Crafting with Crayons

School's been cancelled, it's cold, it's snowy and you have kids running around stir crazy. Here is a craft you can do with kids that is fun, super easy, and only uses supplies you have on hand, multicolor crayons.

Supplies:
Broken crayons or crayons you aren't going to use
Muffin/Cupcake tin or paper muffin cups

Get together all of your broken bits of crayons or some crayons you aren't going to use anymore. Make sure to get all of the paper off the little suckers. If you are using full size crayons, you will want to break them into smaller pieces.

If you are using a tin, lightly grease the tin. I used a ceramic, heart shaped muffin pan. I really liked how they came out. I tried to keep certain colors together, like pink, red, and orange. I also mixed a couple up and used blue with purple and white and black together. Another way to go is paper or individual muffin tins. Just slap a couple down in front of your kids and let them go crazy with color. Just make sure to put them on a cookie sheet to melt, not just on the rack. (I know, common sense, right? Wrong. There are pictures all over the place of crayons melted to racks and the bottom of the oven. Come on people, think first.)

Preheat your oven and throw them in. Once you see they have melted, take them out and let them harden. I'm super impatient, so I threw them in the freezer. Worked like a charm.

I have seen so much Crayon Art floating around on Pintrest. I'll keep you updated if I try one of these beautiful projects.

A Sweet Goodbye

Image- Dark Horse Comics

A few months back, I was walking around the comic book shop and saw Colder #1 on the racks and was taken aback by the cover art. It was gory, intense, and unbelievably beautiful, but I moved along out of the Dark Horse section and kept on looking. Before I could get to the end of the new release wall, I was back to Dark Horse looking at Colder. I was intrigued and, once I opened it and started reading, I was hooked. Nimble Jack. What a glorious introduction! Soon, Colder awoke in me a renewed love of the lost art of horror comics. Each month, the story was alluring, thought provoking, and creepy. I was always looking forward to the next issue. But all good things must come to an end and ,since it only had a five issue run, it's time to say goodbye. Issue #5 came out today and it did not disappoint. The arc was wrapped up nicely and many questions were answered. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, "This is perfect. This is the perfect ending. Perfect, perfect, perfect...awwww." I still want more, but if that doesn't happen, it was a sweet goodbye.

Random Fandom

#1- The Answer
I love Dark Horse comics. When I go to the comic book store, the first area I go to houses the Dark Horse selection. Yesterday, I picked up a copy of The Answer #1 of 4. I absolutely loved this first installment. The lead heroine is a puzzle obsessed librarian. I knew very early in the book, that this would be a keeper. As we glimpse into our leading lady's life, Jeopardy is being played in the background. Devin answers all the questions, while finishing a crossword puzzle with ease. Before long, she's thrown into a world of action. I am very curious to see where this is going to go. Written by Dennis Hopeless. Art by Mike Norton. Colors by Mark Englert. Letters by Crank!

#2- The Snowmen- Doctor Who 2012 Christmas Special

My obsession with Doctor Who just continues to grow. I can't stop watching this episode. To watch Matt Smith go from such a dark place into an excited little boy was absolutely beautiful. And Clara, wow, I instantly liked her. I liked her in Asylum of the Daleks, but this episode really let her shine. So many questions that need to be answered. March 30th is way too long to wait.

Issue #1

#3-MIND MGMT by Matt Kindt

 This is the book that got me back into monthly books. A clever, mind bending, spy series that pulls the reader into participating in the story through secret messages strategically placed through the book. Issue #7 went on the rack yesterday. This is the issue to pick up. It is a new story arc so you don't have to try to hard to understand what is going on. The art is absolutely gorgeous and the covers are just intriguing to me.

Finally a Perler Bead Tutorial

After a long period of not working with crafts of any kind, I was looking for a way to relax with some kind of hobby or craft. I came across Perler Beads one day, looking at Doctor Who crafts, and I was absolutely hooked. I love the retro look of 8 bit art. A lot of memories for me are held in the games of my childhood. So many of these games perfectly translate into patterns. Just type NES Perler into Google Images and see how many people are bringing the video games of our childhood back to life. But its not just limited to video game sprites or cartoons. Look at a cross stitch pattern, Kandi bead patterns, or Pixel art and compare it to a Perler bead pattern. They are(or almost are) identical. Your design can be as detailed or as simple as you want it to be, but the more detail you want, the larger the project will be.

Perler is actually a brand name that sells fusible wax beads. They can be sold under the names Hama, Fuse, Melt-a-ways, and Perler to name a few. The most popular in my area is Perler and many just refer to them by their brand name. It is pretty much impossible to find Hama beads. I've only seen them for sale from the UK. I have used Fuse and Melt-a-ways. They are ok, but I like the way the Perlers melt. I mixed Perlers and Melt-a-ways once, but it was horrible. They have different melt times so one would be over ironed while the other had barely started melting, so I wouldn't recommend using multiple brands.

Supplies:

• Perler Beads
• Peg Boards
• Iron
• Ironing paper

If you are going to make your own pattern, you will also need grid paper, but if you don't feel up to drawing an intricate pattern yourself, there are tons of other resources out there There is a really cool app out there called Pixel it that will make the pattern for you from a picture.I love Kandi Patterns. It has hundreds of free patterns, people upload new ones all the time. Many stores sell patterns pretty cheap on Etsy. Also, you can get patterns from Google images. Most don't mind, as long as you don't try to sell some one's pattern or claim it as you own. Just give credit where credit is due if you are going to publish or sell. In my experience, people love that others are creating and their pattern is out there in the world.

My first attempt was the TARDIS, go figure

Do you already cross stitch or make 8 bit digital art? If the answer is yes, you already have a leg up.Many argue that cross stitch was the first 8 bit art, so it is really easy to convert a cross stitch pattern to a Perler pattern and vice versa. With Perler beads, look at each bead like a pixel. When the pixels come together they form a picture. Since I used to cross stitch I dove right in. For the first few projects, I used Google Images. As I got braver, I started experimenting with making my own patterns, going off pictures with no patterns, and just making it up as I go along. With larger, more intricate projects, it's best to use a pattern, which I found out the hard way. It's not impossible, but it will take quite a lot of time.

Let's start you off with an easy one. If you are going to make your own pattern, now is the time to grab your grid paper and get creative. I really love 8 bit bows, so I drew a couple out and this is what I came up with. I've seen different stores sell foam barrettes so I thought it would be a really cool project with Perlers. Its a pretty easy design and you can finish really fast. This is really a versatile pattern too because you can change the colors to what you would like and not worry about mucking up the design. You can get really creative and do designs within the bow.

Chose your colors, grab your peg board, and go to town. A peg board will hold your design steady while you create, making sure no beads go running away. If you buy a kit, you may get shaped peg boards like flowers or animals. These come in handy if you are going to this as a project with a child. They can go crazy within the shape and still come out with something looking really nice. Now the beads can be slippery little suckers, but you can place the beads with your fingers, a special tool that has scoop on one end and plastic tweezers on another, or as I prefer, metal tweezers because they're not as flimsy.

Once you are finished with your design, it is time to melt the beads together. While still on the pegboard, place the ironing paper over your project. Now you can iron your project. Put light pressure the iron and gently go over the design, moving the iron in circles to evenly distribute the heat. The ironing is the hardest part of the project. You will see the beads start to melt through the paper. It should take about 15- 20 seconds according to the directions, but I find it takes longer with my iron, but you can't over heat it or the project will shrink and bend in places. Once you've melted the first side, you should let it cool down before you flip it. I am too impatient and use the peg board to flip it and do the other side right away. Be Careful, because the flipping is when you find out if you haven't heated it evenly. My first project broke right away when I tried to flip it. Sometimes it is an easy fix,sometimes you have to nix the project completely and start over. Most will say that in 8 bit art, you should be able to see each individual bead. I happen to like the look when it has been over-melted, some projects I think it just suits it more. You will have to practice and play to see what you like. Let it set for a while so it can cool down.

It's time to sit back, relax, and enjoy a job well done, right? Well, some projects end here, but it depends on what you are making. Are you making coasters, magnets, something to put on your wall? Do you need to buy a stand or can you make one? With this project I was making barrettes. I got out my trusty hot glue gun and attached the bows to barrettes. I made one for my sister, one for my niece, and for me, well...I made a bow tie. Why? Because bow ties are cool. These are great little gifts to add to a homemade gift basket, or a nice gift to your girly gamer friends.


When you get more confident, you can go after bigger projects. The largest one I have done so far is a Detroit Red Wings logo with a stand. I printed out a picture and just eyeballed it. In the end, I wish I had drawn a pattern first, but you learn as you go.
The hobby stores in my area don't carry a huge variety of colors, so I used pink as the highlighter color. I hadn't yet discovered Kool Stuff 4 Kids.

Now every time I look at it I think, 'I should have used cranberry.' If I had only known. Maybe someday I'll redo it. Anyway, back to Kool Stuff 4 Kids. They have every shade you can imagine, peg boards of all kinds, and some free patterns. If you sign up for the email club, they e-mail you a coupon you can use right away. Every week they have a new special and their normal prices are lower than my local stores. Plus,  you can buy just one color. Most of my stores only sell by the bucket and I don't have time to sort thousands of beads.

Finished the design, just needs the iron.

I'll definitely make a pattern next time. In my haste, I ended up not centering right. I shouldn't have needed to use so many pegboards. Also, since I didn't have a pattern when it broke during the flipping, I had no idea what went where and I made some huge errors that I didn't notice until after I had ironed it. I thought I was going to cry when it broke. This took so long for me to make. I had to do it in five different sittings.  Can you spot the difference?

                                                   

After ironing, breaking, and ironing again

Before the project was complete, I had to figure out a way to make it stand. So I looked around at what other people were using and figured out how to make little legs for it.
I will be posting more of my Perler Bead projects here and there. I am hoping to make a 3-D TARDIS that lights up using LED's so it won't get hot enough to melt the beads. I saw one once on Etsy, but it sold, so I'm going to make my own. I'm still trying to work out the details, so if you know about little LEDs, let me know, so far I can only find little individual units for sale bulk.

Christmas Cheer

Happy Holidays! As this year comes to an end, there is so much to reflect on, both good and bad. I'm trying to prepare myself for so many changes that I need to make for the next year to improve my health and happiness. Even though there have been rough patches and a little bit of heartache, 2012 proved to be a year I can look back on with a smile. I graduated with my Associates Degree in Liberal Arts. I reconnected with so many great people this year and mended bridges that I thought long ago were burned beyond repair. I have a wonderful family, a job that I love going to everyday, and a roof over my head.  That's a lot to be thankful for.

This year I made a lot of handmade gifts for Christmas. I spent a lot of time on different perler bead magnets, coasters, and painted ornaments. I can't post too much on here until after Christmas so I don't spoil any gifts, but I will post some different ones after the Holiday with some tutorials. I keep getting asked to post some Perler bead tutorials, so I promise I will put them up soon. In the meantime, here are some of the ornaments I painted. If you are looking for a last minute homemade gift, these are perfect to try. The glass ornaments are very inexpensive, so the out of pocket cost is a lot lower than some other options out there.

I got two boxes of twelve ornaments at Hobby Lobby. Each box cost $7.99, but Hobby Lobby has some great in store deals. When I went looking for ideas one day, all the glass items were 50% off. I walked out with two boxes, enough to make an ornament for just about everyone on my Christmas list. I already had some paint from other projects,so the total cost was under $10. I even sold a couple to people who saw them for $3.00 each, which ended up bringing my out of pocket expense to little under $1. They did end up taking a lot more time that I thought they would, I could usually get two done an evening, so if you are going to make multiples, make sure to give yourself plenty of time.

Merry Christmas!

Make Your Own Weeping Angel

While I was in taking classes, it was really hard to keep up with all the craft projects I wanted to do. Awhile back I stumbled upon Wich-Crafting's Don't Blink which has a great tutorial on how to make a Weeping Angel out of a Barbie Doll and textured spray paint. I knew I just had to make my own and I thought I would share it with you.

I picked up a twelve inch Barbie for $12 at Dollar General and got to work. The first thing I did was get crazy with a glue gun. I glued all of her joints in position and attached craft sticks to hold her up on a wooden base. The tutorial I looked at cut Barbie's arms at the joints to cover her eyes. Instead, I bended the arms as far as I could and glued them in position. I think this is way easier and if you get a Barbie with joints in her wrists, you can manipulate the arms enough to forgo having to work with a saw.





As the glue was setting, I worked on the hair. The tutorial I saw put the hair up in a pony tail and cut it off. I bought a barbie that had her hair half up and half down with a hair band. I thought the hairband was perfect for the texture I wanted and started working on an up do in the back. This was the hardest part of the project. I don't know if you have ever tried to style a Barbie's hair into up-do, but it is not an easy task, but eventually I got it the way I wanted and moved onto the clothes. The barbie I chose had a tunic-like top, so I kept it and fashioned a skirt out of muslin. I also used hot glue to add some texture to the skirt because I couldn't get it to sit the way I wanted. Once it is painted, you won't be able to distinguish the hot glue from the skirt, so I thought this was way easier than the other tutorial I saw. Next, I used craft foam and cut out some wings and used my trusty glue gun again to add texture to the wings.

Next up, the textured spray paint. I didn't used any kind of primer, just went straight to the spray paint.

This is a picture of how it looked after the textured spray paint. I didn't like how it came out so silver. I bought the darkest grey I could find, but to me I just kept looking at her and not digging the color at all. So I went back to the store and came back with starry night glitter blast. I figured my Weeping Angel is just for me and I can do what I want. This just makes her one of a kind. I haven't seen any others go a darker color, or glitter blast for that matter, so if you prefer a more true angel, you might want to stop at the textured spray paint, but I love the way the glitter blast looked on the final project.

The project took me about three hours before the spray paint. There is a lot of drying time involved for both the glue and the spray paint. The entire project cost me about $25, but I used a lot of items I had on hand. If you are already a crafter, you won't need to purchase too much except for the doll and spray paint. My final advice, if you attempt your own, make sure to have lots of hot glue on hand and don't be afraid to use heaps. Happy Crafting!

Dale Carnegie-Changing Lives

A little over a year ago, my world fell apart. I was fired from a job I held for over five years. I didn't really like the job, but I was good at it. I wasn't always treated well, in fact, I was treated very badly. I have always been very shy and a bit codependent, but this was exacerbated by the treatment I received at this company. I had lost all confidence in myself to the point of self destruction. When I was fired, I believed I had nothing to offer and in this economy, I would never find a job. I believed everything I had been told by my previous boss, I had no hire-ability. I was devastated.

As it turned out, being fired was the single best thing to ever happen to me because very soon I was hired by Dale Carnegie Training. I was referred by my friend, Natalie, that worked there, went through the interview process and got the job. Then, everything changed. Instead of being told I was worthless, I was being told I was appreciated. Instead of being told to come to work sick, I was being told to take care of myself. Instead of being told I was dark and negative, I was being told I was valued. The differences between feeling constantly stressed in contrast to  the constant positive reinforcement was phenomenal. I no longer cried after work, but rather looked forward to going into the office each morning. As a requirement of working for Dale Carnegie, I was registered to attend the Dale Carnegie Course. Most of my brain fought against the idea, I already take classes at night at College. I didn't know how I would fit it into my already busy schedule. I also had already taken Human Relations courses, business courses, management courses, and public speaking courses. What could Dale Carnegie teach me that I haven't already learned? I voiced my opinion to my boss, Duane. I remember sitting with him outside. He never once said, look you are taking this or your fired. Instead he asked what I didn't like about myself. I told him I was overly shy, I didn't like to meet new people or talk in front of groups. When I was younger, I was very talented at public speaking and participating in many competitions, but in my adult-hood, I had developed an extreme fear of public speaking. During my public speaking course, I was terrified and just wanted to get it over with. Duane sat with me and addressed each topic and explained how the course could help me overcome my shyness. I reluctantly agreed to complete the course.

When I take courses at school, I can easily blend into the crowd, sit in back and not bring attention to myself. This doesn't fly at the Dale Carnegie Course. In the first five minutes, I realized the course was going to make me confront my biggest fears, in front of a group of strangers. I was going to have to participate, there was no disappearing. My instructors had such a welcoming aura to them, it was starting to get easier to relax and go with the flow. One of the first things we did was fill out a paper saying what we wanted to be able to do once we finished the class. I wrote down that I would want to gain enough confidence to approach another student and ask to be study partners. I had heard that can make classes a bit easier. You have another person to bounce your ideas off of and if you have to miss class, you can get the notes from them. Since I am so shy, the thought of approaching a stranger paralyzes me.

As the class continued through the eight weeks, I found it easier and easier to get up and talk in front of my peers. My confidence was growing each and every day. Instead of internalizing my thoughts and feelings, I learned how to communicate dissatisfaction appropriately and respectfully. My communication skills have never been better. Even more important, I started putting into practice the principles from the class, especially one called Live in Day Tight Compartments. Meaning a day is just that, a day. Just get through that day. Don't relive yesterdays mistakes, don't worry about what can't be done until tomorrow, just get through that day. I learned how to handle my stress in a way that actually made sense. I have mentioned in previous blogs that I have taken steps to minimize my stress, including adding meditation and crafts to my lifestyle. These changes were brought on as a direct result of what I learned in the Dale Carnegie Class.

Yesterday, I attended my first Statistics class. Since the Dale Carnegie Course, all of my classes have been online. Fear gripped me as I walked into this classroom of strangers, thoughts of failure creeping through my head. I am not a numbers person, in fact, I hate math and this class it seemed like nothing was going in my favor. I had the wrong calculator, most of the other students were much more advanced in math than I was, the air conditioning was broken, the grading isn't the way I like it to be, and the class is very test oriented. My thoughts kept jumping to things like; you made a mistake, you should have gone into advanced algebra topics, what were you thinking, I'm going to look stupid next to these math genius', what if I have come this far just to fail? Then my mind started to switch its focus, just get through tonight, don't sell yourself short, when have you ever failed a class. Then a light bulb went off in my head....study partner. I need a study partner, but who? I still am shy, these are still strangers, what do I do?

In front of me sat a woman about my age. I was admiring her Coach purse and something told me this chick knows math. When the class was dismissed, I walked right up to her and asked her to be my study partner. I told her flat out that math scares me and sometimes I struggle. She happily agreed. She was so excited because she wants to teach secondary math and has taken advanced algebra and is taking this class so she can continue on into Calculus next quarter. By helping me, she gets extra experience explaining concepts to someone who struggles in the subject.Win-Win. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed to share our notes, especially if one of us has to miss class, and meet in student commons a half-hour before each class.

When I got home, I was sitting in my living room, checking out Facebook, still nervous from class and updated my status to reflect that worry. Then a little voice in my head said calm down, your going to be fine. You've tackled many things worse than Statistics. At that instant, I remembered my first Dale Carnegie Class and realized, though it took a year, I had achieved what I set out to accomplish. I have changed so much in the last year and I have Dale Carnegie to thank for that, my instructors; Steve and Marisa....and Duane for giving me a job, believing in me, and making me take the Dale Carnegie Course. There is a reason the only diploma Warren Buffett displays is his Dale Carnegie Certificate, the course changes lives.