look... see the moths?

My title is in celebration (?) of my ADD. Yes, I am highly distractable.

I knew what I wanted to do today but I did something else. The advantage of having a cold is it is easier to say "I don't feel like it"... I won't get away with that ALL day....

I saw a picture of a card that I just loved.... and as usual started wanting the stamp, the ink... and then I thought, why couldn't I make my own carved peacock feather? So here it is. I modified my blind contour sketch... I am NOT a great draw-er. But I am learning. I love the way this eraser stamp looks inked up with my rainbow ColorBox ink pad.

Here it is stamped....

and it morphed from the first, as i carved out other parts. Have to decide just how much to clean it up. That's a work in progress, now the trick is to stop when it is done and not overdo the carving. I expect to improve as I practice.

ummm..... wasn't I thinking of getting some SEWING done??

Linoleum print #1 of 2011

First lino print in twenty years or so. I did sort of a zentangle. I have no idea what I will do with it, maybe a card. Have to get lino ink. I tried all sorts of ink pads and nothing really worked... this was the best, and it was DISTRESS INK!! I wasn't going to try it, but since I couldn't leave it alone there you go.

If nothing else it was good practice cutting. I really like both the lino and the tool. But I guess I am going to have to get more linoleum ink. I never hate to go to the craft store. ;)

Maybe tomorrow it will show up on an art journal page.

Hopefully I will have some sewing to report, I am going to take some sewing over to Grandma's, and hope to get some done.

It's raining...

Wow we had a monstrosity of a rain storm come through here Thursday.

I stamped the "waves" with acrylic paint and a piece of that purple crown thingy that I showed in the last post. The pictures I just printed on paper and glued in. The silver drops are done with a Sharpie poster paint marker. And of course distress inks on gesso background.

And did I mention that my son and brother were DRIVING through this storm?? He came in to Sacramento on a plane; fortunately they got to land and it wasn't raining too hard because they let them out right out there on the tarmac; tiny plane. By the time they got to Placerville it was SNOWING!! Wild stuff. This is MARCH.... snow in Placerville in March is rare.

There's a space on the left page for an ark. I put my new stamps in a SAFE PLACE..... the dreaded safe place. If I don't find them soon I am going to print a picture for there. Ah the joys of being creatively ADHD.

thrifty find...

See this stuff? Junk to some. It was all in a bag at a thrift store, and $3. I had been thinking about doilies, so they are welcome. There is a star stencil with all different sizes. A scallopy crown thingy. A bunch of huge stamps designed for using on fabrics. I threw out (actually put them in a bag of unused craft stuff that I am donating to that thrift shop) those yellow things since I 1) had no idea what they were and 2) didn't know how I would use them... but the rest is in my crafty stash. I might even use that embroidery hoop, as a frame for a creation.

They had some other bags, but they were $6 to $9... so will wait, and if they are still there in a couple weeks I know they will also be marked down. If they aren't there, oh well.

that ark stamp I am seeing on a journal page after today's DOWNPOUR...

be who you need to be...

well.... I've been thinking about this a lot lately. To look to God for my identity instead of everyone else. This was inspired by someone at Milliande who did a page with the same quote.

I am kind of on a run of art journaling. Today I am off to play with grandkids. Hoping for sewing tomorrow.

the sun is shining for a minute...

Today's journal page... a tribute to spring, even though the rain forecast and low snow levels are teasing us. This is from a page of butterfly stencils I got at WalMart. I painted the whole page blue first with acrylic paint, then stenciled the butterflies. The purple one I didn't like the way it turned out the first time so filled it in, then re-stenciled with darker purple.

The stamped letters are Cheapskate again. Gotta get another alphabet.

how to...

"How to Paint ..How to Draw .. How to be Creative..these are questions many beginner artists ask themselves ..yet there is no hard and fast rule ..
here I share my process the way I taught myself how to paint.. the way I learned how to draw ..the way I play art .. I don't believe there are mistakes in art making it simply is how I express myself at the time I pick up a tube of paint..swing a pencil or carve a stamp ... no validity is necessary for me.."- Milliande

And so with sewing, or the other myriad things I do or try to do... the process is what it is about. I saw this art journal prompt at Millande Art Community for Women (I am a new member there) It's for January, and that is long past, but I was intrigued. There are examples and videos, but I wanted to just DO something so I didn't have any preconceived notions about what to do.

THEN I watched a video. My painting is drying now, then I will journal on it, then post it. So far I LOVE my zebra, I can almost feel its personality.... now wouldn't that make a great lino cut? LOL..........we will see.

On the right, before journaling.... below, after.

NOT the wrong color

Started slapping on golden yellow paint on a page, had no idea what I was going to do. Then the green jumped out and demanded equal time. The slapping turned into mountains. Then brown pleaded to be included. When it was all dry it just looked sad. Oh my, I said, this is a strange landscape. At first I thought it was Pluto or something but then it started snowing. It occurred to me that I am the creator of this ummm... painting. So I can do what I want. It can be anywhere... maybe it isn't snow?

And it doesn't seem to matter how it turns out. The process is calming and lovely. So do i like it?? wellllll... yes. It was what my fingers did today.

Now to find my sewing machine cord.... and do something a bit more... traditional?

troubled

My heart was indeed troubled this morning. As the caregiver for my mother in law, it is increasingly obvious that we are going to have to have more help. I came home troubled by that. Then my hubby had the news on about Libya. Then of course the reminders about Japan. And a friend of mine recently headed to Chile for relief efforts there.

All of it gets me "all bunched up" as my dad says. So I started this page stamping WARS.. then that scripture verse about "wars and rumors of wars" came to mind. So I doodled about what is the most bothersome... earthquakes, war... famine, pestilence... as it talks about in Matthew... and I found this article. A good reminder that it is not a warning about the end of the world, but these things will be around us, and in spite of them, God asks something of us... "See that you are not troubled" (Matthew 24).

So how crazy is that??? I say... in the middle of all this, don't get all bunched up.... my dad's right. Guess I better get better at this. I'm certainly getting lots of practice lately.

being stretched...

The background is rubber bands on a brayer rolled over a rainbow ink pad. Then I found a quotation that had to do with stretching... and thinking about the tsunami and all the people killed and affected by it... all of us have to expand our hearts and reach out to those in need, whether by donating money to help or actually going there. I admire those willing to pick up and go there...

Don't know how much the zentangle matches the rubber bands, but that's what my fingers did today. I have been enjoying the zentangling... and the stamped/written letters just looked too plain. I really like the way my tears turned out... kind of a hidden meaning here. But it's the first try for the rubber banding. Saw the technique first at Gina K. Designs. The stamped fonts are $1 Michael's or Joann's fonts I don't remember...with the exception of "EXPAND" which is Traci Bunkers' Cheapskate font. I did the zentangle with a Uniball pen.

Not sure what the names of the tangles are, except the center one on the bottom, which is a variation of "Crescent Moon"... I used to do this kind of doodle all the time as a teenager, before it was called a zentangle... I wondered when I saw the site whether "my" doodle was in someone else's head... and there it was. LOL

Here's the card I did, I cropped the scanned image and mounted on paisley cuttlebug embossing folder... hate it when stuff turns out crooked... but oh well. I am human. :) and sometimes to tired to be a perfectionist.

handing...

Decided to experiment with different paints for stenciling the Mehndi hand. I bought a kid's airbrush system for $7 at Michael's... the "Sprayza". LOL I don't want to invest in an expensive system I won't use a lot; but I will get one if I think I will do a lot. With the "Sprayza" you use your own breath... and I was almost hyperventilating, LOL...

Things that I learned or remembered...

• biocolor is not the best for clear stenciling (the red) it blobs. So use it if I want blobs. :)
• acrylic paint works well with a stenciling brush and is pretty good for detail (the black)
• Distress ink with a foam applicator (the blue) is great for a dreamy look but you can't get into the nooks and crannies but I like the shadowy effect;
• The airbrush is good for fine detail (the green). And of course a better system would produce even better results.

The yellow around the edges I airbrushed. Then I didn't like it quite so bright so toned it down with distress ink (walnut) on a round foam applicator.

I was also reminded of Mother Teresa and her humanitarian work, and that God is always in the reach of every hand...

A great start to the day! Good morning!!

going buggy!!

well the colors are kind of creepy... those are the only colors left in my blopens. LOL... but I can see these as patterns on something or other. The stamps are Inkadinado, and the font at the top is Traci Bunkers' "Cheapskate" font stamps.

And the stencils are really flyswatters. LOL they caught my eye. Don't worry, I washed them before and after, so the bugs won't get painted...

Okay, so I have a strange sense of humor.

Going buggy, but having fun, busting the stress... that's what it is about.

Now of course everything looks like something to be stenciled or carved...

Zentangle Peacock...

Karen is learning how to do digi-stamps... and here is her first one. It seemed to me that it was a perfect zentangle thread so here's what i did with it. I don't like part of it, but oh well. Practice, just like anything else.

I joined the Art Community for Women at milliande.com.

There is a lot to learn from other people. What to do? Maybe take a class from Darlene. Or at the art center here, or a ceramics class from Arlene... or voice lessons from Monica. There are a lot of talented people in my life. One would think that I would take advantage of that. Truthfully, I haven't taken any art classes since college!! Not even quilting classes, although I've taught them... and I even taught craft classes for children... funny that I never thought about not taking classes. I've just taught myself. Watched tutorials, copied ideas from others... there are some things I'd really like to try.

So where should I start...

Mehndi stencils...

Mehndi stencils are made for henna stenciling on hands... but they can be used as stencils for whatever you want. It doesn't look like much here, the same not-dried-out colors of blopens... have to find that gift certificate so I can get some more colors.

I wanted to learn more about Mehndi, so googled it and found several articles about it. It is used in India mainly as decoration for brides. Read about it on Wikipedia.

This is just a page in my sketch book, which was rather kidnapped, and now includes a page on zentangle, hand carved rubber stamps, and Mehndi. From time to time I have ordered something or other and then forgot what it was I had planned for it. I won't forget this stuff now. I left space for new rubber stamps I make, and will continue that adventure, which seems to be tangled up in the zentangle, because I can see possibilities there for stamps.

And this page is sort of like a journal page, so it's beginning to come together, at least in my mind.

Also....... (drum roll) I got Traci's book in the mail today!! I ordered it from Amazon.com. Lots of great ideas! She has another book coming out May 1st and as soon as I get my next check, I will order it.

There is so much I would like to do I get rather frustrated that I cannot do them all. LOL!!! I keep adding things to The List.

Night Guy....

I never get enough sleep. I stay up late at night, cause I’m Night Guy. Night Guy wants to stay up late. ‘What about getting up after five hours sleep?’, oh that’s Morning Guy’s problem. That’s not my problem, I’m Night Guy. I stay up as late as I want. So you get up in the morning, you’re ….. (?), you’re exhausted, groggy, oooh I hate that Night Guy! See, Night Guy always screws Morning Guy. There’s nothing Morning Guy can do. The only Morning Guy can do is try and oversleep often enough so that Day Guy loses his job and Night Guy has no money to go out anymore.
-Jerry Seinfeld

Great-Grandma's windblown tulips

(Note: This post was from my "Quilter's Friend" blog from 2008, which I am currently updating. I decided to delete this post from that blog but wanted to remember this... Quilter's Friend is a shop where I used to work; I still maintain their website and blog)

Well, I had a call (to the shop) from far away quite awhile ago when I first posted a picture of my great-grandma's quilt. The original caller said it was the quilt from "When Harry Met Sally"...I found out it was called "Windblown Tulips" and was designed by Marie Webster. To see a big picture of the quilt, go here:

http://www.antiquequiltdating.com/ColonialRevivalEraQuilts-on-Exhibit.html

There's also a little article about the quilt design and designer on about.com:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Quilting-2339/2008/7/Harry-Met-Sally-Quilt.htm

It seems that this pattern was first published in 1911 in the Ladies' Home Journal. I wonder how many women made this? Marie Webster was the first to make a "cottage industry" out of quilting. What was she like? The historical aspect of quilters and quilting is fascinating to me.

Thanks to that long ago caller for helping me find a bit more history about my treasured quilt.

you can buy the windblown tulips pattern here:

http://www.practicalpatchwork.com/garden.html

Inspired by Karen

Karen inspired me to try zentangle... reminds me of the doodling I used to do all the time. What I need, however, is a finer pen. This is an ultra fine sharpie... that's what I have. I am boycotting new craft supplies at the moment, LOL... as soon as I find the gift certificate my hubby got me for Valentine's Day, I'm off to Michael's. For some fine pens among other things.

Hubby is watching NASCAR and loves it when I watch with him. I have figured out that sitting NEXT to him works even if I am not paying attention. Zentangle doodles seem like a perfect solution. Along with crochet. Or knitting. Anything repetitive.

May never do this again, but I think that I could use some of these ideas when carving stamps/lino cuts or whatever else I do next. It is kind of fascinating. I watched a few videos for ideas. I got the idea to trace the CD from millande.com. I googled Zentangle and there's a lot out there. Here's number two.... colored. Just ordinary colored pencils.

Eraser Carving

 Why carve erasers if I don't use them for something? This print looks like wandering to me... and I love this quote. So much of our time is spent working to provide for the present and for the future. I spend time wondering what I am supposed to be doing, now that I am done raising children... that was my life, home schooling, nurturing, trying my best to provide for them and love them. Now they are all out on their own. So after 30 years or so of parenting, now what, Lord?

Part of the journey seems to be letting myself create... so here is a card, my stamp, Oprah's quote, and Traci's inspiration...

Thanks, Oprah... Thanks, Traci....

color was blopens. The only ones not dried out are orange, green, and yellow. So that's where I had to start, LOL...

carving again... in more ways than one.

Got my henna stencils today from Traci Bunkers... going to have fun tomorrow with stencils and blopens. Of course they are old and some of the colors are dried out. :(

I am going to start a "commonplace book". I already kind of have one. I have collected sayings for years. So it seems like a good idea to start illustrating them. I've decided upon a 12 x 12 format, and put them in an album, and/or frame the ones I like. A different approach than a journal. I don't want to be just the same, but Traci (among others) inspired me to just do whatever is in my head and heart... and have fun.

The journey has already begun, just a different phase of it. Looking forward to allowing myself to create what I want to. Carving erasers, carving out time to carve. And stencil. And whatever other art I want to do.

And of course there are the UFO's to finish too...... :)

a quilty pleasure...

Joel's quilt is now all cut out and partly pieced. A little more than yesterday. I'm using a really simple pattern, called Turning Twenty. It says, "turn twenty fat quarters into a quilt in three hours"... well I spent two today, and I am either very very slow or not very experienced... well I've done lots of quilty projects, but not quilts this big...

But I don't care. I'll get it done when I get it done. I can't see making ANY quilt in three hours... maybe cut it out and piece the top, but not make a quilt.

I like the way it looks so far. I should be able to get the rest of the top pieced by tomorrow. Will see. Depends on how big of a pull those erasers have.

embarrassing...

well. Today I didn't work on a single project that I have started. I carved erasers again. I don't think that counts as finishing projects...

see what I did...