Blog Giveaway

My second blog giveaway.

Aren't they just FUN!

This DVD came in the Derwent Inktense pencil set. It has tips and gives directions on how to achieve different effects using color pencils...especially those that water can be used. It is a informative little DVD, and may help YOU!

Lets gather some interested parties and have a old fashioned paper slip in the hat drawing. We'll give it until February 8th, moms Birthday, to gather the interested names.

So, leave a name and especially an email address to reach you ...should you be the lucky winner!

If you don't leave contact information then your name will be forfeited from the drawing.

Thanks for playing...

Mail....

In retrieving the mail yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find an envelope from Anne.

http://gaalcreative.blogspot.com/

Check her creative site out...she has all kinds of informative postings.

In my envelope I found nifty embellishments and ephemera papers...she returned a hints DVD for Derwent Inktense pencils...that in my next post I am going to offer as a blog giveaway...my second!

Notice though the "friend" ATC...isn't it beautiful!!...I probably should have taken it out of the wrapper to photograph...but I like it IN the wrapper so it doesn't get messed up.

It shimmers and the dragonfly looks happy floating around.

THANK you Anne! Surprises are so nice! and make a person feel special..

ZenCard

I made mom a Zen Card for her birthday.

To me it still doesn't 'flow' like I want. I Do like how the diamonds ended up flowing.

All The RAGE...

But it is my first...ZEN-doodle!

They take a considerable amount of time to do. Staring at the blank page is tough.

At first I wanted to 'plan' the thing out but quickly learned that is not the way to go about these pieces.

Let it guide you.

The design takes on a 'plan' of its own and once you give yourself up to that..it will flow a lot better.

Here is a cool blog to go look at for just for her creative content alone!, but she also has outstanding zen-doodle examples...http://ingriddijkers.blogspot.com/

This won't be my last one but, I hope i improve with the future ones i do!

This is part of my defining word...'Balance' journal page.

Progress on Projects

The faeries were playing today and snatched the "C" charm I had made a few weeks ago to make a necklace with.

I never found it so, I made another one. This "C" is a little longer and thinner but it works. Here is the finished necklace.

I used a canvas collage that I cut the charms from...the wire work is copper that I patinaed to antique the metal, some glass beads, and some found parts a key and a clock part.
This is a gift to be given Saturday.


A baby gift box in the making.

Fusing the lid is the first step. Copied from the footprints taken at the hospital.

I plan to present this to momma Kayla Saturday.

Backgrounds

On the art group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ArtistsOfTheRoundTable/?yguid=252084373 I joined the Artists Trading Card workshop. They are on lesson 2 I think but I just finished lesson 1 Intuitive watercolors
on paper towel

on watercolor paper

I didn't have a baby wipe so I used a clorox wipe. I thought the directions read to take all of the experiments and use them to make 1 ATC...as I re-read that I find I was just to take 1 and make an ATC...oh well...in the back ground we were to see an image emerge...if you scroll back up to the watercolor background you can see 2 red dots on the right corner of that page...I saw a frog..

the blast of color are rocks and the then a rock slab...create the contents of the ATC for the lesson 1.

Thank you for stopping in

:)

SJ dreamweave page

Today I finished creating the dream weave prompt from SJgroup.

We put words to strips and wove them into a page.

What I am reminded to took away from this exercise is that words are powerful.

They leave an imprint, good or bad.

We are placing words into place that represent our dreams or our passions, or what we want to accomplish.

All good powers to be in place.

In my instance I chose a few words that represent actions or nouns for me...love, friends, good things to come...this kind of meaning.

Where I repeated the same words over and over then watched them be weaved into a page the process emulated their stamp...to be believed...to be a positive force within my psyche.

I didn't decorate my page, kept it simple to represent me...I am a simple kind of gal...still the process left a positive imprint for me ...to weave the beliefs within my spirit and take forth on my journey in life..be that family, friends, work, or my creative self.

We all need to keep positive thoughts in the forefront of our minds to keep our spiritual journey going forward.

Thank you Kathryn for keeping me inspired...I so much enjoy our group!

Please visit Kathryn @ http://www.collagediva.com/souljournal/

get the past prompts and visit others in the creative group.

You won't be disappointed! You will be inspired!!

January 8-13 Project

I haven't posted in a few days. My creative everyday activity has been working on these doors, etching these designs onto the glass. I am going to explain the process. It is simple, and the products are available at most craft hobby stores. The resist i use is a commercial grade product, but you can achieve similar result (if really careful) using contact paper. Contact paper is really thin and a person needs to be careful with their xacto knife, as it is really easy to cut and you can easily mis-cut your design. The contact paper is excellent to use for practicing, and simple to find at the hardware store. A commercial grade resist might be available at an art supply store. If you have a stained glass supply store in the area they should have a good selection of decent resist to work with. Resist comes in different mil thickness and each thickness has its useful application. That in itself is a lesson.

Supplies:
glass
xacto knife
resist
acid etch cream (can be found at hobby stores)
masking tape
craft brush
rubber gloves
paper towels
water soft cloth
design (hand drawn or stencil or stamped light resist)
another good source to have a design made these days is to go to the sign painters shop who uses a computer to generate vinyl signs...they can generate a design ready to apply to your glass)
If using your design or a stencil carbon paper is needed to transfer to the resist


I cleaned my glass well, no oils or dirt should come between the resist and the glass. The cleaner the glass the better the bond will be for the resist and the more detail you can achieve in the cutting. I use carbon paper to transfer my design to the resist.

The design is started to be cut out with the exacto knife. The part cut away is what is etched. Typically, the negative portion is cut away. This is determined by how you perceive the final look that you want the "picture" to show.

The design is finished being cut out. Gloves are donned and using the craft brush apply the acid cream...I use a commercial grade, but the hobby paste has a decent formula these days. It is permanent and you just follow the directions. Using the paper towels and the water remove the cream.

Take off the resist..keep cleaning the glass with Windex.

I placed a piece of black paper behind the image to hopefully show you the final results. Etched glass is hard to photograph.

These doors will be picked up, placed into the mans cabinet and enjoyed for years to come.

This etch method is the perfect project for mirrors, glassware, or windows....enjoy creating your own pieces.

If you have questions just email me, I will help you the best I can.

:)

Taurus...

Your horoscope for January 6, 2009
You are at the beginning of a very expansive time in your life right now, Mary, and opportunities are available to you whether you realize it or not. You may get the feeling that there is an area of your life that needs a total overhaul. Major change and upheaval is a large piece of the puzzle. Revamp that which does not work for you anymore to make room for the tremendous future that awaits you. This is your time to shine.

I began watching Oprah's series for this week on achieving our Best Life. I was impressed with her segment...and plan to watch it through. I don't watch much TV..so this for me says something.

She is encouraging everyone to gain balance into their lives so our lives have a more harmonious productive sense to them.
I sure can use it.
And apparantly the universe senses it for me as well...

:)

Trying to focus...

I am trying to focus on healthier regimes and keeping myself in a more organized state.
A dear friend, Colleen and I have re-started the Atkins plan...it worked for us before, and in my opinion, if you just begin and eliminate the unhealthier side of the diet, this is the most important step.
Which ever routine a person ends up sticking to ('sticking to' being the key part) that works for them it is all good.
Pick one and go forth.

A few weeks back I bought a book Energy Medicine for Women. She is a holistic healer and offers a program for the individual to learn for channeling the bodies energies to keep them healthy or heal.
Kind of like acupuncture with out the needles. Use of the meridian points is key to this routine.
Her routine is also similar to a breathing kind of yoga routine I did a while ago...and when I did that routine I felt better, and lost weight like no tomorrow. (I don't know why I stop, except basically i am lazy)
It all goes hand in hand...pick something and just do it.

Anyway, I began doing the DVD for the program I ordered...because trying to do the exercises from the book, for me, I wasn't sure I was getting it...the DVD resolves those questions..so now I just need to learn the routine, once I do.. it will not take as long to perform...I can eliminate the watching of the DVD and eliminate her talking.
When I first did it a few weeks ago, I did notice how much better I felt...but then all the deadlines loomed over me
we got busy at work...Christmas...busy busy...excuse excuse..I didn't do it again.
This morning I did...again a more focused feeling.

These are the few things I am trying to focus on to a better improved healthier me.
I have a bad habit of not sticking to these kinds of things
so,
I am putting it up here thinking maybe if I put myself out in the open...so to speak...I will try to stay focused long enough to make it a habit.
My next bad habit is once I achieve the goal..I begin back in the same unhealthy choices and end up back at stage 1 again.
I am not sure why I sabotage myself this way...but I am going to keep doing the Artist Way exercises...(another routine for self help) and maybe something will emerge to enlighten me, who knows.

Maybe by you reading what I am trying to accomplish will give you (if you need to) the incentive to try and tackle some of these issues too, and you won't feel alone doing them.

We can encourage each other
:)

Enough for NOW..

I am blessed with a really nice space for a studio.
I am a little bit of a pig when it comes to organization, keeping things in their place.
To be fair I am usually working in 2 or 3 different mediums at any given time.
While this arrangement carries a spacious feel to the space I am not utilizing my space.
So, I changed the positioning of the tables.

See over on my west wall in-between the bookcases the window...under the windows space...JR is going to build me another shelf unit to go there to place my small equipment. I can relieve the bookshelves then of them.

Here, I have made it to a point where I am thinking enough is enough..time for arting...BUT, notice under the center table all those boxes...they house papers and inks and pads and stamps...all centrally located. :) ready for me to get in there and USE them!

Thanks for looking.

OH

and Anna mentioned in a previous post about not to throw out things...use them as giveaways...this had never occurred to me...yes the obvious I am the MOST dense about...anyway, I now have a box for such creatures...so

be looking for a give away in the future..

Thank you Anna, for this heads up!

Quiz from one of the Art groups

http://www.quizilla.com/quizzes/645550/what-scrapbooking-item-are-you

Your Result
You are PAPER! You are an all natural basic person who likes to act as a foundation to others. You are willing to take a backseat in most of your relationships and let others take the spotlight, while you show your support and help them shine! Underneath it all, you are the one who makes it all happen. You are the focus and stability in any group, even if you are not the leader. Others look to you to set the pace and provide ideas for ways to get things done. But Paper Beware - sometimes you get a little edgy with the people who look to you for support and can give them some papercut remarks that can hurt their feelings. Remember to watch what you say, because you are best when leading by example.

Really strange...but this IS me..I take these test and the results uncannily describe me...you take the test and see what you come up with!

STILL cleaning in the studio...but JR and Fred came and moved my tables around for me..YAY!

Still Sorting...

Still working through my studio reorganizing "stuff".
I think I am making progress though!
Tomorrow JR and Fred will come by after they are finished on the job and move my tables around for me.
I think if I arrange them differently I might have a better work flow, we'll see.

I haven't thrown that much away.
If nothing else it is being placed in a different box.
I am contemplating some different storage systems that might double duty as totes for classes.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz032/27/
They look pretty nifty and come with storage boxes but what I like too is the cubby pockets all over it.
I am looking extra hard at the unit that comes with wheels.
The unit divides off into 2 compartments...
but Colleen told me in no uncertain terms to NOT be going and buying myself anything...
so I best wait, she can be pretty fierce, LOL the mail should arrive soon enough!
But, now I can't wait!

My CED challenge was met today with creative storage of papers and paints and what few embellishments I have.
And creatively cleaning!

Sooon the new studio will emerge

Hope the transition from 2008 into 2009 was smooth for you!