Magic Medicine Monday

My Magic Medicine Monday came a day early this week, in the form of SwapORamaRama. I was in DIY workshop room where attendees could alter their clothing and/or make accessories. There were outposts for decorating shoes and handbags with everything from buttons to glitter, sewing on felted pieces to customize clothes, quick crocheting a long scarf from t-shirts and crazy yarns, making a book bag from jeans and a tee shirt, unknitting found sweaters to reknit into shawls -- and my Magic Medicine table where found objects were transformed into accessories and art.

It was a great day of creativity, and I had the opportunity to make things at some of the other tables, which was soooo satisfying. This dynamic of being in a big group where everyone is making things is extraordinary. Usually when I am presenting workshops, I'm too involved in assisting everyone in their creations. But I made a conscious effort to simply introduce the materials and basic premise, and then step away -- which gave me the time and energy to explore a little on my own. There were only 2 people who were not able to just jump in and get into the groove . Normally I would have exerted a ton of energy to get them going, exhausting myself in the process. But in my quest to do less these days, I just allowed them to have their own experience, which gave me space to have mine.

So maybe this is the week to explore fiber arts -- especially if you've never gone there before. As I was telling someone yesterday, you can often use skills and methods from one discipline and reinvent them for another. For instance the idea of sewing with copper wire, using holes already existing in found metals, where you can't just stick a needle through the material.

Knitting help has tutorials for basic crochet. You can find oversized needles at Michael's and other craft stores. Email me and I'll put you in touch with Quincy Colman for instructions on how to make the fabulous multi-material scarf she's wearing in the pic above.

And for more inspiration, take a look at multi-media artist Blanka Amezkua's Bronx Blue Bedroom Project.

May your day be filled with Magic Medicine.