If you would like to find out how to make a little gift book and some other gifts out of things you already may have around the house, then check out the link below.  The classes are being offered by Suzette Morrow who is an artist and an educator.  There is also a video there that explains the classes in more detail.  Each class is being offered for only $5.  I made one of the little books this afternoon…it’s very easy to do as she shows you step by step how to do it in a video.  The book can also be made on a smaller scale and be worn as a necklace.  It’s so cute!!!  Go here to find out more about her classes:    http://theartstudio.ning.com/

I was going to call this “serendipity” but somehow “making discoveries” had a better fit.  One definition of serendipity is “ making a chance discovery.”  Other meanings are blessing, good luck  or happenstance. 

This piece was done on cardboard…a wonderful canvas…didn’t cost anything and it’s a way of recycling.  I started with some collage papers and colored india ink.  I kind of lost most of the collage papers but it you look closely, you can see a musical note or two on the jar the woman is holding.  Also down in the lover right hand corner is some paper with dots shining through.  

Here’s another page in my gut art book.  I was doodling on the page with my woodless graphite pencil…looked down and there she was.  I could also see the beginning of the big Tulip.  I refined the drawing and then used acrylic paints to “color” it in.  I am loving the new paint color (for me)…transparent viridian green.  I also used some collage papers on the Tulip.

I saw another face in my gut art book today.  After spreading the paint around, I could see the eyes first, and so, here she is.  This is the last week of the class but Mystele is planning to keep the class going through part of November.  I really have learned a lot from her as well as some of the other artists in the class.

I had a piece of watercolor that I was using to spread leftover paint all over it.  I picked it up the other night when I was cleaning up my art space and I saw an eye,  I quickly drew in another one with a paint brush and black paint.  Then I drew the nose with the brush.  I have problems drawing lips so I thought I should use a pencil and draw one on first but when I started to draw with the brush, I could see my pencil line.  It worked like it is so I didn’t change anything.  I had a battle with myself not to add to this…the only other thing I did was define the head-piece she is wearing. 

I finished another page in my gut art book.  The base was an old dictionary page and I collaged some of my painted papers onto it.  I used layers of acrylic paint spreading it over the page with an old credit card.  Then I saw the beginning of her face and I took it from there.  If you look up beryl in the dictionary, it means either green or blue….blue-green.

We lost our beloved little girl Dalmatian last Friday.  She was a sweet little spirit and we miss her.  In an email that my hubby wrote to family members, he said:   “BeBe died quietly this morning around six thirty…ironically, I had steeled myself to take her to the vet today to have her put down…maybe she sensed that and decided to die on her own terms…she was a smart little girl…she was full of the life force till the end…just yesterday she was wolfing down Beggin’ Strips and scarfing up spaghetti “lick ‘em ups” off of my dinner plate…and even tho her heart was just not cooperating, she was still trying to play with Toby and would still trot down the stairs to do her business…she was a bright, shining doggie light and will be missed by many…RIP Bebe …eternal memory… “  She will be waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge.   

I haven’t finished any new art lately but I’m hoping to remedy that in the next few days.  Now on to this scrumptious sounding cake recipe I found today.  I may have to try this for Thanksgiving, if not before then.  I found it on About.com.  It is was on Stephanie Gallagher’s forum called “Cooking for Kids.”  If you were to go to about.com and put cooking for kids in the search box, I’m sure you can find her.  I put the link down at the end of the recipe.  Here is the recipe with a forward by Stephanie:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe

Pumpkin cake recipes don’t get much easier or tastier than this one. It starts with a yellow cake mix, so it’s easy enough for the kids to make all by themselves.

Apple butter is the secret ingredient that makes this pumpkin chocolate chip cake so moist and flavorful. It also makes this recipe lower in fat. Most pumpkin cake recipes use up to 1 cup of oil. This one has just 1/4 cup. Feel free to use whatever chocolate chips you like best. I prefer dark, but semisweet chips work well, too.

Prep Time: :10

Cook Time: :45

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow cake mix
• 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/2 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine the first eight ingredients (through vanilla extract) in a large bowl or the work bowl of an electric mixer. Using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer, beat on medium until ingredients are well-combined.
3. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool 15 minutes.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Stephanie’s blog:   http://kidscooking.about.com/b/

I completed a page in my gut art book last night.  The base is an advertisement card pulled from a fashion magazine and measures around five by seven inches.  I put collage papers down first, then covered them with acrylic paint.  I put several layers of paint down spreading it with an old credit card and drying it in between layers.   Next I looked for an image.  I could see the eyes first so I took it from there sketching in the rest of the face with a pencil.  Then I used a brush and swished on more paint and finished by using charcoal to add lines.

Here is another page in my gut art book. It went  fast and free…I started with a doodle and decided to develop it into a painting.  My new favorite paint color is thio violet.  It’s made by Grumbacher…their Academy Acrylic line of paint.  I love it!  It’s very affordable when compared to some other brands. I want to try some of the other colors.  I found it at Misterart and from reading the reviews about the paint, I decided to give it a try. Thio violet is difficult to find,  according to one of the reviewers.  I know that I have never seen it anywhere before. Dick Blick also has this line of paint but they do not offer as  many  colors there, plus,  I had to search to find it by putting the name of the paint in the search box at the top of their page.  Many artists love the Golden line of paint.  I have three small bottles of Golden paint and so far, I haven’t discovered what all the flap is about…maybe I haven’t used them often enough to know the difference?

Another busy week is drawing to an end.  I haven’t had as much time as I would have liked to work on my art this week.  We are in week two of Mystele’s Gut Art Class.  I finished another piece today.  We have assignments to go on “field trips” via the net.  I love doing this because it stretches our minds and informs us about various cultures, etc. and their art.  This week, one of the trips sent us to investigate various Native American pottery.  Another thing I particularly noticed this week was that most everything we looked at reminded me of autumn colors… or so,  it seemed to me.  This piece was done on a piece of tea box from my gut art book.  I used collage papers, black marker and layers of acrylics and Caran d’Ache crayons.