art
Family-themed art is a look into one's living room; it depicts celebration, crises, and the quiet moments of familial interactions.
Wearable Art
Since I have been a child, one of my favourite things to do was create gowns... yes the most luxurious, classic dresses I could imagine. Perhaps Disney influenced my creative spirit, but I loved to make something I felt luxurious in, even if it began with turning a bath towel into so much more! If you were to look back at my school notes, you will see dress upon dress on the pages. I did pay attention, but found I was more attentive in ways when my hands were occupied... and what occupied them was creating beautiful dresses first drawn from the back. At 10 I was creating my own magazine filled with these images, and other how-to etc sections. And yes, I was that child and teen that cut my clothes to create something a little more interesting. As you might imagine, when I learned to sew I was ecstatic! I could finally bring to life what I was creating in my mind and on paper. I must admit that my skills to translate my mental images didn't translate precisely to patterns, so I sought out help with this from a dress designer when needed. She and I worked closely and she taught me some tips and tricks, including helping me to translate my grad dress design.
By Katie . ERYT RCYT Craniosacral5 years ago in Families
Crafting a Passion for Sewing
I received my first pair of Fiskars scissors when I was 5 years old. They had a purple handle and a rounded safety tip. It took a little bit of begging to get my parents to buy me a “real” pair of scissors but all of my sisters had their own pair of sewing scissors and I finally got my own pair for Christmas in 1996.
By Jennifer Sturm5 years ago in Families
The Craft Of Crafting
Not until you become an adult do you realize how much your childhood shaped your life. I have always been drawn to art, in my younger years it was something magical about coloring, glue, glitter and scissors! As a mother I see the same light in my daughter’s eyes when a project calls for scissors. Think about the fun as a child; to cut out different construction piece shapes, to form a new unique piece or, strips to add legs/ arms to an animal but in my case a heart person for Valentine’s Day. In middle school I remember getting in trouble for constantly sketching/ doodling in class. I remember the times I did not want to draw much attention by going to the pencil sharpener. Unfortunately, I did not have a sharpener but a pair of scissors to quickly touch up my pencil. As an adult scissors are a constant part of my life, whether an assignment/ project for my child, opening boxes/packages, sharpening chalk or perfecting bows or cellophane with gift baskets, handcrafted mugs and candy bouquets.
By Charlisa Lewis5 years ago in Families
Fabric of Life
The Fabric of Life Nearly sixty years have passed, but I clearly remember the day when a coworker came into the office with a fabric work-of-art. The colorful piece, her first effort at quilting, received “oohs and ahs”. When I joined the group admiring her craftiness, my overly confident young adult reaction was, “I can certainly accomplish something like that!”.
By Linda Massa5 years ago in Families
Cousin Craft Day!
My sister and I grew up in a small town, with a very big family. Family get-togethers - and we had a lot of them – were filled with dozens of kids running around, aunts and uncles everywhere, tons of food, and loads of fun. Everyone always had the best time. It was fun growing up in such a large family – you always had someone to play with and there was always a birthday or milestone to celebrate. Because it was a small town, our cousins all attended the same schools, and were often in the same classes. Our grandmother owned the local newspaper, so all of the kids spent time working and playing in the newspaper office after school and during the summer.
By Suzanne Delaney Wilson5 years ago in Families
Bags of fun
Not every joy is self-made Sometimes a bunch of like-minded, get together to create happiness. Crafting and stitching are not just hobbies in our family. But an activity to create joy together. From a very young age, I have seen my mother sewing forks and inners for me. Her artistic sense never took off its flight as she remained a homemaker. Her aesthetic sense and design changed from one direction to another. It showed even in her creative cooking.
By Devi Vaidehi5 years ago in Families
Seams
Nine days before the pandemic began, I married my best friend. We cherish our time together and spend hours having coffee and coming up with creative ideas for book titles, museum themes, and writing lyrics for his band. When I met his family, I finally understood why he is such a creative and energetic person all the time -- all his family is!
By Dolly J. Maass5 years ago in Families
STRONG STURDY HANDS
Recently my grand daughter Eliana asked me to teach her to sew. You see, I take sewing very seriously and this eight-year-old knew she could not find a better teacher than her grandmother. I have a state of the art sewing room filled with all the latest gadgets. In fact, my sewing room is like a museum. Proudly displayed is my mother’s Singer sewing machine (which is older than me). I also have my Godmothers old Singer sewing machine which was probably her mothers’ machine because it has the large metal foot base. This was one of the first machines used in sewing however you did have to pump the foot base back and forth to get the machine to sew a stitch. On my walls I have framed old original sewing patterns that date back to the 1930’s. I also have proudly displayed on the wall an Artist Proof picture by Alonzo Adams. This picture has a woman quilting who has a spot-on resemblance to my Aunt Tina. Ironically, the Artist named the picture, “Strong Steady hands” because back in those days all quilts were made by hand.
By Linda Chandler-Jacobs5 years ago in Families
I only received one gift at graduation: a pair of scissors.
My brothers and I were raised in Appalachia, a region that was once the western border of the United States, satirized as “red neck,” and anthropologically documented in the FoxFire chronicles. In 1964, it became the site for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty. We grew up in Montgomery County, home to one of the state's land grant universities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, known more commonly and simply as Virginia Tech. The local community was a strange blend of the highly-educated and backwoods moonshiners.
By Bobby Zokaites5 years ago in Families
