#5 Paint Chip Bookmarks

Talkin' 'bout crazy cool bookmarks!

These are made by cutting up paint chips and gluing them to an old page of a book that was to be thrown away at the library.  Thoughts?

Growth

I am constrained.  Scared, but want to be free.  Alone, but always with others looking over my shoulder, diluting my confidence and clipping my wing.  Where do I find a source of courage?

We are all scared, though, aren't we?

The view from my bedroom.

My new room looks over:

#4: Jean Skirt (Part III)

I'm such a beginning sewer, I had no idea it would be this difficult!  I'm determined to teach myself, though.  It's alllllmost done, I just have to re do some parts and polish it up.  No picture yet, I want a nice surprise to show soon.

I'm using other clothes to compare patterns and stitching, and definitely learning a lot.  When this is done, it's going to be HOT.

What were your beginning crafts?  Any disastrous mistakes?

#4: Jean Skirt (Part II)

Here's an update of where I am with the skirt... Teaching myself how to hand embroider is time consuming!  Below is a preview of the design-- complete with the lovely pen markings.

Not quite finished with the other half of the design.  As you can tell, I'm a super beginner.  At least I'm trying!  I will update soon (hopefully!) with more progress.

Besides me never embroidering before, it is taking a while because I am using a MINUSCULE needle, and threads which were discarded from sewing up a beat-up bag-- that's why it changes colors so many times.  

#4: Jean Skirt (Part I)

What would you do with a boring skirt that's been at the bottom of your closet for years?

Post your suggestions/past projects, and stay tuned to see what I do with mine!

#3: New Header!

It's a small start, but I kind of like it!  I decided to try my hand at making an image header because I really despised the font one.  It's a bit simple compared to my past graphics.  I used this image, which I photographed in Captiva, Florida at a little restaurant.

Feedback please!  I want to know what you think of the new look.

#2: Handmade Paper Elephant

This really should have been #1, as I finished it before the paper ball back in my dorm, but who likes an obnoxiously technical person?

All of the paper was hand made by me.  I'm looking forward to getting into more complex designs and such, but I figure that this isn't a terrible start.

Colored paper - $0, recycling bins.

Elephant stencil - $0, dumpster diving.

I don't use blenders, irons, or any other source of energy besides my own hands to make my paper.

If you want a piece, or have a suggestion for what to make next, comment!

#1: Japanese Flower Ball

I admit that this is the worst picture taken in photography history.  I don't know what's wrong with my camera, it just won't focus.

A Kusudama Japanese flower ball.  I found the instructions on craft gawker, and had to give it a go.  VERY time consuming, but fun.  The paper ball I made is no wider than one inch, I should have added a dime to the picture for some perspective. Tiny petals are hard to make and shape well!

Materials:

• Floral wrapping paper - $0, found unused on the roll in the recycling.
• Scissors - $0, found while dumpster diving.
• Glue - $0, found at the bottom of crafting supplies our family was going to throw away.
• Paper clip- $0, dumpster diving.

My only waste produced was small clippings of paper, which I will use to make my handmade paper.

I will definitely try this again, the first time was more of a practice.  The wrapping paper was FAR too flimsy to hold a nice fold and it changes shape too easily, so I'll be using magazine paper next.  I'm going to add beads to the middle of the flower next time as well to add some glam.

My next post will be on a sewing project I'm working on.  Feel free to leave me a comment with suggestions, requests, insults, the like.  My email address is dirtyhippiecrafts@gmail.com, you can contact me there as well..

I always loved crafts.  I would beg my grandmother to teach me how to knit, sew, crochet, cross stitch, embroider, hook rug, and bead.  Both of my grandmothers are artists, my late great grandmother was a painter, and my great aunt is an artist.  I suppose the crafting gene skipped over my mother, however, who absolutely hates anything to do with glue sticks, scissors, and glitter.  I love it.

I started this blog to catalog some of my ventures into crafting.  I am hesitant to label myself in general, but I am certainly more of an earthy-crunchy type.  I get a good chuckle when people call me a dirty hippie.  The "dirty" part of the title has another meaning- many of the crafting materials which I use are found dumpster diving or have been recycled.  I try to make things with as little waste as possible, and as little monetary/environmental cost as possible.

I am admittedly very good at starting projects, and not the best at finishing them.  Hopefully this will give me an incentive to finish projects and post them to gloat.  Feel free to contact me at dirtyhippiecrafts@gmail.com

Namaste!
-Mo'