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What I’m Working on Wednesday Updates #1

August 11, 2021 Leave a Comment

I hope this post finds you well. This week had me getting back into my handmade felt dolls and I managed to finish 2 for this week’s challenge along with one that I shared with you in last week’s What I’m Working on Wednesday.

If you saw last week’s post you know that I was making a little felt Harry Potter doll. My daughter was invited to a birthday party that is Harry Potter themed and I thought it might be fun to make a little add-on present. I purchased this digital pattern as part of a 3 pack that includes Ron & Hermione. If I have time I’ll try and make Ron & Hermione for the party and I also plan to make a complete set for my own collection and I’ll be sure to share them when they are done.

As of the writing of this post I haven’t shared much about my love for felt doll making. It started about 2 years ago when I made a really sweet doll for my oldest daughter. She had been reading about Sacagawea and really loved her story so I found this sweet pattern on Etsy (my favorite and really only source for these amazing patterns). I was so happy with how she came out (so was my daughter when she received it at Christmas). And from there the love grew! I have made quite a few of these little felt dolls along with 3 larger ones and a large felt monkey for my youngest daughter for this past Christmas.

I am planning a little video to share all my collection with you. With any luck I will get that up this month.

I am still working on finishing my crystal box from last week although I did finish up my cardboard buttons. I am still working on editing my video process for how I made these. I modified this video from Jennibellie where she makes the coolest cardboard buttons. I wasn’t as happy with mine when I made them this way so I adjusted a bit and I love how they come out and how much fun they are. My oldest has even started making them-they really are fun and a great way to use up scraps.

I am really happy that I finished up my self-care angel doll too! She was sitting very patiently waiting for me to finally see her face and clothes and I am so happy with how she turned out! Right now I have her on my decorative shelf in the kitchen and I just love the brightness and color she brings to the room. If you are interested in making one of these beautiful creations be sure to check out Tam’s course over on Willowing it’s so much fun!

Outside of the crafting world as I mentioned Monday we are working on re-arranging rooms in our home. I am in the process of painting what was our homeschool room. The trim desperately needed touching up and the walls a nice refresh although we are keeping the same color. It’s a really pretty yellow and since we still have some of the paint left I plan to keep it. This room is going from homeschool room to my and my husband’s bedroom/offices. I am really excited about this change. Initially when this room became our homeschool room everyone had a desk and I thought it would give us some really useful creative space but in many ways it became a catch all and the kids still used the kitchen table. So moving our homeschool supplies to a counter and cabinet in the kitchen wasn’t that hard and now we can make better use of this space as our bedroom/offices.

Right now I have a little creative corner in our current bedroom that I am going to give you a little tour of. It’s a great space and super cozy and I really do love it. I am excited however to be going back to my old spot in the homeschool room which is a little bit larger and more separated from the sleeping space.

So that’s my little update. I am happy I made time to play with all my creative supplies and get my hands covered in paint. I have tons of projects left so no worries about me running out. For each one I complete I find 10 more to start but this series is a really fun way for me to share my projects and to keep the ones I’m working on in the foreground of my mind.

Maybe you would like to join in?

Are you someone who has lots of creative projects going at the same time?

Do you work on one thing until it’s done and the go to the next?

Do you like to share your work on your blog?

I would love to visit your space and see the fun projects you are working on so I created a What I’m Working on Wednesday link party. Pop by on Wednesdays, share what you are working on and have a look at what your fellow creatives are doing. It’s a great way to find blogs to follow and inspiration for your next endeavor. Simply visit the link below and be sure to grab a graphic from my side bar to display on your site. Let’s spread the inspiration!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Creative Spaces & Challenge #3

August 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

How was your weekend? I did struggle to feel productive at first but in the end I managed to get a lot of work done on my second blog and even some painting on what will soon be our new bedroom.

I was hoping to get a little video tour of my creative space done but if I am honest I am procrastinating. Part of me wants to clean it all up and make it look shiny before I share it here but the truth is this is the way it normally looks! I love having all my supplies around me so I can see what I have and be inspired by them. I also never remember what supplies I have if they are hidden away all neat and organized and I usually spend more time trying to remember how I organized everything that I don’t make much.

So I might just give it a normal tidy and then do a little video for you since we may just start moving as soon as next week and I really want to share my creative space with you. At one time in my life I was fortunate enough to have an office and a craft room. It was a pretty craft room that I planned out so carefully and to be honest-I never used it. Instead I used my office that everything out and messy and where I could see it 🙂

Now that my office and craft room have become bedrooms I have a little nook in my bedroom that I use. I think it’s so important to create and to know that you don’t need much space (or even many supplies) to be creative and express yourself. So that’s why I want to share my little nook with you so that you can see you can create a lot in small space.

I also realized that I have been blogging twice a week which feels like such an accomplishment and I am so happy but I also realized I have boxed myself in a bit with Monday being the creative challenge and Wednesday my project updates. So I may just have to add another weekly post where I can say hello and just share general updates with you. What do you think?

Now on to the challenge! Last week’s word was ice cream and I admit when I chose the word I knew I wanted to make a felt creation. I found a super sweet pattern on Etsy here and had so much fun making this little one. Now, you may see that there are 2 ice cream cones in the photo and that is because as I was making it my son came in and asked if he could have it for his felt collection. So of course he got the first one. I then made myself one for my collection. They came together really quickly and I would definitely recommend this pattern.

Once I finished the ice cream cone I decided to make the Popsicle which is so super cute! I couldn’t be happier with her (and yes I did make a second one for my son as well :). So that was lat week’s prompt.

The prompt for this week was chosen by oldest daughter so maybe we can channel our inner 10 year-olds and have some fun with this one. Are you ready?

Creative Challenge Prompt #3 is: Cupcake

I cannot wait to see what you make! Please join in the link party below and share a link to your take on our creative word.

Thank you for stopping by to visit my site and I will see you again on Wednesday!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Creating a Book Binding Kit

August 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

Creating a Book Binding Kit

Today I am sharing a completed project from one of my What I’m Working on Wednesday posts. This idea came to me when I ordered a few supplies for my journal making. I have always used a pokey tool for making holes in my journals and since I have plans to make a lot more of them I decided to purchase an awl and a few other materials.

Of course then I thought how nice it would be to have a little wooden box to house them all in and the project you see before you what born!

I will put a list of the materials I used in the resource section below but I started off with a plain wooden craft box and gave it 2 coats of purple paint and then I decided I wanted to try out my paper mosaic kit. I received this for Christmas last year and haven’t tried it out. I thought putting a tile look on the top of the box would be really unique so I gave it a shot. The only thing I didn’t like was there is a yellow tinge to the tile. I’m not sure if I did something wrong, if it’s a result of the products I used underneath or maybe it’s just old. I am going to give it a try on another project and I will let you know how it goes.

I then added the grout which is the first step for the paper mosaic tile kit and when that was dry I added ripped pieces of a gelli print I made. I loved the look of these and the brightness of the colors. Once they were all glued down I decided to use my mini paper punches and cut out hearts and stars to glue to the top. I then added the silver foil to the top. It has a really nice effect but the foil is hard to give a full cover to so you may want to try it on some scrap paper before using it on your project.

Lastly I sealed the whole project with the last step of the paper mosaic kit. Overall the box looks good but I think I would have been happier if I left it painted and just wrote on the top but I do like how unique this makes the piece which is fun too.

If you would like to watch a little process video I have that down below for you. You can also view the resource section below that to see all the products that I used. If you have any questions please do comment below I would love to hear from you! I hope you are having a beautiful day!

Resource section

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint in the Color Grape Jam

Tim Holtz Distress® Paper Mosaic Kit

Mini Heart & Star Paper Punches came from Stampin’ Up!

Video Music by Joystock – https://www.joystock.org

This post shared as part of Friendship Friday Blog Hop

Weekly Creative Challenge #2

August 2, 2021 Leave a Comment

I hope this post is finding you well and looking forward to some creative time this week.

Last week, as you may remember, I started this little challenge project and to be honest I am really proud of myself for sticking with it and sharing what I created. I admit that while I love challenges I hardly ever remember to stick with them but I have a feeling this one might be a little different. This week I took part not only in this challenge here but one in Jennibellie’s Ning group. I’ll share with you what I created for that challenge in my weekly round up of projects.

If you saw last week’s post you know our challenge word was “Summer.” I wasn’t sure what I would create when I chose that word but I was pretty sure my kit from the Lollipop Box Club was going to be a part of it. If you are unfamiliar with these kits check out my Resource Section a little further down this page and you can visit the shop.

To be fair everything that could go wrong with this project did! I was doing it at night and none of my tools seemed to work properly and I seemed to be all thumbs. Still I persevered and I am really happy with the result! I ended up making a little hanging piece that I am going to put add a summer photo to. I haven’t decided what photo I am going to use but I want it to be something that sums up what I have loved the most about this summer.

I started off cutting up the box that my kit comes in (I love these boxes and use them for so many crafts!). I used one of the rectangles from the box as my base and painted the perimeter to coordinate with the papers I had chosen. Once that was done I added the heart doily at the bottom and decided I would use the “summer” sticker on top. The white was a little stark and I decided to use the peach colored tissue paper as a backdrop to the black sticker and add a little pastel orange to the heart itself. I was really happy with how they all looked once together.

The last step once everything was glued down was to punch holes in the top and add some white twine to make the hanger.

I am really happy with how this turned out and think it will be a project I do quite often to showcase some of my favorite photos. It adds a really nice handmade and cozy look and is a fun way to display photos. You could even glue photo corners down so you could change your pictures in and out if you wanted.

I did film a quick little process video as well if you want to check that out at the end of the post. Before I go though I wanted to tell you this week’s challenge:

Ice Cream

Be sure to join the InLinkz below to share what you have created and so we can stop by your blog and say hello! Please do comment below if you have any questions or to just say hello!

Until Next Time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Music by Joystock – https://www.joystock.org

What I’m Working on Wednesday: Felt Dolls, Paper Tiles, Cardboard Buttons & Journals

July 28, 2021 Leave a Comment

It’s been a little bit since I shared a What I’m Working On. I often wonder why I start writing blog series as I very often forget about them. I have been having lots of wonderful time in my little creative corner and getting so many projects done and completed so it reminded me how much fun it is to share them with you. I also will do my best to provide updates for these projects and share once they are completed and for some I will have some process videos where you can watch me make them start to finish. Once those posts are up they will be linked within this post for you.

So what have I been working on? Well, lots of things. I am really enjoying having several projects in various stages going at once. While one coat of paint is drying I work on something else and while that coat of Triple Thick dries I paint this piece. It’s a lot of fun and keeps me from getting board or getting too precious with any one project because they all just feel like play time.

I had a wonderful afternoon this past Sunday with the house to myself, a cup of tea, a little chocolate and my paints. I started painting this box I bought online. It has a special purpose that I will share in my process video to come out next week where you can see the ins and outs of how I made it and what it will be holding. It was a fun and easy project. I painted it, added some tourn paper scraps from a gelli print I did and added some Tim Holtz grout and paper tile. I have never used the paper tile before and the glaze seems to have a bit of a yellow tint to it. Not sure if it’s because it’s a little older (I got it back at Christmas) or if it still isn’t totally dry. Either way it was so much fun to make! Of course I realized after that I could remove the hardware so as not to get paint on it. Something I remedied when painting the second box.

These boxes came in a 3 pack of varying sizes and I am going to use the smallest one to house my crystals. I started painting it blue then decided I would rather pink and as I tried out the pink and saw the two colors together I fell in love. It looks like cotton candy and is so happy and fun. I also am going to sew a little cushion to go in the bottom of the box that all the crystals can sit on.

I have also been addicted, uh, having fun making cardboard buttons. This idea didn’t originate with me. I first saw this on Jennibellie’s YouTube channel (link in the reference section below) and thought I had to try it! I make mine differently than she did in the video but no matter how you make them they are really fun and simple. The best part is it’s a great way to use the off-cuts of cardboard when you have left behind when making a journal as well as small paper scraps. You can also use those 6×6 paper pads we tend to end up with stacks of. I am working on a little process video to share with you but they really are super simple and fun to make. I love using recycled/repurposed materials in my art. The photo here is of the buttons just about done-I only need to punch out the 2 holes in the center and seal the edges.

Another item I have been working on is my clay doll. This is a project from a class I am taking at Willowing. It’s a really fun class and I have been letting my little angel doll emerge slowly. Right now she is sitting on my table waiting to be painted. I am still trying to decide if I am going to use yarn for her hair or paint it on. I think I might start with painting and if I’m not happy with how it turns out cover it up with yarn 🙂 I don’t have a process video for her since she was part of a paid class but I will share a blog update once she’s all completed so you can see her.

I am also making a photo album that’s going to be a gift. We have some ideas here in our family about what we may or may not do with it as it’s an anniversary gift for my kids grandparents. My oldest 2 have been having a lot of fun with The Wreck this Journals I bought them and my husband had the idea to make this album a “wreck this photo album” and to put all sorts of prompts for the grandparents to complete. Like “take a photo in front of the world’s largest ball of yarn” and things like that. I haven’t included a photo-namely because I forgot to include it when I was taking photos and also it doesn’t look like much yet since it’s just a cover but once we decide on how we are going to make it and I have it all done I will be sure to share it with you all.

And lastly I am working on another felt doll. I really love making these! They are so nice because you can sit in a chair and hand sew them together-something I love to do. I might do a whole post on just my felt doll set up because I have really made it all very easy and contained-let me know if you would be interested in a post on that. For this doll I am making Harry Potter. My oldest daughter was invited to a birthday party and the theme is Harry Potter. My kids hadn’t shown much interest in the books or movies before and this past weekend we had a family movie night and watched the first movie-they really seemed to like it! Now we are reading the book together and of course, making felt Harry Potter dolls. Well, I’m making the dolls. I am going to try and make a complete set of Harry, Ron & Hermione for my daughter’s friend as a present and I am also thinking I need one to add to my felt doll collection.

If you would like to see the pattern I am using I have linked it in the resource section below. I would love to hear what’s your working on. Please comment below and if you have a blog share a link so we can all stop by and see what you are working on this Wednesday.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Resource Section

Jennibellie YouTube Channel: She has a wonderful channel with TONS of tutorials and amazing inspiration for your art journals. She also is great at using recycled materials and making do with what you have on hand. She’s where I learned to make the cardboard buttons I mentioned. You can also join her free community site here.

Willowing: Tam’s site has some AMAZING classes! This is where I am taking the self-placed Sacred Self Care Art Doll Class.

Baul de la Malinka: This is the Etsy shop where I purchased my Harry Potter felt doll patterns. There is a 3 pack that includes Harry, Ron & Hermione that I opted for.

*Note: All of the items listed above are being shared for your convenience. I purchased any and all materials with my own money and have not be paid or sponsored in any way for sharing these items. I share them because I like them and I love supporting small business. I hope you find them useful!

Weekly Creative Challenge #1

July 26, 2021 Leave a Comment

Photo by Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante of my Color-Filled Creative Space

I hope you are having a wonderful start to your week. I had an idea today of a weekly prompt to spur on the creative juices and to have fun playing in either my art journal, writing or even clay (my new found love). It also seemed like a fun thing for us to enjoy together where we can share our work for the prompt and not only be inspired by each other’s work but to also find more blogs to follow and support.

So today I am going to share this week’s prompt and then I will be back at the end of the week to show you what I created. Depending on what it is there might be a video tutorial or a craft with me that you can check out as well. I will come back to this post and update it with the links to what I created this week so if you are finding this after the fact you can jump in and see all the fun.

This week’s prompt is: Summer

Perhaps not the most original but it came to me along with the idea for the weekly prompts so I wanted to give it a voice. I was surprised to find that I am sad there is only a little over a month left to summer. I admit my heart lies with spring and fall and that the immense heat of summer is absolutely something I shy away from. However this year I am loving my garden and my little outdoor patio so much that I wish I could extend the growing season just a bit more. So the prompt for summer might be a fun way for me to connect with what I am loving so much about this season.

Would you like to take part in this week’s challenge? It’s really fun and simple. Just click on the InLinkz below and share the URL to your blog post for this week’s challenge. Be sure to stop by other blogs and comment on each other’s work. It’s a wonderful way to build a community of friends who love making art just like you!

I also had a little fun and created a badge for those of you who would like to join in and display it on your blog. Want to add the badge to your site? Just copy the code below and paste it on your blog!

Until Next Time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

Creating a Book Binding Kit

Resource section

Ice Cream

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