Great White North

CREATING soft,

patterned pillows with a freehand machine-~quilting tech-

‘nique ~— fike thie “Great White North” pillow — is fast becoming a popufar new trond. Find out about classes at Albee’s Sewing Centre, 526-1341.

‘Specialty sites created by experts

> From previous page

available for purchase. _», However there are a few great sites out there. One of the more compre- “hensive sites on recreation, crafts. and. hobbies is at About.com. Actually, About.com: :is a mega-site : sl, of a plethora of specialty sites created by -experts-in their field of interest. To check out the list ., -OF hobbies and crafts go to: ~ <http://home.about. oom hobbies». There, you'll find links to sites on arts and crafts, amateur. photography, the business of arts and crafts, bas- ketry, beadwork, candle and soap. making, cartooning, ceramic arts, jewelry making, - knitting, painting, quilting, woodworking and lots more. Each of the sites offers pro- - ject ideas, information about

supplies and tips on doing it right. Some have chat rooms, so you can talk to others work- ing on the same types of crafts, exchange ideas and offer help.

Xpertsite.com is another huge site which offers as much information as it docs advertis- ing. The twist here is that if you have a specific question Xpertsite.com will find an expert on the subject to answer it for you. The site is Jocated at <www.xpertsite. com».

Craf:s@Xpertsite.com offers: basketry, beading, clay, colouring, egg art, necdlecrafts, pottery, rubber stamping, scrapbooking and more.

A much smaller site, but one that offers instructions and photos for an assortment of projects is Etcetera, a biweekly webzine for artists and craftspersons. Although

See what's new ... beautiful spring fabric ...

exciting books tee

the webzine is prouuced by and located on the site of a bead shop, it offers plenty of inspiration free for the taking.

The site’s content: project ideas for adults and kids as well as helpful hints, is almost entirely provided by visitors to the site.

Try your hand at creatin Ice Drop earrings, pine bough decoration for scrapbooks and more, Midnight Reflections beaded necklace, gift baga- lopes, a quick Tin Cup neck- lace, wallpaper bookmarks and plenty more.

Find Etcetera at <http://www.cebeads.com/ Webzine/>.

There are literally hundreds of thousands more sites related to arts and crafts, and some- where out there you are sure to find a few that you'll want to bookmark.

Have fun!

Tur Crore Sxuep 3066 Highland Sivad,, North Vancouver

A415 West 10th Ave., Vancouver wew.theclothshep.com

990-1325 224-1325

Learn the craft of decorative painting

Jo-Anne Strub Contributing Writer

DECORATIVE paint- ing is a visual art that dates back 20,000 years — when people painted on the walls of their cay

Tt was its height in Europe during the 18th and 19th cen-

ies. In Scandinavia it was net uncommon for amateur artists to decorate the entire interior of buildings in exchange for room and board. Of course royalty and the church were able co pay profes- sional artists to decorate their dwellings.

Decorative painting came to North America with settlers in the form of painted chests and other functional ites.

Tinsmiths discovered that painted items sold better than unpainted items and that the paint prevented rusting.

This is where “tole paint- ing” got its name: tole is French for sheet metal.

During the industrializa- tion period, interest in decora- tive painting declined as pcople had neither the time nor the inclination to pursue the hobby.

Today however, decorative painting is one of the most popular hobbies around. While European influences are still evident and popular in some designs, American Folk Art styles developed by artists such as Charles Wysocki and Rufus Porter seem to be more popu- lar on the North Shore.

One of the beauties of dec- orative painting is that you don’t have to be an artist to pursue this craft. It is a learned skill — like learning how to write. Instead of learning to use a pencil or pen, you learn to use different kinds of paint brushes.

The designs are copied from patterns which are avail- able in books, magazines and as individual pattern packets. While the majority of the pat- terns available come from the United States, there are several

VISIT FA

Canadian designers whose pat- terns are growing in popularity on the international market.

As decorative puinting has evolved, the variety of surfaces to paint has increased. With special paint additives, water- based paints can be applied to fabric, candles, tin, glass and ceramic tiles.

North Shore Craft Affairs is a decorative painting specialty retail outlet on the North Shore. It t offers classes in ¢ deco- rative painting for the beginner to advanced “artist. the beginners’ class is a four-week course in which students fearn the basic skills, tech- niques and termi- nology. Graduates of the course (everyone gradu- ates!) are encour- aged to continue with classes while they develop their confidence and creativity. The next beginners’ class begins March 27.

Other classes offer opportunities to paint designs on a variety of wood- en furniture pieces and accessory items. Onc of the unique items cur- rently on display at

the store is a lighthouse- shaped keyholder on which a beautiful tall ship is painted. The class to create this piece starts on March 8 during the day or in the evening.

There’s also space available in the kids’ class on Sunday, March 19, in which they'll be learning to paint a bird house.

— Jo-Anne Strub is the owner of North Shere Craft Affairs, located at Park and Tilford Centre. Call 986-3138 for more information or check out the Web site at <www pinc.net/nscar.

NEWS photo Paul McGreth

DECORATIVE painting has been popular for thousands of years, and is an easily leamed skill.

2552 Marine Drive, West Vancouver. gasaaee

RICLAND

FOR ALL OF YOUR

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Large selection of fabrics, drapery, patterns, Jace trims, sewing notions, bridal, graduation, . and sew much more!