Sticky situation

Sometimes you have to be smarter than the tape...

I am working on a project for a friend of mine, and I needed to use double-sided tape for it.

Well, it's been a little while since I have used double-sided tape, so I didn't know that it had a wrap on it to make sure the tape didn't stick to itself.  I thought that was a good thing.  However, I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get the wrap off.  After spending about 10 minutes getting increasingly frustrated trying to pick the wrap off of the tape, I finally took the time to read what it said:

"Unwind the protective wrap."  So I did and got to the double-sided part of the tape so I could finally get it to work as it was supposed to.  I guess it pays to read the instructions.  :-)

Until next time, keep smiling and always read the instructions!

Fabric and Failures

First, the fabric:

A few weeks back, Joe took me to the Quilt, Craft, and Sew Show not far from where we are.  What a feast for the eyes!  Imagine any kind of fabric in any color you can imagine and you still won't come close to the variety that was there.  Being really obsessed with fabric lately made attending this show a real treat.  

Of course, I couldn't resist picking up a few things while I was there:

I'm excited to figure out something fun I can make with these.  I have ideas for them, particularly incorporating these with some canvases I have, but I haven't worked out the details just yet.  More to come!

And now, the failures:

I am not one to practice much of anything...why practice when you can just jump in and do, right?  Well, I'm learning that isn't the best way to do things, especially if you are a perfectionist.  I am working on a couple of projects and came away with a couple of failures, one is salvagable, one may not be...I haven't decided yet.  Here they are:

The spray color (brown with sparkles) did not spray evenly across the canvas, but kind of blurbed into blotches (see the bottom of the canvas).  This is the one I am not sure I can salvage.

Here's the one I already fixed...underneath the sheet music on this one lies a really gross-looking stamp of an owl that was done with orange ink.  I thought it would be a cool color against the blue, but it turned out too garish.  I couldn't even take a picture of the mistake...it was far too icky to show.  I do still plan to use some orange elements in this, but not such LARGE amounts.  

I have learned a lesson with all of this.  It is best to try things first in a safer setting, one where a mistake won't be so painful and visible.  I have always resisted the idea of art journals (I want to make REAL stuff...so silly because art journals ARE real!), but I think I'm going to start one up.  That would be the perfect place to try new things so I can then transfer them to an actual piece I'd like to share with someone.  I'll let you know how it goes!

I have also learned that it is okay to make mistakes.  They aren't really failures after all...they just show us ways to not do things.  What did Thomas Edison say?  "I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."  Words to live by, I think.  :-)

Until next time, keep trying and always, always keep smiling!

Kickin' it in my studio at the Duuude Ranch!

Howdy folks!

Long time, no write!  In fact it has been so long that I am not even really sure how to do this blog thing any more.  Well, that's okay, I am just going to jump in and start!

So, Joe and I have been very busy in the last 9+ months...we have taken two trips (one of them a honeymoon!), gotten married, searched for a new home (just for fun to start, then much more seriously when we saw the marvelous homes out on the market), purchased a new home, and moved into said home.  Wow!

And because we now have five acres of property surrounding our beautiful home, we have dubbed our new digs the "Duuude Ranch."  Say it a few times and it will make sense (especially if you picture a surfing Keanu Reeves saying it :-) ).

Some of you may think moving is no big deal because people do it all of the time.  While that's true, my guess is that not a lot of people have the collections of things that Joe and I do.  He has hundreds (yes hundreds) of die cast cars, every tool known to man, and several classic cars.  I think I have just about every art tool and supply that is out there, too, AND hundreds of books.  We're collectors and don't like to throw things away, "just in case"!  Overall, it took us two full months moving everything on our own, as we took loads to the new space once if not twice every weekend.  Whew!  We are SO glad that is done!

So, in the new home, I got another studio and not just any studio, but a room about three times the size of what I had!  Holy cow!  As I sit in it now and write, I'm still amazed at the space I have.  It is most awesome.  I have some pictures to share:

Behold the wonder:

And more wonder:

I have different stations to do different things.  Here's my computer table:

Here's my sewing table:

The wall behind the table is paint spattered (it was SO much fun to do! :-) ):

Here is where I work with my polymer clay (I can finally leave this stuff out because it has its own space!):

Here's my painting station:

One of many "goodie" stations:

I even have room to display the things I have made:

Another couple of views:

And yes, that is my very own TV in my studio...I can connect to the internet on the big screen (thank you Amazon Fire TV!) so I can watch how-to videos on YouTube.  I even have a little electric fireplace to make the space even more cozy!

All in all, I am a very lucky girl!  I am so excited to get creating in the space and to be able to share it with you as I go along.

So, I'm back and hopefully going to be posting regularly again (that's the goal!).  However, it is time for me to call it a night so I can go dream up some really great things to show you in the coming weeks!  Until next time, keep dreaming those dreams because they can and do come true!

Words and stuff

Hi everyone!

So today I was all about words and stuff (and more words, etc...thank you, Matt, for putting this phrase in my mind!).  Words belonged on my study in texture piece, but I somehow needed to get the words in my mind onto the piece itself.  I had found a template (thank you eBay!) for the font I wanted to use for the words, but was way nervous about trying to letter the words myself (I couldn't use the template on such a bumpy surface, as I wouldn't get enough coverage with paint [or any other medium for that matter] through the template to make the words look right).  Here's the template:

So today I said "what the heck" (well, sort of...this is a "G" rated blog after all :-) ) and just put my marker on the piece and lettered away.  I would eyeball each letter on the template and just copy it to the best of my ability onto the surface.  I used a black marker that has a paint brush-type end on it so it allowed for some flexibility in trying to get the letters written on the bumpy surface.  Here are the results:

While the words are far from perfect, they don't look too bad.  I'm just proud of the fact that I just did it without thinking too much about it.  Yay me!

Now I need to determine how I want to finish this off.  I'm not what I am going to do, but that's okay.  I'll figure it out!

Now I'm off to have some fun words and stuff with my husband to prepare for the week ahead!  Until next time, think about your words and stuff and make them as gentle as possible!

Treasures from the deep

Hi everyone!

It has been a busy couple of months for me.  I have been to visit my parents with Joe, put in many hours at my "day job," gotten married, and taken a lovely honeymoon with my husband (seems weird to call Joe my husband now...I love the fact that we are married, but the titles "husband" and "wife" don't seem natural yet).  All of this has left little time for me to be in my studio.

However, my studio has not been far from my mind.  I have just spent a couple of hours putting away the goodies I have acquired over the past couple of months (yes, there is always time to go to the craft stores!).  I also spent quite a few hours cleaning one of the greatest treasures I brought home from our honeymoon (besides my wonderful husband!)...shells!

Joe and I visited Sanibel Island on our honeymoon.  In case you don't know, Sanibel Island is known as the seashell capital of the world.  And there is good reason for the title...it seemed like there were more shells on the beach than sand!  I brought home six gallon-sized baggies full of them!  So much fun to collect, but a lot of work to clean them.  Here they are all laid out to dry:

That part of our sidewalk is about 6-7 feet long...that's a lot of shells!

I want to incorporate these somehow into the art I make, so I am going to have to think about how I want to do that.  Meanwhile, these treasures from the deep made me think about another treasure from a different deep...how I want to express myself and create art.  I've lost a little focus over the last few months, so I want to dig deep and find that girl who feels comfortable creating and expressing what she really needs and wants to, all despite what anyone else might say.  I am ever hopeful of being able to do this (as I am an ever-hopeful kind of girl :-) ).  Perhaps that treasure from the deep will be as beautiful as these shells are.  I think it can be.

Until next time, be sure to listen to what your heart tells you so you can let your inner treasures shine, too!

Stay tuned

Hi everyone!

I'm back with a brief note to say I'll be back in the studio very soon.  I'm excited to bring you more creativity and fun in just a little while!

Until then, take care of yourself, leave time in your life for the people, pastimes, and things you love, as well as a little time to rest, relax, and dream.

Stay tuned for more soon!

Happy Days!

It's all about playing

Hiya peeps!

I have been absent the past couple of weeks.  While I am sure no one really noticed, I did.  I hated it.  I wanted to be here, but my real job has been taking up so much of my energy - physical, mental, psychic - that I took a break.  The bad thing was that instead of putting my real job into perspective and balancing that better, I took a break from what I really want to be doing which is playing in my studio.

So, while I still have much work to do at my real job (which is great, just a bit overwhelming), I am taking a break from it and playing instead.  Awesome!

My study in texture piece now has some work done on the back.  I painted and added fleur de lis.

I don't think I'm done with the back yet, but I like the direction it is headed in.  I'll be sure to share my next steps as they happen!

So, I am on a mission to balance my real job with the things that make me the happiest (spending time with Joe, taking care of my health, arting, reading, writing, and occasionally doing nothing at all).  I'm worth it.  If you are struggling with the same thing, remember you are worth balancing things, too.

In light of my new mission, Joe and I actually went for a walk in this beautiful in-city park yesterday.  It was inspiring to see the gorgeous blues of the sky combined with the deep greens of the foliage and red of the rocks.  The picture hardly does it justice, but it is lovely nonetheless.  I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I did being there!

I'm off to go play for a while.  Until next time, I hope you find time to play in your lives, too!

More is in, but there isn't any place to put the more!

Hiya everyone!

I've actually been avoiding my studio a bit lately.  Can you believe that?!  There must be something wrong.  And sure enough, there is.  I have been accumulating all kinds of goodies lately (I love garage sales and consignment stores!), but I haven't been purging anything.  I'm putting more in, but there are no more places to put the more!

At today's garage sale, I picked up some of that magnetic poetry you see everywhere (the artist's set, no less :-) ), and I used it to help put words to how I was feeling:

You see, even though I am a mixed media artist which means I need, well, lots of "media" to do what I want to do, it is good to go through the stash once in a while and move out the stuff you no longer find beautiful or useful.  It feels good to clear things out (less weighing me down), but it also feels good to share some good stuff with the world.  It could be that another budding mixed media artist is out there checking out the goodies I donated to the consignment store and deciding to purchase a few things to beef up her stash.  And the cycle continues.  

In addition to figuring out why I was avoiding the studio, I did add a few more fleur de lis to my texture piece: 

I am still adding them same way I did before...I took some copper block printing ink, spread it out on a paper plate, stamped my fleur de lis stamp in it, and then stamped the image on the piece.  I'm liking it...I hope you do, too!

So let's hope my studio is now back in psychic balance with a little less stuff, and I can spend more good times in there.  

Until next time, I recommend cleaning up and clearing out your space so that you can breathe once again! 

Happy Days to you!

Inspiration is everywhere

Inspiration...it's everywhere.  You just have to look around you.  You have to stop for a minute and actually open your eyes, focus on the present moment, and see.  I did it twice yesterday.

First, I was eating breakfast, looking at a visually beautiful magazine. I couldn't help but cut out the pictures I found to be gorgeous so I could use them later when I needed my spirits lifted or some inspiration to help me with color choices, composition, etc.  Just looking at these pictures makes me want to make something, anything, that might be as beautiful as what is depicted.

Second, Joe and I went to the Renaissance Festival (of course, as the Renaissance Woman, I had to go to the festival :-) ).  What a great place to get inspiration!  Interesting people doing interesting things, all out of the ordinary because we were, after all, supposed to be in the Renaissance.  

The king's court welcomes visitors at the start of the day:

Mostly I was inspired by the music that was played, especially by one band called Celtic Legacy.  They played everything from the standard Celtic music you would expect to The Lion Sleeps Tonight:

Can you guess which costumes they were wearing when they played The Lion Sleeps Tonight?!  :-)  How fun is that?  They took something normal and ordinary (although a great song for sure) and made it extraordinary by playing the song on instruments you'd never expect.  

It was also fun to see all of the different arts and crafts for sale.  I'm in heaven shopping in a place like that not only because I see all kinds of goodies I want, but because I get to see different artists' takes on the usual and customary.  My favorite thing this time was the sales display for piggy banks:

So clever...I bet these folks sold a ton of the piggies simply by thinking outside of the box in how they displayed their wares.  

And all of this inspiration occurred in just a few hours of my day yesterday.  So I not only have some great memories and mementos from from the day, I have a ton of inspiration to draw upon whenever I need it.  It pays to keep your eyes and mind open to see and feel the great things going on around you, whether it is something simple like a beautiful magazine to a more rare occurrence like the Renaissance Festival.

So, until next time, keep your peepers open and brain ready for the beauty around you!

Happy days!

Not in the mood

I, like most people, live a very busy life.  And sometimes when I have down time that I can use for something fun like playing in the studio, I don't want to.  I'm tired.  I'm cranky.  I'm not motivated.  I'm tired.  Did I mention that I'm tired?  These days really stink because I don't have a lot of time to play (too many other things I need to do like work...work sure gets in the way of having fun sometimes :-) ).

This is where I am today...tired, a bit cranky, and not motivated to do anything but sit on the couch and veg until tomorrow.  Yuck.

So, I haven't done much in the studio this weekend.  I did put another coat of red paint on the edge of my study in texture piece, so that's good.  I did start to work on the piece of copper I have to do some faux etching on:

I cut the edges and bent them up a bit and then used a hammer and a screwdriver (slotted) to make the dimples you see above.  I am going to etch the following stamp on the copper:

I hope to do this sometime this week.  I'll let you know if I get there.  :-)

So for now, I think I'll end for the day.  Perhaps I'll mosey over to the couch and lay there until tomorrow.  :-)

Until next time, may you have more motivation than I do today!

And the next step is...

...adding a fleur de lis or three or four!  I love fleurs de lis, or as Joe and I call them, tour de Frances ( :-) ).  I always have.  So, when I looked at my texture piece, it just seemed right to put some on there.  Here's how they look:

I took a foam tour de France stamp and used my block printing ink, in this case a copper color, to make the impressions.  I put a blob of ink on a paper plate, smoothed it out on the plate with a small spatula, and then dipped the stamp in the ink.  From there, I stamped the impression on the piece.  Here are my tools:

I plan to do this more around the edge and on the back as the rest of the piece gets painted.  

And that, dear readers, is the next step.  I have no idea where the rest of the piece is headed, but so far I think it is going very well.  Not bad for not really knowing what I am doing!

Until next time, happy days to you all!