November 3, 2011
Fall Creations
Just thought I’d round out the end of Fall with a few random creations.
Here’s the crocheted hat that I finally finished. Maxers is modeling, but it will be a Christmas gift for a niece who is due in January. I learned how to crochet a hat on YouTube, and was able to make this one without a pattern. Just winged it. (I’m done with crochet for a while!)
Next is the tie-dye shirt I made for Fin. He wanted to dress as a tiger, so I found a 5$ orange shirt and treated it to a rubber band binding and black dye bath. Of course Fin ended up wearing his skeleton jacket over the shirt, so everyone thought he was a skeleton cat.
Here is the jack-o-lantern that made Fin cry and refuse to go out onto our porch. (Bad mom!) I used my lino cut tools to carve away the pumpkin skin. I was going for a Joker (think Batman) effect. I think I’ll carve deeper into the skin next year. There’s a learning curve to this technique for sure! And I should probably pick a more little kid-friendly theme. Fin already has enough hours of therapy ahead of him without a jack-0-lantern adding to his troubles.
And here’s the snowman we made today using my husband’s cute jack-o-lantern for a head.
Happy Fall!
October 20, 2011
Crocheted Nook Cozy
It must be Fall, because I’m in the mood to bake and crochet. My lovely hubster surprised me a Color Nook for my birthday, and the poor thing (the Nook, not my husband) seemed all cold and naked, so I decided to make it a cozy. Crocheting is not my strong suit (I still can’t figure out how to turn a row without making a mess), but I think this turned out just fine. I added some beads and a big button clasp. I also sewed on an extra dog tag I had hanging around, though it now looks like I named the Nook “Bijou”. So here’s Bijou’s cozy!:
October 3, 2011
Quick & Easy Halloween Painting
The kids like to play in my studio downstairs because that is where I stash all the toys that have started to get on my nerves. Toys with lots of pieces (like the kitchenette), toys that take up too much room (like the Little People airport), and toys that just make annoying noises that I can’t stand for more than fifteen minutes (like the Little People airport).
The great thing about keeping toys down there is that the boys will be distracted for long enough to do a simple painting like this one. The collage/silhouette technique is so fast, I can make a painting in two 30 minute visits to the basement.
Because these paintings are so easy, I thought, why not create my own holiday decorations on canvas? They are certainly more unique and interesting than anything I could buy at the store, and cost me nothing but an hour of my time since I have a nice little stash of cheap canvas in the back room. (I always buy my canvas on sale. Keep your eyes open for those BOGO sales, especially.)
If you would like to make something similar, here is what you will need:
-Canvas, any size (this is an 8″x10″)
-Paper – I used wrapping paper, tissue paper, and magazine and book pages
-Modge Podge, or similar
-A pencil
-Acrylic paint for negative space
Step 1: Collage paper onto canvas with Modge Podge. Think about your color palette so your subject will make sense. I’m using mostly orange here because I knew I’d be making a jack-o-lantern. Let dry.
Step 2: Sketch out your image onto the canvas. You may want to do preliminary sketches on paper. If you’re not much of an artist and don’t want to draw your own image, you can use a stencil or find an image you like online and trace it.
Step 3: Paint over the negative spaces with your solid color acrylic paint. I used black here to cover over the background and paint in the eyes, nose and mouth of my jack-o-lantern. You can also add in little details like highlights with additional paint, but it’s not necessary. I made my stem green and added a little curly vine. I also painted the edges of the canvas green.
Done! See, that was pretty easy, right? And you may have so much fun making your own painting, you won’t even notice how annoying those toys are!
For more information and photos on how to make this kind of painting, check out my Elephant Collage post.
August 15, 2011
I can TO finish projects…
A happy ending to the cork letter project I started HERE.
I thought I had enough corks to do several letters, and ran short doing just one “W”.
Fortunately for me, I’ve surrounded myself with good wine lovin’ friends and one of my them came to my cork shortage rescue. She actually makes her own wine, and I guess it doesn’t really work to re-use corks, so she hooked me up! (Thanks, Danlyn!)
Just goes to show even a random creator like me can finish projects with the help of good friends.
Now if someone could remind me how to crochet, I can finish the cute little baby hat I found in my desk yesterday. (Who keeps unfinished baby hats in their desk? I do!)
P.S. If you’re wondering how to make something similar, buy a wood letter from the craft store and hot glue corks to it. I also added hanging hardware to the back, but haven’t decided where this “W” will live yet.
July 15, 2011
More stuff I drew on rocks…
It seems to go like this. I get an idea – maybe even a not-so-brilliant one – and I just have to feed off that idea until I’m satisfied. I’m like an idea vampire. And right now I’m feeding on rocks. Yum!
July 13, 2011
Hey look. I drew on a rock.
Did I really need an expensive bachelors degree in art to draw on a rock? Nope.
Did I have fun? Yes. Yes I did.
June 25, 2011
Idea Junkie
This one is dedicated to Barbara Sher (author of Refuse To Choose: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything You Love), Scanners everywhere and lovers of websites like Pintrest (which is basically crack-cocaine for a personality-type like mine).
You know who you are.
June 23, 2011
Pug (ug!) Stamp
So I caved and bought a small set of lino cut tools so I could get smaller details in these rubber stamps. I’ve been assured that practice makes perfect, but I’m still struggling with finesse. In a way I like how rough these are. You definitely can tell it’s authentically hand-made. In another way, I wish I was having instant, learning-curve free success with these.
Anyway, I think it would fun to do more dog themed stamps. Here’s my first attempt at a pug stamp.
I moose you
Finley (3 in August) loves to trace his hands and feet. Here’s the project we came up with this morning: “I moose you!”
