"Its Show Time"
This months challenge was based on TV or Movies we love.
This months challenge for me was time and space related.
I have entirely too many movies that I LOVE I couldn't think of anything that I could do in a timely fashion. I kept thinking what what what.
ideas that surfaced included Highlander, 1001 Arabian Nights, 300, The Mummy, Eragon. All the ideas that stemmed from these were all very time consuming.
My art table is currently in a state of disaster, and the floor space leading up to it is also a bit of a mine field. How was I even going to find the space to work, let alone the time to clean to get to the work surface.
The deadline ticked closer. This morning a post said midnight tonight.
I thought ooohhhh, I've participated every month since joining Id hate to miss, but I have no ideas.
Well the kids are listening to Arthur and the Invisibles, the little boy actor is the same kid in Spiderwick.
and I love those flower fairies in Spiderwick. I thought gee I can't make one of those and have it do them justice. Then I realized this isn't about copying something from a movie, its about being inspired.
I just happened to have bright yellow, pink and spring green in the top of my clay bag.
I decided to make a flower fairy inspired by the movie Spiderwick in my style of my muse pieces.
I will have this flower face up on etsy very soon, if not by the time you have read this.
Spiderwick face on etsy
PCAGOE monthly challenge, Voting starts August 1
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What would life be without art?
Boring!
and much cleaner.
I have piles of random art supplies all over the place. And of course they certainly arent limited to just one room.
We recently got InDemand digital cable. If you have it are you aware they have FREE kids activities?
Yes thats right FREE kids activites.
Mine were kept busy for several hours in the middle of the hot hot afternoon making origami penguins and bats and boats and fortune cookie boxes.
It was great!
I dug out some origami paper I had in my collage/scrapbooking drawer and they used the whole pack!
They were learning manual dexterity-fine motor skills, they were actively engaged! They then took their little creations and played with them!
Yes I know TV time needs to be limited, but when they were engaged learners with the TV I say, TV time is OK.
And it saved us adults from whining, Sponge Bob, and heat stoked children!
What would me life be with out art?
cleaner, yes, but so much less interesting, so much less active learning and creative problem solviing skill development.
Life would just be less interesting
and more whiny!
and much cleaner.
I have piles of random art supplies all over the place. And of course they certainly arent limited to just one room.
We recently got InDemand digital cable. If you have it are you aware they have FREE kids activities?
Yes thats right FREE kids activites.
Mine were kept busy for several hours in the middle of the hot hot afternoon making origami penguins and bats and boats and fortune cookie boxes.
It was great!
I dug out some origami paper I had in my collage/scrapbooking drawer and they used the whole pack!
They were learning manual dexterity-fine motor skills, they were actively engaged! They then took their little creations and played with them!
Yes I know TV time needs to be limited, but when they were engaged learners with the TV I say, TV time is OK.
And it saved us adults from whining, Sponge Bob, and heat stoked children!
What would me life be with out art?
cleaner, yes, but so much less interesting, so much less active learning and creative problem solviing skill development.
Life would just be less interesting
and more whiny!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
I guess I've been crafty for a bit
I’ve been drawing since I could hold a crayon. That’s a given in my family.
I think I learned to sew when I was 7 or 8. Mom had just gotten a new Vicking sewing machine. It is a rusty red color, iron body. That machine rocks. She taught me some, I taugh myself more, I took lessons. I’ve been sewing ever since. I remember trying to make a pair of white canvas knee high converse type shoes in the 9th grade. I didn’t do so well, forgot to add fabric for the calves, my legs are wider than my ankles.
In the 6th grade I learned to knit and crochet.
Jewelry making started sometime in high school.
I went to art school, and its been pretty constant ever since……
I think I learned to sew when I was 7 or 8. Mom had just gotten a new Vicking sewing machine. It is a rusty red color, iron body. That machine rocks. She taught me some, I taugh myself more, I took lessons. I’ve been sewing ever since. I remember trying to make a pair of white canvas knee high converse type shoes in the 9th grade. I didn’t do so well, forgot to add fabric for the calves, my legs are wider than my ankles.
In the 6th grade I learned to knit and crochet.
Jewelry making started sometime in high school.
I went to art school, and its been pretty constant ever since……
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Things I've learned the hard way
2 weeks ago I took a wire wrapping with Dale Cougar Armstrong. We made sculpted wrapped pendants. During break I found this great oversized "diamond" and decided that it was perfectly ostentatious and needed to be wrapped in brass --gold would have been, well too costly and frankly just not tacky enough. After all this diamond is a paper weight and over 2 inches in the round.
Well I wrapped it up . It sucked. I went too fast. I need to learn to slow down ad be more controlled and precises with my work. Tihis is an on going lesson I seem to constantly need to learn and re-learn.
So I pulled it apart and rewrapped the loverly stone. I used loads of wire. A also learned do NOT mix your wire wire hardnesses.
This is wrapped using square and round wire. It makes for a visual difference in texture--ok subtle but its there. But the problem in the round wire was deaad soft and the square half hard. Man this was a bit*h to wrap. First of all DAle did warn us against doing this in half hard wire, but then I had to go and mix my hardnesses.
what a control issue that was
not again
or if again I at least KNOW what Im setting my self up for right?
Anothe lesson I learned the hard way was not to cure dimentional objects in my little toaster over, that i used exclusively for polymer clay.
I fired the head off of a dragon box.
Ruined.
Poor beastie, no head.
Fortunately I was able to give him a new head.
Its one of the few dragon boxes i've ever sold.
I also discovered after quite a bit of work on this one bottle, that the cobalt blue glass bottles from Micheals are in fact not blue glass but plastic coated glass. No wonder when i was washing and wiping this dragon down with alchohol the bottle color looked like it was changing. It was! (no more blue bottles for me)
Well I wrapped it up . It sucked. I went too fast. I need to learn to slow down ad be more controlled and precises with my work. Tihis is an on going lesson I seem to constantly need to learn and re-learn.
So I pulled it apart and rewrapped the loverly stone. I used loads of wire. A also learned do NOT mix your wire wire hardnesses.
This is wrapped using square and round wire. It makes for a visual difference in texture--ok subtle but its there. But the problem in the round wire was deaad soft and the square half hard. Man this was a bit*h to wrap. First of all DAle did warn us against doing this in half hard wire, but then I had to go and mix my hardnesses.
what a control issue that was
not again
or if again I at least KNOW what Im setting my self up for right?
Anothe lesson I learned the hard way was not to cure dimentional objects in my little toaster over, that i used exclusively for polymer clay.
I fired the head off of a dragon box.
Ruined.
Poor beastie, no head.
Fortunately I was able to give him a new head.
Its one of the few dragon boxes i've ever sold.
I also discovered after quite a bit of work on this one bottle, that the cobalt blue glass bottles from Micheals are in fact not blue glass but plastic coated glass. No wonder when i was washing and wiping this dragon down with alchohol the bottle color looked like it was changing. It was! (no more blue bottles for me)
Spider web
I purchased this awsome ruby glass from an etsy vendor (MoonDancer.etsy.com), not knowing what I was going to do with it, just had to have it. One of the ladies in the wire wrapping class found the spider. Mary, who I sat next to, and I plotted this little masterpiece from there. The egg sac was mary's idea.
I love it its perfectly wicked!
I love it its perfectly wicked!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Things I made this weekend....
I was oh so lucky to take a wire wrapping class this weekend. On the drive over I thought "boy Im glad classes start at 10 and not 9"
When I walked in the owners face told me I was WRONG, the class started at 9. Fortunately the teacher, Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, told me to get my butt in there, since she figured I could catch up.
I took a weekend class set with her back in October, and it turns out I "get it." I need to slow down and to practice but this whole wire wrapping thing I get.
So in class we made a cute little wave ring, which it is now my challenge to turn into a bracelet (yep Cougar homework). And the sculpted cab.
Ive already made 5 of these since class, and one was a commission!!!! (need to get a pic of that--made to match a dress for a wedding!)
well if the class didnt creatively kick my butt into gear. I came home and whipped out my PCAGOE challenge piece as well.
Thats the pic for this blog, you see I dont have pics of the rest yet. Thats scheduled for later this week, then I will get those posted
Heres a link to Dale's blog. For the post on Stardust Designs Bead Shoppe, Im in the pic, standing in the VERY back
wearing the rib cage shirt with the barely controlled red hair
http://www.cougarscreations.com/blog/index.html
When I walked in the owners face told me I was WRONG, the class started at 9. Fortunately the teacher, Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, told me to get my butt in there, since she figured I could catch up.
I took a weekend class set with her back in October, and it turns out I "get it." I need to slow down and to practice but this whole wire wrapping thing I get.
So in class we made a cute little wave ring, which it is now my challenge to turn into a bracelet (yep Cougar homework). And the sculpted cab.
Ive already made 5 of these since class, and one was a commission!!!! (need to get a pic of that--made to match a dress for a wedding!)
well if the class didnt creatively kick my butt into gear. I came home and whipped out my PCAGOE challenge piece as well.
Thats the pic for this blog, you see I dont have pics of the rest yet. Thats scheduled for later this week, then I will get those posted
Heres a link to Dale's blog. For the post on Stardust Designs Bead Shoppe, Im in the pic, standing in the VERY back
wearing the rib cage shirt with the barely controlled red hair
http://www.cougarscreations.com/blog/index.html
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
July PCAGOE challenge Personal hero
This months challenge: Personal Hero. The entries are really quite a collection of out-of-the-box interpretations. Any where from a color study for a late grandmother to an archetypal figure of service animals.
Mine is the tongue in cheek "charm" bracelet of my daily supplements.
Voting can be done over at www. pcagoe.com
random voters win prizes
Mine is the tongue in cheek "charm" bracelet of my daily supplements.
Voting can be done over at www. pcagoe.com
random voters win prizes