ALL CAUGHT UP... well, almost

All my "work" projects are caught up for now... just waiting on a number for making class kits. That means, I can play all I want and not feel guilty! Thought I would share one of the Christmas Class projects I have been working on.


The next 3 days, I am planning on creating for myself. My art has taken the wayside the past few weeks... life in general...things... just things... tend to bog me down at times... and this time change... gets me every year. I hate when it gets dark so early... "lights out and it's time to sleep"! Guess that's why the bears hibernate! Haha...

Good news last night! My limited edition Halloween kits are almost gone! Thank you to all who purchased them and supported me. I have ideas for one next year already. Keeping a journal.. because I tend to forget as fast as I come up with them! ideas, that is... I'm working on a few ideas... have some preparation before I can execute... military strategy...

This is one of the items for the Children's craft day in Dec.



For more information on classes, please visit;
http://www.donnadowney.com/index.php/donna-downey-studios

"A GLIMPSE"

Wow, what a day! I started out with a visit to my daughter's OB appt. Bentley (yes, it's a boy!) is growing just fine! I even heard the little stinker's heart beat, when he would stay still. Next was breakfast at Cracker Barrel... have to feed this little guy... and Mommy!
Last, a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up a snow flake die. Of course, once again, I waited to long to go back and get it. The lady in line (can you believe,in front of me!) had it in her basket. How dare she!! An urge came over me... I could yell, "Would ya look at that!"... grab the die and run the other way! That was the evil side of me (lol). Instead, I folded and told her, I was going to her house to play. After all, The Mind's Eye paper in her basket "was to die for" too!
I finished my second Christmas project today, an 8X8 Angel canvas. It came out completely different than what I had anticipated, but I am actually very pleased with the changes! It will be a class at Donna's studio in Dec. Watch her calender and upcoming events for more information! I think I'll tease you with a little glimpse...

(laughing) You really thought I was going to give you more??

Tomorrow... another day... a day to start my third, but not final, Christmas Whimsey!

'TRICK OR TREAT"

It's done! My first workshop at Donna's studio is set up for the 13th of October! I am super excited and a little nervous, but over all... I'm good.




“TRICK OR TREAT” A 6x6 HANDMADE CANVAS ALBUM; 6-9 pm $40

Come join me for a frightful night of ghoulish laughter and haunting memories. At the stroke of 6 pm, I will guide you in how to create your own spooky, canvas album. You will be using “secret potions” of paints, inks and modeling paste, along with stencils and objects to add layers and creepy texture to the canvas and chipboard. Add layers and distress each piece. Make it creepy, make it yours ,to remember the horror on this special night!




Hope to see you there!

HAVE A LAUGH ON ME!

If I had a day job, I would be told to keep it! 6 weeks (1 day a week) of drawing classes and my first attempt at a portrait. This is the result of "at least" 7 to 8 hours of doing each feature, over... and over... and over... I got it pretty close, but still not right. I think I'll move on to another and let this rest. I'm tired of it. Time to move on! I am starting a new class the middle of next month. Oil pastels and charcoal.
So... hang on to your hat and try not to pee your pants!! Here is the semi-final result. I still have to clean it up a bit!!! ...... (later)

DRAWING 101

Stepping out of my comfort zone... something I've never been comfortable with. I have always wished I could sit down, look at something and start sketching. Well, i stepped out... way out! I signed up to take a drawing workshop. I have been to 2 classes now. It was a little nerve wrecking, but our instructor was gentle. Nothing was overwhelming. We started with the basics... this is paper and this is a pencil. Well, not that basic! We did a few simple outline sketches and learned the difference between a contour sketch and a blind contour sketch.
***Simple outline sketch is as it sounds.....
***Contour sketch is the shape of the object you are drawing with detail.....
***Blind contour sketch is the outline and detail drawn while looking at the
object and NOT looking at the paper while sketching. This was not easy and
produced a lot of laughs!

Next... motion in sketching... the following is my completed sketch of motion. This was fun, all free-hand.





Day 2. Learning about value (light to dark) and the color spectrum. Pretty straight forward so far!




So there you have it. Out of my comfort zone. Now it's just practice, practice..... and I am looking forward to the next class!

ROLLING WITH WHAT I GOT

Wow! It's been months since I made a scrapbook page. Today, I sat here looking at a blank piece of cardstock for over an hour. Geesh! Absolutely NOTHING!! Then I remembered last weeks inspiration night at Donna's. So I started with a circle, a stenciled swirly circle. Next, to add some layers. Out came the paint, ink, more stencils, lace and chipboard. I was on a roll... a slow roll. But after a couple hours and way too much thinking... this is what I came up with.
It still is missing the most important component, Little Miss Ava's photo. That will be soon... real soon.





The next is a project from a workshop, I took online last week. Christy Tomlinson's SHE Art workshop. It was great! I am learning to "let go", be free, try new mediums and techniques. I know... I just had a "lost my mojo" day with the girly page, but sometimes, even the best of artists have disfunctional days! Enjoy!!!






Thanks for visiting.

FLICK AND BLEND

Yesterday's "WORD" of the day was, "FLICK". This is a term used in the COPIC world. An artistic term, meaning use the side of the brush to lay down heavy ink and then swish up and lift off quickly. Or... something like that. We have cool colors, warm colors, various gray shading, base color, highlights and low lights! Then we have blending, feathering, creating textures and transparency techniques... "Oh my!" My head was spinning... I wanted to try it all! I took notes, scribbled a few sketches and played with some color.
Now, after two and a half hours of hair-splitting decisions of "to shade or not to shade"... I think I am a master! Hahaha.... NOT, NOT, NOT!!!!!
I picked up a couple shades of gray, to add more depth and life to my existing colors. Now to practice, and believe me, I need A LOT of practice! Best of all, a Thank You to Sally Lynn MacDonald for putting on a fantastic workshop.

The example I did in class...


A few extra trinkets and stamps I bought!

CREATING KEEPSAKES

After taking a workshop at INSPIRE in May, I decided to create a keepsake using the remainder of the kit that Margie had used in her class. I've had this unfinished shadow-box sitting on my shelf for about two years now, not knowing what I wanted to do with it. As I sat at my table working on another project... it was like someone turned on the light in my head. BLING! I knew exacly how I wanted to use this blank treasure I had. It took me a couple weeks to complete, but it was not like I had other projects going on! HA! Too many at once, but I managed to finish this one and I really like how it turned out.

SHARING

I wish I could have done the whole INSPIRE event, it looked like so much fun. I did two of the mini-classes (Margie Romney-Aslett and The Glitz Girls). Margie, you have an uniqueness about you, that makes you a very special person. So full of creativity, fun and sincerity. Don't change, just grow.
This weekend was an inspiration to me, not only creatively, but spiritually. Being with women that share a same love of art, who can laugh together and just be themselves without judgement or criticism is uplifting. OK.... now that I have gushed all over, I'll share a picture of my sister and I with a new friend. Meet Margie (in the middle).

INSPIRING VINTAGE DREAMS

Shop...shop...shop....... we've been shopping almost everyday. It's like Christmas for my daughter! She and her fiance are getting a house and they need everything to furnish it. She is so excited and I am happy for them!

San and I went to the vendor faire on Thursday for INSPIRE. It was great! So much to choose from - all kinds of vintage! I bought some cool pieces to make an altered book along with paper, embellishments and Claudine Helmuth's paints. I am in love with these paints and her gel medium. It was an altered artist's dream come true... lol :) Tonight we go back for two classes. I am liking this event better than CKC! So cool and the artists are great! Hats off to Donna for a great event.

A LOCAL ARTIST VISITS

I have to tell you about my last weekend. I went to a workshop with guest artist Donna Downey. It was so much fun! I learned ten new "Resist Techniques" using different mediums. Glue, paint, ink, OH MY! It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. A few added embellishments and wallah! This was just a tease of the goodness out there for me to learn. I can't wait until the next workshop! Thank you Donna!

IT'S ALL ABOUT "ME"

Today I attended a class taught by Amy at Scrapbooks & Etc. Topic - alcohol inks. You either love them or hate them. Me; I love them. It opens up a whole new dimension for making embellishments, adding color to buttons, brads, just about anything glossy! Let your imagination run wild! Amy did an awesome job, although I found out after the class, I made her nervous! Amy, never be nervous with me. I'm learning just as you are! Anyway, tonight was "All about Me." That is, what our layouts were about, not just "Me". My homework before going to this class, was to have a 4X6 photo of myself. Since I am the one always taking pictures, there's not much to choose from. So... I liked Amy's self portrait, so I lifted the idea. Let me tell you...trying to take a picture of yourself using a mirror is NOT, I say NOT easy! After what seemed like a million attempts, I finally got one I liked. So, on to the class. Being my usual self, I again altered the original layouts to fit my need. I incorporated both original layouts into one. Why? I want to frame my "masterpiece" (ha-ha) to put in my studio. So, here it is, complete with a blurb of who I am.

2008 Overview

I can't believe 2008 is gone. This has been an eventful year. John and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on January 15th. I was given a 1-carat diamond! Whoo-hoo!!!!!My grandson, Grayson Luke, was born in February. What a joy he has brought to this family! He is crawling all over now and pulls himself up to whatever he can reach. Being a Gramma (Nanna) is so fulfilling and I look toward many more ( I hope)! We lost part of our family this year too. David Bowman (my BIL) became very ill and passed away the end of March. He will be sadly missed. I spent time with my sister and her family for a few weeks. Her and I are 13 yrs apart and really didn't grow up together, as she was in college when I was little. This trip was like making a new best friend! We found out how much we are alike and what our favorites are! It was fun, we have so many similarities. In August, she flew down and stayed with me a week. We went to a scrapbooking convention in Charlotte. It was great and our feet were killing us! Would we go again???? In a heart beat!Our eldest son, Matthew and his wife, Ashley celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary in Oct. It was not long ago they were engaged and we had 2 yrs to plan a wedding. It's been 4 years since that moment and we even added a baby!Our family is ever growing with new members. My second son, Michael is now engaged and my daughter, Ashlyn just got engaged this Christmas! Two weddings to look forward to in 2010. My children are no longer little and the house is quiet, often. I had a difficult time with Christmas this year, I think the empty nest thing has appeared. No one to wake me up at the crack of dawn Christmas morning, wanting to open what Santa brought them. No messy room with torn wrapping paper and bows scattered. No screams of joy. Hmmm?Another year has begun and hopefully will be full of excitement and LOVE.