Some of My Arts and Crafts Projects

I like all sorts of arts and crafts so I've tried everything from quilling, to sewing, and painting. I've used Q-tips as smudgers; painted on my sidewalk; my friend and I have transformed a normal ceiling into a winter sky; grated up pencil crayons to get powder and made a Sailor Moon tiara out of wire and gold wrapping paper for my little cousin. One of my biggest problems when it comes to crafts is that I tend to plan too big and then someone has to remind me of my lack of budget or space to actually carry out my plan.

I use a combination of pencils ranging from 4F to 4H for all the drawings I do. If I were to sit down and draw, non-stop, each drawing would take me about 24 hours to complete. The original drawings are 11 by 14 inches.

	These two butterflies are part of a 4-piece series. Each butterfly was done with a Chinese paper cutting technique. It starts with one piece of paper, and wherever you see black, that part of the colored paper was cut out, producing a sort of butterfly stencil effect. I have a couple of koala bear cut-outs as well, and another series of four cut-outs was split up and given to family members.

In terms of sheer number of pieces of paper, these two models are the most complex origami structures I've made. Each one required 150 pieces of paper and took between 12 to 18 hours to complete, depending on the thickness of the paper and if all the pieces fit together well. As for the most complex, single-sheet, model I've made, that would have to be my octopus, weighing in at over 100 steps. The latest challenge is a scorpion, but even after three attempts, I've yet to make a successful model.

These tiaras are, quite likely, my most complicated projects. They're made from wire and either strands of (fake) pearls or rhinestones. The process starts with designing the tiara in two-dimensional form on a sheet of paper. Wire is cut and bent into shape to conform with the design. The individual wire pieces are soldered together and the whole thing is attached to a wire base. To add the finishing touch, the strands of pearls or rhinestones are attached to the metal frame using...you guessed it...more wire. 34 gauge, if you want specifics.

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