October!

10/01/2012 - Yarn Bowl
We get lots of great things donated at work and I love the idea of reusing as much as possible. The one thing I despise though are the jumbled masses of thread, yarn, etc. I took one of those messes and turned it into a bowl.

10/02/2012 - Paper Mache Skull 
It was time to get my Halloween on with a paper mache skull. Actually, my true inspiration was from having leftover flour paste from the yarn bowl. I didn't have any balloons to use to make the skull over, so I wadded up paper and worked around it to make the skull. It took about 4 days to fully dry...and try to keep Zoe away from.

10/03/2012 - Map/Paint Piece
Everyday I drive to work I see one of the best road signs ever (and I will again note that I am enamored with road signs) that warns cyclists to watch out for the rail tracks. Since the map I had decoupaged onto the wood block focused on Portland, I thought it would be fun to paint the sign on it.

10/04/2012 - Aluminum Flower and Sun
I sacrificed $.10 worth of deposit to cut down aluminum cans into these shapes. Since I keep forgetting to cash in my slips, I think I can let the dime go. I like the sun much better than the flower. I was thinking that I could etch (I don't think it should be called etching, but pressing sounds weird) a face into the sun, but the aluminum at the bottom of the can was too thick to let me do that.

10/05/2012 - Multi-strand Rubber Necklace

I had to take a break from my love affair with making wrist jewelry and made a necklace.  I made it similar to the strand bracelet except I made the strands longer and added more chain links. The only thing I don't like about this is how I threaded the links. Other than that, it turned out quite lovely.

10/06/2012 - Hot Dog Wrapper Wristband 

My hubby got tickets to the Oregon Ducks game so I took the opportunity to get my craft done during halftime, show my support for the Ducks and keep some garbage out of the landfill. I folded a hot dog wrapper into a wristband so "Oregon" was still visible. Go Ducks!

10/07/2012 - Toy Wire Spider Web

More Halloween! I think I just about depleted my supply of toy wire making this web. I like that the plastic coating made it look more webby. The only thing I should have done was attach it to an empty frame.

10/08/2012 - Rubber Bats
I have to admit I borrowed this idea from a former coworker, who borrowed it from Martha Stewart. There are a few renditions I have seen of this, but of course, I had to use rubber inner tubes. Inner tubes are seriously the best material for making Halloween decorations. We ended up with a dozen "hanging" around.

10/09-10/2012 - Prescription Bottle Spiders

I bought a bunch of comb binding from work and thought it would make fun legs for spiders, but wasn't sure what I was going to use to make the spider bodies. My first thought was to roll up inner tubes into balls, but that felt pointless. I took empty prescription bottles and hot glued the "legs" onto the bottles. Zoe, Grandma BJ and I had fun painting and decorating these little guys. I thought it would be cute to put little treats in these, but it seems inherently wrong to put candy in old prescription bottles, no matter how it is disguised.

(Zoe did this cute eyeball smile.)

10/11/2012 - Fish Tail Cuff
I made a skinnier version of a fish tail cuff by slitting a line lengthwise and braiding thin strips through it for the fish tail effect.

10/12/2012 - 2^nd set of Rubber Bats 
Grandma BJ asked me for some of the bats for one of her friends who loves Halloween. I made few more of these little guys for her and we gave her one of the little spiders we made as well.

10/13/2012 - Chain Link/Rubber Bracelet

I think I have figured out the best way to thread the rubber through the chain links to get it to lay properly with this bracelet.  It turned out sweet and simple.

10/14/2012 - Red Tire Cuff
Every once in a while I get lucky enough to get my hands on colorful bicycle tires. I sliced up the red tire and rounded the edges to make it look finished. I did struggle to attach the snap because of the thickness though. One issue with the colored tires is that the dirt really shows since I use discarded materials.



 

10/15/2012 - Mini Round Basket

I rescued a broken woven basket from work just so I could copy the weaving method used to make it. This didn't turn out to badly since I haven't tried this method before. It is a little messier than I would prefer, but it was a great experiment.

10/16/2012 - Red Tire Cuff with Metal Design

I can't decide if this is cheesy or not. I used some more of the red tire and sliced slits along it to weave a piece of black rubber through and attached this southwestern thingie to the front. Maybe back to the drawing board.






10/17/2012 - Rubber Hula Skirt

I started making this to wear to the coolest event in Portland, the Rebel Craft Rumble. It didn't look quite as good as I was hoping (based on the look on the hubby's face) so I ended up dusting off an 80s outfit. I think I will cut the pieces skinnier to make it look fuller and avoid any possible eye-rolling.

10/18/2012 - Rebel Craft Rumble Pin

I realize this is a bit of a cop-out since I was going to the coolest craft event in town. My manager spray painted some old pin back buttons and gave me one to wear. I borrowed one of her awesome slogans and made it sound a little bit tougher. 

10/19/2012 - Zoe’s Witch’s Skirt

I had been debating on buying some fabulous neon yellow tulle from SCRAP for a few weeks because I thought it would look so cute as a witch's tutu. I was delighted when Zoe said she wanted to be a witch. I got some black tulle and cut it into strips. I tied the strips around a long piece of rubber (great substitute for elastic for this project!)

10/20/2012 - Chain Roller Dangly Earrings

I was inspired to make these by a really cute customer at SCRAP who was at the Reuse Conex. She was wearing an earring that was made of a bunch of circles that were wired together to make a diamond shape. I thought that would look neat if I did that with the chain rollers (I thought they were call chain spacers for some reason, but rollers makes more sense because they make the chain roll, hmmm). I made a few pairs that were long and dangly with one line of rollers hanging down and also made a pair with two lines.

 

10/21/2012 - Marbled iPhone Box
I am amazed at that some packaging is nearly indestructible and yet the product inside breaks down so easily. Thankfully my new phone hasn't broken yet, but either did the box. Zoe and I learned how to marble paper from a crafty and talented former coworker, Keri. Zoe had drawn designs on white paper and she marbled the paper. Keri also had some old sheet music, pages and fabric that I got to marble. Very cool process.

10/22/2012 - Rubber Feather 
This is the start of a bigger project I am hoping to get to soon. It actually took be close to an hour to cut all the little lines in the feather. I cut it so the seam of the inner tube would look like the middle of a feather. I need to figure out a way to make them faster because I need quite a few for my project.

10/23/2012 - Giant Rubber Spider Web
Zoe was really excited helping me with this project. I cut long strips of inner tube and we taped and tied the pieces up as we went along. Zoe was afraid it was too sticky from the spider and ran to get a (sopping) wet towel to clean it off.

10/24/2012 - Link/Roller Bracelet
I spent a few hours the week before just breaking up chains for the parts. It usually takes a few days to get my hands clean again after doing that and I look like a mechanic. I linked the chain and roller pieces together to make this bracelet. I have been experimenting with different closures and used one where the rod goes through the circle to hold it on.

  

10/25/2012 - Chain Mail Cuff
This "chain mail" is from a sample metal window shade. I thought lacing rubber through the ends was a brilliant plan, until I tried to fit it over my hand. Because I laced the rubber through all of the end pieces, it made it so that it wouldn't stretch as easily. I forced my hand through and like the way it looks, but not the process of getting it on. I think I should redo the lacing.




 

10/26/2012 - Fabric Sale Sign

I made this sign for our awesome monthly fabric sales we have started doing at SCRAP. I used part of an old swimming pool liner to make this. I figured the sign could be reused if it was on a more durable material (Also will hold up to Oregon rain). The only problem is that I am too much of a perfectionist and this took me longer than I thought it would, but I am happy with how it turned out.

10/27/2012 - Valve Stem Lady
I have hundreds of valve stems I have cut off from using the rubber inner tubes to make baskets and such. I need to donate them to SCRAP, but I wanted to try to make something with them, so I made this little lady to attach to Zoe's bicycle handlebar and hang out with her as she rides. This turned out cuter than I thought it would. 




 

10/28/2012 - Mesh Fingerless Gloves

What better use of orange fruit bags than to make fingerless gloves? I was going to wear them to work for Halloween, but didn't think they would last too long. I hand stitched the mesh to fit my hands. Let me take a moment to give props to this cool hand I bought for $2 at SCRAP. It makes picture taking much easier since most of my projects seem to be wrist or hand related.

10/29-30/2012 - Witch’s Cape 

I present to you the cutest, sassiest little witch around. This cape was sewn with a black knit velvety fabric and lined with a water-resistant fabric scrap. Both from SCRAP, of course. The pink lining was scrap fabric donated from Columbia Sportswear, so I thought it would be good to keep the little one somewhat dry for trick-or-treating.

10/31/2012 - Sock Buddy
I finally tried out a craft from a book written by one of the funniest ladies I have ever met, Miss Demeanor. If you are looking for a hilarious and awesome gift idea, give this book, Criminal Crafts.  I had to do a bit of surgery to repair the holes in this sock before I turned it into a sock buddy, but hopefully the grass will grow in well enough to cover it. She does look like she has seen better days, but I still love her.

September!

09/01/2012 - Leather Belt Cuff
Grandma BJ had given me her husband's old work belt he wore for many years. I cut it down to make, yes, you guessed it, a wrist cuff. It already had decorative stitching on it, so I added some decorative studs and added a snap and viola, had a beautiful leather cuff. She was so happy to have something to wear that belonged to her hubby. Her reaction was so sweet and touched my heart.

09/02/2012 - Metal/Rubber Basket Finish Work

I finished up some tucking and weaving to the metal framed baskets I made in August. It was an uninspired day, so I caught up on those. I think I still want to add some rivets or something to them. That just could happen yet.

09/03-04/2012 - Finishing up wooden Bible Box 

I started this project in July with the best intentions of having this done in time for my mom's birthday, just three short days after I finished this project! I finished hollowing out the center with a chisel then painted it to match the spine. I still managed to break off a little piece of the inside after I painstakingly hollowed out the inside without any problems. I added a little red ribbon to look like a Bible bookmark and closed it up.

09/05/2012 - Wooden Bible Verse
I wanted to put one of my mom's favorite verses inside the wooden Bible box, but couldn't find the right material to use. I ended up taking a scrap of craft wood and painting it to look old-ish. It had to be really small to fit in the box, so I used a thin sharpie to write out the verse. I was kind of disappointed, but should have known better, when it started to bleed. Hopefully my momma doesn't hold it against me!

09/06-07/2012 - Zoe Photo Transfer

Another *as seen on Pinterest* project! I transferred Zoe's picture onto a canvas I got from SCRAP. It was a 9"x12" canvas though and my printer only does 8.5"x11". I printed it in half, but it left a line going through her forehead. I tried to disguise it as best I could with paint and at least the finish was supposed to look worn. I am still proud of how this looks. I also found out how spoiled I have gotten getting most of my supplies at SCRAP. I had to go to a big box craft store and buy gel medium, and that stuff is spendy!

09/08/2012 - Hunter’s Name Plaque 

I really am a kid at heart. I think I have more fun making these than the kids have receiving them. I used plastic lids, wood scraps, game pieces, fabric bits, foam core scraps and an old frame to make this. I did have to use clay to make the "H" so it would look like stonework on a castle though. I need to find more names and themes to do.

09/09/2012 - Rubber Chain Strand Bracelet with Crimps

I finally found the crimps for making these strand bracelets! It took me a while, or I could have just been looking in all the wrong places. I used various widths of the rubber strands and added chain links to one and twisted another to give it some movement.

09/10/2012 - “Shrinky Dinks” Jewelry

Grandma BJ, Zoe and I worked on this project together. We took #6 plastic containers and punched out shapes. We decorated and colored them then stuck them in the oven. I had never made them before and kept getting impatient and didn't let them shrink down enough. I finally just shoved them back in the oven and let the magic happen. I knew they would shrink, but they really, really shrunk. We had punched holes in each one before baking so that we could use them as necklace charms.

09/11/2012 - OMSI Tire Roads

I haven't mentioned my OMSI project in my posts yet, but my proposal to create a wall sculpture regarding sustainability in transportation was chosen by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I had started working on it since early August, but as the 10/1 deadline approached, most of my creative powers were focused on the sculpture. The roads were created using a deconstructed chair frame, bicycle tires and shoe laces and reflective strips for the lines. I used a staple/brad gun to attached the rubber to the wooden frame. I ended up decoupaging old maps to cover the sides of the wooden frame that showed below the rubber.

09/12/2012 - Fish Tail Braid Rubber Bracelet

For grins and giggles I tried doing a fish tail braid from a whole inner tube. It looks neat, but was a little more difficult to manipulate than when I slice the tubes.

09/13/2012 - Men’s Tire Cuff

Until I started the OMSI project, I stuck to inner tubes instead of tires because they are so still and hard to use. I made this cool looking men's cuff, but ran into a hiccup when I tried to add snaps. The barrel (not sure of technical term) of the snap was to short to attach to the thickness of the tire and fabric. I also ran into the same issue with other tire projects. I may have to re-tire from this project. Hoo hoo, haa haa, hee hee. The fabric on the ends is an upholstery sample.

09/14/2012 - Ladies’ Inner Tube Cuff
Using the same upholstery sample as the men's cuff, I stitched it to the back of an inner tube piece and added a snap to make this cuff.

09/15/2012 - Zoe Tile Coaster
Using a tile left over from another project, I decoupaged a baby picture onto it to make a coaster. I was originally trying a different method that was supposed to transfer the image directly onto the tile, but after a few attempts it still didn't work. After some time on Google, I found out that for the image transfer to work, it had to be a toner image, not ink. Good thing I gave up and just used the whole picture.

09/16/2012 - Funky Shape Tire Cuff
There are some interesting patterns on tire treads. I cut a funky little shape out of one of the tire scraps I had from the "roads" I made, but ran into the issue of the snaps again. Leather snaps just don't cut it with rubber.

09/17/2012 - Martha Stewart Flower
Take her or leave her, Martha does come up with some great ideas. I saw these cute little flowers that were, I think, originally made with felt and sewn onto a pillow. As with most projects, I felt the need to see if it could be translated into rubber. It could! I haven't decided what to do with my sweet little flower yet, but it may resurface before my year of crafting is over. Here are the directions: Martha Stewart flower.

09/18/2012 - Process to Progress Signs
Since I found out that my proposal for the OMSI exhibit was chosen, I tried to gather transportation-related waste to create my piece. I got turned down by transportation agencies and public works departments to even get small bits for the piece. I finally had luck with TriMet, which provides public transportation to the Portland metro area. I was so excited to get giant acrylic signs from them to incorporate into my piece! They were so helpful and great! I used a jigsaw to cut the signs to the shapes of street signs. This was harder than I anticipated. Thankfully, Jason had gotten me some heavy duty cardboard that I used under the signs to cut them. The heat of the saw made the cardboard stick the acrylic though and I had a lot of sanding to do afterwards.

09/19/2012 - Rubber Multi-strand Flower Bracelet
I was inspired by a necklace my sister-in-law had from Sweden for making this. The necklace was much fancier, but the button makes this cute, well, as a button. I cut the strands and flowers from rubber then used wire to fasten the button to the flower and the strands.









09/20/2012 - Metal Brad Chain
While working on the OMSI piece, I went through a lot of brads and wasted quite a few. I took some little pliers and worked the brads into a little chain. Not sure what I will do with it, but I am happy they weren't wasted.

09/21-30/2012 - "Process to Progress"

Jason helped me come up with the name of this piece. It really is a process of making changes, like incorporating other forms of transportation into our lives than just jumping in the car to get somewhere. If is through various processes that we can see change.

I put in many hours in this piece and concentrated my focus at the end of the month to working on the piece. I am truly excited about how it turned out and that I have a piece in a museum. I will provide more details later on. I am just now caught up with September, so baby steps.