small bits and pieces…

I have spent a great deal of my time carving stamps this past week.  I have a large piece of  “the pink stuff” that I mentioned in the post below…but I’m saving it for when my carving improves.  I carved more stamps yesterday but haven’t taken photos of those yet.  I’m showing the first ones I carved.  I couldn’t believe it, our local Wal Mart ran out of the white erasers. Friday, I made a trip to our Staples (an hour away) and they had white erasers in a pack of four but I thought they were way expensive.  I did purchase  two packs and hope that WM will get some again soon…I mean….why pay over 8o cents per eraser when I can buy one  for sixty-one cents? 

I added more to the background that is in the post below.  Only one journal page in a week?  That’s all I could squeeze in this week.  I used lots of regular colored pencils, acrylic paints,   some spray paint, and some poster pens….yep, I threw everything but the kitchen sink at it   And after all that, I liked the  background best! 

I also finished another quilt block.  When I finish the quilt block I’m working on…I will have sixteen completed blocks.  I’m getting close to having enough blocks to put them together.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here we go…already Day TWO of the new year.  I didn’t make any resolutions this year.  I have never been one to make resolutions…but a new year is a time to reflect on what you need to change.  Reflections have been made

I got out my embroidery quilt blocks this past week…now that the holidays are over, I plan to spend more time making new blocks.  If you want to see the ones I made last year…go here .  I have two ready to sew together on my sewing machine and then I can do further hand stitching on it.  I am thinking of taking  Workshops being offered by Alma Stoller called STITCHED.  I need to make up my mind because the class started yesterday.  There are twenty different fabric artists doing workshops and they are all open to you after you join and you can delve into the ones that appeal to you first. 

BTW, the journaling workshop by Effy Wild, that I mentioned in the previous post,  is very good.  I picked up some tips from the first two videos.  Like I said, it doesn’t cost you anything (unless you want to donate and she doesn’t push you to do so).   Here are two journal pages from last week.  The face started on a sheet of black notebook paper…at one point I was ready to toss it in the garbage but I kept working on it.  The other page was named “Robot Chicken”  by my DH

Staying busy…

I’m staying busy but do not have a lot to show for it.  I have been making another journal… not the cardboard one…because I agreed to take part in a journal round robin.  My first round robin…more about that later.  I do have some pages from my IJ to post.  I picked up two old house plan booklets at the last library sale.  I wish I’d gotten more of them now.  I’ve found that I like to draw faces and doodle over the house plans.  Two different spreads show some of the mini faces I have scribbled. 

 

 

 

“Every Oak tree started out

as a couple of nuts

who

decided

to stand

their ground.”

                                                                                                                                                                               

 unknown

 

 

Sweet Adele – Strathmore Journal

My FTB journal is finished now, so, on to other things.  I have been working on Carla Sonheim’s class this week. I’m behind on ICADs for this week. I’ll  post some over the upcoming weekend.  Here’s a page from my Strathmore Journal.  Adele was one of the first names to pop into my head.  The name Adele means noble.  I started with a watercolor background.  I used white gesso and painted a few patches all over the page.  Then I used my acrylic and India inks to draw the face and swirls, etc…it’s not easy drawing with the dropper.  I used three color of inks…raw umber, cherry red, and aqua.  I finished with more lines with my Sharpie pen.

Ink Faces

Someone asked about “Faces 101.”  It is part of Carla Sonheim’s Dog Days of Summer, online art camp for kids and adults.  It’s a three week workshop….last week was “Imaginary Creatures” and this week is “Faces 101.”  Next week will be “Junk Mail Artist’s Book.”  I have some creatures partially completed but I will probably wait to finish them after next week.  I’m trying to keep up with this week’s assignments.  I’m having the most fun doing faces this week.  If you want fast paced lessons…Carla keeps one moving along   Here are some ink drawings that I made yesterday. I didn’t have any black ink so I had to use some India inks and Liquitex inks:

Mail Art – Postcards

I finished four postcards this morning. I love doing this size art (4 inches by 6 inches).  

  

 

I had a nice surprise in the mail last week…my friend Janet sent me a beautiful card and an ATC. I should have scanned the card…here is the ATC:

 

Painted Papers

I have been working on some painted papers the past few days.  I almost hate to tear them up to use for collage fodder. I used mostly acrylic paint, some inks, and my foam stamps.

I got a new book this week, Real Life Journals-Designing & Using Handmade Books, by Gwen Diehn.  This is the third book by her that I have purchased from Amazon.  They are all great… I also discovered that she has a  blog now…only up since the first of this year.  Check it out here.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

“Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”  – Voltaire

Floating – Art Journal

Yesterday, I departed from drawing and painting faces.  This page has many layers of paint and ink.  Lettuce Adirondack Reinkers is my new favorite ink.  I used bottle caps for stamping, plus, some of the foam stamps I made recently.  I am fairly happy with this even though I broke a cardinal rule in art—no line should split the page directly in the center of the composition.  It just happened that way.

On another note:  I have discovered how to make perfect yogurt…love my YoLife yogurt maker!  You put a half-gallon (2 quarts) of cold milk in a large pan, stir in 1 cup of instant dry milk. Stir that with a whisk.  Then sprinkle one packet of unflavored gelatin over the milk but do not stir.  Come back in about five minutes and stir or whisk very vigorously.  I warm the milk slightly.  The book that came with my yogurt maker says that you can use milk right out of the frig that  is allowed to reach room temperature…I like to warm the milk it helps dissolve the milk and gelatin, I think.  You have to be careful and not get the milk too hot…I sometimes let it cool awhile because I’m paranoid I’ll kill the starter:)  Last, you add  one half cup of yogurt starter(some purchased plain yogurt with all the good cultures in it) and stir that until well mixed.  I put the yogurt mixture into two wide-mouth quart canning jars and another smaller jar. Place jars into the yogurt maker and  in 8-12 hours the yogurt is ready. You can use homemade yogurt as starter for the next batch….up to 5 consecutive generations.  It’s like Greek yogurt….nice and thick.   OK…that’s probably more than you wanted to know about yogurt and how to make it. 

Mysterious Woman – Art Journal

Another page in my Strathmore Journal.  At first, I glued some of my painted phone book pages down but I didn’t like that so it was painted over with paints and inks.  Then more collage on top.  The face is two different magazine pictures that I fit together to compose a new face.  I altered the magazine pieces with more paints and inks.   The hair was a big red bow used in an  advertising campaign that was in most of the fashion magazines a few years ago.  I like the quirky look it gives to the composition.  The butterfly is an altered wallpaper decal .  The collaged Greek writing is from a text book about ancient civilizations.  I used a Stabilo marking pencil to give the collage pieces more depth.

Moleskine #23

This spread started with pale blue over- painted with white acrylic paint.  I dripped some red acyrlic ink down the pages and  glued down some collage pieces.  Next, I used my Stabilo marking pencil and used water on the lines to give it a watercolor look.  I used  black and white Signo pens to add further embellishment.  I have  several  “no postage necessary” cards that I have been saving…I’m going to see how many different ways I can incorporate them in my journal pages.