Showing posts with label collage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collage. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Halloween Treat Boxes


About a year ago I lost my creative mojo for most of the crafts I used to love, like artist trading cards and mixed media collage. My poor craft supplies have sat abandoned in the closet, wondering if I was ever going to play with them again. I'm happy to report (to both you and my craft supplies) that my desire for crafting has been rekindled.

I'm not sure exactly how it happened-- boredom, loneliness, of just a random surge of creative energy, but last week I found myself wanting to make stuff again, stuff that doesn't involve yarn and knitting needles, and I wanted to do it with other people rather than alone at my table. Fortunately there is a creative arts lounge not too far from home, so I took a class on how to make Halloween treat boxes.


It turned out I was the only one in the class, which was okay because I'm pretty shy in large groups. The instructor, Alexis, was super nice with lots of patience. The two of us sat at a big table and she taught me how to do die cuts, fold the paper in to boxes, make rosettes, and other fun little techniques I enjoyed learning.



The boxes are the perfect size for four miniature Hershey bars.

On a different subject, these photos were taken with my new iPhone. When I tried to use my trusty pink digital camera this morning, I discovered it was no longer working. I'm quite surprised at how well the photos turned out using the iPhone, although I did touch them up in Picnik.

I don't know what is going on. In the last month I have broken so many items by spilling hot coffee or dropping or stepping on them. So far the list includes my netbook, Kindle, eye glasses, cell phone, and now my camera.

I will have to be extra careful with the iPhone until the clumsy spell is broken.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Crafty Christmas Trees

Did you enjoy your weekend? We had cold temps and showers both days, as well as crazy thunder and lightening. The ground is thick with wet yellow leaves. You all know how much I love rain, so I won't go on and on about how I love having an excuse to stay home all weekend, reading and crafting and watching movies. (Oops :o)

It's amazing how fast weekend days fly by. I planned to start crafting first thing this morning, but time slipped by (probably due to my spontaneous decision to cut my own hair, which is a story for another day) and I didn't get started on these Christmas tree ornaments until 1pm. Before I knew it, it was time for dinner.

The ornaments are from the book Pretty Little Felts and made with pages from antique books, felt, glitter, and vintage lace. For this first one I followed the instructions in the book fairly closely to get the hang of it and learn some new techniques. I spent a good part of Saturday knitting a sock, with about three inches of toe to show for it, so today I really wanted to make something I could actually finish in an afternoon.

On the second one I did my own thing with gold wire, buttons, and gems. I plan to use mine to decorate gifts instead of as ornaments, but they'd be great as garlands, too. Normally I'm glitter-challenged, but I recently started using Martha Stewart's glitter with good results (i.e. the cats, television, and carpet aren't covered with it).

Now it's cuddle time. Charlie and I are on the couch with a wool blanket watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, Elf.

Have a good week. For those of us in the states, it's a short one. Hurray!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Collaborative Art

Last year, Cory and I decided to do a collaborative art project. We each painted a canvas and then traded with the intent of finishing each other's work and exchanging them again. I, um, had a little trouble.

This is the original canvas that Cory painted. I started by adding words with a black pen. That didn't look great, so I covered up the words with splotches of white paint. That made it look even worse, so I layered thin pieces of tissue paper on it. With each attempt to fix it, the piece looked more and more awful. Frustrated and unsure what to do, I considered calling Cory and telling her I just couldn't do it.


I ended up hanging in there and eventually it started to take shape. I used gel medium to attach small pieces of paper layered with dried leaves and flowers, and then added two flowers using the handmade paper I made at Cory's house in Grass Valley last summer. Before we exchanged our artwork I sent her an email explaining that I messed up her canvas so badly that it lost the original look. She was gracious about it, but I felt really bad.

Cory assured me she likes it and posed for a picture on my patio. Check out her blog, Pink Dogwood Blossom, to see the gorgeous collage she made for me.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Apple Tree scarf, more bird crafts, Twilight fun

I'm getting close to finishing the Apple Tree scarf-- finally! It has taken an unbelievably long time to knit and I'm not sure why. It's only a four row repeat on size six needles. But I'm happy with how it looks. Soon it will be packed up and mailed to Jen over at Miss Punkie Pie for a little swap we are doing.

I'm working on this tiny book-- not sure what to call it, a collage or mixed media book? I created the cover and have the words ready to go, just need to figure out how I want to decorate the pages.

In the middle of making my bird book, I came across this sewing machine trading card from the olden days and had to stop what I was doing and make a note card.

I'm still reading Pride & Prejudice spin-offs and sequels. Every couple weeks I take a stack of books to the used book store and trade them in for new ones. This evening I finished Jane Austen in Boca and got such a kick out of it. Imagine Pride & Prejudice set in a retirement community in Boca Raton, Florida. It was smart and funny.


Thank you to Cory at Pink Dogwood Blossom and Suz at Begin Again for the Kreativ Blogger Award. I appreciate it! Some day I will get around to sharing ten interesting things about myself. Lately I haven't been feeling terribly interesting.

My sister Hilary and I went to see Eclipse on opening night last week. I liked it, but thought New Moon was better. If you are a knitter and a Twilight fan, check out this funny, funny post. It will give you a good laugh, especially if you enjoy knitting with Malabrigo.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Things with Feathers

I love, love, love birds and have been enjoying making bird-themed crafts lately. These are note cards I sent to my friends in my ATC swap group.

I've had the bird stickers for a while now and was happy to find a good use for them.

It was a nice to use up some of my scrapbook paper, too. How did I collect so much of it? I think I could make cards for a year and not run out.

Sometimes simple is best.


I just heard the call of a Nutall's Woodpecker outside my window. Perfect timing!

* * *

Hope is the Thing with Feathers
by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

In a crafty kind of place ...

Things are super busy this week with a huge project for work that's due tomorrow. It's unfortunate because I'm feeling extra crafty and have little time for making stuff. Plus there are furry monsters squatting in my creative space.

So I made a portable art studio for working in front of the teevee late at night while watching season two of True Blood on DVD. Season three started last Sunday ... yipee!

I've been making greeting cards using the vintage ephemera I picked up recently at an antique store. The image of the Golden Gate Bridge is the back of an old playing card. I like using the actual vintage item rather than making color copies because it gives the card more texture and more character.


Those who know me know that I love, love, love owls.

I have a few more projects I'm working on but they aren't ready to see the light of day. Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to finish up a few things. We are taking my dad hiking for Father's Day on Sunday, but other than that the weekend is (hopefully) mine.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Little creations

I spent some time last weekend creating art for the Mad Tea Party on June 26th and scribbling down ideas for my post on that day. It's been so long since I read Alice in Wonderland that I had to google "mad hatter" and "march hare" to refresh my memory.

These are little books I made with handmade paper and antique maps, savings passbook pages, playing cards, and more. They are 3.5 x 2.5", the same size as an artist trading card (ATC).

I was going to gesso and collage the pages, and then add my own words, but I love the look and feel of the papers as they are so I decided to leave them
unadorned for now.

This is my June ATC for my swap group-- the theme is "ocean." I wanted to do something different this month, so I used watercolor paints for the background and stamped the reeds. It is titled "Under the Sea."

This pima/silk Frog Tree yarn is the latest addition to my out-of-control stash. I couldn't resist buying it when I was in Mendocino last month because I love that little village so much and yarn is the perfect souvenir. Sometimes I think I like buying yarn more than I like knitting with it. The big gray hunk in the background is 650 yards of alpaca I bought from my sister. Some day I hope to make a lacy shawl with it.

Thank you to Debbie at Strings of Purls for awarding me the Beautiful Blogger Award!
I will have to share ten things about myself soon.

Lots of ♥,
Stacy

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Superhero necklace

While doing my holiday shopping I bought a gift for myself ... a necklace from Andrea at Superhero Designs . I LOVE it. Andrea is having a sale each week on a different piece of jewelry, and she ships your order out fast.

The pendant has a bullseye on the front ...

... and check out the back!

Andrea says, "I've always had the intention that each necklace is a talisman, reminding the wearer of their courage, their wisdom and their joy... I send out this little prayer as each one goes out the door."

I'm working on a series of miniature bird collages. This is the first one, on a 2" x 4" canvas. "Home" has been on my mind a lot lately.

There are several giveaways going on right now:


At Never Not Knitting you can win Made in Brooklyn, a book with wonderful fall and winter knitting patterns published by Classic Elite .

Over at
Frontier Dreams , you can win the most adorable miniature knit basket.

Wise Craft is giving away two art prints from Regina at Creative Kismet .

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Collage & vintage treasures


This is my latest attempt at a collage. I tried a new technique, crumpling tissue paper on canvas and then dabbing it with paint and gesso before adding the collage pieces. It's now out on the patio in my little art gallery.



I keep waiting for someone to steal my art, because then I will know I've made it! No luck so far, but I did see a squirrel eyeing one of the pieces recently.


I mentioned in my last post that Dogwood and I went to an antique shop after our boat tour last weekend. One of the items I picked up was this birding guide from the 1920's. Wikipedia says it's one of the first bird guides ever published.


One of the reason I bought it is these beautiful color illustrations.


I'm thinking I could use it to create a new banner with "golden" birds.


The book has lovely black and white illustrations, too, as well as lively descriptions of the birds that are almost poetic. So different than the bird guides available today, which tend to be more technical.


Another item I bought is this vintage postcard. The colors and image are so serene.

I'm feeling very happy this week. Things are busy at work, which I like, and it's been fun coming home every evening to the new television season. Have you seen the new show, The Forgotten? I don't normally go out of my way to watch crime dramas, but this one is really good. It's on Tuesdays at ten after Dancing With the Stars. I'm also enjoying Glee on Wednesday nights.

One of the best things about autumn is the cats get more active and more snuggly with the cooler weather. They chase each other around the apartment and roll around on the floor, locked in kitty wrestling moves. When I wake up in the morning, Charlie is curled up by my pillow and Apollo is in a ball at my feet. I just love it.


Hope you're having a great week!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

A flower collage tale

It had been a while since I made a collage on canvas.


I had an idea about how I would do it. The main color would be lavender, and I would figure out how to arrange the pieces before I started painting and pasting so it would look perfectly coordinated and professionally made.


It didn't work. The inner critical voices got to me. I froze. I moped. I gave up.


Hours later, still yearning to create a collage, I started over.


I let go of needing it to look a certain way.


Let go of needing to make something that would please all the voices in my head.


The pieces came together and the collage was made. It wasn't perfectly coordinated or professional looking, but there was much joy in making it.


And everyone lived happily ever after.

:o)

Stacy
xxoo