Too Kind Card Box and Post-It Note Holder by Laurie Zoellmer

This soft and sweet Too Kind Card Box and Post it Note Holder was created by Laurie Zoellmer for Craft Project Central!  You can learn more about Laurie at her blog www.stampingnut.blogspot.com! 
This darling card box will easily hold 4-6 cards and envelopes.   The card box and coordinating Post it Note Holder make a beautiful set for any desk.  Make several sets to give as gifts this coming holiday season!  This project is also a fun class or camp project!  You can find out all the details by becoming a subscriber to the month of September over at Craft Project Central!

Satellite Coral Reef at Denver Art Museum!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  The hands and eyes can serve as guides to developing the human mind. - The Institute For Figuring
Earlier this week I went to visit the Denver Art Museum!  As usual, I was overwhelmed by the creativity and visual stimulation!  I can visit a museum for about 2-3 hours before I feel like I need to walk away and come back another time because I am "full up!"  One thing I saw that really intrigued me was a satellite Crochet Coral Reef made my artists and visitors to the Denver Art Museum!  The Crochet Coral Reef (CCR) is a project by the Institute For Figuring, a non-profit Los Angeles based organization that pioneers creative new methods for engaging the public about scientific and environmental issues by putting people and communities at the core.  The CCR is one of the largest participatory science + art projects in the world!!!!  Thought you would enjoy a few pictures of some of what I saw while viewing the satellite reef!  Incredible!!!!!  It's amazing what the hands and eyes can do to develop the human mind!!!!  I hope you have a phenomenal weekend!  Happy New Year/Shana Tova to those of you celebrating the Jewish New Year!

Happy New Year! Shana Tova!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  "To us art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take the risks."  - Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb
To those of you celebrating the Jewish New Year, I wish you a healthy, happy, peaceful, prosperous and creative New Year!!!!  To create my Jewish New Year greetings for this year I decided to take a risk and have an adventure into an unknown world!  Instead of making cards I decided to make postcards.  I began with the idea of carving a stamp with the Hebrew words meaning Happy New Year!  I had some stamp carving materials and tools on-hand and for those of you wanting to explore carving your own stamps, Stampin' Up! has a great new kit called "Undefined" that comes with everything you need!!!!  Here is the stamp I created:

Next I cut watercolor paper to postcard size and stamped each one with the stamp and Jet Black Staz-On ink.  I then took out some liquid watercolors and began to have a ton of fun!  After the pieces dried I added some metallic pen, colored pencil and glimmer sprays.  I sprayed each one with fixative to give the postcards a bit of protection for any moisture they may encounter on their way to their final destinations!  Here are pictures of the rest of the postcards I made!  I hope you like them!

Teacher Appreciation Flowers and Frame by Buffy Cooper

This beautiful Teacher Appreciation Flowers and Frame was created by Buffy Cooper for Craft Project Central for the month of September.  You can find out more about Buffy on her blog HERE!
With this project you can send flowers to a teacher that will last all year!  Create an adorable vase and floral bouquet with a coordinating frame for a class photo, and let those teachers know how much you appreciate them!  Find out all the details and instructions for this project by becoming a subscriber to the month of September at Craft Project Central!

Hot Pad Redux :)

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  If At First You Don't Succeed...Try, Try, Again!
Yesterday I shared my first hot pad attempt and a few of the many lessons I learned in the doing of it.  Today I am sharing attempt #2!  I used hand-dyed fabric again and this time I used two layers of batting and sewed around all of the corners!  You can teach an old dog new tricks!!!! :)  I played a bit with my free-motion stitching - definitely a work in progress!  I am, however, much happier with the result!  Yes, if at first you don't succeed...try, try, again!!!!!

Hand Dyed Fabric Hot Pad

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  There Is So Much To Be Learned By Doing
It started with trying to cut a 7"x7" square of my fabric.  Somehow it kept coming out wrong...and then I realized that I was lining things up on my cutting board at the 1" mark and not at the 0" mark!  Lesson learned!  I also should have cut the batting smaller than the full square so that the edges didn't get so bulky.  Or maybe I should have put 2 layers of batting on the inside before sewing the pieces together - that would have made it thicker.  Oh, and when it comes to having to turn something inside out after sewing it?  It might be best not to do your turning at a corner, but rather to finish all the corners and leave the space to turn the piece inside out along a straight edge.  This was my first hand dyed and machine/hand sewn hot pad.  It was intended as a gift for a friend's birthday dinner.  I didn't want to go empty handed and the usual bottle of wine didn't seem personal enough.  So instead I gave some love and creativity a try.  And I learned.  I learned so much that I decided I needed to give it another shot.  I did.  I will share the result with you tomorrow :)  Hopefully she will benefit from my love, creativity, and lessons learned :)  There really is so much to be learned by doing.

Witches Brew Halloween Home Decor by Julie Beltramo

It's September and that means it's time for a new month full of projects at Craft Project Central!  Today I am sharing this Witches Brew Halloween Home Decor created by Julie Beltramo.  You can learn more about Julie and her project here!  This trio of canvases makes for a fun and festive wall hanging for the upcoming Halloween happenings! It’s a great project to make for your own Halloween décor.  But don’t forget to make a second one, along with the coordinating card, and give it as a gift!  You can get full instructions for this project and the other September Craft Project Central projects I will be sharing this month by subscribing as a member for the month of September!  Click here to learn more!