Crafting with Tubes

 

The highlight of the July meeting was the enrichment session led by Shawn. She brought colorful plastic tubes of all sizes and displayed some of her personal decorations. 

Calendar

The August 9th Phoebe meeting will be at Marcella's. 

The drop-in social and lunch is from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.  Please bring your own lunch or maybe something to share.

 Betts' August challenge will be to make a story board. Gather together some items that will tell a story or are related in some way. There are examples that Barbara brought to this month's meeting and are posted in this month's blog in show and tell.

The August enrichment session will be presented by Sally, who will demonstrate painting techniques and how to create a folded book.

Enrichment

Shawn brought tubes made from several types of materials, but the favorites were the multicolored plastic straws of various dimensions, shown below.

This is an example of a necklace Shawn created. Please remember to bring your creations in August for show and tell.

The July Challenge

The July challenge was to make a Mermaid, and Betts handed out a drawing of her flat doll "Perlette the Mermaid" we might want to use. Some Phoebes brought mermaids they had previously made. 

The mermaid on the left was made by Sue and the one on the right was made by Geri. They were modeled using polymer clay and adorned with tiny starfish, pearls, and shells. 

Barbara displayed her amazing seashell shaped cloth book of many pages. Each one is teeming with shells, star fish, jewels, and beautiful baubles any mermaid would love. 

Here is the beautiful cloth sculpted mermaid she also made.

This is Daisy's very cute paper doll.

The biggest surprise was the fabric mermaid Geri's grandson made. He made it when he was 8 years old, using painted silk. He has her talent!

This photo is of a cloth mermaid Donna made shortly after she joined Phoebes about 20 years ago. It was the beginning of her doll-making, and her husband said, "when are you going to make one with a pretty face." Luckily the faces got better over time. 

Show and Tell

These three photos are examples Barbara brought to give us some ideas for Betts' challenge to make a story board. 

It was an ideal way to audition the materials that make up the collage of colors, shapes and ephemera. 

They became works of art.

Daisy exhibited the wonderful cloth birds she made using Japanese fabrics.

She also made this cute fur-baby using opossum fur she found on a trip to Australia. At that time there was a bounty on them because they were overpopulated, and their fur was readily available.

Geri is on a roll making bookmarks and tags, like this lovely Japanese design. It is contagious, because Rosie is now really into making bookmarks to give to friends when she gives them books that she has salvaged from the library where she volunteers. 

Geri has such a talent to collage bits and pieces of ephemera, like the one above and the two below.

The Phoebes welcomed a visitor, Lois Peacock. Lois is Caroline's friend, and Caroline made this peacock doll to give to Lois, who was surprised and extremely happy to receive it!

An Artsy Day in June!

 

 The June "Enrichment" led by Kathy was the highlight of the meeting!  We met on the patio and became totally engrossed in decorating a variety of boxes, and the time just flew by! 

Kathy brought boxes and a huge number of exciting materials to decorate them. Many Phoebes brought their own personal choices, and many were cigar boxes which are perfect for this project. We discovered the techniques needed to assemble and embellish them, and we are eager to see the results at next month's meeting. Thank you, Kathy, for a very enjoyable afternoon of creating art!

Calendar

July 12 Phoebe meeting will be at Marcella's. 

The drop-in social and lunch is from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.  Please bring your own lunch or maybe something to share. The business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. The July 12 enrichment will be presented by Shawn. Watch for more details. Betts new challenge is all about Mermaids and some info and a pattern were distributed during this month's meeting. If you are interested and were not at the meeting, perhaps you could contact Betts or Jennifer.

Show and Tell

This is the top view of Sue's box. She is so skilled at generating computer art. She created this fabulous picture by putting a head shot of her daughter on a vintage graphic of a woman sewing. Then she tinted it this beautiful blue. Fabulous! The embellishments are not yet attached and there will surely be much more before the box is completed.

Daisy chose various colorful papers and is adding metallic papers and decorations on her great Renaissance Dragon box top. 

Sally brought a slender box and glued wonderful, printed papers inside and out. I'm sure she has even more interesting shapes and designs to add.

Our dear Phoebe Rosie in Southern California sent this photo of the top of a box she painted with acrylics some years ago. It is now a wall-hanger. Very creative and a lot of work!

This is the top of a small metal tin Donna decorated some time ago. It has black and white paper on the top and bottom, decorative braid around the sides, and several mosaic tiles and some polymer clay tiles she made on top. Her business cards fit into it perfectly.

Around that same time, she made this small hanging fairy doll with a decorated tin for a body, a head and long beads for arms and legs of polymer clay, and she used the top of her grandmother's tiny sewing machine oil can for a hat.

The tin opens to reveal a page about Faries and a picture of one watching the moon.

Anne, the most talented sculptress we know, created this darling doll and perfectly displays her on this broken banana stand. What a great idea!

Geri shared these darling dolls she made from scrap bits and pieces. Terrific!

Sue displayed this lovely doll she made and dressed using very beautiful fabric scraps. 

Geri shared more of her beautiful cards. Some, like this one, are 3D and require a lot of work.

Actually, most of her lovely cards require a lot of work, and a lot of die cutting. 

It is an act of love, and all are lovely.

Caroline was making jokes about her fabric flower, but consider it was made as a challenge to create something from just one item. She chose a single garden glove, and we think she did a pretty good job?

Marcella showed us the fabric collage book cover she made. What great choices of color and designs!

Suzanne is still making hundreds (and I do mean hundreds) of bead bracelets for the dolls Stitchin' for Kids dress and give to children in long term hospitals. These ladies have been doing this for years and it is unimaginable how many hours of their lives they have donated. Another labor of love!

A final thanks (to Geri I think) for the lovely bookmarks that were handed out at the June meeting!

Playing with Paint and Pens. What fun!

 The Phoebe May get-together was more of a play day and enrichment experience, thanks to Colleen. She taught us so many different ways of printing and painting on paper to create colorful and interesting designs and shapes. And she furnished all of the items we needed. It was a really fun and creative day for all. Thank you, Colleen!             

                    Calendar

June 14 Phoebe meeting will be at Marcella's. 

The drop-in social and lunch is from 11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.  Please bring your own lunch or maybe something to share. The business meeting will start at 1:30 P.M. The June enrichment will be led by Kathy, who will show us how to decorate boxes. Bring a box of your choice, including cigar boxes, wooden or paper boxes. Cigar boxes are very inexpensive at local smoke shops. There will be more details before the meeting. And don't forget to bring objects you have been working on for show and tell.

Show and Tell

Here are just a few of the many unique designs that were created at our May meeting. The most fun, by far, was the small circles made with bubbles of paint, water, and glycerin or Dove dishwashing soap.

In the last several months there have been numerous challenges, like Betts' "If the Shoe Fits," "Slow Stitching",

"Favorite Object from the Past," and Daisy's "Let Your Imagination Fly." The following photos include examples that Flying Phoebes brought to our recent meeting. Some of the items in show and tell this month actually fit in more than one category.

Like Geri's showstopper die-cut paper slippers and shoes. 

Including lace-ups! How chic is that! An original idea!

Some were from prized collections, like the ones from Barbara, Geri, and Betts. 

Or innovative ideas like the paper Hawaiian beach thongs by Sue.

Or a homage to Marie Antoinette by Donna.

 

Another recent Betts challenge was her "Home is Where 

Your Heart is," and she handed out die-cut cardboard house shapes for us to embellish. Elaine made a fold-out book by adding another page.

It was perfect to display some of her whimsical art. 

She also displayed the garden figure she made in April in homage to Spring. Completely made with flowerpots. How cute is that?

Suzanne R has always cherished her grandparent's 100-year-old wedding certificate that had been printed on a beautiful floral background, so she had it enlarged, reprinted and framed, so she could hang it on a wall and remember them always. The entire picture is approximately 24"x16".

 Marcella's golden box frame with a butterfly is perfect for Daisy's "flying" challenge. And her much-loved Raggedy Ann was made by her dear friend and travel companion who arranged many tour groups and memorable trips around the globe.

Marcella brought this flag she made some time ago for the Flying Phoebes. It is a homage to our co-founder, the late elinor peace bailey, who named our group and designed our

 Flying Phoebe logo.

Anne made this quilted fabric house in 1976. It includes a lot of slow stitching. And it is one of her favorite things and is proudly displayed in her home. 

Caroline shared a winged fairy doll made by a very popular doll-maker, Nancy Laverick, who was known for making cloth dolls entirely from small fabric scraps.

Caroline also brought this winged fairy cloth doll she made for Jennifer, using a very expensive fabric with woven golden thread designs.

And, she also displayed this wonderful slow stitched and embroidered quilted cloth in Fall colors.

Colleen painted these cute fish on paper and added decorative designs and shapes with various colored ink pens like we used in her May presentation.

She also displayed her slow stitch on fabric challenge, which features a bright and very colorful fish. Fantastic!

Donna brought some of her recent greeting cards that are watercolor on paper with pen and ink designs and the use of 3D glitter paints.

And she brought a sample of the decorated cigar boxes she made a few years ago, when she had all of her granddaughters over for a make-and-take art party. It was a really a lot of fun and they each still have their boxes, now filled with small keepsakes and jewelry.

Looking forward to next month when the Phoebes will make some decorated boxes also.