It's now the end of February and I'm one-third of the way through the 2016 edition of RAC. In January, using my Silhouette Cameo and some leftover paper, I made a set of bookmarks for Cindy, who I met through A Seasonal Bookclub. I combined a few different cutting designs and layered them for the final result. I will admit I sort of didn't want to give these away -- they totally are my colours -- but I can always make more.
During January and into February, it seemed to me that a lot of people had taken up painting as a hobby. An individual in my office was registered in a class at the Cape Breton Centre for Craft and Design, a friend in Alberta was attending classes, a friend in PEI posted a photo from a class that she'd taken. Clearly I had missed the memo! I've always wanted to paint, but admit that my art classes as a child tended to focus on drawing. The only time I had actually painted something was back when I did the first RAC in 2009. One of the recipients was my friend Amanda who had told me once that she gave her friends canvases and invited them to paint art for her apartment. As a result, I bought a small canvas and painted her a dark, moody piece.
Anyway, around the time that everyone was painting, I stumbled upon a painting video on YouTube in which a gal painted a sunset. It reminded me of the great artwork that a friend in St. John's creates -- sunsets with inukshuks in silhouette. The combination of video and memory inspired me to go out to Michaels and buy a few canvases and some acrylic paint. As much as I wanted to paint an inukshuk, I felt like that would be cultural appropriation, so I went with a tree. The result, a small 5x7 painting, was mailed to Sarah in February.
Again, it was a little hard to let this go. Not because I think it's a fantastic work of art -- it clearly isn't -- but because I really liked the colours. I decided to paint a similar one for myself a few nights ago (but the one Sarah received is way better).
So, those are the first 2 of 6 Random Acts of Craftiness. And plans are in the works for the next two. But there's also a bonus! A few individuals were "late" to the RAC sign-up and wanted to be part of it, but weren't among the first 6 to comment. I decided to add these individuals to RAC Bonus. Consequently, Carla was selected to sample a Pinterest experiment -- homemade candy "mints."
I had seen these on Pinterest for the past few months and was curious about how they would turn out. I had all the supplies, so one evening I sat down and tried it out, making two batches -- one cherry, one orange. Verdict? Not worth the time, energy, or investment. I really don't like them. They are hard, crunchy candies, but there's something missing (maybe they aren't sweet enough?). I think the orange tasted better than the cherry, but I wouldn't make them again. Carla: sorry you got stuck with what I consider to be a fail, but thanks for playing!
So that's the first RAC update. I'm starting to think I should make this an annual event.
