get your craft on

so, a few months ago i threatened to throw a craftapalooza of sorts, inspired by lena corwin's book printing by hand. (here is her similarly inspiring blog)

mid-december i did just that.

i've wanted to do something like this for ages, but we never had the space OR a diningroom table to work at. as soon as matt's amazing diningroom table was done (which was in the works for a long time - a post on it will follow soon, because it is surely worth at least one post,) we finally had a large enough space!

i loaded up on moleskin journals, paper, envelopes, ink, and other supplies. matt whipped up a fierce (delicious & yet incredibly strong) punch concoction & homemade bread, and i made soups and yummy desserts. (you have to have some edible sustenance when you are making things, you know?)

and then, the making/eating/talking extravaganza began:

i'd made samples of what you could print using stamps that i'd made, and pre-made rubber stamps.

i made these stamps by tracing and then cutting out images (some i got from lena corwin's book and some i just made up) from sheets of self-adhesive foam (i got a pack of it at michaels.) then i peeled off the backing and stuck the shapes onto clear acrylic stamp backers that i also got at michaels. we used brayers and acrylic paint instead of ink pads to work with these stamps.

teaching the technique & trying out the stamps on scratch paper.

craft central.

renetta & rebecca working away on projects.

shauna working on a journal, using a stamp i got on etsy.

i'd seen a diy on design mom for making personalized mugs using porcelaine pens (also at michaels). after striking out at the local thrift stores (apparently plain old white mugs do not exist there,) i found a bunch of inexpensive white mugs at ikea! perfect. (sidenote: this is a great and easy project, although the pens run out of ink very quickly and are better for older kids or adults. the paint was easy or a toddler to use- with my hands on supervision. later, using porcelaine paint, m made a bunch of beautiful abstractly painted mugs for family members and friends for christmas.)

i also baked christmas cookies that people could decorate and take home to share or give away!

some of the handiwork:

 a travel journel that jennifer made

some original stationary

projects drying

some people preferred to chat in the kitchen

(smart-they were close to the food)

meanwhile jennifer rocked multi-tasking by holding flora and making projects

art school gossip corner

danelle & kendra frosting cookies

it was such a great afternoon of talking, working, eating, meeting new friends...

and snuggling!

(shocking that ruby is snuggling)

so satisfying to make something with your own two hands, and then share it with someone else.

such a great time together. you should come next time!