Revealing the Theme - National Hat Month

Hello Readers! Who would have thought that we would have so many things to celebrate in our life time? As I searched these events, I was so shocked at the sheer amount of things to celebrate. Then, I found something that matches the crafting theme so well - National Hat Month!

Yep! National Hat Month seems like the perfect opportunity to make September all about hats. Unfortunately, I found two non-hat weekly themes that prevent this from being a complete hat week. Do not despair! I have tons of hats to share with you this week.

The material list is pretty easy for this week's Make it Monday.

Materials:
Worsted Weight Yarn
Size H hook
Scissors
Yarn Needle
Stitch Marker (optional)

See, super easy!.

I did choose to use Caron One Pound Baby in Denim for my hat. I cannot wait to show you the results of my Make it Monday project.

See you tomorrow,
Sarah

Revealing the Theme - Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day has become a highly stressful, commercialized holiday where love is treated like an one-day event. Even though I celebrate love throughout the year, I do enjoy having some delicious chocolates. I do not ever expect a gift from my husband or my loved ones. I prefer to just spend time with them. When I do crochet or craft for them, it is usually something that they enjoy.

If you haven't guessed already, this week's theme is Valentine's Day. I have two awesome projects to accomplish and share with you this week. The first project has a material list below.


Materials
Paper cutter
Scissors
Roller tape
Pop dots
Ribbon
Glitter tape
White card stock for card bases
Red and Pink card stock for Layer 1
Pattern paper for layer 2
Small amount of white card stock for stamps
Love themed stamps
Small amount of red and pink card stock for stamp mat
Rhinestones

Revealing the Theme - Chocolate

Okay! That's it. Let's be 100% honest. The chocolate holiday is coming up. I don't call it love because love is about more than just one day in a commercialized holiday. So, the whole essence of V-day for me really stems with an enjoyment for chocolate. Do those individuals around me love me? Yep! I know it all year. I don't need a day to show it......but chocolate, I do need a day to love. In this case, a whole week to love chocolate here at Dande Creations.

If you haven't noticed it yet, this week's theme is CHOCOLATE!

Perhaps my love of chocolate comes down to biological issues or the fact that I grew up in the 80s where chocolate was not just a treat, but a way of life. Who can resist the great mouth feel after eating chocolate or the mood boosting aspect?

Okay....there are some people out there that do resist, but I am not you and you aren't me. And it takes an awful lot of will power to resist.

Without a doubt, I absolutely love Dove Milk Chocolate. I would eat it every day, but well....it isn't healthy. And while I may have a weakness for chocolate of any kind, I do have to think about the ramifications of eating chocolate in my 30s.

So back to crafting. I would LOVE to tell you that this week is only a prelude to the calorie inducing aspect of chocolate, but I can't. I am doing a special edition of Make it Monday where I actually craft something with chocolate - the real kind. I promise that the rest of the week is dedicated to chocolate "colors" in crafts instead of the actual thing.

Here's the material list for Make it Monday:

A pot
A cupcake tin
A glass bowl
2 tablespoon
Paper cupcake holders
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter (I used two heaping tablespoons.)
1/8 cup of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of butter - softened
2 tsp Crisco (optional - it provides shine)


As you probably guessed, this is an actual food crafting session here at Dande Creations. It is part of my potentially new idea - The Candy Corner. I will readily admit that I am a chocolate and candy type of girl. I love to bake. And the guys truly love when I do bake. So, as part of 2015 I may provide special editions of Make it Monday as The Candy Corner. I can't wait to share this week with you.

Sarah

Revealing the Theme - Inspire your Heart with Art

Art has always been a part of my life, but sometimes we look at art as something you have to find in a museum and created by historic figures like Monet or Michelangelo. The true definition of art is an expression of human creative skill or imagination that produces works to be appreciated for their beauty of emotional power. We, as humans, have come to think of art as something valuable. And sometimes that makes us forget that art comes in various mediums, crafts, and values.

Take something like this:

This is my first "Shape Buddy." The pattern has not been developed further, but may come out in the future. Look at it's eyes. They are off center and very crooked. The mouth is strange. The arms and legs are not matching exactly. Yet, I created it. I spent my time and effort imagining and crafting this little guy. I am proud of him. He is unique. But someone like Monet or Michelangelo would never claim that this is art. Even people who study art would say this is a craft.

Yet, but the very definition of art: I created something inspired by imagination which is appreciated by me and my nieces for the comfort it brings. It is art.

When I really look at the crafting I accomplish, I see art in it all. Effort. Imagination. Cunning. And every emotion is put into every single piece.

So this week is designated to Inspire your Heart with Art.

You can take this literal like I have done. Or you can take it as abstract as you wish by only crafting what you love and have passion for this week. 

Here's the list of materials for tomorrow's project:

Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One card base
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A sheet of white copy paper.
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)

Revealing the Theme - National Book Week

Hello again! It is time for our second reveal week here at Dande Creations. This one is pretty fun and something that holds a lot of room in my heart. This week is National Book week. The essence of this week is to inspire others to read especially young children who are constantly bombarded with too much mind noise. Yep...mind noise! America has become pretty materialistic and full of advertisements. Take a look the next time you drive somewhere. How many advertisements do you see? Or when you watch something on television? These things are so distracting, which makes books a WONDERFUL thing. We can imagine the story with little to no interruption. It's quiet. Above all, it engages our mind.

One of my early childhood memories is how my third grade teacher brought to life the stories of C.S. Lewis. They were magical and made me want to delve deeper into the worlds authors create. So this week, I am dedicating the week to celebrate the National Book week.

This week's Make it Monday utilizes a technique I love. I am not going to tell you what it is. You will have to come back tomorrow and check it out. What I can do is provide a list of the materials for the project and perhaps you can guess.


Materials
Paper cutter or scissors
Ruler
Pen (if you don't use a paper cutter with a ruler attached)
One main color (backing)
A sheet of white card stock
A small section of ribbon (optional)
A laminator
A laminator sheet
A hole punch
Sponge Daubers
Pigment ink
A stamp if you want that
StazOn Jet Black ink (for stamp)
Acrylic block (for stamp)

See you tomorrow crafters,

Sarah

Revealing the Theme - Barbie

Every Sunday in the year of 2015, I will be releasing a post that shows the theme of the week. The projects presented that week will be following that particular theme. It may follow a particular type of craft. It may be on a particular topic. Or it could end up completely random. What is important is that I will be focusing on a few goals this year to make this blog easier to follow. The 12 Weeks of Christmas format in 2014 was an easy to read, follow, and complete format. That is the general idea.

Goal 1
I want to use all my scraps to make the most of my money and my materials.

Goal 2
I want to finish some of the patterns in my arsenal. Some only need to be typed up!

Goal 3
Have at least three posts every week for my blog.


These are not horrible goals. In fact, they are pretty easy to accomplish. Here's how the blog posts will look like.

Sunday - Release of the Weekly Theme
Monday - Make it Monday, where I will go in-depth on the project
Thursday - Throwback Thursday, where pictures of past projects pop up
Saturday - Another Scrappy Saturday, where I use scraps to do a project
Other days - Releases of patterns or deals

Some of these days may have free patterns. Some may be projects seen on other sites. There will be no set project choice for any week.

The first week of the year actually begins today. The theme is one that I have always enjoyed having.

Barbie

Stay tuned to the following week to see what projects come up. I can provide just one small detail. There will be a free pattern this week.