Zentangles

I haven't been on here in quite a while. I have been going through some intense training at work and that pretty much killed my muse!

Some friends got me started back into crochet over my training period and I have done some really cute amigurumi toys but at this time none are from my own patterns so I didn't think it right to publish photos here.

Then just a few days ago, some friends said they wanted to do a Zentangle swap. Having no idea what on earth they were talking about, I googled Zentangle.

I checked out lots of images and got a feel for what it was....basically, artistic doodling. :-)

Most places say to divide your page into a grid and then fill each section with patterns. I didn't read any of the 'rules' because in my opinion art should never be confined by rules.

I created a few by using a basic grid but they were so boring I didn't bother to even scan them.

I began by using a sharpie marker (because that was all I had on hand) but the fumes were making me nauseous. I have since switched to Prismacolor fine line markers. Sizes 01 - 08. But in the mean time I did a couple using a black colored pencil. I couldn't get a crisp line but I loved the shading effects I could achieve.

These first 2 were done with Crayola black colored pencils.

I then made the conscious effort to add a specific image into my doodles. In this case, a flower.

More ideas started coming to me....at odd times. Like at the grocery or while driving down the road. It has been rough trying to remember them for when I get home to play. :-)

This frog came to me as I was heading to bed. Thankfully I remembered and could create it after work the next day.

Minnie inspired this one but I want to redo it and make the face more appealing....when I find the time LOL

My friend recently crocheted the most adorable ladybug and ladybugs have been stuck in my mind ever since. I thought it would look great on a doodled leaf...and I think I was right. :-)

I collect dragonflies so of course I needed a dragonfly 'tangle!

Not sure of this one yet. It came to me while we were driving to Walmart. I wanted to create a chain.

I have found these to be extremely fun and addicting. I can complete one in a relatively short time. They also help clear my head (which is a bit cramped right now with the training I have been going through). And there is no pressure....I mean, how can you mess up a doodle?

Playing around with the Cricut

Over the past few months I have aquired several new cartridges but haven't had time to play with them. :-(

I pulled out my Pagoda cartridge today! This one has so many awesome Asian images!!!!!

I used the cherry blossom branch (cut twice) to enhance the ATC below. The woman is from Stonehouse Stamps. The kanji says "spring".
This woman comes from Missing Link Stamp Co. I had originally planned on this being an ATC as well but I liked the bridge cut a bit bigger and then I needed a bigger card. It measures 2 3/4 x 5 1/4. The maple branch and bridge are from the Pagoda cartridge.

All the coloring (other than skin tones) are done with Twinkling H2Os. I even highlighted the maples leaves with a coat of these shimmery paints. And my 'river' is just squiggles of paint.

So many other shapes to cut.....so very little time!

Happy New Year!

Let me start with - Way to go Ohio State! They beat Oregon to become the 2010 Rose Bowl Champs!!!!!

My husband is very upset (we live in Oregon LOL)

I spent most of the game playing in my art room with the game playing in the background but I made sure to cheer at the appropriate times. :-)

I woke up with the idea of 'time' and 'clocks' on my mind.

The clock face is stamped on transparency film (because I wanted to see if it would hold up under the solder). Both the clock and the text are from Technique Tuesday.

The gear is from Tim Holtz. I had a heck of a time soldering it onto the frame (and have the burnt finger to prove it!)

Soldering

Many years ago I taught myself how to solder stained glass. I had all the supplies....soldering iron, foil tape, flux, glass cutter... Then I got divorced and for some reason way beyond me, I lost all those items in the settlement. Hmm

Anyway, over the past couple years I have been wanting to get back into it but just never got around to restocking my supplies. A couple months before Christmas, I saw a 'kit' from Simply Swank that had all you need to get started.

On Saturday, I took my birthday money and bought the kit (as well as lots of extras!)

Below is my first creation......I said it had been a very long time ago!!!!! My soldering is a bit rough but I had a blast! The girl is a stamp from Oxford Impressions. She is colored with pencils.

Hubby bought me a new camera for Christmas. Minnie no longer runs everytime I pull it out. Silly girl would fly out of the room everytime I grabbed my camera. I am wondering if the fact that the new one is black and not silver has anything to do with it.

So, this is a charm of Minnie. It is 1" x 3/4". My soldering was MUCH better until I had to adhere the jump ring. Then the top got all messed up....I was having some major issues LOL It took me 4 tries to even get it on there and yes, I know....it is not in the middle. I may eventually remove it and try again. But not today!

Thanks Mom for the birthday money!!!!!!

See, no running! Last week, she would never have stayed still, she would be flying down the hall and my only shot would be of her tail turning the corner into the bedroom. LOL

BTW her tail is NEVER still, the tip swishes ALL the time...thus I caught it in mid air LOL

Now that the gifts have been opened...

Long time no see...

Now that all the gifts have been given (and opened) I can post photos of my latest projects. I haven't done much lately. Between work and getting ready for Christmas, I didn't get a whole lot of art done!

I was in a stocking swap with Pam. The rules? Alter a Christmas stocking using nothing but supplies from our stash.

I bought a white velour stocking from the dollar store (my only purchase for this project)

I pieced together all kinds of Christmas fabrics (and didn't even come close to using all the patterns I have on hand) I was going for sort of a 'crazy quilt' look.

I then painted a Santa on a page of German text from an old book (I had received these pages years and years ago in a swap). I embellished with lots of buttons and cut out the mini Christmas cards from some card stock bought earlier in the year.

This snowman is made from a gourd that I dried years ago. I still have a box of dried gourds in my shed. I pull them out whenever I need to make a Christmas ornament. This little guy was tucked into Pam's stocking.

Finally, my hubby thinks sock monkeys are very cute and let me know that he never had one as a kid. I found the original socks online along with the original pattern. Hubby got a great kick out of finding this happy fellow tucked under the tree.

I didn't make this but Minnie wanted to share her present too. My little girl is now living 5 feet above the rest of the world LOL She is enjoying her bird's eye view of.......the birds! :-)

Halloween Postcards

I hosted a Halloween postcard swap this month with the BadBabies. I had a blast creating my cards and from the work I received from all the other players, I think they did too!

So, I am going to walk you through my card.

This is the purchased postcard I began with. It sort of started out a bit creepy. LOL I wanted to turn this run down old house into a honeymoon cottage for my couple. I sanded the entire card to increase that dilapidated look. Notice there is writing that I need to cover up at some point.



I painted a moon with acrylics and stamped the witch. (inkadinkado) The spider on the roof was stamped first in red but he didn't show up as well as I wanted so I overstamped him in black. (BoBunny) Can you see the ghost coming out of the upper right window? He is stamped on peach colored vellum. He is from one of my very first stamp sets. Poor thing is at least 25 years old. (inkadinkado)

Did you see the houseguest peeking out of the front door? I just love him. He is part of a trio of dancers. I masked the door and stamped him in (PSX)

I found my lovers on one of my photo cds. I was originally looking for a bride but when I saw this couple (and she was already tinted orange!), they seemed perfect.

They did need a little cosmetic work though. I used Photoshop Elements 5 for their enhancements. I gave him his lovely snow white complexion. She was much tougher. It seems she has very 'clear' skin LOL Using several layers, I added in her skeletal features....skull, hand and leg bone. Unfortunately, it is easier to see these features on the computer than the printed version but it is obvious that something is amiss. LOL

Mary was here last night helping bind the books and after staring at my card for a few moments finally said....what the heck is wrong with her face, she looks kinda creepy! LOL

And now for the finale. I stamped a wrought iron fence across the bottom (BoBunny) then added the pumpkins on top (Stampin Up and PSX) They are on regular printer paper and colored with pencils.

All the edges were 'distressed' with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (walnut stain and spiced marmalade)

They look happy in their new home, don't they?

Here is the cover of the book. I used a photo of a fence post wrapped in barbed wire that I took last summer (thinking it would make a great background someday).

The web in the lower corner is from a brush set I found online. I listed my favorite brush sites on my last post. :-)

I absolutely hate spiders, they totally creep me out, so I have no idea why on earth I wanted webs and a spider on this book! The spider is one of those cheapy plastic rings you see everywhere (except when you NEED them). I just cut off the 'ring'.

I am mailing out the books on Monday. I sure hope everyone likes them. I know I do!

Apron is done and delivered!

I finished Pam's apron and she received it on Monday so I can share the final product.

Pam is a bookmaker! She makes tons of them!!!! I am in awe of her! :-)

So, I made her a bookmaking apron.

I went with a play on words...

Below is "Japanese Stab". Pretty easy if you know book making basics...or even less if you are like me LOL

And this next one was tougher. Pam says she woke up in the middle of the night with the answer LOL Do you know your bookmaking techniques? Can you guess what it is?

How about "Coptic"? Yeah, it is a stretch LOL

And finally the finished apron. I haven't painted on fabric for years so it was really fun to pull out all the old brushes again. :-)

Playing with Digital

I started with a photo hubby took years ago in Dunsmuir. The flowers against the brick wall.

I added the woman from one of my photo cds.

The text and swirls are both brushes I downloaded online. No longer sure where they came from but my favorite places are

deviantart.com
getbrushes.com
damnedinblack.net

search for photoshop brushes and you will find dozens of sites!

And finally, I used a "scratches" overlay to give an even roughness to the finished project. Again, a free download. I am horrible. I download free sets of overlays and such, keep the one or two that I want and discard the rest. I lose track of where they came from. Here are a couple places I have frequented in the past.

digitalscrapbookplace.com
digiscrapdepot.com

I had fun playing around with layers, opacity and brushes. It was a fun way to relax and lose an hour or two. :-)

A is for Angels

I was reading the latest Somerset Holidays and Celebrations and saw this wonderful idea - the ABC's of Christmas. The example in the magazine was done 3x5 and stored in a box almost like a recipe box. I decided I liked the concept of a book instead with the tabs at the bottom like little footnotes.

I am using 4x6 manilla index dividers and like I said, putting the tabs on the bottom. I will eventually bind all the pages (plus covers) using my Bind-It-All.

So, I have 2 done. Not too bad since I just started yesterday.

A is for Angels

The angel girl came from the Vintage Postcards CD from American Image Gallery. The pair of angels are from the Victorian Images Volume Two, SummertownSun. And the "A" came from Memories of a Lifetime - Alphabets and Ornaments book and CD. Whew! that is a lot of image CDs!

I created the Peace on Earth banner using Photoshop Elements 5 and shaded by hand with pencils.

The swirly stamp in the upper left corner is from BoBunny.

I played with the girl a bit in Photoshop Elements and cut out her background. I hand tinted her wings with Twinkling H2os.

Everything is glued down on the divider that I had 'antiqued' with Distress Inks.


B is for Bells:

Not as much 'stuff' here. The B is again from the Alphabets and Ornaments CD. The bells from the Victorian Images. The bells are actually 3D. I printed the middle and right bells again on cardstock and cut them out, rounded them slightly and adhered them with 2 layers of foam tape. They are higher than the gold button clappers.

I used my crop-a-dile to add the eyelet and real bell to the bottom corner.

I am planning on adding lines from corresponding Christmas carols to the back of each page.

I'm all over the place!

I started painting Pam's apron. I have the top done. Next will come the pockets and finally the bottom. I am using a bookmaking theme since I know she makes tons of them and enjoys the processes.

Meanwhile, in my spare time, I am working on a bowl made from an old vinyl record. I melted it a couple months ago (when it was 110 outside!) I first put it in my husband's car sitting out in the driveway...just to see how bad it would melt....yeah, I was bored. I sat it on a large bowl and it sunk right down in! It wasn't even enough though so I fired up the grill and melted it some more. You have never had fun until you are standing in 100+ temps cooking a record on a grill! LOL

I am now in the decorating process. I am covering it with torn book pages.

Below is the bowl completely covered before I trimmed the edges. Next, I will be antiquing it....haven't done that yet. :-)

Today, the bad baby group decided to create a fatbook for one of our members that is battling a serious illness. She likes French images and postage (as well as lots of other things). I dug out my Oxford Impression Paris set for the woman and Eiffel Tower. The postmarks are from Hero Arts 'Tour De Luxe" set. I thought....what is more "French" then the Moulin Rouge? I hope it lifts her spirits and brings her healing along faster!

Done Wrecking!

I recently finished my wrecked journal swap. I mailed Jo Anne's journal back to her last week.

This one was rougher than the first. I found myself in a serious funk. Tucker's 17th birthday was August 10 and no matter what I did, I just couldn't stop missing him.

But, I am slowly pulling myself up and out of it. I still miss him and probably always will. He was "my baby".

So, one of the final pages I completed in Jo Anne's journal is below. He always was and always will be one of my favorite subjects. :-)

I know I took pictures of other pages I did in her book but heaven only knows what folder I downloaded them into! LOL I will probably stumble across them in a year or 2!

I am now into a new project...an apron swap. I am painting it up specifically for the owner and her likes. I will post pics soon.

I promise to not stay gone so long! :-)

One Done! On to the Next!

I finished Pam's journal last night.....Finally! I am sure she is getting very impatient with me LOL She sent mine and it arrived yesterday so I made myself sit down and finish those last 2 pages before I opened my package.

Below is one of the pages I actually did over a month ago but could never get a decent photo. I really like it. Then again, I love red! The instructions were to 'tear' images out of a magazine. Well, I didn't tear, I cut because I had that woman in my stash and I really wanted to use her. I don't think Pam will mind that I sort of cheated LOL
Here is the last page that I worked on. I found the photo at an antique shop last week. The instructions called for metallic tape but I don't have any and couldn't find any around here so I used masking tape and then 'antiqued' it.
Minnie actually completed the final page. It called for my cat's paw prints and I have been trying to figure out how to do that in a safe manner. It finally came to me....jelly. I dipped her tiny paw into some jelly then onto the page. Well, she wasn't too happy so she struggled and accidentally dipped her other front paw in the jelly and walked on my desk! LOL I took a damp cloth and wiped off her paws (got the majority of it off). She ran away and immediately began cleaning off the tiny bit still stuck to her fur......she was really enjoying her bath! LOL

The End Is In Sight!

I am down to the last 4 pages (out of the 100 in the journal)

I have been working like a mad woman today trying to wrap this up (since I have another one sitting and waiting!)

Below was the page of "my choice of what to do". I chose to add a transparency to the page. Plus a couple postage stamps featuring blue colored birds. I also found this quote from Victor Hugo, "Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings".

This is my "color outside the lines". I really had no idea of what that meant as there were no lines drawn on the page. So, after much deliberation, I pulled out one of my vintage photo cds and began browsing. I found the photo of the woman looking out the window. I turned it into a sketch and made the window the "lines".

How to "Wreck" a Journal

Since I created a journal to swap with Pam and one for the bad baby swap and then another one for the bad baby swap because the first one got lost in the mail, I had to come up with a lot of ideas on how I wanted my journal wrecked.

The swap with Pam is more artistic things, the one for bad babies is more destructive.

I thought I would share my ideas in case anyone else is looking for ways to "wreck" a journal. Be warned, this list contains over 140 ideas. Some are very specific others are vague, leaving interpretation up to the wrecker. Each direction pertains to the page it is written on.

Splatter the cover with paint
Doodle all over this page
Step in mud then this page
Leave open on this page outside overnight
Burn part of this page
Poke holes in page
Drive over page
Color then take this page in the shower with you
Rub in the grass
Spill your drink on this page
Color vertical lines
Tear out-crumple-dry brush-reattach
Draw a hotdog –slather with mustard
Let your pet play with this page
Color then put under the sprinkler
Jump up and down on this page
Stick this page in a fan
Cut into strips
Throw rocks at it
Use as a napkin
Cover with circles
Dribble glue all over
Fold this page into an origami shape
Freeform - tear out squares
Repeatedly write one word over and over
Cover with hand prints
Cover with foot prints
Drag the book down the driveway
Cover with food labels
Cover with junk mail
Sew stitches all over
Let potato chips sit on this page over night
Create a loud sound via color
Glue leaves/petals
Kiss this page
Rub garlic all over
Do a rubbing of something
Tear out and sit on this page all day
Wad up and soak in a cup of tea, let dry then reattach
Let a child color
Scorch with an iron
Splatter with candle wax
Use as a coaster
Tear into pieces then tape back together
Paint page all one color
Scribble viciously
Cover with toothbrush splatters
Pound with a hammer
Cover with masking tape
Candle smoke
Chalk it up
Folds and staples
All the colors in the box
Drill through the back cover
Draw a picture of your house, eyes closed
Cut out a photo of a pretty model – ugly her up
Document all the food you ate today
Fill entire page with lots of colors
What do you see on the drive to work
Smear ink or paint all over the page
Happy thoughts
Fold page, tuck in pocket, wash pants then reattach
Glue newspaper page – circle all the words starting with T
Do what ever you want here
Let a spouse or friend alter this page
Stamp your favorite rubber stamp
Glue pic of self, alter it
Do something unpredictable on this page
Spray with your favorite scent
Sand this page
Use this page to wipe up a spill
Today’s to do list
Write you name over and over
Drip paint
Take a picture of you wrecking this book and add here
Draw a self portrait of how you feel today
Make a leaf or veggie print
Shaving cream technique
Write out the plot of the last movie you saw
Cover with stamps from the mail
Finger paint with anything you want
Draw with your non-dominant hand
Decorate with stickers
Trace items from your purse or pocket
Trace your hand then decorate it
Color outside the lines (have a shape drawn on page)
Take a walk, glue found objects to page
Write the lyrics to your favorite song
Add phone book page – circle names you like
Add phone book page – collage it
Make a collage using only junk mail
Write you motto here
Dress this person (have a stick figure drawn on page)
This page has an boo-boo – fix it (have hole torn in page)
Fibers
Cut into strips – basket weave
Turn this letter into a animal (have large letter written on page)
Press flowers here
Cut out page – make a mini book
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Date – time – day of week – weather
Your grocery list
Close the book – write on the edges
Oh No! a ketchup stain!
Paint or draw with something other than a brush/pen/pencil
Beat the journal with a chain
Cover with egg shells
Add red things to this page
Cut out a jack o lantern face
What was you favorite page?
Draw the view from your window
Create your own ink blot
Use oil pastels – draw flowers
Create a collage portrait using only scraps
Make a red ATC
Create ‘stained glass’
Paint randomly with eyes closed
Picasso
Seurat
Warhol
Create using food labels
Buttons
Draw what you did today
Create a picture of your dinner –medium up to you
Collage “love”
A favorite childhood memory
It’s not easy being green
My art wish list
Pollack
Favorite holiday
3D
doodle while on the phone
letters and postcards
favorite season
create a row house
attach a newspaper page, color on top of it
homage to cats
incorporate letters
what did you dream last night?
Collage in blues from magazine pics
Scrapbook your day
My favorite flower in the yard
Fill in these squares (draw or stamp squares on the page)
Create with candy wrappers
Pen and ink a tree
Use torn scraps – no cutting - collage

Wreck that Journal!

Maybe I should say "ART" that journal!

I have been hard at work on Pam's journal and I really need to get it done soon as I now have the other journal from the bad baby swap here too!

Below I have added a few of the many works I have finished in Pam's journal. In case I never mentioned this before....there are 100 pages in the journal. (I have about 15 left)

The instructions were:

Color this page then spritz with bleach.

I painted this sunny fellow (and didn't think to take his picture before I wrecked him) using Twinkling H2Os because they are a water color and thought they would have a nice effect with the bleach.

Here is a close up. You can see the speckles where the color is now gone. It is not a huge bleached look but I really like how it turned out.

Here I had to use a page from the phone book in a collage. This page listed all the local schools.

The instructions just said "Hugs and Kisses". Well, I really had to struggle but I managed to eat enough Hershey Kisses to make a spiffy skirt for this lady. Yeah, I suffered! LOL (this is just a close up of part of the page)

Ok, on this one I didn't really follow the directions. It said to "radically alter this page". I cut it out of the book and flipped it over so the writing was on the back then collaged the front and taped it back in. Not very radical but I had fun.

I have to admit that I am having so much fun working on this journal and really like most of what I have done...to the point that it is going to be very hard to part with it. But then again I can't wait to see what Pam has done for me! :-D

My Ballerina Pig

So, here she is. I think she is adorable but the people at work didn't like it at all. They opted for plain colored/air brushed pigs.

Oh well, no accounting for taste I guess. I knew going into this that it was not an 'art' contest so no surprise that I didn't even come in in the top 5.

She is wearing a tutu, ballet slippers and her upper dress is covered with paintings of ballerinas.

How can you pass up a face like this?

Journal Wrecking is FUN!

I have been doing some serious wrecking over the past week! My friend Pam, from Maine, and I created our own journals for wrecking using standard composition books which means 100 pages worth of instructions---100 pages to 'wreck'! We decided to stick with more "artistic" themes and fewer "destruction" ideas.

First: Concentric Circles! This one took me forever LOL My hand was so tired from coloring round and round. I pulled out several different brands of pencils to get all these wonderful colors!
Anybody remember the Psychedelic posters of the 60s? Well, I vaguely remembered so I had to do a search online LOLNow, I have more going on this week than just wrecking pages! I entered a contest at work. I have to decorate this piggie bank. You can't really tell from the picture but it is clear, blue plastic and stands around 5 inches tall.

I will post the process and finished product after the contest ends (the end of May) Wouldn't want to give away my secrets. :-)

And finally. Minnie has made herself right at home! Today she decided that hubby was more comfortable than the sofa. He even moved her butt back up onto the sofa and she slid it back down onto his shoulder LOL