Echo collaboration - Face

In response to the Echo challenge. The theme is face.


My Annie ~ top; Shannon's Nomi ~ bottom, loving that Fisheye Lens.



Shannon's Hannah left; My Laura right.

Drawing with children

I like to use my own photos and words in my art work and I have been wanting to include more of my own drawings too. Drawing - another huge skill based art form that I want to add to my collection of interests!!! I have only 24 hours in the day, I simply can't take on another load ~ so I have been incorporating my own sketching into my kids schooling.

Basically, when they do drawing, so do I.

Our 'sketching' time doesn't usually last that long, the kids work fast and are usually pleased with what they draw. I don't want to push too much 'right and wrong' ways to draw on them as they are so young. Over the past months we did some exercises from the book 'Drawing with Children' and I let those lessons be the big baddie with rules and how tos. So when we sketch I remind them to look for line and shape and all but don't correct them when they feel they are done. Just by doing the drawing we have been improving. Here is a quick sketch I did the other day with the kids, it is not at all finished, nor will it be, but the act of sketching is helping train my eye as it does theirs.



So even if I have only a few minutes a week to sketch I like that I am working on a new skill. And eventually I would like to get to the point that I can include my own drawings in my collage work. I could even make stamps out of my drawings, oh now that is an idea!!!

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On Saturday check back in for Giveaway #7 to see if you have won, all of the 'prizes' the winner gets to choose from were made in the passed two weeks!

Also I will have a tutorial on how to use the Bind It machine and more info on what I am giving away on the the One World One Heart giveaway that starts Monday, Jan 25, 2010.

Imperfect giving

Check out this post by Sherry about the larger context of giving. Giving not just to the current needs (which of course we should), but also to people closer to home.

I love the realness of this poem (especially the 2nd verse) 'I was mean to you today' by Pat Schneider. It was printed over that the Writers Almanac, a place I visit often.

Altered Board game idea & giveaway #6

I thought it would be fun to alter a board game for my girls. My girls love all things pretty and you will have to agree that Dora CandyLand is just not that pretty:



So I used gesso, paint, stamps, pastels and pencil to make this more appealing to my girls (and to me).

I painted it with a light layer of gesso mixed with some red craft paint first. This gives the surface 'tooth' for the paint. I watered the gesso down so that I would still be able to see some of the printed game below the gesso, especially the path that I painted a lighter version than what was underneath and outlined in pencil:




I used sewing pattern arrows to show the direction of the shortcuts:




I used two directional arrows for some of the shortcuts for added excitement!




I decorated the edges of the board with decorative stamps and some blended pastels & lead pencil lines:




I added images by stamping directly on the surface. This is nerve wrecking to do as I am a sloppy stamper! Luckily I am usually going for the rustic, weathered look, so if I don't stamp perfectly it doesn't matter (and there is always gesso to cover mistakes up!) I then colored these images with pencil:




I also added an image by gluing on a piece of paper that had been stamped and painted:




I used stamped images that showed which direction to move in:




I added stamped words for interest:




I indicated where to begin and end the game with stamped words:




To make a pretty dice I stamped a butterfly in 6 different Staz On inks and glued them to a plain white cardboard block. I added pastels to the edges of the block:




I made game pieces by stamping on Shrinky Dink paper, trimming them to a kind of oval shape, adding some color with chalk pastels and then using a heat tool to shrink them:




So here is the BEFORE and AFTER:





My girls enjoyed playing their new game:




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We are at giveaway # 6, there will be 8 more of these before my book comes out! I wish I could give everyone something. Instead I am using the random generator to choose who is the next to win.

And this week it is......

Ellyn of Ellyn's Place

Congratulations!

Pick your prize from the choices below (click on image to see a larger image) and post it in the comments. I will contact you via email so you can send me, privately, your physical address.

Choice #1 - Printed fabric glasses case


Choice #2 - Size 12 month onsie for little girl with matching gift tag


Choice #3 - decorated pegs some of which appeared in the Spring 2008 issue of Somerset Life



For everyone else - Please check back in next Saturday to see if you win something. I will offer a new set of prizes. I will try to offer a range of things in the hopes something will appeal to you when it's your turn! And thank you for being a part of 'An Artful Life'.

And of course, if you are not listed as following this blog, you are welcome to do so! Join in the fun.

Thoughts for the Haitians

I can't imagine what the people of Haiti are experiencing right now. I was putting nail polish on Annie's toes this morning and wondering what mother is clawing at rubble to find her baby, knowing she is dead.

But for the Grace of God go I.

Truly.



When I first heard about it my thoughts went to my friend Cara who has adopted two little boys from a Haitian oprhanage. I checked her Facebook and found that fortunately the orphanage is still standing, but unsafe.

She also suggested, in this heart felt post, a tangible way we could help:

Cara wrote "Dear facebook friends, Imagine being trapped alive beneath a heavy sea of crumbled concrete and bent steel. Thousands of Haitian children and adults are in such a position at this very moment after yesterday's devastating earthquake. Thankfully, our boys' orphanage did not collapse, and the children and employees are safe. Still, the building needs to be examined for structural integrity, and there are cracks to repair. The kids are currently being cared for in an open area in a house across the street from the O. Please consider a donation to Three Angels Children's Relief to help with current needs and those that are sure to surface in coming weeks as the full extent of the damage is realized. If all of my fb friends sent $10 each we'd raise $4,000. Please, you will never miss 10 bucks. Donations to TACR are tax deductible. Thank you." (my emphasis)

Here is the link to Three Angels Relief. Here is the link to donate online. Cara and her husband have been involved with this agency and trust them. The funds will make it to the people of Haiti. The funds can help with supplies and supporting the people who are going to help rebuild and care for the survivors.

Photoshoot with the kids

The freeze has passed. We are back to normal.

One thing I talk about in my book is doing photoshoots with your kids so you have shots to include in your artwork. Well, I did that just yesterday. I needed some photo for this week's Tribloom collaboration so we ventured outside to the first 60 degree day for a week. Here are some fun outtakes from that photoshoot:

A poem for a daughter

I have begun a new venture with my friends Shannon and Anita. We are doing a themed collaborative project to keep us accountable for taking photos. We are each responsible one week a month for suggesting a theme (with one month quiet) and then post the photos together on our new Flickr group Tribloom. We plan to keep this going for the year and possibly create a Blurb book of our images at the end.

Week one, month one was my turn. I picked an Anne Stevenson poem called 'A poem for a daughter' I liked the idea that a child creates a mother. So true.

This is our offering:



Shona - top left
Anita - top right
Shannon - bottom left.

Read the full poem here.

Maximus

Wall hanging tutorial & Giveaway #5

Here is the rest of last week's tutorial:

Step 1
So you have the piece that you want to make into a wall hanging. The next step is to mount it onto cardboard. Glue your art onto cardboard. I use glue stick and make sure to glue the corners as well as all over the back of the image. Lay a piece of clean paper over the image and rub with your hand to make sure it adheres well. Now use a steel ruler and craft knife to trim around the piece. TIP: If any of the cardboard is visible at the edges simply color over the grey with paint or pastels!



Step 2
Next use a ruler to mark two holes equal distances from either side. I made mine at about 1 1/4 inch in from the side. Use a drill or dremel with a 7/64" drill bit to make the holes.



Step 3
To give the holes a finished look glue eyelets into the holes. I used gel medium here, but any semi liquid glue would work like Modge Podge or even Elmers school glue. Leave them to dry for a while (longer dry time for these semi liquid glues).



Step 4
Trim a piece of 24 gauge wire about 6 or 7 inches long. I always cut it longer than I need just in case I make a mistake or decided to curl the wire or something else decorative.



Step 5
Put the wire through one hole. Fold it up on itself and twist it back on itself to secure. Bend it over to the other hole making an arc and secure it to the other hole.



And Viola! Wall hanging. Once I was done I decided that this piece needed something more so I added the 'dream' Rub On to the edge:



Well now this wall hanging is in it's new home with Katie of The Nesting Spot. She picked it as her prize last week and was so sweet to post her win on her blog, thank you Katie for the shout out!

Which leads me to this weeks giveaway:

Today's giveaway winner, chosen by the Random Number Generator, is -

Rowena of Warrior Girl

Congratulations!

Pick your prize from the choices below (click on image to see a larger image) and post it in the comments. I will contact you via email so you can send me, privately, your physical address.

Choice #1 - A printed canvas fabric glasses care with satin ribbon strap


Choice #2 - A butterfly on balsa wood with soldered charm that reminds you to 'serve lovingly'.


Choice #3 - A pair of brown soldered earrings that say 'believe' and 'truth'.


For everyone else - Please check back in next Saturday to see if you win something. I will offer a new set of prizes. I will try to offer a range of things in the hopes something will appeal to you when it's your turn! And thank you for being a part of 'An Artful Life'.

And of course, if you are not listed as following this blog, you are welcome to do so! Join in the fun.