Create-A-Craft-A-Day

Wood Storage Unit Painting and Collage

2012-01-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

I found a 3 cubicle wood storage unit yesterday. I thought I'd collage it all, which might take a long time. So I decided to use up my 'older' paints before they dry up, and put a multicolor base coat on the shelves. It's a mix of acrylic paints and Gesso to make the coverage easier. I'm taking a short break because I was beginning to feel like a contortionist trying to bend over and paint inside each cubicle. I like it so far though. I think I will use one shelf for my journals and another for magazines. I haven't decided what to put in the last shelf nor do I know where to find spot for it in my apartment. I did realize I could use it horizontally or vertically, so since I'm not sure yet I'm going to paint every surface except the back. It's a fun one day project for a sunny day.This is my 1,111 posts. Cool.

Sweater Magic

2012-01-29T23:51:00.000-08:00

Today I raided the local Goodwill for sweaters to re-purpose into whimsical fairy coats. That is to say, I need to try coming up with a design and make one first. If that one comes out, who knows what the future will bring. I asked at Goodwill if clothing is washed first and she said they just hang it the way they receive it, so I'm washing everything on cold and delicate and drying them all on delicate. Anything that can't stand up to that will be set aside and used for something else. I can't expect my customers to want to dry clean their coats. So they have to be washable to be practical. I might have to find 3 models to wear the different sizes for photos. I'm happy I'll be keeping the sweaters out of the landfill for the time being. I also bought an embroidered jacket from India. It was marked 'dry clean only' but came out okay in the wash. It was marked $9.99 but there was a sale on green tagged items so I got it for half off. I'm not sure how many sweaters it takes to make a coat, but at least the 6 I got will be enough for the top half. I think $6. is a bit much to pay for a used sweater, so hopefully I can find some better deals at the swap meet or yard sales.My boyfriend bought some books too.I also went to Michaels and picked up 2 plastic storage bins for my square foot paintings and a wooden 3 cube unit for more storage for magazines or bins. It is bare wood so I think I will collage it. That should be fun. I stocked up on craft paint too. I try to buy it on sale to keep the costs down.

Magic Ball of Yarn

2012-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to finish my bulky knitted vest and realized my 'magic ball of yarn' had run out.A magic ball of yarn is made by taking a leftover bit of yarn and winding a ball; then when you reach the end, you tie it to another bit of yarn and wind that onto the ball. Each length can be from 1 yard to 20 yards long, more or less. You keep adding new colors until the ball is as big as you want. So with my new magic ball of yarn in hand, I'll use it as one of the 4 strands in this vest. So far I have one front panel and shoulder done, and now I'm working on the back. I thought I was much further along but I didn't realize the back part needed more rows added. I would say I'm 3/4 of the way through. I need to finish it while it's still winter. It's too warm for summer wear.

Valentine's Day is Sneaking Up on Us.

2012-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

I should work on Valentine's projects today. How quickly that holiday always sneaks up on me! I'm just not really in the mood for Valentine's Day until February, but if I want Valentine items in my shops, I have to have them ready, probably by Feb. 1 at the latest. That gives customers two weeks to buy and ship, which isn't a whole lot.

Chicken and Bee Cross Stitch

2012-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

In the last two days I've been working on some cross-stitch. I just finished a chicken and a bee and started on a cow design. It's like the slowest craft in the world. A person would starve doing cross-stitch for a living.
I'm using dark green cross-stitch fabric. I want to inset it into a wooden box or something.

Cast Iron Tortilla Press

2012-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

Today I was browsing Yardsellr and happened upon the link to export my Etsy listings directly to Yardsellr. Now why I couldn't find that button to save my life a few days ago I just don't know. Also, when my friend tried to migrate his, he said it took days for the listings to show up on Yardsellr, whereas mine showed up almost instantly.

Today I was telling my boyfriend that I wanted to get a tortilla press. Then tonight when I showed him Yardsellr, he was randomly scrolling through cooking items, when he stumbled upon a cast iron tortilla press. It was priced at $27.00 but I had a $30 photon credit sitting on my account. So I hopped over, bought the press, paid with Paypal, and when all was said and done, it was only $5. out of my own pocket. I told my boyfriend I felt like I was stealing it! And the seller had free shipping to get the thing delivered right to my front door! Fantastic.

Valentine's Day Projects

2012-01-20T16:49:00.000-08:00

Time for me to make Valentine's stuff. I am ironing out the details on Cupid. It's not easy drawing babies or bows and arrows, much less on the same drawing. After destroying 3 or 4 sheets of paper, I finally drew it on the dry erase board in the hall so I could fix some of it without having to start over every time.

Make a Rose Stencil T-shirt

2012-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm working on a rose T-shirt. You can grab the free stencil here from my fashion blog. It's too late in the day to put it on my shirt now, but hopefully I'll get to it tomorrow. Are you missing Spring? Don't fret. If you can't grow flowers in your garden you can paint them on a shirt, a messenger bag, or gift wrap.
You could even shrink the design down and put it on a hand carved stamp. Ooh, I may have to do that myself.

Thoughts on Marketing

2012-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

Last night Sergio of Blakenetizen and I stayed up until the wee hours in the Chatsie chatroom brainstorming on ways to earn more income with arts and crafts and blogging and freelance writing. So this morning my brain was stuffed full of ideas. Today I want to get going on listing things on Yardsellr, Etsy, Zazzle and some of my other shops.

I also want to start sponsoring inexpensive ads on my blog now that I'm getting 400+ views per week. The ad boxes will be between $15-$40 a month. The idea is still gelling in my mind but if you think you might be interested, and what you are selling pertains to arts and crafts, leave me a comment here or on my Facebook page or shoot it over to me at queenofdreams at gmail dot com. Super.

Blog Lovin

2012-01-19T01:59:00.000-08:00

I just joined Blog Lovin Follow my blog with Bloglovin If you are also there please follow me. Leave a post below if you want me to follow you back. Yeppers.

I thought I'd join Networked too.

Follow this blog

Cuppa Joe

2012-01-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

I can't remember if I sold this painting or not, but I need to make some more coffee themed items.

Painting a Pet Sympathy Card

2012-01-18T23:48:00.000-08:00

My friends lost their dear pup after months of seizure issues, so I made this card to send them. I purposely didn't make it to look like their dog because I think that would make them even sadder. I could probably try again and make it better, but I think it's important to mail it as soon as possible.

Our Pets Never Want to Leave Us

So They Take Our Heart When They Go

Knitted Vest Another Day

2012-01-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

Last night and today I got going on my knitted vest again. I got bogged down in some confusing directions so it sat there a week until I could find some courage. Now I almost have one shoulder section done. I can't wait to be done so I can try it on. I'm not sure if I'll like it or think it looks completely hideous. I want to do another one in white on white yarn. But it would be silly to do that if I don't like the way this one looks on me. Plus I need the needles that are still buried in the first vest before I can make another one.

Creative Weekend

2012-01-15T21:58:00.000-08:00

David watching Guy make a longbow.

Kat doing some card weaving.
I wish I had a close up shot because it was really incredible.

Me in front of the new Greenman banner.

Sal showing Susan how to make a bow.

Guy reading one of the used books he got at the event.

This was a creative weekend. Saturday I was at an SCA event in La Crescenta, CA. We proudly hung the Greenman Banner from our canopy.

I started working on a narrow red and pink knitted scarf. My friend Carol worked on her knitting as well. I just realized we were both making scarves.

I ran into Kat who was weaving some amazing trim. I think it was card weaving.

Guy brought 2 bow shaving benches and he and Jim worked on new longbows.

Then on Sunday we went to the Paleoplanet gathering. It started out slow but by the afternoon there were about 25 people there. I worked on my new Junk Journal and started a cross-stitch chicken on a dark green background.

Aimee was there working on some feather earrings and then on some beadwork on her leather archery glove. Sal was helping a new woman work on a board bow. I think her name was Susie. Alex brought his new bride and his boys.

Then after that we went over to see my boyfriend's mom. She had wanted to review her balloon animals. She used to be a clown for the Rotary Club years ago. So we got a good laugh out of trying to make balloon poodles, dogs, giraffes, swans and other mutant things.

I'll have some photos tomorrow. I'm too tired to start editing photos tonight.

Marketing Crafts

2012-01-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

It's 7 AM and probably too early for me to be hashing out marketing strategies, but I think I should start putting an hour a day exclusively into marketing. Things like listing new items on Etsy, Zazzle, Cafe Press, Bonanza, and Zibbet. I've really let that fall by the wayside. I'm like many artists in that I'd rather paint, sew, shop for supplies or research new crafts than I would writing ad copy and trying to steer buyers in my direction. I do market things on Facebook and Twitter, but I don't really see much profit in that. Of the millions of things people could possibly buy why would they buy from me in particular? And hard sell never works. People just get annoyed and annoyed people don't buy things from the person that's annoying them.

Juggling v the Green Man

2012-01-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

I was up to my eyeballs working on my juggling club project. I got all the dowels sawed and was working on cutting the tennis balls in half when my boyfriend comes over to my work area. He asked me if I could paint him a green man banner for his archery booth from the logo I designed for his website. And the event is Saturday.

I explained to him how important is was to me to make some forward progress on the juggling clubs. And I finally had some momentum going. He said I didn't have to drop everything. But dropping everything is the only way I'm going to have time to paint a 2' x 2' canvas banner, let it all dry, heat set it and hem it in time for the event.

So he offered to keep working on the juggling clubs if I'd get started on the banner. So that's what I did. I was back in my comfort zone and he was back in his. I didn't finish the painting before it got dark though so I'll have to paint all day tomorrow.

Leather, Chaps, and Other Things

2012-01-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

Eep. I just found out I have plans on Friday (birthday lunch), Sat. (SCA event) and Sunday (archery event). I'm not sure I'm up to all that. When it rains it pours. I thought the archery event was on a different weekend. It will be fun to get out of the apartment though. I better get organized because the rest of the week is going to be super busy. Maybe it will get me out of my funk.

I'm thinking of doing some sewing tutorials. Would anyone be up for that? I want to make cowboy outfits for my grandsons. Then when they outgrow them my daughter can use them in her photo studio. I have leather. I was going to make a quiver with it, but I can always get more.

Youngest Grandson

Oldest Grandson

A Zentangle Painting

2012-01-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

Zentangles fascinate me so tonight I drew a complex Zentangle inside a circle that I'm going to paint. It will be like paint by number sort of. I'm going to need a tiny brush for it. I was too tired to start painting it tonight. And I want to think a bit about the color scheme. If you don't know what the heck a Zentangle is just Google it or look on Flickr images.

Also, I think I should be painting my dreams. I've heard twice in two days about people who paint using their dreams as a source, and I have some pretty wild and epic dreams. I know it was an assignment once in our oil painting class in college. We were supposed to go home, have a dream and then paint it. But I didn't have a dream. So I made one up and the teacher called me on it. I can't help it if I didn't have a dream. He wasn't exactly the best teacher I ever had. After the course I went to see his work in a gallery and I didn't even like it. But that's the way college is. There is only one teacher available for the course so that's the teacher you get.
Here are two of the Zentangles I've done in the past.

January Journal

2012-01-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

I like to keep a long hand journal. I don't have time to write in it daily but I keep it around so I can remember to use it. I tuck it in my purse so I can write in cafes or on the train. So it bounces between my desk in my bedroom and my purse. This one is striped and cost .99. I may decorate it more if the mood strikes me.
I tried keeping a separate art journal and another written journal and it was too repetitious and confusing.
Someday I'd like a shelf to line up all my journals on.

The store also had the composition books with graph paper so I got 2 of those as well because I couldn't resist.

If my computer vanishes tomorrow, I'll have my paper journals as back-ups.

Zippers and Yarn

2012-01-06T23:56:00.000-08:00

Today I went to a new bargain store where I got individually packaged acrylic yarn for $1. a skein. I got red and pink to make something to wear with my 'red, pink, gray' wardrobe theme.

They also had nylon zippers, 4 for $1.00. It's a good size if I make some wallets. They are most commonly used for A-line skirts. I used them in Jr. High school when I first took sewing and could fit into an A-line skirt. Those were the days. Did you know you can take a long zipper and cut it shorter if you need to? A good tip to know if you ever find long zippers for a great price or if the store doesn't have the size you need.

Beading With Fine Beads

2012-01-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

I felt it was high time I got back to beading. So I grabbed the nearest tin of beads and found a piece of beading that was either going to be a bracelet or a necklace, or maybe a watchband and I started working on it. I really should put hang tags on these things and not trust to memory. The part I added tonight was a bit of the pastels and all of the gold with a tiger eye bead accent.

Gorgeous Belly Dance Costume

2012-01-05T00:34:00.000-08:00

Today I made a to-do list, and virtually ignored it as my day went off in another direction. I got some dishes and laundry done, then it was off to Sizzler to take advantage of a 'bogo' birthday coupon I got on the Internet. Then I went to Walmart to buy a picture stand so I can take better photos of my square foot paintings. On Jan. 3 I got some mat board so I could frame them and get them to lay flat for the photos.
I planned to work on my Etsy shop, but somehow I kept getting distracted. I swear I have no self-discipline sometimes. Facebook is eating my time like crazy.

Then I saw this gorgeous belly dancing costume here:

I'm dying to make something in red and leopard print. I was planning that before I saw her costume, but now I'm so excited about doing it.

I was going to work on my juggling clubs today but the day just got away from me.

Poodle Video

2012-01-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

While I was doing my wardrobe shoot for today, this action was happening across the street so I paused a moment to film it. Funny stuff.

Rose Parade and Knitting

2012-01-02T21:28:00.000-08:00

This morning I worked on my knitting while watching the Rose Parade. Our archery range is near there. Luckily we didn't have archery on Sunday because it would have been a zoo down there. I like to watch the parade from the comfort of my own living room. It would be nice to see it once in real life though, since I'm only about an hour from Pasadena.
Look how beautiful the weather is. My Facebook friends keep talking about snow and here I am enjoying T-shirt weather.

Knitted Vest Work in Progress

2012-01-01T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here are my photos from yesterday when I was working on my knitted vest. It's going to be heavy and I'm not sure I'm happy about that. But I've gone too far to ditch the project now. And I love the way the colors are dancing together. That makes me happy. I even added a little FunFur in there for texture. After this I want to make a 'white-on-white' vest, but I will probably drop to 3 strands of yarn instead of 4 like this one.

More Yarn

2011-12-31T01:56:00.000-08:00

When we walked into Joann's Fabrics today I went a little nuts when I saw most of their yarn was on a BOGO sale. I'm supposed to be using up yarn, not buying more. I had a moment of temporary insanity and went home with a tote bag full of yarn. I wanted to get shades of white for a white on white vest I want to knit. Plus I got some teal for the current vest I'm knitting. I went in their for one skein of yarn. I should have known better. Ack!

Then we went to a t-shirt store because I want to paint or somehow decorate new t-shirts for myself. I thought I could live with the price of 3 shirts for $10. Unfortunately that price only covers up to size 1X and I'm 2X, so I had to pay $5. each for mine. That's still a good deal but probably not the wisest buying decision right now when my income is so low. I still live with the delusion that I'll be able to sell things on Etsy and pay for my craft supplies. When has that ever worked out for me?

Yay Knitting

2011-12-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

The size 15 circular needles I got on Ebay came in the mail today. Just hoping for some time tonight to start the vest I'm dying to make.
Today I spent four hours rearranging my craft boxes. My shoulders are sure feeling it now, so I may not be able to knit for long.

100 Strangers Project

2011-12-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

I spent the day taking photos of strangers at Knott's Berry Farm. It was a lot of fun. And I'm off to a good start on my 100 Strangers article. 100 Strangers. Editing them was the most challenging. I couldn't figure out how to do it on Photoshop at all, so I wound up using an old version of Paint Shop Pro. Once I got onto PSP7 it was a breeze. This is probably the most new people I've talked to in one day in a long time. And I hope I can have more days like it.

Paint Then Crochet Then Paint Then Crochet

2011-12-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

Today I got to paint outdoors in a patch of sunlight using my new easel. I tried to finish the painting I started Sunday Dec. 18, 2011 at the archery range. I can't believe after painting daily for over a month I spent a week and didn't paint at all. That's what holidays do to a schedule. I still have to add the finishing touches to the painting but here it is so far. I'm glad I got to finish one of these more complicated paintings.

The rest of today I worked on the monster sweater I'm crocheting. I've been having technical difficulties with getting the rows to line up. I think I finally figured out what is going wrong, but there is no turning back now. No matter how many years I've been crocheting (since 5th grade), I still get lost following a pattern sometimes. So here is a photo. Yes, crochet is messy during the process, especially when you use a lot of colors.

Easel

2011-12-25T11:58:00.000-08:00

I made waffles and sausage for Christmas breakfast. I didn't realize we were out of eggs so I'm glad I could think of something special to make that didn't require any.
I want to knit some vests to round out my wardrobe. I just ordered some size 15 circular needles on Ebay so I could whip them up efficiently. I can't wait to experiment with different types of yarns.

Just when I thought my boyfriend was sick of me painting every day, he went and got me a nice wooden table top easel for Christmas! Maybe I will try it out today. Right now though I can't seem to stop yawning. I guess I didn't sleep well last night.

Cracks In The Sidewalk

2011-12-23T23:10:00.000-08:00

I've always taken cracks in the sidewalk for granted until I saw an exercise in my Drawing Lab book that talked about drawing pictures of cracks and then morphing them into interesting plants or animals or other things. I felt like an idiot taking photos of cracks in the sidewalk as people filed by, but I really like the way they came out. I even wrote a poem about it. So I've either had an epiphany or lost my mind all together.
I also found it interesting to study the things that have migrated their way into the cracks.

Don't Worry Be Happy

2011-12-23T09:55:00.000-08:00

The CA weather has been beautiful. I spend as much time as I can outdoors. I know I may not always live where the weather is so consistently perfect. After I make some breakfast, I'll pick a craft project to work on outdoors. I have all the parts for the juggling club (I think) so I could start working on those. That ought to keep me busy.
And I have the sweater I'm crocheting in a retro 80's style. I need to take photos of that to share with you guys.
And I always have sewing to do. I wish I'd finished some of the warmer clothes I was making. I could really use them right now, since it is winter and the nights are cold enough for the heater to come on.

Writing On the Wall

2011-12-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday a monkey wrench landed in my world. I saw a man taking photos of the apartments and when asked about it he said, "I really can't tell you if the owner is selling the apartment complex. (Face palm). If so, this will be our fourth new owner. Which means they will have to show the apts. Which means we might have to move. At any rate, either way it diverts me from working, and then I have to go into packing, fixing, cleaning mode. What a PITA. And right before Christmas too. At least we got a heads up. If we waited for the landlord to tell us, it would be the phone call at 8 AM telling us someone needed to come in the apt. at 10:00. If past actions can be believed, he doesn't follow the 24 hour notice laws.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to my family and friends. Without them my life wouldn't be so rich and full of fun.

Megalist of Arts and Crafts Tips and Tricks

2011-12-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Megalist of Arts and Crafts Tips and Tricks
I found this list of various crafts tips. You are sure to learn something new from it.

Sweater Redo

2011-12-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I design things I can tell they are not going in the direction that I wish them to go. Such was the case with the sweater I was crocheting. After about ten rows, I could tell I'd accidentally decreased and wound up about 30 stitches short on the circumference. That's a lot. I see no choice but to start over. In the long run I hope it will be worth it though.

Hot Water Heater

2011-12-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Most artists know how insane the last week before Christmas gets as you try to balance deadlines, family expectations, cleaning, work and travel. It usually creates a snowball effect. This year is no exception. The day I was supposed to open my new Etsy shop, I was hauling soggy boxes out of the garage after our hot water heater failed. I forgot about opening the shop entirely! I did have a few listings sitting there in draft form, so in lieu of my planned grand opening, I just made those listings live today, because I need to get the garage put back together again.

I'm also working on a crocheted sweater that kept me busy late into the night and again this morning, as well as doing my daily paintings. Yikes! I'm getting so far behind. Then Sunday we'll be out of town delivering arrows in Pasadena at our monthly archery gathering. Some of these arrows are gifts so there is no getting around going. I don't have any plans on Christmas day. And I just realized it.

My friends got a new horse

My friends from Synergy Arts in front of the tree they designed.

Each panel can turn in the wind.

Me ready for the Christmas dinner.

Daisy's First Day

Glad someone else is installing the new one.

Old hot water heater needed replacing.

Multicolored Crochet Sweater

2011-12-16T02:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I totally obsessed over a new sweater I'm crocheting. Eventually my hands gave out and the clock passed midnight, so I had to set it aside. I was going to use a pattern in a vintage crochet book, but I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. So I'm duplicating it based on how I think she did it. That could be a disaster. But at least I'm enjoying the process. It's mostly shades of purple and gray.

Knitting a Green Striped Hat

2011-12-12T21:40:00.000-08:00

I'm knitting a striped hat with a liripipe. I'm trying to work some stripes into it. I started it on the train last week and this is the first time I got a chance to sit down and work on it. It's pretty funky right now so I hope it works out. Prototypes have minds of their own sometimes.

Busy Shopping Day.

2011-12-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I got two paintings started. Then I ended up being out of town the rest of the day. It was a fun shopping day though. I picked up an office chair I found on Craig's list, went to the Asian market and food court, the pet store, the dollar type store, and the hardware store.
At the hardware store I got most of the parts for the juggling pins (clubs) that I want to make. Go me.
At the dollar store I got some very nice Dazzleaire yarn. It seems a bit different from the Dazzleaire yarn from the '70's, but it's soft and fluffy and should make nice hats.

Roses and Lilacs

2011-12-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

I needed to make a simple and quick painting today. I could tell I had very little patience. One of the things about painting every day is I don't have the luxury to wait until I'm in the perfect mood. I just hope it doesn't lead me to hate painting.
Mostly I was more excited about working on the little watercolor mini books I started yesterday. Those were going fabulously. I used hand carved stamps and embossed them. It's been so long since I used embossing powders and I'd forgotten how much fun it is. I still have to add the text to the mini books so hopefully I can show those off in a day or two.
For now, I'll show you my painting. Would you like that?

Painting Projects

2011-12-08T13:28:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a mixed media painting today, which means it has to dry awhile before I can draw on it again.

I also started 2 little art books on watercolor paper. I painted each page front and back, and those are also drying. The directions say to sew the book together first, but it's much easier to paint on flat pages, so I'm painting all the backgrounds first, then I'll sew the pages together, then do rubber stamping or drawing or calligraphy at that point. I don't plan out all the details in advance, just the basic flow of the work.

I also want to paint some hummingbirds with watercolors, but this time I think I'll buy the mat and frame first, then I'll know exactly what size to do the painting.

Portrait of Darwin Mixed Media

Art Inspiration

2011-12-08T10:33:00.000-08:00

Things that catch at hold my interest. These were all taken at Cuesta College when I was taking breaks from painting.

Just Got Off The Train

2011-12-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

I did some writing and drawing on the train. About a dozen times I wanted to hop off and paint the landscape. The waves by Ventura were glassy and gorgeous. The sand dunes by Lompoc surf were covered with iceplant in green, gold and red. The boulders around Eagle Rock are always fascinating. Many of these vistas can only be seen from the Amtrak Surfliner. I have tons of photos to download but first I need to catch up on some stuff that's piled up over the last five days.

Trip photos:

View from the train between Simi Valley and Chatsworth, CA

Fountain at Cuesta College

Art at the new coffee shop in San Luis Obispo, CA

View from house in Atascadero

Me on a chilly morning

I made chocolate covered strawberries and raspberries for the party.

Taken right before I got on the train to come home.

Traveling

2011-12-04T21:22:00.000-08:00

I'm up in Atascadero CA celebrating my grandson's first birthday.
It was a fun party with a puppy dog theme.
It was hard to squeeze in my daily painting but at least I got started on it. Go me! I have very limited computer access while traveling so I feel like I'm behind on everything. I guess I'm going to have to break down and invest in a laptop after all. It's hard to save for a laptop and a car at the same time though.
I got some knitting and crocheting done on the train on the way up here at least. The train has wifi now and I was envious of all the other people that could use the Internet when I couldn't.
It's so beautiful up here. My daughter's new house is surrounded by rolling hills and oak trees. I'll share photos when I get back.

Working on a Painting With Fun Shapes

2011-12-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

I'm getting ready to go out of town for 4 or 5 days. I don't really want to lose the great flow I'm having with my artwork, but I need balance in my life too and that means participating in family events.
I picked a hard painting today. Lots of small intricate shapes to paint After hours of working on it, my hands died and my eyes burned and my shoulders ached, so I had to give it up for the night. It's going to be interesting to see if I can manage to paint while on my journey by train and on the road. I can only take minimal supplies with me. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.
I'm obviously not going to be able to do my new Etsy shop grand opening today at 1 PM. I'll be at the train station. Oh well, best laid plans. I had to push back the date to Dec. 15, 2011. That way I'll have a few days to work on listings once I get back home next week. I'll have to write descriptions and do photos and so on. And I realized my scanner won't hold a 12 x 12" painting. It's too narrow. So all the photos will have to be done with my digital camera. I had hoped to open on the first and catch some of the Christmas shoppers. Oh well, can't win them all. See you in a few days my faithful readers.

More Craft Books and Fabric.

2011-11-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here is what I bought at the Medieval Marketplace yesterday. The stretch velvet fabric was $15 and is 60"wide and at least 3 yards long. The bigger books were $5. each and the rest were $1. each. My total was $30.

Medieval Marketplace in LaVerne CA

2011-11-26T22:34:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. We went to an SCA event in LaVerne. I spent most of it painting a portrait. The weather was perfect. Late November weather is always risky, and we couldn't have had a more cooperative forecast.
I bought some craft and cookbooks at a sale, as well as some awesome fabric. The fabric will be great for a belly dancing costume, maybe as some harem pants. I don't even have time to sew right now but I'm an optimist.

Penny Art

2011-11-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

I must try this: Penny Art By Oxidation. Did you know you can shine dirty pennies up by rubbing them with ketchup?

Drawing Exercises

2011-11-21T22:56:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying the drawing exercises in my new book '52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun' by Carla Sonheim. This is from Lab 6 Index Card Multiples on page 26. I was doing contour drawings of some ornamental gourds I bought at the grocery store. The point is to look at your subject and draw it while looking at the subjects, not at the paper, as much as possible. In other words, the 2 that look 'good' are not the ones that I did without looking. This kind of drawing always looks more energetic and spontaneous than typical drawing, but it also looks more goofy and amateurish.

Carpenter's Pencil on Large Index Cards

Third Panel of Purple and Gold Series

2011-11-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

I knew I wanted an interesting shape to add to the third panel of my semi-abstract painting series. So here I doodled up a few. Drawing them ahead of time gave me the confidence to dive right in with the wet paintbrush. The doodle a day and painting a day are going well with each other.

Dancing Through the Cosmos

2011-11-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

This is the second painting in a series of four that are meant to be hung as a unit on a wall. I've gotten great feedback for these on Facebook. When I started this project I didn't know if I'd be able to think of something different to paint each day, but so far, I can't keep up with the ideas that are flowing in from everywhere. I have 2 more of this series, but I already know what I want to do for the next one. It feels good to be productive.

The Dancer A Semi Abstract Painting

2011-11-19T15:03:00.000-08:00

I wrote in length about today's painting here: Purple and Gold

My last few paintings were so structured, that it was a joy to do something so spontaneous and free.

Point Shoes

2011-11-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

My new painting for today has a ballet theme and was done with acrylics. The foundation is bristol vellum covered with gesso. I may do another one with red shoes.

Square Foot Art Gallery

2011-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Today I went to the art store to get canvas board for my new daily painting project. And then I found out they don't carry 12" x 12" canvas boards. Oh dear. The cheapest ones I could find were masonite for about $3.50 or canvas stretched on a frame for $4. That would be about $120 a month just for canvasses. So I talked to a store employee and we decided I could go with Bristol Vellum, apply gesso and paint on that for a much more resonable price. Then when I got home I checked at the Dick Blick site and they carry the size I need for under $2.00 each. Now that's more like it. So next month I'll order a month's worth from them. In the meantime I'll paint on the Bristol Vellum. I use the same paper for SCA illumination so I know it is a joy to paint on so I'm not worried.

I'm going to have an officially opening for my new Etsy shop on Dec. 1, 2011, where I'll list all the paintings I've done between now and then. So about 14 paintings if all goes well.

Pumpkin and Leaves Painting

2011-11-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

Today I did two paintings. One is realistic and done from life. The other is a figment of my imagination. I did them at a friend's house and so far I've only photographed the first one which is of a pumpkin and some autumn leaves.

Doodle Project Day One and Books

2011-11-13T23:07:00.000-08:00

I must be tired because I put my art post in this other blog of mine when I meant to put it here. Doodle Project.

I'm so excited at the two books I just ordered from Amazon. One is a book I have been wanting for a year of miniature illuminations that is a reference for SCA scrolls. The hard cover is very expensive but I found a nice used soft cover for around $15.00.
http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Gaston-Phebus-Manuscripts-Miniature/dp/1872501974/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321254862&sr=1-1

						The book that attracted me to Amazon in the first place was one I saw last week and decided I can't live without. It's called Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists. The third book is one my boyfriend ordered that will soon be in print. It's about making gourd bottles. It comes out in a few days so we pre-ordered it. We have several books by the same artist and they are always excellent. I don't even need to flip through it first. I just know I'll love it.

Getting Organized

2011-11-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

I hit a great Veteran's Day sale at Joann's yesterday. Then I headed over to the dollar style store to get more storage boxes. I decided to sort my burlesque and belly dance trim into boxes by color. It's not a perfect system. Do I only keep the unfinished parts in there, and then put the finished pieces in even more bins? And what happens when the bra is both pink and blue? Then which bin does it go in? And then I was going to put all the bins in a cardboard box. Great plan except I wanted to put six bins in there and only five fit. And two have to go sideways and the lids are not that secure, so I may have to put ties around the containers. Truly, being organized is not my forte.

My find of the day was some black fishnet style fabric with silver metallic thread shot through it. I think someone had hidden it away to come scoop it up once it was on sale because it was shoved sideways behind all the other bolts. But I have hawk eyes and ferreted it out. I almost got it in white too, but honestly, I wear black over white nine times out of ten. So with the sale price I paid $3.00 a yard for 2 yards, and since there was only 3/4 yard left she gave me that at a deeper discount.

So today I'm a wee bit more organized but not by much.

Red Garter

2011-11-05T19:07:00.000-07:00

I do my best to create something every day. So today I made something simple but I'm thrilled to have it. I made a red garter. I haven't found a store bought garter that would fit me since about the middle 1970's. Next I need to modify some fishnets with more stretch lace so they fit me.

Plans for November and December

2011-11-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

We've had some unexpected rain which put a damper on my plans. Also a wind storm the day before the rains tore down our shade canopy on the back porch. It's too hot to work out there without it and too wet right now, so no outdoor crafting was done. We'll have to keep our eyes peeled for an end of season sale on canopies.

We got invited to a craft fair in December but have decided to turn it down. I just don't think they'll get enough of a turn out to make it worth all the work of setting up the booth. It's in a remote canyon. And it's a first time event.

Sunday we have an SCA event but with the rain it may get cancelled. Even if it doesn't rain on Sunday the fields might be too muddy for the sword fighters. We'll see.

DIY Burlesque Article

2011-11-03T01:22:00.000-07:00

While my burlesque costume was fresh in my mind, I wanted to write an article about how to do it. Since I wanted the article to be part of National Blog Posting Month, I posted it here: Burlesque DIY. I can't wait to work on the red and black version that I bought the velvet top hat for. Coming soon.

Pony Pumpkin

2011-10-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend surprised me with a pumpkin and the comment, "Here go make something." Since I had just drawn a horse the night before I decided to try to do that on a pumpkin. Since I was at a friend's house I had to use the tools on hand. I used a white gel pen to do the initial sketch. After the carving the ink easily washed off with a damp paper towel. It turned out to be a little short for a horse, so it's my pony pumpkin. It does have four legs but because of the curve of the pumpkin, only one is glowing.

Gourd Ideas

2011-10-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

I've been over on the Welburn Gourd Farm site watching some of their tutorials. They are very thorough. The only downside is they push their own product line, and many of those things you can get cheaper at your local craft shop. Some items are exclusive to the gourd world though, and worth the investment. You can also get a free catalog from them by requesting one on their site.
Faux Bird House

Hand Built Pottery I Made Yesterday

2011-10-25T18:03:00.000-07:00

I got to work on some pottery at a friend's house yesterday. They do have a kiln if they ever get a chance to figure out how to use it.

Hand Built Pottery

2011-10-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

I spent an awesome day today hand building pottery. Yesterday at Agincourt I got to do some illumination and I was enjoying the little ceramic containers on the tables. They are for water, brushes, pens, and paper weights to keep our lovely papers from blowing away in the wind. Someone was selling pottery for cheap to raise money for the thrown weapons group. So I bought a cool vase. All that made me crave to be making pots again. So I sat down today and made some pinch pots and coil pots with my very own hands. My friends acquired a kiln but they haven't used it yet. Hopefully they'll catch the pottery bug too and make some pots and we can fire them all. I loved having my hands in clay again. I'll post photos of them tomorrow. For now you can see the illumination I was working on yesterday. I only did the painting on it. It was pre-printed on the card stock.

Sorting and Tossing

2011-10-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today I'm doing one of those tasks that most of us hate. I'm going through boxes of projects that never quite made it. Embroidery Christmas stocking parts that were too tedious to hold my interest, a mermaid doll I cut out and sewed and turned and then abandoned, old purses I never went through so I could give them to a thrift store and so on. I did find about $2.00 in change I added to my car fund in a giant pretzel barrel. And I found some momentos of my daughter's wedding in Vegas. Quilt projects that need to be sewn into pillows or potholders. And letters from penpals that stopped writing when e-mail took over the universe. I still have a long way to go but I have a headache from all the dust I've inhaled.
I did find some clothes that had gone missing. One is the red dress I need for my wardrobe project. It's all good, but not much fun.

Designing Fabric

2011-10-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I'm teaching myself to design fabric for Spoonflower. I sorely miss paint shop pro 7 because there were some cool tools on there that would have helped design fabric. I'm getting by with Photoshop but it's just not the same. You can check it out over here: Piggleswiggins on Spoonflower

Unfortunately their prices are out of my budget. Or I'd be ordering yardage of my own designs.

Witch and Skull Drawings

2011-10-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

I found my crayons yesterday so I couldn't resist doing a witch drawing, with Halloween right around the corner. I used calligraphy paper, which was really too smooth for crayons. I have had better results with a paper with more tooth to it, like the kind for pastels. I wasn't able to do much blending which made things challenging.

Oh and a few days ago I drew a really ugly skull.

Brick Stitch Feather Earrings

2011-10-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Before they were too far gone, I wanted to get back to working on my brick stitch earrings. As fate would have it, one of the bead colors is reddish pink, so the earrings will go with my new fall wardrobe.

I'm holding it upside down.

Fabrics For My Fall Wardrobe Project

New Red Shirt

2011-10-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Monday my boyfriend packed up and drove off to GWW with his two new shirts. Here is the red one. He dyed the other one moss green but it was packed before I got a photo.

It's rained all day today so I have a feeling he's camping up to his ankles in mud right now. I sure hope the event isn't cancelled because of rain before he sells anything. It goes through Sunday but it's pretty hard to do sword fighting and archery if the ground is a swamp.

Sewing and Murphy's Law

2011-10-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

After another four hours of sewing today, I'm finally done with both the shirts my boyfriend needed for Great Western War. If you want to read the final details they are on my sewing blog. Guy's shirts. He's leaving tomorrow but still hopes to dye the shirts today.

Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled life. I bought fabric to make 2 dresses. But I need to take a break from sewing to clear my head and rest my hands. I was also up until 4 AM last night so I'm just going to relax the rest of the day. I walked to the corner for lunch and on the way back I thought I'd lengthen my stride and burn a few more calories. Two steps into it a pain shot through my right heel. Now it hurts when I step down on it and when I pick my foot up again. So I have a feeling I'm going to be needing to sit down a lot the rest of the day, which means I won't be able to help load everything for Great Western War. It's kind of hard to schlep bins if I can't put weight on my right foot. I'm right footed too. I sure hope I won't be alone here for a week and not be able to walk much. Hopefully it will stop hurting . But for now I'm keeping my weight off of it.

Guy's Shirt

2011-09-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

A sewing project has kept me so busy this week. You can read about it here: Guy's shirt. I'll be so relieved if I finish it by the deadline. I should get the first shirt finished today (knock on wood). I have to sew on the cuffs and make 2 button holes and sew on the buttons. I think that's it. He's leaving for Great Western War (SCA) on Oct. 3, so I need to be done before that. I knew he wanted to dye one shirt and he has time for that but I doubt I'll get the second one done in time for it to get dyed and dried. I just cut out the second one this morning.

Making a Fabric Wedding Journal

2011-09-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

I finished the wedding present just in the nick of time. It was a long drive there and the freeway was congested. We carpooled with friends. We literally got there 15 minutes before our friend walked down the aisle. Whew.
They didn't open the gifts at the reception. So I didn't get to watch the look on her face when she opened it.

Today I'm back to sewing a shirt. I'm tired though. I had to take a break.

Creating Internet Things

2011-09-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

I just found out two of my sewing projects have to be done at the beginning of Oct., not the end of it. And Friday and Saturday I have to spend getting ready for and going to a wedding. Yikes! Deadlines. I'm still working on the wedding present.

But on a good note I made 3 new Tumblrs, redirected my domain name to a new webhost so I can build a new website, and learned how to use Wordpress. Go me. Zenchantress: My hypnosis site
My fashion Tumblr Splashion
My belly dance Tumblr Belly Dance
My creativity Tumblr Creative and Exotic
My hypnosis Tumblr Zenchantress

So as you can see it's been a busy day.

Beading With Delicas

2011-09-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

I got up early and added new items to my Zazzle shop : Personalize me.

Yesterday I got my Delica beads in the mail from Fire Mountain Gems. Fantastic. I can't wait to try them out.

Then since we were already at Walmart, I got some of the beads from their new display. The Delica beads were five times more expensive than the Walmart beads, so they will only be used for bead weaving projects where uniformity can make or break a design.

I just hope I have time to make some jewelry today. I need to finish the fabric wedding journal for my friend's wedding on Sat. Eeep. I should work on that for at least an hour today. Then we'll see about beading.

More quilting, beading and sewing.

2011-09-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my two day mini-vacation. I got to work on my quilting blocks. I got three new ones cut out.
And I got to work on the brick stitch feather earring. By the time my beads get here next Tuesday, I should have all the bugs worked out of the pattern and then I can make a new pair with the Delica beads.

My boyfriend asked me to sew 2 shirts for him for an upcoming SCA war. I have enough on my plate but he puts a roof over my head so how could I say no? He's running out of time to do it himself and he's not sure he has the skills, and he was about to hire someone. But spending money isn't making money, so I should do it. I just hope they fit when I'm done because I'd hate to waste his material and that would definitely not save us any money.

Delicas

2011-09-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Last night I ordered Delica beads from Fire Mountain. I'm looking forward to seeing the colors in the sunlight when they get here. Delicas are the Legos of the beading world. They fit together a lot better than your average bead. I ordered about twice as many as I was planning on. The colors are just irresistible.

I'm still going to finish the feather earrings I started though, as the pattern is a prototype and it's good practice.

Now I need to get ready to go out of town for 2 days. I haven't even packed my suitcase yet...I've been too busy playing on the Internet.

Whatever the rest of you are doing today, I hope you are having some fun too.

Beaded Feather Earrings

2011-09-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

I spent the better part of the day designing a pair of beaded feather earrings. I'm almost halfway done with the bead weaving on the first one. If you want to know how to do brick stitch, I found this page useful: http://bnb.jewelrymakingmagazines.com/en/How%20To/Basics/Brick%20Stitch/2006/08/Brick%20stitch%20basics.aspx I'm done beading for the day. It's hard on the eyes and the back. I'll take the project with me when I'm house sitting tomorrow.

I'm also going to take my fabric so I can cut out more quilt patches. I'm looking forward to that. I thought I'd be gone 3 days and now it's only 2. I need to stop being a cheapskate and order some Delica beads. They really are better for bead weaving that the 'off the rack' beads I'm settling for. If I like the pattern when I'm done, I'll do it again in Delica beads.

Manipulating a Painting of a Belly Dancer with Picasa

2011-09-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited I got the scanner to work. The first thing I scanned was a big beautiful belly dancer that I painted today at breakfast in my sketchbook. I used some sparkly watercolors. It's the only paint I had with me at McDonald's so the whole thing is sparkly. I cropped it and made some different shades of it to use on Zazzle products and other places. But I thought I'd share it here as well.

This is the first in a series I'm doing of showing big beautiful woman in a positive light.

The warm tones feature on Picasa

The original full color painting.

I used the sepia tab on Picasa

I used the tint feature on Picasa

Scanner

2011-09-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

Would you believe in all these years I've never had a scanner? My boyfriend just gave me his old one. Now I need to figure out how to use it. It will sure make matters simpler to put art from my canvases and sketchbooks onto my photo stream and Zazzle and Cafe Press and so on. But I hate fiddling with new (to me) technology. Usually about the time I get so frustrated with the thing that I want to check it out the window, I figure it out.

New Hypnokitty logo

2011-09-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

I've been playing around with my new logo. I wanted to use a button template for Photoshop but never did figure it out, but I tweaked my logo so I can put it on buttons someday.

Katherine Rose Barber on Zazzle

2011-09-06T01:50:00.000-07:00

I saw some really cool shops on Zazzle tonight, but this one was my favorite. http://www.zazzle.com/katherinerosebarber It's fantasy art featuring curvy women faeries. Plus she has mermaids and other whimsical art and pagan friendly designs.

Another Day of Patchwork

2011-09-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

It was Labor Day and I had no plans. It rained over night, so it was cooler but very humid today. I spent the whole day working on my Gratitude patchwork blocks for my quilt. Even so, I only got the pieces for 2 blocks cut out, and half of one block sewn together. Patchwork certainly is time consuming, especially when I sew the wrong parts together and then have to use the seam ripper. It's kind of like playing Rubik's cube on steroids. I can swear I have the pieces the right way around, then once they are fitted together my mistakes jump out at me. Ack! It is trying my patience. It will be worth it in the long run though. The Fish Tales block is one of the more complicated ones. If I can finish that I should be able to sail through most of the others.

Tomorrow I'll need to work on the wedding journal or it won't be done in time for my friend's wedding. So if you were interested in that project, stay tuned.

Lots of Crafts For a Busy Weekend

2011-09-03T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have a plethora of creative projects going right now. Yesterday I swung by a sale at Joanns and got fat quarters for my quilt. I got panne velvet for my fabric banners and journals. I got more embroidery floss and pearl cotton. And I got new blades for my rotary cutter because it was skipping a lot. Whew.

I still need one more color for the quilt so I hope to get over to M&L Fabrics today. I need a deep blue green. If you can see the swatch photo you'll see the blues I'm talking about. The rest of the colors I either had or picked up yesterday.

Then I have my wardrobe project going in red, pink and gray.

I also started a new photography account on Flickr for my photography portfolio. I already had one that I posted everything under the sun into, but I found people didn't respect me as a photographer, only as that girl that took cool snapshots. It will be more work but it will pay off in the long run. You can check that out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hypnokitty/

All this and working as a freelance writer on the Internet is keeping me hopping.

An Apple a Day?

2011-09-01T02:16:00.000-07:00

The Dr. sent me home with antibiotics, and hopefully with a little more rest I'll be able to get back to one of the things I love most, which is making things. I've been working a bit on the fabric wedding journal. The idea of making little flat pillows is very charming to me. And I want to make a long banner. At first I was going to do 'pigglewiggins' but that's a long name and I'm not sure people could read it. Then I thought maybe I'd spell out artist. It will be a vertical banner. Now I'm more leaning on 'welcome'. I'd like to get some velvet for part of it. I don't buy velvet often but now and then I need it.

I haven't decided what kind of paper I want to put inside it yet. But it's going to have to be twice as wide as the journal so I can fold it in half.

Piecing a Sampler Quilt

2011-08-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

I got up earlier than I planned this morning, so I spent an hour and a half working on my new quilt. My left brain and right brain can't seem to decide on the same color scheme. And I don't have a huge selection of fabrics to choose from. I suspect I have another box or 2 of quilting fabric around here somewhere. Maybe I should try to dig those up before I get much further along. Part of the problem is the color scheme is rust and brown, and I almost never buy those two colors, so I'm coming up short. I may have to make a run to M & L Fabric later this week, after I get my check. I'm trying to use up my stash, but sometimes it's more important to be true to the quilt design than to just use any old fabric lying around. I guess that's why so many of us has fabric stashes run amuck. We never seem to have just the right fabric so we buy more.

So far I've gotten the pieces cut out for 3 squares. I have one square partly finished. I don't want to cut out any more squares until these 3 are sewn. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and get confused.

Another Trip to the Canyon

2011-08-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Today we are going out to Silverado again to talk to a man about selling crafts at his fresh produce business. So we got up early to beat the heat. I need to scoot. I'll take my quilt project with me to work on at my friend's house.

I ran out of green yarn for the scarf I'm knitting. I think I'll finish the rest in pink. I'm having some health issues again that are zapping my strength and making it hard to concentrate. But I'm doing my best to be productive. I read somewhere that if we only worked when we felt great, we wouldn't get much done. So I just need to keep on truckin'.

My End of Summer Vlog

2011-08-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made my 'end of summer' vlog on youtube. If you want to subscribe to my channel just hop on over there.

I started a new quilt yesterday. The pattern is in a magazine and let's just say I found it puzzling. I finally gave up at midnight and figured I'd try again today. The pieces they were asking me to cut didn't coincide with the photo of the finished quilt in the magazine. Baffling.

Yardsellr and Mixed Media Bear and Birds

2011-08-26T23:27:00.000-07:00

I do my best to spend part of each day making things, and part of each day marketing things. I'm always eager to try out a new site and see how it goes. An Etsy friend mentioned that her friend sold $800 worth of jewelry on a site called Yardsellr. I went and signed up and wrote more about it here: http://www.squidoo.com/my-experiences-on-yardsellr I'll update it if I buy or sell anything on Yardsellr.

I also worked on a mixed media project today. It combines gel medium, plastic material printed with my hand carved bird stamps, watercolors, gouache, pen and ink, and text from a Korean book. I think I'll just show you the photo. It's done on watercolor paper.

Knitting a Headband

2011-08-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

There was a circular knitting needle and some medium green yarn on my desk, so I started knitting a checkerboard design headband. It's 12 stitches across so it's k6,p6,k6, and when the rows make it look like a square I reverse it and do p6,k6,p6.

New Cartoon Blog and Crocheting a Snood

2011-08-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I've been working on a cartoon series. I've been drawing cartoons my whole life but have never figured out a way to show them to the world until now. I decided it deserved it's own blog here: http://pigglewigginscartoon.blogspot.com/

I also started a new snood in gold woolease yarn. I thought it would be good to put some autumn items into my Etsy shops. The year is sure going by fast. I can't believe summer is ending already.

Making Journals

2011-08-17T23:07:00.000-07:00

I want to pursue the idea of making some journals. So I bought a bone folder at Art Supply Warehouse. I'm sure I have many papers sitting around here I can use. I sometimes buy up reams of colored paper and card stock when they are on clearance at Kinko's or Staples or similar places. It's not that hard to make your own 'blender' paper, but it does take a lot of counter space to dry it all. It is fun to use up junk mail that way. Making paper is a messy project but lots of fun.

I don't want to go the 'tradtional' book making route which is very exacting. I just want to make simple art books. Youtube has a ton of tutorials on the topic.

Of course decorating the covers is a lot of fun too. Its a great way to use your mixed media skills.

Little Felt Hearts

2011-08-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I made some felt hearts with blanket stitch embroidery. Today I thought I would make some with overcast stitch. They have a wee bit of stuffing inside.

This is the photo that inspired me: http://pinterest.com/pin/111910876/

Make a Booklet

2011-08-12T03:05:00.001-07:00

It's 3 AM. Ack! And I just found a cool DIY site that I'm too tired to read. So I'm putting it here so we can all read it in the morning. Making a booklet.

Patio Makeover

2011-08-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

I'm remodeling my long narrow patio. We rent, so I can't make any permanent changes. So far it's all been clean-up, but I want to make some sort of sculpture to give it an artistic appeal. Maybe something crafted out of wire and metal.

Here is a look at the patio in the 'before' mode. Today I trimmed the roses some more. My neighbor has the same layout and she put a string of white lights under that overhanging balcony on the left. The balcony itself belongs to the people above us. So if I can find a good deal on lights I'll do the same. I don't know where I'm going to put my boyfriend's craft bins. Challenges, challenges.

Free Apron Patterns

2011-08-10T09:28:00.001-07:00

Check out all these free apron patterns. http://tipnut.com/56-free-apron-patterns-you-can-make/ I miss sewing. Maybe I should get back to it.

My Craft Tutorials

2011-08-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

I just made a new lens over on Squidoo. http://www.squidoo.com/my-craft-tutorials I hope to be making new tutorials soon for those of you that have seen all my stuff. But I'm guessing most of you have never seen any of my tutorials, so there you go.

Home From Horse Sitting

2011-08-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

I miss painting from real life. So I painted in watercolor some roses and other flowers I'd stuck in a jar. The statice (sea lavender) fills up the gaps between the roses nicely. And I love the frilly jacaranda leaves, though they were a challenge to paint.
I did take a bunch of photos to use as art reference material later. I stalked a butterfly for at least an hour and finally got a photo of it. I'd have loved to have gotten more but it never stayed in one spot for more than a few seconds. I'm lucky I got the one shot I did. In fact I thought I'd missed it because it flew off as the shutter was moving. It's late so I'll upload the photos in the morning when my vision isn't blurry. It's hard to tell if a photo is in focus when my eyes aren't even in focus.

So in the last 3 days I got to do egg tempera, pen & ink and opaque watercolor. And lots of photography. In one photo I captured at least 4 cabbage moths on one plant. I bet there will be even more insects on it when I see the full size version. The yard was full of bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, and a grasshopper that kept splatting into things. Definitely something wrong with his navigational systems.

Update: I uploaded over 300 photos, and the swallowtail butterfly is gone! I must have erased it or the camera ate it. I'm so disappointed.

Traveling Art Projects

2011-08-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've been crazy busy. I'm about to go out of town yet again. I'm taking all my painting supplies so I can paint more ACEO's and do some illumination. I can't wait to try the egg tempera again, which reminds me, I need to take an egg with me. No tempera without the egg yolk, you know.

I'm also enjoying the opaque watercolors I got at Art Supply Warehouse. They work out very well for traveling. And the colors were well thought out, as you can see by the ACEO's I'm showing you. Most random collections forget about flesh tones and then when you try to paint people, it's difficult.

I'm supposed to be focusing my art supply money on getting back into oil painting. But the cost is daunting. I'm not sure what it is about oil painting, but I want to do it on big canvases. I like to do watercolor on small things. Why is that?

Back Home Again

2011-08-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

My daughter in from of her art gallery.

The belly cast my daughter and I made together.

My grandson and I.

The Amtrak just delivered me safely to Fullerton where my chariot awaited me. It's so much hotter here than it was in San Luis Obispo. But it was nice to get home before dark. I took photos of Heather's art gallery which I will be uploaded in the next few days. I just spent half the day a bus and the rest on a train so I'm a bit tuckered at the moment. I worked on some knitting and some felt embroidery on the train. That kept me occupied and out of mischief for a good part of the journey.