I will be the first to admit that I know very little about my muse but I went with my gut and chose colors that seemed to resonate her Mexican heritage. Because she is seen as a cult figure to many, I also chose to give her a pair of gossamer-style wings and a crown made of rays from the sun. As I worked on my 2"x2" piece of Stampbord, I felt like she was coming to life. Unfortunately, the metallic gold of her wings does not come through on the scan of the piece. There is a small shadow box frame that is ready and waiting for her so you may see her soon on the auction block at ebay.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Go Where the Spirit Moves You
I've been working up an idea for a needle felted art piece and finally had some time today to dedicate to finding the focal image that I wanted. After about two hours of searching, I just didn't find what I was looking for. It is so frustrating when things just don't work. So I decided to take a tour of my studio and see what caught my eye. About a week ago, I got some new rubber stamps and one in particular has been calling to me since they came -- an image of Frida Kahlo. I have been working with Stampbord a lot lately because of my design team work at ILove2Create.com (because that is the technique for the April kit), so I decided to continue on that creative path with my inspiration, Frida Kahlo. 
I will be the first to admit that I know very little about my muse but I went with my gut and chose colors that seemed to resonate her Mexican heritage. Because she is seen as a cult figure to many, I also chose to give her a pair of gossamer-style wings and a crown made of rays from the sun. As I worked on my 2"x2" piece of Stampbord, I felt like she was coming to life. Unfortunately, the metallic gold of her wings does not come through on the scan of the piece. There is a small shadow box frame that is ready and waiting for her so you may see her soon on the auction block at ebay.
I will be the first to admit that I know very little about my muse but I went with my gut and chose colors that seemed to resonate her Mexican heritage. Because she is seen as a cult figure to many, I also chose to give her a pair of gossamer-style wings and a crown made of rays from the sun. As I worked on my 2"x2" piece of Stampbord, I felt like she was coming to life. Unfortunately, the metallic gold of her wings does not come through on the scan of the piece. There is a small shadow box frame that is ready and waiting for her so you may see her soon on the auction block at ebay.
When the vision becomes reality
I'm sure most people can't understand my ecstasy over my new reversible tote bag made from a placemat. I think it is not the item itself but when you have a vision of something that you want to make and it turns out even better than the original vision -- that is why I am feeling euphoric. So here it is...my reversible tote. I'd love to know what you think so please leave me a comment. I will be sporting this new tote to my Artist's Way group meeting on Sunday. You can see that the book and my morning pages notebook fit perfectly along with my wallet.
So now that one vision is completed, I plan to work on my needlefelted collage. Today is the search for the perfect focal image and transfering to my waiting piece of canvas. Stay tuned for further developments on THIS VISION!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Placemat Crafts
Last year I had the inspiration to use some placemats to make a window valance. I was looking for a valance when I found placemats that coordinated with my new shower curtain. My friend Dayna was with me at the time and looked at me pretty strange but knew I would make it work - and I did.
About a month ago I saw directions for making a purse using a placemat. I was very intrigued by it but forgot about it until I saw a Target ad that had a gorgeous placemat. As soon as I saw it I began to obsess on making it into a tote bag, but not just a tote bag but a reversible tote bag. Well, I finished it tonight and am so psyched by how it turned out. I will take some pics tomorrow to post.
We are heading into spring break so I'm not sure how cooperative the boys will be with my artistic time. Hopefully, I can do the felted project that I have been thinking about lately...stay tuned.
About a month ago I saw directions for making a purse using a placemat. I was very intrigued by it but forgot about it until I saw a Target ad that had a gorgeous placemat. As soon as I saw it I began to obsess on making it into a tote bag, but not just a tote bag but a reversible tote bag. Well, I finished it tonight and am so psyched by how it turned out. I will take some pics tomorrow to post.
We are heading into spring break so I'm not sure how cooperative the boys will be with my artistic time. Hopefully, I can do the felted project that I have been thinking about lately...stay tuned.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Gave myself a kick in the butt
For the last few days I have been in a bit of a funk, both creatively and with everyday life. I've been following the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and when I was writing my morning pages this morning, I realized that I needed to get angry with myself in order to get myself moving forward. I didn't actually devote any time to working on my art, but I did get a lot done which has felt really good. I've gotten a clearer picture of what I want out of life and have now mapped out a path to begin the journey.
I have been really focused on the changes going on at The Scrapbooking Society alot over the past few months. Yesterday was the big day that the I Love 2 Create went live. There are still some glitches to be worked out, but it is looking great. I am so excited about the kits that Melynda is offering in the store. She has always been such an inspiration and the Scrapbook Society monthly kits have given me the confidence to explore so many different avenues with my art. Right now I am eagerly awaiting the April kit that will feature Stampbord as the technique. This is one of those products that I fell in love with it the moment I saw it (plus I got to play with it at CHA). Even though I bought some after returning from CHA, I am still really excited to get it in the kit. This weekend will be dedicated to work with the kit and making the samples for in the gallery (at least when I'm not driving the boys to soccer games).
Tomorrow I plan to spend some time in my studio so hopefully I will have some fresh artwork to post tomorrow night.
I have been really focused on the changes going on at The Scrapbooking Society alot over the past few months. Yesterday was the big day that the I Love 2 Create went live. There are still some glitches to be worked out, but it is looking great. I am so excited about the kits that Melynda is offering in the store. She has always been such an inspiration and the Scrapbook Society monthly kits have given me the confidence to explore so many different avenues with my art. Right now I am eagerly awaiting the April kit that will feature Stampbord as the technique. This is one of those products that I fell in love with it the moment I saw it (plus I got to play with it at CHA). Even though I bought some after returning from CHA, I am still really excited to get it in the kit. This weekend will be dedicated to work with the kit and making the samples for in the gallery (at least when I'm not driving the boys to soccer games).
Tomorrow I plan to spend some time in my studio so hopefully I will have some fresh artwork to post tomorrow night.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
How quickly a month can pass
I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for over a month. What a bad, BAD blogger I am. Hopefully, I will be building this into my routine, just as I have been making more time for making art. I finally got to play with the Daylab last week and did a couple of image transfers. These I did according to the instructions although I decided to use cold press watercolor paper for the image transfers so there is much more texture to these. I'm still trying to decide if I prefer the look of the cold press paper versus the smoother hot press paper.
This is a picture I took at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco
This is a picture of the State Capital building in Madison.
Even though you separate the polaroid paper early when doing image transfers, the pictures were both developed enough to allow me to try my hand at emulsion lifts. Thursday night, I had time (and the distilled water I needed) to try it for the first time. I am in love with this technique. I did both of the same images but using hot press watercolor paper for the base.
Emulsion Lift of Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco) photo
Emulsion Lift of State Capital (Madison) photo
That was the end of my playing with the Daylab for now. I want to read more about the various techniques that can be done with Polaroid film. I got a book that was recommended by Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger during a chat at The Scrapbooking Society. The name of the book is Polaroid Manipulations by Kathleen Carr. I have skimmed through it and found so much that fascinated me that I need a weekend to dedicate to reading it. Maybe when the boys have spring break...
Yesterday, I did get a chance to play in the studio. I needed to make 9 ATCs for a swap at The Scrapbooking Society. I decided to try a new background technique called paint scraping. I felt like such a kid swooshing paint across the paper! I love the results and plan to make some more (including one that I plan to use for the background on my blog). Anyway, I ended up making 10 ATCs (the number you can make from an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock. This is a scan of the one that didn't make the cut for the swap (I didn't get the word "Easter" aligned where I wanted it).
And with that, I say goodnight....
This is a picture I took at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco
This is a picture of the State Capital building in Madison.
Even though you separate the polaroid paper early when doing image transfers, the pictures were both developed enough to allow me to try my hand at emulsion lifts. Thursday night, I had time (and the distilled water I needed) to try it for the first time. I am in love with this technique. I did both of the same images but using hot press watercolor paper for the base.
Emulsion Lift of Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco) photo
Emulsion Lift of State Capital (Madison) photo
That was the end of my playing with the Daylab for now. I want to read more about the various techniques that can be done with Polaroid film. I got a book that was recommended by Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger during a chat at The Scrapbooking Society. The name of the book is Polaroid Manipulations by Kathleen Carr. I have skimmed through it and found so much that fascinated me that I need a weekend to dedicate to reading it. Maybe when the boys have spring break...
Yesterday, I did get a chance to play in the studio. I needed to make 9 ATCs for a swap at The Scrapbooking Society. I decided to try a new background technique called paint scraping. I felt like such a kid swooshing paint across the paper! I love the results and plan to make some more (including one that I plan to use for the background on my blog). Anyway, I ended up making 10 ATCs (the number you can make from an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock. This is a scan of the one that didn't make the cut for the swap (I didn't get the word "Easter" aligned where I wanted it).
And with that, I say goodnight....
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