On October 29th at 10 AM, 6 crafters joined Brenda Calnan for the first class of the ” For the Love of Crafts” craft club. Hosted by Isabel Schober, we had a lively 4½ hours of crafting and conversation.
Brenda and her husband have moved into the area, along with their dogs and cats. With plans to build a house, Brenda needed an outlet to relieve the stress of house building in Mexico – or anywhere!. And with her many talents, she thought it would be a great way to meet people and use her skills.
Our first class was to paint a “Mandela Message Stone”. We were given a list of items to bring to class — simple things like toothpicks, paper clips, Q-tips, Bobbie pins, cloths for clean up, and an apron for messy me. Brenda provided paints, brushes, sealer, and various other painting tools. Wet paper towels are one of the most important items for this class. There is a fee for each class that will depend on what the class is creating.
We started out by spray painting a 4″ wooden disk and a stone. While these items dried, we worked on making our tools to paint. We partially opened a paper clip. A plastic pin was inserted into an eraser on the end of a pencil, another with a tack. All tools were numbered and we dipped each one into white paint and placed each dot on a cardboard, so that the tool and dot corresponded.
To start, we placed a large dot in the middle of the painted disk. We continued to create dots of 
various sizes around the main dot. Different colors and sizes created different designs. As you can see, everyone’s disk and stone is different. Everyone joined in with ideas and supported one another. If you think placing a dot on a flat surface is easy, wait until you try it on a stone!
I was pleased with what I created. I am not a good crafter with paint and prided myself on not getting paint on my shirt. Brenda, who did not paint a stone, had more paint on herself because she was so helpful to us with our creations.
This was a fun class with great conversation, a light lunch, and a new craft idea for me to try. Leslie, one of the crafters, had found a Mandela Stone on her walk one day. Her stone had an inspirational message on the back and on that particular day, it was something that made her feel wonderful. The person who left the stone on the road in Akumal Playa was from New Jersey. We didn’t have time to finish our stones and put the message on the back. As soon as my two creations dry well, I will add my messages.
Brenda is planning an advanced class for the Mandela Stone, and will be teaching the next class on using shells with beads, glitter and stones, turning them into holiday ornaments. If you are interested, you can contact Brenda at [email protected] If anyone would like to lead a class in a particular craft, please let Brenda know.
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