It’s so gorgeous outside, almost feels like summer instead of spring… And spring doesn’t even start for another week, we’ve been so lucky! And we’re lucky to be able to share all of our spring news with you!
March 22nd:
Keepsake Box Class! Create a beautiful keepsake box for little treasures and mementos that can be kept on display. $25.00, materials provided, but you may want to bring some of your keepsakes to use as a reference for the theme of your box. 7:00-9:00pm
March 24th: Image Transfer Class! Create beautiful altered art using different techniques and mediums for transferring images onto surfaces (mainly soft gel). $25.00, mediums and materials provided but please bring a small image that you want to use. (works better for beginners to start with something small) 2:00-4:00pm
March 29th: 4-5 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm.
March 30th: 6-8 year old Children’s Art Class! $7.50, all materials provided. 4:30-5:30pm.
March 31st: Friends of the Library Demonstration on making paper flowers! At Valentine Public Library, 10:00am.
April 10th: Altered Book Class! $20.00. Mediums and materials provided, but feel free to bring any photos, quotes, or embellishments you want to use. An altered book is an existing book that is glued, stamped, painted, collaged, and cut and/or torn. 7:00-9:00pm
April 21st: Intro to Scrapbooking Class! Been thinking about starting a scrapbook, but just don’t know where to begin? We will introduce some tools and techniques and finish one page layout. Please bring 1-3 photos that you want to use. $20.00 (paper trimmer, adhesive, paper, and embellishments included) 2:00-4:00pm
To bring a little spring inside, our featured project this month is a succulent book planter. We first saw the idea on
greenweddingshoes.com and realized that it was the same concept as the Altered Book Frame we had a class on last year. Start with an old hardcover book that is 2 or 3 inches thick that you are ok with cutting up. If you want book pages showing instead of the inside cover, open a few pages before you draw the rectangle that you will cut out. Measure and draw pencil lines with a ruler to create a rectangle in the center of the page, leaving about an inch to 1 and ½ inches around the edges. Take a craft knife and begin cutting along your line. You will cut through about 5 or 6 pages at a time. Continue cutting (this will take a while!) until you are about a ¼ inch from the back cover. Then place a cutting mat between your last page and the cover so that you don’t end up cutting through the back cover. Cut through the rest of your pages. Next, you will wire the pages together so that they lay flat and are more solid. To do this, pull back a few of the pages on top and drill through the rest of the pages. Drill 2 holes about 1 inch apart on three sides of the book (6 small holes total). Run thin wire down through one hole and up through the one next to it and twist the wire together on top. Do this with each of the three sides. Then using PPA glue or mod podge (we recommend PPA), glue down the back page to the back cover and glue the few pages without holes over the rest of the wired together pages so that you can't see the wire. Seal the inside of your hollowed out space with glue too. When that dries, line the space with plastic wrap. Sprinkle a few pebbles in the bottom. Next, fill your space with cactus or succulent soil. Poke some succulents in the soil and fill in any extra space with moss. Because there is no drainage, and succulents do not need much water, you will only need to very infrequently water it with an ounce of water. We have these two planters for sale in the shop: