Mother Bear's crafty bits

[MotherBear]

Discs I got from the local glass factory in Damascus and painted up. They don't show up too well on here at this size.



Very fiddly trying to string this lot together - a bit of decoupage.
More glass painting.
These are my 'pet' stones which we use as paperweights.
A pottery tea pot, painted and decorated with decoupage.
Some cream cheese containers painted up to use as drinking glasses.

[MotherBear]

Just a few of the cards I've made.

Done with copper foil
A lot of scalpel work here.

Some prickpin work which looks quite lacey. Doesn't show up too well here.

[MotherBear]

Sorry Taffy, I've widened the screen a bit. Perhaps you can give us prolific posters some guidance as to just how many photos we can post on here before we get banned for abusing the system.

[Glenda]

Wow! They are amazing!

My daughter is really into glass painting and making her own cards - even though she is only just 12, her designs are cute and original. She's had a look and she says "cool!"

You could have your own stall at a craft fair!

::):

[MotherBear]

Thanks Glenda. Just goes to show, I don't spend ALL my time hanging around on the forum :icon_wink: . I believe they have some place in Auckland where you can have a stall and sell things like crafts etc. It might even have been that you could get these people to sell them for you. I can't quite remember all the details but it did look interesting. It did cross my mind as something to do when we retire down there (NZIS permitting).

It's great that your daughter is interested in craft at her age. If only she can develop it, she could make money out of it and what a good way for a young girl to pass her time. Something constructive and artistic. Good for the soul! :icon_biggrin:

Don't worry about the screen size widening, not much you can do about that. Sometimes just normal posts get thrown out wide for some reason.. just one of those things!

[selchie]

Nice work! I wonder if people in NZ have craft fairs, especially at the holidays? We have some friends (Ann & Jon) who have made their living as crafters since the 70s. They come up with new things regularly, so it doesn't get stale for them or their customers. Have you tried your hand at silk painting? Ann has been painting scarves, blouses etc. for the last few years, and they nearly fly off the rack. And silk is much easier to transport than the stepping stones & plaques they also make!

[MotherBear]

Glenda, I don?t know if your daughter would be interested in this type of glass painting. Apart from the paints, it?s free! Perhaps she could sell them to her school mates or even their mums, as they are quite useful for all sorts of things. Would give her some extra pocket money. I used empty and de-labled jam/coffee etc. jars, painted them up and sold quite a lot of them at our charity bazaar in Damascus. They can be used unlidded for storing pens/ pencils/scissors, cooking utensils, makeup brushes etc. depending on the size of the jars or with lids as storage jars in the kitchen, bathroom or on a desk in the playroom for all those annoying little bits you want to keep tidy. Designs can be got from books, serviettes, pictures etc.

Here?s a pic of what I?m talking about.



This is one of a wine bottle painted up with a mosque design. We sold hundreds of these filled with local olive oil (which IMO completely ruined the nice colours as the oil was a sludgey green colour). A lot of people really enjoyed emptying all those wine bottles but, as far as I'm concerned, I never want to see another one for a long time as I was the one that did most of the painting on them and, being round in shape, it wasnt easy.

Taffy, the new link system is much easier, thanks. Haven't tried multiple links with it yet though. [smiley=icon_eek.gif] [smiley=icon_exclaim.gif]

[MotherBear]

Yes, Selchie, they do have Craft Fairs in NZ. I've seen them advertised and cursed because I couldn't get there.

I have dabbled in silk painting. Made a couple of smaller paintings for the wall, which were done more for the colour in them than for their artistic content. They were Arabic scenes but were very simplistic and not really how I wanted them to turn out. I've also done a large Arabic scene, which I've mounted behind a wooden arched frame so that, when mounted on the wall, one appears to be looking through a window onto the scene. Again very simplistic and one I want to try to improve on when I can muster up the enthusiasm to have another go.

[selchie]

More nice glasswork, Sylvia. Too bad about the olive oil discoloration.

I've taken nicely shaped jam jars, painted a simple 2-strand knotwork of lavender flowers, and then filled the jar with homemade lavender bath salts. I'd show one, but they've all been gifted.