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    Angie

    Angie

  • Creativity and the Creator

    A look at the Creator of Creativity

  • The Final Reward

    Twice in less than a day I was allowed to see the effect of something I did for another, and I love it. <br> <br> <b>The Wedding Dress.</b> In previous posts I talked about the difficulty of altering this dress, the fears of screwing it up, and what I learned about myself in the process. The end result: The bride was thrilled and felt it was perfect. In watching her, none of the alterations were visible and she glowed. That is why I do the things I do. Sometimes it's just about trusting yourself, regardless of the project or your skill level. We always judge ourselves more harshly than others do. <br> <br> <br> <img src="http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/mr_d9d2fd880071a5.jpg" width="400" height="396" title="The Dress" alt="The original dress and the finished dress" > <br> <br> <br> <b>The birthday party</b> was after the wedding and the granddaughter was absolutely thrilled with her purse. I gave her a card first, sans gift, so I could see her look of, 'this is it?' before handing her the package. It was priceless. The look on her sister's face was also priceless. It looked an awful lot like the one this granddaughter had on her face when she saw the Hello Kity purse she had recieved on her birthday. This item was full of 'oops' moments, but I am the only one who knew. Someone who couldn't do the crochet work could have cut the head off a stuffed animal and sewed it to the purse or many other things to make a unique gift for someone. <br> <br> I love getting things others created for me, and I hope those who recieve my offerings love it too. You never know if you can do something or not until you give it a shot. Even those who appear "creative" in the usual sense didn't start out without having a learning curve. If anyone tries one of these purses, I'd love to see it, so feel free to share.

  • Animal purses for children

    <img src="http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/ori_5ec2dca24b093d.jpg" height="323" width="273" align="left" alt="" >Last December, I made a "Hello Kitty" purse for my middle granddaughter (age 6 at the time). These are the steps I took to create it. <br> <br> 1) I bought the purse ($2). The purse was actually an insulated lunch 'box', which means it was waterproof. This is a good thing for children's purses! <br> <br> 2) I crocheted the head. I started out with a circle, chain 3 and join, crochet 6 sc in the ring. Then, just as if making a hat, you increase the circle in each round until the circle is the correct size (done in double crochet after initial ring). Then you begin decreasing slightly to bring the sides around. This will be about 3 or 4 rows. <br> <br> 3) Using fabric glue, I put a layer of felt on the inside of the head to give it some stiffness. Glue and felt made the facial features as well. <br> <br> 4) I crocheted the arms, dress and ears for the kitty. All were attached to one another and the resultant kitty was sewn to one side of the purse. The head was left open at the top to leave a 'secret compartment'. The right side of the dress was left open as well, leaving room for candy, pencils or whatever she wanted to hide there. <br> <br> Before giving the purse to her, I put some dollar bills in the head and a roll of mentos in the dress. As you can imagine, my granddaughter was absolutely thrilled with her purse. She is still thrilled with it. Her sister (2 years older) was also enamored with the purse. She 'hinted' that she would LOVE to have a purse that ...., filling me in on what she would like to have on her purse. <br> <br> So, almost a year later as this granddaughter's birthday approaches, she will recieve her purse. It is a dog with three secret places in it, and I anticipate that she will be thrilled with her new purse. I had already bought the purse when I bought the other one. For $2 each, I bought several. <br> <br> For this one, I used 'fur' yarn and followed similar procedures. Hello Kitty had a flat face, however, so for the dog, I had to sculpt a muzzle with the yarn. The muzzle was lined with felt as well and then stuffed and sewn onto the head. The head is again open at the top to form a secret compartment. <br> <br> I used buttons for the eyes and nose. The eyes I painted blue. For the ears, imagine making a small Christmas stocking. It starts with a circle as well, but is then crocheted in dc around until it is about the right size. One side has two extra rows of dc to attach to the head and leave an opening for the secret pocket. I made a similar ear out of regular crochet to use as a liner for the ears, stuffing them inside and then tacking them in various places to make sure they stayed put. <br> <br> The finished ears are added to the head in the correct position. A bow over one ear and a fuzzy dog collar complete the look. Because the thread for this one did not match the inside of the purse, I used a pillow case (cut to size) to line the inside of the purse. <br> <br> Will she love it? I sure hope so, but I can know one thing: no one else will have a purse exactly (or even remotely) like hers. I love creating things that are unique. Sometimes the process - creating as you go by trial and error - can make me crazy, but the joy in the faces of those who receive these creations is worth any frustration. I'd love to hear (see pictures) if anyone else tries this. This project is only limited by your imagination.

  • Halloween Costumes

    I have been making costumes for longer than I care to mention. I often made them for my children, and now make them for my grandchildren at times. There's nothing better than the feeling I get seeing a child's face when he or she has a hand-made, unique costume to show off <br> <br> I still have the Indian outfit made for my daughter many years ago. She loved it, and wore it as a 'dress up' outfit many times after Halloween. While some costumes may require a knowledge of sewing, a creative person can use what is at hand, along with what skills he or she has, to come up with something kids (and older kids) will love to wear. <br> <br> About 3 years ago, I made costumes for the three of my four grandchildren I had at the time. The oldest was heavily into Sponge Bob, and she wanted to go as Sponge Bob! So, Grandma looks around and gets her creative juices flowing... This is how to create the Sponge Bob Costume. <br> <br> I used a large box, just big enough to fit over her, with head and arm holes cut out. The bright yellow shirt was bought for $2 at WalMart. Green, white ,and brown scrap material made the sponge holes, the shirt, and the pants. I used a little bit of sewing, but a lot of it was done with sewing glue. A black ribbon scrap makes the belt, and red satin scrap made the tie. The face? The face is a place mat, also costing $2 at WalMart. The hardest part was the hat which I crocheted with no pattern (sorry, you'll have to work it out). You could use a ready made white hat and black felt to make something similar. My granddaughter absolutely loved this costume. She especially loved that everywhere she went in it, she heard people hollering "Hey, Spongebob!" and coming over to see her costume. I'm guessing she will never forget this experience. <br> <br> For the next granddaughter, a huge Hello Kitty fan, a cute dress ($2 at Meijers), white tights, and a white turtleneck made the body part of the costume. The hat is a white ski hat. I crocheted the ears and tail, attaching the ears to the hat and the tail to the tights. The tail had wire in the end of it to make it curl upward and a small bow at the end. Scrap material made into a bow gives her the finishing touch. The ears and tail could be bought relatively cheeply at a store, or created with other materials, such as felt. She was also thrilled with this costume that cost more love than time or money. <br> <br> The little boy became "Baby Hulk". I found the hulk pajamas at WalMart for $5, buying a larger size to make room for the padding. I also bought a turtle neck onsie that fit. Foam padding was placed between the onsie and the hulk pajamas, and all the muscle "seams" were hand sown to make this muscular baby. The hat was hand crocheted by me, but could be done with a ski hat and some felt letters. As you can see, he was a bit too young to enjoy the trick-or-treating experience, but he did love being Hulk. <br> <br> As you can see, with a small amount of cash and a lot of creativity, you can give your child or grandchild that one of a kind experience for Halloween. The kids don't care how well it is crafted; they love being unique and having a costume they love.

  • Help! I'm in over my head!

    Creativity may be my bag, but I'm in over my head!Someone asked me if I could alter her wedding dress. It saves her $300, but it is giving me nightmares. I have done many alterations before, including bridesmaid's dresses, but never an expensive wedding gown. I do not want to cut the dress or have t

  • Have you found your creative gene?

    When it comes to creativity, everyone has it in one way or another. I have it in the typical way. I write, paint, draw, crochet, knit, craft, and so on. I have a ton (according to the husband) of containers with crafting supplies and much more - everything to do with my multitude of interests as a c