CraftStylish.com is hosting a crafting contest with a pretty great prize, a YUDU personal screen printing machine. I can't wait to try one of these out.Here's the scoop on the contest, quoted from this article on CraftStylish.com:
Spring has sprung (kind of) and it is time to embrace your crafty self and all things natural! Celebrate our planet and enter the CraftStylish Crafty by Nature Challenge. This challenge invites you to make anything for your home (inside or out) yourself, or someone else that is handmade wonderful, and superbly natural, and by that we mean made with natural or recycled materials. For this challenge every project must creatively incorporate one of the four elements of nature (earth, air, fire, water). Some elemental ideas might include but are not limited to:
Earth: Clay, rocks, shells, earth-tones, mud, sand, moss, dirt, trees, bark, vegetables, flowers, foliage, fungus, pinecones or any 'sprung-from the ground' colors, tones or elements.
Air: Light, floaty, dried-out, materials, anything made using forced air, or spun. Ethereal colors, feathers, or designs that incorporate suspension, flight, pockets of air, clouds or birds,
Fire: Heat, ashes, flames, that might be used within a process as with a kiln or incorporated into the design as leaping hot-rod flames. Hot colors like red, orange, fushia or violet. Design elements that are jagged, burnt out, or crushed with heat.
Water: Any process that requires the use of water like dyeing, steaming, shrinking, felting. The element of water may be realized within the design through waves, ripples, or drips of pearls. Watery colors like blue (also for air) turquoise, or teal green. Fabrics or materials that shimmer, run, flow or look wet.
Fire-up your imagination, take to the winds, place your feet on the ground and dive in! Let your crafty nature make our world a better place.
The Crafty by Nature Challenge:
Winners of the Crafty by Nature Challenge will be selected by CraftStylish editors from all four categories (earth, wind, fire, water) There will be one grand prize winner and three runners-up.
The Grand Prize Winner of this challenge will receive a Yudu, portable screen printer from Provo Craft (this was the machine that had us all in a tizzy at CHA last January
Three Runners-up will receive a Red Heart Eco-prize package that includes:
See the official rules for more information.
The Hat City Scissor Squad got together this past Saturday for Shrine-O-Rama Craft Night. Like most special Craft Nights, it was a lovely little intimate gathering of about 6 squad members. We glued, we glittered, and of course, we gabbed it up.
Here we are hard at work! I'll give you a peek at everyone's individual shrines:
First, we have Elizabeth's awesome Yarn Forest Shrine. Check out the doll eyed explorer getting mamed by a giant scorpion. Rock on.
Alessandra's lovely shrine to Remedios Varo.
Jessica's shrine box was primed, painted, and adorned with goregous sequins on Saturday. All that's left is to fill it with some shriny goodness.
Sarah created a shrine to world travel. This little shrine was made out of a box.
Now she can keep stashing mojo friendly travel tokens inside!
Michelle uses a tiny little wooden box to make a Happy Family Shrine. Hearts on the outside...
and a cute little piggy family on the inside! Squeeeeee!
I made my shrine into a Birdhouse. I am planning on donating it to a charity auction that supports Project Return, a cause very near to the heart of my friend Christine.
For those who don't know what the Hat City Scissor Squad or HCSS is, it is a Danbury based craft group founded by my B.F.F.s Mary, Sarah and myself. We have have been meeting every Tuesday at a local bar for the last 4+ years. We currently have over 50 members.
1. It forces me to craft. I know that I will always be crafting at least one night a week.
2. It gives me an excuse to drink booze one night a week.
3. It gives me an excuse to dress up and I LOVE dressing up. The rest of the week, I don't even have a reason to bother.
4. It presents opportunities to me that would not be there with out it.
5. It allows me to make fun of my husband and children to a small audience.
6. It lets me obtain FREE yarn, fabric and craft supplies through our events.
7. I am learning new things about crafting and techniques all the time.
8. GOSSIP! GOSSIP! GOSSIP!
9. It gets me out of the house and away from my children (I love my kids, but God I gotta get away from them sometimes).
10. I have made the BEST group of friends anyone could possibly hope for.
If you live in the Danbury, CT area and are interested in joining visit our yahoo groups page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hat_city_scissor_squad/
- Michelle
