Creative Work

There is a saying that goes, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." It's not often that my hands are idle. Nor is my mind. I'm always turning the gears in my head with a list of ideas of what I'll do next. Many of those things get forgotten, because I don't write them down, and I've moved on to other things.

I'm a part of a group of ladies on a decorating website. We 'chat' on an electronic bulletin board, sharing photos and ideas of our projects and decorating. It's a nice bunch. Every so often, someone decides to organize a 'swap' for a specific season. The first time I was a part of the swap, it was "Christmas in July" where ten of us exchanged handmade ornaments for our future Christmas trees. The only real 'rules' were that they should be 'primitive' looking (it's a primitive country decorating site) and the sending dates. This time there was a 'Fall' swap.

It took me awhile to make a decision as to what to make for the July exchange...and I finally settled on mini- broomstick horses. They were well received, and I've now got a few orders for some of them for Christmas gifts. This time, I was wracking my brain for something different. I thought I could make some salt dough and make hanging things like leaves or pumpkins, using cookie cutters. But I thought someone else might do something like that. Then I thought I'd make some sachet-type items, scented with spices and shaped like acorns . I toyed with the idea of a banner to hang over a door way, saying, "Autumn!" or some catchy phrase or line from a poem. Finally, a lightbulb went off over my head, and I thought, "MASKS!"

So, on one of my trips to take care of some errands, I picked up some black felt, some white, and a few fall colored pieces and some black grosgrain ribbon. I came home and made a paper pattern, placed the eyes, and cut out a bunch of masks. I cut black and white together, so that the lining would fit the outside. Then I decorated each mask differently.

They are seven finished ones, and I'm still thinking that I might throw in a little something else when I send them to the gals. I did get some tiny little shopping bags in black and in orange, and I'll put a little something in those as a 'treat'. They need to be mailed before too long, so if I'm going to make something else, I'd better get crackin'.

When that project is finished, I think I might make a couple of other masks for my grandkids. They will enjoy that.