Rubber Band Art

My son was in 7th or 8th grade when he got a rainbow loom for Christmas. He was living with his father but soon moved back in with me. He either couldn't figure out how to do it or got bored with it or something like that and ended up giving it to me to fiddle with in my spare time. Soon, I was making things like grapes on the vine, pineapples, a purse, and several other things. I took to using one of them as a pocket marker for my APA pool games and others thought they were cool and started asking for their own. Soon I was making enough money to pay for my pool games! I still make them, though not as fervently as originally. I don't use my own designs really, but I can alter some things.

Sewing

I have liked sewing for a very long time. I remember being in 6th or 7th grade and wanting to make my own clothes. When I got into high school, we were required to take a "home ec" class. There I learned terminology, how to do many things that growing up would ask of me, and, most importantly, how to actually do what I'd wanted years earlier! After graduating, I got away from sewing until I was living on my own and had a child. I decided to get a sewing machine and make my baby's clothes. I worked day and night. Whenever he was colicky, I would rock him in his swing and sew away on his wardrobe. Onesies were the most abundant thing I made for him because it seemed he only needed new clothes when it was nice and warm outside! At this point, I also discovered that I could make things like bags, stuffed toys, and many other things.

My kids are 12 and 18 now and I've switched things up a bit. Clothes are boring to make, but making things like a giant D20 or a miniature tea set, a purse or a card wallet? That's where things get fun! I've made pillows, stuffed dolls, purses, shopping bags with carry cases, wallets, and little trays that fold and unfold.

Paper Art

So, paper is a medium that can be used in many different ways. One way is simply for coloring. I've created Zen tangles, portraits, and several drawings of cartoons. But my most recent excursion into the wonderful world of paper is Origami. One year for Christmas, we were in a tight spot financially and living in a very small trailer. We couldn't afford a proper Christmas tree so I went to work with some green construction paper and made a Christmas tree. Then my kids and I made little ornaments to put on the tree. Then we wrapped Christmas presents (as meager as they were) and put them under the tree. My older son says that was one of his most memorable and best Christmases. To keep my kids from spending TOO much time on the computers, I taught them how to do it. We've created boxes of different shapes and sizes, birds, frogs, turtles, bugs, flowers, and many other things.

Digital Graphics

Well, since I'm a computer nerd, it makes sense that I'd do some form of art on a computer. I have drawn using a few different graphics kits, though MS Paint is probably the one I've used most. It's the easiest to work with and since I don't really do it for money, I figured it wouldn't make a lot of sense to pay for something more robust...yet. I have created quite a few things on my computer including graphics of someone performing a jump shot, pool balls, happy faces, and several other things. I will display them once my site is more put-together.