Friday, June 21, 2013

Ladybug, ladybug

       Here I am again, long overdue with this post, but happy to snatch a few moments to get caught up. I try hard to be creative daily (I love Deanne Fitzpatrick's  motto, "Create Beauty Everyday") but I don't always succeed. I recently cut out seven little dresses that I had hoped to have finished by now, but I'll blog about those another time, hopefully soon. In the meantime, it's a darn good thing I have to come up with a weekly craft at the little Glanworth library so that I have an opportunity for a little creativity now and then. Here are instructions for making a ladybug with movable wings.

Start with a shape as shown, then poke or punch in a small hole.



Cut out a circle


 then cut it in half and poke in a hole at the top of each half.


Decorate the wings with stickers or foam cut-outs,


then fasten the wings to the body with a brad. Glue on googly eyes and draw on a smile. Poke in holes above the eyes,


then make pipe-cleaner antennae.


Being crafty is fun at any age!






The finished bugs are fun to show off.


 Happy crafting and happy summer!

Judy Ann

Saturday, June 1, 2013

My father-in-law, the artist

   For quite some time now I have been wanting to post photos of some amazing carvings by my father-in-law, Don Sadler. Twice over the past few months he has gathered up and displayed most of his work for others to enjoy at a couple of local events. He is shy and extremely modest about what he has accomplished, and uncomfortable being the centre of attention, so were were tickled that he was willing to go along with the show. It's quite remarkable to see so many different and varied carvings and turnings that he has made over the years. When he was quite young, he did his first carvings in bars of Ivory soap. When he was a teenager, he experimented with soft wood and made this wee bunny.


He graduated to this more detailed carving of a motorcyclist.

                    

Then he created bowls, vases, animals, and all kinds of interesting and beautiful works of art.





 He loves working with interesting wood grains as well as combining different types of wood.


It's quite a collection!


 Once when I looked in awe at some of his amazing artwork, he said, 
"You might think that working with wood is difficult, but at least wood holds still. Fabric is thin and wiggly and moves all over the place. Now that's difficult!" 
See what I mean about him being so modest?

All the best,

Judy Ann