Happy New Year! We hope you celebrated in style!  Are you inspired to start your own tradition by doing the same thing next year?  Try it!

Making A New Year Joy Jar

Club Creative Studio wishes you and yours a very Happy New Year.

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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Christmas Crunch- It’s Bow Time!

Are you feeling the Christmas crunch? Club Creative Studio is sharing creative information about how to make your gifts look special for the holiday season and beyond.

Decoding Color

Taking note in preparation of the color trends predicted from Pantone List.

Welcome to Club Creative Studio’s blog. If you have not been informed and are not in tune with the color trend that is just around the corner in 2013, this post is for your information.

Popular 2013 color trends are incorporated in expressive hand-made art from Club Creative Studio.

Women’s palette: What’s the color code assigned to 2013?

It has already been predicted. This season designers and other creative people have taken note of consumers and their desires to be awaken by color.  Green is going to be the popular go-to color trend that we will express energy and nature. There are going to be interesting complimentary color combinations assigned to the color green as well. Looking toward the color wheel you an expect to see orange and green combine and that my friends, is one example of an exciting color combo!

Many shades of GREEN will be the hot trend to wear in 2013. Do you have anything in emerald-green?

Along with the green hues, you can expect to see a variety of green. Vibrant yellow greens, subtle jade tones, greens with grey undertones. Gem-stone emerald-green and all nature inspired green tones will adorn clothing, make-up, jewelry accessories, fabrics, interior designs/home decor and more.

There are also great colors combinations that will introduce themselves as statement colors such as the colors deep violet, bright poppy red, nectarine/citrus, and refreshing lemon tones.

For evenings, the highlighted colors are dusty blues, and warm neutrals.

Looking forward to the predicted color trends of 2013.

Do you have items ready to fill the bill of the color green explosion?  Have you thought about how you can combine the bright statement colors that will also be popular?  If you are not sure about how some of these colors look together, be brave and try the different color combinations, I know I will in my future art creations.

Happily, I am ahead of the curve in creating some items that already have these combinations incorporated.  To view and purchase jewelry art that is fashionable and on-trend, as well as hand-made, please browse the Club Creative Studio website. You will certainly view Art That Sets You Apart.

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

On-Trend: the color combo here touches the popular trend of violet and poppy orange.

On Trend: art that incorporates great color combos into the designs of hand-made art.

Green with envy?

Christmas Crunch- Quick and Easy Projects

Welcome to Club Creative Studio’s  blog where the focus is always on creativity.  With Christmas fast approaching, I am certainly feeling the “Christmas Crunch”. It is the time many feel rushed, hunting for quick solutions.  Many of your creative endeavors do not need to be time-consuming.  In fact, sometimes is a simple display of creativeness can mean the most.

Here’s the first of a few posts that will deal with the holiday season theme suggesting project prompts that are fairly quick and relatively easy to complete.  Let’s not stress being creative.

Hand-Made Gift Tags

Let’s create simple yet fun gift tags. You can do this inexpensively and with scraps and other found objects around the house. Using the computer is a fast and easy way to make gift tags because of the editing possibilities and the quick process. Maybe you want to combine the computer with other elements to create your tags.  I used pre-cut blank tags but, making your own from scrap stock paper and using a hole punch is just as easy to customize your color choices if you have those scrap booking supplies close on hand.

Basic supplies for gift-tag making.

Supplies I used in the creation of my tags were: paper tags and ribbon,  scissors, decorative tapes, permanent markers in various size points and colors, foam stickers, scrap wrapping paper, brads, double stick tape, stamps, ink pads.  Dividing the tag surface into sections will give you an area to focus on. The new printed tapes out in the scrap-booking section of your local craft stores are fun to experiment with.  Feel free to cut the tape to suit your specific design needs.

Hand-made gift tags with paper “yo-yo” flower added.

For the paper “yo-yo” flowers you see on my tags, you’ll need a paper strip of printed scrap paper cut in a rectangle. The size of your flower and center opening will vary in size with your cut paper width and length cuts. Using the basic accordion fold, pick a thickness and keep the folds back and forth consistent.  Glue two stop ends together overlapping slightly and your “flower” is ready to add  a brad to the center. For a finishing touch on the flowers, I marked the raised and folded sections with metallic marker and placed double stick tape on the back to adhere to my blank tag area.  Let your creativity flow as you save money and create one-of-a-kind hand-made gift tags. It is certainly part of your gift!

Club Creative Studio gift tags.

Make It FUNtional

Club Creative Studio’s blog has a focus on creativity.  Today’s post features a simple transformation of art.  I have often found the need to change something based on how I want it to function and serve a purpose for me.  With specific needs in mind, almost anything can be transformed and upcycled with creatively to fit a specific desire.

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!

Suggestions For Your Socks

Club Creative Studio has a question for you: What is on your sock?  I am referring to your Christmas stocking that are traditionally hung by many from a fireplace mantel.  If you are one that does this year after year, I want to hear about how those socks are decorated. I also share ideas today as suggestions for your socks. What can you use and what have you used  to embellish them and make them your own decorative items for display?

Do you have stockings that are hand-made, heirloom pieces of fabric or store-bought?  Today in the Two Cent Tuesday post, I want to offer ideas that you can do inexpensively that will make those manufactured  dollar store-type Christmas stockings more personal and festive.

Christmas stocking ready to be decorated.

It may be as simple as having a glue gun and a bit of creativity.  You can use items that are “found items” around your home or purchase something specific to add to your stockings. To add personality and a personal identity to them, it is just a matter of being open to the creativity that you have within, and find a way to apply your ideas.

Let’s start with the most inexpensive ideas:

Hot glue items or use self adhesives to add buttons, rick-rack fabric, lace, ribbon, pom-pom, yarn, tassels, bows, cinnamon sticks, border trim, feathers, beads, charms, glitter, sequins, cotton balls or  faux fur.

Using unusual found items that convey personal interests may be interesting to attach with hot glue as well. Consider items such as crayons, pencils, photographs, theme scrapbook cut outs or stickers, silk flowers, cardboard initials,  bay leaves and whole cloves, small plastic toys, even coins.

To identify with name recognition, you can use fabric paint, fabric markers, small photos, initial charms, name tape, or decorative name tag.

Stepping it up a notch with these suggestions:

Moving on from glue to sewing techniques puts a different spin on the finished look.  Add higher quality textiles or fabrics. Adding a personal embroidery emblem, iron-on patch, rhinestone trim, actual photo frame and photo, quilted fabric sections,  personal theme ornament, or hand-made element in carved wood elevates the completed item.  The idea with stepping up the decorative element is the larger cost invested or better quality elements added, not necessarily the amount of decorative additions.

I have not included photos of improvements given to these stockings because, this is a project that my daughter and I will do together this year.  These are new stockings and they were bought because they are uniform in size, color and sweater-type texture for a more uniform theme this year.  Adding the personality will have a different feel this year, a more sophisticated theme.

So, let me know how you have personalized or made your holiday socks more special to display by adding decorative elements.  Did your creativity take hold in your project?

Party with ABC

You have got to start someplace- start your creativity at the beginning!

With an open mind, I write about an “ABC Party” today.  They never had these celebrations in my college days (at least I never knew about them). An A. B. C. party is a gathering of people wearing Anything But Clothing!  It’s a theme party where the guest’s attire is a specific expression and brought into focus.  The point of an ABC party is to have all of your guests show up dressed in everyday items such as newspaper, plastic bags, duck tape, feathers, etc.,  rather than real clothing.

As another “Two-Cent Tuesday” post, I offer suggestions on what to make an outfit from as well as save you money while you are being creative.

Spreading the word

Apparently, to announce an ABC party you need only inform your prospective guests that it IS an ABC party.  They know what to do, especially if they are college aged.  Since most college students know what this is.  The creativity begins in the planning.  It is likely  that you will see people dressed in inexpensive items such as trash bags, bubble-wrap material, or even painted. I have inclosed a list of items that might be creatively used, just in case you ever find yourself invited to such a party.  Good luck adding things to undergarments, leotards or spanks in order to obtain a unique look

Materials to Consider

• Newspaper- fold to pleet, crush, layer
• Plastic bubble wrap- wrap around or form into pattern shape of article of clothing attaching “seams” with clear packing tape. I have even seen pink wrap, wouldn’t that be cool?
• Feathers, coins, buttons, beaded necklaces, socks, envelopes collect items and  hot glue to swim suit for your theme
• Sheets- you have heard of a “toga” right?
• Duct tape is available in decorative colors and prints now-a-days. I do not recommend attaching to your skin, however. Double tape back-to-back then wrap/form
• Christmas Lights can be attached to colored plastic wrap. I have seen green cellophane- you could look like a Christmas tree.
• Large canvas- I can “picture” two put together as a sort of walking bill-board
• Burlap sacks- large potato bags, gift bags, empty snack bags, empty juice boxes, wrapping paper
• Beer boxes, soda boxes, pizza boxes, shoe boxes, cereal boxes- cut or tape together
• Deck of cards or Uno game cards- attached to one piece suit
• Curtains- from a window or a shower
• Body paint- I do not recommend spray paint- let’s be smart here!
• Large cardboard boxes- from a television or appliance
• Plastic bags can be crocheted, braided or attached together with tape
• Venetian Blinds, a bit hard to sit in but still covers a large area
• Hawian grass skirt or something made to look like one (plastic bags)
• Aluminum foil (watch the sharp edges) candy wrappers
• Towels or a decorated robe
• Fabric from a table cloth or pillow case
• Rugs or place mats
• Crepe paper streamers, balloons, ribbon
• Wrapping paper can be laminated or taped with clear tape to reinforce for strength and durability
• Decorative papers from magazines, posters, letters, wall paper
• Selected board games or Twister “board” which is a large plastic material
• Faux animal furs from fabric store or decorative rugs
• Sleeping bag or blanket
• Tarps can be tied with rope or large bungee cord
• Egg crate mattress pad
• CD / DVD covers can be attached together with hot glue
• Hammock or bed spread
• Deflated pool raft or inflated life-preserver vest
• Car  window shield shade- cover length very well
• Lamp shade- could make a cute skirt
• Fabric made from woven plant leaf,actual food or other material
• Hunting vest
• Couch cushions- tie them together
• Cloth napkins or connected bandanas
• Yoga mats
• Soft luggage
• Take a trip to the local thrift store to see what can be recycled or repurposed into clothing
• What do you have round the house to convert into clothing for an ABC party?