It has been a busy time outside the craftshop, so work in the craftshop has been slow. In the last few weeks, I have managed to make some progress on my cardboard stool. I am currently in the process of covering it with fabric. I am using scraps, so the end product will have four different fabrics.

I also made a heart-shaped basket and a pop-up card to show to the kids at the Club.

Valentines Day was on a Sunday this year, so I showed the kids how to do these things during my usual Friday art time. They really enjoyed these projects.

The last few days have been fairly busy. I finished gluing the other leg of my cardboard stool. I didn't take a picture of that, as it looks exactly like the first leg. Right now, it is in the craftshop, drying.

I finished my spotted lantern fish. I still don't know whether I like the end result, but I certainly enjoyed the process. The biggest problem was that I got glue all over the front of the project. It was really hard to handle all of those bitty little pieces. I'll take it to the Boys and Girls Club and let the kiddos decide what it is worth--someone can use their homework points to buy it, and they'll have a little piece of original art of their very own.

 I also turned one old t-shirt into heavy yarn for a rug.

I really enjoy making new items from worn out things that don't seem to have any life left to them. This shirt will make a great contribution to my next rug.

Another cardboard stool

The kids at the Club still vie against each other for opportunities to use the stool that I made from corrugated cardboard. I needed to clear several boxes out of my attic anyway, so I took the opportunity to start on another stool.

This picture shows my progress from a few days ago. Today, I cut several more panels and carved the central square out of all of them. I hope to cover this one with canvas or some other material, now that everyone has seen what they are made from. The current one, while still really sturdy, is showing some wear, and I would like to protect its surfaces so it will last longer.

I did one other thing yesterday, although I forgot to take a "before" picture. My friends Fred and Pat Trusell gave me their loom, and I went to their apartment to pick it up.

Here it is, all in pieces in the back of my car. It will have to live in my attic until Anna goes off to college next fall. I have permission to use her bedroom as a weaving studio once she is at school. Fred tells me he will come to help me put the loom back together when the time comes. Fred made the loom himself, and the Trusells used it for decades, so it is a great honor to be the one to receive it.

Maybe I'll never need these skills that I am learning. Somehow, though, I feel so much happier knowing how to make some things myself, instead of having to go buy them from complete strangers who live on the far side of the world.

Spotted Lantern Fish

I have been trying to do a little crafting every day. I have been posting on Facebook, since the effort was spurred by my cousin Kelli, who had a crafting initiative called "Hibernate and Create" on Facebook for the month of January. Now that January is over, I am going to try to post a little bit about what I did each day here on my blog instead. Kelli's project got me moving a little faster, but it also made it clear to me just how much making I was doing already. Thanks, Kelli!

For the last several days, I have been working on a spotted lantern fish made from found materials. I found a picture that I liked in my marine life book, and I drew a copy onto a scrap of wood. My other materials are Sharpie, yogurt containers, glue and paint.

I made templates for the head armor using some old typing paper I found lying around.

Here's what it looks like right now. I can't decide whether I like this project as an object, but I am certainly enjoying the process of making it. I think I will find a button to glue on for the fish's pupil, and I need to add a few more beads where the fish would have lantern cells. I also need to finish up the fins. Maybe I can complete my fish tomorrow! Then I just have to decide what to do with it.