Illustration Friday: UnfoldInspire Me Thursday: Child Art

Monkey and Map

"You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away and know when to run." ~ Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

I'm using this illustration for Inspire Me Thursday's theme this week, Child Art. Nothing in the piece was done by a child...but it is intended for a monkey toy box. Some how, my toddlers have acquired quite a few monkey plush toys. I've put them all into a shoebox and I call it the Monkey Box. It's in their closet and when they need a distraction, I tell them to go find their monkeys, which they are more than happy to dig out. Decorating the Monkey Box is on my list of "to dos" and this illustration is a start.

Illustration Friday: SubtractInspire Me Thursday: I am...

Free Bee
I just gotta be me!

I was inspired by the bowling pins I recently crafted and thought I would exercise my brain with a quick image. I illustrated the bee and the ladybug and then let them take over as they started telling their own story. I like letting go to see where things end up. An enjoyable journey today with the Free Bee.

Sewing ConfectionsInspire Me Thursday: Lace

Sewn Confections, Batch 2

Fresh from the oven, my last batch of sweets sewn for the Deux Pois Bakery. When my girls are old enough to play in their make believe bakery (and stop putting things in their mouths) I will share my box of treats. Right now the buttons are a choking hazard even though they look delicious!

My Petit Four Sec Chocolate Cake with Confectioners Sugar has a sprinkling of lace, which lends itself nicely to this week's theme for Inspire Me Thursday.

Sewing ConfectionsInspire Me Thursday: Fold

Deux Pois Bakery Logo
Translated: Two Peas Bakery

I saw some crafted cupcakes and confections online made from felt or felted wool and topped with ribbons, buttons, and beads. They were really cute so I thought I'd try my hand at creating my own plush desserts. I have loads of fabric pieces, jars of old buttons, and ribbon remnants of all sorts. To use up these collections of scraps, I machine sewed all my confections using mostly cotton quilting fabric. I created my own patterns and looks to stock my new "bakery", Deux Pois Bakery.

The first batch of sewn confections is for a friend's daughter. She'll be turning two and getting a tea and kitchen set as gifts. The second batch, not shown here, is one I'm currently working on for my two girls. I have two more cakes to sew to complete the second set. Fun was had by moi!

Sewn Confections, Batch 1

Don't they look scrumptious? If only they'd taste like they look...yummy!

Seven Deadly Sins (Lust)

Lust

I started the Seven Deadly Sins awhile ago and was stumped on what to do for greed...so I allowed myself to be distracted by other things and kind of forgot about finishing this project! After I read Inspire Me Thursdays theme last week of Polka Dots, I took what I started for Greed and changed it into a lusty, freckled monster octopus instead. It turned into Lust and is the 6th monster I've created to date. The elusive Greed is the only one left! Want to see the others? They're here:

See all of them here.
Envy
Gluttony
Sloth
Pride

Little Paper into Little Houses Illustration Friday: Grow

Little Houses

As I was creating this piece, I channeled the artist Charles Wysocki. We had a calendar of his art...I like his style with the miniature village life.

Inspire Me Thursday: ControlStudio Friday: Orange

IMT Challenge: "This week at Inspire Me Thursday, our theme is Control. Take this topic in whatever direction you wish, perhaps thinking about your creative process and what you control and what you don’t control..."

SF Challenge:"Since Halloween is fast approaching, and it's fall, let's focus on the color orange."

Small Orange Paper

Since my suggestion was used for Studio Friday's challenge this week, I thought I'd better KISS (Keep It Small, Stacia)...literally!

For my "orange" entry I found these small orange patterned papers. Each piece above is about 1 x 2". Small papers for a small image!

I decided that IMTs theme of "control" would relate to my tight time schedule with future creative projects. To participate in challenges will mean keeping projects small and easy.

IMT Featured Artist

IMT's Featured Artist Article

I just found out through a comment on my latest post that I'm the featured artist this week at Inspire Me Thursday. Click here to see the entire article.

Inspire Me Thursday: WatercolorStudio Friday: Favorite Item

Inspire Me Thursdays challenge: "This week let’s have some fun with watercolors. Experiment with watercolor paper, watercolor paints, watercolor pencils. Or, for the computer savvy, how about digital watercolor painting?"

Watercolor with Digital Effects

For IMT's challenge I painted a monochromatic watercolor and scanned it. Once digital I opened the image in Photoshop and added the watercolor filter to see the effects. I like the textures the filter created!

Studio Friday challenge: "Favorite item in your studio/craft space - why do you love it and how does it inspire you (art or journal and photo)?"

Watercolor Original

I decided to dedicate Studio Friday's challenge to my corner punch. Since I'm in the mood for fall, I created this Halloween card to show the corner punch in action.

The corner punch has been my best friend as of late since I've been in production mode with baby announcements. I rounded all the corners on 80 announcements and their components to give them a softer finished look. The baby announcement will be posted at a later date.

My only gripe I have for my Corner Punch Marvy is the button! I wish it had a soft grip instead of hard ridges...it's murder on your thumb if you cut too many corners at one time.

Studio Friday: Favorite Resources Illustration Friday: Poem

The challenge: "What is the most favorite resource you use to seek encouragement, understanding, enlightenment, inspiration, strength, to gain further knowledge or fun? Is it a book or a magazine, a quote, a website, a photo, another artist?"

My Roots

I started this piece several weeks ago for Inspire Me Thursday's challenge for the word roots. I've been so busy lately with being the Treasurer for the Norcal GAG chapter, and with the Sequoia Hospital art installation sales that I've neglected my creative side.

I find inspiration in words, either through a clever phrase, lyrics, from a single word or a paragraph in a story. My inspiration for this image came from the phrase "pushing up daisies."

Poems
"Keep not your roses for my dead, cold brow
The way is lonely, let me feel them now."
- Arabella Smith, If I Should Die To-Night

"Do not stand on my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in the circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die."
- Anonymous

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may
Old time is still a-flying
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying."
- Robert Herrick

Inspire Me Thursday: WordsStudio Friday: Seven Deadly Sins (Gluttony)

Inspire Me Thursday challenge: "This week, let’s take a look at words. Words found in the pages of a book, on a sign, in a handwritten note. Let the words inspire you..."

On Inspire Me Thursday's website this week was a blurb about The Visual Dictionary, which has photographs of signage, ads, and other things. This reminded me of the photos we took while in Prague several years ao. We laughed quite heartily at the two below. Indeed, these are inspiring!

Sign for Ice Cream Shoppe

Ad for Sausage Brand

Studio Friday challenge: "Gluttony is the excess of eating or drinking. What are you gluttonous about while in your studio?"

Gluttony

Gluttony is my third monster representing the Seven Deadly Sins (see them all here). The photographs above inspired me to create Gluttony...a combination of Cream & Dream and shoving food into one's mouth set the tone.

I try not to bring little snackie things into my studio, but sometimes they find their way there. Small sweet or salty treats are hard to resist!

Studio Friday: View From Above Inspire Me Thursday: Numeral Art

Current Studio Floor Plan

Studio Friday challenge: "Amazing what things you see everyday look like from above. It just got me thinking "what would my desk look like from above?" I have a feeling I would find some inspiration somewhere in there!" -Michelle.

Inspire Me Thursday challenge: Lately, numbers have held a lot of meaning for me…as my children grow, I grow, and years add on…numbers always seem to have a way of finding themselves ever-present. So for this weeks challenge, create a piece of art using numbers that are present in your life.

I am thinking about moving my sewing area from the basement up to my small art space and combining my supplies. Both work areas have equal pros and cons, one is big and dark, the other is tiny and light! This week's challenge, View From Above, turned out to be the perfect opportunity for measuring the tiny studio space and my sewing components to see if I can squeeze it all in comfortably. I measured everything, scaled it to letter size paper, created a pattern and cut out paper replicas.

Inspire Me Thursday: Image Transfers

Simple Style

The tape transfer went very smoothly and was much different than I expected. The great thing about jumping right in to explore, is it gave me some great ideas! I didn't think too much about the outcome and just went for it. Fun! Things I would change if I did this again: I'd put actual pattern pieces or instructions underneath the tape transfer to show off it's transparency and I'd use my sewing machine to embellish. I'll have to keep this in mind for future projects! Thanks Inspire Me Thursday, for the great tutorial!

Inspire Me Thursday: In Good Time

What a fun project this week! A great way for a procrastinator, like myself, to get warmed up for the day. Unfortunately, I get caught up in details and turn small ideas into time consuming projects. I don't know how I thought I'd get this project done in 30 minutes...I'm overly optomistic a lot of times!

Snapshot at 30 minutes

Snapshot at 1 hour

This little image is tucked inside a Sucrets coughdrop tin. The "In Good Time" portion is finished. It took me twice as long as I had anticipated to complete the image inside. However, I decided to keep going. I drilled holes in the top and bottom stringing ribbon for a kitchen window ornament. I covered the words on the tin with medium gel and paper and adhered a flower photo to the front. The directions on the back "For temporary relief of occasional minor irritations..." seemed perfect! I modified the text, stamped my letters, glued and was done!

Final front & back - finished at 3 hours

Final inside

Inspire Me Thursday: Show & Tell Art

"It Was Then That I Understood"

I created this piece to explore a different style of collage, embracing a folk art feel. I usually don't incorporate stamping or text into my art (even though I'm inspired by words). This time I gave it a try.

I used recycled materials, like vellum scraps, old brochure covers,  recycled letter from my mom, and magazines.

It's simple and I enjoyed the process, which sometimes I forget to do while I'm busy being a perfectionist. It was also nice to have a piece not finished on the computer.

Inspire Me Thursday: Functional Art

Fiesta Garden Table with Checkerboard

Painted Rock Checker Pieces (bees vs ladybugs)

This is my first entry for "Inspire Me Thursday." My husband and I started working on this table this past weekend as a fun project we both could work on while enjoying the sunny weather. I just happened to discover IMT the night after we started this project and was looking forward to getting it done to share for this week.

Following are pictures capturing our process. We started with an old weathered, dog-chewed table that we use for dining in our backyard. We used coarse grit sandpaper to sand away years of abuse from the elements and that blasted dog!


We bought several colors of multipurpose latex paint and used them to paint the legs of the table. Here, we're taking our first break. This is NOT the dog that chewed off all four corners of the table (good girl!).


Breaks over, and we're starting the table top design. This picture shows how we accomplished a nice checkerboard pattern.


We used the same masking tape technique to create the purple wavy border around the table top.


I found 24 flat rocks perfect for checker pieces. I painted 12 bees with flowers on the flipside, and 12 ladybugs with leaves on the flipside. The four chairs are projects for another day.