Free Crochet (And Non-Crochet) Patterns for Holiday Ornaments HERE

Hello There!

Are you by chance looking for patterns?  Holiday patterns for ornaments?

Well, here they are!!

Do you know the best thing about these ornaments?  Each one is made from upcycled materials!  Hiding underneath the brim of the Hat Ornaments are strips of upcycled paper towel rolls.  And the Wreath Ornaments use plastic bottle rings as a base for the stitches.  So, you can make awesome ornaments and help save the planet at the same time.  What could be better than that?

Upcycled No-Crochet Ornament (HAT):

https://marshamakes.blogspot.com/2016/12/upcycled-hat-ornaments.html

Upcycled Crochet Ornament Pattern (WREATH):

https://marshamakes.blogspot.com/2016/09/free-crochet-pattern-cute-christmas.html

I hope you enjoy making these ornaments as much as I've enjoyed sharing the patterns with you!

Happy Crafting!  Happy Holidays!

If you'd like to be notified each time I post to my blog, please enter your email in the box to the top right.  That way, you'll always know what Marsha Makes is up to!

Thanks for taking a look!  I appreciate it very much

Marsha

Each One Teach One - #10,000 New Knitters!

Hello!

Recently, #Skacel yarn company challenged the knitting community to create #10,000NewKnitters in one day.  They provided free kits to new knitters to make a pair of fingerless mitts in partnership with established knitters.

On November 10, 2018, newbie knitters and established knitters across the country gathered to participate, and we joined in!  My daughter's girl scout troop members were thrilled to learn how to knit, and we sat down together for an afternoon of fun. 

Skacel provided the pattern, a set of size 8 knitting needles, and a skein of super-wash merino wool.

 

After watching a tutorial provided by Skacel, the girls enthusiastically tackled the long tail cast-on. 

The cast-on was tricky, but everyone worked hard until the skill was (mostly) mastered.  

On to the knit stitch!!!  

Success!

One down, one to go!!!

What an awesome thing - learning a new skill and having fun while doing it!

Thanks for reading!  Have a Knit-tastic Day!

Marsha

'Tis the Season...

For the second year in a row, I'm participating in Creative Arts Workshop's Celebration of American Crafts.  This is their 49th annual show, which is a juried holiday exhibit and sale of handmade crafts by makers from New England and across the country.  The exhibit is professionally curated and staffed, and showcases makers of bold, creative, and original work who "continue to grow as artists, push the boundaries of their media, and consistently produce unique, high-quality pieces."  NICE!

Dates of the Exhibit and Sale are November 24 - December 24, 2018.

This year, I'm showing something new - Penny Pockets.  These are little zippered purses that function as a place for spare change, or a holder for a gift card for the holidays.  They're made from felted sweaters in various colors.  Each piece is completely hand-sewn and embroidered by me.

Here's a peek:

I'm dropping them off at the gallery this Saturday;  I have to admit, I miss wearing that purple sweater.  :).

Thanks for taking a look.  

For the Love of Friends, Opening Night

Thank you to so many friends and neighbors who took time out of their busy lives to visit my exhibit on opening night.  Here are just a few:

What a show! 

For the Love of Family, Solo Exhibition

A HUGE thank you to my family for making the long trip to see my show!  I appreciate your love and support of me and my art.  It means everything.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Me and My Mom

My Sister Angie and My Niece, Abbie

My Sister Corinna and Me

And a special thank you to family friend Siu Lan for capturing my night with so many amazing photos.  She truly has a gift for photography.  Thank you, Siu Lan, for creating so many lasting memories. 

Siu Lan

And THANK YOU to my many friends who made it out on opening night to support me and my work, and THANK YOU to the many more who wanted to come but couldn't make it.  ALL OF YOU have shown your support in ways big and small.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!  Please check back to see more photos in the next day or so!

Opening Night Photos - Remixed: A Kaleidoscope of Plastic

These are just a few photos from the opening night of my exhibition.  Please stop back in a day or two to see more!

 

 

Starting the Conversation: Using Art to Connect

I feel gratified that I've been able to turn my current interest into a vehicle that facilitates a connection between and among so many people.  To me, the best part about my solo exhibition Remixed:  A Kaleidoscope of Plastic (on view through September 7, 2018) has been the opportunity to have conversations with people about my art - why I do it and what I hope to achieve.

Here are just a few of the comments people have shared with me:

"I'm from South America.  Here in the states, we think of plastic bags as trash.  In South America, the women covet them.  They think of them as gold.  They collect every single plastic bag they can find, saving them until they have enough to weave market baskets and containers."

"Wonderful!  You have combined art with activism!  You are an artivist!"

"Some time ago, mom gave me a bag that was made entirely out of plastic bags from the 1970's.   I don't know where it is now, but I'm gonna go home and find it!"

 "I recycle plastic, too.  I make mats for the homeless out of plastic bags."

"Pretty and clever, with an important message."

"So inspirational and such a timely message."

"You have brought a very considered awareness to the plastic issue." 

And perhaps my favorite comment:

 "I've never seen anything like this!!!  Can I take some pictures?!"

Ultimately, bringing greater awareness to the plastic problem is half the battle.  The more we pay attention to it, the likelier we are to take action to do something about it.

Check back soon for more photos of opening night!

Press, BioCT STE(A)M: Arts and Design in Science Exhibition

I am thrilled to be mentioned in this press release (see below)!:
 
 

BioCT holds Summer Kick-Off at in Groton

The weather cooperated beautifully at BioCT’s 3rd Annual Summer Kick-Off, held at The Innovation Commons in Groton June 12. “We were thrilled to see so many members, colleagues, and friends at the event,” said Dawn Hocevar, president and CEO of BioCT.

The evening started out with the first-ever BioCT STE[A]M: Arts and Design in Science Exhibition, featuring scientists who are artists or artists who love science from around the state.

One of the artists, Marsha Borden, said, “The entire art exhibition looked great last night!  I especially appreciated the installation of my piece. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to get that up on the wall. But it looked perfect,” she said, referring to her Trashy Coral piece made entirely of recycled plastic bags.

At 5 pm a commemorative plaque was unveiled, thanking Connectictut’s Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and Pfizer for making the incubator/co-working space at The Commons possible. Pfizer donated the building and DECD funded the buildout.

“Thank you to Pfizer for your continued efforts to give back to the Connecticut bioscience community, and thank you to Governor Malloy and Commissioner Smith for your dedication to growing bioscience in Connecticut,” Hocevar said. “We also want to thank Susan Froshauer, former president and CEO of CURE, for all her efforts, dedication, and hard work bringing The Commons to fruition." 

Trashy Coral Reef

I'm so happy my Coral Reef has found a new home at Bio CT Innovation Commons, a lab, office, and event space in Southeast Coastal CT.  The call was for scientifically-themed art, and my piece turned out to be a perfect fit.  I made Trashy Coral Reef solely with single-use plastic bags.  It features the vibrant colors and unique sculptural shapes seen in living coral reefs -  wrinkles, pipes, tentacles, anemone, coral, sponges, tubes, and seaweed - all sculpted out of plastic bags.

It was a pleasure to make and I'm so glad it will be displayed in their space through January 2019!

The opening on Tuesday night was an absolute dream.  Wonderful people, great networking, and excellent food!

The future of our oceans' coral reefs depends on our ability to protect them. My hope is to raise awareness of the problem of the plastic bag and its impact on our natural environment.  

Thank you for taking a look!  Stop back again soon!

A New Home for my Trashy Coral Reef

Greetings!

This baby has found a new home!!!  For the next six months, my handmade coral reef will be   included in the exhibit titled, STE(A)M:  Arts and Design in Science in Groton, CT.

I snapped a shot of the piece right after I loaded it in the back of my car:

I can't wait to see it displayed in the show!

Check back soon for more photos from the opening for the exhibit, which takes place in a few days.

Cheers,

Marsha

It's all in the details

Hello!

I want to share some of the detail work from my Time Passages piece.  I really enjoyed working on this, especially making the small fabric-backed key chains.  For each one, I used repurposed bits of fabric, including denim, gauze, calico cotton, and woolen sweaters.  I typed the labels on my old Smith-Corona manual typewriter, and then hand-embroidered each label to the fabric backing.

Each key was individually attached to chicken wire with a small clip.  I didn't count the keys but there had to be well over 200 of them.

Here are some close-ups:

Thanks for peeking!  Stop back soon.

Marsha

Capturing Time

Hello!

Once again this year, I participated in the Leonardo Challenge at Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, CT.  Each year, artists are invited to create artwork around a certain theme, with proceeds of sold work going directly to the museum's programs.

This year's theme was Capturing Time.  The challenge was to capture the markers of time that give it meaning.  Time is the most commonly used noun in the English language and yet it is elusive.  Clocks and calendars tell time, but rarely its meaning.  Consider the cast off watches too precious to abandon that inhabit the depths of drawers and still remember the last minute and hour of their service.  Consider the lines on a door frame that your grandmother marked atop your head each year to remember your growing.  Consider the daughters of time:  Anticipation and Flight that stretch and compress experience.  Consider colors that change in the first light of dawn or the last ray of dusk.

For my project, I repurposed hundreds of metal keys that I gathered over time.  Many of the keys came from a local retirement community.  Others were given to me by neighbors and friends.   To me, each key represented space, time, ownership, freedom, authority, hopes, and dreams.  Collectively, the keys symbolized beginnings, endings, and the passage of time.

In addition to arranging the keys on the frame, I created several hand-sewn and embroidered key chains, each designating a certain place, location, or desire. 

I really enjoyed participating this year.  And the best part is that my piece sold!  I'm very proud of that...and of the fact that all of the proceeds from the sale go to further the museum's programs.

Please stop back again to visit my blog!  I will be posting some detail shots of this work, including close-ups of the key chains that were so much fun to make.

See you soon,

Marsha

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Hello Again, Readers!

It seems as if I've been tracking a certain theme these past few weeks, that of plastic pollution and its impact on our environment.  Did you know that each year, Americans use 380 billion plastic shopping bags?  It's estimated that only 5% of these are recycled.  That means they end up in oceans where turtles, albatross and other sea creatures mistake them for jellyfish. 

Last month, I worked on a piece that was picked up for publishing by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven in the April issue of their monthly publication The Arts Paper.

You can see it here on page 16:  https://issuu.com/artscouncil9/docs/the_arts_paper__april_2018_.

And also here!

This was a fairly lengthy project, which involved weaving strips of plastic bag yarn through 1/2 inch holes in a 17 by 23 inch piece of spray-painted metal mesh.  Sounds like fun, right?!

Here's what the process looked like:

I followed a needlepoint pattern for each of the letters, weaving in and out of the mesh to form them.  It took forever, but I was pleased with the result.

Happy Reducing/Reusing/Recycling!

Marsha