Things I like

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

It's Wednesday already!

Yesterday I had a total meltdown! I was working on the family Christmas cards, something I said I'd do, volunteered actually, and worked straight through from 9 a.m. to 4... something I should NOT do. Suddenly the math and the measurements and the stamps and the scissors all jumbled themselves into a heap on the floor. Or so it felt. Boy, I am really grateful for my Pazzles, which today with me in a less harried frame of mind, dutifully cut the mat shapes I need without any argument. My time has been spent sewing art quilts and my paper art projects have been stacking up, so I made a schedule this week. Monday, sew; Tuesday, Christmas cards; Wednesday: (Yaaaay!) Studio time. Time to get back to the encaustics and a couple of acrylic collages I am working on. Some cultures believe we are lucky to be able to grow old. But I find it quite disturbing; I cannot do all the things I want to do in the time I used to be able to do it, and I tend to want to finish one task before beginning another, so I have to schedule accordingly. Otherwise I go nuts with all these things in front of me that I think need doing. But today is Wednesday, glorious Wednesday, and I can play.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Tablet covers

I am now felting with gorgeous fibers, and creating covers for tablets as well as other fiber art collage.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Labor Day Weekend is here

After just one week in school, the granddaughters have three days off... and their parents have disappeared into the swamps of Louisiana for a three-day getaway.  So, studio time has to be put on hold a little while yet.  But I can still work on journals.

I just took advantage of a Mixed Media webinar, by the guys at Journal Fodder Junkies, and learned a bunch.  My first art journals are full now, and I am oh, so ready to start new ones with the additional skills I learned from the authors.  The neatest thing (why didn't I think of this?) is to journal with a water-soluble pencil, and then wash a little water over it, to color the page.  Some of the words still show through, then you emphasize one or two of the words with a different colored pen or pencil, embellishing as you wish.  It looks great!  And then transfers on top of that, or stamping.  So journals can therefore be a bit more personal and not so ditto-ish (girly drawing, doodles, one or two words).  I always have had trouble finding just the one or two word headline for a page.  To me, journaling is about writing.  You know, writing words.  This gives the opportunity to do both on the same page the result is both attractive and unique.

I did work on a few paintings last week that have been in the hopper, and have been dying my own fabric pieces for the art quilts.  I guess I still have a lot going on at once.  But I watched yet another tutorial by Daniella Woolf, who does encaustic.

 She seems to have the same ADD issues I have -- wanting to do it ALL RIGHT NOW, so her solution is to give herself assignments, for example for one month she ONLY uses two specific colors in her work.  I can take that and apply it to me, for instance for one week ( a month is too long) I will sew.  Then one week I will paint.  Then one week I will work on albums.  I am going to try this and see if it works for me.