Challenge #35 Done Reading

Books have always been an inportant part of my life--from Mother Goose to my Kindle. Along the way are many enjoyable hours of reading. For this challenge, my first thought was bookmarks.

Several years ago, I had made some magnetic bookmarks for members of my bookclub, and I thought perhaps I could reinvent them. Having a bunch of paperbacks around the house, I thought why not use their covers for the bookmarks.



I cut a 2x6 inch strip from the cover, folded it in half, added magnetic strips to the ends, and had a bookmark to fold over a page.

Since I had several paperbacks left, I decided to go back to an old challenge--postcards. I had several postcard backs left from that challenge, so I glued them to a paperback cover and now have some new postcards to send.



Now that I have finished this challenge, I can get back to my latest read--Vermilion Drift by William Kent Krueger, a favorite Minnesota author. Some other good book suggestions, if you're into reading:

The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Lent
House on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Iron Craft #34- On the Go

Since my mode of transportation is a Volkswagon Rabbit, I wanted to do something that involved this vehicle.



I decided to do a key ring out of Sculptey, since I had some left over from an earlier challenge. First, I did a pencil rubbing of the rabbit logo that was on the back of the car.



Then I used that pattern to cut and sculpt a rabbit out of red clay which I affixed to a black clay circle. Baked it in the oven, added a chain and loop, and my VW Rabbit now has a logo key ring!

Iron Craft #33- UFOs

UFO's--I have too many to count, and not enough interest at this time to finish them--too many new things to try!

HOWEVER--I believe I probably have the oldest UFO of all the Iron Crafters!

I inherited a quilt top that my mother had begun in the 1940's. She never finished it and I acquired it in the 1980's. At that time you couldn't find vintage-looking fabrics and the top needed a backing, a border, and a little perking up. After much searching, I settled on several fabrics that I could use. I added lace between the blocks and appliqued centers to each of the blocks and used that fabric for the border. I also found a neutral fabric for the backing, added batting, and began to HAND QUILT!

 It was more of a project than I anticipated--my life being full with family, teaching, and a lot of other craft interests. So the quilt sat in a drawer for many years. After I retired, it moved with me to our present home. Every time I open my craft drawer it callls to me! So, at least once a year, I say "this is the year"--take it out and do a couple of blocks. At this rate, I might finish it in my lifetime, but my daughter, the Mom of "A Mom and 2 Things , or my niece, Kat, being the granddaughters of my mother may end up inheriting a UFO!




PS Now that I have the quilt out again--maybe I"ll do one block--or
maybe two--never know, this might be the year!!

Iron Craft Challenge #32- Summer!

The lazy days of summer are upon us and also Challenge 32--the
Summer Contest. I am too lazy to think of a "brilliant idea", so am
taking the easy way out. I loaded a tray with a couple of cool drinks,
added some paper butterflies to the straws, picked a few hibiscus
leaves to cover several votive lights and to use as coasters, and
finished with a little bowl of nibbles.



A cool end to a hot afternoon! Challenge complete!

Iron Craft #31 Sculptural

After dabbling in crafts for 50 years, many of the things I have done in the past fit the Iron Craft Weekly Challenges. So as I mentioned before, some weeks I will show some of the old along with the new. I experimented with Filo clay quite a few years ago and the necklace and earrings are a result of that effort.

I did nothing further with sculpting until this week's challenge.

When we were "Up North" on vacation, we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary. As we received many lovely cards, I wanted to find a box to keep them in, instead of an album.

So this week's challenge provided that opportunity. I found the perfect box at Michael's along with a sheet of neat looking scrapbooking paper. I also bought some Sculpey clay and sculpted some flowers and leaves.

I added the paper, flowers, and a wooden bride and groom I found in my craft stash to the box and now I have the perfect card box!

Iron Craft #30 HOT!

It's HOT!
As I am writing this, it is 93 degrees with a heat index of 100. So when I think hot, I think of ways to keep cool.I think the perfect idea for keeping cool is the Cool Scarf I did for Challenge #24 which you can see here. So for something new, my next thought was fans. I found several on homemadesimple.com. Not too practical for me, but would make cute favors for an outside summer wedding.

Finally, I thought why not "Christmas in July"--think cool December and cool, Christmasy thoughts. We had seen some "tomtes" in a Scandinavian shop and Grandpa thought he could cut them for me and I knew that I could paint them.

After painting, I think they turned out well and will be great for my "Swedish Christmas" in those cool days of December.

Remember if you're HOT, think Cool!

Iron Craft #29 - Buttons

BUTTONS, BUTTONS, BUTTONS!!!

Just got back from a great vacation and it's time to get crafting again. I have used buttons for many years in numerous craft projects, in fact, I am showing a few from days gone by--one is on the wall in my craft room and the other is on my craft room door.

For this week, I found some pretty buttons in graduated sizes and made a Christmas tree ornament or gift ti-on. I topped the tree with a tiny gold jingle bell. The original idea came from Martha Stewart via Modern Minerals.

The second craft I did was a card. I love to make cards as they are great for someone who wants to down-size, as they are given and gone. For this card, I used card stock and scrap book paper which I accented with some tiny buttons I had on hand. Easy and useful!

Until next week.....