Birthday Tracker

I suck at remembering to call people on birthday's and anniversaries. I would like to do better.

So, I crafted about it.

Using a bunch of stuff I had lying around, I made up this birthday and anniversary tracker. For the heck of it, I'll bore you all with the what and how of it. 

Some of the tools I used

What I used:

An old hardcover book (just need either the front or the back)

Old scratch paper (I used a watercolor painting that didn't work out)

Paint Chips

Sticky back Velcro

Ribbon

Scrap Sticker Paper

The tools that I used where:

Mini folder punch

Scissors

Square punch

Stapler

Alphabet Stamps

Ink

All I did was punch out 12 mini folders from the scratch paper, and a ton of small squares from the paint chips. 

Fold the mini folders and staple.

I used the scraps of sticker paper to make sure that the stamped months show up better. 

For the information, I just put the date of the event in the upper right hand corner, the name of the person in the middle, and the year of the event on the bottom (like how I hid the info?). On the back of the square I wrote the address.

On the back of the mini folder, I attached the Velcro, then stuck the other piece onto the old book cover. I punched a few wholes, braided some ribbon, threaded it through, and hung it up. 

Why do all this? 

So that at the beginning of the month, I can sit down at my desk,

pull off the current month, and send out birthday or anniversary cards, letters or postcards. 

Well, that's the plan anyway. We'll see how it all works out. 

Latest Obsession- Sketch Books

*Obsession- the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc. *

That definition is from dictionary.com. I thought I should probably look it up as I use the word a lot. And, I suppose, it fits each time I use it. 

Anyway, our current obsession is sketching/drawing. Not sure what the difference is, but we love to draw. As much as I hate buying new paper when we have lots of paper that we could recycle, I find having a sketch book makes the act of drawing easier. Each piece of paper is the same weight, it takes markers, pencils, erasers, and many other mediums well, and its spiral bound so all my attempts and art stay in one place. 

I say "our" current obsession, because Emma was always stealing my last sketch book and running off with it. So, we now each have our own. Technically, I have 3, but no one's really counting.

It turns out she loves her sketch book as much as I love mine. Here is a collection of photos from both of our sketch books. If you would like to see everything we've sketched so far, feel free to pop over to our flicker site. 

Here are a few of my favorites from Emma's sketch book (Strathmore Mixed Media 5.5" x 8.5" 90lb- gotta love buy one get one sales!)

*Emma took all the photos of her sketch book art*

Drawing of one of her model horses

Draw from a photo on the web

Drawn from her mind

Drawn from her mind

Most of my drawings are sketched while looking at pictures in Emma's picture books. My sketch book (Canson XL Mixed Media 9" x 12", 98lb). 

From "The First Dog" by Jan Brett.

Various road signs we saw on our trip to Texas

Two scenes from the book, "There's Something in My Attic," by Mercer Mayer

(This is my favorite)

I intend to add color to my pictures, but I will probably wait till I get home so I can scan the drawings first. That way if I screw them up, I can try again :0)

There are lots more photos from our sketch books over at our flicker site. My worst drawing was when I attempted to draw Medusa. Pretty pitiful. If you want, you can check it out here. 

Happy Creating! 

Learning to Draw

Slowly, over the past 2 years, I have been teaching myself to draw. I am constantly drawn (ha ha, I'm a funny girl) to drawing people. I am starting to feel comfortable with the proportions  but now I need to start learning about shading, and gradient, and all those other artsy drawing terms I don't really have a clue about.

Thankfully, the internet is full of clues for the clueless!

My latest drawings and watercolors.

Drawn on an old pad of paper hanging around, scanned and printed onto watercolor paper.

Painted with watercolors. 

Close-up of her face. Her left eye is bigger than the right, which I didn't notice until I painted it. 

I tried to fix the left eye and just made it worse. Oh well. 

Here is a close-up of the shirt I drew/painted. Emma loves it. Maybe I should think about making one for her to wear :0)

That's it for now, hope you all have fun and creative plans for the weekend!

Latest Obsession- Felted Mini Horses

I have been enjoying making these lovely little ponies. I am finally getting the hang of making them, so a tutorial will be coming soon.

Anyway, here are the little equines that I have made so far. They are for sale, so if your interested, send me an e-mail at kaotickrafter@hotmail.com.

*all names are courtesy of my 7 year old daughter*

All mini horses are about 1/4 of a hand high (if your not a giant dork like me, that's 1" measured to the back, about 2" from hoof to ear tip) and about 2 1/4" long. Some of the horses are made from recycled wool sweaters, others are made from a mix of wool/rayon felt. When possible, I stuff these little guys (and girls) with wool roving. Others are stuffed with poly-fill. I hope to find a source of local wool roving, but until then, I'll be using the poly-fill.

Witchcraft 

Coco Swirl

Carrot Swirl

Mints

The Roundup (photo by Emma)

I can also custom make them in just about any color, so let me know if you want one (or an entire herd!). To see the color selection I am working with, check this out. 

Have a great day!

Altered Tags

I have been doing a lot of sketching in my altered journal lately, which means of course I've been doing my altering elsewhere.

Altered Tags -Dream, Live, Love- KaoticKrafter

Altered Tag -Be Yourself- KaoticKrafter

What have you created lately?

My Muse

Emma 

28Jan13

Kitchen Menu Board- Tutorial

So, for those that may have read my post where I complained wrote about meal planning, here is the tutorial for how I made my menu board.

Kitchen Menu Board by KaoticKrafter

Materials needed:
Cardboard (mine is about 30"x17")
Glue (we just used Elmer's cause it's what we had)
Paper (old book pages, wrapping paper- think recycling bin stuff)
Paint (acrylic craft paint, wall paint, etc.)
Longer sewing pins
Packing tape

Tools needed:
Cutting tool (scissors, knife, etc.)
Measuring tool (ruler, tape measure, etc.)
Sharpie
Old gift card
Needle nose pliers

Process:

Step 1- Decide how large you want your tags to be. Mine are about 2"x4". I wanted them big for a few reasons- easier to see, easier for me to write on, I already had a template for the tags. Cut out and hole punch a bunch (I think I started with 30+)

Step 2- Once you know how big your tags will be, figure out the size of your board. I decided I wanted 5 "meals" per day (Breakfast, Lunch, Supper, Side 1, Side 2 -or- Supper, Side 1, Side 2, Snack, Condiment/staple, etc.) My board ended being about 30" tall by 17" wide. Each meal/side is 2.5"x4" with the space for the day of the week about 4"x4.5".

Step 3- Measure and cut your cardboard.

Step 4- Glue a couple of layers of paper over your cardboard. We used old book pages from novels and a dictionary. To spread the glue, we used old gift cards.
You might want to allow the glue to dry before continuing. (We didn't cause we are impatient like that)

Step 5- Add a layer of paint, using the old gift card (or a paint brush) to spread the paint. If you are happy, let it all dry.

If your like me, you can add a few more layers

I added a layer of pages from an old cookbook, then did a thin coat of blue over it all. I wasn't super excited about it, so I added a coat of green (wall paint sample) over it all.

After that I was happy with it. I let it dry for 2 days ('cause we were busy and couldn't work on it). 

Step 6- I had pages hanging over the edges. I decided to curve them over the edges and tape them on the back. Feel free to trim the pages, or use ribbon to make a pretty boarder. You could probably even put it in a picture frame if you wanted. 

Step 7- Measure and draw your "grid". Start with a pencil then go over it with a sharpie- or if your really brave, just go at it with the sharpie. 

Step 8- Using your tags, draw a circle in each spot so you know where to stick the pins. (see picture for step 6) 

Step 9- Working one row at a time, stick a pin (the longer ones work better) through the center of the circle, leaving enough of the pin sticking out so that you can hang a tag on it. When you get to the end of the row, carefully flip the board over. (Watch out for the pins!) 

Step 10- Starting closer to you and working away, use your pliers to grab the pin right next to the cardboard. (Not the best picture- I had already pulled the pin through when the kiddo snapped the photo)

Step 11-Pull the pin all the way through, then bend the pin slightly where the pliers are. 

Step 12- Push the pin back "out." You want the pin to be as flush with the back side of the cardboard as possible. 

Step 13- Once you get to the end of the row, take a strip of tape and cover the pins. Use your finger to carefully smooth the tape over the pins. 

Continue steps 9-13 till all of your rows are done. 

Label your days and name your columns however you wish! I have a feeling I will be changing them up here and there, so I just made column labels out of scrap paper and used double sided tape to secure them. I like to make some of our staples/condiments (think chicken stock, mayo and ketchup) as well as snacks/treats, so I think that's what the extra 2 columns will be for. Who knows, maybe I'll go crazy and actually plan breakfasts and lunches as well!

For my tags- I write the meal or side on the front, then the recipe location (cookbook, website, etc) on the back as well as the ingredient list.

 My hope is that this will streamline the meal planning/grocery list process.

Anyway, figure out the best where/how to hang your new menu board, and enjoy!

p.s. I have created a few tags with our tried and true favorites, but I plan to create the rest of the tags as we try new foods so that I don't waste time creating tags only to find out that no one likes the item on it.