Melinda Chan

Many years ago, my grandaunt made crochet blanket for us that we still use to this day. I've wanted to replicate it, but was never able to find out what stitch she used.

​Fortunately, a relative found a stitch called the Suzette stitch that resembled the stitch on the blanket. I gave it a try and made a scarf using bulky weight yarn and think that I finally found what I was looking for. 

It's been a while since I entered a drawing contest, but I did so earlier this year and won fourth place. I had forgotten how much work it was to draw and get files ready for submission. Hope to participate in more contests to come. Even if I don't win, it's important to get my work out there. 

In an attempt to continually learn and improve my skills/knowledge, I recently signed up for an annual subscription to the Interaction Design Foundation to take courses about UX/UI design. 

I just started some intro classes and the content has been clearly organized. Hoping to complete at least 5 classes by the end of next year!

The library had a free craft kit for November consisting of a blank banner and some felt pieces. It's been ages since I worked with felt so it was fun to give a try again. 

Decided to keep it simple and stick with autumn leaves and simple organic shapes. I like the look of depth from overlapping felt pieces on top of each other. Wish I had selected a brighter color for the "A" in "Thank". Another lesson learned is that I should have used a disappearing ink pen to mark up the felt. Because I used a regular marker, you can see outlines of the marks.

Overall, it was a simple, fun activity. Makes me want to create a banner for the other seasons as well. 

Made this beaded bracelet at a workshop sponsored by the local library in honor of Native American heritage month. It was a fun craft, though I had a bit of trouble handling the tiny beads. 

Each time I try a new craft, I get excited to learn more, but I have to control myself and focus my attention on learning fewer crafts on a deeper level. 

It was a great introduction, though and definitely piqued my interest. 

I haven't used polymer clay since I was a kid, but I had an unopened package at home and decided to give it a try. 

Ended up creating some mini pumpkins and a cardinal figurine. One advantage of using polymer clay is that I can work with it in small quantities at my regular table and not have to worry about needing fancy wheels or tools or getting the space dirty. After working with it, I can leave it out overnight to pick up the next day. I just pop the pieces into the toaster oven to dry them; no kiln needed.

However, one drawback is that the material feels different. It has a plasticky feel and it's difficult to attach parts to it, unlike traditional clay. Perhaps this is due to the fact that I'm still new to this material and don't have enough experience to know how to work with it. 

Overall, I think I would use this type of clay to make small decorations at home, but to make larger decorative items, I'd stick to regular clay. 

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.