A Major Setback

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My semi-bionic knee.

As I had predicted in my last blog post, February was indeed a very busy month but not for the reasons I had thought. My assumption was that the various minor holidays that take place during February would keep me busy creating projects for the members of the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center crafting class. (See the photo below of the Mardi Gras masks we made at our last class.)  Unfortunately that was not the case. You see, while I was up on a ladder decorating the center for Mardi Gras, I fell off and broke my left knee. I was lucky to get away with only a broken knee. It could have been much, much worse. Anyway, the knee required surgical repair. The x-ray image you see here shows the plate and screws used to hold the pieces of my broken knee in place while it heals. I was released from the hospital after a week to continue my recuperation at home and I've been laying in bed most of my time keeping my leg elevated to help alleviate swelling. I can not place any weight whatsoever on my leg for at least two months, maybe longer depending on how well I heal.

My seniors show off their Mardi Gras masks.

On the bright side, I'm slowly getting better and I have a bit more mobility in my knee every day. Three weeks post-surgery follow up determined that I have up to 80% flexion in my knee. I'm getting around a little better each day but that's not to say I'm ready to run. I have to use crutches or a walker to move around. Going up and down stairs is still challenging but I manage. I still have problems standing in one place for any length of time because it places great stress on the one leg that is supporting me. It also places stress on my left hip which must hold the left leg off the floor so as not to place any weight on it. This fatigues me quickly and I feel like a limp noodle. One thing is for sure. When this is all over, I won't be climbing any ladders any time soon.

Anyway, there won't be any craft projects with my seniors for the foreseeable future, something that greatly distresses me but can not be avoided. Hopefully I'll be in a position to do some crafting on my own in the near future which I will share with you. Until then I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter in my crafty life. Many thanks.

- Gitana the Creative Diva

Another Year Over.

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Glittery Snowflake hanging ornaments

Oversized gift tag

In my last post, I was bemoaning the speed with which Thanksgiving was approaching. Well, now Hanukkah and Christmas have come and gone and New Year's Eve is upon us. Am I the only one who thinks this year went by with blinding speed? At the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center, they have a party at the drop of a hat so the holidays were just another reason to turn on the music and dance. In between the music and the revelry, we managed to find time to craft a thing or two.

Oversized gift tag

The group displays their reindeer cards.

We began the winter crafting with glittery snowflake hanging ornaments. These were hung around the center when completed. The snowflakes were followed by oversized gift tags the featured a three dimensional Christmas tree complete with rhinestone baubles and a glittery star on top. Christmas crafting wouldn't be complete without a Christmas card so we made one with a reindeer sporting beautiful curlicue antlers that were glittered to make them really stand out.

JoAnne Biswakarma, DSCC director,
livens up the party with confetti.

Curlicue Reindeer Christmas Cards

Once Christmas crafting was over, we focused on the new year, creating a hand held sign a festive Happy New Year on one side and glittery stars adorning the back. A New Years party, complete with music, dance and confetti, was held at the center during our craft class and the joyous soca rhythms were a happy distraction. Everyone danced a bit, sat down and made a hand sign, then got up and danced some more. Many thanks to JoAnne Biswakarma and the wacky sense of humor she brings to every Dorchester Senior event. She really livens up the party.

Happy New Year hand held signs

It's time to party!

Here's to another year over and a new one just begun. Happy 2018, everyone! See you again next year.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Is It Here Again? Already?

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It seems impossible to believe but next week is Thanksgiving. NEXT WEEK!! It feels as if I was just setting out seedlings and applying sunscreen last week. Time is truly moving faster and faster every year. Ugh, that means I'm getting older and older just as fast. Hmmph! On to happier thoughts.

At the senior center, we've been working on all sorts of Autumn themed projects for several weeks now. In my last post there was a picture of the beautiful floral pumpkin centerpieces my crafters created. We followed that up with a coordinating Thanksgiving sign that can be posted on a wall, a door or on an easel for display. At our last session, we took a short respite from the larger, more complicated projects to create a very simple card to celebrate the fall season but, to keep my class from being bored, I challenged them to decorate it in glitter and they did a wonderful job.

Our upcoming class will be the last session before the Thanksgiving holiday and I have created a cute little turkey decoration. It's rather small, measuring only 2.5 inches tall by approximately 4.25 inches wide, but what this little fellow lacks in stature, he makes up for in attitude. His body is a small pinecone. His head features an open beak with a nice wattle and wide eyes, but it's his tail that steals the show, made up of 28 individual paper feathers highlighted with contrasting ink. Even the back of his tail is fancy, adorned with a lacy half medallion. A full medallion is used as a stand for this fancy fellow.

Yes, Thanksgiving is here and you know what that means...Christmas is around the corner. Bring on the holiday crafting.



Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

It's Been a Long Row to Hoe.

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I haven't posted in a long time, not because I haven't had anything to post but, on the contrary, because I've had too much going on. Unfortunately, not all of it has been good. In the past six months there have been at least five funerals, three of which were family or friends close enough to be family. I kept up with my senior crafting class during that time to keep myself from dwelling on sad memories, knowing that the sadness would pass and life would go on.


I am happy to report that this time of reflection coincided with some of the best crafting projects we've ever done at the senior citizens center. The class has grown and I have a absolutely wonderful group of people to work with. Here are some of the creations we have made since my last entry.

There are many more photos on my Facebook page  as well as on my Pinterest board, Crafting with Senior Citizens. Why don't you check them out and make a comment or two? It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

2017 - Year of the Rooster

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The Christmas and New Year's celebrations have come and gone but at the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center we're still in the holiday spirit. With our sizable Asian contingent of members, we always make sure to celebrate the Lunar New Year. 2017 is the Year of the Rooster and the official start is January 28 but we're wasting no time in crafting some decorations to get our celebrations off to a beautiful start.

No Asian celebration is complete without lanterns so for this project we created a faux lantern adorned with an ornate rooster on one side and the corresponding Chinese symbol on the other. I took pains to use culturally traditional and appropriate colors and to make sure that no one assembled the kanji symbol incorrectly or inadvertently placed upside down. (Of course my Asian ladies knew the proper orientation.) I was complimented on the accuracy of the symbol by my Chinese crafters who painstakingly placed every stroke in its proper place. Everyone was a bit disappointed when I told them the lanterns would not be going home with them until the end of the month as they were created to decorate the center but they all proudly handed them to me so they could be displayed. As you can see from the photos, the Asians weren't the only ones who enjoyed creating the lanterns. One of my crafty ladies learned to create a beaded rooster to celebrate the New Year and she gave it to me. I absolutely love it.

I learned another cultural tidbit. Some of my crafters are Russian. They told me that January 6, traditionally known in the United States as Epiphany or Three Kings Day, is the day they celebrate as Christmas and there was Christmas music playing in the background as we made our lanterns. As a Latina, I know that Latin Americans celebrate El Día de Los Reyes Mago (Day of The Magi or Three King's Day) as well. Gotta love all this cultural diversity.

While the major holidays may be over, there's still plenty to celebrate in the weeks and months ahead. There are hearts on the horizon. Valentine's Day soon come.

 Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Moments to Live For

If you've been following me for any length of time, you know that I conduct a crafting class at #DorchesterSeniorCitizensCenter every Friday afternoon. 

At last Friday's crafting class , we were being serenaded by one of the members who happens to have a wonderful voice. I asked to sing a duet with him and we began a rendition of "Tonight" from West Side Story. A quiet woman sitting at his table, whom I have seen there many times but who rarely gives me more than a nod, came over to me, apologized for not being able to pronounce my name, and then launched into a story about her late husband. He was a military man, she said, and when he got leave time he would call her up and sing "Tonight" to her over the phone as a signal that he would be home to see her and their children that evening. As she recounted her tale, her eyes welled up even as her face smiled at the memory of the man she obviously loved dearly.

Moral of the story: You never now how profoundly the littlest thing you do can touch another person's heart.

#MomentsToLiveFor #GitanaTheCreativeDiva #DorchesterSeniorCitizensCenter #DSCC #BrooklynNY #ArtIsLife

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Crafty Antics

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I just looked at my calendar and realized that it's nearly the end of September. Where did the time go? Well, wherever it went, it left in a big hurry and I haven't posted any of the crafts projects I've done with the senior ladies at #DorchesterSeniorCitizensCenter on Friday afternoons.

We've done quite a few things; some cards but others not. I challenged the class by doing a small project...small in size that is. I had them decorate plain dominoes with nail art decals to which I affixed strong magnets with hot glue. Voila! Refrigerator magnets. These dominoes are not large and the decals are even smaller yet my ladies pulled off the project like champs.

Continuing on the theme of useful items, we created pretty gift bags with a decorated tag. The floral paper used is actually wallpaper border cut down to size. Coordinated accents on the bag and tag make this a beautiful way to present a small gift to someone special. We also made a magnetic shopping list complete with individual lined papers inside a decorated pocket for creating a list. This project was the first of our autumn-themed projects.

Of course I can't let a month go by without creating at least a card or two. One was a colorful card with an all occasion saying on the front. The card featured die cuts and flowers with a little bling in the center. The second card was our farewell to summer and nothing says summer like a flip flop sandal. This shaped card was created using a digital cutting file by My Scrap Chick. For details on this and other cutting files, visit the website here. It went together easily and the ladies were delighted with the results.

It is officially autumn now and future projects will carry the seasonal theme until there is a nip in the air signalling the approach of winter and the year-end holidays. Until it is time for snowflakes and mittens, autumn's leaves will rule the day.

I love the colors of the change of seasons, don't  you?


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva