Not Buying It Update 6: Going on Hiatus

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Well, life has been insanely busy since I last posted a Not Buying It Update in June.

As you may know, I am now engaged and my fiancé has moved in with me while we take our time building our "forever" house on 10 acres of farmland.

Also, I am currently implementing a grant of almost $5,000 from the Ruth Mott Foundation to offer SkillShare Workshops for Flint Handmade.

And, after a long and arduous appliation process that I have been working on since January, Flint Handmade received 501(c)(3) status from the IRS, so we can now accept tax deductible donations AND apply for even larger grants!

With all of these exciting (and time-consuming) life events going on, I just did not make time to track my expenses carefully these past few months. :(

But, I promise that I rarely purchased anything unnecessary.  Most my spending has been on groceries, gas, medical expenses, canning supplies, home maintenence/repair and yard/garden supplies.  Unfortunately, we also had a few emergencies (e.g. flat tire, broken window, etc.) that required larger outlays of money.

Anyway, with all of these major life changes, I have decided to put Not Buying It on haitus for the time being.

Once Russ and I have established our joint household income/expenses and recordkeeping systems, we plan to reinstate many aspects of Not Buying It in 2012.  It's already become part of our lives and we're excited to see how it develops now that we live together!

In the meantime, I do plan to continue posting photos of my completed projects whenever possible.  :) 

See below for project photos from July, August and September!

JULY RESULTS
Projects Completed: 3

I completed more than 3 projects in July, but these are the only pictures I have. 

1) INSTALLED ELEVATED GARDEN WATERING SYSTEM

2) FIXED DRYER

3) SEWED 12 FOOT TABLECLOTH (Shown Folded in Half)

AUGUST RESULTS

Projects Completed: 2

August was very heavy with visiting family and travelling.

My paternal grandmother from Chicago came to visit for a week. Then, Russ and I went to Chicago for two days on a mini-vacation.

But, I still managed to complete 2 crafty projects.

1) MADE 6 COMMISSIONED STAINED GLASS PENDANTS

2) MADE FIRST SET OF CLOTH NAPKINS

SEPTEMBER RESULTS
Projects Completed: 2

Again, many more projects were completed in September (including a major cleaning/organization of my basement), but these pictures will have to do!

1) CANNED 4 JARS OF STRAWBERRY JAM

2) CANNED 3 JARS OF TOMATO BASIL SAUCE

The recipes for above canned goods are in one of my new favorite books called Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English.  Ashley's blog, small measure, is also fantastic!

SkillShare: Stained Glass & Mosaics

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Our fourth of five SkillShare Workshops, funded by a generous grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation, was an AMAZING success!

Jami Anderson of Woolly Thinking taught us about glass mosaics and I led a group project demonstration on stained glass.

Jami (standing) started by telling us about the basics of creating glass mosaics.  For this workshop, we used 6 x 6 ceramic flooring tiles from Habitat for Humanity ReStore as our mosaic base.  We traced the tile onto the brown craft paper and penciled in design ideas.

Then, we moved over to the glass cutting table. 

From right to left: Crystal, Jami, Robert, Erin, Danielle.

To cut straight lines, you first score the glass with a glass cutter as Jan is doing.

Then, you use running pliers to snap the glass in two pieces along the score.

Michelle places her cut pieces on her tile to make sure she likes how they look.

Carolyn (l) and Jen are a mother-and-daugher mosaic-making duo!

Danielle heads back to the kraft paper table and begins gluing her glass pieces to her tile.

Russ volunteered for the workshop and also got to glue a few glass pieces onto a tile.

Once all of our pieces were glued, we had to take a group photo!

From left to right: Jami, Jen, Erin, Carolyn, Ali, Jan, Robert, Nicole, Michelle, Russ, Crystal, Danielle.

Time for a lunch break!  Thanks for posing for a silly food pic, Robert!

After lunch, I led a stained glass demo in which we all got to help make a suncatcher that will be auctioned off in the 2012 Cool City Art Auction!

First, I showed everyone how to use a light box to trace your pattern onto glass.

Then, we each got to foil a piece of the glass with copper tape.  Russ foiled all of the remaining pieces.

I showed (from l-r) Ali, Nicole, Robert and Michelle how to apply the flux to the copper tape with a paintbrush.

  

I spot soldered the glass pieces on one side just to hold them in place.

  

Then, everyone got to take a turn soldering a couple lines on the suncatcher!  Jan solders while Michelle and I look on.  Russ and I will finish up soldering at a later time, attach a chain and put the piece in the 2012 Cool City Art Auction with all of our names listed as the arists!

Since the glue was dry on our mosaics after the stained glass demo, Jami showed us how to apply the grout between the glass pieces.  Erin makes sure to really get her grout into all of the spaces.

Robert had too much fun getting his hands covered in grout!

We let the grout sit for a couple minutes and then used sponges to wipe the grout off the glass.  Jen (l) and Carolyn smile with their sponges!

Michelle wets her sponge one last time to clean up her gorgeous mosaic!  Everyone took home their tile to dry overnight.

With grout powder still on his hands and face, Robert gives the thumbs up to his Community Education Toolkit so that he can share the skills he learned with friends and colleagues in the community!

Stallings Stained Glass in Swartz Creek generously donated a Glass Patterns magazine and a 10% coupon for three visits for each of the Community Education Toolkits!  From left to right: Nicole, Michelle, Ali.

We only have one more SkillShare Workshop, but it is already at maximum capacity!

Our SkillShares have proven to be so popular that we hope to offer some of them again in 2012, especially Stained Glass & Mosaics!

We wish to express our gratitude to the Ruth Mott Foundation for funding our SkillShare Workshops.

Our participants get to take home many of the supplies used to share their new skills with friends and family and continue the tradition of the domestic arts and crafts of our American cultural heritage.

THANK YOU, RUTH MOTT FOUNDATION!

SkillShare: Gardening, Canning & Pickling

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Our third of five SkillShare Workshops, funded by a generous grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation, was a MAJOR success!

Roxanne Adair and Joanna Lehrman from Flint River Farm taught us about gardening, canning and pickling.

Katie was the first participant to arrive.  She was very excited to receive a Community Education Tool-Kit which included a Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, Canning & Pickling Salt and a 4-Piece Canning Utensil Kit. 

All participants also received two 10% off coupons on canning supplies at Gill-Roy's Hardware!

Roxanne (l) and Joanna enjoy a hot beverage while going over their notes for the SkillShare.

Lots of canned goodies!

First, we talked about gardening for about an hour.  Everyone received a packet of great information from Flint River Farm. 

 Roxanne drew a diagram of "double-digging" to show us how to prepare our garden without a tiller.

Then, we learned about canning and got to pass around the jars of canned goodies.

The first of TWO group photos! 

From left to right: Joanna, Roxanne, Abbey, Katie, Catherine, Tracy, Ali, Jeanette and Robert

Roxanne and Joanna taught us about the difference between water bath canning and pressure canning.

We took a break for lunch...and Jeanette thoroughly enjoyed her french onion sandwich expertly made by Sarah at The Lunch Studio!

Abbey, Tracy, Jeanette and Ali (l-r) chop cabbage for pickling.

Ali, Jeanette and Roxanne (l-r) pack cabbage into jars to make sauerkraut.

We all took a little field trip into the kitchen at The Lunch Studio for a hands-on demonstration!

From left to right: Catherine, Tracy, Robert, Katie, Jeanette, Joanna and Roxanne

 Yay, we made sauerkraut...and I finally made it into a photo! :)

From left to right: Crystal, Robert, Tracy, Catherine, Katie, Ali, Jeanette, Joanna and Roxanne

We still have two more SkillShare Workshops, but they are already at maximum capacity! 

Our SkillShares have proven to be so popular that we hope to offer some of them again in 2012!

We wish to express our gratitude to the Ruth Mott Foundation for funding our SkillShare Workshops.

Our participants get to take home many of the supplies used to share their new skills with friends and family and continue the tradition of the domestic arts and crafts of our American cultural heritage.

THANK YOU, RUTH MOTT FOUNDATION!

Second Saturday Giveaway: October Winner!

We want to thank everyone who commented on our October Second Saturday Giveaway featuring Rute Serrels, Michelle White and Sue Ebbs of Friends for Quilting!

The awesome commenters for October were Nicole Stevens, EngelAugen, Crafty Newbie, Michelle Glick, DanielleMW, Brooke Tanner, Susanna Tippett and Jenni.

Just for commenting, all of you will receive a FREE Flint Handmade button in your choice of red, blue or yellow! Ask at the Flint Handmade table at any of our events and we'll make sure you get your button.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for! The randomly selected winner of the Quilted Accessories is...

...DanielleMW!!! Congratulations!

DanielleMW, send us an email at flinthandmade@hotmail.com and we will make arrangements for you to receive your Quilted Accessories! You have 30 days to claim your prize. :)

We want to encourage everyone to participate in the next Second Saturday Giveaway to be posted on November 12, 2011!

November craftLAB: Altered Art Papercrafts with Nicole Stevens!

Join us for a FREE Altered Art Papercrafts Workshop at craftLAB on Sunday, November 6, 2011 from noon-3pm at The Lunch Studio!

Nicole Stevens of Curious Goods will be teaching us basic techniques that can be used to make greeting cards, ATCs (Artist Trading Cards), and/or inchies.

From Left to Right: ATCs, Inchies, Greeting Card
(Photo Credit: Nicole Stevens)

We will have general supplies available, but feel free to bring old magazines, scrapbook paper, markers, stamps or any other specific papercrafting supplies you want to use!

This is going to be a great craftLAB for children, so feel free to bring your kids, your nieces and nephews, your grandkids or the neighbor's kids!

craftLAB Recap: Altoid Tin Mini-Toolboxes

Posted by Crystal Pepperdine, Founder and Executive Director of Flint Handmade

Our FREE craftLAB workshop on Altoid Tin Mini-Toolboxes was a ton of fun!  Check out the full tutorial on the Alphamom Blog.

My fiancé, Russ, and I were very excited to lead our first workshop together!  We purchased most of the materials for the workshop from Gill-Roy's Hardware, the Michigan-based company where Russ currently works.

I showed Milo how to nail the holes into the lid to prep before priming and spray painting.

Milo also learned how to adjust a wrench to tighten the screws in the handles.

Ali hides behind her toolbox. :)

Milo's mom, Michelle S., had a brilliant idea...she put her Aisle 3 business cards in her toolbox!

After making their toolboxes, Sarah (l) taught Mary how to crochet in the round.

Michelle G. smiles with her Altoid Tin Mini-Toolbox.  She later told us that her construction workers husband IMMEDIATELY snagged one of her two toolboxes for his business cards!

If you missed the Altoid Tin Mini-Toolbox craftLAB, you can still get a toolbox! 

We are selling the extras for $5 each as a fundraiser for Flint Handmade. 

Get them in our Flint Handmade Shop inside The Lunch Studio or at any Flint Handmade event.

Special thanks to Amy of Made With Luv for donating the Altoid Tins!