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Inspiration Week: The Craft Room

Since I’ve been sorting out my messy room full of crafty goodness (soon to be officially known as “Gail’s Creative Studio”) I keep thinking about all the fun that will soon be organized and at my fingertips, to say nothing about it being remembered! 

Sam brought you the IKEA catalog yesterday with lots of home inspiration; today I bring you some of my favorite and inspiring parts of Interweave Press! Let me show you… click the pics to visit their home! (not affiliated, just a fan!)

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The work of Nancy Eha, from Beading Daily blog.

I’ve signed up to get emails from almost all of the Interweave Press sites. They are packed with inspiration, tutorials, and trendy examples of what’s happening in each particular topic. I draw a lot of inspiration from them! 

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Very cool and very simple! The tutorial is in the Beading Daily blog post — click the photo. There’s also a Jewelry-making blog, but they’re all scary over there with glass lamp work, brazers, soldering and stuff!

I have crafting supplies for a lot of different types of crafts. Jewelry-making and beading, wire, polymer clay, paints for fabric and paints for everything else, stamps and inks and dyes, stencils and masks, a bin of mark-making and assemblage junk (literally, junk!) plus piles of chipboard, plastic, and silk flowers to use as raw materials. Don’t forget a dozen kinds of glue!

Jewelry stuff to start with, as you see  :)

 Leaf Bracelet EP0214_1

This bracelet pattern has my imagination in high gear. Lots of potential to make it unique!

Tree of life pendant pattern EP0759_1

And with the project above, I thought of using polymer clay to make my own pendant… 

Which brings me to polymer clay, this technique in my favorite colors, and using it as the background to a clock with bold black hands! (It is not from an Interweave Press website, but hey…) Click through to a complete tutorial to see how to make your own little piece of Mokume Gane spotted clay!

Mokume gane clay mglesson9

Onward!

Assemblage: making creative stuff out of random stuff (definition by me!)

Interweave Press’s Cloth Paper Scissors is full of ideas for those projects that involve, well… cloth, paper, and/or scissors! I love the free download booklets, with several related but distinctly different projects in each. I want to try out the bird projects and the story boxes in this particular e-booklet, “4 Free Assemblage Art Ideas plus Beginner’s Guide to Assemblages”

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So let’s talk about these free e-booklets that Interweave offers. They are amazing! You have to put up with the constant barrage of their wanting to sell you their magazines, but these e-booklets are free and superbly done! I’ve downloaded a kajillion of them.

Wait, let me check… yes, a kajillion and seven, actually.

The free e-books available on every topic on every different Interweave Press website, from crocheting and knitting, to jewelry and beading, mixed media and collage — you need to explore! Set up a good download destination for finding them — call it The Ultimate Inspiration Download Folder ;) 

Here’s a very instructional beading one: Peyote Stitch Tutorial and 7 projects, none of which I would make as is, but I have a few ideas based on these projects! 

Now for some just-crafty projects, how about these bracelets? Heeheehee! I love the one with the tape measure! And guess what? Free e-book right there — click the picture!  This is project #4.

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Sometimes, catching a glimpse of someone else’s style and technique using a tool that’s become common is JUST what you need to start thinking outside the box. I see Gelli Plate printing on a lot of my mixed-media art blog visits, but this particular photo gave me a glimpse at what more could be done!

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I think a Gelli Plate might go on my birthday list ;) ***HINT HINT SAM*** (as if I haven’t hinted at enough other items LOL)

My mind is overwhelmed with more creative ideas, even though I’ve already seen and been inspired by each of these projects in the past. I hope you enjoy clicking around one of my favorite websites yourself and getting inspired! You might want to put one of those magazines on YOUR birthday list! 

And just to restate, I am a fan of these sites because of the inspiration they offer to me. I/2create are not affiliated in any way other than being a fan of the excellent projects they show every day. I do splurge on one of the magazines from the store now and then (and tend to keep them — no surprise!)

I think it is important to search out sources of personal inspiration and to use them. What are yours?

Happy creative dreaming!

Gail

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