DREAAAAMCATCHERS!

I am completely obsessed with dreamcatchers and the Native American culture. So, recently (throughout the summer...) I have been making dreamcatcher, after dreamcatcher, after dreamcatcher. Which most of them I gave away to family and friends. Buuuuut, they are so easy to make, you wouldn't even believe me. 

Here's a quick how to: 

WHAT YOU'LL NEED: 
Metal ring
old t-shirt
embroidery thread 
large needle
feathers
charms/ beads

I bought metal rings from my local craft store, they were located in the leather section of our local Hobby Lobby. I use these to make the circle that catches your dreams.

FIRST: Wrap the ring with some fabric ( I just used an old t-shirt) and make sure you cover the entire ring. I cut the fabric into anywhere between 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide strips. Then start at the top of the ring and leave about 1 1/2 inches up off the ring so you can tie the fabric to together once you wrap the fabric completely around the ring. 

SECOND: Once the ring is wrapped and the excess fabric at the top is tied together, I started the weave with embroidery thread. I just bought thread from the craft store also, and this thread is commonly used for friendship bracelets. With the thread I started the weave at the top where I tied the knot for the fabric that was wrapped around the ring. Now this is the trickiest part of the entire project. This picture explains it perfectly and I will post a video that can help you step by step also. 

THIRD: After you finish the weave, just tie a knot as far along as you would like, some like big rings in the middle of their dreamcatchers, others like the dreamcatcher to have a small opening in the middle. Once you tie the knot, you can start to decorate the bottom of the dreamcatcher. What I did was cut strips of the t-shirt into about 16-20 inches for my big dreamcatchers and maybe 8-12 inches for my small dreamcatchers. 

FOURTH: You can add feathers, beads, charms, whatever floats your boat! I added feathers to EVERY single one that I made except for one, which had seashells instead. 

Here are some of my creations!

For this dreamcatcher I used a lace doily as the weave. I tied the doily to the ring after wrapping it with a t-shirt and then added the charms and feathers to the lace strips in the bottom.

 This is a close up of the bottom of the lace dreamcatcher.

This one's my favorite, I used a piece of vine as the ring and then tied the weave all the way around the vine. I added an arrowhead charm to the weave then stuck feathers into the vine instead of adding strands at the bottom.

This one I made for my sister, she loves the beach and sea shells, so I had to make her a beach themed dreamcatcher for college.

These two were practice dreamcatchers before I made the vine one.

This one was difficult. I was trying not to use glue to make the antlers stay together so it isn't the most stable dreamcatcher I have. But I did the same general weave as the rest and then added the feathers to the bottom.

And lastly, another doily dreamcatcher in dark green.

I hope that these helped get your creative juices flowing! They're fun to make and look nice when they're hung up. Good luck!

Love, Sarah

Vintage Maps

Have you ever wanted to go on an adventure? I feel like I am always wanting to travel to new places but have never made that happen. It's time to change that. Even if I can't physically travel to new places around the world yet, I will with my artwork. I have been completely obsessed with vintage maps and compasses the past few weeks and I cannot wait to add them to my journal. I'm even going to make a big map from coffee and tea stains along with watercolor. I want it to be decent sized so that I can hang it up on my wall at school and at home.

Here are some ideas to get your juices flowing:

This is just a simple map of the world that you can use to create your map.

Compasses are just so beautiful by themselves. I LOVE this.

Here's a huge collage of ideas

I love this picture of both the compass and the map together.

I love how this map has everything included.

Am I the only one who feels like a pirate after looking through these itching for an adventure?

I hope you guys are doing well and I am sorry that I have been slacking with my posts lately. It's been a crazy couple of months recently. Keep up with your artwork!

Love, Sarah

Chalkboard Writing

I have been thinking about creating a chalkboard frame recently and I wanted to share with you guys some information I have found in case you want one too. 

You can buy a cheap frame from your local craft store or even from Walmart or the dollar store. All you need is chalkboard paint ( I do not recommend the spray paint version if you want a reliable chalkboard) and a piece of firm material that could withstand the paint such as plywood or Masonite. Just paint the material with the chalkboard paint and let it dry for up to at least 24 hours to make sure it is completely dry. Then mount the painted material into the frame and get creative! Write quotes, things to do, whatever comes to mind!

I like the frames that are more Victorian and  fancy like this one.

I also like the way that this frame is antiqued, if there is a way to  do that to a fancier frame, I am doing it.

These are some examples of how to write on your boards.

This website is also helpful toward helping you learning how to write on your chalkboard: http://indiecraftparade.com/blog/archives/2370

Good luck with creating your board! I am going to assemble mine when I get home from school next week and I will post it for you guys to see.

Love, Sarah

Sketching!

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great December so far, and that you are enjoying it with your family and friends. Recently I have been interested in sketching, so I am trying to get back into doing art more often. I've come up with a few ideas for sketching and if not, then I will do them in ink. I also LOVE to sketch anatomy as you have seen in my previous post of artwork I have done. So here are the things I would like to sketch or ink: 

Eyes. I love to look at people's eyes. That's the first thing I notice along with hands. You can tell a lot about people by both of those.

Another beautiful eye.

This is a nice painting that I want to make into my own creation, more defined.

I found this and thought it was the sweetest picture in the world.

 I cannot wait to have that.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great Christmas and I will post some more artwork or ideas soon!

Love, Sarah

Christmas Ideas!

So, I realize that I'm not the best at keeping this blog up to date... 

I wanted to give you guys some crafty gift ideas for Christmas:

These are some envelopes that would be very cute and creative to send Christmas cards and photographs in. You simply use calligraphy techniques to write on the outside of the envelope!

My mom teaches kindergarten and I found this cute ornament idea for her, little pine cone elves! All you need is a pine cone, one brown pipe cleaner, and a wooden ball for the head. For the clothes you can cut out little pieces of felt. Just hot glue it all together!

I really like this dresser. I think I might have to go look at antique shops to find a cheap dresser or nightstand to paint like this. You can use them anywhere and they're really cute!

These mugs are so simple to make, it is crazy how easy it is! All you need is a plain white mug (which you can get from your local dollar store) and a sharpie. Draw your picture or design on the mug and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

These nails are cute for Christmas, you use string to make the strand of lights, or if you're like me, just paint a strand of lights, then paint on bulbs.

I have been interested in painting wine glasses lately, and you can easily accomplish perfect glasses by using Martha Stuart glass paints from Michaels Craft stores. They can either sit for 21 days to dry or you can bake them in the oven. (Details on the bottles of paint.)

 And finally these ceramic bowls for jewelry. They are the perfect gift for the women in your life. You can make them if you feel crafty enough, or you can order them here: http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Jewelry%20Bowls&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US

I hope that you all have a great holiday and I will be sure to post more this coming month on holiday gifts I've made or thought of!

Love, Sarah

Withdraw

So I am going through some major art withdraw at the moment. I have been so busy with school and work this month that I haven't even had time to post yet. So after this weekend with some much needed catching up on homework, I am going to make some art. I have been wanting to create so many things but I never have the time anymore. I especially want to add some things to my art journal but have been neglecting it too. I think I may start with some ink sketches and paintings to get my creative juices flowing. I also started making a new sketchbook and I will post pictures once that is completed. So as for now, here is some of my inspiration that I will be working on:

These trees are so cute and look simple to sketch, so I think I will be 

adding a page of these into my journal. 

I love this picture. I just want to do an ink painting of her to hang up in my room.

 Nina Dobrev. She is absolutely gorgeous. I haven't decided if I want to do a sketch

 of her or an ink painting yet, but either way, this picture will be created.

I have wanted to create this painting for months now, but I want to 

do it in acrylics and then buy the parts for a clock and cut through a canvas and actually make the painting a clock. I'm not sure how to incorporate the little guy hanging off of the minute hand though...

 I love this. It is simple and I could do it all by myself. ( I am not the best at sewing...)

You just use a simple sweatshirt without a hood and then cut out a pocket from a piece of

fabric and sew it on!

My cousin just recently joined the Marine Corps and he is currently at boot camp. He left two months early and I was supposed to sketch him a picture of the eagle, globe, and anchor but never got to it. So I am going to make him a big poster of it. I know that there is the general EGA, but I like the way that the eagle looks in this sketch and I think he would like how this is not the typical EGA. 

So, I have a lot of work to do, especially my homework, but I will post finished products as soon as I can! 

Love, Sarah

Recent Projects

So these are some of the most recent projects I made over the summer. I made some earring hangers and sketchbooks among other things, but these are what I have to show you:

This turquoise frame is the first earring hanger I ever

made, and I made this one for myself as a test run. 

This hanger is the second one I have made. It has the floral 

print already made into the frame.

This frame I made for my sister. I got a little more creative

with this one. It was plain like the pink one above (but still

had the floral pattern on it) and then I painted zebra stripes onto it.

This frame I made for one of my best friends. It has a

quote on it that says: "A bird doesn't sing because it has an

answer, it sings because it has a song." -Maya Angelou 

This is the first coptic stitching sketchbook I made. It has a 

floral pattern in the front as seen below.

This is another of the coptic stitch sketchbook I have made.

 It has fish on the cover.

These are just some examples of the most recent projects I have done. I try to take photos of everything I make, but of course there are some that I haven't photographed yet. I hope you guys like them! The frames are super easy to do: all you need is a frame, spraypaint, some wire mesh, scissors,  and a stapler. All I did was lay down the frame onto a bed of newspaper, then sprayed the frame holding the can at least six inches back to avoid dripping. I let the frame sit until it was completely dry (which was anywhere between 3 hours and 12 hours depending on the weather that day). Then cut the wire to the size to fit the frame and staple it in. I used a regular stapler for my frames but I recommend using a staple gun, it would hold the staples better. (I couldn't find mine...) And if you would like to learn how to make the sketchbooks, here is a great link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2FRKbQI2kY&list=FLFaQDu9ga4s62q4tc6InuTw&index=24&feature=plpp_video

I hope you guys enjoy creating your own masterpieces!

Love, Sarah