Thank you to my sweet girls for doing the 'beauty shot'
These are so cute - ABC flashcards. The directions, with photos, are over at CRESCENDOh. I know they are not 'art' but they represent so much of my life - making stuff for and with my kids. I made the cards for Max, but my girls set up the shot, adding in bits and pieces to make it a little group shot.
It just makes me smile.
I am going to finish off the rest of the alphabet by the time Max need them. I think I will have to get them laminated as they won't last as they are!
Being creative is such a joy, really. Creativity is a big part of our home and life. It makes everything possible and exciting. Everyday something happens here that is new and fun and artistic, be that my kids painting, building fairy houses and pet shop worlds or me making decisions on the apartment we are building for my parents making a necklace. A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I needed a big project. Well, I found one! I am not ready to reveal it until I have waded in a little deeper. But I am excited. I have something fresh to work on. I love fresh. I love spring. Don't you?
What is your favorite stamp? That is a hard question to be sure. I have many stamps that I use over and over. As you can see from this photo I don't take very good care of them! I know I should, but when I am making something I stamp almost without thinking and then forget to go back and clean the stamp. I primarily use Staz On ink and it dries fast.
Sometimes I use whole stamp image, but sometimes I use only a part of the stamp. I strive to use them not as focal images, but as a support for my own words, images and collages.
For example below I used only the edge of the flowers of this stamp (Blooming Contessa', by Sandra Evertson)
I like to edge my pages with partial stamps (Word stamp from Collage Cube by Christine Adolph):
The majority of my stamps come from Stampington & Co., some of which I used when I made the projects and images for my book, 'The Artistic Mother'. If you get a copy you will see the following ones:
On the cover: 1) 'Elegant butterfly' from Garden Melange collection by Christine Adolph
***Note - Clearly Impressed stamps from Stampington are unmounted and clear. You need acrylic blocks to mount them on when you want to stamp (although I have been known to mount them on the back of other wood mounted stamps!). When you are done you put them back on the clear plastic sheet they come in. I like these because they don't take up too much storage room.***
Do you have a favorite stamp, can you leave me a link to the stamp or the artwork?
This morning Laura slept late so Lily and I decided to fill in the time looking at craft videos on Youtube. We looked at a whole bunch, Lily was so inspired that she wanted to craft too. The video that finally put her over the inspirational top was this one about making artist's papers from Stampington & Co. (In Week 1 of the workshop in my book, The Artistic Mother, I have directions for making background papers, which is pretty much the same as 'artists papers')
At first I was reluctant as I would have to get out all those supplies and then Laura may come down and want to do it too and then we would never get school started. But when Lily offered to get the supplies out I knew she really wanted to craft and I didn't want to deny her just cause I was being a little lazy. As I looked at her earnest face I envisioned the project I had the wave of motivation I needed.
She picked out pink and purple paint and got a large paint brush off my craft table. I found a piece of bubble wrap conveniently stored on the ground in my craft room and tore a few pages out of an old journal for the background. Lily choose a few stamps. I grabbed my favorite Staz On ink and a piece of yesterdays local newspaper and we were good to go.
A few weeks ago in nature class we studied flowers and we pressed a few (sadly, not grown in our garden, but bought from the florist). I remembered them and suggested she use them in her artist's papers. Everything was was coming together smoothly and easily.
Step One: Here she is stamping with acrylic paint on bubble wrap, just as in the video.
She worked in a conveyor belt style, completing each step on each background sheet at the same time.
Step Two: She randomly stamped a heart and snowflake rubber stamp with purple and orange Staz On ink.
Step Three: Lily then glued on the pressed flowers. She planned out where the flowers would go first and then used regular liquid school glue to glue them in place. It was then that she decided to give these papers to her friends. I suggested that because the substrate is old paper they would need to be mounted onto something. We brainstormed ideas and decided cardboard would be best and that we could make them into wall hangings! For Christmas gifts! Way to go Lily thinking ahead.
Step Four: She typed up her friends names and choose pretty fonts. I printed them onto card stock and trimmed them with her choice of decorative edged scissors. Lily glued them in place.
Step Five: Later I mounted them on cardboard, covered them in scrapbook paper and layered the papers on top. I decided to do this portion as I used a kraft knife to cut the cardboard (so the lines would be straight) and then spray glue to fix the papers in place and she is too young to do either.
Step Six will be to add wire hangers. I will get to is soon, as I promised her :)
I was browsing the pages of Stampers' Sampler this week (in which I have a piece published) enjoying the handiwork of others and wanted to make something too. Anything. But I was feeling creatively empty. I was busy this week focusing on reviewing my book and getting the house ready for a new school year and have not been focusing on the arty things of life.
So what to do when the fingers are itching to create but the creative mind is blank?
I decided rather than struggle to come up with something new I would 'borrow' an idea from another artist! OK, some may be shocked at such plagiarism, but in my desperation I prefer to focus on the 'imitation is flattery' angle!
So I picked some cards in the 'Take Ten' section of the magazine and used them as templates for my own cards.
The green and orange cards above are by Teri Anderson (mine are the blue and brown ones, using stamps by Sandra Evertson) The green cards are by Diana Foster
During the week Lily also wanted to some stamping. Usually I give her the stamps and ink and let her go off on her own. She will invariably create a 'scene' that is more of a sketch than a finished piece. But this time I suggested that she borrow a template from Stampers' Sampler too. Here is the one she picked. I think that she did a really good job (I helped with the paper cutting).
The Tulip card is by Barb Pladziewicz
So thank you to Teri Anderson, Diana Foster and Barb Pladziewicz for putting their art out there and thanks for the inspiration.
Recently, I did a series of art pieces where I combined a photo with a collage. I discovered this little birdie on my journey and once found he seemed to fly into each piece. It was fun seeing where he would show up!
The photo was taken in Glencree, Ireland last year. We visited the same place again this year and it is equally as lush and green and magical.
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Computer saga:
My mum brought my computer into the shop for my on Friday afternoon as I visited with old school friends (my mother wins the award for being the most wonderful mother, ever). They will call me Monday or Tuesday to tell me the damage. I am down about it, as so much of me is on that computer... no, I had not backed my files up for a few months... I am hoping that they can fix the problem without loosing any of my photos and documents. Note to everyone: go out and get an external hardrive, even the best computer can crash :(
I took home the little squares I started in Leslie Riley's class at the quilt festival and made this little book. The canvas sticker paper the book is made on, the light molding paste, gesso and paint are by Claudine Hellmuth from her new product line.
I just finished up my biggest Artist On Call order for the summer publication of Inspirations. I mailed off a box with more than 3o pieces, all labeled and bubble wrapped. Phew! It was a lot of work, but I loved doing every single piece. The challenge of being given stamps or products that I would not have chosen myself and finding a way to create something, magazine worthy, is simply wonderful.
I am excited to see what the other AOC's do with the same tools and to see what Stampington choose to publish of mine. Even though I have been published a bunch in various Stampington magazines I still get nervous when sending something off. I worry will they like it, is it up to par, am I cutting any edges or merely repeating what I have done before. Either way, this is what I am working on and these images are a little sneak peak!
In case you wonder, all the stamps you see here are Stampington & Co. stamps: Wrought Scroll Ledger Flourish Elegant Butterfly Blooming Contessa Polka Dot Heart bird from Clearly Impressed 'Bird Sanctuary' butterfly from Clearly Impressed 'Rock and Roll' poppy pods from Clearly Impressed 'Fresh Flower Elements' script from Collage Cube
One of the perks of being an AOC for Stampington is that they send me stamps to use. I have lots of them that are wonderful and fit in with all I make, but my absolute favorite is the Clearly Impressed collection by Michelle Ward, Swirls. (and no I don't get a commission on these :), nor am I required to talk up Stampington stuff... I mention them only 'cause Stampington stuff ROCKS!)
I used them in decorating this little handmade book. I am working on projects right now that combine my own words, photos and paint. These swirls have just the right arty whimsical look I was going for.
The deadline for the next Somerset Studio theme is October 12 and the theme is Le Chateau. So get creating!
All the stamps in this little piece are Michelle Ward designs sold by Stampington & Co. They are 'Clearly Impressed' stamps, which are transparent acrylic stamps without blocks. They come on a plastic sheet and when you want to use one you peel it off and stick them on either blank acrylic blocks, or, like I do, on the back of other stamps. They are stored on the plastic sheets, which is a great space saver.
I have been invited to do a series of art works for Somerset Workshop for October 2008! I will have to produce 2 main pieces that can be easily explained to readers in a series of steps and then many more for the gallery.
My focus will be on altered photos, which is great as I have worked so hard to get it right and have learned lots along the way that I can share!
The first piece that I was thinking of demonstrating is this altered board book wall hanging.
Here is the full image (my camera is not great at taking detailed photos, so excuse the pic) and a one of the pages of the altered book. The book has 5 spreads, I may journal on the pages a little, so I am not quite finished.
Question: Is this a project you would be interested in learning how to make step by step in the magazine? Do you think others would be interested?
I have never sent 'mail art' before. I have sent art in the mail to Somerset Studio, but I always get it back. Recently, I bought some art from Kelly. It was so wonderful to get her package and to find all the extra creative goodness that she so generously added! It is like having little pieces of her in my home.
I have shared how I am not really ready to part with my art, not ready to have them go off and be big in the world all on their own. So to challenge myself I am going to take this Wednesday Stamper theme of envelopes a little further. I am going to mail it to my friend Shannon.
Not that I think this envelope is all that, but I am including a little piece of art inside. I will admit, this is a safe step for me as I spend lots of time in Shannon's beautiful, eceletic house (for example, on Friday's our crazy husbands are teaching themselves Olde English so they can read Beowulf in the original language!), and I had a little practice when I gave her one or two other pieces recently for her birthday, so if I want to see it to see what I made, remember what I was thinking when I made it, see what needs improvement then I can. But all in all, this is an important step for me in learning to be generous with what I create, one I see so many others have taken (I am amazed at all the beautiful Etzy shops there are!).
(By the way, the stamp I used is another one I carved, I am on a roll:)
I have been stamp carving again this weekend. I love that I can make my own stamps, it opens up a whole new world.
The top flower stamp is a design I found in a Dover copyright free book. I printed out the picture and burnished it onto the Speedball Speedycut rubber and carved it with a #2 V-shaped cutter. It is not perfect, but I like the funky, handmade look it brings.
My other new tool is my scanner. I got a HP Photosmart C4189 All-in-one scanner at Walmart for $120 and I have been scanning in old pictures and using them. Now I can do at home what I used to have to go to a copystore to do! Yeah, product development and the advancement of society!
This is a shot of me and my brother when we were little having 'see who can open their mouth the widest' competition. Not very poetic, but I think with my mother visiting from Ireland (she is here for 3 weeks) I have been inspired to use old photos of my life in Ireland in my crafting.
March 28, 2007
The Wednesday Stamper challenge for this week is to show how we use color with stamps. I like to use paint. Here I stamped the dragonfly which is a Stampington stamp with StazOn ink and used Golden Fluid acrylics(yellow ochre, teal and crimson) to paint the wings and body.
A while ago I posted about stamp carving. Well I am still at it. I have carved leaves and grasses and fishes and designs which I have been using in my art work. But still my favorite is the eye. It was one of the first things that I carved, I got to use it today for the Wednesday Stampers theme for this week, which is Eye.
January 25, 2007
I got this book 'Art Stamping Workshop' by Gloria Page after reading it again and again in Barnes and Nobles. I felt a little guilty enjoying it for free so I put it on my Christmas wish list. I had thought about one day carving my own stamps, but felt so daunted by it.
The day after I first read this book in the bookstore I was in Michael's craft store and I saw Speedball carving tools and the rubber Gloria recommends on sale. I bought a bunch of it. But it has been sitting in my workshop for months. On a whim tonight I decided to try it! Wow, it is so much easier than I could have imagined.
The first thing I carved was the eye (Shannon, I was thinking of your awesome collage today... apple and the eye!), then the spiral and then I launched into my self portrait, might as well go for the big leagues now I am feeling bold. Of course, that took a while to do and my shoulders hurt from the tension. But I am so pleased with it that I had to share. I wonder where this new technique will lead me?
