The House on Nest Ave.

Sunday I posted that I'd be teaching  an encore of my birdhouse class ; I still am, however, inspired by students in my classes I decided to make the basic construction of the roof and sides quicker so we can spend more time on embellishing these cute little homes.  And we want to be done before kickoff this Sunday.
Anyway I had a blast the past 2 days working on this, which of course includes time for a coffee breaks. Did I mention a home made cinnamon cinnabon roll? Share? Sorry, don't understand that word when it comes to chocolate and homemade yeasty breads, or crunchy cheetos. Coming up with designs isn't very easy for me.  I'm usually on a roll (yum) until I start getting into some of the detailing. For example, I soldered the roof peak before deciding how high to post the house address. This limited my connection options. There's usually a workaround... that's where 2 part epoxy glue is so helpful. Stinks, but bonds in 5 minutes.  The layering of beads on side 1 took a while, mostly just choosing the ones that fit, or could be glued down nicely. I'm not too embarrassed to say it included picking up tiny bits with tweezers and having them shoot out and  land in the  mess-on-the-floor. Spent time scraping glue,paint and ink off of my tools, hands and craft mat. Much to my surprise the kitchen brush handle is now gold from the Rub'N Buff.   Pics of each side are below; the house is actually level, my photography is just really poor on these. 

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Clayday....

There needs to be an eighth day added to the week, or rename one of the days to 'Clayday'. I really like working with clay, however, I've been plugged-in, super-jolted- energized and inspired since I took Christi Friesen's class - Steampunk Hearts at CHA. I was introduced to her 'gotta have it tool' which you gotta have, as well as her new book, Steampunkery. It's filled with great photos, instructions and clever discourse throughout.

My friend Bobbie who is ultra-girly (not liking the Goth or Steampunk stuff) looked through the book, turned to page 32 and said " I really think he's cute", remarking about the greenish steampunk chameleon. (Who would've thought!)

So Thursday I started following Christi's well- written instructions on how to make the chameleon. Here's my first try as well as two other pieces that I made once I saw the cute-er-iness of the critter. Christi uses made up words like that in her book... here all this time I thought I was the only one who made up words (don't we all!).

The second project I did was the flower, however, I did add my own touches... not so much steampunkery, but more fantasy gardeny. For the rabbit, which was project number 3 (by this time I couldn't stop myself), there were no instructions, I just used the picture on page 85 as a guide. (I'd have a picture of page 85 but my camera battery is recharging right now).

My chameleon's tail turned out a bit longer than I'd like. Crazy how that clay just grows. I just love the chainery on the flower composition it adds the right amount of funness & movement to the piece. See that little snack pack of carrots on my bunny? They are strapped to her fluffy back with a 'leather' strap. Cool technique you learn from Christi's book. Go visit her site to see fabulous clay pieces. http://www.cforiginals.net/

Look what I found at the resale shop this week! This celluloid girlie is pretty beat up, had her feathers plucked out, but is in good enough shape to fix up and maybe make a mold.

Speaking of feathers, don't forget I'm teaching the Whimsical Birdhouse on Feb 7th (yep, Superbowl Sunday) at Stamping Details. This is an encore performance, maybe we'll change it up a bit in class, who knows, maybe we'll include a little steampunkery, or something new! P.S. We'll be done by the time the big game starts, so if you're a football fan and a crafter, you can have your birdhouse and game, too! Go to http://www.stampingdetails.com/

for more information.

Thanks for stopping by... Crys

Black and White and Zentangled all over

Here are my Zentangle style designs used for cards.  I just love the use of black and white. Just think of all the surfaces that could be covered using this technique...  Chris Cozen used some Zentangle designs in her make 'n take last Saturday CHA. She had students incorporate them into a painted canvas collage. 

The flower card is a small version of my 9 x 12 acrylic painting (scanned/contrast/hue changes/resized then printed on Krome Kote).

Here are some fabulous cards made by the church girlz.  It's so much fun to make cards together, talk and just enjoy the time together, and we know that what we're making will carry a comforting message to a sister in need of encouragement.

Time to go to the dentist!Smile! Thanks for stopping by....

Look what I made at CHA ...

With the guidance of talented artists...
Suzanne McNeill, Joanne Fink, Magdelena Muldoon and Christi Friesen, Sue Kelsey (no photo yet), Teri Spuerl (no photo yet).

But first take a look at what the Stamping Details booth looked like Thursday morning. All boxes loaded with a ton of products need to be stocked/merchandised, but first Vicki, DiAnn, Joanne and Clare enjoy watching Micheal make final adjustments to the racks. He must have been doing something very interesting or rare since Clare is taking a picture of him doing it. (Hmm) Smiling faces on Friday morning with the booth completed and ready for the crowds. Look who joined... Mike Strong!

Last night I made some encouragement cards using the 2 drawings below that I did Sunday after getting home from the Super show. I used the techniques learned in Suzanne McNeill's Zentangle and Joanne Fink's Zenspirations classes. I scanned these into Photoshop Elements, increased the contrast and printed on Krome Kote paper. (Pictured below are my originals)

s

The church girls really inspired me last night. So I got busy and did 2 more designs.

I lost track of time as it was getting late. (The clock was striking twelve and I was soon be a pumpkin) But I thought I could go a little longer... my little girl turned into a Jetson-like chick, I started to nod off... and whoa.. my pen suddenly scooted across the paper. Time to go to bed. Today's challenge is to incorporate that line in the drawing and camouflage the Jetson-like look. Off to work we go.

Thanks for stopping by... create at least 15 minutes a day.

Back from a long winter's nap

Okay, so I wasn't really napping. I spent lotsa time with my kids (Ian, my son with girlfriend, Mandy) Lindsay(daughter)
and the rest of the family in Illinois..Soon it was time to leave (shed a tear) and return to sunny San Diego. Baking cookies and drinking wine is a good winter indoor sport that can be played anywhere, but is best done with family!





Back home and totally refreshed , I spent a day last week with crazy friend Vicki, working on UFOs. Vicki was working on a polymer clay mosaic and I was fixing/finishing a collage on canvas. We laughed alot and caught up on the latest goings-on, and we did get stuff done. Here's Vicki in the midst of clay and paint.


Here's a pic of her final piece.. great colors that represent an old world look. If I recall she used most black Premo with PearlEx applied before baking to get those earthy and stoney hues. Nicely done, friend!






I was fixing a transfer-gone wrong on my canvas. The large pierrot gel transfer didn't have decent black/white contrast, so it got lost into the background. And it was very fiber-y. I pulled out a recent purchase of Liquid Pencil, in light gray, dark gray and blue. I diluted the Liquid Pencil with both polymer and water, depending upon what look I wanted. (So it was really was whatever that was closest to me, the water or my paint palette). And I also mixed it with titatium white acrylic. Here's my first couple of layers

I applied the blue Liquid Pencil as well in some areas. I went back in with some white acrylic for details. You can actually buff this product after it dries and it does take on a sheen, just like graphite pencil work. I darkened the arm with Liquid Pencil as well. Oh, and I used the permanent product, so that further application of paint and glaze won't reconstitute the LP.

BTW,Vicki's house has a ton of cool things to photograph. I took a couple of her dolls.
Some Liquid Pencil drawings of these might be nice. I'll add it to my list of things to do......

Tonight is card ministry at my friend Shari's. A group of us get together monthly to make cards of encouragement that are sent to those who need uplifting, in our church.
Here's one of my cards for tonight. All rubberstamps are B-line images http://www.blinedesigns.com/. Bev from B-line was at CHA Supershow in Anaheim, doing demos at the Stamping Details booth (http://www.stampingdetails.com/, as well as Susan Mostek. I used colored pencils then scanned into Photoshop Elements and increased the contrast, then printed them out on KromeKote paper using my Konica Minolta Color Laser. I'm not fast at card making, so I do one and replicate it. I add embellishments on each one after assembling. Off to create another card.

Thanks for stopping by... Crys

Sunday... Sunday... hmmm.hmmm.hmmm
I don't remember the words to that song.. Mama's and the Papa's I believe. Had a late start this morning, needed to get that coffee going. Once it's done and poured I usually (with blurry eyes) look at all my refrigerator postings. Ian greets me everyday (just love that).

This past week was a 'finish all unfinished projects' week. That means all colors on the palette. First item was to get an acrylic/collage piece done. Lemon Drop Kid - based upon a drawing I did last year. Inked the final lines and colored her face, now She is ready for cropping and framing - a bit more whimsical than my usual renderings.
Next ..on to finish my second birdhouse filled with bees and flowers. Get out the Van Dyke Red, Quin Gold, Cobalt Teal, Iridescent Pearl and Lumiere paints. This is made from castings I made using Delight air dry clay, Paperclay, Polymer (Premo) and Aves Apoxie Sculpt, along with Golden Semi Gloss Gel and paint mix that suggests the drippy honey. Wire spirals and lots of fibers were added.
I think this looks best as a hanging piece. It's called 'Bee my baby' Not quite what you'd find hanging in a baby's (nursery) room, however it might find it's way into someones sun room.

Chris Cozen will be at Stamping Details beginning Oct 30th-Nov 1st.

My friend Vicki and husband Ron are somewhere in Italy vacationing and hopefully having a wonderful time... can't wait to see all of her pictures.

Thanks for stopping by....

New Favorite Color(s)

Van Dyke Brown and Van Dyke Red along with Violet Oxide have been on my palette over the last month. These 3 colors create such rich and exciting depth..... I can't stop using them. I used VDred on my birdhouse to create dark corners and contrast. Even used a little bit around the bird's egg. VDred was also used on the pink metal (embossed) roof tiles, using a wipe on, wipe off technique.

I also learned how to put a hole in the bottom of this birdhouse with a spade bit, attached to my BA (big ass) drill. (Thanks to the very helpful Home Depot employee in Poway. ) The hole is big enough to slip the top portion of an l.e.d. tea light into the birdhouse. A base was added to house to give it more prominence and hide the light base. I taught how to make this at Stamping Details and had a blast! There are so many talented crafters and artists who took my class... thank you!

Over the past 30 days a lot of paint and clay has been all over the studio!

Here are some photos from Micheal DeMeng's class at Stamping Details over labor day. (Before and After the DeMeng Makeover)

Well that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Crys