Arts Club at the Library

Back in June and July, (pre and post-flood Calgary) Jan and I did several workshops at library branches using readily available and cost conscious items to make creative mixed media brooches.

Needled Felted and Embroidered Brooches

The first project that we did was a combination of a machine needle felted backing with hand embroidery stitches and embellishments. Each participant was given a square of the needle felted background and cut the shape they wanted for their brooch. Then they used embroidery floss to stitch, add beads or sequins and then blanket stitch around the edge to finish.

Mixed Media Brooches

The second project was a mixed media piece with each participant given a rubber stamped impression of a lady's face in craft foam that they coloured with metallic markers. In their kit they were also given a variety of fibre pieces including a heat distressed piece of felt, organza, heat distressed and painted Tyvek. Several of the gals found them so fun that they made 2 of them.

Zipper Brooches

The final project that we did at several branch libraries was a brooch made with one side of a metal zipper, some heat distressed felt leaves, crystal brads and beads.  We had several mom and daughter duos at one branch and even the little gals found this a relatively easy project to complete, with mom's help of course! They all went home with them proudly pinned to their backpacks.

Paper Cloth & Foam Embellishments

Our December FOG session was a stimulating one. We were working with our paper cloth, or fabric paper (whichever term you like) from Diane’s demo at our November session, and using it as the background of our art piece. Pat came with hers virtually completed, but the rest of us were still busy working by lunch break. 

Completed Paper Cloth/Fabric Paper Samples

We spent the afternoon making Fun/Craft Foam embellishments. Yes, even though that sounds rather hokey, they really do turn out great. In a nutshell, you heat up your Fun/Craft Foam with a heat gun, press a rubber stamp into it until it cools and voilà, you have an embellishment ready for painting, inking, or colouring by other means. The harder red rubber stamps with simple, deeply etched designs seem to work the best.

We discovered that we could heat the foam sheets and run it through the dry embossing machine (Sizzix) to impress the image. This opens up a plethora of possibilities for designs. We also cut some shapes out of the foam, folded over the top (around a knitting needle), carefully heated the foam and impressed it. This makes a rather nice pendant, especially painted with the Lumiere paints.

Fun with Fun Foam

 We also discovered that not all Fun/Craft Foam is created equal. The thicker the Fun/Craft Foam, the better the impression of the stamp, or embosser. We were really churning them out and didn't get a lot of time to paint, ink or colour them. (Lumiere paint by Jacquard is the best for some metallic or pearlescent colour).

January Challenge

In fact, we were so enamoured with our efforts that we have decided to use the woman’s face for our January challenge, the start of an ongoing art journal project. Can’t wait!