Greetings! This past Monday we made cards, wreaths and Christmas ornaments. See the cute picture of Santa inside an ornament! Isn't this cute?

Here someone is assembling a card from a card kit created on a Cricut machine.











S put together a wreath and added several delightful bows! She did such a good job --








B created a white wreath with sparkly decorations on it for the front desk. He's a giver!

Well, that's about all for this week. Next Monday we are making more cards, ornaments and we're going to be messy!

With love,

LauraRose

WREATHS!

Who knew these wreaths would be such a hit! Everyone liked making them and enjoyed themselves today, imagining, creating, playing -- but first, a turkey on the wall with "feather" thanksgivings!

Here are the wreaths that people made -- some in progress, some complete - I missed a couple -- people were so proud of their wreaths they left before I could snap a pic. Enjoy looking at these creations!

Next week, ornaments and Christmas cards. Today, we had 13 guests creating!

Have a good week,

LauraRose

Lots of Chatter today!

Lots of excitement and activity -- several creations in progress -- some finished pencil holders, two worked on art journals, others made paper turkeys! We all had great fun! Take a look:

 Turkey "feathers" made from acc
ordian papers.

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This is a turkey Kicked Up A Notch! Real feathers added!

Other folks enjoyed working on their art journals:

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

LauraRose

Busy, busy, Monday!

Pencil holders, Thanksgiving decorations, on-going art journal . . .

Here are the pencil holders made from fabric, felt, cans -- oh, and glue!

Another guest today continue sto work on her art-journal/photo/memory book in which she will add pics of her childen and herself. Her table looks like my workroom at home! This is exactly the way to work - stuff all around to look at it all at one time.

Next, several folks made Thanksgiving decorations -- here is one: this is several layers of paper cuts -- the top layer the most delicate. Looks lovely, eh? Big enough to hang on a door. I love it!

Last but not least -- one of our guests this morning told us he is going to the Timberwolves tonight and showed us his suit! I've seen him dressed up -- he looks so dapper! Here's his suit in a suit-bag. Oh, and he regaled us with laughter and jokes, too!

We had two visitors today, just checking out what we're doing -- maybe they'll be back. That's about it for today! Happy crafting, everyone!

LauraRose

Frames and paper crafting

Greetings! This week we provided the group with cut-out cardstock to make frames for picture or to add interest and dimension to an art journal. Here are two pictures of a finished frame -- B put this together -- several layers and dimension (one is a close up so the layers can be seen):

Some of the other folks assembled more pages for their art jounals -- one created pages that had assembled frames in the center of the page to create interest. Great idea! Another person who had been with us only a short time got right down to work and created almost an entire art journal that made her look like a pro! Thank you E.

Masks and jars!

Greetings! Yesterday at Higher Ground we finished the masks that were started last week. If you remember (or read previous blog post) people got messy with balloons, flour and water, and newspapers to make paper mache masks.

 This Monday the decorating began!

B painted a mask to create a clown:











Then he held up paper mache mask! He makes people laugh!

Here is another mask, this time, by D:

A pirate!!

She combined paper mache, paint, fabric and -- look at those red teeth! this is a great example of multi-media art work!

Here is a mask in progress by S! It's coming along really well -- good job! She is combining fabric, trims, gold and other fun stuff!

Some folks opted to decorate jars to add to their rooms. They decorated the outside and then added a battery operated light to allow the glow to permeate through the decorations.

So, that's the fun we had this week - hope you can join us next week! Mary, John and I had a great time, enjoyed the activities and enjoyed working with clients. Lots of fun and great environment and energy! Positive and uplifting!

Be blessed, be happy,

LauraRose

Greetings crafters!

Today, for your viewing pleasure we have pictures of mini pumpkins that B decorated -- grown in my

garden and brought to craft group on Monday at Higher Ground -- he looked at them and had an image in his head and added felt! Then brought them out to the desk for all clients and staff to enjoy.

We also made paper mache over balloons -- we got really messy -- using flour and water as the paste, cutting up newspaper squares and applied them to blown up balloons. Next week we are using these paper mache shapes to decorate masks for Halloween! Should be great fun -- we'll have extra "masks" to paint or add stuff so that it is the artist's own creation. I can't wait!!!

Be blessed, be happy!

LauraRose

Halloween's on its way!

Today folks had great fun creating Halloween decorations for their rooms. Here is B's Frankenstein! Especially love the "scar" and the eyebrows and googly eyes! and the cute little "electric bolts" on the side of his face -- so creative! Thank you B!

S from staff stopped by and made a pumpkin for her office (love the decorative ribbon around the outside of the pumpkin!). Nice job "carving"! She did all this cutting of felt free-hand.

J made this delightful pumpkin using not only ribbon but also brads -- notice the stars for the eyes and nose and the hearts on the mouth -- that's because the only thing out of her mouth is love!

J also made these little cuties -- again decorating with brads.

Someone new joined us today: J who decided to knit a hat using the loom. She also is making little flowers to add to the hat's fashion! Really good job! She said it is kind of meditative. She took the loom with her to continue knitting during the week.

Mary, John and I are thrilled with the people who came by today -- R came by and created a Picachu - we ran out of black felt so we will finish it next week. S also stopped by for a greeting and a hello -- K came in as well -- 

NEXT WEEK!

Next week we will be getting sloppy and slippery! We are creating paper mache around balloons so the following week (after the paper mache dries) we can make masks out of the paper mache balloon creations. We are really excited to see what people come up with -- 

Also, next week, we are making Halloween luminaries -- empty jars with decorations and then a battery operated candle to make it "eerie!" 

Thanks everyone for joining us today -- we love seeing you and seeing what you create with us!!

Mary, John, and LauraRose

Great Gathering today!!

Hi everyone! We had a great group gather today in the conference room on the second floor of Higher Ground. Many new people today, some motivated to craft, some stopping in to see what's happening. One person stopped in just to see what we were doing and rearranged her schedule to join us! Woo-hoo!

Today we finished up on God's Eyes, which B is proud to show off here. He made one last week out of medium length sticks -- about 12" long -- and, he added a twist on his art work -- he made it two-dimensional and it's beautiful. He plans on adding beads which will really kick it up a notch! Good work, B! This week he's using 24" sticks -- that's two-feet long for each stick!



In addition, although Mary and I are volunteers, I think B wants to get on the payroll! He seems to have as much fun encouraging and helping others to craft with ideas and available materials.

Other folks continued their Art Journals hoping to turn them into photo albums -- everyone is so artistic - we love watching people explore their art and creations.

Next week we continue with fun stuff -- and,  two weeks from Monday, October 22 we will be making paper mache masks -- starting out on the 22nd with balloons, newspapers and flour mixture to make the mask and let them dry out for a week. Then, on the 29th, 2 days before Halloween, we will take the paper mache masks, paint them, add feathers, jewels, and any other things we can think of adding. Lots of fun promised!

Staff stopped in again -- she was "wow, wow, wow!" She loves what these folks are making. And Mary and I do too!

Greetings crafters!

Yesterday we started making God's Eyes using sticks and yarn. Turns out one of the members of the group had a dad who was an art teacher and used to make huge God's Eyes. Even one staff member came by and made a little one.

There were 12" sticks, 10" sticks and 5" sticks in which to make this really neat craft decoration. Another odd thing - last Tuesday I prayed for yarn and Wednesday two ladies offered us four boxes of yarn!




Picture shows member pointing out the "Eye".















Other pictures show the sticks, the yarn and staff's God's Eye! This is a relaxing craft and lots of fun.

Hope to see you next week!!

LauraRose