Bread-Making vs Bead-Making

Being creative in the kitchen can be fun.

Club Creative Studio is sharing creativity in a different way today. We’d like to encourage you to be creative in the kitchen.  If you are a natural at being comfortable with kitchen creativity, specifically baking great. If you find it challenging to stick to a recipe and create food in a step-by-step scientific matter, then open up your world and try something new…make bread! I can appreciate making bread now because of these comparisons: Making bread, like art takes time but, in the end it is valued for the time spent and the one-of-a-kind aspects of each creation. Each loaf of bread is unique unto itself, just like Club Creative Studio art is.

I made bread and it is just as time-consuming as making beads, and just as great to enjoy in the end.

I don’t really know what prompted me to try to make bread. It may have been watching many food network shows in a row that gave me the confidence to want to try to be successful in the kitchen.  Normally, this is the last place that I want to be. I am most comfortable working with a different kind of material my “dough” is most commonly polymer clay, or glass not flour and yeast.

In comparison, however, my workspace supplies and the kitchen materials do have similarities. In fact, I have many stolen tools from my kitchen that I have transformed for use exclusive to clay. For example, the cutting board, pastry cutters, the sharp pick-like tool for cracking nuts, various mint molds and cookie cutters, pasta machine, toaster oven, mini-chopper, rolling-pin, empty spice containers, spice rack, bamboo sticks and empty tin cans are all now part of my studio tools because they are most used to benefit me there.

I can appreciate knowing that there is room for adjustments and experimentation in both settings.  There is an exact science to creating items out of polymer clay and glass, as well as bread-making techniques.  I am sharing ways today that one recipe can allow for experimentation.  Incorporating your own personality into your art and baking can be an important aspect to sharing your skills in a more expressive way.

Below is the basic recipe that I followed to make my loaf of wheat bread. What I found online was wonderful. The recipe was posted and then many others posted their comments and questions. Many shared how they made the recipe their own to fit their needs or just try out their different creative ideas with the recipe.  This was interesting to me to learn the various ways that people used ingredients to change the recipe to suit their specific tastes.  It made me realize even more that we are all individuals. We may all like bread as a common love, just as we may all like jewelry but, we also have our specific needs and taste, just as we have our individual taste in jewelry fashion and needs of specific styles.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread makes two loaves 1 lb whole wheat flour 12 oz hot water 8 ounces bread or all-purpose flour 1 5 oz can evaporated milk, 1/3 cup honey 2 teaspoons salt 3 teaspoons instant yeast an additional 1/2-1 cup flour, as necessary, to achieve the desired consistency.

Here is a close-up of my home-made bread. Making bread is sort of like making beads, both take time to create.

 http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/wholewheathoneybread

Mix the hot water and whole wheat flour together in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic and set aside until around room temperature, at least 1 hour. Add the milk, honey, salt, yeast, and bread flour to the original mixture and mix until well combined. Add additional flour and knead by hand or in a stand mixer until a tacky but not completely sticky dough is formed. Place the ball of dough in a well-oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise for 60 to 90 minutes. Divide the dough in two and shape the loaves. Place the loaves in greased bread pans, cover the pans loosely with plastic (I put them in a plastic bag), and set aside to rise again for 90 minutes. During the final 30 minutes of rising, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the pans into the oven and immediately reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Bake for approximately 45 to 55 minutes, rotating the pans once so that they brown evenly, until the internal temperature of the loaves is around 190 degrees and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

My home-made bread sliced and ready to enjoy.

Here are a few things that people changed in the recipe to creatively make it their own:

~substitute milk for evaporated milk

~ add more water instead of milk

~ substitute soy milk for evaporated milk

~substitute dried whole milk powder

~add agave nectar instead of the honey

~add sugar to taste

~add molassas instead of honey

~add raisins, sun flower seeds, or oats

~reverse the flour measurements of wheat and white

~brush egg on top of bread to finish

~pour additional honey on top of dough to bake in

Let me know if you try the recipe out, adjust it, or make a different type of bread. I have learned that bread-making like bead-making takes time and patience, and the methods can be altered to express your own creativity. It was also well worth it to smell and taste a hand-made bread creation made from scratch, just as it is worth it to wear a hand-made beaded item. I will stick to bead-making for now as my “go-to” creative activity vice bread-making but, it won’t stop me from being creative in the kitchen when I have to be there.

To view more creative items made with beads (not bread), check out the evolving inventory of hand-made beaded items at: http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

Blue Christmas- Inspired By Elvis

Club Creative Studio is sharing theme art in this Feature Friday post today that has been inspired by music on the radio.  It’s that time of year that the sounds of Christmas fill our airways.  Appreciating Christmas carols are part of our traditions, and one has inspired me to create a few statement pieces of hand-made jewelry art in the color blue.

Club Cretive Studio Art. Hand-made pendant.

The necklace above is made of various mixed metals, faux pearls, glass beads, shell buttons and dyed shell beads, a tea pot charm and a blue and black clay bead from polymer clay.

Lately the tune Blue Christmas sung my Elvis Presley has been heard quite often. So, I decided to create from the title of the song.  I don’t seem to createhand-made items in the color blue very often. I don’t know why. I have nothing against blue. I like blue. So, to concentrate on one specific color, and create item after item in the blue theme, was a welcome challenge and change of pace. How does the color blue make you feel? Does it make you feel down or lift your spirits with a calm feeling?

Image from blog: Daily Days of MKH

Using music as inspiration is easy because you can listen to words over and over and take to heart what is being conveyed to you. Any given day may render a new meaning while listening to the same words of a tune so use that as inspiration as well.

The song Blue Christmas inspired art in this theme color.

Theme jewelry-making can be a challenge to create because you may feel like you are limited in creativity however, it can also be a welcome task because you are placed in a position that you need to stick to in terms of a certain style, mood, or color.

Hand-made jewelry art with a focus on the color blue.

To view more creative creations please visit and revisit the website

http//www.clubcreativestudio.com

Custom requests welcome

veronica@clubcreativestudio.com

Christmas Crunch: Quick and Easy Project ll

Transform a plain wood item into a colorful item with a personal touch.

Welcome to Club Creative Studio’s blog with the focus on creativity.  I am adding a few posts about using your creativity in a crunch-time situation. It is that time of year that many stress about the time that they do not have to be creative for the holidays.  Maybe it is a lack of innovation of gift-giving ideas, maybe it is the stress of the challenge to do something new and creative in decorating, baking, cooking or gift-giving or gift wrapping.  Whatever the creative challenge, here is another post for a suggestion to use your creativity in a quick and easy project.

It doesn’t take as long as you think it does to be creative with acrylic paints.  You can transform a wood item into a colorful work of original art with a bit of paint and patience.  While there is a time and a place to appreciate wood for its natural beauty, some items just lend themselves to adding paint to beautify a wooden item in a different way.

Today, I painted a wooden nut cracker home accessory and changed the appearance from plain to wild, crazy, festive and colorful.

It is easy to transform a wooden holiday accessory into a more decorative item.

The first step is to find an item or ornament made from wood that is smooth and ready to accept paint.  I applied a thin layer of gesso acrylic primer to my wooden nut cracker item.

I applied one layer of gesso to prime the surface.

Using acrylic paint, I applied my paint to the wood figure with ideas to make it a “non-traditional” looking item. I wanted my nut cracker to be bright and colorful, with pattern added after the larger areas were painted for a unique look.  When you see the finished product at the end of this post, I think you may agree that the mission was accomplished.

Painted item ready for the next step. The next step is adding the details.

I love defining areas and adding details with black as a sharp contrasting color.

To add detail to the finished painted portions, I used a black felt permanent marker to add my swirls and decorative detailed areas.  Adding pattern with my marker seemed to make this item even more fanciful and imaginative.  A light coating can be added as a final touch for gloss or a matt protective coating if desired.  I hope that if you challenge yourself to create a painted wooden project, you can be expressive and end up with a one-of-a-kind festive item.

My finished project! The details make a polished look in the completed art.

Although I love creating in clay and glass creations like the hand-made art you find in the Club Creative Studio website (http://www.clubcreativestudio.com) I have another love for using paint, especially acrylic.  I love that this medium has an easy clean-up process and you can mix your own colors with ease.  The fast dry-time is also a plus for getting your project done if you feel the holiday crunch for time.

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• Christmas Crunch- Quick and Easy Projects (clubcreativestudio.wordpress.com)

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?

Beautiful Bullets

Welcome to the Feature Friday post from Club Creative Studio.

Club Creative Studio Jewelry Art.

This post highlights an interesting recent creation.  It may have started out as ”trash” but, I am happy that I can refer to it as “treasure” now.  I spent time visiting an interesting person and in the mist of one of our conversations she quickly swept away the empty gun shells from a desk top to throw away. Her son, a police officer had the discarded shells from his training. Who knew that being tidy in front of me would make her change gears and not toss the trash.

I asked her if I could have the empty shells because I had an idea to drill a hole through it and somehow make an interesting pendant.  She agreed to share them with a smile and a bit of confusion. It was hard for her to imagine that I could really use them for something artful.  I had ideas in my mind, and I could not wait to show her the results.

Needless to say, I found a way to be creative with the empty shells.

Mixed with a combination of beads, metal wire, crystals, sequins and charms, these bullet shell casings are made to be one-of-a-kind, unique pendants hanging from a simple chain.

Club Creative Studio bullet pendants are one-of-a-kind creations.

These creations will be available online after a brief introduction at a four-day holiday craft fair the first week of November, 2012 in Rockledge, PA.

Club Creative Studio Bullet shell jewelry art.

Please bookmark us and visit us online for the latest creative creations. Our creativity is Art That Sets You Apart! http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

Puffy Paint Recipe

This will probably be the shortest post ever from Club Creative Studio.  In today’s TNT (This-N-That) post, I want to share a creative recipe for “puffy paint”.  The ingredients are from the kitchen. Before you gather your mixing supplies, take some time to also recycle and collect the containers you wish to place your “paint” in.

Take time to clean out your recycled containers for this project.

Any recycled plastic bottle that is also a squeeze-type container will work the best. Those plastics from items like emptied shampoo, dish soap, syrup, ketchup. mustard, honey, salad dressings and oil containers, will work fine, for example.  Take note of the variety of lid tips because this mixture will be thick yet you want it to flow easily out of the tip of the container you place the paint in.

Try it for a fun, different and inexpensive project.  It may be exactly what you are looking for in price, texture and technique.

Here is an example of how you can focus this technique on a fall decorative creation.

Try a simple, yet striking design like Elsie Larson’s idea from the site Beautiful Mess blog or a more complex design.

Puffy Paint Recipe:

1 Cup Salt

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Water

Food Coloring

Mix well, you really don’t want large lumps to form and you want it to flow out of your container tip. Have fun creating with this low-cost activity.

I’m Making Room for Improvements

Club Creative Studio is in the process of making a few changes that will surely translate into many favorable results.  Pardon this interruption from the typical blog post and continued series posts about creativity. I am posting a special feature post to announce my excitement.  And yes, it does have to also do with CREATIVITY.

In the past it has sometimes been hard to convey the details and beauty of our creations from a mere photograph.  Often times I would hear at a craft fair that Club Creative Studio jewelry is so cool up close and personal compared to seeing it in photos.  While it is true that there is nothing like actually seeing something with your own eyes and holding a creation in your own hands, I should always strive to show you what makes our art so unique.

New lighting system for taking photos of Club Creative Studio Art.

I have taken many notes over time in hopes to learn more and present art in better ways to you. It is clear that I want you to be able to see in detail what makes our creations so wonderful and pleasing to own.  With that being said, I have invested in a new lighting system that so far has excited me very much.  If you will notice, I am taking great care in presenting art with better photography.  This is exciting because you can’t always be at an Art Fair that I am at, and you want to see art just like those walking in front of my booth space.

BEFORE LIGHTING PHOTOGRAPH:

While this photograph was “o.k.” I think the AFTER PHOTO is much better!

AFTER LIGHTING PHOTOGRAPH:

I am thrilled to be able to capture the sparkle and depth of this necklace.

Please share your thoughts on the improvements.

It is my hope to bring you information that will better serve you and represent our creations in a true light to show-case their magnificent qualities the best way possible.

The online store will progressively display better photographs. If you would like to request that a particular item be re-photographed, all you have to do is contact me via e-mail with the product name and item number. Thank you for wearing and sharing Club Creative Studio Art!

http://www.clubcreativestudio.com

veronica@clubcreativestudio.com

Diedra’s Different Outlook- Part ll

The color of love.

Club Creative Studio introduced you to my neighbor, Diedra in yesterday’s post.  Today I am thankful for having pride in knowing my creative-out-of-the-box-thinking neighbor. Who would not want to know more about how a creative person thinks?  Fitting for the Two-Cent Tuesday theme, I want to show you how the love of one color can have a cost-effective impact. Diedra’s favorite color in her own words is: “The color Peacock”.  It is actually the love of the color turqoise that has her racing to her paint and brush very often.  This interest in painting almost any thing and every thing has also expressed a sense of creative frugality.

Pursuaded by paint of a peacock-color, the rugs, pillows, furniture, and floor reflect that favorite hue.

It isn’t everyday that you can go out into the world and purchase turquoise painted furniture, a statue, flooring, a mailbox or  lawn ornaments.  This is a low-cost way to get that into your world by simply and inexpensively painting an item the way that you want it to look , yourself.  And why not? If you want to love something even more, find a way to make it attractive to you.  Diedra loves “peacock” so she paints many items with that color to reflect what attracts her taste.  You’ll see plenty of turquoise, purple and blue here. Nuff said.

At night- purple lights are scattered here and there in her garden areas.

You are free to consider this decorating style “quirky” but, it is certainly also “cohesive”.

Plenty of turquoise, purple and blue hues here.

Lending to the expressions of the colors purple, blue and turquoise is the personality and spunk of Diedra herself.

Meet Diedra, even her turquoise car has a creative touch.

When asked about the reasoning behind the attached flowers on her automobile roof and back window she responded with her logic. “I go out in the car and park in the parking lots and when I come out of stores I always think that someone has stolen my car because it seems to be parked in between the big SUVs and I can not see it quickly.  So, I put the flowers on top so I could spot it faster. Plus being short, I can see it better over the bigger cars.” Sounds good to me! She went on to add, “I used to change the flowers with the seasons and holidays but, that got to be a bit much.”

Visit the blog again for the continued multi-post series

sharing more of Diedra’s featured creative whims.

Diedra’s Different Outlook- Part I

A section of Diedra’s back yard with her hand-painted lawn art items.

Today, I am thankful for my neighbor’s different and creative views.  As Club Creative Studio shares a focus on creativity, this post today highlights the personality of a very creative person.  There is no doubt that Diedra lives her life with creative expression. She is the star of the next few posts that share a creative story.

This is how I came to meet a wonderful lady named Diedra. I am new to my neighborhood so walking around a few blocks at a time give me a familiar sense of my surroundings.  On a walk one day, I discovered an interesting scene.  A home stood out for many different reasons.  And when I say “different”, I mean it was different from all of the rest.

It had distinct creative personality. I had a hunch that someone creative lived there, and I really wanted to meet whoever was responsible for the creative vibes. I wanted to find out more of their creative story. I knew there had to be a story to the yard art and beyond.

This was my first hint that a creative person lived here. The painted sidewalk is lined with hand-painted faux bricks and playful ivy along the cement wall and street.

As bold as the turquoise painted front door, I went to the house ready to place a note on the door. The note explained that I was a neighbor, had admired the yard and had an interest to learn more about the creativeness.  The note gave my contact information in hopes that I might gather more information for a possible blogging opportunity. Little did I know that a woman would answer the door and readily speak about her artful spirit.

Meet Diedra, even her car has a creative touch.

Diedra’s different outlook extends in many directions.  Her favorite color is (in her own words) “the color Peacock”.  So it is no wonder that she drives a car that is also a “peacock” turquoise color.  Look closely at the roof of her car.  Do you see the pink flowers adorning the top of her car? These flowers are also attached to the back hatch window of her car.  I asked the same question you are wondering…”What ‘s up with the flowers attached to the car?” Her answer was a hint to how interesting this person is.

Visit this blog again for the answer to this question.

In the meantime can you guess what the flowers are doing there?

Deliberate Doodles

It is no secret that when we are able to step out of our own comfort zones we open up to creative possibilities.  Today’s post is about how you take steps above and beyond a doodle. By creating a deliberate doodle, you take time to think about each line and each design element in a drawing, the results are creative, expressive, and have bold contrasts.

Club Creative Studio’s thankfulness continues from the event of yesterday.  I am thankful for two things, first for the willingness to discover something new and secondly, for the power of persasion.  Trying something new takes courage but, there is so much to learn from diving into something we have not done before or have the desire to step beyond in development.

Success at our first attempts at the Art of Zentangle. I am glad that I talked my friend Melissa into taking a jump into finding her creative side.

Even if we need a gentle push from someone, the encouragement and support of having someone talk us into and talk us through a new adventure can be rewarding. This is a blog about a creative exploration that stems from a class/workshop called: Zentangle. The Zentangle® art form and method was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. Zentangle® is a registered trademark of Zentangle, Inc.

Our start-up- kit for the ZenTangle workshop.

The creative event from last night happened first by chance, then came into being on purpose.

While taking in the local sites in my new neighborhood, I knew that I needed to visit a few branch libaries, get a card and get aquainted with the floor plan and what it had to offer my community.  I love libraries because you can walk in and instantly feel the intellectual engagement  amd commitment to knowledge in the air. People go there for many different reasons and there is so much to gain from what it offers.  The Abington Free Library, in Abington PA, was the site that offered a two hour introductory workshop. The Certified Zentangle Instructor: Katy Abbott, shared her story on how this art centers her, gives her calmness, and expresses and satisfies her creativity.

Zentangle is eccentually the expression of line in an abstract and deliberate manner.

These are my first attemps at Zentangle. During the class we learned many patterns to get our creative juices flowing. I know I am inspired to do more.

We shared our results and were pleased with the variety and hidden talents revealed along the way.

Display of our first creations and many of us admired the success.

I plan on using my images in some of my new jewelry design ideas. It sounds like an exciting plan to place another level of a unique quality into what I love to do.  If you would like to explore this method of expressive and open-ended drawing, and the supplies needed, check out the link here and be inspired to learn and discover how your doodles can become more deliberate.

                                 http://tanglepatterns.com

                               Happy Creating!

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• Zentangle Zen (clubcreativestudio.wordpress.com)