Make It Work Crafts

Sewing bags for craft kits for Patchwork Show in Long Beach this coming Sunday. I’ll be there leading a cyanotype activity. There will be craft kits for purchase also. Come join me for a day of crafts!

A few moments (and projects) from my Shibori Resist Dyeing for Scarves workshops at today. Folks started out unsure of the process and once the strings were cut they all loved the big reveal. It was to dye for!

My Stencil Fabric Printing workshop during was a success! I taught two groups of wonderful folks how to create repeats using stencils. There was good conversation, relaxation and of course creativity.

Yesterday’s Storytelling with yarn at Craft Contemporary was a lot of fun. I met great people and had great conversations. Thanks again Craft for the opportunity to work with your community.

Tonight’s Maker Night at Craft Contemporary was a success! I enjoyed teaching this group of creative folks. The makers in attendance enthusiastically experimented with the paper weaving activity. I am grateful to Craft Contemporary for allowing me to work with their awesome maker community. I’m glad to be back to teaching in person.

This commissioned mountain scene is on it’s way to its new owner who is also a friend of mine. The mountains are a stamped linocut with embroidery on top. I had a lot of fun hand painting the wispy clouds.

I’m not gonna lie, it took a while to make this piece despite having it planned out. My mind has been on preparing for the birth of my baby this spring. One of my fears as an artist is that motherhood will over take my art practice. I love creating. It brings me so much joy in my life. Creating is my therapy in many ways. Any creativity mamas open to giving advice on keeping their art practice alive?

A sample from my sketchbook. I played around with and . I had fun with couching using the technique to attach my Kool Aid dyed roving wool and some faux leather cord. I usually stick with abstract shapes but I wanted to explore the forms I see among my plants.

The finished “sketch”. Exploring patterns and using what you have on hand can really help your creative practice. I began with a block printed pattern. Later I added beads and embroidery. Your sketchbook is your place to play don’t feel like it needs to be perfect like the sketchbook people share on social media. What pages are they not showing to the world? Remember that no one is perfect.

New things are happening in 2021. Like my Etsy shop has now merged into the Make It Work Crafts universe. This means you can purchase lovely original pieces like this M.C. Escher inspired bunny from my shop, MakeItWorkCrafts. Very !

You can also purchase projects like coloring pages from my shop too.

Last night I made this collage while teaching a virtual workshop in partnership with in Oregon. Our class focused on increasing by embracing “happy accidents” and embracing the process of creation rather than expecting perfection.

Overall the class was a relaxing evening exercise. I loved seeing the workshop afterwards.

Today’s sketch using a print created with my newly carved wood block. I embellished the print with embroidery. I think I’ll make more of these.

So many things have happened since I took a break from Make It Work. I made this wood burned plaque to encompass my last few months of 2020. I found out I was pregnant in the fall and married the love of my life in November. We moved into a new home in December. We will be putting this plaque on our new porch.
I have to express my excitement through crafting of course. 🥰😄