Embroidery by Ashley Wong.The Globe and Mail
The Globe Craft Club is an event series and Facebook group where feature writer Jana G. Pruden (and special guests) teach you new craft skills live online. Over the past few months, our group of crafters have cooked and baked (ricotta, homemade crackers, scones), cut and pasted (collages, notebooks, paper flowers) and stirred (and stirred and stirred batches of soap).
Thank you to the readers who have joined our Facebook group and crafted with us during our livestream events. See below for our favourite readers photos of the projects they’ve tackled so far.
Globe Craft Club: Coming June 22 – tie dying with TikTokers Will and Sana Saleh
If you make any Craft Club projects, tag us on Instagram (@globeandmail) or Twitter (@globeandmail) with the hashtag #globeCraftClub or send us an e-mail – we would love to see what you created.
Craft Club Lesson One: Making cheese at home
In our first livestream, Edmonton chef and food educator Cindy Lazarenko taught how to make ricotta cheese and homemade crackers (see the recipes).
Here’s what you made
Brenda Forbes said she “loved making these crackers” to pair with the delicious ricotta.
Brenda Forbes
Brenda Forbes
Sheree Yusishen sent in her spin on Lazarenko’s cracker recipe. “My crackers loosely followed the recipe. They have tart cherries, currants, macadamia nuts, pumpkins seeds, ground chia, and rosemary.”
Sheree Yusishen
She also used the ricotta for a flatbread pizza made with figs and prosciutto
Sheree Yusishen
Craft Club Lesson Two: How to make soap
In our second livestream, Natalie Pepin, who teaches heritage skills and Indigenous arts through her business, ReSkilled Life, taught soap-making (see the recipe).
Here’s what you made
Jay Laird called soap-making a “new obsession” after crafting these bars made with lemongrass and lavender.
Jay Laird
Stacy Cattran’s entire family got involved in making soap. “My chemists enjoyed making soap tonight and look forward to the unmolding in a couple of weeks.” The Cattran clan used olive and coconut oil, and tried oatmeal and essential oils as mix-ins.
Stacy Cattran
Suzanne Melanson added a swirl of activated charcoal to her batch of soap.
Suzanne Melanson
Craft Club Lesson Three: How to make a collage
Scott Nolan, a Winnipeg songwriter and producer who has been making collages throughout the pandemic, shared his tips during our third livestream.
Here’s what you made
Claudine Gervais sent in this floral cat walk. “The cat and the model had the same energy in my collage. Real-life cat wanted to model, too.”
Claudine Gervais
Claudine Gervais
Shellie Suter shared this collage, also cat-themed.
Shellie Suter
Michele Rule spent an “hour of whimsical fun” making this collage full of felines. (Cats: the unofficial mascot of the Globe Craft Club.)
Michele Rule
Crafter Ted Bravakis sent in this “urban jungle.”
Ted Bravakis
Craft Club Lesson Four: Hand embroidery
Writer and journalist Neda Toloui-Semnani gave a lesson in hand embroidery for our fourth livestream.
Here’s what you made
Heidi Hartmann said that after a “bazillion” French knots, she was able to complete these embroidered lilacs in a mason jar.
Heidi Hartmann
Mari Sasano embroidered a photo of her cat for her sister.
Mari Sasano
Danielle Paradis continued the presence of cats in Craft Club with this piece.
Danielle Paradis
Craft Club Lesson Five: Notebooks
Toronto-based artisanal notebook maker Catalina Sanchez taught how to make handmade notebooks using a handful of simple tools.
Here’s what you made
Patricia Bench got adventurous with her pair of notebooks – a new hobby she finds “addictive.”
Patricia Bench
Craft Club Lesson Six: Hand Lettering
Danielle Sweeney, the Toronto-based artist behind Design in Words, led Craft Club’s lesson in hand lettering.
Here’s what you made
Penney Place combined multiple crafts into one, hand lettering on the cover of a handmade notebook and finishing it off with a paper flower.
Penney Place
Craft Club Lesson Seven: Paper Flowers
Chantal Larocque, the New Brunswick artist behind Paper and Peony, taught attendees how to make a multicoloured paper flower bouquet, entitled Fleurs on Canvas.
Here’s what you made
Rose McCraney used a purple palette for her bouquet of paper flowers.
Rose McCraney
Gail Bebee potted a multicoloured vase of flowers.
Gail Bebee
Craft Club Lesson Eight: Watercolour painting
Ashley Gayle and Vanessa Ansah of artistsonline.ca taught how to use watercolours to paint a flower bouquet.
Here’s what you made
Stacy Cattran’s children each created their own interpretation of the floral design.
Stacy Cattran
Peggy Lee painted a masterpiece of her dog, Ben, using different shades for her portrait.
Peggy Lee
Craft Club Lesson Nine: Miniatures
Tom Brown, a Calgary artist and miniaturist, taught how to make a tiny bowl and wooden spoon for our ninth Craft Club.
Here’s what you made
Scott Gilmore and his daughter, Sable, created a set of utensils to complement their miniature bowl.
Scott Gilmore
Patricia Bench shared her miniatures, achieving the trademark shine for the bowl.
Patricia Bench
Jay Laird had to go back for “several helpings” of pancakes and bacon, using his miniature as a breakfast plate.
Jay Laird
Craft Club Lesson 10: Baking scones
Raufikat Oyawoye-Salami, Season 4 winner of The Great Canadian Baking Show, joined Craft Club to teach how to make lemon, white chocolate and cranberry scones. See the recipe.
Here’s what you made
Ingrid Rae Doucet not only crafted what seem to be delicious scones, but staged them perfectly.
Ingrid Rae Doucet
Anne Ungar made an attempt at dairy-free scones, seen on the left, alongside the original recipe, seen on the right – both were “a success” while meeting her family’s dietary needs.
Anne Ungar
Roger Delbaere baked up a batch of flawless scones.
Roger Delbaere
How to participate: Join our Facebook group to keep up to date on our next events, and if you make any of these projects, tag us on Instagram (@globeandmail) or Twitter (@globeandmail) with the hashtag #globeCraftClub.
