SOC week 2

The colors for week 2 of Summer of Color are orange and hot pink. Perfectly good colors which pack a big punch when used together. I had absolutely nothing to work with in those colors so I got out the gelli plate for this one. I may do something more with them before the next colors come out, but for now, this is it. 

Actually I drew the first image with Neocolor IIs and oil pastels. Vaguely inspired by various Mary Ann Moss blog posts featuring this design. The others are gelli prints using stencils, a comb, large bubble wrap, various circle making things, etc. Each has 3 or 4 pulls on it, enough to be interesting without starting to cover up the first layers.

As usual, I like the one on the telephone book page. It'll become a couple postcards I think. Maybe wake up those postal workers a bit.

On a side note - it's been major windy here for like 3 days now and I'm in such a vile mood because of it. I can totally see how those poor Kansas housewives lost their freaking minds from the ceaseless prairie winds. Unripe fruit is being blown from my trees, my hair looks like crap constantly, everyone's allergies are killing them. We live in a wind tunnel here and I hate it! Calgon, take me away......

(rant over)

first child journal page

Using up my old family pictures is very enjoyable. Most of them I'm just cutting up and putting on a journal page or a post card or an ATC. Not scanning them first. Not worrying about never having them again. Many of them go off into the world via the mail system of one or more countries and live out their lives far from home.

Altho they're far from home here with me, too, I guess. Home was mostly Ohio and Michigan. I'm in California.

Long ways. In distance as well as years. But it feels good, letting them go. No one to miss them but me, and I don't.

Gelli print background. Circles stamped from various circular items - empty scotch tape center, empty toilet paper roll, empty adding machine paper center. Hardly anything goes in the trash around here anymore lol. It's all in my studio.

Some pen work. A little machine stitching.

Sorry, Dina!

I've long wished I could draw better. My mother, as I've mentioned in the past, was something of an artist, doing commissions of kids and dogs and houses throughout her life in small-town Ohio. Many of her paintings hang in my house.

I've taken drawing classes. I've bought books. I've practiced. I just. don't . have. it. The drawing gene. Altho I was looking at Drawing With the Right Side of the Brain (or something like that) this morning and wondering if that would help.

When Dina Wakely posted a 'quickie face,' I decided to try and copy it. They say to draw what you see, not what you think you see.

OK.

I proceeded to do that and here's the result. You can see the resemblance, I guess. I figured y'all could use a Sunday afternoon laugh, so look at mine, and then go look at Dina's. Pretty funny.

Sorry, Dina. I tried.

Sunday Postcard Art

I've been following this blog for a while now but rarely get around to doing the prompt before the week is over and the next one is up! So... this morning when I saw the theme, I immediately got to work.

I have several issues of Mechanics Illustrated and Popular Mechanics from the 40s, so I grabbed the December 1944 issue (15 cents cover price!) and flipped thru the brittle old pages until I found several airplane related articles, then began tearing out images and word strips. (The strip 'see the brave fellow' came from an old book.)

The background is very textured which you might be able to see if you click on the first pic which I scanned at 600dpi. I put down a layer of gesso, a used dryer sheet that I'd been wanting to do something with, more gesso, then sprayed and dripped on various inks - tan, green, turquoise - until I had a background I liked.

The dryer sheet wicks the inks in an interesting manner and I will be saving my dryer sheets from now on for future backgrounds and no telling what else. I'm prolly late to the dryer sheet party but I'm here now!

Feel free to download and use the first image if you like.

summer of color - week 1

There are so many challenges and play-alongs out there in bloglandia that it's hard to pick and choose which ones to do. Mandarin Orange Monday, Glue It Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Paint Party Friday, Show & Tell Saturday, Sunday Stills. I'm sure there's one for Thursday - I just can't think of it.

One that looked like enough fun to actually get me to join in is the Summer of Color over on Twinkle Twinkle. Each week the participants vote on the next week's color combo from a list of options. So you can vote for your fave, and also anticipate which one it might end up being as you look at the list. By the time this week's colors were announced - citron and turquoise - I'd completely forgotten which one I'd voted for. But I like prompts, regardless of the color choices, so I got to work.

Since I have a million and one gelli prints, they're my go-to when I need to rustle up a project. I rummaged around the gelli box and pulled out 6 or 7 likely ones, then found a piece of scrapbook paper in citron for my background. I scored some heavy cardboard circles in the close-out bin at Michaels one day and decided to make a round abstract postcard. So I did.

more 21 Secrets art

This was one large page but it doesn't fit in my scanner that way and I was going to cut it in half anyway, so I scanned it after cutting.

Rhonda - this is that page you gave me that was mostly yellow and aqua, that you'd done with the rubber baster brush technique. Remember it? I was casting about for something to do and spotted it in a pile. Perfect starter for one of these pages. I shoulda taken its pic before I covered it all up.

I collaged with dress pattern tissue and gelli prints in the same colors, then just went nuts with stencils, stamps, doodles, paint, gesso, stitched paper bag.

The stamp pad I used to rub thru the harlequin stencil wasn't permanent so when I rubbed gesso on with my finger, they mixed and made the pale aqua areas, which I quite like now, altho at the time I spoke a few bad words when I saw what was happening.

I know the world doesn't need another Etsy shop with handmade journals in it, but that's prolly where most of what I'm making will eventually end up since I already have a lifetime supply of journals for myself and so few friends who would appreciate such a gift or don't already make their own.

I not only really enjoy the process shown in her 21 Secrets video, but it has finally broken me of stopping too soon, of being worried about covering up that cool thing I just put on there.

<conversation in my head> There's lot more cool things around! Just do it! And if you use the last one, oh well. You bought them to USE, right? Right!

I'm loving these....

fabric postcards

Good old MMSA. As soon as I think I'm nice and ahead of the game in getting postcards done for the weekly prompts, Karen posts one that makes me work at it.

Non-Paper postcards.

I read that and immediately thought 'fabric', because (a) I have so much of it and (b) because I know how to make fabric postcards. I'd just picked up a gorgeous shirt at a thrift store with no purpose in mind, other than the fabric was lovely and a large men's (= lots of fabric) 100% silk shirt for $1? Yes, please.

It had sea turtles all over it, so I cut off the sleeves, took the hems out, then lay them out on my cutting board. Next I cut a 4"x6" window in a sheet of paper and held it here and there until I found areas that looked good. I got 6 pieces from the two sleeves with material left over!

I cut 3 pieces of stiff interfacing, then began to machine stitch with a heavy variegated thread in a few different colors. When I had the basic areas done, I dug out various fibers and laces from my crazy quilting days and stitched them down.

Ironed on two-sided fusible, then ironed on pieces cut from a vintage napkin for the back. Zigzagged around the edges and waa laa! - fabric postcards. It took me about 3 hours total to do 3 of them. I might do the other 3 pieces I cut but not for the swap. They're kind of labor intensive, so 3 will do for now. Hope their eventual recipients enjoy them. Double click to embiggen and see all the stitching detail.