recent little crafty things

I wish I had more artwork to show for the last couple months! The truth is that I’ve been preoccupied with keeping tabs on my mother’s hospital care and running ARTitude Zine so while I’ve got a million ideas inside my head and mountains of materials underfoot, I’ve got little time to spend on actual creative output. But I am grateful to be one of those people who can derive satisfaction from experimenting with recipes and daydreaming, and I am a born observer so my well rarely runs dry.

Yesterday I unearthed some balls of nice yarn I probably won’t ever get around to using so I’m going to collect small goodies and make a couple more Magic Yarn Balls to give as holiday gifts. I  participated in a swap of them in July and now they’ve become a way of life, practically. They are fun to make and fun to receive! To make a Magic Yarn Ball, gather half a dozen or more small inexpensive yet precious things—a petite (sealed) pot of yummy lip balm, tiny “worry dolls,” a pair of beaded earrings, a festive hair scrunchy etc.—and wrap them up in a big ball of yarn, about 100 yards or so.

This one (I know the recipient already opened it so I'm not spilling any beans here!) holds a pair of blue and white gingham shoelaces, some Hello Kitty bandaids, a pair of groovy floral socks and a small silk Japanese good-luck cat, among other goodies. Maybe some fancy old buttons, too... I don't remember.

You may have seen something similar made with crepe paper streamers instead of yarn, and frankly I’d love to add a bunch of crepe paper streamers to my collage pile... I guess yarn is the grownup version of this gift, but it takes you right back to childhood when you unwind one!

The other thing I made recently are these calaveras, or Mexican sugar skulls for a Day of the Dead swap. They’re rock-hard thanks to the addition of meringue powder and water, and they’re decorated with equally durable royal icing. I am not much of a cake decorator but it was fun to squirt icing around and just doodle. When I’m playing with a piping bag it’s easy to make marks, so why is doing it with a pen or paintbrush sometimes so daunting? Perhaps I should just think of all creativity in terms of playing with icing and see what happens.

Comments

[Julie]

Hi!
I met you once at the Artbar and I just wanted to tell you that I LOVE your yarn ball idea. I have seen the streamer balls and even bought one to see what was inside. Nuthin' but junk. I've always wanted to make some of my own with better goodies inside. What a terrific idea to use yarn.