Brave New World

Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:46:48 -0700

I have finally received enough feed back about the lame comment platform that is offered and I FINALLY received a reasonable solution to this issue. So as to not belabor this and bore you with technical information - I basically embedded a Blogger blog into the present blog. It is acting as a window from my blog to the new Blogger blog with the same name.

(yes, I typed “blog” many times in this post)

The reason this has been a good shift comes down to the fact that I do not need to change my url and lose readers and momentum. I will leave this old blog in place as an archive for the two years worth of posts and projects that are here, but all further posts will be in the blog directly above this one, on the main i.craft page. You will find comments and other features to be very reliable.

Please if you want to continue receiving info from us and newsletters in your email, resubscribe and follow us. Here is a link to the same but slightly altered Bee WIse Bags i.craft page. :)

Thank you for supporting and loving us!

Gabrielle Krake

Fairy Gardens

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:04:43 -0700

We have Spring Fever really BAD around here. And guess what, it’s snowing today... ugh!

As much as I wanted to rearrange the studio, it really can’t be done until a few pieces of furniture sell. So, I will just have to wait and get creative anyway.

The Garden Tour is only 17 weeks away so we are in the planning stages of many areas of the landscape but the most fun and creative thing we will be doing is developing the kids fairy gardens. Each one of them has one that they primp and tend but we thought with 1000’s of people tromping through our yard this year that we would create a truly magnificent fairy neighborhood under one of the weeping cherry trees. The kids have been hunting for and buying woodland creatures, funny little knick knacks and basically scouring the thrift stores for anything whimsical. Although four months is a long time I know it will swoop in and be here in no time.

Here is the place we have chosen. The snow on the right is covering a fountain that you can look at here in all it’s summer glory. I love before and after’s so I can’t wait to see this desolate spot bloom and turn into something magical.

Artful Living

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 12:35:22 -0700

There are days when I feel like I live in a beautifully done Disney movie - birds are chirping, everything is in it’s place, bumble bees are hovering over perfectly petaled flowers, children are creatively engaged etc. And then there are the days when a Quentin Tarantino movie I should NEVER have watched comes to mind. Things are messy, disorderly, lots of whining hinders my inner peace, every drawer instills horror and basic mayhem has ensued EVERYWHERE while that cute bumblebee has stung someone or died sadly beating itself against the window for 6 hours straight.

Okay... my ranting is complete... on to better thoughts. :)

The idea of life with or without art is a question I ask because well... I’m an artist and I’m beginning a workshop series next month teaching the idea of artful living. As I develop the curriculum for Cultivate Elegance I realize every workshop, no matter the syntax or semantics of the facilitator, is ultimately driving toward the same outcome... Awareness - Forgiveness - Compassion - Respect - Productivity. With a open mind and heart you will get exactly what you need in a workshop or enrichment class..

My husband is required to regularly attend sales workshops to increase productivity - Guess what? They are structured to produce in him the same effect a marriage conference is trying to produce for a couple.

Awareness - Forgiveness - Compassion - Respect - Productivity toward a spouse, client, customer, child, relative, co worker, or your self.

That being said: How do you spark yourself toward these outcomes? When you are in a rut, what techniques or activities bring you out of it?

For me - I rearrange things!! I need a fresh look every few months to keep me fresh. So today I will rearrange the studio and come back in a few days with a new tutorial. YEA!

Thanks for reading i.craft at Bee Wise Bags!

~ Gabrielle Krake

Sewing Contest

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:43:09 -0700

I entered this contest earlier today and decided it would be fun to share from here as well. Go here to the Janome contest page.

The process of learning to sew or teaching someone is both wonderful and frustrating. When I was a child, my Great Grandmother painstakingly taught me the basics like sewing buttons, all the hand stitches and how to do basic construction. As my abilities developed my mom took over and started showing me how to read patterns, fit garments and make doll clothes. I had more Barbie sleeping bags, pillows, dresses and blankets than I knew what to do with. I never remember her losing her patience, even once. As for me teaching my own kids - that is a different story. :)

As a home educator, I decided that part of our children’s school experience was going to be in depth Home Economics. Yes - the boys too. Living in the city we do not have a lot of outdoor work or manual labor to expect of our kids, so we are teaching them a ton of skills and trade type abilities. I do not want my sons to get out into the world and not know how to take care of things like unraveled hems or missing buttons and I do not want our daughters to burn up the engine of their car because they do not understand basic engine care and maintenance.

So at an early age we started our own four kids on the path to understanding basic sewing. It has not been easy to compete with PS3’s, wii games or You Tube but they have grown to understand why this skill is important. Each year we do 100% Handmade gifts at Christmas so their skills are put to the test. Two of them really like making stuffed animals. My oldest is the most difficult sell job on my part. :) Last year he made pajama bottoms. It was hilarious to watch him stand the whole time “speed” sewing his garment. As you can imagine there have been many repairs to those jammies. :) He is starting to understand why proper and meticulous construction is important from the beginning. hee hee. He made a hoodie recently, the pockets are on backwards and there are several patches where he carelessly picked out some mistakes but he made it and it’s glorious!

Do your kids know how to sew? What about you, do you want to learn? There are classes available, try one out! You will never regret it!

Remember enter the Janome Sewing Contest.

Thanks for reading Bee Wise Bags

~ Gabrielle Krake

Make Pot Holders From Scraps

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:46:23 -0700

... oh and new chair seats! It’s been a hair raising 10 days around here. The seasonal flu went traipsing through our house - one person at a time, with a big family that makes for a long time - too long. I’m clearly insane... nothing creative has been generated in many days.

So back in business are my creative pursuits as long as no one realizes I have snuck off to the studio for some computer time. I have not even made comments in over a week at any other blogs... sorry! I’ll be back into my normal schedule tomorrow, I hope!

On to the project...

Supplies:

scraps
thrift store towel
bias tape
sewing machine

Step One: Decide on your scraps and colors. Scraps are usually on the smaller side, so as I was designing this I came to the realization that potholders are too big. I have square ones and they can be clumsy at times. So these have the approximate dimensions: 6 inches by 8 1/2 inches. The pocket is cut on the fold with the dimensions: 6 inches by 4 1/2 inches. I like it!!