The Brakes On This Train Ain't Working

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Since my last post, there hasn't been whole lot of crafting going on. That's because I was away for three weeks tending to my daughter who was recuperating from major surgery, and caring for her two young sons. Those boys very nearly put me in traction, they are so rambunctious, but I managed to hold my own and tame them somewhat.

Before I left and since my return, the paper crafting focus at the senior center has been on creating flowers. Six years ago I created a faux window box for the center that was filled with flowers made by the seniors in my classes. In the years since, the flowers in the window box have become a little worse for the wear and it was time to replace them. That was a perfect segue to some classes on making paper flowers. My ladies created beautiful colorful blooms which were promptly placed in the window box. Now that the old planter has been rejuvenated with fresh blooms, it is ready for the next few years of beautifying the center.

We continued the floral theme with a cute little hydrangea gift box perfect for filling with sweet treats or a small gift. The box was topped with a beautiful paper hydrangea painstakingly created by pinning one floret at a time onto a styrofoam hemisphere. Once again my crafters met the challenge head on and were rewarded with a unique gift.

By using leftovers of the hydrangea box project, I made a springtime wreath featuring hydrangea balls, a variety of stylized leaves and a large decorative bow embellished with flowers, ribbons and leaves. Every so often I'll do something like this, just for the hell of it and because I find it personally satisfying and relaxing. Then I give it away. This wreath is going to the senior center to become part of the ever expanding seasonal decorating I do for them every year.

I've been on a whirlwind the past six weeks that is showing no signs of slowing down, like a train with no brakes. The next week or so will be dominated with the Easter and Passover holidays so I am taking advantage of the down time to do a little something for myself. This Easter weekend I'm going up to my mountain house with my husband and his mother to open the house for the season. I'm so looking forward to seeing the sunshine on the pond, the green landscape and the blue sky above. My back is already aching from all the work I'll be doing there but no matter. I'll just look to the green, the blue and the water and smile.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

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

Revisiting Spring - Update

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Original panels 2011

New panel 2016

Filigree butterflies adorn each corner.

One of several whimsical ladybugs.

About five years ago I created some simple floral panels as part of the spring decor for the Dorchester Senior Citizens Center. After years of use they were in need of some refurbishing so I decided to spruce them up. As usual, what started out as one thing turned into another and I didn't refurbish them at all. I decided to remake them. I kept all the same elements of the original panels -- a winding vine with flowers attached and butterflies flitting about -- but decided to make them really pop with color and texture. The updated version has larger flowers in clusters and leaves in vibrant colors. The butterflies are really fancy and are suspended off the face of the panel so they appear to be floating over it. I reused some of the flowers from the original panels and I even added little ladybugs for a touch of whimsy. I folded and manipulated the paper so the various elements had three dimensional depth and didn't lay flat against the background paper.
At 28 inches, the new panels are about two inches longer than the originals. This first prototype panel took me a long time to decide what I wanted to do. Now that it's completed, the other three should come together a lot more quickly.

As the days grow longer and the weather is turning slightly warmer, it won't be long before spring erupts in its annual display of color and sound. This year the Dorchester Senior Citizen Center will be ready to welcome her in style.


UPDATE (2.26.16)

Four Completed Panels

The new spring panels are complete! As you can see, they are much livelier than the original panels they were based on. It won't be long before they're mounted on the wall at the senior center. Spring soon come. Bring it!

Ballo ergo sum 
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Ah, Spring!

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Unidentified flower in my garden.
I don't know what it is but I like it.

King Alfred Daffodils. These bulbs have been
blooming and propagating for over 20 years.

After a long and very cruel winter, spring has finally arrived with all its glory. The mulch has been pulled back from the gardens revealing all the new green growth that was stirring underneath. In my garden the crocuses and daffodils have been having a party. Daylilies, hostas, black-eyed Susans, sedum and more are beginning to poke through the ground. There is a very healthy crop of cilantro and even some lettuce that survived the winter under my hoop house. Along with the beauties come the beasts and I've been ripping up weeds all over the place but that is to be expected. But some of my plants, like my 15 year old strawberries, did not survive. It is yet to be determined what else may have fallen victim to winter's icy blast.

Orange Daylilies preparing for
their turn on the garden stage.

Still have lots more work to do. These pots
await their turn for spring prep.

I tend to want to grow everything I see and invariably will end up with so many plants that I don't know what to do with them all at the end of the season. This year I think I'll be taking a more measured approach. I'm going to concentrate on those plants and seeds that I already have on hand and limit getting new ones. I am also going to limit what edibles I grow to those that I can easily preserve and consume during the off-season.  I have been blessed with a dehydrator and a stand-alone freezer which allow me to preserve my own food for future use. One of my greatest joys is cooking with the herbs and vegetables that I grew and dehydrated during the summer and fall. There's nothing like crumbling fragrant cilantro or basil into the food as it's cooking or making an omelet with my own veggies.

The growing season is here and I'm ready. Bring it on!!

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

The Persistence of Nature

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I don't have to tell you about the seriously ravaging weather we experienced this winter. It was brutal. Fortunately in the fall I had prepared some of my plants to survive the onslaught of the frigid temps and today I got a peek at some of the fruits of my labor. When the weather gets a little nippy, I place the plants I want to protect in my backyard shed which acts like a makeshift greenhouse. In addition, I place several plants on a rolling chrome cart that I cover over with bubble wrap to create an insulating cocoon. This way they are not only protected from the wind, they are just a little warmer than the air outside their "tent". Today I removed the plastic wrap to find...GREEN. My tiny tea roses are green and showing many new leaf buds. The garlic bulbs that had begun to sprout in October are still green and growing and my old vinca (really, it's gotta be at least five years old) is going like a champ. Some of the other plants in the "greenhouse" that did not benefit from the plastic cocoon are also showing signs life like the planter below right that contains a spike plant and some trailing ivy.


My backyard garden is not to be left behind. My faithful daffodils (which were planted over 20 years ago) are pushing up through what was permafrost just two weeks ago and some of my ferns never lost their green color in spite of the sub-arctic temperatures this winter brought.



Last fall I also took the precaution of adding a ridge pole to the hoop house in the front garden that I had erected over the raised bed I built two years ago. It had been blown over that first year by a nor'easter and was in serious need of stabilizing to prevent knock down. It was also draped in heavy plastic to insulate the plants inside. Frankly I didn't think it would hold up especially given the amount of snow we got this year but believe it or not it did. I can't wait to take a look underneath the plastic to see how my cilantro and garlic are doing.

Looks like spring is going all gang busters this year. Bring it on!

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

The Official Start of Summer

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A Black Swallowtail Butterfly blesses my garden with beauty.

My loose leaf lettuces in all their colorful glory.

Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer, has come and gone along with the requisite barbecue celebrations that go with it. We hosted a barbecue that was very well attended by more than 30 family and friends. My son manned the grills, cooking burgers, hot dogs, barbecue and jerk chicken wings, spare ribs and steaks to complement the spicy guacamole and salsa he made from scratch. (Yes, my boy can COOK!!) My contribution to the food was vegetable rice and a big salad fresh from the garden. Not only did I use leaves from the various colorful varieties of lettuce I'm growing, I also added some chickweed, cilantro and mint, also growing in the garden.

Yes, Memorial Day spells summer to some but for me the official start of summer is the arrival of the migratory birds and the butterflies and this year I was not disappointed. I've already seen a bright red male cardinal and heard the call of mourning doves and the neighborhood's resident mocking bird. Although monarchs are usually the first butterflies to visit my garden, this year I was treated to the sight of a gorgeous Black Swallowtail that flitted among my creeping phlox blossoms and sampled the few blooms left on my old azalea bush. The sight of that beautiful creature filled me with more joy than I can describe. This year I planted some milkweed seeds in the hope of growing some milkweed plants to attract more butterflies, particularly the monarchs that I dearly love. Hopefully they will germinate. In the meantime, my garden beckons and I will answer its call with pleasure.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Throwback to the Holidays

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Gift for grandson #1

Gift for grandson #2

Dancing at our community association
holiday gathering

It's only the end of January, just one month after the December holiday festivities, but it feels as if they took place eons ago, having been buried under several feet of snow. During this frigid, unforgiving time, I want to look back to some of the benchmarks of my annual holiday traditions like coquito, bread pudding, wrapping presents and decorating the house. Here are a few snapshots of my holiday celebrations.

Bread pudding in the making

Coquito - traditional Puerto Rican
holiday drink

My Coast Guard daughter and her beau.

 All the decorations have been packed away and the good food  has been eaten. Now I can look forward to longer, warmer days and the promise of gardening come spring. Goodbye, holidays. Until next year.

Decorations dragged down from the attic.

Rocking the new scarf my
sister gave me.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

The Arrival of Spring

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Due to an unexpectedly warm winter, here in the northeast we are experiencing an unusually early spring. With temperatures at times reaching upwards of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, all manner of flora and fauna that would usually be out of sight until April has made a glorious appearance in mid-March as evidenced by the beautiful daffodils I photographed in my garden. There was actually a period during which daffodil shoots were actively growing with nary a crocus in sight when the reverse is usually the case. Eventually the crocuses got their act together and showed their faces before the arrival of the daffodils but it was a pretty tight race.

Although I announced in a previous post that I would no longer be conducting weekly craft classes at the senior citizens center, I agreed to continue putting up the seasonal decorations. I wanted to really celebrate the arrival of spring's colorful flowers in a way that all the members could enjoy so I created a large (12" x 34") sign to go over the entry door to the main activity/lunchroom, a place where it can't be missed by anyone who enters the center.  All the materials used to create this sign were either free or donated, including the electronic cutter I used to cut out the various elements of the sign. The paper and fabric flowers came from Materials for the Arts and the cutting files came from SVGCuts.com, a site that offers free cut files for electronic cutting machines. The butterflies were created with Memory Box dies I purchased for my personal use but once I cut and colored them, they were so beautiful I just couldn't keep them all to myself. Click on the photo and zoom in to see the details on those blue beauties. There is also an invisible detail that doesn't show up in the photo. The oval in the center of the sign has flowers stamped in watermarking (transparent) ink and dusted with gold pigment powder. The stamped flowers can't be seen until you pass underneath the sign. When the light catches it just the right way all the flowers appear to shine.

This is the first large scale project I've done with my eCraft and I still have much to learn but I'm very pleased with the way this first attempt came out. Ya know, I had so much fun making this sign, perhaps I'll make another one for summer.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva

Spring is in the Air - A Sneak Peek

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Here is a sneak peek at the card the seniors will be constructing this week. In order to accommodate individuals with limitations in dexterity and/or vision, I do all the cut work and stamping, assemble card kits and guide them in assembling the finished card. For those of you who would like to create this card or one like it, the instructions are below. Happy crafting!

Spring is in the Air

After the long, cold days of winter, the soft, warm colors of spring are a welcome sight. The bright pink of this card provides the perfect backdrop for a collection of fabric flowers in black, white and pastel pink. The pretty decorative edge of the card front is created with a die punch edger. The same edger is used on the white inner liner of the card, adding a bit of visual interest. Two pink butterflies flutter in the left bottom edge of the liner, echoing the dominant color and motif of the card. This layout is fast and simple and lends itself to different color schemes and themes. With a change of sentiments and embellishments, this can become a card for any occasion.

Materials List:

1. A2 size card in fuschia (A2 is 8 ½” x 5 ½” open, 4 ¼” x 5 ½” folded in half)

2. White paper cut into two pieces as follows:

a. One 2 ½” x 4” piece (for card front)

b. One 4 ¼” x 5-3/8” piece (for liner)

3. Black marker

4. Black pigment ink, pink dye ink

5. Black embossing powder (EP) – superfine detail powder preferred

6. Studio G clear acrylic stamps – VC0023 Series 45 – Spring is in the Air

7. Small butterfly stamp

8. Five fabric flowers for embellishing: 1large, 2 medium, 3 small (Flowers used here are Petite Petals by Michael Miller Memories – item discontinued. Any other flowers can be substituted.)

9. Edge punch of your choice (Fiskars edger used here.)

10. Strong glue, glue stick or tape.

Construction

1. With edge punch, punch long edge of card front and one long edge of the white liner paper.

2. Align the straight edge of the liner flush with the straight edge of the inside card. The punched edge should be pointing towards the fold. Glue or tape in place.

3. With pink ink, stamp butterfly twice on lower left corner, angling them slightly in opposite directions. (See photo.)

4. With black pigment ink, stamp sentiment in center of smaller piece of white paper. Stamp butterfly above and slightly to the right of the upper right corner of the sentiment. Angle butterfly slightly to the right. Emboss sentiment and butterfly with black EP.

5. Slowly drag black marker around the edges of white paper, allowing the ink to soak into the edge and feather slightly. Glue paper to the center of the card front.

6. Arrange flowers in upper left and lower right corners of card front, placing the large flower in the upper left to balance the composition. When you are satisfied with your arrangement, glue the flowers in place.

Your card is now complete.

Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva