Melinda Chan

In an effort to decrease screen time and learn something new, my sister and I paid for a six month craft box subscription. The first month's project was making macrame planters.

We associated macrame planters with the 70's, but apparently the craft is making a comeback and it's been a popular home decor item. 

The kit came with enough materials to make 2 planters and 2 hangers. It was my first time using paper clay and I didn't like it much because I have past experience with real clay. However, it was still good to give it a try. For the pots, I used an 80's inspired color scheme. 

My sister made the planter on the left and I made the one on the right. It was an interesting experience learning macrame. I'd say that it requires a lot of focus and organization to keep track the cords that you are working with. It definitely required close attention to the instructions. We were constantly replaying the online videos to make sure we were doing things correctly. Because I have experience with crochet, I was used to the idea of keeping the tension consistent, which helped. I liked that the cords were thick and sturdy enough for me to untie them if needed to fix a mistake. However, I need to pay closer attention to keeping the cords straight so they don't accidentally get twisted.

Overall, it was an interesting exercise. I enjoyed learning a new craft and might look into other macrame items that I can make such as wall hangings. Looking forward to seeing what the next craft box will bring. 

It took me about 15 months to finish this granny square blanket. It was my pandemic past-time/stress-relief project. There are 272 squares in all. 

Actually, I was a little surprised that I got it done in the time that I did. It's all about repetition. One of my friends remarked that she wouldn't have the patience to make a blanket. For me, it's relatively easy because I have a high tolerance for repetitive tasks. I find them meditative. My friend, however, is a fast learner and can quickly adapt.

Now that I'm done with this project, I'm searching for the next thing to keep my hands busy. 

Over the long holiday weekend, I decided to devote some time to arts and crafts. It wasn't in my original plans, but I came across some paper mache pumpkins at the store and decided to get them to decorate. 

I didn't have a plan in mind for the design, but I knew I wanted to start with an orange base to start. To my surprise the color turned out very realistically. It's probably one of those things where things work out when you're not trying hard. 

In any case, the color worked out very well. I ended up painting a simple flower design with some iridescent liquid acrylic and then went over the design with a darker shimmery pen. 

Overall, it's a very subtle design. It's been some time since I sat down to do some arts and crafts so it was a nice change of pace. Now I have a pumpkin to display during the Autumn season and something that I can reuse for years to come. 

I recently received some new art tools as part of a monthly art tools subscription. It's a surprise what I'll get each month. Using some of the pens from the August subscription box, I created the drawing above. I wasn't too excited by the tools this month. They didn't seem too different from things I've used in the past. Hopefully I'll like next month's delivery more.

I couldn't help myself. I recently started a class where I needed a notebook. I had a notebook, but the cover was plain black. Though I was super busy, I had to use some paint pens to decorate the cover.

The design was whatever came to mind. I definitely didn't spend much time thinking through it. I just knew that I would not have been able to concentrate with just a plain cover.

This was a quick project. We recently purchased a mini freezer and accidentally dented the door a bit. Not wanting to see the dent, I found some leftover magnetic sheets and drew some designs onto it to created magnets. It was a simple project and it served a purpose of not only covering the dent, but also adding some personality to a boring appliance.

Since starting my granny square project last year, I've completed 120 squares to date. I'm planning to make a blanket that will require 272 squares in total, so I've got 152 more squares to go.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, crocheting these squares is meditative, so I'm not in a rush to get the remaining squares completed. I admit, there is small part of me that is itching to get things done, but overall my focus has been to use this past time to relax and center myself.

I wasn't planning to do a painting/drawing each day, but so far to my surprise, I've been able to commit to doing that since I starting doing more regular doodles earlier this fall.

Most of the time, I do abstract paintings. Usually I don't have a plan and just go with the flow as to whatever comes to me based on previous marks. Once in a while, I do cartoons like the one above. I try to do different styles so I don't get comfortable with one thing.

It's been years since I've used color pencils or watercolor. I've heard of watercolor pencils before, but had never had the opportunity to try them.

I saw a deal on a watercolor pencil set recently, so I decided to get it and give it a try. It felt odd drawing with color pencils just because I haven't used them in such a long time, but it was nice to feel the pencil along the paper instead of the usual doodles I create digitally. It was pretty fun to apply water to the pencil marks and see the effects that were possible.

It definitely allows you much more control than what you could do with traditional watercolor. I'll need to do more experimentation with heavier pencil marks to see if I can make the watercolor flow more.

I took a screen printing workshop last summer, but I wanted to give it a try at home so I purchased an all-in-one kit to play with.

My first attempt was a bit of a fail because I didn't coat my screen properly which resulted in a bad screen which I ended up having to reclaim so that I could start over.

I tried again and ended up with a better results. I still have much to learn and practice, but it was a good exercise. At least I can say that I tried it out. My next goal is to try do a print that involves a two color design. Once I gain the skills and confidence, I'll move on to other substrates like T-shirts, notebooks, cards and canvas tote bags.