Are you a messy creative? If not, maybe you should try it...

Are you the messy, beads-and-ribbon-and-wire everywhere type? Is your studio filled with neatly, alphabetically organized tools and supplies? If you say yes to the second question, there might be some research suggesting you try it the other way for a while.

I struggle between my urge to be neat and my desire to work and work and work, without interrupting my work energy to clean up. My time to be creative is often limited to a few minutes at a shot; or hours at a shot if I decide to stay up way past everyone else in  my work and home. As I age, that late-night creative whirl requires a longer and longer recovery time, so I do it less. Consequently, my desk looks like someone once tried to organize it (lots of bins! with labels!) but kept getting distracted, maybe by a ferret riding a unicycle across the desk and scattering half-finished projects.

Darn that ferret.

Someday, or caffeine-driven night, I'll get that desk cleaned off. For now, I'm going to re-read this article. And maybe make the ferret a tutu and a hat.

Here, you go read the article too. 

Gnomes!!!

Updated to include tutorial instructions and a kit purchase option!

This past weekend I decided to make something with my girls. It had been a while since we'd done a big, cover-the-kitchen-table crafty morning and I needed it. I think they needed it, too.

My girls and I make things all the time, but as they've gotten older, they are much more independent in their making. We may all be in the studio, or the kitchen, creating, but we are not often creating the same thing. It was fun to work through the steps together and have them each, independently, making their own versions of the gnomes. My seven-year-old decided the gnomes MUST have feet and arms. The wine cork bodies weren't enough. She got out 16 gauge wire and wire cutters, a bench block and hammer, and beads to make tiny feet wearing bead 'boots.'  My eleven-year-old grabbed colored yarn and made hers with stripey hair, to match a favorite Manga character. Then she added feet wearing roving-wrapped boots to hers. We shared scissors and a glue gun, passed the seed bead jar around and tried not to stick ourselves with the felting needles. 

My crafty momma-heart was in heaven. 

I could have made gnomes all day, snug around the table with my daughters. 

What we used:

Felt balls (these are all pretty, but any colors will do)

Wool roving (you can find it here)

Felting needles and a pad for working

Seed beads for the eyes, sewn on with these needles and this thread

Yarn and fabric and ribbon scraps for the scarves, we have ribbon mix bags here that would be perfect

Wine corks (we had those lying around, but if you don't, try asking a friend or checking with a local wine store, they will have them!)

Scissors, glue gun

I will publish a tutorial for these on Friday (12/20/13) and you can receive a free copy in our Newsletter (subscribe here.)

I'll also be teaching how to make this gnome at our shop, December 20-24th. We are having a Crammin' For Christmas make-a-thon and this is going to be one of the fun make-n-takes. Join me if you can!

UPDATE

click the picture for the full tutorial

Shop for kits, including paper hats and tiny paper instruments right here.