Spring crafting continues...

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 Anyone who knows me knows I am a gardener. I love flowers and all manner of plants and this invariably shows up in my work at this time of year. In addition to craft classes, I decorate the center to reflect the season so, of course, flowers play a major role in the decor.

In February, I decided to remake some decorative floral panels I had made for the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center in 2011 and I promised to show photos of the installation once it was in place. That took place last week and I have to say the effect is wonderful. Here you see it paired with a Spring sign I had originally made in 2012 to go over the entry door of the main activity room (as seen in the original post from 2012). That sign still looks as good as it did when I first made it and it blends seamlessly with the new floral panels. All the pieces were tacked onto a canvas covered frame in the office area and is a very eye catching display as people walk into the center.

 There are also decorations in other parts of the main room. Here are panorama photos of two large wall displays. The butterfly swarm is a crowd pleaser as they appear to chase each other down one panel, across a cork strip and up another panel, essentially taking up the entire wall with color. On another wall, there is a row of flowers gently rippling up and down across it.

There's more to come in the spring decor but I have to take a break to prepare for the next crafting project. It is a lovely card featuring flowers and butterflies on a high contrast background of black, white and a third color. It is a layout that looks as well in either landscape or portrait orientation. The ladies will have the opportunity to emboss the design of their choice on the base panel, assemble the flowers and butterflies and manipulate the paper so the various elements pop up away from the card, giving them a three dimensional look. This card has already generated some interest so I'm hoping for a full house at the next crafting session. I'll let you know how that goes.

Until then, keep crafting!


Ballo ergo sum,
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Back in the Crafting Saddle

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Sunburst Card

As I mentioned in my last post, I have returned to conducting craft classes at the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center. This time around I have a new crop of crafters so I'm hoping to try out some new techniques and projects with them. The first two projects were simple greeting cards assembled from kits I designed and created. Simple projects give me an idea what the participants are capable of and what they like to do.

This week I tried something a little different and had them create three dimensional dahlias that will be used as decorations. The project itself was really very simple...roll and glue square pieces of paper into cones to form the petals, then hot glue them onto paper circles to form the flower. Here's what I learned from this exercise: a) rolling 41 squares of paper into cones takes time, b) not everyone can easily roll a paper cone and glue it into shape, c) not everyone knows what a glue gun is, let alone know how to use one, and finally d) when Access-A-Ride shows up, I lose my class as they run out to catch their ride. As a result, most of my ladies did not complete their flowers but they promised to return next week to finish it up. Nevertheless, a couple of diehard crafters who did not depend on outside transportation stayed and completed the project. They are shown here with their completed flowers.

3-D Dahlias on Display @ DSCC

The prototypes that I completed prior to the class for demonstration purposes as well as those completed by my class were tacked to a fabric covered panel on the wall of the room and are now part of the center's spring decor which I am currently in the process of mounting. In the next post I will have photos of some of the spring decorations that I have put up, some of which I have created specially for Dorchester Center. Until then...


Ballo ergo sum - Gitana, the Creative Diva