A stitch in time

Hello everyone!

First, welcome back!  I hope you have had a good week!  My week was crazy...work is crazy, local family issues are crazy, and doggone it, I'm tired!  It was no rest for the weary this week, but no matter.  I am here, you are here, and all is well.  Thank you for being here!

I feel I must apologize for my less than complete entry last week.  Lots going on in my life outside of my studio caused me to be less than focused on my blog entry.  So, I'm going to fill in a few gaps.

The extra hearts I added to my start to finish project were done with tiny stamps:

Here are the stamp pads I used ("wild hare" [fun name :-)] and "black" [boring, but effective :-) ]):

It was a simple matter of stamping the stamp on the pad I wanted, then stamping the stamp on a paper towel to remove some of think, and then stamping the stamp on the piece.  I wanted the hearts to be subtle and that is why I used the paper towel.

So today, I wanted to take the next step.  I wanted to sew the words "you" and "me" by the center ampersand, as the focus of the piece is about love between two people.  I am very much in love with my fiance, so love is never far from my mind.  I thought the ampersands could represent things about love ("you and me," "love and affection," "cherish and honor," etc.).  To sew them on, I needed a guide, so I used my own handwriting for the words "you" and "me":

It took a few tries, but I finally got what I wanted.  I cut them out and then put them on the piece:

I used black cross-stitch thread (I do that, too, so I have tons of it laying around :-) ) and sewed over the paper to get the words to look right:

Then I took very pointy scissors and carefully cut away the paper to get the final look:

I like it!  This was not an easy process.  I stabbed myself multiple times and had a heck of a time pushing the needle through the canvas.  I had to use a needle that was very fine to try and not leave a lot of large needle holes on the piece.  This caused me to struggle with the needle going through the canvas, as the needle almost wasn't strong enough to make it through.  Oh well...it was effort well-spent in my opinion!  :-)

I want to add some of those other words (like "love" and "honor") to the other ampersands but I'll be using a different method than sewing.  See, those other ampersands are too close to the wooden edge of the canvas on the back, making it next to impossible to sew anything there.  That's okay...I have a fun idea for how to add those.  Hopefully I'll have something to show you soon!

So, until next time, be grateful for the wonderful things in your life, even if it is the simple things like food, shelter, and love.  It's the simple things that are the best.  Take care all!

More hearts...

...and just in time for Valentine's Day!

Well, they are in time for Valentine's Day, but they aren't FOR Valentine's Day.  They are just one more layer of goodness added to my start to finish project.  Here are some photos of the recently-added hearts:

Some of the hearts are super-subtle, some are not, so when you look at these pictures, look closely, because you may miss some of them.

I have the next step in mind and hopefully I'll have time to work on it this week so I have something fun to show you next week.

Until then, hug your sweetie tight and enjoy a lovely Valentine's Day!  Happy Days!

Small steps

Hi everyone!

Well, I took a small step forward today with the start to finish project.  I added some heart stencils to both the back and front of the piece.  Here are some pictures:

In the first couple of pictures above, it is hard to see the hearts...you can kind of see the gray heart outline a little bit, but you can't really see where I rotated the stencil on the piece and then used blue paint to make hearts.  I have to admit...the blue hearts are very subtle, but that is how I wanted them.

The back of the piece is much more obvious (still subtle, but you can at least see the outline of the heart in the center).

Here's the stencil on top of the start to finish piece:

And here's the paper plate I used with the blue paint on the front.  Basically, I squeezed a little paint on the plate then bounced my paint brush in the paint and then on the plate to take most of the paint off.  I wanted more of a dry brush effect.

For the gray outline, I used this kid's tool called a SprayZa.  You take a marker and insert it into the black SprayZa device.  Then you blow through the end that is away from the marker, causing air to blow onto the marker and then the marker to spray out onto the piece. This gives you a very light spray line through the stencil, again giving you a subtle look.

Joe got me the SprayZa for Christmas a couple of years ago for something fun, and it turns out that the thing makes a great artist tool.  I used it on a piece I did quite some time ago (that was purchased by a co-worker of mine :-) ), as it created this nice air-brushed look on it (I used it without a stencil on that piece).  Obviously, the more you blow in the same spot, the more color that transfers onto your piece, but that's okay...you have the control to do as little or as much as you want.

So, another step forward for the start to finish project...that makes me feel excited.  I have more to do, but that's okay.  At least it is still moving forward.

Until next time, keep moving, step by step, and before you know it, you'll have accomplished something big.  All it takes is tiny steps forward to do it!  Stay warm and safe everyone!

Rock 'n' Roll

Mello greetings everyone!

I have a new toy to talk about.  I have a rock tumbler.  I know some of you may be thinking, "big whoop."  Well, you're entitled to that.  As a matter of fact, I might have said the same thing even just a few months ago.  But all of that has changed.

So, Joe and I were shopping at our local Walmart just before the holidays, browsing around like we usually do.  In one of their main aisles, they had a large display of "educational" toys like model rockets, artist sets, and...wait for it...a rock tumbler.  As we weren't in a hurry, I was looking at all of the goodies on display and took a closer look at the tumbler.  The more I looked, the more interesting it seemed.  I could take nasty looking rocks and make shiny, pretty, colorful rocks out of them (who doesn't like shiny, pretty, colorful things?! :-) ).  The whole process intrigued me.  I could use the polished rocks in the cement stepping stones I like to make, for jewelry/key chains, and various other fun gift-y things.  Before I knew it, I wanted the rock tumbler.

Well, I didn't get that one because, as I mentioned, it was just before the holidays, so I wanted to save my money for gifts I would buy for my friends and family.  Fortunately, Joe noted my excitement and, being the awesome person he is, he got me a rock tumbler for Christmas.  Awesome!

So, I started on my tumbling journey Christmas evening.  I set up my tumbler, read the instructions (and was blown away that it would take two to four weeks to get my shiny rocks!  :-) ), and started the tumbler tumbling.  Again...awesome!

Unfortunately, I ran into a couple of stumbling blocks...the packet of polishing grit to get my shiny stones ended up being mislabeled, so while I got super-smooth rocks in the first attempt at making pretty rocks, they aren't shiny:

By the way, here is what the rocks looked like before I started tumbling them:

The second stumbling block was that when I started a second batch of rocks, the drum that holds the rocks, grit, and water leaked, effectively destroying my tumbler.  I had to stop the process after only one day.  Major bummer not only because I wanted another batch of rocks, but also because I was going to take my first batch and put them in with the second batch when it was time to polish them so they could all be shiny.  I was so disappointed.  :-(

Enter my knight in shining armor, AKA Joe.  Upon finding a damsel in distress (me) with nary another tumbler in site, he suggested we search hither and yon (AKA Amazon.com) for a new, better tumbler.  And lo, our search met-eth with success-eth!

So, I have a new batch of rocks tumbling as I write this.  I am three days into the first of four tumbling processes.  Most of the processes take about 7 days each, so in about three to four weeks, I should have a beautiful batch of bouncing baby rocks.  I'll be so proud!

Here's my lovely new toy:

So, my new toy will not only give me a bounty of really cool, shiny, pretty rocks, but will teach me a little patience as well.  You can't rush the tumbling or else you won't get the desired results.  As I am really into instant gratification, this will be very good for me.  Good things come to those who wait.  :-)

I'll let you know how the process goes and what I will use the rocks for.  I already have some ideas (I ALWAYS have ideas! :-) ), so it should be fun to see what I can do.

Until next time, exercise patience and remember a tumbling rock gathers no moss!  Happy days!

It's a brave day!

When I'm in my studio, sometimes I feel like I am so creative, so full of great ideas, and ready to tackle anything I set my mind to.  Sometimes, I don't.  

Last night when I was thinking about what I might write about today, I thought I'd be writing about how I chickened out and didn't stamp my new ampersand on the start to finish piece.  I thought I'd be writing about how some days you just don't have what you need to move on to the next step.  Well, I must have woken up on the confident side of the bed today because that is NOT what I am going to write about!  I'm going to show you what I was brave enough to do today.

Here's the ampersand stamped on the start to finish piece:

I am so happy how this turned out!  Now I need to think about what to do next.  I have some ideas, but they haven't fully cooked yet.  

One of the reasons this turned out so well is that my sweetie made my stamp easier to use.  He took what was one:

And made it into two:

Having all of the extra stuff cut off of the stamp made it much easier to use.  Thank you sweetheart!

And since I was so brave today, I thought I'd do something with my Scattered Time piece.  So, here's what I did:

I put the force field into place!  Okay...I know you're probably wondering what the "force field" is...all you see is a bunch of words written around the lighthouse.  Well, the words are the force field.  They are positive affirmations all of us need to remember from time to time.  See, the lighthouse represents you (or me or whomever is looking at the piece)...the golden glow is your own light shining through and the words are the force field to keep the bad stuff away.  This shows that you can be your own light, your own beacon in the dark to get through anything.  Here's what the force field is made up of:

Focus on what's real, not the fears you imagined.

Listen to your inner voice.

Be a human being, not a human doing.

Allow yourself time to breathe.

Treat yourself with kindness.

Go your own way in your own time.

Bloom, even if it's between a rock and a hard place, because you can. (I used a version of this one on another piece I did...I liked it so much, I decided to use it again.)

Be alive and enjoy the journey.

I think these make up a great force field.  

I was quite scared to write this stuff directly on my canvas...thoughts such as what if this looks stupid, what if I can't write the words right so it looks off, what if I goof something up, etc., ran through my head.  At least they had up until today.  Today was different.  All I thought was this...if I screw it up, I know I can fix it.  And that was enough.  I didn't screw it up and now the force field is in place.  I'm so excited!

I have one last thing to share.  You know I love the moon and that I love to take pictures of it, right?  Well, it was looking pretty awesome this week that I had to take pictures:

Cool...I particularly like how the moon doesn't show any definition to it like it might ordinarily.  It looks like someone is shining a flashlight from the sky.  Hmm...I like that thought.

So here's to hoping someone is shining a big flashlight on you so you can find your way...if not, I hope you can let your own light shine so you can make it through anything.  I know you can do it!

Happy, dance-y, joyful thoughts to you today and for the upcoming week...I hope it's a great one!

The good and the ugly (no bad here!)

Hi everyone!

Well, I did it.  I carved the ampersand I wanted out of the linoleum block!  It was a lot tougher to do than the rubber block, but using the linoleum enabled me to get a finer, crisper stamp that showed the detail I wanted.

Here's the drawn symbol (I did several, but picked the first one I did [bottom left])...I like how the top looks like a heart:

Here's the ampersand colored in with pencil:

Then I burnished it onto the linoleum block (basically putting the pencil-colored-in side down on the block and rubbing on the back of the paper with a bone folder [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_folder]):

Then I started to carve (you can see I used different ends on my carving tool depending on which part I was carving):

Final carved stamp:

Now for the final product test...stamping the stamp in ink and pressing it onto the paper.  Here is my paper plate with the ink.  I used the little spatula to spread the ink out fairly evenly on the paper plate before stamping:

Finally...success!

While the first stamp all the way to the right didn't look good (and I smeared the ink), the second stamp turned out pretty well.  I will have to be careful when stamping this on the canvas...I need to make sure I keep the pressure even on the stamp as I stamp it (all without moving the stamp and smearing the result).  I'm a little nervous to try it on the canvas, so I am waiting a couple of days before I do it (yes, yes...I AM a big chicken!! :-) ). 

So that's the good.  Now for the ugly.  I ended up stabbing my finger twice with the small carving tool (I was holding the block with my left hand as I carved and I lost control of the tool) and cut my knuckle once (also losing control of the tool and whacking my knuckle into the side of the block).

I have never been known for my gracefulness!  :-)

So, would I do this again?  Maybe, maybe not.  Depends on what I need for a stamp.  The linoleum, while allowing for more detail, was quite difficult to carve.  I needed a lot more consistent pressure with the carving tool and that was difficult to maintain (obviously, as shown in the above two pictures! :-) ).  I'm sure with practice it would be a lot easier, but for my needs, I just don't know if it is worth it.  We'll see when the next time comes.

So, I'm off to bandage up my knuckle and settle down with a good book for the evening.  It's time to celebrate (yes, I celebrate by reading!)!

Until next time, take care, stay cozy, and keep your dreams alive!

First try...epic fail

Hi everyone!

Happy New Year...I hope your new year's celebrations were fun and safe and that you're ready to have your best year yet!

My first challenge this year was to carve an ampersand stamp to use on my start to finish project.  So, I found a cool ampersand symbol and adjusted it slightly to fit what I wanted for my project (the one I found was too big and long, so I made it squatty-er and smaller) and carved away.  I was so excited!!  Too bad the end result wasn't what I was hoping for.  Here is my process:

The symbol I found is on the far left and the far right is what I ended up wanting:

Here's the carving process:

And here is the final result when I stamped with what I made:

It ended up being too "goop-y" looking and didn't have enough detail to it.  In other words, epic fail.  Okay, maybe "epic" is a bit dramatic, but considering how excited I was to start, it felt pretty epic at the time.

So, I'm going to have to take a different spin on the hand-carved stamp.  I'm still going to use one, but I'm going to make it bigger and instead of carving it on a rubber block (easy to carve, but difficult to get a lot of detail when you need super-fine lines), I'm going to use a linoleum block instead.  It is harder to carve, but I think it will give me the detail I am looking for.  Expect an update next time...I'm excited again!

In other news, Joe and I went yesterday to a local indoor flea market to look around and search for goodies.  I love a good indoor flea market...you never know what treasures you might find (and usually at great prices, too!)!  :-)  I found several fun things (some great fabric, a few glass dishes to put things in [love these for my studio!], and various other little things I can incorporate into my artwork), but my "best in show" were the vintage postcards I found.  Here are a few of them:

Aren't these great?!  They just don't make sweet stuff like this any longer....I mean, who sends a postcard to someone that says "many happy returns" anymore?  It's sad, really.  It was fun to read the backs of the cards and see what what people were saying to each other.  One I picked up was even a love letter!

I plan to use these in my artwork...a few ideas are already spinning in my head.  I may even make it possible to read the backs of the cards as I incorporate them into my art.  How, you say?  Well, I'll keep that a secret until I start working on them!

Until next time, happy days...stay warm out there!