Crafting- A Fool's Paradise

Crafting is my fool's paradise. I'd like to say my love of crafting comes from the strong heritage in my family to craft and craft a whole lot to the point of obsession. But in reality it is my paradise; my escape from reality where I can step away from stress and let myself go. In college, I have found this particularly helpful in being able to de-stress in a productive manner, and what can I say I am a sorority girl now so crafting is in my blood. My crafting is very limited since I am not very good at it. My knitting skills are very limited with a loom on the weekend, paint canvases during the week (really whenever I feel), and sometimes collage with magazines and newspapers from around campus. I just love the calmness of crafting and it allows me to express myself.

My go-to craft supplies: paint brushes, poster paint, sponge brushes, acrylic paints, canvases, old magazines and newspaper, mod-podge, yarn, and needles for the yarn.

For this project I started with taking my poster paint, which was old and dry, and watered it down so it would be more like watercolor paint. I kept the paint brush dipped in water to keep the paint watered down and able to be smeared. I painted strips of each color with the paintbrush from the rainbow. From there, while the paint was still wet, I took one of my sponge brushes (damp but not wet) and drag it across the border of the two colors to blend the edges. After the paint dried, I added a thin layer mod-podge to make sure the paint would not smear when I put the next layer of paint on. After this layer dried, I took out my gold acrylic paint and started the wording. It is easier to put wording on some paper to get the layout right, before you start painting. I like to start painting on the words starting in the middle and moving outwards on each line so I have enough room to fit al. the words. I finished off by lining the edges with black acrylic paint, and signing my name and date on the back of the canvas. I really like how this one turned out, and hope if you try this yourself, it will turn out okay.

Have fun with crafting, just know that it is not about being good or not. Crafting and artistic expression is about enjoying yourself and being able to make something. Skill is something that is developed with practice and care.

#crafting #foolsparadise #collage #inspirationalpainting #Ilovecrafting