Tuesday, January 15, 2013

the art of craftiness ... or um, not

On the left hand side, journal given to all participants by French General.
On the right hand side, items from my kit for Charlotte Lyons Traveling Needlebook
.

So ... last Friday and Saturday I went to French General for three classes over The Art of Craft weekend.  On Friday I had two classes:  "Traveling Needlebook" with Charlotte Lyons and "Stitched Jewelry" with Rebecca Sower.  On Saturday I had one class:  "Souvenir Journal" with Pam Garrison.

Not only were the projects fun but I got to sit with the most fun group of ladies. We laughed through all three classes.  So much fun!  The three hour class time flew even faster than when I went last year, if that's possible! I only got a couple of super poor photos taken since I was so busy having fun with these ladies. 

Under the best of circumstances, I don't hit upon my concept right away (it takes me several go-rounds, trial and error and lots of mulling it over!).  So to have limited time to do something new and performance anxiety on top of it ... WAH! 

I'm rethinking and redoing or tinkering with, all of my projects.  First off, I'm not artistic, I'm just crafty.  I was in awe of the women around me who could just throw together great stuff in three hours time.

Charlotte gave us charming quilt pieces for our needlebook covers ...



 I'm playing around with colors and placement ... 
those are my grammies buttons I'm thinking of including.
The cross stitch graphs and loteria card are from Charlotte's fabric line.

 
ACK!  
I'm not happy with the beginnings of my fabric bracelet at all ... sigh. 
Everyone was merrily and creatively embroidering inside these little boxes
that Rebecca had stitched on our linens, adding beads and doodads and I
was just lost ... completely lost. WAH!  I've never done the "inchie" thing
before or little bits of embellishments and I was just thrown. I had thought
to print out photos of my grandma on linen beforehand but that wasn't
enough.  I need to practice my foofing-it-up skills big time!




ARGH!
And I'm not pleased with how my inside pages turned out for my journal.
It's supposed to be a spontaneous, no rules, project and I guess I'm too anal for it.
sniffle sniffle ...


Anyway, I'm going to tackle all of these at my own pace ... I know I can do better.  I just don't do well with time constraints. I also get caught up in comparing myself to others and there's no benefit in that.

I will enjoy attending again (even though I suck at it!), so much fun to get to meet the wonderful teachers and spend the day with the other attendees and share a love of the handmade.

7 comments:

  1. I love French General stuff. I've got books and part of the scrapbooking line. So pretty. I want to purchase some of the quilting fabric, too.

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    1. Hi Amy! French General's stuff is wonderful isn't it?! Their fabrics are so lovely - let me know which pattern line you choose. I picked up some remnants of their fabrics to use on cards and stitcheries over the weekend. Can't wait to play some more.

      Happy week to you!

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  2. Sally, I am beyond jealous at this adventure! Oh my gosh your needle book's elements are so wonderful. You might find it hard to imagine with as much as you see me craft that I just SIT like a lump on a rock if there are people about me. They would have no idea how easy it is for me when I am alone. There again, we have something in common! Love this post! Elizabeth

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    1. Hi Elizabeth! Oh! Thank you so much for your kind words and commiserating with me. I feel like such a nincompoop - I just fall part around other people. So very silly! Goodness knows they aren't interested in me or what I'm doing. Thanks again for letting me know I'm not alone. xo

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  3. Sounds like so much fun. I have a hard time doing things in a class setting-I guess my mind wanders too much. I know you'll have fun fiddling and tweaking your projects at home. I hope you'll share them with us !

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    1. Hi Leslie! It was so much fun! Each class was three hours and it flew by. There was something like twenty five or thirty students, in a small store so it was a bit insane too, hard to maneuver around. I get sensory overload and find it hard to concentrate. Still, I can't wait for next year :)

      Happy week to you! xo

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  4. French General looks like such a neat place! I checked the link and they really have the talent there in LA. You mention Rebecca Sowers - I have drooled over her art for a long time! I don't think we have anything like this in Indiana!! haha

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