Sometimes you just have to journal it!

Life has been, to put it lightly....really sucky lately!

Thankfully, I have my art journal on hand. Over the past years, I only worked in my journal on a 'hit or miss' time frame. And very rarely did I ever use it to really work through some personal issues. Well, that changed this week. I am not going to show you the super deep and dark pages just because they are super deep and dark lol  And personal  :-)

But do have a couple page to share today (like I would show up without goodies!)

A couple weeks back I was visiting Chris on her blog Parabolic Muse. If you haven't been there you need to pop in! She is funny and creative and her blog is a great place to lift your spirits....I just can't help smiling as I read of her antics :-) While I was there, she had some mandalas that she had done. She had been inspired by Emily Lagore. So I checked out Emily's blog too. Trust me, you don't want to miss that blog either!!! Such awesome eye candy and wonderful ideas! And Mandalas!!!

What can I say, after seeing all these great mandalas by Emily and Chris, I had to give it a try. I found it to be a very calming process....much like when I Zentangle.
I was using the back of a page that had some watercolor bleed through. I love the effect. I also used my Tattered Angels glitter sprays and some stencils to add patterns and sparkle to the page.

 

And since we started a new month, Challenge 2013! had a new prompt. Asian! Now if you have been here before you know that I have tons of Asian rubber stamps and just love the look! But this challenge threw me for a couple days....the color scheme has to be Emerald (or Apple) Green, Mustard Yellow (or Gold) and Chocolate Brown. Am I the only one that doesn't think these are the normal colors we associate with Asian art? lol

 

 

Thankfully the artistic side of my brain works while I asleep. Unthankfully, it likes to get up really early on Saturdays!  Needless to say, it woke me at 5:30 am and finally dragged me out of bed at 6:30 with the constant nagging!!!  :-)

 

While still working through some of the issues bothering me right now, I created this page. The woman is from StoneHouse Stamps. They have a huge selection of awesome Asian rubber stamps!!!  The man in the background is from Tim Holtz Life's Possibilities set.

 

I washed acrylic Ceramcoat Antique Gold over the entire page (had to get that gold in there somehow lol) I stamped the faint figure of the man. The ground is torn strips of a Chinese newspaper I picked up in San Francisco over 5 years ago. I just keep tearing out bits for projects (at the rate of usage, I have at least another 10 years to go before I need another one lol) I washed Ceramcoat Brown Velvet (sorry no paints in my huge stash called Chocolate Brown lol) over the edges before gluing them all down.

The bamboo is painted with Folk Art paints Fresh Foliage and Olive Green.

 

Finally, I stamped the woman on separate paper and colored her with Prismacolor pencils....in light greens, a couple browns, some gold (and a touch of red).

 

I wanted a bit more color and depth on the background so I sponged some Distress Ink on the upper corners. (Scatterd Straw & Tea Dye)

 

The verse at the bottom is "Cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

 

I am really pleased with how it turned out. I came out exactly as I envisioned it AND it helped me mentally with some issues.....Win Win!  :-)

BTW the kanji is from the Cricut cartridge Pagoda....which has some really great Asian images!

 

Me again

You didn't think I would be back this soon did you? Two posts in 1 day?! Unheard of!!! :-)

I decided to try and drill some holes in the Tri-Omino. It was much easier than I expected.

I drilled a hole in the top and in the bottom and ran a pin all the way through. Just adding the beads and pin has added enough weight that the pendant hangs much better.

It looks like I need to do a bit more trimming of the wool around the edges.....enlarging these things sure does bring out the fuzzies! lol

Ok, now I am really leaving this time and heading to the flea market.  I hope you all have a wonderful day and find lots of lovely treasures to play with.

Yard Sale season has begun!

I love yard sales, flea markets and estate sales! What a great way to get out in the fresh air, rummage through piles of junk and find wonderful treasures.....for very little money!!!

I am always on the lookout for antiques and art supplies (or things I can use as art supplies).

This weekend I hit the jackpot!  We went to a sale being held at an over 55 community that was raising money for their rec center.

I found a box of really nice dominoes, a Tri-Omino game, travel Rumikub (which I had never seen before) and 2 ledgers (the pages in these things are really great for journaling and collage). I paid the total sum of $1.85!

I now have tons of game pieces to alter....WooooHoooooo!!!!!

The dominoes are a bit larger than any I have had before but are always great for pendants and magnets. They are easy to stamp or draw on. I even dyed some with left over Easter egg dye one year! They hold up great to everyday wear. I have some pendants I made 10 years ago that still look like new!

Mini Rumikub? They are at least 1/2 the size of the originals! I am thinking earrings, charms and pins.

I mentioned the ledgers above....I love adding stuff like this to journal pages!  Makes me want to get out my journal today and play around.

And finally Tri-Ominos....I had this game as a kid. I never liked it and have no idea what happened to it. My mom probably donated it or threw it out as no one ever played it. And here I am buying one!  They have triangle tiles that are hollow in the back. As I stood there debating whether I wanted to part with my 50 cents, I flipped over a tile and immediately thought 'Frame'. Now I just had to figure out what to put in all of these teeny triangle frames.

Here is my first attempt.

I needle felted the sheep on a grassy hill with a pretty blue sky. I am thinking of drilling a hole in the top and adding a jump ring to make it a pendant. Let me tell you, these things are super light-weight! I have to wonder if I will need to add a small weight behind the felt just to make them hang correctly. But so far I am liking it. Now I just need to come up with other things I can felt in this small of a space  :-)

Today I am heading to a flea market....wish me luck! :-)

A Day at the Coast

I was on vacation this week. I was a total bum! lol

However, we did take a break from lounging around to head over to the coast for a day.  It was overcast and rained off and on but nothing can dull my spirits when I am over there.  :-)

We made a short stop in Crescent City, CA before heading up to Brookings. I managed to get a few decent photos there inbetween batches of fog lol

I turned one into a scrapbook page using Photoshop Elements. Now, I will say again, I do not scrapbook....but sometimes the mood strikes me to play with a photo so I have lots of digital goodies stored on my computer for just such occasions.

I did a lot of manipulation of the photo before I decided to add it to a scrapbook page. I lassoed and copied the gull and railing before I washed out the background (just to increase that foggy look that was already going on). I also added several overlays to give it a very aged/scratched look. I then added the gull back on top.

Once the photo was added to the scrapbook page, I used the eraser tool and some brushstroke brushes to rough up a couple of the edges.

The shell, sand dollar, plant, flying gulls and background paper are from Skys the Limit - Beachy Keen kit. The tag and button have been on my computer for over 10 years and with 2 computer changes and several system upgrades, the company name no longer shows up :-(

The water rings are brushes! 

If you have never done so, you should check out all the brushes you can download online. There are so many really cool ones...for free!  I love online freebies!!!

Hope you enjoy this glimpse of the foggy Pacific Northwest. :-)

Journal Challenge is back

The art journal challenge group has started back up again! I am so glad as I have not touched my journal is many many months!!!!!

It is a free group. You can check it out (and join) at Art Journaling Challenge! 2013

For April, we are making a grid and then using project scraps, leftovers or bought and never used supplies we are to take an object and portray it from various angles.

Here is my object.....one of my favorite antique kitchen gadgets.....a cast iron egg beater. I just love the shapes and lines of this thing!

We are only allowed to use primary colors plus black and white.

I painted my background squares (I hate yellow so it only shows up in the orange and green squares) and then I drew in close ups using some oil pastels that I bought years ago and have never used. (yeah like you don't have supplies that fit that catagory! lol)

With this complex item, I didn't want to try to portray the entire thing from various angles, I wanted to instead draw attention to all the little details that make up this wonderful little item.

Since this challenge is for the entire month, I may have to pick another item and try using up some of my paper scraps!  Hmm I am seeing a Warhol tribute to a biscuit cutter.  ;-)

Just Popping in to Say HI!

Spring has finally sprung which means cleaning, planting and getting out of the house!

But, I have managed to get a couple felting projects done as well.

I finished up Tucker's purse.....not that he would have ever carried a purse lol

It is about 5.5" x 5.5". It looks a little wider than tall because it is lying flat so the sides collapsed. I never carry a purse......ever.....but wanted something cute to carry my camera in. I think this fits the bill perfectly. Plus I can also fit a package of tissues. Allergy season ya know!  :-)

 

Also, this past Saturday, my friend Veronica came over to learn needle felting. We had a blast chatting and felting!

 

I forgot to get a pic of her finished project but here is mine. We made little doggie face charms. He is about 2" tall including the ears. I have no idea what I am going to do with him but I am sure eventually he will find a good home. :-) 

 



That's all for now. I am on vacation next week so hopefully I will get a chance to have some quality art time and have lots of goodies to share!

Stab Stab Stab!

Felting is a very addictive thing! It is also very therapeutic!!!  Stabbing away at the wool, you can take out any repressed aggressions or you can just let your mind go and be free!

I get lots of ideas on Pinterest and saw a wonderful felted pendant that I decided I wanted to emulate.  I am still debating whether I need to add something to the heart itself.

And as I thought about what I wanted to create next, I had the desire to try my hand at flat needle felting (as opposed to the 3D stuff I have been doing)

I was sort of cleaning and found a couple old pairs of jeans that I had saved for a future project. Well the future finally arrived and I decided I needed a purse with something felted on the front.

It is has been a long time since I have used my beloved Tucker as a subject but I felt (no pun intended) that it was time.

I first drew an outlined of his little face.

I then traced that onto some muslin. I had some friends tell me that they use water soluble interfacing or some such thing but I didn't have any and didn't want to go buy any....I wanted to do this project with only things I had on hand. Thus the muslin.

I pinned the muslin to the denim and began blocking in colors. I forgot to take a picture of my muslin piece so here it is with his eyes almost done and the white totally complete (notice his chubby cheeks).

 

 

As I neared the edge with my felting, I removed the pin and cut away the muslin, I then felted past the muslin to hold it down and hide it completely. See the inner ear is done below but the edges are still plain muslin.

 

 

Tucker, although he looked like just white with striped areas, actually had quite a few colors in his dark spots! I blocked in the basic tan that seemed to be the underlying color of his coat.

 

 

I then pulled out 4 more browns from my wool stash to create the stripes on his head.  BTW I had to blend colors to create his eyes and inner ears as what I had was just too bright and needed to be toned down.

Here is a photo of Tucker's face. I still miss this little guy every day!

And here he is felted onto the denim.

Not quite perfect, I see too many flaws, but I am still happy with this first attempt.  :-)

I plan on sewing the purse together tomorrow so hopefully I can get some pictures posted very soon.



Ribbit Ribbit

When I said I wanted to felt a frog I know every single one of you thought.....Yeah right! She hates frogs and all other slimy, icky things!

Well, HA!  I felted a frog!  And I still have no idea why I so desperately wanted to do so! lol

Maybe it is the hope that Spring will soon be here....or that I just really wanted to use my bright green wool.  :-)

So here is your first look at the little guy.  He is about an inch tall and 2 inches long.  As I sit here typing I am thinking I should have taken a picture of his little bright yellow belly lol (maybe later)

Trust me, he is not as blatently fuzzy as he looks......he is just blown  up much bigger than real life! But no, I still have not perfected the completely smooth look. I think my dragon came closest but he is also the largest thing I have felted which I think makes it easier to get the smooth surface.

I seemed to have caught him right in the middle of poofing out his throat. Why do they do that?

Here's hoping that Spring has almost sprung!  :-)