starting my upcycle with Wood

Today I would like to start on one of those new directions I have for this blog.
For most of my life I think I have been something of a scavenger. Making good use of the things others did not.
I have aspirations of writing a books about a 2nd hand life, but for now I want to focus on creative uses for things many other people would toss away. I will organize this mostly on material or source. I write this not only to suggest creative way to enhance your life directly, but as possible ideas for objects to sell. Value added to something you got free or nearly free is all profit for you and worth your time to go get it. Details on how to make most of this stuff can be found with a little internet research. This is just a place to get you thinking.
 So today I will start with the a simple material that is typically all around us though sometimes hidden from view.

WOOD

Sources: broken furniture, twigs, firewood, lumber scraps, pallets

Some skills with a simple saw, hammer, sand paper and pocket knife needed to make the best use of this "free" resource.

Things you can make from wood

Home decor:

• Boxes: use molding scraps and thin plywood to make open boxes.  Create small open boxes and add sand as a safe decorative place to put pillar candles.
• Ornaments: take turnings from old crib rails, cut them to a pleasing size and paint in festive colors. add a small eye screw to the top to thread ribbon for hanging or attach as knobs in ceiling fan pull chains. Fresh twigs can be bent into small or large wreaths to hang on a tree or your front door.
• Small shelves: made from moldings or the wood found inside that old sofa sitting on the curb. 
• Lamp: Use the wood from the old sofa and some lumber scraps to create a one of a kind lamp. You can glue them together in such a way that you won't have to drill for the cord.
• Game pieces: use small pieces of tree branches to create rustic chess or checker pieces. Wittle down a twig to create cribbage pegs.
• Other furniture: Willow twigs furniture, scrap lumber and salvaged wood from pallets and old furniture can be remade into chairs, stools tables.
• Cutting boards and trivets: Glue together scraps of wood into a sheet, then cut to shape and sand till smooth. Finish with oil made for cutting boards.
• Picture frames: miter cut scrap molding or even rustic barn wood to create frames.

Jewelry:

some bamboo tiles salvaged from an old table mat, marbled with salvaged spray paint and turned into pendants

• Use small pieces of exotic or highly figured wood to create pendants and beads for your jewelry. The easiest way might be to drill a series of holes in a thin piece of wood and then cut them into cubes with the holes centered in each bead. Sand and paint or lacqer.

Outdoor/Garden:

• Use pallets to create sheltered areas for delicate plants, or create a compost bin. Twigs and branches can be woven into fantastic trellises and even fences for the garden.
• Use shavings from hard woods like hickory, maple, birch or fruit woods for smoking. Each type of wood adds a subtly different taste to smoked meats. (do not use evergreen wood or exotic hardwoods)
• Build bird feeders and bird houses from firewood or scrap lumber

Toys:

• Blocks are easy to cut from scrap lumber or leave them in irregualr shapes and paint them in bright colors. Add pegs and holes to the blocks in random ways to add another dimension to building blocks.
• Carving skills can create anything from a simple wooden snake to something amazingly ornate.
• A broken rocking chair could become a rocking horse.
• Puzzles are also easy either with a jig saw or by stacking cubes into a matrix. laminate a picture on one side, cut apart the cubes and turn another blank side up on each cube the laminate another picture, cut apart. do this until all six sides of each cube is part of a puzzle.

OK, a few things have changed since I was blogging here regularly. I have some new ideas for this outlet, but I have also begun a more artistic focus to my life.

I have spent the last several years crafting some jewelry items and selling them at local bazaars and a shop or two. This is fun and garners me a few bucks to play with now and then.

However a few years ago I became a member of a local quilting guild. I did it frankly because some long time friends of mine wanted me to join them on the once a year weekend quilting retreat. The fun and camaraderie and creativity all rolled into an intense 2 and half day package has been fantastic for my artistic side. I never create a quilt by pattern. Instead I find a vision of some kind comes to me and it is my mission to bring this to life during that weekend. Honestly my sewing machine sits idle most of the rest of the year.

That creative juice has found another outlet in my life. Its a long story but it started with the fact that I had a couple of lynx skulls lying around. I was never sure what to do with them. I had already gifted a third one to my nephew.
But then one day I had a vision of how I should paint one of those skulls. All I had at the time was some foundling acrylic paints and cheap watercolor brushes. The vision involved several days worth of painting in layers and stages to make it happen, then there was pen work with fine line ink on top. But when I reached this stage I just knew it was not done yet. I put it away a couple of weeks and let it sit in back of my mind. During those weeks two thing came to me. One was the person this skull would go to.  She was a dear friend with a horrible cancer. But she so loved animals and skulls and the macabre. The other thing was the finishing touches this skull needed; including rhinestones.

This is not the first skull but one similar in style.

My friend was so very touched by the gift as was her husband. And even after my friend's passing the skull has a prominent place in his home.

After that I found that the process of painting skulls brought me a great feeling of joy and fulfillment.
And so I have pursued that interest. I have panted almost 2 dozen skulls now and I have found that the process of letting the skull speak to me as I paint gives me  unique and amazing outcomes that are very satisfying. As far as finding new homes for these art works I am only just getting started with learning to market them. I opened a store on ETSY; Alaskanbonesandbeads.
 I also have them at a local gift shop in North Pole and I took them around to several bazaars this season.
The bazaars were more about exposure than sales but its always cool when people can't help but stop and ooh and awe at something I made. Especially the men who are the tough customers at a craft bazaar.

Stay tuned folks now that I am finally on my path I have a bunch of ideas for this blog.

Halloween the most creative time of the year

Its almost here again. The one holiday that rewards people directly for their creativity, or at least their willingness to step outside their normal everyday image they share with the world.
Halloween!
But there is a battle being waged against the creative side of the holiday. In my small town alone there are 10 or more places you can purchase a ready made, flimsy, trademarked costume. Ask any kid what they want to be and chances they will have one of these canned outfits in mind.
 Even the adult store has its fair share of costumes, I think they have theirs year round though.
I have never bought or worn any such thing, from any costume store.
This year i will be a dark fairy, similar to last years costume, why waste a good thing? I have made some modifications and additions to it. I have a couple extra pieces of netted fabric that came form the post holiday clearance sales and I used some wire, duct tape and garland to make a lovely black and purple crown for myself.
The tulle skirt was put together with several salvaged fabric pieces and the basics like shoes and slip, or underskirt, tights are already parts of my normal wardrobe. I buy some purple hair gel and wings this year, but they will last till next year.
Some of the best costumes come out of people's closets or their parent's closets. The hippy togs, the prom gear, or business suits can all be quite wonderful if they are not your normal attire. Sheets can be transformed into any number of things as well, depending if you ever need to use them on the bed again.
Togas are a nondestructive, ghosts need some scissor work, quasimodo; holes, belt, pillow and a brown dye job.

So Jump in and have a great time letting the creative juices flow.

I think I found it, or at least I know where to look

As I looked through the neatly organized plastic bin in my lap, I was reminded how much my mother-in-law loved to garden. There were dozens of baggies. Each containing several seed packets and each seed packet had a start date on it. They were grouped by the bed or pot or hanging basket they were going to grow in and bloom and look fabulous all summer. I did not need to know her to see her passion for growing things.
I also realized that may hold true for many of us. Our passion is there hiding in plain sight. Look past the clutter of the mundane and have-to-dos and you might spot the best organized, most shining arrow pointing the way.
The way my father kept his tools in designated spots (or at least he tried, he was dealing with several children untrained in the art of putting every screwdriver back in its place). My mother's sparkling kitchen with a place for everything and everything in its place. My father loved wood working and my mother loved both gardening and cooking. She filled notebooks with data about seeds she had tried, she kept several Roladex files filled with recipes she had made,
By similar token my mother-in-law also loved gardening and cooking. Her neat baggies were a tiny part of the system she had of grow lights for seed starts and carefully organized recipe cards and lists for every celebration meal she was planning. My Father-in-law keeps the neatest computer room I have every seen. And he spends many hours tinkering with family photos, making calendars and sending emails.
When I look through my life I see nothing quite as organized and neat their kitchens and I frankly apologize to my farming and gardening fore bearers, but I simply do not love the feeling of dirt under my nails or the bother of tending delicate young plants. I can and have grown many plants in my life, but not with the love they had.
If given the choice between a perfect kitchen, a well planned garden, a clean garage, or a craft room. I would choose the craft room. Even though my beads and fabric seem ill sorted right now; its as much a factor of space. But I know where everything is and I can pick up any of those raw materials and begin to mold and shape and string and bend and create my vision. Nope I can't narrow down my passion to the same degree as many. It is less defined than the labels of gardening, knitting, woodworking. Just creating and designing the next project are probably my passion.

Here comes a new season

It seems as though each season stimulates a different flurry of creativity. In the waxing days of winter the holidays loom large in my crafting mind. With the coming of spring my creativity turns to thoughts of gardens and making trellises and haunting the river banks in search of beautiful stones and enjoying the coming flowers and plants. Summer my creativity turns to thoughts of cooking and using the garden goodies that come my way.
So as we head to break-up I am thinking about how to utilize the things that come free as planters. So far one of my favorites has been the plastic utility sinks that lose a leg, While they do not stand, they do hold a good amount of soil and the drain is well placed to keep things from getting waterlogged.
Recycling in my world is more than taking the bits and pieces to the recyclers or sorting the plastic and cardboard. It is about using the things that other have no use for and re purposing them to my benefit.
I can hardly wait for the snow to get out of my way and to get my hands in the dirt.

creativity vs. ingenuity

We see many ways people have "creatively" solved a problem, but that is really an act of ingenuity. The clever or inventive solution. In fact creativity starts really when the needed acts of ingenuity are done. The artistic endeavors that are manifestations of truly creative efforts, have nothing to do with the practicalities of problem solving. They react to the emotional aftermath of the immediate. We see the creative in so many histories and cultures. Even ancient peoples, whose identity we can barely discern, exhibited creativity, cave painting for example. Too often it gets interpreted as having some kind of deep religious meaning, but if they had only been dealing with the day to day acts of eating, mating , and staying safe, they would not have used the creativity to find the pigments and the tools to put those pictures on the wall. Was it solving a problem? No, it was creative.
While people have often told me I am clever, I sometimes hesitate to say I am very creative.

leading from the middle of the pack

It was brought home to me once again that it is not those figures of leadership that bring innovation or creativity or even drive to any given enterprise. It is those in the trenches doing the day to day work who see how things can and should be changed to the improvement of all.
I have often thought that those who engineer or design an item should be willing to spend intimate time with it for several weeks. Those who lead troops should be on the battle field. And doctors should be the ones responsible for dealing with any aftermath. But it is the consumer and the soldier and the nurses who really know the shortcomings and improvements that need to happen, but the willingness of those with the power to direct widespread change seem too often deaf to the value of what their subordinates are telling them.
But I will try doing my part. I will continue putting forth ideas for improvement and change where it affect me.